to think that i can lose 6 kilos in the next 6 weeks?

[captainmarvella]

i am going on a once in a lifetime holiday to a fabulous beachy and instagrammable worthy location and feeling horrible about my size 20 body with protruding a$$ and treble chins. i want to try this one meal a day thing for some instant results but bestie says it won't work for some one like me - mid 40s, hypothyroidism, binge issues in the past, and can actually make me sick. I don't want to be sick right before my bucket list vacation! Should I listen to her?

i don't plan to do low carb or anything, just eat one filling and balanced plate of my fav stuff, once a day. right now i'm at 85 kilos. I want my weight to be at least in the seventies when I leave for my xmas vacay. i have seen so many inspiring progress pics online about the OMAD lifestyle it's really giving me hope. But most of these are from men, so I don't know if it really works for perimenopausal women! Aibu to even consider this with my current health profile?

That's definitely the problem with keto - if you have a sweet tooth you're basically fucked unless you have a will the strength of steel. I'm a savoury rather than sweet person. You can however have limited amounts of dark chocolate on keto - 85% Green & Blacks chocolate is acceptable in small doses. It's a shame you can't follow it as it does work. Definitely go for the gym. You don't have to become a body builder, find some machines that work for you.

I ate 3 plates of food consecutively as described in my comment above and ate in the space of an hour. That’s one meal a day. You don’t have to eat it slowly. Just mindfully.

1. Starter - salad bits with vinaigrette as this aids digestion.
2. Meal - ensuring plenty of protein and veg.
3. Pudding - crackers with butter and marmite. I could have added cheese. But I had grated cheese with my mains along with stuff like an avocado.

Eating over 3 hours is eating more than one meal a day. OMAD is eating once, for an hour. Don’t worry if you don’t achieve this. Some days I needed something light in the evening as my body became accustomed to the new regime.

My body actually really likes OMAD. I am unable to eat like that unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control.

If you are breathless when walking normally, you are already pushing yourself, so it's probably not a good idea to walk on an incline. I can't push myself any harder than the breathless stage without having to stop after a (very) short while.

Wouldn't you be a prime candidate for GLPs? Superdrug's offering 33% off at the moment, or check the weight loss threads.

I’m another one saying that keto/low carb is revolutionary.

I’ve lost 35lbs in 3 months doing keto. No exercise yet as we’re mid house renovation.

I eat loads. I’m never hungry. I have an insanely sweet tooth and there are plenty of ways to get a chocolate fix on keto while still sticking to your daily allowance.

I drink sugar-free squash. I have had the occasional diet fizzy drink if I’ve felt the urge on a weekend.

I love food. I love bread, potatoes, and cake. And dear god I love chocolate.

But with keto you just don’t have those things. So no need to try and only have a small portion which imo is much harder than just cutting it out. You have alternatives instead. Halloumi cheese instead of chips, for example.

I’m 49, pre diabetic and perimenopausal. And dress size 22 when I started. If I can do it, anyone can. I’m utterly shit at dieting and have no self-control.

The thing is, it’s up to you. You need to work out what your priority is and what your triggers are. If you want to get healthier and lose weight then you keep that in focus. Whatever you pick, don’t have contraband food in the house.

I have dark chocolate sweetened with vanilla, sugar-free jelly, and sometimes either Grenade or Fulfil salted caramel protein bars. There’s virtually no carbs - about 2-3g or so - in each bar so it gives a chocolate hit without ruining your diet.

My issues were being hungry, not planning, and a sweet tooth so I’ve made sure my diet addresses all of those.

It’s absolutely possible to do but whatever diet you follow, there will need to be changes and compromises made. Only you can decide what’s the most important to you. For me, being told I was prediabetic was the kick up the arse I needed to make a change.

