Fed up with food

[Warrenbud]

I’ve been dieting on and off since the age of 15, I’m now 46 and still fat!!! In fact the heaviest I’ve ever been. So fed up with it 😞 Giving up smoking 10 years ago was easier as you can avoid cigarettes but you can’t ignore food!!!

[Fra-90]

That’s so true, but don’t give up trying, I’ve been trying to cut down since Christmas, the more I tell my self to eat sensible the more I binge . Have you joined Easter challenge? Let’s do this together, support needed on both sides, I don’t need to loose a lot of weight but if I carry on how I’m going at the moment I soon will do

Good one for packing up smoking

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Fra-90]

You sound like me Fra-90 ☹️ A step by step approach works for me, making small simple changes each day, reducing snacking, eating nutritious foods, short bursts of exercise, nothing too radical or onerous, 😊

And coming onto forum regularly of course!

[Fra-90 in reply to IndigoBlue61]

My friend just Facebook a challenge for no chocolate feb. This has to be worth trying, and this month is shorter than the rest yehhh

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Fra-90]

Hmmmm . . . Maybe 😕. It depends upon your personality. If I try to ban something completely I immediately want it, even if I don’t especially like the food in question. For others, going cold turkey is useful

The single biggest thing I have discovered is that we are all different and we need to tailor our eating plan for what works for us. 😊

[Fra-90 in reply to IndigoBlue61]

I’m a can’t just have a square kind of person , I envy people who can keep chocolate in their home and just have a square now and again , I will eat the lot so I’m gonna give this ago and now I’ve posted it will have to follow it through, so please wish me luck 😬

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Fra-90]

Good Luck, and well done for knowing your triggers and taking steps to help 😊

[IndigoBlue61]

Hello and a very warm welcome to the Weight Loss Forum Warrenbud 😊

Please take a look at the Welcome Newbie Post for advice about how the forum works and all the things we have on offer. Read it carefully as it has lots of important information, and just ask if you have any questions. healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

The best advice I can give is have enough to eat. If you are following the NHS 12 Week plan then the 1400 calorie target suggested is a just generic amount, please check your own personal calorie target using the BMI checker, it’s often higher than you think. We always advise starting towards the top of the range, being hungry is the biggest cause of weight loss failure. This was a real game changer for me, in the past I had always associated dieting with deprivation and misery, to find an eating plan that I could stick to for the rest of my life and not feel miserable was a real epiphany 😊

I recommend coming onto the forum regularly, daily if you can, reading posts and replying to others. Being part of a community is proven to help weight loss.

For your own privacy and safety online we suggest that you lock your posts by selecting ‘members of my community’ when you write a new post. Please read our security post here healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... especially as your post isn’t locked

Best wishes

Indigo 😊

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

Welcome aboard, Warrenbud

You might like to read this account from someone, like you, with years of dieting and gaining weight and how they turned things round healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[Monkey25]

Hi Warrenbud, I started doing a 1500 calories a day diet in January and to date I have lost 9lbs, I found keeping a food diary really helps as you can track what you eat. I also gave up smoking 14 years ago and agree it is easier than dieting. Don't give up it does get easier. Good luck.

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Monkey25]

Hello Monkey25 and welcome to the Weight Loss Forum

That’s a flying start to the year for you! Well done 😊

If you haven’t already, then please read the Welcome post here which has lots of useful information about all the things we have on offer healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

Can I ask how you arrived at the 1500 figure? If you are following the NHS 12 Week plan then the calorie target suggested is a just generic amount, if you check your own personal calorie target using the BMI checker, it’s often higher than you think.

Best wishes and good to see you getting involved 😊

Indigo

[Monkey25 in reply to IndigoBlue61]

Hi IndigoBlue61, thanks for the welcome. I used the BMI checker and 1500 was the amount at the lower end. ☺️

[Bo_Jangles]

All I can add is: this works for me.

12 hour fast (ooo 'eck!)

All it really is is avoiding eating for 3 hours before going to bed, 8 hours kip, 1 hour avoiding food after waking up = 12 hours fasting per day!

For me it works. It seems to reduce the capacity for over eating and I feel the health benefits almost immediately. Fresher cleaner more lively ...

It is not a diet or like a diet - I usually eat what I want when I want during the eating hours. But it seems to reduce stomach capacity making over eating a little bit more uncomfortable. I find that the meals I take somehow naturally get smaller.

Weigh yourself every morning to see if it works for you.

[Bo_Jangles in reply to Bo_Jangles]

ps: I intend to do these too

nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/1...

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Bo_Jangles]

Hello and welcome to the forum Bo_Jangles 😊

That’s a good tip, and I would extend it to attempting to stop snacking between meals completely if you can, our bodies were not designed for a constant input of food.

If you haven’t already, then please read the Welcome post here which has lots of useful information about all the things we have on offer healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

Best wishes in your weight loss journey

Indigo 😊

[Bo_Jangles in reply to IndigoBlue61]

Hiya Indigo, Team and the world

Maybe dieting never really is a solution anyway?

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Bo_Jangles]

Dieting implies a start and stop date so I always prefer to say I’m eating healthily or following a different eating plan. It’s a very complex issue isn’t it 😊

[Bo_Jangles in reply to IndigoBlue61]

Yeh - I think the concept of dieting can be negative, healthy lifestyle choices though... well, it just seems alright for me and maybe everyone has different views anyway?

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Bo_Jangles]

Exactly, we are all different and need to find what works for us 😊

[S11m in reply to Bo_Jangles]

This is what I did:

I started by not eating after 19:30...

and I gradually brought forward the cut-off time until I was only eating 10:00 to 14:00. Many forum members fast 16 hours a day (16:8).

