Fed up of being fat

[BamBam21]

Hi all. I am 37 yo, a mother of 2 boys (age nearly 11yo and nearly 3yo) and I weigh 15 stone. My downfall is that I just eat far too much rubbish, and I try really hard to change but then fall back into munching on biscuits etc. I find advice such as to only eat 2 squares of chocolate to take away the craving really unhelpful, as how can anybody do that and leave the rest of the bar?

I would love to be down to about 12 stone. I am 5ft7.5in, and I have never been "willowy", so I think that weight would suit me. But I haven't been that weight since I was a student! I have got an exercise bike but it doesn't seem to make much difference, and I can't drive at the moment so can't get to the gym (also DS2 is still at home with me all the time). My last excuse is that we only have a bath in our crappy rented flat, and it's hard to get all sweaty during the day and then have to run a bath, rather than just jump in a lovely shower.

Anyone else in a similar situation, looking to lose around 3 stone?

[Nillia]

I'm in a similar position I have lost 7 pounds in the last month though so I am getting there. I'm learning to only have a square of chocolate and let it melt on my tongue slowly. I'm eating anything I want but only eating very small portions and only when I'm properly hungry.

[FoodieMum3]

Hi BamBam, I was you a few months ago to a year ago. I Was a few stone overweight, BMI was 30 so obese (taken about 9 months ago).
I'm a mum of 3 and was utterly fed up of my size, it was really affecting my life and my confidence.

I've lost the weight and feel wonderful. Today I'm wearing skinny size 10 jeans. (Just tried them on at weekend and still in shock that they comfortably fit)A year ago I only ever wore leggings and the same black stretchy black trousers every single day.

It's hard work but once you begin to lose it, it's the best feeling in the world. You won't want to stop. You'll feel great and have so much energy.

The one thing I will say is that you have to be so serious about it. It's about changing your whole life and your attitude to food. I was an over eater, I would continue to snack and go for seconds. I don't and cannot do that anymore. I now recognise when I'm full and I stop. If I'm hungry in between meals I have a banana or Apple etc.

Here's what I did also:
Drastically reduced portion sizes
Swapped white for brown (rice, bread etc)
I have a bite of cake etc if it's going, instead of a slice. I actually enjoy it more.
I still have 1 treat size bar OR 1or 2 chocolate biscuits most days with a coffee or tea (You said you can't leave the rest of the bar. My advice is don't buy big bars. After a few weeks you'll no longer want big bars anyway, I physically couldn't stomach all that sugar now).
My dinner plate is mostly veg, lean meat. A few baby potatoes.
I walk everywhere. Purposely take stairs etc.
Drink plenty water and eat fruit.

I hope this doesn't sound preachy just that I was where you are and didn't know where to begin.
Good luck and remember YOU have the power to change this. You can do this and you deserve it.

X

[Nillia]

FoodieMum Well done you! I agree that it feels good to be losing weight and when you get going then it kind of spurs you on itself. I eat only a couple of mouthfuls of anything I want but I stop as soon as I am satisfied.

[FoodieMum3]

Thank you Nillia and well done to you too. Those first 7lbs are psychologically the hardest, IME.

My friend is doing slimming world and it's very similar to what i did, only I didn't realise it!

[BamBam21]

Hi there!

Well done to both of you for the weight loss, and thank you FoodieMum for your advice - not preachy at all! I definitely have very little self-control, but maybe making smaller portions would help. I find it hard to stop when I am satisfied, as if there is still food on my plate I want to eat it!

Apart from the walking etc, do you do other exercise, or is it all down to diet?

[FoodieMum3]

I read somewhere that it's 80% diet and 20% exercise (weightloss). I didn't do any specific exercises although I should do now, to tone up.

I've a toddler and a baby so pushing them uphill in the double buggy is harder than any gym though, lol.

I know the feeling of no self control. I think you'll need a week-2 weeks to break that, as well as seeing pounds dropping on the scales. Then you'll replace the feeling of satisfaction from eating, with the satisfaction of being slimmer, if that makes sense

[TheSpottedZebra]

I was in a not dissimilar situation, although my starting weight was a bit lower. I just ate loads of crap! Every day. Healthy ish food too, but too much of it. And then some more unhealthy food. And then some more snacks. I've lost over a stone and a half now, with probably another half a stone to go.

I started by figuring out how much I was really truly eating - ie how many calories. It was sobering. I used my fitness pal for this, and logged what I ate on a normal day. It was horrid to read back. Then basically I went on a diet, using mfp to log calories. And joined a thread on here for motivation.

[FoodieMum3]

There was a thread on AIBU a few days ago asking what slim people eat in a day. It was really interesting. I probably ate 3 times that (the general answers) on a typical day when I was overweight.

[momwhereismy]

Hi, if u are like me and use food as a crutch and out of boredom just munch away then I can't recommend slimming world enough.
Its about simple changes such as spag bol - instead of a jar of sauce use tin of tomatoes stock cube and garlic. Just as easy and as long as its lean mince you can eat as much as you like with as much pasta!
SW doesn't require exercise, obviously if u do you get better results.
I didn't believe my friend when she could eat as much as she likes but it does work! Also I still have my cup pa and treat as I have 10 suns to use.
On their website you can try their idea for free for 7 days.
Sorry about messy post on phone!

[TalkinPeace]

You say you dislike your crappy rented flat.

How much do you think you could save money wise towards making it better if you massively cut your food bills?
Do not buy the biscuits, snacks, fizzy drinks, sweets ...
see how much you can reduce your food bill, get slim and have spare cash to make your house nicer

lots of birds with one stone