Weight loss – can I do it?

Thanks Andy. I think I’d fall over if my BMI ever reached 18.

Bloody well done btw

+1 🙂

keeping count of calories is a great way of making sure you don’t eat too much but it certainly isn’t an accurate way of calculating weight loss, So don’t get too hooked up on it. Have you even seen the way calories are calculated for foods?

I would recommend reading the 4 hour body by Tim Ferris

Kenny Senior
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 ???

As BoardinBob says it’s not an exact science. A few points to consider. Your metabolism will stay elevated for a period after exercise, so even brief periods of exercise which may not burn a lot of calories will raise your metabolism. Also carbs/water weight. My very basic lay mans understanding is that carbs act like a sponge in the body, soaking up and holding water, and this is something I’ve noticed myself.

So for example, if I eat a load of chips and then drink whatever liquid I normally drink of an evening (generally a lot) my weight will be disproportionately higher than it would had I eaten the same no. of calories in steak instead of a bag of chips.

I was reading about why one loses a lot at the start of a diet, and it was to do with 1 glycogen molecule binging to 3 or 4 water molecules when it is stored. Start dieting, use your stored glycogen, and you immediately start losing the weight of that water as well. Which seems to fit in with what you’ve found.

I’ll check that book out Clobber, cheers.

Kenny Senior

Start dieting, use your stored glycogen, and you immediately start losing the weight of that water as well. Which seems to fit in with what you’ve found.

Yes but just to clarify, this can or will happen on a daily basis whether you’re dieting or not potentially throwing out your calories in/ weight lost calcs.

I’m with you, I guess if it does throw it out for a day it soon goes back the other way.

I’m not getting too hung up on the daily weight, because I know there’ll be fluctuations, I just find it interesting, and if it’s down or not either way it’s motivation for that day.

Bloody well done btw

+1, I wouldn’t get too hung up on daily weights given how many variables there are in water retention / digestion etc, but if its working and helping you stay motivated then I doff my cap.
Now quit swimming breast stroke and use a proper stroke to elevate that HR a bit 😉

I can’t couldn’t do front crawl without choking to death, so I had a lesson last week (37 years old and having a swimming lesson 😀 ) to sort this out. Now I can do a slow steady length, pause and repeat. It’ll come… Yesterday I just wanted to swim non-stop for an hour, and as the pool was empty I didn’t want to practice my front crawl when there was nobody else around for the pretty blonde lifeguard to watch.

Well done KS,

Seems Like being attentive to your plan is working. The psychological target of 100 kg doesn’t seem too far away.

Keep it up!

Could it be that I’m losing muscle as well as body fat

No

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

Your falling in the trap that exercise allows you to eat more. You have to divorce diet from exercise. You cannot burn off enough calories during exercise to make any significant difference at your stage.

Calorie counting and burn is only ever a guide. Its far more dependent on factors like, type of food, your metabolism etc etc

Don’t fool yourself, don’t look for props or excuses to eat more. Stick with the plan. There are no short cuts. Sorry if this is a tough message. The positive is your doing something about your weigh and will succeed if you stick to the plan. Good luck

On my fitness pal, why does the daily calories not reduce if you input a lower weight. Shirley if you’re lighter your allowance should change accordingly ?

Sorry if this is a tough message.

No problem mate, I’m all too familiar with the notion of kidding myself ‘it’s ok to eat this’

The bottom line is, since I started this on Jan 1st I’m shoving an awful lot less in my gob than I was before, and by recording every single thing I’m not denying to myself how much I’m eating. The exercise I’m doing is what I was doing before, but I’m happy with that as I know it’s achievable with the time I have in the day/week. I’ve learnt before that unrealistic targets can’t be met which leads to feelings of failure.

I don’t think I’m looking for excuses to eat more – I focus on the 2000 calories target, not the 1000 deficit, so I don’t come home thinking ‘I’ve just burnt an extra 709 calories, I can eat 700 more, now what’s in the biscuit tin’. Its definitely the food that’s the important thing for me, and I see the exercise as a bonus (from the weight loss point of view, and as a goal in itself from the CV fitness point of view).

That said, the ‘more exercise = I can eat more’ trap is something I will have to be wary of so you’re right to mention it.

The psychological target of 100 kg doesn’t seem too far away.

Couple of weeks I reckon 😉 Dipped just under 19 st today, so I’m going to switch to imperial for a couple of days 🙂

On my fitness pal, why does the daily calories not reduce if you input a lower weight. Shirley if you’re lighter your allowance should change accordingly ?

The FatSecret app I’m using does exactly that.

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

Something from the Garmin Vivo range would do the trick.

**’other brands are available’

I can’t couldn’t do front crawl without choking to death, so I had a lesson last week (37 years old and having a swimming lesson ) to sort this out. Now I can do a slow steady length, pause and repeat. It’ll come… Yesterday I just wanted to swim non-stop for an hour, and as the pool was empty I didn’t want to practice my front crawl when there was nobody else around for the pretty blonde lifeguard to watch

.
Good work! lessons in anything (at any age) are always daunting, and as a former swim teacher it warms my cockles to see people choosing to learn correct technique through coaching. Before you know it you’ll be ripping along and will quite literally be half the man you were before.

I can’t bear the thought of snaking up and down with arms like a windmill and a head like a tennis spectator like I see some people doing, so it was learn it properly or remain unable to do it. It’s mainly that I need to get comfortable with the breathing, and out of that mainly the breathing out, and the bilateral breathing (my neck doesn’t turn left so well). I find it a bit odd that I’m not comfortable with front crawl breathing – as I get more tired I tend to hold my breath instead of breathing out – but am happy as a pig in shit doing it in breaststroke. Probably a mental thing, practice will sort it I’m sure. I only started swimming regularly (since school) again about a year ago, but I just love it. Open water one day, which my wife is nagging me to do as she doesn’t like to go by herself.

Mrs Senior, who is a nurse who does weight loss stuff with some of her patients, says I may never be able to healthily get down to 12.5 stone (80kg), which was my intended target when I started this thread. She says I’m too stocky.

Since posting a photo was suggested at the start, here is a link to my Flickr page (I can’t for the life of me work out how to get the BB code on my iPad, feel free to do so if you can) and two photos of my tummy when I was 131kg on January 1st.

In between the piss taking, I would be interested in any objective opinion on whether

1) that looks like a 20.5 stone man

2) there is 8 stone extra timber there

Do your worst 😀 , I know what to expect – (and don’t forget, I’m 10kg lighter now). I’m 5’10.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/139963460@N03/

Kenny Senior – Member

Mrs Senior, who is a nurse who does weight loss stuff with some of her patients, says I may never be able to healthily get down to 12.5 stone (80kg), which was my intended target when I started this thread. She says I’m too stocky.

With respect to your wife, she’s talking bobbins there. Probably being somewhat conciliatory with you. You’ll probably never healthily get down to 10 stone, but 5’10…12.5 stone?

Kenny Senior

1) that looks like a 20.5 stone man

2) there is 8 stone extra timber there

1) Nope.

2) I doubt it.

Top tip for crawl:

Put your running shoes on and run 8x200m sprints, twice a week. After a few weeks it will improve your CV efficiency so much you will no longer be gasping for breath whilst doing crawl and will be able to do measured lazy strokes and breathe properly.

At least, that’s how it happened for me 🙂

I’m a bit confused now. If you think there’s not 8st to be lost there, how is she wrong? That’s me on 1st Jan weighing 131kg or 20.6 stone.

Nice try molgrips, but I know my tables, and that’s a mile – get outta here 🙂

(Thanks, I might try it).

Kenny Senior
I’m a bit confused now. If you think there’s not 8st to be lost there, how is she wrong? That’s me on 1st Jan weighing 131kg or 20.6 stone.

The most straightforward answer is show me an unhealthy 5’10 guy who weighs 12.5 stone. Crash diets and dehydrated bodybuilders aside. Unless you were hugely muscular, and you don’t appear to be, and even then you could lose some muscle.

The photograph is really a very vague way of guessing anything and I was just answering what I thought you looked like.

I see what you mean now.

Top work 🙂

Try to blank out too much noise as helpful as it may be intended, just do what works for you and get good ‘n’ obsessed with your goals.

You’re proving you can do it; enjoying your honest updates!

Thanks bearnecessities 🙂

Knowing that I committed to updating this thread each week is a useful motivational tool, on top of the other factors of course.

Did you have second thoughts about the endearing salutation 🙂

Nothing wrong with saying it how it is!

Was just being cautious 🙂

Fill your boots, us fatties are always jolly remember 😉

Short post this morning because I’m just loading the bikes up on to the car.

Another 1.1kg lost this week, 11.7kg in total over six weeks. 3″ off my waist.

That’s amazing. This thread makes me happy

wow! Well done, having to hitch your trousers up all the time is a great motivator to carry on! 😀

Kenny senior………well done mate.
been watching this post with interest. I managed to lose 5 stone a couple of years ago, following a well written about eating plan, often talked about on here.
slowly but steadily I have managed to put 2 stone back on.
reading your post and how well you are doing has given me a bit of a boost to try and get the 2 stone off again.

cheers mate.

Yeah, good motivational thread. I’ll be sure to point my brother towards it when he decides it’s time to swap chips for dips.

having to hitch your trousers up all the time is a great motivator

It sure is, not to mention the obvious fashion advantage of showing off ones underpants, too, when you forget to hitch. But seriously, when I’d lost the majority of my flab I revisited an old pair of jeans that used to cut into me at my worst only to find I could slip them on without undoing the fly or button – I almost cried.

There was definite whimpering going on…

Well done sir.

Yeah, I’m chuffed really. The main point for starting the thread was so I knew I would have to post each week and therefore want to post success – using STW like a Fat Fighters meeting 😀

Ton – Stick to 2000 calories a day and record EVERYTHING, it’ll fall off mate.

Re trousers – my new party trick is taking them off without undoing them 🙂

A difficult week this week, much of it spent away with little opportunity for exercise, the mother-in-laws cooking and eating out.

Lost 0.3kg since last Friday. I think I would have been content to stay the same as last week so this will do. 12kg lost so far so very close to the 2st milestone.

12kg in a month or so is still pretty bloody impressive!

A mate’s father motivated himself by carrying up and down stairs in his house his lost weight in bricks, in a basket. It was amazing the weight he was lugging about!

nickc

A mate’s father motivated himself by carrying up and down stairs in his house his lost weight in bricks, in a basket. It was amazing the weight he was lugging about!

That’s one of the weirdest sentences I can remember deciphering, but I get it. Interesting.

Also, well done again O.P keep it up. Maybe you should take a leaf out of Nickc’s friends dad and carry your excess weight on the bike some day for a laugh. I say laugh, obviously it won’t be fun but it might be novel for a minute or two.

yeah sorry, it’s a bit mangled! It’s early, and I’ve a cold!