Middle aged bloke problem...
Discussion
Dodsy said:
The biggest motivator for me was actually starting to look at the calories in the things i was eating and realising that many of the things that are supposed to be 'healthy' are anything but !. You can easily hit 1500 with just a sandwich and bag of crisps, add in a fizzy drink and choccy bar and you are heading towards your full recommended 2500 with one meal!
This was the big thing for me too. Realising that a bit of a binge at lunchtime if I'm out on company expenses meant that I've effectively got 250 calories for my evening meal, working on a daily allowance of roughly 2,000 calories. I don't obsessively count calories, but I found it eye opening how easy it is to over-eat, and how small actual portion sizes are compared to what I generally eat. At a rough estimate, I could easily eat double the recommended amounts, and that's just in normal food, nothing too unhealthy at that.
For me, a reasonable guide that I'm about right on the quantity of food is if I'm starting to feel hungry an hour or two before meal times, rather than just needing to eat out of habit.
Dodsy said:
I had a similar problem, managed to solve it by making some changes. I lost 3 stone over a year doing this , once I got to a weight I was happy with I relaxed the rules a bit and now have more snacks and dont worry so much about healthy lunches.
Eat a healthy breakfast. I never used to have breakfast and just this one change made quite a difference, something to do with waking up your metabolism in the morning. I have shredded wheat or mini shredded wheat, its the only cereal I could find that doesnt have added sugar.
Cut out sugar. No sugar in tea or coffee, stop drinking fruit juice and fizzy drinks. It sounds extreme but after a few weeks of it you dont miss it
Have a healthy lunch. Have a sandwich without butter or mayo and dont have crisps but pick something tasty. I tend to look for ham or chicken salad type sarnies.
Eat a Normal Dinner. Just have whatever you normally have in the evening but dont go bonkers and try to compensate for the rest of the day by having an extra large meal.
Healthier snacks. If you must have crisps choose a baked or lower fat version - they are still bad for you but if you are going to do it anyway just reduce the impact
Skimmed milk. Have skimmed milk, that alone makes a big difference and you quickly get used to the taste.
Exercise. I do just 10 minutes twice a day (morning and early evening). Nothing complicated , a few sit ups, the plank, step ups and a a few reps of weights. It really peps you up.
The biggest motivator for me was actually starting to look at the calories in the things i was eating and realising that many of the things that are supposed to be 'healthy' are anything but !. You can easily hit 1500 with just a sandwich and bag of crisps, add in a fizzy drink and choccy bar and you are heading towards your full recommended 2500 with one meal!
That's where MFP works really well, it shows you the easy losses. I don't mind treats that I know are bad for me, it's when you *think* you're doing the right thing and aren't that I get annoyed.Eat a healthy breakfast. I never used to have breakfast and just this one change made quite a difference, something to do with waking up your metabolism in the morning. I have shredded wheat or mini shredded wheat, its the only cereal I could find that doesnt have added sugar.
Cut out sugar. No sugar in tea or coffee, stop drinking fruit juice and fizzy drinks. It sounds extreme but after a few weeks of it you dont miss it
Have a healthy lunch. Have a sandwich without butter or mayo and dont have crisps but pick something tasty. I tend to look for ham or chicken salad type sarnies.
Eat a Normal Dinner. Just have whatever you normally have in the evening but dont go bonkers and try to compensate for the rest of the day by having an extra large meal.
Healthier snacks. If you must have crisps choose a baked or lower fat version - they are still bad for you but if you are going to do it anyway just reduce the impact
Skimmed milk. Have skimmed milk, that alone makes a big difference and you quickly get used to the taste.
Exercise. I do just 10 minutes twice a day (morning and early evening). Nothing complicated , a few sit ups, the plank, step ups and a a few reps of weights. It really peps you up.
The biggest motivator for me was actually starting to look at the calories in the things i was eating and realising that many of the things that are supposed to be 'healthy' are anything but !. You can easily hit 1500 with just a sandwich and bag of crisps, add in a fizzy drink and choccy bar and you are heading towards your full recommended 2500 with one meal!
Just make small changes, big dramatic changes are doomed to fail.
