- How to lose those last few stubborn pounds when you’re on a diet
Lisa Williams© Provided by The Telegraph Lisa Williams
Last year I lost a stone and a half of lockdown weight; slowly, surely and satisfyingly. I took the best of two diet plans, bought a bike and took up tennis. But, after initially making clear to the visiting weight gain that it would not be welcome as a permanent guest, I kept the music playing and the drinks topped up. Unsurprisingly, the remaining half a stone wouldn’t leave.
An annual health check confirmed a sneaking suspicion. “You’re in good shape,” the doctor told me, “but you could do with losing seven pounds”. She was referring to where I landed on the body mass index (BMI) chart, a calculation that works out if you’re in a healthy weight range for your height. It’s a blunt tool that doesn’t take in factors such as bone density or muscle-to-fat ratio, nor any other indicators of health. If it had suited me I would have ignored it, but it only confirmed to me what I already knew: more effort was needed.
But where do you start when there are seven stubborn pounds to go? My problem was that, psychologically, I wasn’t at the start, I was at the end. The novelty of meal planning, the slow cooker and sugar-free muesli had worn off. Besides, I’d put the time in; welcomed the changes, made the sacrifices and had the before-and-after photos to prove it. I’m slimmer and fitting back into pre-pandemic jeans... can life go back to normal now? Writer Zoe Williams once put this phenomenon as, “Goodbye muffin top, hello muffin!” John Dicey, co-author of Allen Carr’s Easyway to Quit Emotional Eating book, suggests I’ve fallen into a common psychological trap of becoming “marooned” (macarooned?) between two lifestyles.
“Someone who has achieved amazing weight loss can sometimes flounder as they get within 7lb-10lb of their target weight,” he says. “They feel so much better, look so much better, and are close to their goal – so allow their guard and attitude to slip. ‘Treats’ start creeping into their diet and, although they might not gain weight as a result, they become marooned; not having quite made it to where they want to be.”
It’s a hard lesson to learn that life, and eating habits, can’t just go back to normal once you’ve nearly hit your target. If anything, it gets harder, especially compared to those heady first days of a new regime, when enthusiasm is high and the weight on the scales goes low. There’s a scientific reason for this, as well as a psychological one.
“The more weight you need to lose, the easier it is to do so initially. This is because your metabolism is revved to support your heavier weight and therefore burns more calories,” explains Dr Alona Pulde of nutrition app Lifesum. “When we begin a weight loss journey, we naturally switch from calorie-dense foods [such as chocolate and crisps] to more calorie-dilute ones [such as fruit and vegetables]. Our body takes a bit longer to catch up metabolically, so it will keep going at a higher metabolic rate and burn off more weight initially. However, as you begin to lose weight, your body responds in kind, needing fewer calories to function over time. The closer you get to your goal weight, the less fuel your body needs.”
She points to my exact challenge; once you’ve already made all the cuts to calories you’re willing to make, it could be that you simply run out of the road. Given that I barely drink alcohol anymore, exercise 3-4 times a week and long ago swapped toasted cheese sandwiches for much more wholesome equivalents, the next logical step would be to cut things like having the odd tea round biscuit or sometimes having seconds. Not a world I wish to live in.
Tennis was one of the activities that helped Lisa on her weight loss journey - Jeff Gilbert© Provided by The Telegraph Tennis was one of the activities that helped Lisa on her weight loss journey - Jeff Gilbert
So what can I do to get over this seven-pound slump? Dicey suggests that when people whose weight loss has plateaued find themselves eating more refined sugar or processed food, they should try “retraining” their mindset.
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He says: “It’s important to change your relationship with the foods that cause you weight gain. If you continue to think of them as being desirable then you remain tempted by them – but if you can understand that, particularly with refined sugar and processed/starchy carbs, there’s an addictive element… then you can begin to acknowledge that, rather than losing something, you’re getting free from it. That sense of freedom is something that stays with you forever.”
But if you can’t have your cake and eat it, what can you eat at tea time?
“Choose nutrient-dense foods!” exclaims Dr Alona Pulde, suggesting more fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes and whole grains, not just for snacks but to create more filling versions of your favourite recipes such as waffles, pancakes or burritos. “These are the ingredients richest in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals – ingredients that promote health and wellbeing and support healthy weight loss. Whole plant foods… are full of fibre and water and help appropriately shut off our hunger signals and reset our satiation point.”
Pulde is the lead doctor on Lifesum, an app that describes itself as “like having a personal nutritionist in your pocket”. As with many other apps, it contains lots of recipe ideas and specific meal plans, such as “go vegan for a week” or “sugar detox”. It works out a daily calorie goal for healthy weight loss and lets you track your meals for calories. The difference to many other apps in this space is that it gives you a nutritional breakdown too, telling you if you’ve hit targets for healthy protein, saturated fat and salt intake, among others.
