Help losing a bit of weight.
Discussion
I've been trying to lose a bit of weight over the last couple if months. I've cut down on food, massively upped my water make, and going for an extra walk daily.
Work involves a lot of lifting and humping things about so generally I'm quite broad, but got a bit of Podge to get rid of too, I think. I wouldn't say I'm totally unfit.
I work 6 mornings a week 5am - 5pm. I generally have a slice of toast before I go to work (I really don't feel like eating anything else at that time), then have a sandwich (two halves - generally something like tuna mayo / chicken mayo or ham salad) and then a couple of cereal bars until I finish and have a main meal around 6-6:30pm.
I have cut out snacking after tea at all. I am also drinking 4+ litres of water a day. I've been doing this for about two months, and I have put on about half a stone.
My weight was stable before (has been over the last two years) - what am I doing wrong?
Work involves a lot of lifting and humping things about so generally I'm quite broad, but got a bit of Podge to get rid of too, I think. I wouldn't say I'm totally unfit.
I work 6 mornings a week 5am - 5pm. I generally have a slice of toast before I go to work (I really don't feel like eating anything else at that time), then have a sandwich (two halves - generally something like tuna mayo / chicken mayo or ham salad) and then a couple of cereal bars until I finish and have a main meal around 6-6:30pm.
I have cut out snacking after tea at all. I am also drinking 4+ litres of water a day. I've been doing this for about two months, and I have put on about half a stone.
My weight was stable before (has been over the last two years) - what am I doing wrong?
Keep a record of everything that you eat or drink and how many calories are in it - you will be consuming more than you think. Cereal bars can be 150 cals each. Full fat mayo is very calorific. Weigh the butter you are putting on your toast, you may be surprised. Have a look at your evening meal. Have a look at any alcohol consumption.
otolith said:
Keep a record of everything that you eat or drink and how many calories are in it - you will be consuming more than you think. Cereal bars can be 150 cals each. Full fat mayo is very calorific. Weigh the butter you are putting on your toast, you may be surprised. Have a look at your evening meal. Have a look at any alcohol consumption.
Will keep a diary for a week or so, is that enough?I don't drink (well, I do, but haven't actually had a drop (unless in cooking) since Christmas) so that's not an issue at the moment. I'm also partial to tic tacs. Should probably stop those before the diobesity sets in.
This may help you keep track of what you are eating http://www.myfitnesspal.com/
DanielJames said:
That big meal at the end of the day, what is it usually?
That breakfast is pretty weak, you need to get those carbs early in the morning
If I was you I would completely reverse your diet, big meal in the morning, snack, dinner, snack, small tea
I had wondered about reversing the day. But I really wouldn't feel like eating at 5, and I just wouldn't get the chance to have something big / proper at work.That breakfast is pretty weak, you need to get those carbs early in the morning
If I was you I would completely reverse your diet, big meal in the morning, snack, dinner, snack, small tea
Always have home cooked stuff. Could be anything, chilli, bolognese, lasagne, steak, fish (usually salmon), chicken dinner etc... Etc...)
A large evening meal (presumably quite close to bed time) doesn't get burned off and gets turned to fat overnight as you sleep, and then during the day when the body is hungry for carbs you eat the energy bars, meaning the fat is not used up like it might be. So go for a bigger breakfast (even two slices of toast would be a start), try and cut out the snacking, and go for a smaller dinner.
Carbs are okay...it just has to be the right ones.
Only bread you should eat is either Rye bread or Soya and Linseed (much better than it sounds). White, Wholemeal, Brown, Granary is all a no. Ditch the mayonnaise and ditch butter for olive oil spread. Also only ham once or twice a week only only very thin/lean ham. Chicken is much better. Ditch the cereal bars and eat fresh fruit instead....no fruit juice.
I wouldn't worry about the time of day you eat too much it's more what you eat....what are your evening meals ? Red meat only twice a week max and lean. Pork is better than beef but fish and chicken are better still. Carbs that are okay are brown rice, boiled new potatoes (not baked and deffo not mashed) etc
I was put on a Low GI diet recently having put on weight when I was on steroids for six months post pneumonia. I was told all of the above by the dietician. I've lost 2 1/2 stone in just under four months...I am being very disciplined but I am basically losing a pound or two a week and not doing much exercise....I've always found it hard to shift weight on the past but this is working well for me.
Only bread you should eat is either Rye bread or Soya and Linseed (much better than it sounds). White, Wholemeal, Brown, Granary is all a no. Ditch the mayonnaise and ditch butter for olive oil spread. Also only ham once or twice a week only only very thin/lean ham. Chicken is much better. Ditch the cereal bars and eat fresh fruit instead....no fruit juice.
I wouldn't worry about the time of day you eat too much it's more what you eat....what are your evening meals ? Red meat only twice a week max and lean. Pork is better than beef but fish and chicken are better still. Carbs that are okay are brown rice, boiled new potatoes (not baked and deffo not mashed) etc
I was put on a Low GI diet recently having put on weight when I was on steroids for six months post pneumonia. I was told all of the above by the dietician. I've lost 2 1/2 stone in just under four months...I am being very disciplined but I am basically losing a pound or two a week and not doing much exercise....I've always found it hard to shift weight on the past but this is working well for me.
You don't need to follow his "diet" - not that there's much of one in the book. However this book by Gary Taubes contain the most skillfully written explanation of the science behind weight gain I've read so far. I'm just buying another couple of copies to pass on/loan out as my original copy is in permanaent circulation
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-We-Get-Fat-about/dp/03...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-We-Get-Fat-about/dp/03...
davepoth said:
A large evening meal (presumably quite close to bed time) doesn't get burned off and gets turned to fat overnight as you sleep, and then during the day when the body is hungry for carbs you eat the energy bars, meaning the fat is not used up like it might be. So go for a bigger breakfast (even two slices of toast would be a start), try and cut out the snacking, and go for a smaller dinner.
Skip to the bottom if you don't fancy all these paragraphs!This is quite a commonly held theory but there's no real science behind it.
In fact, if you look at the body's hormonal levels throughout the day, the morning is the worst time you can put food in, particularly carbohydrate. As you wake up you have high cortisol levels and low insulin levels meaning your body metabolises fat faster; this is good. When you then chuck in some carbs and release a surge of insulin this results in vastly cut fat metabolisation and prompts the body to start creating fat cells. This is obviously undesirable!
The answer is that breakfast is not at all "the most important meal of the day" and that you should consider skipping it or at the very least confining it to being predominantly protein-based while saving most of your carbohydrate for the evenings when cortisol is lower and the insulin spike can help you sleep.
For what it's worth, on a personal note I find that starting the day fasted or semi-fasted makes me feel a lot more alert throughout the morning than starting with, for example, a bowl of cereal or porridge. I've also managed to reduce and maintain a reasonable amount of body-fat while eating almost all of my carbohydrate at night!
It's worth bearing in mind that the usual 80/20 rule applies. It's all well and good managing your meal timings but it'll do you no good if you're eating 1000 more calories than you require to "tick over". Equally, if you're eating at "scientifically unsound" times of the day, but you're still in a sensible deficit, the chances are that you're still going to be losing weight!
Short Version:
- Don't bother with breakfast
- Carbs in the evening are fine and even beneficial
- If you eat less than you use you'll probably be okay
- This is easiest to achieve if you cut out sugary stuff!
SebastienClement said:
This indeed honest 
I do have a big dinner at tea time, I think the rest are like 'top ups' between meals.
Until recently I was eating significantly more.
Afraid there seems to be something not quite right to me as well, especially given a decent level of activity. I do have a big dinner at tea time, I think the rest are like 'top ups' between meals.
Until recently I was eating significantly more.
How much do you drink, alcohol wise? When you say a big dinner, just how big is that? Also, lots of coffee/tea/soft drinks during the day, all with sugar?
