What’s the best diet for weight loss ?

sunshine2018 · 11-05-2021 6:38pm #1

Is it simply counting calories ? A lot of diets seem based around this in one form or another
Are some diets better for those who need to lose significant amount of weight - 4 stone plus
So many different diets out there - fast800 - calorie counting- low carb - replacement meals

OMM 0000 · 11-05-2021 6:41pm

Keep it simple.

Keto + 14 hours fast each day.

Some exercise (optional).

That's all you have to do and you'll lose 4 stone in a few months.

So an average day would be something like this:

Breakfast: 4 eggs, some bacon, kimchi.

Snack: Small handful of almonds

Lunch: Chicken, broccoli

Snack: Cheese

Dinner: Steak, spinach

No more food - roughly 14 hours (includes sleep) until your next meal.

Drink lots of water, about double what you usually drink.

The key to keto is low amount of carbs, especially simple carbs - so you have to give up sugar (chocolate, etc.), pasta, rice, potatoes, crisps, noodles, cakes, bread.

sunshine2018 · 11-05-2021 6:43pm

OMM 0000 wrote: »

Keep it simple.

Keto + 14 hours fast each day.

Some exercise (optional).

That's all you have to do and you'll lose 4 stone in a few months.

So an average day would be something like this:

Breakfast: 4 eggs, some bacon, kimchi.

Snack: Small handful of almonds

Lunch: Chicken, broccoli

Snack: Cheese

Dinner: Steak, spinach

No more food - roughly 14 hours (includes sleep) until your next meal.

Drink lots of water, about double what you usually drink.

The key to keto is low amount of carbs, especially simple carbs - so you have to give up sugar (chocolate, etc.), pasta, rice, potatoes, crisps, noodles, cakes, bread.

Sorry should have mentioned vegetarian ðŸ˜¬

jam_mac_jam · 11-05-2021 6:47pm

It really depends on the person. Keto works for me as I am lazy and can just count carbs and not calories and will loosr weight. Also it means I don't really over eat as it controls your appetite.

It's not magic though, it works by controlling calories just in a different way. I replace bread and rice with vegetables.

It doesn't work for other people as they may find it restrictive and you will end up cooking more. I like cooking and preparing my food so it suits.

Others prefer counting calories. I personally find this much harder as I find low fat food uninspiring and find I am hungry more.

There are a million diets I really wouldn't say one is the best. Completely depends on the person. All diets work by restricting calories in though.

Alf Veedersane · 11-05-2021 6:57pm

Everything for weight loss comes down to managing calories. Whether that's calorie counting, intermittent fasting, time restricted eating (e.g. 8 hour window for eating and 16 hour fast each day), keto, low carb, etc etc.

Different people find different ways more sustainable because they're managing calories without having to know how many calories they are eating. Some people find counting calories better because it just suits them.

No matter which route you take, food quality is important. You don't have to eat 'clean' all the time. A little space for what you enjoy can help it be more sustainable in the long term.

Everyone has their own opinions on the best way but that's usually based on their own experience or those of people they know...none of which are you. So just start by thinking how to improve on food quantity and food quality and you'll find your best way.

gmisk · 11-05-2021 6:58pm

sunshine2018 wrote: »

Is it simply counting calories ? A lot of diets seem based around this in one form or another
Are some diets better for those who need to lose significant amount of weight - 4 stone plus
So many different diets out there - fast800 - calorie counting- low carb - replacement meals

My fitness Pal is great makes you conscious of what you are eating

Mellor · 11-05-2021 11:29pm

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

Others prefer counting calories. I personally find this much harder as I find low fat food uninspiring and find I am hungry more.

You don’t have to eat low fat/low calorie foods when counting calories.
Can just as easily eat your bacon and eggs and other typical keto foods and track the calories rather than sticking to a carb limit. It just becomes about portion control.

Different approaches for everyone.

sunshine2018 · 12-05-2021 7:04am

Thanks everyone for your thoughts

Alf Veedersane · 12-05-2021 7:13am

Are there any particular habits you have that you think may be the issue? Eating mindlessly throughout the day, eating a big snack at night that is more habit than hunger etc?

rolling boh · 12-05-2021 7:21am

From my experience I looked at what I ate each day and just made better food choices across the board and cut down and out a lot of snacking .You know the better food to eat might just need a bit more thought and discipline to put into action .If you can break the bad habits while having the odd treat of course you should make steady progress over a few weeks .

Oranage2 · 12-05-2021 7:32am

Yes it's a simple as reducing calories, eat less calories than your body needs and you'll lose weight, the bigger the deficit the more weight you lose. There are micros and macros but they don't really come into play when there's a good bit of weight to lose.

Which diet is the most suitable All depends why you're overweight in the first place and how motivated you are to lose the weight, The hardest part is the psychological battle.

Then after you lose the weight you need a plan to sustain your weight.

rolling boh · 12-05-2021 7:35am

Also doing some exercise will play a part difficult to get weight down and off without some level of activity .

