To be really worried/ashamed about my weight

[polkadots2]

I had various medical procedures throughout February and an operation at the start of March, I wasn’t able to exercise throughout because it would have interfered with the treatment I was having.

I’ve gained A LOT of weight and I’m quite concerned about it. I was around 10.5 stone in January (5’6”, so higher end of the healthy BMI) I weighed myself today and I’m almost 12 stone! I feel so deflated and ashamed. I’ve felt like crying all morning. My clothes all feel tight and I feel lethargic and unhealthy.

I’m not sure what to do about it, I used to pick up fresh stuff several times a week while eating healthily, I obviously want to minimise the amount of shopping trips now.

Post DC I was around 13 stone and worked really hard to get down to a healthy weight eating low carb. I know it comes down to calories but I’m certain I’m sensitive to carb intake, as I balloon if I have too many carbs - at the moment that’s all we really have in the house!

I’m debating doing fast 800 but I don’t know if that’s a stupid idea at the moment given the circumstances? Not sure if that would cause issues with my immune system either if I end up getting coronavirus

Would really appreciate any advice

Have you tried the Couch to 5K? The weight fell off me when I tried it, mixed with general healthy eating.

I just did fast 800 and lost over a stone in 3 weeks (I was a similar weight to you). It's supposed to be good for your immune system so a positive thing to do right now.
I found it easy. There's a really good support and advice thread on MN too.

Just look after yourself whatever you decide, as the nhs will not be able to help us as much as they would usually do if things go wrong and we are hurt. You’ve just had a medical procedure. What recovery advice have you been given? Follow that and try my fitness pal.com or a Fitbit type thing, basically something you can programme the good you are eating into and it tells you how many calories you have left to eat.
Good luck and don’t be too hard on yourself. This is a difficult time. We will nearly all put on weight!

I'm the same height as you and 14 stone. I'm working on it but refuse to feel ashamed. Do you think overweight men feel ashamed? Be kind to yourself. It's healthier to lose it slower. Aim for 300 Cals less per day and it'll come off gradually. But don't be ashamed!! Dress up nicely, make yourself feel expensive.

Havre you looked at intermittent fasting, that works well for me to keep my weight down

That there is the last straw for me. I'm leaving MN until the frothing lunatics have calmed down or fucked off. Please do fuck off, it's pathetic.

It's absolutely fine to think about any concerns we might have in our lives. Good luck with the weight loss polka.

I packed on quite a bit of weight following a gallbladder operation. Some of it was the relief at being able to eat normally again, some was from having to slow down while I recovered and some of it was water retention. It all shifted without much effort afterwards because it was just a temporary set of circumstances.

I am in a similar position, although due to an injury and eating too much chocolate and crisps due to boredom. It sucks, and I am doing daily exercise and trying to eat healthily just to avoid putting on more weight.

I would echo what Elieza says and be kind to yourself. We are going through unprecedented times and putting yourself through a punishing eating regime might make it all seem even worse, especially if you slip (which we all do from time to time) and then beat yourself up for it.

I have ordered a few pairs of leggings and yoga pants online in a larger size, so that I don't feel like I am bursting at the seams. Hopefully this will help me feel better about myself, and more inclined to eat healthily and do a bit of exercise. I am doing the Joe Wicks PE class at 9am during the week and yoga with Adriene on YouTube each day. We will get through this!

@Glitteryone Ah, you seem sweet!

I’m very keen to try fast 800 if you fancy a buddy OP

Please don't go on a fad diet (fast 800 is a fad diet) all that will do is lower your metabolism and starving yourself is a bad idea at any time, let alone while recovering from a surgery! Be kind to yourself and focus on adding more nutritious food in where you can rather than cutting things out

Glittery one so you don’t think anyone should post anything except CV posts? There’s a whole board for Coronavirus.

The rest of us are trying to maintain a semblance of normality. If you don’t like a thread you disregard it.

Have you tried just eating healthily....
all you’re taking about it cutting food groups or cutting calories majorly.
Can you not just eat a balanced diet and not over indulge on portions and snacks?
Do a home workout each day and go for a walk or run.

