how much weight do i need to lose?

belfastgirl23

How much weight do you need to lose?

Adopt the Tesco motto, every little helps

And it's true that even a few lbs makes you feel better about the whole process and positive about the future. Different people lose from different places - for me the top half shrinks a lot faster as does my waist but my bum is slow to move. If you are heavy though fluid retention could be causing problems with fingers and ankles etc.

You need to see that it won't ever be any easier to do than it is now. It's easier at 14st than at 15st and so on.

All I can say is that in terms of sweetie stuff the first few days are by far the worst. If you avoid it then you lose the craving fairly quickly but you do miss it for the first while.

Also if you can walk for two hours once a week then you could walk for half an hour every day, this would probably make a big difference to your ankles etc as well.

Unfortunately there are no short cuts and no magic answers. It's just about starting and sticking with it. I'm saying this to myself too by the way

Good luck

Nicki

I suspect the reason for the question is because you find the idea of having to lose a lot daunting. No one can answer the question for you because as others have said the answer varies from person to person.

However why not decide today that you will lose 7 pounds over the course of the next calender month, and then re-evaluate at the end of that period. If at the end of one calender month, the rings still don't fit, and you are still feeling uncomfortable, then you will aim to lose another 6 pounds over the next calender month (in my experience you always lose weight a bit more quickly at the beginning of a weight loss regime). If after two months and almost a stone off, you still need to lose more to make yourself comfortable, then continue for another month with another easily achievable target, and stop when you reach the point at which you are comfortable with yourself.

Don't try and lose the weight too quickly or adopt too drastic a new regime, otherwise you will find it hard to keep going with the weight loss, and once you lose the weight you will put it back on again quickly. Work on the basis it has taken a year to gain the weight, so it will not be lost overnight, but bear in mind that you will start to feel (and look) better well before all the weight is gone, and that these positive outcomes may be apparent much quicker than you might think.

Good luck!

Ted_Hutchinson

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

Unfortunately there are no short cuts and no magic answers. It's just about starting and sticking with it.

Well as far as I am concerned low carbing even in this gentle way, feels like magic and a bit like a short cut even though I do understand (having read The Diet Delusion) the science that supports it.

We did after all evolve over 2million years without refined flour, sugar or veggies that absolutely needed to be cooked. High fructose corn syrup can easily be banned from every weightloss household and we managed for millions of years without cooking oil which is a relatively recent invention.

Doing without these ingredients cuts our (well for me at least) all my craving for food so not being hungry makes not eating so much, or so often simple.

While we do need to eat a balanced diet we can do without refined carbs or starchy veg and when lowering carbs our insulin levels down, our bodies/brains then burn the stored fat from our fat cells and we pee out the surplus fat as ketones. While I admit I am much more energetic than I was previously (because I'm not tired all the time) I'm not making any effort to exercise more (though I do think exercise is healthy, I don't think it reduces weight in the long run)

Ketosis masks appetite in the sense that I don't crave food. I'm hungry when my blood sugar is low and I need food. Because I am not only burning the fat as fuel but also peeing surplus fat down the loo, and not having to try to burn it off by extra exercise it seems like magic to me.

The crowd here Active low carb forum seem very helpful and supportive and there appear to be lots of different approaches to low carb eating that suit all types. But I'm lazy so as my plan seems to suit me and doesn't cost me owt I'm sticking to it.

findingmyownway

Ted_Hutchinson wrote: »

Well as far as I am concerned low carbing even in this gentle way, feels like magic and a bit like a short cut even though I do understand (having read The Diet Delusion) the science that supports it.

I'm not making any effort to exercise more (though I do think exercise is healthy, I don't think it reduces weight in the long run)

Ketosis masks appetite in the sense that I don't crave food. I'm hungry when my blood sugar is low and I need food. Because I am not only burning the fat as fuel but also peeing surplus fat down the loo, and not having to try to burn it off by extra exercise it seems like magic to me.

I feel obliged to add a bit of a health warning to this post. Ketosis is a pathological condition and an indication your body is starving & breaking down its protein. The human body is finely designed to keep blood sugar concentrations very tightly controlled. Ted is correct when he says lower blood sugar can stimulate hunger but this is true for any human being, not just one following a low carb diet. It is also impossible to 'pee fat down the loo'.

To claim that exercise doesn't cause weight loss is ridiculous. Weight loss is a simple equation of

when energy taken in is great than energy expended = weight gain
when energy out is greater than energy in = weight loss


Eating a healthy diet does not require ANY food groups to be cut out. Certainly not carbohydrates which are a key supply of energy, fibre, vitamins & minerals. A common misconception is that 'carbs' are just bread, cakes, pasta etc. In reality almost all fruits & vegetables are also cut out of the low carb diets - not healthy for anyone.

