Just eat less and move more?

[fattygettingthin]

I'm very overweight. Have about 9 stone to lose, I'm so ashamed. I got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes yesterday. The dr who was also overweight told me all the things I'm now likely to get, and how I should lose weight as a matter of urgency. They even offered to refer me for weight loss surgery right there. I asked for some advice on losin weight alone and they suggested weight watchers and swapping coke for Diet Coke .

So my aibu is; how the fuck am I to lose 9 stone without surgery? I have a gym membership but I don't think I use it well. I 'workout' for an hour or so 4 times a week but really it's just playing at using my membership and I know I need to be better. But how? How do you learn how to workout properly?

All the workouts I see online are for like mega body building men! And suggestions of eating protein and working out for 4 hours a day. I need help. I know I need to do this. Is it unreasonable to want to see little workout cards near the machines in the gym?

What do you eat for breakfast when you so 'low carb'? Is weight watchers worth it? I have a 12 week membership now but I don't want to eat 'lite' yogurts full of sugar and sweeteners. It feels like a mammoth task that I can't do.

If you got to the end well done!

[Puffycat]

OP, you feel like you’re facing a mountain, have you got some good mates to help? It’s a marathon not a sprint (sorry that’s shite] but true!
You’ve got to start somewhere and gym membership is good, just make sure you go!
Make a start and don’t let the negativity get to.
You can do it!

[SleepingStandingUp]

I'd go along to the weight watchers class and just see how it works. I did SW but neither are just about filling up on no calorie crap.
Speak to the gym about a proper induction. Can you afford a personal trainer at least for a couple of sessions?

[tealandteal]

My DH is low carb (not no carb) he makes pancakes from oats egg and banana blended together. He says they are very filling.

There are lots of videos on YouTube of beginners work outs of 20 minutes, or I have heard lots of people recommended Joe Wicks but no personal experience of his plans.

[TheMaddHugger]

((((((Hugs))))))

[EnormousDormouse]

If you are feeling overwhelmed, focus on food not the gym. Exercise tones you up (and has numerous other benefits) but doesn't necessarily help you lose weight.

Have a look at the low carb boards on here - there is so much info, support and also meal ideas. I totally agree you should avoid eating low-fat sugar filled processed crap.
But whatever method you choose, as long as you commit you should see good initial losses which can be a psychological boost; then think about re-introducing the gym. With the gym, do an induction or do classes such as body pump where someone tells you what to do (I go 6 times a week - some cardio, some strength, some flexibility - all classes as I get bored on the machines)

[Argeles]

Wow, 4 hours of working out each week in the gym is brilliant!

Are you doing mainly cardio-type workouts on the running & rowing machines? This is what you need in terms of exercise to lose weight.

Have you had your thyroid checked, and is it functioning properly? An under active thyroid can greatly affect the ability to lose weight, and medication, and sometimes surgery too can reverse this.

Cutting down on sugar and salt will help with losing weight, and switching to brown rice, bread and pasta means that you can still eat these foods in moderation. Try and fill your plate more with vegetables or salad than carbs or protein.

There are ‘diabetes diets’ that you can search for online, that have been really successful in helping people to lose weight, sometimes to the extent that they’re able to reverse the condition. Dr Michael Mosley has one that has been very successful.

The NHS website also has lots of generic weight loss trackers, apps, videos and tips that I’ve found useful in the past.

Try not to think too much of the words ‘diet’ and ‘dieting,’ but more of ‘lifestyle.’ I find that word is far more positive, and suitable for the long term.

As for weight watchers, I’m sure it must be very successful for lots of people, but 2 women who I know have been going to it every week for years and years and are still obese. I’m sceptical about it, and see the whole thing as a money making scheme, but as I say, that’s based on others, not personal experience, and everyone is different.

I wish you the best of luck

[missmoohoo]

Start slow. The first thing I would do is start reducing sugar. I would not cut everything off in one go. Give yourself two weeks to wean yourself off.

[slowlywiltingpetal]

It's not as difficult as you'd imagine, but you need a bit of self discipline. So the obvious thing is cut down or cut out completely sugars and fast food / take aways.

You can get a slow cooker, or there's this microwave cooker that's been on the shopping channels for ages that cooks food quickly, locking in taste. Obviously if you can afford it. But I think most people make the mistake of going for convenience, when you could prep a meal the night before, put it on the slow cooker in the morning, you've got a yummy healthy meal like chilli or spaghetti, with left overs.

Obviously as well as adjusting your diet exercise will help, I don't really think Weight Watchers or any slimming club is worth it, as it's a lot of faffing about. Walk more, use the stairs over lifts & escalators, you don't need a gym membership as it's likely you'll have good intentions, but then you're stuck paying a company for a service you're not using. You can do say yoga or Pilates at home. Swimming is good if you can swim. Walking, you can either plan a route locally, or go somewhere scenic and walk. They key is to pacing yourself, so you push yourself, but not crazy far. Keep upping your targets.

