If you've lost weight...

[Caniaskyousomething]

...how did you do it?!
I've read various books on nutrition/diets and I think as a result, I've bamboozled my brain and I have no idea what might be the best way forward!

There's the obvious 'calorie deficit' but how to do it? Slimming World? Weightwatchers? All I read is that these kind of things are the devil incarnate however 20 years ago, I lost 2.5 stone with weightwatchers and kept it off until I fell pregnant with DC2. So how successful have you been on SW or WW?

Calorie counting and use my fitness pal or nutracheck? Is a calorie just 'a calorie'? I've read it is not necessarily true.

Insulin...according to Jason Fung, is the lead hormone that causes weight gain, so should I follow a plan that reduced spikes in blood sugar? Ie do something like zoe?

Noom/second nature...tried the latter, made not one jot of difference.

Slimpod...again, no difference (for me)

Hypnotherapy...made no difference for me.

As you can see I've tried lots of things but remain obese. Need to lose 4 stone to be in the top of the healthy range for my height. 54 and menopausal. Sedentary job, limited exercise time as look after elderly parents and work.

I'm at a loss as to how to begin losing weight. So, please give me a boost and tell me what worked for you! Please 🙏 thank you for reading

Everything works if you stick to it long enough and you could gain even after weight loss surgery or injections if you don't fix the root issue with food and change your lifestyle forever.

I read ultra processed people by Dr Chris Van Tulleken. What an eye opener that was! I'd forgotten about my reaction to the information in that book (have a billion things on my mind) so you've reminded me how revolting UPF are.

I've lost 3 stone almost with slimming world and exercise. Started off walking 10000 steps a day and one cardio dance class a week. Now I also do the gym and running 5k twice a week. But the main thing is sticking to the slimming world plan

I made sustainable changes to my life, started a meal at a time and focused on trying to embed healthy habits. I lost about 60lbs and then my mental and physical health took a nosedive. I put on a small amount and now back mentally able to refocus.
The challenge I have is time, I'd never prioritise eating and end up grabbing food on the way to work or at the canteen for lunch. Evenings would be whatever is in the freezer or takeaways.
I've committed to a Personal trainer once a week and maintained that even when I wasn't well. My aim by Easter is to be back up to having 2 more focused times of movement per week. Either running or home workouts. I used to be very all or nothing when it came to weight loss and that's led to huge cycles of loss and gain over the years.
It's been 2 years and I'm sitting at around the 60lb total loss still. I'm doing it slowly and am now introducing wegovy to help.
I referred myself for weight loss support from the NHS and have qualified for weight loss surgery but have decided it's not for me right now.

Exercise helped accelerate my weight loss, and that's why I'm now targeting to return to regular exercise. It also gave me mental head space which I think helped focus my eating too.

Good luck!

What's with all the imperial measurements!!!

I've lost 1 and a half stone since September.
Largely down to exercise (three cardio classes and three weight based classes per week) 30 min each plus bootcamp 30 min Sunday AM.
Other then that I have upped protein, drink 2 litres water a day and don't eat between 7.30pm and 11.30am
Admittedly I could lose more if I ate better. Maintained for 2 weeks now so need to get my head down and get going again.

Check out...

Lucy Wyndham Read's Thighs & Glutes
Bowflex 3-minute plank
Rebecca Louise's Best Abs & Ageless Arms

• (especially!!) anything by Caroline Girvan

A strong core and weight training will change your attitude towards your health and your body.

This mindset change for me has been the real change. 3st 7 in 9 months and still going

I’m 6ft and ex-rugby player (female) here - but put a lot of weight on after uni. Over the last few years I went from 132kg down to 75kg again (you can play my ribs like a xylophone at this weight). Also qualified as a nutrition coach.

Did it through various ways.

