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

Welcome to @wombatsandaplant. Are you off that medication now? Must have been very difficult for you.
@BippityBoppity87. It’s infuriating isn’t it? Does that put you over 17 stone again?The happy place app might be useful for you.

@Zebracat yep. 17st 2lbs again. No idea why this is happening. It's just not budging! I even asked my DP if he thinks I'm overeating and to be brutally honest, because sometimes you might not realise. But said definitely not, and agrees it's a bit strange. I'll look into that app thank you

@Zebracat yes I’m no longer on that medication, thankfully.

I weighed this morning and I’ve now lost 10% of weight I have to lose. Yay. Super happy this morning.

@BippityBoppity87 do you want to maybe share some examples of what you're eating in a day and how much/how many calories in case anyone can advise? Are you booked in to see a GP, wonder if they'd be willing to get you some nutritional advice? 🙁 Not sure any of that is helpful but wish there was something I could do as I absolutely understand the frustration.

@wombatsandaplant 10%! Amazing achievement!

@WeightlossKin of course

So a typical day, I don't have breakfast. Usually have a couple of coffees with a bit skimmed milk and sweetener as I'm never really hungry in the morning

Lunch is either chicken soup. Egg salad/prawn salad. Smoked salmon. Chicken or ham/cheese sandwich on whole meal. Sometimes a small bowl of berries, but not all the time

Dinner is usually chicken and salad/veg, steak and veg, pork loin, sausages, bolognese with veg (I don't have it with spaghetti) or chicken curry I make myself minus the rice and veg, things like that

Vegetables I eat are broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, asparagus, carrots, swede mash, mushrooms (not all at the same time obvs!)

I rarely snack or drink fizzy juice and drink water if I'm thirsty. If I do snack, it's usually a yoghurt, sugar free jelly or one of those Philadelphia light cheese and bread sticks snack thing

At the weekend I like to have a few gin and slim line tonics on either a Friday or Saturday

I leave the house most days and walk everywhere mainly

BippityBoppity87 if you are genuinely sure you're not over eating (not ignoring the odd snacks or sugary or alcoholic drinks or underestimating portion sizes) and not overdoing sugar and carbohydrates and processed food as proportional to your total intake, and are driving enough tap water and not eating too much salt... then I'd bet a large sum the few pounds are just hormonal. You keep thinking that you're an anomaly not losing weight, but honestly look at your long term trend - its on the good end of normal! You're losing well over time. Everyone has a wave pattern. As long as the trend is overall down its so utterly normal to have small gains. Honestly its quite frustrating to read the genuine conviction that you're anomalous. Honestly your weightloss path is utterly, completely normal!

wombatsandaplant welcome and well done on the fantastic start. I know what you mean about being fit for your size - despite getting up to 119 kg at my heaviest I have never been anything close to sedentary and always prided myself on taking on everything, and managing anything thrown at me, and never ever using my weight as a reason not to do anything no matter how much effort or discomfort it cost me. Honestly I was possibly physically a bit stronger and definitely felt the cold less before I lost the weight... Though there are a million other benefits to having lost it!

Zebracat I'm glad you had a good holiday - I really hope you're feeling better now! I'm away too atm and totally understand the way food is inextricably linked to time away with family... so tricky to correctly manage, so many variables being with your nearest and dearest 24/7 during leisure time...

Thank you @UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme I know I'm probably being unreasonable and need to chill out a bit. And you're right, if it's plotted on a graph, there would be an overall down trend, so I need to keep bearing that in mind

Hope everyone has a nice weekend

@BippityBoppity87 could you make a graph? I think i5 would help you a lot
@WeightlossKin thanx
@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme. I am feeling better. Been home a week. I haven’t lost any of the weight, but I am starting to regain my healthy habits. I don’t think there will be a quick turn around, but I don’t mind as long as I start to lose again.. went swimming today and this week I have eaten a lot of salad, and drunk much less alcohol. I have got a lot of pain, but I know that inactivity will only make that worse, so I’m gritting my teeth and getting on with it, while also taking painkillers!

First week back of trying to make better choices and I've done ok. I've decided I'm not going to keep jumping on scales as I will become obsessed.
I have an important event next year that is my motivation. I know I've a long way to go but it's going to take time and long term changes.
My biggest issue is time. Incredibly long work hours, disabled son and what feels like never ending housework, appointments and admin. I need to manage my work day to give myself time to think about healthier choices and keeping up on the other areas that are not changeable.

