Right, have got to shift this flab!

[FlamingoBingo]

I'm so sick of it, it's making me miserable. I lost over two stone over the course of 18m a while ago, and have put on over a stone since then, and I really hate myself for it!

So what can I do to lose it again?

Problems:

Cannot get myself back into calorie counting or the up day-down day diet, both of which worked really well last time

Cannot get myself back into loving running, which really helped too

Very short on time

Very short on will-power

Swing from 'I've got to lose this flab' to 'Oh fuck it, who cares!' - NOT helpful.

Please, please help me!

[foreverondiet]

Sugar:
Fruit , especially dried and tropical fruit and fruit juice
Dairy products (lactose)
Processed food, especially when ?low fat?, read ingredients

Refined carbs (as bad as sugar in terms of cravings) ? fibre has been removed
White flour
White pasta
White rice / rice noodles
Prcoessed foods eg cakes, biscuits, chocolate, bread, processed meals
Potatoes esp with no skins

Good carbs (contain fibre), but eat with caution or cut out if you have sugar cravings.
Can be gradually introduced, moderate portions once cravings resolved.
Fruit ? eat whole fruit including skin.
Dairy (but watch for extra added sugar in fruit yoghurts)
Pulses
Brown rice
Wholemeal granary flour
Starchy vegetables ? carrots, parsnips, squash, sweet potato, new potatoes with skin
Quinoa
Jumbo oats

[babycham42]

What else has hidden sugar Joby that we all tend to eat a lot of?

[Joby1970]

also a lot of the cravings are because your body is on the sugar rollercoaster. Best to try & cut out sugar from your diet. That includes hidden sugar (eg white pasta, rice). I have done this & feel less cravings & less bloated.

[babycham42]

Thanks cyb for holding my hand! The glass of water seems to have done the trick!

[cyb]

Yes glass of water

Actually I read this VERY interesting book about food/weigt etc and it said 3 mouthfuls is enough of what you facny.

So if you want have 3 big salty crunchy crisps then throw the bag away (squirting washing up liquid first if you are a bin rummager). it will sate your desire whislt hardly any cals

[babycham42]

Can"t. I"m post op!Going to do the glass of water thing.

[cyb]

DO 50 STAR JUMPS NOW GODDAMMIT

[babycham42]

I want some crisps! Talk me down! PLEASE!

[Sleepwhenidie]

I agree with forever re snacks. I know no snacking at all works for some people (but I do wonder how long they stick to that and the "diet" as a whole).

For me, letting myself get really hungry, say 9/10 on a scale, means I feel like I am depriving myself (diet disaster) and also, when I finally get to mealtime, I overeat or make bad choices about what to eat. Healthy snacks, eg 10 raw nuts (only once a day), a banana, cup of miso soup, a few spicy cooked prawns, some roast chicken, make it much easier to keep on track and IMO is better for your body anyway. I am also a believer in one "treat" a day. For me that's my skinny latte with sugar, but could be a couple of squares of chocolate, a glass of wine, a big bowl of berries with a couple of spoonfuls of cream....something around 100- 150 cals that you really enjoy. It makes life much easier to bear and you will stick to your resolutions for much longer, hopefully long enough to reach your goal weight and make most healthy choices a habit.

[babycham42]

Anyone want to go cold turkey with me today and cut out the sugar in their coffee/tea? I drink a lot of coffee and all those spoonfuls must make a difference!A relatively pain free way to cut the calories?

[babycham42]

Yep! There is that "beyond peckish" danger !
Hi Ilythia!

[cyb]

I agree with forever at work I get very hungry (actual tummy rumbles which shows me I'm not eating like a pig)at about 10.30 (break time in staff room with biscuit tin available round the clock) so I would have a fat free yoghurt whch took the edge off until lunchtime.

Otherwise I woudl be stuffing the biscuits in as fast as I could

For me, I always assumed I was hungry when I actually wasn't. I ate because the clock told me it was time to eat, or because I'd been on the phone to my Mum, or because I was stressed ,or happy.

Out of control unconcious eating basically. And thats the sort of eating that you dont remember and you think 'how did I get to be so big?'

