I need to lose weight! Clean eating?

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I'm very overweight. Im a size 20 but tall and very curvy. I have a good 6-7 stone to lose. I can't bring myself to weight myself yet as I'm worried what the scales will say will make me worse. I'm on anti depressants and finding I'm putting on more and more weight. I have an issue with food. I over eat when I'm sad, stressed, bored or basically when I fancy it. I can't stand being hungry it makes me incredibly bad tempered and I then binge to the point of being ill.

It's not what I eat that's the problem. In fact I'm a good cook and we eat fresh every day. I don't control my portions, I snack and I eat to much. The meds I'm on stop me from ever feeling full. It's not healthy, it's not good and I need it to change. I want my children to learn better eating habits by seeing me change. Especially before my dd (18 months) grows up to become body conscious. This is also a bit nasty but my dsis is pregnant and I want to look better by summer because I know she's going to snap back into shape and I'll feel even more rubbish if I've let these next 6 months pass and am still fat!

I know I can do it because I have lost weight years ago. I will exercise in the house as its hard to get out. There are loads of YouTube vids to follow.

I'm looking into clean eating. I want to have more energy, feel better and see results fast hopefully by the end of January.

I need some guidance as to how to do this.

Marking place as also interested in this

I don't want to lose weight i just want to be healthier

I'd suggest you come up with some strategies to help yourself when you are tempted to snack. This could be a photo of yourself when you were slimmer, or diversion techniques like cleaning your teeth, phoning a friend, doing some housework- anything until the craving goes, which it will in a few minutes if you delay it and keep your end goal in your mind.

You might like to look at the Paleo diet- which is a healthy diet but no / few carbs.

I'm not on a 'diet' but am health conscious and weigh the same as I did in my teens- now late 50s.

My clean eating consists of no sugar- or very little.
Breakfast is protein- 1 or 2 eggs and maybe 1 slice toast or 2 oatcakes.
Lunch is a salad with lean chicken, tuna, prawns ( one- not all!) or homemade soup.
Dinner is basically fish of some kind, or chicken, with piles of veg. Fruit for pudding or very small amount of plain yoghurt with some fruit.
I avoid pasta and rice. If I eat potatoes then it's small amount- a desert spoon of mash, 1 roast potato, that kind of thing.
Snacks are apples, or a few nuts, or a tiny piece ( 1 inch square) of cheese.

I don't need to lose weight- I am under 8 stone- but I do need to keep to a healthy BMI for my height and build.

I don't eat cakes, biscuits, puddings, sweets, alcohol, etc except as a very occasional treat.

If I eat carbs then I keep it to one portion a day- toast for breakfast means no bread for lunch, or rice/pasta for lunch or dinner.

I have a gluten intolerance which means I would only eat gluten-free bread, cakes or biscuits anyway, or homemade - which I do, but as a treat.
I snack on nuts, and get good fats by eating avocados, using olive or rapeseed oil, and eating oily fish 2-3 times a week.

My aunt does clean eating and swears by it. It's quite a discipline, though. Can you access any counselling or online CBT to address your underlying issues? From what you have written it's not so much the quality of the foods as the quantity.

Good luck. I actually enjoyed doing WW and still attend the odd meeting because it was such a fun and supportive place.

TBH I have not heard of 'clean eating' until 2 days ago on MN- but assume it's eating healthily and cutting out the crap and processed food?

I think if you normally cook fresh, and feel that it is the quantity that is your downfall, then 'clean eating' isn't going to fix it. You can still overeat on fresh vegetables and wholegrains, specially if you lack any feeling of fullness to stop you. For some people it woud lead to weight loss simply because of the bulk involved, but that doesn't sound like it would automatically happen for you.

It sounds like you need to focus on how much you eat. Do you think the biggest problem is the portion size at meals or the snacks? Things like using a smaller plate and not finishing off leftovers can help you get back into control of that. As to snacks, it's tricky if you have things in the house for the children, but maybe you could make sure there is always a supply of 'nibbles' which are less fattening, and at least alternate those with biscuits/crisps.

But most of all, try to look at why you overeat, and look for other ways to meet the needs that you are trying to block out with food, because as long as food seems the most simple way to deal with everything it will be hard to truly want to change your patterns. You have them for a reason, it's not just that eating 'a bit much' has become a habit like for some people. If you always turn to food you have to work out why that is and how to turn it around.

I over eat when I'm sad, stressed, bored or basically when I fancy it

This is the key to your problem, as the PP said.

We all get sad, stressed, bored or fancy food- but it takes discipline and self control not to give in to those urges. I think you need to start recognising when you are sad, bored, etc and deal with the emotions in another way that doesn't involve reaching for chocolate, cake or whatever.

