AIBU and expecting too much??

[Tina3]

Hello Ladies,

I need some advice. I am a single parent, always have been and my 12 year old is an only child. I work full time and working from home in this pandemic has been a blessing as we got loads of
time together. However both of us have gained oodles of weight 🙈 I am almost 20st and my child is nearly 10stone. I am being very careful about what we eat and we both follow SlimmingWorld religiously. Just one meal a week as treat BUT there is no time for any physical activity. Hence the weight loss is very very slow. I am 48 years old with very low energy levels.

I work from 9am to 6.30pm after which I need to cook. No time or energy to do anything else. However diet alone isn’t working and I have noticed my child has no real stamina. We live in a small flat so no garden. No park or anything at walking distance to us.

Weekends are usually cooking, cleaning, washing etc typical house work and we usually go out to places with friends but again it’s more like movie, swimming, visiting a beach etc. Not too much physical activity. I have always been overweight but around 13-14stone not as ginormous as I currently am!

Please suggest a way for us to get a bit more active daily whilst working full time and doing all the house work etc. Thank you xxx

Don't despair. You can do it. Get your 12 year old helping with the housework and cooking. If you finish work at 6.30 then there's plenty of time to fit in some sort of exercise before bedtime. Even if it's playing wii fit together. (I lost 3 stone combining low carbs with doing wii fit daily)

As there's only 2 of you in a small flat I can't imagine there's much housework to do anyway.

Plan your meals in advance. Cut out sugar and bread and pasta. It will work.

I hear you OP: I'm also a single parent WFH FT with a 10 year old and both of us have gained weight. It's difficult.

M DD and I have started running in the mornings -- we were using the Couch to 5K app which we did for a fun run. It's fallen off a bit since then but we're still managing to do at least 1.5 to 2k 2 or 3 times a week. I wouldn't say the weight is falling off but its definitely reversed things a bit.

I’d say mornings are going to be key for you. I’m not going to lie, getting up early enough to fit it in absolutely sucks at first, but after a while it’s fine. You just need to push through the sucky stage.

It may sounds on obvious one but how's your portion control? I know slimming world says pasta ect is "free" but everything has calories.

As other posters have said mornings or lunch breaks? Do you do work calls? Can you walk and talk by getting a head set? Even doing 20 mins you tube HIIT at lunch time would be good.

Could you go for evening walks together while it's light late? Start off short then get more adventurous.

I had to give up parkrun due to a dodgy knee but when I did that everyone was very nice and supportive, the ethos is very much that you're only racing against yourself and you can start off by walking most or all of it if you like.

Also if housework in a small flat is taking up a significant amount of your weekend, cut right back on it and do something fun outdoors instead. It's very unlikely that anyone will die if you go for 'not visibly grubby' instead of sparkling clean.

Does your 12 year old not play over the park with friends etc?

The Joe Wicks videos on YouTube are only about 15/20 minutes, can you fit one of those in together before school/work or in the evening? Also if you have a switch, Just Dance is fun and a bit silly to do as a family.

Was about to a suggest Joe Wicks too! I am also a lone parent working full time and have also gained weight WFH. I used to walk everywhere and was always up and down stairs at work and rushing in and out of meetings. Now I just sit on my bottom in front of a screen in my living room. I try to get up early and do some kind of exercise first thing. I love Joe Wicks and also Yoga with Adrienne. Then walk at lunch time if possible and another after work if possible. I love swimming so I do that a couple of times a week too. Every little bit of activity helps. Good luck

15 minute walk or dance on you tubes are free and fun. The walks are gentle and at 15min a time fairly easy to fit into a routine.

If your weight loss is slow, could you count calories?
Exercise is a very small part of weight loss, not anywhere near as effective as reducing calories.
I fear you will still find it slow, even with exercise, unless you are going to undertake hours of strenuous high impact exercise?

Ring Fit Adventure?

I'd maybe try the C25K app 3 times a week if you can- but do remember that exercise plays only a small part in weight loss really ( but is obviously still very important!)
I think you probably need to check portion control if you are sticking to slimming world but not losing much?

A lot of it is portion size. You can eat convenient food but you need to make it a smaller part of the plate. E.g. if you have pizza then have two large slices each but add 2-3 servings of veg.

I tried it and it makes a massive difference because you feel fuller for longer afterwards.

I'm trying to have main meal at lunch time then lighter evening meal. Def batch cooking at weekend for during the week so dont eat too late. Stir fry is great. I found that one treat meal a week really sabotaged my weight loss - massive takeaway. So changed to treat snack.

If you dont start work until 9 then I'd find an exercise in the morning that works for both of you.

I need an exercise class to keep me motivated and my 12 year old has decided to join me. We are going to try spin. And go swimming one morning a week if we xqn

When you say slow weight loss. How slow? 1lb week or 1.5lb

Sorry meant 0.5lb

try www.bloomyoung.com

Lots of very easy exercises you can do at home, especially devised for less active people.