Struggling

[Lunacat2019]

Hi I am struggling to eat and exercise, the weight is not coming off

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

Hi and welcome, Lunacat2019

Weight loss is more about eating the right foods, than exercise, so concentrate on that first and add an exercise that you enjoy after, like walking, cycling, or swimming.

Have a look at this for some different ideas about healthy eating, because if we always do what we've always done, then we'll always get what we've always got. phcuk.org/wp-content/upload...

Follow this link to our chat thread and a list of all the activities we run. We've found active participation to be key to success, especially with our weigh-ins and Daily Diary.

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

To make navigating the forum easier, 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...

Wishing you all the best

[Lytham 3 stone]

Just a thought but have you looked at lchf, the food is very tasty ! good luck ! x

[Shellygirl 2 stone]

Hi your not the only one it’s a life long struggle for me and it’s not a easy task. Be kind to yourself losing weight isn’t easy. Set mini goals and treat yourself to a non food treat such as a book or pretty top, anything to mark your achievement and progress. It’s just provides a little extra motivation. You may not lose every week for some like me progress is slow 😊

[S11m]

Hi, Lunacat2019 , Welcome.

Many of us members here have lost weight without exercise - but if you can exercise, it helps a lot.

You need to eat the right diet - give up Grains, Potatoes and Sugar, and eat more fat, which will satiate you and prevent you from feeling hungry - and wanting to snack. Transition towards the Low-Carbohydrate, High-Fat Diet (LCHF) diet - see the forum here on Health Unlocked.

Calorific restriction suppresses the metabolism, and (Intermittent) Fasting stimulates it - and helps you lose weight. See:

healthunlocked.com/fasting-...

[Lunacat2019]

Thank you, I like to keep fit and I do running, I struggling with getting what to eat

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to Lunacat2019]

The first link from moreless will point you in the right direction

[Tiggerr in reply to Lunacat2019]

Welcome Lunacat

In addition to the good point that Bridgegirl just made, have a look at today's Daily Diary, see what you think...

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[dan952]

I genuinely feel for you so I'll write a full and proper starter for you...

The NHS plan from which I was linked here will never work for 99% of people, most certainly not over a lifetime! The focus on calories-in vs calories-out is utter nonsense; the focus needs to be on hunger and disposable energy (the energy you can freely give to enjoying exercise). You will not make significant progress on these two factors following a calorie restricted diet.

Your body's energy expenditure is self-regulating; if you cut calories your metabolism will slow down, and will never speed back up while your caloric intake is inadequate... you'll be cutting calories for the rest of your life. Cutting calories is fighting your biological needs, if your true needs are met then you won't be hungry, the only way to be successful on the calories-in vs calories-out model is to be hungry all the time for the rest of your life and exercise through the lethargy... i.e. total misery!

The solution is so simple... Eat to hunger, starting right now. The only caveat is that you must only eat real foods.

What is real food? I'll start by telling what clearly isn't real food; Low-calorie lemon and raspberry trifle as advertised as a healthy dessert on the NHS site. In fact, nothing advertised as "low-calorie", "low-fat", "diet", "healthy", "low-sugar", "fat-free" is good for you. 99.9% of that frankenfood is ultra-processed rubbish!

Real food is food that comes from a farm or a field, NOT a factory! Typically no ingredient labels are needed because it only has one ingredient!

Go organic too, glyphosate (a chemical component of Monsanto's RoundUp) will disrupt the "ecosystem" in your gut changing the microbes that thrive there.

Several follow up studies of the TV show The Biggest Loser have shown that while things might look great on the surface, cutting calories and upping exercise almost always results in gaining all the weight back and more.

You got to eat fat to be a fat burner. And you must avoid carbs to avoid being a sugar burner. In sugar-burning mode, your body cannot access your fat stores. If you're fat you've no doubt got insulin issues even if they haven't manifested as type 2 diabetes yet. Chronically high insulin has many adverse health effects and prevents your body from using your energy stored in fat.

