Weight loss help required

[Saluki]

If it helps, I follow the Joe Wicks app. Great recipes that are tailored to my weight, height, gender, life stage etc. I work out once (sometimes twice) have 2 snacks and 3 meals.
I am not necessarily much lighter but my body shape has changed, I am smaller and I am happy with that

 

[Gwylan]

Went through this a year ago. Lost 15 kg, but it took time. Seems to be staying off.
Has an unexpected spin off on the wardrobe - clothes are suddenly too big.

Smaller plates, smaller portions. Less carbs - potatoes, rice, pasta.
Hence more protein.

Curbed the more than occasional chocolate biscuit.
Reduced, gradually my sugar intake. Achieving about 30 gm.
Watch out for the hidden sugar in things. That's about 5 moderate teaspoons.

Really pushed, for me, the cycling. Try for 100 km a week. With the odd longer adventure.

Probably if I cut down the G&T and the wine the 5 kg left to get to my goal would happen sooner.

Persevere & good luck

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I use the NHS Weight Loss app. I used it a couple of years ago and it worked well for me but I’ve slowly put it all back on, and more, because I stopped keeping an eye on calorie intake and portion control.

I have resumed the diet because I had a fancy dinner event to attend last month and could barely get into my kilt. I only just managed to button the waistcoat and couldn’t see how I’d manage to eat even the first course without firing buttons at the other guests.

I set a maximum intake target of 1900 per day (the app won’t go below that) and record everything I eat or drink. I’ve found that my average intake is around 1200-1300, including a beer or two and a few biscuits etc. This level leaves me felling full and satisfied. I still eat the things I like, just not as much of it.

In the past three weeks I’ve lost 4.2kg and plan to lose another 4 or 5.

Do you have someone to do it with? My wife does it with me and that helps a lot.

 

[presta]

I originally started monitoring my calorie intake to make sure I was eating enough, not for weight loss, but I now have a daily record of weight, calorie intake and exercise going back 22 years, and my experience is that reducing calories alone doesn't work.

The effect of eating less just seems to be that your body tries to adapt to the lower calorie intake and you feel cold and fatigued, whereas exercise teaches your body that it needs to maintain your metabolic rate and burn fat to make up the deficit. It seems entirely reasonable to me that evolution would produce a system that prioritises conserving fat over muscle in a famine victim who does no exercise. After I quit cycle touring I cut my calorie intake accordingly, and a year later my weight was still the same as it had been when I quit, but my chest had gone from looking like a xylophone to my ribs being covered by a thick layer of fat. On an occasion when I did need to lose weight, reducing calories alone repeatedly failed, I lost the weight by first increasing my exercise without increasing calories, then reducing calories as I returned my exercise back to where it had been.

 

[Legs]

Do you have someone to do it with? My wife does it with me and that helps a lot.

I don't have trouble maintaining a healthy weight, but I've certainly found that my wife's health kick over the past year has encouraged me to eat more healthily and exercise more regularly. Since we bought a treadmill last December, we've both been getting up half an hour before the kids (05:30) and working out, three times a week. Because she doesn't want to see me eating biscuits in front of her, I don't (and I try not to eat them when she's not about either!) She's dropped from 62kg to 53kg (5'3") and is feeling really healthy and invigorated. At 43, she's running 5ks in 23 minutes, 2 minutes faster than a decade ago, before children!

I do all the cooking in the household and I consider it a big responsibility to invest in our health, and that of our two boys, by feeding us well.

 

[teeonethousand]

The biggest difference for me was deciding that I would buy basic components only and make a meal up. No pre prepared anything...that's where a lot of the crap is.

 

[The_Weekend_Report_Guy]

Hello there!

I am struggling as well after the holidays and let me tell you that there is no secrets.

Go hungry and exercise more.

Basically what everyone else told you.

Also there is a weight watchers post somewhere.

Best of luck!

 

[bobzmyunkle]

I ate my pancakes and decided that Lent would be a good time to start my weight loss plan. Nothing too complicated, just cut out the snacks.
Week 1 - 3lb gain.
Anyhow this article could inspire a new plan
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/12/marriage-triples-obesity-men-women-study

 

[Gwylan]

In the same boat as most.
Average in all ways, started at 90+ kilos in Nov 23.
Nearly 80.

Got the Type 2 gypsy's warning in Nov 23 and decided to act.

Smaller portions, balanced diet, careful on the sugar, even more home cooking. No snacks of chocolate and biscuits.

I've been cycling more for exercise. Started at 50 km per week and recently got it to 80 km.