1. Came off hormonal contraception (pure coincidence). I didn’t realise that it was driving a MASSIVELY increased appetite.
2. I’m naturally not hungry when I get up so I do intermittent fasting by default…I try not to eat anything in the two hours before I sleep either, as it’s not great for digestion or sleep quality. So usually eat between 10.30am and 7.30pm, only.
3. If I’m in the office, I take a stew/curry type dish in with me and I ding it before I leave, then eat it on public transport for dinner, so I’m still eating at 6pm-ish, avoiding the temptation of grabbing something unhealthy on the way home or takeout when I get there. Also take my breakfast/lunch in.
4. Meal prep - I plan our meals a week in advance and do two shops a week. I make sure I do the shop the day before I would cook that batch of food.
5. Batch cook - in winter, I’ll prolly make 6-8 portions of soup which I’ll split with my other half and we’ll eat for lunch for 3-4 days on the trot before switching to a different one. Plenty of protein in it to keep me full through the day. Then I’ll make enough dinner for two days at a time. More carbs on workout days, usually.
6. I pair carbs with healthy fats as it helps to mitigate the insulin spike/crash. So steel cut porridge in the morning with a good handful of nuts stirred into it or chilli con carne and rice with half an avocado sliced over the top.
7. Water - I drink at least 3l of water a day (but I’m big - you might not need as much). Helps keep you hydrated, flushes the system and often you’re thirsty when you think you’re hungry…helps keep you full.
8. I don’t drink any carbonated drinks, coffee or juices, and rarely drink alcohol. I used to but my other half doesn't and I got out of the habit…and found I didn’t miss it. I do drink herbal teas and hot chocolates, occasionally.
9. Don’t eat a huge amount of processed food. Mostly home cooked meals and snacks using fresh ingredients. Also rarely eat takeout and when I do, I usually go for grilled marinated chicken in tortillas or with salad. Whatever looks fresh and nice.
10. BUT don’t give myself a hard time - I eat brownies and hot cross buns and crisps and cheesecake and burgers and pizza…if I want it, I do have it and don’t tell myself these things are ‘bad’ or ‘unhealthy’. They aren’t, I just choose them less and enjoy them more when I do have them. Food is AMAZING!
11. Sleep - early to bed and early to rise. Try to get 7-8 hours a night. With less alcohol, sugar, processed food and caffeine in my system, I definitely sleep better!
12. Exercise - I stick to HIIT/HISS when I’m trying to cut down on my weight. Research has suggested that high intensity workouts, especially with weights, help suppress appetite for the hours after working out while metabolism is boosted during those hours. Going full cardio tends to increase appetite instead. I mix it up with walking, long distance running, weightlifting, dancing and self-defence training at other times because otherwise I get bored 😁. But with your limited time, I would suggest HIIT or HISS as they are reasonably quick (think 20 mins). Start with just nipping out for a quick walk every day maybe, to get used to it?
13. Goals and rewards - I have a set of weight-based targets and another of non-scale goals (could be ‘taking the stairs at work for two weeks’ or ‘deep clean the house’ or ‘read three books’ or ‘resting heart rate 55bpm’). Rewards could be things I would have got anyway, like some new bedding or they could be little treats, like a visit to the cinema. Or even trying on a pair of jeans I haven’t been able to get into for a while. These keep me on track.

But this is all what I do - it’s what has worked for me that I have found through trial and error. For instance, I used MyFitnessPal for a while but I get WAY too into it and when I found myself weighing the chopped carrots/celery/onion/garlic to get it right to the exact gram, I knew I may have gone a bit too far.

For you, it’s working out what you enjoy, what’s sustainable, what your triggers are and introducing small changes over a long period of time that gradually shift you into a different way of life, that works within your day-today and its demands/constraints/culture etc. Maybe eating mindfully at one meal for a couple of weeks until it is second nature, then increasing your water intake for another couple of weeks etc. Too much change, too fast, leads to burnout.

