Losing weight, weight loss injections or gym?

[undecidedfatty]

I've recently been lucky enough to go up a pay grade. The number one things which gets me down, which has always got me down, is my weight. I've been a size 16 since I was a teenager and I can't seem to change it. It goes up and down a bit but I've never been a healthy weight. I lost quite a bit a few years ago by fasting every day but I can't do it now as I get too shaky and irritated.
I'm a single parent, I have two small children all the time, I work full time out of the house in a healthcare related role and I cannot lose any weight. This is partly circumstantial as often the thought of a few rich tea biscuits is all that gets me through a difficult shift. My DC's don't sleep, one has autism and I honestly can't keep my mind on dieting. I don't overeat but I often make a cheese toastie for tea or pot noodle (I'm veggie) as I'm so busy and worn out, I'm also skint a lot.
I really need to do something and thought I want to lose weight. I'm not looking for a quick fix (and I don't think such a quick fix exists) but I can't carry on trying to reduce calories as it just feels so joyless in an already pretty difficult existence.
Would the weight loss injections be a good investment? Or would a nice gym membership (with pool) be a better investment? I really want to do something to improve my overall well-being, and feel more refreshed outside of work, mum life.
I would really appreciate some advice from mums in similar situations, especially if you have chosen one of these options. I really don't want suggestions on home exercise (tried it, kids don't let me, no room) or complex diets when I'm constantly on the go, running on adrenaline, no time to cook etc. I'm out the house from 7.30am until 7.30 pm and I have no time nor energy when I get back. I don't enjoy cooking and I can't even batch cook as we have a tiny freezer. I don't even get a lunch break.
I have about £150 a month to tackle this and I really need help after 20 years of trying to do this the natural way.

Did you see the OP’s work schedule? She doesn’t get in until 7.30. So the walk would need to happen then, which would push food back to 8.30, or after dinner from 8.30 -9.30. Children would perceive both as ‘dragging out’ I imagine as they’ll be tired and/or hungry.

Edit: I walk an hour a day and do an hour’s directed training with a personal trainer every week and the weight is not ‘falling off’ as a result. I do feel healthier and stronger, but it’s not a weight loss solution.

I would spend some of the £150 on:
Meal plan kits like Hello Fresh or Gusto (you can usually get good sign up deals and then cancel and take an incentive to sign back up for a bit) - this would give you inspiration for what to cook, the veggie ones can also be easily stretched for extra meals in my experience (e.g. add in extra butterbeans and tin of tomatoes)

Some on gym sessions - I would book classes because then you actually feel like you have to go and you do a decent work out compared to turning up, faffing about, not being sure what to do etc but only if you know you will be able to make it to them which sounds tricky. Maybe online classes that you book? I know you said your kids don't let you but could they be occupied with a screen or something or you get up early? I don't know about weight loss but think that feeling stronger and all the other benefits of exercise are worth having

Sleep - think it is key to weight loss actually as if I don't sleep I want to eat junk food all day whereas when rested (and actually when exercising a lot as well) I crave healthier foods. Tricky when the kids don't sleep well - is there anything that would improve that?

You can sometimes get the joining fee waived, but from my experience with DL there is very little shifting on the monthly amount.

As it was so expensive I felt bad I couldn't get there as often as I wanted to make the membership cost worthwhile.

It doesn't sound like adding an expensive gym membership to your life is going to assist with weight loss, particularly as you walk a lot already. I can't comment on the injections other that it seems like a drastic way to do it.

Having recently had my mum rushed to A&E and having to have emergency surgery to remove her gallbladder due to taking weight loss injections, I really wouldn’t recommend it. A few of the A&E doctors said that they have someone each shift now who has taken weight loss injections. The one my mum was taking is strongly linked to gallstones and also feelings of depression and fatigue which may also not help your situation if you were taking injections with a similar ingredient. My mum often also reported feeling unwell and having stomach aches which is also worth considering.

I do appreciate it’s difficult when you’re busy, tired and have a lot going on to make diet your focus. Could you focus on smaller changes such as more protein and maybe lift some free weights at home to build more muscle? This can help you to achieve a more toned appearance although won’t necessarily massively lower the scale, your clothes will fit better.

I’m just speaking from my own experience with a child with autism and ADHD who didn’t sleep and I worked FT as a single parent, like OP.

When I stopped seeing getting exercise and fresh air as a punishment and ‘dragging out’ my DC, then it improved my life massively in other ways.

The weight absolutely did fall off because it’s not just about the exercise and fat burning.
Its also about relieving stress, helping the hyperactive kids sleep, OP getting a deep sleep etc.

Of course OP doesn’t have to take my advice, like she doesn’t have to take anyone else’s but this is what worked for me and my DC.

Take the injections if you want.

But a healthy meal needn't take half an hour plus to cook, particularly if you're able to pay for convenience ingredients.

I just made mini tomatoes, chickpeas and spring onion, gently fried, on cous cous, with some bagged lettuce in the side. Delicious and took 10 minutes.

@ManchesterGirl2 that's great but there's no protein in that meal. It's the protein (when veggie) which I can't seem to substitute quickly, cheaply or easily.

@Choochoo21 I definitely don't see fresh air and exercise as punishment. I've just been on a walking holiday with the children, 30,000 steps a day, varying gradients. It doesn't actually burn many calories.

Chickpeas contain protein. 19g/100g.
Add some nuts, either to the food or after (maybe with Greek yoghurt for more protein).

BOL does high protein soups and meals. Ready to eat.

Yes it's plastic packaging, but you have to pick your battles. You need convenience.

