Fat , frumpy and f***ed off !

[Howlongtillbedtime]

I am over 3 stone overweight , it annoys me and saddens me so why the hell can I not buck up and eat properly ?

I go to the gym twice a week , I aim to do 10000 steps a day and mostly I am over .

I am not losing weight because I eat too much .

I am not talking obscene amounts but enough to keep me fat .

Any tips ? A kick ?

Someone who has succeeded who would be willing to kick me would've handy as well .

[FoggyMorn]

I've lost a lot of weight (6stones+), and have kept it off for about 10 years now. Still not exactly slender but I'm much more active, fitter and healthier now than I was then.
I've completely changed both my diet and lifestyle and know I can never go back to the diet and lifestyle I had before- because that's what made me fat and sick in the first place.

Of course, what works for one person, won't always work for another person, but what works for me is a low carb, high fat, real food diet, with exercise almost every day. I have a Fitbit alta and I find it a fantastic motivator, clearly I'm fairly target driven as I work to achieve all the daily goals... DH is like me in that respect, and has an Apple Watch, he loves achieving all his exercise goals "circles" every day. It depends on your personality

What do you eat and do NOW? What do you think is working/not working for you?

[Howlongtillbedtime]

Thanks Foggy , I have a fitbit one and the challenges do keep me on track to get over the 10k most days .

I think my biggest downfall is eating rubbish when I get bored . meals are healthy and generally cooked from scratch but snacks are an issue .

I am about to change jobs in couple of weeks and I am really hoping I will be more active there which will help .

I feel like I have got myself in a crappy cycle of wearing boring clothes because I am fat and then I look worse than maybe I could which makes me fed up which makes me eat rubbish for comfort .

I just need to get started and stick to it . I know its not rocket science in theory but bloody hell it is tough .

Well done you on that loss , you must feel so proud .

[FoggyMorn]

Not proud that I needed to lose that amount in the first place!

Boredom/stress eating is a problem for a lot of us I think, and my biggest tip there is eat a lot more fat and a decent amount of protein st every meal (and therefore a lot less starchy/carby food), because if your blood sugar isn't swinging about wildly though the day, there's less of an urge to snack on rubbish (helpful if you are like me and a naturally "I'll just have one cookie, OMG I ate the whole packet" sort of person

For me, better snacks options are things like a handful of raw nuts, or olives, a bit of strong cheese or slices of chorizo sausage ... Small amounts but big on savoury flavour. For a sweet hit, properly dark chocolate (85% or above), again a small amount, just a couple of squares.

It can take a while for your tastebuds to adjust, but worth persevering if you are not normally a savoury-tastes person.

[Howlongtillbedtime]

I don't really have a sweet tooth thankfully , my thing tends to be crisps , bread and too much cheese .

And booze .

I managed to stop smoking a few years ago so I must have willpower in me somewhere but food seems to be my nemesis .

[Howlongtillbedtime]

Right I have stopped whinging and come up with a plan

I am changing my step goal to 15000 , was tempted to say 20000 but I want to achieve it rather than fail and eat rubbish until I feel better .

I am going shopping tomorrow and I am going to meal plan to succeed .

If anyone would like to come along and give me some advice or a bit far kick then please do .

[snapcrap]

Hi Howlong

Sorry you are feeling despondent but good to see you have a plan.

HOWEVER I have a real bee in my bonnet about this steps malarkey.

I feel it's deluding so many people (well women) into thinking that those steps burn off way more calories than they do.

I walk approx 2-5 miles a day depending on my work routine. I walk fast. I also go to the gym 2 to 3 times a week.

That made NOT ONE JOT of difference to my weight. Nor did eating 'clean'.

It is all and only about calories in and calories out.

If you are eating way too much avocado, salad, chicken and fruit you will not lose weight. If you work out the calories via My Fitness Pal or any similar app or system (WW is fine) then you will eat the right amount and you will 100% lose weight.

From Jan to June I lost zero pounds with all the clean eating and exercise I described above. In five weeks I've lost half a stone after tracking my food and weighing it if necessary (at first anyway to make sure my portions were about right).

For example a 300 cal portion of bran flakes and 0% fat yoghurt is about 6 /7tablespoons of cereal and two tablespoons of yoghurt. It is a real eye opener!

[snapcrap]

ps I mentioned avocado and chicken as examples of healthy clean foods
pps I only have a stone I want to lose so half a stone in five weeks is good considering I am already a healthy BMI in case that sounded a bit pathetic!

[stealtheatingtunnocks]

me too.

I have lost the same half stone about eleventy billion times.

Watching and hoping for a kick too.

[Howlongtillbedtime]

I get what you are saying about the steps thing snapcrap but I really do need to be more active . You have however reminded me about mfp which I am going to go and download now .

I think I just need to be a lot more aware of what I am doing . It's bloody boring though

But I do know I don't want to carry on feeling so down on myself .

And half stone in five weeks doesn't sound pathetic at all especially if you are already a healthy bmi. Autocorrect wanted to change bmi to gnu which pleased me more than it should have !

[Howlongtillbedtime]

Tunnocks are good though stealth

Feel free to come and get a kick whenever you fancy .

[applesvpears]

I try and keep food and exercise separate. It might help if you do that.

I log what I eat in my fitness pal and any exercise but I do not eat my exercise calories . I class exercise as the toning up/keeping fit part of my life. Losing weight and being healthy down to the food.

I have a fit bit and try and do loads of steps but not to earn extra calories for food.

I am currently trying to lose weight after having a baby. I have just started loosely following slimming world. I use the basis of slimming world but I am also careful with portion control and not eating a zillion yogurts or bananas or whatever. I am also logging it in MFP.

