To lose 80lbs this year? Is it doable?

[FootballFanGirl]

I'm very overweight. I'm tipping the scales at 18st 13lbs, aside from when I have birth to my son last year I was 22 stone which I manag d to lose without trying really, this is the biggest I've been although I've always had issues with my weight up and down since I was a child. I don't want to be fat anymore, I want to be healthy and slim and just feel better. My mobility is bad now, all my bones ache, I have back problems, knee problems, you name it. I know that my weight isn't helping me. I want to lose 80lbs so around 5-6 stone. Ice already made some big dietry changes. And trying to be in a calorie deficit. I struggle to do vigorous excercise because I'm always in so much pain, I also have bad anxiety mainly health anxiety and terrified that my heart won't take the exercise and I'll die!! Silly I know. I do walk alot and most days walk between 4-5 miles pushing my son in his buggy. I don't really understand how it works . I know that I need to burn more calories than I consume but how on earth do you burn 1500 calories in one day alone? (Just an example) especially when mobility is bad like mine? Is there anyone that can give me some advice, some stories or just words of encouragement? Now that I've sat here and said it aloud I feel like I'm being unreasonable to think I could actually lose 80lbs and get to my goal weight. Any opinions or thoughts appreciated.

I lost 50 lbs this year. You can do it.

Don't worry about exercise. Exercise doesn't burn that many calories and it's something extra to 'keep up' with. Focus on a calorie controlled nutritious diet with more protein than carbohydrates under your TDEE. For someone of 18 stone you may find you can easily eat 1800-2000 calories and actually be in a deficit but that's if you're weighing and measuring your portions.

I would try the recommended diet for someone who has had a temporary gastric balloon fitted. You can obviously avoid the surgery, cost and side effects but eat what someone who has had one would and the weight should fly off?

https://www.chelwest.nhs.uk/your-visit/patient-leaflets/bariatric-dietetics/dietary-guidance-after-intra-gastric-balloon-insertion

@HugoDarracott makes some excellent points. Definitely educate yourself about glucose metabolism and insulin resistance. I would recommend The Sugar Solution by Dr Mark Hyman. Shorter versions of the essence of the problem with sugar and refined carbs can be found on YouTube - viz. the Glucose Goddess, Dr Becky Gillaspy, Dr Michael Moseley etc.

As has been pointed out, you can't out-exercise a bad diet. Intermittent fasting works for many: brunch, healthy snack, dinner. Mostly vegetables, moderate amounts of lean protein (which is very filling!, some fruit, dairy, complex carbs and healthy fats. No UPF!

Exercise:
Walking is always good; consider wearing ankle weights.
Lucy Wyndham Read is great for beginners or unfit; try her Thighs & Glutes workout
Abs strengthen the core, which is a game changer; try Rebecca Louise's Best Abs and the Bowflex 3-minute plank
Start working out with weights/dumbbells and you'll never look back; Caroline Girvan has been life changing for many.

And if all this seems overwhelming: remember how to eat an elephant......... (hint: one bite at a time). You'll get there!

I avoid breakfast. Don't eat before midday. I have homemade vegetable soup which is filling and nutritious. Either potato and leak, winter root vegetables or lentil and tomato. I might have a slice of wholemeal bread with it but not always. Fruit mid afternoon so a satsuma or apple. Evening meal at 6 with a good portion of high protein like salmon, a smallish portion of carbs eg 3 baby potatoes and vegetables like carrots and peas. I will have a milky drink at 8.30pm.but try not to eat anything after dinner. I am lazy and truly hate much exercise but I've lost 4 stone since February 2022. I still weigh 114 kg. I've got a lot more to lose, especially as I've probably put on about 3-4 lbs over Xmas mainly due to alcohol and chocolates. I'll get back on track with my diet before I weigh myself again. If I feel peckish I distract myself by doing a job around the house or going out with dogs for a walk. Also drink lots of water. 2 litres everyday and reduce salt too.

