Hit a wall on weight loss
Discussion
Well some advise would be helpfull for me....
Aged 48 and around 5ft 9, always been fatish over the years but tried to keep on top of things, and about 3 to 4 years ago I got down to a decent weight for me of just under 12 stone by just watching what I ate, and cycled to work most days, ended up quite easily loosing about 2 stone in a matter of months. Trouble is, at least with me I then tend to think I've made it and give up completely., so yes I'm a yo yo dieter. That was fine when I could loose it relatively easily, but as age has increased it's obviously become much harder to do the same, last year I attempted to loose weight and actually didn't drop a single pound but got fitter with the cycling, which annoyed me so I ate more .....
So now i was at the point of being 14 stone and looking and feeling crap, things had to change, I don't work at a desk, but not an exceptionally active job, and recent shift change has made cycling to work after or before a 12 h shift not that appealing, so 3 weeks ago I started using my exercise bike at home 10k a day in 20 mins at varied rate (sometimes twice a day) cut out all Choc biscuits crisps etc, daily diet consists of generally this
Breakfast 2 weetabix skimmed milk with handfull of raisins
Lunch if I'm working 1 apple, nothing if I'm off shift
Dinner mainly chicken and. Salad or fish and the same, try to avoid spuds but like a small jacket, or two half and half bread toasted and beans.
and cups of tea during the day, no sugar.Don't really drink much water
Alcohol not much as I work in a zero tolerance industry so none at all when on shift and as such i kind of not bother when I'm off, might have a couple of cans at home occasionally
Now I've dropped to 13 stone 3 but the weight has plateaued for the last week or so and I'm worried that I'm going to get disheartened again and fall off the good eating I'm trying to keep to
I have also started lifting bells at home too, not particularly heavy but 30 reps at a time repeated ....I'm eating less and sweating more but its not working.
What do you lot suggest?
Aged 48 and around 5ft 9, always been fatish over the years but tried to keep on top of things, and about 3 to 4 years ago I got down to a decent weight for me of just under 12 stone by just watching what I ate, and cycled to work most days, ended up quite easily loosing about 2 stone in a matter of months. Trouble is, at least with me I then tend to think I've made it and give up completely., so yes I'm a yo yo dieter. That was fine when I could loose it relatively easily, but as age has increased it's obviously become much harder to do the same, last year I attempted to loose weight and actually didn't drop a single pound but got fitter with the cycling, which annoyed me so I ate more .....
So now i was at the point of being 14 stone and looking and feeling crap, things had to change, I don't work at a desk, but not an exceptionally active job, and recent shift change has made cycling to work after or before a 12 h shift not that appealing, so 3 weeks ago I started using my exercise bike at home 10k a day in 20 mins at varied rate (sometimes twice a day) cut out all Choc biscuits crisps etc, daily diet consists of generally this
Breakfast 2 weetabix skimmed milk with handfull of raisins
Lunch if I'm working 1 apple, nothing if I'm off shift
Dinner mainly chicken and. Salad or fish and the same, try to avoid spuds but like a small jacket, or two half and half bread toasted and beans.
and cups of tea during the day, no sugar.Don't really drink much water
Alcohol not much as I work in a zero tolerance industry so none at all when on shift and as such i kind of not bother when I'm off, might have a couple of cans at home occasionally
Now I've dropped to 13 stone 3 but the weight has plateaued for the last week or so and I'm worried that I'm going to get disheartened again and fall off the good eating I'm trying to keep to
I have also started lifting bells at home too, not particularly heavy but 30 reps at a time repeated ....I'm eating less and sweating more but its not working.
What do you lot suggest?
Edited by rigga on Monday 1st July 00:06
(Brace for ramble!)
I'm no expert but have seen a lot of people lose weight and attempt to lose weight (mind you, that's no big deal - everyone knows someone who is trying to lose weight or watching what they eat or coming out with "I shouldn't really eat that".
The key reason why they fail is, as you've identified, yoyo dieting. It's the on diet/off diet mentality. You need to change your lifestyle, not "go on a diet"
It's something that's been on my mind for quite some time (first world problems!) - to maintain an active life even if circumstances change, to make the right food choices even if circumstances change, to stay lean for good (unless you choose to bulk up), to do the right exercises that burn excess calories.
I think it's a combination of:
-adding a little exercise every day (eg use the stairs not the lift, getting off one stop earlier); the likes of P90X and Insanity are great but do you really have an hour a day for the rest of your life?
-cutting down on the high calorie bad food but not cutting out (because that leads to feeling you're missing out and for some it results in a massive binge)
-doing exercise that is fun - playing a sport you enjoy will burn cals without you realising; pounding a treadmill will have you watching the timer for 30 minutes. zzz I was supposed to play tennis for an hour yesterday and no more - new shoes and shinsplints meant I should have not even played for 10 minutes. I played for 3 hours.
(Yes, I now have blisters.)
-avoiding excess mental stress (which leads to raised cortisol levels)
-avoiding excess physical stress (which leads to raised cortisol levels) - excess physical stress is too much exercise, particularly LISS... unless you enjoy running or cycling irrespective of your weight - yes, proper marathon runners are skinny but they run in excess of what the average person can afford to do... look at the back end of the London marathon for average people - do you see fit, skinny people? (Obviously, they're still amazing people for completing a marathon but this thread isn't about being fit and completing marathons)
-developing lean body mass (muscles) which helps to burn cals
-Intermittent Fasting can help reign in the calorie intake
Personally, I count calories but I imagine it is tricky if you have your food prepared for you hence point 2 and the last point will help reduce the intake.
As for the plateau, it's down to:
-your metabolic rate has dropped and/or
-you're eating enough for your body so need to drop the cals further and/or
-you're underestimating your eating and/or
-you're overestimating your exercise and/or
-you've got to increase your exercise and/or
-you've got to change your exercise type/style
I'm no expert but have seen a lot of people lose weight and attempt to lose weight (mind you, that's no big deal - everyone knows someone who is trying to lose weight or watching what they eat or coming out with "I shouldn't really eat that".
The key reason why they fail is, as you've identified, yoyo dieting. It's the on diet/off diet mentality. You need to change your lifestyle, not "go on a diet"
It's something that's been on my mind for quite some time (first world problems!) - to maintain an active life even if circumstances change, to make the right food choices even if circumstances change, to stay lean for good (unless you choose to bulk up), to do the right exercises that burn excess calories.
I think it's a combination of:
-adding a little exercise every day (eg use the stairs not the lift, getting off one stop earlier); the likes of P90X and Insanity are great but do you really have an hour a day for the rest of your life?
-cutting down on the high calorie bad food but not cutting out (because that leads to feeling you're missing out and for some it results in a massive binge)
-doing exercise that is fun - playing a sport you enjoy will burn cals without you realising; pounding a treadmill will have you watching the timer for 30 minutes. zzz I was supposed to play tennis for an hour yesterday and no more - new shoes and shinsplints meant I should have not even played for 10 minutes. I played for 3 hours.
(Yes, I now have blisters.)-avoiding excess mental stress (which leads to raised cortisol levels)
-avoiding excess physical stress (which leads to raised cortisol levels) - excess physical stress is too much exercise, particularly LISS... unless you enjoy running or cycling irrespective of your weight - yes, proper marathon runners are skinny but they run in excess of what the average person can afford to do... look at the back end of the London marathon for average people - do you see fit, skinny people? (Obviously, they're still amazing people for completing a marathon but this thread isn't about being fit and completing marathons)
-developing lean body mass (muscles) which helps to burn cals
-Intermittent Fasting can help reign in the calorie intake
Personally, I count calories but I imagine it is tricky if you have your food prepared for you hence point 2 and the last point will help reduce the intake.
As for the plateau, it's down to:
-your metabolic rate has dropped and/or
-you're eating enough for your body so need to drop the cals further and/or
-you're underestimating your eating and/or
-you're overestimating your exercise and/or
-you've got to increase your exercise and/or
-you've got to change your exercise type/style
Edited by Hoofy on Monday 1st July 12:26
Your diet doesn't look too bad. You seem to have realized that sugar and alcohol are pretty much Satan for 'weight' (i.e. fat) loss.
