Weight loss help needed.

[Campfire]

I wouldn't bother about diets as such, you become obsessed by it and then forget it.

Use a smaller plate and just reduce your portion sizes. That way you're not giving anything up - instead of having biscuits have fruit & measure any cheese in one of those freebie match card sizes. My husband had to reduce carbs, fats & sweet stuff because of diabetes but I 'allow' him a couple of rich tea or digestives in the evening. Try to make it easy on yourself.

 

[GrasB]

Try adding low calorie bulking foods, I find couscous is great for this. You try to eat a cup of cooked couscous in a well made salad.

 

[Arch]

well done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers! The 16s were from Bon Marche, so they were on the mean side of 16, but I knew it was time to change when I found I could pull them off without undoing them.

I'd love, eventually, to be 12. It's slow going, but at least consistent.

 

[Over The Hill]

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CUT DOWN QUANTITY OF FOOD OR GO HUNGRY!

Sorry to shout but it seems to be a big myth with the whole "diet" thing.

1. Dont cut down quantity - just what you eat. You can fill yourself well on good food and there is no need to go without. If you do it will just tempt you to snack on crap.

2. Try and just eat 3 big meals a day. Being full is satisfying and makes you forget food. Snacking is bad as it means you constantly have food in mind.

3. Have food time when you sit at a dining table and eat. The rest of the time is non food time. Dont have it around you while shopping, working, watching tv. We have only got fat since we started eating round the clock. Be like a regemented environment and just have meal times

4. If you do need to snack eat just fruit between the meals.

5. Forget all the traditional bad foods you are told about. Bread is fine, so are spuds. Just what you do with them can be bad.

I eat a huge bown of cereal in the morning (no sugar, skimmed milk on it) No milk in drinks (there is a general trend to make food too rich so cut it down to basic foods)
Lunch is fresh bread from bakers. If it is warm I just eat it as it is (get nice quality fresh bread and it needs nothing on it) or add a bit of anything not fatty.

Evening meal is anything and lots of it but the carb is not cooked in fat (so boiled spuds, pasta rice etc) veg etc as much as I can eat.

Have a "fat radar" on. I dont eat anything that is more than 5% fat or overly sweet. Just do that and you will lose weight. I lost a couple of stone about two years ago and kept it off with above.

Milk is concentrated food to fatten babies up, cheese is concentrated milk! Avoid both. Bulk up on pasta rice and boiled potato. Look at the calories in a big portion and you will see you will not get fat on it.

Try and eat double the veg and fruit you presently have.

Sweets and crisps etc are a big no. Also watch stuff like ice cream etc. Try to have none for a while and then just the odd treat once or twice a week.

You can put yourself off foods you are tempted with by imagening you have eaten the same thing for days on end. Suddenly you dont fancy it any more.

Works for me!

 

[Arch]

No, you don't necessarily have to cut down on quantity, but it depends. Sometimes quantity is the problem. It was a big part of the problem for me - I was cooking too much and eating it all and feeling over stuffed. So for me, cutting the portion worked, because I was still nicely full. There was a woman I saw on a TV show, couldn't understand why she was fat, because she ate mainly veg and fruit salad and 'good stuff', really well balanced. Trouble was, it was well balanced with huge amounts. So you are right, sometimes, but sometimes it IS about the quantity. And people are all different, so there's no one rule. My Gran and Grandad ate the same, she was chunky, he was slim. My sister and I vary - she's always thin, I'm always a bit on the chunky side, and yet we eat a similar diet - if anything hers is probably richer than mine...

As for a life avoiding cheese, I don't think I'd want to bother with life without cheese...

 

[goo_mason]

Well, Panter - I'll be joining you! After my weight loss through cycling getting me down to just shy of 14 stones and then rising and plateauing off at around 15.5 stones, yesterday I had my first ever cholesterol check and it was high. My blood pressure was also high (likely because I was terrified of having my thumb pricked to get the blood for the test!).

So, it's time to wave goodbye to the evening munchies, the blue cheese and creme fraiche pasta sauce I make and other assorted nice-but-naughty foods.

I think I'll invest in a few more games for the laptop - noticed the other week that whilst I wasted entire evenings playing Call of Duty:World at War and then Wolfenstein, I was so distracted that I ate nothing between dinner & bedtime. That's quite a help to get me started....

I'll have to sit down tonight and start planning a new menu for myself for next week onwards. The good thing is that other than regularly overdoing the naughties, my diet is already pretty well in the 'healthy' region (lots of fresh fruit, veg, wholegrains, water, dried fruit snacks etc)

 

[Wigsie]

I think I'll invest in a few more games for the laptop - noticed the other week that whilst I wasted entire evenings playing Call of Duty:World at War and then Wolfenstein, I was so distracted that I ate nothing between dinner & bedtime. That's quite a help to get me started....

Modern Warfare 2 is out shortly so you will be like a whippet in no time!

 

[drummer99]

My tip would be just stay strong and focused, and when positive comments start coming in it feels well worth it.
I started my weight loss journey on 9th June '09 and since then have got from 158kg now currently standing at 126kg (hence why i joined the forum quite abit ago and didnt say anything.). Still majorly overwieght, but i am getting there, and what i am most pleased with is that during a recent holiday i did eat quite abit, but kept up exercise and managed to loose weight. Just try and install the mental aspect of it in your mind and keep it there. If one day/ night you have a chinese or whatever, so what. Forget about it the next day, and just keep positive.
I just cut back majorly on food, and no eating after 6pm. I just see it as a fuel now. Only really have 1 meal a day (if that) and when i am hungry i will eat some fruit or something, but quite alot of the time, i will wait to see if my hunger goes away, which it usually does.
People have told me its not the best means to loose weight, but it is better than being 158kg, and over the past 5 weeks when i have been on holiday eating normally/out every night i have found i am full pysically alot quicker than i used to be.
Good luck with it, and hope you see some results!

 

[Panter]

Many thanks all for all the advice, it's all been thoroughly digested (pardon the pun.)

I haven't cut out anything yet, that will come later as the weight loss slows down I think.

I've lost 5 pounds so far in the last fortnight so it's all heading in the right direction

Congratulations to the "losers" on here, it's inspiring stuff and good luck to everyone else having a go

I'm not going to post back here anymore, but will take it to the weight watchers thread.

 

[Globalti]

If you own a house, general maintenance is a great calorie burner. Washing the car, sweeping up leaves, vacuuming, cleaning the windows, cutting the grass, all done with zest and energy. DIY is another one - sawing and hammering and sanding down all use lots of energy because they use muscles that are not accustomed to much work.