Anyone else on a diet and struggling?

Tink2

xXMessedUpXx wrote: »

I started a week and a half ago, after many attempts before. For some reason I seem to be finding it easier this time round and am getting some results! Am having to be pretty strict with what I eat, I've cut out most of the crap I was eating and now trying to have a healthy breakfast and a healthy dinner. Also trying to eat more fruit and veg. And have been drinking tons of water instead of pop. And am exercising a few times a week!

It really helps that my bf is also doing the same as it's spurring me on, as I don't feel like I'm alone and if I have a bad day where I am craving crap I can turn to him for a bit of motivation! He's been doing it a month and has already lost nearly a stone! (Jammy sod )

I'm kind of trying to not see this as a "diet" but rather a change to my eating and exercise habits

Ah that's so good, well done for getting back into it

I do kinda wish my OH was overweight, I do think it would be easier if he was

MrSmartprice

Royal_Chav wrote: »

Diets can be pretty dangerous especially if you become deficient in essential vitamins. Better off eating a healthy amount for your weight of wholesome not junk food. Diets do not work so switching to a healthy diet is the thing to do, it's much easier than a diet.

Some very valid points in there. It's all about balance and eating the 'right' things. Which naturally means not eating the 'wrong' things. And nothing to excess.

Jojo also made a good point about vitamins and getting out in the daylight, which creates Vitamin D. My daughter has a special diet (gluten free) and was feeling tired all the time. It turned out she was D deficient so was prescribed tablets for it. She felt 100% better within a day.

paulineb_2

MrSmartprice wrote: »

Exactly! But the reply will probably be 'I don't like it.'

Crisps are the ultimate junk food, full of calories for very little food satisfaction. Some people fall for the 'low fat' line too, when they are better just cutting them out altogether. They are a completely unnecessary food.

I am also intrigued as to what a 'no sugar energy drink' is. How can it provide energy without a sugar content?

Ive lost 35 pounds in the last 11 months. Possibly more as Ive not weighed myself in a few weeks. I still eat the occasional bag of crisps now and then. Lots of food items are unnecessary. Id rather have the very occasional bag of crisps now and then than never have any and end up face first in a large bag of kettle or whatever.

Im not sweet toothed but savoury was always my downfall. I do eat more nuts these days, almonds in particular. But a bag of crisps now and then wont hurt anyone. Am pretty sure there will be people on slimming world who have massive losses who still eat treats on a daily basis. Its the size of the treats that matter and what people eat the rest of the day/week.

paulineb_2

I also think depending on what it is that is causing the OP pain, it could be possible to find some kind of exercise that could be done. You'll get specialist exercise classes for people who fall into special population categories. Ive been in pain for the last 18 months or so and its much better than its been and physio helped me, but I will probably have some degree of pain for life. Of course everyone is different and people have certain conditions that make it more difficult to exercise. A friend of mine has fibromyaligia and shes a fitness instructor. She has her bad days and her better days, but depending on what pain you have, there could be something you could possibly do, even if it was exercise from a chair or exercise in water where your joints are supported.

WantToBeSE

paulineb wrote: »

Ive lost 35 pounds in the last 11 months. Possibly more as Ive not weighed myself in a few weeks. I still eat the occasional bag of crisps now and then. Lots of food items are unnecessary. Id rather have the very occasional bag of crisps now and then than never have any and end up face first in a large bag of kettle or whatever.

Im not sweet toothed but savoury was always my downfall. I do eat more nuts these days, almonds in particular. But a bag of crisps now and then wont hurt anyone. Am pretty sure there will be people on slimming world who have massive losses who still eat treats on a daily basis. Its the size of the treats that matter and what people eat the rest of the day/week.

I agree. I think the idea of 'Everything in moderation' is key for me. I couldn't imagine a life of not eating chocolate, but could cope with a bar a week (for example).

Tink2

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Simple things work best.

1. Acknowledge that you eat too much. 5-6 sausages is a binge, 3 is too many. 1, maybe 2, sausages is reasonable. Half a frozen pizza is probably more than you need. One small (440g loaf) slice of bread is enough, two at a pinch.

Definitely agree 5-6 sausages is a binge

You could put a small amount of mozzarella on a half baguette with some tomato puree, sliced tomatoes, a drizzle of pesto, random veggies you like, bung it in the oven for five minutes and still consume significantly fewer calories than the grease filled slab of nastiness you've just hauled out of the freezer. And you'd feel fuller because it takes longer to eat.

That sounds lovely!

2. Acknowledge that you waste the amount of energy you need by having things that are calorie dense but give you little in return. Pastry will account for going wayyyyyyyyyyy over your requirements. It's fat and starch. Nothing else. Fair enough, you like it - but you'd be better placed cooking the tart filling in a nonstick pan and thereby leaving enough calories for another meal.