@BippityBoppity87 do you have a graph? 😊 It'd be so good for you to keep one I think! My fitness pal and Fitbit have in built graphs showing your weight over time. Very basic but nice to see a drop! I bet yours looks very impressive. Be kind to yourself and don't give up, your body will catch up!

@tibni well done one your first week of better choices. Even small changes make a big difference over time. I've had to get my husband to hide the scales! It's a bit crazy how quickly I got obsessed with them and was going on them several times a day (not sure what I was hoping for - magic I guess!). A big event is great motivation! If you know timing is your main obstacle at least you know what to work at and try to get yourself as organised as possible? Easier said than done of course but not impossible 😊

Weigh in at slimming world for me this evening. Another 2lb loss! I've lost 35lbs now since the beginning of the year. I've lost 2lbs a week for the last three weeks! I'm happy with that as I did really struggle with losing 1lb a week.
I've worked out if I can keep at this pace I will have a BMI below 35 by Christmas (😬😬 Christmas) and be at target by mid March?! That's allowing for no weight loss the week after DHs birthday and the week after Christmas.
Now that I've worked that out I feel really calm. I was in a rush to get on the IVF list which BMI is obviously stopping but Mid March will be here before I know it, and that doesn't feel so bad, as long as I can keep it off of course! 🤞🤞

Yes I need to start a graph. Keep forgetting. Well I weighed myself this morning, as I hadn't done it in over a week. Full on expecting disappointment as my diet hasn't been the best. It hasn't been terrible, but not great either. Lost 2lbs. So hovering around the 16st 13lbs/ 17st mark. So was pleasantly surprised at that. I've put it down to doing a lot of walking. Well over 10,000 daily. Sometimes even 17,000. So could be the reason

Just got off the phone from the sleep clinic. Turns out I do have sleep apnoea and they're going to send a machine out to help me breathe at night. Apparently I stopped breathing 22 times that's horrifying

Oh well, I suppose that explains a lot. Could this be contributing to why my weight is fluctuating so much? I don't know much about it

Well done losing the 2lbs. I'm sure you will get there and your body is just catching up and getting used to your big loss so far.
How scary to find out you stopped breathing 22 times in a night! At least you know now.
I'm sure as it impacts on sleep quality, it can make you crave sugar and carbs etc.
I wonder if it can make a difference to your metabolism but have no idea. People who improve their sleep do seem to lose weight based on studies into it - unsure if this is because it changes the way they eat or if it's because of something else though. I guess you'll know soon though!
I wonder if your sleep apnoea will get better with weight loss?

@WeightlossKin I did ask that question actually. And the nurse said, sometimes. But it's not always because you're overweight and many normal weight people have sleep apnea. More to do with your neck circumference or something? Or if you have large tonsils. So said not to be disheartened if you lose more weight, but you still need the machine as it more complex than that. And I was like, oh ok

Yeah I was Googling it yesterday and apparently sleep apnea can make it notoriously difficult to lose weight, so the fact I've lost almost 3 stone so far is pretty impressive!

Back from our almost week away near aviemore.

Booked on for aqua aerobics tomorrow, looking forward to that, never tried it before. We were gonna go swimming but swimming when aqua is on is terrible. We shall see how it goes.

Still haven’t weighed but I’ve eaten quite a few millionaire shortbreads this week, so don’t want to lol. Gonna weigh in on Monday.

I've home for for a few days but haven't managed to catch up with the thread yet - sorry to anyone I miss out. I hope everyone is doing well. Welcome @wombatsandaplant and @tibni and @Angliski - I hope you find the support here helpful. It's really helped me keep motivated and on track...
I definitely put on some weight over my time at home although I've not stepped on the scales yet. I'm not too worried about it and I got back into the swing of things as soon as I got back. I might leave it a few more days before I weigh myself though - just so I don't give myself too much of a shock . My focus now is getting to a 'healthy' BMI hopefully by Christmas, which will be a 50kg total loss for me over about 16 months. I've got a 'big' birthday coming up next spring and it would be great to celebrate that at a healthy weight for the first time in my long adult life.

