Pah - it's probably mostly water

How are you gal?

Thank Piff!

You know you have to to stop doing that - "diets don't work", it's lifestyle changes and portion control - only way to go kid.

Hi guys

Thought I would wade in here as I have been on a diet since April 10th. Have lost around 10lb to 13lb and am pretty much at my target for when I started (wanted to get down to my weight from 2 years ago before I go to england in Aug).

Things I gave up that worked for me:

1. daily visits to snack shop at work. My sister told me she watched a programme on obese teenagers and they were told one chocolate hob nob a day translated to 10lbs a year. I reckon I was on two kitkats and two bags of crisps a week.
2. Using stairs rather than lift at work.
3. Eating kids baking- my son is a keen baker and I was consuming ridiculous amounts of marble chocolate cheesecake brownies.
4. Snacking in the evening apart from fruit, frozen peas or freshly popped corn with no extras.
5. If friends are coming round later in the week not buying food for them until the actual day so I am not tempted to eat all the Death Valley Chipotle crisps the night before.
6. ice-cream.
7. Juice or ribena with meals - just replaced with water


Things I bought:
A miracle weight loss swim suit from Swimco. Not a bargain and you don't lose the 10lb it promises as your fat still bulges out at the top of your thighs. None-the-less a useful product for tummies!

Things I wouldn't recommend:

Any of those appetite suppressant drinks or bars. These often contain swelling clays that swell a lot (eg bentonite) and sit in your tummy with lots of aluminium for ages. Not advisable.

Gryph

Yeah that's what this is - a complete change to how I've eaten for my entire life - it's trying to get the rest of the family on board too as well as getting my head around eating 5 times a day to lose weight, I know it works, I did 6 weeks last year, this one is a simplified version from the same company - more user friendly - the ultimate goal is getting the metabalism working properly again. ho hum

Is this one of those where you end up eating small balanced meals with half protein and half carbs five times per day?

It's a bit more comlicated than that. I will be doing the high protein version as from doing a questionare I score is carb intolerant - in other words my body craves and abuses carbs - so I need to fix it.

week one (phase 1) I will eat 1200 calories
week two plus (phase 2) I will eat 1500 calories - now there are two ways I can do phase two, I can do it for 3 weeks(the new way) or I can do it until I stop losing (the old way).
Week 4 (phase 3) 2000-2500 a day for 1-4 weeks - until you gain 3 pounds and then you go back down to phase 1.

It's all about metabolic recovery and once reaching your goal weight you don't let youself gain more than 3lbs- just pos back to phase 1. The scince is there, it makes sense when you read it.

Excess weight, with a few exceptions, is gained by puting too much food in one's mouth, nothing more, nothing less. Food Intake 2000 calories, Caloric Burnoff 1500 calories = weight gain.

Do you really think we don't know that????? What you also have to consider is the mental and psycological reasons too. Most children were taught to finish what was on their plates and consider themselves lucky they had a good dinner because there are lots of starving people out there and also there was always the reward of cleaning up your plate because then you could get desert. Unfortunately those children then grow into overweight adults, then those overweight adults do their 1st diet, it is proven (I'm not sure where I read it) but weight watchers/slimming world/jenny craig etc although they work initially, once you go onto maintenance you will gain and before you know it you weigh more than when you went on the original diet, so you go on a new diet. Which is why many of us yoyo - myself included, I've been skinny-fat-skinny-fat all my life, i now have this new programme and hopefully if I get the right support my eating habits will change for the better. It doesn't help however having a husband that can eat what he wants, how much he wants and when he wants and not gain an ounce, it also doesn't help that he finds me as gorgeous now as he did when I was skinny. It's me who HATES me.

That of course is entirely true, however things can be a little more complicated at the individual level.

Some people have slow metabolisms - great in days gone past of higher physical activity and lower food availability, they were the ones that survived famines etc. Now, they cannot consume the same calories as others in their family or social group as they are more efficient and manage to retain some of the calories as fat - this is a problem as it is the comparative calorie intake that can be difficult to control. I posted an article a page or two back about a trial where prisoners would be released early if they put on weight - some couldn't do it, not even to get out of prison early - fast metabolisms.

Most of the "fad" diets are based around tricks and shortcuts to aid the basic calorie-in, calorie-out concept, lots of protein and less carbs as protein calories metabolize better, 5 small meals a day to keep the basal metabolic rate moving and consume calories by the act of digesting and so on.

North America is quite a difficult place to keep an eye on calories ingested - certainly in the US there is limited labelling and high amounts of hidden sugar or high fructose corn syrup used as fillings in bread etc.

At the end of the day, portion control and exercise are what it comes back to - sometimes quite shocking amounts of portion control and exercise which is why people search for shortcuts to help this process (and if it works why not).

In reality if one wants to lose weight one needs to be adding 1.5 hrs per day, every day, of cardio-type exercise (even a stiff walk) plus 2 sessions per week of strength training and then control ones calorie intake via portion control and checking of hidden calories. It's a lot to commit to.

As for the excersise side of life - that's why I wanted a dog in the 1st place! As I have mentioned before I do the Curves cardiovascular/strength training programme - I'm generally very good about going three times a week, some weeks I only manage once or twice - I certainly know if I've been lazy and it's just not worth it for the figures. I also work in a store rather than an office - even though it kills my poorly feet. It was my last office job that saw to this current gain in weight

I'm also on the pill - that gains my weight too - my skinny times in life were much longer when I was not on the pill, planning on something more permanent in the near future - not just for weight reasons but for other health reasons too.

