Weight loss for those with a 40+ BMI

[TrinityWaves]

Anyone else at the start of their weight loss journey with a BMI over 40?

I thought starting this thread might make me more accountable.

I'm 5ft 5, weigh 265lbs, I'm in my early 30's.

I'd love to chat to others in a similar position, almost all my friends and extended family are slim! (My DH is also trying to loose weight, lower BMI than me though.)

@SchrodingersImmigrant That's not a bad idea actually! I know mine is emotional though too, and whatever else, I've been like this since childhood. Remember very well scoffing out of the biscuit tin daily. Sugary cereals, chewy bars, etc, I wish my parents had done more.

@QuestionableDanceMoves, welcome.

For your food intake, are you only measuring calories, or eating a specific way?

For me, only low carb works to actively lose weight.

I'm not going as far as keto, but I avoid simple carbs 6 days a week (think potato, bread, rice, pasta). Once a week I'll have a carb treat, my favourite remains avocado smash on sourdough toast at my favourite cafe. I eat on average 7 veggies/fruit a day, but avoid high fructose options.

I find it helpful when people share details. An average eating day for me is a protein smoothie (strawberries, 1/2 banana, greek yoghurt, spinach, almond milk, ice, protein powder), lunch is salad + protein (chicken, tuna, or egg), and dinner protein + veggies (salmon + stir fry greens and cauliflower rice). If I having a craving I'll let myself have a treat (but a 50gram block of chocolate not a family size!).

95% of the time I am avoiding snacking; slowing getting used to feeling hungry again! This took time, for so long I have overeaten so I struggled with actually feeling hungry.

I start the day with two coffees (long black with a splash of milk) and drink 3 litres of water a day. Once a week I'll enjoy a milky latte. I don't really drink to much booze, sadly have cut out wine. Will enjoy a gin and soda or vodka and soda after a long day or at a pub/bar with friends.

I'm exercising a lot; I find it helps with hunger and endorphins are great. 3 x HIT gym classes, 3 x spin classes, 2 x weight sessions, and one weekly hike. I will flag I'm single without children so I have time.

Since over the past couple of months I've lost 33.8 kilos, with another 33.2 kilos to reach goal weight (healthy BMI) and 38.2 kilos to reach my dream weight (weight when I was in my twenties (now 34)).

My biggest issue with disordered eating is binge eating; I could eat almost a week of calories in one session. I'm currently in therapy for this, and has been the biggest change. I'm working through some past trauma which lead me to binge eating, and learning new healthy strategies in which I don't punish myself. Expensive but I haven't had a binge episode since starting.

Wishing you well!

Try it and see @Redruby2020 it may take few days, but it may help🤞
I have time slots for all meals and if I miss one, well, tough luck. Like today I overslept and slept through my breakfast time slot🙈 No breakfast then.
It helps with control, at least on my case.

Thanks both.

I’m not generally a massive carb lover but have been eating more of them since I started team rh but they don’t suit my digestive system at all and I’ve had what basically amounts to an upset tummy for the last 7 weeks.

Before team rh I was doing intermittent fasting- would have homemade soup, normally red lentil, or salad for lunch with some Greek yogurt and fruit. If I needed a snack I’d have a hard boiled egg or two.
Dinner would be chicken or fish with veg. I would have pasta once a week but always use whole wheat.
I don’t drink alcohol other than at Christmas or Easter but do drink Diet Coke which I realise is probably not great for the gut- I’ve managed to get myself down from about 8-10 cans a day to just 3 which I never thought I’d do.
I drink 2.5/3 litres of water a day too- any more and I’m up all night going to the loo and then the next day I want to eat everything in sight because of how tired I am.
I walk a lot and have been doing 3 strength workouts a week but I am naturally sedentary/lazy and would choose sitting on my bum all day over anything else. It takes a lot to psyche myself up to move although I love it once I’ve done it.

For the first 8 weeks, I also weighed my food. Huge realisation that my healthy meals were out of whack for serving size; think a salmon fillet is actually two serves not one. My only rule then way if it's green, it doesn't get weighed.

Overall, I honestly believe to lose significant weigh you need to be in the right mindset. My crisis point was realising my fat and my issues are keeping me from the life I want (falling in love and children) and the COVID risk of being obese.

I've yo-yo'd in the past but I've never felt this way mentally.

As I suspected just 0.5 lb off for me this week. My own fault, I've been nibbling on cheese far too much. I have upped the exercise this last week so I was hoping that might balance it out but clearly not.

