To think finding the time to lose weight is IMPOSSIBLE?!

[Fat40Unhappy]

Probably get roasted as I’ve posted here for traffic.

I’m about 3.5 stone overweight currently.

I’ve had a shit 3 and a half years. Had a baby, had PND, was doing a stressful degree which included placement, my sibling was diagnosed terminally ill and died last March, my relationship broke down and I’m now working full time in a stressful job with a toddler and I’m a single parent.

My working hours are changing soon to 8:45am to 6pm and I will have one non-working day per week.

I also have a serious mental health condition which requires medication which is very sedating, causes weight gain and makes it difficult to lose. This conditions impacts my sleep so I need to prioritise this to avoid getting ill.

I’m most likely peri-menopausal as well.

Normal day is get up about 7, get myself and toddler dressed, drop to nursery and head to work. I have a 20/30 minute drive depending on traffic. My mum picks toddler up every day after nursery so has them for 2 hours before I get home.

Get home say 6.30 with new hours and then have to feed toddler and myself, bathe toddler and do bed time. They go down about between 7.30-8.30pm. They still wake up 2/3 times per night and I end up in their bed beside them most nights. Broken sleep all week which kills me.

I feel so depressed, I look at myself and feel disgusted. But I don’t know how to organise my life to incorporate exercise and losing this significant amount of weight. I need some motivation and ideas.

TIA

Hi, I’ve tried a few of the weight neutral ones over the years and they didn’t agree with me. Aripripazole gave me extreme akathisia, it was so bad I thought about killing myself. My body didn’t stop moving for days and didn’t sleep at all because of the restlessness.

The only one that’s ever worked is the Quetiapine unfortunately.

I understand where people are coming from re skipping meals and being in a calorie deficit. I’m not overeating as such, this is what I’m trying to explain. I already don’t eat till about 12pm most days. If anything, most days I don’t actually eat enough.

My downfall is using the fizzy drinks to get the energy to get through the days.

And before anyone says that’s the answer. It’s part of the answer. I’ve cut fizzy drinks out before with my sibling, we were supporting each other. A full month of no pop. They lost half a stone while the scale didn’t move a millimetre for me.

My choices could be better as in less carbs more wholefoods etc but my medication causes your body to process carbs and sugar differently so even with eating a really healthy diet, your still at risk of more weight gain than a person who isn’t taking the medication.

That’s why I asked about exercise and finding the time to fit it in.

I know posters are well meaning but I should have known not many would understand about the effects of the medication and go on about “it’s what you eat” and nothing else. For some people that’s just not true.

Thanks again for aml the helpful ideas.

my medication causes your body to process carbs and sugar differently

I know it's popular to say on MN.
AI says is that some meds affect blood sugars, such that the medicated person might have higher or lower energy levels than they should, and then they end up with too high hunger feelings that don't match their real food intake needs.

All of Which must be a pain in trying to control appetite & energy levels but... it also means that calories in calories out works same for people on those meds as CICO does for everyone else. The solution is still about eating only as many calories as you need.

This is what AI says about Quetiapine.

Yes, they tried adding metformin with me as mentioned there, but it didn't really work, only thing which really seems to have helped is adding mounjaro.

OP I think it might be better to discuss with your doctors as I'm not sure some people on here understand about the meds etc. It's not as simple as for most people and people go by their own experiences (mostly having never taken these meds)

Posting just to offer support to you OP. Weighing, measuring and logging food takes a lot of headspace when you're already frazzled and busy.

Today I wanted to cook something healthy like baked salmon and broccoli but given the heat I just don't want the oven on. So it's going to be cereal or toast as I just can't cope with the kitchen getting any hotter and we don't have any salad in. I'm not popping to the shops in this weather either, I'm peri and having hot flashes. It's all too much!

I totally get where you're coming from. Just try baby steps. Swap one food at a time for a healthier version or a smaller portion and just do what you can. Little by little the changes should add up and feel less overwhelming. Make the food swaps your goal rather than the weight loss, it will be more achievable that way.

I do have time to plan now, but I can’t get into it, previously I’ve had very limited time - I also like pretty fat food! - however, I can and have accepted the limitations real/laziness and found solutions to eat less and a bit better. Stopped eating crisps/chocolate/chips and mayo etc but always replaced it so I didn’t feel I was missing out - carrots with hummus, celery and a bit of cheese, full fat Greek yogurt with berries and prepped salads, Buddha bowls etc - all stuff I still like, and not restricted at all, but it sets me off on a better path and from there I have lost some weight and also started planning/cooking better. I will add though that I’ve had to want to do this, it’s easy in poor times not to do so, and it’s easy to revert back to habits - I do think worrying about it adds pressure, and overthinking can make it too complicated. Guess I’m saying though that if you’re ready maybe don’t think of planning, cooking, etc just start buying different easy stuff. I do tend to try and eat organic, farm stuff so it is nice (to me) and that’s not for everyone but the principle can be the same. Not everyone is ready to do mumsnet chickens or big salads!
Don't be hard on yourself- you’re doing amazingly and lots of stuff - don’t add pressure, be good to yourself.

My psychiatrist is very unhelpful with this stuff. They prescribed the Metformin with no real guidance and never gave any other option when it didn’t agree with me. Basically just said that I either accepted being fat or try to change to a previous tablet that has already been ruled out due to side effects.

My GP experience is sadly what I’ve experienced here. No understanding, just the assumption that I must be overeating and I should lower my calories and that medication is definitely not the thing that’s making me fat.

Some people have been helpful though in helping me see that I don’t need to be getting up at 5am to be going balls to the wall at the gym every day. I’m definitely going to try blocking off 20-30 minutes every day for some movement and see if that helps. And if not, I’ll speak to my doctor about MJ or similar.

How are your blood tests, the ones they do to monitor you while on quetiapine? (I hope they are doing these btw, I had to quote the Nice guidance at my GP to get them to start but now get them yearly)

My bloods haven’t been checked in relation to the Quetiapine for years. Even when you get bloods, they just say normal. I had ones done recently for perimenopause symptoms and was told all normal.

I’ve used AI to interpret them now since I’ve downloaded ChatGPT and they’re not “all normal” there’s some that are borderline. My triglycerides are high but it says no further action needed next to it.

One of them related to my thyroid says normal but upon checking it’s at the very lower end of “normal”.

I’ve just googled elevated triglycerides and it says something about metabolic syndrome which could be related to the Quetiapine.

OK I will link to the Nice guidance which I gave my GP- they moaned a little saying I was not on a very high dose but they would do yearly blood tests, more recently they have added an ECG and weight as well (didn't ask for this just seems to have been added on)

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/psychosis-schizophrenia/prescribing-information/monitoring/

They also should test for diabetes (HB1AC)