50yo vegatarian with 4 stone to lose.

[Goslowlysideways]

I knind of drift through food with no thought at all. Slowly grazing my way through thousands of calories - no pause -just mindlessly consuming.
Then last weekend I stopped as I had just finished my second massive toffee doughnut of the day and remembered that I had eaten a family bar of galaxy before lunch and I thought WTF am I doing?!
I don't even taste this stuff anymore,I just hoover it up.
So here I am 15 stone 3 lbs and finally saying no more.
I've been eating well all week, lots of soup and I made myself a red pepper and chickpea curry I had a few nights with one microwave popudum.
For breakfast I'm having museli I construct myself which is branflakes, oats, seeds and a few nuts. Then I have it with no fat Greek yogurt.
I've had a few treats but tiny by comparison.
I'm 50 so I know this isn't going to be quick.
I've just made two batches of soup and I'm going to have that for dinner tonight. I've checked in some cannellini beans so bump up the protein.
Tomorrow for breakfast I'm going to have two slices of toast and that will be my carbs for the day.
I'm just trying to think about food and plan delicious things I can enjoy. I need a reset - unplugging!

Fast 800 has been good for me in the past combined with MFP to be aware of everything I’m eating/drinking. Weigh portions to regain an idea of sensible portion size. Plus move more, even if it’s just step count. I say all this as I’m cut currently heavier than I’d like and have let things slip with lockdown and redundancy. But i’m hoping to restart this week.

is such a crash diet wise op?

Hi, I am vegan and around the same weight as you. - also 4 stone to lose but I have lost 6 stone to get to this point. Happy to swap ideas or recipes if you like?
This week for lunch I have really enjoyed Morrisons Thai style fishless fish cake, fried in a tsp of sesame oil, served with steamed samphire and sugar snap peas dressed with salt and lemon juice - 250 cal

@Inthevirtualwaitingroom

is such a crash diet wise op?

I wouldn't call that a crash diet. It's not unlike what I'm eating in my 'no processed foods' diet although I'm not a vegetarian so I've been having some lean chicken in my food plan. I've lost 7lb in 3 weeks (total of 3 stone to lose).

Healthy things I am enjoying - small corn cobs, sauted spinach and leek, an apple a day!

Good luck, OP!

@Justtrying yes I'm going to up my step count. I've done a few days of 20,000 this week. Definitely agree re portion size.

@Inthevirtualwaitingroom I feel like I'm so bad with sweet things I just have to stop! Like a heavy drinker. But I take your point.

@BeastOfBODMAS Wow well done. Yes please great tips are very welcome.

@LApprentiSorcier Thanks so much. Well done!! I'm going for slow and steady.

Hi I am vegetarian, and I once lost a lot of weight by eating half of my usual meals each day. I would not go on a starvation diet though without seeing gp first.

Hi I'm also a vegetarian with at least 4 stone to lose. Personally im not the best at cooking and like a G&T of an evening which is my downfall. I've decided to calorie count. Good start Op.

@lydia2021 Im not hungry. The curry was really filling as is soup.
@evrey well done! Luckily I don't drink - just eat all the sweet things in existence.

I'm finding it all ok so far - I just keep thinking about my health.

Soup today and I had lots of water. I've made lentil Bolognese for tea. I'm looking forward to it. Stuck working online but I've been walking on the spot and when I get a break going up and down the stairs.

My life is thrilling!

Hi @Goslowlysideways glad you are getting on well today. I also had soup for lunch and bolognese for tea - snap! Although mine is H&B dried soya mince. Great minds eh?

I had soup today too . I recently bought a soup-maker and it's so easy to make soup knowing exactly what's in it. I've got lots of frozen veg in the freezer so it's quick to make - also handy for leftovers. Tonight was broccoli, cauliflower and savoy cabbage with a bit of leftover chicken all whizzed up with lots of tarragon.

Well done on stopping the 'mindless eating' OP. I have around 3.5 stone to lose, it's tough! I'm doing WW at the moment but may give Noom a try as I've heard good things (but it is £££ ) - also I'm upping my cardio as I think my body needs to be shocked into losing weight!!

@BeastOfBODMAS those fishless fish cakes sound yummy. We don't live particularly near a Morrisons unfortunately but once lockdown finishes I may drive the 8 miles to our nearest one for a look round. The things we're looking forward to, eh?!

@LApprentiSorcier I have a new food processor arriving soon and am excited to be able to chop veg more easily for soups, curries etc. My life is truly a thrill a minute at the moment

Are you me, OP?

All my life I've loved a sweaty workout but also crisps. Since last March's lockdown I've had no time or energy or motivation or opportunity for the workouts but made up for it on the crisp front. I'm a stone heavier, now so that's 3.5 stone I want to lose.

