I can't seem to loose any weight

I have been trying for years to loose weight, if anything I gain. I joined at the gym, changed my diet, everything. But I have had 4 surgeries on my ankle which holds me back slightly. I would love to hear your weight loss tips from foods to detox to excersize, anything will be appreciated.

Oh sorry to hear about your surgeries....that does make exercise a bit harder.  
Perhaps find out from a physio or someone like that what you could do in the way of exercise safely. 

I will say though that food is the biggest key you cant outrain a bad diet unfortunately. 

I have been a gym junkie for a long time but over the last few years got really slack on food because i thought id just work it off but unforunately it doesnt work that way (especially the older you get) so at the beginning of this year I started eating as uncprocessed as possible, whole fruits and vegies, grains, lean meats (im not a massive meat eater just because im not a huge fan) but I try and have some in my diet, nuts and seeds, and oils. 

Basically I kept the principal of eating as whole and raw as possible and if something is in a packet make it be as natural as possible (4 or less ingredients on the back) , i dont stick to it 100% no ones perfect, i have one cheat day a week where i can eat whatever i want. 

Ive lost 8 kilos and kept it off.     All the small changes add up to big ones.  Just start making little changes.  quick fixes dont work unfortunately its really a case of perserverance :)

Although I've never really had weight problems I do from time to time put on a few more kilos than desired and I have a really easy way of dropping those few extra kilos within a couple of weeks.. Drink a lot of green tea with lemon, honey, ginger & garlic mixed in. I drink about 5 mugs of this a day for a week or 2 and the extra kilos just disappear, not quite sure how maybe it just speeds up the metabolism..

Keep in mind that when you're working out and losing fat, you are gaining muscle. That may be why you aren't noticing the Kgs dropping. 

Also you need to change up your exercise routine every couple weeks, making them harder. Once your body gets used to an exercise, it becomes natural and normal for your body and your body doesn't go through stress to lose weight. 

I can relate I'm my own worst enemy and I let stress effect me too much, which in turns sees me heading for either the takeaways, chocolate or booze.  I've nearly doubled my kg since arriving in NZ 6 years ago and it sucks.  No matter what I do I can't stick to it.  I recently had a change of heart and due to some medical problems that keep coming up whenever the scales go up and feel more commited to do better at tackling this.  I find that you have to have support just having someone to cry too or to help you celebrate the smallest achievements helps to get you in the right direction, and I'm hoping with Spring to see it as a fresh start. 

There is no miracle fix it all pill, I know I have tried them all and the only way I did it before was getting myself into the right frame of mind, if you don't want to lose weight whole heartedly you won't! yeah you'll do good for a month or two but unless you do it in a way you enjoy then the old habits slip back.  I'm banning white products (again lol) as I know that cutting them out along with sugar plus exercise at least 3 times a week does the trick.  Its slow but I get there. 

Also the other thing is don't ban it all at once and allow a treat day every week to begin with, then stretch that out to once a fortnight, then once a month kind of weaning off. I have arthritic ankle from spliting the ankle joint in half as a teenager so I am limited to what I can do too, but swimming, boxing, cycling I have found is managable, as well as yoga.  Its about finding what you can do.  The hubby has back injuries that limit the use of his legs, he can't walk very far but he does things cardio style sitting down, and has started light boxing in intervals as the muscles tone will help the injury.

Sorry this turned into a novel lol

I agree chikoboo there is no miracle fix, slowly and surely is the way to go….sounds like your doing well :) ?I still have a treat day every week I make sure im 100% good the rest of the week and work towards my treat day – now I find the treat day isn’t as exciting as it used to be …but it’s a lot easier to curb a craving and say to yourself you can have that on x day then never !. As you go along you will notice your cravings change the less bad food you have the less you actually crave it …..I think its important to remember you will have set backs to and not to beat yourself up about it and keep pushing forward if you slip up don’t give up just carry on and get better as you go along.

you do have to really want it though you really on get back what you work for , I work alongisde some really inspiring ladies who have all had incredible weight loss journeys through good nutrition and exercise and never giving up (even when they did sometimes they carried on) :)

   Sorry to hear about that surgeries can get in the way. The best I can recommend is eating clean and unprocessed. Some years back I was living in a small house where I couldn't really do workout vids and running outside would have attracted quite a bit of unwanted attention. So for four months while I was in that situation I watched what I ate. Lots of fish and raw veges and treated myself to a cheat day every fourth day. I practically eating the same thing every night. During the whole time I was doing that I didn't gain any weight despite not being able to excercise. My skin never looked better and my nails were so strong. I don't think I can do that again but it does work if you need to sit tight and can't excercise.

