Losing Weight - Some Advice!
Discussion
In a nutshell, I used to be fairly fit and weighed roughly 12st. This was approximately 5 years ago and after entering a long term relationship, I let myself go somewhat. So at 27 years old and 5'9", I'm now 16st and want to do something about it ...
I've cut down on the quantity of food I eat, as well as rubbish such as chocolate and takeaways - I'm counting calories, to a degree. In terms of exercise, I love cross country mountain biking and I'm riding between 15-30 miles, three to four times a week. I also have some dumb bells to work on my arms.
I'm not a fan of the gym, so that isn't an option. Are there any other ways to lose the gut quickly? Sit ups? Any other exercises I can do at home? Are there any day-to-day foods I should cut out? Milk? Bread?
I am seeing a difference, but I'd like to speed up the process as much as possible
Cheers!
I've cut down on the quantity of food I eat, as well as rubbish such as chocolate and takeaways - I'm counting calories, to a degree. In terms of exercise, I love cross country mountain biking and I'm riding between 15-30 miles, three to four times a week. I also have some dumb bells to work on my arms.
I'm not a fan of the gym, so that isn't an option. Are there any other ways to lose the gut quickly? Sit ups? Any other exercises I can do at home? Are there any day-to-day foods I should cut out? Milk? Bread?
I am seeing a difference, but I'd like to speed up the process as much as possible
Cheers!
You sound very similar to me; 5'10", used to be 12.5st but was nearly 16st at Christmas. Now down to 13.5st and will push for 12st by the end of the year.
Been doing 30-60 mins cardio four or five times a week plus an hour of weights three times a week.
Instead of beer I have gin and slimline.
Instead of bread I have mixed salad or a whole meal bagel.
Instead of potato I have sweet potato (and less of it) and rice and pasta are now whole grain varieties. Loads more green veg as well now.
No crisps, no orange or apple juice and no sweets. Although I do treat myself to a bar of Green and Blacks chocolate to spread through the week and I snack on almonds and peanuts.. Sunday I always have a big roast as normal.
That's all I've really changed, although my portion sizes have reduced and I can't remember when I ate so much I felt bloated, but I'm never hungry. I've stopped losing at the moment though so I'm going to be looking for some advice for the next push! Hope that helps a little,
Been doing 30-60 mins cardio four or five times a week plus an hour of weights three times a week.
Instead of beer I have gin and slimline.
Instead of bread I have mixed salad or a whole meal bagel.
Instead of potato I have sweet potato (and less of it) and rice and pasta are now whole grain varieties. Loads more green veg as well now.
No crisps, no orange or apple juice and no sweets. Although I do treat myself to a bar of Green and Blacks chocolate to spread through the week and I snack on almonds and peanuts.. Sunday I always have a big roast as normal.
That's all I've really changed, although my portion sizes have reduced and I can't remember when I ate so much I felt bloated, but I'm never hungry. I've stopped losing at the moment though so I'm going to be looking for some advice for the next push! Hope that helps a little,
This is the app I'm using.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com
I'm 5' 10" and was up to 13 stone 8 and wanted to lose a bit.
Cut my calories as suggested by the app to around 1500 per day (more with exercise). Today was week 4 weigh in and I'm down to 12 stone 7.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com
I'm 5' 10" and was up to 13 stone 8 and wanted to lose a bit.
Cut my calories as suggested by the app to around 1500 per day (more with exercise). Today was week 4 weigh in and I'm down to 12 stone 7.
22s said:
How long ago did you start cutting down?
Have you lost much weight?
Can you please post up what you would eat on a normal day?
I started to cut out junk food and decrease my portion sizes around 2 months ago, which is also when I rekindled my love of cross country mountain biking. I've lost just over a stone so far - I'm actually 5st11, but it's as close to as makes no difference 16st Have you lost much weight?
Can you please post up what you would eat on a normal day?
A normal day would consist of:
Breakfast: Cheerios with s/s milk and a glass of orange juice
Lunch: 4 slices of bread with ham or chicken slices, 2 packets of low fat crisps (Yeah, not good!) and some grapes
(Various tea & coffee during work)
Dinner: Mixed bag ... It could be another bowl of cereal, or just some chicken on it's own, or a steak with salad. I might have the occasional 117cal Club biscuit as a chocolate treat.
