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.

@Prenelope I don't understand what you want me to say. First you said that I just wanted people to tell me to get the injections so why bother posting, and now you're asking when I'll have time for the gym?

If you want to lose weight then it’s the weight loss injections, it’s true that you can’t out run a bad diet.

I go to the gym regularly but I’m still a size 16 because I’ve got the appetite of a small elephant!

I'm using weight loss injections, but I'm a lot older than you and I have fairly severe (though slowly improving) chronic fatigue that makes it difficult to exercise as much as I'd like.

In your situation I'd opt for the gym or swimming if you can make it work. The endorphins and fitness you'd get from exercise would do you so much more good than losing a bit of weight. The feel good factor would lift your mood and feeling fitter would give you so much more energy to manage your life and your diet. Could you talk with work and maybe have extended lunch hours a couple of days a week to allow for gym/pool visits. Or use breakfast clubs for your children and swim/gym before work? I did this for years when I was working long hours and whilst tough at first, when I got into it I felt great for the extra exercise.

If you do go for the injections, you should try to up your exercise anyway. Will your children enjoy weekend nature walks (maybe not at first, but if you persevere...)? Or find kids activities in a local cheaper sports centre where you can use the gym for 20 mins whilst the kids are in their club?

What? Your OP was a choice between injections or the gym, and you've spent the rest of the thread telling people you can't make time for exercise as you have such long and difficult days - fair enough, but why even contemplate the gym? Just get the injections and have done with it!

Have you actually read any of my posts?
Or are you just one of those intent on detailing the thread by any means.

I suggested forgetting about the gym for now and focusing on walking and getting out as a family for 30mins - 1 hour a day.
This includes jumping in puddles, collecting leaves, playing in the park etc.

As I’ve said this isn’t just about the burning fat side of weight loss - it’s helping kids sleep better, it’s helping mum sleep better (less likely to eat crap for energy), it’s improving the quality of everyone’s sleep (less likely to eat crap for energy and improves behaviour), releasing feel good hormones (less likely to emotionally eat) and relieves stress (which is again associated with over eating/eating crap).

If you don’t take your kids out after work, then that’s your choice.

But I personally found that by me doing it then my DD slept better (also had less screen time, behaviour improved and diet improved) and I was less stressed, slept better and the weight fell off.

I’m not sure why you take such an issue with me giving OP my opinion on what worked best for me to help me lose weight.

Why would I recommend an expensive gym membership when OP can use that same amount of time doing fun things with the kids and getting the fresh air benefits/being in nature too.

Why not just give OP the method you used to help you lose weight (and get your kids to sleep better and help you to be less stressed and tired etc) and then it’s up to OP to decide which ones to try for herself.

Everyone can make time for exercise if they choose too.

there’s no point asking about the gym then saying you can’t go

@Skybyrd just imagining the NHS agreeing to an extended lunch break right over handover.

Chickpeas are reasonably high in protein, less than meat but as much per 100g as eggs. Could sprinkle on some cheese if needed.

You don’t say how old you are but if you’re anything over 30 you should lift weights and do resistance based exercises for bone strength and functional fitness and cardio for heart health. This is non-negotiable.

You may be insulin resistant hence the inability to control your diet and reliance on sugar to get you through the day. Weight loss jabs that keep insulin response under control may be used simultaneously to achieve your goal of GETTING HEALTHIER. Just losing weight and being slim shouldn’t be the aim from a vanity point of view. I have plenty of friends size 12-16 who are active triathletes, marathon runners and hiking buddies who’d leave their slimmer counterparts for dust.

think of training as keeping you independent in old age - you cannot fake this with some Ozempic jabs. The small changes you make need to be permanent and you need to be happy with them or it’ll feel restrictive and you won’t be able to keep it up.

@undecidedfatty

Your poor Mum i hope she's feeling better now, this sounds very similar to my experience.
A and E doctors did not seem surprised in the slightest that I was using weight loss injections.

It's not quite as simple as that though. Someone who lifts weight and has good muscle mass will burn more calories per day than someone the same weight who does no exercise and has little muscle. This can help maintain weight and also a little towards losing weight. If your body burns more calories at rest because you have good muscle it gives you more room to play with and not have to be so strict

Ah, that's a shame.

I haven't worked in NHS for a long time, but my handovers were 7.30 am and to be honest as I've become older I've realised that if you ask the right person and give the right reasons, many things are possible. Creative thinking is what you need, to try to fit an exercise session or two into your life.