    Now I eat healthy and avoid gluten most days. I also try to workout six days a week and take one day off to do  what I want and eat what I want. People think I'm blessed with a good metabolism but really I just give maintaining it my best shot within the confines of a tight budget. Another thing I have heard is that swimming is gentler on your knees, ankles, joints than say running so I guess that's something you could ask your doctor about. Best of luck.

thanks for the info :)
It gets harder for me as I have anemia in Iron, so I cant rule out meat, and my mother has Cieliac (Allergy to Wheat or Gluten, she was diagnosed in the 40's) So there is a chaance if i rule gulten out of my diet i can speed up getting what my mum has, which sucks! Hope I skip that gene! I go to Physio every week for the past 6 months and nothing, My dad was a body builder so he knows all about the diets but no matter how much we try or swap them around with excersize it just doesn't budge, I try not to stand on that scale and go by that but by my measurments and maybe one or two cms will go but nothing that is to be happy about. I have tried the lemon detox drinks and nothing, I am on the Pill and they do say that you hold a lot more fluid/ gain weight but we have changed them up to the ones that dont hold as much so fingers crossed that will now work! I guess all I can do is keep at it and see how it all turns out. I am needing to loose close to 15KGs to be healthy again.

For sure don’t cut out meat if you have low iron – I dont not eat much meat not for losing weight purposes im just not a huge fan but if I get a craving for it I will eat it & I still love chicken and fish. 
I meant asking the physio what sort of exercise would be suitable or safe for you anything is better than nothing of course ?:)
Scales don’t mean that much in the sense that what I weigh and what someone else at the same height weighs is really not relevant theres bone structure and all sorts to take into account.
Lemon detox’s are not good for you, anything that requires drastic elimination or just drinking fluids isnt healthy in the long term if your honestly eating really good healthy clean and unprocessed foods and no junk and you cant shift anything then perhaps visit a nutrionist they will get you to write down everything you eat and take a look at your food and find a program that works for you and your body  type etc they work in with you so your own goals and needs are met ?
I have massive hormone issues so I know the pit falls of hormone problems well -   and water retention – hormones really do suck ?!! :)
You just have to keep it at and not let it consume you….as long as your healthy, or working towards being healthy then your already on the right track.
Sorry for the novels, I work closely with this sort of thing so its always interesting to me.
 

I appreciate all the help i can get :)

I've been dieting for years but while I can loose weight really quickly like say 25kgs in 4 months, I manage to put it back on in the same time and just end up bigger after it all. Now I have lost 23kgs in 13 months and instead of going on a restrictive diet to do that, I've been focusing on just eating mostly better but not depriving myself and just basic walking. I've only lost 5kgs since January so in the last couple of weeks, I've gotten back into walking more. My biggest downfall is portion sizes so I really need to cut back on what I have for dinner. Late night snacking is also one of my issues.
I want to lose weight and keep it off forever and it's taken me this long to realise that slow is definitely the best option.

Hmm my last post probably wasn't too helpful.
My advice is to take things slow start with one change like cutting out junk food and don't change anything else for at least a couple of weeks.
Excercise can be a scary thing, start with walking and just go around the block. I had to force myself to get out of the house the first couple of times but now I wake up thinking when can I fit my walk in as it makes me feel so much better mentally as well.
Give yourself rewards and make them attainable. Like say after 5kgs rather then 20kgs. And only think about that block of weight, I have heaps to lose but I'm just focusing on the next 5kgs otherwise it gets so overwhelming.

I definately agree with Rezee in making attainale goals, focusing on each block at a time. One of the things I found really helpful for me was recording what I eat, not in an obsessive way but to make me more mindful of what I put in my mouth. I really like the app My Fitness Pal as you can input your weight, your weight loss goal and the amount of weight you'd ideally like to loose (e.g. I've aimed for 0.5kgs as I see for me it's a more realistic, maintainable goal). Then you input the food you eat, and any exercise you do. I like this as it makes me more aware of what I'm eating, and often I'll find I'll give food that's higher in calories a miss because of it, plus it gives you a nutritional breakdown of what you've eaten which for me is really interesting. Yes it's calorie counting which is not for everyone, but I find it helpful myself.