Tbf the pastry thing was because I fancied something different and kept seeing the chicken and pesto tart jus-Rol advert, it won't be a regular thing

On the plus side I ate crisps today (walkers cheese and onion and walkers prawn cocktail) and they were like cardboard! I may as well have got ready salted, they had no taste! So yeah, they're out!

3. If you like diet fizzy drinks, have them. I won't criticise those if the only acceptable alternative is full sugar ones. However, the caffeine in them could make you feel more stressy and, if you overeat when you're anxious, something that will mimic the symptoms of anxiety is not going to help.

I'm defitely not a anxious eater, I'm the opposite, I don't eat when I'm anxious

4. Sounds like you're chasing the carb hit. The dizzy thing is a giveaway there, as are the energy drinks. Yeah, carbs make you feel warm and sleepy and contented (not full - contented, as they cause the brain to release happy chemicals) - but they also make reducing their consumption to appropriate levels uncomfortable for a few weeks. It's probably chasing the carb hit that's making things difficult for you right now.

Tbf my carbs are less now than what they were

Nobody cares what you look like in the pool.

True but I do and I don't feel comfortable in a swim suit

Your weight and health is not your OH's responsibility - whilst it would be good if he were supportive, don't rely on him being there before you'll take control of your own health. It's a way of pushing your responsibility onto somebody else and it means you're self sabotaging.

When I say need him there I don't mean for motivation, I mean I literally need him, I can't go out alone and I need help dressing/undressing

Ultimately, the responsibility for your weight lies with you. Ask yourself genuine questions when you are looking in the fridge, the freezer, at the microwave. Are you really hungry, are you looking for a carb hit, are you looking for excuses, are you eating that to change your mood? Now you know why you're doing it, make your decision - do you NEED this food? How much of it do you actually NEED? Do you even WANT it anyway?

Good advice here, will be asking myself these questions

rainbowfairydust wrote: »

i have been overweight for the majority of my adult life (not by a huge amount (this is in my mind - its probably loads by others standards - i think about 4 stone when i was at my heaviest ).

I have tried every diet (slimming world, weight watchers, slimfast, dukan, south beach, calorie counting ) under the sun several times over and failed to keep the weight off. and as a result my weight has been yo yo'ing up/down - up/down pretty much constantly in the past decade .

I also have low self esteem (although this has actually started to slowly increase :j) and because i was unhappy i ate and then ate some more. Of course i ate all the wrong things (pizza, chinese, chocolate, crisps etc) which made me more unhappy. Its a vicious circle and it is a HARD one to break.

It is only in the last 2 years i have started to "educate" myself about food - and reading on the internet about benefits of certain foods (fruit, veg, grains etc). I chose to try all these "new" foods i swore blind i hated..turned out i liked them actually.

I didnt bother attempting to lose weight - just kept on trying new foods until i realised that my diet had changed by itself rather than me giving it a total overhaul and then going back to my old ways. I didnt lose any weight - i guess because i was eating rather large portions (ie 2 slices of toast at breakfast when just the one slice is needed) and i wast exercising.

Anyway fast forward to this year.. on a whim i decided to try the 5:2 diet as my house mates have been following this for the past 18 months (they lost a bit of weight -perhaps a stone i think but now just for maintenance and i guess because it became a habit) so i thought i would give it a go.

Since i started i have lost 22lbs in total - just had the one gain of 1lb ( and this is because i got too big for my boots and started eating shed loads of peanut butter ) . This for me is amazing because when i was following a diet plan i had 2 good weeks then 2 bad..it was a never ending cycle and of course i just got fed up of seeing me go up/down all the time so i didnt stick to it.

I am still 5:2'ing and I also have re-introduced exercise and cycle to work once a week -my relationship with exercise has been previously hit n miss but i now cycle come rain, shine or pea souper fog (as it was last week).

This combination has seen me lose steadily since January..and i hope to lose more for when the summer officially lands. So the point of my epic post is educate yourself about food - i choose to eat a lot of quinoa now ( a couple of pounds a bag ish in supermarkets) . A little goes a LONG way. Its filling, nutritious and very yummy. You can throw frozen veg in it, and some meat . Jobs a good un :T. The quinoa is an example.. there are plenty of other foods that are filling and just as nutritious. Cut down on portion sizes - do you need 2 slices of toast? Just the one is enough for me now. Follow the recommended guidelines on packets, Weigh EVERYTHING out.. I weigh cereal, rice, pasta, cheese, quinoa, bulger wheat etc .

You can do it.. its a slog and i still have bad days where i want to just eat a load of rubbish but they are fewer. Take one step at a time .

Really pleased the 5:2 is working for you, well done on your loss!

