Is 15 st too heavy to come back from??

[Wantachangefor2024]

I am 32 and currently weigh 15 stone. 5’3. Had an accident and had to have surgery, sat around feeling sorry for myself and got depressed and the weight I’m at. I finally faced myself in the mirror and burst into tears. Am I being unreasonable that I’m too far gone to come back? I’d like to lose 6 stone and get back to 9 stone. Will I be left with terribly loose skin??

@Inmydreams88 I carry most of the weight in my boobs and stomach but don’t have an overhang belly somehow! Haven’t had children so maybe this will make a difference. Again, thank you, each post is spurring me on

Hi OP,
If you possibly can do a bit of exercise each day. Aim for every day and hopefully - when life gets in the way you will do 3/4 or 5 days.

Recently (last few weeks) I have been aiming to exercise each day and making it a priority. I have been going for a walk/slight jog. I like to go outside but I joined a 24 hour gym with a women’s room (less than £20 each month) in case it is raining/dark when I get chance etc.

I won’t say how far or how long I aim for as that means nothing to you. You can aim for 5 minutes walk or an hour - it really depends on what feels right for you. I have been doing the same route and aiming to get a but quicker but if I am tired/not feeling it I can just go for a stroll.

The biggest result of this exercise, over just a few weeks, has not been in my body but in my mental wellbeing and resilience. It’s made me feel much more “well” which will help so much with the other changes you are trying to make. I was worried I would be more tired working night shifts if I have exercised but I am finding it to be true that exercising gives you more energy not less.

If you can walk somewhere safe without cars to worry about get your favourite music on and hopefully you will enjoy yourself. I am really enjoying it (with an 80s playlist) and my biggest difficulty is guilt if the family are at home (with my partner). When I can go in the school day that is great as no guilt.

@Shizzlestix it didn’t help that they were my life horses, so I never went to the gym. I was always active and outside. I had to sell mine after my accident and so I lost the ability to move for a while, then all motivation. This has happened within the last three years so piled it on very fast. Yours is another amazing weight loss story

@prorobotic I think that's good way to think of it - it seems much more doable-

@HowDoYouSolveAProblemLikeMyRear I went to the Bradford Alhambra recently to watch wicked and it’s an old theatre. Seats were designed for those much smaller and squeezing in was a real wake up call!

@MrsSkylerWhite yet another amazing incredible loss and envious of your stomach being a drum!! Amazing.

I don’t think I could be more embarrassed with myself so going to let a trainer set me on a plan and I’ll update you ladies on how I’m getting along. I think forcing yourself out of your comfort zone by doing the walk is the way to go about this!

@muckandmerriment thank you for resssuring me you didn’t get loose skin, such an achievement to lose all that weight. I’ve not had children so really beaten myself up for how I’ve allowed this to happen. But it’s time for the excuses to stop now!

I've dropped from 15st 5 to 14st 5 in 8 weeks on WW. I'm just taking a stone at a time and would like to lose another two and half stone. Take it slowly and you'll get there!

Little steps, this will be a marathon not a sprint.
On 15 Jan I weighed 14 stone 6, today I weigh 12 stone 10. My goal is 10.5 stone by Christmas, I am 5 ft 4.

I’m not one for the Gym or faddy diets. I have done the following.

Changed my dinner plates to ones a third smaller. My portion sizes were too big. Half my plate must be salad or veg.
Cut out most pastries, chocolate, biscuits and cakes apart from one treat (usually a Bounty) on a Friday evening and pudding on a Sunday. I’ve also stopped eating white bread - it bloated me.

2 Eggs for breakfast every day with two Ryvita.
Banana or Greek yoghurt for a mid morning snack.
Wholemeal wrap and ham or chicken with salad for lunch
Normal dinner (albeit smaller portion)

I drink my normal tea and coffee during the day (with a smaller amount of sugar).
Nothing to eat after 7pm.

My calories come in at 1400/1500 a day.

Exercise - I do 8-10000 steps a day despite WFH. I do little 5 minute walking workouts every hour (Improved Health on You Tube is brilliant) and go for a 30 min brisk walk every lunchtime.