I’m finding it quite useful for forward-planning meals. For example, once I input a homemade tuna pasta sauce with wholewheat pasta and waited for the app equivalent of a round of applause. Too many carbs, it scolded. I reduced the pasta serving by half. Not enough fat, it suggested. I added in a serving of avocado. Too many calories, it continued. I reduced the amount of pasta sauce. Not enough protein, it nagged, so I added a dollop of natural yogurt.
It was quite a weird plate of food, I’ll say. But it was nutritionally balanced and it did fill me up. When I signed up to the app, I filled in a quiz about my diet and lifestyle; the report said I was generally healthy but I should eat more fish and do more strength training. Personal trainer Elizabeth Davies, who runs the online strength and conditioning programme LIFT, agrees.
“Resistance training (along with sufficient protein intake) can help us to build and maintain muscle. Muscle is metabolically active tissue. At any given weight, the more muscle you have, and the less fat, the higher your metabolic rate will be.
“Many people with a weight loss goal tend to focus exclusively on cardio exercise, thinking that this will burn more calories and therefore help them to reach their target. It might be useful to reframe your weight loss goal as a fat loss goal. We want to preserve our precious muscle mass! You can use your bodyweight, bands or free weights to provide the resistance, but the key is to train all the main muscles, ideally twice per week, and to work at a level that represents a challenge for you.”
And, if that doesn’t encourage you, she also recommends a bit of reframing.
She says: “There is a lot of focus on weight as a measure of health and fitness, but there are other measures which are really worthy of focus too: increased strength, increased muscle mass, increased energy, better sleep, improved mood, fewer aches and pains, and being able to complete activities of daily living with greater ease. Sure, your weight loss may slow down or stop, but you may continue to see improvements in these areas. Notice them and celebrate them!”
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- How to lose weight without cutting any food from your diet: It's 'as simple as that'
Fitness expert Hayley Madigan and a calorie counting app
Weight loss: How to lose weight without cutting food from your diet (Image: GETTY/INSTAGRAM/HAYLEYMADIGAN)
Hayley Madigan is a health, body confidence and fitness guru who preaches healthy living and loving yourself. She shares her expertise on her Instagram account @hayleymadiganfitness where she has almost half a million followers.
She had a simple message for dieters. Hayley told Express.co.uk: "In order to lose weight, we need to consume fewer calories than our bodies burn.
"If we eat more calories than we burn then we put weight on, it is as simple as that."
However, cutting out and limiting food is not the way to tackle weight loss, Hayley - who recently detailed her favourite weight loss breakfast to keep you "fuller for longer" - said.
She went on: "It is important to note that no foods need to be cut from your diet when on a weight loss journey.
READ MORE: Breakfast to keep you 'fuller for longer': 'Curb hunger' while in a 'calorie deficit'
Hayley Madigan posing in a bikini
Weight loss: Hayley Madigan is a health, body confidence and fitness guru (Image: INSTAGRAM/HAYLEY MADIGAN)
"From research and my own personal experience, when we restrict the foods we love, we tend to end up binging on them which causes an unhealthy relationship with food and makes any diet unsustainable."
So, what makes weight loss healthy and sustainable?
Hayley said: "A healthy weight loss journey is about incorporating all foods, especially the ones we enjoy and adding in selected foods that are important for our overall health while maintaining a calorie deficit.
"Food freedom is one of the best ways to enjoy your journey to weight loss and a healthier, happier you."
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How can someone eat fewer calories without cutting out food?
Hayley said: "To support a calorie deficit, it is sensible to reduce foods or meals that are calorie-dense, especially if you know you overeat them or can’t control yourself around them.
"For example, almonds contain over 600 calories per 100g, but they are also a great food to eat as they contain Vitamin E, healthy fats and protein.
"However in order to stick to a calorie deficit, you would ideally need to consume a low quantity such as 40g or a palm-size of almonds.
"Therefore, if you think you are eating healthily but don’t understand why you aren’t losing weight, it may be down to your portion sizes."
INFOGRAPHIC: The top 10 calorie-burning exercises
Fitness: The top 10 calorie-burning exercises (Image: EXPRESS.CO.UK)
The expert discussed her favourite breakfast for staying full until lunch.
She said: "When thinking about what to consume for breakfast, you want to make sure you firstly, enjoy it, and secondly, eat a meal that is high in protein in order to keep you fuller for longer.
"My go-to breakfast is a bowl of oats with Bulk Peanut Butter and a shake made with one scoop of Bulk Pure Whey Protein, a handful of frozen berries and one cup of water.
"This is a great example of a high protein breakfast that sets me up for the day, keeping me full while adding in slow-release carbohydrates and fibre from the oats, and antioxidant properties from the berries."
