Hi all,

I'm fed up...... its totally my own fault so I am not writing for sympathy or anything but I am so annoyed with myself, I can feel myself getting fatter and fatter but just don't have the willpower to stick to a blooming diet! It's a vicious circle, being fat makes me miserable, but so does not being able to eat what I want! Oh to be naturally thin! :-)

I really really need to get my act together!

Moan over :-)

Nicki xx

LOL.............
I have avoided the scales for almost a whole year.
My clothes size is at an all time high of 16/18.....yes I know some wouldn't mind that but I do!
On being admitted to hospital earlier on I asked them not to say out loud my weight as I didn't want to hear.
So I can really sympathise.
The only good thing is I dont worry any more......no scales to show me the error of my ways/weighs ha ha!
So try the same it makes life a lot easier.

Karen :)

Nikki, I'm the same. Ok I am not massive or anything but I really struggle to keep my weight down where it is ~ I dont think it matters how big or small you are, its all about how you feel.
I think most women are born without the will power gene :-D Mine is missing for sure
Rxx

Are you my twin, LOL, no advice just sympathy to offer.

Hi Karen,

Thanks for the advice, I am beginning to wonder if I should just give up and accept myself the way I am, I too am at a all time high for me at size 16/18/20 and the only consolation is that I am relatively tall at 5ft 7in so I carry it as well as is possible. I know that being obese is bad for you, full stop, but it doesn't affect my life in terms of my health, I can still walk my dogs, clean the house etc etc etc.

I just want to feel sexy and attractive! Lol!

Nicki xx

Thanks all!

Glad I'm not the only one that has issues with willpower.......:-)

I was supposed to be being very very good this week, and then my lovely boss went out today and brought back a fresh cream donught........I'll start tomorrow I thought as I wolfed it down!

Nicki xx

What I do is really simple and it is easy to maintain/lose weight.  Just don't eat carbs after 6pm (or 5pm if you're being ultra good).  Just eat normally breakfast, having a decent lunch and small carb free meal eg. fish, chicken or eggs wth salad for dinner.  I seem to be able to keep my weight down with this and it involves no weighing food or leaving out food groups.  Give it a go and I defy anyone to put weight on!!

i have just been referred to a clinic to help me plus im on a pill called xenical. it blocks 30% fat when you eat. you DO have to eat healthy though as it does punish you when you dont.
i dont care how much i weigh though i just want to fit in to nice and occasionally sexy clothes

I can't stick to a diet either.  I know I have no willpower and I cannot deny myself the things that I love.  However, I have come to terms with the fact that I can't have those things every day and I have reaslied that my problem is more about how much I eat rather than what I eat. 

Coming to those realisations has helped me to lose over 4 stones this year and still going (fair bit still to go too :-o ).  I'm not 'on a diet', I have just worked out what works (and doesn't work) for me.

> Just don't eat carbs after 6pm (or 5pm if you're being ultra good).

Which is fine if you're not still at work.  I am not even home by 6pm to get my tea.

Have you thought about Slimming World or Weight Watchers?  You get the support there.  Or how about one of the online diets?

Ahh bless you and your not alone on this im fat at the moment but last year i lost it all and was strutting around in flimsy summer tops i felt great even if i was on a manic episode i seemed to be getting more manic and wacky the more exersize i was doing almost like a deranged speed freak then the lows hit me about this time last year and its been down hill since then , pilled on 2 stone and i really have to force myself to go out at all, if it wernt for my dogs big brown eyes looking up at me the way they do im sure id be a real hermit,
then over the last few months certin things i eat , like cheese milk dairy stuff and battered fish mostly anything greasy now sets me off with server stomach cramps and im on the loo for the rest of the day ,
i was putting up with it as some days wernt as bad but this last 2 weeks has been a nightmare and im now at the point where i fear putting any junk fatty foods in my mouth so i went on the portfolio diet i found everything in it i actully like so i am 5 days into it and am feeling great already less bloated and sluggish and for some reason its not such a struggle getting up in the morning have to say i dont want to call it a diet but a life style change really im hoping to keep eating like this i am enjoying it , but i did really crave a cheese burger today lol never went for it tho lol, 
i havent been on the scales so dont know if i lost anything but main thing to me is i feel better and eating this way is ment to help lower the colestorol and i no mine is high so thats another reason i started to change what i eat, i need to exersize more but with that comes my manic episodes and i start freaking out like im going to explode its just finding a balance within myself i think,

Its quite easy to miss carbs out of an evening meal...grilled or steamed chicken or fish with a big selection of green veg, get your carb fix at lunch with a nice pasta salad or jacket potato.

