Losing Weight

[matty_doh]

Apologies if this has been covered a thousand times, but whatever I search for it comes up with nil results..

Basically, I'm a fat bugger. I'm not sensitive, I know I am.

I'm 5'9 ish and take trousers with a 36" waist, unsure on weight but I think 14 stone (+/- 1) would not be too far out.

I used to play rugby whilst at college and had more free time, now I'm working though and haven't played rugby or done any sport/proper exercise for a long time and my poor level of fitness has dropped even further and shocked me a little - I used to be able to run up and down mountains, even carrying extra baggage - did a 4 day Outward Bound course a few weeks ago for work and I was useless. Really got me quite down, constantly at the back of the group and whilst I could out-climb most of the group (Old job means I can lift myself about quite easily), I was stopping most of the time for a breather.

I don't eat particularly unhealthily (mum constantly on a diet), and seldom drink (Pretty much tee-total apart from the odd Magners) and whilst I've lost SOME weight whilst at my new job working 10 hour days, it's not having much effect.

So basically, I want to lose weight but finding an enjoyable (or at least something I can do without boring myself to tears) way to do this is being a real PITA, especially as anything outdoors has to be done in the dark or at the weekends, due to work.

So I was wondering if any PH'ers have any suggestions on a none-boring way to lose weight that I can start steadily and increase the pace.

Cheers,

Matt

[grumbledoak]

From height and weight I'd guess you are 15st (I was at 36", and I'm shorter).

As we go into winter proper, interesting exercise gets tough. I would try to 'develop' a real interest in your food- you can lose quite a bit of weight very naturally just by eating better...

[dibbly_dobbler]

matty_doh said:

Apologies if this has been covered a thousand times, but whatever I search for it comes up with nil results..

Basically, I'm a fat bugger. I'm not sensitive, I know I am.

I'm 5'9 ish and take trousers with a 36" waist, unsure on weight but I think 14 stone (+/- 1) would not be too far out.

I used to play rugby whilst at college and had more free time, now I'm working though and haven't played rugby or done any sport/proper exercise for a long time and my poor level of fitness has dropped even further and shocked me a little - I used to be able to run up and down mountains, even carrying extra baggage - did a 4 day Outward Bound course a few weeks ago for work and I was useless. Really got me quite down, constantly at the back of the group and whilst I could out-climb most of the group (Old job means I can lift myself about quite easily), I was stopping most of the time for a breather.

I don't eat particularly unhealthily (mum constantly on a diet), and seldom drink (Pretty much tee-total apart from the odd Magners) and whilst I've lost SOME weight whilst at my new job working 10 hour days, it's not having much effect.

So basically, I want to lose weight but finding an enjoyable (or at least something I can do without boring myself to tears) way to do this is being a real PITA, especially as anything outdoors has to be done in the dark or at the weekends, due to work.

So I was wondering if any PH'ers have any suggestions on a none-boring way to lose weight that I can start steadily and increase the pace.

Cheers,

Matt

Find another sport you like - it's got to be fun or you'll get bored.

I play squash 2-3 times a week, great fun and all-weather. Nice easy game to get started at - just blast away and worry about tactics etc once you get better

PS - you're not that bad btw so dont feel too down about it !

[King Herald]

matty_doh said:

Apologies if this has been covered a thousand times, but whatever I search for it comes up with nil results..

Basically, I'm a fat bugger. I'm not sensitive, I know I am.

I'm 5'9 ish and take trousers with a 36" waist, unsure on weight but I think 14 stone (+/- 1) would not be too far out.

Hmm, I'm 5'9" and wear a 40" jeans.

I've recently started a weight loss program through a website called www.sparkpeople.com
Basically you give them a current weight, and a goal you want to reach, and a time frame, and they give you a realistic daily calorie level you need to stick to. You have to list everything you eat each day and it tots up the calories automatically. It is all free, just have to fill some details in and join. It is a bit of a fiddle remembering and entering it all though, which is pretty much the only down side I can see so far.

I'm supposed stick to a diet between 1600 and 1900 calories a day. You aren't meant to eat less than your minimum, as that messes with your system too much.


I lost about 5 kgs the first three weeks I was on it, while I was offshore, and I appear to have dropped another couple in the last two weeks while I'm at home.

Best thing it has done for me is make me more aware of exactly how fattening some foods are. It also tends to make you think twice before picking up junk snacks and stuff.

They also emphasize that exercise is an essential part of weight loss.

[Ed]

You need to re-activate the muscle mass you probably still have from rugby...this is the only thing that has stopped me reall piling the kgs on. There is no silver bullet for this it is diet and exercise but there are a few cunning plans to help you on your way. Ironically pounding weights helps you take lard off becasue it replaces lard with metabolically active muscle tissue...thus every bit of exercise is a more effective fat burner.

