General Weight Loss Support Thread

ciarak7511

tringle wrote: »

Morning all, since March I've been trying hard to lose weight. I've a big birthday coming up in January and want to look and feel good for it.
I lost weight but gained again when I changed jobs and went from running around all day to sitting in an office 8 hours a day. I need to exercise and I swim, walk, cycle and use the Wii Fit.

Started 25 March 80.4kg with BMI 35.2
1 July 71.5kg
25 Sept 76.9kg
3 Nov 73.5kg with BMI 32.2

Aiming for 68kg for Christmas which will bring my BMI under 30.
My biggest problem is wine and late night munchies.

Exercise is fantastic for your health and wellbeing but it's not going to be your primary weight loss tool. Losing weight is 80% down to changing your diet, unless you're planning on becoming a professional athlete!

It's taken me several years of up and down on weight to realise this. I'm the same with wine! I don't drink during the week but do on weekends and drinking wine just inevitably makes me hungrier the next day! To really lose weight I'm gonna have to give up the wine for a bit i think!

Bunny Colvin

Time to bump this thread

I had a bad 2017 with my diet and lack of exercise. The fog has lifted now though and it's time once again to get down to my fight weight. I've a holiday booked for the beginning of June so now is the time to start. I reckon I've at least two stone to lose.

I've got MyFitnessPal on the go and I've joined my local gym. 1750 calories is my new daily allowance - 2000 when I'm in the gym.

The goal weight is anywhere around 70kg but as long as I'm in good shape fitness wise and I lose my stomach - I'll be happy.

I'll weigh myself Friday and post my weight weekly on here. If anyone wants to do the same, you're obviously more than welcome. Got to make yourself accountable somewhere

Snapgal

Bunny Colvin wrote: »

Time to bump this thread

I had a bad 2017 with my diet and lack of exercise. The fog has lifted now though and it's time once again to get down to my fight weight. I've a holiday booked for the beginning of June so now is the time to start. I reckon I've at least two stone to lose.

I've got MyFitnessPal on the go and I've joined my local gym. 1750 calories is my new daily allowance - 2000 when I'm in the gym.

The goal weight is anywhere around 70kg but as long as I'm in good shape fitness wise and I lose my stomach - I'll be happy.

I'll weigh myself Friday and post my weight weekly on here. If anyone wants to do the same, you're obviously more than welcome. Got to make yourself accountable somewhere

I'll def join you. So sick of being over 2 stone over goal

Bunny Colvin

Friday's weigh in: 80.9KG(12st10lbs)
Goal Weight: 68.5KG(10st12lbs)

I'll be doing well to lose more than 1lb this Friday coming - thanks to the weekend. I had a couple of pints on Friday night after work and didn't eat that clean Saturday. At least there was no big hangover on me so the motivation is still here today (alcohol generally doesn't go too well with weight loss so got to be careful with that) I still used MFP at the weekend and I was back into the gym this morning so overall it's not perfect but it could be worse.

MyFitnessPal has me now at 1500 calories in order to lose 2lbs a week. Just over 1800 when I'm in the gym or playing football. I'm not too obsessed, if I'm 200/300 over or under, here or there, then that's alright but the main thing is to keep using it.

Snapgal wrote: »

I'll def join you. So sick of being over 2 stone over goal

Good stuff! Two stone isn't a huge amount but you get sick of it awful fast alright. Let's get it done

Penn

Down 24lb in 8 weeks. Not finding the food too difficult at the minute to be honest. It's pushed me to try new things, much of which I've enjoyed, and getting more into the swing of things when it comes to cooking means it's not as much of a chore that always led to me just buying easy food or gorging on snacks/sweets instead of meals.

However, there have been days where I've actually struggled to eat more than 1,200 calories (my limit that I'm going by is 1,500). I'm eating full meals, but cutting out carbs as much as I have (not keto, just reducing/eliminating carbs where possible) has meant I've been taking more snacks than usual even when I'm not hungry for them just so I'm not too low on calories (I have had some side effects this past week which are likely linked to low calories or lack of electrolytes). So I guess a bit of fine-tuning to be done to balance the diet a bit better is in order.

