Weight loss…which method??

Kirstineridesagain

Kirstineridesagain

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I’m super active at the moment yet also at almost my heaviest ever (apart from pregnancies). I know it’s calories in, calories out, but also that some people like keto, fasting etc. I am mid forties and finding it hard to shift the weight, which is mainly collecting at my middle (plus hips). My horse is technically a pony and although I can’t ride her yet anyway (she’s in foal) I want to be lighter for my share horse and also just for my own wellbeing. I want to lose at least a stone, maybe a bit more.

Any success stories out there? 🙏
 
Yes but most folk don't like my answers 😂

I gave up alcohol, biscuits, crisps, cake and everything ultra processed. Basically make everything I eat from base ingredients except bread, pasta and a few other things. It's hard going as I'm a single parent, work 40 hours a week, have a long commute, 2 equines and a dog to look after and ME on top so energy is an issue at times.

I've dropped 6kg in 6 months without deliberately cutting calories (except measuring portions of rice and pasta rather than doing it by eye). I have moved from the top of my healthy range to near the bottom of my healthy range so as to lighten the load for my horse who is not very large. As a very unexpected side effect my ME has improved vastly and I now feel much better all round. I recently gave myself a ME flare up by spending 3 days eating biscuits and cake when my mum came to stay! Got back on the healthy diet and in a few days felt much better again.

It is hard work and I really don't like cooking but I find I can batch cook a couple of times a week and then freeze several portions for days when I'm busy, tired or just CBA so actually only cook 2-3 days a week at most. I pick quick easy recipes and often double the proportion of vegetables to meat they suggest or add some beans/lentils to bulk it out.

It does take a bit of planning and effort but after the first 4 or 5 days of cravings I find I don't really want all the junk food I previously found irresistible so actually it doesn't take me much will power, lucky really as I have very little!

PS I'm very late 40s so age is not my friend either!
 
I wouldn’t recommend it but grief made me lose loads of weight and I wasn’t overweight to start with. When my husband died suddenly I completely lost my appetite and couldn’t think of anything I wanted to eat/couldn’t be bothered to cook and I got thinner and thinner. Obviously there are lots of complicated reasons why people find it hard to lose weight but not eating as much as normal = weight loss…
 
I've been on Slimming World since
early March and lost 1 stone 4 Ibs so far.

Giving up everything like pasta and potatoes was never going to be doable for me but this works.

It's been a fairly typical eating day for me and I've had porridge with banana and pear for breakfast, pepper slices as a mid morning snack, left over pesto pasta with kale and green leafy salad. I had a couple of boiled eggs with spinach this afternoon as I was hungry before going for a run. Tonight we'll have homemade veggie cottage pie with green veg.

But, I also know that on Friday night if I want a G&T with a slimline tonic it's only 2 or 3 syns so I can easily build that into my day and not feel bad about it. Ditto a small packet of my favourite chocolate buttons (although admittedly they are like 6 syns). Or that I'm going out for dinner and instead of feeling I've 'failed' I can try to keep to a low syn day, write the meal off and get up and start over the next day instead of thinking 'Well, that's the diet blown, there's no point carrying on'.

This works so much better for me rather than thinking I need to track or give up everything.

But also exercise really helps too and I feel better for making a more structured exercise plan too - well, as structured as I get!
 
Muddy unicorn said:
I wouldn’t recommend it but grief made me lose loads of weight and I wasn’t overweight to start with. When my husband died suddenly I completely lost my appetite and couldn’t think of anything I wanted to eat/couldn’t be bothered to cook and I got thinner and thinner. Obviously there are lots of complicated reasons why people find it hard to lose weight but not eating as much as normal = weight loss…
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I lost Over a stone when I broke my leg but I wouldn't recommend the method.
 
Barton Bounty said:
Calorie deficit works 🙂

Edited to add, no crisps sweeties or chocolate for 5 months so far, thats a personal thing
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That's the key, I think. Cook a reasonably healthy meal (no ready meals, pizza etc), but cut out the rubbish.

Have three meals a day and allow yourself 2 biscuits a day. If you're hungry, have an apple or a banana.
 
