I feel totally and utterly overwhelmed

[2026willbemyyear]

I am nearly 17 stone, my BMI is 38 but I honestly just don’t know where to start with losing weight. There is so much information out there and I feel totally and utterly overwhelmed. But I know I HAVE to do something for my health. I tried WLI last year and I didn’t get on with them. I am thinking of trying slimming world, or maybe a meal delivery service to get me going.

Any tips or advice or resources would be most grateful!!

Weight loss is almost entirely about diet. What is your daily diet like?

What do you usually eat?

I lost 5 stone a few years ago (and maintaining now). I did this by calorie counting and intermittent fasting.
Start by putting your details into https://tdeecalculator.net.
Then download an app to help keep track of calories (i use my fitness pal free version).
You need to make long term changes /habits for long lasting results, that's why alot of people fail because they stop the slimming world diet when they get to goal and go back to their old ways and put on weight (not all obviously).
I never really felt i was on a diet because I could eat anything (just in moderation). Also every time I had a bad day I'd alter my calories for a few days and that would bring my calorie deficit back on track.
Its about finding a long-term way of eating that works for your lifestyle.

What WLI did you try, I used mounjaro and lost 5+ stone, a friend of mine uses wegovy as she couldn't tolerate MJ at all and she's lost about the same, maybe worth trying a different one?
WLI are not the easy way out, but they offer a support that nothing else did for me, I spent all of my 30s obese, borderline diabetes, aches and pains. Now I go to the gym, I have boundless energy in my 40s and I feel absolutely fantastic.

If you can do it without WLI then by all means try, but I get the feeling you've tried before, but remember you still have to put the work in too.

Good luck!

What wli did you try and why didn’t you get on, what happened?

What I ate yesterday:

Toast with butter and orange juice

Nescafé cappuccino with a chocolate or 2

Beans on toast with cheese and a bit of mayo

Crisps with sour cream dip

2 canned cocktails

Pasta with sauce and cheese, salad dressing and mayo as condiments

2 garlic bread ciabattas with mayo

Chocolate

Lemonade

Diet Coke

It’s bloody terrible I know. I have done calorie counting in the past but found I was still eating rubbish which slowed the weight down. I tried mounjaro and honestly just hated the way it made me feel, plus the cost was ridiculous.

Yes that’s a poor diet, where is the protein?

how did it make you feel rubbish, mounjaro, what dose did you go to?

Not one vegetable or fruit or protein!
You would lose weight simply by eating eggs for brekkie, fruit for a snack, a salad for lunch, fish or chicken with veg for dinner, and cutting out all the chocolate, fizzy drinks, excessive carbs and cappucinos. I would be 20 stone if I ate that.
You already know it's poor so not sure why you are confused by health advice?

https://www.growwithkieron.co.uk/
my friend has done really well with this, there are online options too. It’s similar to slimming works but with calories instead of syns so sounds much easier to follow.

Hey @2026willbemyyear it can feel overwhelming and well done for being honest about your diet.

It sounds like calorie counting and meal planning might really help.

To start with it might just help by using an app, lose it, nutri check, my fitness pal, and plugging in how much you are eating.

Once you’ve got to grips with it and can see which things are throwing you off, then you can start making small, incremental changes.

Find some breakfast / lunch / dinners that fit within your deficit and batch cook and plan as much as you can.

make some healthy swaps to reduce the calories, lightest mayo, use an oil spray (not fry light, just oil in a pump action bottle), reduce your portion sizes and go slow.

If you can and have a lot of Christmas bits left you could offer it on olio or take unopened things to the food bank maybe?

Tracking and consistency are your friends.

Also, think about your triggers and what has got you here. If you can afford some sessions with a therapist it might help unlock the reasons behind why you over eat.

Anything you do to improve that diet will help. I mean that in the nicest and most encouraging way.

If you swapped all your sugary drinks for non-sugary drinks that would make a difference
If you swapped your unhealthy meals for healthy meals (protein and veg-focussed) that would help
If you had your sour cream dip with carrot batons not crisps that would help.

But I also think it’s important for you to understand why you are eating so badly - why are you doing yourself so much damage?

You need to eat a lot more protein, veg , bit of fruit and cut the cheese and carbs -

so I’m not on wli ( did 6 weeks and hated the indegestion /nausea for 3 days every week) I’ve lost 2stone 3 in 8 months-so not fast at all but it working and I’m 64 and still about 2 and a half stone overweight

today will be
1/2 a pot of Longley farm cottage cheese, 1/2 an unearthed spinach tortilla

Tomato and basil soup and half a roll

chicken stir fry and a banana and a couple of spoons of Greek yoghurt on banana

2 white americanos, couple of herbal teas and water

around 1350 cals total

“With a chocolate or 2”. Be honest, how many?

”with a bit of majo” how much?

how many slices of toast?

how much salad dressing?

quantities count

The good news is that there are some very easy changes you can make that will make a difference. Ditch the mayo for one! If you add in some fruit/veg you will naturally reduce the amount of other stuff you eat. Ditch the booze completely while you’re losing weight. If you want to drink, go for something like a gin and slimline tonic. Half the amount of chocolate initially. When you get used to more fruit/veg and less chocolate, cut it out completely. Add in some glasses of water instead of fizzy drinks.
Don’t try and do everything at once, it will be too much and you probably won’t stick to it. Make some changes, stick to them consistently then make some more.

