Mutual support thread for those currently losing or working towards losing a lot of weight

[UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme]

This is a mutual support thread for anyone who wants (and needs) to lose a lot of weight, is mid way through losing a lot of weight, or is nearing the end of a big weight loss and wants to continue to support and be supported as maintenance approaches.

The previous thread has been massively helpful to regular posters, as we share both our losses and our plateau or gains, congratulate or console, and talk about what works for us while understanding that different things work for different people, and we are all different ages, all have different families/ households/ people to plan around, different commitments, different working lives and different health conditions which partly determine our approaches.

We are all on this journey together - this thread is for us to encourage one another, post updates, chat about what we're doing, how we're doing, share stories and thoughts and sometimes wander slightly off topic if we want, but everyone posting should be somewhere along the journey towards escaping high BMI obesity.

The previous thread was started by someone who no longer posts and initially asked how to lose 9 stone - it developed into a support thread for people with varying amounts left to lose but all of whom started out with at least 5 or 6 stone + / 30 or 35 kg + to lose, very roughly...

No links to selling sites or unsolicited "helpful" lectures please - mutual support from existing and new posters all actually living this big weight loss now, or just starting out, welcome!

Previous thread here:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weight_loss_chat/3894410-i-need-to-lose-9st-help

Great news @UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme .... What a great leap towards your goal.

@ScottishBeth - 4kg in 9 weeks looks like a nice steady loss to me. Seems like you are doing all the right things...
@BippityBoppity87 - welcome! This is more a supportive thread than offering specific dietary advice. I'm not massively familiar with low carb but there are a series of long running discussions and bootcamps on here who can advise you about the specifics. But the food intake you describe doesn't seem sustainable to me. And when we have large amounts of weight to lose, whatever we do to lose it must be sustainable in the long term.

Thanks @UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme and @alphaechokiwi, and yes, I am pleased!

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme that is a fantastic loss! And you've not far left to go at all now! I also like you're theory that an occasional treat helps to boost your metabolism. I hope you stay around in the thread after you've lost the last little bit! (I also hope that you find the support helpful as well - you're such a big support to everyone on here!)

@BippityBoppity87 Welcome to the thread. It sounds like you've done really well so far, with that weightloss. I agree that the amount you're eating isn't enough though. I think it's hard at first to find the balance, keeping weightloss sustainable is important though!

ScottishBeth I'll definitely be sticking around - I'm very aware that most people who lose a lot of weight don't manage to keep it off so I don't think this process is something that's "finished" just because the scales finally show a target weight.

I've only had MN threads (initially a 16:8 one, where posters were lovely but mostly only trying to lose a few pounds/kg not a few stone/ tens of kg) then the 9 stone one, now this one as support and haven't followed a book or used an app or paid any service or had any kind of medical input, so I very much do lean on this thread for support!

I'd rather like to stay on the plus size thread on the style and beauty board too, even though I'm really a size 14 now (12/14 on the bottom, 14/16 on top)... Still I think plus size officially starts at 14, and 16 is definitely officially plussize - and I still have a size 26 wrap dress I wore the other day and I still wear several size 18 jumpers and dresses

My colleagues are supportive as cheerleaders/ makers of nice comments but I feel I have to be relentlessly positive at work as so many of them seem to think I know what I'm doing and are trying to follow the same "plan" even though there isn't a plan! I seem to have been cast into a role of colleague weightloss mentor just because I started first and most of my team jumped on the band wagon... It has actually helped at work though as I'm getting my ideas pushed through on more things now more longstanding and senior colleagues defer to me on weightloss

Thanks everyone for the replies. Yes I have thought I probably haven't been eating enough. Very frustrating as the majority of my weight gain came after I had my son 5 years ago, and I've managed to put on a whooping 7 stone in that time! But I'm trying to tell myself it will be a slow and gradual process. I didn't gain this weight over night, so I shouldn't expect the weight loss to be quick

