Declaration and asking for support and advice?

[fizzzness]

Ok I'm 19 stone 5. ( eeek) the heaviest I've ever been. I'm also 15 months away from being 40

If I lose 2 pounds a week until my 40 th birthday then I'll lose 9 stone. My ideal weight for my height should be around 11 stone. So it's achievable.

What do I need to do? Please tell me where to start

Recognising you have a problem is a very good start!

Try to decide why you're overeating, you know, the usual things like boredom, stress, anxiety, poor self-esteem, self-control issues (can you 'stop at one' when it comes to biscuits, for instance?). Do you graze all day? What sort of foods do you have to hand at home? Do you do any exercise, and if not, are there reasons for it? Each time you reach for food, ask yourself 'Why?'. Can you stop eating when you're full or do you need to clear the plate?

Decide on a strategy, be it 'proprietary' like WW, SW; or a system like 5:2, or calorie counting. Different personality types find different styles suit them.

DO you have family around you? Get them onside; like say to DH/P 'Please don't offer me snacks', to the DCs 'Please scrape uneaten food into the bin'. Practice always leaving a bit of food on your plate. Examine how you eat- is it always sitting down at a table? Put your utensils down between each bite. Make yourself chew everything and focus exclusively on the food. Try and hear your body's 'full' signal.

Recognise the feeling of hunger as your body saying 'OK, now I will have to burn fat, not the contents of the last meal as it's gone!'

Learn as much as you can about it; obvs on MN is a good place to start!

Set a 'start date'. In the interim, either chuck out or, if you can't bear to, eat the stuff that won't be useful to you in a weight loss diet; remove temptation at least at first.

I am no poster-girl for dieting! I weigh 11/11 and am 5 foot 6 (BMI of about 27). I weighed 13 stone at my heaviest, was stable at 11/10 for a while, crept up to 12/1 ('planned' as I had a stressful fortnight with the in-laws and I knew I couldn't keep my weight loss programme going through that) but I restarted my weight loss a week ago. I am aiming for 11 stone initially.

I am a "boredom/ 'because it's there'/ treat myself" eater. I also rather like the pinot grigio (). I don't like getting hot and sweaty.

I decided 'fads' weren't for me. I know they are for some people and the term 'fad' might offend but I feel that what you do to lose weight has to be sustainable forever otherwise it won't work. I don't think I could count WW 'points' forever, for instance. I started with Paul McKenna ('I can make you thin') which I recommend; I learned about GI and GL foods; about the role of exercise in permanent weight loss, the use of soups and protein. I also examined my portion sizes!

I have also looked with interest at 5:2 but I think the elephant in that room is the fact that for us to get overweight, it's because we eat way more than the 2000-2200 a day we're supposed to be eating, so on our 'non-fast' days, we'd still be hoofing down 3000+ cals which, to me wipes out the 'gain' (and pain!) of the fast days. I think 5:2 would work better for me once I am lighter via keeping to 2000 cals a day. There are also a stack of other health benefits to intermittent fasting, too.

Exercise. Yes, one must. Allow yourself to hate it, if you do. I do! It's OK because I can see it as a thing I have to do, like brushing my teeth or getting a smear done (sorry!). I have an electric treadmill and I aim to walk fast on it (3.8mph) for half an hour 4 times a week, watching the telly. I know I will get all prickly and sweaty but I have a shower straight afterwards, and I know I have burned 150 odd cals, the effect of which stays with my metabolism for up to 24 hours.

I am currently calorie counting because I am on a 49 day diet (til the DCs summer hols) where I aim to lose 2 lbs a week. I am being strict with myself and know this isn't sustainable in the long term but once I hit 11 stone, I shall consider 5:2. I record my calories on MFP.

Final advice is to find a board on here that you like and to get support on it. There are lots of people here in the same place as you!

Best of luck.

I am no expert.

I have lost 1 pound this week, so hey-ho, it's a start.

This is what I am doing:

2 wheetabix at home for breakfast.

work - berrocca & multi vitamin.
Coffee
Lunch at work - try to keep it healthy when I can . Sandwhich with lots of salad.
1 litre of water in the afternoon. Maybe another coffee.
Evening meal - scrambled eggs/salad/somthing light.
Throughout the day I will also eat some fruit, sometimes apples/banana/orange.