To the OP, the best way to lose weight is to reduce the overall consumption of calories in, and increase the number burned through increasing daily activity. The healthest way to do this is to cut out the most nutritionally 'dead' calories such as cakes, biscuits, etc and concentrate on replacing them with foods lower in overall calories but high in vitamins and minerals such as fruit and vegetables.

Good luck.

Ted_Hutchinson

findingmyownway wrote: »

I feel obliged to add a bit of a health warning to this post. Ketosis is a pathological condition and an indication your body is starving & breaking down its protein. The human body is finely designed to keep blood sugar concentrations very tightly controlled. Ted is correct when he says lower blood sugar can stimulate hunger but this is true for any human being, not just one following a low carb diet.

for a somewhat less jaundiced view read the Wiki version of ketosis.
but remember that new born babies breast fed on mothers milk will be in a ketogenic state so assuming it is bad for folks seems somewhat contrary to common sense. Similarly how come we evolved over 2million years on such a diet and it turns out modern health professionals have decided it can't be good for us. I think someone here should spend some time brushing up on the science and would maybe learn something from reading The Diet Delusion.

It is simply wrong to confuse the mild ketosis of carbohydrate restriction with ketoacidosis during which ketone bodies can be tenfold or even 40 fold higher than I have enjoyed.

It is also impossible to 'pee fat down the loo'.

It is a by product of the fat metabolism that is being excreted. Although I admit my appetite has been surpressed and the calories from red wine and starchy veg are missing I've not gone short of food and frying my bacon and eggs breakfast in a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil is going to be fairly calorie dense, similarly I'm enjoying eating only full fat yoghurts and cheeses and a generous chunk of Stilton is by no means a calorie lightweight. Those extra calories must be going somewhere, and you have to explain where the [SIZE=+1]8750[/SIZE] calories I have lost each week have gone if not down the loo. I've no truck with calorie restriction. I eat till I'm fully satisfied. I'm not going hungry for anyone and I certainly haven't walked them off Since there are 3500 calories in 1 lb. of body fat, a 175-pound person needs to walk 35 miles. to lose just 1lb.
If you think I've walked 35mls for each lb I've lost your mistaken. I'd love to be able to contemplate walking the 87.5miles a week to lose 2.5lb each week but in your dreams. I'm glad if I can get to the chickens and back.

To claim that exercise doesn't cause weight loss is ridiculous. Weight loss is a simple equation of

when energy taken in is great than energy expended = weight gain
when energy out is greater than energy in = weight loss

Listen to what Taubes explains in his lecture. It only take just over an hour and everything he says he backs with science. If you want the links then just ask but there are some 70densely packed pages of references in his book so try to be specific about which bit of the lecture you don't quite understand as yet.

Eating a healthy diet does not require ANY food groups to be cut out. Certainly not carbohydrates which are a key supply of energy, fibre, vitamins & minerals. A common misconception is that 'carbs' are just bread, cakes, pasta etc. In reality almost all fruits & vegetables are also cut out of the low carb diets - not healthy for anyone.

just look at the low carb plan I am following. Where does it say all fruit and veg are banned?

To the OP, the best way to lose weight is to reduce the overall consumption of calories in, and increase the number burned through increasing daily activity.

This is the same old health professionals medical dogma that Taubes has nailed in his book over and over again. Obesity is not just the result of gluttony and sloth.

You don't have to exercise to lose weight I certainly haven't. (but I do agree it would be better if I could exercise more and I would if I could but not for weight loss, for heart, lungs, and muscles yes but you are deluding yourself if over the long term you will lose weight with exercise) Read the following.
Does Exercise Really Make Us Thinner? -- New York Magazine

findingmyownway

This is neither the time nor the place for a discussion on the health benefits or dangers of low carb diets.

I merely wanted to warn other readers to do their own research on the the health implications and not take the various links you have posted on face value.

Anyone can handpick some links to support their viewpoint. However, thats not what this forum is about. I'm not sure you picked the correct one regarding your diet though because it DOES say that a variety of healthy, natural foods including fruit, beans, lentils etc should be avoided while you are losing weight.

I appreciate that you feel the plan has been successful. But please don't advertise it on here as a miracle or 'magic' solution. It is neither of these things. It is a highly controversial, strict diet which has had far more negative health reports than positive ones. I am not just talking about weight loss here, i am talking about its links with heart disease and cancer.

The benefits of an active life have been proven many times. Well done for finding an anecdotal article which attempts to cast doubt on that. I am not so quick to disgard the years of work and countless publications which describe the opposite viewpoint.

As i said, i do not wish to argue and i will not do so.

