Has anyone lost weight themselves--not paying out to go to a slimming club?

smokybabe

when I was a weightwatchers I used to force myself to have cereal, skimmed milk and fruit for breakfast. For lunch I would have a tuna sandwich on thin sliced bread or sliced ham,egg etc with salad and fruit. Tea time was usually a meal made from scratch - fish or chicken with plenty of veggies. I got to be a dab hand at making curries, stews, soups and pasta dishes that were low calorie for this meal. My husband lost loads at this time too but(good for him) he's never put it back on.
Drinking lots of water helped and I used to snack on fruit and veggies.
Sweet dishes usually consisted of low fat yoghurts and ice cream - but I'm not really a sweet person anyway except for chocolate at PMT time.

Actiongirl_2

I am doing ww online at the moment. Lost 18lb two years ago, and give or take the odd 2 or 3 pounds, have kept it off. Back on now as want to lose another 7lb before hols in december.

My standard day is:
Chopped strawberries and banana covered in fat free bio vanilla M&S yoghurt. Basically like eating banana and custard for breakfast.

Lunch is salad - lettuce, cucumber, crunchy veggies, cherry tomatoes - no dressing, as it wilts by the time I have commuted in with it

Snacks during the day - usually 2 apples, low fat hot chocolate to fill me up and give me a chocolate kick

Dinner is 120g of pasta, with tomatoes, or a piece of fish and salad/roast veg.

I always have 175ml of wine a night. Its my treat and I can live without bread and chocolate if I have something to relax me after my commute.

I also eat a lot of filet steak when dieting - it gives me the feeling I am not being deprived and means that I don't miss the carbs. Though tasty grilled chicken is the same.

One thing I will say, is I alway buy the freshest, best and tastiest food when I am dieting. The better the quality, the less I feel like I am being deprived. Yes the food budget goes up, but the weight certainly comes off.

Redfish_2

Hi

I've gone from a size 12 to a size 18 in the last 6 years and I have tried to go on a diet and exercise on and off but, though I do know what is the right thing to do (healthy food, not eat too much, exercise a lot), I can't keep it up for very long at all. I thought I would try hypnotherapy - because I had had a hypnosis CD which worked when I played it but only lasted a short while and I got bored playing it over and over again.

After my hynotherapy session (you only need one) I have been able to choose the right foods to eat (cooking from scratch), and not overeating, every day for the last 8 days, which is pretty amazing for me, without effort at all - even when work is buying me my dinner from a limitless menu. Though a few words of caution on finding a hynotherapist:

The first hypnotherapist I saw cost £40 for an hour and spent nearly all this hour doing charts and asking questions etc and giving advice that I could have got from WW or Cosmopolitan magazine - I got the impression that she was trying to collect as much information for herself (not for me who already knew it) so that she could measure her own success - which is okay, but not if you're paying £40 for her to do that. But she did give me a 5 minute initial relaxation hypnosis which was really powerful, so I knew if she applied herself directly to the matter I suggested was the problem (that all I needed to do was substitute eating unhealthy food for healthy food), she could work wonders. She suggested 10 sessions - and I really couldn't afford that!!! So even though hynotherapy should work in one session, there are hynotherapists who will drag it all out because, presumably, they want to get as much money out of you as possible. But luckily, a work colleague overheard me talk about how the hypnotherapist had said NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) would be appropriate if all I wanted to do was remove my craving for unhealthy food and substitute it for healthy food. My work colleague, by chance, is training in her spare time to be a hypnotherapist, so she is just a first year student. She gave me a half hour session for free, it was good for her to have someone to practice on and good for me too. She wasn't as 'expert' as the professional hynotherapist, didn't go 'deep', but it worked nevertheless. Since she did it I have been eating really healthily!! I don't feel tempted to eat the meat, cheese, carbohydrate heavy foods I used to want to eat. I find it quite easy to choose vegetables and fruits.

So it might be worth others of you, if motivation is the difficulty, to find a hypnotherapy student who wants someone to practice on!!

Hello

Jolinar wrote:

I lost 8 stone on my own, just cut out all the processed rubbish like the others said, cook from scratch, fresh veg, fruit and meat is basically what I ate. My weight had crept up a little though so it's time to take my own advice again lol. It can be done I'm sure WW works for some but my local meeting is basically an excuse for a gossip and to my mind a waste of money. Good luck it can be done!

8 stone? 8 stone?!!! I'm going on your diet!! That's brilliant, well done!

kathfisch

Wow, what a lot of good weight loss tips!!

We have a dfw weight loss/fitness club here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=3051585#post3051585 if you all want to join in :T We've not been posting so much lately but its great to have a thread to keep everyone updated on your progress and give a bit of moral support!

Good luck to everyone trying to lose weight!

Kath

summerday

Oh this is a topic close to me as I am finding my weight is creeping back up again and I'm losing control. i used to run weight loss groups but now I've stopped and I don't have time to go to the classes now that I'm training intensively for a new career I'm eating way too much choc to help me deal with the stress, but it just makes me feel worse after and its a vicious cycle. The hypnotherapy sounds good to help you make healthier choices as I so struggle to make myself do the right thing and Redfish your experience sounds very interesting, maybe I will contact a hypnotherapist but be mindful of what you said about keeping the sessiions down. But I am a little afraid of the idea of being hypnitised- what is it like, could anything go wrong? Sorry if it sounds daft.

thanks, sarah x

gilly41

Hi
Thanks everyone for replying to my post!
SarahT that sounds just like me---as soon as I am stressed I eat chocolate and then afterwards feel really annoyed with myself!It is a vicious circle. I am starting back on a sensible eating plan just as soon as I get back from my daughters with a target weight loss of a stone by Xmas. I have even written my shopping list out today for when i get back home!!How good is that LOL!!!
x

Goldielocks

In answer to your question. Yes.

From my heaviest to my lightest, I lost 7 1/2 stone through healthy eating and exercise alone.

It can be done if you want it that badly.

G

mintymoneysaver

I know they tell you not to stand on the scales every day but that is working for me at the moment.If I've lost weight from the day before it gives me a good start to the day, if I've stayed the same it inspires me to eat well that day, and if I've put any on I know I have to be extra good!
I've lost 6lb in the last two weeks doing that.I know it won't always be a loss as good as that but it seems to work for me at the moment...

irchy_mum

Can I join please?would also like to lose a stone for Christmas,done the WW & RC over the years and although very helpful, just can't afford it at the moment.

I've put on 1 1/2 stone in the last 3 years,too much snacking ,have been doing chocolate cold turkey challenge and haven't had chocolate in about a week-the craving has gone:j

I have lost 2st before (after birth of DS)don't remember it being too difficult (she says:rolleyes: )was more interested in looking fab after having baby -didn't want to be a fat Mummy:p

If I don't lose this extra weight I'm going to have to start buying bigger clothes:eek:

Gonna be brave and add weight loss details to my sig