Lose Weight 6

celticfc

Hi all, I have seen some posts here regards losing weight , dieting etc and so though I'd ask you lovely MSE'rs for advice

I've not done any physical activity for 18 months due to a back condition, for which I am awaiting an operation. As I've not done any exercise i've put on a bit of weight. Really noticable around my belly, people think it's a beer belly, but I don't drink. Lack of exercise and not eating properly is the cause.

I wondered if anyone could advise on a diet to go on to lose a bit of weight without the exercise. I know it's about eating the right foods and exercise, but to be honest I don't know what the right combination of foods are and with my back the way it is exercise is difficult. Even walking more than 50 yards causes a lot of pain and discomfort.

I have had a look for info and advice on the net but it seems you have to pay for information or join weightwatchers!! I just want to lose a bit so that I feel comfortable with myself. I have seen tablets advertised as fat burners and have considered them, but not too sure wether or not it's the right way. I really need to do this for myself as I'm feeling uncomfortable with my bulge. I'm not overly overweight. I'm 5'9 tall and 14 stone so I'm cuddly, but I don't want to be.

Can you help and give any advice?

jenniferpa

O.K. I have one piece of advice for you - write down every single piece of food that goes in your mouth. So far I've lost 27 lbs doing this. I actually use an online program called fitday.com which is free to join, but there are a lot of them out there - it's essentially just a calorie counter. By keeping track of exactly how many calories you're taking in, you will lose weight. It may be slow, you may have weeks (i.e. several consecutive weeks) when you don't lose an ounce, but provided you are taking in less calories than you are expending the weight will come off. The advantage of this sytem is that there is nothing that is forbidden. Yes it's a pain, yes you have to measure every single thing, but it works. Remember each pound extra you are carrying around means that you've eaten, at some time, 3500 more calories than you have used, so to lose a pound you need to take in 3500 less calories. Depending on whetherr you are male or female you will need something between 1600 - 2000 calories per day simply to live, and that doesn't include any exercise. Therefore if, for example, you take in 1500 calories and you're actually using 2000, every 7 days you'll lose a pound. This calculator http://health.discovery.com/tools/calculators/basal/basal.html will give you an idea of your BMR - it is not a good idea to go much below your BMR, because even the most sendentary of us are using more calories than our BMR.

Good luck

Jennifer

consultant31

celticfc wrote:

Hi all, I have seen some posts here regards losing weight , dieting etc and so though I'd ask you lovely MSE'rs for advice.

I wondered if anyone could advise on a diet to go on to lose a bit of weight without the exercise. I know it's about eating the right foods and exercise, but to be honest I don't know what the right combination of foods are and with my back the way it is exercise is difficult. Even walking more than 50 yards causes a lot of pain and discomfort.


Can you help and give any advice?

I am a Slimming World consultant, so, obviously, I am biased towards SW. It is based on a free food policy which allows you to eat unlimited amounts of the right foods every day (and that doesn't mean just rabbit food either). I have lost over 4 stone, regularly eating jacket potatoes, pasta, rice etc on 'green' days and you can eat unlimited meat on 'red' days (though I don't cos I'm not fond of meat). It costs £4.25 a week for a class, but you get a lot of support from the consultant and other members which really can make it much easier to stick to.
However, I have a friend who was told by her Doctor to lose weight due to a medical condition. She was given a rule of thumb guide to eating. It was simply to never eat anything with more than 4% fat. These days (with nutritional guides on everything) it is fairly easy to check everything you buy. BUT, you must be aware that if you're fond of jelly babies (for example) though they don't contain any fat, they're full of sugar. So as well as the fat content of foods, do check for sugars as well. You'd probably be surprised to find that lots of pre-packed foods have much more fat than you'd expect - even Weight Watchers meals often come outside the 4% category. Remeber that 95% fat free means it's 5% fat (so a no-no!)
Using common sense this method works very well.
Good luck with your diet. Come onto the "Lose weight" thread and get lots of support there - we're a friendly bunch, honest :rotfl:

consultant31

honey28 wrote:

Consultant - do you mind me asking how much you have lost? Do you still "weigh in"?? Fell free to tell me to mind my own business!!

