Best diet for mid 50s fatty

[Iwouldratherbemuckingout]

Over the last 3 years I've been stacking on the weight. I lost a stone last year, but put it back on whilst going through 2 major operations. I followed slimming world but it took me 8 months to lose that stone despite me following it religiously. I think because it says yay to carbs - and I know that doesn't really suit me.

So health is back on track and I'm starting to be able to exercise more. I do my 10,000 steps a day and have started to ride my horse again - but it's only very quiet at the moment. time to lose a stone and a half. But what approach to take? I'm out of the house a lot so need quick easy meals. 3 nights a week I literally have an hour between getting in and going to bed!

All advice appreciated.

Watching and bumping

The only thing that matters with weight loss is eating less calories than you burn. All diets are just different strategies for that.

I lost two stone and counting just by tracking calories. If I were you, I would download a calorie tracker (ie myfitnesspal), set a sensible goal for a calorie deficit and log everything. Be honest. Weigh your food. Scan barcodes. Beware of pitfalls like calories in drinks, salad dressings, dips, butter on toast etc. It's often the little things that add up.

For convenience foods (I'm also out of the house a lot), I find the asda good and balanced range of ready meals very good and they tend to be tasty, filling and low calorie. I have a George foreman and use it a lot too, sticking some chicken breast or fish on the grill and pairing it with a salad is a fairly quick way to throw together a low cal, tasty dinner.

Avoiding the "instant fix" foods helps too - you can lose weight eating anything you like as long as you stay under your calorie deficit but certain foods will make you feel fuller for longer (protein, fruit, veg) and some, usually sugary and white carbohydratey food, will give you a spike of energy then leave you unsatisfied. If you choose wisely, you needn't feel hungry on a significant calorie deficit.

And don't eat back your exercise calories. Treat exercise as a bonus to your calorie deficit, not a license to eat a slice of cake.

It's got to be calorie counting, if you don't want to go on meal replacements.

Use Myfitnesspal.

I like chickpea/veg curry and have them with No Carbs rice, or a quick Veg No carbs, pasta dish. Chunky Veg soup or low calorie soup is another go to. I use frozen veg.

My DD pre-prepares her food for two days.

Some really busy people count their calories over three days, so they drop down on some days and eat on other days. So 3600 in total and fit it into their lifestyle.

Yeah I think it really is down to calories. My dh lost two stone doing the fast diet (Michael Moseley). Now he maintains his new weight by fasting one day a week. But It doesn’t mean you can go mad on the non fasting days, you still need to eat healthily and avoid junk. It won’t suit everyone- personally I couldn’t do it.

Try 16:8. It stood you snacking in the evening.

Should.

Thanks I like the idea of myfitnesspal - I have got quite confused about whether my cottage cheese should be full fat or low fat and whether avocados are good or bad on a diet! So that just makes it simple. Have swapped my rice for veg rice and have found the Bare Naked noodles which look ace.
I get my food delivered by Morrisons so will check out their low fat range I'm afraid Asda is a no due to their dire delivery reputation!!!

another one here for 5:2. It's not for everyone as PP said, but it definitely shifts the weight very quickly if you do it properly.

I got to the lowest I have ever been on it. I stopped because it isn't healthy for me to do with my unhealthy relationship with food, and I now calorie count. 1500 or under Mon-Weds and then a bit more relaxed for the other days. Maintain comfortably at 8 stone 10. I do exercise quite alot though.

I really recommend the 8 week Blood sugar diet (you dont have to be a pre- diabetic) or the Fast 800 diet (both Michael Mosely) .. its really is good..

You dont need to go low fat (it just means higher carbs to sustain you ) .. Low sugar and lowish carb is the way to go ..
but carbs are allowed on the blood sugar diet (beans and some grains .. just not lots of white carbs) .

also good to read is Escape the The Diet Trap by John Briffa

I've lost nearly 2 stone on keto since mid February. Been a yo-yo dieter forever (I'm 41 and probably been struggling with my weight for the best part of 20 years) so this has been a proper game changer for me. I can see now I was addicted to carbs and can honestly say I don't miss them. I have lovely tasty meals, just replace the rice or potatoes or pasta with lovely fresh veg. My skin is better, my fibromyalgia hasn't flared up since I started. I had planned to do this just to shift some pounds but I'm beginning to see that this might actually be a whole new way of eating for me.

