I need to lose 9st+! Help!

[Modestandatinybitsexy]

Have you done this? How have you done this?

I'm 5'8" and 19st.
I know I need to eat less and move more.

I have small children and I'm still breastfeeding. Apart from the standard chasing a toddler I'm pretty sedentary. I do all the cooking, not terribly unhealthy food but probably much too much of it.

Help me give myself a kick up my huge arse please!!

Or maybe a 35g bar - 100g are the "family size" ones aren't they?

@buckeejit welcome and well done on the excellent start!
Losing weight just to put it back on is always a worry, I'm doing intermittent fasting so planning to keep doung that forever but with easier hours (currently fast 18 hours out of 24, aim to scale back to 16 hours and 14 on my weekends off, which are only two weekends per month, for maintainance). No idea whether that'll be enough for maintainance but will just have to play it by ear - I guess the main thing is not to fall back into old evening snacking and stress eating habits. Other ways of dealing with stress are essential! Or indeed avoiding taking on too much leading to additional unnecessary stress!

Hope everyone is going ok.

I haven't weighed as been feeling rubbish. Got my second period this month for no apparent reason. The opposite issue to @nexthairbrainedscheme. Sigh. Was good all weekend but have had a lax weekend. Just was feeling too sucky so needed wine :). Feel better today.

Didn't do any exercise last week either. Hope to get out cycling this week again.

I'm getting a bit depressed looking at my weight stats. Been around the same since the beginning of November!I really want to get it down some more into the 80s. Seems like it's never going to happen!

Winningatseesaw at least the scales are staying the same, as long as they don't go up you're winning. Maintaining a holding pattern when you've got a lot happening or feel poop is an achievement if (like me) you. (mis)use food as a coping and comfort strategy. The two heavy periods close together is what happened to me first, then an 81 day cycle

84.2kg this morning, hrlped by the period water loss I'm sure - but nevertheless thats technically finally out of the "obese" category and an achievement unlocked (I live in a house of gamers - DH told me the qualification I completed in the summer all in his language, which I've never studied, and which nearly drove me over the edge and contributed significantly to my stress eating, was a "rare achievement unlocked" ).

Morning everyone, I've lost a half kilo this week. For various reasons I didn't get much exercise this week, so I'm happy with that. I've lost 20kg now which is half my target for the year (started in September). My aim is to lose 40kg in 12 months, and I will then have a further 10kg or so to lose to get into the healthy BMI range. I love a graph and a spreadsheet and mine is making me happy at the moment!
I also noticed this week that it's been weeks since I reached for the painkillers for my joints. I was taking them daily morning and evening. I must have gradually reduced without noticing. Last September, I had my first follow up after breast cancer treatment and I was complaining to the surgeon about the pain in my joints that had started during treatment. She looked me straight in the eye and said - you need to drop your weight. No sugar coating that message! I'm grateful to her for her bluntness, and (of course) she was right!
@Winningatseesaw I'm sorry you're feeling rubbish. I hope you manage to find a way forward. From a personal perspective I find if I concentrate on getting a bit of exercise every day, other stuff like food diet of falls into place. But I think that maintaining for a few months is also a great achievement.. . it's so easy to get just slip back into old habits when you're not actively losing and clearly you haven't.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone.

@Winningatseesaw. So sorry it’s hard for you right now. I was in a right state thru January. It may not be what you want to hear, but what helped me was just accepting that I had to start again, if I was ever going to break the pattern of continuously losing then gaining the same kilos, and that it didn’t matter if it got hard, or the scales weren’t reflecting my sacrifices, or if I was ill, or if my family were stressing me out, I need to keep the end in mind and continue to make healthy choices.
@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme @alphaechokiwi I am so glad it’s going well for you. You are absolutely my inspiration right now. The story of your joint pain rang so many bells ,alpha. It seems so obvious that carrying serious excess weight will lead to joint pain, but I have honestly only begun to accept that recently., and I hear other obese people complaining and explicitly ruling out their weight as a factor. My dearest friend got to over 150 kilos and would not accept that it had a bearing on the issues with her knees. 20 kilos since September is huge, and Hare, you have lost amazing amounts.
I have had a difficult week with a flare of gout. I can’t walk when I have it. Thought it had gone on Friday so had a normal day, only to wake in the night with it worse than ever. It’s one of the health reasons I have for losing weight. It makes me miserable, but I thought I would be even more miserable if I gained weight, so , I cut back on food to allow for the inactivity, and I have lost 1.5 kilos, so am now 101.4.
Not boasting, but it has given me some hope that I can be on this course in the long term, and I do have a fair way to go.

