Determined to do (initially) 100 days of trying to lose weight, get fitter and healthier.

[angieloumc]

I'm overweight (obese actually). My weight has crept up over the past ten years despite up to then (mostly) being size 10/12. I'm fatter and heavier than I've ever been, now going into a size 20, and I'm so unhappy and filled with self loathing.
When my youngest son was born (he's 24 now) I did go to a size 16 but lost that and was back at a 10 until as I say about ten years ago, even through having my daughter this now 17.
How I did it then was completely cut calories and walked a lot. I'm now 52 with a sedentary job and do NO exercise whatsoever. I'm an absolute glutton when it comes to food. I don't eat unhealthily but far too much, and have been eating chocolate and drinking full fat fizzy pop. Writing it down makes me so ashamed of myself.
My plan is to do 100 days of cutting the calories and eating no chocolate etc and drinking no full fat pop. My daughter is 18 in August and also gets her A level results and I would so like to be in photos with her celebrating instead of saying, delete that one, god I look awful in that one.
The truth is I DO look awful; I know 'looks' don't matter, or shouldn't do, but I used to be attractive and now I look like Ursula from the little mermaid but paler!
My knees ache and I'm even struggling now to get out of the bath easily or paint my toenails, and it's hard to run after my youngest grandson who's just two (I mind him once a week); my tummy is massive as are the tops of my arms and legs. And my face looks like a very white potato. The only good thing I've got going for me is I have lovely hair!
I do make a joke of it in front of my family; my kids are lovely and say I'm not fat, but what else can they say really?
Inside though I'm secretly mortified at how vile I look, and I am determined I AM going to lose the weight, and get fitter. I have bought in fruit, salad, oats, sparkling water and no sugar juice, even a sugar substitute as I can't seem to get below 1/2 tsp in my tea!
I've bought a new weighing scale and am going to weigh myself tomorrow morning and that's the start of it. I'm also going to walk much more, I live the canal and some very nice woods.
My lovely late mum (herself only a size 12) used to say, we thought a bit unkindly, to me and my sister (who is also fat like me) that we should 'eat less, move more' and I now think she's right, as that's the only thing that is going to work!
I don't really know why I've posted; it's just I can't bear to tell anyone how bad I'm feeling about my looks, size and health. If anyone has any ideas to help me get there, that would be amazing. And thanks for reading!

Well, I'd say go for less chocolate, not none. Anything that's forbidden becomes a craving/ binge issue potentially

I like your 100 days idea. Perhaps we could break it down further and tackle 10 days at a time?

I’m sure you have a lot more going for you than just your lovely hair 🤗

I just wanted to say that I’ve been where you are. I know how tough that can be mentally, but the good thing is that you’ve decided to do something about it and I can almost guarantee you that you will start to see results fast. Sure, you won’t wake up in a week’s time and find that you’re a size 10, but with every few pounds you lose, you’ll start to feel better both mentally and physically. Use that positive energy to keep you going!

My top tips would be:

• do something that is sustainable for you in the long term


• don’t try to change everything at once. For most people, that just doesn’t work. Change one thing at a time, and once that has become a habit, add something else


• find other things to focus on, not just your weight. That way, even if the scales don’t move for a week or two, you can still feel positive about e.g. losing half an inch off your waist, seeing your fitness improve, or hitting your five a day.


• reward yourself for all the effort you’re putting in! This is particularly important at the start, as building new habits is hard work, so you deserve regular non-foodie treats


• join one of the monthly weightloss groups here. There’s one running at the moment called Lose it May. It’s brilliant for having some accountability & support.

You can do this!

I’m doing the Body Coach plan and that encourages you do check in at the end of every cycle (each cycle should be a minimum of one month, but you can extend it if needed.) and at check in you take photos, body measurements and weigh on the scales.

Taking that time to reflect on progress is very motivating. I think comparing the photos can also show better progress than the scales do.

I think as well as making these changes you should be doing things to make yourself feel better about yourself, it sounds like you need a bit of self care.

Thanks ladies for your welcomed input. I'm definitely taking on board what you're saying.
While I do bring myself down about my weight and how I look, I am happy in other areas of my life; my job, home and family make me content, so I'm not completely negative all the time! I think I've just been focusing on what's bad about me rather than good if that makes sense.
Like I say I'm sat down a lot of the time at work, and my interests are sat down too, so I think that trying to bring moving about more into my life would be useful, overweight or not.
I think the breaking it down into ten day sections is a really great idea. And I'm going to check out the weight loss groups on here as suggested, and look at the body coach plan.
Thanks again 🙂