Advice please

mandy220750
mandy220750 Posts: 65 Member
edited November 21 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I started this journey in July 2016.

I am female age 54, 5 foot 6.

Started at 22 stone 10 .

Used MFP and up to December 2016 lost 3 stone 6.

Then lost all motivation and gained 10 pounds up until May 2017.

Every week I tried without success to restart but failed.

May 2017 plucked up the courage and joined Slimming world and have lost up to now 2 stone .

However I find Slimming world so hard. I get very upset and anxious before each weigh in and find my mental health suffering.

The recommended food is not really what I enjoy and it's costing me more each week to eat and to pay for classes.

Wonder if anyone else has managed to leave Slimming World and get back on track with MFP.

I know only I can continue this journey, I need to be able to control my diet myself for the rest of my life and not rely on classes.

Feeling uncertain which way to go.

Replies

  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    Assuming that you aren't going to stay on Slimming World forever, you are going to have to figure out how to transition off of it eventually. That might mean gaining weight temporarily, because you're probably on a very restrictive diet that is keeping your calories low. I say the sooner the better, especially since it's costing you money. There is no point in losing weight if you can't keep it off, and it sounds like this Slimming World strategy is not sustainable. Be okay with gaining weight temporarily and give MFP another try. Log all your food, figure out where your current maintenance is, and start reducing your calorie intake from there. You can do it!
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    Good luck! If it helps, you might think about putting part of the money you save into a MFP premium subscription. When I was first starting out, I found that having some skin in the game helped keep me motivated. And the extra features aren't bad.
  • gg2007
    gg2007 Posts: 71 Member
    I also left SW because I didn't like the food options, I've been using MFP and surrounding myself around others who have the sane goals and visions as I do. I also have accountability on my weight loss jounery because sometimes I just wanna give up but with accountability partners it's not so easy to give up. What are your goals. Exercising is also helping to drop the lbs and change the shape of my body. Feel free to add me
  • gg2007
    gg2007 Posts: 71 Member
    I'm also doing dietbet.com so I'm putting my money where my mouth is. Literally!
  • mandy220750
    mandy220750 Posts: 65 Member
    I cannot do much exercise due to arthritis. But do try to walk a little. I am in the UK so don't know what dietbet is.
    I would rather save up my weekly Slimming World payments and use it on a nice treat. I will miss the people in the group but I have to do what is best for me.
  • TilKingdomCome
    TilKingdomCome Posts: 89 Member
    I too have been having problems getting back into it and taking it seriously but a little weight gain since Christmas has scared me enough that I’m super keen about getting back on track now.

    So, rather than winging it with my calories every day (I’ve never stopped tracking just not caring about going over), I now plan EVERYTHING.

    I have two options for dinner each night of the week. E.g every 2nd Tuesday is homemade nachos, 1st Friday is homemade pizzas, Weds is Indian curries in slow cooker etc. All meals are added as recipes and I generally eat leftover dinners for lunch. Breakfast is normally the same every day.

    I prelog the night before as I’m getting my lunch and snacks ready for work for the following day so I know I won’t go over calories.

    My exercise routine is also pretty consistent, that is I run certain days of the week, walk others, weights, yoga and a quick 15 min full body workout all have their set days. 15,000 steps per day no matter what.

    Being super organised has helped me the last three weeks and I finally feel like I’m back in the groove. Seeing a little weight loss has helped with the motivation to keep it up.

    You need to find what works for you. Good luck!
  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
    Also, don't lose sight of what you HAVE achieved.
    You've lost about 5st 6, and although you gained 10lbs of that back in the middle, it's still a net loss of 4st 10 in just over a year. That is officially SUCCESS, right?!

    The journey is never going to be linear, and there may be blips along the way - it might be a few pounds on holiday, or as you found it may be more when you have a few tough months. But you clearly have the mindset to tough it out. Well done on doing something to stop the gain in the middle - you've figured out that SW isn't for you long term but remember to congratulate yourself for taking action before you wiped out that first 3st 6 loss. You're clearly tough, you're clearly motivated, and that means you can totally DO THIS!

    I guess there are a couple of ways of going about a restart, and you have to pick what works for you:

    1) Get MFP to run the numbers for you based on a sensible weekly loss and just get stuck in.

    2) Sit down and do some meal planning based on the (healthy) kind of foods you do enjoy, do an online shop so they get delivered to your door (less tempting than wandering round Tesco with a trolley - if you need to bump up the value to get cheap delivery then you can never have too many dishwasher tablets right?!), use moderate portions, log everything for a week and see where you are calorie wise. If your calories came out a bit higher than you know they should be (I'm assuming you know from previous experience), then make one swap a week to bring them down a little bit at a time, so that you don't feel too deprived and you can find a new equilibrium.

    If you're happy to share what kind of foods you like, and maybe what sort of calorie goal you're looking at, I'm sure people will chip in with recipe ideas!
  • skymningen
    skymningen Posts: 532 Member
    Stay in contact with the people in the group that you would miss. You can still cheer each other on. And maybe one or two are willing to join you here. Or you could have "healthy lunch meetings" together, or "let's get our non-food treat today" ones.
  • mandy220750
    mandy220750 Posts: 65 Member
    Thank you all for your advise I will start again tomorrow planning meals and counting with MFP.
    It worked well before and I am determined to make it work again.
    I am not a good cook but do try.
    Living alone I have to recalculate ingredients or freeze portions
    Good luck all
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    why don't you key your slimming world foods into MFP for a week or two and see what that gives you for calories, etc. then just use those as your goals and eat whatever you want that fits those goals???
  • TilKingdomCome
    TilKingdomCome Posts: 89 Member
    mandy220750 wrote: »
    Thank you all for your advise I will start again tomorrow planning meals and counting with MFP.
    It worked well before and I am determined to make it work again.
    I am not a good cook but do try.
    Living alone I have to recalculate ingredients or freeze portions
    Good luck all

    Use the recipe builder in MFP and try to stick to a set of recipes that you can choose from out of there.

    I can’t cook at all, when my husband moved I was in a world of hurt but I’m a bit the same as you and have been trying. The slow cooker to cook Indian curries is my new best friend because I don’t have to stand there and stir or monitor.

    I’m happy now with the pool of meals I now have and everything left over gets frozen and becomes my lunch. Some days for dinner are planned as reheated from the freezer.
  • mandy220750
    mandy220750 Posts: 65 Member
    Thanks I have I slow cooker will pull it out and give it a try.

    Well I did it phoned Slimming World consultant and told her I was leaving the group

    First proper full night sleep since joining the group in May followed

    The stress of hoping I have lost in group has gone.

    But its another journey with MFP, I am determined to prove I can do this alone and get healthy and as fit as I can for my future.

    Feeling positive
  • gg2007
    gg2007 Posts: 71 Member
    mandy220750 wrote: »
    I cannot do much exercise due to arthritis. But do try to walk a little. I am in the UK so don't know what dietbet is.
    I would rather save up my weekly Slimming World payments and use it on a nice treat. I will miss the people in the group but I have to do what is best for me.

    I also have arthritis and found swimming great as it was easy on my joints. I'm also in the UK and can use dietbet.com from anywhere in the world. Different things motivate different people; but that's also a good idea to save up what you would have spent on SW to treat yourself.
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