It’s been hard at times but not so hard that I’ve lost the will.

Very few of my clothes now fit me and I managed a size 16 pair of jeans on Saturday, I used to be a 18-20.

Oh and no loose skin either, plus I’ve seen my collar bone for the first time since 2002.

Okay so I lost 3 stone (went from a BMI of 27 to 20) and the good news is that my life is so much better for it now and I have maintained this weight and will continue to do so. I have more energy, I sleep better and because I can be more active without getting tired my mental health is much improved. The bad news is that yes, my skin in some places now looks a little different and that has taken some time to adjust to. As you say it's down to genetics and I didn't have that on my side. Just to reiterate: I have no regrets and would do the same again.

I’m also 32 and around the 15 stone mark, post c-section.

I think it can be hard to get started when you have a goal weight in mind, I’m finding the thought of losing 4 or 5 stone overwhelming. Maybe thinking of it as half a stone, then a stone, etc. will feel less daunting. We can do it OP!

Can you afford to pay for the injectables? They are life changing.

I hope not 46 and due to chronic pain and depression and yep think my DH is a feeder though probably I just have no will power, I put on way to much weight. I'm 16st 4 ideally want to be 9st 6lb. I have redownloaded my fitness pal linked it to my strata and set my target calories based on a calculator so in deficit but more than anything it makes me think twice on my portion sizes and trying to up my steps. Then aim after upped my steps to reintroduce weights to help tone.
I hate that I'm like this considering I used to be so good.
Good luck I'm sure you can do it as I'm hoping I can

You can do it. I reached 14 stone. I've lost 3 stone, with another 2 to go! It's taken me a year so far, but don't mind if it takes another year. I exercise and count my calories.

I lost 4.5 stone between the age of 27 and 31. Kept it off for a few more years too. The bulk of it came off during the 2nd year when I’d made my newer healthy habits just part of my daily / weekly routine. Start small; it’s a marathon, not a race - walk every day, focus on nutrient dense foods and cut rubbish snacks, drink plenty of water. I had no loose skin at all, in fact quite the opposite but I did a lot of strength training.

I then had kids however and have loose skin from the pregnancy but that’s genetics and to be honest doesn’t bother me in the slightest.
Good luck OP! It really can be done. I was so desperately unhealthy and unfit and I totally changed my life around. I’m also trying to get back to it now (age 39) I’ve gained weight since kids etc but now they’re at school I have the time to get back to looking after me again; I’d far far rather have some loose skin now but feel as energised and fit as I did a few years ago.

I’ve lost almost 2st since the 17th March. I haven’t done anything drastic to get where I am now.

1. I accepted I was eating way too much crap. Crisps, sweets, chocolate etc. I don’t eat any of this for six days a week. I can have a bag of crisps and a cake or similar on one day a week.
2. I’m fasting from 7pm to 1pm Monday to Friday. Black coffee and water only. I’m not starving myself because I am eating healthy things during my eating times.
3. I joined a gym. Three times a week I go and do 20 minutes of cardio and 20 minutes of weights. Nothing too strenuous but it’s better than what I was doing before, which was sod all.
4. I’m only having alcohol on one night a week.

I am 5ft 2 and I’m 50 years old. No loose skin. And weirdly I’m not craving crap food. I’m not having that hunger that I used to get when I was eating lots of white bread and junk food. I feel more awake, productive. Less like a tired blob.

I’m treating this like I treated giving up smoking. One day at a time. Cumulative benefits over time. Not beating myself up if I have a Mars Bar on a Saturday. Just carry on, eating better and moving a bit more.

You can do it OP.

I'm 67, I weighed 160 kg, (over 25 stone) in February 2022, I've lost 67 kg (10.5 stone?) since then.

Last year I noticed flaps of skin hanging from my deflated forearms, like the wrinkled arms of a bedridden geriatric. I couldn't be sure if that's what happens to your arms once you turn 66, or if it was due to weight loss, but I am happy to report that the flaps have all but vanished again now.
My massive double chin got absorbed, and left dangly wattles behind, but they have already shrunk quite a bit.