But right now even half a stone would be encouraging

Oh a soupmaker sounds good. Yesterday was good - moved a lot and ate well. I thought VERY carefully about everything I ate. My house is full of cake and rubbish because it was my DS birthday. I've decided to have something as a treat at the weekend but to plan it so it's really enjoyable rather than just consumed!!
I need to look into Noom.

I definitely recommend the soup-maker. If you're using already cooked leftovers, all you have to do is drop them in with some stock and switch it on. If using frozen chopped veg I just saute it from frozen for 5-10 mins before putting it in. A smooth soup takes 19 minutes and it's much smoother than anything I have ever managed using a blender.

I'm quite a lazy person so a big part of my weightloss plan was removing the barriers to healthy eating - finding easy things to cook from scratch rather than relying on ready meals, and things I could cook quickly so I wouldn't be tempted to start nibbling on things because I was hungry and couldn't wait an hour for something to be ready.

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl oh definitely treat yourself to a day out at Morrisons
Their veggie/vegan ranges have come on loads!
They do chorizo style sausages which are amazing chopped up in a pasta dish and frozen battered cauliflower ‘popcorn’ which I have with katsu curry sauce. And massive nets of wonky avocados for £2.40.
I am not paid by them I swear just looking forward to my shopping delivery tonight

OP just come off the sugar. Completely. It just messes up everything including your innate sense of portion control. The weight will just fall off and you can then tweak your diet to lose any remaining surplus pounds. Speaking as one who’s been there and done that. Oh and don’t eat between meals or carry on eating after you’ve had your normal size meal. Coming off sugar will help with that too.

OP yes to planning a treat for the weekend! I think the anticipation is at least as good as the eating so enjoy looking forward to it, it can help you through the week

I haven’t used Noom but have used basic free MyFitnessPal which does the job for me. I am 0.25lb off a full 6 stone loss today which is a bit maddening!

I think you should start by trying to find out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight (there are plenty of tools online to find this out, it's your TDEE). Then aim to eat 500 calories a day less than that. Aim to lose one pound a week, nice and slow and steady.

You'll need to learn to calorie count and portion control. Invest a good digital kitchen scale if you don't have one already, and a measuring jug. It's impossible otherwise to know if you have poured out 50g of meusli or 75, if you'd added 100ml of milk or 150. Measure out carbs and protein so you know what you're eating.

Do not add back in any exercise calories! Just eat 500 calories/day below your TDEE and track your weight, every morning, for one month. You should see a steady decline. Then you can adjust, adding more calories if you're losing too quickly (remember, you want to maintain this longterm - don't go too far under your TDEE) or fewer if you are gaining or maintaining. Take a 7-day average weight; daily weight can fluctuate by a few pounds.

Good luck!

@PopUpName

I think you should start by trying to find out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight (there are plenty of tools online to find this out, it's your TDEE). Then aim to eat 500 calories a day less than that. Aim to lose one pound a week, nice and slow and steady.

You'll need to learn to calorie count and portion control. Invest a good digital kitchen scale if you don't have one already, and a measuring jug. It's impossible otherwise to know if you have poured out 50g of meusli or 75, if you'd added 100ml of milk or 150. Measure out carbs and protein so you know what you're eating.

Do not add back in any exercise calories! Just eat 500 calories/day below your TDEE and track your weight, every morning, for one month. You should see a steady decline. Then you can adjust, adding more calories if you're losing too quickly (remember, you want to maintain this longterm - don't go too far under your TDEE) or fewer if you are gaining or maintaining. Take a 7-day average weight; daily weight can fluctuate by a few pounds.

Good luck!

This! Except maybe the exercise advice, depending on how much you burn. I wouldn't eat back the calories from a short waddle around the corner, but if you've gone all out for a while (we're talking the sort of strenuous activities that demand a sports bra), it's OK to eat back some. I'd never eat back the whole amount, purely because it's easy to overestimate your calorie burn, which puts you into a net gain.

Scales are your friend. The reason why most of us are fat is because we can't judge portion size - so why would you think you can accurately judge how many calories you're eating by looking at your plate? Weigh everything. It's a pain at first, but you will get used to it.

Best of luck!

@LApprentiSorcier I'm going to look into getting one. I love soup - today I'm going to make spinach and watercress soup.

@BeastOfBODMAS I'm trying to eat more protein but for some reason fake meat products freak me out a bit. Having said that I have got some Quorn things I'm going to try.
@SheeshazAZ09 Definitely! I stopped all caffeine about two years ago and felt a lot better. But sugar is a real nightmare. But it's been about ten days now and my sugar consumption has reduced dramatically.
Was it hard to go cold turkey?

@PopUpName That is great advice. I'm going to do some proper research this weekend and make a meal plan.
@mcclucky I'm going to be upping my exercise as the week goes on. Low calorie with the occasional treat is what will work best for me.
@BeastOfBODMAS Six Stone!! Wow that is impressive.