12 weeks to beach holiday = panic

[AchillesAndPatroclus]

I’ve gained 3 stone in the last 5 years battling peri symptoms and a pretty shocking metabolism slow-down causing a complete lack of motivation as nothing I’ve done before is working. I keep getting injured doing my usual running/ high intensity workouts and I haven’t even lost any weight doing fast800 for 8 weeks.

I’m 5’6” and 13 stone with lots of subcutaneous body fat and huge boobs ie I’m not just bigger/wider, I’m very very flabby.

I booked my first family beach holiday in good faith that miracles would occur and I would be completely transformed in time for it, but I’m in a bit of a panic about it now.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom to make the best possible use of these last 12 weeks?

I am fully committed to making a permanent change and re-gaining control of my health and fitness, it isn’t just about looking good on holiday, but I don’t even wear short sleeves or dresses around the house, so I know I’m just going to cover up completely and hate the holiday if I don’t make some improvement.

I can understand why you might feel self conscious if you are heavier than you were, but honestly nobody will be looking at you.

My words of wisdom are:
A. There will be plenty of people bigger than you.
B. Buy some new clothes that fit well.
C. Drink plenty of water over the next 12 weeks.

If you panic diet before this holiday you’ll just put it all back on and feel awful while you’re doing it. Forget about the holiday being the golden end point and just start to make changes today, changes you can continue for the foresable future. It took a long time to gain the weight and it will take a long time to lose it properly and effectively. So don’t stress about your size on holiday. No one else will care.

i can totally sympathise. Three months is a very long time to put Indian good eating habits. And you will be able to notice a difference. Good luck. But make sure you enjoy yourself above all us.

Please do not ruin your holiday worrying about this. No one is going to care or even notice what you look like. Honestly. I felt the same way a few years ago when I went to Ibiza on a family holiday (5ft 6 and 15 stone) and I promise you by the end of the first day I did not give a shiny shite. I was out there wearing my bikini everyday. There were people of ALL shapes, sizes and ages on the beach. Just enjoying themselves.

I am going to Majorca in 8 weeks and I’m the same size and I honestly can’t wait - I feel much more self confident there than here weirdly enough because everyone is there to enjoy themselves and no one cares.

I do take on board your sentiment, I know there’s no point freaking out over it or trying to implement drastic measures, but this is the weight loss chat board and I am committed to losing some weight or making some physical changes in the next 12 weeks.

I have replaced my entire wardrobe for every stone I’ve put on; numerically it’s 3.5stone but because it’s all body fat, it honestly looks like I’ve put on around 5, the inches I’ve gained are ridiculous. I refuse to continue to do this and I want this holiday to be the kickstart.

So I guess I’m asking if anyone has any tips for effective body recomposition / fat loss during peri that would be noticeable in 12 weeks and get me back on the road to fitness and confidence?

What worked for you when the tactics you used when you were younger stopped being effective?

Start lifting heavy weights.

I'm a runner, but my body has changed a lot since I started. I'm not lifting especially heavy as running is my priority, but if you put running on the back burner and start lifting and eating well (not dieting, but eating healthy food) i think you'll start seeing a difference quickly.

Think about how lovely it will be to be able to have the sun on your skin and swim in the sea.
Try not to ruin your holiday with being self conscious.

I think my needs changed, too, after menopause. I did a weightlifting course in a proper weightlifting gym with a proper weightlifter - none of your Fit Pump nonsense :-) The weight FELL off me. Plus the other gym users were so supportive - I think I was the only woman, never mind mid-50s post menopausal so I was a bit of a novelty. Then very boringly followed a vague low carb diet - bacon and eggs for breakfast, wrap with turkey bacon and stir fried veg for lunch, steak/salad for supper with protein smoothies. I was in the best shape of my life (and I used to be super fit). But given the type of weight gain, do you think it might be strongly hormone related i.e. nothing you do will help without the hormones being sorted??

I’ve always found slimming world works for me. I can eat a lot, and with slimming world my appetite can be satisfied. It means I can have pasta and potatoes, which I love. Plus, I get lots of protein with fish, chicken etc. For example, my meal plan today is:
breakfast: fruit
lunch: chicken, potatoes, 30g cheese, salad.
snack: cornetto (as it’s under 15 syns)
dinner: 2 slimming world burgers, jacket potato and salad.
snack: fruit with Greek yogurt

Its not for everyone, but I lost a stone and half on it in three months.

Honestly you can lose loads in the time you have!
Time to get strict with yourself, no bread, sweets, chocolate, try to avoid all carbs except brown rice/pasta.
Eat as fresh as you possibly can, so no processed foods at all.
Drink water like your life depends on it.
Grapefruits are excellent for weight loss.
Eat plenty of vegetables to fill yourself up, prepare healthy snacks in the morning so you’re not tempted by crap.
Meal prep in advance, low/no carbs and protein heavy.
So lean meat (if you eat it) fish, cottage cheese, quorn chickpeas etc.
You can do this!
I lost 2 and a half stone in time for my 50th birthday in the same time period you have.
Good luck!!

Kickstart with an intense one month programme, with an online coach. I did one here in nz, and it was amazing. Lost 5 kgs first month and 5 over the following 2 months.
it was a group of women, zoom meetings, recipe and exercise sharing, pep talks etc.

start the day amazingly. Hour walk followed by the most delicious healthy breakfast, chia seeds, yogurt, berries, nuts, it’s so yum and sets you up for a good day

i always have a massive pot of vege / lentil soup in the go, heaps of nourishment with hardly any calories

good luck!