Rules to follow: No grains, no vegetable oils and no sugar! "No sugar" means no dried fruits, no fruit juices either, but you could enjoy fresh berries in full-fat greek yoghurt.

Consider the macronutrient composition of any "single ingredient" whole food item (that's the fat/protein/carb ratio). Exclude grains for a moment (if you ate them in their unprocessed form they're undigestible), notice the ratio of carbohydrates to fat and protein. Almost without exception, real food has a ratio of carbohydrate that isn't far above 20%. Bananas, sweet potatoes and even pseudo grains like buckwheat and quinoa have about 23%, 19.5%, 20% and 21% carbohydrate respectively.

Now consider the macronutrients of conventional packaged food. Kid's cereal such as Sugar Puffs, Lucky Charms and Frosties are amongst the very worst being 76%, 81.5% and 87% carbohydrate respectively. Packaged snacks aimed at health-conscious adults (marketed as heart-healthy) aren't much better, they too are comprised mostly of grains and sugar such as digestive biscuits, whole grain bread and rice cakes, which are, 63%, 45%, 80% carbs respectively.

What does this look like on your plate? A large burger bun has about 40g of carbohydrate, to obtain the equivalent carbs from spinach requires eating 3kg, or two large plates of raspberries and blueberries, or two large plates of mixed non-root vegetables with leafy greens. Consider the nutrition these alternative 40g portions of carbohydrate provide compared to that burger bun.

Once you wrap your head around this you'll realise that the advice we receive comes from food producers/distributors. If everyone ate like me, Tesco, Sainsburys, etc couldn't exist, I shun >95% of what they sell. I don't eat in petrol stations or fast food places ever, rarely even eating at high-end restaurants.

6 years into this lifestyle, most days I eat once (unless I get hungry); One real food meal of meat or fish with above-ground veggies swimming in meat drippings in unlimited quantities is all I need. Without hunger and without counting anything I went from 94kg to 65kg in less than 6 months and never regained a single kilogram. When the doctor told me I was mad I had blood tests which all indicate my total cholesterol is a smidge above the healthy reference range, but I'm not worried about that considering half the folks on the heart ward have below average cholesterol level. My triglycerides are rock bottom and my HDL is sky high. I went from being a 32-year-old going on 50 to a 38-year-old going on 21!

Read the book The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson or at least search out his blog site Marks Daily Apple it'll change your life, I guarantee it!!

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to dan952]

Some sound advice there, dan952

Are you wanting to join the forum or just here to offer support? You may like to join the LCHF forum, if you haven't already done so

[CrimsonMama Restart June 2023]

Have you checked you are eating the right amount of calories? I use the NHS BMI calculator to get my calorie range. I have a sweet tooth and eat a lot of "junk" food but have still lost 4.5 stone since last September so long as I stick within my calorie limits. Which also change as you lose weight so is a good idea to check it everytime you lose 5-7lb and readjust. If you eat "normal" but within your limits you are more likely to feel happy and stick to it.

Exercise... Running is great but you need a rest day between runs otherwise you get micro-tears in your muscles and your body will be concentrating on healing those more than fat-burning! Brisk walking on the other days is great! Cycling - meh.. doesn't burn enough for me as it's non-weight-baring and it's too easy to just sit and let the bike do most of the work! Swimming is great! Oh and strength-training. If you build muscle, muscle burns more calories doing nothing than fat! I do aerobics in the morning at home and include some press ups for my arm muscles. Look up hiit and strength training videos on YouTube! Once you learn a few you can do your own routine with your favourite ones and not need the videos anymore.

[caplan]

just find something you like doing for exercise, walking is good and just give yourself little targets, with food just try to have smaller portions, don't demonise any food just have a little taster and don't buy things you know you cannot resist, best of luck

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to caplan]

Good advice

[Nonam 1st 7lbs]

Find your own way to stay healthy...if it's complicated you won't survive. Basically eat healthy...move more. Take baby steps and don't be too hard on yourself. It's a journey so there will be difficult times ahead but the support here can help. Good luck