Mutual support thread for people with a lot of weight to lose. Part III

[alphaechokiwi]

This is a mutual support thread for people who have a lot of weight to lose. The original thread started with a poster who wanted to lose 9 stone and has evolved from diet advice to offering each other mutual long term support. Most of us have started in the morbid obese range or with a BMI in the high 30's (ish).
Everyone is welcome, regardless of where you are on your 'journey'. We have some inspiring stories. But also lots of us are muddling along, sometimes doing well and sometimes not so well.
We're all at different points. Some have lost lots of weight and are now maintaining. Others part way through a big weight loss and others starting out. We try to offer encouragement, congratulations or consolations where needed. We are respectful of different approaches and recognise that everyone has their own unique set of circumstances.

Thread 1 - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weight_loss_chat/3894410-i-need-to-lose-9st-help
Thread 2 - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weight_loss_chat/4192315-Mutual-support-thread-for-those-currently-losing-or-working-towards-losing-a-lot-of-weight

Fantastic @SnowyMouse - well done!

Thank you!

Good morning everyone, I hope you have all had a good week.
After bouncing around the same weight since September I decided to shake things up a bit for December. I'm extremely proud to have lost 35kg and it's a good thing that I've maintained that loss. It's had the most enormous positive impact on my health and wellbeing. But I still have 15 kg to lose to get to a healthy BMI. I decided to give low carb a go for December (just until Christmas day 🤣). I'm basing it on the low carb bootcamp threads on Mumsnet which I've lurked on over the years but never really tried properly. I don't generally agree with drastically restricting a food group. But I see this as a time limited kick in the ass to get me going again....
I've not weighed myself yet but this morning I woke up and my hip and sacroiliac joint pain which I've lived with for the two years since I had treatment for breast cancer has completely gone. It's truly remarkable. I keep sitting on the sofa and standing up to check. It does bother me a little if this is the answer to my joint problems. I love baked potatoes and sourdough bread and making waffles as a treat for the family on Sunday mornings and chocolate . I've really cut back on these things over the past year but kept them as a reduced but enjoyable element of my diet. I'd struggle to eliminate these things from my diet permanently. And yet the change is so drastic. I feel so much lighter and younger being able to go about life without constant hip pain this morning.

Thanks @SnowyMouse and @alphaechokiwi. Yeah, I know if I just persevere it should pass. I do keep thinking maybe I should try something different, like you've done alpha, to sort of kick it into gear. Not certain low carb is a good idea for me right now though.

I have actually had a good loss this week, I'm delighted! However I don't recommend the !ethos to anyone I have had an awful cold and completely lost my appetite! So this morning I was 84.9kg! A loss of 1.1kg in 6 days. I am delighted (but still lying on the sofa feeling sorry for myself). Haha! Silver linings! I just hope I don't put it all back on in the next 6 days! I will try really hard.

Alpha I'm so pleased your hip is feeling better! But it's only 4th December - how long have you been low carb? Hopefully you'll still be able to do have some carbs. It seems very quick to have had such a big impact.

@SnowyMouse well done on your loss.

@wombatsandweightloss I think 600g in a week is a really good loss, so well done!

@Roussette that's what I do as well! Well, except I weigh in a Saturday usually. Well done on what you've lost so far by the weigh. That's brilliant. What methods did you use?

I got a Styled by Susie analysis this week. I know some people don't like it, but I figured it wasn't too expensive and I really don't particularly like the way I dress during the colder months. In the summer I have nice clothes, but in winter I just wear the same thing, which is fine sometimes but it's boring and I don't look nice. Anyway I've ordered 2 dresses and they came yesterday and I am so pleased! They fit really well and really suit me, and are really fun. I'm just excited to be able to feel like I look nice again. I think I've been thinking that when I lose weight I can buy nice clothes. Well yes, but I can also buy nice clothes now! I think if anything this will help me lose weight, as I don't feel like a lost cause. So I'm really excited and can't wait to wear them out! This is one of them. joanieclothing.com/barbara-ann-space-print-button-through-tea-dress.html Just need a good cardigan to go with it.

@ScottishBeth I'm sorry that you've been poorly. 1.1kg is definitely a silver lining 🤣. Hopefully you will be better soon
I am astonished that this has happened 4 days in... I keep standing up to check.... I can't quite understand such a dramatic difference. I'll keep on until Christmas and then see how I feel...

@ScottishBeth
Thank you!

Basically I just cut out certain foods that I adore! No... seriously... I used MFP for a while until I'd educated myself calorie wise a bit more, I cut down portion size drastically, especially potatoes and bread which is my downfall.

Also, what I think really worked for me was doing 16/8. I've never been a fan of breakfast anyway so I just found it easy. And my DH does this hobby 3 times a week and has to be off doing it by about 6.30pm so we were eating earlier.

alpha That's brilliant, I love to hear of health benefits like this, it's so encouraging.
I can walk so much further than when I started on this, and really appreciate that.

ScottishBeth love that dress!

@ScottishBeth - love that dress btw. I know exactly what you mean about clothes x

When I started to lose weight I was feeling good about myself. My BMI was still over 40 but I wanted to be a bit kinder to myself. I bought some really nice new clothes even though I was determined that they wouldn't fit within a few months. I've recently made a few £££s by selling them on via Vinted. They were good quality brands and I made decent money!
Later, I was able to 'shop my wardrobe'. It felt great to be able to wear the nice stuff I'd bought over the years and not fit into, or had grown to big to fit. It's a nice boost. I'm pretty happy with my clothes at the moment, so I'm not buying anything new but saving for a splurge when I get my BMI under 25...

