100 weeks to turn my health situation around

elantan

hi all,

thanks Ruth for popping by

well thats us back from holiday number one. i mustve put on at least a stone as there wasnt much to do but drink and eat ( and that wasnt enjoyable either)

will be back on the wagon tomorrow and get ourselves organised for holiday two, we didnt enjoy holiday one, and truly hope holiday two is better

so ... back on the band wagon tomorrow, how have you all been doing?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I've just noticed your thread because I'm kinda working on a two year plan myself.

However, I'm now 26 weeks/6 months into mine.


You might be cheered up by my saying, despite copious amounts of going out, injuries sustained as a result of dancing and generally having fun - I'm now four stone lighter, down to a size 18 from 26s being a bit snug and it's so much easier now than when I started.

I always do an aqua Zumba class every week and go to the gym for some picking up and putting heavy stuff down again when I haven't managed to acquire a hangover or partying related injury :whistle:

So you CAN do this!

elantan

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

I've just noticed your thread because I'm kinda working on a two year plan myself.

However, I'm now 26 weeks/6 months into mine.


You might be cheered up by my saying, despite copious amounts of going out, injuries sustained as a result of dancing and generally having fun - I'm now four stone lighter, down to a size 18 from 26s being a bit snug and it's so much easier now than when I started.

I always do an aqua Zumba class every week and go to the gym for some picking up and putting heavy stuff down again when I haven't managed to acquire a hangover or partying related injury :whistle:

So you CAN do this!

thanks Jo Jo exactly what i needed to hear after my last week away... i think i maybe need to get a plan of action into place ... well done on the achievements so far you are doing fantastic ...

any advice you can share?

dktreesea

Zumba classes. That rings a bell. There's a really good routine on youtube that is only 3 minutes long, that must be real exercise because three minutes of it I'm exhausted :-), that you can do sitting down, at the computer.

The blurb says it's for "deconditioned" participants. I guess that' s the new word for the unfit :-)

It's called zumba gold chair waka waka. If you search on zumba sitting down, it comes up. It's done to the Fifa 10 world cup song.

This is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVgW6CCb3Wk

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

elantan wrote: »

thanks Jo Jo exactly what i needed to hear after my last week away... i think i maybe need to get a plan of action into place ... well done on the achievements so far you are doing fantastic ...

any advice you can share?

General

Ignore every single diet in magazines, newspapers, serialised in the Daily Venom because a sleb says they've used it, every get thin quick scheme (such as raspberry ketones, HCG diet, any 'Diet Secret'). And anybody you know who tells you you only have to eat three lettuce leaves and a sweaty seaweed covered sock every day with a magic pill and you'll melt away in minutes. Or that it's impossible to lose weight unless you starve yourself and exercise for three hours every day. If it sounds like it's promising a quick fix solution, it's lies.


Don't weigh yourself too often. It's miserable watching the scales clock up a six pound increase overnight. It's generally due to water retention, anyhow, especially through eating a lot of foods containing hidden salt. MFP can also track your weight and measurements and you can run little reports over 1, 2 or 3 months to see what your overall trends are. I tend to check the scales out when my clothes feel a bit baggier than usual. So roughly fortnightly, but no real pattern to it. Keep them in the same place, wear roughly the same amount of clothing (in my case, vest and shorts) and don't worry too much about a pound either way.



Food

Use an online food logger. I use My Fitness Pal, and have logged everything I have eaten and drank since day 1. Do it as you go along and you'll see whether there's something you are innocently eating that actually knocks out every bit of your efforts for the rest of the day, week or month, whether TOM affects you, that kind of thing.



Rather than the standard 'eat tons of carbs' or 'eat only low fat foods', you're actually less hungry if you increase the proportion of protein in your diet and make space for natural fats. I'm not saying do Atkins or ketogenic dieting, there's a place for everything in a healthier lifestyle - but you get more bang for your buck if bread, pasta and suchlike become occasional foods, rather than everyday staples. If you prefer a diet version of something, then have it, but if you don't, just have less of the full fat one, especially as lots of 'low fat'/'Diet'/'Lite' versions actually have tons of extra sugar bunged in them.