Good luck!

Mine is a lifelong struggle too up & down always have to be conscious of it.. My tips would be:

- Eat beetroot, broccoli, spinach
- Keep a food diary if you can 
- Focus on a weekly goal not a long term one, you'll be able to be pleased with yourself every week! But also set medium & long term goals with non-food rewards to aim for (haircut, new dress, facial, makeup?)
- Buy yourself what treats you like (lollies/chocolate etc) but separate it into its recommended portion size (on the back) & let yourself have them. One portion of say chocolate isn't that bad, so if you can make it last you don't have to deprive yourself & it's a good reward
- Don't cut anything out, you'll end up binging.
- Make sure half of your dinner plate is non-starch veges
- No more than 2 slices of bread per day if you need it.

wow awesome feedback ladies. Ive been yoyo in weight all my life. From the time I started working out Ive lost 15kg. Im trying my best to eat healthy and exercise daily. I do have moments where I fail and have a piece of chocolate. The next day I try again. I never give up ever. 

Thanks so much for all the tips!! It really means a lot! Seeing last surgery was last Tuesday to remove metal work, I can only go up from here :)

I really wish you could 'like' posts on these forums. There have been so many lovely supportive suggestions. My best piece of advice is to not get too hung up on the scale each week. Some weeks you will drop a big amount for your body and other weeks the scale will hardly move. It's totally normal and just something our bodies do. Don't have a slow week and get completely disheartened thinking it's not working. It will be working you body is just recalibrating. Work at it and it will pay off!

I agree with the other ladies: weight doesn't show how fit you are. I remember this saying my high school physics teacher had- weight isn't how much fat you have or how fit you are, it's how attrctive the ground finds you! When you work out you're getting rid of fat but getting muscle which weigh way more. A tiny lump of muscle weights the same as a big chunk of fat. When I came to terms with this fact I was finally able to let go of counting those kilos and now I measure my waist and my thigh circumference as a reference. If you're desperate to drop pounds you can go on those cleanses like juice cleanse. That's where you have a ton of smoothies everyday and eat no solids. I think that speeds up your bowels or something but the downside is potential diarrhea. :)

Do away with having bathroom scales in your house. This can help to stop some of the issue of obsessing with how much weight has been lost.

Measure yourself (with a tape measure) instead if you want a gauge of some kind. Measure youself by how many sit ups, or how long you can pedal on a bike, or some other way of measuring your fitness. Measure time passing by how many books you have read and not days in dieting.

There are so many ways to become obsessed and this in itself can become rather unhealthy and be the thing that drags you down, The weight will never seem to come off quick enough - we are typically impatient creatures so learning to be patient and focus on other things can make the journey more manageable and not seem to be so unproductive.

Healthy food choices, healthy lifestyle, healthy relationships (including with yourself), healthy passtimes, healthy habits..... all of these make a difference.

I agree with the people who have said do away with the scales. Something I read today said "the scale can only give you a numerical reflection of your relationship with gravity" and I couldn't agree more. I guess the other thing that the scales give you is dissatisfcation when the number it says doesn't match the number you think it should say :(

Measure yourself with a tape measure if you feel that you need to have something numerical to compare against, this will give a better result of progress. If you rely solely on the scales you will reach a point where you begin to put weight on again because you will begin to build muscle through the exercise you do- the scales will tell you your heavier but your body will tell you your healthier and fitter.

I've also found that I have had the best results from exercise when I have used high intensity/low intensity exercises. For example, I would spend 1/2hr on the treadmill- I would run as fast as I could for 30seconds and then reduce that speed right down to slower than a normal walk for 1.5minutes and then keep repeating until the 1/2 hour was up. Those time frames or speeds can be adjusted depending on how your body handles it. For example, it may be that you start with 20seconds of intense running with 1.5minutes or just over walking at a casual stroll.