I also have pcos, which I think is making it a little bit harder and I'm on a few medications for other things, which could be contributing to it as well. I went on the scales today and it looks like I've put on a 1lb! No idea how that happened, but I've been increasing my activity each day (walked 14,000 steps today) so maybe it's not anything to concerned about at this stage. I also have the implant, so I don't know if that could be affecting it

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme how exciting that you're so close to goal!! Have you said anywhere how long your weight loss has taken so far? My work place are a bit of the opposite and want to know why I don't want the doughnuts, cakes and pastries they've brought in. Funnily I never ate those things at work before losing weight either!!

@BippityBoppity87 I've PCOS too and agree it makes it harder. I was at 18 stone 8 in January at 5'4. I'm 17st 4 now and have been losing 1lb a week. I've found myself continuously decreasing my calories and exercising for an hour + a day and having 1/2 very low calorie days a week to try and "ramp up" my weight loss. I still lost 1lb! So this week I'm having 200ish extra calories a day. I feel so much better even just having those few extra calories a day (usually in mixed nuts or crunchy chickpeas) and am exercising more enthusiastically and feeling better overall. I've gone from having 1000-1200 calories a day to 1300-1500 and feel better for it. Weigh day Sunday so will find out if it's been the right choice 😬 How have you been feeling eating so little? Do you feel "well"? Someone pointed out to me (or maybe I read it on here!) That as you lose weight your calorie needs naturally reduce and if you start off unrealistically low you don't have anywhere to reduce to.

I've enjoyed reading everyone's posts the last few days! Graphs and losses have been inspiring and impressive! 😊
Doctors for me tomorrow and I'm a bit scared as I know they'll weigh me, and I don't want to suddenly find out I'm 6lbs heavier on their scales than my own as I'll feel less good about any weight I've lost on official weigh day on Sunday!

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme.
I am very pleased for you. I know you have expected the last 8 kilos to be really slow, so a lovely surprise.
@BippityBoppity87. Welcome. That days food doesn’t sound enough for a meal. Please please eat more.
@ScottishBeth .congratulations on your loss

WeightlossKin wise words to Bippity there! I wrote a bit of weight related background about myself in the second post of this thread - its taken me ten months to lose 44kg so far (half a pound off 7 stone according to the conversion site).

Zebracat thank you - sometimes it seems to make very little logical sense, the way the weightloss progresses, with plateus where logically there should be a loss and a bigger loss where there should be a plateau or tiny loss, but I'll take it - it works out and confirms that the human (perhaps especially female) metabolism is often a lot more complex than simple and direct calories in/ calories out being reflected directly in that same week's weigh in!

I have news. Weighed myself this morning and I was 95.3 kilos, 1.4 kilos down from Sunday. But when I then switched the scales to stones, I was 14st13and 3/4. I am so pleased. I would so love it if someone asked me how much I weigh so that I could reply, vaguely “oh 14 something”
I started the year at 105.2 kilos. .1 takes me to 10 kilos lost and .7 takes me to 10% of my body weight. 10 pounds gets me under 200 pounds, and from there it’s a hop and skip to under 90 kilos.
I seem to be around the 98 mark for so long that these admittedly engineered milestones are making me very happy.
I think it’s the swimming. I read that control of eating leads to weight loss, and exercise is immaterial, but proper swimming 4 times a week , and those vile abdominal exercises every morning do seem to have kickstarted my metabolism. I’m also sleeping much better, and that is known to help. I think I might be on my way now.
Or of course, I could sit at around 95 for months. Who knows.

That's brilliant! Congrats Zebracat.
I think you might also be right about the swimming. I always feel so much better after a swim. I think it does all the right stuff.
And it's nicely low impact.

