I need three to five basic principles for weight loss

[Freaking0ut]

I’ve decided that I need to sort it out. I am 15stone. I need to lose 3 stone to be within a healthy BMI for my height. I’ve had two children and the weight has crept on. As I hit 35 I am noticing that it is going on easier and is harder to get off. My weaknesses are wine and chocolate. I like cooking and healthy food. I am slightly time poor but no more so than anyone else who works full time and has children!

I have done various diets, the 16:8 combined with 5:2 is the most recent, and I have come to the conclusion that all this does is disorder my eating habits. It encourages me to fast for half the day and then out of hunger I binge for the second half.

I have one year to lose the weight. It needs to be a lifestyle change. So I’m looking for 3 to 5 fundamentals that I need to do/not do to encourage the weight to come off.

Number one: Eat healthy and hearty breakfast every day.

I may use this post as a space to record things. I have to do something. Thanks for reading if you’ve got this far!

salty snacking is my downfall. Any tips on not snacking?

Also, huge well done to everyone who has already lost weight! I’m feeling very inspired by you 👏👏👏

You need Paul McKenna I can make you thin. Brilliant app that trains you to eat properly again.

Not snacking is hard! Hot drinks stop me being hungry between meals during the day. Keeping busy. Otherwise it's just pure willpower. You do get used to it.

Sitting in front of the tv makes me want to snack. I have to consciously think to myself am I actually physically hungry or is it just habit? Usually it's the latter so I don't eat. A small bag of popcorn or small bowl of cereal gets me through if i am genuinely hungry before bed. If I go to bed hungry I can't get to sleep!

I too don't have a good Off button when eating crap, plus emotional eating (boredom, stress). So now I have an eating window like pp where I only eat 12:00 to 6 or 7:00, two meals plus a snack. People say breakfast is important but I don't really miss it! By lunchtime I'm an OK level of hungry which is good because I'm actually feeling it now, used to just eat all the time regardless.

But I've also stopped eating desserts as I know I'm addicted to sugar and can't do it in moderation at all - it spirals out of control really fast. Fruit doesn't count as dessert to me since it is healthy. Snacks are now berries and a bit of cheese or celery and hoummous, healthy chewy stuff. The weight is falling off and I feel good. Blood pressure is getting lower, clothes fitting better. One stone down, 2 to go.

Eat real food.
Stop eating when you reach satiety.
Real food = plants, or animals that fed on plants. If it was manufactured in a factory plant, don’t eat it.
Hint... stick to the outer sections of the supermarket, veg section, meat/fish counter etc. Only venture in to the inner aisles for detergent/binbags etc.
Don’t drink your calories (a splash of milk in tea/coffee is fine).

If you get hungry in the early evening (I do too) then
a) consider if you're eating enough protein at lunchtime
B) make sure you're drinking enough water (this is important generally)
C) factor in a snack at that time - but prepare for it so you have appropriate lean protein and fibre to keep you going until your evening meal.

I lost weight best on 5 smaller meals per day, with the lightest in the evening. Others work better on 5:2.

Buy yourself digital kitchen scales and weigh everything.

Don’t switch to wholewheat pasta or rice. It won’t taste the same and you’ll resent the calories wasted on an inferior alternative. Do as the Italians do, and allow yourself 80g of uncooked pasta and two tablespoons of delicious sauce once a week. An Indian serving of cooked rice is a teacup’s worth - I’ve seen people use a cup per person of uncooked

Use a side plate for your main meal, not a dinner plate. If you must have an alcohol treat, have a very small glass - a sherry glass is the right size for wine. Bee Wilson has written extensively on portion size, and how our perceptions have become distorted simply because our plates and glasses are bigger.

Keep healthy snacks close to hand - crudités, nuts, seeds - but pre-proportioned according to weight.

Calories in v Calories out is what it’s all about but I’m sure you already know that. At the moment I’m trying to loose some weight and don’t really do ‘diets’. Not do I like thinking I can’t have something. My plan has basically dividing the calories I’m allowed into the hours I’m awake (so for me 1600 calories: 16 hours).

Get up at 0600 and eat 400 calories for breakfast then won’t eat till 1000. Then a 200 calorie snack takes me to 1200 and dinner.

Means I’m never hungry for long and if I do want pasta I can but I know it’ll mean longer between eating so naturally eat a bit less.

Knock on affect is my diets healthy because I know a Big Mac would be the only thing I could eat in a day.

So far I’ve lost a stone in 4 weeks. Though it is slowing down now which is to be expected.

Good luck

I've found that the best way to start to eat healthy is to stop eating refined sugar - no choc, cake, sweets, biscuits etc. One year I gave this up for Lent and once I had gotten used to it I completely lost my sweet tooth and sugar cravings. After that I found that it was easy to lose my excess weight by just eating healthy and varied meals and making sure I didn't have big portions or scoff all the leftovers.

Not snacking is much easier without sugar in the equation as fruit is usually sweet enough if I want something like that. I've kept the weight down for years although I do lapse occasionally - since Easter there has been a glut of choc in the house and I do have my sweet tooth back but I know that I can cut it out for a week or so and lose the cravings again (apart from when I've got my period when choc is non-negotiable).