I lost 4stone 2 lbs before starting as a consultant. I used to go to a class as a member as well as running mine, but dropped it off when my FIL came to live with us. He's totally dependant on us to do everything for him and I find it hard to have 2 nights out every week. So, I weigh in at my own class now before everyone else comes. It's not as good and I do miss the support (but I get that on here now )
I struggle just the same as everybody else and I admit to having put some weight on since I stopped going to class, but it's coming off again, slowly!!

consultant31

nearlyrich wrote:

So wish me luck and can I join the 2lb club please? I need to lose about 2 stones now and at 2lb per week it would get me to my target at the one year mark;)

Good luck, but I'm happy to say that if you do lose at the rate of 2lbs a week, your 2 stone will only take you about 7 months to lose, so you'd be slim and gorgeous by next January :T

Dellybelly, I know just what you mean about your Mum associating food with love. My Mum is just the same and I must admit to having to fight those feelings myself with my own kids (grown up now).
I have got my Mum trained now though and sometimes when she's baked (her scones are simply the best) I find I'm gutted when she steadfastly refuses to offer me one :rotfl:

Again, well done to all who've lost weight this week - keep it up!

The thought for the day (week?) is a good one - the real key to a successful weight loss plan (whichever one you're following).

Moo you've taken the right step, batch cooking for when you're tempted is an excellent idea. I don't know about Boots weight loss plan, but I honestly don't believe drugs are the answer. At some point you have to stop taking them and then what? You've not learnt good habits so all the bad ones come back along with the weight (that's my opinion anyway!).

Purdy_1

Portion sizes are a huge factor for losing weight myself. My portion sizes got out of control and that was a main reason why I put weight on. I was given some great advice about portions. Form a fist with your hand, limit your carbohydrates to a portion that is no bigger than the size of your hand. Protein should be no bigger than the palm of your hand. Cheese should be the size of a matchbox. Eat as many vegetables as you like. You could also think of your plate in quarters. 1/4 protein, 1/4 carbohydrates, 1/2 vegetables.

Try and eat up at a table. It is so easy to "graze" infront of the tv with dinner on your lap.

Always eat breakfast. It kick starts your metabolism in the morning. Try and have "measured portions". What I mean by that is something that is already portioned for you such as Weetabix, Shredded Wheat. That way you can just take 2 or 3 out of the packet and not have to worry if your portion is too big.

Here are a few things that I have so that I don't feel I am missing out.
If I want chocolate I have either a Cadburys Fudge or Frys Turkish Delight. All of these are quite low in fat for chocolate.
If I fancy crisps I might have a pack of Space Raiders, Golden Wonder Lites or French Fries. These crisps are some of the lowest fat I have found.
If I fancy ice cream I have found that Walls MiniMilks are about 0.7g of fat each and about 30 calories.
Asda do low fat sausages which are only 2g of fat each. I have found the Cumberland sausages best £1.38 for 8 which I split into pairs and freeze in freezer bags. When I want some I just defrost them in the microwave and cook as normal.
I use FryLite spray instead of cooking oil. A few prays of this is enough to cook most things in.

Try making homemade oven chips. There is a nack to this which is down to timing. Firstly put your oven on to about 220degrees and then peel some spuds and cut into chips about the same size as steakhouse chips. Boil a kettle of water. Put the chips into a saucepan and bring to the boil using the water from the kettle. Once boiling time them about 4 minutes. When your chips start to boil lightly spray an oven tray with frylite spray and place in the oven. When your chips have been boiling for 4 minutes take them from the heat and drain them. Take the now HOT tray from the oven and spread the chips over and give them another light spray with the frylite spray. Bung them in the oven for about 20-25 minutes turning them over roughly every 5 minutes.

Watch out for eggs. Because eggs are a dairy product we fall into a false sense of security in thinking they are good for us. They are but they also contain quite alot of fat for such a small item of food. There is no need to cut them out but just limit them. Scrambled eggs may appear to be a healthy option but if you use 2 eggs that can be 12g of fat not including the milk. One small fried egg fried in frylite spray might contain only 6-7g of fat including the frylite spray.

Try buttering only 1 slice of bread in a sandwich. If having something on toast try to go without the margarine altogether.

Try not to have bread and butter (or marge) with dinner. That was something that I did alot of and wondered why I couldn't lose weight. When I realised how much I was having in a day I was mortified. I could easily have 6 slices per day which can amount to alot of calories. I would have toast in the morning, 2 slices for lunch as either something on toast or a sandwich and then B&B with my evening meal.

Try sugar free jelly. It is so easy to make and might hold off a sweet craving.

Not everything labelled "Low Fat" is as low as you think. You can get yoghurts that have virtually 0 fat in them and others which claim to be low but contain 3g of fat. it might sound picky but to me 2-3 grams of fat for something can mean alot.

HTH

JenIttels

Hope you had a lovely time in Greece nearlyrich.

Consultant, i totally agree with you about the drug path. I feel the same way about surgery. Sure, it'd be wonderful to have a nice easy way to lose weight but then one of the best things about losing weight, I find, through hard work, dieting and exercise is that you feel like you really deserve it!

I hope that it'll mean I'll keep the weight off as I'll remember the emotional side of dieting and how far I've come to lose it whenever I'm tempted to go back to my old unhealthy eating habits.

Besides the new weight loss drug people reckon it'll help you lose about 10% of your weight and I bet alot of us on this thread have already (or are well on the way to) managed that!

JenIttels

On the subject of mothers, my own mother has struggled with her weight ever since she left the Navy when she was in her 20s. She suffered from gall stones in the last year and had to have a bit of painful surgery to remove them. The doctors asked her to keep to a low fat diet to avoid getting them in the future which she did for a while but is now struggling to stick to it.

I hope that when she sees me continuing to lose weight that she'll get back into it. I've never managed to persuade her to go to a class as she's very shy and money is a bit tight so if anyone has any tips for getting other people motivated i would appreciate it. Pug especially! I know i keep saying it but i think it's great that you've got your dad into it!

Wheeee....long post. Must learn to control the babbling!

nearlyrich

JenIttels wrote:

Hope you had a lovely time in Greece nearlyrich.
quote]

Yes I did thanks it was lovely, lots of steps and steep streets in Lindos so maybe I was a bit more active than usual.

I got my Club 10 award the week before we went away so I have lost 10% of my body weight since last November. I have also done this before, 3 stone with weight watchers last time and it felt more of a diet that SW does.

I put the weight back on over 10 years so it didn't suddenly reappear but I was quite disgusted with myself. My trigger to go to SW was my sister who said she was going and did I want to join her? We were about the same weight and we have lost the lbs in a friendly competition and at times like Christmas we were able to support each other to eat the healthier food on the buffet.

When I go out for a meal now or I am working away I think more carefully about the food I choose and try to stick to grilled meat or fish and salad or veg, I don't feel deprived, still have a glass or two of wine.

I have cut out my unhealthy snacks like crisps and chocolate biscuits and replaced them with fruit and yoghurts and again I don't feel like I am missing out. I think my local Tesco must think I have a lot of monkeys as I eat so many bananas!:rolleyes:

I was reading about this wonder drug last night and the cost for a month was about £60 per patient, they would be better off writing prescriptions for SW and educating people about healthy eating.

honey28

consultant31 wrote:

I lost 4stone 2 lbs before starting as a consultant. I used to go to a class as a member as well as running mine, but dropped it off when my FIL came to live with us. He's totally dependant on us to do everything for him and I find it hard to have 2 nights out every week. So, I weigh in at my own class now before everyone else comes. It's not as good and I do miss the support (but I get that on here now )
I struggle just the same as everybody else and I admit to having put some weight on since I stopped going to class, but it's coming off again, slowly!!

Well done you - thats a great weight loss!! It works well then - we support you, and you support and help us!!