Ok enough is enough - please inspire me with your weightlosses

[CheeryCherry]

I am terribly obese.
I am anti-depressives for tension/anxiety.
I am very unfit.

On the outside, I am larger than life, full of fun, always smiling.

I need to get out of this rut.
I need to make a start.
I have a family wedding in July. I will be mortified to be the gigantic relative in the photos. I know I cannot become a skinny mini by then but I need to try.

Help! Please?
How did you start? What motivated you?
I know what to do, I simply need to do it.

Cherry cherry...I was 21 and a half stone last January and started the cambridge diet...lost 7 stone but since November have put back on almost 3 so am starting the diet again TODAY! I too am on anti depressants as I am so down but need to be motivated again too...You lose a stone a month on average on the diet...by July you could have lost 5 stone.That is my target too
Do you fancy helping each other? xx

Wow thats an impressive weightloss, well done you!...but what went wrong? What happened in November? |Sorry if am being nosey!
Will look into the cambridge diet...lost a bit a few yrs ago on slimming world which I found easy to incorporate into the family meals. Just didnt keep it up and have piled on more since.
Thank you for your reply. Must get a grip! (and go to bed, will be moaning how tired I am tomorrow..!)

completely unrelated, got alopecia...section about the size of a small mobile on the right side just fell out.
felt very low and worried that everyday I would wake up and find it all gone so stopped sleepingproperly but it hasn't happened but I still sit up all night and eat. Need to get my act together!
link here to cambridge site
xx

Anyone?

hi cherry - i lost 4 stone in 11 mths on ww 7years ago - i did keep it off, but the last year due to nice holidays+working manic hours and used to eat lots of takeaways as too tired to cook, i put some weight back on

im back doing ww (at home) refuse to pay someone to lose weight/weigh me

have lost 12lbs since beg of this year

a lb a week is just under 4stone a year, you have 4mths so if you did lose 2lbs a week, slow but steady, then you could be 2+stone light er by july

good luck

I have decided after years of being over weight to dedicate the whole year to getting healthy and loosing weight. It seems to help me to see it as a whole year, rather than looking for a quick fix then back to old habbits. The way I am looking at it is that I dont want another year of being unhappy so this is my year to change it. So far so good and ww is working for me. I am hoping that after doing it for a year I will have really changed my habbits and instinctivly measure my portions and subconsciously moderate what I eat. So far I have lost 11.4lbs I am beginning to feel more in control.

The other thing I need to do is find a fun excercise to take up. I am not quite sure what to do tho. Its quite a big step for me and I feel quite anxious about starting anything.

My friend lost 5 stone on ww then swapped to Cambridge, which she swears by. She went from 17 stone down to a size ten, but has since then yoyoed a bit between size 12 and 14 so keeps returning to Cambridge. I think doing Cambridge first then swapping to WW is a good plan.

Good luck July is ages away and I bet you can make a real differenct between now and then!

Do you have children cheerycherry?

I'm at least 3 stone overweight, BMI about 30 (have weighed 5 stone less than I do now, but don't think I'd ever get back to that weight - I was a little gaunt - and a lot younger!)

I've realised I have to do it for my kids.

I'm not going to spend the summer sweating in too many clothes (won't wear strappy vests etc) unable to run round & enjoy myself on beach etc with them. They're missing out, I'm missing out. I don't take them swimming cos I'm too embarrassed. I'm over 40 and so becoming a higher target for heart attacks etc.

So that's my motivation - get slimmer/fitter/healthier for my children. I need to do it now before they're old enough to realise they have a fat porker mum (they're 5 & almost 3)

I started last week doing a bit of a combo of low carb/Harcombe diet/Atkins style diet. Lost 6lbs!

I would recommend Paul McKenna for someone in your position Cheery (no vested interest). I think drastic diets are helpful if you urgently need to lose some weight (for example to have an operation, or if ttc) - but really you need to address your depression and the comfort eating which probably goes with it?

I'd also look up a walking programme on the internet. Go out and buy some trainers today if you don't have any.

