I need to lose two stone but constantly failing at diets

[gimmegimmegimmea]

I need a kick up the arse.

im two stone overweight, i love carbs, sugar and wine which i cant seem to stop eating/drinking.

I try strict diets and it’s not sustainable. I try a small deficit and it doesnt work.

I used to be able to cut back before having my children but I find it so hard.

im exercising loads but making no difference so clearly its my diet.

im thinking low carb may be the way to go, it’s what I did before and it worked. How do I get my head into gear and just do it? I need this baby weight off as we’re going on holiday in summer

Have you read Davinia Taylor's book, It's Not A Diet. Worth having a look at as she talks a lot about how to curb cravings like those. She's also on Instagram but I preferred reading her book.

Break the carb and sugar habit first before you reduce the portions. So plenty of veg and protien. Lots of water. Find some nice but healthy snacks. Roasted chickpeas. Full fat greek yogurt with berries and a grating of dark chocolate. Then build in some exercise, things like squats or going for walks. Something everyday.

I find eating my fave stuff like bread and pasta makes me want more. I can’t seem to find balance which is why I’m wondering whether I need to just cut them for a while, I find it all so hard

I was the same and I managed to lose 2 stone over 8 months doing the following :

NOT changing the amount I ate at all initially. I kept a food diary and wrote down all my meals and snacks (breakfast, mid morn snack, lunch, aft snack, dinner and evening snacks) I then added each snack to immediately after breakfast lunch and dinner I quickly found that 1) I didn’t feel restricted, 2) I naturally couldn’t finish the snacks right after a meal 3) I was going longer periods between eating so was getting a chance to burn off some fat for energy rather than topping myself up with calories regularly. In the first 3 months I lost a stone doing just this .

I then looked at where I could cut some more empty calories and made the decision not to drink any more calories so cut out juices coffees and hot chocolates totally and just had water or flavoured water Or fruit / green tea. It didn’t feel too bad as i still wasn’t restricting any food at all. I also started doing an 1 he walk each day. After another 3 months I’d lost another half a stone .

To shift the final half a stone I did have to reduce my calories but I did this by just having each weekend where I only had ‘treats’ so during the week no cake biscuits crisps or chocolate at all.

It didn’t feel like a diet at any point . Good luck

*1hr

Look up Fast 800. It’s brutal for the first few days, but then something shifts and you feel clearer, in control and appetite is under control.

It resets your appetite and stops the carb craving cycle.

If you cut out carbs, unless it's forever, you'll be back to square one as soon as you start eating them again. When you say you're exercising loads, what does that entail? An hour on the treadmill at 8km/hr will burn approx 600 kcals, how does what you're doing compare? That would certainly make some difference to what you can eat. With food this is simply mind over matter, you know you need to cut the frequency or volume of food you're consuming, you need to commit and discipline yourself. There's no magic diet, you need to retrain your body and mind, push through the discomfort until it's the new normal. Once you see that reality, you'll decide yourself if you're in or out. Good luck!

Cutting for a while doesn't 'reset' reset anything. You need to analyse exactly what went wrong. Instead of 'I just like wine and carbs!' Look at: were the calories too unrealistic? Am i comfort eating? Is my DH constantly tempting me to drink? Do i have an unhealthy relation with booze?
It could be that you need to be teetotal and strict 5 days a week and then drink as you like 1 day a week or maybe you prefer 2 glasses 4 times a week. You have to find a compromise you can stick to long term.

Lastly sometimes the weight is coming off but its 0.5lb a week, you need to be patient and give it time or accept you need to eat and drink a lot less.

What exercise are you doing? Any weights? Best way to loose the weight 😁

Low carb will have you ballooning right back up once you eat carbs again. You also get drunk too quickly on low carb.
If you tend to binge after restriction it would be mad to diet again. You have to fix the root of the problem which is how you deal with your emotions, your lifestyle is, how you spend your time and how you treat yourself.

Don’t see it as a diet. What changes can you make that are sustainable? You need to change your eating habits forever, so anything too restrictive is doomed to failure. For example, if you’re a big sandwich person, do you buy shop-bought (crazy calories) or make your own? Would you enjoy a wrap with loads of salad and lean protein rather than a big wedge of bread with thick cut cheese? I reduced my carb intake, but didn’t cut them out completely. I weigh rice and pasta now instead of making a pan full and helping myself. I’ve also massively increased my veg intake. I have the odd glass of wine or bar of chocolate if I fancy it. I’m losing about 0.5lb-1lb a week. Small changes make a big difference.

i do tend to binge and restrict which is my problem so I’ve just stayed the same as after i gave birth .

i go running and walk every day, combined walking and running about 3-5 miles a day

I like a glass of wine with dinner and a latte in the mornings. I like sandwiches for lunch and make them myself but makes me hungry and I then get afternoon slump and reach for a chocolate bar. I’m fine once I’ve eaten dinner so evening snacking isn’t my issue. It’s between lunch and dinner I end up gorging and weekends drinking more which then leads to bad food choices.

my husband drinks and eats what he wants which I find difficult if I’m being honest, it’s not his fault it’s my willpower

Intermittent fasting worked for me. Lost the two stone I needed to and kept it off. It’s a lifestyle change that’s needed not a temporary “diet”.

