Eat Less Food

[Octopus37]

I know a lot of people have seen me on here on various diet threads which I am quite embarrassed about, but I have decided to keep it simple on my latest diet..... eat less food..... I am past thinking about carbs, calories, free food, what is good for you etc - none of this has got me anywhere. I have had a bug this week so have felt a bit off my food, so have eaten less than usual and can feel results, I have also only eaten the food I really want, rather than eating things cause I think I should etc. Thinking along these lines has worked for me before, but I know I got slated when I listed what I had eaten in a day, but to me this is the key to improving my shape and wellbeing with a view to getting back to my old weight after a tough 18 months. Think I have lost about 3 pounds this week, but will double check in Boots later, onwards and downwards

Wooden Spoon you sound as if you are doing well with all your planning. I am doing ok thanks, last night I met my friend for dinner and had some cannelloni, didn't eat it all. Today, I had maple and pecan cereal for breakfast (thats what I wanted), and left some of it. I later bought a Twirl bar and probably ate about one third of it. I then had two slices of toast with peanut butter for lunch, left a small amount. For me I am determined to keep enjoying food and that means eating what I want, rather than focusing on nourishment.

Arms are fine, have small D cups/large C cups and a 30 to 32 inch back.

My issue is my thighs, tum and bum. Complete pear shape - that has developed over the last few years of eating poorly. I look odd and disproportionate, and none of my trousers fit any more. I'm an 8 on top and a 12 on the bottom.

I haven't even had any kids. I miss my healthy early 20s body.

scatter I wouldn't say you needed to lose any more weight and your body is telling you this. What do you think?

I think that I've seen my body pile this weight on over the past three years, (max weight was 10 stone) and I am no longer comfortable with how I look in the mirror, and want to do something about it.

I'm a person who takes after their Dad. We have an almost identically shaped body (gender differences aside) and our muscles and fat stores act in the same way. The places he puts weight on, I put weight on.

He is 6 foot 5 and weighs 10 stone. So naturally, VERY underweight. I have been this height since I was 9 years old and was an underweight child and teenager, settling at about 8 stone 5 at 18. I remained this weight until 2012, when I got an incredibly demanding job hours wise, and started to eat shit food and stop exercising. I am 30 now. I miss my long thin legs, and hate the chunky cankles I have now (my favourite boots don't zip over my calves any more).

So I suppose, what I think is that I want my healthy lifestyle and diet back. I'm obviously not fat (in fact, I've never been. My BMI has always been in the green). But if my body gets back some semblance of something I recognise as myself, I'll be pleased.

At tops I want to lose 5/6 more pounds. And tone up.

Well it definitely sounds like its exercise then that you need. More walking maybe to shift the thigh/bottom weight.

Octopus You seem to be doing mindful eating naturally. Its working

I have noticed that since I hit the mid 30s zone I've started to put on weight on my stomach where I've never had much fat before.
I think I've just edged into 'overweight' on bmi so do need to take action
My problems are eating out of boredom and politeness.

4 years ago i did this and i lost 4 stone and have kept it off
i had done every diet known and had a very dysfunctional relationship with food.
I woke up aged 40 and realised that it was simply the amount of calories you eat which is important ( as medic should know that :() . I ate only when i was hungry, i ate what i felt like with no guilt but stopped as soon as i felt full.
It was amazing revelation to stop seeing foods as 'good or bad' and just see them as foods to be enjoyed but not to excess.

its not rocket science and it works

but not sure how i can make the lightbulb moment happen for any one else...currently failing miserably with my mother who has just eaten 2 bananas ...and said to me ' but its healthy fruit' , she was not hungry, it was not meal time...so she just consumed 250 odd calories that she did not need...but ' no darling jellybean it is healthy fruit'...aghhhhhh

The answer is exercise scatters. You need to find a good cardio/strength training routine. However if you do that ditch the scales (they won't be accurate) and go on clothing size or measurements

Scatters you sound very similar to me in terms of size and build. I am 5ft5 and weigh 8st11, have a small back bust 28DD/30 C or D depending on the shop and a big bum which is where all my weight has gone. Like you I had stayed the same sort of size for a few years (lost quite a bit of weight after having kids) but it has really gone on during the last year. I would be pleased if I could lose four pounds but would be delighted with more. You sound as if you have done really well. Also agree with the poster above that something does change when you hit 40, I turned 40 in January. Will get there. I ate some onion ring crisps (prob between 10 and 12) not as mindfully as I should have done) and have just eaten some pasta with bacon and mushroom sauce for my dinner, didn't eat very much pasta so I guess I'm doing ok overall.

