What finally made you successful in losing weight/getting fit?

[northernlass81]

I'm 42 and carrying about 3 stone extra weight. Very well educated in health/science so fully aware of all the consequences, ways to do it and the psychology behind it, but can't seem to get my head in the place where I'm doing it for me and be successful at it. I've 2 young kids who should be great motivaters yet here I am still overweight. I'm not looking for sympathy but interested to hear what really motivated you. Was it a specific event or interaction? Did you just wake up and do it? Was it a gradual process? I'm a bit of a perfectionist but been working a lot on this recently as I know this can hold me back from keeping going if the weight loss journey is not perfect in my eyes; I appreciate it never will be. Thanks.

Planning meals so I always have something healthy in to eat _lots of protein and veg, less carb. No alcohol unless social event. Exercise everyday, even if just a walk. Lots of water. Try and go to bed early.

I had a health scare not related to weight but it made me realise that health is the most important thing. Our bodies are the only thing we have, we owe it to ourselves to do what it needs to function as optimally as possible. Carrying loads of excess weight is detrimental to health in so many ways. I thought I had ageing arthritic knees, turns out it was weight. Middle aged spread, turns out it was a wine belly. Snoring, too much weight on my neck. Stress incontinence, now 90 per cent better now fat isn't pressing on my bladder.

I have been booze free for 14 weeks, weight is coming off slowly but has already made a difference. So nice to wear waistbands without a roll of flab spilling over the top. Exercise makes me feel good, but it is reducing calorie intake which makes all the difference. I still need to lose another stone. I feel so much lighter, physically and mentally. I eat a lot of poke bowls for lunch, from ITSU and the like. Giving up sandwiches (bread) helps so much.

Giving up wine has meant I don't eat as big meals on the days I drank. Sleep is key. My goodness that is so much better. I get 7 hours of good quality sleep as opposed to 3 or 4. I no longer get up and sit in the dark, consumed by anxious thoughts. My anxiety is nearly extinct. I think menopause and alcohol are a bad mix. Plus it is a poison and I don't want to take in poison anymore. I feel like I have entered a new era and health has to be the priority.

I commute into London. Journey home you see men grab cans of beer, women eating chocolate or crisps. The male female split is marked. Like a reward at the end of a working day. I think we need to put snack food and sugary or alcohol drinks back to being where they belong - treats, not staple parts of diet.

This resonated with me as it was the reason I lost weight. When you're young, you can be overweight but fit and not have any health issues but I got to the point in my 50s when I couldn't kneel properly as my knees hurt and I thought fuck, what am I doing to myself?

The thing about slim old people is true. I don't want to die young nor do I want to spend my retirement hobbling around on knackered knees and hips, a heart attack waiting to happen..

Check this out, really helped me. https://esgfitness.substack.com/p/ep-304-the-all-or-nothing-mentality-28f

This is quite a refreshing thread, lots of sensible stuff rather than crazy diets and extreme (non) eating plans.

My winning formula has included:

• knowing there are no quick fixes
• finding exercise I actually enjoy
• changing my attitude to food as the enemy/a reward/comforter (thank you Slimpod)
• reducing alcohol consumption
• avoiding UPF food as much as possible
• paying attention to the wider factors - sleep, water, screen time, time in nature.

I kept telling myself that the feeling of losing weight was better than eating whatever I was tempted to eat. I weighed myself once a week and tracked it on the chart and it was motivating seeing the numbers go down.

Accept that it's going to take a certain number of months so you know you can't get a quick fix.

Download myfitnesspal and track what you eat. Seeing everything written down that you have eaten makes you really how much we eat mindlessly.

I also had one cheat meal a weak so I never felt deprived. If I had a special meal or event that was my meal off so I could carry on with my normal life.

I'm a Muslim so fasting in Ramadan made me release I did have the skills to restrict my eating.

