This is what I’m hoping to achieve - amazed and heartened to hear you did it in only four months!! What sort of exercise were you doing, if you don’t mind me asking?
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Tell me your secrets !!!!!
I love calorie counting. It’s the most natural and sensible way to lose weight. I think it’s the best way for motivation as well because as another poster pointed out, you can literally eat whatever you want, just in moderation and smaller portions. It’s also the most sustainable because it becomes a way of life. Whereas with Slimming World, the moment you stop the diet and start eating normally again you put all the weight back on. I don’t know one single person who lost weight with SW that hasn’t put it back on. The only people who keep it off are those who continue with that diet.
I use Nutracheck and it’s far better than MyFitnessPal (and this is coming from someone who’s used my fitness pal for 10 years). Nutra check is UK based and actually has pictures of 95% of products so you can add foods a lot quicker because you recognise the packaging of what you’ve eaten and you know it’s accurate. There is also only one entry of each food whereas on MyFitnessPal you search for a food and loads of different entries come up and you don’t know which is right and which to select.
By calorie counting I’m still able to eat chips, pasta, potatoes, chocolate, crisps, biscuits etc. All in moderation of course but none of it gets cut out. I honestly love it and I have my own tips and tricks which really help me.
I use Nutracheck and it’s far better than MyFitnessPal (and this is coming from someone who’s used my fitness pal for 10 years). Nutra check is UK based and actually has pictures of 95% of products so you can add foods a lot quicker because you recognise the packaging of what you’ve eaten and you know it’s accurate. There is also only one entry of each food whereas on MyFitnessPal you search for a food and loads of different entries come up and you don’t know which is right and which to select.
By calorie counting I’m still able to eat chips, pasta, potatoes, chocolate, crisps, biscuits etc. All in moderation of course but none of it gets cut out. I honestly love it and I have my own tips and tricks which really help me.
I only had 1200 calories a day which is probably why the weight came off so fast. I didn’t do any exercise but I don’t drive so walk everywhere.
1,200 calories a day & lots of walking!
Wow that’s brilliant, well done. I’m on 1200cals currently too, looking forward to brighter evenings so I can get out for a walk after work
I gained 2st back since last March when we first went in to lockdownWow that’s brilliant, well done. I’m on 1200cals currently too, looking forward to brighter evenings so I can get out for a walk after work
I started back calorie counting on Monday so I’m hoping it will come off fast again I don’t blame youI gained 2st back since last March when we first went in to lockdown
the last year’s been tough. Fingers crossed for both of us 
Thank you so much for all of your comments.
My first week is nearly done and I've really enjoyed it. I won't be weighing weekly, I've decided to weigh monthly as it'll keep me focused. I'm a serious chocoholic, I used to eat a share sized bar every night and very much had a binge mentality. I haven't binged all week, I've had 2 small bars of chocolate included in my calories & I've already noticed my face isn't as puffy. I've exercised every other day but I'm not sleeping very well for some reason. I'm logging everything on the loseit app which has been great. I really feel this is the way forward for me. I usually binge at night so I've been having lower calories for breakfast and lunch and having the bulk of my calories for my evening meal so I haven't been tempted to binge.
My first week is nearly done and I've really enjoyed it. I won't be weighing weekly, I've decided to weigh monthly as it'll keep me focused. I'm a serious chocoholic, I used to eat a share sized bar every night and very much had a binge mentality. I haven't binged all week, I've had 2 small bars of chocolate included in my calories & I've already noticed my face isn't as puffy. I've exercised every other day but I'm not sleeping very well for some reason. I'm logging everything on the loseit app which has been great. I really feel this is the way forward for me. I usually binge at night so I've been having lower calories for breakfast and lunch and having the bulk of my calories for my evening meal so I haven't been tempted to binge.
This has inspired me to get back on my fitness pal, I lost about 2 and a half stone 3 years ago using it.
I’ve put off starting again because I haven’t gained it all back but my body shape is changing (turning 30
) so I’m starting to feel a bit unhappy even if I’m not heavier.
I find the best thing about it is at the beginning while you’re getting into the routine you can afford to underestimate calories a bit and you’ll learn to tighten it up as you go and you start to plateau, so it doesn’t feel like a chore or like you’re strictly depriving yourself overnight. I’ve been on Slimming World a couple of times and always gained it all back really quickly when I’ve stopped.