[babycham42]

Fair enough foreverondiet!

[foreverondiet]

re: snacks - I agree best to cut snacking. But I do think that you might genuinely be hungry between meals and if you are actually hungry then a healthy snack is a good idea.

My "snacking" is an apple mid morning and a snack when I get home from work (maybe cottage cheese and a ryvita) - I am genuinely hungry but can't eat properly until the DC are in bed.

If I feel like eating I drink a cup of water or herbal tea. If I still feel like eating I ask myself how hungry I am.

[Ilythia]

Hello ladies, I am in the frame of mind to get this done now as well, I have at least 4 stone to lose.
I went to stay with my mum and she sent me off for a run everyday and only had protein for us to eat (dukan dietwise) I felt proper ill. I do NOT recommend a diet that gives you the runs as soon as you eat 2 blackberries.

Anyway, it kick started me and got me through the horrible no carbs flu, so I am now off bread as it tastes a bit weird and claggy, and pasta as well. I eat stir fry or steamed veggies with my meals, snack on nuts if I NEED to (ie stuck at swimming lessons and starving) and am drinking a LOT of water. I am losing a couple of pounds a week (week 3)
Christ its a bit boring though

I have problems with exercise as DH works split shifts, so today he was painting the bathroom all morning and then working 2 until, well, he will be home shortly. So I have no spare time. I am going to do a DVD tomorrow morning just for some exercise though.

[babycham42]

I think it"s better to skip the snacks than change them. For me snacks are for boredom or because I fancy the gratification of a particular food.Veg snacks just don"t give me the same feeling as crisps so IMO it"s better to break the habit of snacking,full stop.

[cyb]

Toast and butter is such an easy thing to overdose on, I've done it many many times and its my unconscious snack of choice, 1. Because its delicious and 2. Because its quick and comforting

I say unconcious because I could easily eat 4 bits with butter and not even remember eating them, and thats about 650 calories,do that 3/4 times a week and thats a days overeating at least (not that I count calories)

When you start to get that snacky feeling, you need to chage that automatic habit. Move your toaster so its not where it usually is, move your bread bin. Buy bread you have to slice so you can 't just whack a couple of slices in the toaster.

These small changes might make you pause and think am I really hungry? Because it does take a pause to reflect on that. Cutting your portions will allow you to feel real hunger, and then you could have a piece of toast and really enjoy it rather than feeling guilty.

[foreverondiet]

cheap snacks:
how about a 2kg bag of tesco value carrots and snack on that?
or tesco value low fat yoghurts are 4 for 29p. a couple a day plus the carrots would be good?

[babycham42]

LittleDragon your DP sounds nice. I agree with cyb in that it"s important that it"s understood that you don"t need a mountain of food on your plate - and that when it"s put in front of you it"s harder to refuse than if you were given a choice on portion size or whether you even really want any in the first place!
I"m a terrible snacker - crisps mainly - and it"s so hard when they"re around. But we can at least have some hand in our own destiny and we can"t blame anyone else for the choices we make when we put all our extra nibbles in our mouths.

[LittleDragon]

Snacking tends to be toast atm. It would be fruit but we don't have any in now. DP recently lost his job and we've gone down to the dole so we are struggling

[cyb]

okay okay! If it works for you forever, well done.

[HowToLookGoodGlaikit]

cyb what a load of old tosh about Paul Mckenna Its costs a couple of quid for teh book & CD, hardly bank breaking! and its working well for a lot of us. Thank you.

[cyb]

Its good that DP is on your side

But YOU have to make the choice not to snack, he's got nothing to do with that.
He can support you by not piling up your plate when he cooks or by insisting you have more.

(BTW I dont really think one has to change ones food THAT much, it's quantity thats more important unless you wre eating nothing but crap before)

He sounds like a good person to walk with though, speed wise

Talking about snacking, what do you eat and when?

[LittleDragon]

The problem with DP is he's never been overweight so doesn't know what it's like or how to help me.

[LittleDragon]

My DP will support me with whatever changes i want to make. He is the main support i have due to recent events causing rifts in the family. The hardest thing for me is not snacking