Having mini goals, then when tempted ask yourself 'will this help me get to my goal'?
Time will pass anyway, do you want to be the same weight next month, next year?
Plan ahead for things like holidays, and don't use them as an excuse to pig out day after day.
Cut out (or way down) alcohol.
Increase exercise (could just be walking).
Consistency and accountability- I use My Fitness Pal to log in every mouthful and weigh foods to get the correct portion size.
Doing the above has helped me lose up to nine stone in the past. I'm doing it again as I gained between my kids, after my husband died and through Covid.

I was going to the gym regularly but still a couple of stone over eight.

My PT did a 3 month transformation package that I joined which helped me realised what I needed to do.

I am a year in and still going to the gym but just under 2 stone lighter, healthier and stronger.

Giving up sugar and flour and increasing protein. It sounds restrictive butbI eatbsobwelp and so varied and have none of the energy slumps, cravings or 'just one more ' binges now that sugar is gone.

I have bad knees but felt I couldn’t go to the doctor while I was so overweight. I tried slimming clubs but I soon fall off the wagon. I have just started 14:10 intermittent fasting and while it will be slow progress it seems to be working for me . It has also made me stop eating as late at night .

I think turning 50 did it for me. I wasn’t overweight in my life until my 40s and then it was like 10-20 pounds. Now I’m obese. I have GERD and am fatigued all the time. I have a massive double chin, generally look terrible and really hate it. I worry about being around for my DD as she grows up, as she is an only child. You are younger than me and perhaps not i. perimenopause yet but I suggest you read the Galveston Diet. It really inspired me and is easy to follow imho. I have lost 8 pounds in a month. Slow, but I am sticking with it. Only 40 to go 😂

For me (this time around 😬) I'd seen photos of myself on holiday last summer and was actually shocked at how big I looked. I didn't want to go back to WW or slimming world as I'm time poor and on a tight budget so downloaded the nhs calorie counter app. I lost 2 stone with this plus I then started exercising, feel much better and fitter, still need to lose another stone, but I'll get there slowly, hopefully!
The biggest problem, I think, is getting your head in the game. It's like a switch, if you can't flick that switch then you won't get far, it's so tough. Good luck op!

Not weight loss but fitness.Getting a Garmin and using Strava with it has made me exercise daily.I follow friends on Strava. It's brought out my competitive side.I've joined the gym but only go to exercise classes.Once they are booked for the 2 weeks in advance I've set the rule I can't cancel even if I dread it all day.I always feel better afterwards.I do at least 4 a week and its around £40 a month so worth it.Because it's a mixture-spin, pilates, yoga, body conditioning- I don't get bored.I feel better about myself so I eat healthier.

I have always struggled with my weight - no massively obese, but overweight. I'm like you OP and know everything I need to do but find it hard.

I've lost substantial amounts of weight (around 2 stone) a few times in my life, and each time was actually triggered by external events.

One was a break up.

The other was lockdown.

The other was getting in shape in preparation for fertility treatment.

I'm not saying you can't lose weight without an external motivator like that... but in my case, it seems to have been what spurred me into action.

I was getting bigger and clothes tighter. I have a very overweight friend and as an act of solidarity I signed up for hypnosis sessions. Kept an honest food diary to see the patterns and used this during the sessions. This worked and especially for my friend who shed 7 stones! That was about 10 years ago.

During lockdown I found Petronella Ravenshear's Human Being Diet (HBD) on Instagram. She makes complete sense, explains how your body works in very clear terms. Conscious healthy eating, analysing how food impacts your body and mind, focus on protein and veg and eliminating sugar cravings and snacking. I followed her info sessions for 2 years before finally trying it out and it makes me feel great. The looseness of clothing is a major motivating factor. Buy the book - it's life changing.

I remember a friend who lost a lot of weight who said that around covid time it just clicked, being obese (she was 20 stone and 5’5”) was a risk factor, she had to work out of the house, so it was the only thing she could control about it. She lost 10 stone over 3 years, calorie counting and walking 5k every day.

