diet tips: willpower?

[BoyceyLDN]

not sure if more one for the sports forum, so I am looking to shift some weight, with it being the season for "new year, new me" I weight 15 and half stone and looking to shift about 3 stone in total, maybe 2 and a half. I am 6 foot tall; one thing I always struggle with all my life is just saying no to things, as I love my food, I am a bit of a “foodie or foodaholic”. I go to gym and play football as I enjoy exercise but also enjoy my food. It sounds easy like just be strong, just say no, some people for example; when it comes to gambling or alcohol will post on here and say it just takes will power to not get yourself in trouble. However when it comes to food I find i have very little at times, for example if my mates want to go for a nandos I find i have to order chips and a fizzy drink, as i don't want to pay or sit eating a boring salad lol. Another example is if it's someone’s birthday in the office and they bring in cakes I think.. Oh go on then 1 won't hurt or if my mates or girlfriend wants to order a Chinese or pizza i find it hard to resist. This kind of attitude has left me feeling overweight but i cannot seem to turn it down... want to know of others who have been in a similar position or those who have lost weight or low body fat – how do you stay on the straight and narrow and say no to things, it sounds easy in theory but I always find I cave and give in.


TLR how to you become stubborn / mentally strong to saying no to bad / tasty food / takeaways / pizzs

 

[BoyceyLDN]

Well fizzy drinks are fine as long as they are sugar free.

I remember reading about a study recently that meal replacement shakes (not gym protein shakes) were one of the best ways to lose weight and the NHS was going to consider prescribing them (something like that) so me and the wife have got loads of different flavours in and we've been doing that. They are really tasty but they don't fill you up like a good meal

My biggest problem is sweet stuff. Biscuits, chocolate etc. Even sitting here right now, all day I've been wanting to pop to the co-op over the road from my office and get some Fox's Viennese biscuits...Mmmmm

Have resisted though.

How long you done the replacement shakes for, is it the Huel ones you are doing and how much weight you lost so far? I find doing shakes is only a temporary thing untill i give in.

I also have a sweet tooth and often cave in

 

[BoyceyLDN]

It's very difficult to avoid bad food for most people, this is the reason why the majority (around 68% of adults) are overweight of obese in the UK and even higher in the US, we live in an environment saturated with great tasting junk, trying to avoid it and instead eat real food is very difficult - especially if you already have a taste for junk, sweets, crisps, fizzy drinks etc.

One thing I learnt, is that if you cut out processed junk food - which in most cases is food containing large amounts of added sugar, or processed food which is extremely rich, (chocolate, crisps, fast food, cheap pastries, pizza etc) if you eliminate all of it, from your diet - as time goes on, you do lose the craving for it, but you have to stay off it.

I've helped and observed many people lose weight and I've also watched as most of them put it back on again, nearly all of them made the same fatal mistakes;

• They get off to a good start, cut out the junk - join a gym, obviously lose weight
• They lose a few stone, or hit a target - then make the fatal error of thinking "that's it - the work is done"
• They eventually start going back to old habits, one or two chocolate bars a week, turns into 2 a day,
• They make the fatal mistake of thinking - I can just burn off the bad thing I ate at the gym tomorrow

One rule I learnt, from reading clinical books, going to seminars, helping people lose weight, watching them put it back on - is you can't outrun a bad diet, it starts and ends with diet.

My advice would be the following;

• Remove all junk, processed food from your diet, sweets, crisps, chocolate, pizzas, takeaway, sugar sweetened beverages, immediately.
• Eat real food, specifically a balanced diet containing a mixture of protein, fruits, vegetables and wholegrain.
• Don't eat low-fat foods posing as healthier alternatives, avoid cheap low fat spreads, instead eat smaller amounts of natural dietary fat such as butter, as part of the balanced diet
• Maintain your activity - but don't go mad, you don't need to join a gym to lose weight, however exercise does make you feel really good - which can be a big boost, but watch your appetite.
• Learn to cook - you'll be amazed how tasty you can make basic food if you learn - I regularly do cookalongs on my ipad, it's fun too
• Consider - these things are forever, any fad diet will work for 6 months, the above things need to be for the rest of your life.

Thanks Screech and others so far, find the feedback and responses very positive and it's interesting hearing other peoples stories as i know i am not the only person who has been in this boat

 

[BoyceyLDN]

Indeed - not rocket science.

• Prepare you meals
• Cut out sugar
• Cut out the weekday booze/takeaways
• balanced diet - nothing special - don't need huel/herbalife nonsense
• Exercise - gym/home/anything - walk 10,000 steps a day, find a good gym, find a running club/parkrun etc

I eat 3500-4000 Calories a day - all pretty clean, no sugar, no crap. I need that just to keep my weight level as I train pretty hard 5 days a week. Anything under that and I'm starving and loose weight!!

I was 18st about 8 years ago - now 13 and a half stone and fitter/leaner in my 40's than I was in my 20's/30's.

I agree it is not rocket science, i pointed out in the opening thread that i know i should say no to the fizzys, chips, snacks etc cut out sugar , goto the gym etc, the title is more about willpower like how do people stay on the straight and narrow which i feel a few posts have gone abit off topic in terms of this is what you need to eat or do, not so much a thread of the science behind losing weight more how do you guys stick to your diets i guess is the question. I get eating kfc / pizza / mcdonalds everyday and over eating will lead to weight gain, and eating under calories and healthy and cut out processed food i will lose weight.

 

[BoyceyLDN]

Question for the people saying: learn to cook or get better etc, i can cook but could do with levelling up my game, is there any cook books you guys recommend that are game changers? any good low-carb cook books or any people follow which has helped shift weight?

Cheers in advance

 

[BoyceyLDN]

Huel is a funny product. It's marketed as "not a meal replacement" when really it is. The wife and I have bought a few bags of it, and whilst it's perfectly palatable and I love the eco/low impact food production I couldn't replace meals with it long term as I don't find it sates hunger.

In terms of my own weight loss I've been experimenting with intermittent fasting and prolonged fasting. I really think that time restricted feeding (16:8) is the way to go for me, with the occasional 36+ hour fast chucked in.

I'm currently aiming to complete my first long fast of 10 days (on day 4 atm) and I feel great: light, alert, not hungry at all and energetic.

So your only drinking water for 10 days? You will have to let us know how much weight you lose