I also quite like milk, so can drink a glass of that quite easily, which I know isn't particularly good.
simonej said:
That's all I've really changed, although my portion sizes have reduced and I can't remember when I ate so much I felt bloated, but I'm never hungry.
I'm finding this too, although the 2 packets of crisps are for 11o'clock and 4o'clock, as I do tend to get hungry whilst sitting at my desk. Strangely, if I do any mountain biking, I'm never hungry afterwards. I can easily skip dinner in some cases! I guess this might not be good though ... ? B17NNS said:
Cheers! I'll check that out! I'm currently using the Runtastic app for my mountain biking, which is really spurring me on to do more. I quite like the fact it records distance, time, ascent/altitude and calories burnt 
Ikemi said:
Are there any other ways to lose the gut quickly?
You will lose weight if you cycle twice your normal distance in under double the time. If that's not enough you should consider other forms of aerobic exercise.Your diet, though not perfect (whose is?) is not terrible. You'll need more fruit and veg to fuel longer cycle rides.
Digger said:
goldblum said:
You'll need more fruit and veg to fuel longer cycle rides.
I'm not an expert, but is that not where carbs come in?You need to sort that diet out. Swap the high GI carbs (crisps, white bread) for low GI for slow release energy that will keep you fuller for longer and give you the energy you need for cycling. Try this instead -
Breakfast - porridge or Weetabix. Add a protein shake if you're still hungry. Protein will help you feel full and spare/build muscle which you could lose from cardio
Lunch - Cook a chicken at the start of the week and use it for salads or omelettes. Bananas, pistachio nuts, more protein.
Dinner - Brown pasta or rice with tuna, chicken, lean mince. Plenty of recipes for those ingredients.
Plenty of sleep and drink plenty of water, not fruit juice. Aim for 6 pints a day.
Breakfast - porridge or Weetabix. Add a protein shake if you're still hungry. Protein will help you feel full and spare/build muscle which you could lose from cardio
Lunch - Cook a chicken at the start of the week and use it for salads or omelettes. Bananas, pistachio nuts, more protein.
Dinner - Brown pasta or rice with tuna, chicken, lean mince. Plenty of recipes for those ingredients.
Plenty of sleep and drink plenty of water, not fruit juice. Aim for 6 pints a day.
I was in a similar situation to you, I'd piled weight on over the past few years until suddenly you look in the mirror and see a fat man looking back, not overweight, not carrying a bit of timber, fat!
I didn't over eat before and didn't do junk food, just a poorly balanced diet. I usually skipped breakfast & lunch and ate a cooked dinner in the eve washed down with 3 or 4 glasses of wine.
Decided to try and sort my self at Christmas and so far have lost 16-17kg (over 2.5st) down from 110kg (17.5st). I'm 5'10" and 46 years old. I was 12.5st at 40.
I actually eat much more than I used to, I start most days with a couple of eggs (2 eggs poached on crumpets with 1/2 tin tomatoes is a favourite, around 350cals with no fat and keeps me full until lunch) , home made soup (vegetable) or salad for lunch (200-300 cals), and a cooked dinner with plenty of veg in the eve (swede & celeriac mash instead of potato). If you dont have time to cook in the morning then a baked omelette in the fridge lasts a couple of days and you can take it by the slice. Still have the odd glass of wine in the week and drink as normal at the weekend with an occasional takeaway as if I didn't it might be a chore that I couldn't maintain. This has to be lifetime change for me in order to work.
I go to the gym for 45 mins 3 times a week and hired a personal trainer to keep me motivated. I book the sessions in advance so I'm obligated to go. Costs me less than I used to spend on wine.
Weight loss was fairly rapid at first but has slowed down to about .5kg a week now.
I'm glad I made the effort, and it really was an effort in the beginning. The benefits though are immense, I feel so much better. Younger even. I also get laid more often as my mrs likes the new me
You don't realise how much of a strain it is carrying all that weight around until you don't have to. Good luck.
I didn't over eat before and didn't do junk food, just a poorly balanced diet. I usually skipped breakfast & lunch and ate a cooked dinner in the eve washed down with 3 or 4 glasses of wine.
