Anyone 16st+ and low-carbing?

[Macloveswill]

Hi, I started on 1st Jan at 18st 10lbs and I have so much to lose, it would be lovely to share my journey with others who have over 6 stones to lose.

I know it's going to be a really long slog and I'll need help staying on the straight and narrow. I have to do it this year, no excuses!

So far I have lost 8.4lbs in first 11 days, but that seems tiny when I've got nearly nine stones to lose altogether. My goal is 10st.

Anyone out there? All buddies welcome

Well I am not a huge dairy fan but am doing a mishmash of low carb with a small amount of fruit (no bananas).
Just need to have a few weeks at it. I have to lose 8 stones and want to make a dent in it. My clothes are getting tatty and I don't want to buy any big ones again !

Thanks MrsP that is very helpful.

I do the bootcamp on here and i stay on the bootcamp phase. I cant be bothered with MFP but i am for 75% of cals from fat. I eat mainly the lowest carb veg and anything i buy i make sure its the lowest carb version - i end up shopping in about 3 different places!

Luckily i love green veg! I also love dairy and i am trying to restrict it as i have found it hampers my weightloss. I am saving it for weekends and trying not to snack on it. Umm cheese...

Rumgy...you have a similar amount to lose as I have. Feels like a mountain doesn't it, but I know we can do it. I really have to!! I'm trying to resist buying clothes too, but had a mini-splurge last week in a moment of weakness I'm dreaming of the day I can walk into any shop and pick up a size 10.

I have 5 stone to loose but would be happy with 2 really and that even still feels like a mountain. I cant think of this as a diet more of a way of life as its too depressing otherwise. Also i have failed at every diet i have ever done. I do believe low (er) carb is more healthy and i find i eat lots more unprocessed food and tonnes of green veg.

I havent been a size 10 for over 15 yrs so it feels completely alien to even consider it a possibility. Going for toned and fit now - although i wouldnt say no to size 10 jeans!

We can do this... i know it!

You're spot on with thinking of this thing we're doing as a way of life rather than a diet Mrs. It has got to become a way of life if we're to have any hope of keeping it off.

Unfortunately it's only 4 years since I was a size 10-12 having dropped from 19 stone down to 10 stone 3lbs in 18 months after my DD was born. I put almost the lot back on in 4 years!! It's like I couldn't believe I could be slim after being big on and off since my early 20s.

My life has been a constant yo-yo cycle of being slim for short periods of time and then putting it all back on and usually more.

I have to change my psyche as well as my body this year. It's definitely a work in progress, but I'm beginning to understand why I do it and therefore think I finally have a chance at solving it. I have to believe that this is just a fat suit I can eventually remove and that it doesn't define me. I am a slim person who has used food as an emotional crutch, I am not a fat person. I just need to put that crutch down and enjoy food for the tasty fuel that it is and not use it like an addict's drug. And Low carb is the perfect vehicle to release me from my lifelong sugar and stodge addiction.

We can and will do this....slim by Christmas AND beyond! Ain't no mountain high enough!

mac how did you drop all that weight in 18 months ?
I am finding it much harder to lose weight as I get older.
Recently I have been looking into the link with weight gain and cortisol levels. I had a very stressful few years and can now see how the stress hormones influenced my eating. I had a major life shake up after a serious illness and am trying to undo the damage of years of binging and overeating.

I am out for a Greek meze this evening so my challenge for today is to leave the carbs alone tonight.

Yes we can do this.

Def yes to finding it harder as i get older, in my 20s i used to just miss an odd meal and get thinner. I have developed a sweet tooth as i have gotten older, i never ate puddings esp when out as they were never as nice as they looked. I was in a terrible relationship for 10 yrs and used food as a comfort. Now my life is happy and settled but it has taken me a long time to shake off the need to comfort eat - giving up fags made me put on 3 st!

I am trying not to think of this in terms of how i look as i will never look like the size 12 i was in my late teens and early 20s, youth, beauty and sleep elude me now.

I want to be fit and strong and healthy for my children. Whilst i try not to let my weight stop me doing things i do feel uncomfortable in certain situations and hate being the fattest person in the room. Also its hard work being fat, i am carrying the equivalent of both my children in excess weight!