Righty · 12-05-2021 7:44am

I find simply keeping calories as low as possible but not starving yourself is the best way, I myself skip lunch, I have breakfast and then don't eat anything at work and then eat dinner as soon as I get home. Then try and keep myself occupied in order to stop myself from snacking, the bane of my diet is boredom haha. I recommend having one nice thing that you enjoy a day, for me it's a mini dairy milk bar, to keep myself sane.

Edit: also I keep a journal, at the end of the day I record my weight from the morning, what food I ate that day and what exercise I did.

zerosugarbuzz · 12-05-2021 7:54am

I’m a lousy dieter, love my food too much. Anyway, stone and a half up due to lock down so had to do something. I saw an ad and on a whim I joined slimming world and 4 weeks in 10lbs down. Working for me and some-of the others in the group have lost 7 stone plus. Might be worth a shot for you.

jam_mac_jam · 12-05-2021 8:14am

zerosugarbuzz wrote: »

I’m a lousy dieter, love my food too much. Anyway, stone and a half up due to lock down so had to do something. I saw an ad and on a whim I joined slimming world and 4 weeks in 10lbs down. Working for me and some-of the others in the group have lost 7 stone plus. Might be worth a shot for you.

Well done. I would agree on trying slimming world. It works for a lot of people.

OMM 0000 · 12-05-2021 8:40am

zerosugarbuzz wrote: »

I’m a lousy dieter, love my food too much. Anyway, stone and a half up due to lock down so had to do something. I saw an ad and on a whim I joined slimming world and 4 weeks in 10lbs down. Working for me and some-of the others in the group have lost 7 stone plus. Might be worth a shot for you.

Is it a lifestyle change or a yo yo diet?

Diets don't work. You need to change your lifestyle, permanently.

12-05-2021 8:50am

As I got older, I just progressively got bigger bit by bit until I was at least 3 Stone overweight.

So I installed the app my fitness pal and cut calories. Obviously the best things to cut are take aways and junk.

But also exercise is very important. I try to do 30 minutes a day on the exercise bike and walk when I can.

Down 1.5 Stone so far.

mrslancaster · 12-05-2021 9:29am

+1 for slimming world

Found it the best way for me after trying different ways with little success. Maybe it was the group meetups, some there had lost a lot of weight so great encouragement as you can see it works if you stick to it. Plus we all wanted to talk about losing weight, recipies & tips etc not always possible with partners or families & friends who might have no weight issues & are not interested in talking about it. And you're paying every week so want it to work.

A friend followed the operation transformation last year & found it worked great. best of luck whatever you do.

emy · 12-05-2021 9:39am

Personally I eat everything I like, but in a small portion each time, I do not get up from table full, NEVER…well sometimes I do, but second day I will take it easy, or fasting. Japanese has a saying: Hara hachi bu “Eat until you're 80% full. I do not have time to count the number of proteins taken, I am not paranoid, I do exercise almost every day, but not mad about it.
I usually do, when I am home, every morning: I take a glass of water with Zeolite Powder on empty stomach, then a coffee with biscuit/cake - breakfast (almond milk with some flakes) will be around 11am, lunch and second coffee around 4-5pm, that’s all, after 7pm I try to eat nothing, is not easy. Also, I have some fruit during the day. It is working fine for me. In 20 years, I gained around 3kg. I still have, not six packs, just four

I try to decrease the amount of sugar taken.

bladespin · 12-05-2021 9:43am

Understand what you're eating, calories, nutrients etc (don't over think it too much though)
Understand what you need.
Accurately track your intake (rough guesstimates will frustrate progress - weigh your food until you're confident of portion size etc).
Adjust intake to suit your goal.

Micdrop!

Best of luck.

Patsy167 · 12-05-2021 9:56am

drunkmonkey · 12-05-2021 10:33am

What's the best Keto app these days, tried it before had great success the food is what I like, need to give it another go.

OMM 0000 · 12-05-2021 10:36am

Keto isn't as simple as eating less calories, although that is absolutely part of it.

Keto works so well because you have almost no glucose in your blood, so your body has to use its own fat for energy.

If you can add intermittent fasting and exercise before breakfast into the mix, it becomes extremely easy to lose weight.

Macy0161 · 12-05-2021 10:47am

sunshine2018 wrote: »

Is it simply counting calories ? A lot of diets seem based around this in one form or another
Are some diets better for those who need to lose significant amount of weight - 4 stone plus
So many different diets out there - fast800 - calorie counting- low carb - replacement meals

All of those options, for weight loss, are about creating a calorie deficit. It's calories in v calories out, because Science. A calorie is a calorie, again, because Science.

The "best" diet is the one that is sustainable for you.

