Parents of Mumsnet, will I ever be able to lose weight!?!...

[MilkywayMonarch22]

Hello all,

Slightly lighthearted and half a genuine worry...I am lamenting my overweight existence and my lack of energy/will/motivation to do anything about it.

I have one DC aged 13 months. She started nursery/GP childcare in September and the first 3 weeks were great. I started losing weight and got from 12s9 to 12 stone in 3 weeks. All good. But since then she's had every illness going (flu, cold, tummy bugs, conjunctivitis and now HandFootMouth) and that, coupled with poor sleep, breastfeeding even more, and general lazy days have meant that weight has crept back up to 12s4. This seems minimal but it has really knocked my motivation.
My goal is 10s7 ultimately as I am only 5ft4 and this is a healthy size for me. I feel like I'm seeing my goal drift farther and farther away.

I can't seem to find ANY energy to workout in the evenings or even maintain basic things like shaving/doing face and hair etc. It's just all been zapped away which is very odd for me! I feel fat, unhealthy and just generally shitty.

Does it ever get better? I dread to think about if I had more than 1 DC right now.

Working out has nothing to do with it. What do you eat?

Drink more water, eat more fresh fruit and veg and that will increase your energy and make you feel healthier and less shitty.

(you already know this, of course.)

It’s so hard to get going OP, but once you do you’ll feel so much better.

Try to focus on putting more good stuff in and getting high quality nutrition rather than cutting out (especially when BF!) and sneak in little bits of exercise - walks, jogs, exercise groups with LO etc.

Don’t set sights too high at the moment with after bed time gym sessions etc, just make a healthy lifestyle as enjoyable and achievable as you can.

Thank you all for the responses.
I do of course know it's what I'm eating I just can't seem to push out of the rut!
I eat healthy and homemade but then it's all the extras!

@Handsoffstrikesagain what fast did you find most helpful?

Do you think I can lose weight without any major exercise? As it seems unlikely I'll be able to exercise consistently until baby is it a bit older

In my experience exercise has got very little to do with weight loss. You need to watch what you eat to lose weight. Do exercise for mental health, strength and to have some 'me' time.
The phrase 'you can't run away from a bad diet' is annoying but true

So, yes, you can lose weight without exercise

It's tricky- breastfeeding an older baby burns about 400 calories a day, and can cause a craving for fatty/sugary foods, but if you can avoid eating too many calories, you should be able to lose weight with minimal exercise.

Do you work? Sugar is actually addictive so you've got to break that addiction- go cold turkey on sweet things (very tough in the Halloween/bonfire night/Christmas season, I know), and that is easier if you're at work. Boredom is the enemy of weightloss.

@Handsoffstrikesagain wow! you sound like a superwoman! 4 DC under 6 including a small baby and you still manage to fast/walk the dog and exercise! I'm doing something wrong here clearly 🤦🏾‍♀️

Thank you to all PPs. I do know deep down that my diet needs cleaning up from the snacks and need to be more thoughtful with what I put into my body. Could do with getting back on salad meal prep for work lunches (and to answer a PP yes I do work, from home, 4 days a week) and could do with stopping snacking.

Im so tired generallly. Baby is sleeping worse than she ever has due to nursery illnesses, used to sleep through and now is up 3/4 times crying/coughing/etc sickness.

Excuses excuses though! Need to crack on

Try low carb? Or at least lower carb.

You could have:

Scrambled eggs/omelette for breakfast

Homemade soups for lunch (put kentols/chick peas in for protein) with some cottage cheese /ham/an apple.

Dinner could be casserole, meat and two veg etc. Try to only have rice and pasta once per week.

Cut alcohol, milky drinks, dessert, chips, etc. No crap snacks.

Kentols?? Lentils

I have been on and off diets for years, the only way I have managed to change my mindset towards food is to pair it with exercise. I have done slimming world and lost lots of weight but never kept it off for very long. If you have no energy, the last thing you feel like doing is working out but it’s all counter productive as when you get into sitting on sofa of an evening, you keep up the bad habits of eating higher calorie foods than you mean to, and turn to food for comfort/boredom. Exercise helps you add to your calorie deficit also it gives you more of an incentive to keep going sometimes, as you feel stronger and get more energy through your health improving, it helps you form new habits. This is just my own experience. Yes you can lose weight with no exercise, but putting them both together has a lot of benefits for some of the other things you want to conquer such as low energy and no motivation.

I got chubby when my kids were babies but am now similar weight to pre kids. (9.5 stone/ 5.4). My observation would be 1) I did lose most of the weight when kids were babies but getting proper sleep back as they got older helped enormously with the last bit - so don’t be too hard on yourself 2) we’re all so different - why did you put weight on in the first place? For me i was always fit and it was never emotional - it was overly large portion size to match 6ft DH - recognising and adjusting portions and just standing on the scales regularly has made it straightforward not just to lose but to maintain a lower weight again. Remedy that fits the cause!
However may be v different for the next woman!
I do still also exercise - evidence suggests it doesn’t help for loss but v important for maintenance, but I di it because it is an important part of my well-being for me personally!

Exercise doesn't make me lose weight, but somehow it helps with my motivation to eat better. The fitter and more energetic and mentally positive I feel (all of which exercise definitely helps with), the better choices I make and the more willpower I seem to have.

The best results I've had in recent times have been when I've done the following: avoid sugar, processed food and particularly processed carbs as much as possible, done a really brisk 45 minute dog walk every day plus a quick 15 min weights or yoga session (one day yoga, next day weights). I have to walk the dog anyway, so I do it hilly and fast enough to raise my heart rate and sweat a little.

Slimming world is working for me. Meals that everyone can eat and plenty of snack options.

I do better without snacks tbh. I think it's good to eat hearty, filling meals and train yourself not to need to eat between them. People used not to.