50lbs to lose - where do I start?

[Bumblebees12]

I know what works for me - lower carbs and intermittent fasting.

But I am so overwhelmed with the amount of weight I need to lose. I weigh more now than I did heavily pregnant. It’s the most I’ve ever weighed, and I feel so utterly shit about it that it’s making me feel demotivated and like I might aswell not bother.

I need to kick this negative attitude and outlook, does anyone have any tips on staying committed to losing weight? I was thinking about planning nice things to do (not food related!) for every 10lbs I lose.

Thanks in advance!

Hi,

My weight loss is going slowly but surely! Averaging about 2lb a week.

Agree with @Morningstar66 about moderation/abstain. I need to abstain from snacks, but I am trying to live fairly normally so if I'm out for a meal, I'm having the pudding. The key for me has been to average it out the next day.

I also agree with the poster who recommended Why We Eat (Too Much) - the single biggest thing it's done for me is to help me understand just because I feel hungry, doesn't mean I am hungry. For years I tried to do "intuitive" or "mindful" eating but when you're always bloody ravenous that is a recipe for disaster!

Again, like @morningstar66 said, the time passes anyway. You've got to shop, cook, eat in that time anyway so it's not a huge leap to adjust your choices.

1lb a week will take about a year. A year will pass anyway. Do you want to be 50lb lighter this time next year? Or possibly 50lb heavier? Celebrate every 1lb off and remind yourself it's yet another step to your ideal you this time next year.

Hi all, thanks again for all of your helpful and encouraging replies!

So today is day 3, and I am 4lbs down from when I made my post I know a chunk of that is water weight, but I feel less bloated, and my face looks less puffy. Looking forward to what Friday’s weigh in will be!

I have purchased Why We Eat (too much) and looking forward to starting to read it later today! Thanks for the recommendations.

Has anyone used a Fit Bit? I’m contemplating purchasing one to keep track of my activity / daily calorie expenditure.

I use a FitBit to keep track of activity and also use it to log my food. I find it a really useful tool to keep me motivated, and to take my mind of just focusing on weight loss (e.g. some weeks I may not lose much, but my fitness improved, so that’s still a win!). One thing to bear in mind is that apparently it tends to overestimate how many calories you burn when walking, so don’t eat back all your exercise calories!

And well done on your loss so far!

I’ve read Why We Eat Too Much and actually found it a little depressing 😂 A lot of what it says doesn’t line up with my personal experience of weightloss, but obviously everyone is different so I’m not doubting it works for some, may be even a lot of, people.

For what it’s worth, I’ve lost over 45 lbs on a diet that is high in carbs and have not hit a single weightloss plateau along the way. For me the trick seems to be eating quite a lot of calories (1800 a day) and using those calories on what I consider to be healthy foods (fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts etc), plus doing a lot of exercise! Most importantly, what I’m doing feels very sustainable, which is really important when you have a lot to lose!

For motivation, I’d also suggest joining one of the monthly weight loss threads. I’m in this one, which is full of supportive people:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weight_loss_chat/4310430-LOSE-IT-August-2021

Yes I have a FitBit watch with a heart rate monitor. It’s great! You sometimes get deals on Amazon.

@Crazzzycat interesting that you found Why we Eat Too Much depressing. I found it eye-opening but not all of it chimed with me but most of it did. I also found the exploration of our evolution and relationship with food fascinating.

Morning all, thanks again for all the great advice! Day off work today so I’ll be going through it all and picking up tips definitely going to purchase a Fitbit!

Woke up today and weighed myself, Friday is going to be my official weigh day. Im down 6lbs so far and feel brilliant about it.

I’m going to keep posting on this thread with updates, hopefully it can serve as some motivation for anyone who felt like I did to start off!

Exercise wise I’ve also started going on long walks, it’s really enjoyable, I just put on a podcast or playlist and enjoy nature.

Start weight : 195 lbs
Current weight: 189 lbs
Goal weight: 145 lbs

Also just realised I only have another 3.3lbs to lose until I am in the ‘overweight’ rather than ‘obese’ BMI category really am so glad I got started.

@Bumblebees12

Well done! I’ve a similar amount to lose. Have been doing a daily weigh-in and frustratingly have not really lost much since Monday this week (1lb) despite no snacks, no booze, have exercised every day and upped my water intake. I suspect my menopause hormones are at play here so will now push forward HRT now I have my spreadsheet evidence. This is usually the point at which I just think ‘fuck it’ and have wine. I’m determined not to do this.

Check out Second Nature, it's a website & app. It's low carb & so much more than a diet.

I had a Fitbit then upgraded to an Apple Watch as I have an iPhone and iPad and liked the connectivity of it all.

I do prefer the Apple Watch, mainly because I can use it to pay for stuff through contactless and the Fitbit pay wallet thing doesn't include NatWest (or lots of other U.K. banks) so I couldn't use that feature. I also like that it has lots of other things like being able to listen to my music, take calls and so on.

For a purely exercise tracking Fitbit and Apple Watch are very similar though.