To be 24 stone?

[Bunny2607]

Obviously i know I am. And trying to post for traffic to see if anyone has been where I am.

just had my 2nd baby 6 months ago, and while i did well at first dropping the baby weight the last 2/3 months i have absolutely ballooned and now weigh the most i ever have. I’m embarrased and ashamed. Its come to a head on holiday as was only just able to fasten the seatbelt on the plane and have been spilling out of restaurant chairs etc. it’s embarrassing.

my baby is starting nursery soon and i’m back to work part time. I have worked out i should be able to get to the gym 2/3 times a week, so i am going to join and hopefully exercise will prevent loose skin?

has anyone lost a massive amount of weight and if so how? Any stories to share? Thank you

I should add I have huge slips still but it's easier to get back into fasting mindset than any other eating plan iv tried

I had to have a total attitude shift towards food - it's not entertainment, comfort, security, it's something to fuel me and keep me healthy. (Obviously you can still go out to eat and enjoy recipes etc but I'm talking about in general.)

Get used to gum, herbal tea, carrot sticks and fruit instead of high calorie snack foods.

Stop eating early and if necessary stay in the bedroom or take a bath when cravings hit.

Good luck

I think different things work for different people OP. The only time I've managed to lose weight (5 stone) was over a long period with lots of exercise. I took care over what I ate but I've never been a person who can be happy on a very strict diet.

I went to the gym 3 or 4 times a week and saw a PT once a week. A mix of cardio, yoga and weights. Be careful with swimming as I always found that would just increase my appetite.

Good luck!

I've lost 3 stone over the past couple of years. I stopped drinking alcohol completely, and gave up refined sugar, so no biscuits, cakes, puddings etc. I don't buy them so not tempted. We generally cook from scratch so can control fats and oils, and also ultra processed stuff.

Thank you everyone some really good advice here!
i think for me the gym helps me feel better and it deters me from eating junk because i think il undo all the hard work. After my first baby i lost 5 stone eating right and going to the gym, so i know i can do it again, its just scary when i saw the number on the scales and i have also noticed a difference on holiday as i said.
i think il start off calorie counting and doing some swimming and see where that gets me. I have 2 children and a husband who need me and i’m so terrified of health problems etc

You can’t out-train a bad diet. You need to start to make adult decisions about what you eat and how much you eat.

See if you can find a couple of days when you have time to record what you eat and also weigh everything so you can make a reasonably accurate estimate of the calories you’re eating.

You'll
see how much you need to cut down, but also what less rational choices you are making, which are harming you.

I'm probably about the same as you now, though I do lose weight easily when I put my mind to it (it's just keeping it off that I find impossible). Here's what works for me when I can be arsed.
Upping your activity will help, but don't do anything too strenuous at first, and try to find something you really enjoy. Even after gaining six stones back, I still swim every day, and go for walks when I can. Find a buddy if you can - it will keep you motivated and also be good for your social and emotional health. I would not still be leaving the house at 6.15am on dark, winter mornings if I didn't have my swim buddy waiting for me.
Download a tracker app like Nutracheck or Myfitnesspal to keep tabs on what you eat. You tend to think twice about that Snickers or whatever if you have to record it. Don't think you need to be on 1200 calories a day to lose weight. If you're moderately active, 2000 cals should give you plenty of fuel while still giving you a deficit. If you are slightly over your allowance one day, don't panic, life happens.
Don't starve yourself. If you want a snack, have it. In fact plan snacks into your daily intake. If you start to feel deprived, you are more likely to fail.
Meal prep is your friend, especially if you don't mind eating the same meal a few days in a row. Boiled eggs are a great snack if you like them - lots of protein and essential nutrients.
Most of all, don't stress too much about it, and don't put off doing the things you love until you lose the weight. You are just as deserving of nice experiences in a larger body as you are in a small one.

My Fitness Pal is a really good app for tracking calories. It can be an eye opener on how many hidden calories you eat.

Exercise won’t help loose skin I’m sorry. You will get loose skin dropping a significant amount of weight, sorry, I speak from experience. But I’m huge again and i’d rather be slimmer with loose skin then just fat and flabby like I am now. :/
Don’t let it stop you. Enjoy movement.

Come and join us on the 10 stone to lose thread!

As you're just starting out I wouldn't recommend My Fitness Pal. They're making a useful feature premium (paid users) only from October. Other apps like Lose It! do the same thing and have the features as free for everyone to use, so you might as well get started with one of those rather than have to switch in a few months.

OP I think that in long term exercise can be incredibly important actually.

Everytime I have a job where I have to drive to work and sit at a desk the weight creeps up. If I can walk / cycle and my daily steps get up to about 10,000 it is so much easier to keep my weight under control as I don't have to restrict my food intake so much.

Good luck!

Ask your GP if you might be eligible for wegovy you can get it privately as Ozempic but it is expensive. However it does work.

I've gone up from 22st 7 to 15st and back again, many, many times. Slimming world, WW, 16:8 fasting, hypnotherapy etc etc for 25+ years. I could lose weight but not keep it off, and ended up opting to pay for a gastric bypass (which I know isn't for everyone). Have lost 6 stone so far (and am expected to lose another 3 or 4) - more importantly my relationship with food has changed massively, and the stress of thinking about diets, plans, restriction ALL THE TIME is gone - food is just a fuel now, not the focus of my day. I could never have got to this state of mind on my own.