Good luck and sorry for the essay! And if you ever want to talk through anything, I’m here on DM too 😊

@LaughingCat please don't apologise. You've provided lots of ideas; I particularly like the 'treat' thing; such a good motivator to keep going. Thank you 😊

I stopped dieting and obsessing about calories, carbs, fats, sugars and how many steps I'd done that day.
I stopped drinking. Not completely, I do still have a drink if I'm out, but stopped having a glass of wine whilst cooking dinner and a glass whilst eating it, and maybe a Baileys in front of the TV at night.
That not only dramatically reduced the calories in the drink, but also the 'munchies' that invariably accompanied them.....
I stopped eating as much UPF as was reasonable for me. I don't read every label, but stopped buying any ready meals, pies, prepped chips etc.,
If I can't be arsed to cook, I just have an omelette, or scrambled eggs on toast rather than a takeaway.
I stopped eating breakfast most mornings. I was never really hungry, but it was habit that made me eat in the mornings - wake up, have coffee, walk dogs, eat breakfast etc.
I do, occasionally have breakfast, but only if I'm hungry for it.
As a knock on effect, I have craved far less sugary foods, so cut out just about all biscuits, cakes and chocolate that I used to eat. I still have cake if I'm out, and chocolate if I fancy it.
I just do not feel I am dieting at all. I'm just eating 'normally', but the weight is dropping off me 😁
I walk a lot, but added in plank routines and resistance bands, so feel more toned too.

The good thing is that you will lose weight by diet alone. Bodies are made in the kitchen, toned in the gym. Cut out all snacks and sugar in drinks. Start intermittent fasting. Do not eat after 6:30pm. Cut out processed food. Exercise is important for over 40s to help the bones and the posture. After 40 we loose the muscle matter very quickly, and more so after 50

You can be referred to weight loss services through your GP for free? A lot of this is online now so maybe more accessible if you working and caring for family

Just cut down on the crap really! Was addicted to white bread, croissants, cakes and fizzy drinks and ate a lot of cereal. Started having a boiled egg, slice of toast, an apple and yoghurt for breakfast, started eating fruit or salad when I felt like bread/toast, only allowed myself fizzy drinks once a week, drank loads of water, didn’t eat after 8 (first few weeks I’d sometimes go to bed early as it nearly killed me, then got used to it and started doing crafts to occupy hands).

Snacked sometimes on frozen grapes, cut up apples and broccoli (strangely nice together!!) Lost over a stone and a half. Was in a very active job too and did Joe wicks workout. Put it back on purely because of comfort eating (again bread cereal and fizzy drinks!) when I had long Covid but am back to cutting out the crap again and feeling much better and am losing the belly and love handles again!! Best of luck op!

Research has suggested that high intensity workouts, especially with weights, help suppress appetite for the hours after working out while metabolism is boosted during those hours. Going full cardio tends to increase appetite instead

So true.

Growingannanas is great for HIIT with weights.

For anyone who is already fairly fit, or ready to challenge themselves, Caroline Girvan's YouTube programmes are the way to go.

I often do one of each, one after the other.

Im going to SW, because for me I need the accountability

I dont know why this forum is so down on SW, they do actually promote eating a balanced diet avoiding UPF and turning to whole grains and scratch cooking

Theres a lot of unofficial SW groups online where its all about getting as much carp into you whilst keeping within syns, but thats the point of that? Nothing changes if nothing changes

For me its been slow - post menopause, I never expected miracles. I set myself realistic targets, first was to get into a size 14 dress for a wedding. Then to get a Healthy BMI, now its to get my total body fat down to normal.

Ive always intermitted fasted, Im never hungry enough to eat much before 1pm and our evening meal is 7pm. But now I do ensure that when I do feel hungry enough to eat, I have something that is deemed healthy ready to go, rather then reaching for the bread. And I accept that a plate of veg and protein for the first meal of the day is OK

Mostly now my food intake is veg and some fruit, protein from chicken, fish, lean cuts and beans, whole grains and couscous and quinoa. I have to avoid bread and pastry - a -because they are triggers and b, now they give me tummy trouble and I limit dairy. I make my own yoghurt as Im not much fussed on milk, cheese is measured and I do choose the lower fat options with some cheeses - half fat feta is ok, but dont mess with my cheddar :) Butter is also off my menu as that too is something that once I start I dont know when to stop :)