Gentle exercise is the best help with depression in addition to your ads.

i too echo the Paul Mckenna way i am on it and i am doing great lost 10 lbs last month have 4 stones to go but ive never felt more motivated and have started swimming and doing the Davina Mcall workouts

BibbityBobbity...I have that cd somewhere, will dig it out!
Thanks all for your replies, yes I have 3Dcs and I realise I must get started, so have been angelic since I wrote this thread, have hardly any food in so have written out a healthy shopping list.
I have a dog which I do walk, but can always do more.
It is crazy how sometimes I feel 'yes!let's do it!' and then other times I feel all 'oh its all a waste of time, and too too hard'.
Today is a good day so at least thats a start!
You are so encouraging, thank you all.

I have been thinking about starting a similar thread for ages. What finally motivates people with a lot to lose to finally get on with it and lose it?

I am also overweight, probably obese but can't seem to get started even though I know I look terrible and nothing fits any more. And it is unhealthy of course.

I was going to do the Johnson Up day Down Day diet - anybody else tried it or even heard of it? It was featured in the Sunday times a few weeks ago. Sounds good to me - very restricted calories one day and unrestricted the next.

Will look at the Cambridge too although what I really need is a change of lifestyle rather than a diet (or is that just an excuse for putting it off)?

Cheery, How old are your children? For me, I can't go on drastic diets, Cambridge style, or exclusion diets because I don't want to set a bad example. Weight loss should be about healthy eating and portion control and excercise. No matter how much I want a quick fix, I have to demonstrate moderation.
I have a stone ++ to loose by July.
If your children are at school, and you have the time, walk and walk more. I've found getting a pedometer is a real motivator.

It's hard in the winter to find the time, in the summer, I get up before the children and get an uphill walk in of 45 minutes or so and am back by 7am. It takes a lot of motivation tho'; have you a friend who could walk with you?
Once the walk is done, that in itself can be motivating because you don't want to undo all that effort.

I find being quite prescriptive about my food helps. ie. 40g of cereal for breakfast, toast with tin sardines for lunch, low fat family meal in evening and fruit and yoghurt. Calorie counting, tho' out of fashion works, as does any Slimming world/ Weightwatchers diets where you measure.

Cut out alcohol 600 calories in a bottle!
Where I fall down is when we have people to stay which is often. I then adore cooking lovely unhealthy meals and then go in to self destruct mode which can last a week or so. It's so difficult and I am with you all the way. Good luck, remember the pedometer.

Also, did you know that the more overweight you are, the quicker you will burn energy, more quickly than your skinny friends!

I buy crap magazines about weight loss like Zest (full of rubbish, but quite motivating).
Also I suck Werther's Originals to keep my mouth busy while cooking evening meal (vulnerable time) they don't go with cheese, bread, biscuits or crisps very well. Just a thought..(Werther's Originals, makes me sound as if I'm eighty..maybe I should also start to read The People's Friend!)

Thats true gramar, my sis started WWs with me, shes about 3 stone heavier and shes lost 18lbs to my 12lbs!

and the sewwts thing is good too

i get the WWs mints, they are just half a point for a full box!

Grammar I absolutely agree, my DCs are 12,11,9 and I don't want a drastic diet as it goes against everything I say. We eat healthy meals, but I ruin it by snacking/nibbling/gorging when alone/in the car/when they are in bed. THATs what I need to stop. I agree about the pedometer, will look into them.
Btw don't think I could do the sweets thing- I would crunch through them in a flash!
Never heard of zest, but will look into that too!
Neicie, not heard of the Johnsons diet?

I was also sick of being obese and getting depressed about it. Have 2 DC and don't want to be the fat unhealthy mummy anymore who can't run around and play with them without getting out of breath.
However having tried lots of diets in the past I did need a drastic diet and for me it was the best decision I have made.
I am doing a LC diet called Go Lower - golower.co.uk they intially deliver the food to you, so I can still eat with my DH and DC as a family in the evenings which is very important to me. I dont feel hungry but can pick at protein snacks when I want to. As you get further into the diet the counsellor provides recipies to start cooking your own meals at home.
I have tried LL and Cambridge diets but just can't live on milkshakes I love my food tooo much!
Best of luck CherryCherry

Sorry Cheerycherry, I didn't see you last line directed at me

• This is the book about the Johnson's Up day down day diet.

It is quite heavy on science but essentially it is based on the research that shows that people who live on a very low calorie diet live long and are healthier. And of course they weigh less. However, it is unreasonable and unrealistic for most people to live like that and be that obsessive about everything they put in their mouths (it would be very very dull imo).