When I get home I try to go out walking. I am aiming for about a 5 mile walk a night. So far I have been doing it every second night. I feel amazing after it. I try to walk as fast as I can and I chant to myself (in my head), 'People are slim by choice, not by accident'. This sorta keeps me motivated to keep up the pace, or I might chant 'I want to be lean and mean, not pudgy and sludgy', or 'I am removing this onsie of fat I have on'. Basically I want lovely leg muscles, not just a mass of wobble.I went fast walking last night and I feel that my metabolism is still revved up.

I am still having the odd biscuit, but before I would mindlessly scoff away, whereas now I only have two max and then I stop. I want to train myself to have biscuits/chocolate in the house and to be able to leave it there for any length of time. Also I'm not going to get absolutely plastered for the next month. I have a wedding at the end of this month and another at the end of next month and I really don't want to drink much, other than those two occassions.

Where I work there is often cake/treats, and I have decided if I find it very hard to say no, if it is forced on me, I'll accept it, bring it back to my desk and then throw it out when I can.

I dunno maybe all of the above is bonkers, but it is very hard to say no to people sometimes, without appearing rude, but something has just clicked in my head, I don't care anymore, I just want to feel and look healthy and good.

It's a Summer challenge for me.

btw I am 5ft.7.5 inches and 11 stone 5 lbs this morning. I have been doing my routine since Monday, so very early days for me. I want to aim for 10 stone and see after that. I want to look toned and have an athletic figure rather than waifish thin.

Also I'm not really sure exactly how far I am walking, but I am walking for an hour outside, I build up a sweat, so I am walking as fast as I can.I know people say walk with a partner, but I am enjoying walking on my own as I pump my arms and do whatever I want without anyone slowing me down or without me feeling self conscious about my mad pumping arms (lol).

Hi fizzzness, I weigh almost 17 stone
I want to lose 6 stone.

Like you, I've just had enough now and NEED to do something. I'm just going to try cutting out the crap and upping the exercise. Easier said than done though

You know what show I find really inspiring? I used to be fat.

The trainer Joey Gloor is absolutely hilarious, the stuff he comes out with!

Rise out of this swamp of apathy and baptise yourself into a river of inspiration, energy and fire!!!!!

Crazy mad stuff, but he is pumped full of positivity. He is fun!

And, thing is, fizz- just me talking about it upthread inspired me to do my jog just now! 30 mins at 4mph (2 miles) either fast walking or jogging alternately, all at 4mph. Watching some drivel on Channel 4.

I'm liking molly's style, too.

I think at the start of a weight loss programme, it's good to be a bit hard on yourself, just to get tangible results, and to tell both your mind and your body that a line is being drawn in the sand! But I think you absolutely have to have a follow-on plan as you're very, very unlikely to keep up The Burn or whatever, long term. And it appears that those who quit the initially hard work 'deprivation' stage with no follow-up plan immediately revert to 'as they were' because they haven't re-educated themselves or their bodies.

The bald fact is that you have to rethink your eating and exercise habits forever in order to lose weight and, more importantly keep that weight off.

We must be strong enough to acknowledge the fact that once we've been fat, those fat cells remain with us forever, ready to refill at the slightest opportunity. What we need to do is to keep them empty by only eating enough fuel for our bodies to use, no more.

We also need to accept hunger.

But the idea is that once you start losing weight, you start feeling the benefits; clothes fit, you have more energy, you feel better about yourself, people comment on how well you look etc, the positive vibe is strong enough- and you must reinforce that vibe-feeling, psychologically, so we actually don't want that cream bun! We don't feel the need to finish all the lasagna. We can reason with ourselves that yes, that lasagna would no doubt taste good but how will we feel about ourselves after we've scoffed it?

However, once my weight loss is established I am going to eat exactly what I want. If there's a Krispie Kreme donut in the staff room, and I want it, I'll eat.... an inch of it. If I come back later an no one's eaten the rest (unlikely!) I won't eat any more because I will know that I had my treat, I enjoyed my treat, I can have another (inch of whatever) tomorrow.

I will also recognise that it's my choice not to eat any more because I am in control.

Want wine? OK, but factor in the calories! I think there are 650 cals in a bottle of white wine!

Good luck Henrietta, too- but can I ask... you say you need to 'do something', but- do you want to? There was a thread not long ago about giving someone the kick up the bum they needed to start them dieting and we all talked about that Eureka moment when we said 'Enough'- funnily, often inspired by a holiday photo! Mine was, when I weighed 13 stone. It was taken in Cairns Botanical Gardens and I was wearing a vest top. Not pretty .

Disagree that you have to accept hunger. If you are eating enough protein and fat and cutting out sugar there is no need at all for you to be hungry.