The General Diet & Emotional Support Thread

lessonlearned

Slept badly and felt like death this morning. My body just seems to seize up some mornings, helping my OH out of bed and into his wheelchair was murder today.

Well done Maman on your weight loss, that's good going and you sound so pleased I'm sure you'll meet your target. I think that if I don't manage to shift the weight by going it alone then I may well join a slimming club again, but it would not be until the New Year.

With regard to the dreaded "d" word, the reason I don't use it is because once I go on a diet I seem to become obsessed with food, always thinking and worrying about it. I'm trying a bit of psychology and telling myself it's not a diet, just eating sensibly.

I suppose what I'm aiming for is a sort of Atkins type diet, only not too strict. I can't eat a lot of wheat anyway because it doesn't seem to suit me, so cutting out bread, pasta, cakes etc should not be too much of a hardship.

Carmen - yes join me in my quest for fabness. How about a "Sensational Sixties" club. Of course anyone can join in you don't have to be pushing sixty - just aiming for sensationalness. My birthday will be 6th July, I just allowed a couple of extra weeks because of Christmas. I didn't want to wait until the New Year because I could easily put another half stone on over the holiday period.

Anyway - progress report

Had my hair done so that looks much better. Didn't have it cut too short, its a chin length bob and I'm going to try and grow it a bit - perhaps shoulder length so I can put it up sometimes.

Had quite a chat about long - v- short hair on older ladies with my hairdresser. As she pointed out short hair needs a lot more time and attention, longer hair can be easier to manage. Trouble is mine isn't as thick as it used to be, it's always been baby fine but at least when I was young there was more of it.

Has anyone tried that hair supplement - I think it's called Nourikin or something similar. I find I can get my hair to look a bit thicker if I use velcro rollers & hairspray on dry hair, leave for about 20 mins or so. - I'll just have to make the time to do it more often. Tried thickening styling mousses but they make my hair feel sticky.

So today's treatment was hair.
Exercise - already done 2kms on bike and will do some yoga in a minute.

Borrowed a couple of style books from the library to motivate me - must not buy magazines, must not buy magazines, must not buy magazines, too expensive and they make me feel inadequate.

Borrowed Twiggy's book "Fabulous at Forty" - she's about my age and looks lovely. The book seems quite good, lots of fashion & beauty tips to get me going.

Off to write my Christmas cards, cook dinner (AFTER MY YOGA EXERCISES OF COURSE).

londonsurrey

Massively cheap and fast way to improve your appearance that a huge proportion of the population don't do:

Stand in front of a mirror
Feet about three inches apart

Imagine you have a tail,
and that someone's tugging it gently straight down. Move your bottom to "follow" that tail.
So now your bottom is in a slightly "tucked under" position.

Stand tall.
Imagine that there's a string at the top of your head, and that it's being pulled upwards.

joyfull

I noticed you are embracing the silver tresses and thought this website might interest you.

http://goinggraylookinggreat.com/

I'm enjoying your posts and agree that you need gentle sustainable changes that become your lifestyle. Also, a happy smiling face is always beautiful. Very best of luck to you.

seagullsim

Hi,

Even though i've been registered on here for ages, this is the first time i've started a thread, so please bear with me if it's in the wrong place or anything....

I've been overweight all my life, and have always just ignored it, and laughed it off. I've recently come to a decision that I want to do something about it, and am fully committed to achieving a large weight loss in the next year (minimum of 5 stone in the next 18 months....).

So, I've made this committment, but how do I achieve it? My problem has always been willpower - I automatically assume that anything I try and do won't work, so I never really try. However, this is different, and I have convinced myself that I can do this.

I've bought an exercise bike for home, and do 15mins per night. I also have joined a gym, and try to get there twice a week (although I don't really know what to do there - I just do 15 mins on a jogging machine, and 15 mins on a rowing thing...). My diet isn't that bad - I don't snack between meals, and tend to eat sensibly.

Am I doing the right things? Can anyone suggest anything else I could do to help? Are Weightwatchers / Slimming World worth the money (the thought of being weighed in front of loads of people terrifies me....).

Really, any help (or supportive comments) are most welcomed...

Thanks

Kev.

rainbowfairydust

excercise is a good start.. approx how many calories are you consuming on a daily basis? can you give me an example of your daily food intake as it will help me to see where (if??) you are going wrong anywhere...

MrTomato

work out your BMR. Subtract 500 from it. Consume that per day. Over a week you'll lose one pound of weight.

In the gym, do weights before cardio, it's better for your metabolism.

do small things as well, stop putting sugar in drinks/drinking sugary pops etc.

seagullsim

rainbowfairydust wrote: »

excercise is a good start.. approx how many calories are you consuming on a daily basis? can you give me an example of your daily food intake as it will help me to see where (if??) you are going wrong anywhere...

Not sure about calories - i've never properly counted before. My meals for today as an example are...

Breakfast = Porridge with raisins
Lunch = Jacket Potato with Tuna (no butter)
Dinner = Vegetarian Lasagne (home-made, not pre-packed food).

I've just run my average meals through a calorie counter app, and it looks like I eat around 2,100 per day - is this too much? I am male, aged 32 if that helps....

seagullsim

arrontdep wrote: »

http://www.ehow.com/how_4548846_painlessly-cut-down-sugar.html

Eat lots of small meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism up. Keep the sugar content low and the protein content high. You need to keep your heart rate up for at least half an hour a day when you're ideal weight and healthy so for you maybe 45 minutes exercise a day?

So - little & often rather than "3 square meals per day" then? Thought it was better not to snack......

fluffnutter

Firstly Kev, well done for realising you ought to do something about this. It's the first step.

Secondly, have you considered visiting your GP to ask for dietary advice? Lots of surgeries now do weightloss advice and it's a good place to start. You can get checked out generally (blood pressure etc.) and they'll be able to advise what's a sensible amount to lose in what period.

In terms of going to the gym, you can sign up with a personal trainer (if you're dedicated enough/have the money). I'm not sure whether this should be your first priority though. If you have a lot of weight to lose - and it sounds like you do ("minimum of 5 stone") - then being active generally and looking at your diet is probably more beneficial than an exercise regime. Try to walk more - it really does make a difference without straining your body too much.

And re. things like Slimming World etc, diet groups do work. The combination of weekly impetus plus support from others can make all the difference. You say willpower is your problem - let others help then.

Good luck!

seagullsim

Thanks 'fluffnutter' - much appreciated. I have been to the GP, and he just tries to prescribe me Orlistat (called Alli as well) - I tried them for a while, but the side effects were too horrific for words. Also, I'd rather do this myself rather than be reliant on pills to sort me out...