Things that have worked for me in the past:
Don't eat meat at breakfast
No more than 2 slices of bread a day
Use steps not lifts, except for the 12th floor of course
Drink less beer and more wine or G&T
Chicken Ceasar salad for dinner
No dessert
Boiled rice instead of fried
Bin the burgers and pasties
If you're going to have something bad to eat have the very best
Park furthest away in the car park
Walk the dog
Drink lots of water
If you take hot drinks choose the one you enjoy without sugar, coffee for me
In other words, make a series of small changes and don't measure success but notice the difference over time.
Things that have worked for me in the past:
Don't eat meat at breakfast
No more than 2 slices of bread a day
Use steps not lifts, except for the 12th floor of course
Drink less beer and more wine or G&T
Chicken Ceasar salad for dinner
No dessert
Boiled rice instead of fried
Bin the burgers and pasties
If you're going to have something bad to eat have the very best
Park furthest away in the car park
Walk the dog
Drink lots of water
If you take hot drinks choose the one you enjoy without sugar, coffee for me
In other words, make a series of small changes and don't measure success but notice the difference over time.
Lots of great advice already from people in the know that have been out there and done it.
Somebody else touched upon it in one of the earliest posts, but the time of year isn't great. However, take it as an opportunity to prove you're serious about it for yourself and don't wait until the New Year to start. If you can do it now and make it stick during the festive period when temptation is rife, then you can make it stick any time. We've all heard time and time again of the people that kick start the New Year with an unsustainable lifetyle makeover that falls at the first hurdlle, usually sometime time in February.
Try and find somebody else that's willing to make a go of it with you, whether that's the other half or a friend. For motivation more than anything, but also for a sense of shared responsibility - you're there to keep them on the straight and narrow and vice versa. The society we live in nowadays hates to see success and we seem to get a sense of twisted satisfaction when other people don't try, or try and fail. It makes the naysayers feel better if they're not surrounded by people trying to better themselves.
Somebody else touched upon it in one of the earliest posts, but the time of year isn't great. However, take it as an opportunity to prove you're serious about it for yourself and don't wait until the New Year to start. If you can do it now and make it stick during the festive period when temptation is rife, then you can make it stick any time. We've all heard time and time again of the people that kick start the New Year with an unsustainable lifetyle makeover that falls at the first hurdlle, usually sometime time in February.
Try and find somebody else that's willing to make a go of it with you, whether that's the other half or a friend. For motivation more than anything, but also for a sense of shared responsibility - you're there to keep them on the straight and narrow and vice versa. The society we live in nowadays hates to see success and we seem to get a sense of twisted satisfaction when other people don't try, or try and fail. It makes the naysayers feel better if they're not surrounded by people trying to better themselves.
Edited by Cybertronian on Tuesday 15th December 10:34
Dodsy said:
The biggest motivator for me was actually starting to look at the calories in the things i was eating
I started dieting / going to the gym pretty much dead on 3 months ago and have dropped about 2.5st in that time. I didn't really pay much attention to calories before (although I was aware that I ate very badly and had a problem with portion control) - but tend to look now. I was horrified to find out that a single chocolate McVities was about 80 calories! Although I never ate them regularly, when I did I would usually have 3 or 4 with a cup of coffee - knowing that gets me over 300 calories has put me off.I've been through periods of using the gym before, but this is the first time I've really noticed how much better it makes me feel. Even just a few weeks in - before the weight loss was significant - I felt so much better. Had been having a lot of aches and pains for many months before that and they virtually disappeared overnight. It's that which has kept me going, even though I'm now roughly the weight I wanted to be.
The diet part hasn't been that difficult. I've never been a big fan of breakfast, but I now have fruit at work and snack on that through the morning. For snacks, I buy Seaweed thins from Waitrose - very nice, and at 27 calories a pack are virtually calorie free.
Sandwiches have been Tesco healthy options - usually the chicken salad which is a mere ~250 calories. Most week night dinners have been the M&S healthy stuff which dictates portion control very well and are low calorie.
I'm starting to relax my diet a bit, and am only really keeping it up because Christmas is just around the corner which will obviously have an effect. But having said that, I have proved I can lose the weight fairly easily and I feel like I can pretty much just choose what weight I want to be, and I will be able to reach it.
Dodsy said:
I had a similar problem, managed to solve it by making some changes. I lost 3 stone over a year doing this , once I got to a weight I was happy with I relaxed the rules a bit and now have more snacks and dont worry so much about healthy lunches.
