Middle aged and obese... making changes

[Gottadosummit]

Obese and middle aged. Many pounds to lose.

Any peeps with tips on holding yourself to account.

[IndigoBlue61]

Hello and welcome to the Weight Loss Forum Gottadosummit 😊

Many of us struggle with weight loss as we get older, hormonal changes affect the way food is utilised by the body, especially sugar and carbohydrates. Have a look at this for a fuller explanation healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

You will have been given links to our Pinned Posts in your Welcome message when you first joined, please read them carefully, especially the Welcome Newbies and the Security Post. (I notice you have not locked your post)

Nothing beats joining in with forum events and activities for motivation. Have a look at the Whats Happening Chat Thread for a full list

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

This is a very busy forum with lots going on but feel free to ask if you have any questions. 😊

Best Wishes in your weight loss journey

Indigo 😊

[lea57-49r Maintainer 3st 7lbs]

Welcome and I wish you well on your weight loss journey. My one tip is to keep using this forum and keep coming onto it on a regular basis. There is a huge amount of information on this forum and it will help to keep you motivated. Best wishes.

[Gottadosummit in reply to lea57-49r]

Cheers n many thanks.

[babss 2 stone]

Welcome gottadosummit (love the name!)

I am also obese and middle aged. Something clicked at the end of April and I also decided I needed to do get on with it as my weight was slowly climbing and I felt so unfit.

So I enrolled in the nhs 12 week programme and made the commitment to myself that I would write absolutely everything I ate down and would accurately calorie count. At this stage if I wanted to eat something I would but down it went in the diary. So I was still at that stage eating crisps and chocolate (my main vices!) but generally managed to stay within the calorie range. The food diary was the main way I held myself to account and something I am still doing now.

About 7 weeks in I joined this forum and now use the daily diary regularly, and have the habit of spending time planning my food properly. I am eating so much better. My diet is now pretty low carb so rarely eat crisps or chocolate, cravings are much less and am really have plenty of tasty food to eat!

Sorry for the life story! But in answer to your original post I think the food diary has been critical for me and truly don’t think I would have lost as much without coming on here every day 😊

Good luck, hope to see you around

[Gottadosummit in reply to babss]

Cheers for the insight. Reading up seems to be a theme of being honest with recording what we munch.. plus not excluding food stuffs but being aware of how different food stuffs hit our systems.

[LBee77 in reply to Gottadosummit]

Yes, I really agree with that! Once I started logging everything I ate into an app I downloaded on my phone it made me aware of how many “empty” calories I was eating. I went from obese & middle aged to fit & looking YEARS younger lolll. You can do it, slow & steady wins the race plus if you can get some weight training in that helps immensely... go get it done now, superstar! 😊

[Gottadosummit in reply to LBee77]

Cheers... it's good to read that others have turned or are turning things to a better place.

[Slimforsummer Visitor]

I followed the nhs 12 week diet plan and have lost well over 2 1/2 stones since February and am now a healthy BMI. My tip is to swop all refined carbs to wholemeal eg wholemeal rice, pasta and bread. You feel fuller, so need smaller portions. are eating more fibre and getting more healthy nutrition which is full of B vitamins compared with eating the the white stuff. Good luck.

[Gottadosummit in reply to Slimforsummer]

Ta very muchly for the better carb advice.

[candoo]

I think some part of losing weight is to find out why you eat. sometimes we think we are eating healthy and then get a shock when find out exactly whats in it. Id been doing and maintaining the nhs plan for 7 years, slight ups and downs. Then at Christmas put stone on and no matter what couldn't stop eating naughties on a night. lost my mojo and got upset with myself after making promise after promise. I found this forum about 8 weeks ago and ive lost 10lb. I realised the reason I ate wasnt hunger but a bad habit id fell back into. I always gave myself the excuse I can start tomorrow as I broke every night. Once I realised this I started eating fruit on an evening and went from there. coming on this forum gave me back my mojo and I definitely recommend doing a weekly weigh in. You've come to a great place to get support, advice and peoples experiences, good luck with youre weight loss

[Gottadosummit in reply to candoo]

Wow great insight. Its so comforting and eye opening to read that we all have weak times but that here is a safe place to be honest n open ..n hold ourselves to account in a supportive place.

[candoo in reply to Gottadosummit]

definitely can be honest about how good or bad you've done. ive had a slip and ate the cupboard but instead of sulking I came on here to release my frustration which helped put a line under it and move forward. have a great week

[Mum56]

Dear Gottadosummit,

It genuinely gets harder as we get older doesn't it? I guess you've taken the first step by joining this forum ...I've only just joined so what do I know? But I wish you all the very best and something I do when I need to do something hard is to project myself forward to when I've achieved the next bit of my goal and imagine how I'll feel, how I'll look, what I'll be thinking and saying and how that will motivate me for the next step. Very best wishes this week!

[PandQs Maintainer 3st 7lbs]

Hi Gottadosummit, last year I was told I HAD to do something to lose weight before having an operation. I was very reluctant as all previous attempts using slimming clubs, calorie counting, low fat diets had resulted in eventually gaining back even more weight. I was fortunate to come here and be pointed in the direction of Dr Robert Lustig’s YouTube video series “The Skinny on Obesity”. The concept os insulin resistance and sugar addiction struck a chord with me and I switched to a lower carb diet, reintroducing healthy fats as well (LCHF), without even having to count calories.This has helped me so much in reducing hunger and cravings, I’ve rediscovered my “off” switch when eating and I’ve lost weight. It may be worth you looking into it as an option.

[Gottadosummit in reply to PandQs]

Very true. Will look into that even though I was told years ago a calories a calorie information and knowledge has moved on ... seems that average peeps are finding out what ratio n times of eating work best for ourselves. Will watch the vid .

[PandQs Maintainer 3st 7lbs in reply to Gottadosummit]

The videos were a lightbulb moment for me good luck!

P.s. after losing the weight, I didn’t need the hernia op after all. Win win :))

[babss 2 stone in reply to Gottadosummit]

All calories are not created equal-was new to me too but has made so much difference to the rate of my weight loss

[Biglosergirl 1 stone]

Hello there,

I have struggled with my relationship with food over many years, but I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

The symptoms were not obvious to me, because I went initially to the doctor for something else. Diabetes can have serious health consequences which basically gave me a kick up the butt to start to change the route I was on......

I found that everytime I was considering foods that were heavy in fat or sugar, I would think visualise the symptoms such as blindness/ loss of limbs. It seemed to cure my cravings for fast food, which I was used to doing a lot.

I still do sometimes get urges to go to fast food places, but I now try to make it an occassional visit and made it a priority to get more active.

Best of luck with your endeavor.

[Gottadosummit in reply to Biglosergirl]

Love the idea if visualising the longer term impact rather than the fleeting moment of yumminess. Will try that thank you.