someone tell me the wonderful things I can do when I've lost the weight!!!!

[TheLostWinchesterWife]

Right, started a juice fast last monday (so on day 8). Wobbled and had salad twice for the simple reason I was going to flake out! However by weigh in yesterday had lost 11lbs but today I am famished! I only have to do this until friday. Then I move onto a low fat version of the 5-2 diet. I want to lose about 8 stone so it has to be drastic. But I'm struggling. All I can think of is a squushy bun with ham and salad
Please regail me with how wonderful I'll feel thin, how much more energy etc.

Firstly congratulations on committing to tackle weight loss and on what you have lost so far!

Reasons to keep working on weight loss:
New clothes, more choice with clothes
No thighs chafing when you wear a skirt
Being able to look at photos of yourself or your reflection in a mirror
Knowing you will live longer
More energy
Renewed libido
And loads more - focus on the reasons that are important to you! For me it was a sudden realisation of my mortality and wanting to maximise my chances of being around to see grandchildren.

Just a gentle word, though - you have a lot of weight to lose, are you doing this under medical supervision? 8 days with nothing but juice doesn't sound that advisable to me. If you fast for too long, your body will go into starvation mode and weight loss will slow down. Have a look at Myfitnesspal - a great website/app for calorie counting, portion control and exercise, plus with social networking so you can get lots of support.

Not being the fattest in the room
Not worrying if a plastic chair at school will take your weight
Not feeling uncomfortably warm in a heatwave
Not worrying your children might follow you in living unhealthily in later life

Good luck ! :)

Well done! Lying down, and your hips are the boniest things, with concave stomach - no better feeling!

Thanks so much ... made me feel so much better
fluffyanimal no I'm not doing it under medical supervision. I have asked my GP several times for help with weight loss resulting in the advice (from several Drs) to simply eat less and exercise more. I could go and be weighed by the nurse each week. I did this. Lost 2lbs in a month and was told by the nurse it wasnt really good enough and to come back when I decided I really wanted to work at it. So I'm doing it myself. I am a sensible person. Ive ben on diets since I was 11 so I know the pitfalls etc. Only on the juice for another 3 days y hen back to low fat qhich has been the best thing for me in the past.

Hi WinchesterWife,

I'm sorry you had mediocre support from your GP surgery. Of course, technically speaking, the only real solution to weight loss is to eat less and exercise more, but it is very difficult to put this into practice on your own without some kind of system in place to help you work out the best food choices etc and the best types of exercise for someone with a long weight loss journey.

That's why I think something like Weightwatchers, Slimming World or if you want the free version Myfitnesspal online would be ideal for you. It will give structure to the vague general injunction to 'eat less' and help to establish a lifelong change in eating patterns. I lost 2.5 stone using Myfitnesspal, but when I started I had to tell myself that I would have to eat this way for the rest of my life. So I had to do something I knew I could live with, and the website helped me to learn what portion sizes and what types of food I could eat long term. And it's true: when I deviate from that, e.g. when on holiday, the weight creeps up again.

I'm afraid I remain terribly sceptical as to the benefits of these full fast or meal replacement regimes as the effects are only short term. As you say, you've been on diets since you were 11 and yet you have 8 stone to lose...

I should clairify..I've recently found out that I have passed a genetic abnormality on to my children which causes compulsive eating I know, I know, clichés alert. have to have tests to find out more about how badly it affects me. This is what kickede up the backside to do something. I want I themto be taught yhe right way I to manage it.
I have tried weight watchers and SW but as you havevto count points/think carefully about meals it makes me think about food which then gives me an overwhelming urge for food. Its so much easier for me to eliminate things. And like you say...it is the way I'll have to be forever. I have realised this. I have got my fitness pal by the way

Well done you and all the best

You'll really notice it when you can plan something like a long walk with a picnic on a beautiful day, and realise you can carry what you need, walk without feeling it, and just enjoy the countryside and the company.

Argh that sucks about the genetic condition, Ok I can see why WW and SW are not so helpful then. Good luck with it whichever way you go about it and hope you find out more helpful info about your condition to help you manage it.

No chubrub in skirts
Not worrying bout fitting in chair/plane seat/cinema seat.
Not feeling like you stick out in a room
Not having to worry about people looking at you
No shortness of breath/ ankle swelling
Getting on a lilo in the pool.
Not feeling abnormal.
Not staying In coz nothing fits/your too lethargic/people will look at you.

Ray of sunshine aren't I.

Must remember to come back to this thread as staring a VLCD tomorrow.

Thanks fluffy
Thought of a few trivial ones myself:
-Getting out the bath will not mean tidal waves washing the bath mat.
-my 2yo will stop asking if there's a baby in my tummy.
-my children will not be teased at school for having a lardy-arsed mum.
-I can actually go to DHs christmas 'do' and not feel like I'm showing him up.