I'm aiming for a 100% on plan week this week 🤞

@QuestionableDanceMoves

Thanks both.

I’m not generally a massive carb lover but have been eating more of them since I started team rh but they don’t suit my digestive system at all and I’ve had what basically amounts to an upset tummy for the last 7 weeks.

Before team rh I was doing intermittent fasting- would have homemade soup, normally red lentil, or salad for lunch with some Greek yogurt and fruit. If I needed a snack I’d have a hard boiled egg or two.
Dinner would be chicken or fish with veg. I would have pasta once a week but always use whole wheat.
I don’t drink alcohol other than at Christmas or Easter but do drink Diet Coke which I realise is probably not great for the gut- I’ve managed to get myself down from about 8-10 cans a day to just 3 which I never thought I’d do.
I drink 2.5/3 litres of water a day too- any more and I’m up all night going to the loo and then the next day I want to eat everything in sight because of how tired I am.
I walk a lot and have been doing 3 strength workouts a week but I am naturally sedentary/lazy and would choose sitting on my bum all day over anything else. It takes a lot to psyche myself up to move although I love it once I’ve done it.

Wow you do very well, if I ate that diet I would be as slim as! I eat a lot of carbs! I do believe and understand why the diet sheets show carbs per day, and you could think oh isn't that too much, but it's really not, usually if you are very over weight or obese you will be eating a lot more than what their diet sheet looks like. Like mine is more junk as I think I said below, if it posted, been a problem since childhood. The only main time I lost weight was when I was on Metformin lost a couple of stones, and just messed about a bit with my diet, but nothing extravagant.

@Redruby2020 I wish I was slim as! I definitely am overeating somehow otherwise I would be.
I know I’m guilty of throwing the towel in and bingeing when the scales are slow to move which obviously does me no good.

Unfortunately, as I found out, one can get fat on healthy food and them "huge salads"🙈

If you are eating helathy and balanced diet, have a look at portions. And oil. Bastarding oil. I found out that my portions were simply too big (got progressively bigger over the years) and I used bit too much of fatty stuff like butter🙈

I still eat healthy food, I eat everything, but the portions are totally different. Like cheese portions😳

Just to follow up on my off-topic Covid jab, they did use a longer needle when I asked...38mm instead of 25mm so it can reach the muscle properly, didn't hurt at all really though!

So it’s Sat night and I’ve enjoyed reading new posts!! Welcome everyone! In awe of some people’s posted daily eats! I’ve Had a lovey day with family put ds to bed then dw appeared with M&S biscuits that we squirrelled away after chrustmas!! Delicious! sorry everyone!! Have enjoyed ( back to the cake & the mole!) think I’m going to try my first 20 hour fast tomorrow to compensate - start at 4pm and eat at lunch on Monday - has anyone else done this??

When I say has anyone done this I mean in a have you got any tips way rather than a look at me way!! I’m determined to get to that 7lb mark this week biscuits on a sat night regardless!!!!

@Donteatpurplebroccoli, it's hard to hear but it comes down to discipline. You need to make the choice to say no.

After dinner I normally clean my teeth which helps. At the start I found it hard not to have a late night snack, but it's a habit. After 8 weeks I became used to enjoying a peppermint tea instead of food.

When it gets hard, I change my action. That could be getting up and cleaning or at the start when it was challenging going for a drive. I even have a dance party for 1 lol.

Well I managed 100% on plan today, I finished an 18 hour fast today and ate 700 calories.

I have been very lazy today though, not been out at all. I plan to finish my week 4 of C25K tomorrow (hopefully).

Guys I am starting today !!
I need to do bad

5 stone to lose

Well done to everyone so far on here xxx

Can I join you? I've lost 9 pounds in the last month which has scraped me to just below a BMI of 40.

I think I've finally got my head in the right place to do it, even though my body hasn't been keen on ever losing weight since my gallbladder was removed. I don't know if reaching my goal weight is possible bit every pound in that direction is a win

@Neonlightning thanks for the advice and you’re right and nothing I haven’t said to myself!!

Although I didn’t regret it last night and woke up with renewed vigour! Plus made it on to exercise bike which I had slacked off last week!

I had forgotten can have herbal tea on a fast so will have one before bed tonight will make a nice change I’m excited to do the 20 hours fast
Like the disco idea too!

Nicer day here today so we’ve had a good trek through a local forest.

@Queenie6655 happy first day!! You’ve got this!

@PinkArt well done on the 9lb! I’m trying to break the 7lb mark this week!

My knees the utter pain of carrying my weight

Thanks all I'm so ready to do this

@Queenie6655 My knees are wrecked too!

