Woke up and gained 8 stone!

[Claretdebs]

Actually that's a lie! Over the past 20 years since having my son I have continued "eating for two" and not lasted more than a few weeks on a diet. So i didnt just wake up as this size! Here's what I've done- slimming world x3, WW X 2, lighter life (fainted too much on this one), slim fast, calorie counting x 4375 times or something like that number.

Been researching a gastric band and even requested an appt BUT I'm sooooooo annoyed at myself that I can't do this without resorting to surgery that I'm going to give it another go. This time, no pressure- only my new friends (that's you lot reading this) are going to know!!! My secret plan- just like being a spy- is to eat healthily and count calories, and do a lot of secret exercise.

Why the secrecy? I'm fed up of my husband sabotaging my diets, I'm fed up of my mum looking at me with a sad face thinking "here we go again", i don't want to talk to anyone apart from you lot about what I'm eating, how hard it is, and why I might be struggling. My family are all thin and healthy so they love to give me advice on how they stay thin, but if you've never been 8 stone ( 250 lbs) overweight then how can you truly understand?

I have had a hypnosis thing for gastro band for over a year but going to listen to it next weekend and see how that is. Will let you know how it goes and looking forward to meeting some new friends in here.

Will start a diary in that section tomorrow- day 1 xxxxx

 

[Don Keykong]

I do know what it's like to be 8 stone overweight. I also know the desire to find a simple solution... I sat through gastric bypass forum at the hospital. It may be a great and simple solution for many, but I couldn't do it. I just couldn't believe that I was unable to fix this on my own. Besides, what I learned about GB surgery was that it ONLY works IF you have the surgery and you adhere to an incredible restrictive diet. Well, I reasoned that if I could adhere to a restrictive diet AFTER surgery, I should be able to do so BEFORE surgery, too.

I'm 51. I'm 6'2+ and weighed 457 pounds when 2013 started. I changed the weigh I'm eating (NOT starving and NOT craving) bumped my exercise and I'm seeing good results. Currently I'm down 32+ pounds. I cut simple sugars, simple carbs, and sodium. I eat LOADS of fish, chicken, beef, veg and fruit. I eat light dairy, but do enjoy butter and yogurt in moderation. I eat some nuts, too. I avoid potatoes. I am rarely hungry (after the first week this has been true) and rarely crave foods that used to haunt me. Even though I am still terribly fat, I feel a LOT better eating this way.

I cook many of the meals for my family of five. Usually, I make a separate meal for myself. I'm learning to make fast, easy, delicious food for me that I really enjoy, so I don't feel bad that I can't partake in the family meals. Many things I've cooked are so good the rest of the family wants to eat with me!

Good luck and welcome to the forum! I hope you find as much help here as I have. There are some VERY knowledgeable folks in these forums.

 

[Omega]

I am here to tell you that you most definitely can do this - and you actually do not need to resort to surgery.

Surgery is fine for some people - but it certainly is not needed to lose 8 stone.

It is easy to think that something is just too hard - but it is perfectly possible - but I think that a key factor is believing that it isnt too hard...

It isnt too hard - it takes hard work - but so many things do...

I'm English, 5ft3 and went from 21 stone down to 9 stone a few years back... That is 12 stone - 50% more than you need...

OK I have had a pretty bad couple of years (husband had 5 operations plus we needed to relocate 300 miles) and I reverted to type and gained just over 3 stone... I am hovering around the 11 and a half stone mark at the minute... That is why I came back to the forum at the start of the year...

By the way - there are 14 pounds in a stone so with an 8 stone target you are only shooting to lose 8 * 14 = 112 pounds.

I don't blame you for not wanting to do LighterLife. We discussed on the forum it a few years back and came to the conclusion that there were many very unhealthy aspects to that approach. I wouldnt do it if they paid me - even if I was more than my max weight. I wouldnt fancy Slimfast either - I like my food too much... As I see it - Slimfast is better than LighterLife as you get some proper food...

Lots of people shoot for too low a number of calories when they do calorie counting and sabotage themselves from the start. I spent years thinking that I would have to live on 1000 or 1500 calories if I wanted to lose weight... Of course I couldnt stick to it for more than a few weeks and it takes more than a few weeks to lose any worthwhile amount of weight if you are big.

The good news is that big people can lose weight while eating quite a lot of calories - especially if they do some exercise...

The other good news is that walking at any pace that feels right for you is a really worthwhile form of exercise. I did tons of walking and can assure you that it wasn't that fast when I was 21 stone... A pedometer was a great investment for me to allow me to challenge myself to walk more steps than I had the previous day across every step of the day... Before I knew it - my stamina had improved and I was able to walk some quite big distances across the whole day...

Starting to walk every day and trying to cut the sweets and obvious wasted calories can be enough to start seeing the weight come down. If you are starting to see results it can be easier to persuade yourself to improve other aspects of your diet... Bit by bit you can hone it so that you end up eating super healthy at the right calorie level.

 

[R1962]

I've lost a fair bit of weight but probably have another 8 stone to go. Or more. I dont like to think that far ahead.

I'd be nervous of having surgery.

I agree with Don. If you have surgery you have to eat a restricted diet for ever or it doesnt work. They stretch the bits made smaller inside and you get just as big again. I've seen it on the tv.

If I am going to have to eat the restricted diet anyway - there is no need to go through the pain and risks of surgery.