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?

Kindly, losing weight is really easy on paper. Eat a small amount. But if you were able to do that day in day out for 6 weeks you wouldn't be in this position. I struggled to manage my weight for years despite thinking I didn't eat that much then found out I had insulin resistance. Worked on that a lot and have lost 3.5kg since mid September while still eating plenty. If your prediabetic you may have a similar problem to me. I just don't think it is doable and think crash diets are terrible.

Oh and if you are trying to lose that much in 6 weeks I wouldn't bother with loads of exercise. It'll make you hungrier and it takes longer than that to build any visible amount of muscle or 'tone up'

well you will lose some weight and probably feel a bit better but see how you get on. Good luck

I'm another vote for Mournjaro, it's been a game changer for me.

Thank you for this detailed answer. Really helpful and appreciated. It had never occurred to me about electrolytes but that makes so much sense. I drink too much water and end up feeling faint and dizzy - that could be lack of electrolytes. And I dislike fat a lot so I tend to go for leaner protein. I'll need to rethink.

If you do sign up for a gym, I’d really recommend booking a session with one of the personal trainers & telling them what you’re after. They can design an exercise plan for you.

Hi @RhaenysRocks - sorry, only just seen your comment.

Basically I cut out biscuits, sweets, chocolate, fizzy drinks, processed carbs - so no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes.

I didn’t realise but carbs hold a lot of water. This meant when I cut my carbs I instantly dropped a lot of water weight and I’m less bloated all over. I used to swell a lot during my period, and I just don’t any more.

I’m not a breakfast person tbh but you could probably use some of the lunches I have and adapt them.

I don’t bother counting the full set of macros like grams of protein etc. can’t be arsed 😂 I just look out for my carb intake - I aim for 30g or less every day. I’ve seen some people say up to 50g of carbs is fine but personally, that’s too high for me. I use those urine sticks to test for Ketosis - it was useful at the start to see if I’d reached Ketosis and whether I was staying within it, but I only use them sporadically now.

Usually I decide if I’m feeling like a splurge on something and if so, I just make sure other food is extra low carb to allow for it.

Protein/meat is low carb, and certain types of veg are low carb. You have to be a bit more soaring with some fruits and root veg as they’re a bit carby.

Bread is a nightmare. But Nimble brown bread is only 8g of carbs per slice so it’s doable.

So lunches might include:

poached eggs with ham/sausage/tomatoes/one slice Nimble bread/couple of spoons no sugar added baked beans/spinach (pick and choose!)

Tuna mayo with beetroot and tomatoes

Plain yoghurt with berries mixed in

Omelette with cheese and peppers

Lentil crispy round things which a bit like Ryvita sort of (forgotten what they’re called but the brand is Kalla) topped with Philadelphia cheese - I like chive flavour - with salad if you’re hungry

Salad of any variety but go easy on carrot as high carb - salad dressing is fine. Add meat like chicken or tuna/salmon if you fancy. Bit of coleslaw also fine.

Homemade soup if I’ve been organised 😂 I make chicken and leek most frequently - tastes like potato and leek but without the potatoes.

Cheese! Plus something to go with it so maybe the lentil round thing, or some ham or sliced chicken. Or a bit of apple. Or salad.

I have also discovered flavoured protein powders - you can stir these into plain yoghurt to make them taste like mousse! I like salted caramel or strawberry.

Natural peanut butter and apple slices, plus cheese. (Look for peanut butter that just says 100% peanuts in the ingredients - all supermarkets sell it and it’s not expensive).

I don’t like eating a massive lunch so one of the above is usually fine for me. I REALLY like poached eggs though so I have them a lot with different sides. Some days I don’t want a big cooked lunch so one of the lighter options works fine.

In practice I rarely have the brown bread - I keep a loaf in the freezer so it doesn’t go off and then just toast a couple of bits as I need it. It gobbles up so many carbs that I often just don’t bother with it.

I have tried keto bread but every one so far has been too fucking disgusting for words 🤮😂 Allegedly Heylo bread tastes decent so I’m going to give that a try. It’s only 1g of carbs per slice but it’s £4 per loaf. I don’t mind if it’s reasonable though - I save tons on snacks so I can just have a bit now and then if it tastes ok. I’m not holding my breath 😂

As for dinners, you just need to skip the carb-heavy sides, and up the veggies/make extra veggie replacements. So you can have whatever protein you want really. The only limits are sweet sauces (eg BBQ) as some of those are carb-heavy.