Have let myself down today, have eaten more crisps in not very mindful way. I am reading the Paul book at the moment and was warned that this would happen. I know I need to put it behind me but feel crap.

Morning !! I think I might have suggested before (what i did when I was 40)if you have just a few pounds to lose; I gave up a daily real coffee and started eating fruit, ONLY when I was hungry.

I got a headache (do this when you can rest ) but lost the weight. I began Paul Mackenna when even with the healthy eating and BType the weight had crept on after we moved to Fr. for 50% of the time .

I'm also just trying to eat mindfully and have ordered Paul McKenna's "Freedom from Emotional Eating" book, it should arrive tomorrow. I feel like a slave to my disordered eating, constantly battling and usually failing the urge to binge on sugar.

I'm also refusing to weigh myself for the foreseeable future. My mindset is dictated by the number on the scale and it's exhausting.

Good for you helena You'll do well!!!

Hi Helena, sounds as if you are doing well. I am having a better day today, its really hard isn't it not to feel dictated to by what the scales say, I can really relate to that.

Afternoon!

Octopus Glad you feel you are having a better day today. I think that everyone has to find their own path and reason for why they want to be fitter and have less body fat. Diets wont do it, it has to be something more. Something that makes total sense to you and keeps you on your path. For me it was mindful eating that started me on the path to eating normally after years of disordered eating. Then it evolved to realising that everything we eat is either creating a new healthy cell or causing havoc in the body and possibly illness. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but some point in the future. Lots of illnesses can be helped, managed or even cured by the food you put in your mouth and body. Food is in its most basic sense, medicine (nutrition) as well as sustenance. Food should also be the most tastiest food you can eat. Otherwise, why bother. That's my take on it now anyway.

I spent my life as a perpetual dieter. Starvation and at the other end binge eating.

I've never done that Blodds maybe I'm lucky I've never counted calories either, or weighed food! One of the reasons why P.M. struck a chord with me I suppose, I love that he says don't weigh yourself every day or even every week, just go by your clothes. I can tell if I I look in the mirror and see a a bit of extra under my chin !!

I've been doing healthy eating for years now and still managed to attract weight. However I've made more effort this year since jan 1 as it was our wedding last month. I probably only lost 7-10 lbs but felt much better for it.

To make a big difference I had to cut out sugar. I'd already cut out wheat( I. Blood group O too) and dairy so sugar was the last bastion. I'm early 60s, very sedentary so can't consume too many extra calories.

I'd worked out that wheat was the cause of a lot of my digestive problems. I got Dr William Daviis Book wheatbelly which was quite an eye opener. My doctor is a big believer in blood group diets as well. Then I realised sugar was also playing a big part...so that went the journey too as my innards felt like a furnace fuelled by sugar.
Also there's quite a connection between diabetes and Alzheimer's and alzheimers is rife in my family so it makes sense to take steps to try to prevent it.
So after comIng off the wagon while on our wedding/ holiday trip I did one full no sugar day yesterday.

I wanted Tobe 10-3 for our next trip at the end of the month and 9-13 for Christmas and that's where I'll stay....hopefully but as I eat for health it's never too difficult to rein myself in. I've always said I don't want to be too thin . At my age I'd only look too wrinkly so I'm happy to be a size 12-14 . I too am a typical pear. Probably 12 on top and 14 on bottom.

I take an enzyme...serrapeptase. It helps to declog arteries and it's good on joint pain. I wanted to eat something before bed time but needed to take that enzyme on an empty stomach...so that was a natural distraction.

I eat quite a restricted diet but I find it works for me and I gave my body the nutrients it needs. Organic egg omelette with onion every day for breakfast fried In coconut oil, green soup with a bit of ham for lunch, protein, veg and a bit of carbohydrate for evening meal. I don't eat potato in the home unless it's sweet potato. We have whole grain rice, bulgur wheat, buckwheat or spelt grains occasionally. I also supplement it by drinking a glass of home made kombucha a day for the probiotics and also some home made kefir again for the probiotics. Different strains.

I know my diet is a bit light in good fats, needed for a healthy brain so I need to include some good quality omega 3 's in my diet. I think when you are older like I am it's not just about reducing calories but thinking like people have said earlier about where your calories are coming from. That's my take on it anyway.

