Weight loss/fitness etc

In2deep

Hello, I just looking for people opinions.

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but anyway...

I have joined local gym and have been going for over a week now. Went 4 times last week and done 5k run last night around the streets.

I have reduced my calorie intake too and have decided not to drink any alcohol for a while.

I am currently 15 stone 8lbs (male), and I'm hoping to get down to 13 stone.

Now I am not expecting miracles after the 1st week haha, but how long should it take realistically for me to lose the weight or notice a difference - IF I keep doing what I'm doing?

My weight hasn't moved at all since last week. I am not panicking or anything, but would just like to know when I'm likely to notice a difference.

Cheers.

Wenlock

Although exercise is really good for you, the key to losing weight is changing your diet.

You are looking to lose 2.5 stone. It took me 4 months to lose the same amount last year. I have continued to lose, my current BMI is 21.7 and I need a big calorie surplus to avoid losing too much.

My personal opinion is that by far the easiest way to lose weight is with a combination of low carbohydrate/high healthy fats (eg Keto) and some form of fasting or time restricted eating.

I currently eat a carnivore diet, just red meat, eggs and a little fish. I do still drink coffee. Dairy is okay if you don’t have an intolerance to it but it is very easy to over consume with cheese, cream etc. I stick to having a little cream in my coffee (my only plant material) and using butter or ghee when I fry meat or eggs.

You could theoretically follow a low carb diet as a vegetarian but it is much harder as most fruits, vegetables and grains are high in carbs.

From a health perspective I would try to avoid any processed food, seed oils, sugar. Eat real food.

The idea of weight loss being just calories in versus calories out has been debunked. Although the total quantity of food consumed does play a role in weight, the main issue is keeping your insulin levels down. Low carbs and infrequent eating = lower insulin, lower body weight, less chance of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and many other diseases.

If you cut the carbs you will naturally find that you are less hungry. Most people can then reduce the number of meals and snacks and eat within a shorter window each day. I tend to eat my first meal at midday and nothing after about 5 pm. So each day I only consume food for about 5 - 6 hours and I fast for say 18 hours. That gives your digestion a rest and your body will burn body fat for the energy it requires.

I’m male, in my fifties and 6 ft tall. To maintain my current weight of 11 st 6 I find I need to eat over 3,000 calories a day, as long as that is virtually carb free (eggs etc do have a small amount). If I consume dairy and/or some blueberries I find I can gain weight with 2,500 calories or less - it is the effect on hormones like insulin that really matters more than calories.

littlegreenparrot

I disagree, and you will prize carbs out of my cold dead hands :rotfl:

It is, (in my opinion) much more about diet than exercise. Exercise makes me feel better in lots of ways, but it is only when I pay attention to my intake that I actually lose weight.

There are lots of different ways of eating, Intermittant fasting, low carb, paleo, whatever. What they all do essentially is reduce a persons total calorie intake in one way or another, and therefore they lose weight.

Most often you see a rate of loss of about 2 lbs a week chucked about as realistic and sustainable. I find My fitness pal very helpful, it's a website and app that helps track calories.

Also be careful how much you do - nothing to 4 times a week is for some people a big jump. Better to build up a bit and not get injured along the way.

Regardless of mine or anyone else's opinion, what's important is to try a few things until you find what works for you personally, and is sustainable without making you feel miserable and deprived. Otherwise its a very short lived effort!

flanker6

littlegreenparrot wrote: »

Most often you see a rate of loss of about 2 lbs a week chucked about as realistic and sustainable. I find My fitness pal very helpful, it's a website and app that helps track calories.

^^^^ Good advice.


One thing that sticks in my mind is a quote by Matt Fraser "You can't out train a bad diet!" So, you're gonna have to get the diet that works for you. Basically, all the different diets only result in weight loss if you have a calorie deficit. And there are multiple ways of dieting, Paleo, Atkins, Keto, simple calorie counting, etc. Pick one that you feel most able to stick to.

Sea_Shell

Don't forget that whilst you burn fat and put on muscle you may still weigh the same...but you'll shrink!

Don't get too fixated on the scales. Rather go by how you feel and that your jeans are getting baggier!

belfastgirl23

Your age is another factor to take into account. 2lbs a week average for the first while is do-able if you’re young and have more than a stone to lose. However it will slow down after a while no matter what. Also for some people they don’t lose any weight for weeks and then suddenly lose 5lbs. If you haven’t tried to lose weight before then I’d say focus on getting satisfaction from completing the actions (e.g. going to the gym, having a day of eating healthily) rather than the results.