Oh bloody hell. Any programme that reduces calories will help you loose weight - it doesn’t matter a jot if its Slimming world or weight watchers or Low carb or intermittent fasting or noon or second nature or just calorie counting.

What does matter is it’s sustainable for you so you can keep doing it in a moderated form after you loose the weight so you don’t regain.

OP, you are deffo not the only person who needs to loose lots of weight and it can be done although the evidence says that people who loose a lot and keep it off do so by having a real lifestyle change . Exercise is great for this - and really important for mental health - so you should do it - but loosing weight is 90% diet.

You need to create a calorie deficit. The easiest way to start learning about this is to download an app like my fitness pal or nutracheck (they do free versions) add in your details and your goals and they will suggest a calorie allowance for you. As an experiment for a week or two just add in what you are eating, and start to see how you can adjust it.

Do some reading and research to see if there’s a programme you might like to do, or if you just want to adjust your current diet.

Keeping off the weight is arguably a bigger challenge than loosing it, so it needs to be a programme you can do long term. Two things to ask yourself - Can I see myself doing this in 5 years time? - Would I want my teen daughter to do it?

To understand more about calorie deficit take a look at the Fitness Chef on instagram. He also wrote a good book which you’ll be able to get from the library which is really useful if you just want to adjust what you eat anyway. James’ Smith’s not a diet book is also useful in this space.

Rangan Chatterjee has a book called loose weight feel great which is not a diet but a guide to the principles of weight loss and healthy lifestyle that also explores why some people find it hard to loose weight.

If you think you have issues with emotional eating, Shahroo Izadi’s The Last Diet is really helpful.

Elizabeth Benton’s Chasing Cupcakes is a good memoir of someone who succeeded in loosing a lot of weight.

If you go to your GP you might find they have support groups or offer free gym membership.

Any sensible diet programme will work, as Will using an app to adjust the calories of your current diet - it’s just about finding the right programme for you.

I’m in the middle of losing my lockdown comfort-eating flab (lots of it) and there’s lots of good advice here already. One little thing I’ve done - and I know it’ll sound bizarre - is to work in kilos, rather than stones and pounds. For some reason, it feels a lot less judgmental in my own mind (see, I know it sounds mad ) and it just makes it a lot more objective. Good luck - it’s a slog, but getting your head in the right place really does make a big difference to being able to stick with it.

As you can see from the comments on here, diets overall do not work because you eventually put the weight back on (and more) and yoyo dieting is terrible for you as well as battering your mental health.

You have the right idea - exercise because you want to be strong, and fit, and be able to out run a toddler! Do it because it makes you feel amazing - whether its gym or swim or dance class.

Be aware of calories and portions but don't be restrictive - I find it better to eat MORE. More veg, more fruit, more grains. Spend time (lol with a toddler i know but) making yourself delicious new meals - maybe try Gousto or Hello Fresh?

Overall look at this as how you want to live for the rest of your life. it HAS to be sustainable. Otherwise you will fall off the wagon.

Also think of incentives. For me, I want to be able to fit on fairground rides with my toddler, and be able to climb and fit in the softp;ay equipment!

Good luck!

Eat what you want between 3pm and 5pm. Do it for 2 days and you’ll see what I mean.

Join Weightwatchers!!!! (Or Unislim or similar.) Cannot recommend them highly enough.

The only danger is, ironically, once you have had success there, you will say "OMG that was so easy, I could do that again if necessary, so I can go wild again now." This is wrong because it's only easy ONCE YOU START attending. Starting is the hard part.

I lost almost 60 pounds once and honestly I didn't use a gym, I walked for hours every day pushing the pram everywhere (couldn't be inside the house as we were having work done and there were some other issues keeping me out the house a day, too boring or outing to mention, but while it was kind of forced time out it had a hugely positive side effect!!). Wall, walk, walk, you'd be amazed how effective it is. It'll also regulate your appetite again, that's what I found anyway. I slept better too and felt mentally better.

I see it has been mentioned but Saxenda injections transformed my ability to make good food choices. It is well worth the money. I get mine from boots online.

Don't buy things you know you shouldn't eat. That way you don't have to exercise willpower if it's simply not there. Consult your GP or Practice Nurse to see if they have a programme to help - it's often useful to have some accountability. Don't be hard on yourself, see it as a journey to health. Good luck!

I haven’t lost massive amounts but going gradually down from 12.5 stone to hopefully 11 stone (halfway through right now, height is just shy of 6ft). Intermittent fasting works a treat for me. I only eat between 12 and 7pm.

Not sure if going to the gym helps with loose skin. You’d probably build up muscles to replace fat, but would not replace the whole bulk. I think skin elasticity is partly genetic.

Look into Ozempic OP.

You're not gaining weight because of lack of exercise, its your diet

Cocaine worked really well for me . Until the bankruptcy.

On a serious and more practical note , get an app that tells you what you can eat while remaining in slight calorie deficit and balance that with gentle exercise to tone as you shrink and you’ll be grand. Easier said than done as it requires willpower still but if you fish out a nice picture of you when you were the size you want to be and stick it to the fridge that will help too. There are no magic bullets , it really is simple math of eating less moving more .