To ask for your help?

[hazleweatherfieldgirldetective]

I'm overweight. Okay, obese. I weigh about sixteen stone and am only 5'3 so its not great.

I used to be thin but had to starve myself to achieve it. My weight always hovered around the 12/13 stone mark if left naturally however during my pregnancy with DS (now days away from turning one) the only way to ease the sickness was to graze constantly on starchy food. Then, after he was born, I spent my maternity leave picking at unhealthy food and snaffling biscuits at baby groups.

I don't mind how I look. DH jokes that I'm like dark matter; to look at me you would never think I weigh as much as I do. However I desperately want another baby. I hated having to attend the fat clinic whilst pregnant with DS, the consultants were vile. I also had a failed induction and crash section due to eclampsia which I know was probably to do with my weight.

Tuesday is a new year and I'm determined for it to be a new start. But... I don't know what to do. Should I

Damn, pressed send too early. Should I join WW? SW? I can't afford a gym membership but intend to do lots of walking with DS. I also can't afford Jenny Craig or similar.

AIBU to think its possible to lose the weight on a budget?

Maybe see it as 'means to an end' and join something like Weight Watchers? I have, and I am heavier, but a bit taller, than you.

Cross post. I am on the WW pay monthly, and I pay about £20 per month.

Slimming World. All rice, potatoes, pasta, meat, veg, fruit are free and unlimited. Dairy, bread is limited and sugar and fat is very limited. You will never be hungry and the weight falls off as long as you cook proper meals. Have a look on-line!

Can you keep a food diary to see exactly what you're eating and make a note of portion sizes too. Make small changes, one at a time, so it's not as big a shock to your system as trying to do it all at once would be. See how you get on with this first before joining either ww/sw if you don't have much money.

It's easy to get into habits such as having a couple of biscuits with that coffee which adds to the overall calorie intake. As well as walking could you put some music on and dance around with your DS for a bit, even five minutes here and there could make a difference and you could increase it as you go along.

Do libraries do exercise dvds? If they do you could maybe rent a few, one at a time, to see which type you like best and which you're more likely to stick at.

Just a few thoughts/suggestions :)

I use My Fitness Pal which is free, but it doesn't have the accountability of going to meetings every week. I can deal with that, prefer it even, but some people need the public meetings to spur them on.

How about finding an exercise class or sports class to do once a week? They're often not expensive. I do netball which is £2 per week - I used to easily spend that amount on chocolate per week but I just divert the funds to something better for me now! Failing that I go for a walk or a run - both free!

On a budget is definitely doable though, so don't feel disheartened :)

IMO losing weight is really about lifestyle change - joining a gym or doing Jenny Craig would be a waste of money if you could afford it. WW seems to be quite marmite - some people swear by it - it might be what you need to get you started.

I would look at your menu plans - if you don't plan meals start, cook everything from scratch - don't buy in any unhealthy snacks, if they aren't there you can't eat them - do the walking - do eat when you are hungry, don't eat when you aren't.

I aim to only have home-baked cakes and biscuits - its so rare I get round to baking we very rarely have them in.

I also stream Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred from You Tube. I do actually enjoy this one so will probably buy it eventually but trying it out for free meant I didn't waste my money on something I'd find too difficult/never use. There are other workout videos you could check out on You Tube too.

I think knowing I was going to be publicly weighed would assist me. I also need to get DH on board. He's gained around five stone since we got together and, although he's a very broad guy that carries it well, I worry about him as his maternal grandad died of a massive heart attack in his 40s and MIL has been diagnosed with incredibly high blood pressure.

Think of it as being healthier for your baby if you're healthier at the start of your pregnancy.