Also the other benefits i get from low carbing are worth it even without weight loss, no ibs, no sore knees, no farting!!, nicer skin and not feeling hungry all the time. I had gestational diabetes and was really scared that i had diabetes in my future.

Love low carbing and my weightloss is doing our relationship the world of good, apparently i am much more sexy now and he hasnt seen anything yet!!! He has never known me proper slim and i was well hot!

However if i do get tiny and have a big saggy tum (likely its already looking saggy and wrinkly) he has promised me a tummy tuck and boob uplift - boobs already look like spaniels ears - thanks kids!

Greek meze sounds amazing, i love greek food, there should be loads of lovely low carb stuff to choose from. I dont think there is a greek place near us - well jealous.

PS legs fine this morning, phew. The exercise was evil but made me amazing.

FEEL amazing

I did lots of different diets, first 4 stone on my own by healthy eating and calorie counting with an app a bit like MFP called weightloss resources....and then Lighter Life for the next 3 stone and then a big calorie reduction for last 1 stone 10lbs.

But it wasn't really sustainable and I didn't really change my lifestyle. I would have whole weekends 'off' and binge and then half starve all week to keep the weight coming off.

I looked amazing when I lost it, but still hadn't really changed my relationship with food. So back on it went! This time around has to be different.

Good luck with the meze Rumgy! Maybe worth having a snack before you go, so you're not particularly hungry and can take or leave what you like then.

Nice surprise on scales for me this morning 2lbs off! So 23.1 lbs off altogether. Only 99.9lbs left to go!

Mrs....I'm sure you're going to be WELL HOT again very soon if you keep this up!!

Like Mac I lost loads of weight 7 years ago and put it all back on over the space of a few years. I didn't change my relationship with food one bit and I didn't put the effort in to reverse the gain when it was happening.

I have an auto immune disorder that affects my bowel, when I'm in flare, I can lose 2 stone in a few weeks but it never stays off. Last year I was down to 16st 2lb due to a nasty bout of tracheitis, a cold and a flare but I put nearly 3 stone back on in a matter of months.
I need to completely change my way of eating because I know that it is disordered, I also like alcohol far too much which doesn't help.

i did the cambridge diet for my wedding and lost 3 st really quickly but that never stayed off, i came home from honeymoon pregnant and all i could face was carbs. I never really changed my eating habits and i do think thats the key this time around - its helpful to hear everyone else saying the same.

When i was putting in weight i was in total denial - i think i have reverse anorexia - i think i am thin when i am actually fat and then i get a total shock when i see a photo! In my head i am a curvy size 14 when actually i am most def not, i look like i have 2 swim rings around my middle under my clothes!

Well done Mac - double figures is so much more pleasing than triple, a real milestone and less than 2 months in.

I am def keeping this up, i have my hubby on it - we were the same weight but he is 6ft tall and muscular, i am now a stone lighter but still 3 st heavier than my dad. I have loads more energy already and i will be like a duracel bunny when i am done.

Mrsp - that sounds awful, having health problems must make doing this so much harder, so good for you.

I am rather too fond of alcohol too but have drunk mostly vodka and soda since I discovered the pig 2 twig book a few years ago.
If I can pass on the pitta in the starters tonight I will be fine. I can have roast chicken and feta and salad and everything apart from the bread and potatoes. I think they to a fruit / melon platter to finish so no pudding temptation.
A couple of years ago I had cancer treatment and now have a skewed metabolism due to the treatment. After that I completley overhauled my life ( job, house etc) so feel my life is ready for living now.
In August we are going to a theme park end I want to fit into the rollercoaster seats easily so my aim is for 2 - 3 stone loss by then. My sons love roller coasters and I want to join in the fun !
I have promised myself a tummy tuck too as my belly is horrendous after sections with complications / appendix surgery etc. Half of it is numb so I hope I may get it on the NHS. I just need to lose the weight first ....

Well done Mac !

I love roller coasters too but haven't been on one for years. I always carry the coats because I am too fat to event attempt to get in the seats. I think a trip to Alton towers in the summer holidays might be an incentive to lose enough weight to get me safely in one of those harnesses.

