What's the best weight loss regime for a middle-aged perimenopausal woman?

[EoinMcLovesCakeJumper]

That woman is me! I have about 3 stone to lose to be within a healthy BMI, but another few pounds on top of that wouldn't do any harm.

I have a history of eating disorders, which has left me with a very confused metabolism, so I don't want any very low calorie options.

I feel quite attracted to the keto diet, as it seems to be quite easy to follow and to sustain long term, but I don't know if all the animal fat would be good for me and my belly fat. Any advice welcome!

Work out your tdee and reduce that amount by 20% to set your calorie target.

tdeecalculator.net

Eat normally but weigh and portion everything and log it on My Fitness Pal so you can keep track of your total.

Keto is not sustainable long term. Good luck!

I echo the above and have lost almost 3 stone since February. Work out your calories for weight loss and eat within them. Up your exercise - a daily walk is fine, I do between 10-15000 steps a day.

Low carb diets ultimately fail unless you really will go through life without ever eating chips or pasta or toast again

Thanks for the link. TDEE x 80% works out as 1360 calories per day, which seems rather high?

That's not high at all. I second people saying calorie count. No fad diets.

1360 is not high at all. Surely if you are 3 stone overweight you have been eating much much more than this every day? I second the bit about low carb. If you feel happy not eating them again, go for it. If not, find something that’s sustainable, a way you can eat for life.

You have to count EVERYTHING though
It might seem high if you are thinking a decent meal is 500 Calories but If you add in every stolen half a biscuit, kids leftover chips and milk in tea and coffee it can get used up really quickly

I’d also say try and stick to the macros on that TDE calculator for loss as well (set to cutting which is fat loss).
If you set your MFP nutrition section you can adjust the goals to include protein, fat and carbs . If can very very hard to stick to the carb bit and achieve the protein bit but doing so will assist your weight loss and your satiety

OK, thanks, I'll give it a go. I thought 1200 calories was the maximum I would be able to have and still lose weight.

I eat 2000 calories a day and lose weight. I'm 4 stone overweight but also very active.

If you start at 1200 calories, where do you have to go when you lose some weight? There is no room for adjustment.

1200 is often just plucked out of thin air and means nothing

Yeah agree that 1200 is a random number that’s seen as some sort of magic key to weight loss but for most it’s really not enough and will lead to people falling off the wagon and eventually giving up. If you can eat more and still lose weight, why not do it? After all, it’s unlikely that anyone who is overweight has a bird-like appetite. Becoming overweight requires eating at a substantial surplus over a prolonged period of time.
Also, the problem with massive restriction is that you will get into the mentality that once the diet is over you go back to normal eating. If you focus on normal eating in the first place rather than dieting then I reckon you stand a greater chance of keeping it off long term.