It’s only day 2 and I could eat my own arm I’m so hungry.

[ThewrathofBethDutton]

I’m 5 fucking stone overweight.

Huge, uncomfortable, feel disgusting, look disgusting, it’s make or break now.

Ive made up my mind.

im almost through the menopause, the 5 stone has attached itself throughout perimeno over the last 4-5 years.

I have tried I have failed multiple times. I can starve, weight watchers, slimming world, MFP, fasting, vegan, vegetarian, meal plan, walk more, move more… I’ve done them all, everyone of them over the last 30 years. I’m still huge.

Peri meno has proven impossible, utterly utterly impossible.
I could drop a stone doing any of the above over 4-5 months before hormones fucked off. Now with very careful changes, the weight WILL NOT BUDGE at all no matter what I do. Not even one LB.

MFP is a great little APP, I get on with it well because I like the nutritional information that it gives.
I like to track my nutritional intake, cholesterol etc, calories & fat secondary. I have 1200 cals a day,

I went to bed last night starving, I’m hungry now, feel like shit.

Pffftt and GAHHHHHH! I hate being so overweight and overwhelmed with the mammoth challenge ahead of me every single day.

What can I do??????

People saying 1200 is too low...

My TDEE is 1300. I put weight on if I go over that. I tried to lose weight a on 1500 and obviously slowly gained instead.

I was on 1000 calories a day and lost 3 stone having tried for 8 years to lose it.

I ate

Full fat Greek yoghurt, seeds and nuts for breakfast

3 scrambled eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes. Or tin of tuna and salad for lunch

Fish fillet or half a chicken breast or half a steak or a bag of prawns for dinner with vegetables.

I coukd only stick to it because I used Wegovy. It still took me 9 months to lose the weight!

Calorie deficit and use your calories wiser.

I disagree , low carb is painless and effortless . Once you get into it it’s very easy , it works and you don’t feel hungry at all . The only effort is in the cooking , but you cook anyway .

Ok I’m T total, do not touch alcohol at all.
99% plant based diet (most of my adult life)
black decaf coffee maybe 3 cups a day, gallons of water.

If I go above 1200, the weight goes on faster, I mean 2-3lbs in a week fast. 1200 doesn’t lead to weight loss but controls it prevents it from increasing.

Avoid bread, wholewheat and no more than 2 slices (out of the freezer) in a 24 hour period.
16:8 fasting.
Had watermelon this morning after my fast.

Homemade foods so I know what’s in them, homemade tomato soup today, bloody lovely!

My job is now sedentary going from walking 15,000-20,000 steps a day super busy job…I was still overweight even then FFS. Now far far less active.

Mounjaro is a total game changer. I don’t think about food at all anymore. Bread doesn’t call out to me, I don’t fancy chocolate. I have to tell myself to eat something or I can go hours and hours without eating. Three stone off so far and I started five and a half overweight.

I don't know about how menopause factors into this.

I'm not sure that snacking on low calorie foods is a good idea.. Your stomach needs to shrink and get used to smaller amounts.

I second looking into weight loss injections. Anything to make this easier.

I would suggest having your lunch and dinner at 12 and 5 if you can. Before you get super hungry. Have a proper amount of protein - chicken or salmon..A little carbs like oatcakes. Lots of green vegetables to make sure you're getting everything you need. Carrots, peppers, kale and spinach are your friends.

It may not work for you but I ate a satsuma once an hour at least with a hot drink. I also cut out all dairy products and anything containing glucose. You do lose the taste for these things over time.

I think you have to be careful that your blood sugar levels don't plummet as you really do have to eat then. Oat biscuits are a good option for different reasons and they're not fun to eat so you won't over eat them. Porridge is a good breakfast but you really have to watch the quantity.

Try drinking a glass of lukewarm water as soon as you get up and at other times when you feel like snacking. Sometimes, if we've been eating erratically, we can mistake thirst for hunger. You might be surprised.

The hunger sucks. It's an evolutionary adaptation that isn't helping right now. However losing weight will be so good for your health and self esteem. The messages your brain is sending you are simply wrong. Try saying "I'm caring for my body and I'm going to feel better before long" as your brain will hear it

My friend is an endocrinologist who runs a life-saving programme for people with morbid obesity. It's 800 cal / day. He says if they tough it out, after the third day the feeling of hunger wanes. The typical patient loses 30 percent of body weight. He is at a university; it's not a scam or fraud.

My dad was always slim. He once told me "you just have to get used to feeling a bit hungry all the time."

Could you try plain popcorn to munch on?

OP against what I thought was my better judgement last January, I started using Mounjaro.

