Consultant said lose weight 😱

[Wobblymama01]

So, I've buried my head in the sand for a while about my weight.

In Feb 2020 I was 11stone6. Now 3 years later and 3 stone heavier. I've put on a stone in the last 9 months.

I'm so very tired. I have a few underlying health conditions and my consultant has basically told me to lose weight 😱

My BMI is 39. I'm so embarrassed. I'm snugly in a size 20. Pre lockdown I was a 14-16.

I've tried slimming world but can't stick to it and find it hard to have the headspace for it.

I'm going the gp next week to ask about saxenda.

I take the DC swimming every week and today I did 10 lengths without stopping which I'm so proud of. Normally I just bob around playing with DC.

Don't even know why I'm writing this, I need to get my head into gear. My consultant literally said my health is at risk due to my weight so why the fuck did I come home and eat sweets. FFS.

I need to change but it's so hard and I can't imagine being a healthy weight. Although to be honest id take "overweight" rather than "obese"

Does it matter how OP looks? Only OP can decide if that matters (to her, and her opinion is only one that matters). The rest of our opinions and any other opinions about how she looks or doesn't look can and should feck off.

OP has a strong health reason why she wants (needs) to get smaller. That's what matters here.

Have a look into “slimpod”, read reviews on trustpilot and look at the web page. It’s free for 10 days I think, so if you did decide to try it, you have time to cancel before having to pay anything. I have never stuck to diets and this has been the only thing that has helped me to lose a bit of weight without feeling deprived.

I know what you mean, I don't mean to be flippant but I think I have a condition which is the opposite of anorexia. I got in to the overweight category and still felt slim then I edged so far to the obese end of overweight that I was ONE pound away from being obese and still felt ok! Didn't feel like my weight was preventing me from doing anything.

DW was told she needed to lose weight when she got to 19st as she's been high risk in previous pregnancies and we're hoping to try for our last baby this year.
She got a fitness watch and started aiming for 10k a day (it's fine if you can't, a lot of days she barely managed half but it does get easier).
She also got the fitbit app and made sure she was always in a calorie deficit.
Swapped out energy drinks and pop for smoothies and fresh juice.
Made sure to drink plenty of water.
Swapped take outs for a simply cook box subscription (these have been super fun!)
Also bought a smart hula hoop thing she found on tiktok. Not sure if that works yet as it's relatively new, but she enjoys using it with music on.
She managed to go from 19st 2lbs to 16st 7lbs.
Hope some of that helps you, or at least gives you hope. I'm on a weight loss journey myself and understand how difficult it can be. You've got this!

I think you'll find the correct word is "their" not "there". If you must make a shitty comment at least get the basic spelling right.

Yes @xJoyPeaceHealthx I think I'm the same. I've just had a play around on the NHS BMI calculator and I'm 5 pounds away from being morbidly obese 😱

You don't need gimmicks. All you need is to cut food down, keep your protein up and cut the crap out to start with. MyFitnessPal is great and it's free. I have "met" some fantastic people on there and learned so much about nutrition. It's a great place. Once you get going you will love it. Good luck - I honestly know what it's like. Take some "before" photographs before you start - they will motivate you and you will soon see your progress. I was 14 stone 7lb and got down to 9 stone 10lb in a year which is perfect for me. I know what you mean about being tired - I was always tired, carrying all that weight around like a rucksack of bricks.

I LOVE food, I’m obsessed with it, but I lost over three stone and have kept it off for 4+ years and am stupidly fit and healthy now. Here’s what I did:

I counted calories. Don’t diet at first, just track and weigh what you actually eat, it gives you perspective. Start making changes, cook nice meals from scratch using whole foods and loads of veg. Identify where you’re eating ‘unnecessary’ calories. Start to make connections, I.e. a bowl of rice and homemade curry is filling, full of goodness and less calories than the massive slice of cake. So if you’re still hungry, go back and have another little bowl of curry and rice instead of the cake. If you really want cake, cut the slice in half. Any calorie deficit on what you are currently eating will result in weight loss. As you start to see the results of losing weight, you should be motivated to eat a bit less.

Exercise. Love your body and what it can do. You must get your heart rate up every day. I used to walk and swim because it was easy. I actively avoided anything that made me sweaty or puffed out. Then I realised that’s what your body NEEDS. Get a fitness tracker. The more regularly you exercise properly, the more calories you burn. Connect it to you calorie counter and pay attention. See how hard it is to burn off that cake. Suddenly, a banana and a glass of water looks like a more attractive option.

