From here to obesity

[ILookLikeAPinkBlancmange]

On 1st Jan I weighed 17st 12lbs.

Shocked to realise my first target is to become Obese! At the moment I am Very Obese :(

To be considered Obese I need to get down to 16st.
Then, to be merely Overweight, I need to get down to 12st.

Height 5ft 3in, age 62
Weight 16st 13lbs

To tone as I go, I've just started going to a gym for the first time in my life, doing a very gentle 45-min exercise plan every day which hardly deserves to be called a workout.

I'm a sugar addict (literally) so I've cut out all cakes, biscuits, sweets and chocolate, i.e. 95% of my food intake!

I'm a faddy eater and hate most veg, try to eat them with the evening meal.

This is my diet:

Treats: if it is a hot day, I can have an ice cream. If we're out for a meal (very rare) I can have dessert or a cream tea if everyone else is having one. If it's a birthday, I can have 1 slice of cake.

Breakfast: 1 banana, 1 multi-vitamin pill.
Lunch: 1 round of sandwiches (usually cheese salad) + a bag of crisps (or occasionally something like scrambled eggs and tomatoes on toast, or a toasted corned beef sandwich).
Evening Meal: A non-greedy serving of whatever we're having.
Snacks: unlimited fresh fruit, 1 mini box of raisins, 2 soft dried figs - if hungry, maybe 2 Cheddars.
Drinks: I only drink Diet Pepsi - maybe a small box of orange juice about once a week.

Any thoughts?

What did you used to eat?

I ditched diet sodas last summer and it really helped with my sugar cravings.

I have put in so much weight recently as I’ve been scoffing carbs and sugar 🥴

That's a very carb-heavy day! I'd suggest you need to cut down on the fruit - especially the dried fruit and the banana. And definitely ditch the fruit juice.

Try not to focus on the end goal, as it can become very overwhelming. Have smaller targets to aim for, then it will be much more rewarding. Remember - the weight didn't go on overnight, so it isn't going to come off overnight!

Good luck OP. A milestone of my weight loss journey was reaching the cusp of obese / overweight. 😀

Cut down on the carbs and drink water instead of Diet Pepsi

Well done and good luck also 😊

And.. give intermittent fasting a try

Good luck OP. A milestone of my weight loss journey was reaching the cusp of obese / overweight. 😀
Same, I was like yippeee I’m fat now and not obese!

I would definitely try to eat more protein, as a fellow sweet food/carb addict it makes the single biggest difference. 1 banana would have me hungry and craving within minutes tbh.

Could you have some lower sugar fruits (berries) with some Skyr type yoghurt? I’ve been having mixed fruit, chia seeds, skyr and a drizzle of honey for breakfast; a large serving is only around 300 cals and it is so filling due to the protein and fibre.

Anecdotally, I’d also be wary of not portioning out your own dinner and just having sensible portions. It might just be me, but I find it hard especially at the end of a busy day to moderate this way, and do best with a prepared and portioned out dinner. Even if it is the same food but you’ve measured out the ingredients for yourself separately? But then again I make a lot of comfort type food, if you’re already making quite healthy dinners it would be fine!

Seriously, I'm not diabetic, so what's wrong with carbs? They're satisfying!

I do intend to cut out the bag of crisps and calorie-count the evening meal once I stop losing.

Thanks to you all for your advice and encouragement

Seriously, I'm not diabetic, so what's wrong with carbs? They're satisfying!

Some people find they are bad for setting off cravings for sweet foods. They can also wear off quickly so you end up hunting around for something it eat.
I lost almost three stone last year by drastically reducing my carb intake. For example I found a large omelette at lunch was a lot more satisfying than a sandwich. Eating more protein generally keeps people feeling full for a long time. Plus it takes more calories to actually metabolise protein.

Cutting carbs isn't something that only diabetics have to do though @ILookLikeAPinkBlancmange.

When you eat carbs, they turn into sugar in your blood, to give you energy. Insulin is produced by your pancreas to deal with this. But if you can't use the quantity of energy produced - which is what happens if you're eating a lot of carbohydrate - then that energy is stored as fat. This doesn't happen if you eat protein or fat. (This is a very simplistic explanation)

The problem with carbs is that it goes into the blood stream as glucose, which raises insulin levels. Insulin gets the glucose out of the blood stream and into cells. But insulin is a hormone that signals energy storage, your body can not access body fat to burn if you have insulin circulating. So, if you are eating carbs at every meal and snacking on carbs your body has no opportunity to access stored fat.

For a good overview watch Jason Fung on Youtube, and for an indoctrination into carbs are evil, try Gary Taubes, and if you want to laugh at dietary advice in general try Zoe Harcome.

And good luck with the weught loss, I hope you find what works for you.

