How to lose weight?

Grr autocorrect and not at, syn not sun!

Are you an emotional eater? I know I eat more if I feel upset so I think that will-power needs to be strong.
If I prepare meals early each morning I stick to good habits but if I don't then the excuse, 'didn't have any breakfast' can be used all day to justify yet another little treat.
Will-power, no snacking and try to focus on things other than food will help. When you lose a few pounds reward yourself with something like lipstick, nail polish, a book - not a bacon butty, cake, etc! Good luck.

On the thread I’m a pear a number of us have got together and monitor gains and mostly losses. We are all doing different eating plans. I am following the NHS Eating plan which counts calories, 1,400 a day for me. I can now get into all my clothes which is wonderful. I have 5 lbs to go and feel it is feasible. The first 2 weeks were hard but I think my stomach has shrunk so I don’t need as much.

Best of luck.

I have given up dieting after my latest fail. I gave up sugar but found my low moods reappeared, I have depression and anxiety which is controlled well on tablets... until I diet, then it throws up all sorts of problems. Have tried weight watchers, slimming world and the rest. HOWEVER exercise works a treat, I have enough energy to do it and hopefully remain active for years to come. Good luck whatever you do.

Formal diets make people obsessed with food. Counting calories and weighing food is depressing.

Eat less! Simples! That is what my specialist said. It will be a slower process but a much happier one and the weight is more likely to stay off. I've lost just over a stone in 10 months

I've been with Weightwatchers since about 2003, a gold member maintaining my weight loss since 2009. I was size 28 skirt at my worst. I'd always been overweight but went up in my late 50s. I'm size 12/14 now. I go weekly (free of charge since getting to goal) and weigh in and sometimes I'm a bit up and sometimes down, but that weekly visit does it. The diet has changed a few times over the years, although still basically lowish fat and carbs and I count points still. I have things I like every day. You have to include those to stick to it. WW helps you work out how to eat enjoyable and not be hungry and still lose weight. But the thing, as a few folk have said. is sticking to it. Slimming world did work for the first 3 stones I lost (I lost 8 in ll) but then I stopped going thinking I could do it alone and began to gain.

Three meals a day.....no snacking between ....plenty of walking.

Wow! Well done, vickya. I'm new to WW. It was my daughter who suggested doing it online and I'm so glad I followed her advice. I'm useless at calorie counting and CBA to weigh food but it's so easy to type in what I'm planning on eating then tweak it if the points are too high. The daily target is easy to stick to and I feel quite smug when I log any weight loss.

Years ago I did very well on the Atkins diet (high fat, low carb) but the weight gradually crept back on.

I’m another Slimming World fan. It’s kept me at size 10/12 for the last 20 years, very little effort required, and I’ve cooked whole dinner parties with their recipes without anyone noticing.
The best thing is that you can have ‘seconds’ so you never go hungry.

I’ve lost 5 stone with Slimmimg World. 7 lbs to go to target. Have never felt better!

My GP referred me to a 12 week introductory Slimming World membership and within 11 months I had lost 3.5 stone, have maintained now for 8 months and it is now a way of life

I'm another Slimming World fan. I've been a member since February and have lost 1 stone 6 lbs, only 2 lbs to go to my target weight.. I didn't have a lot to lose but it was mainly round my tummy and hips so very much pear-shaped. I feel so much better and can actually get into trousers I was struggling with last year. I also have IBS and have found following the Slimming World diet has been very beneficial for that as well. Highly recommended..

I chose to go on my own 'healthy eating regime'. I cut out virtually all processed and manufactured foods. I eat meat, fish, vegetables, salad, fruit, cheese, eggs, yogurt. I have a sweet tooth and love chocolate, so if I have been good all day I allow myself a little dark chocolate in the evening which is something nice to look forward to. I lost 3 stone in under 6 months and have managed to keep it off for over 2 years by not reverting back to my old bad habits. I am not quite so strict with myself these days hence not having lost more weight, but having worked hard to lose the weight in the first place, I am determined not to let it creep back on as it always did when I tried diets before. I didn't set myself a 'target weight' but worked on the principle of 1lb at a time. Each 1lb lost gave me the impetus of losing the next one.

