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?

For me it's:

More protein
Reducing sugar intake right down

Limited portions of carbs (no bread at all)
Cutting out breakfast
Lots of black coffee in the morning

...so basically a half-baked approach to both low carb and intermittent fasting seems to do it for me

Stopped eating breakfast- it’s really not essential.

A hot drink is sufficient if you want some mouthfeel in the mornings. You get the benefits of fasting and then after a few days you find that you aren’t hungry in the morning anymore. I no longer get the cravings for elevenses or mid morning snacks. I generally eat my first meal at about 1pm.

a very easy calorie deficit.

Yes breakfast can easily go I think, I've never been that fussed about it. I'm a tea drinker, maybe I need to switch to coffee.

I’ve lost just over a stone in under 2 months by doing the following:

slight calorie deficit (1750 a day)
a whole load of protein (my focus is always my protein goal not carbs, sugar etc)
3 litres of water
10,000 plus steps a day
3 x 30 minute home work outs a week
accountability - weigh in/photos

I’m sleep deprived and mad busy but it is doable. I always eat three meals and snacks but know a few people who’d follow the above and do intermittent fasting.

I don't think diets really do work long term.

What has worked for me is just starting with one thing. For example, I'm going to stop with biscuits as a general rule.
Then it doesn't seem so bleak and is an achievable change.
It's not a deal-breaker...if someone brings in home-made cookies, I'm having one!

Then I might decide to bring in a heathy snack for the week. (chopped carrots this week) and lo and behold, another good habit without any denial or angst.

OP, your weight history mirrors mine. I'm currently 11st 3lb and cannot, for the life of me and days starving, get under 11 stone. I know I'll never achieve 8st 8lb again, but just hovering around 10 would make me very happy and open up the 90% of my wardrobe that doesn't current fit.

Noom worked me. Its focussed on the psychology of weight loss. I thought I knew all there was to know about healthy eating etc but it’s forced me to re-examine my relationship with food. Looks at the bigger picture.

My job is desk based so I am very sedentary.

Apparently, key tips are lots of protein at every meal, very few carbs after lunch (including fruit), walking after each meal (even 10 mins only) and doing weights. For carbs, try potatoes instead of rice/pasta/bread - way more nutritious and far less calorie dense.

Now just to sort the mindset (biggest challenge IMO)

For me, the secret is accepting that the weekend eating should be the same as the week day eating. So no alcohol, no high calorie treat meals, picking the sensible salad or low calorie option when eating out.

15k steps a day, with weights and cardio several times a week. Then a high protein, fairly clean lowish carb vegan diet. I have the same breakfast every day which uses protein powder and prepare 3 days at a time, this keeps me full.

I am trying to think of food as fuel rather than a yummy treat.

It sounds a bit harsh and joyless but I now enjoy the vast majority of the exercise that I do. I am enjoying increasing my weights or learning new moves and I enjoy spinning. I am also getting a huge amount of enjoyment in my clothes fitting better and seeing the changes in my body. So I think getting that mindset makes a huge difference… also I have an amazing holiday booked and I want to look great for that.

Ahhhh @Dashel your way sounds like exactly what I aspire to. How did you get started?

I agree that getting to 50 it’s quite easy to think, what’s the point. My hair has gone from being envy of all to a home dyed mess. My face has sagged and clearly has lines and crinkles. Skin is starting to crepe.
I could make more effort but really why bother. Who am I trying to impress. Looking good for my age when no one gives a monkeys ( except my friends who I guess are pleased I make them look good).
The only thing I’ve noticed about thinner healthy older people is that don’t stop. They aren’t on mumsnet all day like me, they’re up and out, cleaning, hobbies, working, doing. So maybe just find 20 new activities, volunteer groups, walk dogs etc?

@BMIwoes I tried team RH but my mind wasn’t in the right place, but I realised that doing the 15k steps had a massive effect on the calories burnt. I could see there was about 500 calories difference on my 4k step days and the 15k. They do talk a lot of sense but not in a very people friendly kind of way.

one of the things they talk about is averaging your calories over the week as many people are going hardcore Monday to Friday lunchtime and then eat and drink too much from Friday to Sunday night so you end up eating your average calories on maintenance and don’t get anywhere

I also realised how many calories were in a cheat meal going out and how hard it would be to burn then off.

I had also tried doing fasting and low cal and I can’t stick to it. So I knew I was setting myself up for failure if I did that.

I joined the Body Coach and Les Mills and found recipes and exercise I enjoyed and I think Joe Wicks gave me the courage to use protein powder. I’m not a morning person so I like having something to grab without thinking

So I kind of used a lot of different resources and thought processes to work out what worked for me.

Mid fifties here. Similar weight to you at similar ages, but by the end of this summer I had gone up to 13 st 7. I have spent most of my life slim and I hated it.

At the beginning of September my head was in the right place, I’m now 11 stone 10, I’ve lost it doing an absolute minimum of 10,500 steps a day, but usually average 15000, eating 1450 calories and logging it all on MyFitnessPal which is synced to my Fitbit.

Zero alcohol as it causes the munchies and I cannot drink just one glass of wine.

It hasn’t been too hard, and I feel great, so I’m hoping I don’t break these good habits now. Christmas will be tough.

just about to get my walking boots on and go for my daily power walk, bloody raining though, but I will still do it. 😭

I'm really going to have to do something and stick with it.
Some type of fasting usually works best for me.
Plus weight training.

I started low carb yesterday. Going well so far (40 hours in!). If I can get a stone off by Christmas that would be a brilliant start so that's my target.

This is an interesting thread. I started using a free NHS weight loss app, and found I lost a pound a week (1600 cal) without much effort. I have now switched to Nutracheck as has better resources in terms of food counts. I can eat the kind of food I like in moderation & still come in under 1600 cal.
So I am going to stick with this. Food diary makes you think about your choices, and you start making better ones. I usually get in 10k steps a day, although ATM it is harder with short days & bad weather.

I'm 6st down with calorie deficit, therapy and strength training. Nothing really helped me before.

Eat as late as possible, about 1pm or later usually. Finish eating for day 6 hours after.

Unlimited fruit veg protein olive oil etc Greek yoghurt beans pulses. 70% of time doing this then 2-3 times a week eating pizza or having crap day. Carrying on again afterwards. Snacking on nuts or dark chocolate. Alcohol made me weak so tried not to drink every night- I had got in habit of doing this.

No weighing self or counting calories, just judging by clothes. Weighed every few months when I thought I'd get a good result.

30 mins cycling and swimming 20 lengths 3-4 times a week. Lots 4st and transformed how I look in about 6 months.

My tip would be do the stuff you can most bear, I hated counting calories and jogging for example.