Can I lose 2st by beginning of sept??

[Zazzabeans]

Please point me in the right direction of what diet works the best, I have been trawling internet looking for ideas and came across a variety of slimming pills which I'm in 2minds whether to try -.
I am 13st 1 and 5ft 2, really need to lose weight .
Please help

Absolutely you can. I lost 1st 6lb between mid November and mid Jan and that included Christmas!

I did (do) the 5:2; eat just 500 cals two days a week (I eat fruit for lunch and a big salad with some protein for tea) and then 1800 cals (which is plenty, but just not a blowout)
Exercise as well - I swim and run bt find something you enjoy. Good luck!

I'm exactly the same height as you and was a few pounds heavier. I lost just over 2 stone in 6 weeks so I think if you really work at it you could so do it by September.

I just ate healthily with a small piece of choc or small glass of wine a few times a week as a treat and went from 0 exercise to cardio 4 times a week. It was no where near as hard as I thought it would be.

I think diet pills and quick fixes are unsustainable. Good luck.

Itsafact - could you give an example of the kind of thing you ate in a day to lose that weight?

I'm currently doing low carb to lose weight for September and totally struggling!

I am really struggling, even with slimming world where you can eat as much as you like
I don't think I could do the 5:2 because 500 calories wouldn't be suffice .
I'm too greedy and can't stick to it.
I'm going away for a weekend in sept with girls from work, they are all size 10 and 12, I'm a 16 NEED to do something and fast

Wow clary and itsa, well done on fab weight losses .

Marking my place. Similar weight and height ot you OP. I have previously lost nearly 4 stone with SW but three years at uni as a mature student and all the stress that entailed has resulted in me gaining a stone for each year I was there. Gutted and disappointed with myself as I loved being slim and being able to buy nice clothes.

I've done SW since but just haven't got the motivation I used to have. Am interested in the 5:2 but I have a huge appetite and like the OP, I don't know if I'd manage on 500cals.

I loosely followed slimming world which is just a healthy eating plan but I think you need to be sensible with free food as obviously it still has calories so I tried to keep that in mind.

A normal day would be some fruit for breakfast (not really a breakfast person), prawn/chicken/turkey salad or mugshot for lunch, chicken/prawn/turkey steak with roast veggies or salad or steamed veg for supper. A 100 cal treat of some sort a day.

That sounds really boring and bland but honestly I can make nice meals from that. I can post some meal ideas if that would help anyone?

I can't do no carbs as I like fruit and veg but I do try and go without pasta/rice/potatoes unless I'm really hungry.

Maybe we could keep this going as a support thread?

Thanks, that sounds great, what exercise did you do?

Thing is about the 5:2, you can just think, well I can eat some of that tomorrow. Also go to bed early. Also for me, I barely eat until the evening. Tomorrow I will eat only an orange and a few grapes until about 8pm. I have a busy day (I teach and it's a full day tomorrow, plus 3 DC who need ferrying here and there) so it's not so hard.

I did find that I needed to focus on keeping the calories down on the 5 days too, ie not going mad and eating everything in sight.

clary-how many calories roughly can you have on your non fast days? I'm trying to lose some more weight and then I'm thinking ahead to maintaining which I've heard the 5:2 is very good for.

I do a mix of jogging, cross trainer, spin class for cardio and use light weights for squats, lunges etc.

My favourite meals:

chicken, peppers and onions stir fried in fajita spice mix

chicken breast cooked in a maggi so juicy sachet, salad and pickles

turkey steak with nandos spice rub with red onion, pepper

gammon steak, pineapple, homemade wedges

I go on a measure of 1800; so I don't eat breakfast, have a roll with something low cal eg low fat mayo and tomatoes (no butter!!) plus some fruit for lunch, prob about 350 cals, then I have a snack when I get home, some fruit or maybe a bowl of cereal, maybe a couple of plain biscuits or a slice of bread and a bit of salad - say another 200 cals - then I just eat the family meal on the basis that whatever it is, it can't be more than the 1200 cals I have left!

I do understand I am a bit weird tho.

I don't feel up to eating in the morning (leave for work quite early) and can manage the day on not much food.

I just know I get hungry in the evening, whether I have eaten a good deal in the day or not, so I save my calories till then. I go to be late so it's not as if I am stuffing my face then going to sleep on it.

I know what you mean I could quite easily go without food in the day but then I would eat dinner and lots of junk so I have to remind myself to eat through the day.

I think a massive part of it is finding what works for you, I can see the appeal of fasting for 2 days and then being able to eat what you like within reason for the other days. Do you mind me asking how much weight you tend to lose a week on the 5:2?

I just can't imagine eating only 500 cals
That's why I live slimming world, even then , I am still too greedy

Well I have stabilised now, I suspect because (if I'm honest) I am not being as strict, especially on the non-fast days (eating toast and butter and jam which was banned before).

But when I started I was losing about 3-4 lb a week. I lost more than a stone between mid November when I started and Christmas. Put on some over Christmas so that came off slowly in Jan/Feb.

What about trying the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred to kick start you? It's 'only' 20 mins but effective and I think you can find the first level on youtube. I'm on day 6 and can see a big difference in my stamina from the first day. If you find dieting hard then it's going to need to be exercise and you will get health benefits as well.

I don't think slimming pills are sustainable, or healthy, but it seems to me that you've got a good chunk of time in which to have an impact without having to resort to something like that. If you find dieting hard then you need to try and make the healthiest choices you can - wholemeal bread rather than white, try and limit portion sizes etc. 5:2 can be good for 'resetting' yourself, so you realise it's not the end of the world if your hungry etc.

You say what doesn't work for you - what does? What have you found effective? Is there any exercise you enjoy?

Good luck! I'm sure you will find lots of support on here - keep checking in to keep motivated.

What are you struggling with with slimming world?

Could someone explain the 5:2 plan to me please.

I'm really struggling on slimming world as I'm not eating enough and am also soooo fussy.

I've lost 4 stone in the last year, I keep a food diary and try to eat between 1400 and 2000 cals a day.

I still could do with losing another stone or so and it comes off really slowly now, but it's still going down and it's sustainable- I still drink wine, eat choc, go out for lunch and so on, but calorie counting reigns me in just enough.