Problems of weight loss

margaretclare

Been trying to control weight for a number of years now ever since I had to go for surgical pelvic repair. I think you could say I've been there, seen it, done it, felt it, smelt it.

According to certain TV programmes for example 'Secret Eaters' or 'Supersize vs Superskinny', all that is needed is to come back a few weeks later having followed a 'healthy eating plan', and hey presto they've lost weight. Bingo. All that was needed was for them to 'eat healthily', 3 balanced meals a day etc etc.

I am 78. Going to be 79 this summer. In the last 5 years I've heard it all. What I'm getting now is 'why do you bother, at your age?' The simple answer to that is: the day I no longer see the need to 'bother' is the day you can screw the coffin-lid down on me.

My problem is being less active than I used to be and also, muscle loss.

What seems to work for me now is: DH and I have a good breakfast and then, lunch very late. Usually about 2 pm. And then I don't want anything else. So, 2 good meals a day rather than the 3 meals that are advised.

If DH wants a snack later he does one for himself. He's happy with this. He can control his blood glucose - he's a Type II diabetic, been this since 1981, long before I ever knew him.

We don't drink a lot of alcohol - if we do, it's because we won a bottle of wine in a raffle. Or on special occasions. Next week it's St George's Day, the one day in the year I drink half a pint of English beer! We don't have biscuits or chocolate in the house.

DH talks to a woman in the USA who keeps no food in the house at all. None. If there was food in the house of any kind at all, she'd eat it whatever it was. She goes out for all her meals. You can do that in her country quite easily and not too expensively.

My stepdaughter recently lost half her body weight using the Slimming World method. With her, it has been friends, companionship, like-minded people, and she found them just after her marriage broke up and she was devastated. She was in tears, when a card came through her door. She sat down with pencil and paper and that was her starting-point. She'd also had PCOS for a number of years but, as she says, no point in using that as an excuse - it was just another difficulty to be overcome.

Today I had mushrooms, a fried egg, toast and marmalade for breakfast. It's nearly 1 pm and still not feeling hungry.

Al1x

Hi I am trying to loose weight too, I've got 1 stone till I'm at my target weight. Do you have much to loose?

If you aren't eating much then you may not be eating enough to loose weight, sounds a but crazy but I've heard that a lot when people are dieting but not loosing anything.

Georgiegirl256

margaretclare wrote: »

What seems to work for me now is: DH and I have a good breakfast and then, lunch very late. Usually about 2 pm. And then I don't want anything else. So, 2 good meals a day rather than the 3 meals that are recommended.

Then this could be your problem. Basically, if you don't provide your body with the fuel it needs, then it effectively shuts down the fat burning process, and goes into starvation mode and so therefore stops burning fat, and you stop losing the weight.

When my husband was on the WW programme, it was always stressed that you should try and use your daily points allowance. A lot of people just thought the less they ate, the better, but it was more important to use all your points up if possible.

So by just having two meals a day, you could be doing yourself a big disservice in your weight loss mission.

margaretclare

Well, it's going down steadily, little by little, by little...

I've heard this 'not eating enough' thing before. What I'm doing now is based on experience. I've tried everything else and this works for me. It wouldn't work for a younger person. Time was, I could lose weight just by 'eating healthily, staying off the biscuits' etc, because I had a job which involved being very busy and very active.

The least I've ever weighed was in the early 1960s when I had 2 little ones and I never stopped running. Even making a phone call meant loading them into the pushchair and walking to the phone box in the village. Everything was physical! And then, some of the jobs I did. 12 hours a day on your feet, running up and down a ward. In the early 1960s my weight was no more than 8 1/2 stones and that's about what I should be. So, a couple of stones less.

margaretclare

Thanks for the comments. So, how do I force food into my mouth when I'm not hungry? Who says that we have to eat a certain number of 'points'?

A few centuries ago, eating 2 meals a day was the norm for most people. Snacking did not exist, and when you ate, it was a social activity with family or friends.

Georgiegirl256

margaretclare wrote: »

Well, it's going down steadily, little by little, by little...

I've heard this 'not eating enough' thing before.

The only reason I've heard about it is from Weight Watchers, and I guess it makes sense. Here's more info about it here https://www.facebook.com/notes/weight-watchers-points-plus-recipes/eat-morelose-more/528298763899705

It's not meaning eat more biscuits/crisps/etc, but to use your daily calories for your metabolic rate.

peachyprice

I don't eat three times a day, haven't for years, and doubt I ever will.

I don't eat breakfast, but usually have brunch around 11.30 then dinner at around 7pm. I sometimes have a snack around 4pm, a yoghurt or some fruit or nuts.

As soon as I do eat three times a day, for example on holiday or if we have house guests who expect to eat and us to eat with them, I pile on the pounds and frankly feel quite unwell.

okborednow

I myself have been told many times while trying to lose weight about the dreaded starvation mode! It seemed counter intuitive to me so I've done as much research online as I can. Thus far I've yet to find a single scientific study showing that if you eat too little you will not lose weight. Looking at things logically your body needs a certain number of calories each day to live and if they don't come from food they have to come from somewhere. The only time it wouldn't burn fat is if you physically had no fat left to burn...not a big problem for most of us I'm guessing! So I would not worry at all about only eating 2 meals a day do what ever works best for you.

Georgiegirl256

peachyprice wrote: »

I don't eat three times a day, haven't for years, and doubt I ever will.

I don't eat breakfast, but usually have brunch around 11.30 then dinner at around 7pm. I sometimes have a snack around 4pm, a yoghurt or some fruit or nuts.

That's a good point actually, because despite what I said above, I've just realised that actually, I don't eat breakfast. I do however have a decent sized lunch and a fairly large tea, and then something else at about 7ish at night.

I would say I get my daily recommended amount of calories in, I guess it all depends on the size of your meals?

Slinky

I was recommended to read Escape the diet trap by Dr John Briffa who advocates a low carb diet. Seems mad to think that you should be eating lots of butter and avoiding grains, but both my husband and I have been doing this for a couple of weeks and have started to lose weight without feeling at all hungry. If nothing else has worked for you, perhaps low carb is worth a look at for you.

margaretclare

Thanks, Slinky. Slinky??? Sounds familiar, but I don't think you're *my* Slinky from the rest of what you write.

Thank you, okborednow. Like you, I've heard this said, it seemed counter-intuitive and I can't find any scientific support for it. 'If you eat too little you put on weight' - well, there were no fat guys on the Burma Railway. Nor in the concentration camps.

Yes, we do eat fairly low carb and I've read Dr Briffa's book. He's one of the few 'experts' who makes sense. And we've long ago stopped buying anything with the 'low fat' label. Anything low-fat is going to have extra sugar, and it's the dreaded white stuff that we don't need. We do have butter, but the amount we eat is not going to keep any dairy farmer in business. We tend to avoid anything highly-processed or industrially-produced. And needless to say, no ready-meals, no takeaways, nothing like that.

We eventually had lunch about 1.30 - 2 pm and then, we fancied tea and a toasted teacake later when we dropped into Asda. That will be it for me. I shan't want anything else, unless it's half an apple with DH.

A funny story - a year or two back when I was looking at everything, I signed up for Tesco diets on their website. The idea was, they worked out a week's shopping list by which you'd lose a certain amount of weight. One of the items on the list was a packet of jaffacakes. No explanation for that one!!! Needless to say I kicked Tesco into touch.