Weighed myself and I’m horrified

[snowmousee]

I have been avoiding the scales for most of this year because I know I gained. I have always struggled with my weight since being a young child, I have had it under control for periods of time during adulthood and it’s made my life infinitely better - but this isn’t one of those times.

I now weigh the most I have ever weighed in my life, including when heavily pregnant. I feel absolutely gutted, disappointed and demotivated. I weigh about 2 stone higher than I expected (and my expectation was pretty high).

Does anyone have any words of wisdom or encouragement? I knew I would have a real task on my hands losing the weight, but weighing so much more than I expected has really taken the wind out of my sails, I feel really sad 😞

I think stepping on the scales is always the hardest part. What are your goals? Have you lost weight successfully before? I really hope you don’t feel too bad and you’re able to turn it into a positive and start changing things however you feel you can!

I understand how you feel, but don't be too hard on yourself.

Thanks for replying. I need to lose a minimum of 4 stone, preferably 5-6 stone. I have lost weight successfully in the past and maintained for several years, but my body just regains fat so easily. I genuinely do not have to overeat loads to pack on the weight - carbs are an issue for me, unless I eat a pretty low carb diet, I will slowly gain weight. I have read endless books about obesity, weight loss etc so I understand what’s going on which made me regain the weight, but seeing the number on the scales was a real reality check.

thanks for the words of encouragement 💐

I keep telling myself this will be the last day I'm this heavy when I weigh myself. I'm nearly a stone down in 5 weeks ,if I can do it anyone can ! Don't be hard on yourself though,it's not the end of the world and you can lose weight when you're ready to. Onwards and upwards 😊

There’s a weightloss chat here which is really good and supportive.

It seems like weight has been an issue for you since you were young so maybe look at triggers around that, do you snack if bored, unhappy etc.

Things I’ve tried which are slimming:

cup a soups (minestrone slim a soup batchelors)
laughing cow or dairy Lea triangles
baby bel light cheeses
peanut butter in date
apple
replacing chocolate/crisps with fruit but allow yourself chocolate/crisps say 2-3 times a week
orange squash or water - people mistake hunger for thirst

Find a class like eg aqua fit or something else eg badminton, squash etc. walking for 30 minutes at a fast pace helps.

A goal like a holiday or wearing a dress to Christmas/birthday party helps to aim for too.

Don’t beat yourself up OP!

You have had a shock, and sound overwhelmed because of what you see as the enormity of the task if you choose to lose weight.

I wonder if it would help to abandon that mindset?

I have the self-discipline of a jellyfish in a current. I would never have lost weight sticking to a ‘diet’.

But I did lose significant weight by deciding to take care of myself. I saw healthy eating as a positive way to nurture my body to do what I need it to do. I adjusted my diet, not all at once, to eat a healthy, filling, not too calorific breakfast, a reasonable lunch, and a normal evening meal but cutting down on carb portions and avoiding anything deep fried.

I cut out random snacking and raids on the toaster but built a pre planned healthy snack into my daily routine. Of things I enjoy.

And upped my walking.

All this made me feel much better about myself and I quickly wanted to build on that.

Make healthy eating a celebration of yourself OP, you have nothing to punish yourself for.

I have been in the same position and you have already done the hardest part, stepping onto the scales and actually making up your mind to lose weight and take it seriously. Too many times I’ve thought oh that’s higher than I would like, anyway, off to McDonald’s! And you know what the cause of the weight gain is and so you are in a relatively good position to start to lose the weight.

I would think about the types of exercise you enjoy and make sure to do them. I hate the gym and so joining a gym and getting a PT or doing my own routine was never going to work for me but I found I enjoyed walking and spin class and so carved out time in the week to do that. Don’t think of it as a battle of how much you have to lose, like pp said think to yourself that this is the heaviest you will ever be and the only way is down from there.

If you can, I found it helps to talk about it and keep motivated each week. I lost 4 stone through slimming world and part of it was due to the embarrassment of having to be weighed and knowing I had paid £5 a week just to have them look at me and say I had stayed the same or put weight on and then record it forever in my book! I’m not advocating SW and saying you must join, it’s amazing blah blah blah but just suggesting you find something that acts in the same way for you. It certainly helped me stop reaching for just one snickers or just one something else.

Good luck with it all, slow and steady is fine!

I feel you, OP.
Please don't be disheartened. Try to find compassion and kindness toward your self on your journey with your weight. Every last bit of that weight is there because you have made decisions in the moment, which were probably the best decisions you could make at the time, whether emotional eating, stress or perhaps making choices based on tricky finances or availability. All of the above have been true for me and it's no good at all giving yourself a hard time about it.
I read somewhere recently that overweight and obesity in women is so often a result of a woman who puts herself last while caring for those in her family first, leaving little energy, resource, head-space, time or choice to meet her own needs.
Pretty much a year ago, I decided to try to lose weight very slowly, because I needed to make it sustainable. It's been great and really successful. I can recommend logging food on MyFitnessPal, low carbing and intermittent fasting. No exercise, as I just don't have the time.
Low carbing has probably been the most useful; I literally just cut them wherever possible. Just not having them. Meals look a bit different, but you get used to it: bolognese with shredded cabbage, a fry up consisting of mushrooms, greens and an egg, curry on its own without naan or rice etc. As soon as I reduced the carbs, I stopped craving snacks. In fact, I stopped being preoccupied with food, or feeling hungry or peckish all the time. It was as if the carb / sugar switch had been switched off, and it has been such a relief. And the weight has been coming off quite effortlessly as a result. I'm now down to where I wanted to be; sure, it's taken a year, but I feel fairly confident that I won't be putting it back on. Not even Christmas feels like it's going to pose a threat, as I'm just not eating in the same way anymore, or interested in the same foods.
There is so much good advice here, lean into the support and try, one step at a time.