Still though, the main two things helping me at the minute is MyFitnessPal, and an Excel spreadsheet I made where I can fill in all my data, calculate what percentage I am to goal, my BMI, how much I weigh in lbs/kgs/stone etc. Means I can see my good weeks and bad weeks and what I need to do etc, plus events/occasions which are coming up and what weight (realistic) I want to be by that point. More importantly though, I find it helps with accountability. Cells will turn red if I don't hit my goals, green if I exceed them etc. Helps keep short-term focus as well as long-term.

Prominent_Dawg

My fitness pal is amazing, I wish they had something where members could interact and share their journeys

silverharp

Penn wrote: »

Down 24lb in 8 weeks. Not finding the food too difficult at the minute to be honest. It's pushed me to try new things, much of which I've enjoyed, and getting more into the swing of things when it comes to cooking means it's not as much of a chore that always led to me just buying easy food or gorging on snacks/sweets instead of meals.

However, there have been days where I've actually struggled to eat more than 1,200 calories (my limit that I'm going by is 1,500). I'm eating full meals, but cutting out carbs as much as I have (not keto, just reducing/eliminating carbs where possible) has meant I've been taking more snacks than usual even when I'm not hungry for them just so I'm not too low on calories (I have had some side effects this past week which are likely linked to low calories or lack of electrolytes). So I guess a bit of fine-tuning to be done to balance the diet a bit better is in order.

Still though, the main two things helping me at the minute is MyFitnessPal, and an Excel spreadsheet I made where I can fill in all my data, calculate what percentage I am to goal, my BMI, how much I weigh in lbs/kgs/stone etc. Means I can see my good weeks and bad weeks and what I need to do etc, plus events/occasions which are coming up and what weight (realistic) I want to be by that point. More importantly though, I find it helps with accountability. Cells will turn red if I don't hit my goals, green if I exceed them etc. Helps keep short-term focus as well as long-term.

all sounds good, the BMI wont tell you anymore than your weight unless your height changes , keep a measure of your waistline say once every 2 weeks, if its going down but your weight didn't happen to be in a particular peoiod then its still a win

Penn

silverharp wrote: »

all sounds good, the BMI wont tell you anymore than your weight unless your height changes , keep a measure of your waistline say once every 2 weeks, if its going down but your weight didn't happen to be in a particular peoiod then its still a win

Yeah the BMI is more just to see when I'm in a different category etc, plus my final goal target is based on getting to a BMI under 25. Also taking waist measurements (though only started the last two weeks so I don't have a reading from when I started). Same with a progress photo. Didn't take one until I'd already dropped 20lb just because I'd never thought of it. Would have been good to be able to have a proper before/after at the end, but I'll settle for the one I took.

Prominent_Dawg

silverharp wrote: »

all sounds good, the BMI wont tell you anymore than your weight unless your height changes , keep a measure of your waistline say once every 2 weeks, if its going down but your weight didn't happen to be in a particular peoiod then its still a win

Your BMI will change along with your weight!

Penn

Prominent_Dawg wrote: »

Your BMI will change along with your weight!

Think they just meant tracking my BMI is kinda redundant if I'm also tracking my weight, which is a fair enough point. I'm more so doing it just to see my changes across the board rather than just focusing solely on one number.

Alf Veedersane

Prominent_Dawg wrote: »

My fitness pal is amazing, I wish they had something where members could interact and share their journeys

If you go to the menu and go to Community, thats exactly what's there.

Penn

Only 1lb lost this week, which was disappointing to see as it's the first week I didn't hit my target of 2lb. That said, can't really complain as I lost 4lb last week and 3lb the week before, the scale is still moving in the right direction, I'm still ahead of my targets overall, and I lost half an inch off my waist this week anyway.

