5ft 4 and 12 stone

[RosesAndChocolates]

I feel horrendous. I don’t know what to do about it. I know the answer is obvious. I feel like my weight has spiralled, like I’m so far in and like my emotional well-being is so focused on comfort food/ eating that I can never get the balance right.

BMI wise I’m almost 2 stone overweight. I’m only 29 and before I had DD (she’s 2) I’d never been overweight in my life. The extra stone came on in the first lockdown in March and then it just got worse after that.

I feel so unhealthy. I’m working from home and not exercising enough, but I feel too big to even run anywhere.

My clothes don’t fit, I feel very uncomfortable but I can’t bring myself to buy the next size.

Can anyone relate? Have you been in this weight bracket and successfully come out of it and got your BMI back on track? How?

Thanks in advance.

I can relate.

In May I weighed just over 13 stone. I'm also 5'4 and felt and looked terrible.

Look up intermittent fasting. I started this - a mix of either 16/8 or 18/6 and started making healthier choices with food (eg today I fasted until 12.30 then I had a large salad and baked potato and a Skyr yoghurt. For dinner I had homemade pumpkin soup and a bread roll. Water and black coffee). I still eat pizza once a week and have cake too so you can have some treats.

I've also been tracking my steps and try to do at least 10k a day. I was going to the gym a few times a week. Now that's closed I've started jogging which is remarkable considering I was so unfit a few months ago.

Today I weighed in at 10.3 stone.

Give it a go. I can't recommend fasting enough.

Can you start small and go for a fast walk each day gradually building up?

Yes! You are not alone! My weight has crept up by 2 stone since March and I feel shocking. Yesterday was a real low point when I saw some pictures my friend had taken of me last month.

Today I've logged everything on MyFitnessPal and planned my meals for the week. I've used the app in the past to shift a few pounds and found it incredibly helpful.

That is exactly me! I have lost the same two stone three times in as many years and always end up back at 12 stone! I hate it and I hate myself for getting this way 😡

Also, great advice from ilovespinach re going for a walk each day and building from there. Start small and take one day at a time

I'm.5ft 4 and was 13 stone a few years ago. Caused by bad habits and gl insisting I come off the pill that was regulating my pcos. I've had 2 DC since though. I lost 2 stone for the first and lost 3 stone (i.e. baby weight plus an extra stone) by breastfeeding. Then had a second more recently and I'm.now 8 and a half stone. Tbh I don't feel good now. I felt better at around 10 stone.

GP not GL

This was me about 10 years ago. Went low carb - actually no carb for a couple of weeks then low gi carbs added back in. No alcohol. Minimum 30 mins exercise a day.
It worked. I am just under 9 st at 5’5”. It was easy enough once I got my head round it. But hell to take the first steps.

I am 5ft 4, in June I was 13 stone - now I am 10st 12.

I have always struggled with my weight but I do feel that this is a permanent change now. I was already in the gym 3 times a week and running 3 times a week, but now I also make sure I also do something active every day on top of that - 30 mins walking at lunch or after work, or a bike ride, or a proper clean...

I used My Fitness Pal to cut my calories to 1200-1500 a day, with a focus on protein and reducing carbs - from my past attempts, I know that that works better for me than other ways of eating. Breakfast is eggs, spinach, mushrooms, maybe some smoked fish; other meals are lean fish or meat plus veg; snacks are dark chocolate, fruit, Greek yoghurt, nuts... plus a few treats each week like a G&T and a piece of cake.

I have 7lb to go to get to top of healthy BMI range, and it's not easy - but I definitely feel better for it so hoping I can keep the motivation up...

I am also 5 foot 4 and when I weighed myself at the end of June I was 12 stone 7lb and obese. The weight had been going on tor about a year and more quickly since lockdown.

I had been eating too many sweet things, so I cut down a lot, logged everything I ate in MFP and also restarted couch to 5k.

My clothes didn’t fit and I found myself wearing the same few outfits all the time.

The weight has come off; more some weeks and less others. I’ve carried on running and for the first time have been enjoying it - yesterday I ran 12km for the first time.

Weight wise I was 10 stone 3 this morning which is a healthy weight according to BMI. My clothes now fit again and I feel better about myself. Not sure how much more if any I want to lose but feel a lot better than I did 4.5 months ago.

This is me. I'm starting to see a personal trainer this week and I can't wait. I need to tackle my diet as well obviously but that will be so much easier to do in conjunction with getting back to fitness.

Same. I know I need to stop the snacks but I can't. Off to google the fasting.

@ilovespinach that’s really good advice thank you. DH has a fitness watch thing that I can wear. I work 3 days a week from home and can try to get the steps in on those days. The 2 days in the week I’m with DD it’s a bit tricker as we do go for walks but it’s your typical toddler walks where you’re out for an hour for a walk around the block! That’s amazing you lost it all. My short term goal is 10.6 as NHS says I’ll be ‘healthy’ then. Long term I want to be 9/9.7 as I know I will look my best at that weight.

@flossisboss totally understand I had the same situation with pictures. I have been in denial until I saw one where I didn’t even recognise myself. I don’t carry weight well. It’s straight to my face/ chin/ weirdly upper back and also tummy and thighs. Some women look amazing as a 14 but me at this size/ weight just doesn’t suit me at all.

DH eats a lot. He with literally eat pudding with lunch! He is a big feeder (he was a chef), we’ve always laughed at our weight gain in a lighthearted way but lately when he jokes about it, I do feel a bit hurt like he doesn’t look at my ‘that way’ anymore. I also feel like if he’s sat there with chocolate/ snacks what chance do I have?

We want to TCC literally this month. But I gained 4 stone last pregnancy, and I think I really need to sort myself out first!

Understood. At my biggest ever now. Feel really miserable.

I'm that weight and height. I've always struggled with my weight and used to weight about 3 stone more. I did get down to 10 stone a few years ago but that was a huge struggle to maintain - to be honest I'd be happy to lose a stone, eat healthily, be active and sustain even if my bmi is 27.

But 12 st is too much. I'm back on mfp and trying to up activity. I am trying 1200 - 1350 cals per day if I exercise but I am peri menopausal with a dodgy thyroid so it's really really hard.

Some swear by the blood sugar diet for a hardcore blast - I did it and lost a stone and a half in 8 weeks. But not recommended for us crappy thyroid types as it's too stressful on an already fucked metabolism apparently.

Same although a stone heavier . Happy to join a support group !!!

I did Fast 800 last year and lost 12kg but gained about 8 back over lockdown 😱😱😱

Same situation here. Was close to a healthy weight pre lockdown and then it’s slowly crept back up. Have been dieting this week, but after so many recommendations for fast 800, I am starting that this week. Combined with as much exercise as I can motivate myself to do. Hoping to do better this lockdown!!

There's an awful lot of us about I would thoroughly recommend BIWI's Low Carb Bootcamp...the most recent one started a few weeks ago now but there's a huge amount of resources there. Very supportive bunch of folk. Plus it can be combined with intermittent fasting. I'd be doing it now but have recently been diagnosed with a thyroid problem and didn't want to complicate things. Might do the IF though..says me..having just consumed a kit kat and a roll of Mintoes

Yeah, I've been that weight at that height and it's shit. I'm like a pp gain weight on my back and upper arms, ugh, so uncomfortable.

Can you skip breakfast? You can easily save yourself a chunk of calories by cutting it out.

I lower carb - loads of salads, soups, casseroles etc with roast veg, baked sweet potato etc.

I'd cut out alcohol, crap sugar (Inc bread, wraps, pasta) and focus on clean eating for a good few weeks. Try not to eat more than 1500 cals per day.

Another vote for Low carb bootcamp, mentioned above. Honestly life changing for me, really was.

It doesn’t matter what he’s eating you don’t have to join in.

If he was shooting up would you strap your arm up too?.

I've just started cutting down on sugar as this was my downfall. So no biscuits, ice cream, chocolate etc and I'm feeling the benefit already after less than a week- my big flabby tummy is definitely smaller. That is spurring me on! I have had a couple of sweet treats at the weekend but am back to no sugary stuff for the week. I'm also not eating after dinner until as late the next morning as I can so almost 16/8, or as close as I can manage.

OP, after a lifetime of dieting I’ve found what works. And it really is ‘eat less move more’.

I’m losing at a snail’s pace, but I know it will stay off, because I’m not dieting. I’m just tracking.

I have a Fitbit and the My Fitness Pal app.
I set myself a calorie limit of 1800 cals.
Within that, I eat what I like.
I make sure there’s always a good margin between what I’ve eaten and what I’ve burned. The Fitbit measures the calories you burn just by living, so it’s not as if you have to go mad.
If you do get the exercise bug, Couch25k is amazing. Properly like magic. I’ve dusted off my Davina 7 minute fit DVDs too.
It becomes a bit of a game if you’re a data nerd like me - making sure I burn more than I eat. Even if I just take the dog for a long walk.
Within this, I eat chocolate, cake, peanut butter, Haribo...and plenty of healthy stuff too. I eat real butter, cook with olive oil, eat proper yoghurt - no low fat, aspartame-laden crap.
I’m losing a pound a week or thereabouts. It feels pretty effortless.

Another voice chiming in...this was me and if I was able to lose my extra weight then you absolutely can too. Please believe this.

Intermittent fasting was also what worked for me in the end. I had to cut out all bread, biscuits, cakes, pasta...these are definitely my downfall so I knew I couldn't have any even in my eating window. Had to cut out cups of tea as always had to have a biscuit with it (think it's a Scottish thing!)

Drank lots of water...hot to replace the tea and cold whenever I felt hungry.

I know some people say get rid of all treats etc as if you don't buy them you can't eat them, but we did still have those type of foods in the house, as my family snacks and my husband is a massive foodie, but I felt that with IF I was able to say to myself no, I'm not allowed, it was so clean cut.

After a few weeks of my body adjusting (I did feel a bit weak and dizzy occasionally in the mornings) I started walking. Just squeezed in a half hour brisk walk every day.

I've lost 2 stones and I would never have thought that ever possible, as I've never followed a diet before.

Maintaining it may be a different matter I know, but just take it a day at a time, whatever you choose to do.

Thank you all.

Skipping meals has actually worked for me in the past. I never even used to eat breakfast but now I’m up so early with DD I feel physically ill if I haven’t eaten by 7. Then it just kind of escalates through the day.

What kind of clothes do you all find comfortable if you don’t mind me asking? I have some snag tights which have been life savers, and I wear a few dresses but don’t have many that fit anymore. I would love to wear jeans but I just can’t.

I think really cutting out carbs and sugar (chocolate) will be the best thing for me. Carbs are like crack for me.. I love savoury food but after I eat my mood just drops! It’a a vicious circle.

I’ve done Joe wicks before and ate loads of steak salads, chicken, rice and things. I just need to power through the first few days and not going back to eating crap at the weekends.

I would definitely be up for a support thread!