I’m really upset I’m still fat

[Refvs]

It’s been years since I’ve been trying to lose weight. I have done lots of diets but I can’t stick to anything. I will not take the weight loss jabs (no judgement to those that do btw) im just lost. I have all the exercise equipment at home but im so fat still. Yes I don’t exercise much so yes I know my fault.

my biggest thing is my emotions. If I have a bad day or great day I will eat loads. Been off work today due to ds being really unwell and from morning till evening I have just stress eaten.

please help me

Hi op. I am just like you. I’m a stress eater. I also like to reward myself with food, console myself with food. I lose weight, I put it back on, up and down. It’s mentally draining.

im currently awaiting major surgery. I have to be in my healthy BMI before this can go ahead. So I needed to lose 50 pounds. It felt so daunting!.

this time around I’ve downloaded a fitness app that you can log your food into. I cannot exercise unfortunately (I’m disabled). But it’s been great to track what I’m eating. I started to realise how many calories I was consuming and I’m making healthier choices now. Tracking my weight loss on the app is a good incentive too. The app is called “my fitness pal”.

I’ve now lost 20 pounds since April. It’s keeping me motivated. And my portion sizes are better now so I’m feeling fuller on a lot less.

best of luck x

In my case Mounjaro literally cured my dead metabolism. I was spiraling into a messy mix of over eating, feeling non stop guilt, insulin issues, perimenopause and psychological issues where I dealt with adulting by indulging every day in comfort food (I was exercising every day but as they say, you can never outrun a second donut). After taking the jab I am eating three normal meals rich in protein, I never have any sugar or chocolate cravings anymore (I was eating one bar a day) and I can stop eating when I want to and my brains obeys my command. I literally cried when it happened on day 2 of my first dose and I could stop eating when I wanted to. It's like I have been given a precious second chance at life. And I intend to make the best use of it.

It's absolutely fine if one doesn't want to take the WLI route. MN is a free forum and every poster has the same freedom of expression, as long as it is not harassment. Please ignore our posts if you don't like WLIs. But don't demand us to stop typing. People like me offer this advice because we identify the despair in posts like OP's and wish to share what worked for us.

Realized I didn't actually answer this - afaik from my research, Mounjaro aids in appetite suppression by mimicking two naturally-occurring hormones (GLP-1 and GIP). They trigger receptors in your brain that tell you you're full. I am sure a simple google search will give you more information.

I think mine averaged out at £30 a week. Probably saved more than that in food and booze I no longer wanted.

Well, some people easily spend £30 a week I takeaway...or lunches out each day, and snacks and coffees and cake.... That's money not being spent and it's paying for Mounjaro

@wheresmymojo Apologies if you’ve already answered this (it’s a long thread!) but can you talk more about how to process emotions and what your therapist guided you to try?

This has been my experience. Suffered from painful, clotty wild periods all my life and since the jab, no pain, nominal flow. Brain fog and depression that has plagued me for years? Gone since Week 1, I have so much focus and clarity it's unreal. I don't know if this kind of result is just for neurodivergent and those with metabolic disorders (both, me). Would be interesting to know how Mounjaro works for neurotypicals.

I do think it really is a miracle drug. For the last decade I was eating myself into an early grave so I am not really too worried about side effects (I've had none so far, touch wood). But I do get people being scared of it. I was too, at the beginning. I am sure even prescription glasses / contact lenses / pox vaccine was scary at that time they were new. Yet now everyone uses them. I am glad I chose it. It's worth every penny I am paying for it and more.

What a shame that this thread got derailed by people arguing over weight loss jabs when the op expressly said that she had no interest in them.

Thank you so much everyone! I haven’t read all the posts yet but will definitely read every single one when I’m in bed later. Some really lovely advice given, I really appreciate it.