Shes kept it off, feels way better.

After 5 decades (really) of battling my weight I have finally found my personal magic bullet. High protein diet and weight lifting.

@ABwithAnItch 8lbs in a month is not at all slow! Well done. I think the diet industry skews our perception of what achievable, long term weight loss and management looks like. I’m 50 and not overweight according to my BMI (but would be better off 10lbs lighter) so every week I stay the same or lose a little is a win for me.

This is a really helpful thread. I feel like I've been putting off the decision to focus on this for too long and now it's time to start investing in myself (in my own health etc).

Realising that 4 yrs WFH since lockdown hardly bought any new clothes and just live in leggings and jumpers. Used to be so glam and well dressed. Only a stone overweight but look like a telly tubby. So want to wear nice and nit baggy dresses this summer so a week ago started fast 800. Lost 5lbs already. It’s hard at 65 to lose weight but it’s working and is so good for your health. Retiring next year and want to be slim, healthy and fit. Good luck

A photograph of myself at a wedding! I didn't recognise myself, the kids had to tell me! I was truly shocked at how fat I was. My face was distorted. It's been a slow and long journey to shift the 3 stone, as I'm menopausal. I look better for it, as I'm a uk size 12 now. I'm going to keep going as I want to be a size 10. I will always have to maintain this lifestyle, to keep off the weight.

I too had never had to diet all throughout my life, and always thought of myself as pretty slimmish, but weight crept up and up during menopause, not helped by an extremely stressful life event that I navigated my way through using alcohol. I was over 10 stone which was ridiculous (I am short and small). What triggered me into losing it was a doctor examining me for something (can’t remember what) and saying something like “it’s easy to feel on slim people, but I wouldn’t call you slim”. Not exactly fat shaming, but it was a wake up call. I did the 5:2 diet and cut out alcohol. I don’t have any scales but I think I’m about 8 stone. It took about eight months . I also started exercising which was surprisingly really good fun! I now do Zumba and various racquet sports which honestly doesn’t feel like exercise, I’m having such a good time. I’d be bored stiff in a gym.

I joined a gym and have signed up to a particular programme 3 x a week. It’s the only thing that keeps me going. I’ve tried exercising and dieting at home but have always given up after a few weeks. I need the outside motivation of having to pay to be somewhere so I do actually go. I also use my fitness pal to record my calorie intake. It’s really worked for me and I have toned up so much and lost just over 5lbs in 3 months and all my old clothes fit so much better, some are even loose. I’m just keeping going now and will see what the next few months bring in terms of fitness and weight loss. Weight loss was a factor but so was (as a PP said) wanting to reduce the loss of bone and muscle density and strength as I head towards my 60s.

There was a couple of thing that happened which give me the kick up the arse. I went on a day trip to a theme park with my nephew and spent the whole day in queues conparing myself to others riding before me to see if id fit. That was an anxiety filled day.

Then i stood up one day and pinched a nerve in my bad, took me ringing two big grown men to get me off the floor, unbelievable embarrassment.

The final one was i injured my ankle and was told to rest up for 6 weeks minimum, i went for a meeting with work to discuss my time off and they informed me about mental health support available to me through the company because sitting at home stuck on the sofa eating all day can be depression inducing. I dont think they meant this as a personal dig just a comment in passing but it hurt, because i felt that's what they thought of me - fatty on the sofa stuffing her face all day.

So i started calorie counting in may 2023 and currently 50lb down. Weight loss has stalled a bit at the moment but im at maintenance not putting on. Never want to be back to where i was.

Seeing healthy food as a positive choice for my wellbeing.

Eating my very favourite healthy foods at the beginning so that I didn't go without the enjoyment of food.

Still having treats like a square or two of dark chocolate to look forward to.

Always having healthy alternatives in the house for when I feel the need to eat and eat and eat (eg cucumbers).