Please come and tell me why I'm not losing weight on low sugar and low carb diet. Desperate!

[moonsquirters]

I'm 5ft 2 and weight 11.5 stone which means I'm at least 2.5 stone overweight.

I lost 3 stone at SW after ds4 was born 22 months ago but have put most of it back on in the last year. prior to that Have had success with Atkins and Dukan but always put it back on.

This time I thought I needed a change to my outlook and to go for something more sustainable. I love food but don't have a particularly sweet tooth. Firstly I'm active looking after 4 small boys but don't do formal exercise more walking to school and back 25 mins each way etc and running up and down stairs 1000 times a day.

Prior to christmas I was eating anything and everything, Lots of healthy things i.e. fruit and veg but also chocolate and cakes and mince pies and kids leftovers etc etc. So on boxing day I decided to cut refined sugar out and cut out potatoes and rice and wheat.

So for 6 weeks I was just eating meat/fish, eggs and fruit (but not bananas) and high fat dairy so cheese and cream and nuts to snack on. After 6 weeks no weight loss so added porridge with banana for breakfast instead of fry up and nuts fruit/cold meats or boiled eggs as snacks. So lunch something like pack of cold chicken and fruit. Tea would be something like cauliflower cheese of steak and lots of veg. With almonds and cashews in between.

I am so miserable that I've not lost a pound and I don't feel any better for it.

Please help! I'm guessing I need to ditch the fruit?(but ate lots on sw and lost) Or nuts (but lots on Atkins and lost).

The only other thing is I had a mirena coil put in 18 months ago. I'm tempted to remove it to see if its that but not sure I want to risk another baby! I may start another thread in chat re that.

I would suggest working out how many calories you need to eat to be losing weight and then adding up how many calories you are actually eating. Jillian Michaels? (biggest loser coach) has a free 30 diet plan on her website

What in particular about SW did you not find sustainable?

Lose the nuts. I ALWAYS gain weight if I'm eating nuts.

I wouldn't be eating high fat if I wanted to lose weight, eg I wouldn't have cauliflower cheese

Fruit is fine, you'll get people saying its full of sugar but it's also full of vitamins and good for you

I agree with the above, count your calories across the day, or list a full days diet below to look at?

Have you seen this: new.ted.com/talks/sandra_aamodt_why_dieting_doesn_t_usually_work

It's not about what you eat, have you seen the virtual gastric band thread? Teaches you to only eat when you are actually physically hungry rather than when you're bored etc. I lost 2 stone and have kept it off for two years after approx 20 years of diet misery. Literally life changing

I agree that you need to work out your calories and make sure you aren't eating too many.

I have a friend who is one of the healthiest eaters I know but she consumes a lot of calories and that's the reason she finds it hard to lose weight.

How old are you? I'm in a similar position to you and I have found since turning 40 that it is really difficult to lose weight without going on a proper diet. Eating healthily, exercising and cutting out the crap just isn't enough anymore.

You've had success with various diets in the past, but have always put the weight back on. This will always happen if you revert to your previous eating patterns once you have reached your target weight.

A weight-loss diet really needs to change into a sustainable, weight-stabilising, diet, rather than ending.

It seems to me that you are trying to blend LCHF with calorie-restriction, and in not sure that works. Personally, I'm a fan of LCHF, but I appreciate that it's not for everyone. Would something like 5:2 be more sustainable for you?

Eating a high fat diet with lots of added fruit and some grains is not going to have the desired effect if you're not leading a very active lifestyle. Base your meals on good quality protein, good fats (from animals fed their natural diet, coconut oil, butter, olive oil etc) and vegetables.
You don't say how many nuts you are eating but it's easy to 'overdo' it; a handful a day is fine. Don't rely on nuts or dairy.
If you eat enough at mealtimes, snacking really shouldn't be necessary anyway.
You can't just borrow the bits you like from diets that operate in completely different ways and expect to lose weight.

Your diet sounds like a "be healthy" diet not a "lose weight" diet, which is great but not what you want, right?

On SW you were effectively restricting calories so fruit was fine but you probably didn't eat many nuts.

On Atkins you were restricting carbs so nuts were fine but you probably didn't eat much fruit.

Eating low carb-ish then adding a high carb meal (porridge & fruit) because you are not losing weight seems a bit bonkers tbh!

Have you tried Paleo? I find it more sustainable than Atkins.

If you take out the coil and then fall pregnant you will definitely gain weight .

I'm not an expert, (and to be honest I generally think when someone should, in theory, be losing what but isn't it is because they aren't being honest with themselves about what they're consuming) but I wonder if its the fruit?

It's not that it's bad or terribly calorific but it surely must cancel out the low carbing aspect of your diet. So in essence all you're doing is eating a high fat, average (?) calorie diet.

Oh and the porridge. Not just fruit.

I agree with fancy.

You are effectively combing diets with your new eating plan. High fat/protein only works because it restricts sugar in it's pure form and within carbohydrates. You cannot eat fruit and certain vegetables on this sort of diet.

Eating fruit and vegetables in Slimming world because you are restricting fat and eating a low calorie diet.

Combining

Grrrr my phone is mocking me this morning. The last sentence should have read;

Eating fruit and vegetables in Slimming world works because you are restricting fat and eating a low calorie diet.

Thanks.

Right I'm 41 and so it could be age is a factor. I feel tired a lot of the time but that could also be having 4 small boys to look after.

I agree I am combining low calorie and LCHF and I thought that might be the problem. I ate tons od nuts on Atkins and lost but was not eating fruit and to whoever said I wouldn't have been eating fruit on SW thats true.

To whoever asked re SW I don't feel I ate a particularly healthily version of it. yes I ate loads of fruit and veg but I would eats tons of 'free foods' in the form go mug shots and fat free super noodles which are high in fat. Fat free yoghurts also didn't fill me up at all.

I need to lose weight for health as well as self esteem. My BP is sky high and so ideally I want low salt (so mug shots and super noodles not idea).

I think for me I get on better with low sugar high fat high protein as I don't have a sweet tooth but do love food. I'm not really missing bread and pasta and potatoes TBH.

Right I think the fruit has to go. I do eat a lot from boredom and so I will look into the virtual gastric band!

Actually avoiding salt is hard anyway as I have been eating pieces of ham and bacon. I figure if I lose weight though the salt less important.

why dont you spend a week putting everything you eat on 'myfitnesspal'. sounds like a huge amount of calories to me! at the end of the day it always comes back to calories.

but can recommend 5:2 if you like your food!

It doesn't always come back to calories.

moonsquirters, get yourself over to the low carb Bootcamp threads. We'll see you right

I lasted a day with 5:2!

I suppose the odd thing is for the last year I was eating all of the above PLUS the cakes and chocolates and bread and biscuit etc so I assumed that stoping them I would lose.

Don't drink alcohol ever just tea and water.

it sort of is calories though. calories removed by not eating cake. calories added by eating nuts.
some nuts have huge amounts of calories in

Mmmmm I can see that. I'm going to cut the fruit and go low carb high fat.

three failed diets show that they are a waste of time, so don't chuck more money at the scammers.

cheese, cream and nuts to snack on????? !!!!!!!

you are taking in more calories than you burn off. Eat more good carbs, lots more of that veg, less fatty stuff.