Healthy weight loss instead of Awful diet advice

[Cluelessmouse]

Is it just me or is the diet advice here just awful.
every single thread someone’s suggesting a salad for lunch, like that’s going to make all the difference, or keep someone full after they’re used to eating well over their calorie allowance.
someone else suggests 800 or 1200 calories a day based on no other information than that is low or they’ve heard it before.
someone always tells the op to fast
often there’s a Cambridge diet ‘that definitely worked for me until I stopped and gained two stone back’ …so it didn’t work then.
there’s an op asking how many calories they’re allowed - but giving us no relevant info like their weight, height, activity level or diet
someone says ‘just drink water every time you feel hungry’ I would be peeing like a race horse!!!
and constantly there’s people failing at these awful diets or making themselves miserable or doing punishing diets like keto ‘that are ok after you stop having a headache’

no one ever seems to talk about how to eat lower calorie meals but still feel full. No one ever talks about the health aspects.
It’s all just how we can go through hell, to fit into a dress in 4 weeks, or go on holiday or whatever other goal we’ve left entirely too late.

i say all this as someone who also wants to lose weight, but I just find this board to be a fountain of misinformation and a lack of education on the body, nutrition and health. Which for me is really unsupportive and demotivating.

can we have a place to share healthy weight loss tips, how to eat nutritious filling meals that aren’t calorie dense, enjoyable ways to exercise, and generally healthy ways we may be trying to promote a healthy lifestyle instead of a gruelling punishment we must deserve for being chubby.

at the moment it all just reminds me of my mum doing a grapefruit diet or some other fad in the 90s and being miserable until she caved and ordered a takeaway.

To lose weight you need to create a calorie deficit, the bigger the deficit the more weight you will lose but in my experience a large calorie deficit is not maintainable long term! You don't need to overcomplicate it with eating windows, carb cutting etc, etc. And you can still keep treat food in moderation.

You can use an on-line macros calculator that will tell you what calories to aim for and use a tracking ap like my fitness pal to stay on track.

Things that help sustainable weight loss and keeping it off.

Move more. set a daily step count, find a weekly activity you love, swap coffee catch-ups with walking catch-ups (coffee cup in hand), walk short distances instead of getting in the car. Aim to turn these into daily / weekly habits.

Eat more protein as it is filling.

Eat plenty of fruit and veg, it adds volume to your meals without loads of extra calories. courgette, peppers and carrots into a chilli, grated apple in your morning porridge.

@Cluelessmouse

yes, but this is a direct representation of general knowledge on the subject. You can't ask a forum to demonstrate and share healthy knowledge when that's not what we generally have, as a society. The fact is, most diets aren't backed up by science.

There's misinformation everywhere, and what you're suggesting is that we all need to delve deep into the studies rather than listen to what we're told by people who claim, erroneously, to be experts.

You'd be better off to focus on learning all you can, and using and sharing your knowledge, rather than to expect/request that a forum of public Joes provide high quality, science backed, evidence based advice. How would we know any better than you?

Ok so trying to pull this round the positive again... what's everyone having for dinner?

I'm having chilli with brown rice.

1 red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 red pepper
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin mixed beans
Half tsp chilli powder
1 veg oxo cube
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika

Fry the veg, add the spices, add the tins inc all liquid, crumble in oxo cube and simmer whilst the rice cooks. 1/4 cup rice per person.

Voila!

I lost 22kg over 9 months by calorie counting, weighing my foods religiously, and also walking at a fast pace 5km virtually every day. I used MyFitnessPal app and tracked everything. Cut carbs down, loads more veg. It worked for me. I consider it good old fashioned dieting - eat correctly, exercise more and a little treat every day. I'm 58 and really did think I had left it too late to get my figure back but I'm now down 92kg to 70kg at a size 12.

This is how I lost nearly 3&1/2 stone.
logging it all on My Fitness Pal.

I’ve actually just discovered the fitness chef on TokTok, his videos are really informative and some are quite amusing.

op
no one ever seems to talk about how to eat lower calorie meals but still feel full

this leaps out at me tbh.
There is no need to feel full.
Satisfied yes, but I’ve actually realised, through eating less, that full is quite an uncomfortable feeling.

@Watchkeys I think that’s part of my issue with it
it’s so sad we as a society have such a terrible grasp of a healthy diet. But seeing it reproduced here is frustrating!
i don’t think everyone needs to get invested in studies, but I do think a bit of critical thought would help and a bit more support for people. Asking ourselves Why does that work for example
or why may it not work for me - so we canbeat ourselves up less

id say I have a decent level of knowledge on nutrition and diet. I’m not fat because I don’t know, I’m fat because I like to eat and I’m busy. I expect I’m not the only one here.

but I do think a bit of critical thought would help and a bit more support for people

That's true of general society though, and is reflected here on MN. You're suggesting we change human nature (we all like a quick and easy answer best) so that we can get good advice from a public forum.

The better move is to realise that public forums are full of balderdash, unsupported opinions, and a smattering of mean people, and go to a better source for your advice.

Human nature is depressing, it's not MN's fault, or the fault of its well meaning posters.

@Izzibella84 that sounds lovely
My dinner doesn’t have a name that I’m aware of, but I’m chucking some brown rice and lentils, lots of garlic, butternut squash, leaks and mange-tout with a little bit of feta. It’s one I really enjoy. I think I like anything garlicky though!

@Hardtofindafreename well done, that sounds great
well done @TooHotTooGreedy too and you’re totally right, I don’t need to be full. That shouldn’t be my aim

@Watchkeys surely I can be frustrated and look to find people who think similarly to me and find support in that
without it being an entirely ridiculous endeavour of ‘changing human nature’
or simply stop using a forum that I like and just give up on all advice

i love some of the advice and positive stories here, I feel much more positive than I did before when I came to this section

It's like going into a pub and moaning that people drink so much, though.

