UK tips or help please

quiney2k

Hi

I'm looking for tips or help. Im looking at losing 16-20lb to take me to my ideal weight goal. Every time I get some momentum I seem to fall off the wagon. Whether this be after after a heavy weekend or because of I seem to have zero will power when something unhealthy is put under my nose.

Does anyone have tips on weight loss? I do weight train and do cardio and I get the whole calorie deficit but I'm wondering if people find that planning meals in advance works or any other tips you might have?

Please feel free to add me on here and fitbit username quiney2k on both. Thanks in advance

MarianT50

I'm pretty new to calorie counting (I always focused on 'clean eating' and counting ingredients instead) and I definitely find meal planning and eating as many colours as I can helps me most! I experiment with different flavours too to keep my food a bit more exciting, and I'm just in the habit of choosing lower calorie meals now! Lost 13lb in 8 weeks and not too far off my goal and of course MFP helps as well!

JMGreen225

Hey I've got a similar problem when it comes to keeping up the momentum especially after heavy weekends too ...Generally finding atm that preparing meals in advance (lunches for work in particular) really helps. Once I've made my dinner I usually make more so that I can use some of the foods for the lunch the next day. Plus finding good foods to snack on like pots of blueberries stops the temptations during the day!

Any help for tips over the weekends would be great too..

MarianT50

@JMGreen225 I'm not sure if you're training or exercising at the minute but what I do is book sessions with my PT for Saturdays and Sundays which I find stops me binging on the bad foods at weekends! Don't beat yourself up about "falling off the wagon" at weekends though!

TavistockToad

I pre log, either the night before or first thing in the morning. I aim to hit or exceed my protein goal, and Monday - Thursday I try to be a bit under my calorie goal so I can eat more at the weekend!

JMGreen225

Thank you! I do go to the gym 2/3 times a week after work (duting the week) but I think thats a good idea going over the weekend too!

quiney2k

Yea thanks for the tips I'm going to give the meal prep a go next week. Is there a good site you can recommend for the prep ideas? The colours also sound like a really good idea.

awomaninsane

I'm with @TavistockToad . I bank calories I don't eat through the week and use them at the weekend. I know some people will recoil in horror at this but I love treats so am really strict through the week and then eat pizza and drink cider at the weekend. At the end of the week I have eaten no more calories than I should have done so in my head that works!

StealthHealth

Another vote for pre-logging your food.

Re-falling off the wagon. IMHO this is much more likely to happen when either:

• alcohol is involved.
• your current plan it too restrictive.

I'll let you work out how to tackle the first, but for the second I'd say:

• make your weight loss gradual. Aim for a 500 cals deficit (about 1lb per week).
• Do not exclude the foods you love and enjoy - learn to fit them into your week (within calorific target).
• Do not set unrealistic time frames for losing the weight.
• Weigh and log everything - always, no excuses.
• Plan for those times when you are going to have less or no control over your food.

If weekends are a problem for you then you need to formulate a plan or way of at least mitigating the damage - I can see @MarianT50 s attitude about not giving yourself a hard time about it but my experience is that a heavy weekend can easily wipe out a "good" week so be careful on that front.

chrislo2691

When it comes to falling off the wagon, I don't look at it as a disaster, simply get back on and try again. It is like having a bad day at work you have to go back the next day and get on with it. I know it is easy to say but if you look back saying oh no not again you are more likely to give up. Look forward and say never mind let's go again. You do need to look at what took you off so that you can try to avoid it next time.
I have a lot to lose so I am trying to get a lot of fairly quickly then make the losses smaller as I get to my target so that I am actually used to eating what I need to maintain my weight when I get to it. You can afford to take a more gentle approach and small adjustments will keep the weight coming off.
Keep at it, and ask for support when you need it.

MarianT50

@quiney2k I have a few favourite websites I use for recipe inspiration, also follow a few PTs and nutrition gurus on instagram so my pages are filled with nice healthy pics to keep me motivated! One of my favourite websites is ambitiouskitchen.com - she's a recovering orthorexic and her recipes are brilliant. Another one is Deliciously Ella - she has colitis I think and so her diet is very strict and very simple, but her recipes are great too. I also make regular trips to my local Asian Supermarket or health food shop and buy loads of interesting looking ingredients, and then Google dishes to make with them!

I do my cooking/baking on a Sunday for most of the week, saves so much time and effort in the mornings and really helps me keep on track!