I can't lose weight and it's getting me down

[Whataplanker]

I will start this by saying that I know I am not huge or anything like that. I weigh 12 stone 3 and I am 5'8" so I can carry it ok ish.

However, I just seem to have lost control of my body. I am on the pill (have been for years) and I am on citalopram for anxiety. It is since I started the citalopram, the weight has crept up and up. It feels like every time i look at the scales it's gone higher.

I try to make changes to my diet but I am rubbish at sticking to them. I have a DH and a DD and we tend to all eat the same and we like a lot of pasta etc. I really don't want to go down the route of making myself a different meal but my DH is quite fussy about different types of veg and doesn't like fish, mushrooms etc whereas I will pretty much eat anything. I need to exercise more. I am paying for a gym membership and hardly using it which is awful. I just seem to have lost my way and I don't know where to go.

I joined Slimming World and lasted 4 days. I'd used up all my syns and was still starving. Similarly with WW, my points hardly seem to go anywhere and yet I was having things that I do even think are that unhealthy (breakfast for example bran flakes with Greek yogurt and a small handful of raisins and a glass of orange juice).

I used to stay at the same weight no matter what but I was anxious. Now I'm happy but have no control over what I weigh. I have cut out snacks for the past week and just stuck to three meals, absolutely no effect so I wonder why I bother.

Sorry for the long ramble. I'm just really frustrated and also 40 so i don't think age is on my side. I want to be back in control of my body.

Youtube Caroline Girvan

Buy Fast 800 book

That's what I did and I am a new woman 😊

The pill and citalopram will be making it difficult.

Exercise will help with weight loss, contrary to what a PP said.

I feel your pain, I also have hormonal and medication-related barriers to weight loss.

You're eating too many carbs with all the bread, pasta, rice etc...Those will cause blood sugar fluctuations that will make you feel hungrier than you are.

It is harder to shift weight after 40! I practice intermittent fasting most days of the week and find that this helps to keep weight off.

You need to eat protein and healthy fat at every meal, both help to keep you full.

I eat very few refined carbs and focus most of my meals on vegetables, healthy fats, and quality protein (fish/turkey over processed soy, for example). I appreciate that you need to consider your family, I obviously don't cut out any food groups for my children, so they have pasta, rice, couscous, and other carbs/grains. I'll have what they have but without the grains, I don't cook anything special/extra for me, my partner, or my kids.

Exercise is really important, but not for weight loss. In additition to all the health benefits, I find it enhances all other aspects of life, you feel better so you want to eat better. If you are going to do any exercise, do strength training. Women lose more muscle mass at a faster rate than men after 40 and it's absolutely key for burning fat and stabilizing blood sugar levels.

One more thing: do you sleep well? Its been well documented that less than adequate sleep contributes to weight gain.

I agree with the above.
Also, never start a meal with carbs - eat the protein and the vegetables first.

And intermittent fasting definitely works. If you feel you need something before the 11am-7pm window (or whatever works for you), eat a couple of slices or melon or cantaloupe before you leave for work (or when you get there) - it'll keep the wolf at bay for a couple of hours at least!

I agree with @SidSparrow and @Hermione101 as well. Refined carbs are the devil and exercise and good sleep are crucial, not just for general wellbeing but exercise as a motivator and good sleep as the oil that greases the engine of resistance to temptation.

Short bursts of exercise are great if you don't have time for a proper workout. Doing dance moves while waiting for the kettle to boil, running up and down the stairs a few times. Especially if wearing wrist and ankle weights. Or do a few planks or leg kicks while you're watch TV.

Many of Lucy Wyndham Read's workouts or only 7-10 minutes. Longer workouts, such as Growingannanas or Joe Wicks, can be split into 2 or 3 segments. That's how I started out, but now I am working out with proper weights and like @SidSparrow I'm a new woman since I discovered Caroline Girvan. She is not for Beginners though, unless you are prepared to go really slow, with 2-3kg weights.

I would ask your GP about trying a different medication op. My sister has been taking citalopram for about six months now and has put two stone on.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. I am going to read through all the replies and make some notes and come up with a plan. I want to try and get new habits started before the new term starts and then I can embed them at work too.

Some years ago now but at one point when The Priory put someone on Citalopram they recommended that they ate a low GI diet to go with it. It's not that restrictive so maybe worth a look. ALso get your GP to check your thyroid as you are getting to an age where it may be an issue.