There is wrong in what you're eating, but no way should you be lumping on weight, unless your answer to those questions is 'a fair bit' and/or 'bloody huge'. Or, there's something else afoot.
Anyhow, I'd ditch the toast for breakfast, the sandwich for lunch, the
You could do:
Breakfast -- Porridge, a couple of scrambled eggs/omelette, a banana or two, or other. All will be @ 200 - 250 cals, give or take.
Lunch -- White meat and salad. A sizeable bowl of salad, 200g of turkey/chicken & even a bit of light salad cream for taste isn't going to come to much more than about 300 cals. Every 100g of the meat will add somewhere around 100 - 130 cals. Tuna/salmon and the like will be more, but hardly disastrous.
Snacks -- More white meat, or better fruit such as blueberries. Or, you could have another white meat/salad combo for the same calories as a couple of cereal bars. Somewhat healthier as well.
Evening Meal -- Even the better end of healthy ready meal market will see you under 400 cals each. Hell, even if you eat a couple and stick to the above, your total daily intake more than somewhere in the region of 1600 per day, which given you're activity levels will see weight loss. Going natural with white meat/fish and veg/salad etc will be similar and even better on other fronts.
Liquid -- Hot drinks/pop - sugarless (goes without saying) and if you do like a bit of booze here and there, vodka & diet coke is about as good as it will ever get. Beer is obviously not quite so good
I can eat something not too dissimilar to the above (but more fruit, no second salad and some crap replacing the second round of evening meal) and certainly don't do more activity than you (office based & not a gym person, yet, but do a little bit at home), yet I still lose weight, providing the alcohol consumption isn't really excessive. If you follow that for a couple of months, do it properly and still don't lose, or even continue to add, you're either not lardy to start with or you genuinely one of the tiny minority who have a medical problem rather than a secret deadly sin affliction.
ETA - Age?
Edited by DukeDickson on Friday 7th September 07:08
Well, I eat all the bloody time. My biggest meal is either lunch or dinner. I often skip breakfast or eat a tiny one (two chicken wings today). I hate going to bed feeling hungry so I eat late (11pm or later). And every day I wake up leaner. Why? Because I'm eating at a calorie deficit which can only come from monitoring my intake closely. You could, of course, train very, very, very hard (I do that, too, but last couple of days I've not done anything as I pushed really hard over the weekend and want to recover for tonight's training).
Sure, you could eat lettuce and lentils, cut out alcoholic drinks, take diet pills, drink loads of green tea, lift weights, avoid carbs, eat clean foods and do HIIT morning and night but it really is input < output. I've PMed loads of users on MFP with amazing physiques, male and female, particularly those in their 30s onwards... they all train to varying degrees and some eat healthily but ultimately, they ensured they had a daily calorie deficit.
I mean... do you like high GI, high carb, full fat, sugary Twinkies? http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.d...
Sure, you could eat lettuce and lentils, cut out alcoholic drinks, take diet pills, drink loads of green tea, lift weights, avoid carbs, eat clean foods and do HIIT morning and night but it really is input < output. I've PMed loads of users on MFP with amazing physiques, male and female, particularly those in their 30s onwards... they all train to varying degrees and some eat healthily but ultimately, they ensured they had a daily calorie deficit.
I mean... do you like high GI, high carb, full fat, sugary Twinkies? http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.d...
Edited by Hoofy on Friday 7th September 08:16
Hoofy said:
And every day I wake up leaner. Why? Because I'm eating at a calorie deficit which can only come from monitoring my intake closely.
Sure, you could eat lettuce and lentils, cut out alcoholic drinks, take diet pills, drink loads of green tea, lift weights, avoid carbs, eat clean foods and do HIIT morning and night but it really is input < output.
Scotty agrees with you.Sure, you could eat lettuce and lentils, cut out alcoholic drinks, take diet pills, drink loads of green tea, lift weights, avoid carbs, eat clean foods and do HIIT morning and night but it really is input < output.
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