Eat a healthy breakfast. I never used to have breakfast and just this one change made quite a difference, something to do with waking up your metabolism in the morning. I have shredded wheat or mini shredded wheat, its the only cereal I could find that doesnt have added sugar.
Cut out sugar. No sugar in tea or coffee, stop drinking fruit juice and fizzy drinks. It sounds extreme but after a few weeks of it you dont miss it
Have a healthy lunch. Have a sandwich without butter or mayo and dont have crisps but pick something tasty. I tend to look for ham or chicken salad type sarnies.
Eat a Normal Dinner. Just have whatever you normally have in the evening but dont go bonkers and try to compensate for the rest of the day by having an extra large meal.
Healthier snacks. If you must have crisps choose a baked or lower fat version - they are still bad for you but if you are going to do it anyway just reduce the impact
Skimmed milk. Have skimmed milk, that alone makes a big difference and you quickly get used to the taste.
Exercise. I do just 10 minutes twice a day (morning and early evening). Nothing complicated , a few sit ups, the plank, step ups and a a few reps of weights. It really peps you up.
The biggest motivator for me was actually starting to look at the calories in the things i was eating and realising that many of the things that are supposed to be 'healthy' are anything but !. You can easily hit 1500 with just a sandwich and bag of crisps, add in a fizzy drink and choccy bar and you are heading towards your full recommended 2500 with one meal!
I agree that small changes add up and if the OP has a bad diet then what you say is fine. The bottom line, bread is a killer for weight loss. Each to their own but for me, no bread at all until you make big inroads. Alcohol is moderation is fine. You can't stop everything at once or you'll go mental. Snacks, don't snack and if you do don't eat processed baked low fat anything. Semi skimmed milk is where it's at. Low fat milk is watery crap and it's a fact that low fat foods result in eating more so you get no benefit. Butter is better than any other spread but i only use it in cooking and sparingly. Flax seed-everyone should eat it. It's a cancer fighter and a fat that helps you lose fat. calories total 1500. That is all a man needs. 2500 is complete bEat a healthy breakfast. I never used to have breakfast and just this one change made quite a difference, something to do with waking up your metabolism in the morning. I have shredded wheat or mini shredded wheat, its the only cereal I could find that doesnt have added sugar.
Cut out sugar. No sugar in tea or coffee, stop drinking fruit juice and fizzy drinks. It sounds extreme but after a few weeks of it you dont miss it
Have a healthy lunch. Have a sandwich without butter or mayo and dont have crisps but pick something tasty. I tend to look for ham or chicken salad type sarnies.
Eat a Normal Dinner. Just have whatever you normally have in the evening but dont go bonkers and try to compensate for the rest of the day by having an extra large meal.
Healthier snacks. If you must have crisps choose a baked or lower fat version - they are still bad for you but if you are going to do it anyway just reduce the impact
Skimmed milk. Have skimmed milk, that alone makes a big difference and you quickly get used to the taste.
Exercise. I do just 10 minutes twice a day (morning and early evening). Nothing complicated , a few sit ups, the plank, step ups and a a few reps of weights. It really peps you up.
The biggest motivator for me was actually starting to look at the calories in the things i was eating and realising that many of the things that are supposed to be 'healthy' are anything but !. You can easily hit 1500 with just a sandwich and bag of crisps, add in a fizzy drink and choccy bar and you are heading towards your full recommended 2500 with one meal!
ks . I hate water on its own so mix Robinsons real fruit to give it some flavour. No added sugar. One or two cheat meals a week (not cheat days). Boom!13m said:
Burwood said:
A good starting point right there, sensible advice from Harry. Dietittian, lol. I'm sure everyone knows the difference between a piece of fruit and a twinkly.
Like everyone understands BMR.Except they don't and sometimes, no actually often, people need the bleedin obvious pointed out to them.
Burwood said:
With respect one doesn't need to understand BMR. You understand that your baggy pants are now 'tights' and your denial requires you to still use hole 4 on that old belt which makes you look like 10lbs of spuds in a 5 lb bag. Or perhaps the last time you saw your knob was in 2003. A bigger set of boobs that your partner. Sweat rash where your thighs hug your balls. I would say most men know!
