What would be the best diet for me? Novice needing help here

[GizmoIsSoFluffy]

When I was younger I was so active I never had to consider losing weight.

Now I have 3 stone to lose. Feel so grumpy.

Now the problem is I am a fussy eater.
I really don’t like eggs, milk (or anything that tastes creamy like natural yogurt) or fish.

I love fruit and veg, but also like cake 😢.

I only drink water anyway as I don’t like tea or coffee or hot chocolate etc.

Any ideas?

No ideas I’m afraid but I’ve just braved the weight loss section and yours was the first post I opened, I too, have 3 stone to lose and am also a fussy eater, you already have a massive advantage to me, because I don’t like fruit or veg or drinking water 😩 I don’t know where to start and because of my restricted diet, I know every minute of this is going to be hard work and likely unsustainable. I’ve seriously considered hypnosis as I’m so desperate to at least LIKE healthy food….but I’m not sure I really believe it could work! In my younger days I used to find weight watchers more sustainable than basic calorie counting because although I wasn’t eating healthier, I was eating the right amount of points you know?? But it’s all changed so much now. The thought of even beginning this journey fills me with horror x

I know somebody who had a severely restricted diet- only ate cereal, cheese pizza and mashed potato well into her thirties. She had hypnosis and quite quickly started eating vegetables and salad! Totally anecdotal but inspiring!

I feel for you both- weight loss is hard even if you eat raw kale and boiled eggs every day.

Would soup be an option for increasing veggie consumption?

Hi, I recently lost 3 stone with weightwatchers. I am also a fussy eater, vegan and only drink water (except one decaf coffee first thing in the morning).

Hi, I have 3 stone to lose too.
I started calorie counting with myfitness pal a couple of weeks ago and lost over half a stone in 3 weeks. Its working for me because I can still eat chocolate and crisps. I just go for low calorie ones to make sure I stay umder my daily goal. (Kikats are now my best friend. So many flavours that they can kill any chocolate craving I have for just 104 calories,)

I also started exercised 5 times a week. 5 30 minute workouts which is much more manageable for me than hour long workouts.

What kind of protein do you like? I'd recommend reading Michael Mosley's books (Blood Sugar Diet, Fast 800). You can overcome a cake addiction. Why do you think you've put on weight?

tdeecalculator.net

You need to work out you TDEE, then reduce it by 10-25% depending on how quickly you want to lose weight.

Eg, my TDEE is 2100, so I eat 1850 calories per day and I am steadily losing weight.

Calorie deficit is the single way we lose weight.

If you work out your TDEE (the total amount of calories your body needs to stay at the same weight it is today), then cut it, you lose weight.

Yes it is that simple- You can eat absolutely anything you like, including cake, as long as you know how many calories you're consuming and you don't exceed your reduced calorie limit.

My Fitness Pal is brilliant for this- you can input everything you eat on there and it tells you how many calories you have left. After a while you'll know how many calories there are in an apple or a yoghurt, so you won't need to rely on it too heavily.

Calorie counting is the only way that works for me!

Whatever you choose to do please Do not do cambridge diet lighter life or any of the meal replacement crap. It is short term gain for a long term problem. I have done it "successfully" 3 times.
I lost 3 then 3.5 then 4.5 stone and then gained it back plus even more so was the heaviest i've ever been.. slowly working down from that and lost about 9kg but now pregnant so 🤷‍♀️

I'd start by identifying a good breakfast porridge with fruit and almond milk, overnight oats, protein shake smoothie (or similar)
Weight measure it and get to know the exact proportions (i aim for a 250 - 350 cal breakfast)
That is 1/3 of your food sorted if you eat it every day

Snacks for me are a piece of fruit or one cracker with ham. Sometimes a square of dark chocolate. And we have a box of mini treats( all 100 cals ish per portion).
Again i have planned snacks so i know i have 2-3 options if i want a snack.

Lunch is an omlette mon-fri (sorry i know you dont like eggs but they are amazing)

Dinner is protein and fat (a good piece of meat) plus veg and generally no grains or carbs. Last night i had a steak and avocado salad

To summarise

• eat more wholefoods.
• finish eating by 7 latest (i normally do by 6)
• 2 litres water per day minimum
• Stop buying cake (its a really inefficient use of cals and not that great. There! I said it)
• plan your meals so you dont go hungry
• Get myfitnesspal ad log all calories. Keep it in about a 400-500 deficit for me this is 1400-1500

What sausage said. No highly restrictive diet is going to work long term, if at all. Count your calories (accurately), don't overdo restrict, eat protein and fruit and/or veg with every meal plus 10000 steps a day on average. Then do some resistance training for overall health.

I don't like eggs, milk or fish either

Crikey, that tdee calculator doesn't leave much room for manoeuvre, apparently my weight at 5 foot 7 should be between about 9.6 and 9.8 stones.

The NHS bmi calculator should be a bit more ‘generous’ about what is a normal weight range.

I would say some kind of fasting like 16:8. If you eat between 12-8 this would encompass two ordinary sized meals for lunch and dinner. If you're hungry in between stick to a snack of fruit only. Eat well so you don't feel hungry and try to avoid an abundance of junk food during these hours. Don't do anything that requires replacement shakes for meals.

@sausagepastapot is correct. Calorie counting works and you can eat cake BUT Id still recommend cutting carbs as if you reduce carbs and sugar you won't crave things like cake that end up derailing you.

Eat your normal food but cut back on your portions and bulk it up with veg and a smaller amount of fruit. Swap all your snacks for a cup of tea. Only have cake/dessert if you go out or special occasions. Increase your walking.

Oops just noticed you don't like tea so skip that suggestion!

Thankyou everyone. I don’t buy cake; I make a lot of it. 😳. Often take it in for my workmates. Will try harder tomorrow to drink more and do a solid 30 mins exercise. Just finding the larger I get, the harder exercise is. It doesn’t feel nice.

Not so much the exercise but 10k steps a day will help massively and a calorie deficit diet in whatever form that takes, if you can add in 3 resistance workouts a week you'll smash it ... I encourage my clients to use MyFitnessPal and most start on 1800 cals a day with a minimum of 100 grams of protein a day 👍🏻

And just to add, they can eat cake and drink wine as long as they track it 👍🏻

@GizmoIsSoFluffy

Thankyou everyone. I don’t buy cake; I make a lot of it. 😳. Often take it in for my workmates. Will try harder tomorrow to drink more and do a solid 30 mins exercise. Just finding the larger I get, the harder exercise is. It doesn’t feel nice.

Same here with the exercise - thats why I rather do 5 x 30 mins in a week rather than 3 × 1 hour.

I was down another pound when I weighed this morning so thats 8.5lb in 4 weeks. And I've eaten chocolate and crisps every single day in these 4 weeks.

I second the cake comments! I do make room cake or chocolate here and there, but it can have a domino effect on the rest of your day and make you consume even more calories trying to stay full. It can be a bit misleading to say 'I can eat anything as long as I count the calories' - if I ate cereal, a sandwich and a piece of cake in one day I'd be a hangry mess! But I can have eggs, salad, nuts and cake. You'll know your own body of course. But cutting out the simple carbs was monumental in helping me feel full for longer (still doesn't always work. Sometimes all I can think about is food, all day, every minute, which is a huge downside of calorie counting.)