Was thinking of joining the gym as the local one also has a swimming pool and sauna that i would use all the time. It would make more financial sense to join the gym as apposed to paying every single time i want to use the gym, swimming and sauna,
Do people feel that exercise or diet is the most important factor in weight loss?
Obviously combining the two will provide much faster results but are both really required?
I would say personally that diet is the most important fact. In that if you have to choose just one or the other, it's going to be easier to lose weight with diet only than exercise only.
However, that probably depends on who you are. There are probably some people out there who have insane capabilities for exercise but who couldn't stick to a diet to save themselves.
Also, obtaining the fastest results is not the best way of doing things. IMHO slow, controlled, weight loss is far better.
Fair plays to everyone in here for trying to lose weight, but I would be mortified at only a pound loss per week...
I started a healthy eating, and exercise 'lifestyle choice' (not diet) in mid Jan. I've lost 2 stone since then - I'm at my ideal weight, and the best shape I've been in for years.
People really do seem to over complicate weight loss, and make themselves suffer and go through all sorts of crazy shit, when it's really a VERY simple thing to achieve, if you have discipline, and want it enough (with the latter being the most important)
I eat 4 or even 5 meals per day, exercise everyday, and have been losing about 3 pounds per week.
If you want to lose weight, follow these guidelines -
Calorie intake: 1500 per day
Fat intake: 30 - 40g per day
Carb intake: 50 - 80g per day
Exercise: Skip once a day for 10 minutes, toning exercises for 20 minutes a day
Drinks: Water, or flavoured sugar free water, or tea/coffee
Best foods - Meat, Fish, Veg, and a little bit of fruit.
Further tips: Choose a diet with healty, or acceptable foods, that you 'enjoy' and can stick to forever (if you couldn't imagine sticking to your diet forever, then it's not healthy)
Allow yourself 2 or 3 treats per week - if you live a healthy lifestyle it really won't make a difference at all - it will boost morale. Just don't over do it when you do.
Optional: Use a natural 'fat burning' supplement, such as 'raspberry ketones' to help your body burn fat properly instead of storing it - most effective with daily work outs.
Anybody who follows the above will lose weight in a safe, and fairly quick way.
My Daily eating plan -
Breakfast - 2 x grilled bacon & 2 x scrambled egg, or a bowl of porridge.
Lunch - Tin of tuna, lots of green salad, and soft cheese
Dinner - 2 x skinless chicken, brocolli and carrots, with gravy (or any other meat/fish such as salmon, pork etc..)
Evening - 1 x Tuna and salad OR 1x protein bar OR 1 x porridge
I would disagree with your claim that weight loss is simple.
Clearly, the basic calculation of energy consumed versus energy expenditure is quite simple.
However, the main problem is that most people who attempt diets fail. Either because they quit the diet before finishing, or because post-diet, they fail to establish a long term maintenance routine.
Looking through the weight-loss literature, and those who quote from it, there are a lot of psychological and physiological factors behind these. And they are far from simple. There have been various discussions on these factors in this thread, which you'll find if you read the prior postings.
Let's look at how much weight to lose per week. One pound of fat is approximately 3500 calories. To lose three pounds of fat in a single week requires a person to have a calorie deficit of about 10500 calories per week. Or, a daily calorie deficit of 1500 calories per day. That's more than some people's basal needs for a day (e.g. the smaller and more female among us), and unless someone has a 3000 kcal/day calorie requirement, they will be consuming less than 50% of their daily calorific requirements. Which is considered by a wide number of sources to be highly inadvisable, and would fit the general description of a 'starvation diet'. Starvation diets can result in rapid weight loss, but it appears that they are not the best bet if you want to lose the weight and keep it off.
Hence, while I do like the idea of uncomplicated diets, I think you've uncomplicated things just a bit too much. Doing the sums can often reveal things that may actually be worth taking note of.
Fair plays to everyone in here for trying to lose weight, but I would be mortified at only a pound loss per week...
I started a healthy eating, and exercise 'lifestyle choice' (not diet) in mid Jan. I've lost 2 stone since then - I'm at my ideal weight, and the best shape I've been in for years.
People really do seem to over complicate weight loss, and make themselves suffer and go through all sorts of crazy shit, when it's really a VERY simple thing to achieve, if you have discipline, and want it enough (with the latter being the most important)
I eat 4 or even 5 meals per day, exercise everyday, and have been losing about 3 pounds per week.
If you want to lose weight, follow these guidelines -
Calorie intake: 1500 per day
Fat intake: 30 - 40g per day
Carb intake: 50 - 80g per day
Exercise: Skip once a day for 10 minutes, toning exercises for 20 minutes a day
Drinks: Water, or flavoured sugar free water, or tea/coffee
Best foods - Meat, Fish, Veg, and a little bit of fruit.
Further tips: Choose a diet with healty, or acceptable foods, that you 'enjoy' and can stick to forever (if you couldn't imagine sticking to your diet forever, then it's not healthy)
Allow yourself 2 or 3 treats per week - if you live a healthy lifestyle it really won't make a difference at all - it will boost morale. Just don't over do it when you do.
Optional: Use a natural 'fat burning' supplement, such as 'raspberry ketones' to help your body burn fat properly instead of storing it - most effective with daily work outs.
Anybody who follows the above will lose weight in a safe, and fairly quick way.
My Daily eating plan -
Breakfast - 2 x grilled bacon & 2 x scrambled egg, or a bowl of porridge.
Lunch - Tin of tuna, lots of green salad, and soft cheese
Dinner - 2 x skinless chicken, brocolli and carrots, with gravy (or any other meat/fish such as salmon, pork etc..)
Evening - 1 x Tuna and salad OR 1x protein bar OR 1 x porridge
Extra snack - any piece of fruit
Drinks - 1.5 litres of sugar free flavoured water
Very good post and congrats on your weight loss
Alhough I have tried low carb diet before and felt terrible - never again.
Just got in from WW. Last week despite sticking to my points I had a morning weigh in and only lost 0.5lb which was in effect a weight gain as I am 2 lb lighter in the morning usually.
This week I completely lost the plot because of that weigh in, I ate a whole box of Thorntons Continental (big box), chocolate and cakes on every other day, sausage rolls, crusty bread with lashings of butter and absolutely no portion control and I have lost 1.5 lb.
The psychological melt down from a disappointing weigh in last week is the reason I swore never to join a slimming club again.
I think I must be retaining fluid some weeks to explain my bizarre weigh ins.
Anyway back to counting all my points now. I'm just glad my sister forced me to attend WW tonight or my week long binge would have carried on!
Good luck Aly. I've seen others also react badly to a disappointing weigh-in. I've seen it said several times that something will usually go wrong sometime during a diet. And the more important thing is not whether or not you can avoid all dieting wobblies, but how you react to it. Good support from your sister it sounds. Best wishes from me too.
Good luck Aly. I've seen others also react badly to a disappointing weigh-in. I've seen it said several times that something will usually go wrong sometime during a diet. And the more important thing is not whether or not you can avoid all dieting wobblies, but how you react to it. Good support from your sister it sounds. Best wishes from me too.
Thanks. If it wasn't for my sister I wouldn't have gone. Can't believe I lost weight but its given me the incentive to get back on track.
A pound or half a pound a week is a very healthy way to lose weight, less likely to have loose skin etc at the end too. So far from being mortified anyone losing this way should be very happy IMO.
A pound or half a pound a week is a very healthy way to lose weight, less likely to have loose skin etc at the end too. So far from being mortified anyone losing this way should be very happy IMO.
I peeked into the weight-loss thread of another forum, and they had a 'winner' for each week based upon who had lost the most weight. IMHO this sends the very incorrect message that fast weight loss is 'better' than slower weight loss.
Starvation diets carry the risk of metabolic and psychological adaptations; slowdown of metabolic rate and increase in appetite and 'food seeking behaviours'. These can lead to rapid regain of weight after dieting. There is more to long term success than just the speed at which the weight was lost during the dieting phase.
Yes my dietician said aim for upto 2lb a week no more, she said she sees more people who have damage from bad diet techniques like losing too fast than anything else, it can mean you need to rediet several times to lose the weight and keeping it off is harder too.
We need to change our life styles in ways we can sustain not do crazy diets that drop the pounds quickly.
A pound or half a pound a week is a very healthy way to lose weight, less likely to have loose skin etc at the end too. So far from being mortified anyone losing this way should be very happy IMO.
Hey, if people want to take 4 months to lose a stone (or even 8 months by your half a pound standards) then that's fine.
I've lost 2 stone in 10 weeks. Nothing unhealthy about the 4 or 5 meals I eat a day, and daily exercise, with lots of water. 1500 calories, 40gs of fat, and around 60g of carbs a day - far from a 'starvation' diet. I get enough iron, fat, carbs, protein, and all the other nutrients my body needs everyday.
Tell me how the above is unhealthy in any way? You can't, because it's not.
You can lose weight the easy way, or the hard way. It's up to the individual.
If it works for you fine but don't be critical of people doing it the way their medical advisors tell them to do it. We are all here on this thread to support each other not tell each other how mortified we would be to only lose a pound.
If it works for you fine but don't be critical of people doing it the way their medical advisors tell them to do it. We are all here on this thread to support each other not tell each other how mortified we would be to only lose a pound.
Yeah that's true - apologies. Was trying to help in a roundabout way...
That's OK, I think some of us have been made to feel mortified about our bodies enough though so no matter how helpful anyone thinks it is to say things like that it isn't helpful to those who have suffered in that way before.
I have this too. It's really demoralising to do everything 'right' and not lose and equally confusing to eat everything in sight and stay the same or even lose. It just means you don't know what to do or if what you are doing is of any use. I think I'm the worst perfoming dieter on the thread so far this year! But I will weight myself on Tuesday (my normal day) and take it from there.
I know it's really confusing when you weigh everything and write everything down you eat so you know you're sticking to your points/ calories and gain weight! What's that all about?
I think it's all down to hormones and the peri menopause.
It just makes you think "what's the point in bothering to diet?".
I think I'm probably giving you a run for your money on the worst performing dieter on this thread.
I didn't realise you were in peri menopause too - it's killing me! :eek: I can fluctuate by half a stone for reasons that are nothing to do with what I'm eating - so it's almost impossible to keep track of what is food related and what isn't.
And the other thing about peri menopause is I've expanded without actually putting on weight - I know everyone talks about 'middle aged spread' but it's flipping ridiculous. I've weighed more or less the same (to within a stone since I first put on weight 7 years ago) - but I am definitely ... er... rounder. (And I'm at the lower end of that stone now.)
Oh well I keep hoping that I will be healthier all round (as long as bone density tests don't reveal anything horrific) once I get into the menopause proper. It can't be any worse right.
I've just realised that it's Good Friday, I'm not at work, and the scales that I use to weigh myself are in the doctor's surgery which is next to work. And probably isn't open today anyhow. So, no weigh-in until Tuesday I think. There are other scales I could use, but there's enough variation with water weight variations already. I don't want to add weighing machine variations into the mix as well.
I know it's really confusing when you weigh everything and write everything down you eat so you know you're sticking to your points/ calories and gain weight! What's that all about?
I think it's all down to hormones and the peri menopause.
It just makes you think "what's the point in bothering to diet?".
I think I'm probably giving you a run for your money on the worst performing dieter on this thread.
In the short term, water retention and daily variations (e.g. how much weight is in your gut) can make it hard to know exactly how much you're losing on a day by day or even week by week basis. How much do you weigh compared to a month ago?
In the short term, water retention and daily variations (e.g. how much weight is in your gut) can make it hard to know exactly how much you're losing on a day by day or even week by week basis. How much do you weigh compared to a month ago?
4.5 lb lighter.
It's the psychological effect of getting weighed weekly and being disappointed that I'm concerned about.
I get weighed, after tracking everything for a week, find out I haven't lost and then go off on a binge. I think I might be best not going to WW.
I am in the same position Aly1 menopause causes all sorts of fluctuations, thing is not to get despondent. I weigh in weekly if I have lost GREAT !, if not no worries it will happen next week.
I started weighing in daily at one point (got a bit obsessed) and that was soul destroying as fluctuations daily can be as much as a pound ! But doing it weekly I get an average.
WW I found wasn't for me I felt so badly after second session I bought chips on the way home LOL so I do it myself and with the support of all you lovely people !
I know this week I won't lose I feel bloated but next week hopefully I will.
It's a long game not a short dash so keeping spirits up is important.
Hi Striing
Put on psych meds for the eating or the menopause?
I know 3 people who were on citalopram for a year and later realised it coincided with their menopause.
All lovely level headed women who spent a year with dreadful mood swings/ anxiety and depression.
hey Ive just found this thread. I joined the gym on New Years eve weighing 16st 8lbs. I went 4 times a week at first but have just been too busy for the last month but my weight this morning was 14st 9ibs.
Smaller portions, longer dog walks and less sitting around watching TV seems to be doing the trick :-)
Striing, I can see your problems and why dieting is difficult for you and how your fluctuations affect your motivation. If I had an easy solution I'd post it, but it's clearly a more complicated situation than that. All I can say is 'hang in there', and good luck!
I'll leave it to the sisterhood to discuss the finer details of the menopause.
I sometimes wish I had the willpower of these celebs that supposedly have a personal trainer for 3 hours a day and survive on a handful of nuts and 2 litres of water... maybe a slight exaggeration there!
Otherwise, I've lost 2lb since I last weighed myself. I'm still 1lb heavier than when I started in January but I'm trying to hang in there and continue.
This may be a bit random but does any one get hungry within a couple of hours of eating veg? Or is it just me??
Comments
I would say personally that diet is the most important fact. In that if you have to choose just one or the other, it's going to be easier to lose weight with diet only than exercise only.
However, that probably depends on who you are. There are probably some people out there who have insane capabilities for exercise but who couldn't stick to a diet to save themselves.
Also, obtaining the fastest results is not the best way of doing things. IMHO slow, controlled, weight loss is far better.
I started a healthy eating, and exercise 'lifestyle choice' (not diet) in mid Jan. I've lost 2 stone since then - I'm at my ideal weight, and the best shape I've been in for years.
People really do seem to over complicate weight loss, and make themselves suffer and go through all sorts of crazy shit, when it's really a VERY simple thing to achieve, if you have discipline, and want it enough (with the latter being the most important)
I eat 4 or even 5 meals per day, exercise everyday, and have been losing about 3 pounds per week.
If you want to lose weight, follow these guidelines -
Calorie intake: 1500 per day
Fat intake: 30 - 40g per day
Carb intake: 50 - 80g per day
Exercise: Skip once a day for 10 minutes, toning exercises for 20 minutes a day
Drinks: Water, or flavoured sugar free water, or tea/coffee
Best foods - Meat, Fish, Veg, and a little bit of fruit.
Further tips: Choose a diet with healty, or acceptable foods, that you 'enjoy' and can stick to forever (if you couldn't imagine sticking to your diet forever, then it's not healthy)
Allow yourself 2 or 3 treats per week - if you live a healthy lifestyle it really won't make a difference at all - it will boost morale. Just don't over do it when you do.
Optional: Use a natural 'fat burning' supplement, such as 'raspberry ketones' to help your body burn fat properly instead of storing it - most effective with daily work outs.
Anybody who follows the above will lose weight in a safe, and fairly quick way.
My Daily eating plan -
Breakfast - 2 x grilled bacon & 2 x scrambled egg, or a bowl of porridge.
Lunch - Tin of tuna, lots of green salad, and soft cheese
Dinner - 2 x skinless chicken, brocolli and carrots, with gravy (or any other meat/fish such as salmon, pork etc..)
Evening - 1 x Tuna and salad OR 1x protein bar OR 1 x porridge
Extra snack - any piece of fruit
Drinks - 1.5 litres of sugar free flavoured water
Clearly, the basic calculation of energy consumed versus energy expenditure is quite simple.
However, the main problem is that most people who attempt diets fail. Either because they quit the diet before finishing, or because post-diet, they fail to establish a long term maintenance routine.
Looking through the weight-loss literature, and those who quote from it, there are a lot of psychological and physiological factors behind these. And they are far from simple. There have been various discussions on these factors in this thread, which you'll find if you read the prior postings.
Let's look at how much weight to lose per week. One pound of fat is approximately 3500 calories. To lose three pounds of fat in a single week requires a person to have a calorie deficit of about 10500 calories per week. Or, a daily calorie deficit of 1500 calories per day. That's more than some people's basal needs for a day (e.g. the smaller and more female among us), and unless someone has a 3000 kcal/day calorie requirement, they will be consuming less than 50% of their daily calorific requirements. Which is considered by a wide number of sources to be highly inadvisable, and would fit the general description of a 'starvation diet'. Starvation diets can result in rapid weight loss, but it appears that they are not the best bet if you want to lose the weight and keep it off.
Hence, while I do like the idea of uncomplicated diets, I think you've uncomplicated things just a bit too much. Doing the sums can often reveal things that may actually be worth taking note of.
Very good post and congrats on your weight loss
Alhough I have tried low carb diet before and felt terrible - never again.
This week I completely lost the plot because of that weigh in, I ate a whole box of Thorntons Continental (big box), chocolate and cakes on every other day, sausage rolls, crusty bread with lashings of butter and absolutely no portion control and I have lost 1.5 lb.
The psychological melt down from a disappointing weigh in last week is the reason I swore never to join a slimming club again.
I think I must be retaining fluid some weeks to explain my bizarre weigh ins.
Anyway back to counting all my points now. I'm just glad my sister forced me to attend WW tonight or my week long binge would have carried on!
Thanks. If it wasn't for my sister I wouldn't have gone. Can't believe I lost weight but its given me the incentive to get back on track.
I peeked into the weight-loss thread of another forum, and they had a 'winner' for each week based upon who had lost the most weight. IMHO this sends the very incorrect message that fast weight loss is 'better' than slower weight loss.
Starvation diets carry the risk of metabolic and psychological adaptations; slowdown of metabolic rate and increase in appetite and 'food seeking behaviours'. These can lead to rapid regain of weight after dieting. There is more to long term success than just the speed at which the weight was lost during the dieting phase.
We need to change our life styles in ways we can sustain not do crazy diets that drop the pounds quickly.
Hey, if people want to take 4 months to lose a stone (or even 8 months by your half a pound standards) then that's fine.
I've lost 2 stone in 10 weeks. Nothing unhealthy about the 4 or 5 meals I eat a day, and daily exercise, with lots of water. 1500 calories, 40gs of fat, and around 60g of carbs a day - far from a 'starvation' diet. I get enough iron, fat, carbs, protein, and all the other nutrients my body needs everyday.
Tell me how the above is unhealthy in any way? You can't, because it's not.
You can lose weight the easy way, or the hard way. It's up to the individual.
Yeah that's true - apologies. Was trying to help in a roundabout way...
I know it's really confusing when you weigh everything and write everything down you eat so you know you're sticking to your points/ calories and gain weight! What's that all about?
I think it's all down to hormones and the peri menopause.
It just makes you think "what's the point in bothering to diet?".
I think I'm probably giving you a run for your money on the worst performing dieter on this thread.
Apparently it can :eek:
In the short term, water retention and daily variations (e.g. how much weight is in your gut) can make it hard to know exactly how much you're losing on a day by day or even week by week basis. How much do you weigh compared to a month ago?
4.5 lb lighter.
It's the psychological effect of getting weighed weekly and being disappointed that I'm concerned about.
I get weighed, after tracking everything for a week, find out I haven't lost and then go off on a binge. I think I might be best not going to WW.
I started weighing in daily at one point (got a bit obsessed) and that was soul destroying as fluctuations daily can be as much as a pound ! But doing it weekly I get an average.
WW I found wasn't for me I felt so badly after second session I bought chips on the way home LOL so I do it myself and with the support of all you lovely people !
I know this week I won't lose I feel bloated but next week hopefully I will.
It's a long game not a short dash so keeping spirits up is important.
Put on psych meds for the eating or the menopause?
I know 3 people who were on citalopram for a year and later realised it coincided with their menopause.
All lovely level headed women who spent a year with dreadful mood swings/ anxiety and depression.
Smaller portions, longer dog walks and less sitting around watching TV seems to be doing the trick :-)
I'll leave it to the sisterhood to discuss the finer details of the menopause.
Welcome Graham001.
Otherwise, I've lost 2lb since I last weighed myself. I'm still 1lb heavier than when I started in January but I'm trying to hang in there and continue.
This may be a bit random but does any one get hungry within a couple of hours of eating veg? Or is it just me??