6st+ to lose, and taken the plunge today!

[BreakfastEpiphanies]

After spending most of my adult life with a weight of around 147lbs (10st 7lbs), which is a healthy weight and BMI for my height of 5'7'', I took the plunge today and stepped on the scales for the first time in three years.

I now weigh in at 237.4lbs (16st 13.4lbs). I knew things had been getting out of hand - but I had no idea how badly!

As a college and university student, I went running most days of the week and took part in half-marathons. I ate sensibly (although I've always had a sweet tooth), mostly because I was determined not to fall into the eating patterns of my mother who has been overweight her entire life and is clearly quite miserable about it.

After graduating from university I went on to study for a postgraduate degree. I absolutely HATED the shabby, cheap student halls I was placed in but it was the only accommodation I could afford. I was also living hundreds of miles away from my fiancé at the time. To compensate, I started obsessively overexercising and controlling what I ate. This was absolutely no fun, and I missed out on much of the social aspect of my postgraduate studies.

I was then successful in getting a brilliant job at a prestigious institution in London - but everything sort of went downhill from there really! I'm a country girl at heart, and the hustle, anonymity and expense of London really got me to me. My fiancé got a job in London too, and as we couldn't afford to go out I completely went the other way from overexercising and just spent every night on the sofa watching TV and chomping cheap junk food. My fiancé has a big appetite, but is a slim/muscular man who does not really put on weight. I was kidding myself that I could eat the same size portions as him.

Eventually I was diagnosed with depression. I didn't have the motivation to do anything about my lifestyle - not even for my wedding last year. I still can't bring myself to look at the photos from the day. Everyone else looks lovely, and I just look like a big fat white blob in the middle of it.

Last month my husband was offered a job in Edinburgh, close to where he grew up. I love living here, and it's SUCH a relief not to be in London. Edinburgh is pretty health-focused, and there are plenty of cheap gyms, yoga studios, bike paths and hiking trails in Holyrood Park and the surrounding countryside.

I'm tired of being embarrassed about my body, and I figure NOW is the time to make a change! So, I've made a promise and a commitment to myself to do the following:

• Use MFP to log my food, and aim for 1200 - 1500 calories a day.
• Use the NHS Couch to 5K app at the gym (I'm too ashamed to run in public!) to get back into running.
• Use the Fitbit my lovely, supportive husband bought me to try and hit at least 8,000 steps a day.
• Weigh myself once a week to keep on track.

I have a huge amount of weight to lose - 90lbs (around 6.5st) - but I'm going to start with small goals and keep a track of my progress on here in this wonderful community! Does anybody fancy joining me?

Starting weight: 237.4lbs (16st 13.4lbs)
Goal weight: 147lbs (10st 7lbs)

Thank you so much for reading if you got this far!

Oh can I join? Exactly what I'm looking for.
I had a wee girl back in June and although I managed to not put much weight on (only an extra 10lbs once she was out) my starting weight was not great.

Currently sitting at 15st (210lbs)
Would like to be 11st (154lbs)

Not going to calorie count (I'm rubbish at it. And always end up eating stuff that isn't very good but fits in with my calorie count iyswim). Instead I'm going to aim for proper breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Despite also being Scottish, porridge and me don't get along. But oats in a smoothie do work. So I'm making oat smoothies for breakfast.

Lunches are a bit variable as depends on DD. BUT I bought a brand new lunch box, trying to prepare a lunch the night before. So no excuses that "I have nothing" ready

Will try to eat fruit for snacks and increase veg in my meals.

Also going to loosely follow C25K. As in walk probably more than jog. (Pelvic floor still needs to recover) and do a conditioning type exercise programme every couple of days.

breakfast you've done so well in such a short space of time. You must be so chuffed with yourself?

I'll join you, and I think 10.6lbs in four weeks is amazing.

I'm 5'4 and 14st. I'd like to be 9 (I'm ok at 10 but it's at the top of my healthy range and I'd prefer some wriggle room.

Some extra difficulties though: my DCs have been keeping me short of sleep since they were born 5 and 3 years ago, and I eat crap when I'm hungry. I'm working FT as a teacher and find life pretty frantic. However I do have a lot of calorie controlled, batch cooked meals in the freezer, I just need to plan to use the bloody things!

The hardes is that my wonderful DM is dying and I do a lot of comfort eating and drinking. I know she worries about my health though - she has always been slim and fit and wound up with cancer anyway - and I need her to know I can get myself back on track. Shit that's hard to say.

Anyway, I'd fall at the first hurdle on 1200 so I'm going to aim for a slower loss at 1500 to begin with. I have a treadmill and a gym membership, plus lots of pretty countryside. I plan to run and spin four times a week (altogether, not each!) but I do need to make time for some weight training - maybe kettle bells - too. I'm using Nutra Check as I prefer it to MFP. Right, breakfast.

