I’ve out one so much lockdown weight Aibu to ask if you have too?

[Carolbaskinstiger]

I’ve gone from a size 12/14 to an 18 since this time last year. I’ve spoken now to three friends who are the same. Have never been this large ;and also to be fair was already heavy for me - but am 5’8 so am usually slim- ish).

Firstly has anyone else done the same. Bit also - if I’ve put it on in year is it reasonable to think that with a decent diet and resuming good exercise habits I can shift it in six months?

My weight has been stable for the last year but before lockdown I was losing. I've lost 2st of baby weight and have 1 more I want to lose. I haven't been able to lose a thing because I am A LOT less active now I WFH.
I'm back on it and losing now. With spring and hope on the horizon comes fresh motivation. I need to accept if I'm sat on my arse I need to eat less.

I think a lot of people have gained weight over the last year and you shouldn’t be too hard on yourselves. At a time where there is great uncertainty, increased pressure in the household, boredom and a lack of outlets for both entertainment and exercise, people have focused on food and meals for comfort and pleasure. It’s hardly surprising.

I have lost a significant amount of weight over the last three years and as a result I’m quite the healthy eating and exercise zealot. I have maintained my weight. Most people are not zealots and I have noticed a lot have put on weight as a natural consequence of the above. None of you are alone in this...you are not disgusting, greedy or lacking in control, you’re in a very difficult set up whereby much of your lives have been confined to your homes. I know only too well how easy it is to gain weight without actually having to do very much to cause it.
Don’t be hard on yourselves.

Ugh yes - I've been overweight for years, so was pretty stable during the first lockdown. But I contracted Covid in November and lost a stone in 10 days - it was a free-for-all once I got better, so I've put that stone back on plus another one.

I'm now over 15 stone at 5'3", size 20-22 and loathe myself. I'm waiting for blood results for thyroid dysfunction though - my hair is falling out and in the last couple of years even very diligent efforts to lose weight have yielded disappointing results (and having been fat and thin multiple times in the last 30 years, I'm very educated on how to do it). Covid has suggested that the only reliable way to lose weight quickly for me is to eat nothing at all!

I need to develop new habits and accept that it will be a long, laborious, boring process.

Weight gain or loss definitely has a very significant psychological aspect, and it is a million times easier to lose weight when feeling positive generally (unless you are one of the people who loses their apoetite and can't eat when stressed and overwhelmed - people generally either lose or gain weight when under significant long term stress and crucially when feeling overwhelmed and helpless or lacking control, rather than positively engaged with solving an issue they believe that they have some control over.

I gained a lot of weight between 2010/11 and 2020, and a chain of fairly stressful and difficult situations cleared up with a positive outcome for me in July 2020.

That put me in the right headspace to lose weight, and I've lost 5 and a half stone (35kg) since then.

Lockdown adds some stresses (homeschooling and a higher workload at work) but removes others (juggling ferrying 3 kids to separate extra curriculars and friends houses around shift work, extended family obligations involving travel) and I do a job which cannot be done from home, so still go to work - more than before actually as the workload has increased and there are staffing issues.

You definitely need to be in a pisitive mindset to lose weight - its why fatshaming is a vicious cycle and doesn't work. Losing weight is both incredibly easy and incredibly difficult, because we all know how to do it, but actually doing it is impossible until your attitude is positive long term, and that's easier said than done.

There's definitely no need for gyms to be open in order to lose weight - all I do is walk daily for between 45 minutes and 3 hours depending on shifts and homeschooling etc etc. Obviously food is key. When feeling overwhelmed its normal to make excuses and self sabotage - the psychological aspect is absolutely central and very hard to change just through sheer force of will.

Good luck.

@Kinneddar Wow, that’s fantastic, well done you! I admire your willpower.

I put on a stone and a half over the first period of lockdown ( and if I'm honest before that, due to bereavement) but have been working on it since December.
The stone and a half has gone and I'm aiming to lose a further half stone.
I'm still having a couple of chocolates a day as total denial makes me thoroughly miserable.

It happened to so many! No shame.

I just want to say as someone who recently moved from morbidly obese to JUST obese...
Start now. Do something now. Don't just bury your head like I did. Every few kilo lost I remind myself that if i started x years ago, I would have been done by now🙄 It is easier to keep fit than get fit. It's very much easier to lose 3, 4 stone than 13🙈

Don't do it for others though. It has to be for yourself so you don't risk your health (because that will be affected eventually), you don't have to think if that cafe you want to go to has strong chairs (yes, really) and my absolute fave, which stuck with me. You won't have issues with cremation. If you reach 120kg cremation it's just not as simple affair as for others. That honestly stuck with me throughout. I can proudly say that now I can be cremated normally with no need for extra time (too much of it ha) and/or equipment.

Bucking the trend, I’ve gone from an 18 to a 14. It’s been the worst year of my life starting with my mum having a heart attack two days before the first lockdown to dying of Covid this lockdown. It’s the best diet I’ve never been on

Total denial doesn’t work...not long term anyway. You’ll shift a bit in the immediate then put it back on when total denial inevitably crashes. No one can realistically live like that.

