What made you want to lose weight?

[Brou]

For me, I had gained so much weight that I had a spare tyre. I had never had an actual new appendage before. For the first time I couldn’t suck it in or hide my gut with styling. I literally just had to accept it was there and allow my clothes to cling to it. It was mortifying.

I also found when I bent down I was having to split my thighs open (if I crouched) to accomodate my gut. I felt humiliated every time I did it.

40 pounds down and it’s gone. I’m back to an hour glass.

It’s been a very slow process but I’ve made some significant lifestyle changes.

“Dont let perfect get in the way of good” has been my mantra with exercise and weight loss.

You could be describing me.

Aside from health and feeling like a red faced sweaty blimp from april to September..
The sad truth is on a trip to Cairo (where all the young Egyptians were very slender and I felt super huge and sweaty) I was convinced I heard the couple at a table next to us say something about 'fat Americans' and staring /laughing, although I'm not even American! So vanity and shame are the other reasons.

I was so upset at some photos and also fwd up of struggling and dreading an incline on a walk, struggled to sit on bar stools etc etc. the final straw was everyone chatting about wli and seeing results and although that’s not the route I took it was motivation to not be the only fat one!

Meno belly. It’s just a big pad of needless, useless fat.
Every time I see it, it takes me by surprise. It’s gotta go!

Combination of good diet & exercise. Cutting out rubbish.
Not interested in food & drink this Christmas. It’s too much!

What has helped you?

really good description and strangely familiar ☹️

My ‘moment of decision’ was after a woman at an event asked me when I was due in front of about 20 people. I was 49 at the time and have never been pregnant.

I had massive issues with GERD - not only heartburn but also silent reflux with violent coughing fits after eating. When I ate “the wrong thing”, which was a lot, I regurgitated a lot of the food straight up again, so eating outside the house was getting ridiculously difficult. I took Omeprazole, which didn’t fully resolve it anymore at that point, and I didn’t want to continue taking it anyway. (I have got a hiatus hernia which doesn’t help).
Lost 5 stone by October this year and I can now eat a lot of what I couldn’t previously eat - and certainly all food stays down. I still have triggers and eating in restaurants is difficult, but it’s much, much more manageable now.
Change of diet, cutting out rubbish and back to walking more again, which was arguably much easier to achieve in spring / summer / autumn.
Holding since, I’d have liked another stone but I’m in the normal weight range with a BMI of just under 24 so not stressing about it - it would just really be cosmetic now.

Very similar to many of you as a lifelong pear with a small waist, always in the healthy or just slightly overweight bmi range, I was shocked to find myself in perimenopause gaining a sizeable gut that was getting bigger every year and really uncomfortable when sitting/bending. Out of breath walking up hill, less able to keep up with the kids, puffy face with chin rolls on camera all the time staring at myself on teams calls. I need to be fit and active and around for DC.
after another attempt to get back on track last Jan, the stone I managed was all back by April. Started mounjaro at BMI 32, now BMI 23 and feel better and healthier than I dared to hope was ever possible again. My visceral fat was the first to go, it melted off in the first couple of months. I am so grateful and so much happier.

For the first time in my life my weight is just going up no matter what I do

I work nights and rarely get enough sleep but the flabby tummy needs to go

My daughter is getting married next year and I need to lose 2 stone