Nothing is working....

[sandwiches77]

I am seriously overweight, as are all the females in my family. Feel like I'm fighting a losing battle, I have tried every diet, stuck to it like glue and no weight loss

Forget diets and instead permanently reduce your portion size.

Eat only three meals, no snacks. Don’t drink alcohol.

I do all of that already

Well the laws of physics cover the conservation of energy, either you are taking in too many calories or you are not burning enough calories.

Every diet ever created comes down to burning more than you consume.

OP, do you write down what you are eating? That’s such a reality check.

Do you exercise?

My job is sedatary which doesnt help

Typical day
Cereal
Sandwich, fruit, Crisps
Spaghetti bolognese, yoghurt

Yes I exercise but only gentle, walking, yoga, gardening etc.

That seems quite carb heavy to me. I’d look at eating more protein, definitely getting rid of the crisps and looking really carefully at portion size.

Have you considered intermittent fasting?

Crisps, pasta, mince and yogurt are all high in calories.

Cereal can be really high.

For the next week, keep a diary and weigh everything including cereal. You should be able to isolate where the issues are.

The sedentary thing is less important. Apparently 80% of weight loss is diet.

Download my fitness pal. Log everything u eat. Get a fitness watch doesn't have to be expensive. After/before work try to do half hour walk to boost up steps. Calorie count.

Fasting works for me. I do 2 days a week of 500 calories & carefully monitor what I eat the rest of the time.

You really need to up your exercise though. Can you walk more ? Walking 10k steps a day will make a difference

You’re taking in more than you’re burning off-it’s pure science.

You need to work out as sort of starting point-what you are currently eating as calories-weighing things will show you exactly. What cereal are you eating and how many grams? How much milk-is it semi skimmed?

There will a reason you’re not losing weight-it could be portion size.

I agree about weighing and logging everything you eat - it really is eye opening to see what a portion of cereal or butter on toast should be.

For me personally- low carb and intermittent fasting has been a game changer. I had gastric sleeve surgery and lost 50kgs and working hard on losing the last 10kgs.

Hi.

I'm about 3 stone overweight, it's so hard to lose weight, I am a grazer and never feel full, there is no off switch.
The only thing that works for me is calorie counting.

I have a desk job and a two year old, fitting in exercise is really hard.
I have 1200 calories a day, and I write ALL my food down.
Looking at your typical day I would say too many carbs. Too much nil value food, as I call it. Cereal, bread, crisps, pasta. I would guess there's about 700 cals just in carbs, start swapping it out for proteins and you stay fuller for longer.
Cereal is 30g a portion, which isn't a lot, and it's about 150 cals, not including milk.
I don't have breakfast so I can have a bigger lunch or dinner. If I want treats I count them in. It soon made me realise I was eating too much naughty stuff!!
I lost 5lb in my first week, 6 in my second, third week 3lb.
Good luck 💞

@sandwiches77

Typical day Cereal Sandwich, fruit, Crisps Spaghetti bolognese, yoghurt

That could be a v high calorie day. Do you weigh and track everything? What calories are you aiming for?

Do you show any symptoms of PCOS or thyroid problems?

You said you have a sedentary job but list you have sandwich plus crisps plus yogurt for lunch. Why not just the sandwich if you're sedentary?

Replace cereal with porridge oats or eggs
Have a big salad instead of the sandwich and crisps
Have a better ratio of protein and veg to carbs in your dinner

That typical days diet sounds very beige, weight loss aside there's barely any fruit or veg or goodness. I suspect snacks have not been divulged either.

My fitness pal is great to track calories so make sure you are taking less in than is being used. Walk at least an hour a day to start with, briskly.

Forget diets with lots of rules. You know what's healthy and what isn't. Drink tons of water. Reduce or remove sugar in tea/coffee.

What have you tried OP? I find it's about finding what works for you. I like calorie counting as it means no food is off limits in moderation, I use MFP. You do need to be strict and weigh everything and track all drinks.

Others prefer keto/ reducing carbs, intermittent fasting or find WW or SW work for them.

If you are genuinely eating less calories than you're burning and not losing weight (after a number of weeks of sticking to it) then you need to see a GP- but you'll need to be 100% honest about your intake.

Sorry to hear your struggling with this.

I’m a big fan of cutting bread to reduce weight. Switch your sandwich for a soup. Switch your cereal for a smoothie some days.

Cut chips and crisps.

Switch up spag Bol for chicken, rice, veg some days.

Avoid empty calories like dressings on salads, mayonnaise etc. And avoid alcohol, chocolate and sweets. That doesn’t mean cut EVERYTHING out, just rein it in when you can.

Up your walking. Use your lunch hour to go for a walk when you can.

Know that your body has a happy weight and just focus on stimulating your metabolism and getting lots of fruit and veg.

Portion control is important too, so the idea is not to overload your plate.

I don’t agree with fasting, but I hear lots of people are fans. Do some research if you think that would help.

Ideally, try to refrain from any diet that makes you hungry. If you starve your body, it will only make weight loss harder and it’s unsustainable.

The goal is to eat healthy foods and enjoy it, add in lots of walking and you’re focus on building your energy levels.

Also, the amount you weigh is irrelevant IMO. If you’ve made positive changes to your diet, you should notice it first in the way you feel and how your clothes fit. Don’t focus on the scales.

If you have lots to lose, it will slowly go down, but a good diet should take time given it’s a lifestyle change you slowly integrate into your day.

I hope that helps!

Sorry if this sounds negative but here goes, I've done low carb and intermittent fastinv lost nothing. I've switched to salad or home made vegetable soup for lunch and still nothing. I've done vlcd, slimming world, weight watchers, Paul mckenna

The only thing I haven't tried is surgery as I don't have that kind of cash

Went for a walk yesterday and came home and my knee was hurting and I thought is this my weight causing the issue.

My mum is overweight as was her mum (now deceased)

I'm working from home now which isn't helping as I have got lazy and just roll out of bed to go downstairs to work. I used to walk or cycle to work

Cut the cereal it's not worth the calories at all. Eggs are great for breakfast. There are some lovely low calorie sausages now too.

It's all down to calories. Unless you have a medical issue then you're consuming more than you should be.