BreakfastEpiphanies

^So that's 10.6lbs in total since 19/08 (just under 4 weeks). Not amazing, but I love seeing the little incremental achievements add up to nearly a stone already!

That is amazing! It's more than 2lbs a week, which is brilliant! Well done you.

Thanks goldglittershitter! It's nice to know there are other people in the same boat. And of course you can do it! Well done on picking your hard.

Oh superbfairywren I'm not doing that much really! Just half an hour three times a week of exercise (and occasionally playing tennis terribly with my husband), and logging calories on MFP. I think it's important to just do a little at first, you're definitely doing the right thing. It absolutely has to fit with your lifestyle. I would never want someone I cared about to beat themselves up about not hitting the gym every day or something! How is it going?

Hi comeagainforbigfudge! How is it going with the packed lunches, and loosely following C25K?

JenniferYellowHat1980 and BIWI - you know I had not thought it was all that great really, but I don't have a specific target so am just muddling along at my own pace. But now you've pointed it out I feel pretty chuffed. Thank you very much!

And JenniferYellowHat1980 how is it all going? I am so sorry to hear about your DM.

You know, I considered going into teaching a couple of years ago, and spent some time volunteering in schools. The feedback I got from everyone was that it's so frantic it's hard to balance work with life - it put me off in the end! So you absolutely do sound like you have so much on your plate at the moment. I think running & spin four times a week would be absolutely all you needed to do, if you wanted, to see real results! I have a fitbit, which encourages me to get out on days when I don't feel so motivated.

Well, I'm happy to give an update (if you're interested) as I'm still weighing myself every day (takes the pressure off the once-weekly weigh-in for me, but I know it's not for everyone!).

SW: 237.4lbs (16st 13.4lbs)
GW: 147lbs (10st 7lbs)

26/08/15: 233.6lbs (16st 9.6lbs)
01/09/15: 230.2lbs (16st 6.2lbs)
15/09/15: 226.8 lbs (16st 2.8 lbs)
26/09/15: 222.8 lbs (15st 12.6lbs)

So I've hit my first 1 stone goal, and made it into the 15s! I'm also starting week 5 of C25K on Monday and I'm a bit terrified!

Right, on to the next stone . . . I'm hoping to (maybe) get it off by Christmas. Then just another 4st+ to go!

Well done you on the weight loss, that's so great.

I really want to lose weight again. I'm 17.5st now but had got to 13st in Jan 13 and was able to run 5 miles several times a week. Then got injured, depression and several health issues resulting in a year of me taking a variety of steroids. I couldn't exercise and the combination of that and me using certain foods to lift my mood like some people use cigarettes or alcohol, resulting in me ballooning. Although I am well now, it all seems like too big a mountain to start again even though I want to. I've rode the failure train so many times with my weight.

It is inspiring to read about somebody taking the plunge and seeing results though. C25k seems the way to go as a start.

Woo hoo, Breakfast that's brilliant!

TheLambShank don't stress too much about exercise - it's helpful and it can make you feel good, but it's diet that accounts for 80% of weight loss.

Oh fantastic breakfast you are doing so well

Well I reweighed myself after my first post and I was actually 15st 3lbs

Imagine my woe!! The packed lunches kind of fell by the wayside. In that I wasn't making them. But I have been sticking to just three meals a day. Trying to drink water instead of snacking as well.

My loosely following C25K turned into walking with pram for an hour x3. (Well we are out every day but these walks were a faster pace with some hills)

Weighed this morning and I'm 15st exactly.

19/9/2015 - 15st 3lbs (213lbs)
27/9/2015 - 15st (210lbs)

TheLambShankRedemption - thank you so much! .

I completely empathise with how you're feeling - it just feels like such a huge hurdle to overcome, and it can be difficult to get the motivation to get started! Maybe try to identify anything small that could help - perhaps just an initial target of losing 1lb, or cutting out a morning snack?

You could also try C25K, but walk it like comeagainforbigfudge? I know I always find it easier to eat healthier when I'm also doing a little bit of exercise to - but as BIWI says it is actually 80% diet that contributes to weightloss. I definitely didn't do too much at first myself - i.e. didn't attempt the C25K until I had tried eating less for a couple of weeks.

Thanks BIWI! I love coming on here and having the support - I haven't told many people in real life what I'm doing, and the positivity of your comments helps me so much on down days!

comeagainforbigfudge wow! Congratulations! That is wonderful - clearly whatever you're doing (even if it's not the lunchboxes) is working! You've reminded me I should work on drinking more water . . . How did this week go?

This week was a good one, I think. Although I can see a pattern in my weigh-ins, where I get a small increase at weekends! I can live with this I think though, because the overall trend is downwards and if I need to indulge a little at weekends to keep on the straight and narrow then so be it!