I avoid walking up stairs if I can.
Welcome to the gang!

6 weeks in and I'm down 10kg and just under 40bmi!! After first couple of weeks progress has been slow...
Oh well. 40kg to go 😬😬

@chalkyc2 That's a good start!
I'm 8 weeks in and have done about the same amount.

The slowing down is annoying. I've had a couple of plateaus followed by a 2lb loss, and a pound a week doesn't seem worth the effort
But I am feeling better and wanting to win!

Hello everyone! Is it ok if I join? I'm 196lbs and 5 foot 2, bmi 35. I've lost weight over Tue last couple of years from 230 lbs but it's been half a pound off a week and very slow! I'm looking to ramp it up and am on day 2 of low carb. I've had a bowl of keto soup and a small low carb keto bread sandwich with chicken and cheese today. Plus lots of water. Probably about 700 cals so far and 10g carbs. I've got serious good issues, I'm an emotional binge eater and have type 2 diabetes. I've been doing couch to 5k and am on week 2.Well done everyone so far!

@caramelchaos

Hello everyone! Is it ok if I join? I'm 196lbs and 5 foot 2, bmi 35. I've lost weight over Tue last couple of years from 230 lbs but it's been half a pound off a week and very slow! I'm looking to ramp it up and am on day 2 of low carb. I've had a bowl of keto soup and a small low carb keto bread sandwich with chicken and cheese today. Plus lots of water. Probably about 700 cals so far and 10g carbs. I've got serious good issues, I'm an emotional binge eater and have type 2 diabetes. I've been doing couch to 5k and am on week 2.Well done everyone so far!

*food not good. I wish I had good issues 😂

Hello everyone. Late to the party but I have been looking through the window for a while, wondering whether to enter the door. My dress is a bit tight!
Brief history - 5’4” and about a size 12 until I was 26 and my first marriage started going south. Emotional eating, depression, contentment/issues in second marriage, work stress and self medication with alcohol led to 19stone in 2012. Joined WW with great leader and other members, started running and lost 101lbs in 18months. Retired early for MH reasons and it gradually crept back on. Have tried SW and RH with some success for a while but now back to 17st at 60+.
I know we are all different but I’d be grateful if someone could look at my maths.
Online calculator says to maintain my weight I should consume 2547 calories a day (moderate exercise) or 2259 (light exercise).
MFP says I need to consume 2130 calories a day to lose 1lb a week assuming I am active.
I run 3-5k 2/3 times a week and do over 10k steps a day, including the running.
Garmin shows I burn an average of 2700 cals a day and I rarely consume more than 1900 cals a day.
Am I burning 500+ calories more than I consume a day?
I’m currently trying 16:8 again and find I can persuade myself not to eat after 8pm and before 12 noon, if I give myself a good talking to and keep my fluid intake up. I eat healthily from scratch and account for treats.
I doubt myself as I see mention on this board of people eating less than 1400 calories a day and I just can’t see how I could manage that, or even close. When I tried RH I was allowed a similar amount of calories and weighed over 2 stone less but it did work for 3 months because I was doing it at the same time as 2 younger relatives but 2 of us got fed up with trying to get the macros right.
I’ve enjoyed reading the thread and seeing the mutual support you don’t see on other threads when weight is mentioned. The honesty is brilliant and I’m pleased to see so many of you are comfortable enough to share your results and emotions. I need a bit of that to keep me going. Can I squeeze through the door please? I can bring gin (measured of course).

Hi all, great thread! Can I join in too? I’m 5 foot 7 and have crept up to about 23 stone, which sends me into waves of panic just to admit. Classic emotional eater, as many of you struggle with too... have a hideous memory of being a teen with an alcoholic mother... I’d just take a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter up to bed and plough through it... that kind of thing. Then my entire twenties spent single with no accountability meant ive just ballooned. I’m so ashamed. Now aged 36 I have a lovely partner who tells me how beautiful I am, he loves me as I am but will support me in weight loss if that’s what I want. But his own diet is absolutely dreadful and he’s very reluctant to try new foods. For ease, I’ve got into a rut of cooking shit meals he will eat and over the last year I’ve crept up even more. Last week I seriously injured my back and oh my god it has been an eye opener. I could barely lift myself off the sofa or out of bed without shooting agony.
I’m just not being this way any more. I’ve done a huge shop for healthy breakfasts, lunches and dinners. My basic intentions are minimal processed food, high protein, low carb and limited fats. I KNOW I can do it. Sorry for the life story!!