I am a struggler

Summer

Full Member
Hi,

I am 13stone and 5ft 4. My BMI is 31.29.

I want to lose weight, I want to look good and feel good about myself.

When I was 19 I was a size 10 and had no body issues. Age 20 I had put on weight but I was very happy with my body. I am now 22 and 13 stone, size 14 - 16 clothes.

I am unemployed at the moment so spend a lot of time at home with nothing to do. I don't have many friends, when I get asked to go out its usually clubbing and as I am body concious I don't enjoy it anymore.

As I am unemployed money is tight, I'd love to go to a gym but it costs too much. I'd love to go to the gym 2 hours a day it would get me out the house and I could maybe meet new people there.

I can diet, I've done it before, I've lost a stone here and there but then I just sort of just start eating what I like again and drinking.

I know I have to diet or else my weight will get more and more, then it will be harder to lose.

Being a struggler I have been thinking about going to Weight Watchers but I'm too embarrassed and scared to go. So many times I have been on my way to a meeting and turned around came home cause I'm nervous and don't want to go in the door.

I need to do something.

Thanks for reading! Oh ignore my stats they are old. I best delete them.
 
im the same as you a full time mum and on benefits and money is tight. i wanted to join a gym but was way too expensive but i found a gym and swimming pool hat are council run and are cheap. months member ship is £29.95 . have u seen if your council do that? and if your on benefits they give it to you discounted.

Have u also tried to take diet pills alongside your diet? im taking xenical and have lost 15 pounds in roughly 5 and a half weeks. you can aske yu gp if u can hve them and im sure if u hae no serious health conditions he would give them to you. but dont eat anything high in fat when taking the tablets otherwise you will get nasty side effects. i wont go in too much detail but its not nice LOL. but weight loss is faster when taking the tablets alongside with your diet. good luck and let me know how you get on :)
 
Hi Summer. It seems like your worst problem is getting yourself to start a class. I used to do WW years ago and now I go to SW... Both classes were excellent fun. Diet groups are awesome places, where people understand how you feel and stick together. You may discuss how much you lost this week or whatever but your overall weight is not revealed. You discuss hints, get encouragement and make friends.

Where else can you get clapped for losing one pound? Hell, at SW they clap you if you put on weight...Just because you had the courage to still come and address the issue! Bite the bullet, go to class, KEEP going (you might not get chatting right off but it will come)... And have FUN losing weight (because that's what I feel like, mostly).
 
I know I have to diet or else my weight will get more and more, then it will be harder to lose.

Hi Summer, wish I could give you a hug, because it sounds like you're in need of one.

What you said above caught my eye. If 'dieting' hasn't worked all the times before, it isn't going to work this time. Starting any regime that you don't think you could happily sustain for the rest of your life is setting yourself up for failure, I think. Maybe it's time to start thinking in terms of changing your lifelong relationship with food, rather than going on a short-term 'diet'? See, with short-term diets, there's kind of a built-in assumption that it'll end at some point, that it'll end at your goal weight, and you can pretty much resume life as normal when you reach that stage.

But if you just slowly go back to normal, the weight will just go on again and you'll be yo-yo'ing all your life. The yo-yo'ing will make it harder every time to lose weight as you have less and less muscle and more and more fat to shift each time.

Maybe it's time to forget about finite diets - they don't seem to do much for the vast majority of people, and really only line the pockets of the big names in the diet industry. If you can adopt a way of eating that is sensible and sustainable in the long-term, and leaves you with a slight calorie deficit, that's all you need to lose weight, and it doesn't have to be total misery. Just don't think of it as a diet. Think of it as being good to your body and rewarding it with healthy foods - something you can do forever, not just for a few months.
 
Hi Summer, wish I could give you a hug, because it sounds like you're in need of one.

What you said above caught my eye. If 'dieting' hasn't worked all the times before, it isn't going to work this time. Starting any regime that you don't think you could happily sustain for the rest of your life is setting yourself up for failure, I think. Maybe it's time to start thinking in terms of changing your lifelong relationship with food, rather than going on a short-term 'diet'? See, with short-term diets, there's kind of a built-in assumption that it'll end at some point, that it'll end at your goal weight, and you can pretty much resume life as normal when you reach that stage.

But if you just slowly go back to normal, the weight will just go on again and you'll be yo-yo'ing all your life. The yo-yo'ing will make it harder every time to lose weight as you have less and less muscle and more and more fat to shift each time.

Maybe it's time to forget about finite diets - they don't seem to do much for the vast majority of people, and really only line the pockets of the big names in the diet industry. If you can adopt a way of eating that is sensible and sustainable in the long-term, and leaves you with a slight calorie deficit, that's all you need to lose weight, and it doesn't have to be total misery. Just don't think of it as a diet. Think of it as being good to your body and rewarding it with healthy foods - something you can do forever, not just for a few months.



Wow Iris what a powerful and inspiration message you send out and i think you are right. i have started a low carb yesterday and i am running in to problems, maybe its just not for me. :sigh::sigh:
 
Wow Iris what a powerful and inspiration message you send out and i think you are right. i have started a low carb yesterday and i am running in to problems, maybe its just not for me. :sigh::sigh:

Hi Jot, I think that extreme diets like Atkins/low carb or food replacement are tools of last resort, you know? If your weight is killing you and you've reached a point where you just can't muster the will to spend the years it'll take to get the weight off sensibly, then okay, I see their point. Same goes for surgery - terrible option, but sometimes the only one left.

