you are what you eat

VickyA_2

Queenie wrote:

OK, call me a cynic (Queenie! You're a cynic ) but, seeing the end of last night's show and being told those two women are now a size 14 begs the question .... which shop is sizing their clothing as a 14????
I don't wish to appear rude, but are we seriously meant to believe they are a standard size 14? They both looked like a snug 18 to me; either that, or all those women who genuinely *are* a size 14 must have watched and cried themselves to sleep!!!

Per-leeeease!!! Yes, they lost weight; yes, they looked better for it ... but do not try to convince me that they are a standard size 14, or if they are ... tell me where they are buying their clothes, because I know a 22yo girl who is breaking her heart to know she weighs less, looks slimmer/trimmer, yet still has to buy a size 18/20!!!!

I do agree Queenie. Obviously, I am overweight (see my sig :rolleyes:) but I am a 14/16. I weigh less than those two......... so how on earth can they be slimmer than me? Or am I just incredibly jealous? :rotfl:

weegie_2

Well - they do say the camera adds 10 pounds.....:D

Personally I didn't think they looked a size 14. And going by there weight I would say they weren't either - my mum has just lost 3 stone recently - she was 13 stone and was a size 16-18.....was one of the woman not just under the 13 stone and she was a size 14.

Mind you - depends on the shop as well. I can go into Next and be a size 10. Can then go into New Look and the 10 won't even come near me - have to get 12.

Queenie

VickyA wrote:

I do agree Queenie. Obviously, I am overweight (see my sig :rolleyes:) but I am a 14/16. I weigh less than those two......... so how on earth can they be slimmer than me? Or am I just incredibly jealous? :rotfl:

weegie says you are shopping in the wrong stores :rotfl:

Queenie

weegie - give your mum a huge congrats from me :T :T :T That is a magnificent weight loss, she must be very, *very* , proud of herself (deservedly so too!)

vizcacha

hi there

My advice would be don't make too many drastic changes too soon as it might be hard to maintain and you may well get disheartened and give it all up.

I would start with cutting out the tea and replace it with hot water or herb tea.

If you're drinking that much caffeine you might get withdrawal headaches for a couple of days.

Too much tannin stops your body from absorbing nutrients (especially iron) so even if you are eating healthy food you don't absorb the goodness from it if you are drinking too much tea.

Redbush has less tannin than normal tea but I would limit your intake to a couple of cups a day and don't drink it at the same time as your supplements (if you take any)

Then maybe tackle replacing the sweets and chocolates with something healthier like dates, mangoes or nuts and raisins for a sweet tooth

Then tackle the crisps. If you eat too much salt it can make you crave sugar and vice versa

And by the time you've done all that, maybe over, the course of 3 weeks or so, then you'll be in a postion to re-assess yor diet .

Maybe then the next stage could be to have 5 fruit and veg every day.

Then you can add other things as you want

If you keep building on your positive habits one by one you'll have healthier diet.

Don't underestimate the power of habit - Once you've broken the habit half the battle is over. But if you try to do too much too soon and try to fit it into your normal life, you're setting yourself up to get disheartened , coz it'll seem overwhelming.

I did the Gillian Mckeith plan for a month but found it too hard to maintain long term as I seemed to spend my whole life planning my meals and chopping up veges. I think you can follow a far less extreme long tem plan and still get results.

Good Luck with it all

weegie_2

Thanks Queenie - she is absolutely delighted and we are so proud of her. She looks amazing - and back to the way she should be. Due to rheumatoid arthrititis and not being able to get around much (due to being in constant pain) she had piled on the weight. She's now lost it after a telling off from the doctor, had a brand new knee fitted and she's been told today that she is to get a new ankle as well!

She's went to scottish slimmers but still hasn't denied herself the occasional treat.

organic_wanabe

Bit off topic (sorry) but I find clothes sizing really frustrating as I can be anything between an 8 and a 12 (very occasionally a 14) and sometimes even buy children's as I'm small. My weight only fluctuates by a few pounds so it can't be that my size is changing. When I was a youngster (young 50 now, so say 30-35 years ago) I was much slimmer but always a size 12 - in fact I don't think the shops even did a size 8. Is it to only me!!! Feel better for having gotton that off my chest.

The principle behind losing weight is so simple - eat less and exercise/move more - but can be so difficult to put into practice. I know that I can't possibly be hungry when I've just eaten my evening meal but I just can't stop myself from having something sweet (and usually chocolately). It's a habit that I just can't seem to break.

whatatwit

The two ladies featured last night, were both at the gym several times a week, and I bet they were wearing magic knickers, or at least a proper foundation garment. :rotfl:

bobsa1

I really like GM ideas but it's too strict for me. I've joined weight watchers, upping my water intake and will start exercising this week. Hopefully that'll have the same results as gm without having to give up normal life!

Queenie

organic_wanabe wrote:

.... When I was a youngster (young 50 now, so say 30-35 years ago) I was much slimmer but always a size 12 - in fact I don't think the shops even did a size 8. Is it to only me!!! Feel better for having gotton that off my chest.. .

OK, to be fair, no, it's not just you! Not so many years ago, shops didn't stock size 8 or even 6!

What has happened is very simple: American sizes are much smaller then traditional UK sizes. In the 80's/90's, US models were quoted as being a size 6 - 8 (which in UK equivalents, inch for inch, would represent a UK size of somewhere in the realms of a UK 10 - 12 or even in some instances, a size 14!). UK sizes are not universal! In other words, as already highlighted above, one shop you may well be a size 12, but, in another shop you may well be a size 8/10.

In previous generations, a rule of thumb was, buy cheap, buy larger (so, a market garment of say, say 12, would in actual fact be a size 10 in 'quality' clothing - the logic being, that market clothing would allow a certain amount of "shrinkage" after washing). When I was in my early 20's, I could go to say, M&S and buy a size 8/10 and feel very chic, but if I bought from a market, I would have to buy a size 12 to allow for shrinkage of the fabric. However, had I bought from the US fashion industry, I would be looking at a size 6 - 8 To clarify: I weighed - an unhealthy - 7st

There are NO regulations to determine any given sizing or standardisation (sp?) of clothing. It is down to the individual manufacturer/suppliers to determine - this can vary quite considerably!

Perhaps, as consumers, if we feel it is of relevance, to address this issue? But of course, that will not happen Ego is quite something, and who is going to demand a measure of standardisation when it can fluctuate so dramaticallly? Who hasn't felt boosted/flattered when they find they can squeeze into a certain (lesser?) size in one store, when they are of a higher size in yet another? Put crudely, they put their money where their ego lies Then, they travel over to the US and discover (oh wow, how wonderful!!!) that they are even 'smaller' than they believed So, where are they happiest to invest? Oops, that will be the US then Sooooo, UK shoppers invest in US clothing (because it feeds the ego ) and ... er ... Oh dear, Queenie sounding cynical again

If the UK brought in some kind of standardised sizings for manufacturers/retail outlets to abide by, at least women would be able to go shopping without making a) financial mistakes and b) fashion faux pas!!!