I’ve put off starting again because I haven’t gained it all back but my body shape is changing (turning 30
) so I’m starting to feel a bit unhappy even if I’m not heavier.I find the best thing about it is at the beginning while you’re getting into the routine you can afford to underestimate calories a bit and you’ll learn to tighten it up as you go and you start to plateau, so it doesn’t feel like a chore or like you’re strictly depriving yourself overnight. I’ve been on Slimming World a couple of times and always gained it all back really quickly when I’ve stopped.
MyFitnessPal will calculate most people for weight loss at 1200 which is really quite low esp if exercising too and especially if you are quite overweight. You want to loose as much as possible on as high calories as possible first to not damage metabolism. Google TDEE calculators and calorie/macro calculators and do a few and take an average and set those as your calories/macros in MFP. Also make sure you weigh/measure and log everything. Eg if I have a cup of tea or coffee with semi skim milk I usually log that as 20 cals or sometimes I’ll pour 100ml milk into a jug in the morning then log 100ml milk and I can then get 2/3 cups of tea.
sauces/butter/jam etc -put on scales and 0 them then scoop out onto your plate and watch the numbers I.e butter on toast you can see -10g so you’ve used 10g if not enough maybe try to -15g see how your toast is looking then you’ll know to log 15g lurpack.
good luck
Oh and remember to adjust calories as you lose. So maybe you can start dieting on say 1700 cals and you might lose 10 pounds then plateau so then with your new weight do the online calculators again and adjust. Or drop your cals by about 100 per week until you start losing again. So if you don’t lose on 1700 try 1600 for a week and if you still don’t lose then try 1500.
Same once you hit goal weight. Then add in 100 per week until you find your Maintenaince cals (ie your cals required to keep your weight the same).
sauces/butter/jam etc -put on scales and 0 them then scoop out onto your plate and watch the numbers I.e butter on toast you can see -10g so you’ve used 10g if not enough maybe try to -15g see how your toast is looking then you’ll know to log 15g lurpack.
good luck
Oh and remember to adjust calories as you lose. So maybe you can start dieting on say 1700 cals and you might lose 10 pounds then plateau so then with your new weight do the online calculators again and adjust. Or drop your cals by about 100 per week until you start losing again. So if you don’t lose on 1700 try 1600 for a week and if you still don’t lose then try 1500.
Same once you hit goal weight. Then add in 100 per week until you find your Maintenaince cals (ie your cals required to keep your weight the same).
That’s interesting, as MFP has recommended this for me, so I’ve done this for the past week.
Is it because 1200 is too low to sustain for a long period, so you’ll end up increasing it at some point, or that your body goes into starvation mode or something?
I have lost around 2.5 stones since April on around 1200 a day (not very strict though as I do go over sometimes). I did 1200 because of MFP, but now your comment has worried me a bit.... have I damaged my metabolism?? I haven’t been exercising if that helps.
I find if I do loads of exercise I can’t sleep either, I’d suggest maybe exercising earlier in the day if you exercise in the late afternoon/evening!
not necessarily and I don’t mean to scare or say that 1200 is too low for everyone as it’s certainly not. I’m 5 foot 5 and in the healthy weight range (but higher end than I would like) and for me to lose weight with exercise too my cals are about 1300, which isn’t too low for me and if I was to not really exercise I would need about 1200 and if for example I lost 7 pounds then needed to shift the last 2/3 I might need to do 1150. It really is all relative. And eg my mum is maybe like 5’3 and petite. I wouldn’t say 1200 was too low for her for example.
but like I also said before the aim is to lose with minimal effort. I’d probably try some online calculators to see what calories they suggest then maybe try increase a bit see how you go. Depends on your weight and height. Nhs suggest 1400 cals a day for weight loss for women. Again depends on weight height and activity. But if you are very overweight I’d start on 1400 or higher I wouldn’t go straight into 1200.
So true. We had a slimming world group at work. You knew they were back on it when you'd see the pot noodles coming out at 11:00 AM.
They'd all lose the weight and be crowing about how amazingly easy it was, then go off it and balloon back up even bigger! It was bonkers.Does anyone know the scientific reason for why you put more weight on that you weighed in the first place?
1 week in and I lost 6lb I feel this is the way for me.
I feel this is the way for me.