Get a set of digital scales & measuring spoons and WEIGH EVERYTHING! At least for the first couple of months, as there's a whole load of difference between a portion of pasta or an ounce of cheese and a giant plate containing three portions plus a the best part of a quarter of a pound of cheddar grated up so it doesn't seem like more than a morsel.


It's a point that is debated quite a lot online, as not everybody considers them a good habit - but good quality meal replacement/protein shakes can be useful if you're the sort of person who detests breakfast. Avoid slimfast and the supermarket own brands like the plague, they're just sugar in a tub, you'll still be hungry in twenty minutes. A proper protein shake will keep you feeling good until lunchtime; I've always avoided breakfast, so they're great from my point of view, as it means I get something inside me that will keep me from buying unhealthy snacks due to an energy slump.



Exercise & Health

See your GP. Get baseline bloods done, fasting cholesterol, glucose, etc, plus blood pressure. You may be able to get an exercise referral, which saves you money and may give you access to specialised classes designed for newcomers to fitness if you tick a couple of boxes for increased risk of heart disease/diabetes.


But bear in mind most GPs don't have the slightest clue about nutrition.

I was told by one when I started this to never eat any meat, dairy or fish, and to have a big bowl of rice or pasta everyday. Mind you, I've also heard dieticians say it's impossible to put weight on eating pasta everyday, protein is bad for you and heavily processed, highly salted and sugared microwave diet meals are a better choice than cooking from scratch.

Then I saw my lovely Ghanian doctor in March, who took one look at me and said 'You've lost weight.' (only about a stone at the time) 'So I'm not going to insult you by giving you a big lecture. Just know that you can do this, you know what you need to do - and take your time, there's no race to win'.




Don't pick a massive exercise regime and expect it to last more than about 3 weeks. You'll be exhausted, achy and probably pick up an injury or five - start with one thing and add to that as you adapt. Better to go to aqua Zumba once a week for three months than go to the gym every day for 9 days then never go back because you've damaged the cartilage in your left knee.


MFP has a reasonably accurate exercise log - record the exercise you do, then that gives you a bit more leeway to increase the calories you can consume without gaining fat. [NB: other fitness sites are available ]


Using weights doesn't make you look like a man. They'll make you slimmer and firmer long before the people on the cardio machines or falling over their feet in the dance studio. And it's hard on your whole body to expect it to deal with high impact exercise when you're a little bit on the heavy side. Do it later, when you won't be dropping the equivalent of a minicab on your joints with every hop. Plantar fasciitis, shinsplints and tendonitis are not words you wish to get familiar with.


Swimming is great for when you want to exercise but ache a bit, or you have got problems from overexercising already.


If you're going to be doing anything on your feet, get properly fitted for specialist shoes in a running shop. And some proper sports bras (wearing two together, one a crop top type, can give you more support than just one).


And big knickers are better when at the gym than little skimpy thongs that rub places that shouldn't be rubbed like that (I've seen people with blisters)





Inside Your Head

It's a case of getting into the habit of making better choices of what to eat and what to do - after a while, you learn what being truly hungry feels like; not in the context of 'oh my god, I'm starving to death here', but more 'I may have only eaten two hours ago, but I am genuinely hungry now, so I'm going to have something else' and eating just the right amount to stop feeling hungry. Often people eat when they're actually thirsty, you'll begin to recognise the difference, along with when it's an emotion you're feeling, not a physical need to eat.



If you do eat to deal with uncomfortable emotions, be prepared for some 'stuff' to come out that you need to acknowledge and process in order to carry on. You may not think that you do, but if it is a normal reaction that is done unconsciously, you may be surprised by memories that pop into your head, whether of comments, events, adverts, that kind of thing.

I suddenly remembered a time when I was about 9 (and about 5 1/2 stone) and my mother screeching at me when eating five biscuits 'That's why nobody likes you, you're just fat and greedy and ugly and you always will be'. (By the way, she's obese, now diabetic and has non alcoholic fatty liver due to her overeating - but she insists the diabetes was caused by being 'forced to starve on just biscuits and cakes' for two years when she developed gallstones, so couldn't eat fatty savoury foods anymore - not by the previous decades of eating tons of pasta, bread, crisps and everything else)


Sometimes, you'll find yourself doing other things you wouldn't normally, simply because you have a need to do 'something'. Cleaning the house from top to bottom comes under this category in my case.