I used to hate exercising, I made excuses. I couldn’t run to the end of the street. One day I read something that said, ‘you hate running because it’s hard and it’s hard because it’s good for you. Everyone hates running’. For some reason, that really motivated me. I went for a run. I hated it, it was hard, instead of stopping, I went more slowly and trudged on, breathing out my arse. Eventually, it just gets easier. After it gets easier, it starts to get fun. And the more you do it, the more weight you lose. The more you move your body, the more you crave good, nutritious foods that will help you perform better.

I still love food, but I run and cycle miles every day. That allows me to eat hearty amounts of nutritious, home cooked food and still eat a couple of meals out/desserts each week.

Focus on loving your body op. Do nice things for it to keep it healthy. You can do it.

Focus on diet!

Many overweight people think exercise is the way but you don't really burn enough calories tbh and I wouldn't really recommend it for your joints if you're obese. Swimming would be good though.

By diet, I don't mean salad and low fat foods either.

Good luck OP!

I get you.

I find diets so hard to stick to because I end up craving the foods I've cut out.

So I've massively changed my diet and upped my walking.

I'm no longer getting hungry and craving the wrong foods as a quick fix. I'm no longer even wanting much in the way of sweets and chocolate which was a side effect I didn't expect!

I have

Overnight oats made with a muller yoghurt for breakfast.

Cous cous, red onion, peppers and chicken for lunch.

Dinner is usually chicken or ham. Grapes, beetroot and sometimes rice cakes.

I also have extra grapes and the poppits lentil crisps.

If I'm extra hungry I have hard boiled eggs, apple, toast.

If I have a sweet tooth I make hot chocolate.

And I'm walking 12-25,000 steps a day but it's taken months to build up enough fitness to do this comfortably.

But also if I do want a chocolate bar I don't refuse myself because I find that makes it even worse!

I just feel less bloated and more comfortable and that was the catalyst for me to stick to it this time. Like you I piled it on quickly and it took me ages to find a better diet and exercise that was easy to stick too and didn't feel like effort 🤣

Well done for the swimming. Getting motivated is the first hurdle!

Rock tape is great for fixing plantar fasciitis. There are videos on the website showing how to apply it. Wear shoes with supportive soles to avoid it when you are walking, i.e. not slippers/flipflops etc.

Don’t bother with Saxenda, it’s shit. Been there, done that. Makes you feel absolutely atrocious when you start taking it and every time you up your dose (pretty much weekly). Once you’re at the max dose it stops working. It only works if you normally only eat when you’re hungry. You never feel hungry when it’s working, but if you’re like me and eat just out of boredom or for comfort it doesn’t stop that. I lost nothing on it in about 10 weeks.

Unless you want something drastic like a gastric balloon, band or bypass, it’s good old diet and exercise.

If you really really want to do this, and you want a quick hit, I’ve had good success with the Cambridge diet, but you’ve got to want it. It helped me because you lose it so fast to start with and you feel better much more quickly. But you’re very, very hungry.

No I won’t be going anywhere.
What I have said is the truth and isn’t fat shaming.
It comments like you look good at bmi 39 are what going to keep them there by insincere flattery.
What I have said is the truth.
It isn’t fat shaming because the only person that got them there is their diet not me.
As for stopping them going gym, I’m not stopping them and fat people are very much respected and welcomed for putting in the steps to get themselves healthy.
You will find no one going to look down on them at the gym but nothing but respect.
Comments like yours or others who say you fine you still look good are what keep overweight women overweight because of all there u look good hun which obviously isn’t true. In fact comments like yours will shorten their lifespan and won’t give them the encouragement they need to improve their health. FACT.

Swimming is excellent one of the best forms of exercise you'll soon loose with swimming I'm sure . Walking is also good .you could get some Kettlebells because you don't need to exercise long with them to benefit . Have you got my fitness pal on your phone to track your food and see where it ramps up ? In our area the GP can prescribe ten weeks of exercise I don't know if you can get that ? Hope you see the benefits soon .

I'm sorry but BMI 39 is almost morbidly obese. It's not a good look on anyone

Anyone who is this overweight has physiological issues around food. Possibly adduction or emotional eating.

Maybe start with therapy to explore what is holding you back from making the changes you rationally know you desperately need to make.

Any past trauma, depression, anxiety?
Some feelings you cannot face and are using food to distract yourself from? There must be something going on more than lack of willpower

You don't need gimmicks. All you need is to cut food down, keep your protein up and cut the crap out to start with. MyFitnessPal is great and it's free.

Exactly this.

Don’t listen to anyone telling you cut out this and that or to fast for X amount of time as that often leads to temporary weight loss and a cycle of bingeing and dieting.

