Weight loss – can I do it?

br – don’t confuse the weight of someone muscular – with that of someone fat.

I wasn’t.

My wife (practice nurse) does some weight loss stuff with some of her patients, and she told me that people who weigh themselves daily tend to do better than those who weigh themselves weekly. Apparently it’s to do with being in control, which I guess taps into the mental/emotional/whatever aspect of weight or overeating issues.

Salad v Surgery: Treating Type 2 Diabetes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06j5qdf#play

joolsburger – indeed, 14 stone might be a more realistic weight for me, and is my interim target as that is the lowest I have ever been as an adult. If I get to 14 and find that my fat levels, waistline etc. are as they should be then I’ll be quite happy with that. 12.5 was based on the BMI charts, although I appreciate they are not perfect.

I weigh myself daily, just to see how it’s going. First thing , before eating, after a poo. It’s motivation either way – reassurance that it’s working or a wee nudge reminding me not to slack off from the discipline, depending on what it says 🙂

Good luck, I’m another who would advocate My Fitness Pal app., to record stuff. You can scan barcodes, pick from the database etc, so there’s very little effort in recording input. If you’re one for sweets and crisps, then it’s a very good way of putting a check on that.

Broke my collar bone in June and as a result have done virtually no exercise since. Recently deliberately relocated into the Dales for three months after my house was flooded on boxing day. Aim is to try and kick start my routine back into regular exercise by totally changing my environment. Already been out running this morning for the first time in yonks, collecting my bike this afternoon.

Good luck B.A.Nana, sounds like you’ve had a rough time of it.

So week 2 finished and I’m down to 124kg, an overall loss of 7kg and 2.8kg since last Friday. That’s also 3cm off my waist measurement.

I’ve had a big bike ride this week – 12 miles with 1900ft of climbing – two swims and a big walk in the hills with the dogs.

Food wise I’ve had a couple of shaky days. One after the bike ride when I joined my riding mates for a pub lunch, and yesterday when I munched a couple of chocolate bars at work. However, over the last fortnight I have learnt quite a bit about what food keeps me feeling full and what doesn’t, and probably more importantly if this is going to work long term, what foods are both filling AND that I enjoy. I think if I’m canny about what I eat I needn’t feel overly hungry or deprived.

I’ve averaged around 2300 kcal a day this week, which is over the target but has been evidently been sufficiently offset by the exercise.

I think it’s going to get harder from now on, and the ‘honeymoon period’ has all but passed, so I will have to do better at keeping disciplined. But I think it’s a good start and I’m happy enough so far.

I’ve had a big bike ride this week – 12 miles with 1900ft of climbing

Wow – you obviously live somewhere pretty hilly!

Well done with the weight loss – keep it up.

I’ve started using MyFitnessPal too. Aiming to lose a pound a week gives me a daily calorie allowance of 1500 before exercise. 1500 kcal is VERY easy to use up 😯

Well done, am on a similar path again, I did it this time last year after an injury curtailed my exercise and my weight shot up. Then we as a family decided to lose a dress size for some upcoming weddings which made it easier since there was no alternative with everyone on a food plan and diet.

I found using walnuts as a replacement to my nighttime crisps and chocolate initially a bit dire but after a while became strangely addicted to them, I also eventually got hooked on the whole thing to the point I became physically repelled by all the old foods I used to love, it’s a bit dodgy, I became almost ‘gaunt’ in appearance and had to snap out of it, easily done by increasing the alcohol intake, but a cautionary tale nonetheless.

Exercise is key though, luckily I’m in a position to ride the bike twice a day everyday with the dog and come the summer am out sailing a lot which is also hard work. As you’re already aware the more you use it the more you can feed it, it all becomes a lot easier later in the year when the clocks go forward.

Good luck I shall continue reading about your progress with interest, I lapsed a bit in the run up and including Christmas so have a few pounds to shed, but it’s like the girl said (Kate Moss) nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels.. Or something like that. 😉

Kenny Senior – Member
So week 2 finished

Hey! Here he is 😀

2.8kg since last Friday

Great result. Sounds as if you’re lifestyle is changing to incorporate more activity, as well as adjusting your diet.
I hope you’re enjoying the increased physical activity, getting out on the bike, etc.
keep up the good work.
🙂

Here I am!