One blowout does not equal failure. Neither does 3, 5 or 10. Try and think why it happened, how you felt before, how you felt after, how you could recognise that feeling and deal with it differently next time. Each day is a fresh one; each meal, each activity, each choice is from a clean slate.


It's normal for there to be fits and starts with fat loss. Mine tailed off for about 7 weeks, then restarted with a vengeance. Don't panic that it's all been for nothing or give up and inhale the contents of the fridge, cupboards and local takeaways just because it hasn't changed in a fortnight. Be patient, keep monitoring everything and, assuming you aren't starving yourself or bingeing and your logging is accurate, it'll sort itself out if you continue as you are.



Other than that, it's a lifestyle change, not a 'I'll just do this for a couple of months/years and it'll all be fixed' diet. That doesn't mean the end of your life as you know it. You'll still be the same person underneath, the packaging will just be more awesome. And you will be able to have a slice of birthday cake or alcohol or chocolate - it's more sustainable to learn to fit those things into your life.



In Your Wardrobe

Get prepared for spending a lot of money. I have only got new clothes as the old ones have actually fallen off me. I have to buy a new pair of jeans every 6 - 8 weeks because a belt can only do so much after a while. Hot washes and tumble driers can give you an extra three weeks' wear out of them and T shirts.

Plus bras. Two cup sizes this month alone. Quite worrying when I saw them trying to make an escape out of my swimming costume because they have room to float about in there :eek:

It also means I get the mickey taken out of me by my friend because I do the new jeans test (ie, can I get the next size down on) one month, and by the end of the next one, I'm constantly hoiking them up, even with a belt on.

Plus you'll need to buy some belts. And possibly some new shoes (I've gone down to standard width from extra wide). And socks.




Think I've covered pretty much everything there! Sorry for the length of the reply.






TL;DR : Eat less, move more. It's all there is to it. Well, that and dealing with the stuff in your head that has led to this situation in the first place - that's the bit nobody mentions.

juliet_f

Hello there,

I saw this thread and couldn't resist adding my thoughts.
I hit a bit of a turning point myself a year ago. I'd had problems controlling my sugar intake for years and couldn't stop once I started on a bag of choc! As a result my blood sugars would go up and down and I'd often feel hungry even when I'd eaten well. I started to notice that I got joint aches after eating sugar, and had been feeling exhausted and 'drugged' in the mornings, even though I'd slept well.
I decided to cut out refined sugar as I can't just eat it in moderation. This was last June, and since then I have lost one and a half stone over the last year. I have upped my portions of protein and cut down on carbs. I eat a carby breakfast- big bowl of sugar free rice puffs, some nuts and skimmed milk. For lunch I'll usually have chicken with a big salad, including olives and some mayo. For supper i'll eat fish or meat with a big plate of veg (no potato). I'll also have some plain yoghurt with a mixture of berries or pear/apple. Doing this has taken away my cravings completely. I feel so different, my energy and general health has really improved. Over the last 10 years I've spent lots on Slimming world classes but always put the weight back on because i was still eating the foods that kept me craving. Now I feel I will never go back to that way of eating.
Good luck on your journey to better health!:)

tattycath

Well I had a lovely salad for tea tonight and went for a long walk with DD No1 so at least it's progress.

elantan

Jo Jo thanks for the advice, very sound and practical ... The way I need it

Julie, I am addicted to sugar myself and so struggle when I'm in a sugar cycle ( like just now )

Well done tatty it's a good start

Skymist

juliet_f wrote: »

I eat a carby breakfast- big bowl of sugar free rice puffs , some nuts and skimmed milk.

Hi Juliet, not having a go....'cos you're obviously doing really well....but I don't know whether you're aware that your body/metabolism will see your "sugar free rice puffs" as sugar, and will process them accordingly, i.e. as refined sugar!

Well done on your one and a half stone loss!

S

elantan

have to admit i will be back to trying the low carb route ... hopefully tomorrow, i think i am still dealing with the after holiday binge