If you are an experienced dieter would you help me please?

[bramblina]

I am about 5'4 and weigh 10st 11lbs, a (little wobbly) size 14. My friends thought I was a 12 so I don't suppose I look as bad/big as I do. It's not dreadful but it's the biggest I've ever been, I'm having no more kids (have 3) and am turning 40 mid December.

At the end of November dh and I are going to NYC for 6 days. I am committed to losing some weight- ideally I'd like to be below 10 stone for the holiday and to enter my 40s. I am prepared to commit to eating only good things for the full month of November but apart from the obvious I don't know where to start. Previously if I've needed to lose weight I just cut out the crap and 6 lbs would eventually fall off but as I get older this is no longer the case.
I love bread, butter, cheese, all the things bad for my weight, so I know I need to cut/lose them. Where do I start? What can I have? What should I really just not have at all? What can I substitute and what with? I thought I ate well last week (no sweets, crisps, snacks in the evening etc) but no weight difference this morning.

Please give me all your hints and tips and what I can do that is also do-able while still feeding 3 kids.

I would really recommend looking at Slimming World as it limits the fats and bread whilst still having a huge choice.

I snack on frozen fruit and soya yoghurt and limit my bread intake to a slice a day or none as I find I put on weight when I eat too much. I make all sauces from scratch which cuts out oils and sugars too.

I'd recommend a weight management club as well, because it sounds like you need more education about food content and food choices.
The other tip you probably don't want to hear about is exercise:
Go for a 30 or 40min walk 5 days a day a week - set off from your house, walk 15 or 20mins then turnaround and walk back or work out a route for 40mins. All you need is a pair of trainers. Download a podcast interview onto your phone (piles of stuff on the BBC radio websites) or some music and off you go.

Have a look at the Low Carb High Fat bootcamp - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/low_carb_bootcamp. LCHF really works if you can stick to it - no high carb food, e.g. potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, or anything made with grains. On the plus side, you can have plenty of high fat - butter, cream and cheese. I've been doing it for 6 months, and have lost almost a stone, but seem to have plateaued recently. It's an excellent diet for keeping blood sugar low too, and is adopted by many diabetics. (And you don't feel hungry!)

Thanks. I make all sauces etc too and cook about 80% of meals from scratch but it doesn't stop me from using butter etc....I don't know what else to use.

What do I need to replace my lurpak spreadable that we all like, with?
I am so limited for time I can't commit to the excercise....dh works abroad and we have 3 dcs, the lo is only in nursery 3 hrs per day and 50 mins of that is spent travelling so the other 2 hrs is all I have to get "stuff" done. I struggle with time all the time.
For the same reason (and that there aren't any) weight loss club is not possible. I do believe though that if I had one to report to it would work. But that's not going to happen.

You see, I'm really hungry right now. I want a slice of toast or 3 oatcakes. I'm not going to have any, but is there ANYTHING I can have right now?

You can join slimming world online.

I'm exactly same height and weight as you bramblina and I know I need a total lifestyle change. Life has been hectic (elderly dad with advanced Alzheimer's, rocky patch in marriage and dc3 just turned 2, still not sleeping through). I've got into bad habits, and grab whatever I can when I can. - shockingly often a Diet Coke and bournville (dc3 is also dairy intolerant, so is still BF a couple of times a day, which I'm too tired to know how to change, therefore I'm also still dairy free too).

I cook fairly healthy, it's just the bits in between that I grab to keep me going. For me, I need portion control so I'm going down the old fashioned calorie counting route. I do like the advice of British heart foundation, if you Google, they have some great nutritional advice for a healthy lifestyle. It's along the lines of Mediterranean lifestyle, and where I can I want to do some low GL.

I hear you on the exercise front too, dc3 is now at the stage of rejecting the pram and of course his little legs won't go too fast, so my long walks are a thing of the past. Dh has a long commute so is out 630-730, which makes it hard for me to fit everything in. For me, it's absolutely a case of comfort eating and whatever gets me through the day. So I need to stick to 3 healthy meals a day and no snacking, just fruit if hungry. I need to give up my beloved Diet Coke, which is so not good for me, and replace the bournville with chopped up Apple / grapes. I know I would feel so much better through more exercise and eating healthier, but I've allowed my tiredness to be the excuse.