I weight 15st 7 - Big self indulgent monologue about how fat I am :(

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

I weigh 15 stone 7 which I'm pretty sure is my heaviest ever :( (I am not a religious weigher and only bought scales in November).

I have been trying to lose weight for at least 10 years, since I was 16, and I'm just down in the dumps today because I don't understand what is going wrong. I tried wearing jeans today (size 16) but they were just too tight and uncomfortable and I couldn't play with the baby.

I always have eaten well and exercised (since living away from home age 18), so in November I joined Slimming World as nothing was really working. First time I'd ever done a diet plan thing. I lost 8lb in the 6 weeks to Christmas, put 4lb on over Christmas, then was completely on plan through January and didn't lose an ounce. Gave up in February, so lost 4lb overall over 3 months on SW.

Then in March I was given the OK to exercise again after having had DS in May '15. So I joined the gym and got a personal trainer. She is awesome and I love her. She did my body stats using this machine thing. She's getting back from the summer holidays on 12th September so really looking forward to that and will ask her to do my stats again to see if anything has changed for the better. She coaches me on my food as well as my exercise which is really great. She agrees I already eat well.

A few months back I decided that maybe a challenge/deadline would help, so I said I would lose 34lb in 34 weeks (should be perfectly doable if doing a SW type plan), as we had a holiday 34 weeks away. After a few weeks of no losses that fell by the wayside.

I've been going to the gym 4-5x a week and on the days I don't I'm still busy running around after my toddler, walking to park etc. I always get in more than 10k steps a day, always eat a lot less than my TDEE, always burn what MFP says I should. My Fitbit syncs to my MFP and they both say I'm doing well.

Anyway our holiday is coming up in November '16 and I'm just blue because when I started SW back in November '15 I thought in a years time I would look and feel a whole lot better. But if anything it's worse, I've put 5lb on since I started SW. It's just the same year in year out, but a bit worse each year. If I keep going like this then in 10 years I will be in a terrible state.

The only time I've ever lost weight was for my wedding. I ate a normal breakfast, half a grilled chicken breast with peas and sweet corn for lunch, and a normal homemade dinner as far as I remember, off a side plate. I didn't do much more exercise than I do now. I was still a size 16, barely a 14, but felt good. That was the only phase I've ever experienced a loose waist band and wow, that feels nice doesn't it!

I just don't think I'm trying hard enough. I need more ideas of what to try. I've read a food addiction book and CBT-related book which was really good. I've taken up mindfulness to ensure I don't mindlessly binge, which I didn't really do much ever. I have PT-approved cereal for breakfast, salad or occasionally homemade soup for lunch, and a normal homemade dinner. No snacks generally, but also I do want to live my life and go out for coffee with friends sometimes and not always say no when a biscuit is offered. I drink shitloads of water and have always just eaten clean, natural, unprocessed, healthy foods (except for the SW stint, but even that is quite wholesome I think).

My PT says it doesn't matter what the scale says, I know I am perfectly healthy and I'm strong, but it DOES matter. I want another baby next year and if I'm 15 stone surely they'll put me under consultant care due to high BMI. I would be so embarrassed and ashamed (not saying anyone else in that situation should be). I'm surprised they didn't when I was pregnant with DS (13+ stone and BMI of 33, so obese).

I'm just feeling blue and a bit fragile today, and I am going out for dinner with some new friends tonight and am worried because they're both so slim and I'm just a lump. DH says I was bigger than I am now when we met 9 years ago, but I have certainly never weighed more than this.

Off to put the baby down for a nap and do a fitnessblender workout - can't go to the gym/Creche this week as DS has hand, foot and mouth.

Well done if you got this far. Thanks. Don't know what I'm asking really. PT is back in a week or so but in the interim I just need some support I guess.

No you're right running I'm 5 foot 6.5 and the lowest number I've seen on the scale is 11.8. But that picture was after 2 beer so I guarantee you I weighed 12 stone ;)

Haha, at least!! I swear I can put on half a stone after one glass of water, let alone two pints.

Seriously I gained a stone the week before my last period. I was freaking out. Gone the day AF started.

I think some people do tend to carry "water" weight more than others. I put on 4st in my last pregnancy. Midwives hadn't a bloody clue why. I was eating well and exercising til 38 weeks, but got up to more than 13st. I've now lost it all and am convinced at least a stone of it was fluid!