I am exactly the same Precious Stone!

We are going away at Easter and I want to lose some weight before we go. Every day I mean to start a diet but I rarely make it past lunchtime. And then I eat even more than I would have if I hadn't been thinking about a diet. It's ridiculous! I think I need to do a proper formal diet, maybe Weight Watchers or Slimming World, because I'm rubbish at doing it on my own. I know HOW to lose weight and what I should/shouldn't be eating, I just can't seem to stick to it. I know that after the first few days I will feel better and stop craving fatty salty foods but even that doesn't help. I can't manage just one day at the moment, let alone a week!

Maybe we should do a Champdogs diet support thread where we can post our total weight loss goal and weight loss each week (just your loss, not your starting weight, so everyone can join in without feeling shy about their start weight). We could share low fat recipes too and give people a cyber slap when they're tempted to binge.

Morning everyone!

I am currently doing Tesco Diets, which would work very well if I could stick to it, as someone else on here mentioned I start being healthy, eat something rubbish then binge for the rest of the day because I think "well I've ruined it for today now so I may as well make the most of it!", which is worse than not dieting at all probably! I think a bit problem for me is not what I eat most of the time its how much.

I have done both Slimming World and Weight Watchers (many many many times!), I lost two stone on Weight Watchers at 17 and kept it off for about five years, but it has gradually crept back on.....plus another two stone! :-( . The funny thing is when I lost the weight I wasn't happy and needed to loose more all the time, but now I am much heavier I'd kill to be that weight again! I too now HOW to loose the weight, I have tried everything going, even the Alli tablets, I could diet asleep standing on my head, it all falls to one thing: WILLPOWER!

Snoop - Thats a really good idea! I'd be up for that definately!

Nicki xx

My OH has been doing slimming world for 3 years now and has lost 8 stone!  I've never seen him eat as much as he does, some days he actually struggles to keep up with what he's supposed to be eating.  He did WW but found the diet boring, he did lose 10 stone in a year, but found it all and a bit more the following year, at least with SW he's lost it and it seems to be staying off this time, this is the longest he has ever gone keeping the weight off.

Our GP has been great too, she gave him vouchers for 3 months free at SW

Yes i am another one I have made a career out of diets over the last 20 years prior to that I was always 8st 7lbs

I have tried all of them ww and slimming world to. Both are good but I find my life is so chaotic I cant plan anything even regular shopping !!

As you say its not symapthy we need just somewhere to rant. Looking again at tesco diets,btw chelsea girl whats the portfolio diet ?

I have been on most diets and some not invented :)  some years ago I bought the Paul Mckenna  I can make you slim its a book and cd anyway the cd didnt make me slim but it did something as  it encourages you to take excercise and  I started  swimming again which I love and went every morning in all weathers to local  health club some mornings its a pain getting up early I go at 7am  before starting my work Then the pool closed and I joined another club.
some weeks ago someone mentioned there were toning beds  room there so I swim for about 35 mins then go in there its brilliant the first two days I was aching all over but now I really look foward to it and feel fitter.The cost is around £340 pounds a year but if you work out 5 days a week its cheap.
But many leisure centres offer it cheaper than that.
I dont think I have lost much weight but  am happier about myself and have  some fun as well everyone is so freindly and some are bigger than me so dont feel  self concious.
Where we walk the dogs is a steep hill I used to have to stop twice going up it I think I could run up it now and its true  that exercise gives us a buzz on the days I dont go it feels odd.
So its all about not driving yourself mad,  diets are proven not to work for some people the cd also tells you how to look at the best in yourself.
Also a strange thing after taking sugar in my tea forever I started to put less and less in the cup and now cant drink tea with sugar in.
Opps better say I am in late fifties and around the 16/18  size range I also if its birthdays ,mothers day etc. ask for vouchers for the beauty parlour and treat myself to a facial guranteed to cheer you up.

