PLEASE inspire me! Has anyone ever lost weight and kept it off?

[estuardo]

I am attempting to lose 2 stone for the umpteenth time.
I have trawled the threads on here for inspiration but they are full of people who have NOT managed to lose weight.

Can you please post any successes? ( as opposed to ongoing struggles!)

I took myself in hand 2 years ago. I lost 2 stone by low carbing and i've kept it off.

BUT you cannot go back to the bad old days once the weight is off.

I have weekends and holidays off but I always have at least 4 days a week low carbing.

After Christmas i had put on half a stone but lost it again in the first 2 weeks of January. It's a great way to live..... I think.

Alouiseg can you tell me more?
I am beginning to think low carb is the way ahead

There are some good diet threads on mn.

I have read a few low carb books but the one that grabbed me was Idiot proof Diet by Nerys Hughes and India Knight. There is a recipe book that goes with it and a friendly forum www.pig2twig.com.

yes and no

i did lose 4 stone on ww 7 years ago and kept it off for 5ish years but recently has just crept on, ive been bad with takeaway and cheese etc and put just under 2.5stone back on

saying that lost 20lbs since jan so only a stone to go

generally i say throw away all fat clothes so that you cant grow back into them

and eat sensibly mon to fri and let yourself go sat/sun

Like blondes I lost loads 3ish stone give or take but have to keep myself in check or I can easily put a stone on.

Same as Alouiseg I try to follow low carb principles during the week to stabilise my weight - too long on carbs and I turn into a biffer

carbs are weird

i eat pasta/jackets or toast/sandwich every day on ww and still lost/lose weight

very disappointed to see how few people are on this thread! Thanks to those who contributed and well done for your losses.
Alouiseg the problem with most of the MN threads are that they reinforce my conclusion that hardly anyone actually manages to lose weight and keep it off.

The threads are full of enthusiastic starts but few successful finishes. Most people fall off the wagon, or just stop posting.

That's why I find them so discouraging

That's because you are eating low fat blondes

Rule of thumb is if you eat carbs don't eat fat and vice versa.

Personally i am much happier to eat low carb than low fat, i also don't get ill at all on low carb whereas the first thing that happens to me on a low fat diet is I get a cold.

Have you read anything by Zoe Harcombe? She advocates an eating plan for life.

She is essentially an advocate of low carb but explains the reactions in your body when you eat certain things.

Pig2twig has got some real long termers on there. They use the forum to stay in check.

i lost 6 stone and keep it off but you will not like my method. Whatever the crticism - it works...............

Gastric band.

alouiseg I've read / tried them all!

I lost almost a stone following Harcombe but found it incredibly restrictive and had the most dreadful rebound insatiable hunger after following it for a month.I regained all the weight very quickly.

I followed the MN Harcombe thread but it kind of fell apart - noone managed to keep going from a starting group of a few dozen! (please someone prove me wrong) Some of the stuff in the book was seriously dodgy in my view.

Thanks alouiseg for your continued posting here .

I think I need to decide between WW and Atkins. I have successfully lost weight on both but always end up spectacularly rebounding

thinker my best friend is a GP and recently attended a conference where the speaker said it is extremely rare for anyone who is morbidly obese to lose weight long term UNLESS they get a gastric band.

No criticism from me, and well done. Band or no band I am sure it was not easy for you

I'd never criticise anyone for looking into a gastric band. It's a positive life affirming step and I get very shocked at the venom directed at people who have had the procedure.

Interestingly i have a friend who seriously needs to consider it but she won't because she can't ever see herself wanting to give up the pleasure associated by eating lovely food.

My sister lost umpteen pounds (like life transforming amounts) after going to Paul McKenna's weight loss seminar last year. I'm so proud of her/pleased for her.

His approach seems incredibly sensible and helpful. I'm going - and taking my mum - this year.

I lost nearly four stone, three years ago. I had always been over weight, since I was a teenager. I had never been less than a size 14 since I was 14, and usually a size 16 or 18.

I lost the weight doing Weight Watchers, it took me a year, and although I haven't dieted, or even taken particular care about what I eat, I haven't put it back on.

