82kg today.....need to get it as low as possible in 6weeks. <eek>

[BaronessBlonde]

Yesterday, a close family member announced their wedding will be in 6weeks time.

Apart from the shock announcement (am actually truly thrilled for them, but...shocked at the time-frame) I am big-time overweight. I am comfortable at 70kg, although that is technically nudging overweight for my height (I have a large frame, size 8feet, can't buy bangles in shops due to large wrists etc.) I am currently 82.4kg .

Weight was hitting 85kg, but a visit with GP lit a fire under me- for the first time in my life, I was admonished about my weight . I had decided to do slow and steady and can trust myself that I would lose the weight in about 6 months. However, this wedding has moved the goalposts.

So, I have to ditch the excuses, lose the pounds and hope to fit into one of the many lovely dresses languishing in my wardrobe.

Any advice?

I know that I need to up my exercise- currently do an hour's walk daily, Pilates once a week.
Breakfast and lunch are fine- but I get tired and ratty round dinner and find it difficult to resist tea and "a treat" after.

That's probably my weak point.
I am self-employed so sit down to do work after DC are in bed and "need" tea and a nibble to concentrate and stay on-task.

What do you currently eat? How tall are you?

I'd join a gym, and book into a class everyday.
You really need to eat a lot less than you have been and a lot healthier. What is your poison? Is it sweet treats, wine, bread?

I'm 1.7m tall. Large framed.
Definitely overweight- dresses from last summer are uncomfortable (but I refuse to buy for this size, I want it to be temporary).

I'd struggle with a gym- I'm a single parent, so I can't see when I would get to go.
I can, however, get up early and go on the cross-trainer downstairs. I used to do that; stick on a podcast and workout for 30minutes, before starting work.

Eat: breakfast...either porridge or granola with yoghurt and fruit.
Lunch: salad with cheese and bread (usually). Perhaps a piece of fruit.

Around 4pm, I'll start to get peckish, but need to finish work, so I may have tea and biscuits.

My poison is sweet treats- don't really drink, not a smoker, love crisps.

If you work from home and are really serious about focusing for the next 6 weeks then I’d have no biscuits or sweet treats in the house. I wfh too and it’s too hard if they are in the cupboard! Cold turkey is easier! Maybe try something more filling at lunch-lentil salad-can get those packets that microwave in 2 mins. Good luck x

Hi OP, I’m in the EXACT same situation as you with a big shock event in six weeks.

I’m the same height as you and not too far off the same weight wise.

If I knew the answer i would tell you but I think the answer may come with crash dieting - I know I know it’s awful etc but the “8 week blood sugar diet” where you eat 800cals a day for eight weeks (over the course of two or three meals in a day) seems to be a huge hit with many on this board and has transformed a couple of folk I know IRL.

Agree though, night time biscuits are the fatal thing for me x

Have you tried My Fitness Pal?? It will VERY quickly show you where your excess calories are going - I only got to the CHEESE in your salad which made me think 'uh oh'!!

I've been doing it for 3 weeks and it's really, really making me think about everything that goes into my mouth.

Eg we had Aldi chicken with topping tonight, DCs had pasta with it but I had 2 large grilled mushrooms and ratatouille instead. HUGE portion and feel very satisfied but lowish calories high protein etc.

If you've got a Fitbit or similar it's even better as it 'adds on' any active calories so you instantly see the benefit of exercise.

You put in your weight now, target weight, activity levels etc and it will tell you how many calories you need to aim for.

Oh thank you for replying....I thought that I would post, even as a diary for myself to note every few days how much progress I've made!

HappyHedgehog - I am completely serious about it. I know that I need to lose the weight for my health...and to be honest, I know that my energy and motivation for work etc. has declined as my weight has gone up.
Do you think I need a bit more at lunch- I always feel full, but get the munchies later, so perhaps it's what I'm eating that needs to change?

Paul...really? what a coincidence.
I am not a fan of crash dieting- I know enough physiology to understand that the old equation of energy in=energy out +stores is the bottom line.
TBH I know that I wouldn't stick with that- I have a home to run, DC, my own business. So I can't afford to be lethargic or at less than optimum. (which is why having put on weight has been so detrimental).
Let's be buddies shall we?
I'll weigh myself in the morning (today has been a "good" day) and post on here. Would you be happy to do that?

