Anyone successful with a simple sensible weight loss plan?

[LoseItLoseIt]

Has anyone been successful in losing a significant amount of weight by simply following almost old fashioned rules. I'm horrified at what my body has become. I used to be skinny and since the age of 40 have slowly gained weight till now I'm obese.
I've tried low carb and fasting and they make sense and work for a while but I just can't stay on them. I'm tired of trying diets that are difficult to follow .
What I plan to do is to eat only at mealtimes, ensuring lots of protein and fibre and gradually reduce portion size. Only have the occasional glass of wine, get lots of sleep, daily exercise and use a food and mood tracker journal ( which might help me figure out why I fall off the wagon??)
I think part of my problem is I lose motivation along the way and slide slowly back to square one.
Any advice on how to keep my motivation up and if anyone has had any success this way? I need to lose about 3 stone to get to a normal weight .

Hello OP. I've lost 8kg over the last two years, which I know sounds slow, but it has stayed off, and that's what counts (I'd spent years losing and gaining the same 2kg). I have perhaps another 2kg to go, and I"m happy for that to be slow as well.

The big change for me was stopping drinking. I mean no booze, not the occasional glass, or Fridays only. None. It changes your metabolism. Your body can now deal with the calories from your food, it's not having to deal with the alcohol, and that MacGuffins around your mid-section (belly fat, which in women helpfully distributes itself from underarm to thigh) disappears more quickly.

Next, I changed my eating patterns to 16-8, or as close as I can get it. So you do all your eating between 11 and 7, or 12 and 8, or 10 and 6 - whatever you can make work for you. If you can exercise during the morning, while fasting, that will help burn fat. Some people find front-loading their carbohydrate intake at the beginning of their 'eating day' helps, but don't make a rod for your own back with lots of rules.

Those two changes were small, but sustainable, and helped me make all the other small and sustainable changes - drink more water, eat more veg and protein, less sugar and pasta, exercise more.

Using MyFitnessPal to track intake and weight was also helpful - I don't do it all the time now, but I do still record my weight from time to time. It's helpful to see the downward trend over time, and not get too demoralised if you're half a kilo up one week.

But if you ARE half a kilo up one week, make sure you adjust. I find a scoop of ice cream with a dollop of creme fraiche to be a weakness - fine twice a week, not good daily. So I've cut it out, because it was becoming a daily thing.

You and I (and most adult women, tbh) have had enough experience of self-monitoring around food to know what a good week's intake looks like, compared with overdoing it. You will know when your portion sizes are creeping up, or when the one slice of cake for someone's birthday is becoming a daily thing. People in offices always seem to eat a ton of sugary stuff - swerve it.

Joe Wicks said a wise thing; 'don't let a bad day turn into a bad week'. Just because you 'fall off the wagon' one day, doesn't mean you have to chuck it all away.

Start a thread on Mumsnet! Gather some friends around you on a forum and exchange news and tips with them.

You are doing something really nice for yourself, so feel proud of that.

Brilliant response @Tightwad2020

I've just started intermittent fasting again, and it really does stop the evening nosebagging!

What a supportive lovely message @Tightwad2020 . I agree, I think I should try to give up alcohol altogether. I can't help feeling that the fact most of my weight is my belly is down to alcohol.
I don't think I could do 16:8 . Do you have 2 meals a day and 1 snack in the 8 hours? But maybe I can work towards that . Maybe I should have a phased diet! I ( and no doubt lots of others) are either on diet or off it. Maybe making small sustainable changes for a month and then move onto bigger changes in month 2 etc?
'Don't turn a bad day into a bad week', brilliant!

Slimming world.
I lost 4st

16:8 is pretty easy, once you get used to it. If it sounds a bit challenging, you could just start with 12 hours and add an hour every week until you make it to 16?

If you’re calorie counting, my top tip would be to not set your daily calorie allowance too low. I’ve lost almost 3 stone since the start of March by eating 1700-1800 calories a day. Don’t ask me how that’s possible, but I’ve found that if I cut my calories too much I actually stop loosing weight 🤷‍♀️ If you use the NHS BMI calculator, that gives you an estimate of how many calories you should eat to loose weight

Re. motivation, I think it helps to start off with realistic expectations. It may take a little while to see the scales go down, but that’s ok. In the beginning, it can be more useful to focus on how your new way of eating is making you feel. After a week or two, you should start to feel like you have a lot more energy, are becoming a bit fitter, sleep better etc. Use all of that to keep you motivated, while you wait for the scales to catch up!