What worked for me:

Working out my TDEE (calorie needs - there's the calculation in the sticky at the top or https://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ )
Working to a deficit (I used 500 calories, percentage probably would've been better on reflection
Tracking (honestly) in My Fitness Pal, including weighing portions.
The first for weeks/ months was really portion control on the foods I already ate and/or swaps from things like breaded chicken to roast breast; chips to oven baked wedges
Over time I changed things further, as targets got lower, but it was gradual over the 8+ stone loss
To be honest, I early on decided it was a change in diet rather than a diet. So I focused on sustainable changes.

Anyway, look up The Fitness Chef (great infographics) or Ben Carpenter (for more in depth science and/or taking down those trying to sell books/ plans that have no scientific support) on social media.

Macy0161 · 12-05-2021 11:14am

OmegaGene wrote: »

these two have some very good tips along with james smith who has a good podcast

Scott Baptie/ Food for fitness too. The high protein handbook cookbooks are great and well worth the investment.

Alf Veedersane · 12-05-2021 11:29am

Macy0161 wrote: »

Scott Baptie/ Food for fitness too. The high protein handbook cookbooks are great and well worth the investment.

+1 on that.

Got one of those with slow cooker recipes and there are some class meals in there.

Frankie19 · 12-05-2021 11:47am

Another advocate of my fitness pal. Ultimately it is a calorie deficit you need and to move more. I have tried all the diets...keto/weight watchers/shakes you name it but always end up putting the weight back on plus more.

With my fitness pal I don't eliminate any foods or alcohol I just don't go over my daily calorie allowance and rarely use exercise calories earned unless I'm out for dinner or its a special occasion. I find if I eliminate a food group I crave it and binge on it.

The biggest issue for me was portion control. What I thought was a portion of cereal/pasta/cheese e.t.c was waaaay off. Ultimately I was eating way too much of even healthy foods. I bought digital kitchen scales and used them for a few weeks to get a visual guide of a portion. If weight loss stalled/ gain weight i go back to weighing portions again. I dont want to weigh every meal and become obsessive about it.

I also weigh myself every Friday morning to keep in check. I find that if I weigh myself before the weekend mentally I wont go mad over the weekend with takeaways e.t.c as I dont want to undo the previous weeks progress.

I lost 45lbs doing this after my first baby. Just had my second so back on it again to try get back to where I was!

M_Murphy57 · 12-05-2021 11:50am

Frankie19 wrote: »

Another advocate of my fitness pal. Ultimately it is a calorie deficit you need and to move more. I have tried all the diets...keto/weight watchers/shakes you name it but always end up putting the weight back on plus more.

With my fitness pal I don't eliminate any foods or alcohol I just don't go over my daily calorie allowance and rarely use exercise calories earned unless I'm out for dinner or its a special occasion. I find if I eliminate a food group I crave it and binge on it.

The biggest issue for me was portion control. What I thought was a portion of cereal/pasta/cheese e.t.c was waaaay off. Ultimately I was eating way too much of even healthy foods. I bought digital kitchen scales and used them for a few weeks to get a visual guide of a portion. If weight loss stalled/ gain weight i go back to weighing portions again. I dont want to weigh every meal and become obsessive about it.

I also weigh myself every Friday morning to keep in check. I find that if I weigh myself before the weekend mentally I wont go mad over the weekend with takeaways e.t.c as I dont want to undo the previous weeks progress.

I lost 45lbs doing this after my first baby. Just had my second so back on it again to try get back to where I was!

Regular weighing is key. I can out on a stone no problem if I dont check myself weekly.

Frankie19 · 12-05-2021 11:55am

100% you need to keep a regular eye on the scales. No point weighing every day as body weight will fluctuate. Pick the same morning every week or 2 weeks and step on the scales before any breakfast and in the nip :-)

12-05-2021 2:09pm

Its important to point out as well though that you can eat a takeaway or have some chocolate or things like that at times. There is no point in being miserable.

And there are a bunch of nice low calorie treats. Fibre one cakes, some Ice Pops, Popcorn, Snax, Coconut Creams are all low calorie.

bb1234567 · 12-05-2021 2:22pm

It's pretty much not even up for debate that it's not the diet per se that is important bu the calorie count. I've tried lots of diets, vegan, keto, paleo..and I think they are all overly restrictive for no good reason. Although they do keep you in a conscious frame of mind of what you are consuming and how much which is helpful.
I think the habits are more important for me than the diet, I leave a bowl of fruit at the front door, on my dinner table, and on my bedside desk so I'm not tempted to go get snacks in the cupboard anywhere I am in the house. I bulk make a big bowl of salad twice a week that i pair as a side with every meal to make it larger. Salads are nice but I used to not eat them because the extra effort of making a nicely designed salad along with the meal I just prepared was just too much like hard work. When there is a salad lying in the frigdge prepared, I'm happy to put it in my dinner and it increases bulk of the dinner without adding many calories, making me eat fewer calories than I otherwise would.

Little things like this..helped me get in good shape , more so than any style of dieting.

What’s the best diet for weight loss ?

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