I start the day with a generous helping of cereal-free muesli, have a smallish lunch and an apple, orange and a banana before 14:00.

[Fra-90 in reply to Bo_Jangles]

Can you drink coffee with milk when you wake up or do you have to wait until you can eat?

[Bo_Jangles in reply to Fra-90]

well .... I would avoid coffee and milk during the fasting times.

It makes them taste better in the eating times!

nowt like gagging for a cup of coffee and waiting makes it all the nicer for me

I think my approach isn't "I am really going to force myself to do this"

it is more "Yeh - only another half hour then coffee n cold toast mmm mm mmmmm"

[TheAwfulToad Visitor]

Well .. first off, congratulations on stopping smoking for good! If you can manage that, getting slim ought to be a piece of cake (bad metaphor, but you know what I mean).

Second: you've spent 30 years proving to yourself that dieting doesn't work. Accept the result. Being "fed up with food" is a very unhealthy place to be. It's perfectly possible to enjoy food and not get fat: in fact maintaining a lot of bodyfat requires a pretty specific combination of dietary errors, and if you stop doing those things, the problem will go away. You need to get to a point where your everyday diet is inherently healthy and non-fattening.

You suggested that giving up cigarettes depends largely on avoiding them. You don't need to avoid food, but you do need to avoid those specific items that are hijacking your appetite and making you fat. Get these things out of your house and you're far less likely to eat them:

- Granulated sugar, syrups, honey, and similar

- Sliced white bread

- Things that you put on bread (jam, peanut butter, baked beans, chocolate spread...)

- Soft drinks

- Biscuits, cakes, crisps, and other snacks

- Breakfast cereals

- Pasta and rice

- Those canned sauces that get poured onto pasta and rice

- Anything that says "low fat!" on it

You're probably wondering what on earth you eat instead of pasta and rice with a sauce. It's now one of the commonest meals on the British table, and it's a huge reason for our horizontally-challenged population. Substitute meat and veg instead; mostly veg. And eggs. And dairy-ish things, if you're not dairy-intolerant - cream, butter, cheese. Proper ones, not low-fat fake food. Get yourself a nice recipe book. Have a good old traditional English breakfast - scrambled eggs, mushrooms, bacon, fried tomato. No white bread though! Maybe some muesli and a piece of fruit. Maybe invest in a coffee machine or some good-quality teabags so that, if you feel like drinking something other than water, it's not a sugar-laden Coke or fruit juice.

And eat until you're full; enough to ensure that you're never hungry enough to snack. Don't eat kid-sized meals. All that happens is that your body thinks you're in the middle of a famine, and conserves bodyfat to ensure you don't die. As long as you're not eating the items in the list above, your appetite will start to function properly again and you'll be able to rebuild your relationship with food.

[S11m in reply to TheAwfulToad]

Hi, TheAwfulToad

Great reply.

As you say, it is important to eat enough at mealtimes to prevent the temptation to snack.

I eat non-cereal gluten-free muesli for breakfast... but I agree that a cooked breakfast is a good option - if you can be bothered to cook it.

[S11m]

Hi, Warrenbud , Welcome.

I love the picture - but I think ¿he? has already lost weight, as the skin is a bit loose on his abdomen... He looks happy to me!

There is a lot of good advice here, but what is likely to work for you depends on you, and what you eat and why.

If you need motivation you could Google "Obesity mortality".

You say you are fat - but there is nothing in your post to indicate that you are not anorectic.

What diets have you tried? Did the diets not work, or were you unable to keep to the diet?

Do you snack too much, eat too much at meal times or eat the wrong food?

[Lytham 3 stone]

Can totally relate to that ! (And the pic! ) ha ha would you like to join our Easter challenge to lose half a stone by Easter? (11 weeks away) there is already over 160 pledging to lose , making a combined possible loss of over 80 stone ! Just post your weight on the Easter Countdown challenge post, hope to see you there! I will attach a link for you

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[Hidden]

Hi , I too have struggled too, for 28 years! I have got on top of it though with advice to try and eat 3 super nutritious meals a day and to be more relaxed about treats rather than all or nothing approach, be kind to yourself . I am finding that this is working and taking the pressure of myself. I've lost a little weight but it's not been my main focus .

I am delighted not to be battling with bingeing and self esteem is improving .

Maybe you could look at how to improve your self esteem and care for yourself more .

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Hidden]

Excellent change for you Bee18 😊👏

[dawnz 3st 7lbs]

Hi where did you get that pic of me from?!!!!

Seriously, I too have gone ON and OFF diets and I think that has been the problem.

This time, I have applied the same mind set to losing 4stone as I did to stopping smoking. I will lose the weight however bad the cravings get (even now fancy a puff now and again after ten years.) Its good to read the posts, as they give so many ideas, keeping reading and posting....

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to dawnz]

You're right dawnz, that is the problem, dieting messes with the metabolism and eventually leads to insulin resistance, which is why you'll need to find a new approach this time.

There's a good explanation here. Ignore the title, the information is relevant

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[dawnz 3st 7lbs in reply to BridgeGirl]

Thankyou for the link, I am going to follow through on it as it definitely applies to me. over the past three weeks I have been visiting the forum at least once daily, and get some real gems each time !

[dawnz 3st 7lbs in reply to BridgeGirl]

Hi BridgeGirl, I hope you read my post to thank you for the link, I am taking time to get posts in the right place!!

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to dawnz]

Yes, thank you 😊 I have been out for a few hours (they let me out sometimes 😄 ) so I only just saw it.

Have you read the reply from TheAwfulToad above? Well worth it