@WeightlossKin tbh I'm tired all the time, but I'm like that a lot. I have to go into hospital to do another sleep apnea study, as the one I did last Friday at home came back inconclusive. So it's just one thing after the other 😖 I really hope I don't have it and it's something simple like a vitamin deficiency, but I don't want to blindly start taking them without knowing what (if any) I'm deficient in. Or having a young child. I rarely feel hungry, and do have to force myself to eat sometimes. But one of my medications is Concerta xl (for ADHD) which can be an appetite suppressant

I will try and eat more today

Oh @BippityBoppity87, that does sound very tough. @FatCatThinCat has issues with sleep apnoea too, and they clearly link to weight through hormones. you do need more food though. I wonder if trying to eat every day at the same times would help?
I have Oatsosimple with blueberries, and an orange every day for breakfast. It’s boring, but it does the job. It would give you more energy.

Zebracat yay! I'm so pleased for you! Fantastic that things are moving now! Even though the calories burned directly through exercise are limited, meaning moderate exercise rarely leads to immediate weightloss on its own, we all know that exercise builds muscle, and muscle tissue burns more calories than fat even at rest, soit makes complete sense that the benefits of swimming, resistance exercise and walking regularly are seen several weeks after starting the regular exercise, but are then cumulative as you keep going... Not as simple as the misleading "calories in/ calories out" but logical all the same...

BippityBoppity87 are you home with your young child? Could you deliberately decide toeat 3 meals per day with him or her (assuming we're talking about a child not an unweaned baby!). I'm sure you feed your child healthy food - couldn't you eat together, potentially the same thing? There are all sorts of good reasons to do that for the benefit of your child as well as yourself.If you're not hungry have toddler portions, but eating three different, healthy meals will give you a better chance of getting the right balance of not only vitamins and minerals but fibre, protein, healthy fats etc. Your body needs all of that to function well, as well as sleep.

@Zebracat - that's fantastic news! Well done.... I am very pleased for you. I'm with you on the exercise, it makes all kinds of difference, not just on the calorie defect side of things.
@BippityBoppity87 - it sounds like you are having a difficult time. I remember very clearly the stress of looking after a small child (mine is only 5!). I put on so much weight in the early years due to lack of sleep, eating on the run, no time to myself and the sheer grind of trying to juggle so much every day. @UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme has a good suggestion of eating with your child.... Getting better nutrition will help you I'm sure. And be kind to yourself. From a personal perspective, I beat myself up over my weight in those years, but actually with hindsight, it was a very difficult time and I perhaps should have focused more on getting good nutrition and some exercise and looking after myself. Now that I sleep the night again and have time to myself I am much better able to successfully deal with my weight.

My son will be 5 next week, he eats loads haha and has a very varied diet, although I'm trying to rein the sweets in a bit

I've eaten a bit better today. I didn't have breakfast, but I don't usually have a huge appetite in the mornings. I've had homemade bolognese (minus the spaghetti) with extra mushrooms and tinned tomatoes and then a chicken curry with veg, instead of rice. Steps haven't been as much today, 7,000 steps in total, but better than nothing and sitting on my bum all day lol

How is everyone this evening?

Also managed to lose another 1lb. So that's 2lbs roughly lost this week and 21lbs I've lost in total in 5 weeks! I'm so close to seeing 17 stone on the scale!

@BippityBoppity87 – welcome and well done on the loss and keeping active – I too am chasing the 17st mark, can’t wait. I’m doing a no sugar plan too but beyond that I just try to eat fairly healthily, although cheese and too many takeaways are a bit out of control for me.

@Zebracat – can I ask how much do you weight? ;-) Well done on the loss, that’s great progress!

@WeightlossKin – I’m another PCOS sufferer and it really does make it harder, but from what I understand losing weight can help the symptoms, bit of a vicious cycle but we can do it.

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme – well done, it sounds like you are making great progress and it is inspiring to see someone so near to a healthy BMI.

I’m still working my way through the thread so will add more replies later.

