Changing eating habits for life - anyone done this?

[Inish]

I am 52 have done all of the diets. I am 5:3 have put on at least 1st per decade. I am now 13.5 stone. BMI 33 officially obese, 4 stone over weight. Over the years I have lost 3st on SW, 3st on Lighter Life, 2 stone on Cambridge ...... of course it has all gone back on again. My diet is shocking - Diet Coke, white bread and butter, wine, chocolate, crisps - never eat fruit and rarely cook meals from scratch. And it has gotten worse over the years. My activity is only walking my dog - will do an at least 5hrs a week.

I have obsessed about every other diet going - have all the books - armchair diet expert... low carb, Atkins, BS, 5:2, 16:8

I think that I am just now going to change habits so healthy eating and not a “diet” - although I will use SW for recipes.

Anyone done this - should I expect slow loses? Anyone want to join me?

My new habits are:

No wine at home (was 1/2 bottle night)
No treats at home
No cake with coffee when out
No meal deals
Don’t eat in the car - or on the move
Have a bag of apples in the car

Have mostly same breakfast and lunch then only have to worry about evening meal:

Eat fruit, Greek yogurt and oats for breakfast.
Have healthy fresh veg soup for lunch

raisins that’s great to hear - well done to you. It’s v motivational when you are losing - but it’s the maintenance that is key - have been there many times before. This time I know like you and like the others I linked to in the thread who had major losses and kept it off for years — it’s been very vigilant and taking early action. Also like you say - you need to stick with healthy foods and healthy habits for life and they make you feel good.

So my habits are:
no wine,
no treats (choc, crisps, biscuits, cake) at home,
no cake automatically with coffee when out (I have decided to have one treat a week)
No processed foods.

All of the above are high sugar which are triggers for me to over eat as I feel hungrier immediately after and feel out of l cravings. I would eat the whole packet of biscuits in one sitting if I started.

Now:
Planning meals
Cooking from scratch
Loads more veggies and fruit.
Smaller portions
Cutting right back on carbs

16:8 is giving me boundaries - making me feel full in the evenings which is my high risk time.

I am aiming for 10,000 steps a day (average 7000 currently)
Also want to join a gym to do strength stuff.

But I have just concentrated on working on getting one lifetime habit established each fortnight. The first weeks were cutting out the wine - the sugar cravings were really tough and I caved so actually put on .5lb - but they did subside and then I cut out all the crap - so my second week at SW was really my first and that’s when I lost 7lb. I have stuck to the SW principles but was feeling hungry but didn’t want to snack or each large portions - so week 2 and 3 were hard with headaches and hunger. But when I introduced 16:8 it has improved massively.

Now this week I will swap my SW healthy extra bread allowance for nuts and seeds and double up on cheese as I am not using the milk allowance.

I am eating so much more veg and fruit and the family are loving the home cooked meals. Just need to establish 14 dinner recipes that I can do on autopilot and not get bored chopping veg!

I did go off piste one day and had pizza - but instead of having a whole one - I had half. So trying to be sensible.

*being on been....

Yes it’s motivational when you’re losing, so what I’m trying to do is keep up the momentum of that. That’s why I still weigh myself every day, and follow threads like this on MN. The food I’m eating now is no different to what I ate to lose the weight as I lost the weight slowly.

The mistake I’ve made before was thinking that I’ve dieted and can now go back to “normal” eating. I’m now having to completely rethink my eating habits and create a new normal, but so far it’s been worth it to me as I love being slimmer and feeling more confident about myself.

That’s so true - I can’t wait to reach my goal - but today I squished into a pair of size 14 jeans (was 16) so making progress. And yes agree that maintenance is not much difference to the diet phase

Anyone thinking of changing habits?

Just an update - I have kept to the new lifestyle habits (mostly.....more of that later!) and have adapted them as well.
So it is second nature to me now that I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t keep biscuits, choc, crisps etc in the house, I do 16:8, cook from scratch roughly SW recipes, have apples and baby-belles for snacks, walk av 7K (aiming for 10K).

Still need to commit to the weight lifting - have done all of the enquires at the gym - now just need to fill in the form and turn up.....I will do this tomorrow morning (Mon) - I will sign up for a month. Ideally I would like a weights class as I am better with people.....but I will be accountable to you guys for the month!

I am looking at moving to Fast800/BSD - I will still rock up to SW to get weighted. I have cut out the bread - was having 2 small slices wholemeal toast with my eggs at 11 - and I have now replaced toast with mushrooms and tomatoes - so that’s better.
This morning I added in 2 big handfuls of spinach as I realise that although my veg intake is loads better - the leafy green bit was non existent.
I am now adding in nuts and seeds (swapping the SW healthy B choice of bread for nuts and seeds) which is a much better quality protein and source of healthy oils.
This is me inching out of my low fat mindset.
Eliminating the processed carbs has made me think about what I need to replace them - so has freed up space to include healthier stuff.

I will look also at swapping in broccoli rice / cauliflower rice / courgetti to my main meals.
So again by removing the processed carb I am making space for more nutritious foods and upping my 5 a day.

I am mostly veggie so will also be more eating legumes / beans / pulses / lentils for veg protein - even though I see on LC Boot Camp they are banned.