Chicken, pork, beef, lamb, fish - plus any sauce you want. Gravy is possible but go easy as it can be carby.

Some of the sides I might have with my protein include:

Leeks and peppers in balsamic vinegar

Cheesy leek gratin

Broccoli gratin.

Tomato fritters

Swede mashed with butter and vinegar (you can apparently also make swede or turnip “chips” in the air fryer but I’ve not tried that yet)

Baked butternut squash

Roasted radishes - hear me out on this!!! They taste very much like little potatoes when roasted and not hot/spicy at all!!

Cheesy stuffed peppers

Salad

Halloumi cheese (I roll mine in olive oil mixed with a smoky flavour powder and then air fry) - great substitute for chips!

Veggie frittata

Oh! Nearly forgot - riced broccoli or cauliflower is a great replacement for rice in things with sauces, like curries. I don’t like cauliflower but I don’t mind this at all.

Chaffles - any flavour you want

Baked muffins - egg/herbs and whatever veggies you fancy

Ooh crispy kale!!! get a bunch of kale and sprinkle it with olive oil and coarse sea salt (you don’t need much salt) and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Comes out like seaweed from the Chinese!

Pan wilted spinach

Just a big pile of veg however you like it done (roasted/steamed/boiled etc)

There’s loads more things but my brain has gone blank!! Tbh, very often I just have a good helping of protein and extra veg if I can’t be arsed doing an extra side.

I’m autistic and have ADHD which is relevant because I often forget to eat until I realise that suddenly I haven’t eaten all day and need to eat right away! 😂🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ So that means having foods that I can always just grab. Snacking on cheese in a hunger emergency has been a life saver!

Same goes for evening meals - I need an easy go-to for tricky days (DP is long-term sick and I have two autistic DC with high needs so I’m often very time-poor). The key really really is making sure there’s always a plan.

Green and Blacks 70% dark chocolate with vanilla really helps with chocolate cravings and is fine for keto. Even if you eat quite a bit which I may or may not have done on some nights 😂

Sugar-free jelly is FANTASTIC - really filling and sweet and zero carbs.

Grenade and Fulfil protein bars also have been a big help for me. Heavy, filling, and sweet but only about 2-3G of carbs per bar. I like the salted caramel or chocolate flavours - the fruity ones sound amazing but taste grim imo.

You can buy keto treats online. I try to avoid them but I have treated myself occasionally. They are expensive and very hit and miss. But they are usually freezable so you could buy a brownie tray and cut it in portions and freeze it. It’s useful if you ever get to the point where you’re just craving a cake! Each portion is typically only about 3G of carbs. On the whole though I keep these for an emergency craving as they’re a) bloody expensive and b) I’m trying to get out of the habit of regularly turning to cake.

You can also buy keto crisps which are usually either baked cheese that’s been flavoured or crispy, flavoured pork rinds.

Useful for an emergency. You can also buy lentil crisps (I’ve had salt and vinegar abx BBQ flavours) but they’re almost 9g of carbs per (tiny) packet so not ideal but doable.

The thing to remember is that dietary fat isn’t the enemy. It’s not dietary fat that causes high cholesterol, which is what doctors used to think. A balanced diet is key but sugar, carbs and processed junk are what causes the diabetes and inflammation within the body. Steer clear of that as much as possible and you’ll drop weight and stabilise your blood sugars. Most people should be able to reverse pre diabetes too. I didn’t realise just how bad sugar was (I never really believed it, probably didn’t want to!) Although you can eat fats on keto, it won’t increase your cholesterol.

That means you can have butter, cheese, cream, oily fish, nuts, eggs etc on this diet. As you’re not eating many carbs, your body enters Ketosis so burns fat as fuel. That’s why it’s so effective for weight loss. You need some dietary fat so your body has instant fuel - this isn’t a low fat diet. Low fat and low carbs will make you very ill. It’s hard to get your head around at first - and it’s hard to believe as it goes against everything dieters are usually told. It just works though and you’re honestly never hungry. By reducing your blood sugar and weight, your cholesterol should drop too.

