How to lose a stone and a half

How to lose a stone and a half

Author
Discussion

Tyre Smoke

Original Poster:

23,018 posts

261 months

Tuesday 3rd July 2012
quotequote all
Bit of back ground. I'm 5'7" tall and currently a very flabby 14st4lb this morning on the scale.

I am cutting out alcohol except for moderate amounts at weekends. Cutting out pasta, rice and bread. Reducing carbs generally and eating smaller portions for evening meal.

I am also going to walk at least 3 miles a day with the dog.

Will this enable a sustainable weight loss? I'm not looking to lose a stone and a half in a month or less, just regular weight loss to a point where I can easily sustain it. I suppose ideally I want to be between twelve and a half and thirteen stone.

The Nur

9,168 posts

185 months

Tuesday 3rd July 2012
quotequote all
How much beer do you drink a week? I found when I dropped the lager out my weight came down a tad

OllieC

3,816 posts

214 months

Tuesday 3rd July 2012
quotequote all
Tyre Smoke said:
Bit of back ground. I'm 5'7" tall and currently a very flabby 14st4lb this morning on the scale.

I am cutting out alcohol except for moderate amounts at weekends. Cutting out pasta, rice and bread. Reducing carbs generally and eating smaller portions for evening meal.

I am also going to walk at least 3 miles a day with the dog.

Will this enable a sustainable weight loss? I'm not looking to lose a stone and a half in a month or less, just regular weight loss to a point where I can easily sustain it. I suppose ideally I want to be between twelve and a half and thirteen stone.
It worked for me. I lost about 1.5 stone in around 10 weeks or so.

I did similar this time last year, although I would cut out all booze (i did).

I was walking around 5 miles per day, no other significant excersize.

Normal meals (whatever that is !) sensible portions, some carbs but not loads, your body soon seems to get used to smaller portions, it just needs training.

hope this helps a bit smile

Tyre Smoke

Original Poster:

23,018 posts

261 months

Tuesday 3rd July 2012
quotequote all
Good point. I have been hitting the Cobra and the Chardonnay a bit recently. Probably more than is healthy, which is another reason to try and lose some flab. Two or three times a week would be a couple of pints and a bottle of white.

I intend this to be my total weekly consumption, rather than a 'drinking night' consumption. It was getting very unhealthy without any other factors.

D4MJT

1,253 posts

158 months

Tuesday 3rd July 2012
quotequote all
Tyre Smoke said:
Bit of back ground. I'm 5'7" tall and currently a very flabby 14st4lb this morning on the scale.

I am cutting out alcohol except for moderate amounts at weekends. Cutting out pasta, rice and bread. Reducing carbs generally and eating smaller portions for evening meal.

I am also going to walk at least 3 miles a day with the dog.

Will this enable a sustainable weight loss? I'm not looking to lose a stone and a half in a month or less, just regular weight loss to a point where I can easily sustain it. I suppose ideally I want to be between twelve and a half and thirteen stone.
Well you sound like me lol.

I'm 5'11" and was 14 stone 2 when I got back off holiday 6 or 7 weeks ago.

Since then, I've kept a careful eye on my portion size, and I'm trying not to have takeaways or fatty foods. I've cut my beer intake down, but not stopped it, and I've started cycling, grabbed a £60 mountain bike off gumtree and I'm doing 10 miles a day at least 3 times a week. It's about an hour of cycling. This morning I was 12 stone 10pounds, so I'm headed the right way! It's the first time I've been under 13 stone in years, so I'm chuffed.

Throw some exercise in, mind what you're eating, and allow yourself the odd pint or 3 down the pub on occasion! Good luck.

otolith

56,146 posts

204 months

Tuesday 3rd July 2012
quotequote all
Cut your calorie intake, get more exercise, simple as that.

If you just remove the carbs from your plate, you won't feel as if you've had a meal. Replace with veg. You can eat absolutely massive amounts of (non-starchy) vegetables for minimal calorie intake. A decent bit of meat or fish and a massive pile of cabbage, kale, brocolli, runner beans, etc at least feels as if you are eating properly. Even carrots have sod all in them really.

Obiwonkeyblokey

5,399 posts

240 months

Tuesday 3rd July 2012
quotequote all
Hi Rich,

I was 14.4 at the beginning of June ( 5ft 10) then got hit with a bit of a chest infection. I used it as a chance to cut out wine in the eveing and going to the pub for a quick pint once or twice a week. I also got rid of sugar as much as possible and ate fish and chicken as much as I could with salads and as few carbs as possible. Other things. 2 weetabix with no sugar for breakfast every day and don't eat after about 7/8pm ( about 3 hrs before hitting the sack)

I wasn't doing much exercise as I wasnt feeling too hot, but I got down to 13.1 in about 3 weeks. My appetites come back a bit now but im stil not eating crap and have stablisied at 13.3 over the past 3-4 days.

