I have to lose some weight but how? !

[Yorkshirebornandbred]

I hate the sight of myself. I'm at least two stone overweight and I can't seem to shift it. I've tried low carb, slimming world, I can't stick with anything for long, I give in to sugar cravings.

Anyone else have a couple of stone to lose? Maybe this could be a support thread. .

I'm 5 foot 7 and weigh 12 stone 8.5. Id be happy to get down to 10 and a half stone. I've even considered throwing up as I can't seem to stop myself eating junk.

I'm 52 which probably isn't helping . I can't exercise much due to health reasons.

I may try a shake diet or vlcd, need to see quick results or I just give up

Any suggestions?

I don't have suggestions as I could have written this exact post myself, except in shorter and heavier. I think I'm going to go to a weight watchers meeting and make myself be weighed in front of someone.

Don't bother with shake or VLCD - I've done both. They work when you stick to them but when you resort back to 'eating' you just pile the weight back on. I don't know one person who has successfully lost all their 'excess' weight and kept it off. I know several people who lost it and then put it all back on and more.

Not sure why I'm commenting really, I'm a shocker at dieting. The most success I have had in the past is with weight watchers as I have a terribly sweet tooth and you could 'save' points or earn extra ones by exercising and not feel too deprived. I think they have altered their plan now to avoid this unhealthy way of dieting!

Obviously the key for you is cutting down your sugar consumption. Could you keep a food diary to keep a true record of what you are eating and if you are, for example, eating five sweet things a day, then cut it down to four etc etc? I don't know really, it's a matter of finding something which works for you and sticking to it.

The Paul McKenna 'I can lose weight' app is useful. Eating only when you are hungry is the key. Easier said than done when you have lost your way with your cues to eat (bored, lonely etc)

Anyway, I wish you luck. I'm just about to start my 'OMG I can't fit in any of my summer clothes' healthy eating plan (less sugar, more veg on my plate, more moving)

Just been reading about the blood sugar diet, sounds good but am worried it'll cause bad breath like low carb diets. I can't drink plain water .. the smell of it makes me feel sick.

In my experience losing weight comes down to lower calories. Low carb ends up making me full and i end up eating less as im so full snd can skip meals.

Slimming world i end up conduming less calories.

High carb low fat same.

Try to find a way to cut calories down.

Ive known some people who lost on 5 2 diet. Personally i lose weight when im busy as i eat less. I end up skipping lunch or breakfast which brings down my total calories. I still have low calorie drinks like a broth or low kcal cup a soup or a cup of tea.
I can't do rules of no fat or no sugar but its easier to narrow it to one or two meals a day where i have whatever i fancy.

Forget the fad diets forget the fast solutions you have to be ready to change and find a way of eating that works with your way of life. You might find WW or SW will work because of the support. You might find 5:2 works better for you. With me its sensible eating , bit of everything, upping theveg and fruit, reducing the snacking . You need to find what works for you as everyone is different.

It occurs to me when I read these threads that we are all ridiculous slaves to the diet industry. We all know WHAT to do (eat more veg, fruit, protein and a lot less of everything else oh and do more - good exercise and stops you loafing around the house eating). But it's hard. Food is nice, being hungry is horrible. Biscuits and cake are delicious, fat and sugar make stuff taste nice, vegetables are fine (nice when roasted or covered in stuff that's bad for you like butter) but it's rare to find anyone genuinely excited about eating salad.

I go to slimming world/weight watcher etc because I've lost my ability to 'behave' around food. I have to be 'told' what to do. It's sad and makes me angry. Until I value my health more than the pleasure of eating crappy stuff nothing will change.

There. Rant over. I feel a bit better after that but now I want some revels.

I know fad diets are unlikely to work for long but with a very short attention span I struggle to stick to a diet if I dont see quick results.

I know I need to cut out chocolate crisps bread and alcohol, but when it's there I can't resist.

Are there any cupasoups around that aren't full of sugar?

I struggle a lot with what to eat when I need something quickly and usually grab bread.

Low carb, high fat works for me. Keeping carbs to a minimum (about 20-25g) keeps cravings at bay and I find the food filling and delicious.

I lost the best part of 5 stone on a shake diet but it doesn't work for everyone. It's easy to lose but you have to consciously address your issues with food and find out your triggers. It is easy to put weight back on coming off so you can't just revert back to how you were. I will be conscious of my diet for the rest of my life, I think.

Keeping a food diary about a week before you start dieting, along with tracking your mood, may help you identify the reasons why you may overeat or consume too much sugar. Knowing these triggers might help you develop ways to overcome. You might be Tired, thirsty, stressed, unhappy, etc. My emotional state is very much linked to how much i eat.

A ketogenic diet is great because you can eat tasty stuff, like cheese and meat. You just cut out the filler. So you can eat out and have a burger without the bun and a side salad and not feel too deprived.

Thanks. I've followed low carb high fat before but found it made my breath smell, so not keen to try again. Any recommendations for a good shake diet ?

I've lost 10 kgs since February by sticking to 1,000 cals/day max & 5,000 steps/day using a Fitbit. It's tough but effective.

Well done Not sure I'd manage that many steps though.

I think it's about changing your life style rather than dieting.
Don't buy the food you shouldn't eat so it's not in the house.
Plan nice meals and make it a challenge to make the tastiest low calorie dishes you can.
You need to retrain your taste buds. I think it takes about 3 months before taste buds renew or change. You need to not it the high sugary salty junk food for that length of time before your taste buds and your brain stop craving it.
I did this with sugar in tea. Drink it for ages thinking this is fowl then suddenly it was nice and when I was given a cuppa with sugar in I found that disgusting instead.
Buy low cal yogurts the choc and orange more unusual flavours. Stick a lolly pop stick through the lid and put in freezer. They take half hour to eat frozen rather than a minute. That's a great snack.
Knit , colouring books keep your hands busy when sat watching tv. Walk for half hour every eve. Weed the garden if you have one. Tv is a trigger to eat so minimise how much you watch.