I roughly track my calories to make sure I’m below my daily allowance but the theory is that you don’t have to. I feel happier doing it though and it reassures me that I’m not overeating because some days I seem to have a lot of food - but still come in comfortably below my allowance! I probably have between 1300 and 1600 calories most days. The sugar and carbs are the really calorific stuff so by cutting those out it’s surprising how much you can have.

My plan is to stick to keto until I’m at a weight I’m happy with and then switch to a low carb diet. This will let me have more carbs - up to 150g a day - but will still be low enough to keep my weight and blood sugars in check. This isn’t a fad - for me, this is a permanent change in what I eat.

The big thing for me has been making sure I was prepared for days when I was just too tired to be arsed doing anything. Keeping food that I can snack on in the fridge and easy meals - like microwave packs of riced broccoli that I can stick with a frozen curry stops me from my usual diet fails.

Sorry, this is a very long answer I know! I just wish I’d found this diet years ago. I’ve been so lazy re my eating habits and I’ve let myself get really overweight. My DC are probably going to be at home for life, especially my DS who has really high needs - I’m annoyed with myself for letting myself get so unhealthy. They need me around for as long as I can be so I owe it to them to get my shit sorted out. There are lots of really helpful keto groups around with people who know far more than me.

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions please just ask and I’ll try to write a shorter answer 😂😂

100% feasible if you make sure you eat the right stuff.

Definitely need to do more. At least 2 hours I would say to lose weight and hour to maintain.

@SpidersAreShitheads what an amazingly useful post, thanks. Inspired me to try this!

Weight loss is not created by exercise. And very few people have the time to walk 3 hours a day. Why post things like this that aren't factual and seem designed to make people feel disheartened? It's perfectly possible to lose weight without additional exercise.

Where did I say 3 hours? 2 hours is the standard sort of mid way point for 10,000 steps and it could be done through out the day. Walk to work and back but add an extra 10 mins both ways half an hour at lunch and then a walk after work.
Personally think its really important to increase exercise if losing weight to build up muscle and be more toned.

So I'm a personal trainer, who lost 10stone about 8years ago and has mostly kept it off.

Ok so if I were you, and I have been plus a lot more weight, I would aim for 1lb/week weight-loss, which is a 500Calorie a day deficit.

Prioritise protein in your meals, if you eat meat then that would be your meats, if you're vegetarian (like me) then beans, pulses, tofu and meat substitutes.

Meal prep as much as possible, batch cook and freeze meals that you've calorie counted. I have a freezer full of home made curries, stews, home made pasta sauces and cottage pie.

Create a plan for a weeks meals, and do your best to stick to it. Don't buy the foods that you'll binge on, easier said than done when you have children, I know.

If you like to eat a lot of food then it's still possible to volume eat. I make huge bowls of salad, using things like rice and beans, so big that I can't eat them in one sitting, but they have less than 500 Calories for the whole bowl.

Activity wise, the recommended minimum is 150minutes of intentional, moderate exercise or 75minutes intense exercise a week, spread over 5 days. This doesn't need to be all in one go, you could go for a brisk 15 minute walk in the morning and another in the evening. And intensity is relative, what would be a brisk walk for you might seem like a stroll for someone else, you just want to get your heart rate up.

I would also recommend incorporating some sort of resistance training, this can be bodyweight or with actual weights. There are lots of great videos and workouts available on the Internet. Recommended minimum is 30min twice a week. Resistance training will not only help you look better as the weight comes off, but will also help reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

No matter what with the exercise, find something you enjoy, it's then more likely you'll stick with it.

Finally, don't focus too much on the number on the scale. I'm 78kg, 4'11" and a size 10-12. BMi has me as obese, but in reality I lift heavy weights and have a much higher than average muscle mass. I'm also a marathon runner, not a fast marathon runner, but a marathon runner none the less.

Absolutely do not join a gym or do anything other than walking as exercise. You need to concentrate on maintaining the diet and not overeating. It will already be difficult enough without adding in a sore body and (if you even managed to do enough exercise to burn calories) extra hunger pangs.
Losing weight is all about the diet. It’s so much easier not to eat a bar of chocolate rather than eat it and then try and burn those calories off.
Worry about exercise once you’ve conquered the dirt.

Aah you’re very welcome! I knew absolutely nothing about keto when I started and was weighing up different diets after I got my blood test to say I was prediabetic. Very overwhelming trying to pick a diet to try as a total newbie! Just luck that I settled on keto - and I had some really wonderful advice from people to help me get started.