@BippityBoppity87 - from my summer reading, it seems that sleep is very important in relation to weight, along with managing stress, taking some exercise, and diet (managing simple carbs and type of fats in particular). Treatment for sleep apnoea should help you although I still think that overall you are losing at the usual rate even if it is in fits and starts. I second the graph suggestion, mine has been a huge help over the past 12 months.
@WeightlossKin - you are doing so well, and I'm glad that you have been able to sort your head out in relation to the IVF timescale. You are so right - mid March will be here before we know it.
Glad you had a nice holiday @Zebracat - it was much deserved. You had a hectic few months earlier this year.
@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme - I hope you have managed to have a lovely summer. Have your children gone back to school yet?

@alphaechokiwi that’s an amazing achievement… tell me some more about how. I need to lose nearly 50kg and I despair that I will ever be able to lose and maintain at a normal weight… it seems to her harder every time…

Zebracat I'm glad you're feeling better.

BippityBoppity87 I agree that poor sleep and weight gain/ difficulty losing weight are intrinsically linked for most people - getting your sleep apnea sorted out will almost certainly help, if only by making you feel more positive and able to cope with things. Being long term tired impacts everything including your hormones.

WeightlossKin well done on the loss and the really pragmatic outlook - you'll be on the IVF waiting list before you know it!

wombatsandaplant how was aqua aerobics? I hope you enjoyed your week away. (and the shortbread)!

alphaechokiwi how was your trip? Is it a long time since you've been back? Did you take your DD or leave her with DH due to covid travel hassle? How were the logistics?
Your attitude to potential holiday weight also sounds very sensible - Im sure you'll reach a healthy weight by Christmas! No my kids still have another ten days school holiday. They're old enough that this is easier than term as at least they don't have to get up at 6am or before as they do in term time, and we've done a lot this holiday so I don't feel too bad letting them laze for the last bit - they need that too! Although I kick the boys outdoors daily for a bit and DD doesn't really laze around as its not really her nature, but she doesn't need me to plan for her, just give her lifts (including to driving lessons now).

Hello new people if I forgot to say that before, and sorry if I've missed anyone (I'm sure I have) my head's a bit woolly and I'm not feeling well - need to get to bed.

I've put on weight over the last two weeks too, stupidly due to a catalogue of my own errors (getting very dehydrated on a day's travel home from a family visit during which I drank far more coffee and wine than usual and less water) leading to cystitis... Im now drinking liters of cranberry juice, which I don't even - I read the side of a cartoon this morning and discovered that I drank 1090 calories in cranberry juice yesterday! I don't usually count calories but I'm pretty sure I usually have around 1500 a day, and never drink fruit juice normally! I've been drinking liters and litres of water too and do hope some of the weight is water too, as I'm drinking water during the night and also obviously sleeping badly... Weighed 74kg this morning which puts me back in the overweight category, I haven't been over eating but haven't eaten less to allow for the bloody cranberry juice!

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme

Aqua aerobics was great, decided we’re gonna go every Tuesday and Friday. And have my personal trainer at the gym every Monday and Wednesday.

Week away was good, didn’t lose any weight I don’t think but we got back on Thursday and I’ve lost weight since then, so doing good.

Lost a kilo this week, so that puts me at 0.1kg heavier than my lowest weight which was a week before last. So yay, I’m getting there.

Hello to all. @UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme; sorry you aren’t well. Cystitis is the very devil. Try not to worry about the weight and focus on feeling better. I’m getting back to myself now, I have realised that it’s probably not the activity that leads to weight loss, it’s that when I am busy I don’t snack. I am just under 98 kilos now, which is quite high, but getting miserable won’t help me so I need to be mindful and love myself.
I have got quite a sore back currently, which is what happenswhen I get over 96 kilos, and when I don’t swim, so I hope that will remind me why I need to sustain changes.

Joining you, got a family event next weekend which prompted me to start trying to lose weight a week ago. I went into the pandemic at my heaviest and put on more weight with nowhere to go I put more into making nice meals and I wasn’t wearing clothes that reminded me I’m fat. I’m doing two weeks Slimfast to get going and break some of my snacking habits but then the idea is back into sensible diet and exercise.
I am so fed up of yo yo weight that creeps ever upwards and in my 50s so its all harder than it used to be