How to lose weight

Anni losing weight

If you want to know how to lose weight, I hope I can help. I admit I’ve tried every diet under the sun. Some worked and some didn’t. But now in my fifties, I can honestly say that I have lost weight 55lbs to be precise and have learned not just how to lose weight, but how to keep it off too.

Actually I’ve just realised that I said some of the diets I tried didn’t work and that’s not strictly true. They all worked. Well, they all worked in that whenever I went on a diet, I lost weight. But I was, up until the last 5 years, a typical yoyo dieter!

I am now at my ideal weight and have kept it in check (within 7lbs) for years. People don’t think I have a weight problem. But I do – I have a naturally fat personality. It’s just that I’ve learned how to lose weight and most importantly how to keep it under control.

I have learned so much about my body, my metabolism, my psychology, my danger triggers and what works for me. And I use this knowledge to maintain the results of all the hard work that finally shifted 55lbs. In truth, I’ve probably lost the same 55lbs 20 times and regained it!

Here’s how to lose weight Anni style:

What I ate to lose weight

So, my last full on diet, the one where I lost 55lbs and have since kept it off, was in three parts.

Part One – January – June

The first part started at the end of January through till the end of June the same year and I went from 178lbs to 135lbs calorie counting. I started that momentus diet by using this willpower trick to get me in the right frame of mind. Don’t forget, I’m a seaasoned dieter, so I know how to lose weight and already knew what I’d eat to lose weight. I allowed myself between 1000 and 1200 calories a day.

I work full time and don’t consider myself a cook, so I devised a diet using healthy food low in fat and calories. Fruit, vegetables, baked potatoes, lean chicken, plain rice, low calorie snacks etc. My main meal of the day was around 500 calories, lunch was 3-400 calories and snacks made up the rest (I rarely eat breakfast – and never have).

The summer break

Then I had a bit of fun, partying and going to BBQ’s and meals out etc letting my hair and my diet guard down. It was a great summer, full of laughter and friends – oh yes and food and wine. I didn’t go mad and inbetween the parties I tried hard to get back on my diet, sometimes successfully for a few days or even a week at a time. I was genuinely surprised that at the end of August I’d only put on 5lbs.

Part two – September – December

It was hard to get back on my diet wagon. In the end I used a self hypnosis app for a week to get my willpower back and started my first low carb diet. It worked really well and I was soon back to 135lbs and by the 24th December, I hit 127lbs!

Low carbing was new to me so I read everything I could about it and how to lose weight eating high protien. I soon became a self taught expert. And immersed myself in low carbing – I avoided carbs like the plague. I discovered unsweetened almond milk and still prefer it now and never drink cows milk unless I have to.

My main meals were a few vegetables, in particular, broccoli and cauliflower and spinach with chicken, tuna, salmon, liver (I’ve always loved liver) and a little red meat. Snacks were harder as I was trying to keep to under 25gms of carbs per day. I found some high protein snack bars that did the trick though and actually found it quite easy to stick to this rather strict self imposed regime.

The Holidays!

Then came Christmas and New Year and all that goes with it and by mid January, I found myself back up to 136lbs and by April I was nudging 140lbs! Every day I questioned if I really did know how to lose weight.

Part three – April – September

By the late Spring, I’d gained water weight and extra fat after coming off my low carb regime and over indulging. After a week on the Sacred Heart diet to get me started, I took control again. And decided to go a bit slower and do my tried and tested calorie counting again. Instead of eating 1000 – 1200 calories per day, I allowed myself 1250 – 1450 calories each day. This was also a start towards my maintenance calorie levels.

At this stage my rate of weight loss slowed right down to an average of 1lb a week. I experienced plateaus, but knew they were just momentary blips along the way, so carried on as I was.

By September I was down to 123lb and I loved it. Finally I was tiny and people really noticed. I felt good and looked good – on my wedding anniversary, I got off the train in London and was appoached by a stranger in his early 30’s, who invited me out for a meal that evening!

I’m no cougar, but my ego was seriously boosted! I of course declined graciously, but boy was that a moment to validate all that hard work! I vowed that day – no more yoyo dieting.

And Now

That was a good few years ago now and the thing is, there were only a few things I did that were substantially different to what I’d done in the 20-30 years before.

I took breaks from my diet, but didn’t stop mentally
Even during the breaks, I continued to exercise
The breaks slowed down my weight loss, which gave me chance to fully accept the new me as the real one! And I found not only my new goal weight but a new fat weight.

Now, I still have the cycle of diet and diet breaks, but the diet part lasts just 2 – 4 weeks depending on the length of the break. And that’s because I catch any weight gain fairly soon after it starts. Danger times are still the same as they always were, Christmas, Holidays, nights out and stress filled periods. I always exercise though and when I go on a mini diet, I either use my tried and tested calorie deficit method, or a short sharp boost like the Sacred Heart diet. But my typical maintenance calories are between 1850 and 2200, depending on my activity levels.

The exercise I did to lose weight

In the first May of my last full diet, I bought a FitBit (since then I’ve owned no less than 5 FitBits and never go anywher without it). I started walking that May and haven’t stopped! I found out that my average step before I got the walking bug was 2,500 steps a day! Now it’s at least 10,000. If there is one single thing that has helped me maintain my weight, it is undoubtedly walking. I’m not sure how much walking alone helped me to lose weight, but I gradually becam more and more active. Weekly kettlebells and Pilates classes and dancing in my kitchen became part of my routine! I also took the stairs whenever I could and still do. Five days a week at work, I climb at least 25 floors and I never take the lift. I’m fitter now in my fifties than I’ve ever been. The combination of all this activitity means I have increased my metabolism and my TDEE. So I can eat more before I put on weight.

Tools that helped me lose weight

Weight loss calculators & charts
Weight loss planners
My FitBit
My Aria Scales (they help me measure my body fat and link to my FitBit app)
Self hypnosis apps
MyFitnessPal (food tracking app)

How to lose weight for yourself

Without writing war and peace it’s impossible to tell you everything I did to lose weight in one article. You’ll find tips throughout this site though & I hope they help you find the best way for you to lose your excess weight and keep it off.