To share some weight loss tips?

[Jumell]

Losing weight is very hard and I want to give support to ANYONE who’s embarking on it - whether it’s by calorie deficit/exercise alone or by getting medical help.

Last year I lost 3 and a half stone between January and May by keeping my calorie intake each day at 1200 or less, doing cardio/weights at least 3 times a week and drinking more water (up to max of 2 litres a day).

I was very determined to do it. These are some tips :

1. its very important you keep your weighing day ‘sacred’ e.g it’s fine to overindulge as a treat on weight loss day and even eat 4000 Cals , for instance on that day - but you MUST make the calorie deficit up by the same day next week eg if Monday is weigh in day

2.its important to keep exercising if you don’t feel like it - youll feel better next day

1. have non food related treats to hand eg magazines (not THOSE ones) 🤣, new 2025 calendars. TV programmes etc
2. Diarise your weight weekly
3. if you feel a bit down one day and are finding it hard going - have something nice - I did this last January - nice latte in a coffee shop and it actually helped me stick to it

sorry my paragraphing is all over the place but you get the gist !!

Oh op. Look you clearly developed unhealthy habits that worked for you. But are not in a position to advise others due to it.

Myfitnesspal app is helpful for tracking food, drink, exercise and weight

For the vast majority, a suitable weight / size can be achieved by mostly eating sensible amounts of reasonably healthy food,, with some exercise

It's not complicated, although I accept many people find it difficult. Key is developing and maintaining good habits

Yes thank you , it’s exactly what I meant

Different approaches work for different people. A Shakes diet like Slimfast works for me, but I have to go cold turkey on all treat food and stick absolutely rigidly to the plan. Having a little bit of something “bad” is far harder for me than having none of it at all.

If you go out and eat 4k calories in one day but have to keep an average of 1200 for the week that leaves you 734 calories a day for the rest of the week.

If that's not an example of disordered eating I don't know what is.

No it’s not. You’re just back tracking, and as a pp said, at no stage is earring 700 calories a day ok. And if someone over eats at Xmas and birthday they should just get back on track the next day. Not starve themselves.

Fair enough. I get this

I put weight on at 1200 cals including exercise at similar or greater levels- weightloss is not an equal battle - we are at mercy of our biology unfortunately.

However love the spirit OP and I applaud your weightloss.

Your post screams of disordered eating, OP. As PP says, if you "spend" 4,000 calories on blowout day and are insisting you make up deficit before next weigh-in, you'll only be allowed around 800 cals a day. That's not sustainable for the vast majority of people.

You say you lost the weight between Jan and May last year – how are you keeping it off? That might be more helpful to share, because losing weight is one thing, staying slim is another.

1200 calories would certainly make most people lose weight if they could stick to it. But a lot of people would only stick to that for a week then binge as it is too low. Glad you could stick to it but it would be very easy to put the weight back on. As I did - and more- when I lost a stone and a half in 8 weeks doing Very Fast 800 in 2021.

For most people, changing less healthy habits for life is a better bet and gradual weight loss. Sustainable eating and exercise levels.

Also 1200 calories is not usually advisable for short women. Maybe short women in their sixties upwards. For most women, including short women, if you stick to that amount you're going to speed up the loss of muscle mass that starts when we're in our thirties, increasing the risk of health issues as you get older.
If you genuinely can't eat more than 1500 a day without gaining, it's far better to work on building up some muscle mass first, which will allow you to eat a little bit more to maintain (and also to lose) but you will be much healthier.

thank you 🙌

Thank you

very good tip I think

I put quite a lot on in December!!

I don't mean to be rude, but that wouldn't work for me at all. Starving and bingeing is not good advice I don't think?

If you’ve battled with your weight since adolescence, by the time you’re middle-aged you know what you need to do to lose weight - I’ve done calorie deficit, keto, low carb, IF, meal replacement, some weird cranberry juice fat flush thing..you name it. The primary issue is finding something that works for you that you can stick to. OP has found something that works for her. But it won’t work for everyone. For example a friend of mine was told to weigh every single day and that has been massively successful for her.

For me, the only thing that has worked have been weight loss injections. If someone has never really suffered with food noise, it’s hard to explain what it’s like to no longer have it. When I’m usually trying to lose weight ALL I can think about is food - when can I next eat, what can I get away with eating, how can I cheat the system and still eat the bar of chocolate I’m holding. It is a constant dialogue in my head. To have that silenced has been a total revelation for me. I’ve had horrendous side effects, and my weight loss hasn’t been as rapid and dramatic as other people but I’ve kept going because it’s finally getting me out of those bad eating habits I’ve had all my life.

2025 calendars, a treat? Huh?

But the OP hasn't even found anything that has worked for them by the sounds of it...

I lost three stone last year (initially calorie counting to 1800 cals per day as an active but short person) but quickly moving to something more akin to intuitive eating. For me the biggest success factor was around mindset and moving away from a diet mentality of ‘weigh days’, diet tips and the like and understanding what works for me as a healthy lifestyle as everyone is so different. Once I figured that out the weight loss followed almost as a byproduct.

I have a bad sweet tooth. I found having a small amount of chocolate satisfied my carvings. Where as if I didn't eat any and wanting some I binged on it eventually

Ok this shows how much of a sad sack I am - admittedly!!

How much have you regained?

I don't think eating very variable calories is necessarily disordered eating per se, though 4000 one day and 700 another is a little extreme.

Lots of people might eat say 2000 one day and 800 another doing 5:2. I had some success with that though it doesn't quite fit with my exercise routine now.

This year, having two stone to lose to get to BMI 24, I'm going to try averaging about 1700 calories to start with, (12,000 a week) but on the 3 days I go to the gym I'll have about 1800, on other days about 1500-1600.

I aimed for 1200 calories when I was very disordered in my eating, I don’t think that’s an ideal amount for most people, especially if you’re exercising as well. Agree that you should have posted this in the weight loss topic.

I think it’s just keeping an eye on your intake without completely stopping your social life.

So many people fall off the wagon or struggle to lose weight because they’ll go out for a meal and a few drinks and all of a sudden be at least 3k calories.

And then they either give up because they think their progress is ruined or they don’t lose weight that week.

Some people don’t do this very often and it wouldn’t affect them overall but if you’re going out a couple of times a month and not reducing your calories on other days, then you won’t lose weight.