So what has worked for you? 2 stone to lose and constant failure

[BMIwoes]

Hello, I am a long time poster but name changed for this. So I have tried low carb, weight watchers, slimming world, intermittent fasting, Paul mckenna, James Smith etc etc etc. Like many others I've rarely been happy with my weight, but in hindsight I didn't know how lucky I was! In my early 20s I lost a lot of weight (2st plus) through working 3 physical jobs and smoking. Went down to 8st 10 ish without trying. Slowly crept up but never more than 9.10 (of course I thought that was terrible, what an idiot!). Lost weight again late 20s, again through a v physical job, no dieting. Down to 8ish stone. Then 30s - pre kids, hovered around 9.7 for years, then post kids around 10 stone. Low carb occasionally, plus a fair amount of exercise.

Now I'm 44 and weight has crept up to 11.10. Bmi is overweight for first time ever. It's a combination of WFH so less active, kids older so no hefting them around, and covid-era alcohol and eating habits going haywire. I'd love to say it's my age and hormones, but when I do reduce calories I lose weight. I understand how to cook, what makes a healthy meal, what a reasonable portion size is. But I jist can't seem to get into the groove of eating properly. Sp tell me, what has worked for you, either as a way of eating, or as a way of getting into the right mindset?

I did keto. It's extreme but i found I stuck to it quite easily as it was very black and white in terms of what I could have. I had 20g of carbs and once I hit that there was no option to 'cheat' as I didn't want kicked out of ketosis which was the whole point.

I also found doing keto that after a couple of weeks my hunger completely changed. I was no longer ravenous and I felt it was much easier to control my eating.

It's not something you can do long term imo as it's very restrictive and requires quite a bit of thought. However it completely reset my eating and I dropped 2.5 stones.

I think I found it a bit easier than most as I enjoy cooking as was able to make low carb alternatives to my usual foods.

I now low carb but I've never regained the weight.

The first couple of weeks was the toughest and I really struggled but if you can move past that I found it surprisingly easy.

Short sharp shock for 3 weeks. Complete calorific control and exercise. Low carb, three small meals. Salad with tuna, lemon juice dressing etc . 20,000 steps a day No booze. Lost nearly 4kgs

I'm calorie counting, trying to stick to 1100 or thereabouts per day. Exercising 3+ times a week (don't "eat" the calories that I burn), have cut out alcohol other than the occasional gin & light tonic, trying not to eat beyond 7pm. Low-ish carbs (well lower than I'd normally eat) but not cutting anything out as I don't think I'd stick to it. Its slow (6lbs over about 4 weeks, have another stone to go) but I'm 50 and I think weight loss is more gradual now.

I am nearly 50 too. So yep it is hard work and requires a sacrifice, then moderation. It sucks

I work with a PT, although I understand not everyone can do this. I needed someone other than myself to be accountable to and to motivate me. I’m on 1500 calories a day split over carbs, fats, protein and I eat well and generally have calorie deficit. I workout 3 times a week to routines he has set me and I walk around 3 miles per day.

I started at 68kg in August and have just hit 60kg, slow but steady progress. I’ve also dropped from a 12/14 to a size 10 and have got rid of approximately 15 inches from my entire body. For context I am 5 feet tall so I am still in the overweight category but I’m 4kg off my target weight.

My calorie counter is MyfitnessPal , which I believe is free. I log everything I eat and drink on that app. One thing that’s made a big difference for me is swapping far too much wine for white wine & soda and a lot less of it.

I did everything, stopped drinking alcohol and only drink tea, water or coffee, no lattes or sugar in them. So very low calorie drinks, no pop or artificial sweetener.
run/walk at least two miles a day.
weigh all food for portion control.
have a 12 hour eating window
only two small snacks a day
very small pudding, eg a tablespoon of ice cream or half a flake

Gosh, I could have written that! Apart from after that I carried on putting on weight and I am now 13 and a half stone at 56.

I used to feel so good slim- now I'm dragging all this weight about with me, it's awful. Nothing works for me because I don't have the motivation to make it work, which I think is menopause related.

When I was slim I exercised a lot, I think that was the key for me. 50 minutes 4 times a week just before a meal was perfect.

3.5 stone lost by weighing and logging everything I eat on my fitness pal. Maintained for 3 years so far. I’m 50.

You may know what a portion size is but it’s still easy for that portion to be calorific.

MFP has totally re educated me and helped me make better choices. As has the realisation that 2,000 calories is actually too much for a lot of women. I stuck to 1,500 daily to lose weight. My maintenance calories to stay this weight is only 1,690 calories per day. I wish I’d known this earlier!

tdeecalculator.net/

I’ve managed to keep the weight off by sticking to the new exercise and eating plan . It’s not a diet it’s a change in habits, no ultra high processed food either

Thanks all, good to hear some success stories and that I'm not alone. I think I'm going to go back to low carb, starting tomorrow. I know how to do it and that I can make tasty food. Alcohol, rice and chocolate will be the things I'll struggle to cut out. But I have to do something. I vowed in jan that I wouldn't end the year as heavy as I started, and currently I'm 1lb up...so I have a few weeks to keep my promise to myself.