A woman eating cereal
Weight loss: Cutting out and limiting food is not the way to tackle weight loss, Hayley said (Image: GETTY)
Another weight loss guru, Dr. Micahel Mosley shared his recipe for cauliflower rice.
He told followers: "I have fallen in love with cauliflower rice.
"You simply grate some cauliflower and heat in microwave for one minute.
"Low carb, low calories, packed with nutrients, cheap and very tasty. Great for soaking up sauce."
03.How to self-hypnotise yourself to lose weight, quit smoking or reduce stress
“About 99% of therapies focus on the conscious mind, but 90% of the mind is unconscious. It’s like if someone says they want to lose weight, and the answer is to stop eating food, it’s only addressing 10% of the problem. That’s not a conscious problem, it’s an unconscious problem," says psychologist Jason O’Callaghan.
Speaking to RSVP, Jason explains: “Hypnotherapy is a language of the unconscious mind, of the voice in your head. The voice that tells you you’re not good enough, that makes you doubt yourself; ‘I’m not successful enough, I’ll never lose weight, or quit smoking or stop drinking, I don’t deserve happiness’.
“Hypnosis talks directly to that voice in your mind and it learns through repetition, just like how you learned your A,B,C’s, through repetition you can change the way that voice speaks to you.
“If the problem is bereavement or marriage counselling, then other forms of therapy will help you work through that, but if it’s an unconscious problem like stress, anxiety or depression, the key is speaking the right language”.
Find your balance
Life is all about balance and anything to the extreme is cause for concern, even if they are healthy habits like exercise and diet. If you are overeating, not eating enough, not sleeping enough, or sleeping too much, it may lead to an unhealthy mindset.
Use hypnosis as one tool in your arsenal of healthy habits. For example. It’s proven that going for a walk everyday, no matter the weather, will reduce anxiety by about 50%.
A good psychological tip we recommend to people feeling down is to plan a perfect day for yourself. Either take a day off work or schedule it on a weekend and from start to finish plan a day to just do all of the things you enjoy.
I also think journaling is one of the most important things we can do in terms of self progression. Writing all of your goals down and planning how you intend to get there is everything, in my opinion.
Think of it like going on a holiday, booking your flights, picking the hotel, having something to look forward to, buying the clothes and packing your suitcase is half of the enjoyment. Use that same mindset towards planning your goals.
Before you start
Before taking on any kind of therapy, including hypnosis, it’s really important that you are willing to change and to put in the work. Whether it’s improving your confidence or reducing anxiety or finding love, you have got to want to change.
Setting a clear hypnotic suggestion is important for success. It should be positive, confident, realistic and set in the present tense.
For example: “I am calm” or “I am relaxed” instead of saying, “I am not anxious.”
Be realistic with intentions like: “I do not crave cigarettes” verus “I will never smoke again”.
Visualise how you feel when you reach your goal, what you look like, your surroundings, be as detailed as possible.
Jason O'Callaghan by City Headshots Dublin Put in the work
Hypnosis has the unique ability of helping people to cope with stress and anxiety by encouraging your body to activate its natural relaxation response.
Like anything in life, in order to achieve results, you need to commit yourself. Practice makes perfect and hypnosis is a skill that can be honed through patience, commitment and consistency. In order to see results you need to commit to about 20 minutes everyday.
Is hypnosis right for you?
The main drawback of hypnosis, or any therapy, is the expense. It’s expensive to see a therapist, it can be anywhere between €50 to €100 per session. But with hypnosis you can do a season for €150 that is recorded and you can repeat it daily for years. There are lots of free samples online where you can try it at home first before seeing a professional.
How to self-hypnotise
Step 1: Sit back or lie down in a comfortable position and quiet location and find a focal point to focus your attention on. Give yourself at least 20 minutes of peace and quiet.
Step 2: Set a clear intention for the hypnotic suggestion.
Step 3: Start inhaling and exhaling deep and slow breaths through your nose and out through your mouth. Focus on relaxing any tension in your body so that you can feel yourself sinking further into comfort.
Step 4: Affirm your relaxed state by speaking to yourself and repeating versions of the mantra: “As I count to three, I shall go deeper into a profound, hypnotic state; I will be more relaxed on the count of three.”
Then count to three, repeating the command with each count: “one… getting more relaxed, two… deeper relaxation…, three… totally relaxed, in a hypnotic state.”
Step 5: Reaffirm your goal mentally by visualising yourself achieving it, and verbally by repeating lines like: “I feel calm, confident, and relaxed” or “I’m sleeping peacefully through the night”.
Step 6: After about five minutes of reaffirming your goal, prepare to leave the hypnotic state by imagining each breath leaves your limbs feeling lighter until they return to normal.
Wake yourself by counting down from 10, telling yourself: “When I reach one, I will open my eyes, energised and alert.”
Find out more information on hypnotherapy at the D4 Wellness Clinic www.d4clinic.com
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