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 😭

Nothing worked for me and I was like you and thought starving was the only way. Noom really helped helped me lose serious weight and keep it off. It's twee and annoying but if you do it it works and oh my goodness it is life changing.

Yes of course - in the past the most I’ve lost has been 6.5 stone - the challenge is keeping it off
I currently need to lose 7 stone and am starting tomorrow - just returned from
holiday - not away again till April so trying to lose at least 1.5 stone by then which would be a steady 2lb a week

Keeping it off is definitely a new challenge but I need to focus on actually shifting it first!

Slimming World?

I don’t want to do SW particularly; I didn’t like it when I tried it a while ago. I like ‘my’ diet and the simplicity of it but it really is the motivation I’m struggling with and that’s true of any diet.

Well, you can.
I was 14 stone 5 at my post birth check up. It took me a good deal longer than 6 months to lose the weight though- I think I got down to 10 stone 5 after about 3 years (and I'm a bit more than that now 😳). I do intermittent fasting (both 5:2 and 16:8), and regular bouts of low carbing.

Of course you can. You didn’t put on 4 stone overnight. It’s gradual. You can lose weight gradually. Aim for a kilo each month. If you don’t do it one month, just make sure you’re not increasing.

The thing is, OP, how you lose the weight is actually how you will maintain it.

How do you plan on keeping it off when you've lost the massive amount of 4 stone? Most people will have to eat within their maintenance calories when they have finished losing. If you haven't learned any healthy, sustainable habits to support that, it will be difficult.

I honestly don't see anyone criticising your method. They are just telling you the truth about the reality of losing weight and keeping it off. I have learned It's a long, hard, bumpy road and it takes time. It sucks balls, but it's the truth, and it will be worth it.

I wish you every success.

@GameOn2025 honestly, I need to lose it first. I’m not being flippant, I promise, but there is no point planning my retirement before I’ve even had my first interview IYSWIM.

If meal replacements are what work for you at the moment, why not just do every other day at first, to build up to full time.

I lost 5 stone after DS was born but just counting calories and losing 2 pounds a week. You'll get there eventually.
I put it all back on years later during the menopause and couldn't lose it this time, it's hard when you are older. I. Now on mounjaro and losing it.

I think I’d just eat so much on the days ‘off’ it wouldn’t work. I’m definitely all or nothing!

I have managed two full days - going to hold out for a week and a month and see. I CAN do this!

I really didn’t mean to criticise or say anything hurtful, because the last thing I want to do is upset, hurt, or offend, but my weight has been a massive problem/issue for me in my younger years.

My mums attitude to getting slim was starve yourself - smoking cigarettes staved the hunger away and drinking copious amounts of coffee - she was dead at young age.

i went to weight watchers at 15 and left feeling stupid, upset, hurt, fat, ashamed, and I still can remember the loneliness-the acute loneliness actually.

Thankfully my husband found me attractive and at 18 we were married. We had children, I followed all the books for healthy babies and Dr Miriam Stoppard was my “go to” for advice,

I just couldn’t shift the weight, and it went upto a size 22 at the worst. I’m fairly tall so it wasn’t as apparent as if I was 5foot,

i, like many women did the cabbage soup diet, it works quickly, but it’s “uncomfortable” whilst you are doing it, and you have a proper something to eat - tge weight goes back on.

That year that I read Carols book was a breakthrough for me, because I couldn’t mentally cope with yo yoing weight anymore, the feeling like shit cos I’d gone to sleep and put another stone in my sleep - I needed a solution - and for me, it’s eating most natural foods - and I say it like that because white flour cramps my tummy now.

I pray that the solution is forming/formed already for you xx

The vicious cycle is that when you are overweight, you are more hungry.

I'm 14 stone and I am absolutely ravenous. As obviously I have more body to feed.

When you are so hungry it feels like it is so hard to cut down on calories. As I am starving. I keep trying to cut down on calories and I keep failing. As I am so hungry.

When I was thinner, I wasn't so hungry.

If you lose the weight without jabs - you won’t be able to get them for maintenance as bmi will hopefully be 20/25

You could try intermittent fasting? It’s easy to do if you introduce it gradually. I’m reading Dr Mindy Peltz’ Fast Like a Girl book and it’s been eye-opening. It helps reduce cravings, improves concentration, mood and energy and helps kick-start your weight loss. Once you get your blood sugar stable, you don’t even want to eat a lot of unhealthy foods!

Mounjaro probably wouldn’t be that much more of a stretch because you’d be eating far less so saving money on food.

I agree with @Slibberydibbery as I’ve just googled meal replacement shakes (which are UPF’s) - they’re not cheap. Have a look on the weight loss injections board threads if you might reconsider. Loads of great info on there.

I can’t do both though - can’t do injections and meal replacements. That’s just way beyond budget.

That’s not what I meant, sorry. You would just buy the injections and follow the advice about your diet/foods. No need for shakes.

I know but given the choice I’d rather do the meal replacements. (They aren’t all shakes by the way!)

It is possible OP, it's just a long slog and you need to stay motivated. Intermittent fasting worked for me. I dont have much self control but I found i wasn't as hungry and that eating nothing was easier than restricting the amount I ate.

I hear you. I really do understand. I have been trying to lose weight for years too.

But there's also no point working your ass off for months/years, chipping away at your weight, grinding at the gym, fighting through binges and food noise etc, for it all to go back on either though 😅

However, different things work for different people. I told myself in November that I really have to invest in myself this time and learn how to do it properly, no more unsustainable methods, no more short cuts, I'm making weight loss my number one priority above anything.

For me, that means researching my TDEE and a safe calorie deficit, losing it slowly and learning how to make better decisions regarding food and exercise, developing the discipline to not indulge in binges. Things I will have to do for the rest of my life, basically. And above all, accepting that it will take me 2-3 years to lose the weight (I have over 10 stone to lose. Well, 9 now 🙌)

And there's no fucking way I'm prepared to go through all this shit again so I'm making damn sure I learn how to do it now. I'm so sick of being obese, I'm never going back to it.

Op, I feel we have reached an impasse and can respectfully disagree 😃 I truly hope you are able to reach your weight loss goals this year. And to answer your original question, yes of course you can do it 😊

I've always tried to calorie count to lose weight and always failed miserably. This time, instead of trying to stick to 1200 per day, I used a calorie calculator which gave me 1900 calories per day. In the past, I would have always thought that was too many calories and would have lowered it but it always ended in me giving up. This time I stuck to 1900, then lowered to 1800 once I didn't lose for 2 weeks. Then 1700, then 1600 and now I'm at 1500. I've lost a total of 43 lbs in 12 months. Slower than some but it's working so well for me. I'm hardly ever hungry now and feel like I've learnt how to eat in a healthy way. I focused on eating 80 percent nutritious food and 20 percent things I love, crisps, chocolate and sweets but always stayed within my calories. I also upped my protein and veg. More recently joined a gym. Calorie counting can be really boring but it definitely works. My motivation was being able to wear the clothes I wanted and not what hid my fat. I felt so much better in holiday this year.

I've lost 5 stone since last February. No exercise due to osteoarthritis. I've fasted mostly, strictly to begin with. Weetabix for breakfast, chicken & salad or meat & veg tray bakes (seasoned with Cajun or other string spices for flavour) for evening meal. Sometimes fruit in between if really hungry I'm down from size 22 to 14-16 and am much less strict these days, winter is much harder to stick to low cal x