I think that's a MASSIVE clue to what will work for you, bendy. More protein and fewer carbs. Give it a try for a few days. Think about switching to full fat yoghurt, too.

I find if I have a healthy carb based breakfast eg muesli I am starving by eleven. If I have nothing but black coffee, I'm starving by eleven. So I often skip breakfast and feel none the worse for it. I don't eat after 6pm either. I'm skinny. I'm never sure whether that means I do know what I'm talking about, or I don't, on these threads!

George I completely agree with you re cereal carbs for breakfast. They do absolutely nothing for my hunger. Often I have a banana before I train early mornings and eat again at 11ish. Whereas give me cereal carbs and no training and I am starving by 11. Seems to be not worth the breakfast calories. It is all back to mindful eating and what is right for the individual.

Fit I am even worse than you. 163cm and 76kg (nearly 5'5 and 12 stone) but I don't look too bad in a bikini or indeed naked because I train 4-6 times per week reasonably intensively. I am finally targeting the weight though because my age is creeping up so I need to lose now or never but actually I am reasonably happy with how I look.

But steven do you really need to lose it? If you look like me and you train same as me, what does the added stress is dieting get you?

I work with one of the worlds leading researchers into type 2 diabetes and obesity. Lord knows I don't understand what she does but my job is to translate it into laymans terms. This woman will win a Nobel prize one day I have no doubt.
She tells me I'm fine. She says that right now none of the researchers are sure if obesity causes type Ii diabetes or if the gene for type Ii diabetes causes obesity. And there is a gene. It's just not 100% identifiable yet because it's attached to other genes.

Anyway, she tells me I'm fine and I believe her over the nurse who weighs me but doesn't look at me.

Just to say you look great fit

I do need to lose weight because I want to be leaner for me. I want to reduce my overall body fat. My main goal is to get faster running which will be easier if I lose some kgs. I am not tied into a particular amount of weight though.

I will be 40 in the very near future and I see this as my window to be the healthiest I can be because weight loss is much more difficult than I have found it in the past.

Steve - you sound like me. I was fit and toned at 10st 12 but I wanted to run faster and be leaner.
I wasn't overweight at my heaviest, but I wasn't far off. I looked good then but I look a damn sight better at a stone and a half lighter, and a size 8.
My 5k PB is down to 22mins now, as well, which was the chief aim, and I broke the 50-min 10k barrier once I'd lost the first stone. It made a big difference to my running and to my confidence to have lost the weight, even though health-wise I didn't really need to lose it.

Yes I've been having green smoothies for breakfast and really feel better/less food obsessed/less hungry than if I had cereal. Today though I had 1 slice toast and 2 scrambled eggs, but the day was still ok. Back to the smoothie tomorrow though 👍🏻

Ah that makes sense steven see I'm more interested in gaining strength rather than speedl. 😊

Fit I think you need to be that bit bigger to be stronger and that bit smaller to be faster.

I have way more modest running ambitions than yours Running which are fantastic, I struggle with asthma while running so it is limiting me a bit, but I definitely want to get faster and definitely the weight coming off even a small amount will help that.

I want to be strong and faster than I currently am. I am greedy

Can anyone help me with a list of workout ideas for home? I'm having to cut out my Friday morning gym class as DS can't yet cope with our fri am baby group (prepaid) plus gym Creche:

So far my staples are:
Fitnessblender
Instagram people - deliciouslyfitnhealthy
YouTube roulette - anything I can find, BeFit, can't think of the others off top of my head
Jillian Michaels DVDs
Write yourself a circuit

Always looking to mix it up so other ideas would be good. I especially want to try Tabata but is that more something I should try with my trainer?

Looking forward to getting back with my PT on Monday; at the gym at the mo and need some new moves! I'm seeing a difference in myself but maybe it's just because I'm feeling more positive.

Have you had an asthma check recently Steve? Once I got my purple inhaler dosage sorted out, my distance running improved. Though I do struggle with humidity.

Bendydick - I just do my own circuits at home, all stuff I've cribbed from my own circuits class. It's all bodyweight stuff aside from stuff that involves a kettlebell, because DH and I got cheapie Decathlon ones to share.

Sometimes I also use DD (7 months) as a weight for Russian twists and for squats!

It's not about how little you eat, it's about WHAT you eat and how it all interacts with each other and what your individual body does with that information. This is why calorie counting doesn't work for everyone.

A jacket potato on its own has a high glycaemic index. A jacket potato with beans is low GI.

I cannot lose weight if I am eating pasta, bread or rice. Of any persuasion - wholewheat, brown, whatever. So Slimming World and Weight Watchers don't work for me.

Low carb/no carb style stuff does. And it will be a lifetime thing. You have to eat that way forever. I stopped last year, when I met my new partner. I'm back up to massively overweight again. The only thing that has changed is a bit more booze and pasta and bread.

I hate people with uncomplicated metabolisms. It's not fair!

Hello everyone, just found this thread. I weigh 16st 7 and am at a total loss as to what to do. Slimming world doesn't work for me, I've stuck to it religiously when I've done it and lost nothing. This week out of desperation I've been having Herbalife shakes for breakfast, lunch and a stir fry for tea. I've lost 1lb in 7 days, which is laughable considering I've cut my calories drastically. Hoping I can get some inspiration from this thread as nothing budges no matter how hard I try.

bendy get some kettle bells, those things are amazing and you can find lots of great routines online. I even do the exercises with a dumbbell when I can't get kettle bells.

Yy fitfatty kettlebells are brilliant to have in the house.

Even when I'm not "exercising" I might just sit and do some tricep stuff with mine while I'm watching DS eat his tea, or supervising the children playing.

I also tend to do squats with DH's 16kg one (which is usually around the kitchen) while I'm waiting for the kettle to boil.

Ours are from Decathlon and were around £20 each IIRC.

That's great running we are buying our own next week so we will go to decathlon. :) I just love them cause a good circuit feels like a cardio and weight workout. They are just great.

Smitten, do you weigh your food and use an app to log what you are eating? People very very often massively underestimate the calories that they eat and overestimate the exercise that they do.

What is your height? We can then calculate the energy you expend in a typical day just being alive and from that calculate a deficit from which you would lose.

In terms of exercise, I like the reddit bodyweight forum for ideas of stuff you can do at home just using your own body weight.

If you want to start a mini home gym with kettlebells, dumbbells etc there is a good app called Fitonomy which has some great exercises using body weight or free weights split up by muscle group.

Hello! I've been logging my intake the past week and have been under 1300 a day. I'm 5ft 7. Slimming world I didn't measure as its supposed to be unlimited but I obviously have some kind of issue with processing carbs as even though I never eat white carbs it still didn't work.

Give it a bit longer, Smitten. If it's only been a week and you've honestly eaten less than 1300 cals a day (you're not "eating back" exercise calories are you?) you will lose.

When I was losing weight I'd regularly go two weeks with no loss at all and then 4lb would come off the next week.

I had to keep to around 1200 cals to lose, but as you're bigger and taller than me, 1300 should definitely work for you. My only advice would be to stop the bollocksy Herbalife shakes and have proper food, as what you're doing at the moment isn't sustainable forever.

I always have full fat yoghurt and fruit for breakfast, and some sort of salad for lunch, if that helps.

Today said "salad" was cucumber, lettuce, red peppers, rocket and two veggie sausages. Weird I know, but I fancied sausages. And sausage salad can be a thing, right?!

My other lunch staple comes into play for lazy weekend brunches, when I might have two eggs, scrambled with butter, with half a bashed-up avocado and black pepper.

The only thing that has worked for me is measuring and weighing my food. It is notoriously difficult to estimate by eye. The calorie content on packaging and MFP/other databases will say 1 serving for example - without really weighing, it is nearly impossible to tell by eye what a serving actually is. I wonder whether you may inadvertently be going over? That was my issue. What I thought was a normal portion was actually too big for me.

At your height and weight, your sedentary TDEE is 2131 calories approx to maintain your weight. I would invest in scales, be double checking portions/serving sizes and eat at no less than 1600 calories. Include everything, especially drinks. This should put you at a 500 calories deficit per day/3500 per week resulting in a 1lb loss per week. This is sustainable. If you exercise, don't eat back your calories.

I've lost 4kg in 4 weeks doing this and I'm not massively far from my goal weight. 3 meals a day, lots of veg and salad, good mix of protein and fat. If after four weeks of weighing and logging and being honest etc, you haven't lost anything, I would probably go to GP.