@GonnaGetGoingReturns I think allowing yourself chocolate or crisps two or three times a week is too much if you're trying to lose weight. That is about the amount I used to have when I was overweight.

OP, if you have time try walking 10000+ steps every day, I find that has helped me in the past. Then I added more exercise in but actually I think the walking alone can be enough.

I know what you mean about gaining weight easily. I've stopped my usual exercise (apart from walking 10000 steps) during this cold snap. I've also had a few days where I had Christmas treats. That has meant I put on 5 pounds just over two weeks.

I think if you are someone who puts on weight easily, like me, you have to acknowledge it and know that you're always going to have to put in that effort and keep an eye on it more than some other people. Sometimes I see myself looking at people I know who have things like crisps and chocolate and they are slim, and part of me thinks "Well it can't be that bad if [friend] has it, and she's slim". But unfortunately, I'm not like that friend and I always have to remind myself of that and not let myself be influenced by what they are eating.

It's a mental battle really, it's getting into that mindset.
Start right now and every win will inspire you. The negative mindset is a killer , you can't get down about it . You have to treat it like a game, it's fun to see the weight loss and the sacrifices you make will be so worth it.
I was very down about my size for about a decade. I started low carbing and intermittent fasting and lost almost 3 stone in 4 months .
It was the best gift I ever gave myself and absolutely worth passing on the chips and bread for.
Today is day one , you'll never be this heavy again , all the good times are coming .

Ok then once a week or say a 2 finger Kit Kat. Or whatever works.

I have eg snack a jacks or pop crisps as a snack or eg oatcakes with tomato salsa.

@GonnaGetGoingReturns What I do is basically almost never have chocolate anymore because I find it's "all or nothing" for me, almost like an addict I cannot find a middle ground so I had to cut it completely. But it's probably for the best and actually another interesting point is it's pretty expensive these days; the days of picking up a bar for 50p are long gone. I'm sure I save money by not buying chocolate all the time.

I definitely like your snack replacement ideas. I like buts as a snack, I think they stave off hunger really well. Or like you said, an oatcake with a little bit of cheese.

*nuts 😮😆

tulips, I think you're right about the all or nothing addiction thing. I felt it too. Now I'm just not drawn to those kinds of snacks at all and can sit in front of a table creaking under its weight of seasonal chocolates and biscuits at work, and genuinely not be bothered, reaching instead for my snack pot of a boiled egg with a nutty coleslaw instead and relishing it. No word of a lie.
It's like finally getting an uncomfortable pebble out of my shoe. Not wanting the foods which make me gain weight is the best feeling.

You've done the hardest thing, which is to step on the scales.

You know what has worked to lose weight in the past, but you need to have a long term plan to try and sustain a healthy weight long term.

You sound like me OP!

Although I avoided the scale for 3 years until 17 October this year and have been horrified into action. My tactic is calorie counting, but I’m so good at it now that I just eat 600 calories for lunch and 600 for dinner (give or take).

Ive also skipped out breakfast (replaced with a Berocca) to do a 16 hour fast most days.

I’ve been considering getting surgery as my goal weight is still 60+ lbs away (and have lost 27). NEVER thought I’d say that, but horrifically I qualify!!

otherwise I’m in it for the long haul, still v motivated by the horror of what I’ve become😱

I Yo-Yo dieted for years. Up and down and up up up. Weighed myself on holiday in 2017 and was 19.7st. Fast forward 2020 covid hit and I couldn’t take anymore. I made the decision to have a gastric bypass.
Its not for everyone. It cost 5k but it’s freed me from obsessing about food, food addiction and yo-yo dieting.
I wish I had done it sooner. I’ve lost 7.7st I don’t over eat, don’t mental use food to cope and normal BMI.

I'm a massive yo-yo dieter. Unfortunately I gain a stone extra every time I regain so my weight is creeping up and up. I've decided I need to tackle it again now, because:

1. I can't fit comfortable into my current 'fat phase' clothes
2. My knees and back are hurting, in my mid 30's!
3. Obviously I'm damaging myself with the crap I eat, and there are cholesterol and heart disease issues in my family
4. My immune system is shitty. Eating well can only boost it
5. I'm heading for diabetes if I carry on like this
6. I don't want to be 'marked down' in job interviews

I haven't weighed myself, but I imagine around 13.5 stone. I'm planning to 'detox' over the next couple of weeks (ie, stop eating masses of crap) and then have a more official weighing myself/counting calories/structured exercise approach. Wish me luck everyone!