I'd recommend www.myfitnesspal.com and be very strict recording everything. You will find that your breakfast (nearly always the biggest evil) is all carbs and sugar. You could change/delay/skip it to try to stay ketogenic (fat burning) for longer each day. Otherwise it's down to the number of carbs in vs. out by the look of it, so be strict with your counting, eat less, and run more.
Bonappetit chance.
I'd recommend www.myfitnesspal.com and be very strict recording everything. You will find that your breakfast (nearly always the biggest evil) is all carbs and sugar. You could change/delay/skip it to try to stay ketogenic (fat burning) for longer each day. Otherwise it's down to the number of carbs in vs. out by the look of it, so be strict with your counting, eat less, and run more.
Bon
Firstly consider homeostasis. That is, your body does not want to lose nor gain weight so will do its best to maintain your current weight. Drastically changing your diet will see you lose weight initially (although most will be water weight at the beginning as people traditionally cut back a lot of carbohydrates) but your body is smart so will adapt pretty quickly. Therefore, to lose weight you’re best off with a steady and slow approach… not only will this be better in terms of morale (you can still eat nice things whilst you taper your diet rather than make big wholesale changes) but you are likely to lose it and keep it off.
For me and what I see from people who diet is that they do try and make big changes (fair play to them!) but keeping it up when your weight then goes static (homeostasis) is very mentally challenging. So very few can ‘hack it’.
So I’d say find out what your resting metabolic rate is and eat just below it with a varied diet. You do not have to be 100% strict, but keep to it. You will lose the weight slowly and when you plateau again, just reassess, make a couple of more small changes and see how you feel.
It would be good if you can find a physical activity which will keep you focussed and driven because we all have bad times when trying to lose weight and we need that. Just remember that not everything moves in a straight line, so even if you are doing everything correctly, your weight will still fluctuate but it’s a marathon not a sprint.
It is perfectly feasible (although not entirely advisable) to eat chocolate every day and still lose weight. My point being is that you do not have to give up everything you enjoy – In fact I’d totally recommend keeping some stuff in your diet you enjoy, just be sensible about it and as long as it fits in your daily calories.
For me and what I see from people who diet is that they do try and make big changes (fair play to them!) but keeping it up when your weight then goes static (homeostasis) is very mentally challenging. So very few can ‘hack it’.
So I’d say find out what your resting metabolic rate is and eat just below it with a varied diet. You do not have to be 100% strict, but keep to it. You will lose the weight slowly and when you plateau again, just reassess, make a couple of more small changes and see how you feel.
It would be good if you can find a physical activity which will keep you focussed and driven because we all have bad times when trying to lose weight and we need that. Just remember that not everything moves in a straight line, so even if you are doing everything correctly, your weight will still fluctuate but it’s a marathon not a sprint.
It is perfectly feasible (although not entirely advisable) to eat chocolate every day and still lose weight. My point being is that you do not have to give up everything you enjoy – In fact I’d totally recommend keeping some stuff in your diet you enjoy, just be sensible about it and as long as it fits in your daily calories.
Thanks for the comments, all make sense even to me, and I do realise that this time it needs to be a life changing decision and not just loose weight now, I need to keep a level up in order not to be in this position yet again, being fat and 50 is not something I really want to have to face up to.
Eating control I can manage, as I'm fairly well single minded enough to keep to something if I really want to, as long as I can see some advantage, however small then its not an issue, it's when like this last week ive worked hard to exercise and moderate my food religiously, and yet there is no real improvement (jeans are hanging off me a bit now though) then I loose a bit of self belief and things could start to slide.
The body it seems is rather more complex than I ever thought regarding sustaining weight and calorie control, plus what simple foods can make a difference good or bad,I think I need to really look at what I'm thinking is good to eat or not, I entered my daily food for today into my fitness pal app, and everything looks ok and apparently if I keep to that ill be down to 11 stone 12 in five weeks. As im surviving on less than 600 calories ! That cant be good can it ?sure the body will fight that kind if regime .
