I weigh 16.5 stone 🙁

[LadyintoGaddings]

I’m a size 22, I’m 5’7.

I have zero motivation and I like food too much.

I’ve got a 3.5 year old and I’ve no energy most days as he’s very hard work.

I also have ADHD so I struggle to prioritise and plan healthy meals etc.

If you've used MFP before I'd suggest adding the food you posted this afternoon and looking at the nutrients and macros, not just the calories.

It's hard to tell the portions from what you've said, but it sounds a bit carb heavy to me. Granola is delicious but unfortunately most varieties are also high in sugar and fat. Eggs with spinach, mushrooms or tomatoes would give you protein without the carb high and the insulin spike that follows it which in turn is driving your hunger.

I've copied the extract below from an article on leptin. It's a long article and the diet suggestions are a long way down. Take heart from understanding that this isn't your fault.

The need for protein and fiber is also stressed. It’s recommended that each meal contain around 400 to 600 calories, in the following general ratio:
• 40 percent protein
• 30 percent fat
• 30 percent carbohydrates

www.healthline.com/nutrition/leptin-101

You could consider Saxenda.
Speak to your GP about it.

Carbohydrates break down to glucose and it sounds like you need to have a look at both portion sizes and what you eat.

2 slices of medium sliced toast = about 30g carbs = 6 teaspoons of sugar. Is your bread white bread or multigrain? Multigrain breaks down more slowly to glucose, so you'll feel fuller for longer. Thin or medium slice? You'd hardly notice the difference. How much granola, yoghurt, fruit? A portion of granola is much smaller than you think - do you weigh it? Well worth reading the side of the box. Yoghurt - how much? What kind - plain or with fruit & sweeteners? Honey is just sugar. Eggs are great - lots of protein to keep you full, and low cal/carb.

A wrap - again, probably 25-30g carbs = 5-6 spoons of sugar. Wholemeal/multigrain better than white, or looks for smaller wraps, or ditch the wrap & have the chicken with the salad & no wrap. What is on the chicken? Sweet & stick hints at sugary stuff again...

Dinner - how much pasta? Again, look at the portion & weigh it out. It's tedious but worth it. Ditch the cream on your strawberries 😁 How many meatballs, how much sauce? Fill 1/2 your plate with salad / leafy veg before you add the pasta or meatballs.

DD has T1 diabetes so we have to weigh and carb count pretty much every single thing she puts in her mouth. My brain is full of carb values for common foods. The weighing and counting's a pain but it's doable - just get some scales and a calculator. If she can do it (she's 12) you can do it!

Full disclosure - I was also kidding myself that a breakfast very similar to yours was absolutely fine and 'healthy', but my portions were WAY too big. I'd have a banana, telling myself it's fruit, so fine (but actually equiv about 5 tsp of sug) plus greek yog with honey (again - too much - not a portion), plus way too much museli.

No advice but solidarity OP

i have a 3.5 year old and a 10 month old. Same height and weight as you and size 18.

ive signed up to a boot camp once a week and am going to stop eating past the children’s dinner time. I’ll see if it has any impact. I’ve been this size before, got down to 11 stone and then put it all back on over five years. Yo-yo dieted my whole life ever since my mum wanted ‘company’ at slimming world when I was 12 (and a completely normal size)

Big hand hold from me

I did SlimmingWorld a few years ago. I found it really good, nice recipes and found lots of good ways to get rid of the weight. Evening I prepared snacking plates, also had ham to snack on in the fridge, I found I could eat more (of the right foods). It does need planning, I found staying to group really helpful.

some docs will prescribe a six week for free sessions I believe (not sure if this is still the case).

I do it on my own now from recipes I got back when I was a member, and there’s still stuff available online without paying to be a member. I looked at quite a few different slimming clubs before deciding on SW. I’ve just got all my books out to start again as I’ve put some back on, I found a slimmers diary a really useful tool as when I had a good weight loss week I could see what I did that week and recreate it.

looking back if you’d had been given the option to fast (have 1 low carb meal a day) and still reach 10.5 stones and not have a gastric sleeve would you ?

if she was to fast doing low carb OMAD (one meal a day) she would 100% lose the weight and at a quicker pace than just 1lb a week

if obese people lose weight faster they are more encouraged to keep going than losing 1lb a week and feeling the struggle and giving up then end up putting on more weight

I’m not being arsey I was over 21st at one point and I struggled so bad, fasting is the only thing that’s really helped at all

There's so many ways to lose weight hence the varied opinions!
I lost weight before, calorie counting with some slimming world principles

I gained it all back when I moved in with my husband who cooked for us and can eat anything he wants. Totally my own fault

Lost weight last year just calorie counting but eating mostly what I fancied and for the most part kept it off

Been advised by the GP to lose weight and cut carbs, which I am doing. I have off-periods and notice when I am eating carbs as my hunger is all off, I don't feel hungry and then suddenly I'm starving and need to eat now. That's a sign of blood sugar that is out of whack, similarly not being able to survive skipping a meal. For those reasons low(er) carb might be beneficial for you as it seems your blood sugar is maybe going a bit haywire if you feel dreadful skipping a meal. It's difficult at first, I really missed chips, but finding veg you love helps.

For the person saying they are concerned about my bowel movements and lack of fiber, don't worry, I'm all good. Plenty of veg and the occasional chia/flax seeds, don't need your thinly veiled concern when you're shitting on people's dietary choices which have no bearing on your life

Good luck OP, it can be overwhelming but start small. First weight your pasta, then cut it down to a "regular" portion if it isn't already, then start swapping some of it out for courgetti etc.

I'd recommend SlimmingWorld. It's the motivation I need to watch my food intake as I'm a greedy bitch! The weekly weigh in keeps me on track and I find the group really supportive and motivational. Good luck! We're all behind you

Mentally I couldn’t have done fasting/one meal a day when I was obese. I was used to eating frequently and big portions. I toyed with doing fast 800 for months bought the books but never started. I know some can go cold turkey but I’d have never started.
What helped me stick to it was being able able to eat and not be hungry. I wasn’t cutting out carbs so didn’t feel deprived. The weight came off quickly due to my size I went from a 20 to a 16 in under 2 months.
Main thing is to pick something and do it. How are you getting on Op?

Me neither. How did you do it?

I had to go simple to start taking weight off after several false starts with trying to do it gradually. I'm doing fast 800 with 2 meals a day - for me it makes meal planning simple as tend to have same 3 breakfasts then just have to plan dinners.

Lilythepunk Sorry I’d said earlier but not in that post SlimmingWorld. I focus on eating lots of protein, sensible portions of carbs and minimum 1/3 plate veg. I usually eat 3 meals, 1 snack of protein yoghurt & fruit and a bit of choc eg a freddo or Kit Kat. Lost 5 stone in 8 months and maintain at a healthy weight as I didn’t revert to old ways. I walk 10,000 steps a day. I cook mostly from scratch and don’t eat stuff like mugshots or muller lights.

If your problem is that you like food too much, find activities that are more active that you may enjoy to do. It will help distract you from thinking about food. You can put your focus on something else, like your DS. If you tend to eat more while you are at the house, get yourself outdoors. Take your DS outside to play and he will burn off some off that energy as well.