Can someone suggest a diet for me??

[Chubchubister]

Hi, just that really. I need to lose about 1.5 stone. I’ve basically had two years of eating what I like and need to stop right now.
In the past I’ve done slimming world (which worked really well but I got too comfy with it and started sneaking stuff in). Also did WW for a bit which also worked but I don’t really want to pay the fee and can’t remember what I was allowed to eat.
MFP is great but if I’m calorie counting I tend to eat ready meals and avoid fruit so I can save calories for chocolate.
I keep doing the same old thing where I say to myself ‘right that’s it, no more food for me’ then I do some crazy only eat chicken breasts and salad for a couple of days before quitting again.
I really like breakfast but really like something sweet like cereal.
Please help / join me! I only have a few clothes left I can wear!!!

Honestly I think calorie counting is the best way to lose it and keep it off. You don't have to hugely restrict yourself, have what you want, but small portions and fill yourself up on veg. It is the best way to learn how to eat the correct portions and keep the weight off once you have reached your goal. I do slightly reduce my carbs, but only because I would rather use my calories on the more filling parts of the meal and stop the yoyo of blood sugars caused by white refined carbs. This reduces my hunger and helps me stick to my diet.

I also have a box of low calorie snacks so that if I do fancy chocolate/crisps or whatever, it is always under 100cal and easy to fit in.

I lost 4 stone doing this after having dd and only put some back on when I had ds and was very ill. Now I have lost over a stone again and just have another to go.

No S is pretty healthy and sustainable - you need a lifestyle change not a diet.

Ive just list 7 stone doing intermittent fasting, combined with what is basically no S though I only heard of the actual name mid way through, and walking for at least 45 minutes at least 6 days per week. I still have about ten lb to lose but its easy and I expect to have to, and be able to, stick to it more or less forever...

Calorie counting works for some but I know myself and counting anything (steps, macros, points, syns, calories, macros) isn't a sustainable approach for me because it makes me think about food constantly, which is counterproductive, and I get resentful. For me a simpler approach without counting anything works.

Somewhat tongue in cheek, but do a VLCD total food replacement. I have done exante. Some of the meal replacements are chocolate bars. After only eating sweet shakes and chocolate bars all day, it has put me right off chocolate and sweets for while!

In all seriousness, calorie counting. But with a sensible amount of calories so you can actually live and enjoy life. Not the 1200 MFP starts you on. According to MFP, I should have 1750 to maintain my weight. Yet, I still manage to lose weight (albeit slowly) having that much. It's enough for 3 sensible meals a day and something in the evening like a chocolate bar if I want it.

Thanks for the replies. So if I go for calorie counting, how do I count calories for like a normal home cooked tea?
I’m the type of person who can totally do a diet and stick to it but the minute there’s room to interpret things myself I’m off the wagon. I’m either being fantastically good or being fantastically awful. No middle ground.
A lifestyle/mindset change is what I need.

What does a typical food day look like for you calorie counters?

Intermittent fasting (16:8) is one of the best things I have ever done. I lost 2 stone. I maintain with ease and somehow, I’m not sure how...it has totally changed my mindset with food.

@PerfectionistProcrastinator so do you do 800 or 500 Cals on fast days? Do you manage to eat sensibly on your eating days? How???

On an app like lose it you can put in your own recipes. calorie counting is the way to go..but like @Cadburycup says not 1200. but higher.,its sustainable and doable

Chubchubister you're thinking of 5:2 with fast days and eating days. 16:8 is 16 fasted hours out of every 24, 8 hours during which you eat normally (not whatever you want, two meals and either no snacks or just fruit/ vegetables/ healthy snacks most days). So no calorie counting.

If you have sweet tooth, have you tried the low cal skinny whip bars? 99 cal Mars bars are nice too.
I have porridge, semi skimmed milk, raspberries & 6 squares of dark chocolate for breakfast every day. It’s gorgeous and tastes so sweet and chocolately but only 310 cals, which may sound a lot but it fills me up until lunch and stops me wanting to snack on chocolate.
Fills me up until lunch!

Calorie counting is an old fashioned and ineffective way to lose weight and keep it off. Calories are not equal for different foods.
If you want to lose weight why not try a mix of intermittent fasting and healthy eating? Cut out processed food, as much sugar as possible, and white carbs. Increase fibre and vegetables.

Yea you’re thinking of the 5:2. I do 16:8 which is different. What I do is daily fasting where I only eat meals in an 8 hour period. So I usually skip breakfast. Eat lunch at 1 and have had dinner at 8 usually. For me it takes away the cycle of “oh I’ve failed so I may as well eat everything now and start again tomorrow/Monday/next month.

When I used to do slimming world I used to eat “Treat” syns because I had them left and was allowed them etc. With intermittent fasting I seem to naturally pay much more attention to if I actually feel like I want to eat it or if it’s because I’m bored.

Sam what a ridiculous statement. The only way to lose weight is to consume less calories than you use. Counting calories to learn why you have gained weight and see where your portions are too big makes perfect sense. I counted calories using an app first time round. This time I don't even need to and have lost over a stone without once actually recording the calories because of what I learnt first time round.

@Stormwhale
If you want to spend your life counting calories that's fine, but it's at best an approximation. Different foods have ways of being metabolised by the body which means that the calorie count on packs is incorrect. 30g of almonds are not absorbed in the same way as 30g cake and if you get all your calories from high sugar foods you will get sugar spikes and feel hungry more quickly. OTOH high fibre foods are digested more slowly, are better for your gut microbiome, fill you up so you don't feel hungry.
Most reputable nutrition doctors all say the same thing, calorie counting is outdated and it doesn't teach you to eat healthily which is the only way you will keep the weight off.
I recommend you educate yourself by reading Dr Tim Spector's book Spoon fed as a starter.
And who wants to spend all their time logging calories? Far better to go outside and do some exercise.