Eating control I can manage, as I'm fairly well single minded enough to keep to something if I really want to, as long as I can see some advantage, however small then its not an issue, it's when like this last week ive worked hard to exercise and moderate my food religiously, and yet there is no real improvement (jeans are hanging off me a bit now though) then I loose a bit of self belief and things could start to slide.
The body it seems is rather more complex than I ever thought regarding sustaining weight and calorie control, plus what simple foods can make a difference good or bad,I think I need to really look at what I'm thinking is good to eat or not, I entered my daily food for today into my fitness pal app, and everything looks ok and apparently if I keep to that ill be down to 11 stone 12 in five weeks. As im surviving on less than 600 calories ! That cant be good can it ?sure the body will fight that kind if regime .
I really would not recommend 600 calories a day!! You won't be getting proper nutrition and you'll get all sorts of ailments over a prolonged period I'd have thought.
Look to increase your protein intake too.
I'd really recommend finding some activities you enjoy doing to make the dieting much less painful.
Look to increase your protein intake too.
I'd really recommend finding some activities you enjoy doing to make the dieting much less painful.
Hoofy said:
Surely, you're not eating 600 cals every day? It's not great in the long run and you'll yoyo again.
That's my daily intake today and nothing more, breakfast lunch and snacks are pretty much fixed, and have been for the last 4 weeks, dinner might vary a bit if I have chicken instead of fish or beans on toast, so I guess I'm very well under my limit each day WinstonWolf said:
You just ain't trying hard enough, this is mine on a daily goal of 1500 calories
Well obviously the more exercise allows more intake, but on what exercise I'm currently doing that's the result.mu0n said:
I really would not recommend 600 calories a day!! You won't be getting proper nutrition and you'll get all sorts of ailments over a prolonged period I'd have thought.
Look to increase your protein intake too.
I'd really recommend finding some activities you enjoy doing to make the dieting much less painful.
Yea looking at that it does worry me being hungry is not a problem as I said earlier, I can deal with that, and I will say when I do finish the cycling I'm pretty much hanging with a measured heartbeat of 140 odd and profusely sweating, so I think I'm pushing myself for an unfit bLook to increase your protein intake too.
I'd really recommend finding some activities you enjoy doing to make the dieting much less painful.
d.Hoofy said:
Look at the link I posted in my reply. As above, a sustained VLCD is bad for you. You'll start missing your periods. 
Funny ....
The concept of eating more to loose weight confuses me
grumbledoak said:
I don't think ingesting more sugar than protein is the way to go, myself. 
My diet probably leaves a lot to be desired, but I know having read a little now that its a bigger factor in weight control than I ever realised, this is not as straightforward as I originally thought, my eat less sweat more philosophy needs some tweaking It depends. If weight loss is your goal, then eat less, move more. You'll be eating less sugar than you were even if you keep the chocolate and sweets in your diet, anyway. The problem with low protein levels is that you'll experience a lot of muscle loss so you'll maintain the same overall shape - you'll be a smaller ball than before.
As to VLCD, check the link for a table which highlights what happens to your hormones. Also, you'll experience hairloss and decrease in sexualdrive, plus a decrease in immunity.
WRT eating more to lose weight, you're not eating more than your TDEE, which will result in weight loss.
As to VLCD, check the link for a table which highlights what happens to your hormones. Also, you'll experience hairloss and decrease in sexualdrive, plus a decrease in immunity.
WRT eating more to lose weight, you're not eating more than your TDEE, which will result in weight loss.
Hoofy said:
It depends. If weight loss is your goal, then eat less, move more. You'll be eating less sugar than you were even if you keep the chocolate and sweets in your diet, anyway. The problem with low protein levels is that you'll experience a lot of muscle loss so you'll maintain the same overall shape - you'll be a smaller ball than before.
Yes weight loss is the main goal in all of this, not into gym's and never have been, so little interest in changing my shape (though I probably should) Hoofy said:
Also, you'll experience hairloss and decrease in sexualdrive, plus a decrease in immunity.
Ha that ship has sailed regarding hair loss, and long term marriage accounts for the other ...
immunity is a long term issue id rather not have problems with if I canLearning summat new every day here
So good protein's., I need more so what are recommended to take daily, upping my intake seems now a sensible thing to do.;)
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