Best way of losing weight?

[chrisjohnh]

Oh right then, the rest of us must be wrong.

I don’t think anyone here is “wrong” or that anything that’s been said here is “wrong “. What proposition here is thought by you to be one which I view as wrong? I have only said that low carbs alone is not enough to lose weight if one is eating everything else to excess, and I have not seen any dissent from that. Please do not be so quick and touchy. One should be able here to make suggestions objectively without others reacting In such a personal and acidic manner. Clarity of thought and expression is not a combat zone.

 

[Pipp]

Can we keep this civil, please folks.
Sometimes the written word is easily misunderstood, or misconstrued. So can we move on now?

From my own experience, low carb has been a good way to maintain healthy blood glucose levels, for the past 7 years or so. When I add in too much fat in the form of cheese, nuts, cream, butter, (which I love) the weight gain creeps in. I always feel envious of people who can eat unlimited low carb and high fat, but believe I am part of a subset of low carbers who do have to restrict the fat element of LCHF. It is far from simple.

 

[Resurgam]

I had to take a deep breath as the term 'gorging' was often used when I was struggling to exist on a low calorie diet. I was pushed and pushed to go ever lower in calories and fat, even though I was grey faced and hardly able to function, struggling to go to work and lying in bed most of the weekend feeling as though I was dying.
My natural diet is low carb.
When returning to eating properly after being shouted at for putting on yet more weight eating grains I would often eat only meat and salmon for a couple of days, to reset, then return to the 50gm of carbs a day way of eating, and I would see a loss of 1Kg a day.
I have to call my way of eating low carb with natural fats as I do not eat high fat compared to a normal modern diet, but I do not eat much at all.
Today I have eaten half a bag of Lidl frozen stirfry and the last bits off a chicken, and had a cup of coffee with cream.
I have often been told that I am delusional when I describe the amount of food I eat - I've had dieticians sniggering and saying 'and the rest' when I have handed over a food diary. These days I refuse to be bullied, but it is not surprising that so many people have problems when there is so much ignorance shown by those who ought to have realised long ago that the accepted 'knowledge' just doesn't seem to add up.
If my GPs had accepted what I told them when I was in my 20s I'd have never ended up almost spherical in my 60s.

 

[AndBreathe]

I recall a phase on the forum a few years ago when lots of folks were doing Fat Fats, whereby the spent a period (usually fixed at outset) of eating very little aside from fat. I'm sure you'd be surprised how many lost weight on that, and some large amount, by comparison to other ways of eating.
The search function might uncover something.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

That makes my point exactly, thank you!

Just a matter of "too much of a good thing", really.

 

[GerryBolger]

Another vote for low carb from me, no weighing or counting and no hunger, just steady weight loss and lower blood sugar. The weight loss has stopped now and according to my bmi I still have a little way to go, but I'm almost 4 stones lighter and I feel better than I have for years, so who cares

When you say low card what do you mean as I’m starving in low card diets.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

When you say low card what do you mean as I’m starving in low card diets.

What are you eating? (And I do mean, what are you eating, exactly). When you cut the carbs, you need to up the fats and likely protein too. Are you eating enough of either? A boiled egg won't tide me over until supper, but three fried eggs, bacon and liberally applied ham would do the trick. Especially with some grated cheese on top. There's practically no carbs in that, but it's quite filling. Just as a for instance, eh.

 

[GerryBolger]

What are you eating? (And I do mean, what are you eating, exactly). When you cut the carbs, you need to up the fats and likely protein too. Are you eating enough of either? A boiled egg won't tide me over until supper, but three fried eggs, bacon and liberally applied ham would do the trick. Especially with some grated cheese on top. There's practically no carbs in that, but it's quite filling. Just as a for instance, eh.

It varies to be honest. I think that’s it. It’s not enough protein. So yes, I’d have maybe one egg, and not a huge amount of cheese. My tricylades is OK but don’t want to get it high as I don’t want to end up on Statins as well.

 

[zand]

I would advise anyone to start off doing low carb with no calorie counting. The reason being that a coffee with cream has very few carbs and is great for stopping the need to snack. Similarly a bacon, high quality sausage and eggs has more calories than porage. If you count calories as well then you would never consume these low carb mainstays and run the risk of becoming hungry. Hunger could lead to snacking on the wrong foods.

It can be quite an adjustment at first to go low carb. You need to get used to how a low carb diet works without complicating things by adding in calories too.

After years of calorie counting (which I loved doing, but which simply didn't work) I finally lost some weight when I switched to low carb. Unfortunately the call back to calorie counting was strong. The thought 'wow! I lost some weight, I wonder how much more I can lose if I eat less' crept in. Alas my weight loss stalled as my body adjusted and hung on to the pounds as it feared it was starving again. If you eat the right things then eating less isn't necessarily better.

Re exercise I walked 2 miles a day for months and at times years. Great for my overall health but little effect on weight. Exercise which uses the muscles more is better as it can help address insulin resistance.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

It varies to be honest. I think that’s it. It’s not enough protein. So yes, I’d have maybe one egg, and not a huge amount of cheese. My tricylades is OK but don’t want to get it high as I don’t want to end up on Statins as well.