I'm so fed up with diets. They don't really work long-term. No way am I constantly bloody logging things either- life is too short.

My latest plan is: make a serious effort to avoid processed foods, drink lots of water, no eating between meals, a sweet treat on weekends only (and only as part of a meal). So basically 'No S' but with an extra focus on wholefoods. 16:8 works but it seriously messes with my digestion. I might try and edge breakfast later and later though, to reduce my eating window a bit.

Cutting carbs right down. Eating healthy veg, lots of greens, berries, nuts, fats and quality meat and fish.
You will lose weight but also more importantly just have so much more energy due to even blood sugar levels.
And by consuming fat your appetite will naturally reduce so you will rarely feel hungry once your fat adapted.
Combining this with intermittent fasting will certainly produce results and make you feel healthy overall.

I'm a big fan of 16:8. I use it now as a lifestyle choice not a diet. I just eat normally from lunchtime for 8 hours, no rubbishy artificial diet food needed, and then know that the shop is shut at 8pm... No stress eating, no bingeing on junk. Feel and look so much better.

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme

No S is pretty healthy and sustainable - you need a lifestyle change not a diet.

Ive just list 7 stone doing intermittent fasting, combined with what is basically no S though I only heard of the actual name mid way through, and walking for at least 45 minutes at least 6 days per week. I still have about ten lb to lose but its easy and I expect to have to, and be able to, stick to it more or less forever...

What hours do you eat/not eat? What is S? Sugar lol sorry being a bit stupid maybe

@samthebordercollie

Calorie counting is an old fashioned and ineffective way to lose weight and keep it off. Calories are not equal for different foods. If you want to lose weight why not try a mix of intermittent fasting and healthy eating? Cut out processed food, as much sugar as possible, and white carbs. Increase fibre and vegetables.

I have to agree with you! This is why I put off asking the GP for help, as they just send you to the dietitian, who will bring out the classic diet sheets and picture of what your plate should look like, that look like they have been printed in the 1960's. Okay granted, I have never really followed any of it, so they could say to me how do you know it won't work then. One thing I did do, and it did not involve calorie counting, going back quite a few years ago now. I was trying a bit of everything, adding things in/taking things away etc. I still ate sweet stuff, bad I know lol and maybe a surprise that it still worked. But I would go between adding more protein, more whole grain/whole meal, breads if I had them, that kept me going longer/fillings that would keep me going longer/felt right when I ate them. I also looked at the list of what was advised on Low GI. And included things from there. All sorts of things like drinking apple cider vinegar in water lol, to putting cinnamon on things because it was supposed to be good for your blood sugars. I was also taking Metformin at the time not diabetic but at that time it seemed to be given out more to those diagnosed with PCOS, which I was. All in all, and that I worked full time, though that job made me constantly stressed and hungry lol. And I walked a lot. I lost 3 stone, so I must have done something right. I just wish I'd written it down at the time, so now I try to remember back and am thinking of jotting it down, so that i can try to follow again. Otherwise it gets a bit messy if no order, and in terms of day to day planning meals and shopping. I did also eat things that were higher in fibre too as that helps too of course.

@lazylinguist

I'm so fed up with diets. They don't really work long-term. No way am I constantly bloody logging things either- life is too short.

My latest plan is: make a serious effort to avoid processed foods, drink lots of water, no eating between meals, a sweet treat on weekends only (and only as part of a meal). So basically 'No S' but with an extra focus on wholefoods. 16:8 works but it seriously messes with my digestion. I might try and edge breakfast later and later though, to reduce my eating window a bit.

This! Diets don't work. That's why Slimming World and Weightwatchers are so profitable. The only way to lose weight sustainably is to eat healthily for the rest of your life. It will not only shrink your waistline, but it will help your health in general. Food is medicine!

Redruby2020 S is Sugar, Snacks, Seconds (second helping). There's an enire book on it but I haven't read it. Essentially what I borrow from it is no processed sugar (I avoid processed wheat - bread and pasta - as much as possible too), no snacks between meals and no second helpings at meals except on special occasions (birthdays etc). The book suggests making Saturday and Sunday special occasions and it being important to have some relaxed days I believe. I don't really eat differently on Saturday and Sunday because I'm a shift worker and weekends aren't necessarily days off - I'm just as likely to be off on Monday and Tuesday - but the idea is similar.

I do 18:6 rather thsn 16:8. I eat at 1pm and about 6pm usually, try not to eat after 7pm or before 1am. Not eating in the evening is useful as its when I used to eat junk, and I find it easy not to eat til 1 usually but occasionally I am really hungry and will eat at 11am instead (not as well).

1pm not am!

samthebordercollie

Perhaps before you rudely tell me to educate myself you should take the time to read my post properly. I clearly state that because of what I learnt from calorie counting I have been able to lose weight without ever logging anything this time. I also stated in my first post that I avoid refined carbs to avoid the yoyo of blood sugar. It is perfectly easy to eat healthily and reduce calories. You seem to be very angry about calorie counting, it's really quite strange.

I'd really recommend cutting carbs rather than counting calories - although once you've cut carbs, it's hard to consume high calories.

I find that logging everything is good if you don't have much understanding of what calories/carbs are in foods - but I tend to get obsessed about it, and spend way more time than I should logging, preparing spreadsheets and charts. Be tons better off going for a walk!