Lost 5 1/2 stone through diet alone - now struggling to drop below 14 stone.

[Jurasik]

Hi all.

When I was diagnosed nearly a year ago, I was 19 1/2 stone. My type 2 was largely down to my size.
With a strict low carb/calorie diet, I have managed to get down to 14 stone, but have been hovering around that weight (give or take half a kilo) for around a month.
I really dislike gyms & don't generally have a lot of spare time to exercise.
Can anyone give me some tips to get down to around 13 stone?
I know its only 6 kg, but its my target weight.

 

[Drummer]

You might be too low calorie - I never found it necessary to restrict calories, in fact it was detrimental as I did not have as much energy. If you are restricting and thinking it will restart weightloss, have you noticed not feeling as energetic?

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Hi all.

When I was diagnosed nearly a year ago, I was 19 1/2 stone. My type 2 was largely down to my size.
With a strict low carb/calorie diet, I have managed to get down to 14 stone, but have been hovering around that weight (give or take half a kilo) for around a month.
I really dislike gyms & don't generally have a lot of spare time to exercise.
Can anyone give me some tips to get down to around 13 stone?
I know its only 6 kg, but its my target weight.

Keep at it.
I did low fat for a year, then finished off the remaining weight with the 800 calorie Newcastle shake diet.
I did find exercise helped me, and kept my metabolism in shape as well.
Even standing up and moving around at home helped.

 

[andyp64]

Amazing! I lost about three stone and thought I was doing well!
I find walking and cycling is good exercise without become a sweat-fest.
For walking, I have a cheap watch (Honor Band 6) that measures my steps - 10,000 a day is a good target for me. Just try and keep to flat surfaces.
For cycling, I have invested in an electric bike. This takes the strain out of the hills. If you getting a folding bike like me, you can mix it in with a commute by only driving part way.
No gyms, sweating or lycra for me.

 

[Vonny]

Well done on your weight loss @Jurasik 🙂 Don't forget that the less you weigh, the fewer calories you burn so it's a slower process. It's one of the problems I have being so short and light now. I have to do 20k steps to burn 2,000 calories otherwise I only burn around 1300 per day which really limits my diet.

So keep on at it, it will come off eventually, albeit more slowly than maybe you'd like. We are in this for the long haul so it has to be sustainable and you are doing really well!

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

Hi all.

When I was diagnosed nearly a year ago, I was 19 1/2 stone. My type 2 was largely down to my size.
With a strict low carb/calorie diet, I have managed to get down to 14 stone, but have been hovering around that weight (give or take half a kilo) for around a month.
I really dislike gyms & don't generally have a lot of spare time to exercise.
Can anyone give me some tips to get down to around 13 stone?
I know its only 6 kg, but its my target weight.

I hate gyms and I am too badly organised to exercise in a conventional way. I also have no will power and get bored incredibly easily - thanks to ADHD.
I got a VR headset in 2020 at that point to help me have a feeling of being in a wide open space while actually being stuck indoors due to lockdown and shielding etc. I discovered I actually enjoyed going on my exercise bike while wearing my VR headset in front of an open window. It duplicated the fun parts of outdoors exercise without the stressful bits and of course it meant I could do a few minutes here and there to suit myself when the whim hit me.
I graduated onto a Quest 2 from my Go headset and then started doing gentle movement exercise VR apps to music and then boxing and then I found something called Holofit which has some fun training environments that made me feel like I was on a Holodeck from Star Trek!!
Before I knew it I was making time to exercise and not really thinking of it as exercise because it was fun. I started off only being able to do five or six minutes before being puffed out and these days I easily get 20 minutes done without any trouble - my challenge is to make sure I don't do too much.
The lovely thing is with VR that if you have Amazon Prime there is an Amazon Prime VR cinema where you can be sitting in a really convincing cinema to watch movies and tv - and I like to do that after my exercise as a treat.

 

[PhoebeC]

As a few others have said walking is great. What are your days like currently, active or are you sat about a lot?

Making the effort with getting enough steps in a day helps.