I don't always get to 5000 steps but at least 3000! Still losing. I take multivitamins & force myself to drink lots of water.

Shake diet I did was Slim and Save. It's a quick fix, but you've got to be committed to changing your outlook on food.

Ketosis causes the smelly breath for some people. I brought breath spray and that helped. For me it's been a side effect I can cope with as the weight has fallen off me. But if you can't commit to cutting right down on carbs afterwards then it's pointless. I don't eat bread or pasta or anything that is just bulk. I don't eat low fat stuff as it's all artificially sweetened and makes you crave more.

I have proper butter if I do, eggs, meat, fish, cheese, veg and leaves like spinach, broccoli and cauliflower. I have cut out alcohol except for on special or planned occasions. I don't miss it most of the time and feel so much better without it.

Thanks . I'll try the slim and save for a week to kick start my diet

I'm overweight by about the same amount so say this from a kind place. Read back through your posts. You are making excuses to put off the inevitable tricky few months of having to deny yourself what you want. Bad breath? Get some gum. Don't like water? Add some sf squash.

I'm doing low carb high fat. Am 3 weeks in and the sugar cravings are totally gone. Haven't even been able to think about a glass of wine, which is a miracle for me. Everything tastes too sweet. I can't eat nearly as much food as I did.

I need strict rules. Everything in moderation does not work for me.

You'd likely me much happier on meat/eggs/cheese and veg than nasty shakes.

I read somewhere that sweeteners cause the body to put on weight too plus I don't like the taste of them and am sceptical about how safe they are

I found low carb high fat quite expensive and difficult to cope with when out and about

I've lost 10 pounds since february without trying just by giving up sugar/processed food. I honestly can't believe how much difference it's made and how easy it was - I don't feel like I'm on an actual diet, as I eat big portions, lots of fat etc.

I had terrible sugar cravings too. All the time. Since giving it up I suppose my body has adjusted and I no longer crave sugar. As a treat I still allow myself to have a nice dessert if I'm at a restaurant, but I find they are now too sweet for me.

If you've tried other things and they haven't worked, maybe try no sugar?

Yorkshireborn - do you really want to lose weight? As a poster earlier said, you seem to have a reason why each thing won't work. Unfortunately if you want to lose weight you have to stop making excuses and just get on with it (and this comes from someone who has been overweight their entire adult life, I know how hard it is, a lot of my plans revolve around food, I love food above anything except for the people in my life!)
You just to need to pick one plan and stick to it and you WILL lose weight.

Depends on the brand. Waitrose low calorie asparagus cup a soup for example is 1.6 gram sugar but heinz tomato 11g.
I mostly drink marigold bouillon. Or herbal tea.

Give something a go and see if it works then document what didnt work what went well because everyone is different in how they manage to cut the calories (be it ww, sw, low carb/gi, raw, paleo, shakes etc).

Start with the one you feel is most promising.

For me, exercise makes me look better but eating less is what gets the numbers down.

Waterworks is absolutely 100% right. The only thing that will work is when YOU REALLY want to lose weight. I have talked about wanting to lose weight for years and years and years, I can lose a bit but then I put it back on again because I only try for a few weeks.

Eventually something clicked six months ago and I thought right this is really really it, I am going to finally lose this weight. I really believed I could lose 3 stone in 6 months but it has taken me a lot longer and instead of giving up, I just keep plodding on with it. I have my days when I eat a bit more than I have planned for and days when I think buggar it but on the whole my focus is and continues to be that I plod on until I get to my goal. Key to this one is giving up alcohol, that has really helped. Not only with the reduction of calories but also the focus on exercise, eating right etc when you are not a bit hungover at the weekends.

The amount of excuses I used to make now make me have a wry smile to myself and the amount of excuses I hear and read also make me laugh. At the end of the day there is only one thing standing in the way of your weight loss and that is you.

Yes I do want to lose weight but what's the point in lying to myself again. . Or piling more weight on because it didn't work? I'm not prepared to compromise my health by eating artificial sugars, and I don't want bad breath and I have sensory issues around smell and taste that mean I struggle to drink water without being sick because of the smell.

I'll try a version of no sugar first but drinking black decaf coffee and bovril instead of water.

I have in the last few weeks joined Weight Watchers Loosing weight does seem to get harder the older you get I used to be able to drop the pounds quickly but at 58 it does seem harder
I am doing the no count plan to avoid all the weighing and counting so far have lost 13lbs
Dieting for me is a frame of mind shove too much bad stuff in and you don't get results I find by leaving out all the cakes chocolate ect out it stop's the craving because one bit of chocolate is never enough
I really want to loose wait and the only person who can stop me is me
Have just finished work due to redundacy so I am going to put the extra time in to help lose more more walking gardening and decorating never been one for the gym
Does water really smell never noticed that one try adding sliced lemon and ice

No one seems to notice the smell except me but I have a very sensitive sense of smell and it causes all sorts of problems. A slice of lemon is a good idea.

I did slim and save for a while a few years ago. I stopped when I fainted (only time ever) and am convinced it messed with my metabolism as it took me about two years to be able to lose any weight again through more traditional methods. I also know someone who ended up in hospital with bowel problems from using a similar product.

It does work, but for me, the costs are too high.