Sorry, I've gone on a bit but I've struggled all my life with health and would be so much worse than I am if I didn't take these stringent measures to keep a check on weight and watch what I eat. I met a lady this week who I genuinely thought was my age. She had lovely youthful skin, no wrinkles, bounded around after her grandchildren, lovely thick auburn curly hair. She said something about being really healthy and I felt a pang , thinking I wish I could say that. After she left I said to my daughter that she was really lovely and what a shock I got when she told me the lady was 70! Wished I'd known, I'd have asked her her secret!

I get daily updates from a doctor...here's one on apples.

I have one a day
Apples

We’re still getting great apples in the UK this season and they come with a large array ofhealth benefits. Fibre-rich apples will support your digestive system: insoluble fibre will feedthe beneficial bacteria in your gut and their soluble fibre content will help to lower “bad” LDLcholesterol. Apples are also rich in vitamin C and polyphenols, powerful anti-oxidants thatcan reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Have an apple with nut butter for a satisfying mid-afternoon snack. Make a delicious healthydesert of a baked eating apple stuffed with nuts, orange zest, cinnamon and a little drizzle ofmaple syrup for sweetness (if needed

Dowser you seem to be on a similar path to me and we eat similar. I agree that its about being aware of everything you put in your mouth and the benefits to your body. I think this makes more sense as you get older too.

Yes Dowser I've got the wheat belly book too, it's interesting. dh is an O type and much happier and slimmer without wheat.

I would add that not everyone is good with coconut (and it seems to be the latest craze!) I use good olive oil instead of it and it's the best for everyone. Also for your health be careful with pork and pork products, I never eat it but dh literally became crippled after some pork which he has overcome now, he doesn't touch it. (it's incredible how our bodies heal themselves isn't it?) You can have turkey slices instead of ham so you can overcome the habit!

So true about our bodies being more sensitive as we get older Blodds.

Hi, how is everyone doing. I am doing okish, but finding it hard to not eat too much as an excuse to sit down. Also have just given the kids ice cream, ate a v small bit of chocolate as felt deprived. I am really trying to just eat when I am hungry and would say I am doing that with about 70% success, would like the other 30% to come right, but I suppose its early days.

Today have eaten

Some maple and pecan crunch cereal (left a bit)
A small part of a Twirl bar
A few mixed nuts (salsa flavoured)
1 piece of toast with peanut butter, left a bite
A few more nuts (was getting ravenous by late afternoon
Pasta with tuna sauce, didn't eat too much pasta but ate quite a lot of the tuna, tomato and onion sauce. Also picked at the sauce whilst I was cooking cause I was so hungry
Have just eaten a very small bit of Twirl bar again.

If you all sit down and eat a 'meal' octopus,not in front of a screen or anything and don't let your self get ravenous (out of a scale of 10, 1 being the least hungry eat at around 5). And chew slowly really enjoying each mouthful then you get into the P.M. mode quicker. Because your brain registers that you're having a 'meal' IFYSWIM. You don't have to eat it all, as you say leave some, put it in the fridge for later or whatever.

It does take a while to get into it, if you eat an apple, for example, when you're hungry and chew it slowly it gets you into it better than a chocolate bar. Nuts are good, I love macadamias because they take a lot chewing and fill me up. Also have water or a herbal tea when you're hungry too.

I know you are right about the whole screen time thing, the only problem is that sometimes it is the only way to wind down. I haven't done too badly today, but have just eaten a few crisps, I sometimes find that I feel v hungry all of a sudden, but I am trying to gradually get into the mode and I am starting to feel a bit trimmer.

Well done! It's funny because the no screen thing works when you're starting at the beginning but, when I restart seriously to lose a few kilos I don't do it. It still works with the chewing slowly and only eating when you're hungry!

Oh I just remembered something else I do which is brilliant, I take a couple of nettle supplements a day and that gets things moving!

This is what Ive been trying to do. Ive rebought the book and CD (I had lost my original CD) and listened to it a bit. Discovered again what hunger (true hunger - not tiredness or boredom etc) felt like.

What I am interested now is this blood type thing? Sorry if it was answered earlier, but how do I find out what is good for me by going by my blood type?

Ive had a bad week this week as Ive been ill so not eating as well, but after a nice restful weekend I plan to get back in the routine again from Monday.