1.5 stone to lose. fucking hate salad. Any tips??

[SatinHeart]

Thread title says most of it. BMI just over 26 - would love to get back to healthy weight and size. Have DC age 4 and 2 and work full time. DC2 is not a great sleeper do I'm constantly tired and hungry. DC1 has SEN and selective eating so I dont want them to see me doing an obvious diet. I also hate salad with a passion.

Any tips??

Keto.

No salad. Lots of cheese. Bacon.

I still don’t quite understand how it is good for you (or even if it is) but it definitely works.

This.

@SatinHeart
I'm the same, need to lose 1 and a half stone. Started today. Cut out most of my sugar. Ditching full fat coke, and have started exercising. Also cutting my portion sizes. Like you I've put it on over the last 3 or 4 months.

I really need some accountability to myself about how much crap I eat.

OP - this is all spot on.

I think the key is to enjoy what you eat. For me part of the process was re-learning to appreciate vegetables. Spices are your friend too, as they help making vegetables less boring.

I love zucchini soup with curry and a bit of cream cheese. Along with a couple of hard-boiled egg and maybe a yoghurt that's enough for my dinner. I also love carrot sticks with homemade low-cal dip. The key is to find healthy foods that you enjoy eating.

I calorie counted for a long time to relearn what a healthy portion size is. Then I stopped but monitored my weight regularly (it made me feel comfortable to know I wasn't putting on weight, and that if I started I could cut back straight away rather than it creeping up on me).

After DC 2 was born I just stopped monitoring anything but still ended up losing the weight (after 18 months) so now I feel like my relationship with food is much better than it once was. But it's a process, took me years. If you enjoy cooking that's a great starting point, you could even cook with DC as a fun activity (and useful skill for them !) I can't wait for mine to be old enough to start.

Everyone I know who has successfully lost weight and kept it off has changed their relationship with carbs and sugar.

Yes, total abstinence yields quick results but isn't sustainable, however I have seen so many fad diets or the worst (in my view) calorie counting (people do it for years and stay the same weight minus or plus a few pounds), yielding such little results, they are soul destroying.

Change your relationship with carbs and sugar, even a slight change, and you'll see positive results.

I'm happy to cut right back on sugar - I don't mind the DC seeing that sugary things should be only an occasional treat. Cutting out carbs is not something I want to model to them though, as they are little and carbs are such an important part of the diet at their age. I will be keeping a close eye on my portion sizes for carbs though, and probably looking to reduce those a bit once the worst of the sugar cravings are over.
@Marty13 has a great point about enjoying what you eat. Hence my opening comments about hating salad. It's rare a salad makes me happy, and the ones that do are such a monumental faff to put together. I do love roasted veg though! I think I find it difficult to get excited about cold food tbh. If I had time (which I don't) I'd happily eat 3 hot meals a day!

I would thing ‘am i hungry or bored/greedy’. Often I’m just greedy! Consider what you are eating and portion size.

Personally I think we can be way too carb heavy in the UK and there is such a difference in reducing your carbs to a sensible level and cutting them out completely.

Many people do eat way too much potatoes and bread for a lot of their meals, toast for breakfast, a sandwich and crisps for lunch, jacket potato and beans/ pasta/pizza/chips/wedges for dinner and that isn’t a great diet.

Meal planning is something that I find useful as you can see what you are eating in one go and gives you a plan. The other thing I would add is stir fry’s can be amazing for healthy eating. Lots of veg and can be something everyone might like.

can you also involve the dc in some family exercise to help tire them out and teach them healthy habits? Games in the park or garden or a bit of extra walking? I think if you can get the whole family more active and eating better it would be more support for you and more of a permanent life style change, especially if the dc are the ones nagging to play cricket or frisbees!

This is the ONLY way I have ever lost weight and it does work - it changes the way you look at food. I look at the carb content per 100g and if it is more than 10g then I won’t eat it. So take sauces that advertise as “half fat” or “fat free”, the carb content is huge, usually around 50% but the full fat versions are often single figures. Once you realise fat is actually good for your diet and sugar is the bad part you can change your diet to change your life. I thought it would affect my energy levels and cause disruptive sleep but was amazed at the positive effect it has had. I have a high protein, high fat, low carb, low sugar diet and have sustained it for a number of months now.

Low carb
Low carb
Low
Carb

Cut out flour and sugar

I lost 20lbs in the last 4 months. I did it by accident.