Since then, I've lost 6st 4lb.

I never thought it would work....... but I was wrong.

I’m the same in meno and cannot lose weight. Can you please give a little more detail on your low carb diet? I hate being hungry all the time, and found eating a v low calorie diet so hard! I want something I can stick at but don’t want to feel starving all the time

Increase protein, look at your carbs and reduce if needed. Drinking plenty water. That's what has helped me lose 2st since June in Peri menopause with now taking HRT. I also think you need higher calories. I'm on1600.

So when you look objectively at your diet, what do you think you are doing wrong? Something is wrong because you are several stone overweight. Most of us can identify what it is, either portions that are far too large, alcohol, chocolate, fast food or whatever. What is it for you?

Post menopausal women need a lot less calories than other women. Low carb, low calorie, move more is really the only way to go.

To gain 3lbs of actual proper weight (NOT water fluctuation) in one week you would need to eat an additional 10,500 calories on top of your TDEE that week. Eating 1500 cal a day instead of 1200 over 1 week has not resulted in a 3lb weight gain in a week, you are likely seeing water retention for other reasons. You need to do at least 6 weeks on an eating plan to see the real result.

Gaining weight on 1200 - unless you are very short - is odd

The vast majority of people who gain weight at that level actually are miscalculating their calories - you need to weigh everything

I'm perimenopausal with food noise you could hear in Brazil. I've lost 2 stone in 2.5 months on Mounjaro, with very, very little effort. Check out the threads to answer any questions about it, but honestly, it's remarkable.

Another vote for Mounjaro here. I tried what feels like everything and just couldn't do it. Hunger and cravings beat me every time.

I never thought I'd do weight loss injections but read a lot of articles on them last year just out of interest. It came to November and I was still the same weight I was in January and feeling kind of desperate having come to the end of another year with zero weight loss success, so I bit the bullet and ordered.

Honestly, I think it might be one of the most life changing decisions I've ever made (and I've only been on it 6 weeks). I finally feel like I can eat like a normal person - in control of what I eat.

I'm not "dieting" or anything, I just eat my normal meals and don't feel like the constant snacking throughout the day that I used to do. I feel GREAT and finally feel like this is the year that I will actually be able to reach my weight loss goal (and that's a weight I haven't seen in nearly 15 years!).

You won’t lose weight simply repeating what hasn’t worked before. It doesn’t work. You need Mounjaro - all this angst will disappear - quicker than overnight.

More protein , less carbs and Mounjaru OP .
My friend has lost 7 stone since last February on it .

@Lotsofsnacks there is a low carb board on here and the January 4 week boot camp started today , so pop over and have a look .

1200 is so so so low :( ditto to what lots of others have said. Have you seen the EC method? Super sensible cal ranges but it might be worth checking out :)

5 stone isn't enough for weight loss surgery. You could lose that in 6 months sustainably if you're serious about losing it.

Low carb, high protein would be my advice as it curbs hunger and stabilises blood sugar.

Have you ruled out things like hypothyroidism that might be slowing your metabolism?

Hey OP. I have about another 8 stone to lose (in a perfect world) but I’ve already lost 3 stone since August.

I’m 49 and pretty sedentary. I do plan to up my exercise but haven’t really done that yet.

I have been doing keto. Literally never hungry. Huge dinners. Plenty of food. Loads of choice. And it’s dead easy to understand/follow.

I used to suffer with swelling in my feet/ankles - hormone related. Stopped as soon as I switched to keto. I thought it might be weight related but I ate carbs again over Christmas and my swollen ankles immediately came back!!! Carbs hold water which is why you lose so much at the start on keto. Your body releases the surplus fluid that it’s holding due to carb intake. I feel so much less bloated on keto.

I’ve enjoyed myself over Christmas but haven’t eaten anywhere near as much as I would have normally done because my body just doesn’t like it now. I’ll be back to keto next week and I’m happy with that. Long term I’ll stick to a low carb diet because it’s clearly so much better for my health.

Aside from weight, a low carb diet is often recommended by doctors to lower the risk of diabetes. So I feel this is something I can pretty much stick to for life. I let myself have a treat on birthdays etc - this is a way of life, not a faddy change, and I think that’s why I’ve found it really easy to stick to and why the weight has just dropped off.

I don’t think injections are cheating but personally they’re not something I’m willing to consider. I really did need to lose weight desperately so I’m bloody delighted that keto/low carb has worked for me.

Have you had your thyroid etc checked? That amount of weight gain on such low calories might be caused by something else?

There is no way you're 5 stone overweight and only burn 1200 calories a day. (Unless maybe if you've got dwarfism).