Hello everyone! I'm new here but have been battling my weight since I was very young. I'm currently at 178lbs but have a goal weight of 140, and if I could lose even more than that I'd be really happy! I'm 5'2 with a large frame. I was once 8 stone (about 112lbs) and that didn't look right on me, but the weight has crept up over the years and I just can't seem to lose it. Following Thanksgiving, I am starting my diet (again). I'm going to follow a high protein diet with lots of green tea and lemon water, but what can anyone else offer in the way of speeding up weight loss (apart from exercise)? Any help is much appreciated!! Thanks all

Hello!

Exercise doesn't necessarily speed up weight loss, in fact it can slow it down. That's not to say it's not a great thing in moderation, or even in large quantities if you know what you're doing. Do eat non-starchy vegetables as well!

You can only speed up weight loss to a point and if you stress about it, you can cause it to slow down due to cortisol. Also, hormones in general play a part in what happens and when. You can't directly control your weight, so just focus on what you can control, which is what you eat and how much you worry about things and how much you exercise because it's good for you.

But in general, yes, a high protein diet with restricted carbohydrate and fat intake will produce the fastest results.

Good luck! :-)

Thanks SparklyBunny, I'll try to not stress about it! I've recently started working again after almost two years out of work, so I think the stress of that is causing me to comfort eat and also as you mentioned about the cortisol, probably causing me to gain more weight. I'll keep on with the high protein diet. Thank you!

Hi CherryDarling! In the first few weeks of trying to lose weight, people tend to have a big whoosh of weight loss, but it's mostly water, which is fine since any weight loss feels great at that point! No matter what you do, you can really only lose about 2 lbs of fat per week, so just be patient, stay on plan, and all the weight you want to lose will come off in time! Good luck!