Is there any exercise you enjoy?

 

[Rabidlamb]

You are my twin, I was also 19.5st at diagnosis then got down to 14st.
Fasting regularised in a few weeks & PPs got better over a year of remission.
Weight has crept up to nearly 15st but that's because I enjoy myself too much.
2 meals a day & cutting out the evening beers help me when I need to purge.

 

[Jurasik]

Hi all.
Thanks for all the replies.

I don't get much exercise in the week, as I have an office job that has long hours, so I'm normally too tired when I get home to exercise. At weekends I try to get out of the house for at least one of the two days to practise my hobby - photography. I can easily do 10k steps when I do this. I do like real ale/craft beers, but I try to limit my intake to just a few bottles a week.

 

[Spathiphyllum]

Hi all.
Thanks for all the replies.

I don't get much exercise in the week, as I have an office job that has long hours, so I'm normally too tired when I get home to exercise. At weekends I try to get out of the house for at least one of the two days to practise my hobby - photography. I can easily do 10k steps when I do this. I do like real ale/craft beers, but I try to limit my intake to just a few bottles a week.

Congratulations on your weight loss so far!!

But-- you have got to start exercising regularly. Firstly, because that is probably going to be the key to meeting your weight target. Secondly-- even if you managed to lose the remaining weight in some other way, you will still be quite unhealthy unless you start exercising regularly; not getting enough exercise is unhealthy even for people with a good BMI.

On top of all that, you really will feel better if you exercise regularly.

So the key is trying to find a form of exercise you can enjoy-- or at least not hate!-- and that you can fit into your weekday routine. Try some different things and see what you can stick with.

One idea is: if you do high-intensity exercises, you can get the exercise you need in very little time! You can even do 'exercise snacks', very short bursts of exercise whenever you can spare 5 minutes. There are lots of things online about HIIT and about exercise snacks, for example https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/04/...ck-try-the-new-standing-7-minute-workout.html .

Another idea is: How do you get to work? If you use public transport, could you get on/off a stop or two earlier, to get some walking in at the beginning and end of each workday? If you drive, could you park a little further away from work?

And-- what do you do on your lunch break? Could you do a swift brisk walk? (I feel so much better, so much less tired and stressed, if I take a quick fast walk at lunchtime.)

Finally, if you don't have a heart-rate monitor (e.g. a Fitbit), get one; even short bursts of exercise can be great for your health, but you have to get your heart rate up enough.

Best wishes, and have fun!

 

[PhoebeC]

Hi all.
Thanks for all the replies.

I don't get much exercise in the week, as I have an office job that has long hours, so I'm normally too tired when I get home to exercise. At weekends I try to get out of the house for at least one of the two days to practise my hobby - photography. I can easily do 10k steps when I do this. I do like real ale/craft beers, but I try to limit my intake to just a few bottles a week.

Can you nip out at lunch for a quick walk about? That can be really good at just getting in some more steps and fresh air.

What is your travel into work, is there a way you can park further away or get off the bus / tram earlier.

WFH I walk my dog only 20 minutes in the morning before I start working. In the office I get off the tram a few stops early and walk. Otherwise I would only be getting about 4 minutes from home to the station and down the into the tram station from the train station.

I have weights at home and do workouts at lunch if I haven't got time to go the gym.

 

[Brambleberry]

I totally get where you are coming from. Every time in the past I have tried to lose the weight I cannot get past the 3 stone mark then I do more than just plateau its like my body fights back and wants to put the weight back on without changing anything. For me I take a medication that causes weight gain. I am restricted in exercise I can do. And mostly work from home staring at a computer screen and like you am exhausted by the end of the day...and now when particularly brain dead and exhausted I always have to cook from scratch, on thos desperate days I would either order take away or stick something from M&S in the microwave! I am wondering if both of us need to remind ourselves we are allowed coffee breaks ( I never take mine) and use them to go for a 15 minute walk?) THen at weekends do something other than housework! A long walk or swim...just some thoughts as I cannot work out like others do- physios orders