Weight loss and what works ?

[ApricotRow]

Over the last year or so I have put on a couple of stone. I have been much more tired and more hungry and just feeling a bit rubbish but about a month ago I thought to myself it’s time to do something about this.

I have been watching what I’m eating and have started logging it. Trying to keep sugar and fat down. I have been trying to fast 7-7. I have lost 1lb over that month which is quite depressing.

Mentally I’m in a good place to do this, I have a family party coming up in September and my goal is to have lost the weight by then.

I’m wondering if I may be better following an actual plan. Is there an advised diet plan for middle aged women? I have also been looking at the huge about of supplements available as I don’t take anything yet, also not on HRT. I am peri menopausal I would say as periods been patchy over the last year.

Which fast is 7-7?

Before I started hrt, I lost half a stone through a combination of my fitness pal (tweaked to v specific settings: activity level set to sedentary but do allow step count and logged activities to grant more calories. I found this motivating!) and only eating in an 8 to 10 hour window, with the fasting period generally starting early evening. I got into the habit of eating fibre before carbs and upping my protein (I'm vegetarian). I already avoided UPFs.

I have kept it off a year, surviving HRT and Christmas! I don't track currently or remember to stick to the eating hours as much but fibre and protein have become habits.

However.... I'm happy to be a bit heavier than I used to be pre 40s. I'm physically fit and actually prefer my body like this. The less overweight you are, the harder it is to shift, so I suspect if I tried to lose more it might be harder?

I’ve been fasting 7pm to 7am. We eat dinner at 6.30 I could possibly push this back to 6 but no earlier. I don’t work at an eat at your desk environment so it’s hard for me to have breakfast any later than 7.30 unless I just skip it and eat something at 10 but I think I will struggle without my morning coffee.

I have dug my Fitbit out and am going to aim to make sure I do 10,000 a day as I know some days especially weekends I don’t. I really need to pick up some exercise but I can’t bear the thought if I’m honest, I’m just so tired in the evenings.

I would highly recommend HRT. It can help with peri weight gain, and will give you long term protection for your bones and heart too

A sensible calorie deficit not cutting out any food groups is generally the best way for most people. I’ve found the Chub Club on Facebook really useful, they will calculate a sensible deficit for you based on your activity levels, what they actually are not what you hope they’ll be. Sedentary people can lose weight with the right deficit, exercise is a tiny part of the picture what you eat is what really matters. I’m down a stone so far with a few ups and downs and actually feeling like I can sustain this for the first time in my life

If I really need to lose it I do 1200cals for 4 weeks. That kills 4kg.

Otherwise I believe the advice is more lean protein, more fibre, more water, better sleep.

I exercise first thing in the morning, but I have done since my early 30s so it works well for me, it might not suit you.

This morning I did a 15min caroline girvan legs (at home) and then 20 fast lengths in the pool at work (school pool).

I'll walk at lunchtime.

Ah sorry. 7pm to 7am is obvious, I should have got that!

Got to be worth a try and push breakfast to 10 if you can manage it? If you make sure the previous night's meal has loads of protein and fibre you should be ok. I found that I adjusted after a few days. If I felt hungry, I had fruit tea. Would you be allowed that at your desk?

Re coffee, it's supposed to be better for you to drink it a bit later in the morning (something to do with natural rise and fall of sleep hormones can't recall details) could you function on tea until 10? I also drank normal tea with milk because apparently it takes 50 calories to wake your digestive system up again and the amount of milk needed for tea is negligible.

I do think there's more to fasting than simply calorie deficit. Unlike past weightloss attempts, this time the weight has come specifically off my waist and bra strap area (inch each).

I’m not really sure not eating between 7 and 7 really qualifies as a fast to be honest, haven’t you jist cut out evening snacking, and if you eat your cals in the rest of fhe time, it won’t make any difference.

i think you need to calculate how many cals you burn a day and ensure you go into a defecit.

also I’d add the less exercise you do, the more lethargic you feel and less you want to do.

aim for a heakfhy diet, ensure you’re in a cal defecit. Right now you’re eating to maintainenance, as in you eat enough to maintain your current weight. And fill up on protein, veg, salads etc,

I keep weight off by eating one meal a day and doing lots of exercise. I run, cycle, and do Pilates - eat at around 4-5pm when I have a normalish meal with lots of fruit and as much veg as I can get down me.

The exercise keeps me out of the house so I'm not tempted to eat, and I never was one for breakfast anyway. But if I eat too much even on the one meal a day the weight starts to creep steadily back on again.

I had to work out just how many calories I could eat to maintain weight and then adjust that either downwards (if I need to lose a few pounds) or to stay steady. It is remarkably few calories, unfortunately at 65, and I can only eat bread once a week so I try to stay low carb, which helps.

Smaller food portions. Occasionally intermittent fasting. Sometimes, I'll only have 1 meal a day. I've always done a lot of exercise anyway, but reducing my food intake is what has made a big difference. Boring, but true.

Hormonal changes can affect weight, energy, and appetite during peri-menopause.
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I would genuinely track what you eat and just reduce it slightly, no fancy fasts, no schemes, no plans, don’t cut out groups, allow treats.