The BMI calculator says I need to be at 75 kg. That's the weight I was when I was 35 and running a lot.

Today I'm at 82 kg and struggling.

Looking at my physique (snigger) I cannot see where the next 7 kg is going to come from.

Answers on a postcard......

 

[plastic_cyclist]

Just want to re-surface this topic, it seems to be a common situation for most MAMILs…..it’s the tummy that makes us look like unfit, run of the mill fat blokes…..walking around on Holiday just last week, I caught glimpses of my frame in mirrors and windows and it got me thinking “I’m turning into one of them!!”

Also had the cholesterol chat with the GP, so need to also get on this train…..pronto. Munching on Pringles and Twirls is something that 100% needs to stop! You feel like, because you cycle, you are allowed a s*** ton of junk.

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

You feel like, because you cycle, you are allowed a s*** ton of junk.

I think this is perhaps where a lot of people go wrong, mistakenly thinking they are burning more calories than they do or feeling that can eat what they like because they ride.

I am on the other end of the scale being very lean but I ride 11,000+ miles a year and a lot of it is structured riding with a lot of intensity. If you are at this extreme end (and I know I am at the extreme for an amateur) you will burn through thousands of calories a month but for most cyclists you are not going to use anywhere near the calories you may think you do.

 

[Gwylan]

See how far you have to cycle to use 250kcal.
Then see what that means in food terms.
Then realise that you have to exercise more and eat less and better.
And persevere

 

[wafter]

See how far you have to cycle to use 250kcal.
Then see what that means in food terms.
Then realise that you have to exercise more and eat less and better.
And persevere

Absolutely - my head unit suggests I burn between low-30s and 50kcal per mile depending on intensity; so that bar of chocolate is 5-8 miles give or take.

Ultimately I think processed, plastic-clad junk should just be avoided full stop. Not only is it non-constructive, empty calories but the reward high-carb foods like this bring massively surpasses that obtained from proper food - so always acts to pull the consumer away from healthy, nutritious food towards the stuff that's going to make them obese, diabetic and nutritionally-deficient; opening the door to all manner of other ills.

While I'm doing low-carb currently for weight loss I think the best approach longer term is a moderate amount of good carbs - i.e. as unrefined as possible and low-GI to avoid blood sugar spikes and food cravings.

IMO there should be no place in any sensible person's diet for the ultra-processed, heavily-marketed crap that seems to dominate many peoples' eating habits.

 

[wafter]

In the same boat as most.
Average in all ways, started at 90+ kilos in Nov 23.
Nearly 80.

Got the Type 2 gypsy's warning in Nov 23 and decided to act.

Smaller portions, balanced diet, careful on the sugar, even more home cooking. No snacks of chocolate and biscuits.

I've been cycling more for exercise. Started at 50 km per week and recently got it to 80 km.

The BMI calculator says I need to be at 75 kg. That's the weight I was when I was 35 and running a lot.

Today I'm at 82 kg and struggling.

Looking at my physique (snigger) I cannot see where the next 7 kg is going to come from.

Answers on a postcard......

Great work - you're older than my mum and doubtless in far better shape thanks to your positive, pragmatic attitude.

Bear in mind that BMI is a massively flawed metric skewed by muscle mass.

If you have a particularly muscular build your BMI will over-represent your fat content; conversely if you're like me and have very little muscle it'll tell you you're in a healthy weight when you're still carrying too much fat. At my lightest I think my BMI was on the cusp of telling me that I was underwight, yet I still had tits and a belly..

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

Ultimately I think processed, plastic-clad junk should just be avoided full stop. Not only is it non-constructive, empty calories but the reward high-carb foods like this bring massively surpasses that obtained from proper food - so always acts to pull the consumer away from healthy, nutritious food towards the stuff that's going to make them obese, diabetic and nutritionally-deficient and open the door to all manner of other ills.

One of the most constructive things anyone can do is cook meals from fresh. I know that time pressures and lack of confidence with cooking can makes this difficult for a lot of people but it helps massively for anyone wanting to eat a well balanced diet. It allows you to control everything that goes into a dish; salt, fat, carbs etc. and also helps portion control (the other big issue as I suspect most people consume portions far bigger than they actually need). It also keeps you away from processed meals which as you say is a huge contributor to poor diet and weight gain.

I know people think buying fresh food is more costly, but unless you are buying large amounts of meat and/or fresh fish, it is much cheaper than ready meals. If you can batch cook you will also make food go further and save time with your own (far healthier) pre prepared meals.