Anyone else on a diet and struggling?

Tink2

mummyroysof3 wrote: »

I'm just starting as I've put 8lb on in last couple of months and could have done with being more careful before that. I plan on eating more fruit veg and salad and cutting down my treats to one a day rather than cake after tea and a bar of choc in the eve and biscuits with my cuppa in the day...it's a start at least

Yeah I started just changing little things, drinking more water, switching to no sugar energy drinks, smaller bags of crisps etc

torbrex wrote: »

not having enough money to pay for said taxi so asking for help from the dole etc etc

Well that never happened :huh:

pinkteapot wrote: »

All diet plans do exactly the same thing. The only way to lose weight is to consume less calories than you use. All diet plans take a different approach to restricting your calories, but they all do it.

Different plans work for different people based more on psychology than anything else. Some people can handle 5:2 because they're happy to get themselves through two really tough days so that they can relax on other days. I'm hyper-organised and like systems and lists, so logging all my food and sticking to a daily calorie goal in My Fitness Pal works for me. I used to use Weight Watchers till I realised there was no point paying, as counting WW points is no different to counting calories.

Slimming World lets you eat as much as you want of low calorie foods. There's hardly any difference between this and calorie counting. Low calorie fruit and veg hardly take up any of my daily allowance of calories. But Slimming World works for people who don't want the faff of having to write down and add up everything they eat or drink.

tink2 - what all diet plans have in common is that they're a slog. The thing to remember is that they're about making a life-long change. When you put on weight you're eating more calories than you use. You can't go back to doing that after losing weight, so you can't go back to eating the way you were before. You need to eat less calories to lose weight and then only add a small amount extra back in to maintain weight afterwards.

I lost 2.5 stone about three years ago and have maintained since. I have slips where I put a few lbs back on then have to lose them again. It is worth it in the end - you need to find strategies that work for you. Distractions for when you fancy eating something naughty. Looking at pictures from when you were bigger. Getting a family member to stop you when you go to eat something. Whatever helps you.

Distraction is a good idea!

Tink2

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

A pound a week isn't a bad rate to average. The 2lb thing is the maximum safe for conventional 'diets', which don't work in the longterm for most people anyway.

Plus, there are times when it slows down and times when it speeds up. Or you get bored. It's not the end of the world unless you allow this to mean you give up and inhale a billion calories a week for six months. And even then, all that means is its just going to have to take a bit longer.

Are your portions appropriately sized? For example, when you have pizza, can you or do you have a quarter of it because that's all you need, or do you eat the whole thing because that's what you're allowed, irrespective of whether you're actually that hungry or not?

Are you focusing on 'I can eat anything I want' but forgetting that, whilst technically you can, if you pick all calorie dense foods, you are probably going to feel hard done by come 9.30 PM?

You know there's no magic pill or food or combinations. And you know it takes time. Just find ways of getting on with your life and do things whilst time does its thing. Keep busy. Go out. Meet people. Take courses that mean you're not in the flat all the time.

When I eat pizza (frozen one) I will eat the whole thing, maybe me and the OH should have half each with salad

I am dropping my portions IE two slices if bread instead if 4 or 2-3 quorn sausages instead of 5-6 etc

paulineb wrote: »

I don't count calories. When I needed to lose weight last year I reduced my portion sizes. I upped the amount of veg I was eating and reduced junk food to the occasional treat. If you are counting calories where are you getting the number of calories you are consuming from. You need to work out your total daily energy expenditure. The heavier someone is to start with the more calories they need to maintain their body weight.

I know people who have gone on diets and pulled a random figure like 1500 cals out of thin air. Yes they've lost weight, but they could have eaten more and still lost weight. Do you exercise?

If you eat healthily 80 per cent of the time, the other 20 per cent you can have a treat or two.

My advice would be avoid foods marked low fat like the plague, ones that save you a few cals but really aren't healthily. Cook as much as you can from scratch. Eat veg. Don't cut out good fats. And get moving, find exercise that you like and incorporate that into your routine.

If you think lifestyle change and not diet, you are more likely to succeed.

I can't exercise, I have physio to do which I struggle with

The only low fat anything I eat is the lighter than light mayo

jack_pott wrote: »

The reason you're finding it so hard is because you're being far too impatient. If you're trying to lose 15lb of fat in 8 weeks that's a calorie defecit of 950kcal/day! All the comments on the subject I've seen from dietitians in the media seem to be recommending a defecit of 250kcal/day, which equates to about 0.5lb/week.