Fusion thank you! That sounds quite inspiring.
I've heard of MyFitnessPal but haven't ever used it. Your example of a dinner is fab- that would be very similar to what I cook for use, and I really really cant start making a different dinner for myself. But to change out pasta for mushrooms and ratatouille sounds do-able and relish.
I struggle to know what a realistic "stretch" goal would be- is 75kg too low to hit?

There's loads of exercise videos on you tube you could follow. I'm a fan of Gillian Michaels, but there's millions. Mix them up don't do the same one every day. You need to keep your body guessing what's coming up next.
Do you have anyone you could partner up with? Or on here there's often a thread going where you can keep in touch with progress, I think that really helps.

Re food - granola is really sugary. Porridge is good. My fitness pal is a great way to calorie count, it's amazing where calories can hide.

The best way to lose a lot of weight in a short time is a VLCD. They've been in the news recently and have been shown to be effective. It won't teach you the long term changes in lifestyle that will help you keep the weight off, but if you are able to stick to it, then you could lose a lot in the time.

Don't buy anything you can't eat. Just don't have it in the house.
Fill up and loads of veg and fruit. And drink loads of water. It really helps to stop you eating so much.

You can totally do this, maybe not the full 12 kgs in 6 weeks. That's quite a lot, but you can loose some in that time and then continue to shift the rest, at a sensible pace.

I second My Fitness Pal - I’ve also been logging food for about 4 weeks and mostly stuck to 1200 calories a day (with the odd exception) and exercising 3 times a week (2 x run, 1x bootcamp) and think I have lost about 8-10 lbs - planning on weighing in officially at the end of june

fruit thank you- yes, I guess I do need to change up what I do. I love feeling strong, which I do when I'm in tip-top shape (not at the moment or for the last 12monthsTBH). I'm at my strongest when I'm mixing Pilates, with walk/running, circuit training and some weights.

Don't really have anyone in real life...in any case, it's holiday season, and I think most people are kicking back a bit. My Pilates class has finished up until Sept for example.

Granola (I do love it as a treat, with a banana and some yoghurt) will have to go.
Porridge back in.
MyFitnessPal.

Angelic- thank you- yes, I know of VLCDs and AFAIK they need to be clinically supervised and really only used if BMI is 30 or more. Not a first line of attack for weight loss really.
Realistically, I am not going to do that- I can't afford the side effects, I simply wouldn't have the energy I must have for children and work.

My Fitness Pal has helped me lose 2 stone since Christmas. Not very quick but steady. I eat the same things as I did before just smaller portions. I eat quite healthily though with a few treats each week like nice chocolate or cake. I will swap rice and pasta for veg sometimes, it saves calories. I don't get hungry or feel deprived. I try and stick to around 1200 cals a day.

washed, the love for MFP is strong

I've just had a nosey around that site - and I can see how it would be quite addictive!
That's definitely going on the to-do list.

sorry washew not washed

Baroness I'll join you in a six week challenge! I'm around 80kg and use MFP for logging my weight. I was about 90kg this time last year. I low carbed and lost about 10kg which I'm delighted about but weight loss ground to a halt (6 months ago) and I'm trying to log calories etc to get things moving again.

I'd love to be 76kg in 6 weeks. I'm going to track everything on MFP and try for a healthy balance of good carbs. Personally I've found exercise doesn't help me lose weight but it makes all the difference for toning up!

I don't have any events in 6 weeks but could invent one for motivation

I have just started cutting my meal portions in half. Good if what you eat is already balanced. Definite calorie deficit. It's also good as you can have what you had for dinner the previous day for lunch reheated or with a bit of salad.

Exercise wise why not try Niko Niko running. I started a thread here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/exercise/3273109-niko-niko-running-technique-experiences

I went from someone who didn't run at all, decades ago cross country at school made me wheeze, to running for approx half an hour. I've a link in the thread which shows you how to do it. Lots of other posted have posted to say how much easier it is to run with Niko Niko technique.

Hi Fabulous - please do join.

I am 82.6kg this morning and have a breakfast of porridge (ref fruitbrew above) 14 grapes, probably 500ml of water and am finishing my tea.

I joined MFP last night (when I went so sign up, it said that I had an account already. I must have sheepishly followed MN there previously, but never used it). According to that, I hit just on 1200cal yesterday.

I certainly didn't feel deprived.
What was interesting is that, while I felt I had been very active yesterday (I had a day off work, brought kids and dog for a walk, went beach walking with kids later, explored a cliff walk near us, etc) my exercise was totted up as less that 100cal.
So will have to up the intensity there.

slowrun I had read your thread earlier this week, looked at the videos and am convinced.

I was the child at school who could not run to save her life. Years of trotting around pitches, several hundred metres behind everyone else.
Teacher snickering at my pathetic attempts.
Put on goal, as I was of no benefit to humanity outfield (I was an excellent goalie).

However, as an adult, I attended a talk with a former Olympian who advised to "run as slow as you can, as far as you can, when you start running".
Thanks to him, I did start, as an adult and have completed 5k and 10k (though not in recent history ....cf weight gain).
So your thread made perfect sense.

Baroness, that's good to know.🙂 I find I enjoy running now. Love going out early in the morning before breakfast when it is cool and not many people about.

Sure thing @BaronessBlonde, you have a buddy for the next six weeks.

So I have two great big feck off calorie festivals next two days - first is tonight’s crisps and choc in front of the England game. No more rubbish in the house after that (I’m looking at you DH).

Second is tomorrow’s “teenage date night”. Have recently packed in both drinking and smoking so DH and I are away to the flicks and Chinese tomorrow.

After that I have no more calorie bomb events. It’s jsyt willpower and as you say making the calorie deficit REAL.

Had a fist sized bowl of porridge this morning with banana and now tucking into chicken salad. Had an almond croissant at 10am though. SIGH.

I don’t know if you have a fixed target but I would like to peel away 5-10% of my body weight by the start of August.

Ps hi @slowrun !

Sure thing @BaronessBlonde, you have a buddy for the next six weeks.

So I have two great big feck off calorie festivals next two days - first is tonight’s crisps and choc in front of the England game. No more rubbish in the house after that (I’m looking at you DH).

Second is tomorrow’s “teenage date night”. Have recently packed in both drinking and smoking so DH and I are away to the flicks and Chinese tomorrow.

After that I have no more calorie bomb events. It’s jsyt willpower and as you say making the calorie deficit REAL.

Had a fist sized bowl of porridge this morning with banana and now tucking into chicken salad. Had an almond croissant at 10am though. SIGH.

I don’t know if you have a fixed target but I would like to peel away 5-10% of my body weight by the start of August.

Are you lot me?! The same size, weight, but without the surprise wedding in 6 weeks (That I know of!!)
I've weighed and measured myself today, re-downloaded MFP and promised not to lie to it over portion sizes (Weigh everything!)
I'm not going to touch my scales or tape measure for 4 weeks, and then re-do everything.
I like Jillian Michaels 30 day shred, its 20 minutes but kills.
I'm trying to add a bit of jogging to my dog walk, and cycling everywhere where possible.
And drink water. As much as you can, especially in this hot weather.
Good luck OP, we can do this!!!!

Are you lot me?! The same size, weight, but without the surprise wedding in 6 weeks (That I know of!!)
I've weighed and measured myself today, re-downloaded MFP and promised not to lie to it over portion sizes (Weigh everything!)
I'm not going to touch my scales or tape measure for 4 weeks, and then re-do everything.
I like Jillian Michaels 30 day shred, its 20 minutes but kills.
I'm trying to add a bit of jogging to my dog walk, and cycling everywhere where possible.
And drink water. As much as you can, especially in this hot weather.
Good luck OP, we can do this!!!!

Measure yourself around waist hips etc. This is a much better measure of getting fitter than the weighing scales.

Weights goes up and down throughout the day and month. Plus if you are lifting some weights and building up some muscle, it's heavier than fat.

I find a good way of eating it to cut back on anything sugery and white carbs. Eat plenty of veg and fruit. Fats in moderation. But you need some to help keep you full. So I'd have full fat greek yoghurt for a snack, the probiotic type.

Don't snack on those fucking biscuits OP! Throw them in the bin.

Get plenty of sleep as being tired makes you hungry and feel shit so you snack and "treat2 yourself to shit you shouldn't eat.

Don't think of it as a short term diet, this is the new way you are going to eat.