Intermittent fasting is the only thing that works for me.
Edited to add that I average just over 2lb a week loss.

Mounjaro- you should see results in 3 months

Menopausal 3 stone overweight 56 year old. I'd say take it slowly and make some changes and you'll be a transformed woman this time next year.

I've lost 2 stone - slowly - over a year.

Joined a gym - doing weights - I go first thing 2 or 3 times a week to a weights class - it's changed my shape. I'm not a gym person.

Walk more.

Drink more water.

Eat more protein and more fibre. Lots of veg and pulses and beans and wholemeal carbs.

Have sensible portions.

Work out what you trigger points are - with me it's mindlessly drinking a glass of wine when there's no real good reason for it. And snacking after work and before tea.

Just reduce calories. I will admit I’ve done quite drastic weight loss for events. Don’t really regret it. I’m talking 900-1000 calories, 10k steps/45 mins swimming. Certainly not sustainable.

Try to get your body in ketosis - no sugar, no fat.

The thing I found REALLY hard is that when you are doing extreme weight loss your body becomes very efficient at weight loss. But if I had a “bad” day it almost defied science. And by bad I mean I would eat carbs and consume 1700 calories. But this would lead to a one pound gain. God forbid I ate 1500 calories for a week. I remember doing that and was some how 10 pounds heavier.

But with 12 weeks I don’t think you even have to be that extreme.

@Liud I did 8 weeks of Fast800 (800 cals!) along with running and SWEAT app and didn’t lose even 0.1 of a lb or inch! 🤷‍♀️

I don’t want an extreme diet, just something that’s going to work in peri and start to become noticeable by 12 weeks. I know I won’t be at any great “goal weight” by then, but I’ll be happy to be on my way.

@BigDahliaFan I am resigned that it’s going to be a slow journey! Thanks for the tips.

@TwinklyRoseTurtle Eek, not even considering jabs as I want to make a concrete change and I always get all the side effects of anything I take.

12 weeks is ages. Even if you lose 2lbs a week, that’s almost 2 stone and you’ll feel and look so much better.

I’d strongly recommend mounjaro, but if that’s not for you, a ‘fast keto’ diet is really effective.

Don't let it ruin your holiday whatever happens!

@CanOfMangoTango @LadyDancealot I’m seriously considering changing everything up and focussing on weights and pilates in combination.

Although I suspect it is down to a huge hormone shift, I feel like I need to give my system a real kickstart and I wonder if this would do the trick.

@KarCat @Lascivious Yes, I think it’s the perfect timescale to focus on bringing everything together to make a difference without being going to extreme measures.

Stop eating the stuff you probably already know you shoudn’t be eating (that biscuit/glass of wine/bag of crisps), look at your portion sizes, but most importantly shift your focus. Start lifting heavy weights, and be amazed at how strong your body can be in 12 weeks.

One of the benefits of getting older is that you really stop giving a toss what other people think. I am sure if you got in touch with everyone who last saw you in a bikini 99.9999% of them won’t even remember you and the 0 0001% who do will remember something really trivial, like you had a funky beach towel or you always said hello while you waiting for the hotel lift.

Would you confused weight loss injections? This could help shift some weight, and if you start dose small hopefully side effects would not be huge

Mounjaro plus weights & running 3xweek. You’ll probably drop 2-3 stone in 12 weeks

OP - I feel you! I have 9 weeks til my holiday and am now very focused! I have about 1.5 stone I'd like to lose, but I know that's unlikely by then.

I have the Nutricheck app, which is great for calorie counting and am aiming for 1300 cals a day - have saved all my meals into it. I'm planning my days in advance, which really helps and being honest/strict with myself about alcohol calories.

I do a lot of walking so exercise is a bit less of an issue for me.

Good luck!

I just wanted to give an update on how it’s going as it’s over six weeks since I posted this.

For the first couple of weeks, I started to work in more water, better nutrition, less alcohol and an hour of walking a day. I got back in touch with what workouts and healthy foods I like. It took a while of being inconsistent as I was literally coming from absolute zero on both the activity and nutrition front, but I’m there now.

For the last four weeks, I have been:

• walking an hour 5x week
• Lifting weights (failing at 10-12) 3x week
• Doing a 40m Pilates/yoga mix 2x week which includes strength, stretch and cardio flow
• lymphatic body and face massage every day
• Drinking 1.7-2L of pure water a day (with a pinch of Celtic sea salt) on top of tea/coffee/herbal
• eating around 1,000-1,400 calories with a focus on protein and fibre and 16:8 on non-lifting days
• Taking marine collagen, D3, Omega 3, magnesium and zinc
• philips Lumea ipl all over
• treating my dry chicken skin with ameliorate body cream

I feel like a new woman!

My posture is greatly improved, my strength and stamina are progressing nicely, I have loads more energy, I had to pull in a notch on the bra strap, and I tried on a blouse that I couldn’t even get into in March, and it fit perfectly….

But I’ve only lost 0.3lb!! 😂

Ahh, it’s crazy. Obviously I’m feeling much more confident and I’m on the right track with health and weight, so I’m just going to keep on keeping on.

Next up, I’m moving into a phase of heavier lifting (failing at 6-8 reps) and then theres a “lean out” phase to do before I actually go on holiday, so hopefully more changes to come. I know I need to eat more but I’m actually stuffed meeting my protein and fibre goals and it’s a struggle. Perhaps I’ll get hungrier as I’m lifting more. I’m also going to get on the gradual tan once the Ameliorate and IPL treatments are done. 💅👑

Good luck