Ive upped the exercise. I walk. Im forever walking as long as its not too wet out there Im walking. Even on the days I dont walk, I still have to walk the dog :) Walking him is a leisurely pace and stop starts so I dont count that as exercise, but it keeps the steps up. Walking for me is 5k in 40mins - heart pumping and short of breath which seeing as I was struggling to get of the sofa this time last year Im happy with

Im trying hard not to see this as a "diet" but rather a way of life moving forwards. I dont want to put weight back on, aged 59 Im hoping this is my last battle of the bulge ( third diet in my lifetime ) Im feeling pretty positive because it has been a long journey -2 stone in 10 months - because the changes I have made have been small and sustainable , they are becoming built in habits , natural choices

Oh and I dont buy into the SW ready meals, fry light, nor their reliance on Hi -lo bars or muller yoghurts. I do however like their recipes which are surprisingly good and family friendly

Thank you again everyone. Some really useful tips and recommendations to take on board. @suki1964 and all others; well done on your weight losses; what you're all doing sounds manageable.

Thing is, I do eat healthily but I'm clearly eating and drinking too many calories. I don't eat meat. I have at least 8-10 veggies a day (sometimes fruit but not often), I limit carbs (pasta/bread/rice/potatoes) to one meal a day and if I have bread it's a slice or 2 from a 'Jasons' sourdough loaf but that's maybe once/twice a week...but all this is undone because of the huge portions of food in general and the excessive snacking on crap (crisps/choc/sweets/biscuits) when I'm not even hungry! Why do I even do that?! So annoying.

So far:

• get into calorie deficit by doing WW/SW or calorie counting and combining this within a fasting window or 8/9 hours.
• Fill up on protein.
• move more (love the JFDI acronym) @BarelyLiterate, I need you to come and live/work with me so that you can just shout 'JFDI' eleventy billion times a day at me!!😂
• Maybe record what I eat
• Stay patient (gah!) and think long term; what I'm embarking on is changing lifetime habits and this won't happen over night. Baby steps.
• Massively reduce sugary items (costa etc)
• Stop the bloody unnecessary snacking
• Reduce UPFs.

I can't exactly talk as I could do with losing a bit.

But - I think the 'now I'm going to completely change everything' approach doesn't really work. You manage that for a while then it flips.

It's good to work out why you overeat (comfort food, stress eating, boredom etc) and find something else to do when you're in that state.

Focus on health rather than diet. Think about it as being centred in your relationship with yourself rather than achieving a pre-set goal that would somehow change your life.

Do one step at a time until it's a habit. Limiting portions, giving up weeknight drinking, not having regular chocolate bars etc.

Diets encourage you to think 'I'm faulty, I must achieve this number on a scale to be worthy, I will deprive myself until I do that' when this is going to make you feel bad about yourself and want to overeat all the more. It's better to think 'this food will be great for my body, only eating this much pasta will mean I don't feel uncomfortably full' etc.

I try to only eat worth-it calories so for example supermarket cake is shit. I try not to eat it. Homemade cake is divine. I eat it occasionally.

@NoCloudsAllowed makes a good point, it may be too much all at once.

You could just say you are going to eliminate all sweets and chocolate from now on; if you have a lot to lose that would in all probability be enough to initiate losing weight, without even doing anything else.

Yes don’t do it all at once. It’s ok to change 1 thing. You could change 1 thing a week for 4 weeks starting with the thing that’s easiest. So stop going to Costa. The next week, walk more. This will be so much easier to adapt to. Humans are creatures of habits so if you take all your usual habits away at once the risk is you will form new desperate/unhealthy habits to replace them, or all you will do is miss them and think about them. Creating change is about sustainable, not painful changes, they are good to be subtle and will make you feel more positive. So you will be proud of yourself for having no Costa for a week and it will spur you on to keep going.