Well done on losing a stone since January! Not sure if anyone has mentioned it but drink plenty of water if you haven’t already . Good to be hydrated and helps keep hunger away among other benefits.

How much fruit are you having ? Maybe gradually work towards having a maximum of 3 portions of fruit if you’re eating more than that now. I have a sweet tooth so I try and have about 2-3 portions a day as it’s better than the alternative of binging on cakes or biscuits etc but I still try not to go overboard.

Do you like oats? That’s quite healthy and very filling. Either that or protein yoghurt and fruit is good to eat for breakfast. It’s not for everyone but personally I find once I eat a filling breakfast I’m less likely to binge in the afternoon or evening.

Hah I didn't see the second paragraph before I posted.

It's simplistic and wrong for the most part.

More protein and drink water. There's a lot of sugar in your snacks, Greek yoghurt is good. You need something that is satiating.

Hi @ILookLikeAPinkBlancmange and well done for your weight loss so far. I started out at 17st 5lb pre lockdown, managed to lose 2.5st then piled most of it back on through 2020/21. Around Halloween I learned I have gallstones and a fatty liver (not alcohol related) so that was the kick I needed to sort myself out.
Weighed in at 16st 5lb at that point and like you felt shocked that I was very obese and had obese to aim for. But I'm now 14st exactly and losing a pretty steady 1-2lbs most weeks so it can be done and that overweight goal is starting to come into sight. I have cut out ALL cheese, chocolate, crisps, alcohol, bread, pasta, pizza, dressings and no added sugars etc as well as switching to almond milk instead of dairy which helped loads! My diet is limited but it's due to avoiding things that cause gallbladder pain for me, and it's working very well. I don't feel hungry and feel much healthier already. I am 5'1" for context. You are doing great and you can definitely do this! The 'daily weigh in' thread is a lovely supportive one too if you want more encouragement as well. I'll try and link it.

This is it here.

Daily weigh in thread http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weightlosss_chat/4967685-daily-weigh-in-thread

thanks, @spackleplumb

Congratulations on your loss so far!

I lost over 2 stone on a carb heavy diet. My days go like this:
Breakfast: porridge (made with milk), chia seeds, golden syrup
Lunch: Fage 0% Greek yogurt, raspberries, chia, honey )and not a drizzle either!)
Dinner: whatever I fancy. Tonight was banana pancakes but that's very rare. Usually it's homemade veggie soup with those part baked bread rolls (2), or homemade pizza with a handful of homemade chips, pasta with homemade sauce and cheese, veggie burger, a chip barm from the chippy once every couple of months.
Snacks: chocolate usually, occasionally crisps. I only drink water and about 2/3 cups tea a day.

My BMI was 26 and now it's 21. I don't subscribe to the carbs are evil and you can't lose weight while eating them theory.

My blood glucose, cholesterol and everything else are all normal (cholesterol pretty low actually). I don't drink alcohol outside of Christmas and

Whoops.
I walk around 50 miles a week. I'm 47 and confirmed perimenopausal.

Some people find they can't lose weight if eating a lot of carbs but I'm not one of them.

Come and join us on the LOSE IT threads. That's how I lost my weight. They are so supportive and no judgement at all.

Your food intake and language around it strikes me as restrictive and as though you view it as a reward or as something you are allowed rather than something that fuels your body. Ditching the Pepsi would be a massive positive step. Could you wean off it and gradually replace with water? I was a Diet Coke addict but pregnancy cured me of that as it made me vomit. Im glad it did. I'd also recommend breakfast and not eating after your evening meal until the next morning. That's what I do.

Wishing you lots of luck and hope to see you on the LOSE IT thread. You can do it!

Meant to add: have you worked out your tdee? It's a great thing to do to make sure you are eating the right amount for your energy needs. My tdee is around 1900-2000 a day due to all the walking so I lose on around 1550-1750 a day. Slow and steady. No massive deprivation, just sensible meals and portion sizes and plenty of exercise. If I couldn't walk as much I'd adjust my food intake accordingly. All this talk of 800-1200 calories a day baffles me. Most people would burn that in a coma!

As my (new) username suggests, I'm the same age as you @ILookLikeAPinkBlancmange and used to be 5ft 3, now 5ft 2 (recently measured at a clinic, I have lost an inch of height in the last 20 years).

Menopause is a bastard, I was always slim until about aged 55 and I'm now creeping into overweight so trying to lose a few lbs and it's bloody hard!

I'm vegetarian so high-protein is difficult but what works for me is fasting for 14 hours overnight, eating a wholefood diet with some eggs and dairy and counting calories with MFP.
And moving more - a daily walk, gardening, swimming, yoga - that kind of thing. Basically, eat food, not too much, mainly plants and get up off my backside more often! Even if you can just walk every day, that'll help.
Good luck!