I have hit rock bottom

[AgualusasL0ver]

• I'm 45.
• I am 17 stone/roughly 100kg.
• I am 5ft 2.
• I have badly frozen shoulders (previously had steriod injections which were wonderful but now back.
• Due to said shoulder issue I have cut two dresses off me when it was impossible to get my arms up to get them off.
• I have arthritis in my ankles, caused by an underlying condition from childhood, but obviously made worse by my weight.
• My ankles are almost permanently swollen no matter what I do.
• I eat emotionally - happy eat, not happy eat.
• I cannot put socks on without lifting my feet onto a chair.
• I am glad it is summer as tights are an absolute nightmare.
• I cannot wear sandals and buckle them because it hurts to twist my - feet/legs to get the right angle.
• I cannot sit on the floor/grass because I cannot get up.
• I only have a bath and as of last week I have been washing standing up with a jug because I usually turn on my front and push myself up by my elbows (because I cannot just get up from sitting) and my shoulders were so painful I couldn't push myself up.
• On the weekend an old lady asked me how I was handling the weather and then proceeded to ask me about my big day etc, yes she thought I was pregnant - and I just ran with it.
• I have intolerable sleep apnoea, diagnosed but not treated as I changed job and now need to go to NHS to get it treated and I just haven't prioritised it.

I know what I am doing wrong: I snack and my portions are large. I am almost totally inactive.

I have a leisure centre on my road with a pool, I like swimming, I am slow and get very out of breath. I don't care about being a bigger swimmer in a costume, I almost feel more comfortable than when dressed. I have a lido 7 mins walk away which has a drop in morning session.

I have a vast open space I could walk in with hills (but not hiking) that I could walk. I get very out of breath but when I did this during Covid I got better at it, so I know I can do it - I lost weight doing this every single day and people noticed.

I had a Les Mills sub and I loved it. But that is tricky as we have a smallish flat and there is ALWAYS someone at home.

I lost 3 stone after the birth of my second DC - 18 years ago with WW.

I spent my 20s a rough size 8, between 8-9 stone.

I have 3 DCs - 20, 18 and 15, so that shouldn't stop me.
I have a fussy DH, but he would happily start eating more grills and things I think.
I have elderly parents with needs, but I even take two buses to their place when it is a 20 min (maybe 30 min for me) walk.

I have a busy job and don't get home until about 7.30-8pm and am tired.

I KNOW, cutting snacks, less and better carbs (not no carbs), moving more intentionally would help my sleep, my arthritis, my general Peri-Menopausalness, and just be better but even when I am better it makes no real difference. Honest me would say I have no tried very hard, but I do try to load up veggies at work rather than the carbs etc. I know I need to do so much more.

But you don’t need to grapple. You can just start consuming less.

I think you’re not at rock bottom at all, you jist feel you should lose the weight, but have absolutely no desire to actually do it at this point.

as such, you need to ask yourself. How bad does it need to be?

@AgualusasL0ver At our group nobody other than the consultant and me (because I weigh people) knows how much anyone weighs. Our lovely consultant praises people if they've lost weight e.g. 'Simon's lost 7lb this week' but NEVER tells how much if someone has put on. Honestly, it's really supportive and never any failure/shame attached. We all have bad weeks after all.

Another vote for MJ here.

I wouldn't have described myself as unhappy or miserable a year and a half ago at 17st 4 (I'm taller than you at 5ft 8). But now I'm 6.5 stone lighter. I got there in just over 12 months and I've been maintaining ever since while titrating down.

I definitely AM happier, more confident, just back to being....me. Like you I was slim in my 20s then slowly gained weight over the last 25-30 years.

Your first post BTW, OP, is virtually a laundry list of ALL the things that mounjaro can help with so well. Do consider it.

Reframe your obesity as a disease, you wouldn’t will power your way out of high blood pressure or diabetes. Mounjaro or other WLIs are your answer. You can’t fix your obesity long term because it’s out of your control, it always has been and always will be.

The very very low success rates of traditional dieting makes it crystal clear there is a physiological thing going on with obesity sufferers that is beyond what they’re eating or burning off- calorie counting isn’t the answer if your internal system works against you.

When someone says they don’t want to use WLIs is no different to insisting on bumping into things, tripping up all the time and not being able to read anything because you don’t want to wear glasses to help you see.

Stop punishing yourself and start the jabs!

At the end of the day, OP, you need to actually want it. I’m only a few years younger than you but reading your list horrified me. I couldn’t imagine being able to not get myself in and out of a bath, sit on the grass, have weeping sores on my body, have arthritis, sleep apnea, etc. at the age of just 45. But if it doesn’t horrify you then perhaps you’re not at the point where you’re ready to tackle it.

I’d try slimming world. I’ve lost 3st twice. Yes I did put it back on and this time I’ve put 2st on but that’s down to life stuff that I wasn’t better equipped for. I don’t think mounjaro is healthy but I haven’t been on it

I don’t think you’re at rock bottom.

Slimming World should be renamed Slimming Theme park the amount of times people go up and down on it. Teaches terrible eating ideologies and everyone who does it always looks fat even when they’ve lost loads because it doesn’t ever address the root of their issues.

