pfm Health Club

[webster]

I started a diet at the beginning of July having been horrified to see that I had gone up to 77 kilos.
That might not sound like a lot but I'm around 5 ft 7/8 and of small frame.
Just over 2 months later I'm now 70 kilos which is the lowest I've been for many years.
I haven't followed any prescribed diet but what I have done is the following :-

1. I've been a 2 sugars in hot drinks man all my life (5 or 6 drinks a day) and now I've stopped taking sugar.
2. I've cut down on cheese and have a little either at lunch or in the evening as opposed to eating rather a lot.
3. I've cut my bread consumption by 50% and now have a maximum of half a baguette a day.
4. I've not touched a drop of alcohol during the 2 months but to be fair I was only drinking a glass of red a day.
5. I workout on a elliptical training machine 5 times a week (first thing in the morning) for around 35 minutes whereas before I was just walking for half an hour a few times a week.

What I do eat (mostly from the garden) is lots of fresh veg and fruit; eggs,white meat,fish,spuds,pasta and occasionally rice.
If I feel hungry between meals I'll have a banana or some other type of fruit which normally does the trick.
Finally I try to eat more at lunch than in the evening and make a point of not eating after 8pm.

Benefits other than the weight loss include; sleeping better at night, no more heartburn, no more swollen ankles (which I used to blame on blood pressure medication - clearly it wasn't) and finally much more energy generally during the day.

I think this thread is a great idea and good luck to all who are trying to lose a bit (or a lot) of weight.

 

[stevec67]

If I lost weight to chase tail my wife wouldn't be too happy! And she's a red-headed Glaswegian Karate instructor....

I'd be careful not to spill her pint if I were you.

 

[Marky-Mark]

I reconnected 5-6 years ago with a friend from my late teens through early 20s on FB. He's a meso-endo body type, and so carried his extra weight fairly well, but he struggled with mild obesity when I knew him, and I noticed he was still heavy now, in his 50s. So 3 years ago or so he goes full strict vegan. No meat, diary, fish ... nothing that breathed air or water and everything possible that comes from those things also off his list. Long to short, he's still fat around the middle. But he loves to tell everyone about how healthy his diet is and how great he feels even though he has high blood pressure and tends to wear his suits too small so that he's sort of lumpy like a python who swallowed a wildebeest. He must eat a lot cashews with his lettuce!

 

[vuk]

The first time I got thin my reason was to chase tail.

racoon hunting?

 

[Marky-Mark]

racoon hunting?

I never minded the too-much-blow-haven't-slept look if the cockpit was right.

 

[david ellwood]

My main motivation is joint pain particularly in the hips. I just need to give my body less work to do as I get older.

 

[Still]

https://twitter.com/vizcomic

 

[Whaleblue]

138.2kg

Loss in week 1.7kg*
Loss overall (2 weeks**) 2.6kg

*I doubt I’ll see that much loss in a single week again! Beginners luck!

**First weigh in was Saturday 25th August, not 1st September!

 

[stevec67]

Good stuff WB. First weeks always give impressive losses for the big lads but as you have guessed the rate slows. Good work though, it's the right direction and it's not a race. Key is to get to where you want and stay there.

 

[david ellwood]

I think one of the biggest fallacies regarding weight loss is exercise.
The energy burned is rarely greater than the increased intake it encourages.
Not saying exercise is bad, just that it doesn’t help with weight loss.

 

[Whaleblue]

Thanks Steve.

Yes, my doctor is excellent, and spent some time explaining why 5:2 works, and that for me it needs to be for life as I’ll eventually plateau, but 7:0 would surely see a steady rise back up in weight. I’m intrigued to see where that plateau is. It won’t be under 80kg (13 stone) as the NHS might suggest it should be - in my twenties when I was fit and slim I was closer to 14 stone!

Perhaps I should have named the thread “pfm Lifestyle Club”!

 

[andy831]

WB perhaps you could actually explain what your 5:2 comprises of it terms or calorie/carb/fat intake? I am sure it would be helpful to some of use.

 

[stevec67]

I'll give you mine, it's dead easy. For 5 days, do what you like, don't go mad, but if it's a party then have a drink. If it's a birthday have a bit of cake. Just don't eat the whole bloody lot. 2 days - 500 cals a day, any way you like. I use protein to stop my appetite. This means 1 Weetabix with milk, then 2 eggs and a bit of salad, evening a tin of sardines and a bit of salad. 100-200-200, or thereabouts. I have a bmi of 27, I'd like to lose a stone and get to bmi of 25. If I stick to the regime above I lose a pound a week and it stays off.