The other thing though is to check the quantity of what you’re eating. Even a week or two on MyFitnessPal can be worth it to identify calorie-sucks. It is possible to eat fairly healthily and still gain weight if you don’t pay at least a little attention to portion size. And sometimes a habit that you barely notice, like having a sweetened coffee every day, can add up over time.

jefaz07

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Don't forget that whilst you burn fat and put on muscle you may still weigh the same...but you'll shrink!

Don't get too fixated on the scales. Rather go by how you feel and that your jeans are getting baggier!

This is incorrect. You can’t do both at the same time.

People say ditch carbs. I agree to an extent. You need carbs for fuel, fuel to have a quality workout. You may drop them but don’t eradicate. I could never do what I do now without carbs.
3500 calorie deficit = 1lb fat (generally)
So workout your BMR then work out your calories from there.
Remember, whatever you do needs to be sustainable!

In2deep

Thanks very much to everyone for taking the time to reply.

Much appreciated.

The way I am looking at things is that I've gone from probably drinking alchol most weekends with no exercise at all to no alcohol at all and exercise so surely got to lose weight.

I am also cutting out things like fizzy drinks and biscuits (although i do have the odd treat).

I have been using the my fitness pal app and find it very good for tracking my calorie intake (when I remember to fill it out)!

I would say my diet is okay at the moment but I could improve it.

I have set myself a calorie intake of 1500 a day, but in all honesty I dont know if that's too much or too little. I do struggle to stick to that and find that I am really hungry when I get home from the gym.

Can eating not enough have a negative effect on weight loss too?

belfastgirl23

I’d say 1500 is low especially for a man who is exercising. Are you eating enough to feel reasonably satisfied on that allowance?

As a comparison I’m female, I do a decent amount of exercise and I normally eat around 1800 calories a day when I’m trying to watch my food intake.

Eating too little can be a problem - if you google ‘Starvation Mode’ you’ll find more info. Never a problem for me though I hate being too hungry!

littlegreenparrot

In2deep wrote: »

I have set myself a calorie intake of 1500 a day, but in all honesty I dont know if that's too much or too little. I do struggle to stick to that and find that I am really hungry when I get home from the gym.

Can eating not enough have a negative effect on weight loss too?

It's great that your using My fitness pal already.
If you work through the set up it asks you about your height, weight gender, goals etc and will calculate a daily calorie goal for you. You can change it if you want but it might be a good place to start.

You can also put in any exercise you do, 45 min run for example, and it will suggest how many extra calories you should eat as a result. It can be difficult to know otherwise, I'm a runner and sometimes would just eat everything I can get my hands on!

Nebulous2

From about 30 I slowly got bigger and bigger, until I peaked at over 18 stone. It was beginning to impact on my health, so I made up my mind to change it. I didn't tell anyone, but set out to do it on my own.

My main difference was cutting out food at lunchtime. For over 20 years I bought sandwiches, crisps and soft drinks at work for lunch. The Spar shop near my work started selling a bag with 5 items of fruit for £1 and I switched to that and water at lunchtime.

It's very easy for your brain to trick you. You cut back somewhere, like I did, but then up your portions in the evening, or start snacking before going to bed. You need to make sure you don't substitute a drop in calories somewhere for an increase elsewhere. I aimed for a calorie deficit of 700 for 5 days a week, with a balanced diet for 2 days, a sort of reverse 5 / 2 diet, with the aim to lose 1 pound a week. I more or less did that every week for 14 months and lost over 5 stone. That gave me time to change my lifestyle.

After I got down to about 15 stone 10 I was finding it difficult to keep it up and bought a bike. That became more important than the weight and I have taken up long distance endurance cycling. People say it is mainly diet, and to some extent that is true, but it isn't the complete picture, certainly for me. If I'm doing over 10 hours a week on the bike, with an average of 700 calories over my base rate that's worth 2 pounds or 1kg a week. Now not everyone wants to do 150-180 miles a week on a bike, but at that level the impact of exercise on your weight is significant.

I stopped losing weight in October 2010 and have kept most of it off, which is in some ways the most significant part, so it has certainly worked for me.