Has anyone successfully lost weight slowly?

[Notoironing]

I want to lose 20 pounds to get back to my best weight which I was at before my third pregnancy.
After my previous babies I lost weight quite easily at a rate of 1-2lb a week and was back to usual weight within 9 months of babies being born.
This time round I’ve struggled, i went back to work much sooner and there has been the pandemic and I’ve lost and gained the same 7lb about 5 times!
I want to try a much more gradual weight loss, reducing by 200-300 calories a day, healthy food and exercising for an hour 3 times a week. The yo-yo dieting just isn’t fun and doesn’t feel healthy.

Has anyone had success losing weight slowly?

anyone?

Me! I've lost 4 stone now, but it's been over the last 6 years. I watch what I eat (diabetic) and walk 2 very active dogs miles everyday but I shift weight really poorly.

The good thing about slow weight loss is that it's way easier to keep off than any form of crash dieting. I can go 3 or 4 months without losing an ounce but then randomly drop 3 or 4 lbs on the scales. I'm just used to it now.

I did, with slimming world. Lost 3 stone, I still want to lose another half a stone.

I read the book ‘lose weight without losing you mind’ by Graeme Thompson earlier this year. After years of yo-yo dieting it has really helped things click for me.
You only have a small calorie deficit which means it is slower but has been more sustainable for me.

Thank you for your success stories! I am not sure how to stay motivated when the scales won’t show much for long periods of time. Do you just stick to your plan and try to forget about the scales?
I will have a look at that book, thank you. It’s so hard to find any information about slow weight loss because so much is about losing weight quickly. I’ve tried eating 800 calories a day and it’s not at all sustainable and I just put the weight back on.
I’m going to enter some walking and maybe running challenges next year and try to focus on those rather than the scales. Maybe that will make it easier to keep going.

I lost a 19lb over 5 months
It wouldn't suit everyone but basically high protein yoghurt with fruit every morning, tuna and lots of salad for lunch and normal family dinner but more veg and no potatoes/rice/pasta
At the weekend I'll happily change routine and have a different lunch or go out for dinner (no pudding/bread but will have pizza occ) but not higher calorie lunch AND dinner.
And I still have wine.
Snack on nuts/protein shake if I need to for gym etc

I have. I'm 13/14lb lighter than I was at Christmas, and 8lb lighter than July.

I'm still on it - would like to lose another 6lb slowly before Christmas.

For me, it's been getting a dog. I walk more than I was, and am snacking less in the evening because I feel bad eating in front of her.

I’ve struggled with the family meals on lower daily calories. I think when the younger two were little it didn’t affect me because they had something tiny at 4.30 and we ate (healthily) later. Now there are three much bigger hungrier people eating carby family stuff and we join them because it’s easier and they eat at a sensible meal time. So I think eating lightly at breakfast and lunch then family meals together will just be easier to achieve.
I don’t have a dog but I absolutely love walking and luckily have access to beautiful walks with hills etc two minutes from home. I had been doing very high intensity exercise but injured myself. So now think walking and some running and yoga is the way forward. Embracing middle age!

wwyd2021medicine Is it Greek yoghurt or something else?

A few years back I lost a couple of stone very gradually, and it stayed off, but I was training for an ultramarathon. So exercising 5-6 times a week, sometimes for 2-3 hours.

I don’t have that kind of lifestyle any more and the weight is creeping back on. But I think the general points to take forward would be: find out what your TDEE is and eat accordingly, and be as active as possible. If I have a busy day with lots of appointments and meetings then I eat far less than if I’m at a desk all day. Likewise if I go out somewhere in the evening, even just for a walk, I am less likely to want some 9pm crisps.

I am not sure how to stay motivated when the scales won’t show much for long periods of time. Do you just stick to your plan and try to forget about the scales?

Exactly that. It's about focussing on small changes in your lifestyle and habits, and not getting too hung up on the numbers (easier said than done I know!)

I've lost 2 stone over about 2.5 years. Within that period there have been times when my weight has been stable for months and months, and other times when I am actively losing - some periods I might have more of a calorie deficit than others. Sometimes I am more actively trying to lose, sometimes life gets in the way and I just maintain. Sometimes I still have periods of overeating but they are quite short.

Overall, I am just careful not to get into long periods of routine overeating/ lack of exercise, and have a balance. Over 2 and a half years, that has really added up.

The best way is to try not to stress about it and let it happen very slowly but surely. One day you will just realise that you've changed your habits and it's actually easy now, because it's been so gradual.

I lost 20 kgs, progessively, with Weight Watchers. You need to find whatever works for you

I've lost 2st 2Ibs started in January was 11st 11Ibs 5ft 4 now 9st 9Ibs. It was hard as some months I lost nothing. I would normally give up and would be so annoyed that didn't lose anything and eat loads.

But was so determined this time as really had to do it for my health. I'm turning 40 next year and didn't want to be that weight or even worse heavier.

I have recently been diagnosed with diabetes which was a shock as had no symptoms. It has made me look at my food I'm eating a lot better not sweets,crisps fizzy drinks and don't miss them. Have so much more energy do workouts 5days a week at home I love it.

Don't try to change everything at once make small changes and go from there. I started walking 3 times a week and upped it. It takes time and sometimes might not show on the scales so take measurements and photos.

OP I have the high protein yoghurt from Aldi/lidl/tesco or basically any supermarket high protein yoghurt so about 20g protein. Protein does seem to help with feeling full.
I feel a bit bad about it as I generally I avoid ultra processed food but that yoghurt and mayo/brown sauce are the only upf's I have

I aim to be steadily losing a quarter of an ounce daily, which doesn’t sound much, but is nearly 2 Ibs a week. I did have a time when nothing came off for weeks, a plateau and that was really hard. I write down everything I eat and only occasionally eat the wrong things. I have given up all alcohol.

keep at it! I have at least two more stone to lose and as long as the scales go down each day I am happy. It’s a slow process.

I lost 70 lbs over 18 months. My aim when I started was to lose 1lb per week for a year, which I did, then the rest took about 6 months. I've kept it off for the last 2 years. I weighed daily and recorded weight, BMI etc on a spreadsheet so that I could do a graph showing the line going down, which I found enormously motivating. There were fluctuations, some days it had gone up, sometimes plateaus happened but it was great to see the line of best fit always going down.

I have lost 1.5 stone in 6 months.

yeah , i did.. lose 15LB in just under 3 weeks. :)

Many of them are think, weight loss is achieving very quickly, but in my life, I'm achieving weight loss slowly, but very successfully. I loss more 15kg within 9 months. I am following strict food diet and doing workout regularly.

I did this year - read How Not to Diet by Dr Gregor (best book about food and nutrition I've ever read, and very heavily backed up by science) and just implemented some of the recommendations into my normal diet. The biggest change I made was adding in lots and lots of beans, lentils and whole grains (rye, spelt, barley - not flour but the actual whole grains), I did a big batch in the pressure cooker and just threw a handful in with every meal. Weighed myself after a few months and I'd somehow lost a stone! I also built in some other habits like drinking more water and eating more apples and soup. I realise it sounds a bit gimmicky but it does make a difference!

I really would recommend the book if you're interested in the science of nutrition and weight loss, his not-for-profit foundation looks at all the scientific studies done on food and weight loss and analyses them for reliability etc, then condenses that into clear recommendations.