I am so very unhappy with my weight.

[whatlauradid]

Hii all. I'm here looking for advice, support and motivation.

I'm 5ft9in and currently weigh 18st8lb. A few monyhs ago I started a diet and started going to the gym. I went from 19st3lb to 18st5lb at my lowest. I found that going to the gym was enjoyable but an expense I couldn't afford and with two young DC's and a partner who works it was difficult to find the time and inclination.

I've always been okay with my body. Not happy but not depressed to the point of tears. I bought a pair of red wide leg trousers from Primark in a size 20 and I can't do them up over my stomach. I feel disgusting.

I enjoy chocolate etc but my main vices are pasta, Monster energy drinks, coffee, cheese and bread. I don't eat a lot but it seems that when I do my meals must be high calorie to have not lost weight. I'm active around the house and own an elliptical machine that I rarely use. I need to use it more as at the moment it is used for storing clothes. I walk the dog for fifteen minutes every day but that could be upped to half an hour if I take over my partners evening walk.

I can't afford to have meals delivered or to do WW or SW so would calorie counting help? How many calories should I eat a day to lose weight before exercise? I need to think long term here and to lose at least four stone, preferably six.

I'm a calorie counting novice but I need help. I'm sorry this is so long.

I think that you could make a big difference by cutting out the energy drinks completely and reducing your portion sizes of pasta and chocolate and padding meals out with lots of fruit and veg. Increasing exercise is great but improving your diet will have a much quicker and more dramatic effect on your weight.

Try my fitness pal. Loads of folk on here swear by it. It really helps tracking what you eat. Use your machine. Chin up and good luck

Meant to say bread and cheese are very high calorie and cheese is really fattening. I know you said you couldnt afford sw but a tenner for the first class would give you the materials and a healthy eating plan. Further classes are under a fiver - how many energy drinks is that?

Gotta lose the energy drinks. You won't lose weight and will lose teeth if you continue with them.

Cheese and bread are my 2 big vices - and they will affect your ability to lose weight. Can you reduce the amount you eat? I have to cut bread out altogether if I feel porky, can't do it in moderation at all.

Get your elliptical trainer going again - 1/2 hour a day will make a huge difference to your calorie count, and should help your mood (endorphins etc). You say you enjoyed the gym - can you get your gp to get you a free/reduced membership (llots of NHS trusts do this for the very overweight).

If you have a smartphone, look at myfitnesspal app - this will help you log your eating and it does help as long as you are honest.

Good luck.

Your best friend may be www.myfitnesspal.com :)

It's free; after registering you input some basic details and you will be give a goal number of calories per day and then you input what you've eaten/going to eat on a daily basis and you'll easily see where your calories are coming from and what your exercise uses.

There's a thread on here with many other users of it for additional support.

Hope this helps and very good luck on your journey.

One thing to be mindful of is that the weight did not go on overnight so don't expect instant results... a steady weight loss due to long term changes in exercise and eating habits is going to be more sustainable than any supposed 'quick fix' miracles!

I just downloaded myfitnesspal. It tells me to consume 1500 calories a day to lose 2lb a week so I've put in all of what I have consumed and will consume today and I have 600 calories left. Should I eat those calories or do I leave them if I am full?

Energy drinks are now banned. I'm going to give up the bread and only have a small amount of cheese but it will be difficult since it's a staple in the house for the children. I'm not going to buy chocolate either as the children have enough fun sized treats and I don't need it.

Can you consume anything if it falls in to your calories or do you need to eat healthily to lose weight? For example if I ate 1500 calories of chocolate for a week would I still lose those 2lb?

I'm in not such a different position but a month on from you. I've joined weight watchers online via top cash back. It worked out at about £1.50 for three months because top cash back are offering £30.30 cash back for signing up. Another free and useful tool is myfitnesspal.Com. There are various threads about it but you can type in any food and work out your food balance between fats, proteins, carbs etc. It's completely free and you can keep your settings private.

I'm a carb junky I love pasta, fresh bread, roast potatoes and the like. I'm focusing on having carbs at just the evening meal. My meals are big breakfast of grilled sausages (meat ones not 50% carb) bacon, egg, tomatoes and mushrooms, lunch of big salad or stir fry veg with spicy chicken/ cheese/ tuna/ prawns or salmon then the normal family sit down meal. I'm tracking myself to see what works for me and I've drastically cut down on alcohol - that small glass of wine most nights was definitely pushing me over my intake needs.

I try to go three one hour walks a week with/ without the DC. It's light in the evenings so I'm trying to rope a group of friends together to do a dusk walk in the summer months once a week, meeting up at 8pm after the DC are in bed.

Weight watchers suggest setting yourself small targets. If like me the end game is 4 stone away it's easier to break it down into chunks. I'd like to be 14st by the summer holidays - this on one hand is achievable at 2lb a week but I have three family birthdays with big meals out, in this time too so I'll have to be extra good in the weeks to be able to eat what I want at those events.

