I don't want to come out of this bigger than I started!

[Onamissionnow]

Obesity is shite!
I am now over 15 actual human stone and feel ashamed.
I used to fool myself that I carried my weight well but I don't, I look awful.

I don't hate myself but I hate that I snack so much. Cooking is a great joy to me especially at the minute but sticking to the main meals and no snacks would make such a difference. Easy when you say it isn't it ?
Anyone who wants to join me I would be happy to meet you.

Anyone who has walked a mile in my shoes and succeeded please let me know how you managed it.

Hi I am sick of being overweight and need a huge boost to even get me started and then to stay on track. I find it so hard to stick to any diet. What are your plans?

My plan goes no further at the minute than just to stop eating and drinking so much and move my fat arse more !

What about you ?

Think about why you are snacking...

• are you hungry? (Bigger/more filling meals)
• are your meals unsatisfying? (Probably not if you are a great cook)
• do you particularly like your snack foods (then plan for them and portion control in eg a calorie counters diet)
• or are you just bored... that’s all of us

I’ve stopped with all the bad snacks & currently finding it pretty easy too lose weight (but I had 3 stone to lose)

Laying off the booze definitely helps!

Thanks @10kaday I snack for many reasons and boredom or habit is definitely up there. I feel I could stop the eating between meals it would make a huge difference.
Its the mindless grabbing a bag of crisps or handful of nuts or a few crackers that is my downfall.
I also need to exercise more, I have downloaded and app which apparently gives you a 15 min workout to do. This seems doable.
So day 1 here I come I guess !!
I also need to get on the dreaded scales and see the actual damage rather than the guesstimate ........

Try intermittent fasting, a great book that helped me was Delay, don't deny.

Thank you @Flipswhitefudge I worry about bingeing with fasting ? However the idea of not eating for a few hours a day weirdly appeals. Easier to stop than moderate maybe ?

You sound so much like me, I'm aiming for a stone, but really could do with loosing 2+.i love cooking and cook for the whole family, from scratch every night. So I've decided to stop drinking for all of February and cut out all snacking, but have whatever I want for meals. I've no idea if it will work but I'm going to try for all of Feb and see how it goes.

@Onamissionnow: as you seem more the cerebral type, you might like ‘the beck diet solution’: it’s an old book (10/15 yrs old) but about applying CBT techniques to sticking to a diet

Also, reading about insulin resistance might make you feel it’s better to leave gaps between meals

For today, what about deciding early on what your snacks will be & portioning then out? Tot up the cals too which will put you off probably;)

Loads of workouts on YouTube: I like pop sugar and Gina B myself

Good luck on your 1st day!

If your read up on how dripping insulin constantly into your body causes inflammation and hampers any attempts at weighloss, I think you'd be keen to try to intermittent fasting. You simply stop eating at 7pm for example, no more drinks or snacks apart from water. Then, don't start eating til 11am the next day. It's actually liberating and helps you sleep well, you have more energy, aches and pains disappear. Feast Fast Delay is a good book. It's an update on Delay Don't Deny. Plus, videos by Dr Jason Fung are excellent. Recipes and inspiring true stories on Diet Doctor website.

Make sure you have protein & fat in each meal, not much bread or pasta. It’ll keep you full & if you know you’ve had a good meal when you feel like snacking you can remind yourself that you aren’t actually hungry. Eg 2 scrambled eggs for breakfast with a bit of avocado or slice of smoked salmon. No sweet cereal or jam on toast. If you’re a toast lover a nut butter & sliced banana topping will keep you full longer.

I tried the 5:2 diet, it didn't work for me. I think if I'm honest I know exactly why I put on weight and that is the snacking, this stems from being a child, I was always hungry and skinny, in my teens early 20s I was 7st but still smacked heavily but rarely ate a meal, when I married and had kids we had proper meals but I never cut out the snacking, hence 30 years later I'm overweight. One of the issues is that I get a great deal of enjoyment from it. It's certainly not through boredom.

Intermittent fasting worked well for me. Am 45 lost the 2 stone I needed and have kept it off

Eat what I alway did but on smaller plates. So not eat at all until early lunch and after dinner so 16 /. 8. Do in the week. Do hours turbo first thing watching box sets. Am size 10 again.

Thanks all, for today I am going to cal count and do a meal plan for the week. I love a list so hopefully this will help keep me on track.

I am an emotional eater and I do wonder if the mindful eating approach would work for me as well ? Has anyone any info on that? Or is it as simple as it sounds ?

I will also have a look at some more info on intermittent fasting. The idea does interest me and I do think it would help but would have to work out how to fit it in my day properly. We tend to eat late which would need to change.

The booze also needs to be addressed , since lockdown it has become a pretty much every day thing which is obviously not going to help.

Knock the booze on the head. Not only does it contain calories it increases snacking when you drink and the next day whe your body is recovering.

It's so hard to get started especially when you are really down on yourself. Try to be kind to yourself . I am doing the 16:8 fasting thing but also have cut out all crap and booze. It does work. Good luck

I've done 5:2 AND 16:8 at the same time on and off for ages and it definitely works when I am strict. It is also a good way to stay at target weight when you reach it.

But does a cup of tea with milk count with the insulin thing? I keep hearing contradicting advice on this.

Between 4 and 6 is my hardest time of day for snacks.

I get in from school about 4 and we don't eat dinner until about 8 . That is going to have to change or else I feel I am setting myself up to fail.

One good thing about 16:8 is that you can eat really well and lose weight compared to low cal dieting. Purely because instead of spreading your calories over 12 hours, you condense them into a 5-8 hour window. It's recommended to start with an 8 hour window for around 6 weeks until you've strengthened you 'fasting muscle'.
It's also vital that you monitor results with a tape measure and a pair of goal jeans/trousers. Your body gets smaller, lose a dress size, but it doesn't necessarily show up on the scale. The scales take a while to catch up. Possibly because some healing takes place, the visceral fat goes and inflammation decreases.