For most of us it’s simply lowering portion sizes, monitoring snacking, and sustaining a new lifestyle not a “diet”

it’s the same as when we take our dog to the vet, they say they are a bit overweight, feed less exercise more 😂 the don’t say the 5:2, 7/7, 16:8.. low this low that.

Its just less in move more! I would also say measure rather than scales as water weight can fluctuate and give you a weight that make you think sod this and reach for the donuts!!

but whatever you do don’t try everything at once, high protein, fasting, gym etc.. it’s all just going to fail, small consistent changes.

I lost 5 stone at 64 on mounjaro. Ow I have to hit the gym and count calories to keep the weight off. Its hard work but I dont want to be fat again.

This

What’s worked for me at 57 is to eat more protein and fibre and limit complex carbs to two meals per day. I also try to do three HIT sessions per week (in my case running) and drink more water and limit alcohol to max 3 days per week.

I aim for 100g protein and 30g fibre and 2 litres of water every day and 30 different fruit or veg across the week. That’s not too onerous to track and if I hit the protein and fibre macros miraculously the calories tend to work out at about 1600 per day which is enough of a deficit to consistently lose a lb a week from a normal BMI starting point (at the high end of normal hence the desire to reduce slightly but it’s obviously harder to lose once you get close to your ideal weight)

I gained weight on HRT, as did a couple of friends.

Are you eligible for weight loss injections on a private prescription?

After 50 years of dieting with limited success (I'm 64), I've finally realised that low carb and a short eating window is the only thing that works for me. I'm extremely insulin resistant so eat a very limited meat and veg diet and having strict eating windows seems to be the only way I can stop the snacking habit. It's slow and boring but seeing a pound or two disappearing every week is pretty motivating.

Whichever method you use, it all comes down to calorie deficit

That’s part of it but it’s more complex than this particularly when you factor in peri and meno

i was not losing weight in 1200 calories a day and if I ever exceeded that amount (by which I mean going to maybe 1500) I would gain. That was because I wasn’t eating the right kinds of foods even though I was in calorie deficit. It took working with a nutritionist and being very mindful about the kinds of calories I was eating to get the scales moving and I now eat more food and more calories but the weight loss is more consistent.

Obviously in my current way of eating I am still in a calorie deficit otherwise I wouldn’t be losing weight but finding the solution was about the quality of the food and the macros just as much as the calorie count and balancing this with appropriate levels of strength and cardio

Lots of different ways of being in a calorie deficit, and there are issues that make it more difficult, but it’s the only way to lose weight

I’m not sure I’ve heard of a 7-7/12 hour fast before, fasting usually forces you to skip a meal which is usually just a way of creating a manageable mental boundary to get to a calorie deficit. Unless you are a particularly bad evening snacker, a 12 hour eating window is still 3 meals.

To keep it sustainable make small changes. Eat slightly smaller portions, make some swaps to lower cal versions of the same things, add in a small amount of movement. Try and make sure you're eating enough whole foods, fibre and protein to keep you feeling satisfied.

I don’t worry about fat. I cut out carbs instead - bread, rice, pasta, potatoes. No alcohol, very few snacks, chcoclate, crisps etc. No breakfast two or three times a week. No counting calories.
I don’t exercise at all.
Lost two stone in the last year. I’m 54.

Surely that is extreme? One meal a day which is low carb plus lots of exercise? Not really sustainable for most people I’d say… and not healthy for most either. How do you eat 1000cals plus in one sitting with no or low carbs and lots of veg????

Quite easily - I eat a lot of dairy. And yes, it's fairly extreme but for me it is the only sustainable way to keep weight off - I am a very efficient converter of food to fat. The exercise only amounts to an hour of running a day and 45 minutes to an hour on the bike plus Pilates which can be as long or short as I want, which isn't THAT extreme when you've got all day, as I have being retired.

Some of us have an unfortunate body type that wants to convert everything it eats to fat, and we have to work hard to prevent it. The question was weight loss, what works and this is what works for me, it won't work for absolutely everyone.

Ok so what’s worked for me:( it’s slow but I feel so much better, and not hungry or restricted). I didn’t do these things to lose weight- I just got leaner.

sleeping well. This is key. Make the changes you need to make and make it a non negotiable. I’be had to sleep in the spare room, magnesium cream, window a little open, wool duvet.

hydration. Your skin will love you too

Pilates or similar. My stability and core are supporting me. I’ve gained about an inch in height, which makes me slimmer, and I don’t feel old or creaky

Strength training. Put some muscle on. It burns calories. But be prepared for a phase where you’ll have muscle and fat. ie you will get bigger in the short term. I’m just getting past this stage ie shrinking. The scales are finally shifting.

eat fibre and protein.. Look after your gut biome, clean eating as much as possible. I try and do this Monday to Friday. Lots of healthy fats, seeds, ferments, dates, beans, chicken, fish, olive oil etc.

Change the narrative in your head. Tell yourself you deserve to be healthy, able and live a fulfilling life. Forgive yourself and don’t reiterate yourself as a failure.

look at micro habits and marginal gains. Something done consistently but ok beats aiming for perfection every single time.