@zebracat whoo! 1.5kg is great. It's so hard to start again, and to do so under difficult circumstances is very impressive. I know what chronic pain does to one's resolve. And I'm told gout is excruciating....good luck this week...

Zebracat well done - and obviously doubly so to be so resolute when you're in pain! Another 1.5kg and you'll be under the 100! alphaechokiwi well done too!

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme huge congratulations for your achievement unlocked!!! Amazing. You've done so well

@alphaechokiwi 20kgs in such a short amount of time is fantastic, and 0.5kgs is a super weekly result as well. Great news about the joint pain reducing as well. Nice to have a tangible thing as a benefit of weight loss

@Zebracat 1.5kgs whoop whoop that's amazing! Go you! So close to double figures.

Thanks for all the kind thoughts and suggestions on ways forward.
I'm about a kilo heavier than my lowest weight on this journey so that's not too bad really. Hoping to get it off this week.

Winningatseesaw.That is such a useful reframing. I am 2 kilos heavier than my lowest weight on this thread, really not too bad when there are always some ups and downs. Thanks

I'm on my on again off again weight loss trip and now I'm starting over after several days of binge eating (these days were stressful, to say the least). Usually I count my calories and it helps me a lot, but I struggle with motivation for gym sessions sometimes and I tend to just sit there and procrastinate. But having a fitness routine really helps, so I just make myself do it. Another tip that I use is to print out a photo of my thinner self (Photodiva works wonders on your body better than any diet, haha!) and look at it every time I want to forget about my diet plan. Seeing you 'future' self doesn't let you forget why are you trying to lose weight.

Ok, I'm 92.4 so .6 higher than my lowest on this thread. I'm really disappointed to be honest as I've tried really hard this week. I just need to keep going.

It is disappointing, but you could find tomorrow that .6 has disappeared. It’s a funny business. Today I am 101.1. My lowest on this thread is 99.6. I’m hoping to get there by Sunday week. Trying not to obsess that I was nearly at 90 kilos in December 2017, and that I let it get away again, and again.
I do feel in the zone with it though. Basically modified noS diet, and I feel really happy and free.

Zebracat feeling happy and free is key isn't it - more important than anything for making good decisions and just generally for every aspect of living! I'm so glad you feel that way!

Simplicity is key to sticking to a way of eating for me as well - no sweets, no snacks, no seconds is realistic and successful because it's simple - I'd never stick to counting anything personally (whether calories, macros, points or syns) because it'd make me alternately obsessive and resentful and is the sort of thing you can "cheat" yourself at or "fall off the wagon" with.

Winningatseesaw sorry you're feeling disappointed - as Zebra says .6 of a kg could be gone overnight with normal water weight fluctuation, and results sometimes only become clear over the course of a minth or so rather than a week - keep on keeping on!

83.5kg here today - wearing 32 inch waist Levi jeans very comfortably, which I'm chuffed about. If I can lose 2 more inches off my waist to be within the recommended range for heart health I'll move to maintainance even if my BMI is still a bit high I think, although it'll probably be another 8-10kg anyway I'm guessing. I know maintaining long term will be a whole new challenge, but getting ahead of myself!

Sweetener12 welcome.

@Winningatseesaw according to my scales I gained 1kg in an hour last Sunday ... I'm always amazed / horrified at the fluctuations over time. It's disappointing for you, but try not to dwell on it too much...... it's a blip... Stupid biology....
@Zebracat that seems do-able - keeping my fingers crossed for you... getting under 100 is a great psychological boost I think. I know how you feel though, I keep remembering a few years back when I got down to 70-something kgs. My starting point then was the weight I'm at now. I so wish I hadn't let it all slip away and added a further 20kg.... . But at least I'm doing something about it now I suppose....
@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme I saw those Levis on the S&B thread - you look awesome!
@Sweetener12 - welcome

Thanks.all

@zebracat what's no s?

@untilyournexthairbrainedscheme amazing with the levis!

