Breakfast is extremely important for fat loss, because it gets your metabolism going again after a period of 'fasting' (while you were asleep).

People who eat breakfast burn more calories through the course of the entire day compared to people who don't eat breakfast.

Originally Posted by Piggeldy Paula:
Thanks, that was a helpful post :).

Mm, the thing is... I want to be healthy, but my main aim here is really just the weightloss. I'm never going to be someone who eats a lot of salad and things like that - so I'm really just concerned about whether the diet is good for weight loss.

I also have a killer sweet tooth, you see :(.

I hear ya. I found though, that by cutting as much of the processed junk and sugar out of my diet as possible and by eating as many of these superfoods as I can each day, I don't even crave sugar anymore. I don't need to have a full spoon of sugar in my tea, I don't need to chomp down on a chocolate bar or biscuit with my lunches.

Heck, even diet sodas are much too sickly sweet for me to drink now!

You need to find a healthy lifestyle that will suit you for the rest of your life! Getting these habits in now will save you a lot of trouble later on in life! By only wanting to lose weight, you're not actually in the right mindset for permanent weight loss. Many people who just want to be thin will learn that they cannot enjoy that take-away once a week and be able to maintain their weight. I have made a lot of sacrifices for the sake of my weightloss and lifestyle changing journey. It is tough, especially as a student, but I find the benefits are soooo awesome!

I'm able to focus and concentrate more, I can go for longer walks with my dogs and DH. I can do more things and accomplish more than I ever could!

I allow myself one mini treat a day. This can be something as simple as two or three dairymilk buttons or a single blue ribbon bar. Some days, I even forget that I've not had my little treat! :carrot:

Best of luck! :hug: You can do it! The lifestyle changes are totally worth it! :)

Originally Posted by Shmead:
This is a formula for a lifetime of yo-yo dieting: lose 30 lbs here, gain 50 back, lose 40 lbs, gain 60 back, lose 40 lbs, gain 80 back. By 40, you'll daydream of being the weight you are now.

Unless there's some weird, one-time underlying cause to your current weight, it's your normal way of eating that got you there. If you diet for a few months and loose the weight and then go back to your normal way of eating, you'll gain it right back. You have to find a new "normal", you have to find a system you can stick to forever. This requires being open-minded about the sort of person you are. It does not mean you have to deprive yourself forever. But you do have to find foods you like that will satisfy you and that won't pack on the pounds. Most of us end up at vegetables as the only long term solution to this problem.

Again, this isn't to say you can't still have chocolate and ice cream and pastries. But you probably can't have them every day and maintain a weight of 120. You've got to find healthy day-to-day stuff you can eat for a lifetime, and that takes being open minded, looking beyond the stufff you've always assumed is the normal way to eat.

Hm, but before I started this diet I was putting on weight at perhaps the rate of a few pounds a year - maybe up to half a stone - I don't remember how much I weighed when I was very young, but I know I was about 10 stone when I was somewhere around 15.

So:

1. I wouldn't be planning to go completely back to how I ate before, but even if I did, and then dieted to lose 6lbs a year... it wouldn't be awful.

2. I've taken up running, and, hopefully, this will help me keep it down.

Originally Posted by Casandra:
I hear ya. I found though, that by cutting as much of the processed junk and sugar out of my diet as possible and by eating as many of these superfoods as I can each day, I don't even crave sugar anymore. I don't need to have a full spoon of sugar in my tea, I don't need to chomp down on a chocolate bar or biscuit with my lunches.

Heck, even diet sodas are much too sickly sweet for me to drink now!

You need to find a healthy lifestyle that will suit you for the rest of your life! Getting these habits in now will save you a lot of trouble later on in life! By only wanting to lose weight, you're not actually in the right mindset for permanent weight loss. Many people who just want to be thin will learn that they cannot enjoy that take-away once a week and be able to maintain their weight. I have made a lot of sacrifices for the sake of my weightloss and lifestyle changing journey. It is tough, especially as a student, but I find the benefits are soooo awesome!

I'm able to focus and concentrate more, I can go for longer walks with my dogs and DH. I can do more things and accomplish more than I ever could!

I allow myself one mini treat a day. This can be something as simple as two or three dairymilk buttons or a single blue ribbon bar. Some days, I even forget that I've not had my little treat! :carrot:

Best of luck! :hug: You can do it! The lifestyle changes are totally worth it! :)

I generally do that, too - one Choc Ice a day, which is about 130 calories, although I sometimes try not to have it. However, I know that when I finish the diet, I'll probably eat more sweet stuff - for example, having dessert when in a restaurant occasionally, etc. I don't mean that I'll totally go off the rails when I'm done - I've never been in the habit of a takeaway once a week, or anything like that.

Originally Posted by Shmead:
By 40, you'll daydream of being the weight you are now.

This is so true! I'm 46 and I just want to get back to the weight I was when I started dieing in my early 20's. I never really lost big amounts of weight at a time, just 5-10 pounds, then I'd gain back those plus 1 or 2 more.

So, develop a good healthy eating plan now while you are young so you don't get into the yo-yo dieting cycle. It's very hard to break.

Maybe if breakfast isn't your thing, something more healthy like a breakfast shake with milk, fruit and maybe some fiber supplemnt like Benefiber. I've heard that spinach mixed with fruit doesn't taste like spinach...I don't know I've never tried it.

Or make up some little egg cupcake like things so you could grab one-they are small but packed with protein. You can make them ahead and freeze them individually. Just grab and microwave.

Or just eat breakfast a little later in the morning?

Good luck
Sarah in MD