The padding on my face has been depleted, leaving me with eye bags and jowls. It's too early to tell if this is temporary, or if I'm going to be one of those old ladies who looks like a bloodhound.

A few days ago I noticed that when I stand up and lean forward the skin on my thighs wrinkles above my knees, in a way that makes me think of elephants. So then I checked my elbows with my arms straight and bent backwards, and I have elephant knees on my elbows too.

I don't care a fig. I've finally, after more than two years, hit the target of mere obesity, after being morbidly obese for decades. I can fit into a size 18, I was wearing size 36 trousers before I started following advice heard on the Zoe podcasts. Originally in the hope of reducing my levels of chronic inflammation and being able to walk without pain. The weight loss was completely unexpected, as were all the other health improvements.

My blood pressure is now down from 150/88 to 112/65, my blood glucose is within normal range 98% of the time, and for some unknown reason I now get sleepy in the evenings, after being unable to get fall asleep before sunrise since the early 90's.

So in answer to your question, yes 6 stone is doable, and at your age I'd expect the skin to readjust to your new body size. Perhaps you won't be beach body ready a couple of months after hitting your target, but by the next summer I bet nobody would be able to tell.

Personally I'd never dig into my meager savings to pay someone to knock me out and flay me alive while I was unconscious, I'd rather have elephant knees and bloodhound jowls and save the cash for fun stuff (like replacing broken down appliances). Some people love plastic surgery though, so your mileage may vary.

I am pretty sure that if you take it slowly (as you should anyway), you will not have loose skin.

The aim is not to lose weight so much as to set yourself on the long road to losing weight. Honestly, just aim to be 14 stone at the end of 2024. If you are lower, then great! Celebrate it and keep going.

I find the best thing of all is just to JUST STOP SUGAR. It is hard, because sugar is everywhere, but when you stop eating sugar and then succumb, you sometimes find that you hate the taste (and, of course, hate yourself for giving in!).

Take it slow. Just aim to make one tiny change every single day, no matter how small (eg. swapping Dairy Milk for 80% cocoa bar). You will do it without even noticing, I know you can!

Good luck xxx

determinedtomakethiswork · Today 22:30
Can you afford to pay for the injectables? They are life changing.”

that’s brilliant for you but at just 32 OP can maybe suceed alternatively.

That was me, last April, only I was 12 stone

Like you I had an accident and was immobile and in severe pain for months and yep, I went sofa to bed and bed to sofa, the weight just landed

And like you I caught sight of myself in a mirror and cried

However one difference for me was I was near recovered from my injury and was looking at returning to the workforce. That was my goal, to get myself looking like someone who was employable and fit enough to do the job

Now I was coming 59 then so post menopause so for me the weight loss has been slow, a pound or maybe two a week. I couldnt do any weights due to said injury ( still cant ) so yes I do have sagging skin on the arms and yes my belly is crepey but again, Im post menopause to skin elasticity is much less then someone younger

So my answer to you is yes you can come back and loose skin need not be a problem if you can exercise and build muscle to replace the fat loss

Thankfully my face hasnt suffered, and I put that down to the slow and gradual loss

Waving from also 15 stone! Hi! I'm 6ft and should be 11 1/2. On an anti-depressant that was initially designed as an appetite stimulant, so here I am. It's possible. Willpower. Water. Walking.

You can do this OP.

I'm 5'5 and weighed 14 stone 3 months after my first baby. I lost 6 stone over 1.5 years and have kept it off (other than 2nd pregnancy) for 4 years. Minimal loose skin. I'm lighter than I've ever been.

Every day you wait is one more day you'll have to wait until you get back to 9 stone. You can do it.

Just wanted to add to the pp who said to focus on small regular losses ... I guarantee you'll feel the difference after you lose your first half stone and that will motivate you to keep going

I can recommend C25k if you are ok to do that after your injury.

No! I'm heavier than you and trying to lose as well. Take up a physical hobby or sport. I started horse riding and lost 1.5 stone in the first 8 months. Its all the core work. Any similar thing where you have to balance and weight bear would do the same. Just pick something fun and it doesn't feel like exercise.

Not at all, I was 20 stone and lost 9 stone in 9 months and kept it off.