Decided to try and sort my self at Christmas and so far have lost 16-17kg (over 2.5st) down from 110kg (17.5st). I'm 5'10" and 46 years old. I was 12.5st at 40.
I actually eat much more than I used to, I start most days with a couple of eggs (2 eggs poached on crumpets with 1/2 tin tomatoes is a favourite, around 350cals with no fat and keeps me full until lunch) , home made soup (vegetable) or salad for lunch (200-300 cals), and a cooked dinner with plenty of veg in the eve (swede & celeriac mash instead of potato). If you dont have time to cook in the morning then a baked omelette in the fridge lasts a couple of days and you can take it by the slice. Still have the odd glass of wine in the week and drink as normal at the weekend with an occasional takeaway as if I didn't it might be a chore that I couldn't maintain. This has to be lifetime change for me in order to work.
I go to the gym for 45 mins 3 times a week and hired a personal trainer to keep me motivated. I book the sessions in advance so I'm obligated to go. Costs me less than I used to spend on wine.
Weight loss was fairly rapid at first but has slowed down to about .5kg a week now.
I'm glad I made the effort, and it really was an effort in the beginning. The benefits though are immense, I feel so much better. Younger even. I also get laid more often as my mrs likes the new me
You don't realise how much of a strain it is carrying all that weight around until you don't have to. Good luck.
Edited by 897sma on Tuesday 4th June 12:44
Yup, it's the diet that isn't great, and not only the obvious ones, e.g.
Breakfast: sugar with s/s milk, glass of sugar
Lunch: 4 slices of sugar with ham or chicken slices, 2 packets of low fat crisps (Yeah, not good!) and some sugar
(Various tea & coffee during work - any sugar in those?)
Dinner: Mixed bag ... It could be another bowl of sugar, or just some chicken on it's own, or a steak with salad. I might have the occasional 117cal Club biscuit as a sugar treat.
Drop your sugar/high GI foods and replace with low GI or even low carb/paleo and you should see a lot of the excess weight fall off you without exercise.
Breakfast: sugar with s/s milk, glass of sugar
Lunch: 4 slices of sugar with ham or chicken slices, 2 packets of low fat crisps (Yeah, not good!) and some sugar
(Various tea & coffee during work - any sugar in those?)
Dinner: Mixed bag ... It could be another bowl of sugar, or just some chicken on it's own, or a steak with salad. I might have the occasional 117cal Club biscuit as a sugar treat.
Drop your sugar/high GI foods and replace with low GI or even low carb/paleo and you should see a lot of the excess weight fall off you without exercise.
Ikemi said:
In a nutshell, I used to be fairly fit and weighed roughly 12st. This was approximately 5 years ago and after entering a long term relationship, I let myself go somewhat. So at 27 years old and 5'9", I'm now 16st and want to do something about it ...
I've cut down on the quantity of food I eat, as well as rubbish such as chocolate and takeaways - I'm counting calories, to a degree. In terms of exercise, I love cross country mountain biking and I'm riding between 15-30 miles, three to four times a week. I also have some dumb bells to work on my arms.
I'm not a fan of the gym, so that isn't an option. Are there any other ways to lose the gut quickly? Sit ups? Any other exercises I can do at home? Are there any day-to-day foods I should cut out? Milk? Bread?
I am seeing a difference, but I'd like to speed up the process as much as possible
Cheers!
Congrats on getting of your butt.I've cut down on the quantity of food I eat, as well as rubbish such as chocolate and takeaways - I'm counting calories, to a degree. In terms of exercise, I love cross country mountain biking and I'm riding between 15-30 miles, three to four times a week. I also have some dumb bells to work on my arms.
I'm not a fan of the gym, so that isn't an option. Are there any other ways to lose the gut quickly? Sit ups? Any other exercises I can do at home? Are there any day-to-day foods I should cut out? Milk? Bread?
I am seeing a difference, but I'd like to speed up the process as much as possible
Cheers!
As said, your diet looks quite bad. Portion control is one way of losing some weight, but it won't make a sod of difference if you're still eating the wrong stuff, which it looks like you are.