Sorry for going on a bit :) :)

We could share low fat recipes too and give people a cyber slap when they're tempted to binge.

lmao at this , great idea tho xx

chelsea girl whats the portfolio diet ?

http://preventdisease.com/home/tips34.shtml

i will say i am following it good so far BUT i have been eating chicken breast for dinner as i cant go without any meat at all so i have cheated a little their but it better than a steak or pork chop lol,
i had a plain piece of cod with veg it was lovley im loving the porrage to and it does not bother me that theirs no sugar in it, im not a sweet or chocolate person anyway so not missing these,
im am more of a crusty ham roll with added salt and a packet of crisps gal, washed down with a can of cold coke, id rather have this for dinner instead of a roast , thats my down fall and i like wimpey cheese burgers ummmm , Quick Cyber slap me lol,
iv exchanged my white bread id normaly eat for wholemeal pitta with salad and little humus, that was my lunch yesterday,
my real aim is to get my cholesterol where it should be without taken pills for it,
if i loss weight to then thats an added bounus but i no i could loss all the weight and still eat the rubbish i was eating before this diet if i just did the amount of exersize i was doing last year, i didnt follow a diet then i ate what ever i wanted so its an exersize issue with me , my body needs LOADS of it,
and now i think iv become lactose intolerant over the last few months , my mate started buying them fat busting Alli tablets and they worked great for her she wanted me to go on them with her so we'd be dieting together but i had to say Why buy Alli when iv  got Cheese lol it has the same effect on me,
iv changed my milk to soya milk but i only ever have milk in porrage anyway i dont drink regular tea or coffee never have , i been drinking chinese loss green tea with jasmine for around 10 years now, no milk or sugar in that,

You mean triplet :-D :-D  Here is another sister.. :-)

dont diet!  you just have to eat less of everything for life and stick to it. you can eat all your normal food just not every day. my son just started eating smaller amounts of normal food and still has a treat once a week- a kebab! he has lost 7 stones in 7 months! you have to just change your habits and its for life or you regain it all afterwards. so dont call it a diet just change your habits- anyone can do it. a diet is something you start, then you stop and regain all you lost. it really is mind over matter. also your body will settle at the weight it wants to be. once you cant lose anymore then stop and maintain that weight. my son will never be 13 stones as his bmi says he should be but wants to be about 15. his 16 stone now and as i say was 23 and a half at his biggest.

Have to agree Tina S but you have to want to lose weight more than you want that food.

I had gained weight and tried slimming world but as soon as I left I regained the weight.

Two and a half years ago I saw some photos of myself and was shocked. Around the same time a friend told me I had let myself go. I was hurt but she was right. I cut down on carbs and portions in general. Pizza was my weakness but I never touch them now and don't miss them. 

I have stayed a size 10 now for nearly two years and know I'll never let myself gain that weight again because my it has changed my life.

I lost a stone and a half in 5 months by being strict with myself Mon - Fri. Cereal breakfast, fruit for lunch and no potatoes and bread.  Just meat or fish with veg in the evening.  Weekends I ate what I wanted, but kept it to smaller portions.  I still had some chocolate at the weekend, but a smaller bar then I would have normally had.  I think with any diet you have to have something to look forward to at the end of the week.

I had tried all sorts of diets before and if some came off it went back on again afterwards.  I have kept this off for a year now and I do now eat potatoes during the week, but not bread. 

I know a stone and a half doesn't seem a lot to some, but it has brought me down to the weight I should be.

I might give the less carbs option a try......thats one that I haven't tried.

Even when I am dieting I have to work soooooooooo hard and be sooooooooo strict to loose just a pound.

I need to do more exercise too, I am not a lazy person but I do not do any regular structured exercise.

Not making excuses as he doesn't physically stuff the food down my throat himself, I make my own choices, but my fiance is a chef which doesn't help.

One thing I have always done since I moved into my own place three years ago is never buy biscuits and cakes in, if I do they haunt me, and I also ban OH from baking cakes or anything.

Its my sweet tooth that is the problem, there is no such thing as too sweet for me! I don't eat sweets its chocolate and desserts, luckily my OH has a thing for nuts and crisps (he is skinny!) but I don't crave them, can't remember the last time I ate crisps, I don't even crave fatty meals its just sweet stuff! The bane of my life!

Nicki xx

I do weightwatchers, I lost over 2 stone a couple of years ago, I then had a baby and put on 3 stone so am now back on WW trying to lose it.  I find with WW you can eat what you want as long as you stick to your points, if you fancy chocolate or a take away then as long as you "point" it and make allowances elsewhere then its possible.  For instance if I know im going out for dinner one night I stick to 0 point soup or salad for lunch.

WW is changing your way of thinking towards food, its not a faddy diet, you dont feel you are missing out on anything beacause you can eat what you want.  You do have to be comitted though (and no I dont work for WW!!!)