1500 kcal is VERY easy to use up

Isn’t it just, I am recording absolutely everything that passes my lips and it’s quite an eye opener.

Two nights this week I haven’t been able to finish my tea. Before, if it was sausages, I’d have four, plus mash, carrots, peas and gravy. This week, I just took two, plus less mash and the same veg. I gave the second sausage to the dogs, just too full to eat it 😯

I don’t think my exercise has gone up that much – maybe slightly greater distances, but I was doing one ride, one big walk and one or two swims a week before. I’m hoping to notice a big difference in my riding if I do lose this weight, as I reckon my CV system is probably pretty decent – like taking the engine out of a Range Rover 10yr old Land Cruiser and sticking it in a Golf. Or something 🙂

Why isn’t it healthy to lose more than 1kg a week?

Going back to the start of this thread, he’s going for 1kg a week by creating a calorie deficit of 1000 a day by reducing his intake to 2000 calories.

If you do that and also added a 6 mile walk at 3mph – perfectly achievable for anyone – that would be about another 1000 calories a day (to pick the first calories burnt calculator based on weight/distance/time I found on Google) and in theory close to 2kg a week.

Why would this be bad? If you can get all the nutrients you need in 2000 calories, where’s the harm in burning another 1000 calories worth of fat every day? I’d it just that you’d get too hungry?

I’ve signed up to My Fitness Pal. B.A.Nana mentions scanning barcodes, how do you do this, and can you then input that into MFP?

Houndlegs, you have to do it from the App, go to add food on the diary page and then there is a little bar code symbol on the top right corner, press on that and scan away – works really well

MFP seems to work better on the app than on the web page – well for me anyway – another recommendation here, esp with the integration into the iphone for walking and strava for the running and biking

GreatApe, I read an article a while back (cant find it now) looking at people who lost weight quickly and those who lost it steadily and a year after they stopped their diets the percentage of people who had kept weight off/put it back on were broadly similar.
Personally (Ie, no impirical evidence to back it up) it comes down to what you are happy with and can maintain – some people are happy with long term calorie deficits, others would rather go on a 2 week Juice diet to lose 15Kg !
I also cant train if my calorie deficit is too big

Horses for courses

I’d read stuff about slow and steady being better long term as people do better at keeping it off, but that might be outdated thinking? But looking at the OPs numbers, he’s managed to lose more than 2.5 on his second week without (no offence) denying himself too much. Will that still be the glycogen/water weight loss mentioned previously?

andyfla, thanks for that,just downloaded it.

Any advice on losing weight better as i have been doing my fitness pal for about 2 months and not lost much weight about 4 kg. So really slow, i think. But i have changed my eating habits (more veg and leaner protein sources) and exercising more (road riding 4 times a week around 70 miles). But i do struggle most of the time to match my calories intake of 1830 a day

But i do struggle most of the time to match my calories intake of 1830 a day

keep off the chocolate! and the beer! 😉 are you adding the exercise in?

4kg over two months isn’t that bad if one of those was december. about a pound a week

Im drinking way less and only 2 beers in december and adding the exercise, i do feel better and that i can go faster and longer. Sometimes i only eat 1400 calories which is not enough? Especially when done a long ride then usually have 2000 calories and around 1500 exercise

Good work OP, it takes time and effort, and as you say being meticulous about how much calories is in something (weighing stuff for a while is good so you get an accurate idea of what 100grams of x,y,z food looks like).

So many people over estimate a portion.

Great Ape,
Going too fast comes to work with how your metabolism adjusts. If you cut back too much/quickly your metabolism can effectivly go into a “shut down/survival” type mode as the sudden drop in calories can leave your body thinking its missing huge amounts, so will hold onto anything extra it can get.
So any slight over eating and it will quickly take all extra calories on board and store them thinking it might not get anything else anytime soon! (hope that makes sense!)

Racing Weight is a great book for training with sports in mind, and has a big chunk about this sort of thing.

Also, I doubt you’d be near burning 1000 calories for a 6 mile walk! if hard hill walking maybe, but general walking (flat/canal style) is more likely 200 an hour.

That figure came out of a calculator which took into account weight, distance, speed and gradient, but I know these things are potentially somewhat flawed.

The rest of what you say makes sense, thanks.

Weigh in day is here again, and it’s a somewhat disappointing 0.8kg loss for the week. Obviously it was never going to stay at the previous rates, and in isolation I guess 0.8 is decent enough. It hasn’t been a good week in terms of getting out exercising due to work requirements this week, and I haven’t stuck to the 2000 calorie limit on any day. Still, 7.8kg lost so far, so well ahead of the 1kg/week schedule.

0.8Kg is still heading in the right direction. Stay motivated and focused while you’re still developing new habits related to diet.
🙂

0.8 kg is excellent especially as your average is still over 1 kg a week. Always take the long term view. Some weeks will always be better than others. There are weeks when you will say “is that all” and there will be others when you say “wow, I that’s way better than I thought”.

Stay positive and remember a small win is still a win.

Think of it in lbs it sounds more! It’s a 1.75lb loss so all good!

That’s very true! It’s going the right way, that’s the main thing.

Bit late to the thread so probably not much new to add, I’ve just turned 46 and at 5ft 5 and 76kg with a stocky build I decided to shed a bit of weight to get back to about 65kg, certainly help on the bike. I’ve never really dieted before as i usually stay around the same sort of figure but since i bust 40 it is staying on. Using myfitnesspal and endomondo has seen me lose 3kg in the first two weeks, I haven’t really set any timescale or goal but with having the calorie figures to hand you just start to look more closely at what your eating and make better choices. Good luck OP, it helps if you have some support which as the other two in the office have just nipped out for bacon butties I seem to be lacking today!

Well done jwt. My gaffer’s doing it too and that does help.

Been a difficult week this week, partly due to circumstances (had three days away for a family matter, eating out or at motorway services, and unable to record it all) and partly self-inflicted (being lazy about preparing meals, skipping breakfast and not bothering to record everything when at home). I’ve put on 0.1kg, which is disappointing, but perhaps a useful reminder of the need to be disciplined. On the other hand, perhaps that’s not too bad given the upheaval there has been this week. Back to it today, packed lunch made, breakfast eaten, good to go.

Sorry to hear that it’s been a tough week. Hopefully it feels good to be back on track!

Hope you get back on track soon.

KS are you using an activity tracker/HRM?

I found these a revolution in helping to control weight – particularly as the Garmin ones integrate directly into MFP.

Exercise calorie burn figures based on GPS and heart rate data opened my eyes to what is actually being used, again it is not 100% accurate but the data is a true reflection of effort rather than a finger in the air.

A few people will tell you that these are just a toy, but by applying the data produced I could accurately predict what the scales would read on Saturday mornings.

You are doing great though, While the ‘Eat less move more’ calorie restriction model should work, it seems that the body will throw in some feedback loops that will cause the weight loss to stall.

Stick with it, a bad week can be disheartening, but it can also be motivating, remember you are still way ahead of your target.

I wouldn’t worry about a blip, just get back to it as soon as practical and keep in losing weight. It’s a long term plan, so a week of badness is nothing to worry about and, if anything, should reaffirm why you’re eating clean making future progress easier.

I don’t have a HRM but I do use mapmywalk to estimate what I use when walking. Guess there’s a similar one for cycling, but not for swimming!

Yes, it’s a long term thing, and to be honest the way it’s gone this week I wasn’t hugely surprised.

Is there something a bit less intrusive than a HRM that you can use all the time to measure, even roughly, calories burned?

Friday morning is here again. After last weeks blip I was keen to get back on track. I seem to have done so.

Last Friday I had gained 0.1kg to leave me at 123.3kg. This week I have lost 2.9kg, leaving me at 120.4kg. That’s a total loss of 10.6kg in five weeks which I’m really pleased with.

This week I have been absolutely meticulous and recorded everything that I have consumed apart from water. I have also recorded every bit of exercise I have done – using MapMyWalk for walking (works the calories out using weight, distance, gradient and speed) or a swimming calorie calculator online (uses weight, distance, time and what stroke). I know these aren’t perfect but it’s as good as I can reasonably do.

I thought the in vs out for each day might be interesting to anyone else in the same boat as me. The calories used is calculated by the FatSecret app and is based on weight as I’ve noticed it coming down. I then manually add the exercise values provided by the calculators or tools mentioned above.

I aim for 2000 calories a day as that is my daily needs (according to my weight) minus 1000. 1000 x 7 should equate to the loss of 1kg of fat.

All weighing is done in the morning, after a wee and a poo, before any food or drink has been taken.

Friday am – 123.3kg – consumed 1990 calories, no exercise that day, used up 3004, deficit of 1014

Saturday am – 122.4kg – consumed 1950, no exercise, used up 2982, deficit of 1032

Sunday am – 122.3kg – consumed 3160 (whoops), got home and decided to see if I could make up for that with exercise, walked 8 miles in 2 hours to burn 1432 calories, net deficit 1020 calories

Monday am – 121.9kg – phew, seem to have pulled it back after yesterday’s consumption disaster, and it is encouraging to know that a blip on the eating side of things can be redressed with sufficient exercise. I assumed the afterglow from 2 hours of marching meant my body was gobbling up calories all night long. Then managed to repeat that food disaster and ate 3324 calories 🙁 Did some walking to use up 448, net deficit for this day of 29 calories.

Tuesday am – 122kg – up a touch, consumed 2313 calories, only burnt 306 on my dog walk, net deficit 897.

Wednesday am – 122.1kg – up another touch, consumed 1991, 4 mile / 1 hour walk used up 569, net deficit 1480.

Thursday am – 121.3kg – 2kg down for the week, so I was feeling pretty happy despite the errors above. Had my normal breakfast and lunch, then went for a swim after work – 80 lengths (2km) of breaststroke in 65 minutes used up 730 calories – treated myself to a packet of biltong and some cheese sticks afterwards, then home for tea and two triangles of Toblerone which my MIL had brought me. Consumed 2067 and burnt 3547 yesterday, net deficit 1480.

Today – 120.4kg – a good result.

That’s a deficit for the week of 6952 calories, so I’m left wondering how that had led to a 2.9kg weight loss ???

– Could it be that I’m losing muscle as well as body fat? Not sure, but I’m doing the same amount of exercise as before, I’m getting plenty of fruit, veg and protein, so I can’t see why my body would metabolise muscle when there’s still a lot of fat to be used up. No pear drop breath or piss either.

– Perhaps the exercise calorie calculators are significantly underestimating what I’m using up?

– I wonder if the most likely explanation is that I’m overlooking the calories burnt during day to day activity? I record specific exercise, but do not account for the time spent doing housework, walking round the office up and down the stairs (my job is 90% time wise in the office but I’m not at my desk all that time).

I had originally planned to reduce the 2000 calorie daily target as my weight dropped, but given the rate I’m losing weight at I’m going to stick with 2000 until the weight loss plateaus and then have a look at it. Even an 80kg man doing the exercise I do needs 2500 calories a day to stay at 80 kg, so perhaps I will not have to reduce my 2000 calorie limit at all.

I am finding that 2000 calories is just about enough for me to feel content, just. It does require some discipline but I am not totally denying myself crisps and chocolate, just having much less. Most importantly it is manageable and not making me miserable and constantly wanting to eat, which I suspect a lower amount might do.

Now I’m going to have a big bacon sandwich 😀

Yikes, that’s a long post.

That’s a deficit for the week of 6952 calories, so I’m left wondering how that had led to a 2.9kg weight loss ???

It’s not an exact science. As a broad rule, using more than you consume calorie wise is correct, but it won’t correlate exactly with deficit vs weight lost. Hydration etc plays a big part. What type of calories you consumed at a particular point in the day etc. I wouldn’t worry too much. You’re well over your estimate which is a great thing.

My guess is not to worry about it until you hit a bmi of 18 😆

Bloody well done btw

I’m not lethargic, I’ve got plenty of energy for the exercise I’m doing, so I’m not really concerned that I’m overdoing it, just interested in what’s going on.

It’s working, that’s the main thing.