“Yes, become a vegan and cut back on carbohydrates.

You will be amazed at how many food items contain animal products - biscuits, ice-cream, almost all cakes, sweets, chocolate. Most chip shops use lard to cook their food so you can't even have the chips.

And beware of fizzy drinks and even 'pure' fruit drinks as they are full of sugar.

And watch the snacks. I was in the vets on Wednesday and while I was waiting to pay my bill one of the receptionists must have eaten at least 5 of those little soft, round cheeses in the red plastic covers. It was 3pm so it can't even have been her lunch or tea. I was cringing at the number of calories she was consuming without even thinking about it.

And before you say that eating that way is no fun - what is better? Stuffing your face with lard and potato or buying a size 8 jumper in Top Shop?

You will also be amazed at how much you enjoy your food when you are eating smaller amounts and it does become quite easy after a while.

If you struggle to lose weight get your thyroid checked. A lot of women suffer from under active thyroids which slows their metabolism down.

You can also try Slimming World I suppose. I have never been to anything like that but my friend goes and has lost quite a bit of weight.

A neighbour went on one of those diets where you buy sachets of powder through an online organisation and only drink them for so many weeks. The weight dropped off but she put it all back almost immediately.

Oh and beware. If you do lose weight you can't go back to eating like you used to do. I have known people who have (almost everyone in fact) and when they start eating 'bad' things again the weight doesn't come back on straight away so they think they have cracked it and then suddenly, they are overweight again.

Hope this helps.”

“I bet you wished you'd never asked LOL”

“Sings...... I love you just the way you are.”

“The type 2 diabetes diet is very good and sensible! It keeps your glucose levels low. If you have high glucose levels insulin stores them as fat. This diet means you store less fat and burn more.
As G69 states it is all about carbohydrates, I have been doing this for a while now mainly for health as a pose to weight loss and it does work. I do not crave anything sweet or stodgy anymore, it is also quite easy to do with a family. We have the odd day off and find that on these days we feel sluggish! We all eat far more carbs than necessary.
No alcohol though, sorry!”

“You see bt if i didn't really care I'd have said "Stitch yer gob up". Ha.”

“Missfoodlove

Spot on. Once you have cut back on carbohydrates you no longer crave sugar and your food tastes so much better. I don't even have rice or pasta anymore and fill my plate up with a sprouted broccili, green pepper and quorn stir fry or vegetable chilli.

What is your opinion on wheat products? Some 'experts' think they cause weight gain and bloat so on the odd occasion that I have a biscuit I have one made from oats.

Going back to being a vegan, my friend has always been a large lady and so are her 4 children. One of her daughters went from being vegetarian to vegan and dropped from a size 20 to a size 10. And she hasn't cut back on the carbs.”

“You have so much self control over your diet, yet when I leave a little post on here.....”

“Oops sorry bt. On another thread I posted about my love of KFC and Foster's. Cancel that. I thought you were talking about a 'fat' diet.”

“G69,
We limit ourselves to 30grams of whole-wheat carbs a day, this is usually in the form of bread. When we eat out or have a splurge we bloat, burp and worse! The sugar or carb cravings start again. Yuk! I am sure our bodies are really not designed for a lot of what we eat.”

“g69 - what do you eat? if I cut out carbs, meat and cheese what is left?

missfoodlove is this atkins?”

“dj what's with target / big nip pic?”

“jz

You forgot the fish and eggs that I don't eat!

In the morning I have a very small bowl of either the Food Doctor or Dorset Cereals granola. I used to have soya milk but Alpro has produced a soya pouring yoghurt so I put a dollop of that on.

At lunch time it might be a home made soup with one slice of Food Doctor or similar German style rye bread and a soya yoghurt.

In the evening either a vegetable and tofu stir fry or a vegetable and soya mince chilli (no rice or pasta) or a salad with mainly lettuce, tomatoes and a small avocado. After that maybe a small portion of soya icecream.

