I just want to tell you all you can do it

[Yumperwumpee]

This time two years ago I was about 4st overweight and could barely manage 2 flights of stairs without being out of breath (in my early 30s). Over the years I'd yo yo dieted and tried and given up numerous diets including low carb, 5:2, calorie counting etc etc. My relationship with food was absolutely fucked.

I'm now slap bang in the middle of a healthy BMI, I run between 5 and 10k three or four times a week, and my relationship with food is finally NORMAL and I can actually eat chocolate/crisps etc without feeling guilty and/or thinking oh fuck it I'll have the whole pack and start again tomorrow.

If you're starting out, even if this is the millionth time you've attempted it, YOU CAN DO IT. If I can anyone can. Find what works for you.

What did work for you, if you don’t mind me asking? I lost 5st in 2020 but gained it all back during pregnancy and am now right back where I started, feeling pretty deflated.

I’d love to think I could do it again but just feels like such a mountain to overcome. Intermittent fasting worked for me last time but I can’t be as strict with it this time as I’m still breastfeeding.

Couch to 5k was definitely part of it but appreciate that exercise is really hard when you have a baby.

I decided I wasn't going to do diets any more. Intermittent fasting was probably the best of the bunch but I found low carb totally fucked up how I viewed food and it can be a bit cult like I find. I tend to do 2 meal days (this works for me as I don't get hungry first thing) and have one of the two as lowish carb. But I don't deny myself stuff I want as I find that is counter productive and makes me binge.

Today I went for a run first thing, had a banana when I got back. Lunch was mozzarella salad, then I had a kinder bueno because I fancied one. Dinner is sausage pasta bake. I always fill up half my plate with salad or veg and only cook as much as we will eat - I don't do seconds. I mostly don't eat after I finish dinner (so after about 7pm) but if I fancy some chocolate or ice cream of an evening I have it.

This has worked consistently for me and is something I can stick to.

I need this inspiration! Do you eat things like fruit whenever you want? I tried low carb in the summer and now I’m confused about what works for me. I need a reset and to get moving really

Yes I eat fruit whenever I want! That was one of the most batshit things about low carb for me.

Thank you @Yumperwumpee I needed that today! You're approaching sounds very similar to mine, I'm 2 weeks in and really happy with my progress and I feel really positive about continuing. Posts like yours really help!

This is the approach I’m now taking after decades of disordered eating and yo-yo dieting. I don’t even care about losing weight, I just want to feel relaxed around food.

Well done, and thanks for your lovely post, you are very inspiring!

Totally agree with you re: low carb, dh does it and makes for the most disordered eating style ever.

I think I eat similarly to you but at the moment I don't exercise at all and there is some mindless snacking which creeps in.

How did you stop pointless snacking?

How did you stop pointless snacking?

So I was generally never a snacker anyway so I didn't really struggle with this - my issue was overeating at meal times (massive portion sizes and having seconds). But I would have chocolate in the evening fairly often (like an entire 100g bar to myself). Now I still sometimes do if I fancy it but a couple of squares, not a whole bar. Largely I just don't buy snacky foods.

I love this post and am so impressed by your weight loss. I've done a similar-ish process and lost a bit more than a stone in 18 months. I would love to be middle BMI but have stabilised just a couple of pounds over top BMI. To be fair I am muscly, which accounts for some of the weight and I am also late fifties so may lose more slowly. But I'd love to crack that final 7-10lbs.

Did you have to do anything differently when you got down to the last few pounds?

I ditched the scales completely. What I did instead - I had a size 12 pair of trousers that I used to fit into many years back when I last lost weight (via mad calorie counting). I tried those on once a month. When they were loose on me I weighed myself and I'd lost all the weight I wanted to lose.

I don't own scales now. I can tell I weigh more or less the same because my clothes all still fit me and don't feel tight :)

I know the menopause makes it harder so I'm expecting to gain at that point.

You were 4 stone overweight and you could still get into size 12 trousers? I'm 4 stone overweight and I couldn't get size 12 trousers over my thighs! 😔

@Yumperwumpee

Yes I eat fruit whenever I want! That was one of the most batshit things about low carb for me.

Oh god yes, it's nuts! Low-carbing has been turned into just another rigid diet regime.

Oh and sorry, I forgot. Well done.

You were 4 stone overweight and you could still get into size 12 trousers?

Oh no, not at all!!! I got them about halfway up my legs at first!!

There is zero way I could go for a run and then have just a banana and a salad afterwards until dinner!

helpineedsomebodyhelp

That was just one example, my days don't always look like that. Today for lunch I'm going to have poached egg, avocado, chorizo and feta on toast. I find, however, that exercise tends to suppress my appetite and I'm hungrier on non-run days than I am on running days.

I come from a culture where salads for a meal is a common thing and they're big salads - that one I had yesterday was with a whole ball of mozzarella (full fat, I don't eat low fat dairy), salad leaves, tomatoes, peppers, capers, red onion and always an oily dressing. I no longer count calories but I reckon it would've come in at around 500 calories.

Yes well done - I forgot to say that upthread!!

You see, I don’t want to have to have a low fat, low carb life and I want to eat fruit too! Im going to buy some EarPods come payday and do the C25K. I also quite like Lucy Wyndham Read but getting out for a run is great.

To the poster who uses clothes - I think this is the best approach as it’s feeds into well-being and positivity (as does exercise and nutritious eating)

Thank you! Couch to 5k is brilliant. It has been great for my mental health as well as my physical health.

@Yumperwumpee

Couch to 5k was definitely part of it but appreciate that exercise is really hard when you have a baby.

I decided I wasn't going to do diets any more. Intermittent fasting was probably the best of the bunch but I found low carb totally fucked up how I viewed food and it can be a bit cult like I find. I tend to do 2 meal days (this works for me as I don't get hungry first thing) and have one of the two as lowish carb. But I don't deny myself stuff I want as I find that is counter productive and makes me binge.

Today I went for a run first thing, had a banana when I got back. Lunch was mozzarella salad, then I had a kinder bueno because I fancied one. Dinner is sausage pasta bake. I always fill up half my plate with salad or veg and only cook as much as we will eat - I don't do seconds. I mostly don't eat after I finish dinner (so after about 7pm) but if I fancy some chocolate or ice cream of an evening I have it.

This has worked consistently for me and is something I can stick to.

Im realising this too.

Thank you. I needed to read this.

Thank you for this OP
I have the same amount to lose!

You can do it!

Just requires a way you can realistically stick to. For me it just wasn't feasible that I would always have to avoid bread, pasta, rice, potatoes. I was not keen on celeriac topped shepherd's pie and endless plates of scrambled eggs and greens or, come to that, pasta sauces made with quark a la slimming world. I love food. I want to enjoy it.