If you had to post your number 1 diet tip...

[greendress789]

What would it be?

Well for me it would just be to give up wine (or maybe to halve my current consumption)!

Get rid of your car

@truetuesdays that's interesting - why do you think that cardio exercise is pointless?

Go as long as you can without eating when you wake up. I always remember a twee quote from the eternally slim Joanna lumley "theres no point waking up Annie appetite before you have to".
Track everything you eat.
Cut out alcohol. You'll also sleep better which will help shift the weight. When you get to your target weight you can have a few here and there.

Sorry to contradict but my approach when I needed to lose weight was 'breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper'.

I always gain weight from going to bed on a full meal, those calories aren't going anywhere and I need breakfast energy to get through the day, nothing too depriving something like 2 weetabix and a banana.

No sugar. Only way of eating that works for me long term. No sugar. Very low carb.

@Janaih

Go as long as you can without eating when you wake up. I always remember a twee quote from the eternally slim Joanna lumley "theres no point waking up Annie appetite before you have to". Track everything you eat. Cut out alcohol. You'll also sleep better which will help shift the weight. When you get to your target weight you can have a few here and there.

I like the Joanna lumley quote 👌

Don't drink calories.

A big mind shift for me was eating food that is more than I need is as much a "waste of food" as putting it in the bin. Finishing things up, clearing your plate, if its excess food, then eating it is also wasteful. Your stomach is not a bin for the left overs.

Eating more than you need is wasting food. Its ok to throw stuff out instead of eating it.

It depends on what your biggest downfalls are, but this is what works for me:

Cut out alchol (or only have a small amount, eg 1 glass, no more than twice a week).

Reduce sugar intake, and only have it before midday.

Don't eat anything (only water) after 7pm.

Excercise. (Yoga for toning, running for cardio. I used to do swimming for both but obviously swimming hasn't been much of an option this year).

Keto.

It crushes your appetite and makes you realise how much is it is just due to blood sugar spikes...

It's not 90% diet and 10% exercise
Because a lot of it is mindset. You need to get your head right

Log everything you eat. It really is as simple as calories in vs calories out so you need to be honest with yourself about what those figures actually are.

Of course you won't do this for the rest of your life but by the time you have lost the weight you want to lose you will have a good idea of what calories are in the foods you usually eat and approximately how much food you need to eat in a day.

Find an exercise that you enjoy, I started with a small bootcamp class twice a week and now a year on I lift weights 6 days a week and do a 30 min HIIT class 5 days a week and walk the dog for a few miles every day. When it is something you enjoy doing it becomes your hobby and not a chore. I can't imagine not exercising now, it's part of my life.

Don't try to rush, it's is a journey and there will be ups and down, commit to it long term and accept there will be times that life gets in the way.

Don't try to rush, it's is a journey and there will be ups and down, commit to it long term and accept there will be times that life gets in the way.

Oh, this is the best advice I've seen, Cheator you summed it up perfectly!

Intermittent fasting

But are you really going to do that every single day for the rest of your life? That seems like an unhealthy and miserable way to live to me.

I don't find it miserable. It just makes me think. Like checking my bank account regularly to make sure I'm not overspending.

Also once you have lost the weight you don't need to be in a calorie deficit any more. If you kept eating in a calorie deficit you'd be losing weight permanently and obviously that's not the plan. So when you're no longer actively trying to lose weight, and you've spent months tracking what you eat, you'll know what your usual meals and snacks contain, they'll all be saved in My fitness Pal (or whatever app you use) and it only takes seconds. You don't need to never have a takeaway again or a meal out. You just need to look at it and know that most of the time you're making sensible choices.

And on that note, another thing is that you'll never lose weight calorie counting during the week but then having a break from it at the weekend. Because most people just eat back all the calories once they feel that they don't have to account for them. I learnt that one the hard way

For me cardio is key. I run or cycle almost daily; it gives me more energy and it makes me crave foods that fuel my body well. I still eat takeaways, cake or crisps but I don’t want them as frequently or in big quantities. I have way more enthusiasm and energy for cooking from scratch and getting up early to make my packed lunches.

When I stop, I slip into craving (and eating) junk and my energy levels dip massively. I slowed the cardio right down over December/January and put on half a stone and just couldn’t be bothered moving. I’ve been back into cycling for three weeks and it has all melted away and I’m full of energy again.

@Janaih

Go as long as you can without eating when you wake up. I always remember a twee quote from the eternally slim Joanna lumley "theres no point waking up Annie appetite before you have to". Track everything you eat. Cut out alcohol. You'll also sleep better which will help shift the weight. When you get to your target weight you can have a few here and there.

There's a hormone called ghrelin, which gets released at times of day we usually eat. It triggers hunger. We can train our ghrelin release; it takes less than a week. So if you normally eat breakfast at 7am, and you suddenly start eating it at 10am, you'll have about 4 days of feeling exceptionally hungry from 7 - 10, then you won't get hungry until 10am after that.

It's like magic. I've played with mine lots to find the right balance. You can easily train yourself to 2 meals a day (and probably 1, although I haven't done that)

Not snacking is key. It awakens the beast...

That's interesting @Eckhart I never eat before 1pm/2pm and I never feel hungry until then.

DP used to think I was so strange but eventually joined me and now he doesn't get hungry or eat in the morning either.

We're both completely used to eating 2 meals a day and I definitely think it helps to keep weight down. I don't believe that breakfast is important for keeping a low weight as some say.

My main tip though would be not to drink calories, as pp have said.

1. Small plates.
2. Eat as little processed food as possible.

I also skip breakfast and find it works really well for me.

Someone upthread had mentioned sunflower oil being not a natural ingredient (or something along those lines). I hadn't heard of that before. Is it something to do with how it is processed? Does that apply to other vegetable oils (obviously not olive oil) as well?

@newname2021

That's a good method for keeping your weight under control, because your body doesn't get a hit of insulin (fat storage hormone) until after it's been forced to start using its fat stores. So you'll be using a little fat every day, whereas people who eat every 5 minutes get insulin hits all the time, effectively, all day, telling the body 'Don't use the fat; don't use the fat; don't use the fat...'

Weight training over cardio for definition.

Have 3 or 4 meals a day with no snacks in between, and use sweetener not sugar, preferably neither, in your tea/coffee.

Just read the first page and majority of the tips are the ones that make me yo yo diet.. write everything down,track calories,be hungry etc.I don't do any of that as it sends me towards binge territory.I walk fast,do online hit work outs 2-3 times a week.Food wise stopping all the 'tips' has led to me losing half a stone and being a healthy weight.I try to remind myself that not all calories are equal which helps me make a healthy choice.If I'm not hungry I don't eat breakfast and have lunch at 12 so I suppose I quite often naturally fast.

Full fat greek yoghurt and frozen berries. We started having this in lockdown. Left berries in microwave too long but turned out wonderfully sweet and warm, like a coulis. DS hooked on it now. I add nutty granola or mixed seeds/nuts. It's so filling and delicious has stopped me snacking on toast etc. Also shove a few spoonfuls in between meals to curb hunger pangs.

Agree with intermittent 5:2 fasting and 16:8 eating. Did this just for a few weeks once and lost a few pounds.

I just remembered Michael Pollan’s advice which I thought was good: eat food (which he distinguishes from ‘edible food-like substances’ ie highly processed food), not too much, mostly plants.