Has anyone changed just one thing and had some success losing weight?

[chay]

For Lent I've given up 'recreational sugar' (anything meant to be sweet ie cakes hot chocolate but not ketchup that happens to have sugar in). I've decided to use lent as a way in to a more permanent habit. Half my calories were from sweet stuff and I'm hoping it'll be successful. Was wondering if it would make a difference. Kx

[Hidden]

Hi Chay, well done for making a start on changing what you put into your body. I too have cut out a lot of foods I used to eat, not because I wanted to, but because I had operation in January and now I am not allowed to eat certain foods as they will kill me. The first couple of weeks were really tough, but now I wouldn't go back to my old eating habits for anything. I've lost nearly 1 stone in 7 weeks because of these new changes.

Cutting out sweets, cakes, hot chocolate etc is good and will be beneficial to you in the long term. Don't give up when your body decides to give you headaches etc, it's just withdrawal symptoms but they shouldn't last more than a couple of days. Drinking plenty of water should help. Keep me posted on how you get on. xx

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Hi chay,

Don't know if you by any chance watched Secret Eaters on Channel 4 last night, but I remember the dietician saying at one point that if one of the subjects had just given up all the sweet stuff she ate, she'd have been half way there.

Using Lent - or indeed any other motivator - to wean yourself into better eating habits is a pretty good idea in my book.

When I started, my approach was to chuck out (or severely restrict) all the "rubbish" I was eating, namely,

sweets,

chocolate bars,

cakes,

biscuits (went down to 2 'lite' Digestives a day),

fried food (when I did fry I used one of the OneCal spray things),

fatty things (went to skimmed milk, chucked the creamy sauces and chose leaner meat and more fish dishes), etc., etc.

But I also had one serious reality check about portion control, too!

I really did go from super-size protions of just about eveything, to sensible sized ones. I now always weigh things like cereal, rice, pasta - no more guessing it.

And, remember, at the end of Lent, you don't actually HAVE to go back to the old, unhealthy, unhelpful, overweight-making, eating habits, do you?

Good luck with your weight loss journey.

[chay]

Thanks both. I do a lot of these things already but sugar just has a hold on me during stressful times and generally every day. I'm breast feeding too so won't go on a full diet. I'm finding it hard, especially when stressed and over tired which comes with the breastfeeding territory.

[Hidden]

Hi chay,

One idea I noticed on something I read the other day was, when you feel you're going to start tucking into the 'naughties', have a drink of water and do something fairly physical for a little while, e.g. go for a brisk walk / run on the spot for 10 minutes or so.

You may just find that helps to distract you from those "I need a sugar-hit" moments.

Clearly you've recently given birth, so perhaps it's not the best time to launch into a weight loss regime. I mean perhaps give your body a chance to get a bit more back to normal first.

However, on the other hand, every little helps and if you can use this time to wean you off of some of the 'naughtier' habits, then you'll probably be half way there anyhow.

Good luck with your weight loss efforts.

[chay]

Thanks for that. I do get very thirsty. I certainly know it when I am.

[PurpleElephant73]

Hiya - I did the same last year and I did feel better - it helped to change my tastes a bit and now I don't eat milk chocolate these days as I find it too sweet. Dark chocolate does have 'recreational sugar' in it, but not anywhere near as much as milk chocolate and you do just need a very small bit to get the same chocolatey hit! Make sure you have other alternatives that you actually like to snack on, as a breastfeeding Mum does need extra calories to make the milk and keep you going during those night time feeds!

[chay]

Thanks x