5 stone to lose - Anyhow that works for you - thread 3

[stillplentyofjunkinthetrunk]

If you have (or had) more than 5 stone to lose and plan on doing so over many months in a reasonably sustainable way and would like to hang out with a supportive crowd this could well be the thread for you.

I took the title of the thread based on the previous threads some of us were on which turned out to be lovely supportive threads. With a mild edit to clarify no I'm not guaranteeing everyone will lose 5 stone in 6 months.

Super happy for anyone who likes the sound of this to join us. Weigh ins have typically been once a week on Monday. I generally prefer working in kilos because the maths is nice but stones are also perfectly fine.

General medical advice for most people is to aim to lose 1 - 2 pounds a week, or somewhere between 0.5 - 1kg. If you've quite a lot to lose a kilo (2.2lb) a week is perfectly healthy and sensible amount to aim for. That is a 1000 kcal deficit a day. = 26kg (4 stone in 6 months). This is clearly a VERY ask if your total daily energy expenditure is 2600 kcal than if it is 1600 kcal. This advice does rise up to 2-3 pounds a week or 1.5kg a week if you have a high BMI, (so e.g. the person below has an estimated total daily energy expenditure of 2591 so could quite sensibly aim to eat 1340 kcal a day) but do get medical advice if you aren't sure what a good target for you is.

Absolutely no pressure on anyone as to how fast you should be aiming to lose weight. I would like the priority always to be getting healthier bodies and healthier habits.

you can calculate your total daily energy expenditure with a site like this one

https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=metric&g=female&age=49&kg=124&cm=168&act=1.375&f=1
Calories Needed for a 49 year old, 124 kg Female

You're absolutely right @Scrabblingaround that's a great way to look at it.

I was 142kg in March 2023. Now I'm 119kg. I'm on Ozempic but I did have a period of 3 weeks and another period of 2 weeks when I couldn't get it. My go to over the winter has been homemade vegetable soup. I've been having it once a day. I have protein like a chicken breast cooked in an air fryer with peas, minced steak Bolognese with a very small portion of wholemeal spaghetti, fish and 1/3 tin of low sugar/salt baked beans, salmon cooked in lemon juice and mushy peas, roast beef carrots, peas and one small roast potato. I sometimes make breakfast for my main meal with 2 x 1/2 fat sausages, 2 bacon, egg yolk and 1/3 tin of baked beans. One light meal of a yogurt with a satsuma, an apple, raspberries or slice of melon. Then other meal the homemade vegetable soup. I've taken most obvious carbs out my diet ATM but not all. I'm hoping to keep plodding along losing weight until I get under 100kg in the first instance. Then I'll reassess. Every time I lose 5kg I get a reward, new jewelry. I'm losing about 1kg a week or slightly less, sometimes 0.8kg. I look and feel better.

Well done on your losses so far @caringcarer

I second what @Bumblebeebum23 has said. You have still lost the same amount, you just had a different starting point. Progress is progress. Also, we place too much on the scales. It's about how we look and you look the same as you did before this stone came from nowhere... and that same is better than you did over time

I had a work event this week. Didn't eat too much but my strict no weekday drinking went out the window and I was hungover for two days. Still not right and couldn't get up for the gym.

I'm going to try intermittent fasting for the next few weeks and see if that helps.

Would you recommend ozempic @caringcarer ? Someone posted a voy link on the last post and I'm contemplating

Weigh day for me. I lost a lb and a half this week.
SW 18st 9.5lb
CW 16st 3.75lb
Hoping to be under 16st 2.5 next week so that'll be 2.5st gone. Hope everyone is having a good week!

Well done everyone and thank you @stillplentyofjunkinthetrunk - DD had surgery this week and is recovering at home now.

@Scrabblingaround I can imagine how disappointing that felt. I think you're right to view it the way you are - regardless of the numbers on the new scales, it doesn't change the amount of weight you've lost so far and it is important to focus on that.

Weighed this morning and wasn't expecting to lose much given the hospital stays with DD and it was also DS's 13th birthday this week, but pleasantly surprised to lose another 2lb.

SW: 15st 6lb
CW: 13st 6lb

So that's a 2 stone loss since starting! A long way to go even to get to my first target of being in the overweight BMI range, but I feel very positive about everything.

In terms of mini wins; I stopped taking medication for high blood pressure in April (under medical guidance) and 1 month later my BP is around 115/75 - I am no longer hypertensive! My resting heart rate has also reduced from the mid/high 70s to 56-60bpm, I don't suffer from reflux anymore, my (TMI) bowel movements are much improved and I am genuinely starting to feel so much healthier. Still need knee surgery so high impact exercise is out of the question, but I am able to enjoy long walks which is also helping with the weight loss.

Hoping everyone has a lovely weekend.

That all sounds really positive @Bunnyjo thanks for sharing! I hope your daughter's recovery goes as well as possible and it is of course right that will be the main family focus for the next few weeks nevertheless let's take a moment to focus on you and your 2 stone loss since starting!

I've been keeping up-to-date with this thread all week. Lovely to hear of everyone's news and well done to all for another week 👏🏼 especially if you've had a harder week and still choosing to make healthy choices 😊
I've had a good week this week - 3lbs lost. I've not had any booze plus done a lot more walking which probably accounts for the bigger than average loss, as I haven't changed my diet.

My numbers:
SW: 18 stone 10 lbs
CW: 16 stone 7 lbs
GW: 12 stone

Still hoping to be in the 15s by 21st June 🤩🤞🏼

Hi, I should join. I ache, I'm often out of breath. But if I'm going to loose weight - I have to survive on 1000 cal deficit a day? Every day? Because those websites puts that at 1300 cals a day. Is that what you're all working to to loose weight? I don't think I can manage that, I really don't.