Even being a size 10 wouldnt be incentive enough for me to go on roller coasters, i def think you could both do it. That can be a mini goal.

Its my birthday in a few weeks and i want hubby to take me out for a nice meal and i have a fab dress i bought 4 yrs ago (charity shop but never fitted) that i want to fit into. I can get it on but its too tight on my tummy, so thats my mini goal. I have 20 or so days so might try reducing dairy and will be starting LBTs class.

I have given up cider and i loved it, i dont really drink any more but i cant have it in the house as i cant be trusted. I do love drinking just hate hangovers and now get 2 day ones - getting old.

Rumgy - you sound so positive, life is for living. Must have been hard turning your life around so this is the last piece, sending you best wishes.

I have had 2 c secs and have a big flappy apron, i cant see that the skin will shrink back, my thighs are looking a bit wrinkly too. I am hoping my slow weightloss will enable everything to shrink back. I am hoping exercise will help.

Thanks guys, yes single figures, yay!

Our stories are all different, but have such huge similarities too. It's so good to have this thread with people who actually understand how hard it is. The 'just eat less, move more' brigade when they've never had a weight problem make my blood boil! I didn't even watch that Katie Hopkins show in case I threw something at the telly!

I love roller coasters too and always worry I won't fit. Good goal! I look forward to bumping into you all at Alton Towers this summer

Yeah i wont be there!

Today i am wearing an old jumper and it hangs nicely on my boobs rather than off my tummy. I went to sainsburys to buy the boy new clothes (25% off) and i tried on a size 16 and it fitted but i didnt buy it as it was very mumsy but it fitted! Also i caught sight of my backside in the mirror and my trousers which i thought fitted well are hanging off! They are headed for the charity shop! Yay, small victories en route to xmas fabulousness!!!

It's these small victories that keep us going. Well done on your new found size sixteenness Mrs!

Not a rollercoaster fan I take it? I love a bit of scaring myself silly

It was in sainsburys and i always find that their clothes come up big but i will take it. I have beef oxtail in the slow cooker for stew, i read on the internet (so must be true!) that the collagen in the meat can help prevent against saggy skin, its worth a shot.

I managed to endure the cinema today without too much damage. I did eat a packet of salted almonds and a litre of water but I didn't have any lunch.

I've made a curry for dinner, with loads of veg and chicken in along with some cream and lemon juice which I had with some mashed swede (because that was already in the fridge).
Congrats on the size sixteen fitting, I would be very happy to get to that stage before the summer.

Ah thanks i am not really a 16 more like a size 17! I was a size 20 nearly 22 last summer. I dont feel like i have come very far but i have dropped nearly 2 dress sizes, thats mad but i still have such a long way to go. Even when i am a 14 i still look big but would happily settle for being a 14 by the time the summer comes.

I have just had yummy cauli and broccoli cheese with loads of bacon. I am not hungry but i have a bad desire to munch. Must drink more water to drown it out.

Hey a 16 is a 16 Mrs...wherever it's from....enjoy! Bloody irritating how much sizes differ between shops though isn't it....I'm probably more of a 19 than an 18, as monsoon are pretty generous and that's where my last splurge occurred, but I was happy with the 18, real or not

Well done on going to the cinema without eating your own body weight in popcorn and minstrels MrsP! Salted almonds are in the good list! I haven't ventured there yet for fear of falling off my wagon.

Dinner was a nice steak with a creamy peppercorn sauce with broccoli and chargrilled courgettes. My 5th and final walk of the week is now complete. Now I have the weekend off as we're away for DH's birthday. Will try the vodka with soda instead of slimline tonic tomorrow night at the hotel and fingers crossed it won't take me until Thurs next week to lose weight like it has the last couple of weeks. Only another couple of pounds and I'll be in the 16s and 20% of my weight loss complete, so please don't stall this week! I like ticking these little goals off, it makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Hi, I'll have to read through this thread for inspiration!

I'm hovering around 17 stone. I have a tendency to lose half a stone or a stone on a diet then I give up for some reason and it comes back to me as quickly as I lost it, with interest! I'm going to give low carbing another go. That was very effective while I followed it properly.