To wonder if I actually can lose four stone

[ohat]

I suppose I need some encouragement really. Started the new year with the best of good intentions. By the 4th they’d gone awry

But I am having a second try. My little DD turned 1 yesterday. So I want to think about where I’ll be in six months time.

Currently 14 stone, need to get to 10 for a healthy BMI.

Can’t afford weight loss injections 😭

Use a calorie calculator to work out your current maintenance calories and then work out how many you need to drop to lose 1lb or 2 lb a week. Then use my fitness pal to track your calories.

I’ve never got on with calorie counting to be honest, I’m too greedy and end up eating too many, I’m better with really restricting and using those meal replacement things. That’s the only way I’ve successfully lost weight in the past anyway.

I did this a couple of years ago
I cut down sugar
Made myself drink a glass of water before any eating
Moved more

Good luck! You can do it. It's actually very simple even if difficult.

Every time you want to mindlessly snack or eat something unhealthy, remember your goal. Track your progress. If you have cravings, try to do something busy or exercise instead.

I have PCOS and have lost weight and kept it off for years and years. It was hard because the sugar cravings were INSANE but I did it. You can too

But then you’ve put the weight on again as you’re simply not introducing healthy habits. So many people say the same thing but they are trapped in a yo-yo cycle

Maybe but it’s literally the only thing that works 😂 I get that it’s frustrating, it frustrates me as well, but I just absolutely cannot lose weight ‘normally.’ I just abuse flexibility I have tried!

But I do feel like if I can get to a good place I might be able to introduce some weight loss injections for maintenance, if I need to. I just can’t afford it right now. Anyway, I need motivation!

Exactly this

You need to change your way of every day eating.

Dr Chatterjee is really good at advice on how to make these lifestyle changes.

You can do it.

I've lost 4 stone in 20 months.

I started couch 2 5K in April 2023, and planned for "sensible" eating.

The first run (9 x 1 min) very nearly killed me. I did it in walking sandals, as I didn't own a pair of trainers.

But, I'm stubborn.

Next day, I went to the local supermarket, and purchased a pair of trainers.

After 2 weeks, I naturally stopped making as many poor food choices, as I could see just how much effort it took to burn off the calories.

I did my first 5K, then 10K races last year.

Last week, I ran over 16K nonstop.

Come May, I'll be taking on my first half marathon.

I feel worlds better. I can run and chase after my children.

I've still got about 10lb to lose, but I'm focusing on health, rather than weight now.

I lost 3 stone in 6 months. Gave up sugar, snacks, biscuits have skimmed milk now. Didn't do anything different for dinners as I cook for 5. No exerciseing. Try to lose 2lb a week. Still had the occasional treat at the weekend so doesn't get too boring and gives you something to look forward to.

You will only be approved for weight loss injections if you have a BMI over 30 (or 27 if you have weight related health conditions), so losing the weight then taking injections for maintenance probably won’t work.

you Totally can! Biggest thing to remember is that when you do fall off the wagon you’ve already gotten healthier than you were!

Things that helped me (one and a half stone lost) and dh (actually 4 but he went all out on healthy everything no bread etc so I don’t list his stuff😅)- no eating/ eating only healthy stuff after 8 (difficult for first two weeks, we went to bed early or I read or knitted or something to take my hands away from dipping into something), cut bread down to two/ 4 slices a day (bread is my downfall), fizzy drinks pretty much culled except when really couldn’t not/ one can at the weekend. Apples, frozen grapes/ frozen yoghurt at night (yoghurt takes forever to eat frozen, just pop a yoghurt in the freezer!) Only a small cereal/ egg and avocado for breakfast (yes cereal fizzy drinks and bread were my killers!)

Everu time I was craving a snack, water and an apple/ raw broccoli/ snap peas (nice after you get used to them!) salad/ seeds, and water first thing in the morning (fools my body into thinking it would be a healthy day!).

Remember though you do have a young child so look into good energy foods. Also any sleep you can get/ staying away from screens.

Probably no help but best of luck op!

Well if you dont want to do it the right way, crack on with your meal replacements??

You can. I've lost just over two stone since August, I've got four more to go, I'm using Nutracheck to count calories. See it as small chunks rather than one big block- I'm doing a stone at a time.

You can do it! Think positive!

I’ve lost half a stone since NYD and am finding it fairly easy but only because I’ve been really, really organised - that makes all the difference to me. It has only taken a couple of hours the first weekend and this weekend to give me no excuses…

I made a big batch of chicken curry, a big batch of chilli in the slow cooker and a beef casserole (which was a dinner for all of us but I tripled the recipe) and then I portioned them all out and put them in the freezer for dinner - each portion is about 350 calories.

I also made three different soups (roasted butternut and veg, Thai sweet potato and chicken, harissa, tomato and bean) and these are also portioned in the freezer for lunch (heated in a thermos if I’m in the office) - each about 250 calories.

I have a Tupperware of chopped veg (carrot, celery, red pepper, cucumber) in the fridge and a tub of homemade hummus with no oil in there too.