Get the Dukan book and read. Think No Way. Read again. Read bits. Do it. It explains about why we put on weight. Most importantly shows you how not to put it back on.

All diets work, it's the keeping it off that's the problem. I did lose 2 stone with Dukan and when I got bored went (back) to WW so as not to put it back on. What I learned from Dukan has been the biggest factor in keeping the weight off.

It's very strict, leaves very little choice and doesn't suit everyone but works really well if you can stick to it.

IF /18:6 has been a revelation to me. I eat only between 12pm & 6 pm (6 hours) and virtually eat what I like. During the fasting time I drink water only and in the last 2 months I have lost over a stone, I’ve hurt my leg and haven’t been able to do my long walks, but still lose. It takes a bit to get going, but it’s great to get on the scales and lose all the time
It will only work by fasting for at least 16 hours..

16:8 for me. 21 lbs down and 3.5st to go. Or at least 3st.

I gave up sugar and don't drink alcohol which helps. I like almond milk which is given them skimmed and lower in cals and sugar. I had fried 5z:2 wnd it does work ut I found it hardnto schedule some weeks. Doing 16:8 is easy for me.

The good news was in my blood results too - cholesterol down and no longer pre diabetic.

There are variations. Whatever you can do easily will stick. Good luck

Although I'm within the weight range for my height I'm nearly at my target weight at the lower end of my weight range - thanks to Onward and Downward forum, 5:2 and self-control. I'm more 15:9 than 16:8.

Glad the onward and downward thread has helped you Grandmama it has certainly kept me on track.

I posted something similar to this about a year ago! In the end I downloaded an app called My Fitness Pal. You can set calorie targets and enter everything you eat onto a kind of chart. It tells you how many calories you have eaten and how many are left and you enter your weight weekly. (I think!) Just seeing it in black and white seemed to work for me. I just made sure I stuck to my agreed daily calorie intake and within about 3 months I lost a stone. It was pretty painless as I didnt cut out anything specific, I just ate less and even enjoyed a drink on a weekend. I walk a lot, quite briskly with the dog and you could enter this into the chart and it would take off the calories so you could then have a few more before you reached your limit. Worked for me anyway and I tried and failed with lots of other diets.

I too have Fitness Pal it has lots of useful tips. Perhaps I should try putting all I eat into its calorie counter. Thanks for the reminder.

Have you had a Glucose test for diabetes.... hormones can add weight..... I believe type 2 diabetes and hormones are linked

I read recently that your body needs five percent fewer calories every decade so this needs to be factored into your daily intake. You probably need fewer calories than you think to maintain your current weight so a diet will take that down even further.

I also read that you should work out what you need per day to maintain your present weight and subtract five hundred calories a day from that. You will lose weight slowly and steadily. If you reach a plateau take a few more off.

However, you need to realise that this new regime is forever. There is no point at which you can go back to your present limit as you would regain all the weight you had lost.

It will be fine. There are many lovely foods which are low in calories and you can build in treats.

goldengirl, I like your style. Slower and happier are the keywords for success in my opinion. Congrats on yours so far. It has certainly worked for me. Never once felt deprived or frustrated by not being 'allowed' any edible. My only irritation is with myself that it has taken me so many years to practise what I already knew was common sense. Ugh to me, tempered with gratitude that I've succeeded at this late stage and am reaping the benefits. As someone else said, I can now run up a hill and sometimes even beat the grandchildren!

I seem to be the only one disappointed with the 16:8, which just didn’t work for me at all when I tried it for a few weeks after reading about it on here. I’m now back on the 5:2, which does work for me, thank goodness.