I might also have an apple, a couple of raw carrots and up to 2 sweet buiscuits based on oats.

You could eat similar but obviously it could also include eggs, lean meat and fish. My friend made me a courgette curry from a Slimming World book and I quite liked it so bought a couple of their cookery books, second hand from Amazon. You could always try their eating plan without actually going to meetings if you bought some of their books.

Obviously a lot of food contains carbohydrates and we do need to eat them for energy but we can get enough from healthy food without eating biscuits, cakes and chocolate.”

“jz

My theory is that the new photo is of him taken from above. The red is his head, the white his shirt and the blue his jeans.”

“I'm a big believer in slimming world. You can save up your points and have a few glassez of wine on a weekend. Alternatively, you can eat and drink nothing but celery and water all week and have s bottle of wine a night...”

“bt13,
Breakfast can be the full English, or just eggs etc, lunch we normally have soup, and I make a mackerel pate which is great to dip raw veg in, dinner can be any fish, meat or veg, just no potato,rice or pasta. Atkins does not encourage vegetables and in my opinion is not healthy.
I make wholemeal bread and slice it thinly, it is a good base for grilled tomatoes or mushrooms for a snack and after dinner we sometimes have bread, cheese and fruit. Since trying this diet we have felt energised and have lost the desire for all the bad things!
However we are away this weekend and by Sunday we will no doubt be a couple of bloated old ***** desperately seeking Gaviscon!”

“If I were you bt, just carry on as you are and start smoking instead, I've stopped and put 5k on, ergo if you start you should lose weight.
Anything has to be better that g69's tree bark and gravel diet, Demonica seems to be on the right path.”

“steveodore

I don't smoke and at least my bark and gravel diet means I don't have to jog around East Park - or think about jogging as that's probably as far as you'll get.”

“g69,
East Park must be a veritable smorgasbord to somebody who eats like you do :)”

“Well the diet started well.... Swung by my mums who had the christmas quality street out (rude to say no to a green triangle) and then went out for a 'light bite' and ended up drinking copious amounts of alcohol - my mate told me champagne was good for diet ... so drank a bottle ... may avoid the scales tomorrow.

g69 - just read your diet - is that the Guantanamo Bay diet for radical extremists?

steveodore - may take up smoking .......... (crack)”

“bt,
Excellent choice, you will be under 6 stone before you know it, and it's a good excuse to sell your treadmill (and everything you own).

You don't fancy g69's penitent hermits diet then, you get a free hair shirt after a month.”

“steveodore/jz

Don't knock it until you try it and it isn't a 'diet', it's a lifestyle.

Since I cut out the carbohydrates (almost a year ago now) the size 14 clothes I used to wear are dropping off me and I feel so much better, if poorer as I have had to buy a complete new wardrobe of clothes as what's the point of losing weight if you cover yourself in tents.

(At least a few charity shops have benefitted!)

Being told by your friends that you look stunning and amazing is far more satisfying than a plate of chips or a bag of midget gems. NOT that I ate midget gems anyway (gelatin)”

“Try the cabbage soup diet - doesn't do much good but has interesting side effects”

“steveodore

Be careful. Jim Fixx, who promoted jogging as being good for our health, died aged 52 of a heart attack after his daily run.”

“I must admit to preferring a good plate of meat, mash and two veg but I wouldn`t dream of insulting someone who preferred to be a vegetarian or vegan.
I walk almost everywhere too so get plenty of exercise and I do think that is the answer. I`m a size 10 and weigh less than 8 and a half stone so I think I`m doing something right.”

“flossy

There was a very interesting Horizon programme recently, The Truth about Exercise, and it demonstrated that some people are exercise resistant and it doesn't matter how much exercise they do, it makes no difference to their weight. The programme was an hour long and I couldn't begin to summerise it here but it was pretty compelling while I watched it.