I've found we're spending about £300 a month less on food since I'm using Mounjaro, because I do all the food shopping/cooking etc and I'm more focused/less tempted to buy treats for any of us, as well as for myself. So it's saving us over £100 a month overall as my latest pen was £179. If you currently drink alcohol or eat takeaways you'll save on those too. You do still have to put work into calorie counting and exercising, but it's easier when you're feeling less tempted by food. I've been totally floored by the extreme tiredness from MJ, but had virtually no other side effects.

I'd be wary of the uncertainty of long-term side effects if I were younger, with young children, because so little is known about MJ. Wegovy (under other names) has been used for a couple of decades for diabetes, so more is known about it.

Strength training is the way to go but think 2-5 years to reach your goal physique. With Injections you will lose muscle mass and that is harder to get back in later life.

Weight loss injections are the metaphorical equivalent to papering over the cracks in terms of weight loss.

The gym will do little to help you lose weight unless you go daily and can create a calorific deficit of 500 through exercise alone which for most people is just not realistic.

The leaves the only thing left which is diet, simply put - eat fewer calories. Work out your TDEE and eat 500 calories less, add in exercise 3 times a week and 10000 steps a day and the weight will fall off. Just make sure that the calories you are eating come from healthy whole foods that will keep you satiated to avoid binge snacking. Lots of protein and fibre. Avoid sugars.

I always took mine out too, unless the weather was really foul or it was too dark and cold. We all benefit from fresh air and it does relieve tensions. Playing chase around the park, walking, pushing swings, playing ball games and (sometimes) carrying a stubborn child back to the car--not fun! all helps to keep you fit and is mostly lots of fun.

We had good waterproofs (the kids had thick Swedish-style ones), torches in the Winter and usually had a great time in the local parks and in the woods in Summer months.

“With injections you will lose muscle mass”- how so?

Any kind of fast weight loss will cause you to lose muscle mass. The body doesn't distinguish between losing fat or muscle. If you aren't strength training regularly with overload...muscle is an expensive body tissue to maintain and if there aren't enough calories coming in the body will burn lean muscle mass for energy as it thinks you dont need it - most of the burning lean muscle mass happens when you sleep.

1. Weight loss using injections isn’t supposed to be faster than weight loss using willpower.
2. Using injections doesn’t prevent you from doing strength training.

Raw chickpeas, not cooked

You have to eat a great deal of so called 'high protein' legumes/pulses/beans' in order to get a good amount of protein. Not easy when trying to cut down portion sizes.

You don’t have to go to the gym to get fit.
The are so many videos on YouTube , that if someone wants to get fit they can.
Walking is an underrated form of exercise.
The truth is that many are turning to the weight loss injections because they see all the massive weight losses and think it is a magic cure
I have nothing against weight loss injections tbh, my mother is on Mounjaro . however I think that some think that they don’t have to make lifestyle changes when taking injections
You should exercise and watch your diet when taking weight loss medications

I think you are understating it.

The injections alone will not cause you to lose any weight whatsoever.

You lose weight by changing your eating habits.

The injections make it easier to do this.

She’s much better now thank you but it was a very worrying time. The weight loss injections can have really concerning side effects that aren’t necessarily being spoken about. I hope you are also feeling better.

I would definitely do the jabs in your shoes. You haven't really got the time or energy for anything else. I'm older than you and recently lost almost a stone the hard way.. it's really, really hard. I wouldn't hesitate.

I don’t think it’s fair to say that the side effects aren’t being spoken about. The risks and side effects are made extremely clear by the online prescribers and again in the information that you receive from the manufacturer when you buy it. The online questionnaires are designed to weed out people who have too many risk factors. It’s not the sellers’ fault if people lie on them, and choose to ignore the warnings. Not saying your Mum did this- sometimes risks do just materialise despite all precautions being taken by both buyer and prescriber.

Where side effects from drugs are concerned, it is not necessarily helpful to read anecdotal evidence in the popular media which may not explain fully all the individual risk factors or pre-existing conditions that a person had.

I am sorry that your mother was unwell but the reasons may have been much more complex than just an injection turning a completely healthy person.into a sick one.

In an ideal world everyone using this medication would have a full consultation with a doctor who knew their entire medical history and could explain the risk to them in person. However that is not practical, and not a good reason to ban their sale altogether given how effective and safe they can be.

Once you've lost the weight using weight loss jabs, how will you keep it off?

You need to look at your diet first, there's no point losing weight using jabs if you don't deal with your diet or why you over eat. Or do you intend on being on them forever? I'd see a PT/coach who specialises in nutrition before taking the injections route personally.

I'm not a skinny, gym bunny either but I do know I can lose weight by changing my diet (I just have to want to) and doing exercise (which when I get back into it I love).