I weigh 17 stone and I am looking for some advice

[Heybarbie1028]

As the title says… I weigh 17 stone, 5”7. I am obese and I know it’s time to change.

I joined the gym last week and I’ve been considering getting a personal trainer for a while. Well I had a taster session today and I honestly think I am too unfit for any personal training right now. The trainer also wasn’t that encouraging either even though I was visibly struggling. They just sort of just told me what to do and watched me.

I feel like I can’t walk now and I don’t know if it’s best I shed a few stone first by going to the gym and eating well before paying more money to tone up.

What are your thoughts? Anyone been in the same position?

Consistency is key. Pick changes that you will be able to sustain.
I use Noom, but you can do it yourself by using an online calorie calculator and logging everything you eat.
Find switches to lower calorie options of the stuff you eat, prioritise things that will make you feel full (either bulk eating a low calorie food and/or making sure you are eating protein as it fills you for longer).
Plan your meals so that you aren't just grabbing the fast and often calorific option.
Try something new every week: new flavour of low fat dessert, new ready meal, new snack, new vegetable or fruit, ....
Don't go in with a all or nothing mentality, sometimes you are going to go over the calories. The trick is to not feel you need to punish yourself or press the fuck it button.
plan for treats. The occasional take away or chocolate bar will not derail you. The importance is balance and planning them so that you still are in an overall deficit.
Treat yourself with kindness. We often are harder on ourselves than we would ever be to others. Beating yourself up does not help.
Don't go shopping hungry.
Follow influencers that have a practical and sensible approach to health and weight loss. I follow scaseyfitness and kelliefennellfitness, but i am sure they are plenty out there.
Celebrate your successes, set small goals along the way.

Would agree exercise doesn't make much difference
I'm a similar weight and do quite a lot of exercise with spin and weights etc and it makes me eat better and I feel better but no weight change

It is DOMS - bloomin painful but it should go in a day or two. Also don't weigh as DOMS makes your body hold onto water and you can think you've gained weight when in fact it is just water protecting your muscles.

For those saying exercise doesn't matter....

It does matter, it adds to a sense of wellbeing, it adds to the sense that you are trying to enhance your health, it releases endorphins, it literally makes you feel fitter and better, it increases heart rate and it does increase your daily calorie burn.

Yes it is not going to mean you lose all the weight you need and 80% of weight loss is in the kitchen, but it DOES matter and key to any healthy lifestyle.

I don't think throwing in comments like "it doesn't matter" is helpful.

I've no idea why so many posters are advising you not to exercise. I've lost 3 stone recently and now weight similar to you. I exercise every day in some form! It's great for your bone health, mental health, heart health... no idea why people are saying not to bother.

I weight train 3 x a week. I walk every single day at a brisk pace. I also track my food intake and aim for 2000 calories a day (same height and similar weight to you, and I burn 3000 calories on very active days). My weight loss is down to mostly food intake of course, but my new tone and strength is down to exercise. I've taken photos all the way along and some months I've lost hardly any weight but seen a huge change in my shape thanks to weight training.

So long as you're not jumping about, running or other high impact stuff which might be bad for your joints - get active! It's good for you!

Exercise does matter and is good for you, but IMHO the OP will find it hard to outrun that diet. The diet is a really easy fix; just cut out the sugar and get some fruit and veg in there.

Yeah, I agree, just don't think it makes a difference for weight loss
I do it for cardio fitness, mental health and because I like lifting weight and love spin classes more than anything

I don't think the OP or anyone else has suggested exercise will outrun a bad diet.

And no it is very obviously NOT an easy fix for the OP otherwise she wouldn't have written the post.

This sort of attitude is really not helpful on a post like this. All it does is make someone think what they are trying to do to improve their lifestyle is not worth their efforts and being told it's a really easy fix, makes someone feel a bit of a failure.

If it was that easy, people wouldn't be overweight would they.

It can be a major attributor to wanting to eat more healthily. I know when I have done an hour spinning and weights, I feel great, feel healthier and feel like I want to eat good food rather than rubbish.

So yeah it kind of does make a difference for weight loss.

Clearly, exercise isn't easy for the OP either.

The good thing about your diet is you can easily make changes!

breakfast: medium sliced bread, bit of butter & peanut butter (1 tbsp); a few berries

lunch: two eggs scrambled (instead of 3). The key is flavour so you feel satisfied! Add lots of salt & black pepper & try some roasted tomatoes on the side; wholemeal pitta or slice of toast

dinner: try making your own bolognaise (mince, tomato purer, garlic granules, jar of passata, seasoning); it’s just as easy and way healthier. Weigh your pasta (75-100g) and add a little cheese.

snack: something you enjoy - couple of biscuits with tea; bar of chocolate etc, but just one thing and under 250 cals.

I think losing snacks is key, and ensuring your portion size is okay!

Walk, walk and walk some more then get yourself into some personal training sessions at a later date.

make sure you’re drinking lots of water. Set alarms on your phone if needs be as reminders.

keep Tupperware boxes filled with snacks like nuts, dried fruit, boiled eggs, rice cakes etc in your handbag/on you at all times so when you do get hungry you aren’t reaching for bad things.

make yourself a big batch of something on a Sunday to start the week well. A chilli con carne with lots of different beans and veg in that you can eat with rice, jacket potatoes, in wraps etc or a bolognese made up with lentils and lots of veg to have with pasta, jackets etc. Both protein high meals that will keep you fuller for longer.