Nothing passes my lips unless I weigh it and count it lol

paulineb wrote: »

Ive lost 35 pounds in the last 11 months. Possibly more as Ive not weighed myself in a few weeks. I still eat the occasional bag of crisps now and then. Lots of food items are unnecessary. Id rather have the very occasional bag of crisps now and then than never have any and end up face first in a large bag of kettle or whatever.

Im not sweet toothed but savoury was always my downfall. I do eat more nuts these days, almonds in particular. But a bag of crisps now and then wont hurt anyone. Am pretty sure there will be people on slimming world who have massive losses who still eat treats on a daily basis. Its the size of the treats that matter and what people eat the rest of the day/week.

Yeah that's what I think too

MrSmartprice

paulineb wrote: »

Ive lost 35 pounds in the last 11 months. Possibly more as Ive not weighed myself in a few weeks. I still eat the occasional bag of crisps now and then. Lots of food items are unnecessary. Id rather have the very occasional bag of crisps now and then than never have any and end up face first in a large bag of kettle or whatever.

Im not sweet toothed but savoury was always my downfall. I do eat more nuts these days, almonds in particular. But a bag of crisps now and then wont hurt anyone. Am pretty sure there will be people on slimming world who have massive losses who still eat treats on a daily basis. Its the size of the treats that matter and what people eat the rest of the day/week.

You are right. The occasional packet of crisps, or anything else, will make no difference. But I don't think that's the issue here.

I was in the supermarket today and the woman in front of me in the queue was buying all sorts of junk. This included a huge sack of about 20 bags of crisps, plus another giant bag of other mixed snacks. So no doubt she and her kids could munch bags every time they passed the kitchen. Needless to say, her arse could have had its own postcode.;)

I prefer savoury to sweet too, but I found it easier to just not have crisps in the house, and now I never give them a thought. If we go to a club to listen to some live music, MrsS usually buys a bag of crisps with her first cider, but I never bother.

paulineb_2

I actually dont agree that 5 or 6 quorn sausages is a binge. You are talking maybe 60-70 calories for a quorn sausage. I dont eat quorn but I do eat the Linda McCartney ones, the rosemary and onion ones are something like 63 cals a sausage, they aren't massive. Ive eaten 5 or 6 at a time. If I wanted to eat 5 sausages and a couple of sweet potatoes with some veg for my dinner, Id be looking at around maybe 500-550 cals, if I were counting calories (which I dont).

Its what you eat the entire day that matters, not whether you eat 5 or 6 of something at a time. Obviously people's opinions are different, but I dont think 5 or 6 quorn sausages could be considered a binge by any stretch of the imagination.

Tink2

paulineb wrote: »

I actually dont agree that 5 or 6 quorn sausages is a binge. You are talking maybe 60-70 calories for a quorn sausage. I dont eat quorn but I do eat the Linda McCartney ones, the rosemary and onion ones are something like 63 cals a sausage, they aren't massive. Ive eaten 5 or 6 at a time. If I wanted to eat 5 sausages and a couple of sweet potatoes with some veg for my dinner, Id be looking at around maybe 500-550 cals, if I were counting calories (which I dont).

Its what you eat the entire day that matters, not whether you eat 5 or 6 of something at a time. Obviously people's opinions are different, but I dont think 5 or 6 quorn sausages could be considered a binge by any stretch of the imagination.

Last year I was eating 5-6 meat sausages easily with a load of sauce *shameful*

paulineb_2

MrSmartprice wrote: »

You are right. The occasional packet of crisps, or anything else, will make no difference. But I don't think that's the issue here.

I was in the supermarket today and the woman in front of me in the queue was buying all sorts of junk. This included a huge sack of about 20 bags of crisps, plus another giant bag of other mixed snacks. So no doubt she and her kids could munch bags every time they passed the kitchen. Needless to say, her arse could have had its own postcode.;)

I prefer savoury to sweet too, but I found it easier to just not have crisps in the house, and now I never give them a thought. If we go to a club to listen to some live music, MrsS usually buys a bag of crisps with her first cider, but I never bother.

Yes. I get that. Ive spoken on other threads. I dont do moderation well. If I have a multipack of crisps in the house, I could eat 5 of them. If I opened a big pack I could eat the lot. I might feel stuffed but Id give it a good go.

I dont tend to have junk food in the house because if I did have it, Id eat it, I know what Im like. Ive cut down on alcohol. Im not sweet toothed, I'll occasionally have a dessert if I go out for dinner.

But savoury stuff is my weakness. These days however, I'll have a packet of crisps whenever I feel like I really do want a packet. Which is maybe once or twice a week now.

In times gone by, it was 2-3 packets a day. I could eat a bar of chocolate 4 times a year and not bother about it. Always been savoury stuff that I crave.