How to 2 stone by October?

[Hubblebubble]

I have a milestone birthday coming up, the big 30. I'm currently 72kg, so just over 11 stone, which is overweight for my height, 5 ft 3.
I'm not one of those people with a super speedy metabolism. I've been tracking everything I eat on myfitness pal and usually eat between 1400 to 1700 a day. I swim atleast 4 times a week, sometimes more, I cycle, go to the gym once a week and also go to a weekly weight training class.
I've lost one kg in 3 weeks of this calorie counting/fitness routine, which is a bit rubbish.
Advice/suggestions welcome.

If you are tracking your exercise on MFP too then stop. It gives you extra calories to eat back and stalls your weight loss.

Also, if you are just adding foods from the database that other users have entered the calories for, double check they are accurate. I’ve found things that have been entered wrong and should have been a couple of hundred calories extra! You could actually be eating more than you think.

You need to weigh and count every thing that passes your lips. It’s a PITA initially but does get easier/quicker. So, every spread of butter/Mayo, every cup of tea with a dash of milk. It all counts.

Fast. Start with 18/6.

Replace a meal with vegetable soup. Reduce carbs a lot.

Thanks! Some helpful stuff already! I'd been logging my swimming on MFP, so I'll stop doing that

How do you stop yourself feeling hungry when you reduce carbs? And I did think some where good carbs? Like bananas and oat porrige? Or are they all just unhelpful for weight loss?

@mamnotmum forgot to tag you in the above cards question

Carbs, silly autocorrect

I would recommend doing a keto/low carb diet for a while. It’s not sustainable long term, for me anyway (I have a life-long love affair with pasta) but a very good kickstarter and I never feel like I’m depriving myself of anything. I lost 5kg in 6 weeks without ever feeling like I was dieting.

Interestingly I find I snack far far less when I’m low carbing, but I always have some nuts and/or berries about should I get peckish.

The recommended weightloss per week is 1-2lbs so 1kg in 3 weeks sounds like you are doing it right. I am a few inches shorter than you and would struggle to lose more that 1lb per week.
Regards keeping you feeling fuller, are you tracking your protein intake? Protein will keep you fuller for longer so its a good idea to incorporate it at every meal where possible

@Weelegs29 there's a bit on myfitness pal that let's me see macros like protein. I know I need a minimum of 20 percent. What would you recommend as a daily protein intake for weight loss?

A 1 kg loss is good! 500 kg loss a week is a good aim. They say the difference between success and failure is consistency and persistence. Tbh it always takes me a while to start losing weight - like turning around a huge steamer - so keep going. My friends always start losing much faster initially than me but it then evens out. Everyone is different.

I am trying to lose weight. I am not there yet but I don’t think exercise is as significant as we would like it to be. Don’t ask me why as presumably it’s all about calories in v calories out but I don’t think we expend as much energy exercising as we imagine. It’s good to exercise for health benefits though. Maybe swap a cardio session for another weights session?

So it’s all about the food really.

And it’s the sort of foods you eat that count.

So you could eat a small chocolate bar or a large bowl of fresh berries and they would both be 200 calories. But the berries will ultimately be more satisfying and better for you.

Are you eating protein with every meal?

Eggs for breakfast are great for stopping cravings.

And I am finding a timer helps if I am
hungry. Put the timer on and if I am still hungry after 20 minutes I eat some almonds, walnuts or an apple, or some celery with hummous.

And I find eating in a set order helps at every meal:

1. a pile of veg first
2. modest amount of protein
3. then carbs.

That way you get the max amount of veg in when you are most hungry.

Then small amount of carbs that should have been!

My dh had been following low carb, high protein, and high fibre since January has lost about 30 pounds! The high protein and high fibre are keeping him fuller for longer. Definitely low car is helping as that seemed to spiking his blood sugar to come up and down too much and then making him hungry. He has cut back on fruit too and added more veg with some good fats.

I've just read The Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspe and found it so inspiring.

I'd already started eating whole foods, cutting out junk food and processed stuff and keeping the carbs low anyway. But she suggests lots of ways to keep your glucose levels flat, which really helps to keep your cravings away.

I've lost 4lbs in a week, which I've never, ever done before.

You dont have to stop doing that, you just make sure you dont eat the calories back. I like to see my exercise all totted up in one place (when I do it)

Fast keto 800.
You'll lose your 2 st easily.

@Runnerducksdelight thank you so much for all your advice! I don't eat protein at every meal, so that's definitely something I can start trying. And swapping a swim for more weight training.

And thank you to everyone else for the tips too. It's really helpful to get new ideas and see whats worked for different people

A lot of people have been suggesting some quite hard core fasts. My worry is that this isn't sustainable like intermittent fasting, so the moment I stop fasting ill just pile it all back on.

I've been doing VLC diet to put my T2 diabetes into remission and since 3rd January I've lost 2st 2lbs so it is doable but it's tough doing it quickly.

You want to aim for about .5lb to 1lb a week over the long term until October. Thats exactly what you have been losing on average on what you're doing now so you dont need to change anything really in my view.

I was the same weight as you, though a little taller. I followed Michael Mosley's Fast800 to the letter (strict 800 cals a day and time restricted eating 16:8 mostly) for 12 weeks from Jan and lost two stone by the end then moved to 5:2 after that to maintain.

The first two weeks were v hard but once into it, it was fine.

Keep boiled eggs on standby for when you feel hungry.
No bread.
Lentil or chicken or veg soup for lunch and/or dinner. Add some chick peas/spinach/pulses to pimp it up.

@bellac11 that I'd reassuring! I'm pretty bad at maths, so I think 1 kg in 3 weeks just felt really low. And like a few people have mentioned, exercise doesn't burn as many calories as we think. With all the exercise I'd been doing I think I expected more

Well counting on my fingers, I think you have 28 weeks dont you?

So a pound a week is 28 lbs which is 2 stone

yes there might be a bit of deviation in that, time of the month, or if you overdo exercise and the scales show a bit of water retention from that, but overall a 1lb a week is absolutely doable