Too fat to lose weight?

[Be1atrix]

Please don’t jump on me, I really need help :(

I am 5 foot and 21 stone. I cannot cope with being this big anymore. My weight ballooned after a trauma and now I just seem stuck. I have no fitness or stamina and my efforts so far have me feeling worse than ever.

I went swimming and could only manage ten mins before I thought I was going to be sick and had to get out.

I went for a walk today and made it 7 mins before I had to sit on a bench with a spinny head. Walking back I had pains in my calves that brought tears to my eyes.

Please help. What should I do? I can’t go to a gym like this and wouldn’t know where to start. I know I need to build up my stamina but I just don’t know how. I’ve tried slimming world a few times but lack willpower.

I think I’m going to die if I don’t change. I want to see my kids grow up.

Hi,
Im a similar weight to you, although I'm a bit taller.
My advise to you is to not focus on exercise, that's not going to be what makes you lose weight. You need to look at what you're eating. Download myfitnesspal and start logging everything you eat.
Also look at team RH fat loss on facebook.

You can do this OP.

you are going to die if you don't change... chances are good you will die if you do change though...

7 minutes walking is a good start... better than nothing so give yourself credit for the effort. maybe tomorrow you can do 8 minutes...

the obvious answer is don't eat so much or change whatever it is you are eating to something better...

maybe consider counselling first.. get to the root of your problems.

You don't need to exercise at all to lose weight. At your weight, you don't even need to 'go on a diet'. You just need to cut down on whatever it is that's led to the weight gain.

Walking is great exercise, you don't need to exert yourself to burn calories. Slow and steady does it.

Weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise apparently.

Do what you can but don't stress. Just concentrate on making changes to your diet instead.

Like others have said, losing weight is mainly diet.

However, with exercise it sounds as if you’re trying to push yourself to run before you can, quite literally, walk.

You did 7 mins, bloody fantastic! Tomorrow, aim for 7 mins and 30 seconds. The day after, so 8 minutes.

Build up slowlt

You need to diet worry about exercise later your health is at huge risk .

Starting off with gentle walking is a good start to building your fitness. Slow and steady is the way forward - every bit of progress counts.

As the others have said it is your diet that will make a greater impact on weight loss. I second my fitness pal as being a good way of assessing what you eat - it requires you to be honest about your portion sizes and you’ll see what you can cut down on. Or do you think a group like Slimming World might be more up your alley for the support element?

Have you considered approaching your GP for help? I know in some areas they can refer patients to fitness classes for people with health concerns, e.g. diabetes, heart and lung health.

I'm completely inactive but have a bmi of 18. Exercise is only a small part of losing weight and not an excuse. Only you can decide to make the changes to your diet.

Weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise

This. I run and have lost weight. By restricting food. Running didn't do it. It toned me up brilliantly though. I looked thinner!

What are your food weaknesses? Mine is fat so I do keto (all the fat you can eat but no carbs).

There is no easy answer. I am sympathetic, have been a size 22 several times at 5ft 7. Oddly enough, I lost weight after having a baby. The truth is you have to eat a lot less. Watch 'My 600lb life' on TV or on the internet. The doctor puts them 1200 calories a day, no carbs, high protein and doesn't mince his words. They lose 50-60lbs a months until they have lost enough fir eight-loss surgery.
You have to find the willpower to do it. There is no other way. At your weight and height, you don't need to exercise to lose weight. Your body is burning up mire calories than most just to keep going because it is carrying all the weight.
I know how hard it is. I was almost 18st at one point. It is all to do with my state of mind whether I can do it or not. To lose weight you need to eat a lot less. That is all there is too it. Think how much better you will feel. Do it one day at a time.Don't think any further ahead than that. You absolutely can do this.

Get some help with your relationship with food. The F* it diet book is a good start.

You did brilliantly to go swimming for 10 minutes & walk for 7. You absolutely can do this. You don't have to go anywhere to walk if you don't want to, just walk around the house & build it up. Slowly but surely. But start adding extra minutes onto your walk & you'll soon be up to 10 minutes, then 15, then 20. Cut back on what you're eating as like others have said, diet will help more than exercise. You can do this!

Weight loss is 100% about what you eat. Of course exercise can help but it isn't necessary, it just allows you more calories, so you can either eat more or lose a bit more weight each week. In order to lose weight just eat less calories than you need to maintain and you will lose. If you download My Fitness Pal it will calculate the calories you need to eat to lose weight even with a very inactive lifestyle. Like a previous poster said, 7 minutes is better than nothing! Stop being so hard on yourself, you are trying. Keep at it - small changes are more sustainable.

