Help! How to get thinner!

hels234

Will also check with the docs, my mum has thyroid conditions which affect her weight but I don't think that's my problem yet (I hope)

stebiz

hels234 wrote: »

and suggested I'm not being honest about my food intake :mad: why would I bother lying?!! All I'd need to do is alter my food if that was the case!! Am so frustrated and depressed with it all, have even started taking xls medical after my food to see if that'll help

Here's a bit of info you may find helpful after I've read a lot on the net. The average guy must take in 2500 cals to stay the same weight and a woman 2000 cals.

A sensible weight loss a week is a 1lb. So that means losing 3500 calories a week. That can be by exercise or calorie intake or preferably both.

If you are doing the above and still not losing weight there may be a medical issue you need to speak to your doctor about.

So far I've lost 16lb in 4 weeks as part of a diet and a bit of exercise. I bet William Hill £50 I'd lose 70 lb by Xmas Eve. A big ask but I'll try. Best of luck.

jacques_chirac

hels234 wrote: »

Thank you terra ferma, I've just looked at yesterday on mfp which was as follows:

Breakfast (approx 8.20 at work)
Oats 2 go 202 cals
1 sugar. 16

Lunch (approx 12.10)
1 tin chicken veg soup 198 cals
Hot chocolate instant. 115cals

Dinner (approx 6pm)
2 sainsburys sausages 254 cals
Coop petit pain x2. 500
Ketchup. 36cals
2 after eights 70 cals

+ plenty of water

= 1391 cals according to mfp

Breakfast and lunch are usually the same type of thing, dinner is norm meat and veg but was sausage sarnies last night. I usually go to the gym before work, approx 6.30-7.30am I'm not ready to give up yet, but am pretty fed up :-(

You've found your problem - that is shocking! Quality of food is just as important (and probably more so) than quantity. Cut out all the processed rubbish and you'll see results very quickly - you need to be cooking from scratch, which you don't seem to be doing at all.

stebiz

All I would add is that you still seem to have a sweet tooth. I was the same. Move away from the sugar.

terra_ferma

jacques_chirac wrote: »

You've found your problem - that is shocking! Quality of food is just as important (and probably more so) than quantity. Cut out all the processed rubbish and you'll see results very quickly - you need to be cooking from scratch, which you don't seem to be doing at all.

stebiz wrote: »

All I would add is that you still seem to have a sweet tooth. I was the same. Move away from the sugar.

I think people are confusing advice about healthy eating and losing weight.
There is no real hard evidence that cutting processed food and the odd spoonful of sugar, calories being equal, helps losing weight. People debate about low fat/clean/paleo/fasting/low carb diets till they are blue in the face, but at the end of the day there are different schools of thought.

I would agree with the advice given above in so far as it is much healthier to eat food that is not so heavily processed.
If you think you don't have the time/skills/money to eat better, if you pop in the old style forum there is a lot of advice on how to do just that
the first easy step would be to add more fresh vegetables and fruit to your diet, as you don't mention any.

However I think the main message here is that there is something stopping you from losing weight, and you may need to speak to your doctor about it, because eating as little as you do you should be losing weight.

Regarding the amount of calories in the food you eat, the best thing is to compare it to what it says on the package.

heartbreak_star

Also...your trainer is suggesting more cardio? Have you got a weights program too?

I'd be finding a different trainer as well if not.

HBS x

heartbreak_star

hels234 wrote: »

Thank you terra ferma, I've just looked at yesterday on mfp which was as follows:

Breakfast (approx 8.20 at work)
Oats 2 go 202 cals
1 sugar. 16

You'd be better off with a couple of scrambled eggs on toast.

Lunch (approx 12.10)
1 tin chicken veg soup 198 cals

Make this. It's not hard. Stick blender, stock and a bunch of veg. Blender can also be used to make lovely smoothies.

Hot chocolate instant. 115cals

Swap for a few squares of dark choc if you need a choc fix.

Dinner (approx 6pm)
2 sainsburys sausages 254 cals
Coop petit pain x2. 500
Ketchup. 36cals
2 after eights 70 cals

Try turkey steaks or chicken breast instead of sausages, and a few spoonfuls of rice instead of all that bread.

+ plenty of water

= 1391 cals according to mfp

Breakfast and lunch are usually the same type of thing, dinner is norm meat and veg but was sausage sarnies last night. I usually go to the gym before work, approx 6.30-7.30am I'm not ready to give up yet, but am pretty fed up :-(

You have a lot of refined carbs and almost no fruit or veg in here. Make a few swaps

Also bear in mind that not all calories are created equal - your body can do more with 500 cals of chicken stir-fry than it can with 500 cals of chocolate cake

HBS x

AndyBSG

Not read the whole thread but will offer some pointers.

As others have said, low fat food is junk because it's full of processed sugars. Just eat healthy fresh meals and make sure you portion control the carbs.

Rice, pasta, potatoes etc aren't bad but should only make up a small portion of your meal.

Secondly, the more muscle you have the more fat you will burn so bulking up on muscle may see your weight stay the same but your fat levels will drop.

Finally, you mention cardio in your exercise plan. There is a difference between cardio and fat burning. Your body gets it's fuel from carbs and fat.

When you're sitting doing nothing it will probably be burning at roughly a 50/50 split. If you engage in activities that consume energy in short bursts like sprinting it needs to get energy quickly so will switch to carbs as they're easier for it to access. However, if you want to burn fat you're better off doing lower intensity activities over longer periods such as jogging.

At the end of the day burning 1 calorie of carbs or 1 calorie of fat is still 1 calorie gone but there is a difference in where it burns it from.

To put that into perspective, I used to go to the gym 3 times a week for a total of about 4 hours and while there I engaged in high intensity exercise with rests in between. I did feel fitter and improved at all the exercises but didn't notice massive weight loss.

Since Jan 1st though I switched to road cycling for roughly the same amount of time and have lost almost a stone in weight already.

Basically, drop any high intensity cardio instead split your gym time between heavy weights and low intensity long duration fat burning.

redcard

terra_ferma wrote: »

Oh, so you can read minds and know what the OP's diet is like and the reason why OP has put on weight.

I don't know what her diet is like, which was the whole point of my post.

terra_ferma wrote: »

There is no real hard evidence that cutting processed food and the odd spoonful of sugar, calories being equal, helps losing weight

There's plenty evidence that people eating proper food can better regulate calorie intake.

A low fat diet makes people fat