Support thread for those with a lot to lose

[PipkinOfPepper]

I ended last year in a very unhealthy place, around five stone over where I should be (and even that is still taking me to technically "overweight", though in the past I've looked healthy and relatively slim at that weight).

I promised myself this would be the year I change things, and I've lost two stone since January. However, I've still got a lot to go - I'd like to lose three stone more - and I'd love some company!

A lot of the threads are full of people who are much less fat to begin with, and I find it slightly dispiriting to see people starting their diets already weighing less than my goal weight.

SW: 111.05kg
CW: 97.75kg
GW: 80kg

I'm 5'7.

Come join me!

Welcome everyone! I’ve lost another lb now but still another 6 stone to go, lb by lb! I’m using nutracheck again to count calories and aiming for at least 1k of exercise calories a day (swimming really helps and my stamina is building up nicely- started at resting after every 15 lengths of a 25m pool, now can do 30 lengths before taking a break). Only started swimming 2 weeks ago. I alternate between breaststroke and backstroke and I’m really enjoying it. Highly recommend waterproof headphones for listening to music while swimming 😊

Welcome @Midlifeshenanigans and @CantEvenToday

Wow, @Monkeytennis97 that sounds fantastic progress on the swimming. I had no idea there were headphones you could use in the pool!

Sorry - I've been very absent on here, a combination of life getting busy then going on holiday.

Welcome to any new starters, everyone welcome here.

How is everyone finding the heat? I hate it BUT I am so, so happy that I've now lost 15kg since January - I keep thinking how much worse it would be if I was carrying that around too.

My jeans felt very slightly looser yesterday, so like an absolute idiot I told myself it was okay to add some treats to the supermarket order for this morning. Then I ate them all and got almost nothing done for the rest of today.

Whoops! Tomorrow is a new day, don't let this derail you. We all have days like that I think, the key is getting back on it. I hope the treats were delicious!

How’s everyone doing? Done four days so far and I’m still not thin 😃 I know I gave to be in it for the long term but when j was younger I would definitely have lost a couple of pounds. Settling into not eating until 12pm though I’m not fasting properly as I need tea with skimmed milk to start the day. It’s been too hot to really go much exercise but plan to up my walking next week.

Well done on IF @Midlifeshenanigans

great work on the 15kg @PipkinOfPepper / hope you had a lovely holiday

also well done on the looser jeans @FitIntoMyJeans - definitely keep going and don’t worry about the treats!

I have stayed the same effectively (199lbs) but I l haven’t been well, so haven’t been counting calories etc. I am planning to be strict and careful with the tracking next week!

Hi all been away for a couple of days but stuck to it in terms of calories but not much exercise. Long car journey today so ankles all puffed up. Got home and went swimming after a nap. Haven’t weighed myself since Tuesday I think but even though Nutracheck tells me I’m in a big deficit I’ve got a feeling all the puffiness is going to mean I’m not going to see the scale going down tomorrow. We’ll see. Good luck all for the week ahead!

I have a big birthday next week and I am still not thin!!!! The thought of seeing people is making me very anxious and sad and I know I will allow myself to eat too much as it's my birthday! I will be very strict this week leading up to it but I sometimes go the opposite way when I put too much pressure on which proves to me it's all in my head!

Hi all update

CW 18 stone 3lbs

I’ve been doing at least 1k active calories burn daily according to my watch (averages out at 1.3k) for the last week and having around 1750 calories a day. 1.6lbs lost in last week.

Good luck all for the week ahead!

I know it's stressful seeing people and socialising when you're over a weight you feel comfortable with, but your friends and family love you and will want to celebrate you for who you are, not what you look like. And next year, you can celebrate again looking much slimmer and feeling much better!

Rather than massively restricting and then bingeing can you focus on eating healthy, nutritious food this week, drinking lots of water, and walking a bit more? And then allow yourself something delicious for your birthday but don't go mad. At least you'll then hit your birthday feeling a bit healthier and lighter, and you can focus on weight loss this year.

Brilliant loss, well done!

Definitely not a priority when you're feeling unwell! How are you now?

Down 1lb this week despite a binge yesterday where I ate everything in sight. I wish I understood where the binge urge comes from and how to handle it properly. Decided on a more relaxed but not mad diet day today to try and stop it recurring. Great loss @Monkeytennis97 🎉 @Sunshineandrainbow if I look back at how many social events my feelings about my weight has ruined over the years it’s quite devastating. Please try and relax and enjoy your big birthday 🎁

@PipkinOfPepper I am feeling much better now, thank you!

@Midlifeshenanigans 1lb is great! I guess long term we need to indulge a bit for sustainable weightloss, but it’s tricky finding the level where we enjoy the treat but it doesn’t trigger more cravings. Some trigger foods are better avoided altogether I have come to realise, for me white toast with butter is my nemesis comfort food that I need to avoid - if I eat it I can almost guarantee I will be up 1lb the next day. I would avoid buying white bread but then my teens leave wholemeal bread to go mouldy…

Thats excellent @Monkeytennis97 and can only be good for you to get some of your deficit from exercise.

