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Weight loss chat

A space to talk openly about weight loss journeys and challenges. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

What is a healthy diet??

8 replies

ShonkyWonkyDonkey · 26/07/2021 08:29

I need to shift several stone in weight but am so confused about what to eat.
I know this makes me sound really stupid, but knowing what is/isn't healthy is confusing, especially as I don't want to be eating anything different to the rest of the family so needs to be family friendly meals. So much conflicting advice about carbs, fat, protein etc and I want this to not be a miserable eat nothing but bran type diet, but a proper lifestyle change.
Also prone to kidney stones so the things I was eating - green leafy veg, almonds for snack, sweet potato instead of normal potatoes are all things that can be bad for kidney stone formation.
Really, really dislike fish, eat quorn but been told that's not great, not a good cook and don't have much time to prep food. Also family budget isn't very big for food.
Help! So much conflicting advice out there!!

OP posts:
maxelly · 26/07/2021 10:11

Well the trouble with wanting to find/set a single, simple definition of what is 'healthy' is that people are all different both in terms of their health (as you yourself say, you have kidney stones so some generally 'healthy' foods are not at all healthy for you) and also their lifestyle and preferences, e.g. some people are vegetarians, some people need to have meals they can prepare quickly and easily, some enjoy spending hours in the kitchen. Basically all foods can be 'healthy' for some people some of the time (even very sugary/fatty processed foods could be exactly the right thing to eat if you are someone that is very under-weight and urgently needs easy to digest calories for instance). People can be evangelical about food but personally I am always really suspicious of anyone saying their diet is the one and only true/healthy/effective way to eat, especially if you are being asked to pay money for it Grin

Controversial statement (on MN anyway) incoming, but I think purely in health terms (not weight loss per se), if you are after general, clear guidance, easy to follow and practical to implement for 'ordinary' people, the NHS EatWell stuff is still the best - loads of detail about it online and there are parts of it that some disagree with, but the majority of dietitians and dietary scientists agree that a Mediterranean style diet (which the NHS EatWell broadly is but adjusted for mainstream British tastes/preferences e.g. not too much fish as many people dislike it) is overall the best, including lots of fruit and vegetables, legumes and pulses, some wholemeal carbs, a moderate amount of lean protein and unsaturated fats, very small amounts of red meat, and avoid or minimise 'junk' - sweet things, alcohol, crisps etc. Increasingly there's a school of thought that says you should minimise ultra-processed foods as well. Following the EatWell or another Mediterranean-style diet guidance alone is unlikely to make you lose weight fast or at all (unless you are very obese and/or were eating huge amounts of junk) but should improve your general health.

If you do want to prioritize weight loss specifically, in general you do need to create a calorie deficit, which is a bit different from just 'general' healthy eating. Some people do this simply through vigorous portion control and calorie counting/tracking, so if simplicity is what you are after that may be the best way. But for many people, they find calorie counting quite restrictive and the most effective/easy way to lose weight is by some combination of reducing their carb intake (in particular white processed carbs like pasta and bread) and/or some intermittent fasting (where you have an extended period per day of not eating and/or eat a reduced amount on some days of the week). I know the proliferation of information on here is confusing but I would take some time to browse the threads on here - the low carb bootcamp threads, the 5:2 and 16:8 threads, the thread called 'why we eat (too much) - these are long and quick moving threads but the opening posts nearly always have a nice quick easy to read summary of what the diet is all about, and people often post examples of their daily menus, so I would browse all that and have a think about what would suit you best. Then pick something and really give it a good go and stick at it for a long period of time, a healthy/sustainable diet is not going to cause weight to crash off you so you will need patience, the main reason most 'diets' fail is either they are too restrictive/impractical so people give up very quickly or they work in the weight loss phase but people then return to old habits once they've lost the weight hence 'yo-yo-ing', so it's important to find something that works for you even if you only lose 0.5lb a week or something?