GLP1 medication is proven to be much safer and far superior to unlimited Muller lights or Diet Coke chicken or whatever else they push at SW.

Why would you think it’s unhealthy?

97 percent of people regain gnr weight on weight watchers. 97 percent. It’s the highest of all diet plans. It’s how they make their money, it is not designed to allow you to maintain, it’s designed to have you fail so you keep giving them money,

only a tiny percentage of people can maintain it when they hit goal as it’s so ridiculous. You are not one of those people and your weight yo yoing is what’s u healthy,

Have some common sense. Losing and regaining large chunks of weight is very damaging to hugely damaging to your body. Why would you recommend it to someone else. So they can harm themselves as much as you are.

do you understand what you’re doing to yourself by losing and gaining 3 stone twice? Muscle loss, metabolic slowdown, increased belly fat, heat strain, heart disease increase, increased risk of insulin resistance and even gall stones.

Sorry that should have said slimming world,not weight watchers.

I've put on a stone due to inactivity after a frozen shoulder. Hydrodilation is amazing and I'd pay private if it comes back, life-changing outcome after the agony.

Movement is gradually coming back so my activity is increasing. Even doing the ironing is burning calories that I wasn't before. It'll get better.

You say you like swimming and there's a pool on your road.

I'd say start the morning with a short swim and end the day with a short swim. You can shower there so that solves the bathing struggles too. Walk there and back. Get into a routine.

In between the swim eat for the swim: after the morning a swim a homemade chocolate milk, before evening swim eat your carbs for the day then.

Good luck though - you'll get there, you just need to start something. Doing something, no matter how small, is better than doing nothing - always.

Swimming is impossible with a frozen shoulder, it's not just the arm movement in the water but getting into, and more importantly out of a wet swimsuit when neither of your arms will lift more than a fraction of the way up without awful pain. I'm 12 months post-diagnosis and only just capable of getting into and out of a swimsuit (we have a pool at work and I still had a little cry in the changing room last week after getting stuck in my cozzie)

Mine gets worse across the day, so if I go early I will manage, I have done it before and I just have to be really careful. By the end of day it’s painful enough that I have to wake up to turn over in bed.

Thanks to everyone who has pitched in with advice and experience. Well done to those already on the way or who have got to where they need to be.

I’m committed to a 90 mins walk on Saturday. From tomorrow, I’m limiting my carbs to one meal and then only one spoon.

I am seriously looking into the meds and will see where I end up but this is a small start.

I know you are probably fed up but I was the same as you and Mounjaro and a year on I am size 10 and 11 stone.

the difference I feel is indescribable. For the first time in my life I feel NORMAL. I am totally shocked by that.

And my towel fits!

Why are WLI’s healthy then? I realise losing weight then putting it on again isn’t the best but I think my target was too low before. Honestly how would you do this then? Because if slimming world is unhealthy it all is.

Muller lights aren’t unlimited. If you do it sensibly it’s just common sense. Clearly eating unlimited carbs, muller lights whatever isn’t going to make you lose weight but prioritising filling low calorie meals over sugar and fat will. Genuinely I don’t understand what else you can do apart from this and injecting yourself with drugs makes no sense to me.

I haven’t used wli I lost the weight myself but if the injections had been around when I started I definitely would have used them.

Why would you want to wait until you are finally able to lose weight consistently and keep it off on your own to actually live a full and joyful life.
Life will be so much easier for you and tbh none of us has endless time, you are literally wasting the time you have left living in the misery you described when life could look so much different for you.

And if you want to lose weight so much on your own then why haven’t you done it already ? There are many reasons for that and you can explore these reasons while you’re losing weight and getting your life back.

Bless your heart ❤️
how about joining slimming world?

Because they have limited and low risk, and they enable people to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, thus reducing or eliminating all the risks of obesity. And they come with multiple other health benefits, like improved cardo vascular health, reduction in cancers, improved liver health, reduction in inflammation, anti ageing on internal organs. It’s a long list. You can google.

And a load of side effects plus you actually have to change your lifestyle to adapt to life when you come off them. Many people put the weight back on when they come off them which is actually how I put my weight back on from slimming world. Difference being slimming world teaches you healthy habits and WLI’s don’t unless you put the effort in. Not saying you haven’t I know nothing about you. I’m saying there’s a certain amount of this with both approaches. I believe they work for people who have a lot of weight to lose and are at the point where they have limited mobility but I certainly wouldn’t just take drugs for the sake of losing 3 stone over following a bit of common sense ie slimming world

Just get the Mounjaro and save your life. You can learn the better habits on your journey. All the drugs you will soon be on anyway this is by far the best option and it helps with inflammation and joint pain! Please try it as should be free for you on the NHS

@Bohema it won’t be available on the NHS for the OP, very few people actually meet the restricted criteria that the NHS uses.

Would her BMI plus sleep apnoea not be enough? That is one of the qualifying conditions for Wegovy and you only need one. Also I wonder when she last actually checked her blood work to see any other issues