Overwhelmed by the amount of weight I have to lose

[DaveTheOnion]

I started a plan with Team RH last week and so far so good. I am losing weight on it. However it has hit me the sheer amount I need to lose........6 stone, maybe a little more and I feel really overwhelmed by it.
I have tried every diet under the sun. Weight watchers, slim fast, slimming world, Cambridge etc. I lose weight then put it all back on and more. Last week when I started I was 18st 3 😭I am so disgusted with myself.

I can't imagine myself being slim. I absolutely hate the way I look at the moment and take very little care of myself. I dress like a 50+ year old when I am in my 30s and just look like a terrible frump.

I know I need to change more than just my eating habits and be nicer to myself but it is so hard. I have started out with making sure I put moisturiser on every morning and night. Then I will add something else when I know it is a reliable part of my routine. In my brain I feel like I don't deserve to look nice of have nice things because of how fat I am.

I just wondered if anyone else has gone through this and succeeded. I am so uncomfortable and dreading our summer holiday this year. I want to have energy and zest for life instead of being miserable.

Someone told me to make a vision board for when I lose the weight of the clothes I will buy and things I will be able to do when I am not so large.

Hi Dave, some thoughts on upping your step count…. I started using the All Trails app last year. You can search for local walks and filter by difficulty, distance etc, so finding easy, short walks nearby is straightforward and you can download the map and follow directions etc. It makes walks much more interesting than just going out and walking to the shops/park etc. Also I found that after doing the same walk a few times, you suddenly realise how much easier you find it than it was at the beginning, which gives me a real buzz.

Also, re buying clothes in larger sizes than you’re aiming for - you can always buy some things, wear them a few times and resell them on Vinted - it’s a great way of changing your wardrobe around and not spending a fortune.

I think it's a good idea to have a vision board, but I don't think you need to wait until you've lost 6stone to buy yourself nice new things.

I think you should start now so you start feeling more positive. Buy yourself some nice earrings, or a nice lipstick, or if you find some nice clothes, get them in your current size.

You deserve it all now.

Then every time you manage to loose some weight (say 2lbs) treat yourself to something nice that isn't food. Buy yourself a nice moisturiser.

Have small goals - think half a stone to start. Then a stone. When you get to each milestone, take time to congratulate yourself and buy something nice (non food related - a nail varnish maybe)

Don't think about the big end goal- focus on the little ones.

Also your goals don't all need to be weight related.

You can set yourself a goal of snacking on fruit rather than chocolate, for example. If you achieve this in a week - celebrate that achievement without even looking at the scales

Best of luck

I was going to say as well go and get a haircut or a pedicure etc.

Start seeing yourself as worth the effort and it will help you stay motivated

Hey OP, I lost 9 stone and just took half a stone at a time instead of thinking of the whole number. And before I knew it 9 months had passed and the weight had all gone. I felt amazing even after 1 stone loss as it was different to how I felt at my top weight, plus the othet benefits had already kicked in like better skin etc. This motivated me. Keep going!

Try not to think of it as you won't be happy until you have lose 6 stone. You are going to be so proud of yourself and feel so much better when you lose your first stone. It really helped.me to have mini targets. Not one big target. How has your weightloss been going?

A presenter on a weight loss podcast said "If you feel overwhelmed about how much weight you want to lose, just remember your starting weight, is someone else's goal weight"

Can you take inspection from others that have lost the same and keep some photos around? Btw I’m a 50+ woman and I ain’t no frump!!!

You absolutely can do it OP. Split the task up into manageable amounts.
First goal is to shift the first stone. Then perhaps increase exercise. The more weight you loose, the easier it is to exercise. Baby steps.
In April, I was 18.3 stone. I started a healthy diet of 1200 cal a day on MFP and allowed myself a 10% 'off-the-wagon' allowance so if I wanted a piece of birthday cake, I would have it. I started 10,000 steps a day and by September had lost 3 stone.
Its stayed off and i'm ready to go for the next 3 stone this year. I'm finding the more I loose, the less I mind dieting - i'm seeing results and my energy and health is improving. The first stage is as bad as it gets. Everyday will become a little bit better.

ZOMBIE this thread is from 6 months ago

OK. I think the advice you have received is wrong.

journeys start with one step. So you moderate what you eat and you don’t get cross with yourself if there’s a foot out of line. It’s food, you aren’t hurting anyone. Every day you manage to moderate is a big hurray, every day you don’t is a never mind, we try again tomorrow. If you have a dog, cat or child you can verbalise this to them.

Don’t idealise what you’ll look like or anything like that, try to accept that you probably look awesome now and you’re succeeding at all other parts of life and when you’ve lost some weight you’ll look even more to your own taste. It can be physically easier to cope at a smaller weight but I’m anorexic and fancy the absolute pants off my beautiful BMI 33 boyfriend. Maybe your main focus should be enjoying every bite of what you eat and just going from there? There’s so much moral judgment around weight and there shouldn’t be.

I've lost between 4 and 6 stone twice, the first time during COVID. Then I had a baby and put it back on again. LO is a year now and I've lost 4st but need to lose 2 more.

The tricks for me are

1. Keep at it. Ate some chocolate? Don't let it derail you. Keep your head down and keep going.

1. Focus on 5 or 10lbs at a time. I'm 191lbs at the moment and focussed on getting under 190. Then I'll focus on getting to 180. If I try and think too hard about 165 I get panicked and overwhelmed.

1. Youve done other diets, you know what works for you. Use every tool available. I drink chocolate protein shakes to calm the chocolate cravings, drink lots of water, cut up masses of cucumber to snack on and boiled eggs.

1. Identify your triggers. I'd go into the little Tesco and always buy a chocolate bar. I started asking myself t be strong and resist. It took a while but I stopped eventually.

1. Exercise. It may suck, it may hurt, but it works. You carry a size 16 better when youre fit and fat rather than fat.

Wishing you the very best of luck xx

I find setting small achievable goals helps. If using myfitnesspal or similar, put your goal for one stone to lose rather than 6. Concentrate on just reaching that goal for now.

Also, I am not a big reader but I read the book Not a Diet Book by James Smith. It has COMPLETELY changed the way I think about diets and losing weight.

I would break it into much small goals. Focus on losing 10lbs first and then look to lose another 4lb to make a stone.