A year of dieting - back where I started

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Yep. All that bloody effort!!

I guess I could have got heavier without my efforts, but thats not really the point is it? Its like running to stand still.

Just seemed to lose and gain the same 4 kg over and over again (80 - 84 kg). I was in a shop yesterday and tried on a top. Thought I looked distinctly podgy, and then was dismayed to see on weighing myself this morning that am back to 84 kg. WTH.

I think I eat fairly healthily and often restrict myself - I rarely eat out, never have pizzas, rarely puddings, sweets or biscuits, blah blah. I think if I do anything more drastic, I'd be starving, possibly I'm deluding myself there. However, I have given up alcohol recently, though it was usually only a glass or two a night. Perhaps that will make a difference (grabs at new straws)?

Help! Any thoughts??!!

Same problem, i lost 4 stones but prob 3 has gone back on. Like you, no chips, cakes, sugar, sweets, choc or takeaways. It might be that we eat sensibly all day but have a big evening meal?

What are you actually eating? Like what is a normal weeks food

Same here. So disheartened to realise I'd worked so hard and lost nothing.

And having not put weight on isn't much of a joy right now

agree with lastqueen - in the nicest way possible, people are often completely unaware of what they are actually consuming, either because they don't "count" the snacks or portion size, or this or that...

Keep a food diary - it might be very revealing. Or use My Fitness Pal - you would be amazed at how quickly you can consume 1500.

For example today for me:

banana before my run

0% greek yoghurt with seeds and blueberries

two pieces of wholemeal toast with an egg and cherry toms

an apple

tonight will be a big bowl of homemade turkey chilli and I am meeting friends in the pub and intend to have two large glasses of red

This will take me to 1539 cals if I eat NOTHING else

Hi LastQueen.

Three diet days examples:

Mon. B - apple and banana and 1 cup yoghourt

L - three crackers, butter and cheese, 1 piece of choc

D - pork chops x 2, green beans, mashed potato, 2 glasses wine.

Tues

B - two poached eggs on 1 toast

L - feta cheese salad with lentils

D - bacon sandwich, 1 glass wine

Weds

B - 2 small slices marmite on toast

L - salmon salad (M&S)

D - hummus and cucumber and carrots, fruit yoghourt.

I do this for about 4 weeks, get fed up with it - go off diet for a while but still eat more-or-less as above, with a v few treats e.g. more toast , e.g. a packet of crisps or fruitella, and sometimes more wine at weekends. Bigger portions e.g. roast dinner perhaps. But nothing really over-indulgent. Then think, Oooo, perhaps I need to restrict more (even though I promised no more diets). So back to "diet" above. Rinse, repeat.

I can see I eat a too much bread perhaps, though not loads. And now I'm cutting out alcohol. But what else can I do? I can't exercise much except for a little bit of walking (chronic illness)

I do keep a food diary, lamb, though off course I don't keep one when I go off-piste!

I do agree its easy to under-estimate food - portions or what you are actually putting in your mouth.

But I also do think I eat fairly modestly overall. Perhaps its also my age (50s), and being less active due to ill health, I don't know.

yes sorry, I now see your diet days. Look pretty good to me.

Have you thought about 5:2? It means you can have two days where you are "on a diet" and then basically just eat "normally" or within your TDEE (The amount of calories you eat on a non fast day

It works for lots and lots of people, particularly those in your age range that can't do much exercise. The idea being you have an overall calorie deficit over the week.

You need to be looking your food properly, and measuring everything. Especially the alcohol, a couple of glasses can easily be the equivalent of another whole high calorie meal

I said twice I just gave up alcohol.

I do measure some things (I count the eggs!) but admit less so with rice and things ...

Have you calculated your BMR? And then tracked all your calories accordingly - with the aim being to have a small deficit every day.

www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Eg the marmite toast could be about 200 cals or 350 depending on the loaf. And egg could be 60cals or 90 depending on the egg. Hummus while good for you could be 25 cals worth for a small tablespoon or several 100 cals for a supermarket sized tub. Bacon sandwich could be 300 cals or 5-600cal depending on the bread and the bacon. And the wine could be anything, that will stack the calories up super quick.