If there's no familial high cholesterol, and no cardiac event in your past... No need for statins unless things get grossly out of hand, which they're not very likely to. And you decide what medication you take, no-one can force you to take anything you're not comfortable with. (Or, the reverse being also true, no-one can force a diet on you you don't feel safe following, so... Just see what feels right to you, and get tested regularly to see whether anything needs adjusting.) In any case, no need to go hungry. If it's fats you're concerned about, try fatty fish for instance... Tuna, salmon.. They're filling, loads of vitamin d, and heart-healthy. Avocado's are a healthy fat and thus, filling, lots of nuts out there like pecans, or things like olives that can drive away hunger. Solutions abound.

 

[catinahat]

My tricylades is OK but don’t want to get it high as I don’t want to end up on Statins as well.

I know we have all been brain washed over the last 4 or 5 decades into thinking that fat is going to kill us. Even though the human race has been eating it ever since we crawled out of the primordial swamp.
People like Mr Kellogg's managed to convince everyone that fat is bad, with some clever marketing and dodgy science, just so he could sell his grain based cereals. Still it makes sense right, if you eat fat you will get fat, it seems obvious. Strange then that when they want to fatten up animals for market, they feed them grain?
So what do I eat, any meat, fish, eggs, cheese, bacon, high meat content sausage, full fat natural yoghurt, cream, butter (although no bread to spread it on so mainly in cooking and on veg), green leafy salad and mainly above ground veg.
I avoid most fruits apart from a few berries or the occasional small apple, starchy veg like potatoes and sweet potatoes and of course the obvious high carb things like bread, pasta, rice, (basically anything made with grains)

 

[GerryBolger]

There is cardiac which is why I have to be careful. Sorry I should have said I’m not a meat lover. I won’t eat any red meat - detest it. Fish and poultry yes. And I eat lots of it.

 

[bulkbiker]

My tricylades is OK but don’t want to get it high as I don’t want to end up on Statins as well.

Dietary cholesterol has little impact on overall cholesterol levels except in the very short term though.

Even the evil Ancel Keys said this in the 50's
Your liver makes up for any cholesterol that you don't eat so it manages the levels your body wants.

As always with any medication it's you that should decide what goes into your body.

 

[bulkbiker]

So yes, I’d have maybe one egg, a

Maybe try 3 or 4 instead?

 

[HSSS]

It varies to be honest. I think that’s it. It’s not enough protein. So yes, I’d have maybe one egg, and not a huge amount of cheese. My tricylades is OK but don’t want to get it high as I don’t want to end up on Statins as well.

This https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/cholesterol-basics might help you decide and it has links to the research - and there are lots more sources out there.

 

[pms543]

I am reading all replies with interest. Thanks to all.
I am on metformin and sadly can’t do much walking as awaiting knee replacement
Think i’ve realised i have some bad habits, picking & snacking on foods not good for me at all. I need to adjust more than I want to admit but I will.
Thanks for all your help x

 

[ajbod]

I found the ideal way to lose weight is to work out how many calories YOU NEED each day.
If the calculation comes out as 2350 calories as an example. Start your keto diet on or about that calorie count, or enough that you never feel hungry. Don't worry when you don't go to the toilet for maybe a few days, if there is no discomfort you are not constipated. It's just that there's not enough waste from the diet to need to come out.

Eventually after a few days you will encounter Keto flu to some extent, for myself i had about 36 hours where i just felt under the weather slightly. at this point you are entering a state of Ketosis, the whole aim of the exercise. This means you have become fat adapted. Now you can reduce your calorie intake to say 1700 calories. Instead of feeling hungry your body burns its own fat to compensate for the calorie defecit. Having gone through Keto flu once you should never encounter it again if you slip out of Ketosis as your body knows what is going on and slips back easily.

On a defecit of 500 calories you should lose about 1lb a week, although at the start you may lose 8 - 10lb very quickly as your body sheds water.

Every few days have a day with a very low calorie count and a day with higher. This should stop your metabolism from reducing to match the NEW NORMAL calorie intake, this is why mainstream diets fail, as the body reduces fuel burnt to fuel input, thus plateauing. If you only have 1700 calories every day your body adjusts to only need 1700, so weight loss stalls, that's why hard diets cause people to feel cold, as the body doesn't waste fuel heating the extremities.

The most important thing is DON'T SNACK.

Doing this i lost 25Kg in 4 months.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

There is cardiac which is why I have to be careful. Sorry I should have said I’m not a meat lover. I won’t eat any red meat - detest it. Fish and poultry yes. And I eat lots of it.

Fish and poultry'll do you fine, and there's plenty of other things to choose from. I have to cut out whole food groups due to food issues myself, so.... Whatever the reason, usually work-arounds can be found. Dietdoctor.com might indeed help.

 

[Resurgam]

Today I have already eaten half a pot of coleslaw and a tin of tuna for breakfast. I will have some coffee and cream when I take my dish to the kitchen.
Tonight I will have - probably, chicken and mashed swede and then berries and cream as I have leftover cream to use up. I might do some sugar free jelly or use gelatine and sugar free squash, as these days the jellies are oversweetened for my taste.
I find no need to be checking on calories as I settled into eating low carb years ago now and they really are not all that significant.

 

[Outlier]

We all have different challenges. I spent nearly all my adult life counting calories and being bitterly hungry day in day out. Now I rarely feel hungry, and if I do - I can eat. It's an absolute lifesaver. So counting calories is great for those who like to do it, but keto suits me better, and probably these days, low-carb would as well, but I'm happy as I am.