Anyone looking to lose 100lbs plus in 2017-18 - Part 3

[NoTractorsAtTheTable]

Hello, welcome to the third instalment of the ‘Anyone looking to lose 100lbs plus in 2017’ thread. As we’re getting closer to the end of 2017, I’ve added 2018 for good measure

If you want to read them (but by no means feel obliged!), the first and second threads are here: Part 1 and here: Part 2

We’re a very friendly, supportive group, and I think we’re all seeing some real changes in ourselves and our attitudes to food. It’s a long old road, but it helps to chat along the way Collectively, we’ve lost 612 lbs since the start of the first thread, which is pretty amazing

We tend to weigh in on Fridays or Saturdays, but feel free to join in at any time, with whatever weight loss method you think works best for you. Some of us have lost more than others, but we're all in this together, so if you're losing, gaining or staying the same, it's nice to have some inspiration to keep going.

We’re always welcoming to newcomers, but as with the previous thread, I will make one caveat - we’re all here because we are trying to lose a LOT of weight. If you’re looking to lose the last half stone, or even two or three stone, this might not be the thread for you. Good luck with your goals, but you may find more support with in threads with people who have similar goals.

And with that, I'm off to spam our old thread to fill it up

So I STS this week which was odd as I really tried hard and did loads of exercise. I am hoping for a whoosh at some point!

AnotherOtter thanks for the advice about not trying to fiddle around with the dosage, I was tempted but shall go to the doctor to get help with that. Also well done on your loss

honey hope you are doing ok now!

notanurse How frustrating - the NHS does wonderful things but everytime I hear about someone needing treatment, it all seems to be getting more and more delayed. Hope they fit you in soon.

I was reading 'The Obesity Code' over Christmas and it pointed out that sustained loss of calories was not practical at all. Everyone who tried it failed....there was a study done in the US with 25 year old men. They reduced their calories by 30% and found that their bodies reduced functions by nearly 30% as well so the men were getting cold easier, did not do as much exercise, heart beat was slower and their mood was awful.

The essence is that calories deficit is useful in the short-term but should not be part of a longer diet. The book talked about insulin resistance and how insulin should go up and down throughout the day but when you become resistant (i.e. need higher levels to get the same effect) then you will put weight on. Sadly all foods to some extent or another increase insulin so the only way of reducing it is not to eat. The book suggests the obvious of not snacking between meals, trying the 16/8 diet or fasting for 24 hours every so often.

Its a brilliant read and my new bible but I will see how it goes in terms of my losing weight.

Honeysuckle how frightening for you all. Glad to hear NHS were good. I sounded down on them in my post and didn’t mean to be, I think they are fantastical goodness knows how they cope with the stress.

Moonlight hang in there, seeing your GP re the dose does sound sensible. I try to keep my calorie intake as high as I can. It gives me flexibility to work in the inevitable bits of life that crop up, energy to run and I know i’ll have to reduce over time as I get older so want room to go down if that makes sense.

Week 2 weigh in
Loss this week: 3.5 lbs
Total to loose: 144lbs
Total lost so far: 8lbs

It's been an ok week. Doing good on the food front. Maybe a little too good as my app keeps shouting at me that I'm not eating enough. The walking started off well, though still struggling with pain in my ankle/calf/knee.

Had a night out Saturday followed by a hangover yesterday and that's really affected my mental health (now I remember why I don't drink!) Still don't feel good today but just trying to muddle through and wait for it to pass. and try not to eat my body weight in cake

Good luck to everyone else this week. I do read all the posts but I'm crap with remembering names!

Get well soon everyone - take care of yourselves

1lb off for me this week

• 4 more lbs until I have lost DD(6)'s total weight

Total lost: 44lbs Plenty to go, but pleased to be heading in the right direction as have been a bit stuck and found it really hard going since Christmas - amazing how only four days "off" meant it took weeks to get my head back into it again.

1.5kg down this week. I had 2 cheat days (comfort eating) so really pleased with this. Back to being good now. Still loads to go but at least I’m trying and it IS coming off, even if very slowly.

ShyOyster - that's not slow...I've only lost 5kg in one year! Well done though

I'm really struggling with the 'empty' feeling. I use food to mask my emotions. And I'm feeling really lonely. I just want to stuff my face and feel that full feeling.

Posted too soon!
I'm trying really hard to ignore it, and drinking lots to keep the hunger away.

It's difficult because I know how to loose weight. It's so easy! But it's not, otherwise everyone would be a healthy weight. My motivation is lacking

Eyes I’m exactly the same. I know exactly what you’re talking about.
I know a decent amount about nutrition. I know what I should be doing. ANY stress though and I eat.
I feel lonely a lot too. Not alone, I have friends and family, but I often feel that I have no one I could confide in, I don’t want to burden anyone.
I’ve recently discovered I have some lumps on my uterus and I’ll need a surgery and I’m still building up the strength to tell anyone. Life has been stressful so I don’t want to tell DP, my parents are always busy... so I eat instead. Lovely, isn’t it?
for you Eyes

Shy I feel exactly the same. Not alone but very lonely. I had a horrendous time Sunday night. I just wanted a hug but stopped myself from texting anyone because I felt like a burden and didn't want to force them to spend time with me when they didn't want to. So I just sat and sobbed for 3 hours. I've not felt the same since then. The motivation is lacking and I'm having a bad day. I've already eaten what I had planned for tea. Plus a packet of chocolate fingers. But I'm not trying to beat myself up. We all have bad days.

And for you too. I'm sorry you're having a tough time.

Post, you are really having a rubbish time with your periods! I hope it settles down soon for you

Honey, that sounds terrifying and thank god you are alright now. Imagine you were on serious i.v. antibiotics which are actually pretty unpleasant drugs. Not surprising that your weight has lost the plot a little with all that but it'll settle right back down once you're well again.

That sounds a very interesting book, Moonlight. Is it the Minnesota Starvation Experiment ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MinnesotaStarvationn_Experiment ) that it talks about? That was a fascinating clinical study and has depressing implications for conventional dieters like me!

Eyes, what is your calorie allowance, if you don't mind me asking? MFP does warnings below 1000 calories because that low a daily intake is not a good idea. I know there is a lot of shite on the internet but I go by what a NHS dietitian told me which is that it is very difficult to get all your vitamins, minerals (particularly iron), protein and fibre below 1400 calories. The higher your starting weight the more you should eat as you shouldn't eat less than 1000 calories (enough for a 2lb loss a week) of your daily Total Daily Energy Expenditure (daily requirement to run all your body systems - the electricity bill). So when my BMI was 41, my TDEE was 2700 to maintain my weight and I ate 2200 to lose a pound a week. Now my BMI is 28, my TDEE and I eat 1700 to loss a pound a week. Like most people, if I eat much less than that I get strong urges to binge. That binging urge becomes unstoppable the longer it goes on. That is not a personal failing, it is a physiological fact. The link to the Minnesota Starvation Experiment above has more on that. I hope I don't sound preachy: it's just I have learnt this the hard way over years.

Shy and Eyes, you both sound like you are having really tough times right now and unMumsnet hugs. What you're saying reminds me of me a lot as I used to, and sometimes still do, eat to cope with emotions and comfort myself. That need for comfort is a real, genuine need and has to be met or we get unhappy or get ill. So if you are not eating to deal with your feelings then you need to find other ways to do so. That is so easy to say and really fucking hard to do. Talking to people is a big one for me. I also find walking helps me. Reading. Prioritising sleep. Keep trying to find ways to be kind and compassionate to yourselves

Another I'm on 1750 a day to loose 1 and a half a week. It's definitely not hunger I'm feeling, it's emptiness and I know it's more psychological than physical but my god it's hard!

I have to keep reminding myself that before this I pretty much did 6 months solidly of eating nothing but chocolate and takeaways.

If I couldn't get a takeaway I would have an anxiety attack and make myself physically sick. As much as I'm struggling with the mental side of it all at least I'm not in that place anymore.

Big hugs to Shy and eyes - no words of wisdom to add to those above, but we're all here to lend an ear. I totally know the feeling of eating feelings, and I'd be lying if I said I had a complete hold over that. However, I do recognise when I get the urge to hit the fuckit button, and am more aware of why I'm feeling that way. I hope things pick up for both of you soon

It really is a whole mind and body revolution, this losing weight business, isn't it? I think it's so easy to gloss over the mental aspect and focus on the physical, but I'm really pleased at how self-aware I'm becoming. It is uncomfortable at times, but interesting at the same time.

That's quite enough waffle from me, I'm in a bit of a self-reflective mood tonight...

eyes I know what you mean about the emptiness.....its that feeling that you must have something to eat otherwise you'll never be able to think clearly again or that it will somehow make life better.

I struggle with that a lot, for example today, I had a good sensible breakfast, lunch and dinner but because I get back an hour before my DH then all my brain could think was eat! I had a bag of cheese puff crisps and then felt too full to eat all my dinner. Why I can't switch off I don't know.
But well done on cutting back so much on takeaways

AnotherOtter yes, that's the experiment they talked about. Honestly, its made me re-evaluate how I'm dieting. The traditional diets never work for me properly so will keep trying to think about insulin levels and hormones as it makes scientific sense to me.

I'm wondering whether I should go see my doctor and see if I could be referred to some food based counselling or whether it would be a waste of time.
I really do feel like I can't think, at least about anything other than food.

Just quickly, I found earlier on that there was a slight grieving period when I came to terms with the fact myeating was so screwed up that I will probably have to log calories for rest of my life and for the time when I just grabbed anything. I also found I was eating for energy when I was tired and to get rid of a very low level of anxiety that clawed away slightly at the bottom of my stomach.

Grieving might sound a bit weird but it did feel a little like that. I think doing this makes you realise and have to work through a lot of the issues with getting to this size in the first place. Probably no coincidence that I’m cracking this now my Mum is dead. That sounds incredibly harsh but she hated it when I lost weight and would deliberately try to sabotage me. I can see that quite clearly now and am horrified at her behaviour. When I look at my lovely DD I can’t imagine effectively wishing her harm.

The other thing I’ve come to terms with is my eating has been very disordered and I have to be careful. I over did weigh loss when I was 20 and then went the other way. Reading about binge eating disorder was a bit of an eye opener.

Rather rambling but I think what I’m trying to say is that there are so many emotions that we have to work through doing this, it’s not easy and really important we don’t beat ourselves up about it and accept them for what they are. The biggest thing I have learned is to value myself and take time for myself. Bit indulgent ramble but hope something in there that might help in a small way.

post grieving is an excellent way to describe how I felt at the start.
I had a conversation with dietician about it, felt like a relationship break up to me, I’d wake up and forget we (food and I ) had broken up and feel really sad

I’m so proud that I was here on this thread last year and am still here with you all plodding on

Honey hope you’re feeling better

Tractors I too have a cheese issue

Are all the weight loss programmes getting on anyone else’s nerves? “Eat low fat, don’t eat low fat, low carb, low sugar, eat stood on your head”
Come Feb the 1st 80% of people don’t give a shit and have fell off the wagon

I should stop watching but I like a rant at the telly

Hello all! EyesWideShit pointed me in this direction when I started a thread bout having to lose half my body weight.

I am doing Lisa Riley's Honesty Diet, which is essentially low carb, going to the gym and doing physio as I am disabled.

I have also been doing dry January, which will have to help a lot as I was drinking far too much!

Quick pop in as I'm off to bed soon (rock n roll life continues!) - totally nodding along with Post. Lots of alarm bells going off about how I have been in the past.

My fridge is empty of cheese (and it's not inside me) so at least that's a positive move, I'm all about the little victories this week. Mug measuring is still in progress too - seems to be working, but we'll see what the scales say come the weekend.

Hello Mamma, welcome aboard . How are you finding it? I'm doing Dry Jan too. Aside from one night recently where I literally slept for 20 minutes, I've been sleeping so deeply, it's really satisfying

Welcome MammaTJ

Eyes and Shy great advice as always from others, but I hope you're having an easier time of it.

Honey hope you are recovering well, it's a slow process as my DDad is recovering from it, horrible illness.

I've been really really hungry this week (I'm sure AF is looming), eaten up all my exercise calories, so not holding out a loss this week.

I'm actually finding it ok. Lisa says the same as you, that we can sometimes mistake thirst for hunger, so lots of fruit teas and water being drunk.

I am probably not doing as much at the gym as most would but I get PIP for my disability, so even those hard nosed gits recognise I cannot walk far.

Food wise, well I am enjoying my food. I love veg anyway. Little tip for you all. I fancied a 'roast' last night, obviously without potatoes but just the 'feeling' of it. I did chicken breast and broccoli, cauli,carrots and sprouts. For the gravy, I chopped and boiled an onion, with two chicken stock cubes, then used the hand blender on it. Not the thickest, but thick enough to make a passable, tasty gravy.

Breaking I was really hungry last week, feels better this week.

Welcome MamaTJ