What is your single most effective weight loss tip?

[RestlessSoul]

I am on the 5:2 diet and finding it great. For the first few weeks I lost a lot, but now it is starting to slow down to about 1-1.5 lbs a week. I'd like to speed up the weight loss so I want to know (from people who have lost weight and kept it off) what did you do that was most effective in losing weight.

Thanks

Can't see that one catching on!

When you are hungry between meals drink a massive glass of water and eat three almonds!

No wheat. As few carbs as you can manage.

C25K.

Nancy66
I cannot cope with any exercise video where the camel toe is the most obvious part of the look

The camel toe is pretty mesmerising isn't it? Along with the Audrey from Coronation Street wig

Cook the food that you enjoy eating in smaller portions. Use a dessert plate , no seconds . If you are a snacker then keep them small and eat less at meal times .
Exercise - find something you enjoy doing and push yourself a little. Incorporate some kind of weight training.

I adore the prancercise lady.

I can't be doing with diets any more, so have been making changes instead. Have shifted my extra half stone (didn't have much to lose) by making small, simple changes that I can stick to.

• Walk an hour a day. This is the big one for me, because it replicates my younger days when I could stay slim without dieting. I thought at the time that I was doing it with no exercise and eating /drinking what I wanted. But I didn't register the fact that I was rushing to and from train stations, walking round a city, going dancing every weekend... So I brought that back (in a form that suits my life now) and the weight is coming off :) . If I can't walk due to weather, I go to the gym.
• No alcohol on a school night. TBH this is better for me anyway.

That's about it. I've cut down slightly on portion size and carbs, especially on any days that I don't manage to exercise. I can have cake in cafes and wine at weekends and the weight still gradually comes off. It's a revelation.

Oh, and I eat much less cheese now. Everything else is as before, but with less cheese. It's shockingly calorific.

put double the amount of veg/salad (without dressing/butter) on or in your meals that seems like a portion. Eat that first, then the protein, then the carb (not abs strictly obv, but try to finish in that order).

Drink lots of water or green/herbal/rooibos tea between meals.

Don't snack unless you really, really want that food.

Think about the relative calories of things - I went out and ran 10km in 62 minutes yesterday. Thats 870 cals - two Frappacinos. Now, I like a frap, but its not worth 5km of running. Nor is a slice of carrot cake.

Eat your main cooked meal of the day at lunchtime and stick to soup/salad at dinner time, as early as you can. Ideally go to bed slightly hungry.

poppy
see I'd loathe that. Even on my fasting days I make sure I NEVER go to bed hungry!

Give up the booze

Low carb, shred before breakfast or skip breakfast.

I have the craziest dreams if I'm hungry, usually involving everyone else eating except me.

Drastically reduce alcohol (pure calories with no nutrition). Reduce crisps, cakes and biscuits. Eat any healthy stuff you like, but in slightly smaller portions than usual. Expect it to take at least several months to make a visible effect. Weigh yourself regularly so you can see your progress, even if it isn't visible yet. Do an extra 10 situps or 20 mins of walking/swimming/yoga/whatever exercise you are happy with every day - not so much to lose weight, as to tone up whatever is (still) there.

Persevere.

You are obviously doing something right if you're still losing weight, so just keep it up and don't expect to maintain a speedy rate of loss. The closer you get to your target, the slower it's going to come off. Just accept that fact and continue.

As someone has already mentioned, exercise is key and finding one(s) you enjoy that give a balanced workout is imperative. I play squash for the cardio as it appeals to my competitive and sociable nature (you couldn't PAY me to get on a treadmill or run in the park), and I swim for the stretching and meditation.

I lost 10kg (22lbs), in roughly 5 months, and have maintained my weight for the last 3 months. I look like I've lost considerably more than that though, because I am now a different body shape, leaner and more muscular (size 14/16 to size 10/12). I'm planning to step up the exercise to include more weight-bearing (in the form of boxing and maybe bodypump classes as I know from previous attempts that I just can't motivate myself alone in the gym), and lose another 5kg over the next 3 months or so to (hopefully) attain my ideal figure.

Yup - finding an exercise you enjoy is definitely key. I like the treadmill because I can whack on some dance music, ramp up the slope, tune out and I'm back in a club in the 90s

'skip breakfast'.

hmm...

About the going to bed hungry thing...it's what worked for me but was a tip that came from a qualified nutritionist.

I did get hungry in the evenings but I found that a small gin with a slim tonic or a glass of water got me through it. And going to bed a bit earlier, which is no bad thing!

qualified nutritionist
my views on those qualifications are better left untyped

Eat less, exercise more. 'twas the only way I lost the 6 stone I put on with my dd, and 1-1.5lb loss a week is still excellent, don't rush it or you will put it back on!

Run

The one thing that worked for me was cutting out bread completely.