45 years old and 47.5 BMI. I need help

heartbreak_star

Some great advice as well as some not-so-great advice here, OP!

Just wanted to wish you good luck you can do it!

HBS x

suited-aces

Hi OP, how are you getting on?

thor

I've just been going through this thread and would like to say a few things.
The best way to lose weight is definitely cutting back on food AND exercise but of the two I think reducing calories is by far the most effective(with exercise being best for fitness). Also I think it is OK to go to bed hungry. Too many people think it is a sin to not be fully satisfied when it comes to being full. I could easily eat to or three times the amount of food I do but I know that it is going to mean I will end up gaining weight. I am now used to feeling hungry at the end of the night and it does not bother me as much as it used to.
In the end a lot of it will come down to discipline. You will need will power. If it was easy, everyone would be able to control their weight.

moneysaving_convert

Just read all through this thread and I'm really surprised to see some unhelpful posts. Well done for posting in the first place and making some positive changes to your life. The first step is the hardest.

Have you spoken to your doctor about exercise because in our area I know GP's can "prescribe" exercise and some people I know have had a 12 week gym membership with a fitness programme arranged for them free of charge. It was a great way for them to get used to the gym environment and realise (as other people have said) that no-one really looks at other people except in a positive way.

Cycling would be fantastic exercise too, and gets you into the fresh air. Its become a very social activity and is addictive! There are a lot of larger riders out there and it is no longer just Lycra clad middle aged men in replica racing kit zooming past your in a peloton!! My tip is download an app like Strave to your phone and track your activity. It gives you a record of what you have done - walking, running or cycling - and you can visually see your progress and beat your best times which is an added incentive to get out there.

Wish you good luck in your endeavours.

belfastgirl23

For me, losing weight is a one step at a time situation.

The first step for me is ALWAYS stopping drinking alcohol. It's extra pointless calories for a start but on top of this, alcohol saps your willpower completely. For me it's not just the alcohol, it's what I eat when I'm drinking. Once I stop drinking I can see much more clearly the right kinds of eating patterns. I should add it's not that I'm a big drinker, I'm not. But even one drink is enough to encourage me to make bad choices. And the few hundred calories in a drink makes the difference between maintaining weight and gaining weight every time. Also I find it a lot easier to just stop than to keep making the decision. At some point someone is going to offer me a drink when I'm feeling vulnerable to bad decisions. If I tell everyone I'm not drinking then they accept it and don't offer. If you can't stop drinking then you have a different kind of problem beyond the weight.

Step two is eating a higher protein diet. This often also means eating higher fat and lower carbohydrate. I tend to eat a lot of fish. It's filling and good for you in other ways. I know I should eat more vegetables but I don't. If I can, I also give up sugar as far as possible. By sugar I mean any form of refined sugar (sweets, fizzy drinks, buns, cakes, biscuits etc), I'm ok with a bit of fruit from time to time. It's not a low carb diet exactly but I try to limit the bread and avoid pasta or rice heavy dishes most of the time. I crave wine if I have them anyway so there are two benefits....

Lastly, exercise. It's not for everyone. But walking and weights are key pillars of my routine. Walking because it's easy to incorporate and measure (pedometers are easy to get hold of and cheap). And weights because building muscle (or maintaining it, many overweight people have quite a bit of muscle because they've been carrying it around with them) is really important to building a new body.

Any one of these steps will lose you some weight. All of them combined would really get you on your way!