In your position it would likely be best to start off by going to see your GP/Healthcare practitioner. You mentioned that you suffer from joint pain - if you haven't got a proper diagnosis for this then that needs to be squared away before you make changes to your eating and exercise habits.
There are many many many diets and fitness plans out their - most of them are nonsense. People who claim to have lost drastic amounts of weight very quickly tend to regret the methods they used to get there.
Eating proper food and doing useful exercise requires longterm lifestyle changes - and you may benefit from some counselling or mental health support to help you understand why you turn to food when you are bored/lonely/having difficult days.
Relying on things like keto or fad diets/exercise regimes tends not to have long term results for people. And even if they do shed weight - say through dieting alone - people are oftentimes unhappy with how they look afterwards (just crash dieting won't tone your body or help your joints at all - it'll likely just make you feel grotty and fatigued).
You mentioned you like swimming - that's awesome! See if you can find a meeting of like minded people who are also on a fitness journey and join them for a swim. Or get a swimming coach who can help you develop your swimming techniques.
The only issue with swimming is that it is not weight bearing: our bodies become stronger - and joints become far more supported - if we do weight bearing exercise. Speak to your doctors, and also speak to people locally and find a reputable person who has demonstrable training in fitness and teaching, but also has a record of ideally training female athletes. They will understand how to square you away with exercises that will slowly develop your core and stability muscles so that your joints become more supported.
Someone in a previous message said that your quads and glutes are the muscles that you should focus on them: That's incorrect. Our bodies work best when ALL our muscles are trained and strengthened. Find a trainer who can help you with that. And take great care of your back while you are going along: developing your core strength and learning how to engage those muscles should help you a great deal. And weight bearing exercise tends to assist in shedding more fat (because that's the issue here: not weight, but body fat). Good luck - but please go and speak to your GP and request a referral to specialists who can help you. This webforum is, alas, likely going to end up causing loads of fad diet nonsense to be sent your way.

Another poster stated that they don't eat breakfast or lunch. This is awful advice. Please PLEASE eat breakfast. Try to avoid processed nonsense food (granola bars, weird "porridge" mixes etc etc) - if you are unsure just go for the fewer ingredients you can: a poached egg on some toast for example.

Not eating for large portions of the day is not going to help you exercise. You'll feel tired, fatigued, and you won't be able to do the exercise you want to do to get your body moving.

You can definitely lose it, but I wouldn’t put an “end date” on it, as realistically, you’re going to have to pay attention for the rest of your life.

My friends who’ve successfully maintained their weight loss all say that tracking their food is the single most important thing they do (and I’ve seen that myself).

I wouldn’t worry about specific exercise, just keep walking with your kids as much as you can. And I always had more success if I had protein every time I ate, so even my snacks would be string cheese or Greek yogurt.

Good luck!

It really is doable. I have lost over 5 stone this year on the Cambridge 1.1 diet. In February 2023 I was 15.2 stone. I am now 9.5 stone.

It is very tough to start with, especially as I was a boredom eater, but if you stick with it, it does work.

Why is this awful advice? What research do you have to back up this point?

Do you really think the human body is so poorly evolved that we become weak from not eating a meal? I mean how would that have worked when we were hunter gatherers? You miss a meal and get so tired you can't hunt or gather so starve to death?

There are athletes out there who low carb. As a previous poster has pointed out you can't out run your fork. Exercise is fantastic for your health in multiple ways but it has limited impact on weight loss.

If you low carb or intermittent fast your body still ensures there is sufficient glucose in the blood. This it can easily do because the liver can make glucose. That is why there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate, because we can synthesise them.

OP check out TeamRH. I have lost 50lbs this year. It is the. Only. Thing. That has ever worked for me. They teach you about calories and allow 20% for "treats" and you don't 'have' to exercise just walk walk walk. I cannot recommend highly enough.

I'm sure you can keep losing weight, steadily and in a reasonable way. Good luck and don't be too hard on yourself if you have the odd wee while of not losing much, because that's normal. Do you swim at all? That's a really great way of keeping fit/toning up.

100% doable. I've lost 64lb since April by doing low carb and OMAD (long fasts).

Thank you so much everyone. I've learned so much just from this thread! So basically, as long as eat a nutritional balanced diet and I am in a calorie deficit then I will lose weight regardless of excercise? Also, any of you that have lost a lot of weight can you advise, I'm very worried that I will have a lot of lose hanging skin. I carry all of my weight on my stomach and back and it's a major concern.

This is brilliant! So nice to hear of such success with parameters that sound so much more realistic (to me) than 1400 cals and 10k steps. thanks for sharing this.

They say that steadily losing 1lb a week is better for you than trying to lose too much too quickly. There are 52 weeks in a year, so shedding 52lbs is definitely achievable for you. Maybe aim for that, and anything more would be a pleasant surprise.

I have a little bit of loose skin.

My arms are the worse. I hate them, however I'd take some loose skin over the fat at any time.

Can I just add that if you low carb, you aren't actually cutting out a whole food group - there's still carbs in veg, all you would be doing is cutting out the particularly starchy veg like potatoes or sugary ones like peas. You will still be eating cauliflower/broccoli/green beans/mushrooms etc.

OP, have a look at the low carb bootcamp threads on here. There are very clear rules to follow and lots of support.