If you work make food to take in with you. A lot of sandwiches and salads you buy are high in fat & sugars. Try and get your recommended intake of water. Have a sports bottle that you fill up.

There's quite a few apps that help you track calorie intake, exercise, weight, stats. Only weigh yourself once a week, make sure you always do it the same time of day. The apps might cost £5 but so much better the WW or SW.

The best way to measure weight loss is how your clothes fit.

Is there a sport that you like and would participate in if you could?

[MrsDilber]

I'd think about losing 2 stone first, 9 is overwhelming. Also, should you slip up, don't think "that's it, I give up", put it behind you and press on.

Good luck op ((((hugs to you)))) 💐

[Panda368]

Is there an excercise you enjoy doing outside of the gym? I’d suggest maybe giving Park run a go or finding a way of incorporating something social into what you are already doing? British cycling and hsbc are running a women’s scheme called Breeze which involves free events (any level) - for example in Leeds they have Free Monday evening sessions at an outdoor circuit where you can even borrow a bike for free. Again any level or ability are welcome.

In the gym - get a chest strap hr monitor and work to your hr levels, try and go fractionally faster or further each week and keep a record of your workouts. It’s really encouraging to see yourself improve week by week. If you can try to get a pt to give you an uncomplicated program involving 2x resistance or weights sessions and 2x cardio sessions per week in the gym. Then just try to get outside and enjoy yourself outdoors where possible.

I’ve always found joining clubs and making a few friends has been a massive motivator for getting fitter as is the opertunity to be outside especially in summer.

For diet, maybe try thinking about what you have on a plate - trying to make 50% of every plate of food you have vegetable or salad based then another 1/4 - 1/3 a source of lean protein and then a low GI carb for the rest - sweet potato/ brown pasta/ brown rice. Have desert as a treat 1x per week.
Try logging what you eat on MyFitnessPal to make yourself accountable and if you try logging or recording what you have during a normal week now you might be surprised what you’re maybe eating between meals which is adding up to weight gain.

[missmoohoo]

I'd think about losing 2 stone first, 9 is overwhelming. Also, should you slip up, don't think "that's it, I give up", put it behind you and press on. Yes to baby steps

[slowlywiltingpetal]

Any gym worth their salt, will give you a free review and talk through exercises and diet with you. To be fair they could benefit from checking your blood pressure & HR to make sure you are doing what is right for you.

A personal trainer is costly and really the gym should be happy to do a monthly review with you, if you're a valued customer. Tell them I've heard at a few other clubs they do reviews for clients monthly, that's something I could benefit from, realistically I shouldn't have to pay and would be happy to move to a more customer focussed gym.

They have bikes that have simulators, or even take your phone / tablet and either watch something whilst cycling / read MN to make it feel like less of a chore.

[Raasay]

You don’t have to eat lite yoghurts or sweeteners to lose weight in Weight Watchers. It’s very flexible.

The accountability of it works really well too.

They will help you set mini targets so you aren’t thinking about 9 stone in the one go. Eg lose 5% of your body weight and you will get a reward, then 10%, then first stone, second stone etc.

If you want to work smarter at the gym ask if they will set you a training program (most gyms include this in the fee).

Best of luck!

[slowlywiltingpetal]

There might be diet clubs on here you can join

Will go and have a look, as peer support really helps. Really that's all you're getting from WW & SW.

[slowlywiltingpetal]

My problem with dieting clubs is you're paying however much to stand in a line, get weighed, get a sticker or two.

Most of what OP needs is out there free on the Internet.

I wouldn't change to the diet foods that replace stuff with chemicals essentially. My SIL did WW, she ended up with IBS as she would have say the special yoghurts etc. The ingredients list is horrific.

I think for most people the weight creeps on as we perhaps don't have the same lifestyles as when a size 10 correlated with a 24 inch waist. The easiest thing, it needs to become a habit, it meal planning say weekly. Then do your shopping according to your meal plan. Look for healthy alternatives for snacks.

A lot of people swear by nutribullets to get their 5 a day.

Source meat and veg if you can afford it locally, so from a reputable butcher who will happily put you together a meat pack, with repeat custom you'll get discounts. Then try markets / farmers shops for vegetables. Buy a big bag of potatoes, a big bag of onions as they're usually core vegetables.

You could have a big jacket potato with low fat / olive oil spread. Use low fat cream cheese instead of cheese. It's not too late to get a biggish pot from B&Q and buy salad leaves that regrow, the same in another pot for herbs.

That's an idea, gardening burns calories, so if you can work to growing your own vegetables if you have the room. Imagine digging over your garden and planting various flowers etc. Or if you have a small garden, think about an allotment.

[OlennasWimple]

Walk everywhere you can - get off the bus a stop earlier, take the stairs not the lift

Work out what your weakness is food / drink wise. I know that if I open a four finger Kit Kat, I will eat the whole thing, even if I told myself I would only have half then save the rest for later when I opened it. So I never buy four finger Kit Kats to make up for my lack of willpower. I have nice fruit teas, because otherwise in the evening I drink wine or fizzy drinks

[AjasLipstick]

Walk....as others have said, walking is surprisingly effective.

