So what is the answer???

[CattyGrigio80]

Hi all, just come home from a long tiring nightshift and pondering how to finally lose weight. I've tried:

• WW but don't want to use points system/pay for app
• Keto but too restrictive and ended up constipated
• Calorie counting but I still ate crappy processed foods
• Ozempic/Wegovy, lost weight but ended up feeling sick and constipated plus skint
• Fasting, briefly but couldn't stick to it
• Slimming World, rejoined recently but only lost 1/2 a pound in first week despite following it properly
• Low Carb was too restrictive to fit in with family
• Low fat, concerned me due to sweeteners and low nutritional value

I want to get healthy and eat 'normal' foods, not low fat, not processed etc. E.g. make sure I (and family) are getting necessary vitamins/minerals/protein etc. My elderly parents have numerous health problems including T2 Diabetes which scares the crap out of me, do I have to change but am paralysed.

I work long hours (48+ hours per week) of rotating night shifts, have two teen DS and a DH who pulls his weight (excuse the pun).

So not to drip feed I'm 5.2 and am classed as obese following health check with practice nurse. Cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugars and liver function all 'normal.' Not in Menopause, perhaps Peri but have a coil so hard to tell. Have anxiety but controlled currently.

I regularly get 10000 plus steps a day but limited with gym due to shoulder injury and lack of time. Plus I know I can't out exercise a bad diet!

Someone please tell me... what's the answer? 🙏🏻 Be kind(ish) please!

I am off to bed now, so thanks if you respond and I will reply when I get up (another night shift tonight).

sounds as if you've read enough books/followed enough diets to have a good understanding of what constitutes healthy eating - you don't have to do ultra anything (keto/low fat/low carb) but just reduce/cut out the junk food and aim for a balanced diet. I know that's tons easier to write than do.
I find nurtacheck a good app to record food intake on - I think it was about £36 a year with a week or two trial period. It's UK based, and you don't get random individuals uploading unchecked data like you do on the free apps. Useful for some accountability & keeping on track.

I'm not familiar with SW. All I can say is that I found ditching UPF, sugar and refined carbs so much easier when I replaced them with really tasty, savoury and unadulterated food. Life-changing in fact: not only has maintaining my weight become very easy, without ever feeling hungry, but I enjoy my food so much more.

In my 60s I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. I was able to reverse this through my dietary changes - as well as getting back to an ideal weight.

As well as Dr Becky's short videos, I found Dr Mark Hyman's The Blood Sugar Solution, and the accompanying 10-Day Diet book, both motivational and useful.

I also started working out regularly, and this put me in an 'I am a healthy woman who doesn't eat crap' frame of mind. Started out with Lucy Wyndham Read, subsequently road-tested a number of other online trainers (Heather Robertson, Sydney Cummings, Joe Wicks, etc), before finding the wonderful Caroline Girvan.

Hi@Newmumatlast . We just have coffee with milk in the morning (mine with one sugar), then don't eat till lunch time - say between 12 and 1 pm. If we're really, really hungry, very occasionally we'll have something if we feel we need it, but otherwise the coffee seems to drive the hunger pangs away. In any case if you know you can eat in a little while, you can put up with a bit of hunger, but you do genuinely get used to it after a while.

After that, we just eat normally as we always have - home cooked food (I'm a coeliac) along with plenty of salad and veg. We have supper between around 6.45pm and 7.15pm usually, Then that's it, barring the odd drink (possibly alcoholic) until next day. We're not big snackers, but we'll have a little bit of something around 4pm if we are hungry the odd day.

It's important to say this is a gradual process that takes time - you put the weight on gradually, so why expect to knock it off quickly? However, we are both early retired, and it's the only thing that's ever worked for us, and barring the odd kilo here and there the weight has stayed off.

It's worth having a look at the health benefits of intermittent fasting, including autophagy.

Soz for delay - I'm back at work now 😅

Tried the free version of Nutracheck, but might invest in the full version.

@SeatonCarew I've read a lot about intermittent fasting but really struggle to actually do it. My friend lost 4 stone doing 5:2 but I just get shaky so give up.

I spent some time doing a meal plan and ordered shopping, so going to give Slimming World one last go next week. But I'd really like to try the approaches you have talked about.

Any more tips?

Thanks for replying