hello , i wonder if I can pick your collective knowledge please to finally end 30 years of non stop yo yo dieting and stress. I am a dairy free vegetarian ( still eat eggs) , and am very active, walking for over 1.5 hours a day and gym/cardio or swimming 4 to5 days a week.
I have a waist measurement of 71cm and bodyweight of 10.3 lbs. I have struggled with weight, sweet tooth and carb cravings since I was 12. At my heaviest I was 12 stone ( in my 20’s and early 30’s)
About 2 years ago I suffered a loss which affected my appetite and I only ate scrambled egg 3 times a day – it was all i could face. A rather wonderful side effect was that the weight dropped off and i reached a happy weight of 9 stone 5lbs. However as soon as I started to eat a wider range of food, the weight crept up – well , actually came on suddenly really to 10.7lb. Now I find that the only way I seem to be able to lose weight is if I revert back to a diet of egg 3 times a day with a bit of salad on the side. Now this is not ideal for getting a good range of all the essential things I need to survive. I have read the 5:2 book, the BSD, and Clever Guts and am now at a stage where I think the advice makes sense about rebuilding biome, stabilising blood sugar – but i really have no clue as to which one I should follow? I have a terrible sweet tooth – which I pacify daily with a cereal bar ( but if there is chocolate in the house – it will be demolished) . Any help would be very much appreciated , thank you for your thoughts in advance

Okay, well firstly well done on your decision to make a positive life change. My advise would be to follow the BSD way of eating, adding in some of the Clever Guts stuff as well. This way, you should see the pounds decrease quite quickly, whilst building up your gut biome.

Eggs are fine, but in moderation, so you need to find other foods to add in, which won’t cause weight increase. How about quorn and tofu – it’s easy to make your own and it’s tastier than the shop stuff. Also, take a look at what veggies you are eating and in what quantities. Root veg need to be limited and legumes and pulses reduced too, as these are carb heavy, so better to have lots of green and leafy veg. And of course, you need to ditch the sugary stuff too!! Those cereal bars are an absolutely no, no! The good news is once you are properly into the BSD way of eating, that desire for the sweet stuff will markedly reduce. For some it never completely goes, but it becomes much more manageable.

As for the Clever Gut aspect, look to include sauerkraut and kimchi to your menu, but make sure it’s live stuff and not pasteurised. It can be bought commercially, but the best way of ensuring it’s live, is to make it yourself.

I hope some of the above might be of some help and that you will soon be adjusting your way of eating to improve your weight, health and wellbeing. To search for particular topics on the forum, use the search box in the top right hand corner and make good use of the forum for advice, encouragement and support, we’re a friendly crown and love to share our knowledge offer assistance where we can. Just shout out if you have any issues, someone will respond for sure.

Best of luck to you on your quest and I’ll look forward to reading of your progress.