Mounjaro would have made you feel awful if you tried to eat or drink most of those things. I found I couldn't drink anything fizzy at all, for one thing. If I ate much after 5 pm I would struggle to sleep as my stomach felt full. When I just drank water (I didn't drink any alcohol at all on MJ - didn't fancy it or even think about it) and ate small meals - two a day - then I was fine. If I deviated from that I wasn't. I was roughly your starting weight and I'm now 10 stone something and have been for several months.

As for not being able to afford it - I know it's expensive but all that rubbish you're eating doesn't come free, either, does it? How much do you spend on a supermarket shop? The top ups at a corner shop? Alcohol? Takeaways? Add it all up honestly and you'll find it's cheaper to be on Mounjaro.

That is a dreadful diet, there's your answer. It must be really hard but that all needs changing if you want change. Good luck

Ditch the fizzy drinks for water, get rid of the mayo, no alcohol, no crisps and dips and chocolate in the day.. Start walking. No orange juice. Better off eating a few satsumas. No garlic bread and one chocolate after dinner.
You might have to reassess in a bit but that would be enough to get it moving.

I think the op knows it’s a terrible diet or she wouldn’t be posting on here. Little bit a time op - today, replace the chocolate with an apple. Tomorrow, do that again but also swap your breakfast for Greek yoghurt with chopped fruit and a bit of honey. Do that again the next day, and add another swap. You don’t have to do it all at once - make one change every couple of days so you feel less overwhelmed

Try not to feel overwhelmed, and as other posters have said well done for being honest about how you eat - being honest with yourself and accountable is key. On the plus side you’ll see the weight drop off quickly with a few basic changes to your diet.

My advice is to download a calorie counter app, I like Nutra Check, it’s easy to use, and start logging everything you eat and weighing portions and being totally honest about it. Then start making changes a little at a time. The accountability from the app will help you stick to calorie goals.

Things to change immediately - the fizzy drinks are just empty calories. Switch to drinking weak squash or water, and hot drinks. I drink a lot of herbal teas. Also obviously start limiting chocolate but you don’t have to cut it totally, the good thing about the calorie app is you can budget your calories by using the weekly view as well, so you can treat yourself some days and still reach weight loss goals.

Another thing to change from your diet that will give you fast results is cut the amount of bread you eat. Bread has loads of calories and isn’t nutritious - instead of toast in the morning have scrambled egg, or fruit, instead of a sandwich at lunch I usually have soup with one slice of toast or sometimes if I fancy a sandwich I’ll make a salad and have the sandwich filling I wanted on top eg salad with a scoop of tuna mayonnaise.

If you make these changes you’ll soon see results! Try joining the Lose It! thread in WeightLoss - it’s a really supportive thread and people share what they are eating daily so it will give you inspiration!

Yes do one change at a time.
Maybe day 1: stop the sugary drinks and sweets. allow yourself 2 squares of dark chocolate
day 2: eat veg.
day 3: replace toast with eggs.
Something like that.

Diet Coke is fine, it’s not nutritious but it’s zero calories and an ice cold fizzy drink can feel like a delicious treat. I’ve lost six stone over 18 months on mj and enjoyed fizzy drinks every day.

If not WLI, my advice is to use a calorie counter. Initially you don't even need to try to cut down, give it a week or so just logging everything honestly. You will find that you naturally eat less as you are more aware of what you are eating. It's half the battle.

Then focus on more vegetables and protein and nutrients.

My other advice is to be kind to yourself, don't beat yourself up each day for perceived failures. Practice focusing on what you have achieved, even if small.

One thing I learnt from my time living in Copenhagen was embrace the open sandwich - basically lots of healthy filling like egg, prawns, avocado etc on one slice of toasted rye bread and use knife and fork and cut into small bites - halves the bread content and somehow feels a lot more than it is if ‘cut up’ and using cutlery - I sometimes have this with a mug of miso soup -( very low calories) my other tip is crumpets - gives that bready ‘mouth feel’ but even 2 and with thin scraping of butter is still only 270 calories. Far less than an average piece of cake or 3 or 4 biscuits, but feels far more substantial

Yes, the op could be one of tne people who can’t tolerate rhe drugs, and should try wegovy, but equally it could be she didn’t eat a clean diet and it is often poor diet choices that lead to side effects.

weight loss is hugely complex, and some people don’t eat clean, then declare the drugs make them unwell, as they aren’t in a mental headspace to lose the weight, the food and drink gives them an emotional coping strategy. I’m not saying that’s the op, but her limited engagement on her thread, her very poor diet, and her phrasing of have to do something rather than want to, her inability to just get on with it, makes me wonder if she’s in the right headspace right now.

@Charlenedickens I must admit I did everything right on MJ and still felt like crap on a low dose for 3 to 4 days a week - however in all honesty I have good willpower when I put my mind to it , so realised I didn’t really need it- just needed to keep up the willpower for months and months- not weeks as I had done before. OP will know if she has that kind of willpower or not