In terms of weight loss jabs someone asked WHY I’m against them. Right now (I may change my mind in the future!) I just have a feeling it’s not safe. I know lots of people have tried them without any danger but I don’t want mess around with chemicals unnecessarily. I just feel it’s too easy if that makes sense? I feel there has to be something that hadn’t come to light yet, but will one day we might find out the unknown dangers of them. I have no judgement as I said before, I may change my mind in the future but right now my gut is telling me no and to try one last time trying to be healthy and calm my emotions. I just feel taking drugs when we don’t really need to not a choice I’ve a t to make yet.

Like you, I find losing weight very, very hard. It's upsetting to try really hard but not lose anything. I also have a thyroid condition which doesn't help. However, I find that when I exercise, I don't crave unhealthy food in the same way and it keeps me busy. I've been staying out of the house at times when I'd sit and snack (by going to exercise classes in the evenings). I've also tried pre-preparing healthy meals, so I don't have to start preparing meals when tired and hungry and I'm most likely to crack.

Keep trying. Even a little bit of weightloss per week will add up in the long term and you'll have developed sustainable healthier habits, even if it takes time.

But in this case the OP has specifically said that she doesn’t want the WLI.

And what’s happened now is that the thread is full of people telling her to try the injections and arguing with others about the side effects.

Of course it’s a forum and you’re free to type what you want but it’s really disrespectful to the OP to ignore what she’s expressly said. It also means that instead a thread full of helpful advice and comments, OP needs to wade through irrelevant comments about WLI - and in fairness, it’s been mentioned a LOT.

Other questions are getting missed because as usual WLI are dominating the conversation.

@SpidersAreShitheads thank you for understanding! Yes that’s how I feel that’s it’s been overtaken by WLI.

just for anyone else struggling with this - it was day 1 today and I felt it went really well! I had 3 good meals and fruit was my snacks. I fancied some pretzels so weighed some and was shocked so little are 80 calories! I’ve stuck to 1200 calories but I feel it might be slightly higher as I did t count the milk in my tea and coffee. All in all I feel positive, I e been listening to the 2 books recommended tbh it’s going over my head as I’m listening on Spotify whilst I’m driving to work but I like the studies being mentioned and I’m going to listen to them all week.

Yep.

DFOD

Yes. I do think of it somewhat as a cult. Instead of just being happy at their own weight loss, people seem to want to spread the word and get others on the weight loss jabs too. It’s odd.

@Refvs sounds like a good day 1, and it’s great that you’re finding the book recommendations helpful. There are long running threads in the Weight Loss Chat section you could join if you felt that would be helpful as well.

Less takeaways? Less alcohol.

I’ve saved in 145 days this year of no drinking approx £901 and 54.9k in calories.

I’m hardly twiggy yet, don’t feel the savings and still plighted with obesity complications 😕
I enjoy my job when I shouldn’t apparently.

As others have said tackle the reasons why, take care, be strong and good luck

Mounjara, etc., bring out weird cultish behaviour in people, I think. It's bizarre. I'm sorry it's taken over your thread, even though you posted from the start that you didn't want it.

I started a thread last year about a medical issue my GP thought was weight-related and specifically mentioned being unable to calorie count due to having suffered anorexia when I was a teenager and tending to take calorie counting to the extreme, and I was still recommended WLI

I'm glad you're feeling more positive today and had a good day yesterday. If you like YouTube, HalfofCarla is an interesting watch. She's lost over half of her body weight and blogs about how she achieved it after a lifetime of failed diets and what pitfalls she encountered along the way.

Weighing food is an eye-opener. I remember being actually, legitimately upset the first time I weighed a bowl of porridge I would stick to weighing things religiously for the first few months at least, and then weigh portions once every few weeks because it is so easy for them to sneak them back up without you realising.

If you like crispy snacks, PopChips are tasty, and you get a bigger portion for your calories than you do with pretzels.

I'd start at higher than 1200 calories if I were you. It'll be easier to stick to and you'll feel less deprived. You're more likely to stick to changes long-term if you start slowly. 1600-1800 is usually a good starting place, but if you work out your TDEE, you can take 500 calories away and then drop your calories as you lose. Apps like Nutracheck work this out for you as you go,

Never mind OP, I had to wade through the comments too 😂 ended up just skipping to the last page after reading the first few pages of those pushing WLI.