@SpidersAreShitheads that sounds great and your circumstances sound like mine. Can you give me a really simple basic list of what you eat? I'm a SP working full time and it's really hard to stick to anything because I have to sort out fussy kids food (not the same for them both) so I can never be arsed when it gets to me. I really need to do something. I'm short, about 85kg and also prediabetic with the Dr making noises about cholesterol too. I don't want to be on the same meds as my parents before I'm 50 😠. Thank you

Have you thought about slimming world? You can get quick results with that and your goal is definitely realistic in that time frame on that plan. There's lots of 'free foods' where you don't have to measure or weigh them so if you wanted to stuff your face with them you could...!

Within reason of course - pasta/cous cous etc are free foods and if you ate lots of that obv you wouldn't lose any weight, but almost all fruit and veg is 'free' as well

Do you function during the day if you eat nothing until 5.30pm? DH and i have been doing the 5:2 diet. Two days a week on 600-800cals, since September. I haven;t lost a pound. In fact it has triggered old bingeing habits that I'd had no issue with for a while, on the off-days. I find I just can't focus on work on the low calories days. I feel tired and cold and my brain, which needs to be in sharp focus all day long for the work I do, is just sluggish and makes mistakes. Meanwhile DH is looking slimmer and skipping about on the low cal days going for long walks (he's retired.) It pissed me off so much I told him I am stopping doing it now, as I was wasting two precious workdays a week, staring into space.

How can people function all day long with no food? It baffles me.

Yes it’s definitely doable, low carb and 1200 calories (you have to be very strict in this) or less. I’d stick to two or three meals per day. I lost 20kg last summer doing this.

I'm another one who swears by keto and low carb. Lost over a stone in the first month.
It'a normal on keto to lose loads initially, it's mostly water weight as carbs make you retain a lot of it. I didn't realize how swallen I was until I changed my diet. I lost 3 stone total in 6 months and got rid of chronic sinustitis! I can breathe again..it's amazing!

A bit later I have added intermittent fasting and it just works with keto as you are naturally less hungry.

To the poster who struggles on 800calories 2 days per week--- how much sugar and carbs do you eat..a banana with porridge is a horrible idea for example as will cause glucose and insuline spike, followed by a crash and intense cravings...carbs, especially the highly processed carbs are addictive and sudden break will be uncomfortable initially. It takes circa 3 days for the sugar cravings to stop!

I sometimes, before a period usually, have cravings - clotted cream with some 80% dark chocolate and blueberries/rasberries takes care of those really well!

Buy mounjaro it’s a game changer

otherwise healthy ratings isn’t going to make much of a dent in 6 weeks

I'm going to honest OP, you won't lose weight without some kind of sacrifice.

You're going to have to eat less, no matter how you do it.

That does mean, portion control, less rice and no chocolate, low carbs, good sleep hygiene and at least double your daily exercise.

There's no magic pill (or injection, despite what anyone thinks!)

Fast 800 combined with low carb. You'll have to weigh everything though esp cheese and meat.

Start exercising, this will help with toning up. When I walk a lot it really tones my legs.

Lots of short workouts in YouTube to get started - look at Caroline Girvan, Growing Annanas and Heather Robertson.

Let's set aside confounding factors and simplify the weight loss maths. In order to lose 1kg of weight per week, you need to create a daily calorie deficit of 1100 calories. So, if you normally eat 2k, it's 900 calories per day for the next 6 weeks. I think this is not realistic.
I would focus on slowly changing your eating and lifestyle habits rather than focusing on short-term goals for your holiday. 6 weeks of near starvation just to snap some pictures and then indulge in holiday food and cocktails putting it all back on is just not worth it to me.

Can you not just do mounjaro ? You want to lose alot of weight fast, unless you're going to really have major willpower and sacrifice a lot I can't see it happening it's too little time.
You're pre diabetic and seemingly a good candidate

You can definitely lose 6kg in in 6 weeks I’m just not sure that eating one meal a day is the way to do it..
I think you’ll get really hungry and binge.

The first week is really hard, I ate lunch and dinner for the first week, but by the second week my body was in proper ketosis. Once that happens I naturally adjusted to a much smaller eating window.

I honestly have so much more energy. I do think it depends person to person.

I love to go to bed on a full tummy, I can't sleep otherwise. But I have a friend who eats her meal at breakfast as she needs to feel satiated during the day.