My OH loves me being on WW, we make more of an effort with our cooking and have great fun going through the cook books each week to plan our menu for the following week, we do everything from scratch.  My only real downfall is alcohol :(

With regards to exercise how about taking up Cani-cross or agility with your dog ? I run a few times a week with mine as well as competing.  I do agility training once a week which is two hours of running around and then compete most weekends of the summer and occasionally throughout the winter.  We did a week long agility show back in August, I didnt conciously stick to my points but I did try to eat healthy the empasis there being on the word "try" !!!  I also ran in the mornings with the boys and then backwards and forwards to the rings in the day I managed to lose 3.5lb !!!

Plan a diet and stick to it, there is no point eating less carbs if you are going to fill up on other "wrong" foods !

ErR lol I think we all know this lol knowledge is not the issue or we would all be thin :-)

So true Blue - I know what I should do - I just can't do it!!! :-D

I don't want to be skinny, but I would love to be able to buy clothes in 'normal' shops. Do clothes designers think you lose all sense of style when you hit size 20? Do they have to assume that fat means short so every top they make stops right at my widest bit (or butt :-D ) and looks awful?

there is no point eating less carbs if you are going to fill up on other "wrong" foods !

Why not? It works for me. I still eat chocolate and drinks lots of wine. ;-)

While we are on the diet subject does anyone have any experience of m.s. and food. I am looking for advice about eating that may help some of the symptoms ?  

I agree with everything you say Claire.....................I lost 4 stone last year with WW's and am still a size 10/12 more than a year later...................it's all about making the right food choices....................& if you can't make it a way of life, it's not going to work..........................

Well done to you ladies and WW.. a word of advise and encouragment.I went to Slimming World and reached my target. When you reach yours still go on a regular basis just to stay focused.. All the time I did this I was fine then when I stopped  going my weight began to creep on again.. I am now struggling again

I might look into the agility thing Claire, I have a 6 month old Irish Setter and 20 month old that had metaphysial osteopathy last year so I am not sure I should be taking them? (I know that you have Setters though?) I do have a Border Terrier though that I don't show so it might be good to have something to concentrate on with him as sometimes I worry about leaving him out (although I doubt he notices!).

Nicki xx

I wouldnt start agility with a setter until 18 months, im not sure about your elder one best to ask the vet.  You should give it a go with your Terrier though, there is less competition with the minis :)

Simple solution.... eat too many calories and not burn enough off and you will get fat.

so foo foo, how does that help people trying to lose weight?

mmm if only it were that simple foo foo ,scientificaly it may be but we are emotional creatures if that was all there was to it we would all be slim

Hi guys,

I noticed FooFoo's first comment which wasn't derogatory but decided to ignore it because I knew what it would lead to, she obviously has a major issue with us fatties, there is a thread from not so long ago where she voices her opinions quite clearly.

I had a feeling when I originally posted that she would make an appearance on the thread......

Really doesn't bother me in the slighest though, negative unhelpful opinions of someone I have never met before are not important to me :-)

Nicki xx

> Simple solution.... eat too many calories and not burn enough off and you will get fat.

While that can apply to many people, its not strictly correct.. many heavier people do excersise, and do restrict calorie intake, unfortunately, their metabolism may not be quite as it should.. many health problems can also be a contributory factor in weight problems.. whether over or underweight..

so no.. there is no 'simple solution' (for many peoples)  as you put it...

well said precious stone I did think about ignoring it but she got me LOL and I bit , twit that I am !

A bit of empathy with peoples problems does go along way doesn't it, until you stand in some ones shoes it is often easy to be critical

My Dad's wife didn't have much sympathy with people who couldn't keep weight down, that is until she had a hysterectomy.

She used to be one of the lucky ones that could eat what she liked to appetite and her appetite obviously was in fine tune with her bodies calorie needs.

That is no longer the case, she carried on as she had always done only to find within quite a short time she was putting on weight and when she tried to simply cut down found she was always hungry, welcome to the world of many of us. 

She is always apologising to me now (I have always struggled with my weight and been overweight most of my life with occasional interludes of reasonable weight after a mega effort to diet, never seem able to keep the weight off for more than a year or so at a time.

Don't worry furriefriends your not a twit, I bit on the last post, but I have learned that it is not worth the effort!

I mentioned on my original post that I make no excuses for the fact that I am fat and I am after no sympathy, I just wanted to have a moan (about myself!) :-)

Its nice that some poeple can empathise, things are not always black and white :-)

Nicki xx

Thank you Claire, I think I might look into that with the Border Terrier :-)

Nicki xx

> Simple solution.... eat too many calories and not burn enough off and you will get fat.