What you haven't really done is to work out how to make your diet work for you. I would hate eating what your eating and I could have such small amounts I'd be starving. Also really gained a proper awareness of how you balance your calorie intake with output. The fact your listing your diet without any real qualities shows this. I'd you actually want to do it you need my fitness pal or something like

I just think I've got to give up jam on toast etc completely, except on rare occasions. No sweets ever. Not drinking now anyway. Maybe occasional cake or something. It all seems quite drastic to me but thats the way its got to be, at least the vast majority of the time. If I want to keep even around 75-80 kg. If I was younger and more active, maybe it wouldn't need to be so restrictive.

Well it seems you're fairly maintaining at 84 so it would seem your average intake is what is required to keep you at that level.

I would watch portion control, and things like how much cheese. Then when you go off it and start eating treats and bigger portions, any weight you did lose you're clearly putting back on.

I'm not sure it's right to say you've had a year of dieting. Maybe more a year of a half hearted attempt at it.

You either need to pick a goal weight and do it. Or stop until you're in the right mind set to.

The higher the calorie density the more you need to measure it. Eg rice bread pasta potatoes, you really need to measure. Veg less so. Although if you are serious about losing weight every 10cals really really does count.

4stone+ lighter and kept it off. If you want to lose weight you can it actually isnt hard but it does require much more commitment than your showing it atm

I’m the same OP. You pretty much have to never deviate from the diet days or take up vigorous exercise.

Thanks Sleep and I see what you mean. Will see what happens now and come back in a year ...

James and toast is fine..... If you have enough calories in your daily diet taking into account what else you've eaten in a day. If it isnt you don't. The problem is you see food as good or bad when it's not quite that black and white in terms of weight loss. Look up people who lost weight eating mcdonalds.

I ate a ben and Jerry's son of a witch ice cream almost every day while I was losing weight. That was my end of day treat.

It's fine to have treats or fall of the wagon. The trick is to get back on it the next day till you hit goal. And to limit your treats so they are within your calorie allowance. Just eating what you perceive to be "healthy" won't do it.

Your diet menu actually sounds like a normal eating plan mainly. Not a diet. You'd have to state portion sizes and look at it deeper. Like butter in the mash, fat on the pork chops, how much cheese, how large are the glasses of wine.

And then if a month later you start eating more, you won't lose weight, as you've found.

So it doesn't need to be restrictive as in no x ever again, but it does need to be more a committed and understood plan than it is has been for the last year.

Have you thought about why you're really wanting diet, and why you are stuck in a cycle of self sabotage and low grade self denial? Unless you're very tall, very sedentary or have issues like a thyroid problem, 84kg would mean you would likely be eating quite a lot of calories (no judgement here, just an energy in / out calculation), but you aren't getting much enjoyment from this.
If you are healthy enough overall, maybe you'd be better off just listening carefully to your body and eating what you genuinely feel like? I read Fat is a Feminist Issue and found that listening to what I really wanted - with no restrictions - actually helped me eat better. You may lose weight (many do), or none at all, but you'll be happier!

Alternatively, if you really want to lose, join a group like Weight Watchers or Slimming World, with some more monitoring you should be able to lose 4kg within two months and then get on with the rest of your life at 80kg.

Hope you find your happy weight and relationship with food!

Personally I'd cut the dairy, I say that as someone who can't actually eat dairy so it's easy for me but I lost a considerable amount of weight doing so.

I agree gardenpath especially milk. not just for weightloss but for me dairy tends to cause digestion issues. I've basically stopped drinking milk and eat very low amounts of cheese as an occasional treat.

OP I understand, I started lots of good habits last year and don't seem to have managed to stick with them completely (though I'm still better than I was). Not sure if I've gained again or not but I do feel less fit than last summer.