I always thought my "natural" size was a 14, and I'm delighted to now know that it is a 10.

I think doing Weight Watchers for a year taught me about portion control, and over that time my appetite and eating habits just changed, and seemed to have stuck.

I'm confident I won't put that much weight back on again, having maintained it with no effort for three years.

I lost 3 and a half stone in 2001, then a further half stone two years later and have kept it off. I did put a couple of stone back on in 2007, but that was due to medication, and as soon as I stopped taking that I lost not just that two stone, but another stone and a half in three months without doing anything.

That's all a bit confused, but essentially, I have lost around 5 stone since 2001 and have not put it back on again, so you can keep it off. I eat fairly normally, but in moderation; so if I go overboard on a weekend, I'll have a few really, really good days to make up for it. I am relatively active, but do no specific exercise like the gym.

I have been very determined not to regain the weight (it was horrific when I had to take that medication and watch the weight creep up even though I was eating the same way, and less), and monitor it by weighing myself several times a week. This means that I deal with any small weight gains of a pound or two immediately, while it is still easy, as opposed to having to deal with a stone or two, which, as we all know, is really difficult.

Well done celery. That is just the kind of inspiration I am after

thanks polkydot, that is a remarkable achievement.

Do you mind sharing what the medication was?
I am on fluoxetine and wonder if it contributes to weight gain

It was mirtazapine, which I took after paroxetine (seroxat) didn't touch my anxiety and depression. I would say it was evil stuff, but the very fact that I got well, even having had to watch all that weight going back on says a lot for it really.

I kept coming across people who'd had similar weight gains on it, like the nurse when I went to take blood, the daughter of the nurse who was renewing my contraceptive pill prescription. It was random, but also a bit reassuring that it was related to that, I was having thyroid function tests and all sorts because of the weight gain.

It is possible though, and I agree with celery, if you can just get into new habits, then it doesn't have to feel hard. I don't eat low fat or low carb, and I eat loads of stuff that people consider "bad" (my favourite things are cheese and cream!), but I try to balance it all out, and my appetite has reduced.

celery, you are right it is about portion control

ie have pizza,but only 2 slices with salad

Fluoxtine actually has a positive effect on weight. It can actually help with weight control.

hi estuardo, I lost 5 stone with slimming world 2003/2004. Went from size 20 to size 10. I'd been overweight all through teens, 20's,early 30's... even stayed size 18 for my wedding. After having a baby in 2002 finally something clicked and i really wanted to lose weight. I needed the strength of a club and eating plan (and paying the money out each week to go!). After loosing about 3 stone, weight loss started to slow so for the 1st time ever in my life i started exercising. I think that is what has kept the weight off. I now genuinely enjoy exercise and do think twice about what i eat. Having said that, over the last year about a stone has crept back on. But I know its because i got complacent about keeping it off and the 'odd treat' became and everyday thing. So back on the SW plan and hope to shift the stone by August.
please don't give up or feel disheartened that it will never happen....and after being overweight for most of my life, i can honestly say that it is never too late too late to change it. Good luck....we all need a bit of that (as well as the will power)

You can still eat lush food with gastric band but just a little amount, it reduces your appetite too which is the best bit

I lost 6 stone in about a year 5 years ago. All I did was started walking to college and back and ate low fat foods so lots of stir frys which I love. I stopped frying food (except stir frys obviously, having oven chips and grilling other things. Lots of fruit and veg.

I think what worked for me was still having a treat - a kids size bar of chocolate/packet of skips each day so never really felt I was being denied anything like I did on diet plans.

So far I've managed to keep most of it off - even when I was pregnant with DC's. I have the occational take away and have started frying chips again but I only have a few.

I lost 4.5 stone about 5 years ago now (it took a year or so....) and I have kept all but half a stone off... AND I am having pizza and chips for tea tonight! I went from size 18/20 to size 10. My life has been totally transformed.

It is a change in the way you eat but you can treat yourself which I do. I just make up for it afterwards by being careful and I think a lot more about what I am putting in my mouth.