Holy fuck, I’m obese

[Jadebelfield123]

Long story short, I’ve alsays been a size 12 and I’ve never ever weighed myself. Whenever I’ve lost weight in the past, I’ve guaged the loss from my clothes. Anyway, I visited the docs today and nurse weighed me and said I’m obese. I don’t really have the money to join slimming world or anything like that (currently on maternity leave) so what hints and tips do you guys have that don’t cost a fortune in sign up fees to follow?

Smaller portions.

Doesn’t cost anything and actually saves you money

Less food, less booze and move more. But there's no way that you were size 12. I'm size 14 and not even overweight!

Very possible, I'm a size 10-12 and right in the middle of the 'overweight' bmi range - 27.5.

Do you have a preference when it comes to exercise? I strength train and when I watch my diet (basically don't over eat) weight just falls off me.
Another easy change is swapping bread etc for the wholegrain alternatives, watching the portion sizing of these things, and increasing protein and fats to make sure you're fuller and less likely to snack.

This is what confused me. Don’t get me wrong, my size 12 jeans are a bit tighter since I’ve had my 2nd son (he’s three months), but I can still wear them and I didn’t really mind the weight gain until I was told I was obese! Apparently my bmi is 29. I’m five foot 6.

I don’t really excercise at all which is my downfall. I’ve never set foot in a gym and when I was in school excercise always set my asthma off. There’s a gym near me that I’d love to join but I wouldn’t have a clue where to start and I’m not a particularly confident person.

If you are obese it means your bmi is over 30 so a good first goal is to get back under 30 and into the overweight range. That might not be a lot to lose if you are only just over the 30bmi, but I'm sure you will feel happier.
What sort of diet you should do depends on what you like to eat. What is,your current diet like?

Just noticed your bmi is 29 so you aren't really classed as obese although you are close to it.

oh, well that’s a positive but I’m so close I feel like I really should still do something about it. I don’t think my diet is that bad really. We eat healthily (I think so anyway, freshly made evening meals with plenty of veg and no obvious fat on meat) although maybe portion sizes are a little on the big size so that could be limited. I also have at least one pack of crisps a day which doesn’t help I suppose and sugar in my tea. I honestly think it’s mostly baby weight, but I’ve been around this weight forever so it can’t be. I’ll start with dropping sugar and crisps see how i get on. I don’t eat breakfast ever which ive hard can be counter intuitive because even though it’s no calories it can negatively affect the metabolism?

What do you do for work? If you are mainly sitting down, you might only really need 2/3 of the food you are eating.

That’s a good point ... previously I worked full time and although it was a desk job I was constantly up and down stairs and I walked to and from work. Now I’m on maternity I do tend to just sit. I try to get out of the house but ds1 is 3 and walks very slowly so it’s definitely not a brisk, calorie busting walk

That's very strange to be obese and a size 12 at five foot six. I do think some people weigh heavier but that seems extreme. I could see it into overweight territory at a push, but a bmi of 29 just seems very contradictory to your dress size and height.

Weight is a funny thing. My SIL has just been given diet pills by her GP because she’s obese and a size 12-14!

I’m a size 14 and obese. Only just, BMI of 30.2. I’ve lost 2 stone in the last 6 months by eating less and moving more.

Oh, and I ran my first sub 1 hour 10km yesterday, so although I’m obese I’m hoojng I’m not too unfit!

Just cut the crisps and sugar and within a month you'll be a good BMI. Try and walk more too.

She won't be a good bmi in a month my cutting the crisps and sugar. Not even close.

If she has a a bmi of 29 she'd probably need to lose a couple of stone to hit a healthy bmi, and that's nuts. She'd be a size eight, maybe even a six.

It doesn't seem right at all.

I'm 5' 6" and a size 12, BMI 28 so classed as overweight and closer to the obese end that the lower end.

I run, cycle, walk, gym etc etc but I am heavy because I carry muscle mass due to the exercise I do!

BMI is an outdated way of measurement, it should be done on body fat %

I also find it a bit strange about the clothes size thing could your own clothes have stretched a bit? Do you fit into a new fitted size 12?
However the important thing is if you are not very muscular and train a lot you would probably be healthier at a normal BMI.
As you have recently had a baby it would be best to lose weight fairly slowly and not be too strict.
I've tried several different diets myself and one I like is 5:2 fasting diet. It's important that your normal daily diet is fairly sensible when you do 5:2. You need to be eating the calories that would maintain your weight on the 5 days (you can look this up). It sounds like your normal diet might fit in with that with maybe a few little tweaks. So then you just need to do 2 500 cal days a week. That is a bit hard at first but most fasteners find they get used to it and its not too bad after a few weeks. There are some good threads on here and quite a few books and things about 5:2.

I can swear on everything I have that I am still a size 12. I literally bought a new set of clothes yesterday and they are all size 12.

I may have missed this, but you said you’re on mat leave? Any chance you’re breast feeding?

my Bmi is 29 which isn’t quite obese actually it turns out after some googling and other posters comments

No I’m not :( the nurse was quick to look t out that breastfeeding would have helped me shift any new weight more quickly though. The problem I have at the moment is that I don’t know how much I weighed before! But I’m sure my bmi I was 25 before I had him and my clothes were looser then.

If you're five foot six, you would have weighed 11 stone and 1pound if you had a bmi of 25.

If your bmi is now 29 you will weigh 12 stone and 7pounds.

So you'd have gained just under a stone and a half. Dependent on style of clothing and where you gain weight the most, it's possible you could still fit thr same dress size, if they were loose before and tight now.

So to get back the 25 you'd need to lose a stone and a half basically.

That's not necessarily true about breastfeeding. Some people find it really increases their appetite and they really struggle to lose weight. So don't worry about that.
1.5 stones is not too bad an amount to lose. If you lose an average of 2lb a week it will only take 10 weeks.
Getting your diet right first and then building up your exercise slowly is what I would do as you have recently had a baby. Plus if you aren't used to exercising you can put yourself off by overdoing it at the beginning .
I think increasing your walking is a good way to exercise with a baby as you can take the baby in a pram or sling and it gets you out and about. If you want to tone up you could do an exercise DVD or online video at home if the gym is a bit expensive for you. Or another option would be something like an exercise class or zumba if you enjoy that kind of thing.