If you could spend about £200 a month on attempting to lose weight...

[nappiesandcontracts]

..what would you spend it on?

Hoping to lose 1.5 stone. Currently a member of a council gym which has decent kit, range of classes etc, costs £35 a month. Go 1-2 / week which probs isn't enough but struggle to find time or motivation to go more.

Diet is ok, eat fairly healthy food but weakness for wine and snacks...

Could afford a personal trainer 1x / week but I'm not sure just exercising for an hour will make any real difference to my weight?

There's a lovely looking David Lloyd nearby which I've toyed with joining in the hope that the loveliness will motivate me to go more, but it's obviously £££

Just a bit stumped where best to direct my resources. Feel like I need someone to tell me what to do and hold me accountable. Is that a PT or a weight loss coach (does that exist?)

Any advice/suggestions v welcome! TIA

OP how much booze and how many snacks are you consuming?

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I think I'm going to sign up to a meal delivery service for a few weeks which will hopefully kick start the weight loss! 🤞 If anyone can recommend one please let me know? Detox Kitchen only offers the 3 day plan to my area unfortunately and want something a bit longer term.

I'm hoping that after a few weeks of meal deliveries I'll get some good ideas of what to eat/portion size etc, and can then start coming up with my own meal plan to save some money - which I can then spend on a PT!

In the meantime I'll try to get to classes at the gym which I suspect will result in a better workout than me wandering around the gym myself! From the comments it sounds like weights are key so in terms of classes, I'm guessing things like body pump/ hiit are what I should be aiming for? Or is it worth doing spin too?

No need to spend a lot of money. Eat Whole Foods, no processed food, eat your target weight in pounds in grammes of protein per day. That will fill you up. Follow a lifting programme like Caroline Girvan - free programmes on You Tube (not body pump, too much cardio). Add a couple of HIT sessions a week.

Intermittent fasting seems to be helping me plus breaking the evening snacking habit. I was was having hot chocolate and biscuits and whatever was around every evening. A few days of not having it and the habit is broken, now I genuinely don't feel hungry in the evening.

Plus I'm exercising. The exercise won't really help lose weight as such but I can see a difference in my body which is great and exercise will help maintain the weight loss when I get to target.

About 3 months in of exercise and a bit less of intermittent fasting. Down 1 stone. So it is slow by the standards of someone doing a quick fix diet but I hope sustainable. Need to lose another stone or so.

Ask around at your gym or on your local FB pages for PT recommendations.

The biggest part of loosing weight is diet. But I have zero motivation to go to SW or WW and when I have tried I've sat in the class thinking - I'd be better spending this hour in the gym rather than listing to them prattling on about food.

PT should help with diet & fitness and give you an exercise plan for the days you aren't with them.

I would do a mixture of body pump and spin. So BP on a Monday, spin on a Tuesday to give your muscles a chance to recover. Good luck!

A meal prep service. Exercise burns relatively few calories.

This. No amount of money will give you willpower. Don't waste your hard earned cash. Decide how much you want to be slimmer/fitter etc and then do it. And please everyone don't pile on saying there's a lot more to it than that etc etc because, health issues aside, there really isn't. Either you change your lifestyle or you stay fat.

PT. I spend approx £200 a month on gym membership and my PT. He devises workouts for me to do when he's not with me, so I go more often knowing I have a set plan. I used to just amble round not being entirely sure what to do. Im now super confident with weights and my body is completely different

Buy really good quality protein, a wide range of fresh veg and cook from scratch. If you're time poor, use some of it to fund a cleaner so you have the time to cook.

Second reformer Pilates. It's amazing.

I've heard good things about Zoe too.

If you like classes, David Lloyd is worth a try.

I liked some of the Diet Chef food but don’t pick the porridge option as it’s essentially Ready Brek. Also read the small print. I thought I had but then they charged me £50 penalty to cancel so I will never use them again.

I’ve seen PTs online who also advise on nutrition and I think that would make the difference.

Just want to comment on what you said about a PT potentially not being worth it for 1 hour a week. However I have found that the PT really pushes you during that 1 hour and you will find you will get fitter faster and also feel more motivated the rest of the week to stay with it. It also keeps you accountable and they can advise on nutrition aswell and helping you to build confidence on the gym.

Have a look at the PLT Nutrition Facebook page.

All those saying ozempic or similar , where are you getting it ? I've been trying for months it's impossible.

Did you look into weight loss coaching? I heard of Erin, she's an online certified coach that helps you set up a plan for nutrition and physical activity and keeps you accountable. Was less than $80/m

Same as pp

Meal prep

Weight is 80% what you eat

@nappiesandcontracts Diet is ok, eat fairly healthy food but weakness for wine and snacks...

Just stop eating processed food. Eat only whole foods. It's that simple. Wine in moderation is fine, but crisps, takeaways, frozen pizza, bacon, biscuits, anything with refined sugar, etc etc, not fine.

Spend that £50 a week on quality food.

And do 30 minutes moderate exercise every day, such as walking, housework, swimming.

I lost 3 stone in 18 months doing this. No calorie counting. A year on, I continue to eat the same way, just a bit less strict, and weight remains stable.

A meal prep service and lose the chips and wine. Even if you don’t keep up the meal prep forever, it might help you with some realities around serving size etc.

Serving size is where most people trying to lose weight come undone.

If you do this and commit to some HI exercise a minimum of 4 times per week 1.5 stone should come off pretty quickly.

I agree with this. A good PT and a decent but not fancy gym will not only help you lose weight but set
you up to keep it off. A PT should also be able
to guide you with your diet.

I use an online fitness coach who does diet and exercise. The meals are designed and I’m eating more than I did. The exercises (40 minutes x4 a week) aren’t that hard but I’m on week 2 and quite fit anyway.

I also go to the gym 5 times a week. That alone did nothing as my diet wasn’t great.

I spend around 100 a year on Les Mills subscription and 140 a year for the membership in my martial arts club. Other things like yoga mat, barebell, resistance bands and dumbbells were one-time investments. On top of that I spend around 100 on the cheapest good quality trail running shoes every 1500 km or so.
I also spent 300 on a high quality sport watch but I had a cheap Chinese Mi Band before my Polar and it did the job very well. I get everything from my LM subscription: various classes, active recovery, meditation, yoga and nutritional advice.

That is much less than 200 a month but I also probably spend more on food because good quality and variety cost more. On the other hand I don’t spend money on wine and snacks so saving quite a lot, alcohol is very expensive where I live.

People say that you cannot outrun a bad diet and that is true, but to keep the weight off, feel good and look good, exercise is key. I don’t know a single person who got serious about exercising and didn’t experience positive effects, such as improved mood, better balance, better sleep, getting stronger, higher endurance, more energy, better concentration…

I’d say invest in whatever makes you put in the effort required. Going to the gym to wander around equipment is not good enough. Same with food, maybe you need kitchen scales and smaller plates to get you started.

I’ve spent this amount for months on Wegovy and I’m not doing it any more. I’ve only lost about half a stone and it’s given me carb cravings and nausea.

I’m considering spending the money on counselling or hypnosis to try to deprogram me from diet mentality and address the psychology of my binge eating.

I was going to say join DL because you'll have more motivation to go. Then the leftover money on fresh food

Oh or invest in a peloton if you don't have time to go to the gym. It's fantastic.