How have you lost weight

[Takeitonthechin]

Please can you tell me how you've lost weight, if you've had a lot to lose, how long did it take you and which plan did you follow? Also how much exercise you do a week?
I've got about six stone to lose, I'm aware it's not going to be a quick fix and I'm prepared for this to be a slow and steady process, I'd appreciate your thoughts and ideas? TIA

I would think that too, daisymade. I know about food / like food. But, it helped me to zone in on where / what I was eating too much of after having my baby. I was able to rationalise it, and tailor it to me.

My mum, however... Is that person who has no interest in food. She just consumes it. Too much of it when not dieting / following SW (or any plan) strictly when dieting. I don’t think she’s ever enjoyed food...

High-intensity interval training most definitely burns fat. Regular exercise increases your resting metabolic rate, which means you will be burning more calories even while at rest.

Essentially, work out which one suits you best/is closest to your eating habits with the least changes if possible or one that doesn’t eliminate food you love and stick with it.

Also, understanding that the loss won’t be constant and there will be blips but so long as the trajectory stays on track, keep going.

Food is the main driver behind loss but I find exercise makes me less hungry - less comfort eating so maybe it helps my stress levels?

Set mini goals along the way or it will feel overwhelming.

Good luck!

100% it does. My gym is HIIT and I lost 5kg of fat in just over two months. Gained a lot of muscle so not a net 5kg loss on the scales but that's not necessarily what matters to me right now.

Low carb. I very rarely eat potatoes, pasta or bread etc. I just don’t crave them anymore and have kept the weight off. I feel so much better & a lot more energetic.

I started on a 'cut the carbs down' diet based on the diabetic organisation UK's low carb diet in mid November. I was told, as I was 1.5 stone overweight, that was contributing to high blood pressure (which I've never had) and pre-diabetes - which I had and got rid of 10 years ago but has since returned. I keep my carb intake to under 130gm a day (or averaged over a week - I'm not getting into the 'refuse a piece of birthday cake' mode as I can be fanatical on a diet and that's not good so I'm training myself to just cut back if I've had a evening out with friends. Keeping it long term if you like).

I don't calorie count just substitute carbs for something not so high or cut back drastically on them.

So far I've lost 8lbs - I put 2lb back on over Christmas and lost that again in a week once I went back on the 'diet'.

So my meals look like this:

Breakfast a small (30gm) of porridge oats with almond milk (measured 150mls) plus either half a banana (mashed or sliced), or berries or a scant teaspoon of choc/hazelnut spread (if I'm on a chocolate day - kills the craving).

Salad for lunch with a low carb dressing (measured 2-3 teaspoons), chicken, fish, ham or eggs. Or bacon and eggs. Or scrambled egg with a couple of ryvita with butter (half the carbs of a slice of bread each)

Dinner - whatever the family are having, except...if they have rice, I have cauliflower rice (and prefer it now!), same with mash, I have cauliflower mash. Pasta I do a third of their portion with extra veg as pasta substitutes like spiralled veg just don't work for me. I do have fish with chips. But I do plain baked or pan fried fish and count out 10 chips plus loads of veg. Roast sometimes and I have two roast potatoes. Jacket potatoes, I have a small one with...you've guessed it...more veg. That way I'm not getting cravings that have finished my diets in the past.

If I'm peckish I have a teaspoon of peanut butter - little tip from my sister and diabetics UK.

I have a 'desk bike' - one of those exercise bikes that don't have handle bars. So I settled down with a 45 - 60 minute programme on the TV every day and pedal. Then a few hand weights in bed when I'm reading!

My sister, who has followed a similar diet for 25 plus years, has never gone above a size 8-10 so I live in hope!

Thank you, that’s v kind x

@daisymade yes you have a point there. But balanced against that is that many of us need to lose eight and (wrongly) believe that because say nuts are healthy we can eat them with abandon. It's about education isn't it.
And once you get to your target weight on SW you are in fact encouraged to reintroduce those healthy 'syn' foods. Which I have done successfully.

You can't eat unlimited white pasta.

