How to lose weight - it's simple

GwylimT · 18 September 2016 at 8:51AM

Our bodies are unable to defy the laws of physics, our body can only increase in size if we feed it more, just as it can only decrease if we feed it less or exercise very frequently.

If body fat percentage and food intake were not related, then care to explain why countries where food isn't as readily available doesn't have obesity problems.

I know a few people who insisted changing their diet to 500 calories a day simply didn't lead to weightloss, they genuinely believed they weren't lying. When two of them had a gastric band they simply couldn't explain why calorie restriction was now working so well. However they continued eating rubbish food as apparently they knew better than dieticians, so both weren't as fat, but continued with their incredibly unhealthy lifestyle.

My wife is paralysed from the waist down, she goes swimming once a week where she basically splashes her arms around. At the moment if anything she is a little under weight, so she has increased her portions very slightly and in the last four months she has gained around 5lbs meaning she is almost at her ideal weight of eight and a half stone. As someone who is generally not active to maintain a weight of eight and a half stone she needs to consume 1100-1200 calories a day.

If we break that down further we have
64g protein
159g of carbs
48g of sugar
42g of fat

I'm around 12% body fat, I'm six foot I eat around 2300 calories a day, however due to being diabetic I eat very small amounts of carbs and sugar, much smaller amounts than my wife.

SmallL · 18 September 2016 at 9:07AM

I was 24, 5ft1 and 59kgs when I started with the aim to loose weight (an undetermined amount) in February. Prior to this I never dieted, just ate what I wanted and did no exersize.

For the first month it started with reducing my calorie intake to 500 below my calculated 'Maintenance'.
I then began climbing indoors, which I have continued 2x a week to this day and its really changed my entire life!
Seven months later i'm now 51kgs, muscular, much less body-fat (im female) and im motivated by my climbing to get fitter in order to succeed.

I would try to find advise anyone to try and find a type of exersize that motivates you to become better for it, wether it be walking a bit further or entering the olympics. Motivation has a huge role to play.

Carl31 · 18 September 2016 at 9:21AM

bigfreddiel wrote: »

It is simple, just eat less exercise more, diets don't work that's why there are so many of them!

We all stated out at about 5lbs to 10lbs weight.

We all ate food, so one day many years later you climb on the scales and it reads 20 stone. What happened? It didn't suddenly creep up over a couple of days now did it?

Anyone who I has an unhealthy weight has only themselves to blame surely!

So wake up and stop eating so much, it's really is thst simple.

Top tip to help, use smaller dinner plates.

Good luck fj

its this attitude that doesnt help

no one wants to be overweight, no one intends to become obese, but people do, in some cases its carelessness, but in many cases its due to other factors. Personally, I think Obesity should be treated with the same view as drug addiction and depression, not as some sort of 'laziness'

indsty · 18 September 2016 at 11:56AM

I think the concept is very simple for those of us who are of "correct" weight. Eat sensibly, keep active, maintain weight. People are incredibly bad at thinking one or two lbs don't make much difference - until they realise that happens every month and they have put a stone on. It is very easy to get annoyed with people who don't see the need to do anything about it until they are 5 stone too heavy and then obviously struggle to lose it.

We need to ditch all the "foodie" programmes and get back to eating basic meals - porridge, shepherds pie and two veg, cake on Sundays only, biscuits on special occasions etc etc.

Soworried · 18 September 2016 at 12:05PM

I'm a big believer in calories in vs calories out. And it saves me a fortune as I don't over eat and weigh my servings out.

Bogalot · 18 September 2016 at 12:17PM

It's not about eating less, it's about eating the right things. What constitutes the right things will vary between sex, lifestyle, age and more.

I eat far more now (and when I was dieting) than when I was fat, but now I'll eat fruit rather than chocolate, fish and something vegetable based rather than pizza and fries.

Whatever size you are, if you have psychological problems around food then change is going to be difficult. Sadly I can't say those problems are exclusive to those who are overweight, I still struggle greatly around food yet because I have a healthy BMI no help is available. And then the question of what is a healthy weight, is it less healthy to be 13 stone or 8 stone? Both can have a massive impact on your internal organs.

There is no one size fits all for the weight issue, but we could start with being more understanding of the many issues that impact body size and body image.

FBaby · 18 September 2016 at 12:51PM

It's not about eating less, it's about eating the right things.

That's not how it works for me. I've always eaten 'healthily'. I'm not keen on processed food and don't like meat much. I actually like healthy food, but until I cut down my portion, I was 1/2 a stone overweight (to me liking).

A lot of healthy food is still too many calories in.

theoretica · 18 September 2016 at 2:24PM

The simplest way, of course, is not to gain the weight in the first place. A method which is extremely useful - but only in certain circumstances.

jayII · 18 September 2016 at 2:37PM

bigfreddiel wrote: »

For anyone wanting to lose weight this the answer and it's very simple.

Eat less - exercise a bit.

And that's it. If you really do want to lose weight just do it!

Diets do not work, that is why there are so many.

Eating less is just as easy, if not easier than following some fad or diet of the moment.

Good luck fj

Of course, that's why no-one is overweight or has any issues with food! I must have missed the memo!

Since food/eating is all so simple, do share your advice for other eating disorders too.

helcat26 wrote: »

Are we celebrating state the obvious day and I missed it?

It seems so, though the OP's username is a rather ironic.

fireblade28 · 18 September 2016 at 6:53PM

FBaby wrote: »

The facts are very simple, going about applying it is what most find everything but simple.

I do a lot of high intensity exercise 3 to 5 times a week, train for competitions 2 or 3 times a year, and I can confirm that I have never lost weight through exercising alone (and no, not a case of muscle replacing fat!).

I have found without a doubt that losing weight in my 40s especially now towards the second half is much much harder than it was in my 20s, however, as I've discovered recently, it will still happen, I just have to cut out even more and be patient as it takes quite a few weeks before I start to feel the difference. I also find that the more I eat, the more my body seemed to be tricked into thinking it is hungry.

My view is that anyone should be able to eat a bit of everything, but that what is killing us is our portion sizes. We just have way too much in our plates and we snack on little things too often. Over eating is nothing but a bad habit to break.

This is spot on. Will power takes some exercising. The more often you use it the better you get at using it. There are hormones such as gherlin and leptin that regulate hunger. These are affected by body mass.

The type of food doesn't really matter as much as the amount.

Case in point http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/

It takes a defecit of 3500 calories to lose a pound of fat. Which if you drank an extra glass of water that day you wouldn't notice if you weighed yourself. That's a big loss of calories for such a small change.

People you need to be more patient. 2 weeks isn't gonna cut it to see a difference. We are talking 3 months minimum.

It's also not a diet it's a permanent change. Everyone can do it but only if you want to.

How to lose weight - it's simple

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