Tell me your inspiring pandemic pounds weight loss stories

Ah well done OP!!

YouTube is great for free workouts- I used Sydney Cummings throughout the pandemic when the gyms were closed and I still do now on the days I can't get there. She does use weights and equipment but you can improvise!! .Her workouts rent easy but she does give you lower impact options and it's all free. I've had really good results following her programmes.

(and no I'm not Sydney herself sadly but a big fan!!)

I'm not a young mother - I'm approaching retirement - but I have lost 4 stone this year - from 3 February when I was 13 st 1 lb to 25 September when i weighed in at my target 9 stone. I had some support via an app and stuck to around 1200 calories a day. This meant I had cereal or egg on toast for breakfast with fruit or tomato. lunch is corn cakes, humus or goats cheese and a big mixed salad, plus an apple or orange. Dinner is whatever vegetarian meal I would have had anyway but small portion with mashed cauliflower instead of rice. Exercise was the key to keeping on track, but not in the weight loss itself. I did couch to 5k - that was very difficult to begin with. I do 2 pilates and one yoga classes a week and some yoga with my husband who teaches it ( at a venue not convenient to me for formal classes) a couple of times a week.I feel so much better, and look so much better too. Just hoping that with Christmas round the corner I can keep it off.

Eat less. Do more. You clearly don't want to hear that but if you've put weight on, it's because you're taking in more calories than your body's using.

I'm hypermobile too and I really recommend weight training. It's has made such a positive difference to my life.
Also pilates is great for the core (as I'm sure you probably know!)

I lost weight through just adding walking to my day, so I’d walk to work (20-30 minutes) and then back (again 20-30 minutes). I did eat more healthily compared to before when I’d been putting on weight but it wasn’t a diet

OP - if she tries to join in when you work out at home, use her as a weight! Seriously. There are some brilliant and lovely mum and toddler-as-weight workouts on you tube. You end up bonding and playing and she gets to see you keeping fit.

Also, put her in the buggy well wrapped up and go for long frosty walks around the park. Let her get out to play chase to warm up, then come home.

Base food around healthy winter recipes, like blueberry porridge, carrot and ginger soup, chicken and veg casserole or spicy tray bakes etc

I use my DD as weights! So cuddling her I do lunges and squats, and I get her to sit on my hips for hip thrusts!

I was depressed and had anxiety and frequent panic attacks for a long time but it peaked in 2020 and as we all did I gained a lot of weight. In March 2020 I had a blood analysis through work and it came back that I was obese and had high levels of everything bad. I hadn’t realised it was that bad as I was about a size 14 and didn’t look what I had thought “obese” looked like.

I started running, then a month later I got a personal trainer. I made some dietary changes for health not weight loss, eg supplements and benecol. The more I ran the more I cared about what food I was eating as fuel for running.

Gradually I lost 3 stone and I recently had a second blood analysis - all healthy! I also came off my anti depressants and anti anxiety medication and haven’t had one panic attack all year. I haven’t even had the dark thoughts I used to be plagued with. I fit into clothes I bought at 16 and my pear shape has become hourglass. The weight loss is petering off now, as I’m not dieting it seems I’m close to the natural weight my current lifestyle will maintain, hopefully. but I’m normal bmi now and half a stone below my oriGinal target weigHi.

I’m evangelical about exercise now, I don’t recognize myself! I used to have a glass of wine in the bar during dd swimming lesson, now I swim 2k front crawl instead.

I’m so, so pleased with myself!

I measure myself monthly. With exercise it's not just weight loss, but I can see myself getting toned and the feeling of being fit is a great motivator for continued weight loss.

Losing weight is great, but the added benefit of feeling strong and fit means I'm able to do extra activities.

I wouldn't so casually dismiss exercise as not helping weight loss. I don't starve myself, can eat takeaways 1-2 times a month and still lose weight. Increasing metabolism is essential for weight loss and you won't get that through diet alone.

If you want to keep the weight off, getting into regular exercise is much better than dieting.

There are some brilliant home work out apps. Personally I use fiit and have done for a few years.
Doing a home work out literally means you can fit it in any time you can. Fiit uses a tracker that you wear so there's accountability, and you can compete online with others.

I often do it when the kids are in bed. It's all about motivation!
I also walk miles and rarely drive.

I've gone from a wobbly size 12 to a toned 10. But it's not just about that. I love the way being fit feels. And exercise is so good for your mental health.

You need to be running 5k to outrun 5 Quality Street

Of course exercise is terrific for you in many ways, including motivation, but it's unlikely to be the key to weight loss

So if the aim is to fit in more exercise, then it needs to start with carving out the time and then deciding the best use for it.

Walking everywhere, and doing pelvic floor exercises and/or squats etc when otherwise standing or sitting still would be a start. But if you want to make a real difference then you need to find some time. Can you carve out 30mins 3 times a week? That is enough to do C25K and then continue running. Because gettting out into the open air, ideally somewhere that's green, has its own benefits

Also try to fit in an online HIIT or Pilates class twice a week (after offspring asleep?)

@ComeAllYeFaithful don't be so dismissive, and also wrong.

If exercise burns calories then obviously it contributes to a calories deficit. It's just maths.

Like you OP I only tend to lose weight by upping my exercise significantly.