I finished week 5 of the C25K programme, and my goodness it was a step up! The last run of week 5 was for 20 minutes straight! I say run, but really it was a light jog for 20 minutes (around 4 miles an hour). It was more of a mental challenge than anything, but the programme really does prepare you well. I'm going so slowly on the jogs, because I figure that I have lots of time to focus on speed once I can get endurance up. On to week 6 tomorrow!

SW: 237.4lbs (16st 13.4lbs)
GW: 147lbs (10st 7lbs)

26/08/15: 233.6lbs (16st 9.6lbs)
01/09/15: 230.2lbs (16st 6.2lbs)
15/09/15: 226.8 lbs (16st 2.8 lbs)
26/09/15: 222.8 lbs (15st 12.8lbs)
04/10/15: 220.2lbs (15st 10.2 lbs)

17.2lbs in total, and fingers crossed that I can get the next 10.8lbs off before Christmas and the carnage that will take place then!

Well I've more or less stuck to 3 meals a day and been drinking plenty of water but AF reared it's ugly head so although I tried weighing myself daily the scales were going the wrong way.
I'm not going to weigh myself until next Sunday now. In an effort to not depress myself too much!

Well done again breakfast and super well done on the C25K. Think I might just go for it with jogging. With start again and see how I fair

I remember getting to week 5 and being horrified that you suddenly had to go from an 8 minute to a 20 minute run! But you can do it, and it's an amazing psychological boost. And as somebody here said to me - "you're a runner now"!

Brilliant losses so far and I think you're very wise to allow for your weekends to be a bit more relaxed - this is what will help it all work for you in the longer term. There's no point feeling deprived, because that's the quickest way to give in.

Hello!

I'm 15 stone (95 kg) and 5ft3.

I got a shock last night when I calculated my BMI and was informed I needed to lose 37.5kg to get myself into a healthy range - so I need to lose almost 6 stone/80 lbs and that amount depresses me hugely.

The lowest I've managed in recent-ish years has been 11.5 stone and I felt/looked fantastic at that weight.

I was 12.5 stone for a long time, but two kids and being very, very greedy and an emotional eater in a stressful job means I'm now where I am weight-wise.

I ate healthily today - salad, etc, and I'm less hungry than when I binge on sweets and crisps and biscuits all day!

Trying to get an early night as one of my problems is I stay up too late and then compensate for tiredness by eating sugary fatty foods.

Hope to post lots on this thread.

Goodnight x

comeagainforbigfudge It sounds like you're putting good habits in place, so don't be discouraged! Did you get around to jogging at all?

Thanks BIWI - oh my goodness it was a shock! But you're right, I suppose I am a runner now! It was terrible though, I did all that work with the C25K and then I had a WHOLE BAG OF revels at the Cinema on Tuesday. My husband didn't get a look-in!

I almost completely gave up on Wednesday, but I stuck to it and actually I've seen a loss overall anyway. The body is a mysterious thing . . .

I have a huge deadline next Tuesday, and I have found that because I'm this stressed I have been really craving chocolate and cakes. It is a trying week, but I'm doing my best and logging everything on myfitnesspal (even if it looks horrendous!) and attempting damage control. I'm just accepting I will not be as strong as I usually can be.

Hi thisis! Welcome!

Oh my BMI is in the "obese" range and although I've lost over a stone now, I still need to lose at least 65lbs (4st 12lbs) to get into the healthy range. It does seem depressing at first, I agree.

But you can do it! I think it has been SO helpful not putting a time limit on anything - just kind of taking it a day at a time. Some days my weight goes up a little, some times it goes down a little. It's more of a journey if you try not to put big goals on things.

But you've done it before, so you don't really need my tips - you know exactly what to do and what works for you!

I am so greedy too, and it's definitely linked to emotions for me. What helped me was when I sort of broke down in tears and explained to my DH how important this is to me (before I started!) and recruited him! Now he knows I'm not being a loon when I ask him to measure out milk for tea (!) etc., and if he wants treats and sweets he just has them in the day at his work rather than buying them in the weekly shop.

Is there anyone you could recruit and have as a day-to-day support team? I know it must be doubly difficult when you have kids to feed!

My progress for anyone interested:

SW: 237.4lbs (16st 13.4lbs)
GW: 147lbs (10st 7lbs)

26/08/15: 233.6lbs (16st 9.6lbs)
01/09/15: 230.2lbs (16st 6.2lbs)
15/09/15: 226.8 lbs (16st 2.8 lbs)
26/09/15: 222.8 lbs (15st 12.8lbs)
04/10/15: 220.2lbs (15st 10.2lbs)
08/10/14: 219lbs (15st 9lbs) (I think this is crazy - but maybe because the jogging in C25K has stepped up?)