Try Wii Fit to get your base metabolic rate up in the privacy of your own home (dark or not). Starving yourself won't work and you need to increase the % of protein in your current diet which helps weight loss (not to the point of ketosis like Atkins tho). Unless you want to be eating 5 chicken breasts a day, I'd head for Maximuscle Promax Diet which is a meal replacement (Starwberry and Choc are fking vile, banana was ok). If you really want to start getting the lard off, I gave Thermabol a go a few years back when I hit a bit of a plateau on my 6 day a week gym adiction and it did a decent job of holding the matabolism up...just don't take it near bed time...that is the other thing, sleep plenty and drink gallons of water (cold if you can get it).

You also need to get your head around food...you need to almost feel good about being pious with food. I used to walk past the vending machine at work just so I could get the buzz from having not scoffed a Kitkat.

[Ed]

Apologies for the spelling and grammar in my last post. I have just re-read it and my cocker spaniel could have written a more precise and easy reading piece.

[sidewayz]

But it was very helpful. Thank you.

[matty_doh]

Hmm, thanks for the replies everyone - extremely helpful and given me something to think about, and your grammar is fine Ed :P!

[BigAlinEmbra]

Sky sports subscription.
Exercise bike in front of the telly.
Mash away on the bike for a half of rugby, job done.

Watching the rugby takes your mind off exercise bikes being rather dull.
Only risk is where you get an injury strewn game and your 40 minutes extends dramatically. There was one match the other weekend where I started a few mins before kick off and at half time was on 57 minutes so just knocked it up to an hour. I was a bit wobbly of leg after.

If you're an imaginative sort you can pretend you're a sub warming up on a pitchside bike.

[bales]

Ed said:

Y

Unless you want to be eating 5 chicken breasts a day, I'd head for Maximuscle Promax Diet which is a meal replacement (Starwberry and Choc are fking vile, banana was ok). If you really want to start getting the lard off, I gave Thermabol a go a few years back when I hit a bit of a plateau on my 6 day a week gym adiction and it did a decent job of holding the matabolism up...just don't take it near bed time...that is the other thing, sleep plenty and drink gallons of water (cold if you can get it).

Do you think advising someone who wants to lose a bit of weight and get fitter, to start taking protein shakes and fat burners is really ideal?

Never mind the fact that these are expensive and you shouldnt really be taking them long term, what is wrong with just some gentle cardio to start with, i.e jogging/cycling and then maybe getting into some sports i.e squash as someone suggested before.

I think it as a sad time when people suggest supplements to lose weight initially rather than just trying to change to a healthier lifestyle...

I would say just try and get into regular exercise and just watch what you eat a bit more carefully. Tbh from your stats you arent that big anyway I wouldn't have said.

[4nonymous]

I'm a fat st too.

So I cut eating the crap and started walking in the evenings around 3-4 miles a day.

Gone from 98.9 kg to 93.5kg, aim is to get to 65kg which is the ideal weight for my height.

Just burn more than you eat. Simples.

[Bill]

OP, hope you find some inspiration here

And I agree with the bit above about protein shakes etc. It really is as simple as eating less and getting out more, but it takes a change of lifestyle rather than following a fad.

[King Herald]

4nonymous said:

I'm a fat st too.

So I cut eating the crap and started walking in the evenings around 3-4 miles a day.

Gone from 98.9 kg to 93.5kg, aim is to get to 65kg which is the ideal weight for my height.

Just burn more than you eat. Simples.

It really is that simple, nothing fancy needed. The most difficult part is controlling what you eat. I like eating. I like food. And the worst part is that much of what I like eating is crap.

[grumbledoak]

King Herald said:

And the worst part is that much of what I like eating is crap.

You need to do what I did. Spend the next two months doing a bit of research on chefs (TV, Michelin starred, or otherwise). Then, once a month for the whole of next year, go to one of your list of the twelve most interesting restaurants you could find. Consider it inspiration.

Long before the end of the year I was in the kitchen every day, trying much harder to make myself good food. I just don't consider buying a ready meal, a kebab, or Maccy-D's.

I still cannot win a PH competition, mind...

[Ed]

If you're going to cut calories slowly you need to make sure they are quality calories from a protein rich diet. Getting Protein shakes as meal replacement is a convenient and easily measurable way of getting those protein calories. If you are doing the weights I suggested, then you need to be fueling your body with the muscle building amino acids or you will quickly hit the wall in your training and lose the will to keep going at the necessary intensity. Fair enough, I was doing 2hrs 6 days a week and felt sore when I was off the protein. Because it isn't your normal diet, I also felt I had taken control which was an important psychological step in the process.

[Bill]

Ed said:

quality calories

With all due respect, energy in < energy out = weight loss. As an extreme example Ranulph Fiennes on his polar trips packs lard, as it's the most calorie intensive food he can carry, and still loses weight.