 

[hifilover1979]

138.2kg

Loss in week 1.7kg*
Loss overall (2 weeks**) 2.6kg

*I doubt I’ll see that much loss in a single week again! Beginners luck!

**First weigh in was Saturday 25th August, not 1st September!

I’d say you will. When you’ve more to lose, it comes of quickly to begin with. It’s when you hit a plateau that things get a bit tougher

Every year I’ll hammer cardio for 10-12 weeks to drop some extra added ‘christmas’ weight and I’ll loose 2 stone quite readily. Cleaned up diet, a fair few things cut out and 30mins cardio every day, it drops off.

 

[Mullardman]

I think one of the biggest fallacies regarding weight loss is exercise.
The energy burned is rarely greater than the increased intake it encourages.
Not saying exercise is bad, just that it doesn’t help with weight loss.

I think that's sort of right. If you look at how much exercise you need to do to burn off, say, a Chocolate Bar.. it's a lot. There is no doubt that the easiest way to lose calories is to not ingest them in the first place.

However, exercise contributes to overall fitness, well being, mood etc., and also (I believe) increases overall metabolic rate.

As I pointed out above, every authority I've ever read agrees that moderate weight training improves muscle tone which in turn increases the calories burned by muscles even at rest.

I don't run because my knees can no longer take the strain and my heart meds don't let me. I do weights every other day. Swimming every other day. Minimum of 30 minute 'power walk' every day and much longer walks when I have the time and inclination.

( Or I will when I get properly back into my regime..... soon.... )

 

[MikeMA]

Good luck to all you aspiring weight losers. I'm 69, 5' 9" and 11st. 9lbs., so this thread gives me the opportunity to feel slightly smug.

For anyone finding it all too difficult you can perhaps take comfort from this, seen on a noticeboard outside a local cafe:

"The heavier you are the more difficult you are to kidnap. Stay safe, eat cake."

 

[matt j]

Probably teaching people to suck eggs, but weight loss is 95% mental. I don't think it really matters what route you decide to go down out of the many options available ( Some of them take themselves far too seriously on the internet as a "community") so long as you have the mental fortitude to make it a lifestyle change rather than looking at it as something you're doing to lose weight, when you can keep it up without tracking calories or what day it is and whether or not you're allowed to eat a specific item, then you've won.

Personally I'm not psychologically stable enough to make it a full time thing, I think I have a bit of bi-polar mixed in with the depression as I get all super hyped about starting something new but lose all interest after a week or two, which explains why I've been everywhere from 12.5 stone to 18 stone and all manner of weights in between- you should see my spare clothes drawers! I think I have the same pair of jeans in four different waist sizes from 32" to 38" lol.

Good luck with it and I hope you keep it going.

 

[hifilover1979]

Agree with the mental side

But folk will ask me when I drop weight quickly 'don't know how you do that; I can't drop 1lb etc'... They don't seem to realise that a diet starts with yer gob and the stoppage of things going into it!

 

[Whaleblue]

WB perhaps you could actually explain what your 5:2 comprises of it terms or calorie/carb/fat intake? I am sure it would be helpful to some of use.

Similar to Steve.

“2” days for me are Monday/Wednesday. I go for 600(ish) kcals on those days. How I consume them has varied quite a lot, depending on nothing in particular! One day would be 250/100/30/250 kcals on Porage/handful of mixed nuts/satsuma/small salmon steak and veg. Another day was nuts/early lunch of tuna salad/veg laden evening meal with a couple of vegetarian sausages.

On “5” days I eat as I always have, though perhaps slightly less of the rubbish.

I’ve also been walking to work (well, to the train from home, and on to work) which equates to over 3 miles a day during the week. I started that in April, and although I lost no weight I think it slowed or stopped the previously steady rise.

 

[webster]

I think one of the biggest fallacies regarding weight loss is exercise.
The energy burned is rarely greater than the increased intake it encourages.
Not saying exercise is bad, just that it doesn’t help with weight loss.

I don't believe I eat any more on the days that I exercise than the days that I don't.
What I do know is that since starting regular exercise I have far less aches and pains and far more energy.