Can yo walk for longer each day? A 15 min walk really is going to do nothing. Coud you do a brisk 30 mins twice a day? whay are you drinking energy drinks, you must stop them. They are awful things, even if you are no overweight.

You would lose 2lb if you only ate 600 calories worth of chocolate BUT you will never keep weight off unless you concentrate on a healthy balanced diet and lifestye. Counting calories to only eat the bad things is not going to do this. I have a friend who is a WW leader, drinks a bottle of wine every day and has a bmi of 19 - she is thin but SO unhealthy.

MEant to say, she gets away with the bottle of wine every day because she calories counts and gives the wine priority.

1500 cals a day doesn't seem much? Don't forget any extra exercise (by which I mean a brisk walk, you don't have to sweat it out in the gym) will give you loads of extra calories as well as increasing your muscle and general fitness an health. you can lose weight sitting on the sofa doing nothing if you eat few enough calories but thats not oging to do your life span any good!

I can increase the walk. We have a puppy who goes for two fifteen minute walks a day right now. DP takes the evening shift but I could take over both and increase them to 20 minutes each.

The issue with my elliptical is that it squeaks so it's not pleasant for others in the house even with my earphones in. DP said to oil it he'd have to take it all apart which he doesn't want to do.

I'm lucky in that I love fruit and vegetables, salad and pretty much anything healthy but somehow I always pick the unhealthy option or go for a salad with a buttered roll on the side. I also use food as emotional reprieve and reward which I have no idea how to combat doing.

How much weight have you all lost?

Hi Laura. I wondered if you'd had a look at The Paul McKenna thread. It's a completely different approach about eating according to need rather than want. Cost: less than a tenner for a book and nice relxing Cd and you might never count another calorie again!

X post with your last one. It is particularly good for emotional eaters!

My fitness pal and marks and Spencer's count on us meals- they are on offer at the moment of three for two and really quite good- works out about £1.50 to £2.00 a meal and they have a big range. I lost 2 stone in 12 weeks with this combination and an hours walk every other day for exercise. I also swapped to half fat cheese, and low fat yoghurt and fruit for a sweet treat. I also (and I know this isn't healthy) drank diet coke as I also love fizzy drinks.

For what you are spending on excess food in a week you could afford slimming world. If you like pasta and carbs I really recommend the extra easy plan, it is not a diet. It is a healthy eating framework for life.

Oil it yourself..... You probably don't need to take it all apart, and really, why rely on DH when you can do it yourself just as easily!?

I'll check out Paul McKenna. I remembet my mum used to have one of his weight loss CD's years and years ago. Do you think they will have the book in the library?

Lunch today is tuna on a handful of bistro salad leaves with raw chopped onions and dinner is a small amount of pasta with tomato sauce, oniobs, mushrooms, garlic and a tiny sprinkling of cheese. I'm only drinking green tea/black coffee/water and tonight I'll have sn Options hot chocolate to curb my inevitable cravings.

I'm determined to do this one way or another but I don't doubt that it will be extremely hard.

I'm not sure if they have the book in the library. Will go and ask others on the (extremely friendly and welcoming) thread.

Walking is brilliant, especially if you push yourself a wee bit. I've got quite a steep hill up to my street on the way home from the shops - I challenge myself to take that motherf#&%r without breaking my stride.

Walk like you're in a hurry. Carry stuff. Go up hills. And steps.

I'm in Edinburgh and know a guy who cycles up The Mound twice a day, but that may be taking it Too Far.

We live in a flat area but just around the corner there is a massive hill to go to the vets. I've walked up and down it four times carrying a puppy. Not doing that again.

I'm about to take the dog for a walk and I'm thinking I'll plonk on my trainers and walk a bit further than normal. Does anyone have any reccomendations for a smart phone pedometer?

Calorie counting really works for me - after a while, you get to know how many calories are in everything and realise just how high in calories some foods are.

I also weigh myself every few days so I can nip any weight gain in the bud - I've learned it's possible to sometimes feel a bit slimmer but weigh a few pounds heavier (and vice versa).

The other thing that's worked is the small achievable goals - for me, it's to lose only one pound a month, and over the past six months I've managed 6 pounds. It means I have to watch what I eat on a daily basis but I don't really feel I'm depriving myself too much and it's become a way of life now.

Good luck!

I think "Secret Eaters" on Channel 4 (?) has been pretty interesting. There are a lot of people who clearly don't realise how much they're consuming - could you be one of those?

I probably am, especially drinking my calories although I don't consume much alcohol. I've heard about the series but not watched it so I'll 4OD it later. Programmes like that really make me think about what I'm putting into my body.

Why don't you download a power walk app? Work your way through it and then progress to couch 2 5 k?