If you failed at every diet you tried and then something clicked and you lost weight and kept it off .... what was it that worked?

[sheshootssheimplores]

I just cannot get myself into a diet headspace. The last diet I tried and failed at was RHFitness on Facebook. I know people love them on here, I stuck to the cals and was always over 15000 steps a day but only lost 2lb over three months. Then I got ill and lost my motivation and here I am just steadily gaining again.

I can stick to a diet but my main issue is they don’t tend to work. I have to tweak them by eating a lot less and then they work but of course I can’t maintain a really low calorie diet without falling off the wagon.

I’m ready to go again but I’m lost. I’m a SAHM, I have mornings when my youngest is at preschool but otherwise I’m looking after kids and around food all the time 😬. Bmi 26 so not huge but I really need to lose 2 stone ideally.

MFP or WW.

For me, the problem with low carbing is that a bad day seems to result in all the weight loss piling back on, whereas the calorie counting methods seem to be slightly more forgiving of short term lapses.

Intermittent fasting doesn't work for me either as I tend to overeat on my non fasting days.

Isn't one meal a day pretty hardcore to do all the time??

I would be starving by 2pm ...

Interested in how you manage it though

I have troublr keeping the weight off - as soon as I have a slice of toast for breakfast, (just one instead of no breakfast) then seem to put the pound/s back on.

Whoops - thats pretty much what pineapple said

HDE worked for me and is helping me maintain, but it's definitely not for everyone! The catalyst was not wanting my little one to grow up seeing me have an unhealthy relationship with food, and I think when my mindset shifted from just wanting to lose weight, that really helped as I felt better in myself after a few days, whereas it can take a while to see weight loss. It really helped me to write down just what was failing for me on diets; my main one was that I get obsessed with the forbidden foods and eat more as I'm always thinking about them- HDE allows them and I haven't fancied them at all.

Sorry but what is HDE?

finding out that white bread, tomatoes, white potatoes and pulses made me huge and bloated.
Once this had gone I was a stone lighter which has spurred me on to look at the rest of my diet.
I still have a bit of dairy cheese, semi milk, occasionally butter, but all in moderation.
No adding sugar, foods with high sugar went, now low sugar or none.
Cooking from scratch no jars or convenience packets except rice/ pasta. Low salt, no processed crap.
I want to lose 2 stone have 1 to go, just started all the free from and it's coming off quite well but gradually.
I'm in my 50's and don't exercise much, so wanted to improve something.

@leafygarden Hunger Directed Eating. It's basically about getting back in touch with your body, and rather than just rigidly having 3 meals a day, eating when you are actually hungry, and getting back to stopping to eat when full. It sounds so simple, but it was surprising what a difference listening to my body rather than a clock has made, and feeling comfortable leaving some food has been liberating (I've downsized my portions accordingly so hardly any waste now). No foods are banned, and although the first few days I had a bit of a binge, knowing that whenever I wanted them I could without feeling guilty or ruining a diet, I dont crave them. It really is like I am back in control and food has no power over me anymore, although my taste buds are a lot more receptive now so I'm enjoying cooking and actually enjoying eating again. It's not for everyone, a few of my friends have tried it and struggled with the lack of control and guidelines.

Thanks @Sandybval

Sounds interesting.

Calorie counting using MFP, stick to 1200-1400 a day with 30 minute daily workouts 4-5 times a week,I have binge days sometimes but it evens itself out.

I think the thing is that what works for you will be something that doesn’t feel like a chore or being ‘deprived’ of something you really want. That will probably look different for different people, depending on personal preferences, palettes, circumstances etc.

For me, I tried a number of different things and managed to lose weight but slowly and I found it difficult to keep a steady weight or to ‘feel’ healthy/well. I did Weight Watchers and calorie counting, and lost weight and broadly kept it off, but felt like I was missing out on things like olive oil and avocados and nuts - not that I eat them daily! - but I felt like these things weren’t just tasty, they were nutritious and I was avoiding them because of the fat or calories. I tried Atkins type stuff a few times but couldn’t hack the high protein, within a week or two I would just rather not eat! So ultimately I didn’t want to keep living like that which would lead to gaining at least a little bit back as I ‘cheated’ with more fatty foods or quit the diet altogether.

What worked for me is low carb, high fat. I found the Diet Doctor website really informative for getting started and learning more about carbs and sugar. It works for me as I feel well and not deprived, eg I like lots of veggies, and fatty meats and fish, and cheese, cream etc, (and the aforementioned nuts and avocados!). But, I can happily live without bread, pasta, rice, sweet treats (like cake) etc. I still make desserts but they’re very low in sugar, eg just natural sweetness from berries for instance. This also suits my palette as I do like some sweet contrast sometimes but I don’t have a sweet tooth.

I’m not full on keto, I don’t feel the need to be that restrictive, and I tend to relax slightly on weekends (as I have more time to cook and enjoy longer mealtimes, so that’s when I’ll make desserts for instance). But on average I have something like 15% gross carbs daily (no idea what I’m netting but assuming somewhere between 10-15%). I don’t track it as a target, I just eat what feels right and have tracked through my Fitbit to see what the trend is and that’s how it works out. I’m eating around 55-65% fat (mainly in nutrient dense foods, like nuts, sometimes through some cheese or mayo for instance, I’m not stuffing myself with lard ) and somewhere around 20-25% protein, this works for me, as above I’ve never been a big protein eater.

I find this natural for me, very satisfying, and I’m both the slimmest I’ve been in over 10 years and healthiest I’ve felt pretty much ever. So it works for me, and I don’t feel like I have to plan the minutiae of my daily diet so it’s not a chore.

I'd really like to hear more from john65

@Karwomannghia would you mind giving an example of your 1000 calorie a day food? I really want to get cracking with this, I lost neat 2 stone, put sone lbs back on and totally lost the plot with it. I was losing steadily at 1800 but want to get it off quick, I think 1000 a day for a few weeks would really help.

What's the problem with tomatoes & pulses chovi???

So for
breakfast poached egg on danish toast with some butter
Or toast and marmite or bran flakes small bowl or no breakfast and more lunch

Lunch huge salad and crisp bread or can of soup
Apple

Tea Stir fry veg with prawns and small amount of noodles / rice
spinach and tomatoes baked with eggs
fish with loads of green veg and a sauce like salsa verde without the oil
veg or fish curries cooked with only little oil eaten with popadums home made chutney and yoghurt.

Low cal hot choc

I’d sometimes have a biscuit or lower calorie crisps like French fries if there was enough leeway!

They made her bloated....

Thanks @Karwomannghia I'm going to give it a go. I was thinking eggs for breakfast and stir fry for dinner, I could eat it every night.

How long have you been doing it, and how much have you lost?

I did it for 2 - 3 months and went from 10.4 now 8.11. Size 8-10. Am eating more now, just when hungry but seems to stay off but I weigh every day still and will cut down again if need be!