please help a diet virgin with how to start off

[ghoulelocks]

pre 30 I was blessed with a size 8-10 9st 5ft 9 figure, which two kids and hitting thirty has increased to 11st. I look best at around 9st.

Last pregnancy it melted off to about 8.5 st with no effort, now I'm concerned it's creeping up more than being concerned about the weight. 4 months on I weigh more than after giving birth. One issue was hyperemesis in pregnancy, my diet was awful plus afterwards I was desperate to eat. The other issue has been that I'm breastfeeding this time.,I tend to sit around and eat, plus popping into coffee shops to feed!

I have though exercised well, miles of walking with a double buggy and I've now got a trampoline to bounce on each day. Putting atoddler seat on my bike too for fun runs in the forest. I've tried to improve my diet for the last months too, better meals, less snacking....but I've put on 2lb.

Can anyone tell me how to loose weight effectively? I have two months until work, am a stone too heavy for work clothes and have jelly belly. It needss to be cheap, ideally the same evening meal as the family and not loads of faff. Also realistic as I like food.

Can you help? I'm cluelesswhere to start.

The shred, no daytime treats (then you can evaluate if you REALLY want them before bed, and hey, you've already done all day...), drink half a pint of water before you eat anything unnecessary then check if you still want it... This is my new regime. I'm starting it on Monday but unofficially I started it last night. I like to get in early
I'm nearly 12st. Have been 11st7lbs since dd (was 12st7 after birth). I'm 5'5". The wii says I should aim for 9st 6 but if I get to 10st1 that's how much I weighed when I got married at 22 (am 30 now). Tbh I'm just dying to have a weight that begins with a 10 for now!

Ultimately you know what's good for you - bag of crisps? Double cream in making dauphinoise potatoes? Or a dash of olive oil on some lean turkey breasts? So I'm not going to calorie count, just be sensible and do more exercise. That's my plan.

I don't eat bags of crisps/ double cream, eg last three nights meals which are standard fare
stirfry (soy, bean sprouts, mushrooms, sweetcorn, cashew nuts rice)
meat, potato three veg meal
fish, spinach, creme fraiche (low fat) pasta

average portions

I think I need a blitz, then my diet will maintain a weight (now I've cut the cake...)I don't snack much.

Not sure I have energy for shred with dd up half the night, plus it bored me last time

You're welcome

realistically, if you've never dieted before, start with monitoring what you do eat and working out the calories in it. I was like you, never needed to think about what I ate, until I got close to 30, then I started with just making a note of what I did eat and surprised myself. A lot of people just don't think about it, but even between two very similar seeming dishes there can be 200 calories difference.

I'd aim to go low ish carb too, lots of portein and veg, less potatoes and pasta. That's a relatively easy change to make.

Also try to make yourself add more exercise more, if you don't have the energy for formal exercise videos or classes, is there any way you can build more exercise into your day? Walk with the buggy more than taking the car?

Definite low carb!

But you could also try myfitnesspal

Also look at what you're drinking?

thank you everyone for ideas

dontmindifIdo- could advice on noting what I eat, I have and it;s a little easy to forget those nibbles, I 've discovered finishing toddler bits adds up...

soulsister- I've looked into low carb a bit, but it just doesn't sit right. I like museli and health foodie stuff a lot, not meat much. I don't think low carb suits my lifestyle or taste and I worry about dh and his cholestrol already. However I use real butter etc and no dietproduct as I don't trust processed food.

So...I'm trying.

-no toddler food picking
-totally veggie
-replacing a lot of the carb bulk in meals with extra vegetables but not going low carb as such
-meal planning better and doing a planned healthy meal shop

I'm not drinking as breastfeeding and I'm not one for the fizzy drinks, but have cut tea sugar.

I will weigh after a week and see if this works!

I was the same, I am 5'6 and was always a size 10 even though I really had a terrible diet.

Post baby and now I have had to change as I just put on weight so easily now. I think it was a shock as I had never had to watch what I ate before and really I had no idea on portion sizes or anything.

I'd track what you eat for a couple of days on myfitnesspal as it will give you an idea on where you are going wrong and what is easy to correct.

Tracking food and exercise works for me. Loosing weight is mainly about diet. Although exercise helps build build muscle so you are more toned, as I found to my cost, there is no point in doing lots of exercise if you then need to eat more to replace the calories you have lost. Also if you lose weight by increasing the amount of exercise you need to continue at that level to keep the weight off. So there needs to be a balance and after a few weeks of tracking you can identify what is working for you and how to sustain weight loss. If it isn't sustainable and doesn't fit into your lifestyle you won't lose the weight or maintain it.

You don't need to starve. I lost 10 stone and ate three meals a day plus snack such as a small scone or cake, banana loaf, a slice of raisin bread I ate lots of vegetable soups, pancakes, ham and cheese omelettes and meals I prepared for the family such as bolognese, chicken curry, chicken fajita, tuna with salsa, grilled cod with bread, tomato, herb and parmesan crust. Also you don't need to give up on carbs. I would have cereal in the morning, a slice of bread at lunch, 200g potatoes or 100g cooked pasta/rice for dinner. IF I don't weigh carbs it's very easy to eat too much.

The thing I have to watch is fruit and cheese although I eat lots of vegetables. I limit myself to a small glass of orange juice in the mornings and one other bit of fruit and use M&S low fat brie and Waitrose low fat cheddar - just 20g. M&S sell half fat butter but you need to use just a scraping and I found as time went on I didn't actually miss butter on many things. For example I make sandwiches and use mustard, cranberry sauce etc instead of butter. I use very little cooking oil and just a teaspoon of salad dressing and things like maple syrup and jam no more than once a day. Drinking alcohol is a no-no for me, I prefer to eat the calories!