Im not impatient, I set myself a goal of 52lbs in 52 weeks so I was very surprised at the losses I've had

Quasar

Low fat, high carb is the harmful myth STILL pushed in conventional dietary advice. The fact that since the advent of such advice obesity rates have shot up, appears to be ignored.

Moderate protein, moderate fats and LOW carbs intake (don't cut out carbs completely though), makes for a steady, healthy weight loss without feelings of hunger and improved health.

Tink2

Quasar wrote: »

Low fat, high carb is the harmful myth STILL pushed in conventional dietary advice. The fact that since the advent of such advice obesity rates have shot up, appears to be ignored.

Moderate protein, moderate fats and LOW carbs intake (don't cut out carbs completely though), makes for a steady, healthy weight loss without feelings of hunger and improved health.

I keep my carbs at no less than 100g if I go lower I feel dizzy

And I find the less carbs I eat the more hungry I am

Quasar

Tink2 wrote: »

I keep my carbs at no less than 100g if I go lower I feel dizzy

And I find the less carbs I eat the more hungry I am

That's because you don't eat the right food. You need nutritious food to keep you from getting hungry. Fish, chicken, eggs, LOTS of vegetable and two or three pieces of fruit a day. If you do eat pasta and other grains, make them wholemeal and in moderate amount. Use olive oil instead of those cheap, adulterated "vegetable" oils of dubious extraction.

There is no way around it, excess carbs are harmful in so many ways: hard to shift weight, inflammation (of joints and other kinds), insuline upsets (leading to dizziness) and diabetes. The list goes on and on.

Also, omega 3 oils are essential. You can get then in capsules.

It all sounds costly, but with a bit of planning you can in fact eat properly without spending over the odds.

Tink2

Quasar wrote: »

That's because you don't eat the right food. You need nutritious food to keep you from getting hungry. Fish, chicken, eggs, LOTS of vegetable and two or three pieces of fruit a day. If you do eat pasta and other grains, make them wholemeal and in moderate amount. Use olive oil instead of those cheap, adulterated "vegetable" oils of dubious extraction.

There is no way around it, excess carbs are harmful in so many ways: hard to shift weight, inflammation (of joints and other kinds), insuline upsets (leading to dizziness) and diabetes. The list goes on and on.

Also, omega 3 oils are essential. You can get then in capsules.

It all sounds costly, but with a bit of planning you can in fact eat properly without spending over the odds.

I eat fish (I'm a pescatarian) I eat eggs too but not every day as they give me a bad stomach

Did you watch the sugar v fat show that was on the other week

Quasar

Tink2 wrote: »

I eat fish (I'm a pescatarian) I eat eggs too but not every day as they give me a bad stomach

Did you watch the sugar v fat show that was on the other week

No I didn't. I've not been watching much TV lately.

Tink2

Quasar wrote: »

No I didn't. I've not been watching much TV lately.

If you get a chance watch it, it was surprising

The low fat twin not only performed better physically but mentally, he was more alert and although he could eat more than the ow fat twin he still lost weight

The low carb twin lost the most weight but it was mostly muscle and he was very close to becoming diabetic

I don't want you to think I'm throwing your advice back in your face because I'm not, I appreciate it it's just I will never be a low carb person

Quasar

Tink2 wrote: »

If you get a chance watch it, it was surprising

The low fat twin not only performed better physically but mentally, he was more alert and although he could eat more than the ow fat twin he still lost weight

The low carb twin lost the most weight but it was mostly muscle and he was very close to becoming diabetic

I don't want you to think I'm throwing your advice back in your face because I'm not, I appreciate it it's just I will never be a low carb person

Was exercise mentioned at all? Muscle is lost because losing fat without moving about a lot (the way we are meant to be), doesn't help to keep repairing muscle tissues.

Also, WHAT kind of fats and carbs were eaten in the study? Eating just any old carbs or fats, which is what most people do, is not the way to remain healthy, and being lean is part of it.

The low fat twin may have performed better for the duration of the experiment. Did they follow the twins on these diets for years or just weeks? The long terms result of high carbs, low fat and goodness forbid low protein are inflammation, probably diabetes and other ills.

Also, as I said, conventional dietary advice is well behind the times. A short-lived experiment on nutrition can throw up all kinds of skewed data - it's what people eat day in, day out for years on end that produces results, good or bad. Obesity is on the rise, and relatively few people successfully and permanently lose weight, precisely because they go on eating high carbs diets.

Of course, one is entitled to follow whatever advice suits them, particularly when it doesn't require them to change completely the way they eat. Then they are disappointed when they don't get results. Oh well.

Tink2

They did exercise

They didn't do follow up diets on the twins as far as I'm aware

Don't get me wrong I'm not disappointed with the results so far