Easiest diet for someone who hates dieting & excercise

[Anonymous]

I gained 40lbs due to medication (steroids for 2 years, IVF hormones for 4), pregnancy, stress, not having time to excercise and generally not really caring. Ive never been this heavy. My husband also gained 30 lbs - he says it’s sympathy weight.

I wish I had the stamina to go for all 40 lbs but I think 15 is realistic.

What is the easiest diet out there that won’t drive me crazy? Something simple...

Ps: Sugar is my favorite thing in the whole world..if I could cut the craving down I might be ok.

[Anonymous]

Intermittent fasting. Either eat only during an 8 hour period daily or pick 2 days (not consecutive) and eat only 500 calories (broth, veggies, some protein) - google it as there is lots of info out there. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

You're going to have a tough time if sugar is your favorite thing. I recently have been able to lose weight without "dieting" by cutting out sugar. I liked sugar a lot too, but have found the less I have, the less I crave. I'm a picky eater and not a great planner so most diets are hard for me to stick to. Instead, I've tried focusing on making better decisions and avoiding eating when I'm not hungry (snacking on the baby's food, free donuts in the office, etc.).

My rough plan: aim for more protein with every meal; 100 oz of water a day, no milk (I had a 2 latte a day habit), no dessert, no mindless snacking

I've also been having a "fab four smoothie" every day as a breakfast meal replacement. Who knows about the science behind it, but it makes sense, and I have seen results. http://bewellbykelly.com/bewellsmoothie/

Good luck! I set a small weight loss goal up front, and gained more motivation as I hit it.

[Anonymous]

15:11 here-- I also try not to eat after 8 pm

[Anonymous]

You could do Whole30 and watch your calories. After the first two days, the sugar cravings will go away.

[Anonymous]

Slow carb diet
Weight watchers freestyle (new system)

[Anonymous]

Don't eat ANY SUGAR from 8 am - 6 pm. This includes fruit, diet 'sweets', sodas, BBQ sauce, ketchup, etc. Nothing with more than 2 grams of sugar.

Anything goes after 6 pm - but I think you'll find that you don't really want it that much after a week of this.

Keep track of your progress with little magnets - every day you don't eat sugar you get a fun little magnet. I got some cute ones on Amazon, and before I knew it I had 4 co-workers asking to join my 'challenge' and we've made it a lot of fun. We're going on 4 months now!

[Anonymous]

Intermittent Fasting is honestly the easiest! It takes away any temptation to overeat because you aren't eating at all for long stretches of time - for example 16hrs starting at 7pm, then not eating again until 11am the next day.

But also this doesn't mean you stuff your face with crappy food while you're allowed to eat. But you can eat normal food.

[Anonymous]

Shangri-La Diet

You just need to have 2x 2 hour blocks where you do not eat (except for flavorless oil). It works amazingly well to curb appetite without doing anything else.

[Anonymous]

This is soooo boring and not what anyone wants to hear, but just make slow lifestyle adjustments rather than diet. It worked for me. I went on SSRIs and gained 40 lbs. Now I'm back to my normal weight. Exercise (especially running and intense cardio) is super helpful for me not just for weight management (gives you a little more wiggle room, makes you more in touch with your body), but to keep my brain/mental health in check--why I needed the SSRIs in the first place. But I understand that exercising a lot is not something everyone has time for in their life.

In terms of adjustments:
1) Pay attention to when you are full. For me when I gained weight on meds, some of what my body unlearned (or was biochemically off in some way?) was to listen to some of its satiety cues. I had to relearn to stop eating when I was full. Just try to not be starving, but not over-full most of the time. That used to be normal. When I went on meds, it was neurologically mis-regulated somehow.
2) Don't cut anything out, just try to get the majority of your calories from healthy foods (vegetables, fruits, lean meats, legumes, whole grains, you know the drill, what people claim is healthy!). Have an occasional cookie, cake, or chips or whatever, but limit it to a small amount of your daily calories.
3) To make this easier, try to keep sweets, etc. out of the house. I find that there are so many sweets and chips, etc. at work, at social events, and special times when I go to a restaurant, that I get my fix without having them at home. If you do have sweets at home, try to have stuff that's a little less calorically dense with more nutritional value, like 80% dark chocolate, chocolate covered almonds, or dates. Or opt for a piece of fruit.
4) Cutback on drinking at home (if you tend to be a glass or two of wine drinker to unwind), and most of it socially.
5) Try to replace white carbs with whole grain versions, like whole wheat bread, pasta, brown rice, quinoa. It's just generally healthier and will make you feel better. Don't do something dramatic like eat zero carbs, because that sucks. And don't freak out if you eat white bread on your sandwich at a catered event, or at a dinner party. It's more important what you do most of the time.
6) Pay attention to portion size. Portions are huge, especially for small women. It's easier to just stop eating when you are full when you get more in touch with #1, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is soooo boring and not what anyone wants to hear, but just make slow lifestyle adjustments rather than diet. It worked for me. I went on SSRIs and gained 40 lbs. Now I'm back to my normal weight. Exercise (especially running and intense cardio) is super helpful for me not just for weight management (gives you a little more wiggle room, makes you more in touch with your body), but to keep my brain/mental health in check--why I needed the SSRIs in the first place. But I understand that exercising a lot is not something everyone has time for in their life.

In terms of adjustments:
1) Pay attention to when you are full. For me when I gained weight on meds, some of what my body unlearned (or was biochemically off in some way?) was to listen to some of its satiety cues. I had to relearn to stop eating when I was full. Just try to not be starving, but not over-full most of the time. That used to be normal. When I went on meds, it was neurologically mis-regulated somehow.
2) Don't cut anything out, just try to get the majority of your calories from healthy foods (vegetables, fruits, lean meats, legumes, whole grains, you know the drill, what people claim is healthy!). Have an occasional cookie, cake, or chips or whatever, but limit it to a small amount of your daily calories.
3) To make this easier, try to keep sweets, etc. out of the house. I find that there are so many sweets and chips, etc. at work, at social events, and special times when I go to a restaurant, that I get my fix without having them at home. If you do have sweets at home, try to have stuff that's a little less calorically dense with more nutritional value, like 80% dark chocolate, chocolate covered almonds, or dates. Or opt for a piece of fruit.
4) Cutback on drinking at home (if you tend to be a glass or two of wine drinker to unwind), and most of it socially.
5) Try to replace white carbs with whole grain versions, like whole wheat bread, pasta, brown rice, quinoa. It's just generally healthier and will make you feel better. Don't do something dramatic like eat zero carbs, because that sucks. And don't freak out if you eat white bread on your sandwich at a catered event, or at a dinner party. It's more important what you do most of the time.
6) Pay attention to portion size. Portions are huge, especially for small women. It's easier to just stop eating when you are full when you get more in touch with #1, though.

Agree with all of the above. I've done a ton of different diets. . . pretty much everything out there except whole 30. You can do the kind of diet where you cut out major food groups for a few weeks or so, but eventually most people backslide because they start feeling deprived. The only thing I would cut out in the beginning is sugary soda and sugar in coffee/tea if you're used to adding a ton of it. Other than that, I agree with allowing yourself a treat like a small piece of chocolate or cookie (maybe after you've eaten so you're not hungry and it doesn't spike your blood sugar). Also make sure you get plenty of protein to keep you full.