To ask for advice and support around losing 6+ stone between now and May?

[ForMerryPinkCat]

I've been offered a job starting on May 27. My old trainer is setting up a new eventing yard and wants me as head groom/rider.

It's a fantastic opportunity to get back to the sport I love but unfortunately I had a horrible accident last year that resulted in multiple injuries and a long hospital stay.

Because of that and the medications I've been taking, my weight has ballooned up to 20 stone. I'm 5'4 so I'm massively overweight. Ideally i'd be under 14 stone when I started with the goal of getting back down to my ideal weight of around 8 stone.

I've told my family and friends it's for my wedding which is at the start of may because they're very against me riding again and I don't want to deal with the aggo if it's not even vaguely possible. My partner knows and is very supportive of me trying.

I've been eating around 1500 calories a day and walking briskly for 20mins several times a day. I've included a few pics of my diet/exercise for the past couple of days. (I will be adding more fruit/veg/protein in starting tonight when my groceries arrive, and switching out the whole milk for skimmed. I'm just trying to empty the fridge so nothing gets wasted!)

Calories not only the issue. The suagra you eat are also calories and het stored as fat i.e the carbs, breads and potatoes etc. You need to do low carb high protein.

https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/lack-of-support-for-people-on-weight-loss-drugs-leaves-them-vulnerable-to-nutritional-deficiencies

“Inadequate micronutrient intake can put people at risk of a range of conditions, from fatigue and an impaired immune response to hair loss and osteoporosis. Loss of lean mass – in most cases, muscle – increases the risk of weakness, injury and falls.”

@Thursday5pmisginoclock the bit you’re not quoting is the part that explains that there is not enough evidence to draw any robust conclusions.

Never mind that all of those concerns apply to any diet and can be countered easily. As those of us who are long term WLI users can and have attested to.

With your activity and diet, the jabs will be perfect. They truly are life changing. I honestly think they replace something missing in some of our bodies’.

Side effects - less hunger, eating less when you have a meal and a bit of constipation which is down to me and not drinking enough.

But that is the same for any diet!

YABU

What an incredibly helpful post 🙄🙄🙄

Yes

@AnnaQuayRules so, Mounjaro or Wegovy can be offered to T2 diabetics for blood sugar control. That’s a different set of prescribing guidelines to those for people who are obese and are being prescribed for weight loss alone. The OP isn’t T2 diabetic, so she wouldn’t be offered WLI based on her weight alone.

I reduced my bmi from 29 to 22 in 5 months without WLI or calorie counting. I ate whole foods and walked daily, fasted overnight from 7pm to 11am most days. That was enough to change my health very powerfully and I have maintained the weight loss for 10 months now quite easily. I’m 58 so there is menopause in the mix for me too.
My GP told me I didn’t need weight loss drugs and she was right. You can do this OP, you just need to keep going, your best future is waiting for you.

Although possible alone with determination, the likes of mounjaro still help massively, I found mounjaro much better than wegovy, the money you save on food will help buy it. It takes away that food noise, you don't even think about eating and when you do eat you can only eat a portion about a quarter of the size. I lost 5.5kg in a year on it. It could have been more quicker but I had a break for holiday.

I’m on the weight loss boat too, ideally 4st. I’m about 16lb down since I started in March so I’m happy but would love it to be quicker!!! Im calorie counting, 10k steps a day & gym 3-4 times a week. I am also a shocking cook & find Myprotein ready meals from Iceland a god send! Worth a look

Finally a sensible answer. @ForMerryPinkCat be wary because you get so much different advice in here. Some of it is almost disordered. There really is no need to cut out food groups and every processed food going.

Eat nutritionally well; plenty of whole foods! vegetables can help fill you up too. Stay within a sensible calorie deficit. Find what works for you and you will stick to it if it’s not extreme. Exercise is important but diet more so. But we do need it to retain muscle mass and it’s just good for us. Plenty of water/fluid

Walking is great keep it up if you can do it. As is swimming. I had a great figure when i was swimming. But do think about strength: you can start with dumbells or bands at home if you wanted and build up. Plenty of you tube videos for beginners.No one needs to work out 5/6 times a week and certainly not straight away. It’s a fast track to injury. Build it up.

I’m going to suggest Sally Gunnell’s 8 week hurdlers programme (if affordable, it’s about £400). Great combo of simple nutrition advice and beginner-level strength training and you have the support of being part of a virtual group with webinars and advice. V much oriented to long term health not just weight loss (though that’s part of it).

And LOTS more protein, low cal stuff like cottage cheese, 0% Greek yogurt, chicken breast etc

Everyone can cook, whether you’ve done it before or not. You have a serious amount of weight to lose so need to take this seriously. Food waste is awful, I agree, but your health comes first. Better to see 10 slices of bread in the bin that will decompose quickly, than in your tummy adding the pounds.

