Don’t know where to start!

[carries]

I am over 14 and half stone, that’s 3 stone more than 4 years ago. I am 5ft 7 and have a BMI of 32.5. I need to lose weight for health but also self esteem and to fit my clothes comfortably! But over the past 4 years I have done the Harcombe diet with great results but put it all back on again and more, 5;2 diet again with good results but couldn’t sustain it, tried MFP and WW. I feel so confused as to what I should eat as Horcombe and Keto (Which i tried for a week) say eat the fat whereas WW and MFP say don’t! I’m thinking of joining SW (tried between DD2 and DD3 9 years ago) but its so low fat and all those artificial sweeteners 🤢. But I need to do something. Just looked at photos from my cousins wedding and I am the fat one!
My appetite is out of control. Today Ive had
Breakfast - one egg and small slice of wholemeal toast and butter, 0% total yogurt with fruit and seeds
Lunch - buttered scone, satsuma (busy at work and just grabbed something)
Dinner - out with family - shared nachos, chicken burger and chips, apple pie

Snack after school run - blue riband and crisps
Such a lot of food when you right it down! At dinner time i cook from scratch. But during the day it goes hay wire.
Please help and offer some advice of what I can do between now and Christmas.

Getting on this thread. I'm joining you

Hi Carries,

I had a panic back in June when faced with the prospect of an imminent beach holiday and one stone to lose. I was prepared to commit to something that promised results for the month before I left, and stumbled upon Louise Parker via google. Her Lean for Life plan takes quite a lot of commitment (and I would say preparation too) and, with 4DC, all of whom have utterly different food tastes, I didn’t always manage to follow it every day nor did I have the time to do her exercises (or the general zen-ish lifestyle). I did, though, lose 10lbs in that month and have managed to keep it off. Am now toying with doing another month (it’s meant to be 42 days) and trying to incorporate the exercises but have managed to lose another 2lbs this week just by following her principles, doing 10,000 steps per day and cutting out booze. Hence wondering how it would be if I did it properly. Although regrettably won’t manage the zen lifestyle, gleamy white surfaces or early bed times.

Have recently bought her cookbook after buying the original ‘Lean for Life’ book and find the recipes there more accessible - I found some in the original book a bit fiddly and some ingredients could be harder to find whereas she’s a bit more relaxed about swaps in the second book.

As I said, it does take some discipline but the promise of some instant-ish results swayed me and I wasn’t disappointed.

Good luck to you. x

Oh, and ps - I found it has changed my eating habits. Totally lost my sweet tooth and much more aware of when full.

Lost - I’ve seen her books. Will have s google 😀

Hope it works for you, carries - there’s also a free app to give you a taster (you can buy more bits through the app) but I’ve found the books good. There’s also a lot of explanation of the ‘whys’ and a promise of being able to revert to 80/20% once at goal - and the recipes are nutritious too - I was also mindful of some of the stuff in low cal things.

I wouldn't really say your appetite is 'out of control' from what you have posted. It's just about making smarter choices, not really eating less food. So substitute the scone, the blue riband and the nacho meal for healthier stuff.

I don't think it's a great idea to do low carb or 5:2 because for so many people it is not sustainable (although many will disagree). I think that because you have done them already though that it's best not to go back on them. Just try to eat natural, whole foods and minimal processed stuff. Use MFP to track, including tracking your macros, but don't follow a 'diet' per se.

Any 'diet' works by restricting food one way or another - you them go back to your usual eating habits and regain the weight. You have to find what you can do permanently.