I need to lose weight

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I've always been overweight. I was a size 16 in clothes in secondary school.

For the past 7/8/9 years I was a size 20 and my weight and size was steady. Went up or down a few pounds but weight and size remained at around 15 stone and a size 20.

A few years ago I was a member of a gym and I enjoyed it there however I was unable to commit to the gym. The gym was located in the city and my car broke down and I couldn't afford a new car.

Not only that but my schedule was heavy and hectic for a long time.

Lately over the past few months I noticed some of my t-shirts don't fit me any more. I weighed myself recently and I was tipping the scales to nearly 17 stone.

This has to change. I am 5ft 4 and I can't carry this extra weight. I look pregnant, not that there's anything wrong with pregnancy. I think pregnant bellies look lovely. I however, am not pregnant.

The only thing that has changed over the past year for the weight and size increase is dating and going out once a week or fortnight for dinner or breakfast.

My diet is rubbish. There's no sweets or biscuits or takeaways. Sometimes some chocolate or dessert when I'm out.

Breakfast is usually porridge or scrambled eggs.

I'm always skipping meals and I eat like a rat with morsels of food. Like toast for lunch hanging out from my mouth, on the go. A lot of energy drinks and tea/coffee in my diet.

Dinners are rare. I usually don't cook dinner. Dinner is usually a cup of tea or scrambled eggs or salmon or crackers and hummus or crackers and cheese with relish.

I've been waking up a lot with a sore and stiff back. It takes about 20-30 minutes if not longer for pain to ease. Moving about helps. I know the weight doesn't help. The newest addition to my bedroom is a stability ball. About a week in. I use the ball for about 5 minutes to do some stretches and I find that helps my back. Then again before bedtime. I know this won't help me to lose weight. I'm hoping to build up time on the ball and strengthen the core and back.

Any tips or advice?

It might be helpful to post in the weight loss section as well as it’s possibly a bit busier. My initial thoughts are that it is your food you need to sort out to start with. You need to think of it from a health point of view and giving your body the nutrients it needs to be healthy now and in the long term.

Sounds like you aren’t eating a huge amount of calories potentially but they are coming from somewhere. Not familiar with energy drinks but aren’t they pretty high in calories? I suspect you’re in a bit of a viscous circle where you aren’t getting the nutrients you need from your meals then feeling knackered and consuming large amounts from energy drinks leading t9 more weight gain and feeling less and less like doing anything. Apologies if I’m way off track with this.

Do you feel you could focus more on your food? Your breakfast is fine but work on the other meals, make sure they include veg, that you’re getting enough iron and calcium etc and ditch the energy drinks.

With exercise don’t underestimate how good walking can be. I have downloaded some running music and that helps. A Fitbit or similar is helpful. They do vary in accuracy but are a starting point and quite motivating for gett8ng you moving. Start small and gradually build up. Once you start losing it will help and you will gradually be able to do more. There are some Leslie Sansone walking videos on YouTube. I used to do a 5 minute one whilst waiting for the kettle.

What is really important is working on getting your head in the right place. It is going to take time to get sorted but you want this to be the last time and the changes you make need to be something you can sustain for the rest of your life. Don’t try to do too much too soon and allow yourself some of the things you enjoy.

The most important thing is Keep On Keeping On (KOKO). Don’t see it as a diet that you are either on or off, that screws with your head. If a day doesn’t go to plan just crack on the next day. Please feel free to join us on the lose 100lb thread, we have people at various stages and you would be very welcome. Hope there is something there that helps a bit, I’m sure others will be along with suggestions soon.

Don't want to read and run - but I've been in a similar position. I was always fat, love food and wasn't keen on exercise. I weighed 240lbs last May and I now weigh 190lbs. For my height (just under six foot) I'm still slightly overweight but significantly less than I was! This has partly been down to dramatically increasing my activity levels, previously I cycled a few miles to work and would go for walks but now I go to the gym every day and recently started going for runs; parkrun and I'm doing Run Everyday January.

But that all wouldn't have had much of an impact if I didn't also eat less unhealthy foods, and just less food overall. Lots and lots of veg, fruit, salads and soups. Not chowing down on toast and pasta with garlic bread on the side and pizza and big wedges of cheese and snaffling a couple of biscuits within minutes of finishing lunch. If I'm hungry I have a big glass of water or a large mug of tea, or eat an apple. I take carrot sticks to work for a snack every morning. That's not to say I don't have treats too but I try to keep them small - like the little funsize bags of skittles, or the packs of two biscoff biscuits. Sugar free jelly and air popped popcorn fill my snacking desires with low calories. I'm sure some strict dieters would say NO don't have that sugary or artificial processed crap at all but I like them and I'm not a masochist; it replaces having a hand full of chocolate digestives or eating a big bag of skittles over a couple of days, so it's an improvement.

It's all been a journey; at times it's seemed like I've had a "good week" and not got anywhere, other times I've allowed myself more treats than usual and find I've lost weight. I tried to see it more as getting fitter and healthier rather than "being on a diet" and it's gradually become the norm for me. I'd still like to sit on the sofa with a tub of Ben & Jerry's and demolish half without it touching the sides, but I also get pleasure and satisfaction from going out on a jog for 40 minutes then treating myself with a small pack of milky bar buttons!

Good luck as you tackle the challenge ahead, it is possible.

Maybe keep a food diary of what you're consuming to keep you honest. The calories to not just maintain your previous weight but increase it are coming from somewhere. If you keep a diary and work put the calorific content, inc your drinks, will give you more insight.

Going out for dinner or breakfast every few days is unlikely to be thr cause, unless you're consuming a huge amount at these dates.

It sounds like your life is very hectic which makes it much harder.
I sympathise, I have put on a lot of weight over the last few very hectic years. I’ve just made a commitment to myself to prioritise healthy living more this year - no specific weight loss goal just lots of steps towards a healthier lifestyle. One of which was recruiting an assistant at work so I can cut my hours slightly and get some evenings back for exercising.

We’ve also bought a wii fit (second hand) so on cold dark evenings when I can’t face leaving the house I can do some exercise, I find it quite motivating.