My plan now is to lose about 2 lbs a week until I get to 11.8. I MTB and road bike about 2-3 times a week so nothing too major but it should help.

This systems eems to be working for me so far without making any radical changes to my diet. Its just a few small changes and sticking with them. It should also be easy to maintain ongoing.

Good luck you fat bd. biggrin

Hoofy

76,366 posts

282 months

Tuesday 3rd July 2012
quotequote all
You could just cut down on the booze. You will notice a difference. When you plateau, then look at reducing portion sizes. Again you will plateau. If you're not happy at that plateau, add some exercise and reduce portion sizes some more. You don't have to eat celery all day to lose weight.

Tyre Smoke

Original Poster:

23,018 posts

261 months

Wednesday 4th July 2012
quotequote all
Since Monday I have had no alcohol, reduced portion size and already feel better. I have also shed 3lbs. I realise that the 3lbs will be mostly fluid, but it's encouraging.

Owen, good advice mate. Ta!

Smitters

4,003 posts

157 months

Wednesday 4th July 2012
quotequote all
My advice would be don't try to change too much in one hit. That way, it's easier to manage and you won't feel down on yourself for missing a walk/drinking a beer/eating a burger.

That said, I was 88kg on January the 1st and I'm currently 73kg. I quit the booze, overhauled my diet, cutting out junk like sweets, crisps and chocolate and subbing in dried fruit and nuts, ate fresher food and upped my exercise from almost nothing to something every other day. And entered the PH Transformation Contest, to which I attribute all my success. Probably. Or it might have been cutting out the booze. One of those two.

Smitters

4,003 posts

157 months

Wednesday 4th July 2012
quotequote all
Booze is an individual thing. For me, it was a preventer as I'd get a bad night's sleep after even a couple of pints, skip the morning training, functionless well at work, not have time for the gym and so on. Add to that the additional calories I was taking in (say two to three pints four to five nights a week at a minimum) and you can see where my weight's gone.

Personal honesty and thought is what's required. Giving up booze isn't going to help shifting weight much if you only drink a few units a week anyway, whereas if you grab a Mars bar, pack of crisps and a full fat Coke from the vending machine (aka Machine of DOOOOOOOOM) every day, then that's your starting point. Me? I just don't bring change to work - which means unless I grown about three more elbows, I'm not getting anything out of our vending machine.

Tyre Smoke

Original Poster:

23,018 posts

261 months

Wednesday 4th July 2012
quotequote all
Alcohol is my downfall. I like to drink at least three pints at a time, although I can drink just one, it takes a lot of self control. More often than not now, I am drinking five or six 330ml bottles of Cobra then having a bottle of white wine. Estimated 'dead' calorific intake? Easily over 1500 I would think. Someone will know better than me.

Also eating less - careful of the carb intake and smaller portions and I know with walking the dog each day, the weight will slowly come off and stay off. The plan is not to torture myself.

I rarely snack, eat only three meals a day. If I am likely to be bad of an evening watching TV, then it will be ice cream or chocolate and then I am quite simply a glutton. Self control on that front required! Last night what I did was have a glass of water when I felt hungry after dinner. This stopped the craving for a nibble.

Bill

52,779 posts

255 months

Wednesday 4th July 2012
quotequote all
Tyre Smoke said:
Alcohol is my downfall. I like to drink at least three pints at a time, although I can drink just one, it takes a lot of self control. More often than not now, I am drinking five or six 330ml bottles of Cobra then having a bottle of white wine. Estimated 'dead' calorific intake? Easily over 1500 I would think. Someone will know better than me.
It's habit IME, and once your weight starts to fall that's the reinforcement to help stave off "just one more". I stopped all booze midweek initially just because it was easier to keep the self control. And stop buying treats, you can't eat it if it's not in the house smile

I've lost three stone over probably three years, just as Hoofy says above - changing things when I've plateaued but basically not trying too hard.

