Clam flesh? 🙁

Simple hints.

1) only eat sitting down at a table. Not in your car, and don’t graze.
2) avoid things that come in packets other than pasta and pulses.
3) Use a smaller plate.
4) Many people have a weakness. Cake, crisps, biscuits, fizzy drinks, booze. Find it and cut it out.

Learn to cook and which foods do what to your body. Not only will you lose weight, but you will improve the performance in the sports you enjoy.

Good food to keep the fat content down is: Mexican, Japanese, Indian off the top of my head. Obviously watch the added cream/cheese/ghee whatever. These are quite vegetable based cuisines. Wholegrain foods (brown rice, wholemeal bread, chapatis, oats) are more filling and nutritious. White rice, white bread, fried food and large quantities of dairy are pretty unhelpful to the body unless your diet is balanced. Get it sorted before these appear in large quantities.

I really recommend routine to help, there will be snacky times of the day when you will be eager to have high sugar/fat snacks to quickly get rid of hunger. Include a piece of fruit at breakfast, around 10ish when you get hungry, and then it should be easy to get 3 portions of fruit/veg between lunch and dinner (salad with lunch, 2 veg portions for dinner). Nuts and dried fruit are a great source of lots of things and are easy to keep on you.

Take this example and make the veg section half (remove from the bread/rice etc section) and you’ve got a good starting point:

Oh, and good luck! It’s not going to be easy, but you can do it 😀

iDave and M T F U!

There is no other way – you need to MTFU.

I’ve told people about slow carb eating and they say ‘oh I don’t like diets that restrict my eating’. Well tough. Restrict or be fat, those are your choices. It’s not restricting yourself that’s caused the trouble in the first place! (Thinking of my friend here not you specifically 🙂 ) Your brain (and mine) plays tricks on you and makes you want the wrong stuff – like a spoilt toddler you need to tell it NO.

The main difficulty you’ll have is that you’re travelling about. The best thing you can do is get a coolbox in the car and make sure you have something decent to eat in it, even if it’s only a Marks and Sparks thing from the services.

It’s very easy to say dodge the burgers and pasties, but when you’re in the middle of nowhere, with limited time, they’re often the only choice.

Other than that, it should be pretty easy for you. You don’t sound like one of those people who eat stuff all and still don’t drop weight. Water instead of pop, espresso or macchiato instead of a latte, far less chocolate, biscuits and cake. More veg, more meat, more beans, wholegrain bread etc.

While I know it is not simple at all I sympathise. At least you know that you have to make a change.

Replace crisps and choc and pish like that for fruit – i have a bowl of fruit at work, make homemade flapjacks – quick and easy. While it seems a bit weird at first you feel much better for it. Processed shit is just that – high salt, high fat, high sugar awful and impossible to burn off if you base your diet on it. Wonder why there is a general obesity problem ? People think that one 20min wakl will burn off the Maccas for breakfast, the burger king lunch and the KFC dinner. Sensible eating means fresh fruit and veg , pulses and everything in moderation. I’m no food nazi but I make a point of avoiding processed stuff.

Learning to cook is actually very simple and there are heaps of online resources. It is also quick which is the excuse most people give for eating badly. I can cook a chicken pathia in the time it takes the rice to cook and its healthy and no tins/sauces involved. Look at curryfrenzy.com and adapt from there. Simple meat and two veg meals with tatties fill you up. Drink water not coke. Avoid those bluddy breakfast shake things as well – people seriously think they are healthy despite having the same amount of sugar in them as coke.

But best of luck. Will take a bit of brain power and will but you will get there. Your kids will also pick up on how you eat.

Remember a few years ago, Delia did a series of Learn to Cook books? Buy them. They’re actually quite good.

I am picturing you right now DD in your kitchen with a juicy tart and a spotted dick
….
too far 😕

ton – remind me?

and to the OP. the only helping hand you’ll get is at the end of your own arm. so use it.

Never too far with you JY 😉

This guy’s story might give you some inspiration:
The cyclist who formerly weighed 39 stone
He has lost around 27 stones; no gimmicks.

Some tips from me (who has some pretty bad eating habits to – damn you Tesco and your special offer on family packs of jammie dodgers…).

1). Try and follow the iDave diet – for me I wanted something I could adapt to and stick with rather than something to follow for a few weeks then returning to eating crap. I don’t follow it religiously at the moment but cutting out milk, bread, potatoes, pasta, rice etc. makes a pretty big difference and you’re forced to start bulking up meals with beans etc. so you start eating healthier anyway.
2). Go to the supermarket on a full stomach – for me it just helps avoid the ‘oh I’ll buy a pack of those to as a treat’ moments, although you still need to force yourself not to put crap stuff in your trolley. Far easier to not buy the stuff than to have it in the cupboard and resist eating it :p
3). Don’t set short-term weight targets as you’ll probably just depress yourself.
4). Make a big load of stew, takes me about 45 mins prep time + 45 mins cooking (pressure cooker) but lasts 5 meals. The biggest thing I struggle with trying to eat more healthily is generally it’s a bit more effort (can’t just shove something in the microwave) but with reheating stew you can do just that so I get 2-3 days in the week where I can be lazy and still eat OK.

iDave and M T F U!

There is no other way – you need to MTFU.

I’ve told people about slow carb eating and they say ‘oh I don’t like diets that restrict my eating’. Well tough. Restrict or be fat, those are your choices. It’s not restricting yourself that’s caused the trouble in the first place! (Thinking of my friend here not you specifically ) Your brain (and mine) plays tricks on you and makes you want the wrong stuff – like a spoilt toddler you need to tell it NO.

You talk the talk Mol, but where are those after pics? 😉

Said it so many times but a traditional “diet” didn’t work for me. I tried it loads of times and failed because it was so bland. The time I succeeded I just stopped eating fast food and had smaller portions of more or less what I was eating before. Less crisps, pizzas and chips as well I suppose. And eat way less cheese. I was almost 23 stone at my heaviest and am now about 14. Took me just over 3 years to get here (and probably another year or so before it’s all gone) but I think I’ve done it in a way that’s sustainable.

Jamie – he was looking svelte when I met him…

And Tom… it sounds like you’ve put yourself on a ‘traditional’ diet.

Nah, he has just cut down the amount he has eaten and….oh wait. No you’re right.

Jamie – he was looking svelte when I met him…

Good to hear. Congrats Mol.

OP- good luck 🙂

Used the wrong words again I think. I guess the diets I tried were more faddy and restrictive which just made them miserable.

I used to have a fizzy drink or two every day with food. Gave it up as tbh I didn’t really like them anyway but I bet that saved me a few calories on its own.

If you are bored/need to do something with your hands I reckon munching on carrots and fruit inthe car along with a litre of water to hand.

It’ll only take a short while but all you need to do is recondition yourself mentally.

Guys some great advice (and bickering :lol:) and i’m pardon the pun digesting it now. The guy who lost 27 stone has made my three stone loss look like a piece of piss in comparison and I shall take on board many of the excellent suggestions, but please keep them coming 8)

Don’t set short-term weight targets

conversly…

I try to weigh myself every morning as I certainly can see the effect of yesterdays eating on my weight the next day.

If I eat too much and/or too late and I see it on the scales.

If I have a chocolate bar and don’t work it off I see it in the scales.

I can also see the effect of different foods. Baked potoatos are, for me, an excellent food for losing weight, even if I use butter on them. Turkey is also good. Marzipan is definitely not good.

Eating after 8pm is also bad – Sumo wrestlers eat after 8pm for a reason.

The good thing about weighing myself everyday is that is is a constant feedback loop and if I pig out one day I will take it carefully the next day.

You also get to see the effect of exercise and hard work, which gives you the motivation to carry on with it.

Weighing myself every few days does not have this feedback effect.

I don’t follow any special diet when trying to lose weight – just do a bit more exercise and watch what I eat and aim for losing a lb a day at most – 2lb a week is a healthy guide apparently.

A guy in a cycle group I go with sometimes was trying to lose weight – I mentioned the 8pm rule and a few months later heard him enthusing about it to someone else – he couldn’t remember where he heard it but it was working.

– Drink more water
– Learn how to cook simple healthy meals (on a weekday, 15mins preparation is too long for me)
– Cut out food from packets (barring pasta, rice and muesli)
– Don’t buy crap
– Have a bigger and healthier breakfast (posh muesli)
– Have a proper lunch (e.g. large tuna bean salad does it for me)
– Keep a fruit bowl at work/bag of fruit in car
– Keep a bottle of water with you
– Cut down in the evening. I find a huge evening meal pointless so make enough but don’t pile it on. You can always nibble later and the fruit bowl isn’t going anywhere should you get peckish.
– Freeze what you don’t need
– Drink more water
– Treat yourself on a weekend or after a ride (cooked breakfast or some such)

🙂

Tom – Sorry, well done by the way!

My thoughts… we all are on ‘diets’, it’s just the stuff we put in our mouths.

Some people choose healthy diets, others rubbish diets… fad diets fall into the later category.

A tradtional diet IMO is one more akin to what your grandparents would’ve eaten… similar to what you’re doing, combined with some exercise… you’re laughing.

hora – Member
I used to have a fizzy drink or two every day with food. Gave it up as tbh I didn’t really like them anyway but I bet that saved me a few calories on its own.

The OP mentions a 500ml bottle of coke in his post. Unless it’s diet coke, that has over 200 calories/day or more than 10% of your calorific requirements. But, I bet a drink doesn’t feel like you are actually taking calories in, so it ‘doesn’t really count’.

Same with booze. Pint of lager is also about 200 calories. So, a few pints down the pub is 600 calories.

Getting a road bike helped as well and kick started it again when I plateaud a bit, makes you want to put in more effort than riding a mtb imo.

TSY that’s why I put “diet” in the quotation marks becuase I don’t consider it a diet in the way most people talk about going on a diet. Just eating less shit stuff and changing lifestyle to be less of a slob 😆

big things that helped me without going full on iDave:

breakfast = no carbs – scrambled eggs with a dash of reggae reggae sauce mixed in for ultimate breakfast taste sensation, many iDavers eat left over dinner for their morning meal.

lunch = bigger meal of the day so more time to burn it off instead of sleeping after your biggest meal. replace white carbs with wholegrain stuff, but try to avoid carby stuff in general. so for me that means wholegrain rice with chicken and veg, wholegrain bread if i’m stuck with a sandwhich type choice only.

dinner = nice and small, again try and cut out the carby stuff… i stick to chicken whenever possible, fish is good. i try and avoid meats that are a bit fatty when i can.

drink lots of water 🙂

i have one coffee a day with milk and a sugar in the morning, 2 small cartons of fruit juice (i’m not a big fruit eater) at lunch time but apart from that its just water.

no puddings.

takeaway should be a treat, try and have it less than once a week… think when ordering: pizza should be thin crust to minimise bread, no extra cheese – in fact just apply some common sense even when treating yourself to a take-away, currys – go for a tomato based one like a masala instead of korma for example… use wholegrain rice from home isntead of ordering rice and naans with it.

simple changes can be made that dont stop you enjoying food 🙂

another thing i found useful was: if you’re forced into a ‘damnit i have to buy food from a petrol station’ situation… apply the 4% rule – whatever you buy must be less than 4% fat, not 4% or your recommended daily allowance as some packets try and trick you with on the front… but less than 4grams of fat per 100grams of food. mrsconsequences mum lost about 5 stone on the 4% diet and its stayed off no problems 🙂

If I have to buy food from a petrol station I still go full fat bastard and get a ginsters. It’s only natural 😆 I just try to stick to under 2000 calories a day and it seems to work alright for me.

On Tues lunchtime I had 2lb of pasta. I erm, overmade it the night before and didnt want to waste so…..

Everyone at work was gobsmacked and the plate was weighed. It went down easily followed by a packet of Walkers, a Snickers and two Longley farm Yoghurts.

apply the 4% rule

That’s an interesting rule… even before iDiet I was looking at sugar content more than fat content.

so did i yeti! but then beccas mum did this 4% thing… didnt worry about anything other than the fat content… ate a pretty normal diet, very varied, no cutting down on fruit and stuff, still has milk in cups of tea and a sugar. lost just over 5 stone, its stayed off 🙂

conversly…

I try to weigh myself every morning as I certainly can see the effect of yesterdays eating on my weight the next day.

If I eat too much and/or too late and I see it on the scales.

If I have a chocolate bar and don’t work it off I see it in the scales.

I can also see the effect of different foods. Baked potoatos are, for me, an excellent food for losing weight, even if I use butter on them. Turkey is also good. Marzipan is definitely not good.

Eating after 8pm is also bad – Sumo wrestlers eat after 8pm for a reason.

The good thing about weighing myself everyday is that is is a constant feedback loop and if I pig out one day I will take it carefully the next day.

You also get to see the effect of exercise and hard work, which gives you the motivation to carry on with it.

Weighing myself every few days does not have this feedback effect.

I don’t follow any special diet when trying to lose weight – just do a bit more exercise and watch what I eat and aim for losing a lb a day at most – 2lb a week is a healthy guide apparently.

Are you sure? Are you sure your body stores it all as fat? I think it gets stored in your muscles ready for use the next day. I usually eat quite alot of an evening if I’m doing a big ride the next day (its nicer than having to eat loads before setting off in the morning) it defintiely seems to help.

Phil – it doesn’t allow pork scratchings 🙁 therefore… I’m out.

Good luck OP!

Are you sure? Are you sure your body stores it all as fat?

doesn’t really matter – it could still be in my belly (or further along its path…) – the weight is still indicative that I ate a lot yesterday.

Seems to work for me though.

But a ritter marzipan bar means 1lb heavier the next day, regular as clockwork.

But a ritter marzipan bar means 1lb heavier the next day, regular as clockwork

Really? How much does a bar weigh?

Really? How much does a bar weigh?

Err, 1lb? 🙄

doesn’t really matter – it could still be in my belly (or further along its path…) – the weight is still indicative that I ate a lot yesterday.

WTF. After every meal or every glass of water, you’re going to be heavier.

Responding to a few comments:

The OP mentions a 500ml bottle of coke in his post.

that is a very light day! Normally 3-4 cans of coke 😳 I’d rather give it up than drink diet crap. the caffeine withdrawal is awful, headaches and shakes for a week when I stop 👿

If you are bored/need to do something with your hands I reckon munching on carrots and fruit inthe car along with a litre of water to hand.

It’ll only take a short while but all you need to do is recondition yourself mentally.

I’ve thought about the carrot/fruit bit, love carrots I do! Agree with the mental conditioning and feel doing so makes the difference between a diet and a lifestyle change.

Getting a road bike helped as well and kick started it again when I plateaud a bit, makes you want to put in more effort than riding a mtb imo.

Funnily enough I bought one in March and it’s done less than 100 miles and is in theFOR SALE section!!! I HATE riding on the road and after a bus knocked me off last week even more so. I’ve bought an Inbred SS frame and looking to get out and about on some easy canal runs so I can build stamina but feel I’m away from the traffic.

didnt worry about anything other than the fat content… ate a pretty normal diet, very varied, no cutting down on fruit and stuff, still has milk in cups of tea and a sugar. lost just over 5 stone, its stayed off

There’s no fat in coke according to the tin 😆

A 1lb bar of marzipan??

A 1lb bar of marzipan??

I guess so, keeping the weight on requires alot of committment, dedication and effort.