I want to preface this post by clearly stating that I am not a hater or critical of fat people (I am fat myself) and that I find the posts that say "you need to eat less" are little different than telling an alcoholic "your need to drink less mate".

That said, you appear to be still in the denial stage somewhat and focussing on the sources of weight gain that you can blame -office work, pill etc. You also seem to be grabbing onto named crutches "Curves", "XY diet program" etc - a big chunk of the issue still seems to be in your head.

What caused your's and my weight gain was eating too much and exercising too little - I can blame the accident and subsequent knee surgeries and years of poor mobility etc, but at the end of the day I didn't take responsibility quickly enough and manage my diet (and the exercise I could do) to prevent weight gain. Sure a chunk of it was depression eating caused by pain and immobility etc, but it was still my responsibility to manage it and I didn't.

As I said earlier, I can see that there will be some logical short-cuts to help the basic equation and if they work for you then fine. But the horrific nitty gritty is a long hard slog of quite shocking amounts of effort is probably the only way to get a long lasting solution towards weight health.

1.5 hrs every single day of cardio - whether fast walking or cycling etc - should burn off 300-400 calories per day.

2+ hrs a week of hard strength training - muscles use 60 calories per day (per lb) in their upkeep, fat uses around 3. You can add around 1lb per month of muscle, over 12 months thats an increase of 12 lbs or 550 calories per day to your basal metabolic rate.

Its a mad amount of time and effort to find the time and motivation for, but I honestly believe its what is needed in the weight-loss phase for many people. Obviously there is a lot of portion control and hidden calorie control required as well, which is similarly difficult when your body craves sugar, fat and salt with a big chunk of carbs the whole time.

I haven't looked back in the thread and checked how overweight you are, I am a BMI of 35 at the moment after already losing 30 lbs - its has taken me a year of effort to get this far - I'm not sure I'll ever get to BMI 25 but I know I need to lose another 30 lbs at least to become somewhat healthier and more mobile.

Please don't think I am trying to piss on your chips, all our journeys are different, I wish you luck reaching your goals.

I wish Ice-cream, more like. but it was sooooo hot (sigh) and there is only so much iced water once can drink

And apart from my extra tyre, I'm very well ta ! We're all keeping fit(ish) and well and so enjoying this good weather - to the point of complaining that it's too bloody hot now That Bow River sure looks inviting, if not a tad chilly, and high and fast right now .... Hope you are well too.

Cape Blue:

I have actually taken quite a bit of offence to your last post - I'm not blaming the pill/my office job for my weight gain - I know it's the type of food that I eat and the lack of excersise together. If I don't go to Curves I gain weight, if I go to Curves I stay the same, if I change my diet I lose weight - simple. I also know as I'm sure you do that if I had actually done something sooner I would not be as overweight as I am. My BMI has gone down since joining Curves and my strength has gone up, I am stronger and fitter than I have been for years and years. Curves by the way is a gym for women - it's not a crutch, unless your saying all gyms are crutches of course. It is a scientifically proven weight management/fitness programme that combines cardio and strength training so you don't have to spend hours upon hours at the gym - I neither want to or have time to do that. I typically burn over 400 calories during a session at the ladies only gym that happens to be called Curves that I go to.

I know why I'm overweight, I know how to lose the weight, I'm not going to do a diet such as weight watchers as it doesn't work long term - therefore I am not looking for a quick fix, I am looking to change my eating habits - which this diet I am planning on will do - over time, it's not a miracle, I just have to be in the right 'zone' to do it - there is absolutely no point in starting soemthing if I know that on Saturday/Sunday I will be away and only able to eat what is available and then the following weekedn also away - blah blah blah, I do know in a few short weeks, we won't be haring around and then I can concentrate on me. It's so much easier when there is just one person to cook for rather than the whole family.

To be frank I'd rather you didn't wish me luck as I know you just don't mean it.

Did you enjoy your trip????

Surely we all do this - make excuses?!

I do. But it's never as simple as a couple of excuses really. Life gets in the way. That's an excuse too.

I put on about one stone with Daughter Number One, and bugger me, put on another stone after Daughter Number Two. They are now 11 and 9 and the pounds are still there. Amazingly I haven't really put on much more, I've just settled at this podgy stage - I go up 5 lbs, I go down 5lbs. I'm not really fit (as in "where is the oxygen tank" at the top of a hill) but I can still walk, ski, swim or cycle if I want to.

What's my excuse, nine years down the line? I don't really have a good one. I'm busy in my lifestyle, I'm somewhat lazy in other things (exercise is a dirty word afterall) and I hate my flabby arms and find clothes shopping frustrating.

But you know what ? In my own mind, I rationalise that those things can't bother me that much, otherwise I would do something about it, right? Maybe! But I did work out many years ago that there is more to life than flabby upper arms.

Like Piff Poff, I have a hubby that can eat anything and that is extremely hard to watch and deal with day in, day out (lucky barsteward) - that's another excuse, right? - and who loves me regardless of my waist size (though he knows I love me better if it's less!).

If I'm honest - it is exactly the part you identify as the long, long, mental battle ahead that puts me off. An excuse, definitely - but with so much else going on in life, I sometimes have neither the impetus nor will-power to embark on what I know needs to be a life-long, life-changing pattern of behaviour. I know I can 'be good' for a few weeks but at this time in my life, I don't have the sticking power.

And until I get my head around that, I will still need to lose these same 30lbs as I did in 2000

I figure - one day - a switch will go off in my head and I'll just knuckle down and get on with it. If I don't, who's fault is that? And if I do it, I'll no doubt wish I'd done it all sooner.