Amymay Again said:
That's the key, I think. Cook a reasonably healthy meal (no ready meals, pizza etc), but cut out the rubbish.

Have three meals a day and allow yourself 2 biscuits a day. If you're hungry, have an apple or a banana.
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Ive been doing calorie deficit, no crisps sweeties or fizzy juice and for the last few weeks gousto meals , thats so much easier 😍
 
I cook healthy evening meals every day of the week as I cater for two adults and six children (not all mine). If I eat three proper meals a day I gain weight, so I try to eat very lightly for breakfast or lunch. I think I must be sneaking in treats late evening as generally I don’t eat much processed foods or sweets.

Thanks for your replies, please keep them coming, I’m still weighing up (haha) which method to go for.
 
Kirstineridesagain said:
I cook healthy evening meals every day of the week as I cater for two adults and six children (not all mine). If I eat three proper meals a day I gain weight, so I try to eat very lightly for breakfast or lunch. I think I must be sneaking in treats late evening as generally I don’t eat much processed foods or sweets.

Thanks for your replies, please keep them coming, I’m still weighing up (haha) which method to go for.
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You must eat a good breakfast. It really is the most important meal of the day. Lunch can be soup with a nice slice of toasted rye bread or sourdough. Then an appropriate portion size evening meal.
 
I’ve lost a stone since beginning of March following Slimming World online.

At the start of the year I got to almost the heaviest I’ve ever been and looked at all of the clothes in my wardrobe for Spring/Summer and reality hit that pretty much nothing would have fit me 😩 That spurred me into action.

I’ve literally followed it by the book and if I’ve had a big weekend got straight back into it on the Monday. Also reduced the syns over the week days to ‘save up’ for the weekends.

To add, I’m 47 this year and thought I was a lost cause 🤭
 
Amymay Again said:
You must eat a good breakfast. It really is the most important meal of the day. Lunch can be soup with a nice slice of toasted rye bread or sourdough. Then an appropriate portion size evening meal.
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What is a good breakfast? If you are getting older the chances are if you eat anything cereal based you get a huge BS spike and nice orange juice is just adds to the sugar.
 
Kirstineridesagain said:
I cook healthy evening meals every day of the week as I cater for two adults and six children (not all mine). If I eat three proper meals a day I gain weight, so I try to eat very lightly for breakfast or lunch. I think I must be sneaking in treats late evening as generally I don’t eat much processed foods or sweets.

Thanks for your replies, please keep them coming, I’m still weighing up (haha) which method to go for.
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Your portion sizes might be too big.

General rule is size of palm for protein, size of fist for carbs and then fill up on veg. Weighing pasta & rice is eye opening. We weigh 140g pre-cooked for 2 adults and I have less than half. My partner has lost loads of weight doing that although he'll never shift the rest with his bread addiction!
 
Controlled calories, walk 10k steps though can be broken up in the day and weights. The jab is also a thing of wonder.
 
Basically what @Amymay Again says. 😂

I have a huge appetite, love to cook and eat, and always put a little weight on and lose it and repeat… but always just about keep it under wraps now and can fit in my jeans at all times (I was overweight as a teen and had to learn to sort it). I eat porridge for breakfast most days, usually with some yoghurt and fruit, maybe a few nuts. I eat a lot of vegetables to make portions decent but keep calories low.

We don’t really have crisps, biscuits, chocolate etc in the house and don’t have juice, fizzy drinks etc. Of course we do have treats sometimes, like sharing some chocolate on a Friday night, but we keep our everyday foods as very nutritious essentially. Tend not to drink alcohol during the week as you’re just throwing away calories essentially!

If you’re struggling to keep a track of calories then the MyFitnessPal app (free version) is great in my opinion. For most people it really is as simple as eating less calories and/or using more up through exercise - most diets, however they are ‘packaged’, tend to be some variation on consuming less calories at the end of the day. But some of them are not sustainable whereas eating well everyday is for many. It’s not easy though I must admit… which is why I always gain a bit in the end and have to lose it again!
 
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