Slow but sensible weight loss

[slowandsteady]

Hi 😊

Up until last March, I had spent almost 20 years on a diet. My weight had gone up and down so many times over the years following different plans. However, last March when the Slimming World group I was a member of went to zoom classes I decided to stop. I decided to stop dieting and to work on improving my relationship with food.

Almost 12 months later my weight is pretty much exactly where it was then. I am really happy about this as to me it means that my relationship with food is so much better. I don't binge or restrict. I don't avoid certain foods because they're 'bad'. I am now far more aware of my health and have started exercising from time to time, just because I feel like it.

But...I do want to be smaller, fitter, leaner, healthier. I want to achieve this without counting points or syns, categorising foods, fasting, massively restricting calories or avoiding certain food groups. Obviously I do need to burn more calories than I consume to achieve this but I want to do it in a way that is sustainable. Slow and steady.

I have decided to set up calories at 1700 per day. 12 months ago I would never have thought it would be possible to lose weight eating 1700 calories (I'm only 5ft3") but I now know that it's possible. As long as I burn more than that.

So, I thought I'd keep a note of how I get on here. My personal rules are:

1. Eat an average of 1700 ish calories per day over a week (some days could be 1500, others 1900),
2. Burn at least 2000 calories a day,
3. Sit down and eat the same evening meal as my family every night,
4. Exercise if and when I feel like it,
5. Don't restrict food. If I've reached my calorie goal but would really like something else then go for it (sensibly),
6. Take daily vitamins,
7. Drink a sensible amount of fluids.

I know weight loss won't be fast, but I just want it to be sustainable.

If anyone would like to join in, please feel free (but please no serious restricting, slimming clubs or fasting.....if they work for you then that's amazing.....they don't for me).

So, I started this last Monday. I'll weigh in tomorrow and update here.

Today has gone like this:
B: bagel, scrambled egg and bacon
L: Toad in the hole, mash, broccoli, peas, gravy. Fibre one triple chocolate cake bar (my fibre intake is too low so thought eating one of these some days would be a good way to increase that slightly).
S: buttered popcorn (I buy kernels and we pop our own)
D: a bit of a picky/leftover dinner of chicken, salad, cheese, rice and cheeselets.
S: small double decker.

Drinks: 1 can of pepsi max cherry, lots of sparkling water.

Calories consumed: 1653
I'll confirm calories burned in the morning.
Exercise: 2 x small yoga sessions from YouTube (8 mins each)

One more thing 🙈 I have plucked the 1700 out of thin air a bit. If I find it's not working, I'll adjust it.

I'm also aiming for slow and steady too, have been yoyo dieting for 20 years, i always struggle with maintaining and now want a lifestyle change that's sustainable. Ive been being sensible since the beginning of jan and have lost 6lb 😊 i won't lie im struggling with how slow its been but i know i need to just accept this!!

I would look at a calculator to establish the calories you need to maintain your current weight without exercise beyond your usual lifestyle.

Sadly I think 1700
Is too generous allowance for you to lose weight at your height unless you are very active?

I'm going to throw the way I lost weight in here because it worked for me and nothing works for me. I went from 94kg to 69kg and it was with limited exercise.
First no drinking anything for 10 minutes prior to eating and 1 hour post eating. This upsets your natural stomach acids. So i kept this rule. Second rule is if I had meat and veges for dinner or lunch or breakfast i wouldnt have starch or breads/pastas etc with my meat. So no potatoes, rice etc with meat. Lettuce salad is fine or coleslaw with meat. So if I had say a lettuce salad for lunch and I wanted say bread then i wouldn't have a protein with it. Or if I had a pasta salad I wouldnt have meat with it. So no mixing carbs and proteins. If you want a piece of cake, have a piece of cake but, remember the no drinking rule 10 minutes prior and 1 hour post. It's pretty much living like normal just not mixing certain foods together and keeping the drinking rule.

P.s I did that diet without counting calories. I just ate until I was full and always sat down and ate slowly. one bad habit I gained as a child, was eating too fast and not chewing my food enough.

@RandomMess

I would look at a calculator to establish the calories you need to maintain your current weight without exercise beyond your usual lifestyle.

Sadly I think 1700
Is too generous allowance for you to lose weight at your height unless you are very active?

If I find that slow weight loss doesn't happen then I'll look at it again. I'm in no rush to get to my 'final goal' and as long as the scales generally move in the right direction then I'm happy. I'm taking a laid back approach to it with the hope it will be sustainable. I will see in the morning how 1 week eating like this has gone. I do see where you're coming from, thank you.

@Covidconfusion89

I'm also aiming for slow and steady too, have been yoyo dieting for 20 years, i always struggle with maintaining and now want a lifestyle change that's sustainable. Ive been being sensible since the beginning of jan and have lost 6lb 😊 i won't lie im struggling with how slow its been but i know i need to just accept this!!

6lbs is brilliant. Almost half a stone gone. Well done

@Nevergiveup5

I'm going to throw the way I lost weight in here because it worked for me and nothing works for me. I went from 94kg to 69kg and it was with limited exercise. First no drinking anything for 10 minutes prior to eating and 1 hour post eating. This upsets your natural stomach acids. So i kept this rule. Second rule is if I had meat and veges for dinner or lunch or breakfast i wouldnt have starch or breads/pastas etc with my meat. So no potatoes, rice etc with meat. Lettuce salad is fine or coleslaw with meat. So if I had say a lettuce salad for lunch and I wanted say bread then i wouldn't have a protein with it. Or if I had a pasta salad I wouldnt have meat with it. So no mixing carbs and proteins. If you want a piece of cake, have a piece of cake but, remember the no drinking rule 10 minutes prior and 1 hour post. It's pretty much living like normal just not mixing certain foods together and keeping the drinking rule.

