Just when you thought this thread was dead...

I have managed to lose 15kgs over the past 2 years - and keep it off. Here's how:
firstly some statements that I concluded from personal experience:

• diets don't work! I tried dozens over the years. They made me miserable and grumpy, my body soon worked out what was going on and compensated by holding on to the meagre rations I was letting it have. Sure I lost a kilo or two, but it all came back again.

• YOU and YOU alone are the only person who can make you lose weight. If you are not 100% determined and 100% committed, it won't work. It is vital to make the decision in your head to lose weight: think thin.

• There is no miracle cure. This takes many months, in my case 2 years

• all this assumes you do not have some underlying complaint like under active thyroid that causes weight gain

• It is as simply as this: calories in verses calories out.

Calories in:
This means consuming less calories:

• eat what you like at mealtimes, but eat smaller portions. Clearly there are high calorie foods (like creamy deserts) which should be avoided except for treats

• eat more slowly - don't put more in your mouth until your mouth is empty

• put down you cutlery while you are chewing

• don't be afraid of not finishing everything on your plate

• don't snack between meals. If you are hungry eat an apple or drink a mug of tea (without sugar)

• drink alcohol only at weekends and moderation if possible. Alcohol turns to sugar and just as bad makes you hungry. A couple of G&Ts and you'll break every rule above.

Calories out:

• exercise more - join a gym. Muscle actually burns fat while you sleep!

• walk or cycle where you normal drive or take a bus or tram

Advantages:

• you'll look great

• you'll lower your blood pressure and reduce various health risks associated with being overweight

• you'll feel younger and more vital

Disadvantage:

• you'll need to replace you clothes with smaller sizes.

__________________

Fed up of smoking? 10 tips to quit in 10 days

I bought a lot of clothes last year with the intent of fitting into them this year. Not only do those not fit, almost everything I own does not fit. Or was kool in 1985.

100% spot on!

I finally am coming to the same conclusions, and my goal is to lose 10 kg. Hopefully in the next year, but as each kg comes off you feel better, so I am trying to make this the change for the long haul, and not be too concerned with a certain goal date.

I also came up with a saying for myself this morning during my run - "be honest to yourself, otherwise, everything else is just a lie". By that I mean, are you really as active as you think you are? Are you really eating the number of calories you think? I wonder as I have been preety good at recording what I eat and exercise in the myfitnesspal app, and I should be losing weight- but the scale isn't showing it. Maybe I keep just replacing fat with muscle, or maybe I still am eating more than I admit, but I have to just keep plodding on. (I also am starting to make it my motto for the rest of my life, like am I kidding myself about wanting to work or not? But that one I am still working on and that is for a different thread)

I have recently just bought the ultra nerdy Basis watch (right now only available in the US) and it keeps track of heart rate, temp, and perspriration. From this I also get how many steps I do each day, how many calories I am burning, and my resting heart rate. You set habits that you try and obtain, and it may sound dumb, but it does work. For example, one habit is walking 2000 steps before 9 am 4 x a week. There are times I have gone out for a quick walk to meet that goal...so that can only be a positive thing, right?

Apple huh? But not too much and not after 15:00 if possible. Too much sugar. You won't burn it if you eat it late (unless you are very hungry and haven't eaten all day). Not all fruits are diet friendly. Grapefruits and kiwis are great. Same with fruit juices. Even fresh pressed juices contain lots of sugar. Read the label. Good choice for drinks on diet: Water, unsweetened tea, and milk but that's about it.

Or an early warning of OCD onset?

I've written about this before but on another thread and now more time has gone by, so again; about two years ago I had to start taking Metfin as my doctor diagnosed the beginnings of diabetes 11, one of the things that had disturbed me was being tormented by very itchy genitals. For this he gave me a cream which helped to some extent and told me this itchiness was caused by D11. During the winter I began to suffer from pain in my feet after an hour's or so walking - and so bad that I just stopped anything where too much walking was involved. In the meantime my doctor had retired; the new doctor to whom I went didn't take much notice about my complaining and said I should walk around my flat bare- footed...

I changed doctors again, the new one took this seriously and after examining my feet told me that parts of them were becoming numb. This he said was due to the D11, which, in spite of the Metfin was still hanging around. I'm going to Balgrist next week for a full examination of my feet - but - I'm now however starting to think I don't really have to go.

As I walked out of the doctor's in June I knew I had to do something about losing weight although I have tried everything in the past. I didn't accept his offer of a nutritionist because the last thing I want is having to eat 'per order'.

I searched through the internet and noted a couple of things about D11 which seemed to offer a solution. Anyway, based roughly on the information gleaned I made an odd sort of decision - NOT TO EAT ANY MORE PROCESSED FOODS. I also understood I'd have to avoid all and any wheat products.

Since June I've eaten only wholemeal bread for breakfast together with cucumber and tomatoe, and otherwise fresh vegetables, meat, fish and poultry, all kinds of fruit with nuts and cherry tomatoes and a small piece of hard cheese as a between-meals filler.

Tea and coffee without sugar, tap water, a glass of wine each day, occassionally a whisky and very little beer.

No more; crisps, ice-cream, chocolate, pastries, cakes, ham (I don't eat pork now either), pre-packed meals, tins, packets, fruit juices, jams and so on.

And the result? Well, I've lost 7 kg, my diabetes reading is almost normal, my feet are much better, I don't itch so much AND those small touches of gout from which I tried to free myself for so long have vanished completely.

And I DO enjoy my meals!!!