Take a few pictures when you start. Later on you can use them to remind yourself of how far you’ve come!

Do you have any favourite items of clothing that no longer fit? Try them on every few weeks (and take pictures!). Seeing yourself getting closer and closer to that point where they fit again is really motivating.

Good luck!

Was over 15 ( may/June last year) and now around 9 stone just used My Fitness Pal and was actually honest 😂 then started c25k and bought a switch ring fit bloody love it and it's sustainable.

Agree that clothes are motivating - I've been able to wear clothes again that I had reluctantly set aside. It saves money too - no longer tempted to buy new stuff because I have all these nice things that hadn't had an outing while I was heavier. Good for the planet too - no fast fashion fixes!

I do think the 'small, sustainable changes' work well. And now I have to go and drink some water while I think of it!

I think taking the core concepts of some of the fad diets but doing them in a less extreme way is a better approach. So if 16:8 is too difficult, then make a commitment to have a 12 hour fast between finishing for the night before having breakfast the next day.

I find having a savoury breakfast rather than a sweet/carby one also gets me on the right track for the day. And just because you're not low carbing doesn't mean you can't have some low carb meals - I really enjoy a bolognase sauce with a pile of veg rather than a pile of pasta etc.

I also agree with @Tightwad2020 that cutting out booze completely (at least for a bit) is also very helpful.

I've lost 8 stone since last may.
1500kcals a day, plus running. I gave up alcohol completely through last year and now drink minimally.

And I used MyFitnessPal. It was brilliant but you NEED to weigh everything

Fast 800 diet (low carbing)
12 hour eating/fasting window
No alcohol.

Good luck, op.

Ive lost almost 3.5 stone since this time last year. I'm good Monday to Thursday but Friday to Sunday I have my few drinks, crisps and maybe a sausage sandwich. I cut out takeaways and chocolate. I've become more mindful of my eating. I don't just eat for the sake of it. I try to stop eating by 8pm and hold of on breakfast until 11am,so 15 hours fast. I walk and do 2 fitness classes a week. I'm 40 with 3 dc.

Know where YOU are starting from.

Look at how, when, what, where and who you eat with ... note the patterns, the ups and downs.

Then look at is as a “tidy up” - lots of little habits to chip away at or insert. Make a list and do one thing each day / week / month and consolidate over time - until this is just how you are.

Look ahead - never let yourself get hungry or have nothing healthy to hand to eat during the day - and look ahead to the week - if you are eating out on Sat night you don’t need a takeaway on a Wednesday.

Reward yourself.

Decide it’s a new way of living for life. New healthy habits which once you enter your 40s and face the peri meno you are going to need.

Start with the basics - sleep is critical.

For me cutting out the wine (at home) stopped me losing willpower and troughing rubbish in the evenings after being “good” all day.

16:8 has really helped me regulate my eating. I look at the day in segments.

Exercise in the morning on a fast - get to midday to enjoy my scrambled eggs.

Something at 4. Dinner at 7:30. Kitchen closed from 8. No eating on the sofa. Lots of water.

I have also done C25K and love buying smaller quality clothes in charity shops to slim into.

Don’t beat yourself up if you hit a bump in the road or plateau - don’t make it too hard.

Lots of tiny incremental changes all add up.

Exercise in the morning on a fast - get to midday to enjoy my scrambled eggs.

Something at 4. Dinner at 7:30. Kitchen closed from 8. No eating on the sofa. Lots of water.

this is a very good piece of advice. 'Kitchen closed'! - brilliant.
I find that putting on some leggings or a tracksuit - something that you can stretch in - and distracting yourself from the desire to eat in front of the telly (if you spend your evenings teaching yourself Russian and painting watercolours then I apologise for my assumption that you are as slovenly as I am) by stretching instead. I have nice flexible hips and hamstrings now, and my Achilles tendons have improved no end!

See also: home manicures and pedicures.

I lost 15kg with calorie counting and exercise using Nutracheck - I reckon £24 for a year for the app only is worth it. It sets your calories, you can pick if you want to do higher protein, or 16:8 or loads of options; there's lots of support through forums and blogs and the staff are really helpful. You get lots of feedback of things like how much protein, fats, sugar etc you are having.

You do have to weigh everything, at least to start with, but it is easy to build up your own library of favourite foods and meals. I don't know if MFP has the option to take a photo of the bar code on any food packaging and then you can input a serving size to your diary, but I find this really useful.