Ok you understand that that applies to any form of weight loss and the way to mittigate it is to eat enough nutrients and exercise, ?

im a little bemused by these comments, as it really does feel the posters actually believe what they are posting and simply don’t understand it.

surely there is enough information out there now that people have a better grasp of how their bodies work, when they diet or when they over eat? The impact of both. As these comments show a complete lack of any knowledge.

as for the meds, they are simply a synthetic hormone we produce naturally. They don’t target your muscle, or cause any of the other odd things people post.

losing or gaining weight has signficant impacts on us. Losing weight if you don’t eat enough can of course cause loss of muscle, thays why people are urged to consume their protein and work out. It’s not like you can’t do thst if you take the medication, and of course obesity is the biggest killer in society, causing so many many health issues from increased cancers to heart attack and stroke.

if the drugs caused even 1 percent of what obesity does, they would never have been approved by the health authorities globally.

Just go on Mounjaro. Honestly aft 40 year trying to lose weight I have lost 6 stone.

Having been yojr size before and lost it what worked was protein rich diet low to moderate carbs to sustain gym and exercise and same with fats. You need to understand your maintenance calories then run a 500 calories deficit from that.

You should be prioritising weight training over cardio, the more muscle you have the more you burn at rest plus you need it for old age. I only do strength training every other day and on redt days ill do my walking.

You should be eating as clean as possible so chicken, white fish, eggs etc for protein and complex carbs like brown rice, sourdough bread only, lentils and then for fats olive oil, avocado etc. Obviously eat whatever veg and salads you like e.g. broccoli, spinach, mushrooms.

If you are going to go on a glp then the above is what you definitely need to do to ensure you don't lose muscle.

Not to kill your enthusiasm but wheb you start the first week or so if you see a quick drop it isnt justnfst, its water retention, inflammation etc. So don't be dismayed if after that initial drop you see it suddenly slow down.

I have weight to lose and I had an appointment for private weight loss jabs at a local pharmacy. I decided the £200 a month cost and long list of possible side effects (I have a very sensitive tummy at the best of times) made it not for me.

I do intermittent fasting (I don't eat between 7pm and 11am, every day) and the weight is really dropping off. I swim twice a week and eat lots of fruit and veg. It's worth a go - a lot cheaper and no side effects.

I have done something similar, following the Michael Moseley books. OP if you’re on Facebook you could check out the fast 800 Facebook page where there are a lot of people following that way of eating. Fast 800 refers to the short term rapid weight loss stage during which people do intermittent fasting and also only consume 800 calories per day. It’s important during this stage to eat high protein and high fat products, as well as drinking loads of water and eating lots of greens. They recommend doing this stage for a maximum of 12 weeks. Then the “way of eating” is to basically stay on a Mediterranean style diet for the rest of your life - plenty of fish/meat/chicken with lovely veg and olive oil, that sort of thing. Once you’re at the weight you’re happy with, you can add in a small amount of healthy carbs.

It’s a real sign of the times that so many people are recommending weight loss drugs. I personally would prefer to do it with food rather than drugs if it was me. Buy a copy of the Michael Moseley book and see whether you think you can follow his guidelines. There was a fantastic Michael Moseley programme on channel 4 about losing a stone in a month but I don’t think it’s available now. Good luck with it! ♥️

I don’t understand your comment of preferring to do it with food rather than drugs. All I can think is there is a huge lack of understanding out there.

tbe drugs don’t melt the fat off, you need to proactively diet. You chose what goes in your mouth, you chose what diet you follow. Be it Michael Moseley, low carb or simple cal counting. And like with any weight loss method, you need to ensure you consume enough protein to protect muscle and work out.

all the drugs do is control blood sugar, improve insulin response, slow gastric emptying, and dull appetite, which enables you to stick to the diet you chose.

you don’t lose faster on the meds, you lose longer, they enable consistent weight loss over a long period, so you can hit goal and maintain

weight loss is recommended at up to 2lbs a week, like any other time you diet.

and over 80 percent of people who use the meds have no side effects, and those who do it’s normally mild gastro impacts.

if you do not change your diet, and it was bad, you will have gastro effects, too much fat and sugar will see you feeling nauseas, the runs and sulphur burps. So they support you to eat and clean and healthy diet. You still get hungry for meals, just you feel full after a recommended portion size, and don’t have the urge to snack.

of course some people abuse them, go on too high a dose, starve themselves,drop weight rapidly, don’t work out. But as you can see from any of the monthly threads on here or even Reddit, this is a minority. People on the whole are not stupid, snd when they need to spend this much money, they usually focus and do it right.

I lost 18kgs in less than 8 months last year. What I did is I stopped having any bread, pasta, rice, sugar, alcohol and anything processed/coming out of a packet for 6 days a week and then I ate some of the things mentioned above one day a week in moderation. It was very easy that way to loose all my post pregnancy kgs. I didnt really exercise other than lots of walking.

Thanks - I appreciate your explanation. It’s just a personal preference I suppose, that if I can manage something by changing diet alone I would prefer to keep it natural. Perhaps I’m old fashioned?! But I do appreciate that a lot of people have been helped by the weight loss drugs.

Sure and that’s different, and I’m pleased you can be successful that way, honestly, lucky you. It was simply your comment you prefer to do it via food not drugs, as everyone does it via food.