I felt quite relieved because I believe that I am one of them. Not having a car I walk and cycle everywhere plus I walk the dog for at least 2 hours a day - but the only thing that affects my weight is what I eat.”

“flossy I hope that g69 understands we were only kidding and wasn't trying to insult her.

I don't have the will power to be vegan, although when you see the pig lorrys transporting to cranswick I do feel guilty for enjoying a bacon sandwich. I try not to think about it.

GC you would miss me if I were gone ... and stop bear bating g69 on every thread cause its getting on my nerves.”

“jz,
Some people can say something and it`s funny. Others can say almost the same thing and it comes across as nasty. Your comments were tongue in cheek I know.

g69,
I`ve almost always been slim, it`s the way I`m made, but a few years ago I worked outside Hull and had a lift to work, sat at a desk all day and got a lift home. After a few months I`d gone up to 11 stone. Once I left and started on the same routine I have now, walking the 20 minute walk to work, being on my feet all day and then walking home, the weight fell off.

I must say though that I`d like to put a bit of weight back on though. At my age, slim can look scraggy.”

“Yes flossy, I know what you mean. Some people are telling me that I'm slim enough but I want to lose another 2 pounds (yes, santa won't have to carry 4 away because I have managed to dispose of 2 myself ;-)) ) There is a female dog walker who is oldish and soooo thin - she looks dreadful”

“jz

I know you are messing and I'm sure flossy wasn't referring to you. Don't worry about the other thing, there is always a button I can press.”

“jz

You asked for a fad diet. Well I did the first 10 days of this one when I was in my early 20s. Didn't know about the rest of it in those days but the weight dropped off me and stayed off for years.

In those days I ate eggs and a tiny bit of fish so I ate only those. It doesn't say but the eggs have to be boiled or poached (no milk, butter or oil) and in my version I couldn't eat tinned fish. There was nothing about non-fat dairy products either but in those days there probably weren't any. And nothing about oat bran.

It is disgusting, dangerous (if you do it for longer than 10 days) but does the deal. You have no energy at all but after 10 days of this (I did 9) a diet of tree bark and gravel will be like a gourmet meal

http://tinyurl.com/y28yk9m”

“bt,
There's a story on the news threads about an all female cycling club, why don't you join that, it could help you lose a few pounds and you can talk about girlie things whilst your at it.”

“steveodore

You only want to see her in lycra

And why don't you join - well follow them anyway - as you need to lose weight too. I believe they use East Park sometimes.

Oh, and there's the Park Run every Saturday morning at 9am. You can run with that lot and chunter at all the dog walkers.

And there is the BritMitFit who go in after dark on Mondays and Wednesdays and do army type exercises.”

“Steveodore,

Talk about girlie things....have tried cycling and talking at the same time ;-)”

“After my comment on the news thread I don't think I would be made to feel very welcome :)”

“steveodore,

I actually agree with the first part of the comment ( news thread) and, to be honest, I thought the second part was quite funny too and often true.
I mean the hubby`s and kids would starve if mum didn`t get back to feed them wouldn`t they?”

“flossy,
Thanks, did you see the comment from the outraged plank? No sense of humour some people :)”

“steveodore

I have been on the story and defended you.

That poster is an idiot - check this out

http://tinyurl.com/cbc6hx3”

“g69,
Thanks for the defence, I think.
I note in my defence you are the only one calling me an idiot though, still, it's nice to be loved ;)”

“steveodore

Stay where it's safe. People say that they don't post on here for whatever reason, but aren't we happy as we are? A little 'family' ? You, flossy, jenoh, jz, john1947, Missfoodlove, demonica, Apollo_Mouse and me.”

“Forgot Redwas who seems like s/he'll fit in too. And wozza, if he returns.”