paolow

3,209 posts

258 months

Wednesday 4th July 2012
quotequote all
I am 5'8" and a year ago (probably 15 months now) I was a smidge over 15 stone. This was due no doubt to a stressful yet sedentary job and a real love for cooking real food that would take an hour or two to prepare. Accordingly myself and Mrs Paolow wouldn't eat till 7ish and they would be big meals - lasagne, risotto, paella etc. I would also put away a good amount of Peroni / San Miguel on all days with plenty at the weekend to make up for being sensible during the week.
Enough was enough - there was an almost total cut of carbs and dinner was not served later than 6PM. we went from heavy dinners to salads with chicken, wraps, curries with 'fake rice' (look it up) and pretty much every product of potato and wheat was given up. This was twinned with a couple of classes at the gym - body pump and circuits (which also has a great social scene) and the final bit was G+T during the week rather than beer.
I wanted to prove that weight could be lost without total compromise to lifestyle or enjoyment of food / drink and with the above I now weigh 12'10" and have lost 6 inches off my waist.
I am now doing weights to build mass more than the classes but the difference is astronomical. Im not saying the above is a cure all - but wow did it work for me...

Hoofy

76,366 posts

282 months

Wednesday 4th July 2012
quotequote all
Tyre Smoke said:
Alcohol is my downfall. I like to drink at least three pints at a time, although I can drink just one, it takes a lot of self control. More often than not now, I am drinking five or six 330ml bottles of Cobra then having a bottle of white wine. Estimated 'dead' calorific intake? Easily over 1500 I would think. Someone will know better than me.
Ignoring health, if you make sure that your food intake in addition to the daily booze intake is around 1900-2000 (give or take a couple hundred depending on your daily activities), no reason you won't lose weight while being wasted. Problem is, eating just 400 calories of food a day is tough.

SirBlade

544 posts

192 months

Wednesday 4th July 2012
quotequote all
Tyre Smoke said:
Bit of back ground. I'm 5'7" tall and currently a very flabby 14st4lb this morning on the scale.

I am cutting out alcohol except for moderate amounts at weekends. Cutting out pasta, rice and bread. Reducing carbs generally and eating smaller portions for evening meal.

I am also going to walk at least 3 miles a day with the dog.

Will this enable a sustainable weight loss? I'm not looking to lose a stone and a half in a month or less, just regular weight loss to a point where I can easily sustain it. I suppose ideally I want to be between twelve and a half and thirteen stone.
Start counting calories, I use the MyFitnessPal app, it works well and always recognizes the food I eat (it can also scan bar codes too)

If you tell it what you want to lose and how quickly you want to lose it, it will calculate your target caloric intake. If you don't wat more calories than that, you *will* lose weight.

Tyre Smoke

Original Poster:

23,018 posts

261 months

Thursday 5th July 2012
quotequote all
SirBlade, is that available free on Android?

I won't pay for apps and the only Apple product I will allow in the house is cider!

RegMolehusband

3,961 posts

257 months

Thursday 5th July 2012
quotequote all
Tyre Smoke said:
Bit of back ground. I'm 5'7" tall and currently a very flabby 14st4lb this morning on the scale.

I am cutting out alcohol except for moderate amounts at weekends. Cutting out pasta, rice and bread. Reducing carbs generally and eating smaller portions for evening meal.

I am also going to walk at least 3 miles a day with the dog.

Will this enable a sustainable weight loss? I'm not looking to lose a stone and a half in a month or less, just regular weight loss to a point where I can easily sustain it. I suppose ideally I want to be between twelve and a half and thirteen stone.
That is exactly what you should be doing. Don't let talk of calories misdirect you, we have all been programmed to eat too many carbohydrates. Eat less carbs and you will feel less hungry. Steer clear of beer and white wine but you can drink red wine.

Soovy

35,829 posts

271 months

Thursday 5th July 2012
quotequote all


I lost a stone and a half a while back.

Breakfast - Espresso
Lunch - Brown bread salmon sandwich and diet coke
Evening meal - normal meal

Two beers a day
Twiglets instead of crisps and nuts

One blowout curry a week at the weekend.


Not easy, but effective.


Podie

46,630 posts

275 months

Thursday 5th July 2012
quotequote all
otolith said:
Cut your calorie intake, get more exercise, simple as that.

If you just remove the carbs from your plate, you won't feel as if you've had a meal. Replace with veg. You can eat absolutely massive amounts of (non-starchy) vegetables for minimal calorie intake. A decent bit of meat or fish and a massive pile of cabbage, kale, brocolli, runner beans, etc at least feels as if you are eating properly. Even carrots have sod all in them really.
This.

A couple of years ago I went from 16st to just over 13st by reducing the booze intake, reducing portion size and exercising more.

I keep a cursory eye on calories even now, and I stay around 13 1/2 stone.

Keeping track of what you consume is the biggest step. Amazing what you do eat when you don't realise. Plenty of online / apps available.