I've lost over a stone since mid September doing bootcamp. I've had a week off for Christmas so will have gained a bit but I'm starting again tomorrow and I know it works because I've lived it. I won't lie - it's hard to adjust to very low sugar and life in Britain isn't very conducive (we like our booze and when we eat out everything is very carb heavy), but once into the swing of it? I'm honestly not hungry in the same way I was when eating loads of starchy carbs.

I would definitely see your GP and a nurse who can talk you through your options. As others have said a low carb diet (the kind recommended for prediabetic and diabetic people) could really help, but it'll be good to hear from a medical professional.
Exercise is important for health and wellbeing but isn't the magic bullet for weight loss. You need to both be active, and manage your consumption.
It's very expensive, but if you can afford a personal trainer specialising in weight loss they could be a huge unlock. Most of what trainers focus on in these cases is diet and the accountability is so helpful. If you cut out eg alcohol and takeaways you may find you can repurpose the money this way - but you may not be spending much on these things to begin with so that may not be relevant for you, just a suggestion.

1lb a week is a good thing to aim for, as others have said, so 50lb a year would be an amazing achievement.

Hi - definitely doable - come over and join us on the weight loss chat board. Lots of supportive threads you can join.

I've lost 6 stone since April. As I've lost weight I've been able to do more exercise - I started just on the peloton at home. Now I run too. I've been very determined and have only had a few occasions (holidays etc) where I've relaxed a little. I've loosely followed the Fast 800 principles. I feel like when you have so much to lose you need to go hard!! I have 2.5 stone left to lose, I've gone from a size 22 to a 14.

Sorry - I can't edit the above but to confirm I've gone from 18.9 stone down to 12.3

Yes! Want a weight loss buddy?

I need to shift at least 3 stone by September to fit into my desired wedding dress (no I haven't bought but going to look next week) and really could do with loosing 5 stone

You don't need to burn 1500 calories.

Think of life as an energy exchange. Your lungs and heart are constantly moving so actually burn off about 600 calories from the movement of your lungs and heart.

So the more you move, the more you can eat!

Most over weight people simply underestimate their calorie intake compared to their activity level.

The walking is brilliant. Keep doing it! I'd also recommend some HIT training where you do a daily 10 minute intensive burst. I do kick boxing which is exhausting!

Do you drink alcohol? That's a big calorie intake!

Also, try giving up sugar for January. It's very high calorie but also addictive and makes you want to eat more.

Do you have a Fitbit or similar? They help you move on a regular basis and remind you if you haven't moved enough.

There is tons of medical advice on this point - do a simple google search and you'll find loads. There are myriad studies that demonstrate that there are links between skipping breakfast/lunch and having poorer health and nutrition than those who eat balanced healthy meals throughout the day.
It's also basic common sense - if you have ever done any form of cardio or weight bearing exercise - that you will feel cruddy and tired (even sick) if you try to exercise while fasting - especially for someone like this person who seems entirely new to trying multiple forms of exercise. We see this at the gym all the time: people will come in at lunchtime who haven't eaten anything that day and are barely able to do anything - especially weight bearing exercise.
Some athletes may do low carb but if you look at the vast majority of professional athletes (football players for example) they don't - it's not sustainable.

Here's a few sources (among vast numbers of them - just look at NHS guides to nutrition!) for you since this seems to be news to you:

1. Witbracht, M., Keim, N.L., Forester, S., Widaman, A. and Laugero, K., 2015. Female breakfast-skippers display a disrupted cortisol rhythm and elevated blood pressure. Physiology & behaviour, 140, pp.215-221.Uzhova,
2. I., Fuster, V., Fernández-Ortiz, A., Ordovás, J.M., Sanz, J., Fernández-Friera, L., López-Melgar, B., Mendiguren, J.M., Ibáñez, B., Bueno, H. and Peñalvo, J.L., 2017. The Importance of Breakfast in Atherosclerosis Disease: Insights From the PESA Study. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 70(15), pp.1833-1842.
3. Watanabe, Y., Saito, I., Henmi, I., Yoshimura, K., Maruyama, K., Yamauchi, K., Matsuo, T., Kato, T., Tanigawa, T., Kishida, T. and Asada, Y., 2014. Skipping breakfast is correlated with obesity. Journal of Rural Medicine, 9(2), pp.51-58.
4. Geliebter, A., Astbury, N.M., Aviram-Friedman, R., Yahav, E. and Hashim, S., 2014. Skipping breakfast leads to weight loss but also elevated cholesterol compared with consuming daily breakfasts of oat porridge or frosted cornflakes in overweight individuals: a randomised controlled trial. Journal of nutritional science, 3

What do you eat on an average day? I think it helps to make healthier substitutions so it's sustainable for you