Share your one small change

[Didkdt]

That's what they say make a small change.
So what will your 1 small change be to kickstart your weight loss
I think mine will be eating less meat

I’m seriously thinking about going Vegan.

Vegan does seem to have improved lots of people's lives
I'm just not organized enough to attempt to do it at the moment

No booze

Low carb for me. No booze for my DH

No late night snacks

I've got three things I've just added in:

*Eat a bigger portion of porridge for breakfast
*Keep it simple!
*No booze until NYE (and then dry January)

Easy when I'm off work and can eat it when I am ready for it (late morning!). I was having porridge made with half a cup of oats (I make it with water and have berries on top with a splash of cashew milk) but it wasn't keeping me full for long enough so I was then snacking on rubbish before lunch, despite the good start. I've upped it to 3/4 cup now and that seems to be much better. I'll see how that goes when I'm back at work...I guess the trick is to stop eating earlier in the evening so I am actually hungry earlier in the day.

This is part of the bigger plan to be whole food plant based. I'm a fair way into that already but it is easy to get overwhelmed too - hence #2. I know for this to be successful I'm going to have to embrace having things ready/prepped and sticking to a formula.

I think be prepared is key

Last january I cut out tea, coffee and alcohol. I lost a couple of stone. This year, I'd like to start cutting out chocolate and crisps.

I am post menopausal and cannot lose weight for love nor money.

I saw a thing on YouTube recommending to go caffeine free.

Instead of hovering around the 15st 4 /6lbs
I am now 14st 10lbs

Not altered my diet at all apart from drinking decaf tea and coffee instead of normal tea and coffee

Cutting down on dairy and sugar

Fasting - so leaving at least 4 hours between ANY food, including fruit or ‘healthy snacks’ then trying to have your eating window of 6 hours only. So eating only between the hours of 1-7pm.

This is not necessarily a calorie related change but it gives the body the opportunity to reduce insulin levels and only when they are reduced will you be able to burn fat (use fat as fuel)

A good indicator as to whether this change will make a difference to you is examining your hunger. If you are stuck in an insulin loop you are totally reliant on glucose to fuel you so you tend to get hungry every 2 hours or so once the body has burned that glucose via insulin and begs for some more before it accesses your fat stores...glucose is fast and easy for the body

Getting breaks (fasts) in there means you force your body to use other fuel sources....FAT!!! Which is what we all want when losing weight

TLDR - don’t snack, ever!

www.health.harvard.edu/blog/intermittent-fasting-surprising-update-2018062914156

Details of above here

I find focusing on getting the good stuff in (veggies, fruit) means I crowd out some of the other less healthy stuff. I aim for half my plate at lunch and dinner to be vegetables or salad (potatoes do not count).

I've been doing the 4 hours between any food at your suggestion hamstersarse - thank you. It is really driving home just how much I used to mindlessly snack/not eat enough at meals.

I've been eating at approximately 12 pm, 4 pm and 8 pm. Just trying to listen to my body and tweak that. These timings won't work with work most days though and I am still eating late so more work to do. I had breakfast at 10 am today (as I have a working day with lots of gaps today) to try and bring it all earlier - still not really hungry for lunch at 2.30 pm.

I'm eating 98% WFPB (whole food plant based) now - wondering if I will end up eating just twice in a day. I guess I'll see where I end up...

I'm doing the same acornhealthcoaching - makes such a big difference.

I think the veggies/fruits being the main part of my diet and the 4+ hrs no eating between meals are going to be the things that need to become permanent.

I do not want to count calories going forward but I think I may put in what I'm having in a typical day into MFP so see how it comes out - might help focus the mind into two meals/eating a bit less later in the day.

@KeatesCat sounds like you're doing all the right things 😊 I agree with you listening to your body is key, we're all a bit different and sometimes what we need changes from day to day. Some days I'm hungrier than other days and I just go with that, because other days I'm less hungry. I spent years thinking I was the sort of person that couldn't leave the house without breakfast until I tried intermittent fasting and discovered I'm fine without breakfast, sometimes I prefer to skip it. (My partner on the other hand is hopeless without it!). These days I just go with the flow and have it if I'm really hungry.

Thank you acornhealthcoaching

I ended up not eating again yesterday until 5.30 pm - and even then I wasn't really hungry.

I am pretty excited and happy right now. Maybe this is it? Maybe I have finally found a way of eating that I enjoy, is flexible, healthy and will get me to and keep me at my optimum weight...

I am taking B vitamins each morning with breakfast. I think my next step is to think about Iodine and Vitamin D.

@KeatesCat The key thing that stopped me yoyo dieting and has kept me slim was to stop trying to punish my body and to take care of it instead. This has made a massive difference to how I view myself and means that most of the time I eat healthily. It also means though that as I'm not on a diet, if I'm out with a friend in a cafe with great gluten free cake (I'm gluten sensitive, not because it's any healthier) then I'm going to enjoy a piece a cake. I'm not going to eat the crappy cakes that have been left on the side at work for a few days though, that's a totally different thing and leads to weight gain if done often enough.
I passionate that as women we need to stop punishing ourselves for not looking like supermodels and embrace the unique bodies we have and take care of them the best we possibly can. Our bodies are amazing, we breathe, our hearts beat etc. all without us having to consciously do anything. It'll digest almost anything we feed it too, but it'll be sooo grateful if we give it what it really wants 😉

Thank you @acornhealthcoaching - it sounds like you've really got this sorted. I would love to stop the damn yo-yoing and then stay slim! Really trying to re-train my brain to embrace these lifelong habits.

I think something else I need to do is be happier with much slower weight loss now. I lost loads at the start of last year by being seriously restrictive with my Calories - gained loads back though (about half of it), almost as quickly so what was the point in that (again!)? I guess I have a recent memory of how good it feels to be slim at least...

@KeatesCat you've totally got this! Slow but real weight loss is the way to go. Gradual changes are the ones that stick. I didn't get to this mindset overnight, but it's been worth the wait 😊

Thanks @acornhealthcoaching

How are you getting on with eating less meat @Didkdt?

Gone vegan. Have not found it hard really. Just made me realise how nice meals can be.
Also cutting out the full fat coke.

@Keatescat 'm much more conscious of meat and portion sizes.
I do have a fear of becoming anaemic as I was very Ill with it for a while but actually I was eating meat then
Less meat