I have made my point now. I hope anyone reading this now does their own research and isn't immediatley taken in by the seductive claims of the website you are advertising.

belfastgirl23

I'm always afraid to argue with Ted on the science

But I do stick by the point that it's about starting and sticking to it though You have to find what works for you. Personally I don't like low carb although I do endorse the idea of being sure to eat protein and trying to limit the low nutritional value carbs (white bread and rice, pasta). But if I had to give up my oats for breakfast or nice wheaten bread I wouldn't necessarily feel that was good for my health.

On the exercise front I just think the benefits are so huge that I can't overstate it. For me it's the difference between feeling good about both myself and my life and not feeling good. It gives me positive energy. It tones my body and energises it. I think that FMOW is right about the energy in and out equation and for me it allows me to eat more of the foods I enjoy and indeed to have a nice glass of wine on a saturday night and still keep my calories okay. Of course you can not exercise and eat less and still lose weight but I love my food so it's also worth it to have the pleasure of eating.

Anyway enough rambling. How are you feeling now OP?

Ted_Hutchinson

findingmyownway wrote: »

It is a highly controversial, strict diet which has had far more negative health reports than positive ones. I am not just talking about weight loss here, i am talking about its links with heart disease and cancer.

Let us be quite clear you cannot back up your claims as to the dangers you are imagining from a low carb diet that is not extreme and which includes fruit and vegetables as the plan I am using does.

The only fruit's I am currently avoiding are grapes, bananas and dried fruit. Because they will raise my insulin levels.

The only veggies I'm missing out on are potatoes rice and sweet potatoes.
Wheat and other refined grains are also avoided.

Yesterday I ate
3 rashers bacon and 2 egg omelette with 1Tbsp ground linseed cooked in coconut oil
1 glass vegetable juice (to take my supplements that included 2 tsps fish oil)

1 large bowl mixed veg soup (onions, tomatoes, garlic, swede carrots chick peas)
1 large bowl of stewed apple (no sugar) and pot of full fat yogurt.

8oz rump steak, onions, garlic, tomato, fried in coconut oil, generous portions of sprouting broccoli, carrots.

Large chunk of Stilton cheese.
I also drank about 8 cups of Green Tea through the day. as well as drinking plenty of water.

If you know anything about metabolism you will know that someone of my height and weight living a relatively inactive lifestyle (because of my disability) would require only 1756 calories daily to sustain my current weight and therefore to be losing weight according to your formula I would need either to burn more calories through exercise or consume less than 1760.

As you know I am losing about 5 ounces daily. That represents at least 1100 calories down the loo or being breathed out or otherwise wasted because I am certainly eating more than 1760 calories daily and I am not walking anywhere or doing anything energetic. (But please don't take this as an excuse for you to be idle, I agree that exercise is good for you and will keep you healthy. but don't be disillusioned, what it won't do is help you lose weight over the long run)

It is simply wrong to raise fears of heart disease and cancer when those doctors who are actively working to prevent these conditions propose low carb eating as a way of preventing them. Refined carbs are linked to cancer incidence.

Lowcarb eating was how our bodies evolved over 2 million years. We gathered those veggies/fruits we could easily pick but became smart when we sussed out how to catch fish and animals and eat them. As there were no fridges we had to gorge on meat/fish when available or they went off. So after gorging ourselves we lay about till we got hungry and motivated to go an kill some more game. But we evolved eating a low carb diet, (no wheat or grains, or hard to cook veg, or sugar/high fructose corn syrup,) and this is what our bodies became fine tuned to run on and I am finding that I am thinking better, have more mental and physical energy than before. So it suits me. Until you try it you won't know if it suits you.

MRSMCAWBER

Hi Homealone

Please come over and visit us over on the
"old style weightloss thread part 3" we are a really friendly bunch...we all have different amounts we want to lose, for diferent reasons and we are all doing our own thing..but the support and encouragement on there is amazing :T

I went to kefalonia last july and hubby got me a new "wedding ring" as i couldn't get mine on -and haven't been able to since about a year after we wed -so about 4 years:o .... I got back of my jollies and started a "healthy eating plan" not a dreaded "diet" ... I don't count cals, points etc, don't buy low fat, diet foods... just cook from scratch using nice fresh produce -
so far i have lost 5st 11lbs....and still have another 4st 7lbs to go...but for the 1st time ever i KNOW i will get there.... now my new wedding ring falls off...I still can't get my original one back on...but im geting there ...
I have found that walking is the best exercise..well for me anyway..in fact i get quite grouchy if i don't get out :rotfl:
Just make small changes one at a time and you will soon be on your way

hope to see you over on the thread soon

lainz

Homealone

You'd do well to follow MrsMcawbers advice and join them on the os weightloss board - her story and signature speak for themselves:T . On the Grocery Challenge thread we are addicted to her recipes, and she also posts on the weightloss one, you'll find you're never out the kitchen though :rotfl: