30 years of dieting. Doesn't seem to have worked.

[vivariumvivariumsvivaria]

This year marks 30 years of me trying to lose weight.

I reckoned it was time to recognise that I losing weight is not my skill. In 30 years of devotedly "Starting Again But This Time I Mean It"s - I have gained 5 stones.

So, I'm having blood pressure problems, am bloody knackered and fed up of being sweaty (never mind in this heat!), my back hurts, my knees creak and I make that grunting sound when I get up from a chair. Ugh.

I spoke to the GP, who agreed to refer me to the NHS Fat Clinic - the waiting list was 4 months. I was going to lose the weight so I would be discharged fast. My appointment is in 1 month...I've put on half a stone as a swan song to the glory that is a tunnocks teacake.

I am REALLY good at sticking to diet/activity/whatever for about 3 weeks.

I am better at bingeing, denying and hoping that the Thin And Healthy Fairy will appear overnight.

My health is suffering, I have three kids. I don't want to be super thin, but, I'd really like to have a normal BP, more energy and to be able to run a 5k.

I'd also quite like to be able to see my pubes without having to lift my belly out the way.

All I need to do is move more, eat less carbs and not "reward" myself with wine and crisps at the weekend for "being so good all week". It takes 3500kcal deficit to lose a pound. There's 1000kcal in a bottle of wine and more in a tub of pringles. This seems unfair, as I quite like munching my way through that on a Saturday night whilst watching crap tv after everyone else has gone to bed.

So, here's my goals:

• learn what a portion is (am ahead here, I know a bottle is not a portion of wine)
• learn to notice and taste what I am eating (so, no more inhaling food in front of the tv)
• learn to notice when I am hungry ("stop when you are full"??? No idea what that might feel like. I've never eaten till I've puked, not sure that's what they mean)
• 10 000 steps a day (it takes so looooooong, and I am so busy)
• sleep better (so, stop sitting up all night bingeing, irritatingly, calories still count after witnesses have gone to bed)
• don't get cross about slip ups and use that as an excuse to give up
• not die of Fat Fuckerness before I am 50

Anyone fancy a mutual support/rant/celebration of small non-scale-victories thread?

I read somewhere that craving carbs can actually mean you are thirsty, so I always glug a pint of water if I'm in evening craving mode. It seems to work, probably because I am awash with h2o.

Another mindset thing is to think about fruits and veg as a treat. I treat myself to a punnet of raspberries or strawberries every day in summer. Sometimes I buy the ready to eat nectarines rather that the 'sitting like rocks in the fruit bowl' ones.

Totally agree that this is a new and breezy approach to eating, not a deprivation. Approach with a positive attitude, and do this only for yourself. Visualise the dress / jeans or whatever that you will soon be wearing.

This is my new bag, it arrived today and I love it. It was reduced, so I actually saved money by buying it

The year .I turned 50 I decided 'enough is enough'
I set myself a target of 1lb per week for a year = 52lb.
I did it and have maintained for a year.
Tough, tough and fucking tough but worth it.
Good luck!

NICE BAG!

Neighbour has asked me in for prosecco in the sun.

How do thin people do it? They must just say "no thanks, I'm only drinking at the weekend, and even then only tins of gin because if I open a bottle of wine I'll finish it and it's too many carbs and I'm fat as fuck and am trying not to have a stroke"

No wine is non negotiable for me. At the moment I fill a wine glass with ice and pour in some rose. Cool and delicious, I hardly notice as the wine becomes more dilute.

Mini bottles help portion control...

A really good glass of red is preferable to a bottle of cheap stuff.