Of course you're entitled to look here for what you want, just as I'm entitled to point out that I think it's a bit of a big ask to request that Joe Public suddenly gets his act together, learns his stuff, and starts being nice to people.

Salmon fillet with potatoes and broccoli here. New type of lightly smoked salmon I found in Asda today, but you cook it like normal. Interesting!

He is good @TooHotTooGreedy . Sensible! There’s a Facebook group that’s good too.

@Hardtofindafreename I’m 52 and it’s working for me too! Weighing my portions has been the biggie I think. That’s a brilliant weight loss you’ve done! Hope for me 😃

😁

I love the nutracheck app. It's like MFP but more uk based. I pay £2.99 a month but it's so worth it IMO.

I wanted steady, sustainable weight loss. I lost 5lbs in 14 weeks and have kept it off.

I try to stick to 1400 cals a day, my maintenance is 1890. Sometimes I eat way over, sometimes way under or somewhere in between. I love food and don't restrict it. Just try to enjoy things in moderation.

Oh, I might switch to nutracheck. I’ve been doing the free MFP as their premium is about £70 a year!

I was inspired by the Louise Parker method threads on here although not following to the letter. I had the main aim of boosting my mental health by eating fresher and healthier - although was hoping to loose some weight too. In practice its meaning lower carbs but unlike strict keto I'm having berries, yoghurt, oats, occasional bread etc.

At the end of the day I try and congratulate myself for all of the fruit and veg I've had rather than judge success by how little calories I've eaten. If I go a bit off piste then I just get back on it next day.

It is improving my mental health so I can see the benefits. I don't really feel deprived apart from the times when I'm really tired and stressed and just want to binge on crisps - but I'm also recognising that as a trigger. Side effect - I am loosing weight, albeit very slowly. The difference with strict low carb that I've done in the past though is that if feels like something I could do forever. Psychologically it's like something has just clicked.

well it’s a difficult one OP because different things work for different people depending very much upon your goals and your personal health, lifestyle, age, sex etc

There are some things that can be considered generally “healthy” but for certain people they aren’t good options. Some carbs, fruits and veggies can be problematic for some people, especially those with insulin problems.

A lot of general advice is don’t cut any food groups but actually refined carbs cause quite a lot of issues for people and it wouldn’t be unhealthy to cut them out.

Fat is seen as unhealthy but it’s not, it’s necessary for satiety and for creating efficient fat burning.

So it’s horses for courses, the science is always changing. Sometimes it takes a long time to find what works for you.

For what it’s worth, giving up sugar and refined carbs, focusing on healthy fats, complete proteins and green veggies has been working for me. I certainly prefer it to a carb heavy diet which has my blood sugars crashing constantly during the day. Add in intermittent fasting and my body is feeling better than it has for a long time.

The thing is OP different things work for different people.

Water every time you feel hungry would work for boredom eaters.

Low carb would work well for people who are insulin resistant (eg have PCOS) and so are having big blood sugar swings.

Not eating after 8pm would work well for someone who has no willpower when they are tired and tends to eat unhealthy stuff then.

Weight training would work well for someone who needs a metabolism boost.

Calorie counting could work well for someone who is eating ok but having oversized portions, or someone who doesn’t realise the extras they are having in snacks drinks etc.

Etc. Doesn’t mean the advice is bad, just not universally applicable. (ok faddy diets like grapefruit probably are bad but you don’t see those advocated here much!)

Ha cross posted Google

Your dinner sounds nice OP but it’s carb heavy which is gonna have your blood sugars going mad and you’ll be hungry again in no time. Other than the feta you’ve got no fat either - fat is what fills you up. Healthy fats I mean of course.

You can be full and you should be full. I had 100g of smoked salmon mixed with Philly cream cheese as a dip with lemon and seasoning and had 3 celery sticks for crudités. That small but very effective meal filled me up for 6 hours because it includes a lot of healthy fat, moderate protein and low carb.

this is just general feedback - by no means a critique of your diet!

I think you’re doing a disservice to those of us that post less extreme diet advice that’s based around eating more veg and less (but not no) junk.

There isn’t just one effective and heathy way to lose weight. I do recognise the sorts of posts that irritate you but there are lots of us that challenge them and post alternatives.

What has worked for me is setting myself 3 meals a day and no snacks.

Shredded wheat or porridge for breakfast.
Sandwich, toast, crumpets or hot cross bun and fruit for lunch.
Which allows me to have a generous but not huge tea.

Because I'm not eating out of those meal times I don't gorge on processed sweet stuff.

And I can honestly say I feel amazing having lost 2 stone, I now have so much more energy, far happier and I've gained confidence (wearing things I never thought I would feel comfortable in 6 months ago)

There should also be time for a treat to look forward to, we try to have a date night every month and I will definitely have a pudding, and I now enjoy it so so so much more.

I have followed diets in the past but now realise how ridiculous some of them can be.

I did not get fat on fruit but I remember having to point an apple on ww many years ago.

I know low carb is all the rave right now but carbs fill me up and I have them at every evening meal but combined with protein and veg for me it's a balanced meal.

I do see threads on different diets and so many people beat themselves up when they deviate from it but to me that just means it isn't sustainable.

Three meals a day, two small snacks and an emphasis on veg works for me. I aim for eating well most of the time and don’t worry about the rest. I don’t avoid carbs but I do measure pasta, rice etc because it’s hard to get a sensible portion right.

Eat and learn how to cook vegetables rather than vegetable substitutes or fake meat.