rojo":qb77s9u8 said:
Rojo, that's fantastic! I've been watching my diet since September/October and I've dropped from 12st. 9 to 11st. 3. In fact, just before the season of over-eating began, I weighed 11 stone dead-on -- but then I encountered a week or two of pate, cheese and things that were covered in custard...
For those who are interested, this is how I lost my weight...
Rule 1: Eat 3 meals per day and nothing more.
I used to work with a woman who was 'on a diet'. When I once questioned the KitKat in her mitts, she said "Well Weight Watchers says that I'm allowed to eat two fingers of KitKat per day, and blah blah, blah...". When I saw her 6 months later, she was exactly the same shape.
So it seemed to me that you're either serious about losing weight, or you aren't. If you are, then cut out the chocolate, soft drinks, cake, crisps, biscuits, coffees with 3 sugars and any other snacks. I'm a tee-totaller but even the alcohol-free beers are full of calories, so they got the boot.
So, 3 meals per day and no snacks. A maximum of one cup of coffee per day, otherwise water or fruit juice to drink.
Rule 2: Each meal should only have enough calories to get you to the next meal.
You don't need to get the nutrition tables and a calculator out. Just look at the your plate and say "Is there about enough breakfast there to get me to lunch time?" or "Is there about enough lunch there to get me to dinner time?". It takes a bit of practice to get this right, but if you're starting to get hungry 30 or 40 minutes before each meal, then you're guessing your meal size about right.
Following these two rules mean that...
- You don't have to give up foods that you like to eat -- you just alter the quantity you're eating.
- You don't have to worry that 'dieting' equals 'going hungry' -- you just gradually adjust your meal size until you're getting peckish just in time for the next meal.
- You don't even have to exercise (although regular walks/bike rides will help).
My method isn't a quick fix; the weight falls off very slowly over the course of weeks and months. I think that this prolonged method is much better than quick diets that have a 'start' point and a 'finish' point because once the diet has 'finished', people often go back to old habits and pile the weight back on again.
But an eating habit that gradually works over the months turns from being
a diet into being
your diet.