“And Anon_Geoff - if he comes back”

“g69,
I like to venture out into the big bad world now and again and vent my spleen. I'm just someone who has to have his say, the fact that I'm always right helps tremendously.
I just have to watch what I say now, I came close the other day when they removed a post. It may interest you to know that the HDM don't monitor postings, they rely on people reporting things to them ( I found this out when I was in email conversation with them ref my ban), so be careful who you upset. I may have to give my alter ego a dusting down in readiness after having a go at bewildered, who, like you say is a complete idiot.”

“steveodore

Oh I know, but it works both ways and if you abide by the rules you are fine.

I was kidding about staying where you are safe. I go out quite a lot as does jz. Never seen flossy but I may have missed it.

Anyway - did you read my post to that idiot?”

“Missed your post that you had seen my post cos we must have cross posted.

That bit about being our idiot is a quote from something, but I can't remember what. Pity jz wasn't around. She'd put the boot in. ;-)”

“commented - I am just relieved annie goes to work in dress. if not she may be thought of as gay as biking is really a mans world :)

Wearing lycra over 50 and i thought that was just pippa and gc”

“jz

Yes but you didn't even put the ballet pump in, let alone the boot :-(

Funny comment but steveodore needs our support ... he's only a man :-((”

“I've had another look at the photo of these women and every single one of them has got treetrunk legs, barf.

g69,
Your sailing close to the wind with your comments again. Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry ;)”

“steveodore

Huh. And I'm offering to protect you! With my gang.

And shouldn't it be 'peddling close to the wind'? if we are talking about cycling?”

“g69,

Thank you for embracing me as part of the family.

However...As in all families there is always someone you would not admit to being a relly. I feel I have, at this moment, to tell the world that no way am I related to Wozza ;-)”

“bt, sorry about the bear baiting. But I do feel a poem coming. I try to resist but. AAAAaaaaaagh! Resisted. All i feel towards you all is festive warmth.

Then I read the lycra line. Ha. Actually what I like about lycra is.... oh no, better not, family forum and that.”

“Magner's and Foster's and tubes of Cheese Pringles,
These are the things that make my taste buds tingles,
Bags of Pork Scratchings and fried onion rings,
These are a few of my favourite things.....

Massive beef sarnies all loaded with mustard,
Large apple pies with three lashings of custard,
Platefulls of stodge that is fit for three Kings,
These are some more of my favourite things,

When my belt breaks, when my chair gives, when I'm feeling full,
I'll simply remember that I'm full of grub and that I'm the best in HULL!

Ha. Poems/lyrics to order. Only a tenner a pop.”

“Better now. It came out as a song in the end ha. All the very breast for Krimbo. xx”

“Apples and strawb'ries and plums and bananas,
Damsons and dates, nuts and garb like sultanas,
Tangerines, grapes, raisins, pineapple rings,
I have a hatred for most of these things.

Give me bacon, give me deep fried, I won't feel so sad,
I just want some burgers and big plates of chips, that veggie stuff drives me mad.”

“jz
Have you changed your profile picture so I'll recognise you next week?”

“nope i like the film pulp fiction .. i look more like dawn french :)”

“Large Popcorn chicken with chips and a cola,
Nice piece of cheese, think it's called gorgonzola,
All of this weight that I have on my hips,
I didn't think when it passed through my lips.

Do I care? (no), do I fret? (no),
Does it make me sad?
It worries me not really no not a jot.
And i
I really don't feel bad!

Songs to order, cheap as chips(!) perfect for weddings. Only a tenner.”

“More doggerel.

Is there no start to his talent?”

“Nah, just eat everything till your abdomen gives ha.”

“Well that's where you are setting yourself up - or anyone else up - to fail.

Why equate eating a healthy diet as being miserable?”

“Just eat!”

“Large Haagen Daaz or a few Ben and Jerry's,
Boxes of chocs by Black Magic or Terry's,
Maltesers, Galaxy, how my heart sings,
These are a few of my chocolate things.

Okay, I'll leave it there. Couldn't eat another bite at the mo!”