Hopefully the good weather f*cks off for a bit so I stop being invited to BBQs

jaxxx

I'm embarking (or trying to at least) a new quest to try and lose the belly. Naturally I'm starting to eat healthier but that's where things get tricky. Long (very very VERY long) story short, I have a very limited food palette and pretty much only like very basic things. One thing I do enjoy is soup. Now I'm about as much of a chef as Donald Trump is an environmentalist. I couldn't make soup if it was a cause of keeping me alive. All these years I've been using those store bought Knorr ones where you mix into water, heat and serve. Researching it recently has shown that it's not too healthy, it has very little (if any) nutritional value and is high in salt, etc. Are there are soups in your normal Tesco/Dunnes/etc that could actually be described as healthy?

Dtp1979

There are no easy fixes I’m afraid. I’m sure there are some healthyish soups out there that’ll prob cost 3-4 Euro a go. You should really put in a small bit of effort and learn to make your own. Salt ain’t bad either btw

silverharp

jaxxx wrote: »

I'm embarking (or trying to at least) a new quest to try and lose the belly. Naturally I'm starting to eat healthier but that's where things get tricky. Long (very very VERY long) story short, I have a very limited food palette and pretty much only like very basic things. One thing I do enjoy is soup. Now I'm about as much of a chef as Donald Trump is an environmentalist. I couldn't make soup if it was a cause of keeping me alive. All these years I've been using those store bought Knorr ones where you mix into water, heat and serve. Researching it recently has shown that it's not too healthy, it has very little (if any) nutritional value and is high in salt, etc. Are there are soups in your normal Tesco/Dunnes/etc that could actually be described as healthy?

a basic of good health is being able to make good home cooked food and not be eating food out of packets, learn to cook or do some classes if they exist. there are plenty of good youtube channels and soups are dead simple

Penn

jaxxx wrote: »

I'm embarking (or trying to at least) a new quest to try and lose the belly. Naturally I'm starting to eat healthier but that's where things get tricky. Long (very very VERY long) story short, I have a very limited food palette and pretty much only like very basic things. One thing I do enjoy is soup. Now I'm about as much of a chef as Donald Trump is an environmentalist. I couldn't make soup if it was a cause of keeping me alive. All these years I've been using those store bought Knorr ones where you mix into water, heat and serve. Researching it recently has shown that it's not too healthy, it has very little (if any) nutritional value and is high in salt, etc. Are there are soups in your normal Tesco/Dunnes/etc that could actually be described as healthy?

Honestly mate, I was in the same boat. I could barely cook, very fussy eater and the thoughts of having to cook and clean up is what always pushed me to ready-made meals or other junk food.

But, once you get into it, you realise it's not that bad. In fact it's surprisingly easy. For homemade vegetable soup, get yourself a bunch of veg (broccoli, carrots, parsnips, maybe a potato or two etc) and cut them up a bit. Cover in a pot of boiling water. Leave them simmering for 30-40 minutes til veg is soft. Get a stick blender and blitz it to the consistency you like (I don't like lumps of veg in mine so I blended the whole thing til smooth). Add some chopped basil and a few spices, whatever you like. Leave it simmering for another 15-20 minutes. By the end, a big pot of homemade vegetable soup that'll last you for a few days. There are even some veg soup mixes you can buy in Dunnes & Tesco where the veg is already cut up for you.

But even then, it's surprisingly easy to cook good food. I was a fussy eater too (and still am in many ways), but I've been trying new things and finding out that stuff I thought I didn't like, actually not that bad. Particularly when you cook it to your own liking and use your own preferred flavourings and spices which can help mask the flavours you don't like. Find recipes of things you like, omit the things you don't like out of the recipe where possible, and replace with healthy alternatives that you do like. I used to hate veg (mainly, as I'm discovering, because of the way my mother would cook them when I was small, where they were just boiled to within an inch of their life). Now, I'm coating veg in a few spices, roasting them, and finding that I'm really enjoying them.

It can seem daunting at first, but it's all just suprisingly simple, and well worth that effort.

