Best weight loss tips

[LisaDav]

Hi all,

I'm really struggling with my weight. I had a miscarriage around 7 months ago, and since then I have just comfort eaten instead of eating healthily.

I'm to the point now, I'm starting to feel better and not so upset about the situation but my weight still makes me unhappy, I can't seem to lose anything.

I've started to walk to work which is an hour each day, and cut out fizzy drinks and sugary snacks. But I can't seem to shift anything. Does anyone have any tips? What could I try that isn't to bad? I'm not interested in shakes, been there and just put the weight back on.

Anything will be helpful! Thanks in advance x

Keep doing what you're doing but cut carbs too - that should do it. Glad to hear you're feeling a bit better now. Best of luck.

I generally don’t eat after 7 pm. Cuts out evening snacking.

Have you done an honest appraisal of what you are eating every day and how many calories it is? That is your starting point. Drinking lots of water instead of snacking also helps.

Sorry, pressed ‘post’ too soon. Meant to say i’m sorry about your miscarriage.
You could also try upping your fruit and veg intake as well.

I got a Fitbit which has helped motivate me to do a bit more.
I take a selection of healthy snacks fruit and veg to work to stop me hitting the vending machine. I have a no carb lunch big salad and chicken or tuna then sensible tea cut down on alcohol and I found weighing myself frequently helps I have a lot to loose and have lost nearly two stone with the above also motivated by a couple of social occasions I had coming up this year.

Sorry about your miscarriage. You need to be as healthy as possible. In the same situation before DC I visited a naturopath mainly to make me as healthy as possible to conceive. I also lost quite a lot of weight following the diet she gave me.

I would recommend weight watchers I don’t go to meetings just joined online. There is an app so you can track everything and also social side which is supportive. I have lost the weight which I have been trying to on and off for 3 years. It really has changed my life.

What you are doing now sounds good. How long have you been doing it? If less than a month, it's probably best to stick at it for a month before making any changes - basically the length of a menstrual cycle so any effect of hormonal water retention evens out.

Make sure you're drinking enough fluid - if you've added in an extra 30 miles walking a week in the current warm weather, while also cutting out fizzy drinks, you may be dehydrated, That can also lead to water retention, as your body tries to combat it.

I suggest taking your measurements as well, as weighing. After four weeks of walking , you may well find you've lost inches even if you don't lose weight.

But generally I would say, stick to what you are doing for at least 4 weeks before judiging whether it works or not. The trouble with swapping things around is it that it takes a while to build healthy habits and nothing really beds in.

My best weight loss tip is that consistency beats perfection. You don't need to be eating a perfectly balanced diet every day, you just need be consistantly eating less than calorie requirements. And it's better for weight loss to eat consisently at a slight deficit, and do manageable exercise, than to eat a really tightly controlled diet five days a week and then 'cheat' at weekends. It's very easy to wipe out a week's calorie deficit at weekends, with that approach.

An hour’s walking only burns about 170 calories. That’s about two chocolate biscuits. As a general principle, exercise is good for fitness but won’t achieve weight loss on its own, without calorie restriction- in other words, you can’t outrun a bad diet.
Have a look at your portion size - use smaller plates, make half the plate green vegetables, reduce stodgy carbs to a minimum.
Cut out alcohol ( one small glass of wine is over 100 calories), and all junk food such as puddings, cake, chocolate, sweets, biscuits, pastry.
Reduce fried and roast food - choose steamed, grilled, boiled or stewed dishes.
Fill up on high fibre, low calorie foods, which are much better for you in any case. If you eat carbs, make them slow release whole grain ones, like brown rice, wholemeal bread, jacket potatoes, not white flour or pasta, and certainly not sugar.
Also avoid fruit smoothies which are high in natural fruit sugar, and don’t add sugar to tea and coffee.
Switch to skimmed milk rather than full fat.
If you still don’t lose weight, get your thyroid checked!
Good luck, OP. It’s just a matter of finding your balance point - the number of calories your body can tolerate without gaining, then aiming a little under that to produce gentle steady loss.