Im terrible for evening chocolate so my rule is nothing to eat after my evening meal which I eat between 5 and 6pm. I then have breakfast around 7.30am. I stick to 1500 calories of normal food and walk. A lot. 11 miles yesterday. Today I've had toast and butter for breakfast, tea, no sugar, skimmed milk, an apple, raspberry yogurt, raspberries, a fab, a kitkat, nut burger without the bun and oven chips with a dollop of vegan Mayo. I'm a little over my calories slightly as I drank orange juice today and don't normally. Water water water helps too. Good luck!

Sorry, I should add I use my fitness pal and the Fitbit app too. There's a supportive thread on weight loss chat and there's a Fitbit friends thread too. I've found them great at keeping me motivated. I fell off the wagon the last m

The last month but have hauled myself back on this Monday and have done great this week. Not eating after dinner is possibly the biggest thing for me. It's a real challenge but really effective.

I think different things work for different people. For example I never eat after dinner anyway, but am still overweight. Also, giving up booze doesn't seem to make much difference to me. I have no idea why!

Like you OP, I've tried low carb and plenty of other diets but always fall off the wagon. This time around I'm going for various non-extreme, manageable tweaks. No eating between meals, no sweet stuff except one treat at the weekend, plenty of water, no bread at lunch time, avoid ultra-processed foods.

And I'm religiously sticking to a moderate exercise regime. 45min hilly, fast, sweaty dog walk every day (need to walk him anyway!) plus 15-20 mins of yoga or weights.

I did 3 healthy meals a day, one fruit snack in the afternoon. Bowl of Special K in the evening (before 8pm) if still hungry.

Dr Chatterjee's Feel Better Live More podcast s are brilliant motivation, particularly the ones with Dr Satchin Panda and Amelia Freer.

Amelia Freer has a Healthy Eating Pyramid online which is a brilliant guide to a proper, nourishing diet.

Have no sugar either.

I think I’m eating too little calories then? I’m struggling to loose weight I want to loose 10lbs and I’m trying to eat 1200 calories. I’m 5ft 2 and 10 stone bang on. Is this not enough then? I’m as active as a mother of 3 small children is.
Great thread I’m following with intrest x

1200 seems to be the golden recommended number of calories but I find it too restrictive with how active I am so I aim for 1500. For me it's not a diet, it's a healthy lifestyle plan because diets aren't good generally as most people put the weight back on plus more. It's more getting your head around the old fashioned advice of everything in moderation. I struggle with it though, I really do. Damn those crusaders for bringing sugar to England!

In terms of following old fashioned rules I have previously lost 2.5 stone got from size 12 to size 8, but tbh it was too quick, too restrictive and I gained it all back when I entered a stressful profession. Now I'm in the process of trying to lose 2 stone to get to a size 10 and I'm following a much healthier method and true old fashioned as in my grandma's advice, not the 1200 cals and low carb advice as it just does not work for me.

I started a week ago and I am;

• trying not to snack between meals unless it's a piece of fruit or full fat yoghurt
• eating a well balanced meal but not cutting carbs as I did this with my previous weight loss and whilst it fell off, it all came back plus interest and wasn't sustainable long term
• not eating into the hours of the evening
• getting as much sleep as I can with 10 month old, even if it means forcing myself to nap as I've found my sleep has a strong tie to my eating and weight loss
• I'd say I'm clocking at around 1600/1700 cals (I am breastfeeding though - but I'm not the sort that loses with breastfeeding as you'll see from my posts on many a weight loss thread)
• everything cooked from scratch and not eating out at the weekend as much

I've lost 3 lbs so far this week though and I feel good, I feel like I'm finally in the mindset. Later than I wanted so I won't reach my event goals but I'll still be somewhere better off!

@Crazzzycat great ideas. I think I have some clothes which have never fitted! I'm going to get them out.
I think I usually start obsessing over the scale so I should take a step back from that and enjoy how I feel .
I'll see how long I can fast to start with and use that as a baseline. But I have successfully fasted and then overeaten in the past so bit wary of going beyond about 14 hours to be honest.

@Hollyhead

I think taking the core concepts of some of the fad diets but doing them in a less extreme way is a better approach.
This is exactly what I've realised is the only way I might succeed.

About the savoury breakfast, I've just read Eat Like The Animals, best book I've ever read on how we've evolved to eat . And that made me think a high protein breakfast - just 2 boiled eggs on toast, say - would ensure I'm not overeating just because I'm needing protein and don't realise it.