Have to agree. I admit that my fat thighs did rub together, and I got sores because of it (38" waist two years' ago, 30" now)One thing not mentioned, and it does give a large psychological boost, is that when you have achieved your aim of losing the fat, choosing a whole new wardrobe is so much fun - no longer buying XXL clothes to try and hide the fact that you're larger than you like to be, but choosing clothes that actually compliment your new slimmer frame. All my clothes from two years' ago have since been thrown out and replaced, and what a great feeling that was!
chris watton said:
Burwood said:
With respect one doesn't need to understand BMR. You understand that your baggy pants are now 'tights' and your denial requires you to still use hole 4 on that old belt which makes you look like 10lbs of spuds in a 5 lb bag. Or perhaps the last time you saw your knob was in 2003. A bigger set of boobs that your partner. Sweat rash where your thighs hug your balls. I would say most men know!
Have to agree. I admit that my fat thighs did rub together, and I got sores because of it (38" waist two years' ago, 30" now)One thing not mentioned, and it does give a large psychological boost, is that when you have achieved your aim of losing the fat, choosing a whole new wardrobe is so much fun - no longer buying XXL clothes to try and hide the fact that you're larger than you like to be, but choosing clothes that actually compliment your new slimmer frame. All my clothes from two years' ago have since been thrown out and replaced, and what a great feeling that was!
Roughly same as op; minus the golf and dog walking.
With the chance of a new job means sorting things out like weight, fitness etc
At the moment myfitnesspal won't let me download it (keeps saying i need internet connection when i am connected to wifi)
For me it's going to be getting the portion amounts right for my age weight etc
I have been told new job has a gym on site, so to dodge the mass exit will be going to that for 45 mins (thinking cross trainer to get me moving)
My aim is to get to 12 stone, 14 stone at the moment.
Oh and my main "sport" is paintball where you need decent speed, stamina and big lungs to shout the insults across the field!
With the chance of a new job means sorting things out like weight, fitness etc
At the moment myfitnesspal won't let me download it (keeps saying i need internet connection when i am connected to wifi)
For me it's going to be getting the portion amounts right for my age weight etc
I have been told new job has a gym on site, so to dodge the mass exit will be going to that for 45 mins (thinking cross trainer to get me moving)
My aim is to get to 12 stone, 14 stone at the moment.
Oh and my main "sport" is paintball where you need decent speed, stamina and big lungs to shout the insults across the field!
An update. I have cut out all sugary drinks, so no coke, lager, beer or sugar in coffee. I have had no crisps, chocolate or snack type stuff. My portion sizes have been cut and I am not having sweets.
I have not lost an ounce, according to my scales..... I really thought I would have lost something! Will keep going but guess it will take time.
I have not lost an ounce, according to my scales..... I really thought I would have lost something! Will keep going but guess it will take time.
minghis said:
An update. I have cut out all sugary drinks, so no coke, lager, beer or sugar in coffee. I have had no crisps, chocolate or snack type stuff. My portion sizes have been cut and I am not having sweets.
I have not lost an ounce, according to my scales..... I really thought I would have lost something! Will keep going but guess it will take time.
Well done and keep at it!I have not lost an ounce, according to my scales..... I really thought I would have lost something! Will keep going but guess it will take time.
It was the same for me (although it did come off quicker due to weight training), but there was still a delay in anything happening, perhaps 3-5 weeks, while your body uses up all the crap still stored in the body. Once the fat started to come off, it was pretty rapid. I lost most of my gut within the first 6 months. The fist month or so is the hardest, because it seems nothing is happening - but if you keep at it, it certainly does..
popeyewhite said:
minghis said:
Will keep going but guess it will take time.
Needn't do, but you'll need to create a radical calorie deficit. That's why dieting is easier with exercise, and it's one of the reasons why exercise is more important for weight loss.1. A significant calorie deficit is difficult to maintain if you've got anything else to do in a day. It's difficult to function well mentally and physically on a significant deficit.
2. Rapid weight loss can make you look haggard - the older you are the more this is true.
3. It takes time to lose some areas of fat, particularly if you've had them for a while. There is no substitute for time when it comes to addressing these areas. Notwithstanding liposuction.
4. A significant calorie deficit is difficult to maintain long-term, so people tend to follow a sine wave of weight loss and gain. Keeping a grip on diet and a smaller deficit over a longer period tends to see people maintain a slow but consistent loss of fat.
5. A significant calorie deficit makes you feel and look unwell.
when I got down to 13 stone people started to ask if I had cancer 
I need to carry more fat than when I was younger to stop my face sagging. FML13m said:
popeyewhite said:
minghis said:
Will keep going but guess it will take time.