Ha you described me there op. What I do now is different

No food at all until lunch. Do have tea and coffee

lunch i don’t have carbs bulky salad or omelette with mushrooms

Normal dinner but on smaller plate

Limit snacking. Stop eating after dinner.

Relax at weekends but don’t go mad but do have wine etc but at weekends. Lots of cardio. I’m not Elle McPherson but am mid range normal bmi at 50 I’ll take that.

Did you do 16:8?

Well some swaps, almond sugar free or skim latte. 2 medium pieces of bread as a side to huge bowl of salad with protein in it. Between lunch and dinner, occupy yourself or make a green smoothie or herbal tea.
Do a work out like davina or 30 day shred in the morning 3 times a week minimum.
Swap alcohol for soft diet drink first then when your stomach is full have the boozy one....
Floss and brush your teeth after meals it might make you think twice about snacking. Clean your home from binge food or have it inaccessible or just enough tor dh.

I've found it much easier to fast. ( I didn't know that was what it was but wanted an easy way to eat less).

I don't eat at breakfast time and then eat my breakfast food ( porridge, nuts, fruit, yoghurt, eggs - breakfast type meals) at lunchtime. After that sensible food choices are all I need and as suits me, leaving me able to pick in the evening ( within reason, a biscuit with a cuppa, more nuts, grapes, olives).

I find it much easier to follow a very clear rule, no food before noon, than mess with portion sizes and restricting choices. My partner and I have both lost weight and maintained the loss over a two year period.

This sounds like a good idea, I’ve been having whole milk lattes and a big salad with the option of bread may work better.
I need to cut the booze down so I’ll find that easy enough in the week, it’s the weekends so cut that back. It’s the afternoon so will prepare for those more
brushing teeth after meals is a good idea

I’ve never eaten before lunchtime (even as a small child I always refused breakfast), and never eaten after 8pm and I still ended up 3 stone overweight. Sometimes fasting alone isn’t enough if you’re eating too many calories in your 8hr window.

Are you really 'exercising loads'? I am like you about diets. Just going on one makes me binge by midday, day 1. So I just upped the exercise and lost a stone in a year, while still having - honestly - far too much carb, sugar, wine etc.

To burn off the excess without dieting, you need to be weight lifting and doing bootcamp-style workouts every other day as a minimum, with 10k walks daily and maybe yoga or swimming in between.

You could try upping your veg to 7-8 a day and fruit to 3 a day. And upping water to a large glass before and after or with each meal. See if additions rather than restrictions help.

Of course but it’s a good way to knock out 500 calories. I was having cereal or toast every morning which led to a carb crash around 11 am so I then had biscuits…all gone.

Weirdly if I don’t eat anything in the morning don’t get that shaky hunger feeling I used to and I’ve to remind myself to have lunch. And I exercise.

I’ve always had success with calorie counting. I am a bit of a yo-yo dieter as I know I can lose it again as once I’m in the zone I’m quite disciplined. But the only time I’ve lost more than 7lbs is during lockdown when meals with friends were off the table. I wouldn’t bother with fads, just check your TDEE, and deduct 500 a day for 1lb a week and 1000 for 2lbs, or whatever in between. If you’re exercising too you should have a decent amount. I started again to lose recent gain on 1st Jan and almost 5lbs down. I weigh daily and that keeps me on track. It’s sustainable and eating out can be factored in

I find the more sugar, carbs and wine I have the more I want. I suspect because it causes sugar drops and boosts. I follow slimming world and it's basically very healthy eating, filling up on fruit, salad,veg,protein etc and very little junk food. I also have cut wine out totally and after a couple of weeks stopped missing it. A glass of wine is like eating a donught worth of calories every time. I do still drink but tend to drink gin and tonic as it's much lower calorie.

I find the healthy options keep me full and I don't crave carbs the same way. I do 4 to 5 HIIT workouts a week (30 to 45 mins) max and the weight comes of and tends to stay of (unless I start eating lots of junk etc) . I personally don't recommend any type of crash diet as it's inevitable people binge at some point and fasting left me ill so doesn't work for me personally. The reason I like slimming world is I never feel hungry, can make meals for the whole family on it and it's easy for me to follow. I have 3 kids 1 who has complex additional support needs so time is limited.

Also I still eat chocolate and ice cream daily when losing but I swap to those tiny bars, mini milkybar at the minute after my sandwich and Pom bear crisps at lunch, then I weigh out 50g Oppo ice cream which I’ve been addicted to since covid for after dinner. I also eat ice pops if feeling peckish. I’m always hungrier in the mornings / early afternoon and evenings not a problem. I do like a glass of wine at the weekend but I’ve been measuring it out since losing and this weekend realised I didn’t even really want it and ditched it for a brew instead