I went cold turkey on everything instantly - because cutting back on stuff slowly just doesn’t work for me. Zero willpower! 🫣😂

So just a heads up - if you do what I did and plunge right in, keto flu is a thing. Mine was particularly rough as I cut out caffeine as well. It’s 2-3 days of feeling rotten - sluggish and headaches. I felt really grotty. But if you grit your teeth and power through it passes and you feel much better. Less bloated and more energy. Once you’re over the carbs and your body is getting energy from fats, you feel great.

Also, as a PP said, electrolytes really help with keto flu. In that transition period, if you up your electrolytes temporarily you won’t suffer as much. I did myself a Bovril drink and put some salt in my squash drinks. I couldn’t taste it but the salts helped. Once I added salts/increased electrolytes I got over the symptoms quickly.

In fairness, I might just be a wuss 😂

As you've had an eating disorder in the past I think you're mad to consider OMAD - it's too drastic and hard to stick to.

Low-carb would be an easier way to lose 6kg, IMO.

Chop an arm off?

Sounds unsustainable until you stop telling yourself you need sugar. You don’t. You need to change your mindset. Yes you’ll feel shaky and crave chocolate for a while but unless you want to be obese and diabetic in the future you need to accept sugar is generally off the menu. It’s up to you.
Maybe try watching some of the many online programmes about how poor western diets are. It takes about three days to get over ‘carb flu’.
Low carb you can eat meat, cottage cheese, veg. Lots of fat. You’re not hungry you’re just craving sugar.
I wish you all the best and hope you have a wonderful holiday. Once you get there nobody (including you) will be focusing on your weight but it’s good to think about your long term health.

Join Noom. You can EASILY cancel your subscription after the trial. It holds your hand through each day and educates you around food as you go. It’s fun to use too. I found just learnt a lot about my food habits. Do it! Enjoy your holiday.

I’m in the same boat - 6 weeks to lose 6kg for a holiday. I started last week and lost 0.5kg so I quickly realised it wasn’t going to happen. Instead what I’ve done is focus on eating healthy, nutritious food, up my water intake and just do movement I like without thinking about calories. Even after a week I already feel so much better even if the weight loss is slow.

I also bought a few new skincare bits (including some decent fake tan) to pamper myself and a few dresses and swimsuits that actually flatter my current size, and booked a facial and my nails before I go away. My goal now is just feeling as good as possible and laying the groundwork for decent habits that I can continue for long term results and not ruining a once in a lifetime holiday by worrying about my weight.

I hope you have a lovely holiday regardless of how much weight you lose x

Bad advice, as a currently slim fat person .
I was fat because I am literally always hungry. So I would be eating all the time if I ate when I was hungry. Even after a huge meal, my body simply doesn't get the full up feeling. I am still hungry. I think people who dont live with this particular problem have a clue what it feels like .

Have you considered trying mounjaro? It’s an absolute game changer. You will lose all those cravings and is ideal if you are pre diabetic. I have lost well over a stone in 6 weeks and it has been relatively easy, and very few side effects. I have also completely given up alcohol which I am sure has helped too. I feel great.

I’ve lost about 6kg in 2/3 months without trying. Been eating vegetarian a lot, been walking most days and wherever possible avoiding anything processed.

Haven’t cut out carbs or sweet things but if I want something sweet I’ve been making things rather than buying them. Even had a few takeaways.

Wasn’t trying to lose weight and was surprised I had but seems to be working for me so I’m keeping to it.

I would advise against any quick weight loss diet, I went through phases for years of low carb and calorie restriction, after reading The Diet Myth I realised why I would always put the weight back on and then some so decided to stop dieting.

Can’t guarantee this will work for everyone but that would be my diet tips to try - eat vegetarian, walking, avoiding processed foods.

Editing to add that eating home made sweet things means I less of them. And the cravings for chocolate etc disappear (I’m a big sugar junkie). I really feel UPF is highly addictive.

Mounjaro! Many people are really weird about weight loss drugs as they believe fat people should suffer in order to lose weight. But if you want guaranteed success of actually losing that about of weight by Christmas, take mounjaro.
I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned it.

I think so too but that's long term, OP will not get toned before her holiday in 6 weeks