Weight Loss Thread - 2013 Edition

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  • SplotSplot Posts: 600
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    I don't want to focus on the past and 2 weeks is not much time at all in the scheme of weight loss but are you sure you saw no change by consuming only 800 cals/day for a fortnight? It's not much food at all.

    In the first week I saw a drop of two pounds by the end, then I had a normal-ish day (not over the top) and put on three.

    I haven't weighed myself since then so to be fair I could have lost something.
  • GiraffeGirlGiraffeGirl Posts: 13,619
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    WinterFire wrote: »
    This morning I was demonstrating zombie walks (including sound effects) to a class.

    Brilliant :D
  • SplotSplot Posts: 600
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    What sort of job do you do? I've managed to exercise at least once a week since the beginning of January, but I also think that a large part of my generally being fitter is that I walk around a lot more at work. Luckily the nature of my job is such that walking round almost makes me better at it! (Although my year 11 class said I made them dizzy one day...)

    Do you travel by car or public transport? Can you get off a stop earlier and walk?

    I'm a firm believer that anything you can do to make you more active in any way is a big winner.

    I work at a desk and often work 12 hours a day. Then it's an hour on the bus home. The only exercise I get is the 30 minute walk to the bus stop and back each day. Most week days I get up, go to work, have something to eat then go to bed.

    I know there's no excuse for not doing something at the weekend but a lot of time I just want to rest, meet friends or catch up on on housework after the working week.

    It's a cycle I'll have to break because if I did get exercise I'd probably feel as if I had more energy.
  • GiraffeGirlGiraffeGirl Posts: 13,619
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    Splot wrote: »
    I work at a desk and often work 12 hours a day. Then it's an hour on the bus home. The only exercise I get is the 30 minute walk to the bus stop and back each day. Most week days I get up, go to work, have something to eat then go to bed.

    I know there's no excuse for not doing something at the weekend but a lot of time I just want to rest, meet friends or catch up on on housework after the working week.

    It's a cycle I'll have to break because if I did get exercise I'd probably feel as if I had more energy.

    That's actually quite good. Don't feel so down :)
  • HetalHetal Posts: 5,415
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    Lost another 3Ibs this week. Not far from my goal now. Only 5lbs more to go.
  • WinterFireWinterFire Posts: 9,509
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    Splot wrote: »
    I know there's no excuse for not doing something at the weekend but a lot of time I just want to rest, meet friends or catch up on on housework after the working week.

    It's a cycle I'll have to break because if I did get exercise I'd probably feel as if I had more energy.

    Speaking of 'cycle', would it be safe and practical for you to cycle to work instead of taking the bus?

    Congratulations to Hetal and everyone else who lost weight.

    I'm still 300 calories short of my target today, and my son has eaten all the bourbon biscuits. Not sure what to do with this surfeit. Ah, a banana will consume 1/3 of it.
    zak2012 wrote: »
    Thanks,its Reebok from agros was on offer on argos tv from £250 to £199

    I had a look and the Reebok ones are quite expensive and have good reviews. In fact the entire range sold at Argos seem to have gone up-market a lot. It used to be that you could buy so-called exercise bikes for £30 or so, but they simply weren't any good.
  • kyresakyresa Posts: 16,629
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    WinterFire wrote: »
    This page seems to suggest that a Krispy Kreme donut (assuming that the 52g is for one donut) is about 220 kcal. http://www.krispykreme.co.uk/uploads//2012/11/Nutritional-Info.pdf

    That's about the same as the single piece of peanut butter toast that I ate this morning.

    Surely it should be possible to have a Krispy Kreme donut breakfast, but still easily fit within a moderate daily calorie total. Not that I'd advise it, but starting with a Krispy Kreme donut does not necessarily imply a non-diet day.

    Surely as well as calories though you are considering the fat content of a food?

    For example:
    (this won't tabulate properly I know)

    Item Serving Size Calorie Count Grams of Fat
    hot cross bun 70g 205 3.9
    scone 70g 225 7.6

    So the same size portion, only 20 more calories, but almost double the amount of fat!!!

    That's why a donut won't be good for breakfast :D
  • molliepopsmolliepops Posts: 26,821
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    I think you do need a treat though, no one is suggesting it is a healthy or desirable everyday meal, just an occasional treat.
  • kyresakyresa Posts: 16,629
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    molliepops wrote: »
    I think you do need a treat though, no one is suggesting it is a healthy or desirable everyday meal, just an occasional treat.

    I think it has thrown up something interesting in the calorie counting method to be honest. That something can have the same amount of calories as another food, but twice as much fat !
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8
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    Im a ~30yr old male, I started putting on LOADS of weight towards the end of Uni to the point that I weighed 30st!

    I could sort of get away with 'carrying' it as im 6'4, though about 20 months ago I realised that this was unacceptable and decided to do something about it. Im now down to 18st and still going downwards.

    Id like to give my POV on the whole diet 'thing'. Maybe someone will find it helpful:

    Temporary Diets dont work, you need to correct your eating habits permanently, dont go on 'diet' change your lifestyle.

    Stop eating crap 24/7, I know it tastes good and your probably lazy like me and its quick and easy, but you need to decided whether you want to cram donuts in your mouth or have a healthy and active body you cant do both, you need to choose.

    Dont be afraid to have a cheat meal once in a while, it's okay, your not in prison you can enjoy stuff occasionally, just make sure it's occasionally and doesnt become every day, like once a week and dont binge either - eat sensibly when you cheat.

    In order to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you take in, it's realy that simple. Friends have said to me oh I only eat 800 calories I cant loose weight like you. I ask a little further and find out they dont excercise at all and drink 10 coffees a day (which when black have no real calories) with full fat milk and sugar.....sigh.

    I used to struggle exercising - after work I was tired, busy or would make up some other excuse to do it, if you want to lose weight you need to be proactive and not think or wish about doing it - if you cant, dont bother trying to struggle yo-yo deiting, realise you are making excuses up and thats half the battle. You can ALWAYS find a way if you WANT TOO, if someone put a gun to your head and said you need to spend 30 minutes a day doing charity work or they will come and shoot you in your sleep, you will find a way to accomplish that - this is called "motivation", laziness's arch nemesis.

    Find your way to exercise 30 intense minutes a day and you will be in route to weighing less and feeling healthier. I found my way by waking up EARLY and exercising before getting ready for work. This might not be for everyone, but I call anyone out who cant get up earlier and do some exercise. In the end it worked for me, because I was getting up an hour earlier and doing a preplanned series of exercises and weights in a concise time frame. A benefit of this is that exercising releases endorphin's which kick in and make the day go by faster and gave me a good mood for the rest of the day and work. Also it kick starts your metabolism so helps with your calorie intake for the day!

    If you are big/heavy like I was, DONT run for cardio, use a bike, go swimming (unlikely since you will be self conscious) or use a rowing machine as you will damage your joints and tendons needlessly by putting them under serious stress, so do low joint impact cardio work until your lighter then do all that other stuff, worse thing that can happen is get injured and fall back into sitting on your bum and feeling sorry for yourself - it's happened to me!

    DONT use scales to measure your weight, BMI is also a load of rubbish - it works in principle but there will be a point where you are doing the routines and not loosing any weight, because your flab is being replaced by heavier muscle and you will dispair. Instead use clothing as goals - I have goal shirts that are much smaller than I can wear, and I try these on to see progress, there is no better a feeling than buttoning up a shirt that wouldn't even close beforehand.

    Thats a few pointers that helped me lose 12 stone so far, I hope it's of help to someone, it might not be to everyone's taste.
  • WinterFireWinterFire Posts: 9,509
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    kyresa wrote: »
    Surely as well as calories though you are considering the fat content of a food?

    For example:
    (this won't tabulate properly I know)

    Item Serving Size Calorie Count Grams of Fat
    hot cross bun 70g 205 3.9
    scone 70g 225 7.6

    So the same size portion, only 20 more calories, but almost double the amount of fat!!!

    That's why a donut won't be good for breakfast :D

    I don't quite understand your point. The poster I was discussing had already eaten a Krispy Kreme donut for breakfast today. I was just mentioning that it had 220 calories according to the company's information. And if this was the case, then is possible to fit this into a suitable calorie limit. I.e. that 220 calories for breakfast isn't a calorie controlled diet busting choice. I wasn't discussing the amount of fat at all. So, I'm not sure how your post is related to my post that you are answering. Perhaps you can further explain what you mean.
  • molliepopsmolliepops Posts: 26,821
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    I have a feeling fat isn't such a monster anyway. I am not eating vlf this time and feel much better for it. Skin is not dry, I feel fuller longer, and some other benefits that may be too much information :o
  • WinterFireWinterFire Posts: 9,509
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    molliepops wrote: »
    I have a feeling fat isn't such a monster anyway. I am not eating vlf this time and feel much better for it. Skin is not dry, I feel fuller longer, and some other benefits that may be too much information :o

    I've waited a bit to give kyresa a chance to post again and clarify his/her meaning.

    In the meantime, I did a bit of research. It seems that some people are a bit confused about different sources of calories and dieting.

    It seems that there are two basic situations.

    In the first a person is eating exactly the right number of calories to balance their energy in/energy out ratio, or they have a calorie deficit, in which case they will be losing weight (unless there is water retention/muscle development etc.). In this case it appears that there is no significant difference concerning whether or not the calories come from fat, carbs, or protein. (Though an excessively unbalanced diet may lead to other problems such as deficiencies).

    In the second situation, someone is eating more calories than they expend. In this case, the excess calories may be converted into fat storage. The body is more efficient at storing fat as fat than it is at storing carbs or protein as fat. Hence if you're actually gaining weight, fat calories may make you gain more than carb or protein calories. But this is only for people actually gaining weight, not those on calorie restricted diets who are losing weight. (I.e. us). I have looked, but I haven't found a reliable reference for this. Only blogs, newspaper articles, and Wikipedia.

    Most of the research shows that when dieting, it doesn't matter where your calories come from (unless your diet is so poor that other problems are caused). There is some research showing that different kinds of foods do produce different dieting results when losing weight, e.g. people who were eating nuts lost more than expected. However, there is also other research showing that nuts have had their calories over-estimated because some of the fats they contain are not digested.http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2012/06/28/ajcn.112.035782.full.pdf+html This could have produced the previous results where nut consumption led to more weight loss, because the people eating more nuts weren't eating the same number of calories as other groups, they were eating less. Also, other research looks at people who are not on calorie controlled diets, e.g. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/oby.2007.507/full In the case of people not on calorie controlled diets, there is the possibility that certain foods may be more satiating than others, leading to less calories being eaten overall. That doesn't apply to people who have calorie targets and stick to them. E.g. I drink artificially sweetened drinks. There is research showing that people who aren't on calorie controlled diets may over-compensate for the calories lost through artificial sweeteners versus sugar. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/ However, this doesn't apply to people successfully following calorie controlled diets as they aren't over-compensating for the artificial sweetener.

    Hence, while eating a Krispy Kreme donut for breakfast is not going to be a good thing due to the fairly empty calories in it, at a claimed 220 kcal, it isn't going to be a diet deal-breaker.
  • molliepopsmolliepops Posts: 26,821
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    That's interesting and much like what I am finding with experience. I started off VLF, no sugar and low carb, felt ill, hungry and thought I can't do this weight loss thing. Upped my carbs a little, still no sugar and upped my fat to a much higher level. Weight still came off at the same rate because I was eating the same calories. I felt better, less hungry and definitely not ill.

    So my experience is exactly what you have found from other sources.
  • WinterFireWinterFire Posts: 9,509
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    molliepops wrote: »
    That's interesting and much like what I am finding with experience. I started off VLF, no sugar and low carb, felt ill, hungry and thought I can't do this weight loss thing. Upped my carbs a little, still no sugar and upped my fat to a much higher level. Weight still came off at the same rate because I was eating the same calories. I felt better, less hungry and definitely not ill.

    So my experience is exactly what you have found from other sources.

    Yes. In an extreme case, you could have two diets. One would be an 1800kcal/day reasonably varied diet including treats, which is what I'm eating now. The other could be a 1750kcal/day diet of nutritious but tasteless grey sludge. In theory if I'd started the latter diet before Christmas, I should have lost more weight than I have. Except that I wouldn't as there is no way I would have remained on a diet of tasteless grey sludge for months.

    That's clearly reductio ad absurdum, but I agree with the point that many people make (e.g. Christian Grey on this thread) that a diet has to include treats and food that you like, or it'll likely fail as people will give up. I painted myself into a corner calorifically last night as I only had 600kcal left by about 3pm. But my dinner included 274kcal of oven chips. A waste of calories? Maybe, but I really enjoyed them. Having two Linda McCartney red onion and rosemary sausages (which I learned of when they were recommended in this thread) as part of my meal helped to make it a full meal without breaking the calorific bank.
  • molliepopsmolliepops Posts: 26,821
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    Exactly.

    I split my calories in the morning into 3 and plan my meals for the day, even have egg on toast for breakfast quite often as I know that keeps me full until lunch time and I enjoy it.

    Yesterday I didn't even eat my remaining calories at supper as I wasn't hungry, that's something else I am now doing only eating when hungry not forcing in a meal just because it is time for that meal.
  • SplotSplot Posts: 600
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    Weighed myself this morning and I am 9 stone 13.

    Am going to weigh myself again in two weeks and see what happens.

    Aiming to lose a stone.

    I know it doesn't sound like that much weight but because I'm so short the extra pounds look really bad on me - plus I can't afford to buy another wardrobe of clothes.

    Only got one pair of jeans that fit and they are in the wash at the moment so have been forced to wear joggers all weekend. :o
  • molliepopsmolliepops Posts: 26,821
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    Good luck splot - love your name BTW !
  • SplotSplot Posts: 600
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    molliepops wrote: »
    Good luck splot - love your name BTW !