I have a whole new wardrobe! It's just one I haven't bought but one here at home that I can now get into! It is a nice feeling I have to say.

However... I'm on Vinted with two unworn Scarlett & Jo dresses with labels still in... and not a peep from anyone!

@Roussette Vinted is funny like that. Most of what I listed was from Toast and it sold well for decent prices. But I do have some other quality stuff which isn't moving. eBay is perhaps better for this but full of scammers.

Hi everyone, I didn't weigh myself yesterday, my scales battery died and I'm waiting for some to be delivered. Getting used to a low carb way of eating now but still don't think I could commit long term to it.
I'm still amazed at the impact it's had on my aches and pains in such a short time. I should emphasise that by far the biggest impact on my pain and mobility has been losing weight, nothing to do with carbs or any other food group. When I started at 113kg, I could barely walk. I had severe knee and hip pain. l struggled with steps and stairs, running after the kids was out of the question and generally my mobility was quite poor. I took painkillers to alleviate the pain and get through the day. Losing the kgs has made such a dramatic difference to all of that. I no longer take painkillers, I skip up the stairs, run for buses and life is just so much easier.
Although vastly improved, I was left with pain in my hips / sacroiliac area and a feeling of inflammation in my knees. So bending over, getting out of bed and crouching down are still difficult / painful. I thought that getting down to a healthy BMI would perhaps help with that. It's really surprising to me that low carb has such an effect so quickly.
It's been good for me to have a shake up. I've been struggling with my fasting / low calorie approach for a while. Hopefully I'll see some movement on the scales from it and can adapt the approach to suit my long term lifestyle while retaining the benefits to my joints.
Wishing you all a great week...

alpha that just sounds brilliant, and such a good advert for losing weight! For me it becomes a fixation on what the scales say and I forget the health and fitness side of it!

I went for a walk this morning, only managed 3.5km but the icy driving rain sent me back home as I was so wet and cold.

The weekend was not good for me, as we had friends round for a meal on Saturday with lots to drink, and whilst it wasn't hugely fattening, finishing off the pavlova I made on Sunday was biggest treat ever!
I'm going to be good this week and avoid the scales until Thurs/Friday.

@Roussette - hopefully you'll have a good week. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you

Ditto and you!
It's hard when the weather is so rubbish !

@Roussette I think human beings must be genetically programmed to lay down fat reserves coming into winter / times of scarcity... it's how our ancestors must have survived. To badly summarise a point from Why We Eat (too much), foods that are seasonal in the autumn in the northern hemisphere (nuts, seeds etc.) contain higher levels of omega 6 fats. Elevated levels of omega 6 trigger a leptin response which signals the body to lay down fat reserves. That's a massive oversimplification on my part, but I find it really interesting!

SW: 14 stone 4
CW: 13 stone 2.75 (week 15, 7 dec, 1.75 loss)
GW: 13 stone 0 (Christmas)

@SnowyMouse - great loss! You really are on track to meet your Christmas target!!!

Thanks, fingers crossed.

Wow Snowy that's excellent!

alpha that does make sense... and also, for me, the hot comfort food thing!

Thanks @Roussette , I'm pleased.

@alphaechokiwi you're doing so well! Very interesting about low carb and your pains. I've got hip bursitis and expected weight loss to have helped that. 43lbs down and it's better but still a weekly flare up. I've been trying to be relatively low carb for only two and a half weeks now and actually, I'm not sure the last time it hurt. I'm gonna start paying attention to it and see! I like your explanation of the laying down fat theory, thank you for that.

I'm just saying hello and well done to everyone really 😊 I've been far less consistent at checking in as I'd have liked to!
I'm interested in how people are feeling and/or what methods people have for managing over the Christmas period 👀 I'm not keen on having days off or 'relaxing because it's Christmas' because I usually pack on 4-6lbs over Christmas so I'm hoping to remain really on plan, but how one does that I don't know.

Well done @SnowyMouse - you're definitely on track!

@alphaechokiwi so pleased your hip is still feeling better. And that's amazing the difference losing weight has made to you! I hope it continues to improve. The stuff about omega 6 is really interesting. It sounds like a good book, but I'm a bit scared I'll never be able to eat sugar again! Also, like @Roussette, comfort eating is a big deal for me. And honestly it's not just when it's cold!

@WeightlossKin I try to think about portion sizes. It's hard though! Good question, and I'll be interested to see what other people think.

My friend is coming up this weekend, so I'm going to wear some of my new clothes! I can't wait!

@ScottishBeth
Oh yes!
We had 4 friends over for a meal Saturday night and we dressed up a bit because we're really not doing anything else in the way of anything much this Christmas.
I wore a dress I bought 4 or 5 years ago that I love. It's very fitted and basically I wore it probably only once back then, but then piled on the weight and haven't been able to wear it since, but did on Saturday! It was such a boost for me.

Morning! Great to read the positive stories. Well done everyone!

I am weighing in today at 101kg

29/10 104
28/11 103
9/12 101

My weigh ins are random but I have been keeping up with the gym and being more mindful with food.

I am still clinging to the hope of under 100 kgs by 17 December!!!