Oh I definitely eat pasta, but on here people make out that a plan that lets you eat unlimited pasta couldn't possibly work, forgetting that common sense is obviously needed 😂

I did eat Muller Lights too but not in vast quantities and not now they are soooo expensive 😂

I used to struggle to lose a kilo. It would take serious work and a weekend away or a big weekend out eating and I would gain 2-3kgs.

i also use to exercise a lot - spin classes and running and high intensity stuff.

the only things that worked

1. having a baby! I theorise it totally disrupted my hormones and I lost 80% of the baby weight in 3 weeks and then the rest melted off in about 2 months despite lockdown and eating more than j ever have imagined. I would recommend investigating hormones and weight

2. Pilates. A nutritionist told me the high intensity stuff was causing too much adrenaline and making my body clingy to weight. I moved to walking and Pilates 3 x a week and was beyond shocked

good luck!!!

Ooh is that a new rule? I haven't been to a group for a long time, and all my books are out of date!

Oh and I don’t eat much non natural food ( like crisps / preservative heavy food) and try to eat sugar on weekends only

Weekly ozempic injections, I have to take it as a type 2 diabetic anyway but I had no appetite whatsoever on it.

A friend of mine isn't type 2 diabetic and took it for weight loss on a private prescription, she's lost 3.5 stone so far.

I've lost about 1 stone and kept it off for about 8 years. I have permanently changed my eating habits

16 : 8
Cut right back on carbs
Smaller portions
Walking every day after meals (1 - 2 hours in total) to regulate blood sugar levels
Exercise classes 6 days a week
Wine once a week
Drinking water regularly
Eating slowly and chewing food thoroughly
Flossing and cleaning my teeth early evening, it's such a faff that I do not eat and only drink water for the rest of the evening
If necessary when I am out for a meal, I sit on my hands to stop unnecessary picking!

Good luck

Wow there's some great advice and phenomenal weight losses here, I thank you all for taking time to answer my questions. I know it's not going to be a quick fix and that I will just keep chipping a way at it. I know it's affecting my life and how I live it, so I'm going to make 2023 the year I do something for myself.

Well,it's 'free' as in not synned but doesn't mean you can eat unlimited pasta, it has to be on a plate with a third veg or salad and a third protein. Avacado is good for you but not if you want to lose weight so it's synned, it doesn't mean it's 'bad' it just means keep an eye on how much you're eating of it.

Joined 12 steps ecovery for food addiction.

foodaddicts.org

free, global community of people who want to stop eating addictivrly. Lots of people who have lost weight, recovered and kept it up for many years. I had tried everything and I was desperate. It asks a lot of you as it is a spiritual programme, rather than just a diet, but it gives you so much in return too.

Pretty much exactly the same here

Being realistic about portion size was the biggie for me - actually binned our old dinner plates and bought smaller ones which made a surprising difference

Yeah I think this is my issue with the mentality of SW and the people who do it. You can eat avocado and lose weight, I lost 3st, I’m a size 10 and I eat avocado most days.

white pasta is a free food, you can eat it during every meal and have as much of it you like proportionate to protein and salad, regardless of the size of the actual portion - that’s my issue? White pasta has much less nutritional value than an avocado, why not just educate yourself on nutritional value of foods and start there?

Oh well, works really well for me and eating pasta means I don't want to eat crap as I'm full. I eat avacado ,never had a muller light and rarely eat sugar.

Ah ok, I think I still do the 'retro' version of SW 😂. But as you say in your nx post, it's what works for you. Everyone is different and will find the way that works for them.
SW is a great start as it gives you rules to follow if you have no idea where to begin, which I certainly needed. As time goes along you work out what you can get away with basically, and what to do when you really need to lose a few pounds...as I am doing in the post Christmas period!

Losing 100lbs by Corinne Crabtree is worth a listen. She makes a lot of sense- and isn’t patronising. I listen to the podcasts regularly, it’s making me think differently for sure.
I’ve done slimming world, weight watchers, low carb with some success in the past but the thing for me is I’m not going to live my life forever on slimming world so I need to try and tackle my thinking first.

I lost 50lbs on Keto and have kept the entire amount off for more than a year. I've put a post up in the 'Ask Me Anything' topics answering lots of questions about it if you're interested in reading more about it.