Seriously though I hope anyone looking for alternatives to WLI especially Op is able to find some ideas within this thread. I agree with you, OP clearly stated she’s not up for the WLI so people should’ve just respected that. It’s ok if it was just one or two comments at the start but so many flooding in and mostly saying the same thing when she’s already raised her objections to WLI is weird and not helpful.

Well done, OP. You’re off to a good start.

1200 calories is what I eat- on a good day! Unfortunately all too often I do eat more which is probably why my weight loss has been slow but I’m getting there. I assume you’re short too? I’m 5ft 2 and my ‘diet accountability partner’ is 5ft 7 and they have so much more calories to play around with and their fat loss is much quicker even if we eat the same calories since they are eating at a greater calorie deficit . If you’re tall - lucky you it’ll come off faster probably 😆

I lost 2.5 stone and have one more stone to go before I am at a healthy BMI. Also lost 10 inches off my waist.

It was a lot of trial and error starting from 2022, I tried the 1:1 diet, exante shakes, slimming world, alternate day fasting etc, but really figured out what worked for me and got into the swing of it mid- 2023 . Unfortunately I’ve plateaued a bit since end of last year.

I’ve done it all through simple diet (sheer willpower, no weight loss injections) and changes to lifestyle like being on my phone less and trying to walk more so I sleep better.

Poor sleep and high stress/cortisol often leads to my hunger and sugar cravings being out of control. I haven’t did much exercise apart from walking for the last 18 months but I’ve recently joined a gym again to try and get me off this plateau! Planning to go twice a week starting this Sunday.

Diet has been the main thing though - I went from eating takeaways multiple times a week to now only eating them if I’m on holiday or travelling for work. I’ve cut down portion size and reduced all snacking.

I cook my own food now and avoid having things I know I’ll binge on in my house such as cookies or cakes or pastries from the supermarket. I do occasionally bake but I try and do it bi-weekly or monthly - instead of every other day which I was doing at one point!

I'm glad you're feeling more positive today and had a good day yesterday. If you like YouTube, HalfofCarla is an interesting watch. She's lost over half of her body weight and blogs about how she achieved it after a lifetime of failed diets

I’ve watched half of Carla ages ago when I was first starting my weight loss journey. From what I remember she used to walk - a lot! As well as making huge changes to her diet of course. Another thing I’d recommend OP is either get a walking pad and have it front of the tv OR walk on the spot while you’re watching tv. Even if you do 10 minutes for every hour of tv /podcast etc. I work from home most days so I’m fortunate that I can walk during meetings. They say it’s better to walk every hour for a few minutes than to walk or exercise for one hour in one go then be sedentary the rest of the day. It slows down your metabolism apparently if you’re inactive for too long. So my approach to movement is little and often whereas it used to be burning myself out at the gym then doing very little movement for the rest of the day.

She walks an hour a day, I was watching her with my morning coffee this morning when she mentioned it.

Walking is so underrated as a weightloss and fitness aid. And its so easy to fit in with your day to day life. Walk to work or if you work too far from home park further away and walk the last bit/get off the bus a few stops earlier. If you're not used to walking you don't have to start with an hour a day. Start with 15 minutes and build it up as you get fitter.

There are some fun walking fitness videos on YouTube you could follow along with.

I lost 8 stone last year and while my ED contributed to it (and I would not recommend losing 8 stone in a year. It's far too much) walking also helped a lot. I walked for around 2 hours a day.

I also find it easier to eat better when I'm busy. I gained a stone recently when I wasn't working. It's coming back off now I'm back at work so I'd recommend getting a hobby. It doesn't have to be active, just something you enjoy that will keep your mind busy. Learn to code using a platform like Udemy, take up knitting or crocheting or start to read. Whatever you find fun and relaxing.

I enjoy studying so I'm learning maths and IT skills relevant to my new job. I get so engrossed in it I sometimes forget it's dinner time.

I have no idea what DFOD means.