What worked for you?

[wannabemyoldself]

Two kids in, I am now the fattest I've ever been and I miss my old self. I've gone from a size 8 to a size and 14 and I feel totally lost. Nothing fits and I look shit in everything.

I have a busy, stressful FT job and two pre-schoolers, as well as elderly parents, am still very sleep deprived, and I just find every day so difficult. I manage to cook a healthy dinner each night but can't seem to stop comfort eating to get through the day. Biscuits, cake, chocolate and sweets mainly. My willpower is not good.

If you have lost at least 1.5 stone, how did you do it? What worked for you? Are there any obvious hacks that I am missing?

Calorie counting using My Fitness Pal.

Also being in the right frame of mind.

The second one is harder to achieve which is why I'm sitting here eating biscuits.

Exante. It took me about four months to lose the 2.5 stone I put on during lockdowns. I've kept it off (by eating generally healthy, low-ish carb food) for the past year though it's depressing how little I get to eat without putting weight on, despite being fairly active.

Sliming World, I do it on line. There's something about having to log everything in my phone that keeps me accountable. It's easy,wish I'd done it years ago.

Thank you all for replying. I think you're right that something structured is the way to go. I have signed up to Noom so will see how I get on.

Cutting out all upf, sugar and reducing starchy carbs. Other than that I eat what I want until I am full and no longer have any cravings. Lost 11kg over 6 months and am now at my target weight. I have no desire to reintroduce these foods as they are no longer appealing.

@wannabemyoldself how is Noom working out for you?

Thanks for asking, I checked the app and I've lost just over 10lbs in nearly 4 weeks. So it's working! I personally find the psychology element of it really helpful and it is definitely doing something to correct my less healthy habits. I really haven't found it hard to stick to, and I've been really stressed about work the past two weeks without resorting to binge eating which is big progress.

So far so good and I'm really glad I committed to it. I've still got 20lbs to lose so will be going for a few more months. But yes would recommend it!

That’s excellent well done!

I've just discovered chocolate covered rice crackers ...they are only 60 calories! A great low calorie snack that is filling and sweet

Going for a simple walk (about 45 mins) at least 3 times a week.

Cutting out sugar and eating whole foods. Prioritising making myself a decent healthy lunch that fills me up. E.g. tuna mayo salad with avocado and some seeds sprinkled on top. Proper food that keeps you full because you need all the energy you can get at this intense stage of life.

Most recently, I've paid for a personal trainer who I see twice a week but this has coincided with my DD starting school and me having more free time. I appreciate it is really hard to fit in exercise with someone who has as many commitments as you. If you can walk as much as you can that is a start. I lost 20lbs just from taking a walk most evenings (when DP was home from work) when my DD was very young.

I have lost a huge amount of weight over the past couple of years. I have a seven-days-per-week job and usually work nearly every waking moment. A surgeon at the local hospital gave me a wake-up call when I was weighed for a procedure and I have been on a serious diet ever since.

What did it for me was deciding that I'm no longer a food person. For my generation, food is the thing to do. It's how to communicate to people that we're sophisticated and creative. It's how to connect with people who might not have the same hobbies or language/culture or who have the wrong marital status/gender to do other activities.

When I left the surgeon's office, I stopped baking. I stopped buying junk. I stopped cooking--except to roast vegetables. I got myself new hobbies and started going to the gym every day no matter what (I previously ran outdoors even when I was very overweight, but had to move to the gym when I injured myself).

What I'm saying is that you really need to get serious. I live alone, so it's much easier for me than for someone who has to cook. However, you can still decide that you're simply not going to have junk in the house. Count your calories each day too and don't go above X (decide on a number you're comfortable with).

An important point is that I was raised in world where women were fighting back against diet culture--and for good reason. It used to be crazy. I think we're swung too far in the other direction though. Telling people they shouldn't diet and shouldn't count calories is what led me to the situation I was in. I'm a scientist and now that I think back, I can't believe I ignored the data for so long on what I was eating. I now accept that I have trouble regulating my eating if I don't keep track of it. Keeping track doesn't have to be crazy. Most people of healthy weight do it too.

Good luck.

Well done @wannabemyoldself
😊

Fasting 16:8. Then after I'd lost the weight, slowly re introducing more food. Now I fast alternate days. I did this during the lockdowns. Been at 10-10.7st ever since. Was 13.7 before. I am 5ft7. Also exercise when fasting helped. I still do it now. I make sure to eat proper meals and not rubbish. As when I do have breakfast I have yogurt, muesli berries etc. lunch is a salad with no Mayo or any dressings. Evening meal is meat or fish with veg and some carbs. I snack on nuts or fruit (if I do get hungry).

You have to completely re train your eating habits. They also have to be sustainable to ensure you don't put all the weight you lose, back on.

Well done @wannabemyoldself!

I use my fitness pal and work outs with Lucy Wyndham-Read on YouTube. I also make sure I walk at least between 5-10,000 steps daily.

I’ve lost over 2 stone in 5 months and have gone from - well, I say a size 14 but they were tight, I was most probably a 16 to a 12 and 12’s are now loose and baggy. I feel so much healthier in myself and more comfortable in my body. Keep going!

Wegovy has worked for me. I'm losing 2-3 pounds a week. I started in mid-August. I'm just not hungry most of the time, and when I do eat, it's a much smaller portion than normal. All of the "food noise" is gone from my head, and I don't crave sweets and carbs anymore.

Slimming world. There are lots of myths around it, and lots of things said which is very out of date. It's pretty much a healthy eating plan. You need never be actually hungry, there is always something you can have, it just isn't the unhealthy stuff that I may be craving. I can have that stuff btw, just needs to be counted as syns. Yes, the idea of calling some food syns is annoying, and there are a couple of things that are a little odd, but it works. I'm 2.5stone down from when I started with it. Being accountable, being weighed every week slows down my urge to eat rubbish remarkably. And if I have eaten properly of the healthier choices, I'm actually not hungry.