Track your calories - you don’t need to cut out anything but protein fills you up and veg is very low in calories so I base my meals around that.

Walk more - it’s free and no equipment needed. It burns calories, gets you out in fresh air and sunlight and you don’t eat when you are out.

Sleep more - it’s good for your metabolism and the more you sleep the less you eat.

Weigh stuff.
I know a lot of commercial diet plans make a big thing about not weighing your food but it was an absolute revelation to me when I actually started weighing and recording what I was eating. I was consuming far more calories than I thought I was as even though my diet was made up of largely healthy foods I was just eating too much of it. My idea of what, say, 75g of pasta looks like was way off the mark. Also using smaller plates and bowls did make a difference for me.

I don't know how helpful this is, but the only thing that has worked for me long term (many years now) was to completely reorientate my mindset about eating so that I choose only healthy food (or at least what I deem to be healthy). Therefore, I choose to only eat fruit, veg, a small amount of carbs (oats or rice), fish, occasional chicken or venison, occasional square of dark chocolate, glass of red wine. I don't deprive myself of anything, I make a positive choice.

^^After a while of doing this, all cravings for less healthy food disappeared interestingly enough (so perhaps nutritional needs were being met, sugar levels were more stable etc.).

The benefits to my health have been so enormous (some serious health issues prompted it) that I wouldn't change how I eat now. I think if you feel you are 'dieting' or depriving yourself (rather than in my case improving your health) it is very hard to maintain any loss over the longer term.

Don't even know why I'm writing this
because you're accepting you need to do something which is the first step! it's not about taking a mad notion, it's about contemplating and finding steps that you're confident you can keep going with for a while.

i lost about six stone over the course of about 8 years (with two bigger chunks of weight loss, one at the beginning and one at the end) and have kept it off 4.5 years on. i still struggle at times - my eating is properly disordered at the moment where i'm shoving sugary crap into my face all the time so my plan is that wednesday (1st of the month!) i'm going to try and totally give up sugar for at least a few days and then try and get myself back on a more normal routine.

i'm one of those folk who finds it easier to give things up completely rather than "everything in moderation" but I have PCOS and I don't know if that's partly cause I have such a strong reaction to sugar (as in, I crave it as soon as I start eating it but if I eat a decent diet I'm not fussed about it). i started with walking, then shifted to hill walking and now do daily yoga (yoga with adriene) as well as walking. it's a shame if the PF is having an impact because it is absolutely about finding something that you enjoy - I've now hit the point where if I don't get out walking enough I feel like a caged animal...

good luck!

Thanks for all the replies didn't expect so many! Ok so after dinner I'd usually have something like a packet of crisps or sweets or one of the DC lunchbox snacks and tonight I've had an orange 😀. Filled the sugar craving anyway. But God this is going to be hard

oh and agree with someone above who mentioned calorie counting. one of the things i did last time round was work really hard to find a breakfast, a lunch and a couple of snack options that i knew were all around 300 cals each (AND filling) and then stuck to that every day with just dinner bringing a bit more variety Mon-Fri. really helped that mindset shift of viewing food as fuel rather than a treat. and if i went over i didn't try to adjust the next day or anything but i did have a record of what i'd eaten so i could see why i had/hadn't lost weight.

have you tried intermittent fasting? i find one meal a day where I'm not restricted on what i eat (although try to eat healthily at it) much easier as you're not policed so much in what you do eat and can eat dinner with everyone else. It does take some research and time to get into it though. But it's excellent for weight loss. Just started on it myself (have done it before in the past). Reddit reddit.com/r/fasting is a great source of inspiration.

I have Plantar Fasciitis. My physio recommended the exercises here: They are good especially the cold therapy.You can do that one while watching the telly.

www.nhsaaa.net/musculoskeletal-service-msk/foot-and-ankle/plantar-fasciitis-msk/#

Don’t go for the diet fads OP like SW. Work on a diet that suits you. I eat sensibly during the week. I will still have my toast for breakfast, but brown bread, still with butter, but less butter than before. Have my baked Potatoe for lunch with tuna, but minus the mayo. Just little tweaks. But then at the weekend, I have what I want (within reason!) - if I want a take away curry I’ll have one. If I want a chip butty, I’ll have one, washed down with a glass of wine. My food intake might not be perfect, but it works for me. You have to choose a lifestyle that you can maintain long term, and not a quick fix one that’s not sustainable for you. I just couldn’t cut out everything I love, as it would make me miserable. I hate the gym, but have a dog and go on a brisk hour long walk every day. Good luck!