Mid 40s here, 3 stone overweight. Been doing 16:8 for 1.5 weeks and I’ve lost 10lbs 😵 it’s so so easy. It’s not a diet, just altering tour way of eating. I’ve troed everything before inc ww, sw, keto and even hypnotherapy and nothing’s worked before this. I can’t belive it tbh

Also look at you tdee, it's similar to bmi but factors in age. I was shocked at mine, much lower than I realised. Also 500 calorie deficit a day = 1lb weight loss. So try to cut down by 3500 a week it makes it easier.

I find fat and protein really satiates. Sugar and simple carbs make me more hungry. So for that very real experience and for health I am conscious about not eating very much added sugar or simple carbs. Other than that I log my food on my FitBit to ensure calorie deficit.

All of the above!

I've lost 1.5 stone and kept it off. It's hard though, as you've noticed already.

My TDEE is about 1450 calories.

I:

aim for 1200 cals a day using MfP as a guide.

aim for 10k steps per day, thus expending 200 calories.

So: 1450+200= 1650 calories expended - 1200 cals eaten = 450 calorie daily deficit.

450 cals deficit daily X 7 days = almost a pound of weight loss.

@buggerthebotox do you count fruit and veg? I tend to give myself unlimited veg, about 80g fruit and only count the high calorie stuff like wine and low carb. Seems to work when I stick to it.

Op I bought a ready meal from Lidl this week. The whole thing is 139 cals. Will report back when I have eaten it.

fairy I count everything. I don't go in for "healthy" really as I think I'd find it too punitive in the long term.

So - a typical day for me would be:

cup coffee, tiny drop milk plus half a sugar. Or a Diet Coke (I know, I know..).

Munchables plus small yogurty thing. Diet Coke.

Salmon plus rice in a pot @ 150 calories. Another yogurty thing. My favourite is Libre (fewer than 100 cals)

There's a bit of random snacking, and sometimes a large vodka (thankfully, I don't like wine).

Usually comes in at fewer than 1200. But I don't exercise much and nibble a bit at work.

I lose weight, but slowly. Veeeeery slowly...

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone! I’ve downloaded my fitness pal and also looked at my TDEE score, which is much lower than I thought and explains why I was struggling on slimming world. And means to keep the weight off I’ve got to completely change my eating habits. So I’ve got 1200 calories a day (am ignoring exercise calories) and after a few days in already feeling more in control and feeling much better in myself. I’m aiming for low carb with protein to keep me full, and ditch the sugar. Thanks everyone for top tips!

Can someone explain the 16:8 diet? If i eat my breakfast at about 10.30 every day and eat my lunch at 1 and my dinner at 6.30 is that what is meant?

You fast for 16 hours by eating all your food in an 8 hour window. Most people achieve this by skipping breakfast.

@Iwouldratherbemuckingout I think you still need to portion control on SW despite what they say, especially carbs. I get good success following SP on SW.

Hi OP! My weight started to creep on in my mid fifties, and a couple of months ago I decided to tackle it. I have lost 21 pounds in 9 weeks, so it can be done post meno. The thing that is key is you have to eat less calories in than you burn. And the sad fact is that as you get older you need less calories. So, whereas the baby weight fell off me twenty five years ago on 1500 cals a day, I now have to drop to 1200 a day. So, go on an online calculator, input your numbers and see what deficit you need to lose. Then you need to make each calorie of your allowance work for you. I avoid sugar, eat only small amounts of complex carbs and make sure I eat four portions of leafy greens and two pieces of fruit every day. It is hard, but it's the only way. Portion control is key. DD is married to a dietician and his advice is: protein portion, the size of your fist, complex carbs the size of your cupped palm and leafy greens the size of two cupped hands together. Your cupped hands, because we are all different builds. I tried this, and calorie wise it works out at about what I need to lose. So if you don't want to count calories, you could give it a go. Personally, cutting the sugar and white carbs and empty nutrition but high cal snacks is key. Good luck.