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!!

@GaryUnicorn welcome! You've had some great success, well done. I do intermittent fasting / calorie counting and I drink tea / coffee when I'm fasting. I've no idea if that's how I'm supposed to do it, but it works for me. I suppose it's trial and error to find what works for you.
@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme - wow 82.9kg that's so great. You are 10kg lighter than me, so I think of you as my trailblazer.
I hope everyone is doing well this week

Thank you @alphaechokiwi. I have the stubbornness to fast. I already do it some days, from 10pm - 2pm but found out today the sugar free gum I constantly chew has 2g of carbs per piece. So not fasting really! Arghhhh. It was so good, it kept me from picking when cooking etc. I would love 3.lb off by next Sunday so that would be a round stone.

Welcome@GaryUnicorn, you are doing so well. Can’t offer any advice on fasting , sadly but thrilled it’s working so well for you.what was your start weight and where do you want to be?

GaryUnicorn welcome. Be careful woth long fasts. I fast for 18 hours out of every 24, which is fine. However I've done two 36 hour fasts which ended up as 40 hours for logistical reasons, and the problem is it's very hard to sleep. After about 24 hours completely fasted your body starts producing adrendline. If your fast technically begins at say 7pm night one, the adrenalin kicks in at 7pm night 2, and makes it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep. Sleep deprivation causes the body to respond with more adrenalin and cortosol production, which make you feel quite "high". Its not for nothing mystics and religious devoties use fasting to being on altered states of conciousness!

Essentially its not the will power to fast that's the issue, but the sleep deprivation. Don't do it if you'll have to drive or be responsible for anyone vulnerable ... or do anything you wouldn't do while drinking alchol essentially ... after the first night...

If you do fast obviously drink water, black coffee and green or pure ginger tea are good too. Drinking stock is "dirty fasting" but often recommended - its a good idea for electrolytes but in moderation - be careful not to consume too much salt.

alphaechokiwi thank you! You don't look any heavier than me when you post your lovely outfits on the style and beauty thread - either you're tall or its your body shape meaning you carry it better than me!

I think 2 or 3 separate 24 hour fasts would be more sensible than one 2-3 day long fast, because if you eat after 24 hours then go to bed 3 hours later you'll be able to sleep that night and not be hit by the adrenalin-cortosol bomb. Then have a normal day the next day til after your evening meal, then start another 24 hours...

I don't personally think doing more than 2 x 24 hour fasts per week is a good idea, but some fasting "gurus" promote long fasts.

I was watching the YouTube video someone posted earlier and the guy giving the lecture mentioned 2/3 day fasts. Don’t think I could do more than that! I like my sleep too much! I am aiming to get to about 10 stones. I was about 24 at my heaviest. I set small goals though, usually getting into the next stone bracket, then relax for a day or so, and a little more for 24 hours or so.

And eat a little more.

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme thank you. I'm really enjoying the S&B thread. I've a terrible habit of buying clothes that are too small and never wearing them. Losing this weight means I can really 'shop my wardrobe'!
I'm not tall (165cm) and my BMI is 33 ish at the moment. I think we carry our weight differently. You are an apple and have lovely slim legs. I'm a pear and have proportionally bigger bottom, thighs and hips compared to my top half. I envy you being able to wear 501's....they look great on you. I really struggle to get jeans up over my knees .
Almost a kilo lost this week bringing me to 91.7kg. I feel excited that in a couple of weeks I should be hitting the '80's.... that's my next mini goal.

Morning. I am 100.9 kgs today, and I am pleased with that, altho I was hoping to be under 100. Maybe next week. Still feeling really good. I do find myself making the right choices, and even if I’m not losing weight quickly, I hope that I have gone beyond slipping back into easily gaining a kilo a month.
I had icecream yesterday. I bought and read the No S book, and the author is very insistent that you should behave differently on S days. But, because I knew I wanted ice cream, I had less dinner, so going well, not comparing myself to other people. And finally, the gout has gone!

Although, I would really like to get into the 90s before @alphaechokiwi gets out of them! Just to keep in shouting distance.

Brilliant @Zebracat .... It really sounds like you've found something that works for you. I especially like that you lost this week but still had ice-cream!!!!

I think I have at least 2 weeks left in the '90s @Zebracat, so I pretty confident you'll be joining me before I leave them

It was quite a small bowl!

81.3kg this morning, how's everyone else doing?

I'm looking forward to hitting 79kg as that'll be a 40kg total loss then.

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme - well done....you are very nearly in the 70's!
A 40kg loss is a truly incredible achievement....how different do you feel now?

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme congratulations on your achievement. Can’t get over how quick this has been for you and @alphaechokiwi.
We had a special day here this week, which did involve an Indian takeaway that may have included, rightly the word banquet in the description.t was delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think the best bit of No S is that it rejects the idea that we should never use food to celebrate, because people always have, and that is fine, to me anyway. I had a sneaky weigh in and I am still 100.1: but still hopeful that I can get to the 90s by Sunday, but if I don’t, it’s ok, I am eating properly and moving more, and it will happen. I had too small a lunch today and my tummy is rumbling so loudly, and I am telling myself that means I will really enjoy my dinner which is sausage and mash, which we haven’t had for months and I love it.