What helped me massively was identifying which foods I enjoyed that were low in calorie density. i.e. stuff I could eat a lot of, enjoy, without taking in lots of calories. I would then eat those frequently and in large amounts. That way I could restrict calories a lot without feeling hungry or feeling like I was doing without.

Plenty of veg as they’re low in calories, unless you mash spuds with loads of butter 😂
I’ve also switched to rooibos tea and if I do have milk, it’s skimmed only. I eat more fish, less pasta but still have rice, just in smaller quantities. I also bought an air fryer, which is a great way to cook with less calories.

By the way, I’m 58 and have been carrying excess weight for several years but decided it was finally time to take myself in hand and do something about it. It’s much easier chasing my GC about now

Build sustainable habits. So rather than 'no chocolate ', it's more like ' a small quantity if it fits within my calorie goal. Be consistent, for the long term. Get good with one habit, such as including protein in every meal, then add another.

And I'm losing weight on roughly 1900cal a day, there is literally no reason for the 1200 that everyone seems to think is necessary.

Low carb/sticking to 1500 cals per day

Tough but works

I'm 40, 5'5 and around 10 stone.

Calorie counting with My Fitness Pal, Pinch of Nom cook books and eggs for breakfast, soup for lunch. I've never denied myself anything, but all in moderation, so if I wanted chocolate, I would have however many squares I could fit in my calorie allowance for that day.
I've kept my weight lost in 2016 off and I just keep a check on it. If I start to gain a few pounds I go back to it for a couple of weeks.
I walk and run, but do these for lung/heart health rather than weight loss.

Cutting my daily intake to around 1500-1600. Cardio and strength training. To be honest you have to stick with it no matter how miserable you feel or those days when you just can't be bothered you have to get up. Once you get into a good 'routine' you should be fine. I found I really enjoyed planning ahead to keep me on track. I also did a short sharp shock to get cracking which was pretty much a VLCD.

I am low carbing. Nearly 2 1/2 stone off in 6 months.
Finding it very easy to stick to.
The Bootcamp threads on here are very helpful.

Calorie counting (1800 per day), no restricted foods but >100g protein/day, weekly average steps 10-12k/day, 3-4 resistance training sessions per week (not for weight loss but to build muscle/preserve bone density, improve my shape overall). Don’t eat back your exercise calories.

Louise Parker method. Sensible, fresh, delicious food. She is three books. You do t necessarily need to buy into the whole holistic method, but up your step count and eat as she instructs (doesn’t feel like a diet).

Late 40s. The only way I can both keep weight off and feel well is 16:8 fasting and no gluten or dairy. It's very restrictive but I feel infinitely better when I stick to it.

I’ve just started ozempic which reduces your appetite. I’ve been on it 6 weeks and have lost 10lbs effortlessly

I was ragingly hungry all the time before

I'm well over 50 now, but I couldn't agree more.

Discipline is required. I have managed to lose 1.5 stones in about 5 years. (Yes I know, you can all laugh.) I am content with this, because my long-term trend is that I am still losing weight, overall.
I wanted a way of losing weight that was sustainable for the long term. For me, that meant not a "diet" that I wouldn't / couldn't stick to. I made small lifestyle changes, such as doing more exercise. That was easy - I didn't do any exercise, and I started just having 1 or 2 walks each day. I now also cycle quite a lot, as well as a lot of walking, and some regular dancing. anything to keep moving.

Food-wise I became more mindful about eating. I decided that rather than cutting things out, I would simply cut down. So I still eat what I like, just less of it. So I still eat chips, just less of them. I changed the balance of my diet, so there was more fruit & veg, and less high-calorie stuff (much as I love cheese, chocolate etc).

I weigh myself weekly. If I've put on, I don't stress over it, but I'm just a bit more disciplined for the next week. It seems to work for me, but it really is a long-term method, not a quick fix.

I've lost 2.5 stone this year just by calorie counting and logging everything on Nutracheck. It's an excellent app.

I don't feel deprived at all. I'm steadily losing around 1ib a week and I'm healthier than I've ever been. I keep really active, mostly just walking and burn 2.5 to 3k per day.

I'm middle aged, so I know how hard it is. I'm enjoying taking the scenic route and plan to be at my target weight by mid 2023.

I do OMAD x5 a week and have accepted that I'm going to have to do it forever now. It's not a case of "being on a diet' anymore, this is it. I'm either hungry or fat.

No alcohol whatsoever for months - it was tough, but for me drink plays havoc with blood sugar and causes hunger pangs, plus being empty calories so it had to go. And one tiny drink always lessons my will power to stick to good intentions.

Low carb. I didn’t go as far as keto, so I did eat carrots and fruit and veg carbs, but I found protein filled me up and fewer carbs made controlling hunger pangs and blood sugar much easier.

Calorie count and log absolutely everything that passes your lips.

Giving up the car and doing weights. Walking and biking wherever I could really, really helped with weight loss. I rarely drive now. The weights made me feel strong and helped massively with tone. I’ve let this slip and notice what a difference it made. Only 5kg dumbbells - I wasn’t bench pressing my own body weight.