Cut out man made processed foods as much as possible for a start. Good job on the junk food.
If you MUST have chocolate, switch to dark.
Milk is OK. I use whole milk. The fats are good for you, and whole milk is less processed so contains more of the natural goodness.
Sit ups won't do a damn thing. To lose some belly, it's diet and fat loss through exercise. Note that cardio is NOT the only route to burning fat.
Dumbbells for arms? What about the rest of your body? I can't even remember the last time I used DB's to do curls. You are not restricted with these tools, your limits are your imagination...as long as you can move properly that is. Nothing worse than having the proprioception of a Whiskey drunken old man.
Eat right, work hard, enjoy yourself, get proper rest. That's the key.
If you do not have much space at home, I have found resistance bands are a good substitute and you can replicate the majority of free weight exercises.
Like others, I downloaded myfitnesspal and have found it really useful in tracking what I eat, plus seeing what exercise burns calories. Was surprised to see an hour of ice hockey frees up 700+ calories!
Like others, I downloaded myfitnesspal and have found it really useful in tracking what I eat, plus seeing what exercise burns calories. Was surprised to see an hour of ice hockey frees up 700+ calories!
Hello? This is exactly the position I found myself in at the start of April.
5'9" and 15.5 stone.
I'm now 9 weeks into my health kick and am down to 13.5 stone and well on track to my goal of 12.5 or less.
I've done a number of things that worked for me, but the more I got into it and read online, the more I realised that what I thought was right, was in fact not right. And therein lies the problem. There is so much conflicting science and opinion out there that you'll find your head spinning so quickly that you wont know what way is up and develop paranoia that everything you are doing is wrong. The key is to analyse where you are going wrong and work out what will work for you to fix those. Not every plan is going to be suitable to everybody - due to time, resources, preferences, tastes, will power, etc.. So listen to everything with an open mind and then see what you think will work for you and be sustainable.
I started off by looking at my weaknesses; lack of motivation to do any exercise, eating too much of the wrong things mainly due to not being arsed to cook and empty calories in the form of crazy amounts of beer. I'm a change everything kind of person as once I'm into something I really go for it and tried to change everything at once - others may want to tackle one at a time - but that takes longer right? To counter the lack of motivation I went with a fitness DVD and a strict, mapped out schedule that I printed off and ticked off every day. I had to walk past the schedule and felt guilty if I missed one. I held myself accountable to get it done. For the portion control and convenience part I fell for Diet Chef - thinking that it was a healthy way to do this and was instant (3 minute microwave and there is lunch/dinner). While it worked, the ingredients are not that great for you and its actually way too much of a calorie deficit. As for the empty calories, I've always drunk too much and wanted to make a big change - so I stopped drinking. I read Allen Carr's easyway to control alcohol and havent had a drop since.
The first 3-4 weeks went well, but probably not for the right reasons and was no way going to be sustainable. So I switched up the exercise to a slightly different cross training and started to read more about diet. Some revelations on that side that really resonated with me triggered the switch to more of a Paleo focused diet. Basically what a few people have already said - cut out ALL grain - no porridge, no cereal, no bread, no pasta, no rice. Essentially you can eat all the meat you want and all the veg you want. Then sprinkle in some fruit (but not juice as thats all sugar as mentioned) and nuts/seeds and olive oil, avacado, etc..
That has pretty much got me to where I am today, but I am now going to drop the cross training 6 days a week and move onto a strength training workout using just dumbbells and body weight. This takes less time, less often but is more intense and effective.
Some awesome resources pointed out by people on here: Nerdfitness.com and Marksdailyapple.com
Oh - and remember, 80+% of your weight loss efforts will be down to diet and not your exercise.
HTH
Rich
5'9" and 15.5 stone.
I'm now 9 weeks into my health kick and am down to 13.5 stone and well on track to my goal of 12.5 or less.
I've done a number of things that worked for me, but the more I got into it and read online, the more I realised that what I thought was right, was in fact not right. And therein lies the problem. There is so much conflicting science and opinion out there that you'll find your head spinning so quickly that you wont know what way is up and develop paranoia that everything you are doing is wrong. The key is to analyse where you are going wrong and work out what will work for you to fix those. Not every plan is going to be suitable to everybody - due to time, resources, preferences, tastes, will power, etc.. So listen to everything with an open mind and then see what you think will work for you and be sustainable.