Moderation is the key...and slow loss. I’ve lost nine stone and maintained my new weight for two years without total denial or following a strict plan. I eat healthily as a matter of course but if I really want something, I have it. I eat plenty and enjoy treats. It’s about striking the balance that works for you personally. What’s worth wasting calories on and what isn’t.

I initially lost weight in lockdown when I was on furlough I dedicated the time to exercise and tracking. Then when things opened up and I was eating out etc I gained weight and then since October I had gained a stone (clearly went mad at Christmas). Since January I’ve got 10lb of it off... there’s been ups and downs but I’ve tried to be as consistent as I can. Still trying as want to be at my lightest come April.

I don’t t know how much I’ve put on because I don’t weigh myself, but my belly now looks like I’m 8 months pregnant, and it didn’t before.
I think getting back to work will help me, less chance to snack and more movement,

2.5 stone on in a year here. I went back to intermittent fasting a month ago and I've lost 0.5 stone already, so fingers crossed I'll lose the rest in the next 6 months (always quicker to start with). Ideally I will get to one meal a day but that's difficult with kids around. And less alcohol!

I don't have scales but would estimate a marginal increase of about half a stone due to not walking enough (used to to 25k per week and now it's about half that). So with a bit of exercise in the Spring and going back to normality it should fall off.

If I'm honest I doubt you will lose that in six months. It's sounds like you have about 3 stone to lose. If you work that out in lbs and how much you would reasonably lose in a week consistently youlld get a feel for it. It took me about 2 years to lose a similar amount (lost most of it the first year but the second was a real grind because when I lost some I would relax and it would creep back).

Have your eating habits changed or is it lack of exercise? If its bith maybe try controlling your eating then focus on exercise in summer so you maintain focus?

I found logging stuff on myfitnesspal helped.

You have to do what's right for you, whether it's common to have put on a lot of weight in lockdown or not is irrelevant, it's how you feel and whether you are healthy with the extra.

I haven't but I've worked throughout both lockdowns and my job is active and a bit stressful!
I know my friends who have been furloughed or wfh have piled it on, I think it's a problem for lots of people.

Probably not. I don’t use scales, but my rings are lower and waistbands feel more spacious.
I think I’m having fewer high calorie take away coffees, fewer take away sandwich lunches and fewer slices of colleagues baking because I’m not going to London. We’re also walking more each day and doing more active ‘sorting out shed/garden/cupboards type activities.

I am currently on my first ever diet at 52. I hate having to think about food so much, it's boring. However, I feel uncomfortable and I've decided pandemic or not it's time to change.

Put on 3 and have so far lost 2 of the 3 I gained so I'm currently + 1 stone. Hopefully not for much longer

I have become entirely rotund and I’m really enjoying not worrying about it for once in my life!

I was about a stone heavier than I wanted to be this time last year. I lost half a stone last spring, then put it all back on and more over the past six months.

I now find myself with two stones to lose. My downfall was lack of motivation to exercise and constant snacking and cake breaks during the day.

I've started slowly to reverse that, and the promise of spring weather and vaccines is helping. So far, I've lost half a stone since the start of the year.

It's hard, but vanity is spurring me on.

Why do you not worry about it?

Yes, size 8 to 12. Dread looking at the scales, to be honest.
I can't even figure why, as my diet hasn't changed at all. Just the lack of activity?

I went from 12st 4lb to 10st 7lb in the first lockdown.

Since xmas I reckon I've put at least a stone back on (scales have run out of battery) which is making me feel awful so I need to get back on the healthy eating. I'm just finding it hard to motivate as I'm currently having health issues which I'm comfortable eating from.

@StormcloakNord

If the only thing you've got to worry about is being a size 18 (the horror) then you've done pretty well in this pandemic.

Christ there is always one......

I've put on. I used to cycle to work and walk alot from desk to printer etc so right away I was about 10k steps down by wfh.
I've been walking 2-3 miles a day to try and compensate but that's not enough.
I've been comfort eating too, for reasons not related to covid.
I've started now having soup for lunch. Porridge and raspberries for breakfast and a meal in the evening.
If I lived alone, I'd just have egg on toast or jacket for dinner but not enough for family.
It's hard.

Same boat. The weight graph on my phone shows I was slowly shifting a bit of winter podge last year and in an unmistakable v-shape, turned around and has climbed in a steady line since the start of the pandemic. And has just gone on climbing, even yhough its been staring me in the face all thr way through.

I know I have been drinking more and probably eating more too as the kids have both been here most of the time. And one of them in particular loves baking 😬😬. And I managed to injure myself just before Christmas to add to the gathering pounds.

But I wouldn't be surprised if the constant low level stress was playing its part too.

Im probably only a stone or so above where as a post-menopausal person I should probably realistically settle for. So I absolutely feel everyone s pain.

Now my BMI has just snuck into the next colour band on the NHS calculator so am resolving to only eat vegetables and not the evening meal itself, and try again! Harder! to stay off the booze on weeknights...we'll see....