I didn't cut out carbs. I just cut out sugar, flour and all grains (a paleo diet). I went on the diet for health reasons. I highly recommend it if you'd like to lose weight and feel unwell without carbs. Women are not metabolically suited to a low carb diet. low carb works for men but it causes problems with our hormones and many women on low carb will lose their period.

Oh, and I lost that 20lbs often by eating too much (200-500 calories more than I needed per day).

It isn't calories in, calories out. Quite simply, some foods cause your body to put on weight and others don't, no matter how many calories you eat.

Soup!

I have soup for one of my meals most days. But not boring broth, I tend to go for something like hot and sour chicken soup. Absolutely pack it with veg; it's so filling.

Protein, and choose some veg and low gi foods that you do like, and that help you feel full for longer.

Maybe omelette with chopped veggies and ham - I use chopped tomatoes and French beans.
Chunky chicken & veg soup with crusty wholemeal bread
Chicken salad but not using lettuce - do you like beetroot, radishes, rocket, tomatoes, asparagus, fennel, cold new potatoes.
Frozen breaded cod portions with frozen pea and sweet corn.

Beans, peas and lentils are generally good, they have protein, carbs and are slow to digest.

Try to cut down processed foods and sweet stuff. Have satsumas, plums, apples for snacks. And dark 70% cocoa chocolate for when you need a treat.

Soup. Lots of soup worked for me…

I finally ditched the idea that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and stopped eating it. I find it phenomenally difficult not to eat after dinner, as I am naturally hungry in the evenings, and all my previous dieting attempts were terrible because I'd have to fight against my natural inclination to eat supper/snacks before bed.

BUT I find it incredibly easy not to eat in the mornings. So now I don't! I eat my first meal (often breakfast type foods, but sometimes lunch type foods) around 11am, then have afternoon snack, dinner, and finally evening snacks around 10pm. So I now have a natural 11-12 hour eating window, instead of a 15-16 hour eating window when I was eating breakfast as well.

I've also tried to eat more wholegrains and seeds, make sure I get my 5 a day, and not eat sugary snacks before dinner. But I still eat plenty of chocolate and crisps after dinner!

I've lost nearly a stone this year and haven't felt deprived at all, it's been fab.

If you are naturally a morning eater you could eat breakfast but then not eat after early tea, eg eat between 7am and 7pm. I think it's been hugely helpful to try to work WITH my natural eating rhythm rather than against it.

OP please do not start gulping down protein shakes as has been suggested here. They are not at all necessary and nor is salad

Dunno, I find it hard to get 110g protein from food alone. It's a lot to eat.

Definitely upping your protein will help with hunger though. Cut out the process stuff as much as possible, drink lots of water and keep snacking to a minimum.

Low carb here too. Has worked brilliantly & I’ve maintained the loss. Just not interested in eating potatoes, bread, pasta with meals now.

Once you realise fat is actually good for your diet and sugar is the bad part you can change your diet to change your life

Sugar is most certainly not bad for you. Please do not spread misinformation.

Too much sugar is bad for you, clearly, but your body needs some sugar to be able to function. Indeed sugar is the only fuel that the brain is able to use.

Dunno, I find it hard to get 110g protein from food alone. It's a lot to eat

Why on earth do you think you need 110g of protein?

It's the sweeteners in some protein shakes that can upset your digestion, not the protein itself.

Drink more water.
Overnight oats for breakfast (honey for sweetness).
Ban on fast food.
Try salad with fun dressings (would recommend buffalo sauce).
Lean proteins e.g chicken, turkey and fish.
3 egg omelette for lunches.
Replace white carbs for wholegrain/brown alternatives.
Portion as per packet instructions.
Maize snacks/baked crisps.

💪You've got this!!!!

I have found carbs make me feel stuffed and bloated these days (which is a shame because I love carbs)

But - look at what you eat and how much.

Think before you grab lunch - automatically go for a sandwich, bag of crisps and something sweet? Do you actually want it?

Eat slowly and enjoy the food - don’t automatically ‘clear your plate’.

It’s not a crime to take a bite out of a chocolate bar and re wrap it and save it for later.

one of my favourite dressings is just plain yoghurt with chopped dill and lemon. Or add some ketchup and gherkins (for a kind of thousand island).

small steps to better habits I guess!