Crazzzycat · 26/07/2021 11:38

To add to the post above, there’s a 12 week NHS weightloss plan that might be worth looking at:

www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/start-the-nhs-weight-loss-plan/

Personally, I’ve found 16:8, where you only eat during an 8 hour window to be quite effective. By not eating breakfast, or lots of snacks in the evening, I have more than enough calories to eat normal, healthy meals with my family and still lose weight.

I agree with all the other advice posted above about the Mediterranean diet, and just generally increasing the amount of good stuff in your diet (fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts if you can eat them) and minimising the junk food (crisps, chocolate, ultra processed foods etc).

I just finished reading a book, written by an obesity researcher, with summed up a healthy diet as follows:

  • eat ENOUGH protein (just getting 16% of your energy from protein qualifies as enough according to the writer of this book. I easily manage that on my low dairy & no eggs vegetarian diet, so I doubt that anyone who eats eggs, meat or dairy would struggle)
  • eat LESS meat
  • eat MORE fibre
  • eat MORE plant based foods
  • eat LESS sugar (the recommendation in the book is to aim to get no more than 5% of your energy from added sugar, or sugar in fruit juices)

To lose weight though, you’ll need to make sure you do all of that AND have a calorie deficit. That’s what it all comes down to in the end!

Iknowthiswillendbutwhen · 26/07/2021 11:43

Try Second Nature op. I am finding it really helpful. Part of the plan is you read loads of really sensible and balanced articles (backed up with science) to learn more about developing eating healthy habits. I promise I don't work for them, I just think their programne is really good and sustainable and I am seeing good results!

Waveafterwaveslowlydrifting · 26/07/2021 11:46

No sugar, low carb works for me.

jerometheturnipking · 26/07/2021 11:52

Controversial statement (on MN anyway) incoming, but I think purely in health terms (not weight loss per se), if you are after general, clear guidance, easy to follow and practical to implement for 'ordinary' people, the NHS EatWell stuff is still the best - loads of detail about it online and there are parts of it that some disagree with, but the majority of dietitians and dietary scientists agree that a Mediterranean style diet (which the NHS EatWell broadly is but adjusted for mainstream British tastes/preferences e.g. not too much fish as many people dislike it) is overall the best, including lots of fruit and vegetables, legumes and pulses, some wholemeal carbs, a moderate amount of lean protein and unsaturated fats, very small amounts of red meat, and avoid or minimise 'junk' - sweet things, alcohol, crisps etc. Increasingly there's a school of thought that says you should minimise ultra-processed foods as well. Following the EatWell or another Mediterranean-style diet guidance alone is unlikely to make you lose weight fast or at all (unless you are very obese and/or were eating huge amounts of junk) but should improve your general health.

I agree with this. The eat well plate has balanced things to allow for British tastes but it's broadly on the right track. More pulses/legumes and lean proteins like fish and white meats, the more processed it is the less healthy it is. The more veggies, including variety of veggies, you eat the better - there's evidence that eating more plants has a beneficial impact on your gut health and that can help all kinds of things (including Covid, according to the Zoe app).

If you want to lose weight you still need to create a calorie deficit, but that's separate from "healthy eating". Ultimately, all weight-loss diets revolve around some sort of calorie deficit, whether they outright say it or package it up as "cut out carbs" or "stop eating sugar".

Thehistorygirls · 26/07/2021 16:42

I agree with much of the above, but the basic principles:

Eat less, move more

Eat things that once either moved or grew

Cut out or massively reduce refined sugar and alcohol...

... will get you a long way.

ReadySalt · 26/07/2021 17:30

I am similar so have been reading a lot. I think the general consensus is healthy is eating whole foods and limiting processed food. There are lots of different ‘diets’ to achieve this. I am currently listening to the Van Tulekens podcast (the CBBC twins) on ultra processed food.

ShonkyWonkyDonkey · 28/07/2021 10:58

Thank you so much for all of the advice and recommendations, I have got lots of reading to do now.
At the moment I am struggling to find a healthy lunch option as I don't have very long at all to eat, and so end up shovelling down a ham sandwich or something similar as it's fast to eat, I definitely need to change that up!

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