I’m sticking to 1,200 calories a day and eating well - I don’t have breakfast (I never have but I normally have calories left over so could do) just black coffee and water

Lunch is soup, crudités and hummus and often a hard boiled egg (also made and in the fridge ready to go)

Dinner is one of the curry, chilli, casserole portions, sometimes with rice, with poppadoms/cheese/nachos/sweet potato wedges

I snack on Ryvita with cream cheese and pickle, pack of mini cheddars/twiglets or apple and peanut butter and always have a couple of squares of dark chocolate for pudding…

I did this last year.

The most important thing for me was to just ignore being hungry. Hungry doesn't kill you, so just suck it up! I think trying to find "replacement snacks" etc which aren't very satisfying is just... Not satisfying!

I never thought I'd be able to do it but after a few days i realised that feeling a "bit peckish" was really ok.

I did 18:6 fasting. It's great if you can't cope with flexibility!

Counting calories suck. You ought to try this OP: https://www.today.com/health/how-lose-weight-intermittent-fasting-16-8-diet-t132608

I nearly purchased weight loss injections, shamefully really as I used to be very fit and am really knowledgeable about nutrition. Just got into such a rut that I wasn’t using that knowledge, was eating terribly and gained 3 stone.

I read a post on here which for some reason really resonated with me - it said unless you can honestly say you are doing 8000 steps a day, drinking at least 2 litres of water and a minimum of 5 portions of fresh fruit and veg per day and some resistance training per week, you can’t say you have really tried to lose weight.

I literally started doing exactly that, very slowly, and everything fell into place. The better I ate, the more I craved better foods. Getting outdoors to get the steps I needed in made me feel better overall. I started taking care of myself again, pampering myself etc.

I have lost over 2 stone so far and I look like my old self again (I’m short so 2/3 stone on my frame is VERY noticeable). I’m so glad I read that very basic piece of advice at a time when I was just subconsciously receptive to it. My life, mindset and self confidence have changed beyond recognition just for losing the weight.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4846992-unexpected-or-unusual-advantages-of-weight-loss?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

This post that I saved ages ago is something I have gone back to frequently, to remind me of why I want to lose 4 stone. I keep trying to embark on a healthier lifestyle but keep losing my way but I'm keeping on keeping on.

Dr Rangan Chaterjee books are a good read. Or if you prefer podcasts, I like Zoe Nutrition ones.

Yes you can lose 4 stone but you need to create healthier habits so the less healthy habits get squeezed out and have a lot of patience; it won't happen over night.

I wish I practised what I preach! 😆

You are saying you can’t lose weight normally. Unfortunately, if you don’t starting eating a good diet, you are going to introduce your daughter to yo yo weight gain world.

its not hard, a huge bowl of porridge made with water, and small banana, small apple, small pear, small satsuma and a few berries is your five a day, and hopefully stave off the hunger til lunch I have a large mug or two of homemade soup (frozen cupfuls in the freezer) and a proper tea when hubby gets in.

Thankfully tea and coffee hubby doesn’t like, so I drink a lot of water. I will have a lovely coffee/meal when I go out with the girls, my husband and I eat out at least once a week.

i was so unhappy with my weight, and once I read Carol Vordermans book, I started too understand what she was trying to say - basically - she said no salt or sugar in anything you eat for a month and do three good meals a day, and then eat a cake, you won’t be able to eat it all.

The first year I dieted like that three times (a month eating proper proper, then after a couple of months, I’d reverted back, so did another month etc etc) I went down from a 18/20 to truthfully a 16 - a small 16 but I was a 16 - but I did feel better mentally, and physically I wasn’t as baggy and saggy!

The following year, the local council were doing two hours a week fitness and a swim, I loved that, I still swim three times a week, I like yoga too.

Home cooked food for us, is extremely nutritious, a lot cheaper, if you cook in batches you shouldn’t need to eat high calorie and/or processed foods.

i wish you all the best xx

The logistics of it might not be hard but I know I won’t do it. I’m not being difficult - just know myself far too well.

It isn’t a given DD will follow me. My mum was skinny 🤣

But then you put it all back on again?

I suppose just like there are people who cant drink in proportion or reasonably or smoke in small amounts, there are people who have to restrict and find a way of 'not eating' in a way that they are eating but its not like eating

The only difference between fags and booze and food is of course you dont need to drink or smoke, theres no way round eating, you have to.

If OP needs to find her way through in this way to get to a healthy weight, its better she do that and lower her risk factors of obesity, than sit there and not doing anything at all. Over time perhaps during maintenance, she can perhaps find new ways then

Good luck OP, I knew osmeone who lost 8 stone on the cambridge diet, I didnt even know they were still going, this was about 4 years ago from memory. She looked amazing, did it in a year as well.

No, although I have gained more than I’d like.

It’s a shame the thread is just criticising my way of doing things because whatever the method, plenty of people find their weight fluctuates. It would be nice if there was one way to lose weight and to keep it off permanently but I don’t think that there necessarily is. People do of course but I think that is down to them and their mindset and not the diet they do.

So do the vast vast vast majority of us who lose weight, even those of us who have new habits and lifestyles embedded. Its life long isnt it for most of us.

My friend started walking everyday - she lots 3 stone in a year:

I am following this and have lost 7lb in the last 6 weeks

You can make better choices - and once you start it becomes part of your day.

Do it as something you want to do - get out and walk the baby - walk to the shop instead of driving - it all helps