@Sunshineandrainbow agree with others, try and just enjoy your birthday. If you do decide to go low cal or carb for the week be very careful to bring some carbs back the day before and the day of the party if you are drinking- speaking from very embarrassing experience here! Realistically it would probably better not to risk a week of low carb for that reason.

I am being a bit of a hypocrite as I am doing a low cal/carb week this week (fast 800) as I am impatient, but planning to then boost my calories back up. I know slow snd steady wins the race in the longer term though and am probably setting myself up for a rebound.

@Clearingaspace I don't think I could stick to the fast 800 without feeling unwell / grouchy, but if you can it might be super motivating to kickstart things. And then higher cals of eg. 1500 will feel luxurious rather than punitive!

Thanks everyone 😊 I think I can keep this going over the Summer months and even the early Autumn-it’s Winter where I might struggle with motivation and food but hopefully by then I’ll be another 3 stone down or so.

@PipkinOfPepper yes thats what I am hoping!! I’m doing ok at at the moment which is weird as I have had more false starts on fast 800 than I can count. Think it’s because I know I am only doing it for 6 days max as meeting friends for food and drinks on Friday - hopefully I won’t wake up on Saturday right back at the same weight as last weekend! If I manage to keep enough of the weight off then I might do similar the week after next.

@Monkeytennis97 hopefully you will be in the zone and stay focused during winter. December is difficult as I feel it’s my Christmas duty to eat at least one mince pie, entire Camembert, toffee nut latte etc etc

Well done to everyone who's lost this week - and even everyone who hasn't but is still showing up

No move for me on the scales, but not surprising really as MIL's family were all big feeders and we've been doing a lot of visiting! There's no date for her funeral yet so although I'm still considering WLIs, I wouldn't start until after that just in case of any unfortunate side effects. @Clearingaspace I have tried many times to lose weight with no luck, I'm hoping Wegovy might do the trick!

@Midlifeshenanigans I was absolutely ravenous yesterday, blamed it on impending AF and then realised it wasn't due until next week

@Sunshineandrainbow I'm dreading my big birthday next year and reeeeeally hoping that I've lost a lot of weight by then...!

Another 2lb down this week, yay! CW 18 stone 1lb (18lb lost since April 18th). Good luck everyone!

Well done @Monkeytennis97!

@ChantelleGarvey olease keep us updated how you go with wegovy

Weekly update: sw 8 April 213lbs cw 194.4lbs
So after two days of normal, but careful, eating after following strict fast 800 for 6 days, and after an initially regain of over 1lb I am now down more than 4lbs. I want to try and maintain for a few days then maybe another stint of fast 800, but will do the more relaxed version - up to 1000 calories, high protein, 50 g carbs but also eating the free vegetables such as cauliflower and spinach etc. I am keeping my options open though and might just go back to a consistent small deficit at some point if it gets too much like hard work.

I am probably speaking too soon snd will have a bad weigh in tomorrow, but miraculously I planned/guessed my calories out for my night out yesterday to technically be in a slight deficit for the day (2000 calories). I also did a short workout and decent 13000 step count earlier that day. So to my surprise my weight was back down a bit this morning 🤯 I think dehydration may have played a part 😆, but I also need to remember weightloss isnt linear and it might show up in a day or so.

slightly bad news is thst I did some measurements today and seem to have lost snd gained in all the wrong places but I think thst is my poor measuring skills - I definitely didn’t lose 30 cm from my thighs for example 😂

have a lovely weekend all

I am totally failing with my plan to keep carbs under 50g and my weight is creeping up a little although in a deficit and mostly on plan. Trying to decide if I should go low Cals again tomorrow. How is everyone doing and what diet methods are you using?

I’m using Nutracheck for calorie counting and doing lots of swimming, walking and a bit of cross training(about 15 minutes a day cross training) but 50-75 minutes a day swimming. I’ve set it at 1.5lb a week loss so I don’t have to restrict calories too much but I’m averaging around 2.5lbs a week loss at the moment.

I’m only 5’2 so my starting and goal are a bit less but BMI wise we’re probably in the same area! I’d like to join too, I could use some encouragement :)

SW: 88kg (14st)
GW: 63kg (10st)

Like you, even my goal weight is technically too high, but I’d still be very happy with it and when I have been that weight previously I haven’t looked big :)

I think I might try and count the lost weight in kilos as it seems to feel like more is coming off quicker 🤣

Welcome, we have very similar goals @jiminycricketz my sw was approx 15 stone - I am a bit under 5 ft 4

@Monkeytennis97 your daily swimming sounds amazing. You prompted me to have a look at my nutrition app settings. I actually had my activity set to moderate- I am averaging 14000 steps at the moment but maybe I should switch to slightly active. I had a mess around if I set my weightloss goal to 2lbs per week and activity level as sedentary my calorie allowance would only be 738!!! Thst is 100 calories per day less than i was having for my strict fast 800 days last week 🤯 no wonder it’s hard to lose weight!