MFP is great because I look at the nutritional aspect of what I am eating and aim not to eat too much sugar and meet my protein/fibre/carb goals etc.

To be honest when you are ready you will probably nail it. It sometimes takes one thing to trigger the focus on heathy eating. And when you start seeing results and feeling healthier you won't want to stop!

I cut out crisps and wine during the week and that one change made the world of difference (I lost 5 pounds in a week) and because if I want to have some the weekend I do not feel deprived.

Good luck and just think of that hot bod you could have (plus amazing healthy insides!)

[stealtheatingtunnocks]

But, where do you get information about what a portion is? I think low carb works for me, but, MFP says "too much fat" it must be adjustable, but, I don't know where to find reliable information.

So, I just land up guessing.

Turns out, I'm a bad guesser.

[applesvpears]

Tunnocks - you could get one of those plates which have printed the portion for each part of your meal.

I have done low carb, it worked for me too but I got sick of all the fatty foods and actually realised carbs are good for you and a good energy source (just don't over eat!)

Sugar is the enemy I reckon

[applesvpears]

http://www.zazzle.co.uk/portioncontrollhealthplateedinner_plate-115961042170529056

[P1nkP0ppy]

I totally agree snapcrap re: 10,000/15,000/20,000 steps.
I walk at least 10,000/day but don't lose weight simply because my portion sizes are too big 😡
I find I need to seriously up how much water I drink too.

[DiscoHouse]

I've gone from 15 stone 2 to currently 12 stone 10 since end of Jan (I'm 5.8). I'd been that size or thereabouts for a good few years since having my second child and had got into a cycle of eating well all day and bingeing in the evenings. Combination of boredom and unhappiness.

Couple of tipping points for me were:

1. Meeting a man that I really liked and who liked me. I know that sounds SHIT and just for the record he likes me at a size 18- but it had been a long time since I wanted to be take my clothes off with anyone and I wanted to look best I could.
   

1. Pictures from my sisters wedding. I looked MASSIVE.
   

My approach has been to cut alcohol out during the week, no snacking at all Monday to Friday and only carbs at one meal. Weekends I pretty much do what I want although I've knocked the bingeing on the head. That's all. No complicated plan. The weight has come off slow and steadily- I need to start thinking about exercise soon to tone up. I want to lose about another stone and a half.

Biggest rewards have been clothes, I'm ashamed to say. Bought some river island Molly jeans in a 14 a couple of weeks ago and I love them.

Also lots of sex with new man!!

[stealtheatingtunnocks]

I made a portion control plate at one of those ceramic places! Suspect it ws a bit too big.

Right, you lot have inspired me. I'm going out or some exercise later on, will got for a bike ride and buy some ear phones. I have podcasts I never listen to because my ears are weirdly shaped for the innies.

That'll help.

[Howlongtillbedtime]

Well done disco that is amazing . My dh would verty much like the idea of lots of sex to help with weight loss .

I have joined Mfp
I have been for a walk and am on track to hit my target of 15000 steps
And I have meal planned for the week .
So far so good

Good luck to everyone else on a mission today .

[DiscoHouse]

Haha its certainly the most fun way I can think of to burn calories

Mfp has been good for a couple of my mates Howlong. You sound like you're motivated- good luck!!

I still have a way to go, I don't want to give the impression I'm a slinky sex kitten or anything! A pretty solid size 14 still and weight loss is slowing right down to about a pound a week which is barely noticeable. But at least it's going and I'm not feeling too hard done by.

I'm seeing The Man tonight. Eeek. I feel like a teenager again!

[Howlongtillbedtime]

Enjoy it Disco . There is nothing like that early bit of a relationship .

Old and married is pretty cool but it's not that same tummy churning shagfest of the early days

I am feeling pretty motivated but I generally am in the first couple of days , it's long term it all gets a bit rough .

[DiscoHouse]

I've been like that sooooo many times-
Motivated AF at first and then crash and burn. That's why I've not made too many drastic changes and pretty much pleased myself over the weekend. I haven't felt too hard done by really, and if I do fancy crisps/wine/Chinese it's only 5 days max till
I can have it!!

Yeah, it's all a bit giddy. I split with my husband of 12 years and father to my 2 kids last year. The split was amicable and although has been tough I'm ok. Im taking it steady with the new one, he hasn't met the kids or anything yet as I want it to be right first. But I literally can't stop thinking about him- not that I would tell him that. He's HOT. And funny, and interesting. And seems to like me with not much on, so that's a bonus.

[Howlongtillbedtime]

I just have to keep it up now for ever

Well done on managing an amicable split that can't have been easy .

[DiscoHouse]

No not easy. But we had come to the point when we knew that if we carried on being together we would start resenting each other. We were just like mates living in a house together, I loved (and still love) him like a friend and he's a great dad. But we had grown apart. It's been a massive change for the whole family but he lives literally 5 mins away, I've stayed in the house and kids are 50/50 with us both.

[GreyandGrumpy48]

Sorry OP no good advice because I'm in exactly the same situation as you but happy to join you in trying to shift the weight if that would help. Trying to find something to wear for an evening out and I've got nothing nice but keep thinking it's not worth buying anything because I'm going to lose weight but I don't 😞 Going away in early November and I'm determined to be slimmer by then.

[Howlongtillbedtime]

It sounds like you have handled it all better than 99% of all divorced people I know , that's something to be pretty proud of I reckon .

Hope you had fun with you new man and burnt off some calories

Greyandgrumpy , please join me . 1 day down only another eternity to go ......
I am feeling better about myself . I feel like I have taken back some control and that feels good .