Needn't do, but you'll need to create a radical calorie deficit. That's why dieting is easier with exercise, and it's one of the reasons why exercise is more important for weight loss.1. A significant calorie deficit is difficult to maintain if you've got anything else to do in a day. It's difficult to function well mentally and physically on a significant deficit.
2. Rapid weight loss can make you look haggard - the older you are the more this is true.
3. It takes time to lose some areas of fat, particularly if you've had them for a while. There is no substitute for time when it comes to addressing these areas. Notwithstanding liposuction.
4. A significant calorie deficit is difficult to maintain long-term, so people tend to follow a sine wave of weight loss and gain. Keeping a grip on diet and a smaller deficit over a longer period tends to see people maintain a slow but consistent loss of fat.
5. A significant calorie deficit makes you feel and look unwell.
13m said:
My experience is that it DOES take time, more so above the age of 40. Here are some of the reasons:
1. A significant calorie deficit is difficult to maintain if you've got anything else to do in a day. It's difficult to function well mentally and physically on a significant deficit.
2. Rapid weight loss can make you look haggard - the older you are the more this is true.
3. It takes time to lose some areas of fat, particularly if you've had them for a while. There is no substitute for time when it comes to addressing these areas. Notwithstanding liposuction.
4. A significant calorie deficit is difficult to maintain long-term, so people tend to follow a sine wave of weight loss and gain. Keeping a grip on diet and a smaller deficit over a longer period tends to see people maintain a slow but consistent loss of fat.
5. A significant calorie deficit makes you feel and look unwell.
Let me make this clear: All things being equal the less calories you ingest the more fat you will burn for energy and the quicker you will lose the weight. This is not up to individual interpretation - it is a scientific fact.1. A significant calorie deficit is difficult to maintain if you've got anything else to do in a day. It's difficult to function well mentally and physically on a significant deficit.
2. Rapid weight loss can make you look haggard - the older you are the more this is true.
3. It takes time to lose some areas of fat, particularly if you've had them for a while. There is no substitute for time when it comes to addressing these areas. Notwithstanding liposuction.
4. A significant calorie deficit is difficult to maintain long-term, so people tend to follow a sine wave of weight loss and gain. Keeping a grip on diet and a smaller deficit over a longer period tends to see people maintain a slow but consistent loss of fat.
5. A significant calorie deficit makes you feel and look unwell.
If subjectively you feel too much weight loss makes you look haggard, or others tell you so, then it's up to you whether vanity or diet plan prevails.
To address your points:
1. Then you're eating too little, and have your sums wrong. Although as you age muscle atrophies and hence less standing calories are burnt it won't make much difference.
2. You think your face looks younger with more fat on your body? Are you concerned more about your health or what others think?
3. It's true fat often disappears from the places we want to trim last, men and women are slightly different, and not all fat is visible. How long you've had fat deposits for has no impact at all on how long it will take to get rid of them.
4. Depends entirely on who you are. You found it hard, many don't.
5. See 1.
As an aside it is true people can overdo the dieting and make themselves appear 'drawn'. However it should be remembered that this is their 'real age' face...not the face friends and relatives were used to for 30 years when the individual was 5 stone overweight.
DuncanM said:
13m said:
popeyewhite said:
minghis said:
Will keep going but guess it will take time.
Needn't do, but you'll need to create a radical calorie deficit. That's why dieting is easier with exercise, and it's one of the reasons why exercise is more important for weight loss.1. A significant calorie deficit is difficult to maintain if you've got anything else to do in a day. It's difficult to function well mentally and physically on a significant deficit.
2. Rapid weight loss can make you look haggard - the older you are the more this is true.
3. It takes time to lose some areas of fat, particularly if you've had them for a while. There is no substitute for time when it comes to addressing these areas. Notwithstanding liposuction.
4. A significant calorie deficit is difficult to maintain long-term, so people tend to follow a sine wave of weight loss and gain. Keeping a grip on diet and a smaller deficit over a longer period tends to see people maintain a slow but consistent loss of fat.
5. A significant calorie deficit makes you feel and look unwell.
I drop to 10-12% for hols in the summer and plod back up to mid/high teens for winter. !st Jan I'll start again for spring and its as easy as it always was....eat reduce cals, lift (which I do all the time) an dthe fat melts away like I was 19 again.
Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff