Anyone else fed up with constant dieting?

The only reason I watch my weight (not very enthusiastically) is because if I get a bit fatter my other troubles get worse. Like acid reflux and down there probs. I don't care anymore about actually being fat.

I would so like to pig out on all things yummy. ?

I think I'm having a bad day too.

Oh jessity, I feel I could have written that post. Weight up and down, this diet, that diet, healthy eating, low carb, 1,000 cals a day. I've increased my activity, joined gyms, power walking, clothes in different sizes, finger wagging by practice nurses and GP's. Six decades of it and I'm tired of it really.

But what's the solution. To relax on the food intake shows up so quickly around my middle.
Deep sigh. In my head, I should be tall and willowy. In reality, I am short and squat.

Jessity it is much harder to lose weight or keep weight off as we age. I think we have a choice; either keep trying or give in. I’m not ready to give in and find if I keep busy then I don’t get so hungry.

You said something like this in your post referring to the time you had young children.

Me!
Since hitting 50 the only way to stay slim is to literally starve myself.

I'm like Gonegirl, other health problems kick in if my weight goes up so that's my incentive. So far, at 65, I've avoided medication and I'd like to keep it that way because one drug begets another as far as I can see.

It's dull but less food of good quality and the very occasional treat is how life is now. :-(

I would so like to pig out on all things yummy ?

Oh Gonegirl, me too, and I reckon, anyone who tries to restrict the things they eat because of weight issues.

I never diet per se, but am aware of healthy eating and try to avoid all the things I like which tend to be calorific and/or full of fat. If I don't buy them, if they are not in the cupboards, I can't eat them but oh how I'd love to go mad one day and just eat what I fancy.

I hate the way diets mess up your brain so 'healthy eating' gets my vote. I allow myself a little of what I fancy every now and then, but in reality I'd love a slice of cake every day with my coffee and I'd love to eat bacon sandwiches whenever I fancy one.

I bought into the 'eat good stuff for long enough and you won't want the junk any longer'philosophy but everyone I know seems to fall off that wagon, with cravings not abolished, no matter how long they eat healthily.

I think if I eat healthily in the main, I can indulge now and then or on special occasions, so that is what I do. The weight is very, very hard to lose.

Like most dieters, I know the theory, I am aware of nutritional values of food, I know about GI indexes, I aware aware of keto diets, low carb eating, high fibre foods, calorific values, the way we burn and use food....blah, blah, blah.

If I allowed myself to eat what I REALLY want I'd be the size of a house. Make that a mansion.

Food is not naughty/syn/synful/healthy/clean.

It's food.

I must have " been on" at least 40 diets over the same number of years and the end result is a 2 stone weight gain post menopause. Last summer I lost a bit because I was more active.

Sadly I have no answers other than to say the first three letters of diet and die.

I'm in the "don't have crap treats in the house" camp usually. But then, along comes Easter, and I bought their Easter eggs too early. And I have no will power at all. Sigh.

Food is not naughty/syn/synful/healthy/clean. It's food.

Yes, in theory I totally agree.

People who tell me they "eat clean" make me smile. It's a newish trend which implies if it's not clean it's dirty ie: bad. It's the same old mind-bending.

However, if there were a doctor in the room and he asked us to make food choices from an array of things in front of us, we'd all choose the salad over the steak pie, the jacket potato and beans over the fish and chips, the salad wrap over the bacon sandwiches, the hummus dip and carrots over the packet of crisps, the plain coffee over the hot chocolate with whipped cream, chocolate flake and marshmallows.

We know the healthy better options. But we still crave the ones we frequently have to deny ourselves.

Is that die if you do or die if you don't Lily?

Or, die anyway?

I have found the best solution for me is the 5: 2 diet which I read about on here. Two days of fasting although it's not really fasting as you can have 800 calories. With some careful planning I find this bearable a couple of days a week. The rest of the week you eat normally. Some think you can eat whatever you want for the other days. My experience is not if you want to lose rather than maintain your weight. But I have been able to eat out or have various treats without gaining more than a pound or two and that always vanishes by the end of the next fast day. It's quite easy to fit in with your life. I bought the book and they suggest a mediterranean diet which I follow to an extent but not as rigorously as they suggest. I always manage to incorporate some sort of treat up to 100 or 120 calories so a multipack bag of crisps or a kit kat or a couple of pieces of chocolate into a fast day which for me makes it easier to stick to. I have lost a stone and a half so it works for me and I haven't had to change my life drastcially or cut out whole food groups or anything like that

Thank you for this discussion, I logged on today just to know that other people felt the same way about the never ending weight gain struggle. I have been constantly watching my weight since my 30's every decade brings on another 10 lbs. ( I'm from USA so I relate to lbs) I have tried every diet, and lose 3-5 over a couple of months and then one week of slacking off or vacation and it's all back plus one!

I wish I could say I wanted to lose weight because of health problems, which is partly true, heartburn and blood pressure are problems, but truth be told I am vain! In my twenties I weighed 105 ( I'm only 5'2") and now I just turned 60 and weigh 132, I exercise 5 days a week and diet constantly. I dream of having a month where I could eat anything and as much as I want, but yeah that's never going to happen.

People tell me "Oh you don't need to lose weight, your fine," but they don't know how hard I am trying to just maintain this weight. Is there a point when we just say "The hell with it, pass the cheesecake" And be ok with it?? Oh how I wish I didn't enjoy pizza, cheesecake and beer.

Dh often says he’d rather die 5 years earlier & eat what he likes.
I’m not sure it’s that black & white but maybe it is?
& I agree about weight gain post menopause, as I said, now I’m in my 50’s I only have to look at chocolate & I put on 3lbs. I have to restrict myself to around 700 calories a day to achieve the weight I was just 5 years ago.
But maybe that’s all I need?
I know most experts say we need to eat less as we get older. < damn >

I’m a fan of the 5:2 as well, and have done it for years. I’m not trying to lose weight now, just don’t want to gain any. I don’t find the fast days difficult - boring, yes, but it’s only two days a week, and I don’t restrict myself at all over the other five, though I eat healthily on the whole because I want to stay healthy! I find I appreciate my food more as well - that Weetabix on the morning after a fast day tastes like manna from heaven!

Don't follow a diet, that way lies defeat and weight gain.

I think we all want to be a healthy weight but find we lack the will power. I am trying to make sure we don't have temptation in the house because in the evenings I am easily tempted. I have bought Easter eggs but have put them in a cupboard upstairs so I don't see them. It was easier when I was working as I could be 'good' at work and at home but eat what I liked when I was out. I am now trying to do the same.

As others have said, we all know what is sensible to eat and what is not so just don't have the 'bad' stuff in the house.

There are things I have convinced myself I don't want to eat, like pastry and when I go out for coffee I only have something 'nice' if it looks really good like a proper scone rather than one that looks as if it came from a supermarket.

Being a martyr doesn't suit many of us so an occasional blow out should be fine, just not every week!

I have never had any hang-ups about food. I was fortunate until I hit the menopause, I didnt have a weight problem. I would put on a few lbs Christmas and holidays and lose them a few weeks later by eating less.

I did put on weight after the menopause, despite constantly monitoring and cutting back and it was very depressing. For about 10 years I was overweight and uncomfortable. But 5 years ago along came the 5:2, I lost 2 stone, haven't put it back on and freedom returned. 5 or 6 days a week just eat normally, 1 or 2 days, I cut right back. I have evolved my own cookery book of about 50 5:2 recipes, so fast days have become quite enjoyable.

The only time I ever did a diet that cut out categories of food was when I had gained weight, couldn't lose it and tried the Atkins low carb diet. It made me very ill and I never did it again.

I believe there is only one way to lose weight and that is to eat less. You just need to find a way of doing this that suits you. For me it is the 5:2 - and as that eating pattern also has wider health benefits, that is why I always do it at least one day a week. a week

Thank you all for your responses to my tears of woe, it’s helpful to know I’m not alone. I tried 5:2 when it first came out, when you were restricted to 500 calories on the fast days and I couldn’t cope with that.

Most of the weight I’ve recently put back on was in January and February when I couldn’t get rid of that bug that so many of us had and I just felt so miserable. A slice of bread or a jacket potato and I seem to put weight on and look pregnant!

I’ve often heard it said about any form of dietary restriction that you don’t live longer, it just feels like it

well I never had any will power !

jessity I also couldn't cope with 5:2 when it was 500 calories but the extra 300 makes all the difference so it is worth giving it another go

I'm another who would be the size of a house if I didn't watch what I eat, every day!

That's just how it is for some of us, although I do have many 'sod it' moments.

I'm trying to avoid immobility, knee replacements, type 2, lethargy, etc., which can result from obesity.

I have been to SW since last year and have lost a sizeable chunk of weight. My yearning for sugary/fat/wheat food has diminished somewhat, and I jog along quite happily on my food plan.

I`m 55 next week,i have mostly been overweight since i was a child,been close to target weight maybe twice.I boredom eat,i also rush to the supermarket and buy a packet(or several)of biscuits if someone has annoyed me,my gran used to always give me a biscuit if i was feeling low.I find i can lose weight easier in the summer as all i want to do is drink water if it`s a hot day.

Jessity I don't diet (not because I'm particularly thin, just because I never have, I don't even have a scale), but my daughter is always dieting and I feel very sorry for her weight struggles and for anyone else who is involved in constant dieting.

I've been chatting to my daughter about "Intuitive Eating" which is not a diet, in fact it is counter dieting, and is all about getting back in touch with your body's cues. It might be worth a look at - there's plenty of info if you search the phrase.

The article (link below) says:

"To eat intuitively, you may need to relearn how to trust your body. And to do that, you need to distinguish between physical and emotional hunger.

Physical hunger: This biological urge tells you to replenish nutrients. It builds gradually and has different signals, such as a growling stomach, fatigue or irritability. It is satisfied when you eat any food.

Emotional hunger: This is driven by emotional need. Sadness, loneliness and boredom are some of the feelings that can create cravings for food (often "comfort foods"). Eating then causes guilt and self-hatred.

BOTTOM LINE:
Intuitive eating is based on physical hunger, rather than prescriptions from diet books and experts. Eating should satisfy physical hunger without causing guilt".

Here's a link to a quick guide:

www.healthline.com/nutrition/quick-guide-intuitive-eating#section1