Did you guys hear of Stevia? Is it really healthier than white sugar or is it too good to be true?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia

I was using Stevia in Poland but I don't think this is easily available in Switzerland.

I found these two links on the forum:
Stevia -natural sweetener available in Zurich
Stevia?

d dozens over the years. They made me miserable and grumpy, my body soon worked out what was going on and compensated by holding on to the meagre rations I was letting it have. Sure I lost a kilo or two, but it all came back again.[/LIST]
Disagree. The word diet means regular eating, way of life... It's exactly the thing people have to focus on for a well body - changing destructive consumption patterns for life. What you describe is not diet; it's temporary behaviour changes which can never be sustainable. Be careful about adopting the language, and definitions of the language, from an industry, like the diet industry, which can only exist/grow/generate so much money, when people continue to fail.

• YOU and YOU alone are the only person who can make you lose weight. If you are not 100% determined and 100% committed, it won't work. It is vital to make the decision in your head to lose weight: think thin.

Agree wholeheartedly with the 100%, and would add consistent. No cheating the discipline. Disagree with your thin comment. People should aspire to be fit and healthy. Thin is not a goal of well people, and skinny fat is what happens when people fixate on the number on the scale but not on complete fitness and health.

• There is no miracle cure. This takes many months, in my case 2 years

Agree wholeheartedly there is no miracle cure - everyone with a great body is working hard for it and making sacrifices. They love the end result, so they consistently make healthy choices. Food and fitness discipline is very straightforward to understand. Disagree about the timeframe. Being fit and healthy means a commitment every day forever.

• all this assumes you do not have some underlying complaint like under active thyroid that causes weight gain

Important point, and where the guidance of a medical professional should be sought.

• It is as simply as this: calories in verses calories out.

Depends on what the end goal is. If it's the goal to hit a number on a scale, regardless of how your body looks, and regardless of how well you are, then maybe. Otherwise, what you eat and drink matters, and so does exercising - it all shows in the exterior and interior of the body.

Calories in:
This means consuming less calories:

• eat what you like at mealtimes, but eat smaller portions. Clearly there are high calorie foods (like creamy deserts) which should be avoided except for treats

Disagree with making unhealthy food "treats" - behaviours that are good for us should be treats. Behaviours that are destructive to our physical and mental health are not something to celebrate.

• eat more slowly - don't put more in your mouth until your mouth is empty

• put down you cutlery while you are chewing

• don't be afraid of not finishing everything on your plate

Agree with all.

• don't snack between meals. If you are hungry eat an apple or drink a mug of tea (without sugar)

You contradict yourself. An apple is also a snack. If people feel hungry between meals, they should drink water, to make sure they are not mistaking thirst for hunger.

• drink alcohol only at weekends and moderation if possible. Alcohol turns to sugar and just as bad makes you hungry. A couple of G&Ts and you'll break every rule above.

Agree.

Calories out:

• exercise more - join a gym. Muscle actually burns fat while you sleep!

• walk or cycle where you normal drive or take a bus or tram

Exercise in the fresh air, rather than gyms. Exercise alone. Exercise with others. Exercise as much as possible, and don't be lazy during a session. Take the stairs in the supermarket and anywhere else. Carry a skipping rope, so you can do exercise whenever you have a few minutes of free time.

Good to hear that you're improving so much - well done.

But did/do you actually think that wholemeal bread didn't contain any wheat?

Are you saying your body stops burning calories after 15:00. If so, how do you stay alive?

Is this time GMT or GMT+1?

What if you had a banana or a carrot for breakfast? Would that be okay?

Just as this thread seemed to be having some really good and honest posts...

I tried that on a bus but I whipped someone in the face with the rope the first time and the second time the rope got caught around the emergency-stop knob and the subsequent harsh braking put a couple of passengers in hospital.

I didn't try it a third time.

All native speakers of English would understand exactly what AbFab means by the word diet in this context.

This persistent correction of the language of others, particularly native speakers and accomplished practitioners of the language such as AbFab, is becoming tiresome.

Abfab, my tablet seems to have cut off the top of my post. There was a congratulations above the rest of the message. You deserve recognition for your achievement.

Plus I was expecting an etymological explanation, how it comes from the ancient Greek etc. [/smart Alexandros mode]

Agreed, but it's also worth reading between the overly-structured English in Spellbound's post to see what she really means.

"I have a good diet" means I (think I) eat healthily. "I'm on a diet" means I'm constricting what I eat due to some rule or formula dictated to me by someone else.

Her point, imo, is that we should all aim to eat healthily and not think that a temporary "diet" is the right way forward, as the gains will then also be temporary.

It is a mindset.

That would involve way too much effort.

It's not so much tl;dr as uc;dr (unnecessarily complicated; didn't read)

I don't think so. I just need to achieve it 4 times a week to hit my goal - so it isn't too crazy...just helps to burn a few extra calories and keep me honest with myself. Being an engineer, I like to analyze the data ? Ok, look at it, at least!

For someone who never been on a diet until now, where I could eat what ever I wanted without significative weight gain, I need the help of a professional to help me understand better about food.

If I lose weight in the process, it's a plus. Most importantly, I am now learning to eat according of how active or not I am. I shouldn't be eating the same amount of food and calories now compared when I was much more active.

I am also learning what portions are and forcing myself to make better choices of what I put in my stomach.

So far, it is a real eye opener and the changes in my body is that rewarding it gives me the motivation to keep going on this path.

I agree entirely. I'm not sure how that comment is relevant to my post above, though.