Have them as your evening meals in the week?

Doing high protein as a veggie is hard. Joe Wicks lean in 15 had a few good options.

The best thing you can do IME is give up wheat. It means bread, biscuits and cake are mostly off the menu (and you'll have to full up on healthier foods). It's the only way I've lost weight really.

The problem is you're so knackered and overwhelmed that making mindful choices is hard.

Meditation can really help with this.

Just do 15 mins a night before you start doomscrolling.

Joining a gym is great but it won't necessarily result in weight loss. It's what you eat (or don't eat) that counts.
Aside from injections, walking is a terrific exercise. It's free and you can do it at any time - to work, lunch break, even with the kids. Not a mindless amble, but with purpose and some speed. Good luck!

@mondaytosunday I love walking. It does fuck all for weight loss though.

You've hit the nail on the head there with skinnies and gym bunnies enjoying silently - and loudly - judging fatties. Seeing obesity as a serious moral failing. Fuck 'em.

Fwiw, I would try the weight loss injections. I started on Mounjaro a couple of months ago. I've lost and regained more than my very considerable current weight over the years, and this has been the first time dieting has been a pleasure.

I've also been trapped in the house by small children and know how impossible it can be to make the changes you need to.

That said, if you did go down that route, I would strongly recommend trying to change your diet in the way you already know you need to long term. Not least as there does seem to be a relationship between eating crap and feeling sick on the jabs.

So you took your primary aged autistic child out at 8.30 every single night, even in the dark, rain and cold and walked for an hour? Then got them ready for bed and still got them up at 6.30am for school? I don’t believe you.

I am also a single parent, exhausted and most of these suggestions just don't sound at all realistic to me if you are working long shifts. I don't have the energy on weekends to batch cook, go to the gym, take kids for walks in the dark at 8 o clock at night, any of that stuff. What has worked for me has been eating three sensible meals a day plus a snack, Noom to help reset my thinking around food, Wegovy to get myself on track with a lower weight (I was maintaining prior to that) and the odd bit of home exercise when I can fit it in.

It's pretty obvious that a single parent with a full on job isn't going to become a gym bunny or walk off the weight. It's just a lifestyle incompatibility.

Once you lose weight the possibilities open up for improving exercise, and I also will say if you do go the injection route you need to eat much much better, lots of protein and veggies anyway, as you otherwise risk losing too much muscle mass as with all diets resulting in drastic weight loss. You can just eat crap and lose weight, but it won't be the right kind of weight and it won't set you up for success after you stop using the injections.

A women who already walks at least 15k steps a day will get no additional health or weight loss benefits from adding 5k steps to her already stressful daily schedule. Exercise is good for health and weight maintenance but weight loss is overwhelmingly about what & how much you eat. Weight loss medications work by reducing appetite and interest in food and in many people reducing the psychological reward from sweet or fatty junk foods in particular. A 5’6 woman would need to lose four stones to go from BMI 34 to a healthy BMI. That’s a massive mountain to climb and few people can achieve it without help.

I picked them up at 7-7:30 from the child minder.

Then took them to the park (giving them a snack on the way) played in the park, played on their scooter, jumped in puddles etc for 30 mins to wear them out.
On the weekends or if I finished early I tried to do it for at least an hour in the evenings.

They then slept better and had less screen time as a result.

Obviously it depends how rurally you live but most parents with kids who are hyperactive will try and find some way to drain their energy in the evenings.

It’s also a nice way to wind down after school/work and have some 1-1 times playing with them, as when you get home it’s typically chores and you just feel exhausted.

Not sure why you don’t believe that some people take their kids out after work.

Even now that my DD is older and more manageable will go swimming in the evenings as often as we can.

I find it hard to believe because it rains almost constantly from about October to April, so playing in a park in the dark on a wet or snowing Wednesday in December at 8pm would be extremely inadvisable. I'm sure twice a week it would be great, but not every day to the level the OP would need to do to shift many stones on top of the walking she already does (which sounds pretty impressive on their holidays).

I was stuck at 12.12 until I started going for a fast 30 minutes walk every day - I'd been stuck for 6 weeks! Started the walking beginning July and am now 12.4. It really helps me that's for sure.

@Choochoo21 my kids would have been at school, then after school club and then to someone else's house. They want to go home. They get half an hour in their home before it's homework, reading, showering and then bed. I can't deprive them of any more time with their toys.

So when were you going to go to the gym?

If you eat eggs then these are such an easy way to get protein.

You can boil a batch up and have them as a snack or use them as part of meal.

That’s fine, it was just what worked for me as my DD struggled to sleep and I was struggling to lose weight and having that evening fresh air/exercise really helped us :)

I would try Mounjaro myself, but it's up to you. I have used Wegovy and it has more side effects, from what I hear. I have upped my protein (eggs galore in this house) and started exercising a couple of times a week. Modest changes but I'm very pleased to have shifted after a long time of not being able to, I feel so much more able to move about the world, exercise, look better, the whole thing has worked well for me so far.

I wouldn't justify yourself further, take the route that seems the most sensible. I wouldn't bother with gym membership simply because you are paying for something you don't have time to use. If you have time on weekends to use the gym, I'd use a pay as you go type (we have one near here).

lol. So we’ve gone from a daily, year-round, hour-long weight loss power walk until at least 8.30 at night with two hungry, primary aged children followed by dinner, homework & the bedtime routine (with often freezing, soaked kids) to a 30minute play in the park on the way home which would make no difference to an adult’s weight whatsoever. People don’t half talk some crap on here.