I’m feeling a bit run down after a tough couple of weeks. I was really in the rhythm with my C25K runs when I pulled a calf muscle, which has taken 2 weeks to resolve (well I think it is resolved, gonna go for a decent walk tomorrow to test it), then literally couldn’t get up because of a prolapsed haemorrhoid and then had my vaccine last week (which I am so happy about) but had bad effects for a couple of days. Also had DD off sick most of the week so not been the easiest. I have really struggled without being able to really exercise, I have just found that I have lost my rhythm and routine and there has been an impact on my mental health too which makes eating healthily more challenging. My fitbit also informs me that I have slept 40 mins per day less (average) this week.

I haven’t been eating too healthily (the usual – too many takeaways with us both being ill) BUT I managed to stay off the sugar which to be honest was always the biggest problem with me. Somehow I had a loss last week (0.7 kg taking me to 3.3kg overall) but am not expecting the same tomorrow! I just need to get back to the exercise and am happy to be feeling on the mend.

@MamaNewtNewt. 95.2 kilos, and I weigh every day- not sure what you were asking!
Sorry you’ve had a run of obstacles to overcome.

[quote Zebracat]@MamaNewtNewt. 95.2 kilos, and I weigh every day- not sure what you were asking!
Sorry you’ve had a run of obstacles to overcome.[/quote]
It's because you said you wish someone who ask you how much you weigh so you could say "oh 14st something" At least I think it was you - hopefully not someone else although my joke has fallen flat anyway

@BippityBoppity87 sounds like you managed to eat well and we'll done on your loss.
@MamaNewtNewt I'm sorry you've had a rough time. That all sounds like a lot to deal with. It must be extremely hard to focus on food and weight loss with all of that going on. Well done on your loss, and wishing you a better week this week.

@MamaNewtNewt sounds like you're having a bit of a tough time at the moment. I wouldn't try and push yourself too much just now as you're mental health is more important. I had the vaccine mid March, and it made me feel a bit tired as well, should hopefully be having the second in the next few weeks

I've been trying so well, but I've caved tonight and ordered a Chinese lol. Mixed meat with broccoli and prawn wontons, but I've noticed when I've done this in the past (I've had a couple of takeaways in the past 5 weeks) I've still managed to lose weight. So I think it's mainly all about moving more and if you do get a takeaway, make better choices and try and avoid the carbs! And it's worked

83.6kg this morning...BMI 31.5. I'm 100g away from a 30kg total loss....next week hopefully!

Well done @alphaechokiwi – that’s great! I love to see people further along the journey, it really helps to see that it can be done.

Well I’m not sure how but I managed to lose 1.3kg this week – I sound like that kid at school who swears they have done no revision and then gets an A (well maybe a B). This is my biggest weekly loss so a bit bizarre but I will take it.

I went for a walk this morning, only 20 mins, but it was great to get out and feel I am exercising again. I felt like I could have done more but I’m glad I didn’t push too much as the muscle is a little tight now but seems ok.

Food-wise we have just had a food delivery and I have all the healthy meals planned out with allowance for one takeaway (which is a pretty healthy curry from a vegetarian place) so really hoping to eat better this week.

I know a lot of people have weigh-ins today so good luck and hopefully it is a good week for all of us.

101 kg today so the same as the last few weeks.

Just checked and I have lost 2kgs in the past month.

Not as much as I would have hoped, but a loss at least.

I will be honest I have been off plan since Thursday but back on from tomorrow.

@MamaNewtNewt. Damn, missed my chance. It was funny, just I’m clearly the straight woman in this comedy duo!
@alphaechokiwi, another great week, is next week skirt week then?
95.5 this morning, which is up from midweek, but a 1.2 kilo loss for the week so I am quite happy. I have been fairly disciplined this week, and it is reflected so that’s good.
I am going to make a rhubarb crumble though, my gardens bursting with it and I really want some. It is, in my opinion, impossible to eat rhubarb without added sugar and butter, and with cream on top. So that will be my treat for today -and tomorrow if there’s any left for breakfast-.