You also need to learn to accept feeling hungry. In fact I doubt if you are hungry at all- you are just not feeling 'stuffed'.

I recently did the 5:2 diet for a couple of weeks to lose a couple of kilos. I felt very hungry but once the first hour of feeling really hungry passed, I learnt to live with the feeling.

If you are on certain ADs they are known to increase appetite- but you have to fight that, not give in to it.

Although you say you eat fresh food and cook, you may still be eating the 'wrong' kind of food. eg lasagne is very high in calories whether it's bought or homemade. So is pizza, so is a roast dinner if you have masses of spuds etc.

You need- as you say- to look at portion size.
I don't think it's helpful always to know what other people eat, but just to give you a yardstick this is my food for today:

Breakfast- boiled egg and 2 pieces toast (usually just have 1 slice.)
Lunch- some smoked salmon ( bought in sale!)
Snack at 4pm- apple and a small handful of walnuts
Dinner tonight- roast chicken, sprouts, carrots, 1 piece roast parsnip, peas, homemade gravy.
very small amount of plain Greek yoghurt- about 2 tablespoons - and some blueberries.

I eat very healthily and cook from scratch - my downfall is the odd glass of wine/beer.

But I started doing Weight Watchers a couple of months back - as a Product Tester on here ;) I have lost 20lbs with minimal effort. Am almost at goal now too.

It does seem to focus your mind on what and how much one can eat whilst safely losing weight. I used to pooh-pooh 'diet plans' like this, but it has worked for me.

Bored times are the worst for snacking. I find that evenings make me want to roam the kitchen for 'something' even if I am not actually hungry.

Good luck - it is doable, but you just need to fix your mindset to WANT to do it. Then it is easy

I agree with you all that I need to address why I eat and how I manage myself. I know this needs to happen and as my dc grow and I get a bit more time it's becoming a little easier. Distraction is a good idea but needs to be done in conjunctions with working on myself. The better I feel and look physically the easier it is for me to manage myself.

We don't eat the wrong foods. Lots of soups, veg, stir fry, simple proteins etc it's simply that my portion size is to big. I eat foods that aren't good and I eat without realising I'm doing it. When others are stuffed I'm not and could keep going. It's going to take a few weeks to reduce my stomach size and that certainly needs to happen.

The last time I lost a lot of weight I stuck to 3 meals a day. A food diary. No carbs at tea time and 20-30 mins exercise 5 days a week. It was very hardwork but I remember the weight did come off and I felt so much better.

A standard day is
B/fast, a slice of homemade toast with spread.

Lunch, sandwich and crisps or salad and bread or homemade soup and bread.

Dinner, salmon fillet, veg and new potatoes, slow roast pork, veg and potatoes, pasta and tomato sauce and salad.

However I snack on nuts, yogurts, cheese and celery etc I need to stop this.

OP - your standard day diet looks fine.

But only you know how large the portions are - which could make a difference.

It's hard to change habits - especially food related ones, as we all need food.

Your snacks aren't bad - but some will provide perhaps more calories than you use. Nuts are lush, and healthy, but very high in cals and fats. I have to count them out nowadays. It's worth it though to fit comfortably into my clothes.

OP it's a great idea to sort your head out - for want of a better phrase.

Looking at your daily intake, you should try to have a better breakfast. You aren't getting any real protein and this will make you hungrier over the day- they have done research which showed that people who ate eggs for breakfast lost more weight than others because they nibbled less over a day.

Instead of your toast, why not have a plain 2-egg omelette, 2 poached eggs on 1 piece toast, or a pot of plain Greek yoghurt with a banana or other fruit?

Then cut out the bread at lunchtime- stick to protein and salads.

Portion-wise, carbs should be no bigger than your fist ( clenched) so even if you have pasta for a main course, it should be no more than a smallish saucer. Same goes for mash and rice with stir fries etc.

If you click on this link there are some images that show portion size.

Portion size

The snacks you are eating will add up to the same calories as a substantial meal- cheese is very high in calories, as are nuts and if the yoghurt has sugar in it then that's not good either.

Cheese, celery , a few nuts and a yoghurt would/ should be a meal in themselves.

You are also eating a lot of bread- don't have bread with your soup or salads- fill up with an apple or a small square of cheese- half a small matchbox size.

I know your all right and thanks for your input. I really do need to do something.

Is drinking tea and coffee ok? I don't drink enough water but do drink tea and coffee. Can I still do this or not?

It sounds like you would benefit from the structure and guidance of a group to me. It doesn't really matter whether which one, just to get you on the right track regarding portion size etc, your GP may be able to refer you since you have a fair bit to lose. Would it be possible for you?

Tea & coffee are fine. As long as you don't use sugar!