Low carbing, my sister would have two eggs and two pieces of bacon with the fat cut off.

She'd then have a bowl of soup...no bread...for lunch. And for dinner, some lean chicken with no skin and a load of veg or salad.

She lost a lot of weight.

On saturdays she used to have one packet of crisps and a latte. That was her one thing she'd have each week.

[TakeMe2Insanity]

Get the Blood Sugar Level diet book and join the facebook group. Lots of type 2 diabetics have reversed their diabetes and lost lots of weight AND kept it off. I’m not diabetic but its the first time I lost a significant amount of weight through a ‘diet’ and have kept it off. Good luck.

[Iwasjustabouttosaythat]

If you’re working out at the gym 4 hours per week then it must be food. I wouldn’t worry about low carb or low sugar at this stage. You need to watch your portion control. WW or SW is basically just calorie counting, so you can do that on your own if you want. Get My Fitness Pal and set an appropriate calorie intake, maybe 1800 just to start. It can be really eye opening to see how many calories are in certain food.

Also try to get away from processed foods. Think home-cooked veg, small amounts of meat if you eat it, and fresh fruit. Carbs are fine as part of a balanced diet, but switching to a seedy bread will be healthier, keep you fuller longer and you’ll eat less. Cut out all sugary sweets and snacks and alcohol if you really want to go in hard.

[marjorie25]

You need to start writing down what you eat daily. You would be amazed at the amount of food that you consume.
Try this programme: //www.myfitnesspal.com
It's very friendly, you input your weight, you are set a number of calories daily and you have to move, and its FREE.
It's an American programme, but a lot of people worldwide uses it and have achieved real success.
Your real battle is you can exercise until the cows come home, but if your consumption is extremely high, the weight will not shift.
One of the things I found for me personally, is that I consume my main meal before 6 p.m., some people say it does not matter, but for me the weight shifts when I do this.
I do not eat any white foods: white bread, very limited white rice, limited white potatoes and no white flour whatsoever.
I have cut out fry foods, love oats/cereal, but find that it sits on my hips (so only eat oats once a month). Cereal have too much sugar.
Regarding the gym : I am sure that they have exercises glass, start taking them.
You could do one class along with 30 minutes on the bike or elliptical, that a start.
Good luck.

[loulouland]

Check out Team RH fitness on Facebook. It’s a total no-nonsense approach to losing weight and some of the transformations are incredible. They have great success with people with type 2 diabetes too.

And it’s v cheap - £5 per month for online coaching (plus £15 sign up). You’ll need to commit to doing 15k steps a day, and be allocated calories that give you a 500 cal deficit per day - which will equate to 1lb fat loss a week. At your size, your cals will be set quite high, as you naturally burn more than someone smaller just because you’ve got more weight to transport.

They’ve got no time for time wasters and excuse makers, but if you track everything and follow the simple rules they offer amazing coaching advice.

I’ve lost 15lb this year (but only had that to lose) and I’m now reverse dieting - basically upping my calories to maintain on as high cals as possible.

Honestly - check it out.

[loulouland]

Oh and no food is off limits - if it fits your macros you can eat it! Most people follow the 80/20 rule for nutrient dense food/‘shite’ (as we like to call it!). So if you’re clever you can have a choccie bar every day and still lose.

Oh and be aware - there’s lots of swearing in the group!

[Woshambo]

Focus on your health first not your weight. Try Rebelfit. They have FB pages etc and teach you to be more comfortable around food and your choices. I wouldn't go near WW or SW, I think being told certain foods are bad and make you want them more or guilt eat if you "slip".

Try rebelfit and can you do home exercises like using a weighted hoop?

[Mountainsoutofmolehills]

'So if you’re clever you can have a choccie bar every day and still lose'.

You have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. you need to ignore this advice.

also 'diet' 'low fat' options are chemical shit storms, as are high fat diets.

diabetes causes your blood to become thick like treacle, pumping htat around your arteries scratches them, those scratches fill with fat. you can't out wit this, lots of damage has been done. you really need to look at why you ate so much, and get some cbt therapy, a long side medical advice on how to eat, with your own research. be wary of buying into any purist food cults- you need to get back on track. no processed or premade foods. this is a reinvention. a lotus will blossom out of these murky waters and the fat will fall away. keep moving. walking every morning, wake up earlier to give yourself 45 minutes, then it's done. beyonce was not built in a day. do not lose heart. i like the mantra, i will be good for today. have apples in your bag for low times, just manage blocks of todays. before i used to be bad today and then think tomorrow i'd be a saint.... how we lie to ourselves. be kind to yourself your future self will thank you!

[BigPinkBall]

So it sounds like you feel you’re not doing a proper work out at the gym, you’re just going through the motions. If your gym has a spinning class I can’t recommend it enough, it’s easy on your joints but you get a really good work out and you’ve got the instructor there to motivate you. I really noticed my body changing once I took up spinning twice a week whereas it takes a lot to keep yourself motivated and get the same results on your own in the gym.