Since October I have lost 2 stone ( put a bit back on over Christmas) I think I have another 4 stone to go, I will lose weight until I feel I look like me rather than what a number tells me.
I have managed the weight lost using the hairy dieters cook book and the my fitness pal app, I realised that my diet previously was very heavy on the carb side, I have reduced them drastically and fill up on proteins and tons of veg, I am still learning so I do slip up but I am hoping that eventually it becomes routine.
I don't deny myself anything I just make sure that I balance things out over a week

I lost weight by accident really with looking after my son now 20 months, I started eating what I was cooking for him as it was easier than cooking 2 meals and healthier, I also cut out snacks I wouldn't give my son, no chocolate or biscuits in our house again as he expects to have the same and me. On nice days I also went to groups in the morning and then out for walks every afternoon, played pooh sticks etc, or ran round the garden like an idiot. I echo what some of the others said, I made a lifestyle choice and decided to live like a toddler, well not totally, but I lost 1 stone in 6 months, have put some weight on again now as pregnant with second and not as active as I was. Good luck

Go on to MyFitnessPal, and record everything you eat.

Don't try to eat less, try to eat more of the good things.

I found that when I joined Shirley's "eat loads and lose weight" thread that I actually did. I used MFP and changed my protein/fat/carb ratios so I reduced carbs. I found that I wasn't hungry at all - in fact at the end of the day I was wandering around looking to make up calories. It was great.

I'm going to find her again on January 1st. For the next week, I'm just thinking about it, then I'll start a thread if I can't find her.

Or read what Binky said - because that is what I did.

Eat lots, but reduce carbs.

Drink 2 litres of water a day as well

Slimming World is your friend! I have tried many, many plans over the years and this (for me) is by far the most successful. It is fairly high in good carbs (potatoes, rice, pasta etc.) and doesn't involve the faff of weighing and measuring everything as long as you stick to the principles.

WW, Scottish Slimmers, Rosemary Conley and Cambridge have all been attempted before with limited no success, for the first time ever I feel confident I will reach my goal weight - which is a total loss of around 4st.

Good luck!

I did SW earlier this year & lost 2.5 stone in 15 weeks. I found going & staying to group helped keep me on track.

Set yourself an end goal eg being a size or weight you want to be by a certain time - that will give you something to focus on when you are finding it tough. But also set yourself smaller goals along the way so that the end goal doesn't seem like such a big mountain to climb.

I still attend SW approx once a month as a target member it's for free and keeps me on the straight and narrow. Would highly recommend it. Good luck with the weight loss.

I know so many people that have done so well with slimming world this year and I think it's because it fits into healthy 'family' eating. I don't diet but try and stick to low fat slimming world type meals and it works for me.

Do your council have a gym membership? I don't know of you like to swim at all, but Ive been doing that and slimming world. I was already swimming most weeks with ds so joining their membership cost me very little more as you have to swim 4.5 times in a month to get your moneys worth, and I was swimming 3 weeks out of 4 already.
So now I can swim unlimited (with and without ds). I've lost 1.5 stone so far from swimming 20mins 3-4 times a week. Even when I take ds with me I do a few widths with him sat on my back which he loves.

I have never done ww but I have found slimming world very easy and as a pp has said I'm never hungry.

I liked slimming world.

SW seems to be ranking highly and my local group is walking distance so I think I'll go along on Tuesday and sign up.

I second Myfitnesspal.com and be totally honest with yourself on it, I was amazed at what I was eating, and with a bit of tweeking to what I put on my plate I found I had plenty to eat without mega calories, and then weight started to fall off. That and walk walk walk, and I started going to Zumba once a week at first, then upped it slowly. I found if I go at it all gung ho I give up, if I promise myself to go once each week, I enjoyed it and looked forward to it. Then I went twice and then three times, It took me a year to work up to three times and then I added Yoga, I'm rubbish at it but all that stretching really does feel good.

If you like to eat a lot, SW will suit you, and make you eat more healthily. I lost 2 1/2 stone in 5 months with them and never felt hungry.

I also found Myfitnesspal useful but I did find I was obsessing about food way more than I do on sw. With sw I feel I am eating a healthy balanced diet, with myfitnesspal I was just making sure I stayed within my calories- healthily or unhealthily.

Have you checked prices at local gym? My (council) gym membership used to be less than £20 a month, and that included creche for daytime classes.