Did you gain weight in lockdown? Do you want a friendly thread for support? Look no further!

[Toastandcrumpets]

So this is on the back of a chat with @fatflump on a different thread, basically I gained a lot of weight in 2020 due to lockdown and pregnancy. Going to the supermarket for food was my daily treat and oh boy …

I actually managed to lose most, going from over 17 stone to 12, but struggling to shift that last two stone and I keep veering between 11’12 and 12’2 on the scales.

Going on holiday end of October so I’m trying to stick to the diet until then, then my plan is to really struck to it for November and hopefully be below 11 and a half for Christmas!

Anyone want to join me for a friendly chat?

I didn’t gain weight, I always had it and just lost it in lockdown. 4.5 stone.

Same as you I am 11.3 to 11.9 depending on how I am feeling, and I’d love to be happily in the high 10’s ideally.

Can I still join please

Yes and yes!

Yes please. I have yo-yowed for years but put on loads over lockdown. Biggest I've ever been now

Oh God, yes! Howwww did you lose most of it?! I was also pregnant last year, gave birth at Xmas and have a similar amount to lose. I know from experience when I stop breastfeeding it will come off easier, but still think I should be able to shift SOMEthing now

Yes definitely 👍 I'm 166 lbs today and would love to be 156 before Christmas 🎄

Am here! Reporting in.

I am (shamefully) 17st 4lb. Not the biggest I've ever been, but close to it. In March 2020 I weighed 11 and a half stone, I have been mostly eating for the last 19 months.

Am on Day 2 of eating 'properly'. Hoping that by Christmas I might be at least 1.5st down. However 11st seems a very long way off right now.

Ah @Fatflump I was the same, I’m only 5’2 too.

Had a really good day yesterday, so pleased about that. Sometimes I have a good day followed by a bad one so need to be aware of this.

@MalFunkshun I did meal replacement - being honest here my eating isn’t great. I abuse flexibility. Diets like Cambridge work for me best!

@Fatflump I’m not far off you - solidarity.

@Toastandcrumpets maybe I just need to do that. My weakness is emotional eating and there’s a lot of emotions involved in parenting small children! Was it the Cambridge diet or something else? I keep trying to low carb, but have so little time to plan ahead. What I really want is a personal chef / dietitian

@Toastandcrumpets I know exactly what you mean - I can go from 'I'm really committed to this, I'm not going to eat to excess/ eat anything I'm trying to avoid' one day to constant thoughts about food the next. you have done so well though to stick with it! - but this is the hard part when you're relatively close to the end and (i know for me this is how it was) a bit of boredom and resentment creeps in as well as the desire to eat things you've avoided for months.

I do think of it a bit as an addiction. But day 3 and so far still going well. I am keeping a food diary, not to track calories (am too lazy for that) but more to ensure I keep a track on what I'm eating, it's almost like shaming myself

@MalFunkshun completely get the emotional eating - and I don't even have the excuse of small children! I kind of low carb (obviously not for the last year, but when I'm trying to lose weight!), just by replacing potatoes/ pasta/ rice with other veg - so for ex if I make a cottage pie for everyone, I do a separate one for me with a swede/carrot top rather than potato. Or with say a spaghetti bolognese, if I can be bothered I will spiralise some veg. Although that is time consuming - as an alternative I've recently discovered Pea/ Chick pea pasta in Aldi which is not cheap but it is a quick alternative - ditto those ready pouches of cauliflower rice.

Can't deny though a personal chef would be nice, or one of those meal preppers who just send you your food for the day each day. I could stick to it if I was just given my set amount of food (it's why I don't gain much weight when I go on hotel holidays, as I clearly overfill my plate at home!)

ME TOO
I’m sat here, after scoffing a McDonald’s breakfast feeling utterly crap and upset. I look in the mirror and I don’t recognise myself. I usually sit around a size 12/14 depending on where I shop qnd I was happy there. However since meeting boyfriend and some really stressful life events, then lockdown I’m pushing 14+ stone and I feel dreadful in myself. I’ve a terrible arthritis in my knee that’s not helped by all this extra weight.

My problem - I don’t know what to eat and how much, carbs are not my friend or sugar it makes me nauseous but I love it. I also have no thyroid so feel very lethargic and sleepy/brain fog. So need to figure out what to eat that tastes nice and how much exercise to do and perhaps make some friends in the same boat. Also 5’2 I want to be healthy and feel alive instead of dragging my miserable bum everywhere.

This is why I need something very structured and organised otherwise I just fail!

I need this too! I got into so many awful habits in lockdown. I was a really fit size 12/14 now I'm an 18 but no muscle definition at all. Need to sort myself out

I was quite motivated by this thread yesterday! So I:

• bought some My Protein powder to do some meal replacement shakes as a kickstart (it seems to have the best rating and it’s got a hefty discount on the website atm)
• FINALLY bought myself a sports bra that fits so I can take up C25k again
• walked 15k steps
• bought myself a pair of new actually flattering jeans - because I’ve spent 18 months in joggers and leggings and I thought I needed to start showing my body some love, if that makes sense!

I’m definitely one of those people who starts things enthusiastically and peters out when I get fed up, so I’m trying to hang on to this burst of energy while I can!

I went to the gym for the first time in a few weeks. I ran one mile and did a short weights routine but gad to leave so I could get the cat to the vets.
Breakfast was scrambled egg on toast with fruit juice.
Just got to keep it up 💪

Ah that's good stuff!

I used to be able to run 5k in under 30 mins. I'm not sure I could run 1k right now.

Tomorrow is end of week 1/ first weigh in. I'm hoping to have lost 4lb, as it's the first week and I am very fat. Fingers crossed. I know if I have lost that or more it will motivate me, any less and I will really struggle not to faceplant some chocolate.

updated from me, I've lost 7lb :)

very happy about that. If only I can lose the other 5 stone and a bit so easily!