It’s coming off again! Here’s how
At last I am losing weight again. It’s been a very tough battle with many setbacks but I’m on a roll now. Here’s how
After struggling through Winter with the weight coming off then sliding back on, I am finally back on a losing streak. Funny isn’t it. How this is one area of our lives we like being losers!
I’m not quite sure why it all kicked in again for me but I’ll share what has worked and it may work for you too. I am not a dietitian nor nutritionist. I am not medically qualified. So this isn’t advice. It’s what I do and it may work for you.
We’re all different when it comes to weight gain and loss. But for me, at my age (68) and with my metabolism I have found that 1250 calories a day is the sweet spot at which I can lose weight. It’s not that drastic a loss. It’s coming off slowly but it’s coming off is the point. You may need to go lower or you may be able to lose with a higher calorie count. And I know some say counting calories isn’t the way to go. But it’s what works for me. I do also watch my carb intake.
So here it is. If it helps you, great.
Breakfast: 220-300 calories. One slice of wholemeal toast with 20 grams of crunchy peanut butter. Piece of fruit, apple or banana
Lunch: 300/400 calories. Two crispbreads with either 40 grams of duck or chicken liver pate or 75 grams of cottage cheese. Piece of fruit, usually a small, ripe, banana. Sometimes 75 grams of yoghurt too with blackberries and raspberries. (Berry fruits are great. They’re sweet, filling, and low in sugar. Apples are good for fibre and bananas are just great!) The yoghurt is always full fat. Kefir or Greek yoghurt. It’s filling. It’s delicious. And it’s very good for you!
Tea: 300 calories. I take tea at 4.30pm. Sometimes earlier. It’s usually 150 grams of chicken (hot or cold) or a 200-gram piece of fish, usually salmon, or 150 grams of steak or a two-egg bacon or ham omelette served with steamed vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower and carrots) to which I add about 10 grams of salted butter. I have found vegetables with a bit of melted butter is much nicer than a salad. I try to avoid any bread after lunch. I may have some yoghurt or a banana to follow if I’m still hungry.
Snacks: 100/150 calories one plain Hobnob or stem ginger cookie (ginger is great for the digestion) or two squares (20 grams) of high cocoa solids chocolate. Taken when required!
Drinks: 100 calories. No alcohol. Slightly sweetened coffee with splash of full-fat milk. Plenty water throughout the day.
And if my arithmetic is correct, this adds to a maximum of 1250 calories a day. Sometimes I can drop it to 1200 or below 1200. But I rarely go below 1150. I can eat like this for days on end and not feel hungry nor deprived. Plenty fresh vegetables and fruit. Healthy yoghurt. Lots of protein, not too much carb. And also please note no low-fat products at all! Low-fat products replace the removed fat with sugar. And sugar is far more damaging to our health than fat. Fat is good for us. And full fat is much more filling than low-fat products so in fact you probably consume fewer calories that way.
Hungry
This is what’s working for me. I don’t go to bed hungry even though I finish eating at around 5pm. The key to that is high protein and some fat with my final meal of the day. It keeps me going. And your system gets used to when it can expect food and adapts according.
I then have breakfast at 9am so I’m doing intermittent fasting, ie not eating between 5pm and 9am. The 16:8. That’s 16 hours not eating and all eating confined to eight hours. This is the more gentle version of the 5:2 diet which I cannot do as I get too hungry, dizzy and get wretched headaches. If you can combine a low-calorie diet with 5:2 or even 6:1, then do. That’s great. But I can’t. And I’m not keen on a diet regime that for some of us could encourage bingeing on the days we aren’t restricting calories.
Bingeing
I’ve been doing this now for several weeks and it’s working. I feel good. Happy, healthy, fit and strong. And I’m not really doing that much exercise. A bit of walking but that’s about it. If you think this regime could work for you, do try it. And if you eat more on occasions, or even have the odd binge, don’t worry about it. Don’t beat yourself up. Just get right back on your horse and ride out again. It’s not the binge that kills a diet; it’s what we do after it! In fact you can binge and still lose weight. I don’t advise it. But I just know it’s probably inevitable when you’re being pretty strict the rest of the time. But you have had a binge the most important thing is not to try to starve off the gained pounds. Just go back on the regime and it’ll come back off. May take a few days. Will certainly take longer to get back off than it took to put it on but that’s a dieter’s life!
Enjoy Spring - a dieter’s friend! Much easier in Spring and Summer!