I started off by looking at my weaknesses; lack of motivation to do any exercise, eating too much of the wrong things mainly due to not being arsed to cook and empty calories in the form of crazy amounts of beer. I'm a change everything kind of person as once I'm into something I really go for it and tried to change everything at once - others may want to tackle one at a time - but that takes longer right? To counter the lack of motivation I went with a fitness DVD and a strict, mapped out schedule that I printed off and ticked off every day. I had to walk past the schedule and felt guilty if I missed one. I held myself accountable to get it done. For the portion control and convenience part I fell for Diet Chef - thinking that it was a healthy way to do this and was instant (3 minute microwave and there is lunch/dinner). While it worked, the ingredients are not that great for you and its actually way too much of a calorie deficit. As for the empty calories, I've always drunk too much and wanted to make a big change - so I stopped drinking. I read Allen Carr's easyway to control alcohol and havent had a drop since.
The first 3-4 weeks went well, but probably not for the right reasons and was no way going to be sustainable. So I switched up the exercise to a slightly different cross training and started to read more about diet. Some revelations on that side that really resonated with me triggered the switch to more of a Paleo focused diet. Basically what a few people have already said - cut out ALL grain - no porridge, no cereal, no bread, no pasta, no rice. Essentially you can eat all the meat you want and all the veg you want. Then sprinkle in some fruit (but not juice as thats all sugar as mentioned) and nuts/seeds and olive oil, avacado, etc..
That has pretty much got me to where I am today, but I am now going to drop the cross training 6 days a week and move onto a strength training workout using just dumbbells and body weight. This takes less time, less often but is more intense and effective.
Some awesome resources pointed out by people on here: Nerdfitness.com and Marksdailyapple.com
Oh - and remember, 80+% of your weight loss efforts will be down to diet and not your exercise.
HTH
Rich
Some good advice here and I need it too. Currently over 16st and ideally want to be about 14st by the end of August. Trying to cycle a few days a week even if I only have time for 10 miles or so. Better than nothing. If I get a day off that I'm not busy with I'll try to do 20-30 miles. My weaknesses are bread and eating late. Have a habit of having 3-4 slices of bread with meals. I've cut that out and I'm eating more chicken and boiled potatoes instead. Actually having breakfast helps too. I have 4 Weetabix with a little bit of sugar. Last time I tried this I lost over a stone just by changing my diet then I got to 15st and it slowed unless I did more exercise. Being a stone lighter will help my cycling too. Bit of a struggle at the minute.
Tracking with the MyFitnessApp is surprisingly good. I keep forgetting about it so will start doing that again. My limit last time was about 1200 calories a day.
Tracking with the MyFitnessApp is surprisingly good. I keep forgetting about it so will start doing that again. My limit last time was about 1200 calories a day.
Good work on cutting out the bread with your dinner. IIRC each slice is about 100 calories!! The weatabix is pretty much sugar too - the grains/carbs will get converted to sugar in your body and essentially convince your body to produce shed loads of insulin which will turn it straight to fat... grim stuff.
A pattern seems to be emerging... quelle surprise. 
Reduce alcohol and starchy/sugary carbs, eat plenty of lean meat/fish/eggs and loads of fresh vegetables, maybe some fruit too.
If you're going to exercise include some low GI carbs too, to fuel the exercise.
You may even try skipping the odd meal too, but that may not suit everyone.
Best of luck.
Reduce alcohol and starchy/sugary carbs, eat plenty of lean meat/fish/eggs and loads of fresh vegetables, maybe some fruit too.
If you're going to exercise include some low GI carbs too, to fuel the exercise.
You may even try skipping the odd meal too, but that may not suit everyone.
Best of luck.
skibum said:
Oh - and remember, 80+% of your weight loss efforts will be down to diet and not your exercise.
HTH
Rich
That's not actually true, it's about 55/45, exercise/food. There's lots of skinny people who move about all day and eat what they want..not many fat people do that. Humans burn more calories with food inside them for longer bouts of exercise than less exercise and less calories ingested.HTH
Rich
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