Remember to make sure you are taking sugar free electrolytes, this is VERY important. Only drinking water on Keto means you are flushing out minerals you badly need. A magnesium supplement is also good.

The other thing to remember is your fats.
A lot of people don't lose because their protein, carb and fat ratio is off. A lot of people find that upping the fats considerably gets the weight moving.

It does all vary, but I have figured out that dairy stalls my weight loss as does lean protein.

I enjoy this smaller eating window because I eat a lot. I have a big plate of food and then an hour later I have a little nibble of things like ham and cucumber sticks. I am a late night snacker, so doing this helps those cravings.

If you feel sluggish and cold then you aren't eating the right things and this is your body telling you.

It is a real journey and it does take experimentation to figure it all out, but your body begins to tell you what it needs. You body also adjusts to eating windows and so I only start getting hungry at around 4.30 because my body is getting ready for its meal :)

FYI you don't need to use symbols in your rude words. Mumsnet is more than happy with arse, boobs etc.

Have a banana with your porridge because you need to feel full in the morning

The OP is prediabetic. This will likely give her the shakes.

A breakfast with 30g of protein would be better IMO.

I think you can easily do this. 6kg is 2.2 pounds a week and in your first week (given you’re 85kg), you could lose up to half a stone. I’d really recommend SW. 2 pounds a week is not ridiculous. Either do it online or get yourself to a meeting. Meeting will be more beneficial. Very little in way of measuring. A typical day for me would be:

fat free Greek yogurt with berries or boiled eggs with protein bagel
baked potato with tuna/salad
spag bol/chicken or fish with potato wedges and veg
snack on fruit/bit of cheese
bar of chocolate at night if syns not used.

You can do this! Day 1 always the hardest but you’ll get past it. Blueberries and mango to snack on were a lifesaver.

@captainmarvella I love OMAD. It’s so much easier than calorie counting or cutting out things.

Sorry missed the pre-diabetic bit so maybe less fruit but prediabetic doesn’t make you diabetic and weight loss may help.

Focus on losing fat and increasing muscle tone. Focus on energy and feeling confident. If you get caught up on weight and half way through you aren't near target you will feel bad about yourself and possibly give up and that's the worst outcome. So what if you lose only 3 or 4 kg. That's 3 or 4kg less to be dragging around an airport and enough to feel your clothes loosen. Every gram is a success, be proud of any loss.

As you probably know, crash diets can be dangerous. But, since it's only for a few weeks, go for it.

My best advice is carnivore plus veggies combined with intermittent fasting: a small chunk of the day eating with hours either side not eating but drinking. The protein and fats will make feel full so the lack of carbs/ sugars won't hurt.

Have fun on holiday then come home.

Being pre-diabetic means you should cut down on the carbs and replace those calories from fats. Natural fats. Keep the veggies and meat going but make sure that you exercise for health and toning and drop the weight slowly. This is to stop you wearing your skin like a skirt.

If nothing works, remember that the location is still stunning, you are still wonderful and that a real beach ready body belongs to seals and whales and they are amazing creatures. Just as you are. Most of all, have fun and come back refreshed. YOLO. ❤️

I started intermittent fasting 16:8 last summer and I've probably lost 12kg since then. I found it really easy just to not eat breakfast and just have lunch after my youngest was up from her nap around 1-1.30pm. I drink my tea black anyway so I just have a cup of tea (or two) in the morning. I really liked that I could have what I wanted, there was no weighing or calculating, no cutting foods out, and I could still just have the same as everyone else at dinner time.

I generally eat around 1pm and stop eating around 9pm, though depending what I'm doing, I can sit down for lunch an hour or so later, and finish dinner about 7.30. So it's not strict. I don't often drink alcohol but I haven't cut it out.

It sounds like you could definitely benefit from a change of some sort if you're unhappy with your weight, so trying "just skipping breakfast" could be something worth trying, with perhaps moving to OMAD in a couple of weeks if you want.

You won't know until you try! Good luck!