But if there's any way of doing it steadily and sensibly, then by criminy, I think it deserves a shot! I tried Atkins many moons ago, followed it to the letter, and within a couple of weeks I'd collapsed in a busy street outside my uni and narrowly avoided being squished by a van! Needless to say, it didn't work for me, I felt like death all the time - it did make me realise how insane fad diets are, though. Got to make the mistakes before you realise where you need to go, I guess.

If you find you can handle low carb comfortably, then maybe it's for you. But if you're finding it tough, then I think there's no point torturing yourself. Carbs are vital for energy and they're not the bad guys in and of themselves. Just the fat and sugar that is frequently added to them. But, crikey, any diet that attempts to restrict someone's intake of fresh fruit and vegetables is simply insane. Totally nuts!

I hope you find the right path for you - I know how difficult it can be. I just wish I'd realised years ago that quick fixes don't really exist and diets can never really end if they're going to work forever. Seems like the only thing to do is adopt a way of eating that you can handle for your whole life, one that doesn't deny you of any food group and doesn't leave you feeling so deprived that you end up binging.

Slow and steady does it, I think. :)
 
Thanks Iris, you have lost a massive amount of weight, and it great to read its been without the use of highly restrictive diets. Again you are right in saying its what you can stick to that works, else its pointless torturing ourselves. How many calories a day did you allow your self.?
 
Thanks Iris, you have lost a massive amount of weight, and it great to read its been without the use of highly restrictive diets. Again you are right in saying its what you can stick to that works, else its pointless torturing ourselves. How many calories a day did you allow your self.?

In the early days I stuck to about 1400 calories a day, but I had to bring that down very gradually over the months to 1200-1250, mainly because my body needed less fuel as it lost the weight, and also because I don't do any exercise (I'm a lazy so and so! :p).

One thing I had to do was cut out chocolate bars. I'm a hardcore chocoholic and one chocolate bar will never be enough for me - I have to eat 20 or 30 in a day once I start. Same goes for chocolate biscuits. So I had to say a sad, but relieved, goodbye to them. Still have a massive sweet tooth, though, so I substitute with alpen light cereal bars, low calorie chocolate popcorn and ice cream, sugar free jelly, and piles and piles of fruit! I still have the odd bit of chocolate cake if I go out for a special meal, but my days of guzzling 30 or more mars bars are over. I had a serious problem with chocolate.
 
In the early days I stuck to about 1400 calories a day, but I had to bring that down very gradually over the months to 1200-1250, mainly because my body needed less fuel as it lost the weight, and also because I don't do any exercise (I'm a lazy so and so! :p).

One thing I had to do was cut out chocolate bars. I'm a hardcore chocoholic and one chocolate bar will never be enough for me - I have to eat 20 or 30 in a day once I start. Same goes for chocolate biscuits. So I had to say a sad, but relieved, goodbye to them. Still have a massive sweet tooth, though, so I substitute with alpen light cereal bars, low calorie chocolate popcorn and ice cream, sugar free jelly, and piles and piles of fruit! I still have the odd bit of chocolate cake if I go out for a special meal, but my days of guzzling 30 or more mars bars are over. I had a serious problem with chocolate.

Thanks Iris, for the info, you are a shinning example to use all. enjoyed our chat, off to iron my kids uniforms now for the week, gosh i live a full life. :D
 
Thanks Iris, for the info, you are a shinning example to use all. enjoyed our chat, off to iron my kids uniforms now for the week, gosh i live a full life. :D

You're very welcome - if I can help in any way, please let me know. And I'm far from an example, trust me! I constantly fret about falling off the wagon and have enough neuroses to sink a ship.

I'm a full-time carer, so I know all about the domestic treadmill. Ah well, the wee moments of quiet time are what we live for, eh? ;) Best of luck with your diet, whatever you choose!
 
Thanks all!

I am starting weight watchers classes on Thursday at 7pm I'm sooooooo nervous but I have to go.

I want to do it and I know I can. I have lost weight before on Rosemary Connoly but I put it back on again.

I've also decided I'm going to join a gym, I really want to join a gym because when I am just walking around outside or trying to jog I look like an idiot at least in the gym thats the reason why I'd be there. It's expensive but it will be worth it. I have decided to join a 'private one' as the council gym here is £5 a time and that doesn't even include swimming. 4 times a week for a month - £80, doesn't sound very competitive.

I will be on here all the time now when I'm hungry and bored because that is when I tend to nibble.
 
Hi Summer. Well done on deciding to do something about your weight. I must admit I did prefer SW to WW but I know that they have just re-vamped WW so it might be a lot better since I did it.

Also, I know that Leeds City council do a Bodyline card (which I have) and it costs about £27 per month and I can go to any council gym or swimming pool at anytime of the day for free. It's brillaint, I would look into that if I were you.

Good luck with your life change x x
 
Hello, I didn't go to WW tonight. I am waiting until my weigh day on Monday and see how I go. If I have lost weight on my own this week I will carry on by myself.

I've decided against the gym altogether, the weather has been good so I don't mind going out walking. If it is fine again tomorrow I will get on my bike and cycle along the promenade a few times then cycle home again.

Thanks everyone! x
 
Back
Top