No S is a method of regaining control of your eating. You have no sugar, no snacks and no seconds except on Saturdays, Sundays and special days. There is a book, which I keep meaning to get, but it is beautifully simple. It stops me thinking about it all the time. You eat 3 plates a day and that’s it except at weekends. I am also trying to clean up my meals in other ways. For the first time in m6 life, I do seem to be happily making healthier choices. There is an active current no S thread, and I lurk there sometimes.
I am vaguely logging my food in My Fitness Pal, as well and it has also helped. How are others doing this? I know we’ve all said, but it might be helpful to hear again.

The bad thing I did was consider my weight from 2017. I calculated I have lost about 50 kilos in that time, and regained 45. It did make me feel miserable, and that there was no point in trying. But then the phrase “ be here now” helpfully popped up, and led through an obscure and awful George Harrison song to a whole exploration of the Beatles on Spotify which is currently lightening the mood of the whole house. So thanks New Agey Eastern philosophy, you’ve worked wonders.

Morning everyone. I've lost 1kg this week which I'm very happy with. I've been trying on some clothes and trying to figure out what suits me rather than what fits me....I might pop over to the S&B thread for some advice if I'm feeling brave.
Hope you all have had a good few days

Morning Alpha. Well done on the kilo. Do pop. If you mean the plus size thread, it’s very friendly.
I have gained this week. Now 101.8 . Trying not to worry about it.

It’s all gone very quiet here. How’s everyone doing. I may be beginning to lose weight again, 101 kg today. I feel very happy with noS, it’s educational, I have a plate of food and learn if it was the right amount by my body’s reaction. Last night I had a baked potato tuna and salad, and it was too small a potato, I dreamed of food all night and woke at 5 needing breakfast. It is lovely to feel I can finally eat in response to my bodily needs. I don’t miss sweets or snacking, but I have started thinking about icecream, and I can have a bowl at the weekend, so that’s fine.

Hi @Zebracat , well done on your loss. I hope your gout is a bit better too...
I must investigate the No S method a bit more, I hear good things about it.
I weigh myself on Sunday mornings, so 🤞 for me....

Hi @alphaechokiwi.I also weigh on Sunday’s but I was so hungry today that I felt really light! The gout is a bastard tbh. , really stops me in my tracks, but it is a very good reason to lose weight. No S is fabulous. It is not really a diet, it’s a proper lifestyle change, and it is amazing how quickly it feels natural. It’s wonderful to not be obsessed with food and to thoroughly enjoy everything I eat.

Hi Zebracat - well done on finding what works for you and getting things moving! I'm so impressed by you managing it despite the gout too.

No S definitely sounds a very sensible and realistic way to eat life long. Saturday and Sunday don't hold much meaning for me as my job is not one where you get weekends off, but the general principle of no S except sometimes could work... sometimes is a bit too wooley, but I think for me it'd be "socially" defined very losely as "with two or more other people" - no evening sofa snacking with just DH, no stress or tiredness eating on my own, might keep things in check

Atm I do intermittent fasting 18:6 with minimal snacking and mostly but not entirely avoid bread and processed sugar. I try to eat a healthy vegetable based lunch, any family meal for dinner whether at home or at work, no snacking or only unsalted nuts and fruit if I'm properly hungry (which is usually on day shifts at work when I haven't really had a proper lunch) then more relaxed on my weekends off (usually two weekends a month) when I still intermittent fast but move my hours to allow for evening wine or brunch, depending, and we often have cake mid afternoon on Sunday. Its a bit play it by ear but seems to work so far.

I also try to walk most days, though don't beat myself up if I miss a day due to the combination of shifts and home schooling (the worst is the 11:30am to 8pm shift, as I try to get my youngest through the bulk of his work before leaving for my shift and never get out for a walk on those days).

82.9kg this morning, though I stood on the scale a few times mid week and my weight see-sawed around a bit.

I’m very late to this party! I was on another thread, but everybody seemed to have dropped off. Hope it’s ok if I join. I’m doing a combo of Exante and low carb (I’m T2 diabetic, so need to keep low carb) I lost 25 lb last year, then fell by the wayside around Oct/Nov. I put on 7lb up till 4 Jan. I restarted my journey on 4 Jan and have lost almost 2 stones since then. It’s my birthday next Sunday, so I am am trying to be extra strict before having a couple of cheat days. After that weekend I am going to try 2/3 day fasting to boost my weight loss. For those who have tried it successfully, did you have water, and stock cubes to drink? Or shall I just drink water?