If you change 10 habits all at once you won’t be able to keep track of them, will feel like you have let yourself down if you miss one target - this board is full of people being annoyed with themselves for an odd slip up. shame in weight loss is the driver which stops change and progress. It’s not a slip up to eat one biscuit or be slightly off your deficit for 2 days, or get sick and miss the gym. Those things won’t matter as much if you have gradually changed your habits - you will find it easier to go with the flow and see the whole picture, looking back on yourself and all the changes you made.

See weight loss and lifestyle health changes as the stairs at Montmartre - would you really try to run up 300+ steps at once right now? No 😂 so look at this journey the same way. You will go up some steps and back down over a long period of time until you get to the top, and that’s ok

I say this as now someone who can’t remember what a pizza or McDonalds tastes like now. I stopped buying them so long ago I don’t even think about them. I used to eat them so much!

I changed that habit gradually by replacing them with other food. Now if I think about something I really want to eat when I am hungry it is none of the old food I used to eat (Mars bars for breakfast!) due to it just being my new habit. Break one at a time. 😊

Just to offer my twopence worth - don't try and make too many changes at once. It's very tempting to go in all guns blazing and introduce lots of exercise AND cut calories AND cook healthy meals AND cut out snacks AND cut out sugar... for it all to come crashing down because it's difficult to make so many changes and sustain them when life happens and you get a difficult day/short on time/you're ill/stressed/tired.

Your 5th point in your last post is the most important one - you need patience, because it will take a long time. And the most important thing with weight loss or any other change is to stay consistent. It's much better and easier to incorporate a 15 min walk into your day, and do it every day for a year, than an hour long gym session 3 times a week that you stop doing after a month.

Be realistic about the changes that you make. It's much better to have contingency plans rather than say it won't happen. So instead of deciding you won't snack, decide what snack you will have if you do get really hungry/peckish.

From what you said about yourself, the most obvious starting point is your Costa sugar habit, and increase your walking. Just do these 2 things for 2-3 weeks, then add something else in. Pick easy things first! They will help you build that momentum, and will make it easier to tackle harder things, which actually might not seem even that hard once you get there, because you already made all these smaller changes.

Also, don't overcomplicate things. I find this talk about UPFs is just demonising food. One doughnut a week will not make you fat or terribly unhealthy. 7 most likely will! There's no good or bad food, it's all about balance.

Personally, I really like Jordan Syatt and Coach Viva on YouTube, check them out if you'd like some inspiration.

Good luck!

@OwlsDance i think the point about UPF’s is when they make up the majority of your daily intake. So if you eat at Costa every morning then a meal deal from a supermarket and then a takeaway or ready meal every single night you are mostly just eating UPF’s and that is something you can change.

UPF’s are fine in moderation and the reason most of us are hyper aware of them is that research and experience has shown they are addictive - so if you are prone to eating a whole box of doughnuts it might take some time to get to the point where you can just eat 1 and walk away. If you have an UPF that is your nemesis (mine is haribo and biscuits) then that might be the one to try to avoid while you are settling yourself in to making changes. You can’t avoid all UPF’s and moderation is key but when you are prone to binging on certain foods you might need to avoid the main triggers to change your habits until you feel more in control

I've lost 12lbs since the start of Jan doing low carb high fat and 16:8 intermittent fasting. I've also been going to the gym x3 a week but appreciate it's really hard to fit exercise in between working and caring responsibilities. I think the main trick is to find something you will stick with. I can't do calorie counting as get so fed up of monitoring. Low carb works for me as I can plan my meals and snacks once a week and then don't really need to think about it again.

Ah sorry, when I wrote that list it was just to 'summarise' some of the things that people had posted about. I'm certainly not planning to change all those things today; that would be asking for problems! As you say @NoCloudsAllowed @Menora @OwlsDance @waistchallenge I need to pick 1 or 2 and start slowly.

I agree, knocking the Costa on the head will be a big win for my waistline but also my purse! My colleague offered to get me one this morning (as I'm usually a faithful regular) but with this thread ringing in my ears, I said 'no' and had a normal black decaf coffee.

@OwlsDance good suggestion to add something simple in every day (exercise wise), even if it is just a 15 minute trot round the block. Consistency is key!!