That's great that this is working for you. I know that it wouldn't for me though. Thank you for sharing

Yesterday I burned 2,019 calories and consumed 1,653.

It's weigh in day. My weight last Monday was 12st5. Today's weight is 12st3. That means a weight loss of 2lbs. I'm really happy with that. I wasn't overeating massively before as I have been maintaining my weight for the past year so I wasn't expecting a massive first week loss.

The calories I burn is an estimate (I'm going by my fitbit) but if I am losing weight (even very slowly) I am happy.

So long as you are in calorie deficit that is fab and it will work 🥳

Sounds sensible and flexible. I think it's got to be flexible because life isn't! And by starting this thread you're being accountable which is very helpful.
Good luck!

I have been taking a very similar approach (I am a bit taller than you at 5ft7) and since last may I have lost at least 25lbs (potentially more - I don’t have scales so not sure what my start weight was!)

@slowandsteady 2lb is amazing, well done!!

I think 1700 calories a day is fine. I'm doing team RH and they have me at 1900 calories a day and I'm losing weight steadily.
No foods forbidden, actively encouraged to eat and not label foods as good or bad - it's just food and food is just fuel for your body.

I've started couch 2 5k and have been doing some weights and yoga as well, and Holly Honjo on Youtube is great for low impact cardio for chubbies like me. I can't do plyometrics, even star jumps, so why torture myself when there are other things I could be doing.

Good luck and keep at it. I think your approach is great and your calories are sensible.

Thank you for your message 😊

@paddingtonbearsmarmalade 25lbs is brilliant. Well done!

@Angbunnyboo it sounds as if you're doing exactly what your body needs. Amazing!

I am a little lower than usual on calories today, but how much we need fluctuates every day and also had a late lunch due to being flat out at work so didn't need anything during the afternoon. Today I've had:

B: all bran fibre crunch berry blast (dry. I know that's weird but I will only ever eat cereal dry 🙈). Banana and 1 satsuma.
S: cashew nuts
L: chicken stir fry. Fibre one bar.
D: pasta and sauce with some chicken thrown in. Salad.
S: sour jelly beans

To drink I have had sparkling water, squash and 1 can of pepsi max cherry,

Calories consumed today are: 1463.
Exercise: 30 day shred workout. Most days my exercise is a decent walk, but because of work I have been stuck behind my desk all day and so felt I needed to do something more.
Calories burned: will be approx 2036 looking at current data and the fact I won't really be moving much more today.

Today I have eaten 1549 calories, which again is a bit under what I aim for, but I know that I generally eat more by the end of the week so it should balance out. I have had:
B: bacon, egg, bagel and tomatoes
S: cashew nuts
L: soup and cheese
S: fibre one bar
D: 2 x chicken fajitas
S: chocolate bar

To drink I've had the same as usual...sparkling water, squash and a can of pepsi max cherry.

Today's exercise was playing football with my children! My calories burned today will be around 2171 (I was only out by 1 calorie with yesterday's estimate so will continue this).

Another day done, and a step closer to my end goal!
Calories consumed: 1480.
Calories burned: 2119.

B: poached eggs on toast
L: mint lamb kebab with a load of roasted veg
S: a few hippeas crisps
D: chicken supreme cooked in butter, lemon and garlic with rice, carrots and broccoli
S: creme egg

Drinks: sparkling water, squash and pepsi max cherry.
Exercise: 45 minute walk with the children.

How do calculate your calorie usage?

@16purplecolour16

How do calculate your calorie usage?

I use my fitbit. It's an estimation, and not totally accurate, but one of my goals is to burn at least 2000 calories a day so it's good to keep me focused.

I got mine from Team RH when I signed up, but I think its your TDEE minus 500 depending on your activity level.

It seems to be a low calorie week (though unintentional). Today I have eaten:
B: all bran fibre berry burst with extra strawberries and raspberries
S: cashew nuts
L: a few different homemade Chinese bits as part of my son's school work was to taste food from China (beef and broccoli stir fry, egg fried rice, noodles and prawn crackers!)
S: fibre one bar
D: spaghetti and meatballs with parmesan
S: jelly beans

What is definitely helping is that at the start of the year I had a massive IBS flare up which means I can now only tolerate one alcoholic drink (but beer isn't particularly good at all) and too many high fat foods cause bad pains too. So, I'm not really touching much alcohol (I may have a g&t at the weekend) and I'm more careful with what I eat.

Calories in: 1472
Calories out: approx 2189
Exercise: 30 day shred and a walk.

Check out team RH, it is working for me on 1800 and has changed my mindset on eating and exercise!

@buckleten

Check out team RH, it is working for me on 1800 and has changed my mindset on eating and exercise!

Thank you, but I've tried it in the past and found it to be too 'controlling' having to eat a certain amount of protein, etc. It wasn't for me. If what I'm doing continues to work I'm happy sticking with it. Thank you for the suggestion though.

slow I completely sympathise with your IBS troubles - I'm having a bad case at the moment!

One thing I find is that too much fibre when I'm having an attack makes it worse so I have to go back on to white carbs and limit fruit & veg which is a pain when you're trying to los weight!

I think you are doing great, and I love your attitude about slow and steady. I'm feeling the same, slow and steady is working for me.