Penn

Another 2lb this week, bringing me to 2st lost in 10 weeks. Going to start incorporating some walking into my days now though. Start building up that aspect of my weight loss.

Bunny Colvin

Penn wrote: »

Another 2lb this week, bringing me to 2st lost in 10 weeks. Going to start incorporating some walking into my days now though. Start building up that aspect of my weight loss.

That is phenomenal weight loss, well done!

I swear I've really struggled to get down to my target weight the last year. Simple reason is lack of motivation and discipline, so I've signed up to the Dublin Marathon to run this weight off and to give me a goal. I'm out running four times a week, off the beer the last three weeks and have an 11 day streak on my MFP. It's a good platform to build on.

BilboBagOfCans

Hoping to finally get back to weight loss next week, this thread is so inspiring!

Alf Veedersane

Great to see this thread back in action...it's power is underestimated

Kevhog1988

First time going to the gym in years this morning., Hitting 30 this week and dying whenever i do anything physical. Went from being on the tools in the last job to office based in the new one and put on a shed load of weight.  Just swimming this morning but will keep at it every morning and then am going to get a session with someone in the gym to show me the machines etc.

silverharp

started commuting by bike this week so now have 130km cycling built into my week , also using lunch hour for a walk. A couple of walks at the weekend and that's me done. Not wanting to shift unnecessary weight around Dublin on a bike is an added incentive.

Tar.Aldarion

Pro tip to keep walking interesting is to listen to audio books or podcasts, I get 2-3 hours a day of listening/walking on the same route in with that, without it becoming dull. Look forward to it.

silverharp

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Pro tip to keep walking interesting is to listen to audio books or podcasts, I get 2-3 hours a day of listening/walking on the same route in with that, without it becoming dull. Look forward to it.

I agree , I do that, also download longer Youtube videos that are presentation or interview based. There are Chrome extensions to download Youtube videos as MP4 or MP3 or some websites where you can copy in the link and download.

Penn

Another 2lb down this week, and though I've been doing the occasional 2k walk over the past two weeks, just back from my first 4k walk.

Penn

3lb this week. Delighted.

Now to decide what I'm going to eat this week and go shopping.

Penn

Another 2lb down, which means 2.5stone in just over 3 months.

Unfortunately, I've done something to my back. It's happened before, just have to mostly take it easy and a bit of care for the next few days. On the plus side however, need to keep getting up and moving every so often or I'll get stiff so been doing a lot of walking. Swings and roundabouts.

tamara25

I’ve probably posted this in the wrong place, apologies this is new to me! Trying to lose a stone in weight for the last few years & getting nowhere. I’m 5ft 3 & 11 stone. I did lose a stone a few years ago by cutting down on carbs. My fitness pal has me at 1320 calories daily. Was thinking of joining unislim but too many carbs I think. Had intermittent fasting in mind also ie: eating from 10 to 7ish. Help, I need some good advice

quickbeam

tamara25 wrote: »

I’ve probably posted this in the wrong place, apologies this is new to me! Trying to lose a stone in weight for the last few years & getting nowhere. I’m 5ft 3 & 11 stone. I did lose a stone a few years ago by cutting down on carbs. My fitness pal has me at 1320 calories daily. Was thinking of joining unislim but too many carbs I think. Had intermittent fasting in mind also ie: eating from 10 to 7ish. Help, I need some good advice

1320 sounds about right, as I'm the same height (more or less). Are you not losing it when you stick to that amount?

If you're eating more than that amount, then just eat less so you're eating that amount. Be conscientious about your food choices, and log everything.

MFP is only a guide. If you are eating 1320 and still not losing, then go to 1270 and try that for a week or two. You might need to play around with your optimum calorie intake that's required to lose weight.

Carb-cutting and intermittent fasting are fads and will never give you permanent results as they're not sustainable. Just cut your intake.

tamara25

Thanks for your reply. I also have a very sluggish metabolism & a very sedentary desk job, doesn’t help... is it possible to lose the weight without exercising? I try to fit in walking but often feel I’m getting nowhere & get very disheartened