Tomorrow my new life starts

[Whoopitywhoops]

I just wanted to post this as I'm not going to put the pressure on myself by telling people in real life but tomorrow my new life starts. After being really, really overweight for 25+years (I'm in my 40s) and after doing every diet imaginable, tomorrow I am going to bite the bullet and just do it all sensibly. Eat better, eat less, move more.

I have 6.5 stone to lose to get into the 'normal' weight range. In 2024, I am going to lose approx half of this. I've done my online shop to come tomorrow morning and I'm feeling optimistic for the first time in a long time. I won't be living off kale, spinach and celery or the like and will be allowing myself some snacks and treats (which I'll adapt if I plateau) but I'll do a lot better than I currently am.

I plan to do 2 hours+ a day exercise and this is doable with my current commitments as I don't have a commute. I'll walk the dog for a hour before work. 20 mins later in the day and I'll do 40 minutes at the gym every evening (it's really close to my house). I'll occasionally swap gym for a swim and will occasionally have a rest day.

Once I've lost some weight, I might even start running again or might take on a fitness challenge. I'm too heavy for this at the moment but it will come.

So it all starts tomorrow. Slowly but surely it'll come off and I'll get fitter. I may never be a kale smoothie drinker and I'm sure some will still think I have a terrible diet but it'll be a million times better than it was and I'm happy with that as it'll be sustainable.

Tomorrow's meal plans are:

1. Breakfast - Porridge and a yakult.
2. Lunch - Homemade Bolognese with lots of veg instead of pasta.
3. Dinner- I live alone so probably more of the Bolognese as I hate freezing stuff.

Snacks will probably be blueberries, kefir yoghurt & a nectarine. Maybe a chocolate rice cake if I feel like something sweeter.

I feel positive. Next Xmas I'll be well on my way to being fitter and slimmer.

You go girl. I going to do this when.back at work nxt week.

Best of luck with it! I can't remember the last time I felt positive about anything but I genuinely do.

Good luck OP. I’m wondering if you are putting too much pressure on yourself saying you will go to the gym very day though? I think the diet changes and the walking will be plenty to start off with.

Brilliant. I wish you every success. I intend to do similar and understand the pressure of telling people IRL.

Good luck x
Ive started my serious mission today because im also fed up of being overweight and the only person I can blame is myself so im no longer making excuses!

Good point but if I have something on I won't be overly worried if I miss a day. I've told myself I need to do 14 hours a week exercise so if I miss a day or two of gym I can make it up at the weekend. I'll obviously have the occasional rest day too although none of it will be too strenuous to start with.

Well done for getting started! Mine is totally my fault too. I have eaten appallingly for over 20 years.

Think you may be setting yourself up to fail too by saying you’ll go to the gym every day. Start with small goals and increase from there. Twice a week, then when that becomes habit 3x a week; etc etc
also count your calories, there’s no need to be replacing pasta with salad you can just have a smaller portion of pasta with salad on the side, no need to have an occasional “treat” of a chocolate rice cake if your calories allow you to have an actual chocolate bar.
look up basic calorie calculators online to work out your BMR

I'm not against having a chocolate bar but day 1 of a new way of eating is not the day for it. The same goes for things like pasta. Happy to see how I go with the gym but I know I can do more than 2-3 times a week. I have the time to do it and I'm used to doing a lot of walking so I'm not 100% unfit (although def a long way to go).

Good luck - don't beat yourself up if you have an off day, and don't overdo it at first and break something (knackering my shoulder took 18 months to get back to normal, and I put on most of the weight I'd lost in the preceeding 18months because of it)

I've decided to be gentle with myself. Just try to make good decisions, eat more protein, walk more for a bit, then level up to gym/swimming when I have more time/I've lost 10 kgs or so (should lose about 40 to get to normal - but I'd be fine with 20, I've been short and dumpy my entire life, so I just want to be sturdy rather than fat to be happy).

10kg is amazing. Well done. I'm short and dumpy too 🤣. Isn't it a joy to be too short to eat what you want 😆

I've taken my inspiration photo - the photo where I look knackered and like shit. I have a dress I'm aiming to fit into in 12-18 months time. I've had this dress for nearly 10 years. It's cute and I love it and I will get into it.

Well I did a 40 minute walk this morning and have enjoyed my yakult and porridge. I was aiming for an hour's walk but getting out of bed was challenging 🤣. Tonight I'm going to put my phone on the other side of the room so I have to get out of bed to turn it off. Looking forward to the gym later and will have to do a bit more to make up for the shorter walk this morning.

That’s a great start OP. Are you going to share your starting weight and weight loss as you progress? (I’m short and dumpy too 😀)

My weight is too awful to share but I can definitely share losses if that helps.

Well done OP, great start! I have about 6 stone that is going to come off by around summer 2025. I lost over 7 stone a few years ago but most piled back on with hormone medication which I am never ever taking again.

Sensible not to tell people in RL. They will notice in a bit. My tip for handling it is to be very causal about it and say oh yes I think I probably have lost a bit when people start noticing. Don’t give any numbers as adds pressure. They then generally start asking how much more to go, just say you have no idea.

At some point a few will probably tell you that you look great and don’t need to lose more. Just smile and say you do, doctor’s orders. Seeing you lose can make some people a bit uncomfortable about their own weight it seems.

Good luck @Whoopitywhoops you can do this. Take it one day at a time and don't be too disappointed if your hard work doesn't show on the scales. I would recommend to measure your hips, thighs, stomach and arms.

I started my weight loss in January 2022 I was 11st 11 and 5ft 4'. I wanted to lose the weight as I was turning 40 the following year and didn't want to be even bigger. I didn't have a time frame as I didn't care how long it took. I've got down to 9st 4Ibs I've tried to get to 9st but it's not happening. I have maintained this weight for a year. I stay between 9st 3Ibs to 9st 5Ibs I'm happy with that. I guess if I tried harder I could get down to 9st but I'm happy. Best of luck!

Great advice. Thank you.

Well done. That's a fab achievement! Good idea to do my measurements. I'll do that today.

@Whoopitywhoops best of luck, I hope you enjoy the process. Don’t let people put you off, surround yourself with good examples, literature on nutrition, podcasts on health etc.

Hey all. Hope you're doing well. Well I'm on day 3 and doing well. I've managed over 2 hours of being active a day, mixture of walking, gym and swimming and food wise have done pretty well. No weight loss so far but it's early days so I'm not too worried. For once, I'm actually thinking forward and imagining a slimmer me in March, September, Christmas 24 etc. it's a good feeling. I've got my weight tracked on an app so I'm looking forward to seeing the graph come down. 5 stone 13lbs to my goal (I could do slightly more for my height but I'd be over the moon with losing that). Hopefully half or more of that this year and the rest next year.