Support needed!

What’s a baby step change you can make and stick to? Drawing red lines for yourself and then crossing them is a difficult pattern to break. Try to find an affirmative step or two you can take.

Something that worked for me like nothing else was a food diary. I kept it with pen and paper. Just a crude list of what I ate and drank with the numbers. I found using the computer an added complication.

To get started, just make a list of what you eat and drink. It’s a thing to do. The only way to fail is to not do it. If you forget at some point, go back and fill it in as best you can. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Stick at it for a good long time, say 4-6 weeks.

When you have a good record of your test period, find some time when you can study your lists. What do you see? Are there obvious changes you can make? Particular problems? Weight loss is about problem solving.

Based on your test do you want to have a go at calorie counting? Calculate a small calorie deficit, make a plan and try to hit your number. Give that another month long test. Don’t be discouraged when you struggle. There’s a significant calorie counting learning curve. Keep trying, you’ll get it. The good news is calorie counting works.

Keep working on your plan. Never stop adjusting and trying to make it better. Don’t be concerned with how long it’s taking. You have the rest of your life to work on this. Always keep your food diary no matter what. The process is more important than the numbers. Identify problems and solve them one at a time. You can do it.

Last thing- I wish I could say something useful about diet noise. When we’re struggling it doesn’t help to be jerked one direction to the other. Try to get your information about weight loss. from medical and science sources. The sources- not the media recap of the sources. The media live on clickbait and habitually misstate the studies they are discussing. Also, in moment of clarity I realized how much diet and fitness misinformation I had absorbed from advertising. We don’t need to buy stuff to lose weight.

I'm new to this and have followed various diet plans before - I always start motivated and then it slides because life gets in the way. I just keep restarting and at the moment calorie counting is working for me and I've found a form of exercise that I really love (3 HIIT sessions a week at a local gym) and so far I'm 5 1/2 months in and I'm keeping everything crossed that I've finally cracked it! I hope you find a way forward that suits you and helps you to achieve your goals. Just keep going!

I too struggled for years and started off with small changes that felt like quick wins such as swapping high fat for lower fat options, not eating after 8pm. I'm sure you can think of a few of your own.

One thing that really works for me is planning my day, I log everything on a morning and try to leave 100cals for a snack if I fancy one, I have a drawer full of treats so I feel completely in control.
Best of luck, it's hard but when you see those losses it's worth it.

Hey, just wanted to say take the wins when you get them. Maybe its not a day to day thing, but more like a moment to moment thing. For instance, "hmmm my morning snack had too many calories, so I need to walk 10 minutes and get some of those extra cals off" or "I drank 2 cups of water today, going for 3 tomorrow". Idk your exact goals and someone already suggested this, but logging personally helps me see where I'm at, so I can form a plan to get where I'm going.