Everyone is going to respond to something different but the one thing I do know is that getting fit isn't something that happens overnight

myfitnesspal.com

I lost 30kg in 360 days last year, have kept it off since December, and didn't give anything up. It's calorie counting, and it works. I'm also severely hypothyroid and have been told repeatedly I can't lose weight... tell that to my newly skinny self ;)

I've found that low carb eating is really great :) and as some people have said already, if you go to the gym you may be loosing fat but gaining muscle so the number on the scale may not change much

Losing weight is one of the hardest things to do and with you having an injury it does make things more complicated, I feel so sorry for you :(

with what I have learned thru my weightloss battles and knowledge from personal trainers and good old mum is: Weightloss should be 20 % exercise and 80 food intake.

have you done a detox lately?
that can play a huge part in you not losing any weight, eating and drinking badly can clog your digestive system, it's amazing how much our body keeps inside until you detox, you can google liver cleanse recipe for a cheaper at home solution but I do warn you it doesn't taste nice at all, or you can buy a detox in capsule or powder form from online or health store.

everyone loses weight differently you just have to find which one works for you, you are doing amazing still trying , I really admire your persistence :) if you have Instagram I'm still doing my weightloss journey and you might be able to find tips and tricks you could add, it's 100poundstogo100, keep us updated with your journey xxx





 

for me the key has been realising how much sugar was in what i was eating and replacing those foods with fruit, honestly the best way I ever lost weight was cutting down my sugar intake and my carb intake. It did take some re-eudcating on how to read the labels properly and realising that if it doesn't say "sugar" on the label that there are many other names that sugar can be called on labels, learning those helped a lot in keeping my caloire intake down. You might find the myfitnesspal app helpful in giving you an idea of approximate calories for alot of foods that you may not have realised before. Fisrt try using the app for a week or two without a set goal in mind and just record what food you eat, could give you a better idea of what might be going on with your eating habits little things that you may not have noticed or even know about may be revealed. Yoga and pilates have been my best method for slimming down when i stick to them. the thing about cardio is it's to help improve your fitness and help you gain strength which isn't what a lot of women are looking for. Starting out slow with pilates and doing it regularly and progressing at my own pace was the best way to keep myself going. don't go hard out to start with, find a beginners programme and stick with it for ages,(6 months) until it gets really easy then maybe think about switching it up. There is no quick about good weight loss, you need to be prepared for this to take at least six months to see a decent difference in your lifestyle and diet changes so you need to prepare yourself mentally for a long term goal and not a short term one.  

I would say my best tips (well they worked for me I lost over 25kg and have pretty much maintained it for 6 years). I cut all oil and butter from my diet, and i walk. Weather it was a 2 hour walk for a 5minute power walk. I wish you all the luck on your weightloss journey :)

I have lost almost ten kilos since last november (slow and steady wins the race!). I carried my extra weight for years and went through many half-hearted attempts to lose it and always gave up. My number one tip is be patient. Sometimes even when making the right changes and sticking to it, you won't see results for a few months. For me it was three months before I noticed I looked any different in the mirror. I used the myfitnesspal app to keep to a daily calorie intake (don't use their calorie recommendation though, it's routinely too low - I used scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) But the change I believe had the biggest effect was cutting the carbs. New research is coming out everyday recommending a low-carb diet for weightloss. I cut out bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and baked goods from my normal diet, only eating them occasionally. I never felt hungry, was still able to eat typical non-diet foods like meat including bacon, regular milk, cheese, creamy salad dressings etc and the weight kept coming off. You have to replace those carb-heavy foods in your diet with more vegetables but honestly it's a way of eating that is much more sustainable than extreme calorie cutting. Regarding exercise, it's true what they say you have to find something that works for you. I use Jillian Michaels exercise DVDs but some people might hate doing that. Try a few different things you never know what will click. Good luck!

It isn't easy... but stick with it. :)  For me something that's worked really well is cutting out sugar. I couldn't believe what a difference it made! You could also look at getting a FitBit - I just got one and it's super motivating, plus you can track your calorie intake vs. your activity output.  

I struggle with losing weight too .I have cut down on sugar as i have a really sweet tooth and have salads with no dressing everyn day and try to have a smaller portion for dinner but i just seem to stay the same.I walk a lot but do sit at the computor all day which probably doesn't help