Too much to tackle and no idea where to start!!!!
whizzyweed74
Posts: 2 Member
Hi guys and girls! I am desperate for your tips, guidance and advice please? I am a 46 year old mum that normally works full time but am currently on sick leave. My body weight is twice and a bit what it should be and its affecting all aspects of my life. I also suffer with multiple slipped discs, sciatica and degeneration of the discs in my lower back, hence why I am off work. I also suffer from what I have been told is lymphedema, which gives me horrendously swollen legs and feet, making any kind of movement difficult. I am hoping to be offered spinal surgery for my back problem in the not too distant future but of course my weight is going to be a major issue so I need to address it now. I have previously lost 11 stone with slimming world but as soon as I reached my target, started piling the weight back on again. I have tried a few times since then to lose the weight again but to no avail, but realise that it needs to be successful this time permanently for me, my health, my happiness and my family. The thing is I have no idea where to start as since turning 40 have found things more difficult than ever. I need a family friendly overhaul of my eating habits together with an absolute basics exercise plan that starts with me just walking. I have no room at home for equipment, dont drive so cant get to a gym so need to start walking literally before I can run!!!! Has anybody else been in a similar situation that can offer me a few pointers please as I dont want to fail again!! Thank you for reading if you made it to the end!!!
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Replies
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You have to start somewhere and sometime soon...like in the morning!...start out with baby steps...this is a life style change not a quick one day fix...figure out your calorie needs, plan a couple of days meals...walk a few minutes at a time...you eat less to lose weight you exercise for physical fitness...the first few weeks concentrate on getting your food in control...don’t eat things you don’t like and don’t do crazy fasts or no carb diets...eat healthy wholesome foods that you enjoy...good luck!3
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Everything Connie said!
You can do this! Just enter your stats into myfitnesspal, follow the calorie recommendations. For now, measuring your intake with cups/spoons will likely work well enough, but you'll want to get a food scale so you can be more accurate as time goes on (the sooner the better, really).
As far as exercise, any bit is better than none. Walk a little more than you were before and build up as you're able. Get some light dumbbells and do some sitting exercises. Do a few leg lifts now and then when you're sitting in your chair or standing at the kitchen counter.
It all boils down to Eat less, Move more. It doesn't have to be anything intense or exhaustive!3 -
There's a lot to unpack in this post so I'll try and address things one point at a time.
The physical limitations you discuss suck but, the good news is that for the most part losing weight has little to do with working out and everything to do with managing your calorie intake. I and many many people here have successfully lost significant amounts of weight with zero working out. In fact it's often a good idea to separate weight loss and fitness into two separate goals. You eat to lose weight and exercise to get fit. So being unable to work out shouldn't prevent you from dropping weight. Just walking more during your day is more than enough at least to begin with.
Lots of people lose weight on programs like Slimming World, Weight Watchers and the like then put it all back on again because this is how these programs are designed to work. They make their money from repeat customers. They don't sell you a solution, they sell you a program, then as soon as you stop paying for and using their program you go right back to where you started. Then you think "Oh Slimming World worked last time" and you open your wallet again.
I'm 46 and started my weight loss at 44 and the hard truth is that losing weight in our 40's isn't any harder than doing it in our 20's. The daily calorie targets for a 20-something is less than 100cal higher than a 40-something which is fractional at best. Most of the difference comes from the fact that we tend to be more settled and less active in our 40's. Jobs in our 20's tend to be more 'entry level' and manual, in our 40's we're more likely to have moved into more senior and sedentary positions. We tend to play more sports and go out partying on weekends in our 20's and have more low key pastimes in our 40's. There is a flip side though. We tend to be more settled and disciplined in our 40's. Our lives are less hectic but this also comes with a greater level of control and routine so it's not all bad.
The other good news is that there's absolutely no need to overhaul anything. In fact a massive overhaul is probably a terrible idea. You want easy changes rather than big changes. Look for long term rather than drastic. Weight management is, when all is said and done, ridiculously simple (but NOT always easy). Eat more calories than you use and you'll gain weight, eat fewer calories than you use and you'll lose weight. That's it. That's as complicated as it gets. When you boil it all down and strip away all the extra stuff it's nothing but a simple energy equation so keep it simple.
Here's all you need to do in 3 steps.
1. Enter your details into MFP, select a reasonable weekly calorie loss target and get your calorie target
2. Eat food you genuinely want to eat in amounts that let you hit your calorie target most of the time. Forget 'good' food and 'bad' food, forget 'healthy' and 'junk', forget all that moralising and demonising of food and eat food you want to eat. Not food you can tolerate, not food you think you should be eating. Usually this is exactly what you're eating now. The only difference is you're going to get a food scale, you're going to accurately measure your food and you're gong to tailor your portions and intake so that more often than not you're hitting close to your calorie target.
3. Learn and improve. As the months go on (not days, not weeks, months) you'll learn and get better. You'll begin to recognise the foods you eat that are way to 'expensive'. Nothing makes a food less appetising than logging it in your diary and seeing the massive dent it makes in your calorie target. You'll learn where you can make substitutions to get more bang from your calorie buck, You'll learn when you're naturally more hungry and what sort of eating schedule pattern works best for you. You'll learn and you'll apply this and you'll get better at this and you'll start making more changes and better nutrition choices and most importantly, you'll build momentum.
The key thing to remember is that the value of a weight loss approach has nothing to do with how much weight you're losing. The value and the measure of a weight loss approach is how easy and effortless you can make it. When making adjustments to your approach you're question shouldn't be "what can I do to lose weight faster" it should be "what can I do to lose weight easier". Losing 4lbs a week on a tough program that you can only stick to for a few months is utterly worthless. losing 4lbs a month on a program that takes no effort at all is infinitely better. Think long term. In 12 months time the fast program will have you exactly where you are, or worse. The easy program you'll be 48lbs lighter.
So in summary
- Eat for weight loss, exercise for fitness
- Age isn't a barrier, don't let yourself use it as an excuse.
- Diets and Programs are temporary solutions that yield temporary results. You need permanent "forever" changes
- Keep it simple. 1. get your target. 2. eat what you like and stick to your target most of the time. 3. learn, adjust, improve.
- The easier the better. You want to lose weight as easily and effortlessly as possible. Effortless is permanent.
G'luck20 -
The above by danp is the very best advice. If you follow it, it should get you where you want to be. Remember he wins who eats the most and still loses. Good luck.3
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Thank you all guys for your helpful words, especially danp, I shall take it one small step at a time.2
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