Clearly you do not really understand how people can eat a 'healthy' diet and still put on weight. You can eat too little and gain weight. By eating too little your body can go into a starvation mode and so anything you eat will cause you to put on weight.

Other reasons people might put on weight would be as a result of an health issue. Sometimes these health issues go undetected for many years before being discovered by which time the person might well have put on a lot of weight.

It is a very complicated area and you have to know what you are doing to get it right. Once weight is gained it is very hard to get it off, people do struggle, and need encouragement, not what appear to be self righteous remarks. I am assuming however you are younger and have been fortunate enough to never have had a weight problem...... YET....

Well said Polly. Health problems CAN have a huge impact on weight gain. Four years ago I was a size 10, but then developed various medical problems and take a whole cocktail of medication (with common side effects of three being weight gain), and now am a size 18 and I hate it. I feel gross and uncomfortable and struggle to find clothes that I feel presentable in, never mind nice. I did try slimming world when I was having a good run health wise and managed to cut back on medication, and I managed to lose 2 stone in 3 months, but as soon as I had to revert back to maximum doses, the weight has crept back on even though I still try and following the eating regime. Perhaps one day people like FooFoo will live to regret their selfish uneducated comments.

On another topic, how do other's find nice clothes in big sizes, I keep looking for a nice jacket to wear for showing as I always feel underdressed, but apart from dress "suit" type jackets I can never find one?

> (with common side effects of three being weight gain), and now am a size 18 and I hate it.

Yes it is very hard when you have to take medication which affects your weight. Bizarrely enough I have a double whammy on that one, poor thyroid function so need thyroxine and now have to have other meds which make losing weight next to impossible! I know only too well where you are coming from. Before this happened I was a size 12 maximum until I was 40 after which I just started putting on weight so needed the thyroxine and now with the new meds I have to take it makes it a lot harder to lose weight. I know a few CDers are on Tesco diets, so decided to try it myself and the hospital dietician I see is happy with that as she says they are not fad diets.

As to where to buy clothes, I have the same problems, so any suggestions would be welcome. America and South Africa seem to have a far nicer and wider range than we do here, however the shipping costs almost as much as the clothing! A friend buys some stuff on Ebay as she reckons you can find bargains there..... having said that I haven't seen any really good bargains there, so perhaps she gets there first everytime!!! lol

Having been on thyroxine for  20+ years I feel lucky that it is only now that my weight is bothering me.
However, there is a reason and that is simply I eat too much sugar.
Truly my metabolic rate is quite good, as if others are to be believed, then I should be a whole lot bigger for what passes my lips.
So my head is is in the sand for now, as I am loving not looking and eating as and when it suits me.

Karen :)

I think I was unlucky, my thyroid problem started I think when I was about 35 but everytime I went to the doc's they said it was diabetes that I was putting on weight and would despite my protests test me for diabetes. Then about 6/7 years ago I got a new doctor join the practice you actually listened to me! I told her that over the years my sudden weight increase had worried me, and every time I was tested for diabetes and I knew it was not that. Anyway because I was as she put it, "so adamant" that it was not, she decided to run other tests and found out I was very anemic and had a thyroid problem. However she decided I should worry about sorting out the anemia then solve the thyroid problem. As a result I did not start the thyroid meds until last year, but shortly after had to start the other meds which stop me losing weight.... sigh if only the other doctors had bothered to look further...... (but they were blokes so enough said). lol

I have been told it has taken me 20 years + to put on this weight so it will take nearly as long to get it shifted with the meds I am on. I have never been keen on really sweet stuff, my one downfall is cake, so I don't buy it and couldn't make one to save my life! lol

Yep the good old thyroid again, I am also on thyroxine as my thyroid gave up about 5 years ago. Really thought that I would be able to lose weight when it was sorted but not a pound.  Think at last now on 250mg per day and it is probably as balanced as it can be  but still need to find the magic lifestyle diet that will get me back from an uncomfortable 18 to a comfortable 12 which is still big for me having been a size 8-10 most until 20 years ago thats what I see myself as. 12 would have me singing from the roof tops !!

My sister has a similar problem  due to health problems and meds (not thyroid) so its not all straight forward as calories in and calories out.

Thyroid diagnosis for me was after I went to the docs with severe hair loss.........he handed me a prescrition for valium, I took home the stuff and then headed back and handed them in to same doc saying thanks but these are not what I need!
Luckily he listened and looked further.

Karen :)