    Thanks :)
  • WinterFireWinterFire Posts: 9,509
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    Good luck Splot from me too.
  • c00kiemonster72c00kiemonster72 Posts: 2,363
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    WinterFire wrote: »
    Yes. In an extreme case, you could have two diets. One would be an 1800kcal/day reasonably varied diet including treats, which is what I'm eating now. The other could be a 1750kcal/day diet of nutritious but tasteless grey sludge. In theory if I'd started the latter diet before Christmas, I should have lost more weight than I have. Except that I wouldn't as there is no way I would have remained on a diet of tasteless grey sludge for months.

    That's clearly reductio ad absurdum, but I agree with the point that many people make (e.g. Christian Grey on this thread) that a diet has to include treats and food that you like, or it'll likely fail as people will give up. I painted myself into a corner calorifically last night as I only had 600kcal left by about 3pm. But my dinner included 274kcal of oven chips. A waste of calories? Maybe, but I really enjoyed them. Having two Linda McCartney red onion and rosemary sausages (which I learned of when they were recommended in this thread) as part of my meal helped to make it a full meal without breaking the calorific bank.

    What is this tasteless grey sludge you mention, as I've racked my brains for ages now trying to think what you mean but have drawn a blank?

    I disagree about the treats, as I've spent my whole life giving myself treats and racked up a weight of over 28stone.
    Since then my diet has been very controlled of a very high amount of fruits and veg and a low amount of starchy carbs. With no treats and my diet is working as I'm now 20 stone.

    I can't afford treats as I know what will happen, it will allow my mind to slip from the "oh one little biscuit won't harm" to eating the whole packet again like I used to.

    Nothing like that goes into my basket at the supermarket, nor does any processed food as I now make everything from scratch. this way I'm in total control of what I consume.
    But then I had to be as I was so overweight, I've needed to be hard disciplined with myself for this to work.
    Any half hearted attempt with treats would not work for me, and tbh probably won't work for most people as they will soon slip back into their old ways, so advising that treats are ok I think one should be careful with as it's as bad a someone giving up smoking but being told the odd one here and then won't harm. Well at least the context is the same:)
  • WinterFireWinterFire Posts: 9,509
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    What is this tasteless grey sludge you mention, as I've racked my brains for ages now trying to think what you mean but have drawn a blank?

    The grey sludge doesn't exist, it's a thought experiment. In this case, an extreme example.
    I disagree about the treats, as I've spent my whole life giving myself treats and racked up a weight of over 28stone.
    Since then my diet has been very controlled of a very high amount of fruits and veg and a low amount of starchy carbs. With no treats and my diet is working as I'm now 20 stone.

    I can't afford treats as I know what will happen, it will allow my mind to slip from the "oh one little biscuit won't harm" to eating the whole packet again like I used to.

    If treats as part of your diet don't work for somebody, then of course they'll have to try something different. But for me, a complete absence of treats is less likely to work. Personally I'm OK with one little biscuit, but I know from long past experience that I would slip if I had a featureless diet with no rewards. If I found that 'one little biscuit' was a trigger for diet failure, then I'd have to do something different.

    Different people work differently. However, I note that many dieticians do recommend treats, e.g. http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/sweets-treats-healthy-diet, http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/prevention/healthy-eating/dieting-myths.aspx. So, I would think that my take on it isn't specific to me, and there are a reasonable proportion of people who would do better on diets with the occasional treat. But if that doesn't work for you, then of course you need to do something different. Which you have done very successfully, and congrats to you for finding what works for you.

    And one thing we have to remember is that diets, of any sort, don't work for most people, as most people who diet, fail. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2779031.stm

    Edit: Looking at your example of cigarettes, then this is different from how I relate to food. Smoking often develops into an addiction, and dealing with an addiction is very different from dealing with overeating as a moderate habit. There are people who are addicted to sweet food, and clearly for them the 'treats' may not work as they may fall 'off the wagon' as you describe. But for people such as myself who overate a little and put on weight slowly over years or over decades as in my case, it's not an addiction and hence the situation is quite different.
  • molliepopsmolliepops Posts: 26,821
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    3.1 lb loss this week, been on my feet a bit more and had a few sedate walks must have made a difference ! Had a couple of treats too so was quite surprised.
  • WinterFireWinterFire Posts: 9,509
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    molliepops wrote: »
    3.1 lb loss this week, been on my feet a bit more and had a few sedate walks must have made a difference ! Had a couple of treats too so was quite surprised.

    Very well done Mollie.
  • molliepopsmolliepops Posts: 26,821
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    Thank you, forgot to say good luck to everyone else this week (far too chuffed with myself to have remembered everything lol)
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