Hello.....can I please have some advice?

Hello everyone, My name is Hannah and I weigh 21 stone and 10lb, for about 4 years now I have been seriously overweight to get a healthy bmi I need to get down to around 11 stone, which I have been before and felt great.
The reason for my thread is because I am ready to lose this weight now, I hate it with a passion and I am angry at myself for letting it get this bad, but I find it hard to stick to a diet in the past I have tried the cambridge plan, weightwatchers, slimming world, slimfast, the cereal diet, healthy eating etc etc but I cannot stick to one sometimes I feel like I just want to lose it fast so I will go on the cambridge plan but if I am totally honest I have tried it about 11 times and never lost more than 1 stone and its very expensive just to lose that, I need some advice on what diets/plans/regimes etc that your doing and how they are working for you, I do know that I want to do it the healthy way but I am frightened to go to a gym as I am so big, does anyone go to a gym now and how do you feel about it.
I want to lose the weight but I want to plan and stick to something until the weight has gone, I am sorry for waffling and I hope its ok to post here but I am a WeMITT as i have 10 or more stone to lose.
Any advice would be just brilliant thank you so much x x x x x
Hannah x x x x

Hi Hannah, Know that feeling soo well. My daughter and I have had long soulful conversations about the same thing.
I came on this forum and found that the support here was so fantastic that it has helped me tremendously to stay on track. I then urged my D to join so we have both enjoyed putting down our progress and visiting others diaries to see how they are getting on. It certainly helps me not to wander off to the kitchen for nibbles in the evening.

Don't want to go off into a long sermon but first of all do try to put the past behind you, relax and take a deep breath and don't expect absolute strict adherence to any regime that you choose to follow, it won't happen, we are all human and that's what happens to the best of us. If you manage 90% you will being doing really well and the other times will be "treats". So don't go back to berating yourself when things get a bit iffy, just get back to it a.s.a.p.
One last thing (well actually two) lol!
Doo start your own diary so we know where to find you to give you support - and - it would be nice if you were to fill in more profile details so we can know you a bit better.

Take care and all the very best to you.....

Hi Hannah, Well you're in the right place for support. Its fantastic. I had over 8 stone to lose and have the first stone gone through ww online, increased exercise and this website!!. Break it into small goals-I'm doing it a half stone at a time and when that one is gone I start again. Best of luck-keep focussed xxx

Hi Hannah,

Firstly, well done you for taking the steps to do this. Losing weight is a lot harder than most people think, you, along with many others (myself included) have tried almost every diet going! Personally, I get bored of diets very quickly. Would it be fair to say the same for you?... (I also hate people telling me what to eat)

Without knowing what you eat on a day to day basis it kinda makes my next point a stab in the dark. But how about cutting portion sizes, only allow yourself half what you would normally have. switch to whole grains - brown rice/pasta/bread - actually weigh the recommended 'portion'. Work out what your weekly 'treats' currently are and slash that in half.... Am I making sense? It's the little changes that can make a bigger difference, and that is easier to get used to rather than go straight in at the deep end. Remember, diet is for life so you have to be realistic. Of course, as you shrink you will need fewer calories so continue to make gradual 'cuts'. To lose a pound of weight all you need to do is cut 3500 calories, this can be done simply by cutting 500 calories a day, at the end of the week you would have lost a pound! Better still, add exercise, burn an additional 500 calories a day and you'll lose 2 lbs by the end of the week!

Slow and steady wins the race! I also find keeping a food diary makes me think twice about eating something!

(I realise that my being on Cambridge contradicts what I have just said, so I feel I should point out that I use this diet as a 'booster' back into a healthy eating plan, I am a stone and a half off target weight so I am using this boost to get me there, works for me). Once done I need to stick to a healthy plan as a way of life to ensure I don' put it back on!

I hope that helps,

Thank you everyone so much for all your replies, you are all so right.

Quick&painless thank you for your reply I just wanted to ask how you are getting on on the cambridge plan and if you dont mind me asking how much did you have to lose, I have tried the cambridge paln so many times and failed that I have not got the heart to try again, I just dont think it is the diet for me.
Emmaline you are totally right and I am definitly going to start a food diary I really think it will help.
Priomhoide thank you for the welcome it does seem a lovely welcoming place to come, when you need support and I have a feeling I will be here quite a lot these next few weeks/months/hopefully not years!!!!

Hannah, when you have a lot to lose it seems impossible to do. As someone else said break it down into mini 7lb goals and when you achieve your goal spoil yourself with something non-food related. When i feel like i have done well i take myself into Lush for a lovely smelly thing for my long soak in the bath.

You, like me, are going to adopt a eating habit that hopefully will see you through your lifetime, along with the eating the exercise has to come as part n parcel. Why pay gym prices when you have the resources outside and inside your own home? Walking is free and now the nicer weather is here it's a perfect time to start. You don't have to do miles or go out for an hour a time. A ten minute walk to the shop and back three times a day amounts to 3 1/2 hours exercise a week. Then of course you may be walking children to school. Use your stairs at home, short periods of going up and down the bottom step will do you the world of good You can do it, i'm behind you all the way as is everybody else xx

Hi again Hannah,

I totally get your point about Cambridge. I did Cambridge for the first time in 2009, I lost almost 3 stone in around 3 months. (I had my slip ups, but I got straight back on the wagon). I then stopped the diet because I couldn't afford it anymore, I stopped at 10 stone 10lbs. I continued to lose half a stone through diet and exercise, but then put that back on when I gave up smoking.

So I started again on goof Friday at 11 stone, after week one I've lost 5lbs. It is tough, I so nearly gave in today, I'm not hungry (the magic that is ketosis)! But I am getting ill, probably unrelated to the diet, it's conjunctivitis, I can't see Cambridge being responsible, but it also comes with a sore throat and today I just wanted to eat and feel sorry for myself. But I didn't! And I am so pleased with myself!

My eating and exercise habits are a million times better than they were back in 2009. I make the healthier choice out of CHOICE! Which was a major turning point for me. I hope you can draw some inspiration from my story, I never thought I would ever fit a size 12, and here I am an inch away from a 10! If I can do it anyone can!

More than happy to support you. X