Having a preference for gin over higher calorie booze such as wine or beer helps too

I have lost 5 stone in 15 months. 2 to go.
I have previously done weight watchers and been relatively successful for a few months but then put it all back on.
The principle for this time is that this isn’t a diet. This is what I need to do for the rest of my life. I log into mfp everyday. I try to stick to my calorie limit and also to fewer than 100g of carb a day (so not low carb - can still eat fruit and veg and some pasta!)

I have scrambled eggs for breakfast, chicken and salad for lunch and something homemade for dinner. I cook every night and make a point of eating really delicious food (lots of Persian food for example). I disagree about snacks. I always have a snack at break time (I’m a teacher), usually sliced chicken or ham and always have something sweet after lunch (eg a mini kinder bar) and dinner (eg mini magnum).

I drink wine a couple of times a week - but I have to factor it in to my points.

Holiday times are hard but I try to put nothing on by having good days and not so good days. It is forever after all - it doesn’t matter if I don’t lose the weight quickly.
What I have learned from threads like these is that different things work for different people. You just have to find what works for you.

Manclife1 that’s a really good strategy, Thankyou. I will do that. I think it’d really help for me to be quite structured about how I spread the calories through the day.

MM19 so true about the portion sizes. Growing up in a household with a mum who served the most enormous portions, I think I’ve been programmed to eat massive portions 😳 I think on reflection I’d rather have no pasta than the correct a tiny portion.

Ladyloolaa Wow that’s an amazing achievement! Thankyou for your post.

So many good things here, thank you so much. I think there are some common themes running through it so I’m going to try and collate them all into some guiding principles. This has to be me for life now. It’s not like I eat takeaways and burgers all the time, my main diet is pretty healthy but I clearly need to change something because I am now nudging a BMI if 30 which is horrifying.

But as long as it is within your calories - pasta is fine!

Snacking - Have low calorie go to snacks available. Boiled eggs/Fish sticks/cut up veg. whatever works for you. If it is there and prepped you are more likely to pick at that rather than the rubbish.

Plan your food in advance, or wing it and track as you go - whatever works for you (i do a combination).

MFP is your friend. Track everything. Even when you want to fall off the wagon (or jump, head first into a pot of gin). Partly so you know, but partly because you can then start to even it out if you do have a blow out. Having a weekend where you go out to eat/drink the bar dry etc isn't a bad thing, but you might have to live off salad and beans for the rest of the week to balance it out.

Up your protein as much as you possibly can - increases satiety and means you eat less.

@LadyLoo If you don't mind sharing some recipes I would be interested.
I need to lose four stones but have completely and utterly lost all motivation to cook .

I spend ages trawling the internet for meals under 500 kcals and keep them in my notes on my phone. I also find regular recipes and amend them to make them less calorific. I tend to have roasted veg instead of rice or potatoes etc.
I use the Persiana cookbook a lot but cut down on the amount of oil. I’ll see if I can pick out some favourites.

Ps I’m still significantly overweight but getting there!

Top tips :
Don' t eat wheat
Don' t eat sugar
As far as possible, eat only once a day.

This approach - combined with a vegetarian lifestyle - enabled me to lose a muffin top despite an excruciatingly slow metabolic rate [age and hypothyroid] .

Granted my day to day activity was physically demanding ...

Can’t do clicks links:
Lindsey Bareham’s chicken and tomatoes and orzo (it’s from the Times newspaper)

Saag paneer - www.amuse-your-bouche.com/30-minute-saag-paneer/

I lost a stone in 3 months just by almost completely cutting out carbs - I can't count calories or go on any eating plan as I just can't be doing with the faff of eating something different from the rest of the family so I had the protein element of the meal just with loads of veg and salad instead of potatoes / pasta / rice / bread.

Still allowed myself occasional treats and was a bit more relaxed at the weekends and I really did find it bearable. I've changed my eating habits long term now I think - I still have a sweet tooth and like a glass of wine, but can't remember the last time I ate pasta and bread is only a very occasional treat now.

Prawn jalfrazi - www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/prawn-jalfrezi

www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/meat-and-poultry/harissa-chicken-meatballs-with-bulgar/

• measure your portions and control them (ie I measured the muesli I eat. Portion is 40g but I would pour 100g at least!)
• don't eat at work
• don't buy shit for the cupboards
• veg veg veg

Having said that I then just eat chocolate spread with a spoon so i dunno

No sugar without fibre. Fruit’s fine, two teaspoons of sugar in my tea’s not.

I found this helpful

www.nosdiet.com

But it's a case of finding which things make it manageable for you as this thread shows

Calorie counting, low carb, big breakfast, no breakfast.

Anyway. Good luck. You can do this. If you have a set back just dust yourself down and plan what you are going to do next to look after yourself (a walk, make soup,) anything.

I’ve lost 2stone this year on keto/low carb.

It’s honestly been a revelation.

I combine it with IF, and am not hungry till 11am.

Usually eat -
11am- small pot Greek yog (full fat)
1pm- salad with cheese/full fat dressing and protein (chicken/tuna)
630pm- some sort of protein with veg, so might be chicken curry with cauli rice might be an example

Occasionally couple of squares 95% dark chocolate

Exercise 2-4/week- spinning/weights/body pump/running.

If I want to eat something else I always ask myself first if eating it will give me the results I want. If not, is it worth it?