I lost all lockdown weight and some more on top. Now I throw mini tantrums because nothing fits, so there is that. Wish I'd kept those clothes that were a bit too tight now.

I gained during lockdown 1. At the start of lockdown 2 I knuckled down. Got up at 6 every morning and did some training and logged everything on MFP. From the looks of it you need to up your protien and monitor your carbs but overall it may be you're not eating enough calories If you use the app and set it to your goal and log everything religiously you'll probably get a loss.

This wasn’t lockdown and not for weight loss, but still relevant as it relates to fitting exercise in under single parent conditions. When DS was a toddler DP was seriously injured and out of action for 18 months.

I’m a cyclist anyway and already had a trailer for DS (DP had towed him). I knew the only way I’d get exercise in was to bring him (DS obviously haha) along for the ride. Where I live is very hilly, so I had a different cassette fitted to my bike so I could cope towing. I took DS out several times a week. I’d pop a picnic in for summer (couldn’t afford cafes) and a flask for winter. I was already fit, but this made me even fitter!! I took him out in all conditions (apart from ice!). DS balance biked from 18 months. So by the time he was 2.5 he managed 4 miles (broken into 2 miles, rest, then 2 miles). I’d push him with a long stick when he got tired. But, it meant I was able to run while he balance biked.

I’d cycle commute DS to nursery so I fitted a ride in on my work days. Alternatively if I needed the car, I’d pop my bike in the night before and get my kit and work clothes ready… then drop him off at nursery the second the doors opened. It then gave me 50 minutes to ride before work and 40 minutes after.

Is your toddler still napping? If so use that time for exercise. I’d have my bike setup on my rollers (like a treadmill for a bike), my kit on etc. Then as soon as DS went down, straight on my rollers for 90 minutes. I’d also get various friends to pop over for an hour or so of an evening once he was in bed whilst I went out for a run or ride. I neglected the housework as I knew I needed to be happy, that endorphin rush and feeling fit makes me happy! I basically prioritised exercise but fitted DS in.

I still involve DS in my exercise… amazing I can still tow him - he’s now 5 and still loves a trailer ride. But I have various other ‘gadgets’ to enable me to cycle with him. He’s also fit enough to ride with me independently, albeit very slowly. But it’s magic riding with him.

Yeah so, in my experience having a small child and being on your own isn’t a barrier to exercise. You just have to be creative, think outside the box a bit and prioritise it. I’d plan out what I was going to do the week before and kept it varied.

I’m also in the diet for weight loss camp! The one thing that makes a difference to me is cutting out the evening snacks. I have to eat the calories I burn exercising, or I’d never recover from the efforts and never be sufficiently fuelled for the next one. I also pick colds up easily when I’m not eating properly (enough). You don’t sound like you are eating very much in your description of your diet - could that be why you aren’t losing?

I run half marathons so cover 20 miles a week on average.

The only way I can lose weight is to change what I eat.

Recently I've discovered that a very low carb high fat diet seems to suit me and when I first started it I lost 10lb. It wasn't my 'natural' weight though so I've gone back up a few ponds but am very happy with how I feel as well as how I look.

I didn't gain a huge amount in lockdown, but did lose muscle and did gain fat.

I lost about 5 miles of incidental exercise a week and that gets hard to replicate by artificially adding in an extra 5 mile run.

Having finally had a decent run of my usual routines, I am back to my normal weight and muscle/ fat ratios and feel better for it. I have tweaked my diet, but not dramatically.

Building muscle is relevant. More muscle means a higher metabolic rate. You can look more toned and slimmer at the same weight than a person of similar statistics who is sedentary and has higher body fat.

As to exercising with a toddler, short bursts work best (loads of 10min workouts on youtube), and use those hills with the buggy to your advantage.

It might not solve the issue, but has its own benefits worth going for anyway.

Exercise is key to weight loss, obviously a healthy diet and not over eating helps.

I've lost over 30kg in six months by going to the gym 3-4 days a week. I have a PT who encourages eating (particularly protein) as you can't exercise safely if you do not eat.

I have been controlling my diet more, but I'm still having a take away 1-2 times a month and not starving myself.

I wanted to get strong as I lost weight, so signed myself up with a PT and haven't looked back. The key is finding exercise you enjoy. I love getting strong so focus on that, with added cardio such as rowing or treadmill.

If you exercise you increase your metabolism, get fit and increase muscle mass. All key to weight loss.

I’m not sure people are diverting from your posts as you asked us to share our own stories as inspiration. I lost about 3 1/2 stone since last June by changing my eating. Almost all diet related, mostly cutting out snacks and watching portion control. I now exercise too but that is mostly for fitness, hasn’t made much difference to my weight. Sounds like you find the opposite to be true but that is what worked for me

I have lost over 2 stone since June this year. I followed the SlimmingWorld plan and changed my diet. Not eating less as such but thinking about what I eat more. I did bump up my exercise but then I got Covid (and long Covid) and haven’t been able to keep it up at all. I’ve maintained the diet side of it and continue to lose weight at the same rate. Exercise can help but the vast majority of losing weight is about diet.

Seems like you have asked for advice been given it and still spitting the dummy out.
Seems like you just answered your own question.
Stop trying to exercise when your toddler is about seems the most sensible approach.
HTH