So that's 18.4lbs (1st 4.4lbs) in total - I figure about 22% of my total weightloss goal. Keeping on keeping on . . .

P.s. DH and I are driving down to see my DM & DF for a week - it's a 7hr drive and I'm not sure what to buy for driving snacks! I want to avoid things like carrots & cucumber because I think they get a bit warm/sad/gross. Any ideas?

Hi. Can I join this thread? I know I am a little late but I have been trying to change my eating since August when my grown up son gave me a fitbit and firmly told me that there was no reason that anyone should be so unfit.
I have been struggling to walk for the last few years which culminated in me breaking my leg last December and has not even now properly healed! While I have never been slim this caused me to pile on the pounds. I am not so much dieting as trying to change my attitude to food so I can continue with this for the rest of my life. I decided that this could not happen while I saw dieting as some sort of penance and so I am making sure that I eat really lovely, indulgent but healthy meals. This is the first time that I have managed to keep to my meals and not snack or raid the biscuits bin. I binned all the unhealthy food in the house before I started.

I am concentrating on doing my 10 thousand steps per day and 30 active minutes. I have also got a bike for my birthday so I can ride it when my leg is just too painful for walking. Any running or exercise class is out of the question. I am trying to psyche myself up to going swimming but haven't managed it yet. I am 5ft 6 and had a starting weight on 105 kilos.
I am measuring my weight in kilos so there is no emotion attached to the number and my first goal is to get to 90k. I am recording my weight with the happy scales app on my phone which is great and am consistently losing about 0.7 kilos per week.

SW 105.5 kilos
GW 90 kilo

12.8.15. 105.5
19.8.15. 103.8
07.9.15. 101.8
16.9.15. 100.8
22.9.15. 99.8
29.9.15. 99.1
05.10.15. 98.9

So far I have lost 6.6 kilos and that time has included a 10 day holiday and my birthday. I am finding the weight loss threads very uplifting and inspiring and wanted to join one where other people are also trying to lose a substantial amount of weight.

Lovely to meet you all and see the motivation and determination you all have.

Breakfast you really are doing amazing! I had an operation last week and and found out my BMI was 40 and have been trying to work out where to start and what to do to change things... This has really inspired me to do something about it. Now or never I suppose... Hopefully I'll be back soon to join in with you all.

A massive well done to you though!

Diet and exercise have been a bit rubbish this past couple of weeks. Going to be a long road back to fitness BUT I have lost 4lbs in 4 weeks. 1lb a week is good I reckon. So I'm fair pleased. Got a looooooog way to go (especially at this rate but it's a good start)

Found a postnatal yoga video that's only 20mins so going to try and do that every day, need to rebuild my core strength

Hope everyone doing well with their own battles

19/9/2015 - 15st 3lbs (213lbs)
27/9/2015 - 15st (210lbs)
22/10/2015 - 14 10lbs (206lbs)

Very very late to this but would love to join you!
Current weight 15st 3lb. I'm 5ft 7. Dh said he will treat me if I can get to 13 St by our holiday in may. Then he laughed.
DD is eight and has discovered jogging. She has offered to train me so I can " be more healthy" ! Aiming for couch to 5k and will plug her in and she can shout at me. I bike 40 miles a week to work and back. I have my fitness trainer on ps3. I will also log back into mfp.
I get up at 430am for work and have porridge with water. During my eight hour shift I have three halves of sandwich, this gets me till 2 pm. Then I come home and make friends with the fridge, and the cupboard and the biscuit tin.
I have zero will power, dodgy knee,dodgy ankle and am permanently knackered so need to do something.
DD will be measuring me on nov 1st where i will explain how bad it is to be my size. Hoping shaming myself works, needing to stay healthy at 44 with an eight yr old obviously isn't!
Could do with bottling some of your willpower and enthusiasm

I am joining you as well.
I started new job 2 weeks ago and instead of driving to work I am taking public transport.
I walk to and from the station and that is 1 hour in total. If I walk my dog 20 min in thd morning and 40bin the evening as well I can reach my target of 15K steps most days.
I aldo joined the gym at the bottom of the street where my office is.
Booked yoga class on wed. I am going to do tuesday lunchtime Zumba and at leastvone more lunchtime. I can't see myself getting up earlier than 6:45 I am doing now to hit the gym. I also enjoy getting home before 7 pm.

Food us much harder for me so decided to stick to 3-4 meals a day. No snacks inbetween. No bread, pasta or rice. I will not count calories just yet but stick to a nice balance of pulses, meat and veg over all. Trying to figure out when to have fruit as I hate the feeling after eating it with other foods. Maybe will go back to fruit for breakfast as I used to for years. 2 apples used to keep me fairly full. I may add a couple of eggs as a snack mid morning.
Today plan is a long walk in the park and lots of housework

Starting weight - 93.2 kg