First step again

[Jinxy1540]

Hi All,

Hope everyone's having a good start to the week. I'm new to this, not new to fad/yo-yo dieting with varying degrees of temporary success but I always end up back at the start, massively overweight and unhappy.

I'm hoping this will be the key to me making some lasting health changes and losing the weight (4 and a half stone is the goal). I always struggle with the will power side of things as I tend to eat for any reason not just because i'm hungry. If anyone has any tips on this front I'd love to hear them!

Thanks and fingers crossed

[Lytham 3 stone]

Hi, I'm going to give you same reply as the last post

Snap, I'm the same, I feel your pain !

I think it's right what they say, you've got to find something you're happy (and not hungry) with that you can stick to forever. I've been low carb for over a year now and love it, so I'm optimistically hoping that it's going to turn out to be the way I eat forever now and put an end to the yo-yo.

Good luck! x

[Jinxy1540 2 stone in reply to Lytham]

Hi Lytham,

Thanks for your message! Yeh that makes sense 🙂. I think once I've got used to reducing the calories, low carb maybe the way to go for myself as it'll help on the diabetes side of things too.

And thanks as well for the weigh in link, I think that will really help me with motivation for keeping on track so I'll def be joining 👍

😊

[Lytham 3 stone in reply to Jinxy1540]

Excellent, see you there ! x

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

Hi and welcome, Jinxy1540

You may find these helpful:

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013...

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

All of the information you need about the forum can be found in Pinned Posts healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... and I hope you'll be joining all the Events, Challenges and Clubs that we run, especially a weigh-in and the daily diary.

If you haven't already taken it, here's a tour of the forum healthunlocked.com/?tour=true

We've found active participation to be key to successful weight loss and, of course, it's a good way to get to know people, find inspiration and share support and encouragement.

Wishing you all the best

[Jinxy1540 2 stone in reply to moreless]

Thanks for the links and pointers, will take a look through those and get familiar with how this all works 😊

[jd65 2lbs Restart Feb 2025]

Hi Jinxy1540 .

My first tip is : this isn't a fad diet this is a new way of healthy eating that will set you up for the rest of your long healthy life - whichever way you choose focus on it being a way of learning new habits.

On the mindless eating - this was me and I often couldn't tell you what I'd actually eaten during the day as most of it happened without thinking.

So focus on that - write down everything you eat no matter how small to start. You do have to think about writing it down so therefore have to think about eating it. This is how I discovered where all the chocolate & crisps were disappearing to.

Then think about planning what you are going to eat and write that down. I use mytfitnesspal app for this. Then if it's not on the plan you have to decide to eat it and write it on the plan or not. I post everyday in the daily diary as a way of keeping myself on track.

The first month I started my healthy eating plan I carried cold water everywhere and if I thought about eating something that I hadn't planned I had a sip of water before making my choice of eating it or not. After the first month the not snacking and not eating for the sake of it became my new habit.

I've also had to cut out trigger foods - I have very little willpower when it comes to chocolate (can't stop when I start) so I don't buy it and don't eat it. We also stopped buying crisps and biscuits at the beginning. However 4 months in and 1st 5lb lighter we can have crisps and biscuits in the house for my granddaughter and daughters and I don't even think about eating them.

Good Luck

[Jinxy1540 2 stone in reply to jd65]

Hi jd65,

Thanks so much for sharing, that's been really useful and the pointers really hit home.

I've got myself a water bottle to help encourage me to drink more water during the day as I'm awful especially when working. I'm just at the desk all day so it's a good excuse to get up and stretch the legs to refill!

Well done on the progress you've made, it's nice to hear the progress people have made when it feels like a bit of a mountain to climb ahead.... I think crisps are a big risk for me currently so will not be having any of them around the house for a while but maybe down the line!

[Janeat60 6lbs in reply to jd65]

Hi jd65 - you advise about writing everything down (I'm re-starting btw) - do you just write on anything and then throw it away or do you keep a food diary. I haven't a clue what I ate yesterday (my first day back) and by the end of today I shall have forgotten if I don't write it down.

[jd65 2lbs Restart Feb 2025 in reply to Janeat60]

I keep a food diary - I use the myfitnesspal app on my phone (the free version) but used a notepad at first.

In the morning I log in my planned menu and try to post in the daily diary straight after . I then update the app if I need to as I go along. It makes me more aware of what I'm eating as my overeating was purely down to mindless eating not that I was ever really hungry.

I feel as if at the age of 54 I suddenly realised how to feed my mind and body properly after spending the last 25 years getting bigger and bigger. I lost weight when I was 29 on SW but got pregnant and put it all back on. I tried WW in my early 30s but didn't find that sustainable so convinced myself that I was ok getting fatter.

[Janeat60 6lbs in reply to jd65]

Thank you. I am just trying to download that app so hopefully will be able to use that. I'm 62 (today) and have done WW in my 20s, 30s and 50s. Only ever reached goal when I was about 23. Two children and being widowed 9 years ago has taken its toll in eating habits, plus osteoarthritis - 3 joint replacements. But after spending months in lockdown alone , I really have to do this if I want to see my three little grandchildren grow up.

[jd65 2lbs Restart Feb 2025 in reply to Janeat60]

My 2 granddaughters are part of the reason I started this. My OH had adangerously high BP and got rushed into hospital early in the year and it made us re-evaluate our choices. His BP is now normal and I've lost weight and we plan to be around for our girls for a very long time.

I'm not really into exercise but have a walk everyday even if its just round the block so just eating sensibly works for me.

Happy Birthday .

[jd65 2lbs Restart Feb 2025 in reply to Janeat60]

Ps. Good luck and join in as much as you can. The support here has been fantastic.

[Lytham 3 stone]

Hi, me again, would you like to join our weigh in? Here's the link, hope to see you there! x

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...