Anyway, Johnson found that the same health benefits can be achieved by only strictly reducing calories on alternate days. So, in the first 2 weeks you eat 20% of your normal calorie intake on alternate days and whatever you want on the other days. Averaged out over the 2 days you consume 40% less calories.

After the first 2 weeks you can eat between 30 and 50% or your normal calories on the alternate days which believe me, after 2 weeks of having to eat 20%, that will sound like loads to me!!

Have just had my 3rd down day and it has been hard - am very hungry now. But tomorrow I can have whatever I want and you are only ever 24 hours away from eating something nice which does make it easier. Couldn't do this indefinitely but, as I say, I should imagine it is much easier if you can eat 1000 calories rather than 500.

Will weigh myself in the morning to see if it has had any impact yet!

Just had a look at the Time Online and found the article I originally read is still there.

i lost 4 stone low carbing , i started last may. think on...next summer you could be everything you want in yourself.

What a great line this is.......

next summer you could be everything you want in yourself.

Hi CheeryCherry, I am also really obese and am going to a wedding in Greece in June. I desperately do not want to be the fat lump in the photos and am panicking already about what I could possibly wear to look acceptable.

Do you fancy a bit of hand holding and kick each other a bit between now and the summer?

In November I started on a low fat diet and lost over a stone, but since CHristmas have really slipped and need to get motivated again.

Stood on Wii fit this morning and I have put some weight back on, so I am starting again today! So far, so good, but then I've only been up a couple of hours!

I know what I need to do, just need to actually do it!

I started small, cutting out alcohol.
Then I moved onto cutting out snacks, and replacing with fruit,and only having scheduled meals (which were normal - give or take a bit of trifle)
That was all very difficult - ho hum.
The first two weeks were pretty impossible and deadly boring, spent all my time thnking of cake, bread and butter etc. I just tried to think, every day was nearer the end of the week ifysim, every our was nearer supper etc.

Then found it was MUCH easier. Suddenly I no longer had cravings for biscuits, choc, bread, alcohol - didn't even want to taste the snacks, as long as I stuck with regularish meals.
Have lost about 12 Ibs since Nov, including putting on some at Xmas (when I ate and drank more "generously")

I set myself incredibly small goals, a bit more exercise, a bit less food, so that I didn't lose heart. I found that whether I lost weight or not (and I did) I felt better for the new regime anyway.

Good luck

I am also trying to lose weight. I need to lose about 4 stone, have lost 6 lbs in 6 weeks. It is slow so far but hopefully will lead to a more healthy lifestyle in the long run.

I need more exercise so am going to start aqua aerobics on Tuesday with a friend and me and DD are going on a bike ride later. It's been about 20 years since I was on a bike, hope I manage OK

DU has lost about 11/2 stones on SW since September, and I've lost about 10lb.
I have less to lose than him and I've been happy to lose it really slowly because then it's more likely to become a permanent way of life.

He probably has at least the same to lose again, and I want to lose about 6 more pounds, but SW seems to be perfect for us - we're not members, just bought a couple of recipe books and incorporate it in to family life.

You don't do any weighing, measuring or calorie counting and you don't have to starve.

DH has figured out that the 'green' day foods (lots of beans and pulses) are more successful for him so we have as many of those as we can. Believe me, I never thought I'd see a die-hard, crisp-scoffing carnivore eat so healthily, and I'd pretty much given up hope of him ever losing weight.

Running is really good as a kick-start; there's loads of running threads here, and I'm sure you can download programmes for beginners. You basically mainly walk at first, with short bursts of running (one or two minutes), and it's surprising how quickly you build up to managing a 20 minute jog.

Custy or anybody who has lost a lot of weight - what finally motivated you to say enough is enough and you have to do something about it?

It doesn't seem to be enough to know you are overweigh or even what you should be eating. Something has to change your mindset and I don't think I have found the trigger yet.

Part of my problem is that if I am not clothes shopping and I don't come in contact with the mirror I forget what blob I am.

And you don't gain a lot of weight overnight so I suppose you can't lose it overnight either but the fact that it is going to take a long time if I am going to do it properly is a huge demotivator too.