I've thought of some. I have 5 stone to lose and am doing Weight Watchers.

*Not feeling like my DH has 'the fat wife' among his friends (not that he has ever ever said this but it's my own feelings, that I am somehow inadequate and not as attractive as his work mates wives and partners)

*Being alble to walk into a shop and pick up a size (10, 12, whatever) and know it will fit. At the moment I have to go in and try everything on and get depressed when my muffin top is spilling over a size 18.

*No chub rub. I know it's been mentioned above but really the friction and soreness on my thighs is unbearable.

*Being able to keep up with the children. Not trying to avoid playing physical games and running around with them because I know I am not fit enough and I am too bloody lathargic to do it.

*Being able to wear a dress without hiding my legs and wanting the earth to swallow me up.

*Getting the feeling that I AM IN CONTROL of my life and my body. I am no longer controlled by impulse and bad decisions regarding food.

So far the best has been everybody that knows you saying "you look really well" or "wow, you look fantastic". The more you lose the more your self asteem goes up, and the better you feel - so keep going!

My aim is to be able to shop at Primark
Only 10 stone to go.

Bring able to run for the train.

Slipping between two chairs in a restaurant.

Taekwondo! Seriously, I started 2 years ago and love it so much I watch what I eat (it's a lot harder to kick a fat leg) and do other forms of exercise NOT in order to look better but in order to train better. It's goal driven so you keep on keeping on, you feel empowered and it's cool. I am a greedy guts so I have fallen by so many diet waysides. Taekwondo (any other martial art probably would have worked) has kept me slim.

Clothes! Buying whole new wardrobes on eBay

Being a different person. It feels odd - like having cosmetic surgery would I imagine - you're still 'you' but you're different

Not feeling invisible. I didn't know i was invisible until I lost 3stone. People will comment on your weight loss and you'll feel great. But it's having strangers acknowledging your presence that ramped up my self-esteem. Some of the 'strangers' had been in the nursery queue with me for months!

The juice fast sounds a bit bonkers but I've been 5:2ing for a while - just keeping the weight off. It's a good plan. Good luck with it!

-Being able to choose clothes because they look good, instead of settling for ones that don't make you look too bad.
-seeing your collarbones appear (I lost 3 stone before I found mine)
-being able to run/skip/climb hills
-better pelvic floor control
-when you weigh on the Wii Fit, the day it stops saying "too high" or "oh" and starts saying "hooray".

I lost 5st with MFP over almost a year, calorie counting and not having any "off days". It takes discipline, but I went from a BMI of 38 to 24.

I have lost 5.5 stone. I have been at my target weight for just over a year now.
Being able to buy a whole new wardrobe of clothes I actually like from shops I could never go in before.
Feeling good in my clothes
Not feeling embarrassed about how I look
Enjoying social activities and looking forward to them
Being fit
Feeling fantastic!
keep going, good luck!

Lovely positive thread. Good luck OP :)

Once you can start seeing the difference in your own body, it feels great. And people come up to you and say how wonderful you look, which feels amazing!

Actually I've just remembered the thing I've most enjoyed since losing weight. I can go up the steps on the slide at our local playground without having to squeeze between the hand rails, and I can fit my bum more comfortably down the slide itself and actually slide rather than half tumble down it! The DSs are much impressed.

I went shopping in te sales the othrr day. Bought stuffin a 14 and 12. Tried on clothes that looked good on me, rather than desperately trying to find the least worst thing

I dont want to offend anyone as this is very personal to me and I donr extend it to others. But since losing loads of weight I actually feel like a proper member of society.

Wow..thank you. This is so helpful. Ive almost slipped a couple of times but the stories and suport on here the look on my little boys face keeps me going. He had a day at school where the British Heart Foundation came in. That night he seemed upset and when asked what was wrong looked at me ans said. Mummy your tummy is too big and you need to start eating healthily. I'm worried about you. That was the final boot to start this diet along with the above stuff. Everything said on here is totally spot on, including stuff I've never even thought of!
Frances and Corriedale I know exactly what you mean. Especially if out with a thin person. Its as though you should be embarrased about being out in public. But no more!!! The shrinkage has started!!!!

Ah fantastic. Ive been dieting since 2011 and gone down and up. Started at 16s6 and am now about 11 and a half. But I have slipped recejtly and need motivating. I wilk be back on this thread.

And I made a list recently including diabetes scare, pressure/pain on joints, dislike of my body etc. I need to find that and reaffirm it.

Thought of another one today. I was at a family occassion. The dreaded line of 'lets get a picture of you all'.
When I am thin I shall stand in the middle of photos andnot and hide behind everyone else. (Difficult to do when you're 5ft 10 and most of your female relations are at least 6 inches shorter and 5 dress sizes thinner)