AIBU to try to lose 7 stone in 14 months?

[nitrox]

Hello everyone,

AIBU in thinking I can lose 7 stones in 14 month (1/2 stone a month) by eating healthily, and exercising a bit more?

I'm female, 5ft 7", 18st 13.5lbs (prety much 19st), size 22.

I miss all the sports I used to do, my knee is really bad and won't heal after I damaged it cycling, and I won't go to Alton towers anymore as I'm too embarrased after the last time when I nearly didn't get the bars down on my tummy.

I've tried all sorts of diets, even had a gastric band a few years ago.. it worked but went wrong and slipped and I've piled the weight back on, silly me .

Is anyone else in the same boat? Would love to hear some inspirational stories or to at least feel like I'm not the biggest freak in the world ... I can't even seem to find a winter coat I like that isn't knee length or a ski style jacket.

It's so sad really, I'm 30 now and spent my 20's dieting, I don't want to do the same in my 30's. I don't have children yet, so I need to do this now!

I love sports, extreme sports in particular like snowboarding and scuba diving and I'm pretty depressed as I can't do them very easily now and don't want to book any holidays because of my weight.

Anyhow, I'm rambling..

Thanks for reading

[BsshBossh]

Oh yes, and get a tape measure and write down your measurements (waist, tummy, hips, boobs, thighs) cause they often go down even if the scales don't some weeks.

[RandallFloyd]

Definitely measure, I'm gutted I didn't.
I don't take a proper 'before' picture either.

I thought I'd prefer to just lose the weight and pretend the fat me never happened! I do regret that now though. It would have been nice to have something concrete to look at as well as the lbs.

[BsshBossh]

Randall I didn't measure at the beginning either. Gutted! And I wish I'd taken a proper before photo too. xCupid take a before photo with just vest and leggings. You'll be so happy you did (no one but you needs to see it).

[nitrox]

Hey everyone, what an inspirational read yet again!

Cupid, you sound exactly like me, in ever way, it's crazy!

I'm going to start 5:2 on Monday too, healthy during the week, bit less cautious at weekends, just so I can lose 1.5lbs, rather than 1lb.. Although the be fait, 1lb is a lot more than I'm achieving now by burying my head in the biscuit barrel...!

Randall, love your way of doing it too, doing it weekly means I can have bad days and good days and not feel like I've ruined it, so I may as well eat badly for the next couple of months until I decide to diet again. Gah, every summer and every Xmas I say the same thing, it's getting embarrassing now repeating myself whilst getting ever fatter.

I graduated in the summer from Uni, and I looked terrible on most of the photos, really spoilt it.. How many more times am I going to let me own body spoil my life?

I feel this real determination at the moment, I really pray to god it lasts!

Come on Cupid, we can both start Monday and cheer each other on :)

Gem x

[nitrox]

iPad spelling mistakes, sorry!

[Guineapig99]

Hi Nitrox , I have the same amount of weight to lose and you've inspired me. Am off to the guinea pig weight loss page now . See you there??

[Joysmum]

Every one of us if different, our issues and our skills and perception is different which is why we will all have varying degrees of success on the same diet somebody else was successful with.

The short of it is, we need to eat less energy than our bodies need and the weight will come off. So why is it we can't do this for a sustained period of time to lose the weight we need and stay there. Either we are eating more than we think we are and not realising, or else we have an emotional 'fuck it' attitude an immediate gratification is more important than long term goals. In my case it was a bit of both.

So a calorie tracker is good for the first point but you have to get much better at recognising how much of anything you are consuming to make that accurate enough to rely on the actual numbers of calories consumed. It's great for making informed choices though and realising the calories in some food aren't worth consuming for the lack of enjoyment you get from it.

The most important thing for me was keeping a diary. I recorded when I felt tempted to eat. How I was feeling and the circumstances leading up to feeling tempted, the time and the place etc. this made me realise there was a pattern of 3 main times/emotions/situations so if I could just cope different with these then the rest was literally easy. I should just point out I was a full on binge eater, not to be confused with an overeater which I also am. (it really pisses me off when people say they are binge eaters because they can't eat one biscuit and have to have packet - binge eating is mindless and you eat to get nothingness and stop when you can't eat anymore, it's certainly not wanting to stop but can't, it's not knowing you've binged until you've finished because you have switched off!)

So whilst I won't advise anyone to do what I did in terms of diet, I will advise to keep a food log, and a diary charting what/how much/where/when/emotions and situation around when you ate so you can't work out your trigger times/ feelings/situations/foods etc and then figure out a plan of action so you can cope with these triggers without resorting to food. The diet for many obese people isn't what makes the most difference, identifying and changing the emotional ties to food IS!

[Lilacroses]

You can do it!! I don't know if you will lose it at the rate you hope or not but it's perfectly feasible. My dp and I have been on 5:2 for 6 weeks. She's lost 16 lbs and I've lost 11 lbs. It's generally been fine....just seem to have a plateau right now. It's made us much more aware of how much we casually overate before and that we really don't need to eat any where near that much. Best of luck to all!!!

[fortyplus]

nitrox you sound just like me - except that I was only about 3 stone overweight. Just wanted to say good luck and you can get it off and keep it off. I've been in a GB sports squad for my age group for the past 3 years after shifting the weight about 8 or 9 years ago though I do have the biggest bum in the team .

My advice would be do it slower - if you're taking in enough calories to maintain a body of your ideal weight and level of activity then that's where you'll end up. I bought the GI diet book which has a lot of sensible stuff in it - eg eat small regular snacks (an apple or 5 or 6 almonds) to maintain your blood sugar levels.

[Twattyzombiebollocks]

Obsolutely possible, and a realistic time frame. 2.5 years ago I weighed 17.5 stone (5ft10) and was a size 18-20, I didn't look hugely fat, which compounded the issue (weight evenly distributed and there's a lot of me to distribute it over)
I now weigh 13.5 stone and am a size 14-16, just into the overweight category, although granted I've had a baby in that time which slowed me down a bit.
I haven't dieted all that time, I'll have a few weeks where I'm really strict with myself, then I'll ease off for a few weeks and just maintain, then when I've got my motivation back I'll be really strict again. This time next year I will be at my target weight of 11stone, which is what I was when I got married and I'm happy with that.

[ppeatfruit]

Bssh Congratulations on all the weight lost I've come off the P.M. thread now because size 10s are hanging off me (darn those vanity sizes!) also as you know I combine with Hay diet and Blood Type (for health) and one of the posters is vociferously anti !!

But nitrox don't ignore the Paul mckenna it is the most sensible way of losing weight and maintaining,

[nitrox]

Guinea - defo, it would be great to motivate each other along !

Joys mum - some really good tips there, thanks so much.. I guess I get frustrated at having to put so much effort into something I hate (dieting), but I need to focus on the weight loss as a motivator... I read somewhere that some people see dieting as a punishment and don't seem to relate eating less to getting their goal, they just see it as a punishment for being bad and in no way linked to feel better and healthier.. Clothes shopping, sports, running around after kids, sweating less, enjoying a nice walk, whatever motivates you is sometimes difficult to remember when you are just feeling so deprived and hard done by..

Lila - wow you and your partner have done so well! All these positives about 5:2 are really encouraging! Well done!

Fortyplus - hey, big bums are in fashion don't you know? Haha.. Wow I'd love to know what you do as a sport! You are bang on with the apple and almonds, my sister is doing a clean living plan (she lives in Oz) and she's lost loads, toned up and feels amazing.. Fitness and health is pretty hot over there so there are gyms, personal trainers and obviously lots of beaches and water sports.. Maybe I need to emigrate? Lol

Twatty - wow, I hope I can post like you in a years time.. I'd love to be back at a size 14, you have done really well and I'm sure you will reach your goal. I guess until you are a size 18/20 + it's hard to realise just how miserable it is to go clothes shopping.. A size 14 would mean I could shop anywhere again, especially my beloved surf clothes that I adore.. I can only wear men's XL, sometimes XXL, which is very depressing. Just a 14 would be awesome and I'd feel so much more feminine.

Thanks for all the posts, excuse any typos as I'm on the iPad (with a mind of its own).

I just feel so good about it at the moment, feels like something to look forward to rather than be a noose around my neck.

I can't thank you enough, and people who have mentioned counselling, I might look into it. I'm I very closed person in some ways, so it isn't something I would want to do, and I don't have any major issues I can think of that are causing my problems, just got myself in a rut I guess..

[nitrox]

Ppeat, is paul McKenna really good? A book or cd?

Size 10, I can only dream lol

[SlicedLemon]

I think you can do that.

I lost 5 1/2 stone in 12 months just dieting and no proper excercise. So if you throw some excercise in as well I think its very doable.

I did it on Slimming World.

Good luck

[nitrox]

Hey thanks sliced lemon (love the name!)

Great to hear that it's actually possible if I just stick to it!

Thanks for the support!

[xCupidStuntx]

So many motivational people on this thread, have really enjoyed reading each reply!
nitrox I'm delighted you're starting tomorrow too!!
Think of it this way, we've got 6 weeks till Christmas and with quite a bit to lose I think we could have a really good loss by Christmas if we just keep chugging along no messing around, imagine by then could be looking and feeling better which would increase motivate ten fold to continue this new way of life into the new year.

Re: Paul McKenna, I downloaded the mp3 onto my phone a few years ago and took a few minutes every morning and evening to listen to it, was quite nice just to zone out and visualize a thinner, fitter me. Well one day about a week in I was getting ready for bed and realised I'd eaten very little all day unknowns to myself so I said feck that and ordered a Chinese! So silly, it actually took more effort in that case to make the bad choice.

I think there's definitely something in it though, same with Beck. I will more than likely dip in and out of both, just to keep motivation topped up because that really is my main problem. Healthy food can be gorgeous, I make DD (2) lovely meals made from fresh ingredients. I really enjoy finding new recipes and prepping and cooking them for her, then when she has a nap I'll eat a load of crap. It's mad how I focus so much on nourishing her (would you believe I actually enjoy nutrition and considered doing a course but thought/knew they'd take one look at me and laugh!) yet I don't treat my body with half the kindness I treat hers, in fact it's totally abused!!

I'm feeling so much more positive now, long may it continue!!

[ppeatfruit]

nitrox it's everything you can get CDs DVDs books apps etc. and it works without calorie counting, shit diet food, or being hungry; mainly because it's not a diet at all it's a really new of eating

[ppeatfruit]

xcupid Shame you gave up, because one of the most amzing things about Mckenna is that you can just pick it up the next day if you gone off it for a while or a week or whatever (which i've done many times ). I still lost and am maintaining well.

[ppeatfruit]

I did mention upthread that I do combine it with healthy eating though!!

[nitrox]

Ooh, I might look into it as an added extra super power up my sleeve! Shame he's not on tv anymore, loved him as a kid..!

Cupid - I also know quite a lot on diet and nutrition, crazy really! It is like a self harming in a way, although I don't understand people who cut themselves to feel better, I guess they don't understand the eating food to feel better, it's all so complex and odd.

I'm an educated and normal person, I know what is good for me, I know how to lose weight, but sugar is like a drug and I guess even people at the top of their game can be taken down with a drug.

I downloaded the book recommended earlier on amazon, why we get fat, so I'm going to start to read that.

I really do think that commercialism, the western diet and a whole host of advertising has not helped in me realising the negative relationship I have with food.. Food adverts are everywhere now! Can you imagine the same for hard drug adverts, it wouldn't be allowed, for good reason..!

[forcookssake]

I've just read the whole thread, it was so hopeful and motivating, thanks OP for starting the thread. I'm 32, 5'7" and 132kgs (sorry not sure what that is in lbs as I was very recently weighed in hospital) and I have to reduce my BMI from 42 to below 30 if there's going to be any help with my apparent infertility stuff
BUT I am now feeling like it'll be hard but doable rather than impossible so may as well not bother...

[nitrox]

Hey forcooksake!

Welcome to the thread and I'm so glad I started it too, it's been a massive help for me and others it seems.

I'm worried about fertility, I've never been pregnant, so I worry that when I try I'll be too fat and won't be able to. Another reason for sorting the out sooner rather than later. I'm 30 now, but the years soon creep up on you I guess.

Have you decide how you want to proceed?

[Talkinpeace]

forcookssaske
Come and join the weight loss forums - take your pick or try all of them
and surf the wave of support and positive vibes that will help you achieve your goals.

[BsshBossh]

ppeatfruit I've lurked but never joined in on the PMcK thread because I was doing 5:2 too and I knew loads of posters there would not have approved of the combo. But the basic principles can be successfully applied to any eating programme and though I fast twice a week I eat normally the rest of the time.

[ppeatfruit]

nitrox not only sugar is addictive; wheat is also, there's an interesting book called Wheat Belly which is a real eye opener it's by William Davis M.D. DH is terrible with exhaustion,bad tempers and bloating when he eats it so we try to cut it out.It's almost impossible unless you look at all the ingredients in 'bought' food that includes so called healthy foods.

I disagree that being overweight is just a case of cals. in and exercise out because of the addictive nature of a lot of foods.