Those websites are full of shit. Use the TDEE calculator on this thread, it's a really good tool. 500 calorie deficit is the healthy, recommended amount. That, you can definitely do!

tdeecalculator.net you'll be much happier with this result 😀

I know this question wasn’t directed at me, @CommeUneVacheEspagnole, but I had to jump in. I’ve been on Ozempic since August 2023 and have lost over 6st so far. I’d highly recommend it.

Feel free to ask any questions and I’ll share my experience.
(though I’m not in the UK so can’t advise on the best way to access the medication)

Oh wow, thanks for jumping in @BusinessSecretsOfThePharaoh

Mostly I think my concerns are side effects. Did you have any? Could the same have been done with grit and determination?

I generally feel that if I just pulled my socks up I could lose the weight but I've not been able to pull my socks up for a long time.

@CommeUneVacheEspagnole - that's the one I used, it came up with 2204 as the maintainance cal and I thought I needed to go 1000 under that? But I can go 500 under and still loose weight? I just really love eating

Oh I love it too!

Yes, look at the tabs and you will see maintenance, bulking and cutting. Cutting recommends 500 deficit to be happy and healthy. You can cut by 1000 if it works for you but personally, I'd be so miserable. My fitness pal recommends 1200 calories for most people but the fitness influencers I follow all say that's about the amount for a child. We can't sustain it and the only reason people recommend that fast800 thing is if you're overweight to the point it's more dangerous than the effect of the deficit.

I think mine was 2200 ish and I can eat 1700 ish. I also exercise but only cardio. I love weights but hate cardio so having to do it should make me stop filling my face because I'll have to do more if I do. When I'm at 84kg I will start weights again as a celebration.

I recently read an article about metabolism and hunter gatherer tribes that still live that way. They burn about as many calories as sedentary people the same weight and larger people burn the same when calculating for additional size. We are fighting our bodies to lose weight. It doesn't want us to.

Sticking to a 500 calories a day deficit should make you burn about 1lb of fat a week and is a perfectly sensible amount to aim for. That would be 1800 kcal a day and should feel a lot easier to adjust to.

It isn't as bad as you might think to have a bigger calorie deficit as your body burns fat to provide the missing energy, but perseverance really counts for a lot. Losing a little for a long time is a really healthy way to lose excess fat.

Could the same have been done with grit and determination?

I haven't been using Ozempic, I too was worried about the possible side effects. I appreciate that the most serious are rare, but given that I was feeling keen to be healthier they were enough to put me off.

https://www.healthline.com/health/drugs/ozempic-side-effects#side-effects-explained

I was exceptionally lucky and, bar an initial 36 hours of nausea, I haven’t had any side effects. I do need to make sure my fiber and water intake are good, otherwise I can get a bit constipated, but no side effects other than that.

I’ve tried and failed every single diet before now. For me, the big difference with Ozempic was that I’m no longer constantly thinking of food, and I just don’t crave food like I used to. I also get fuller sooner, and don’t feel hungry again after eating for quite a while. Some of the foods I used to love just don’t appeal anymore- like pastries, or creamy sauces. I don’t know why, but I’m happy with that!

Will power is a big part. I know if I put my mind to it I could eat a full packet of biscuits, but I’m just not that interested in food and the appeal or gorging myself on chocolate Digestives has completely waned. That said, I do make better choices so don’t keep biscuits in the house.

I tend to have a very healthy and low calories breakfast, same for lunch, and then that gives me some flexibility for dinner if I’m out with friends or want to eat what my family are having. I’ll still eat pizza, but would now struggle to eat three slices, whereas I’d previously have had a full pizza, plus dessert. I do a lot of bulk eating so will eat large volumes of bulky, low calories foods that I like to keep me feeling satiated. Like big bowls of berries and melon with some 0% Greek yogurt.

I think the biggest thing for me is that, on Ozempic, I don’t actually want to eat a lot whereas on previous diets I’d think about food all the time and sabotage myself because I was feeling deprived.

12st 1lb this morning... 1lb lower than last week but a little frustrating because I have been 12st 0lbs most of the week and way praying I would sneak into the 11s. Oh well, I will just keep going and will get there eventually.

On a brighter note, I am walking a lot more due to the nice weather 😌 and only have one more week until half term 👍😊

Hope everyone has a great week xx

Morning everyone! Time for my Monday weigh in

SW 150kg
CW 110.7kg
1kg lost since last week

mini goals
✅111.3kg 2 stone lost this year
🎯110 kg - big round number mini goal & 40kg lost in total
🎯109kg half of excess weight lost
🎯108.8kg BMI<40

I'm a bit disappointed as I've only lost 0.6kg this week, which makes me nowhere near my (slightly unrealistic) goal of being under 100kg this week. But then I converted it and it's 1lb so that's fine really.

Only .8kg (1.75lbs) down which is annoying as upped my steps and kept under 1500 calories all week. Loss has slowed way down - only 2.2lbs in the last three weeks. This speed would be ok if I wasn't going on holiday in a month!
I didn't do any of the things I mentioned last post (fast 800 or 5:2). But I have bought the ingredients to make a cabbage soup and may replace lunch with that see how it goes.

Thank you so much, I'll be back when I'm feeling a little more ready.

I’ve lost just over 1kg this week bringing my total to 41kgs/6st 6lbs so delighted with that.

Just checked my calendar and this is week 41 of my diet so a consistent average of 1kg/week.