Don’t try to exercise past walking for the moment, trust me it will set you back again if you injure yourself which is likely at your weight(im only few st less and same height)
Focus on food rather than exercise, it’s 80%diet and 20% exercise or thereabouts, you can’t outrun your fork etc etc

I’m having good success with OMAd 23:1 but don’t advise necessarily jumping into that, I did 16:8 for over a year. Jason fung obesity code is a fab read, backed up with science and makes so much sense. At your weight it’s likely like me you may be insulin resistant and fasting can really help that and get your insulin back under control. It seems daunting at first but think of it this way, most people sleep for 6-9hrs a night, so that’s 6-9 hrs fasting without any effort!

cut out carbs... bread, potatoes, pasta and rice... you don't need them.

increase your veggies to make up for the loss... there are carbs in veggies but on the whole they are healthier and you will have better pooh's.. a nice big pooh is always a pleasure.

drink lots and lots and lots of water... wine, gin, beer is NOT the same as water :-/

just reduce the amount of treats you would normally have... you don't want to dive into depression by not having something nice in your life.

OP I know you’re obviously very keen to get cracking - you can tell. Maybe you should see your GP to get checked out before starting and see if there is any help they can offer. I need to lose weight and exercise too but I’m going to prioritise the eating first. I’m going to prepare a 2 week meal plan that I can rotate and adapt slightly. I’ve done lots of different diets in the past so I’m going to up my fruit, veg & fish with some meat and add some brown rice, nuts and pulses, full fat plain yogurt.( cutting down on wheat & sugar).... essentially the Mediterranean diet. If you just start with a sensible food plan you will drop a decent amount of weight in a couple of weeks and the exercise will feel a bit easier. Keep on walking though but don’t push yourself beyond a point you feel comfortable. Keep it up though - don’t lose hope you can do this.

Id look at rebelfit. I honestly believe diets dont work and contribute to the obesity problem as it spirals and then people becomes heavier each time.

Def focus on health rather than weightloss itself. Build more good food into your diet.
Celebrate what you can do rather than focus on what you cant.

I'm working on it all though...

2 week meal plan sounda fba. Id be interested to know what you put on it!

You’ve done really well by starting off. Don’t beat yourself up for not doing as much exercise as you wanted, be proud of what you did. It’s harder work for your body when you’re bigger so you’ll have burnt sone calories, even in a short time. It will get easier as you keep going and the weight comes off.

I agree, diet change is going to make the biggest difference. I’d aim for liars of vegetables, lean protein with measured carbs and fats. Slow and steady loss is best for your body.

Really good luck with it. You can do it!

I was your weight two years ago.

I have lost six stone now.

I think I should lose another four or five stone.

I do no exercise whatsoever. I have just cut out carbs and fasted from 6pm - 10am.

You can do this OP. If I can do it, anyone can.

You are consuming too many calories. That's it. You have to stop eating/drinking caloric drinks so much. Your body is clearly at breaking point.

Walking is so great for your wellbeing. 7 minutes is still 7 minutes. Keep doing a short walk each day if you can. Take steps in the right direction and be kind to yourself. You can do this. Being healthy for your children is a great ‘why I’m doing this’ to keep you motivated.

Totally agree. Knock the exercise on the head for now. Look at your food intake. Chances are you know what's bad and what's not.

Some simple starter for 10s:

Ensure lots of lean protein at every meal (eggs, chicken, fish, turkey, extra lean beef mince etc).
Oceans of veggies.
Weigh your carbs - 60g raw is a portion for pasta / rice, wholewheat lower GI than white.
Limit spuds but a portion is more like 200g raw.
Sugar is fine if limited. Lots of eating plans hate the word "treat" but hey, we.all need a treat: make yours 120cal of chocolate and no more.
Slightly controversial: ignore milk in drinks. IME no one ever got fat from a slug of milk in their coffee. I've done WW successfully for years and never counted milk.
Finally, when you're ready: shop around for what exercise you'd like to do. And I mean shop around, everyone is different. If we weren't then there wouldn't be so many choices!

Good luck

Just came on to give encouragement Op and to say all of the above posts are do true.

Please seek counselling support and be kind to yourself .Set yourself the tiniest goals. Be kind to yourself.

Start with food ; perhaps join weight watchers or slimming world groups, or even on Mumsnet weightloss talk. From the start, clear all cupboards of foods with added sugar. Bin them and don't bring into the house.no more. You're going to make lifestyle changes and it's going to feel do much better . Your kids will benefit hugely.

I used to go to the gym and do at least an hour. I'd leave literally shaking from exertion, red and sweaty and then eat food and pass out, hardly able to move. I'd spend 4 or 5 days getting back to normal feeling guilty about being chubby, unfit and not using my gym membership. Then I started going for shorter gentler sessions. 20 minutes at a time (which was right for me but 7 or 10 minutes is grand too) and I could go more regularly, and started making physical changes. It got easier as I lost weight, but I got more confident from exercise and it lifted my mood enough to keep pursuing the weightloss. I used to go for a swim, jacuzzi, sauna and Steam too and I would spend 10 minutes swimming and the rest relaxing, then I kept pushing myself to do an extra length each time I went building up to 40 Minutes. Taking the stairs instead of the lift sometimes, doing some extra jobs round the house, walking to the post box and back, all these little things do add up.

But diet is always going to be the main issue. I would get some counselling about it and I know they're not for everybody but slimming world and weigh watchers can be really good places to get started when you have a lot to lose.