[bales]

Ed said:

If you're going to cut calories slowly you need to make sure they are quality calories from a protein rich diet. Getting Protein shakes as meal replacement is a convenient and easily measurable way of getting those protein calories. If you are doing the weights I suggested, then you need to be fueling your body with the muscle building amino acids or you will quickly hit the wall in your training and lose the will to keep going at the necessary intensity. Fair enough, I was doing 2hrs 6 days a week and felt sore when I was off the protein. Because it isn't your normal diet, I also felt I had taken control which was an important psychological step in the process.

Not being funny but why on earth does he need meal replacements shakes! He just wants to lose a bit of weight not become a body builder, how about just eating a bit more healthily and exercise regularly....seriously it works....

Do you work for a supplements company or something?! Your paragraph above sounds like an excerpt from one of the Maximuscle catalogues!

Ed said:

You also need to get your head around food...you need to almost feel good about being pious with food. I used to walk past the vending machine at work just so I could get the buzz from having not scoffed a Kitkat.

Just read this; not wanting to get personal here but do you not think this almost sounds a bit obsessive...to the point where you lose all enjoyment from food?

From a personal point of view I also train 6 days a week as a sprinter - I'm not going to say that I am amazing but I am at a pretty good standard, if I walk past a vending machine and want a kit-kat then umm...I have a Kit Kat likewise with crisps and other 'junk food' and I have 8% body fat. I eat healthily so a bit of chocolate now and again isn't going to do anything. I think that you should be able to have 'unhealthy' stuff now and again but just be sensible with things, it just sounds so depressing to be that obsessive about food, when at the end of the day what is the benefit? Usain Bolt for gods sake lived off McDonalds in Bejiing as he didn't trust the food!

Edited by bales on Thursday 5th November 08:43

[King Herald]

bales said:

...... if I walk past a vending machine and want a kit-kat then umm...I have a Kit Kat......I think that you should be able to have 'unhealthy' stuff now and again but just be sensible with things...

Therein lies the answer to losing weight.

If only it were so easy, there would be no fat people in the world. The reason people are fat is because they eat too much rubbish and junk food. We ALL know that eating less of it is good, but actually doing it is the part that we find difficult.

[ewenm]

King Herald said:

bales said:

...... if I walk past a vending machine and want a kit-kat then umm...I have a Kit Kat......I think that you should be able to have 'unhealthy' stuff now and again but just be sensible with things...

Therein lies the answer to losing weight.

If only it were so easy, there would be no fat people in the world. The reason people are fat is because they eat too much rubbish and junk food. We ALL know that eating less of it is good, but actually doing it is the part that we find difficult.

I go for the opposite solution. Eat just as much junk but do LOADS more exercise

[Ed]

bales said:

Ed said:

If you're going to cut calories slowly you need to make sure they are quality calories from a protein rich diet. Getting Protein shakes as meal replacement is a convenient and easily measurable way of getting those protein calories. If you are doing the weights I suggested, then you need to be fueling your body with the muscle building amino acids or you will quickly hit the wall in your training and lose the will to keep going at the necessary intensity. Fair enough, I was doing 2hrs 6 days a week and felt sore when I was off the protein. Because it isn't your normal diet, I also felt I had taken control which was an important psychological step in the process.

Not being funny but why on earth does he need meal replacements shakes! He just wants to lose a bit of weight not become a body builder, how about just eating a bit more healthily and exercise regularly....seriously it works....

Do you work for a supplements company or something?! Your paragraph above sounds like an excerpt from one of the Maximuscle catalogues!

Ed said:

You also need to get your head around food...you need to almost feel good about being pious with food. I used to walk past the vending machine at work just so I could get the buzz from having not scoffed a Kitkat.

Just read this; not wanting to get personal here but do you not think this almost sounds a bit obsessive...to the point where you lose all enjoyment from food?

From a personal point of view I also train 6 days a week as a sprinter - I'm not going to say that I am amazing but I am at a pretty good standard, if I walk past a vending machine and want a kit-kat then umm...I have a Kit Kat likewise with crisps and other 'junk food' and I have 8% body fat. I eat healthily so a bit of chocolate now and again isn't going to do anything. I think that you should be able to have 'unhealthy' stuff now and again but just be sensible with things, it just sounds so depressing to be that obsessive about food, when at the end of the day what is the benefit? Usain Bolt for gods sake lived off McDonalds in Bejiing as he didn't trust the food!

Edited by bales on Thursday 5th November 08:43

Fully understand the calory balance principles, I was surrounded by Sports Science nutters at Loughborough Uni for 4 years. Certainly don't work for a supplement manufacturer...I got to trust the brand while playing rugby and using a high protein diet to give muscle repair a fighting chance between matches and from gym sessions in off season. Never really thought about changing brand and to be honest there are cheaper and equally good brands.

OP said, "I don't eat particularly unhealthily, and seldom drink and whilst I've lost SOME weight whilst at my new job working 10 hour days, it's not having much effect". Sounded like a bit of stale mate in a diet only approach so offered some options that worked for me.

What I suggested worked for me...and yes I was adicted to the gym and to a certain extent got a bit obsessive about what I ate...I'm back on the Kit Kats now though ;-).