You’ve gained less than 1.5 stone after surgeries. Healthy weight loss is 2lbs a week. So in 2 months you’d be back to normal.
It’s not like you’re now morbidly obese.

It sounds like you have an unhealthy relationship with food and your body, I think you’d do much better doing some work on that and feeling more positive with yourself whilst maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Or crash diet and put your health at risk whilst we’re dealing with corona virus. That will be a quicker solution obviously.

Well you’re hardly morbidly obese are you?

There’s a killer virus sweeping the nation.

Catch a grip of yourself!

Fuck off

Definitely recommend Couch25K. So good. You need to be kinder to yourself and take it very very gradually. We are in such a mess at the moment, you don’t want to have a relapse/become ill all for the sake of some weight loss, OP.

Whatever you do, don’t feel ashamed! What for? Being human? I would download my fitness pal, track your calories - aim for a reasonable target like 1500 a day. Try and eat healthy foods to meet your target.

Also download the coach to 5k app, get running app or similar and try to start building up your exercise. It’ll help you burn the calories you’re eating, let you have the odd treat and protect your mental health while we’re in lockdown!

And don’t be so hard on yourself, we’ve all been there to one degree or another!

I am currently trying to lose weight in a healthy way.
Before I started, my Bmi was in the obese range. But I was 5 7 and a size 12, my dr had no concerns about my weight.
I honestly think bmi is nonsense and I wouldn’t panic based on that alone.

You’ve not been moving much and probably eating more, no wonder your clothes are a bit tight, just eat healthy and don’t go crazy on the stockpiled pasta and it’ll be fine.

Any chance you’re projecting a bit of health anxiety onto this?

Sorry Polka I should’ve added something encouraging rather than just moan at the “But Coronavirus!” twit.

I don’t know anything about the fast 800, but I have found the 5:2 diet quite effective. After a few weeks it’s really easy to get through the low calorie days, and my calorie intake and healthy eating improved overall as I trained my appetite down. I lost over a stone over a few weeks.

Good luck with whatever weight loss path you choose.

Try my fitness pal on maintenance mode for a couple of weeks as that might help you stop gaining weight while understanding what your diet is like. Then after the 2 weeks shave off the 100 calories per day you are least likely to miss and keep that up. You should lose 1-2kg per week for a month at which point you do maintenance mode at your new weight and shave off 100 cals per day again.

Im exactly in the same boat. Same height and pretty much same weight (haven’t weighed myself as scales broken and obviously can’t get to the gym but last time I did I was 11st 10 and that was before 2 weeks of sloth like lockdown). Pre a pretty crappy last 6 months which also involved surgery, I was around 10 st 7 and my “best” weight is 10st (I’ve been lower but it doesn’t suit me). I would love to get back to 10st but finding these circumstances tough.

I’ve downloaded a fitness app and a yoga app and just been for a brisk 30 min walk which I’m planning to do every day. If I can build up to a run I will do. From today I’m trying to be “mindful” about what I eat, rather than just mindlessly opening the cupboard / fridge and snacking just through boredom.

Also trying not to be too hard on myself and would suggest you do the same. Life is very unusual at the moment.

I wouldn’t go straight into exercise without talking to a medical professional

Thanks for the helpful replies - not so much for the unhelpful ones.

Obviously I’m aware there is a virus sweeping the nation - hence why I’ve followed ALL government advice and will continue to do so. When I was at a weight which was almost obese, my mental and physical health suffered a lot so I am trying to get control of things so they don’t get worse. My feelings are not invalid because of the outbreak.

Everyday concerns and worries about health and general life do not cease to exist because of coronavirus. Coming on to my post purely to invalidate my feelings about my weight gain achieves absolutely fuck all, except possibly making some people feel somehow superior, to constantly demean anyone’s feelings or thoughts if they don’t center around coronavirus. Utterly ridiculous and nasty.

I’m going to take a step back from this thread and probably not respond further for my own mental health - but thanks again to everyone who managed not to bombard my thread with even more coronavirus stuff.

My operation was due to suspected cancer but I suppose I shouldn’t mention that too much or someone will jump down my throat about that and tell me to stop being hysterical when there’s a killer virus about.

So much for kindness.