Single most effective change you made to lose weight?

[SunshineChatter]

Hi there,

Just in search of real-life ideas on how to shed a few pounds. I'm a size ten, hourglass, but I'd like to lose some weight. I've done the working out (I went five times a week and did a combo of aerobic classes and weight lifting with a PT) and didn't see much difference. I have tried dieting, same result.

I lost a ton of weight a couple of years ago (I'm 48 now) but I think that was stress as I had started thinking about leaving my husband.

I have fasted for a week long, twice, but again due to stress, and still the needle didn't move. I don't eat junk food and, as I don't cook, I tend to have a HUGE salad (leaves, one tin of tuna, balsamic vinegar, horseradish sauce) at lunch or dinner and then I graze on fruit. Lots of it.

So I'm not really sure what to try next. Any ideas? TIA.

In the UK anyone can call themselves a nutritionist with no scientific background/qualifications other than a certificate they've paid for. Dieticians are those who are properly qualified to advise on diet.

I'm now on day 6 tracking on MFP. The biggest change is having had to dramatically cut the amount of fruit I eat as that equalled a lot of calories. I have also completely ditched the caffeine-free Diet Coke and replaced it with sparkling water. Oddly, I don't miss the former as much as I did when I tried to ditch it before (it was torture). I can only think that the cravings for CFDC were due to my diet. I am spending quite a bit of time trying to work out what I can eat that's filling but low in calories - I am having eggs for breakfast and trying to eat quite a lot of proteins and vegetables (proteins atm are microwaved meat and fish as I don't cook). I must say I feel much less bloated. Could that be drop in fruit consumption?

What’s a typical day’s food?

Late to this thread but here’s how I went from a size 14 to a 10/12:

Walked. A LOT more.
Cut out/down on sugar.
Cut down on wine.

My diet was decent apart from sugar so no other big changes.

Walking (2 hours ish a day) did more for me than any gym.

@PurpleDaisies Typical day is a couple of nectarines, a slice of melon or two, a tuna salad or some meat with vegetables. I am still only having lunch or dinner because I'd rather have fruit than a second meal. Snacks may also include rice cakes. But it's early days so hopefully I'll come up with a wider choice of foods I can have!

That’s nowhere near enough food.

You don’t have to choose fruit or a second meal.

Cutting out bread/pizza/pasta completely for a while does it for me. I can tell it's working when I'm craving carbs!

more veg leas fruit

I think I've stumbled across a new favourite breakfast! Three wholewheat rice cakes, half a smashed avocado, two spoonfuls of ratatouille, salt and pepper. OMG it's delicious! And very filling because of the rice cakes and the avocado. I much prefer that to eggs for breakfast.

I'm on 1,200 calories a day. Sometimes I don't even hit that. And MFP is telling me I'll lose 1.5kg in five weeks! Surely I should be losing more than that if I'm only eating 1,200/day?

@SunshineChatter

This is the first time I'm seeing this post, so thought it was just posted recently until I got half way through the thread. Sounds like you've had a lot of helpful advice though.

I feel like I can relate to you in some ways though because I was a size 10 (now a 12) hourglass and was still trying to tone up and lose weight. Now I have even more work to do lol. I also went through periods of stress where I went for week(s) without eating.

The best thing I did was work with a personal trainer who was actually more of a nutritionist. She set out a macro diet plan for me which is somewhat different than calories . It worked amazingly well in addition to her workouts for me. I was allocated a set amount of macros a day which was broken down to something like 175g carbs 55g fats and 60g protein. These are rough estimates from what I can remember. But they added up to about 1200 calories. I had weekly check ins with her so I was accountable to someone. It was the only way I can stay on plan.

The first thing I noticed from your posts - and as others have pointed out and you've acknowledged - you eat A LOT of fruit. You said there was no point in tracking it because you knew what you ate. But had you ever actually calculated what you ate in a day? You mentioned 2 punnets of grapes, 1-2 punnets of plums, plus apples, berries and a banana. Was that just in a day!?! I added that all up in My Fitness Pal and your would be shocked at how many calories and carbs are in just the fruit!! Not to mention over 300g of SUGAR!! It all adds up to 1700 calories.

Sounds like you're already making some great changes! 👍🏻

Below is a rough estimate of what I gathered (with some assumptions on the salad that really don't amount to much) that you would eat in a day if it includes all the fruit. Perhaps it might be helpful to you or others following this thread.

Agree as well that you were drinking an unfathomable about of Diet Coke - even if it was caffeine free. It'll bloat your like crazy!

Good luck with your eating plan. Keep us posted

If you like rice cakes, try the corn ones too
I often have them with v random toppings!
Ones I've liked
Cottage cheese with tomato chutney or pesto or chilli sauce
Egg mayo
Dairylea and ham
Tuna mayo
Avocado, feta and chilli flakes