@LastRites Don't say easy, it's taboo on here. There are no veggies in your plan, though?

Well done for recognising you want a change op, and to treat yourself/health better going forwards.

I noticed from your days eating snapshot there was no meat, are you a vegetarian?

I also noticed that you’re probably on a very high carb/insulin/blood sugar swing diet, because I’m a carb monster too and it absolutely destroys my best intentions when it comes to weight loss. The toast will lead to the biscuits, to the chocolate, to the pasta, to the crisps, back to the bread, back to the chocolate etc etc. it’s insatiable constant fullness/starving hunger swings. I can’t sustain much moderation when it comes to the carbs, I feel like I have a wild animal in my head desperate to be fed when the blood sugar crash inevitably strikes.

Fasting, particularly in conjunction with high protein and low carb really switches that wild animal off. It’s hard for the first few days, but then gives you some clarity.

A PT sounds like going from zero to a hundred. Start with a walk, the next day, walk for 5 more mins, then keep increasing. Add in hills. Walk faster each time. And perhaps try swimming. Diet is key though, try and keep an honest food diary including portion sizes. Reduce ultra processed foods. increase fruit and veg. plan all your meals and snacks. There are so many small changes you can make to your diet, I'm sure you're well aware that is an appalling diet.

The exercise she chose wasn't easy, but simple walking is easy for everyone.

I am a massive walker and walk over 15 k a day every day. It takes a long time- about 1.5 hours- and burns about 300 calories. I agree it's easy and cheap.

I didn't want to read and run. By mid last year I'd got to 16stone and I'm 5'8. I used to walk and run but I'd neglected healthy habits for the past 18 months and was eating all the wrong things and much too much. My weight has yo-yo'd for years so this isn't new territory but like you, last October I had my "light bulb" moment and decided I had to make some changes. I cut out sugar and then just ate as much as I needed to feel hungry. I lost 22lb in 10 weeks. Christmas happened, and I admit I overindulged so I've gained back 7lb. So I must start again as there is still more to lose and once I get my eating habits back under control I plan to introduce exercise. My sports bra didn't fit before now! I know this next phase needs to be slow and steady but I got to find my focus first. Good luck to you, I hope my share helps you in some way.

@BranchGold I too am a carb monster! I'm better with no sugar as after a week I loose all cravings which helps my focus.

I walk my dogs between 2.5-3 miles a day, takes about 50-60 minutes and burns about 270 calories. It takes my daily calorie burn from 1750 to just over 2,000. I then do a spin and some weights which adds another 300 odd calories or I take part in another outdoor activity which also adds about 300 calories and hey presto we have 600 calories added to my daily calorie burn. I have monitored my intake and expenditure of calories for years via my fitness pal (intake) and apple watch (expenditure) and know for a fact that most most watches and equipment massively overestimates the amount of calories you burn, however I have learnt that by doing the amount of exercise I do, I could easily maintain my weight eating about 2,300 calories a day.

I know nothing is going to combat me eating 3,000 calories a day but it means if I want to lose some weight I know I have to cut down to about 1700-1800 a day and I can still lose a lb a week, rather than sitting doing nothing and then having to cut down to 1200 calories a day.

Walking also doesn't seem to make me ravenously hungry like some exercise can and I don't seem to eat back the calories I burn.

I wouldn't worry about exercise so much for now, just try to be generally more active.
I would recommend trying calorie counting on my fitness pal, but I would go with around 1800 to 2000 calories to begin with.
There's no need to cut out any food groups this way and you can still eat normal breakfast, lunch and dinner but with less snacks and possibly smaller portions to fit it within your calories.

Sorry!! No veggies but only because I was demonstrating how OP’s day’s menu could be tweaked to cut calories drastically whilst still being similar to what she would normally eat. I’m a big fan of small steps, and whilst my own day’s food would involve more variety and fresh produce, a huge leap would be difficult to maintain I imagine!

From that plan you could add:

Sliced banana & sprinkling of seeds to the peanut butter toast;

Spinach to the scrambled egg; cut one egg out and replace with avocado, chilli & lime guacamole;

Sofrito to the bolognaise (but a traditional ragu takes time which is a big commitment for someone wanting help to change their habits); side salad or roasted veggies / steamed greens

Start simple so reduce your calories a little bit and increase your activity levels. Walk where possible instead of driving, go swimming if possible, just keep it gentle to avoid burn out and injury.

No matter your starting size losing weight is often hard and there will be times you want to give up but don't! Plan in a few treats for reaching targets along the way, it will give you something to work towards.

Hello everyone.

Coming back to this thread because I just feel like I am at rock bottom. I can’t seem to get into the right mindset to shift weight even though I so desperately need to. I am putting on more weight - weighing in at 17”4 this morning after a wagamama takeaway last night. All I’ve eaten today is crap and all I’ve drunk is Diet Coke.

I just feel so overwhelmed and food makes me happy… for 5 minutes. I don’t really know why I am posting this. I just need to somewhere to vent my feelings.

Why don't you look at the Weight Loss thread? There will be many people in the same situation who can speak from experience about losing the weight.