Thank you both! Although it has been quick - about 1kg a week averaged out - it also has taken ages - about 8 months, pretty much as long as the time you actually know you're pregnant in a full term pregnancy - so it feels very gradual and I can't really say I feel different.

I'm taking more pleasure in clothes, but I started trying to lose weight and sort my health out the day I got my results for a vocational degree I'd been doing for the previous 3 years, in which in all honesty was inexpressibly difficult due to studying in German, which Ive never formally learnt at all, just tried to pick up with the kids in the playgrounds and toddlers groups, and cobsequently spoke OK but wrote incredibly badly, and to being the only parent of children under 18 who survived to the end of the course (I started the day after my youngest started school) - it almost killed me especially as lockdown and homeschooling coincided woth my finals (which weren't in any way changed to accommodate the pandemic, except for having to wear maksand have desks meaured at 2 meters apart). The kids went back to school for a few weeks in July, so life just became immeasurably easier all at once, at the same time I started losing weight.

So life feels ridiculously easy nowadays, and I feel light, but psychologically as much as physically, with so much time for myself now I don't have to spend 16 hours a week at college and another 15+ studying or writing reports, essays, projects etc. on top of work and homeschooling the kids and normal everyday life.

Zebracat you're doing so well with no S and it really sounds like a hugely positive lifestyle change, which will mean its sustainable.

Sorry that was a stream of conciousness splurge which I didn't proof read as I'm under pressure to put my phone down!

It was lovely to read.

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme - that's very inspiring and moving. I retrained as a HCP as a mature student and worked full time evenings and weekends around my degree & training. I know what you mean by the sense of lightness and relief when it's all over. I can't imagine the additional strain of doing it in a foreign language. Hats off to you... I agree with you that although it's lovely to enjoy clothes, it's the health benefits that are the greatest positive of losing a lot of weight. I have so much more energy, I'm in a lot less pain, I'm sleeping better, I'm giving myself a better chance of being around longer for my family.... these are the important things.

@Zebracat - inspired by your No S success I've been doing some reading around it and I think I will adopt this approach for maintenance when I get there (although that feels very far away).
I have a natural inclination towards ginormous portions and I have Hashimotos which can really slow down my metabolism. I suspect I was also insulin resistant when I started. Trial and error has led me back to counting my calories to lose weight - tedious though it is. I also do intermittent fasting, it's a way of retraining my brain not to turn to snacking as a default and learning it's ok to be a bit hungry for an hour or two before dinner. My Sundays though are relaxed. No counting calories or fasting and nothing is off limits. It really helps me not to feel deprived. If I'm really craving something, I just tell myself I'll have it on Sunday. And mostly I do! I really feel that my 'relaxed' Sundays are my secret weapon. I'm not denying myself anything, just postponing it.

Anyhow, sorry for the essay! Keeping my fingers crossed for the scales tomorrow, I've had a decent week, so I hope it will reflect.

@alphaechokiwi, gosh your weight loss is even more impressive with Hashimotos, which I also have. I have resigned myself that weight loss will be slow for me, although I am going to see if I can persuade my doctor to up my medication. I’m only taking 50 currently and it isn’t enough. Intermittent fasting seemed to work for me, but I think it probably triggered the gout, not sure how that works but regular meals and reasonable calories seem to protect. I also can’t really go low carb,
because protein triggers gout too. I’m finding my way, and No S has really helped, I hate how diets make me food obsessed but no S seems to free me from it. I got up dead early today and went for a long walk so I was ready for lunch at 11 and I just thought it’s not time and cleaned my living room. Win win, because I’m now relaxing in a tidy room!
I’m thinking there will be no change this week, but if I keep going it will be ok in the end. And yes, absolutely this is about health. I have gout and spinal stenosis, both exacerbated by excess weight. I don’t want to end my life in a bariatric wheelchair.
But nice clothes will be a lovely bonus!

90.2kg today , very happy. Usually if I have a bigger loss one week it's balanced by a smaller one the following week but I'm optimistic I'll see the 80s next week.
Happy Sunday everyone, good luck to those who are weighing today.

Good Morning. I am 100 kilos exactly. Think the diet gods are having a laugh and educating me. I so wanted to be under, never thought about being at. Didn’t matter what I did, stark naked, squeezed out another wee, tried to find the scales a more advantageous position but thats where it was. It’s very nearly a kilo though, so I can be pleased and next week, surely I will be under.

Well done on this week's loss @Zebracat - I'm laughing at the thought of you naked, moving the scales around trying to get them to budge (been there, done that). The 90s await you next week for sure!

Well done alphaechokiwi and Zebra - a kg is a great loss, but I know how "breaking" the 100 is a big psychological milestone so certainly understand the jiggling scale positions etc