Starting again

[Flabbusterclaire]

I’ve tried so many times to loose weight and I always start off well then fall off the wagon! Today I have started again. I’m not doing a specific diet just trying to eat less, drink less alcohol, and walk more. Any tips or advice would be great please x x

[S11m]

Hi, Flabbusterclaire ...

How much have you been able to lose before?

If you can lose a stone, but have trouble maintaining or being motivated enough to count calories for a long time... and want to adopt a "lifetime healthy-eating lifestyle", you might be interested in my "Thought on reducing fat":

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[Flabbusterclaire in reply to S11m]

Hi

I’ve been able to loose 2 stone before. But now I need to loose 3 stone as I’ve gained so much weight. I ate a lot of junk if I’m honest.

I want to loose the weight but I realise now that I need to do it over time and make changes that I can stick to.

Xx

[lucigret]

Good afternoon Flabbusterclaire and welcome to our friendly forum,

Many of us have started time and time again so you are in good company. Have a read of all the information I am going to give you and read lots of posts on here. While you decide what road you want to take, just keep doing what you are doing now. Some people here count calories, some do 5:2, others follow the Low Carb High Fat way of eating. What ever you do it has to be sustainable for you. There is no reason at all to feel hungry though, so should you wish to count calories please check out your personal allowance on the NHS BMI calculator

To help you navigate the forum, we've put all the information you'll need in a newbie pack and here's the link

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

Please take the time to read it carefully, so that you're able to enjoy everything that we have on offer.

We ask that you also read this important information about internet privacy and security.

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

We would like to make sure that you are aware that your name and contents of your post are searchable on Google, Facebook and Twitter if you leave your post unlocked or reply to unlocked posts.

Please could you tell us how you found us?

Wishing you all the best

[Pineapple27]

Hi Flabbusterclaire - I write this as a yo-yo dieter myself, who finally "cracked it" at the age of 49 - 6.5 years ago.

If you want this to work for the longer term, you need to think about it as a lifestyle change rather than a diet. That lifestyle change will need to happen a bit at a time and will involve many things : changing your behaviour around food, portion control, emotional eating triggers, increasing your activity levels, trying new foods, making healthy food swaps, etc.

Commitment to diet/lifestyle change and resistance to temptation doesn't just happen! It has to be worked at.

The only way I have succeeded this time is to change how I approach food and eating it. I have learned to resist temptation! BUT please believe that this has taken a LOT of hard work and practice. 

It's about "normalising" or "modifying" behaviour around food... and I think that with enough "practice" it becomes more and more easy until you get to the point where a behaviour is modified to the point of it becoming the only way.

I am sure that even some people who are not over weight do sometimes over indulge - but the fact is they don't do it very often...

Those of us who are over weight have been used to "treating" ourselves, eating portions that are too large, eating the things that we know are calorific because we can!

It's been a combination of changing all of those aspects of how I behave around food that has meant I have been successful this time.

I have developed a respect for the food I eat. Not everyone has the ability to eat as well as we in the western world eat. We should not abuse the privilege.

I rarely eat "on the hoof" any more, I rarely eat between meals. I take time to sit at a table and present my meals nicely. I take a moment or two to really look at my plate of food before I pick up my knife and fork.

Almost daily I say to hubbie "Aren't we lucky to be able to enjoy such lovely food". I really mean that too, I am not saying it for anyones benefit but his and mine. We should never take for granted having easy access to delicious food stuffs and our ability and love of cooking!

If you log your food - keep track of how many calories some of those "treats" contain, after a while they kind of stay in your head (medium egg = 70 cals, slice of white bread 100 cals, meringue nest 57 cals, 30g (matchbox size) of cheddar, 122 cals)

I do have sweet treats, but I buy my own choice, so things like 2 finger Kitkat, single finger Twix, Club biscuit... these are all around 100 calories. I keep them in a tin and I can have one whenever I want to, but I limit it to no more than one a day and usually with my afternoon cup of tea. That's not to say I eat one on a daily basis (usually about 2-3 times a week). They are always logged into my diary.

If you don't keep a log of what you are eating and the calories foods contain, then it's a bit like trying to travel from one place to another without a map! You might get there eventually BUT it's likely to take you much longer than if you planned the route and used a map PLUS you might take a few wrong turnings and end up going back on yourself!

I have also learned not to plan each trip out of the house to include food. Once upon a time, I'd have included lunch with a trip into town, coffee and cake with a visit to the garden centre.

I now plan or even prepare a meal BEFORE I go out (usually a salad) so that I know exactly what I can eat as soon as I walk into the door... and don't turn to "what I fancy" (usually high calorie carbs that don't keep you full for very long...)

Make a list of the reasons WHY you want to lose weight. Keep it somewhere safe (stuck to the inside of a kitchen cupboard door?) and look at it from time to time, especially when you are raiding the kitchen for treats!

I always ask myself before eating something really calorific "Do I really want to eat this thing more than I want to lose weight this week?". It's called "mindful eating" - being aware of why you are considering eating - real hunger? Boredom? Temptation? Feeling fed up?

Have a glass of water, wait 5 minutes and consider whether you still want the food. Once it's been snaffled down, it's too late and you may end up feeling cross and angry with yourself....

....and that feeling (guilt, failure) lasts for a long time, much longer than the temporary enjoyment of whatever treat you ate....

Oh, and I always remind myself how good the feeling is of seeing a loss on the scales at my weekly weigh in! That wonderful feeling lasts for days! Don't forget how that feels - you need to remind yourself of that feeling next time temptation strikes!

I am writing this as someone who had struggled all of my life (since the age of 9) to lose weight. I have a significant disability that affects my mobility - use a wheelchair outside of the house. I am also very short (4ft 9"). It wasn't until the age of 49 when I started to log everything and kept track of the calories I was consuming that the truth hit me between the eyes. I was eating FAR TOO MUCH for a short sedentary person. I changed my whole approach to food and eating it that everything else clicked into place

[Flabbusterclaire in reply to Pineapple27]

Thank you so much, that is so helpful. It’s really made me think. X

[Pineapple27 in reply to Flabbusterclaire]

Once you get your head into the right place, the remainder is easy