Re: Weight lost attempts
 

You girls are all the same. My missus considers herself to be a beached whale if she comes anywhere near 130lb. I'm reliably informed that her female co-workers regard her as a skinny bitch.

Being "curvy" seems to be quite the thing these days, judging from popular music. The girl who lives opposite me is quite pretty but, frankly, huge. Yet she gets a stream of slim, fit, boyfriends. There must be some sort of attraction. Either that, or she offers services I don't even want to think about.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

Ewww...

I think for some people it is vanity, for me personally it's health. I have a horror of becoming a parent or grandparent who can't move without getting out of breath. I want to run with my kids and feel my best. I can't do that if I'm going to be overweight. More importantly I want to set a good example, I also have a fear that if I really gave in to my weaker self we would all look like whales and i don't that want for my kids. I think it can be a huge issue to try and avoid for your children.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

Yeah... who wants fat kids? I blame the parents.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

Ermmmm...Rob Ford smoked.....

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

Oh not joints, they give you the munchies. Don't smoke joints for weight control.

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Nothing but there's no point in thinking that fiddling with diet and exercise will make you look as you did back when Elton was married. Drugs and surgery are needed for that.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

If I take enough drugs, I can't see my reflection....so it sort of works.... I still feel like I did when Elton got married, and I can run about as fast, and I feel like life is ultimately good....and I think that would be harder if I was fat.....fat isn't fun.

I'm thinking of getting Oink surgically operated on! Why was he voted the best bit of male crumpet last year ladies? Even I voted for him...I want my vote back:sneaky:

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

Yeah who wants their children to die before them? Ultimately today's obesity problem leads that way.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

This is today's run down. The types of food available at the moment are not too varied as we have to wait til next week to buy better foods, so just eating whats available.

The website I am using says I have a total of 2,500 calorie budget. All calories are from the nutrition info on packages except fruit which is from the website as the fruit has no calorie info on its packaging.

Breakfast/lunch (got up late so no need for 2 meals.)

Oatmeal 1 cup with 1/2 cup berries and 1 tsp cinnamon. 331 calories

Dinner:

lasagna for dinner 600 calories

Snacks:

Bagel, plain 190 calories

frozen yogurt 1/2 cup 130 calories

3 banana's 270

4 apples 310


Total 1,921 calories.

For beverages I only drank water so 0 liquid calories.


For reference I would in the past drink 4-6 cans of coke per day, and that alone was 900 calories a day.

I didn't attempt to eat any differently today for the most part, just kept track of what I was eating, and I may not actually be over eating, and could have been eating way too much candy and soda with their empty calories?


I know it's a lot of fruit, I am a snacker by nature and have trouble eating large meals at once because of the hiatal hernia issue, so that is why there are so many snack calories. And those 2 items are about the cheapest to get.

Website says I have 597 calories under, but it's bed time so no more food today.


The hernia when I eat large amount of food at once causes horrible acid reflux and pain but eating smaller amounts frequently helps prevent that issue.

I didn't "proper" exercise today, but was very active in the house, moved the furniture around, lots of cleaning, moved stuff to the store room. By the time I was done, it was dark, so tomorrow I am going to try doing my walking first thing in the day.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

A 2500 calorie budget seems high, although posdible if you are very active.

You need a deficit of 500 calories (rule of thumb) to lose weight.

Typically, guys have a budget of 2000 and should consume only 1500 if following a low calorie diet.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

I agree a 2500 to lose weight seems high. When my dad started he weighed 241, and his starting goal at a 500/day deficit (1lb/week) was 2100 per day. You're 10lb less but 400 cal more? Something's off...

Otherwise your day looks sensible. Try snacking on veggies through the day though, I still say your sugar from fruit is too high. Get a bag of carrots, celery, and cucumber and snack on that. You can pair it with some fat dip like light tzatziki if you find it too plain, but snacking on veggies will help your sugar management.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

2500 is not that high if you are very fat.

500 cal deficit = 1 pound a week lost (roughly 3500 cals in a pound of fat)

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

I get that, but I doubt his daily expenditure is 3000/day at only 230lbs. My dad was 240lbs and had a daily expenditure of 2600. So his 500cal deficit put him at a goal of 2100/day.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

Now I'm confused. No need for any concern out there as it is not the first nor the last time.

He ate just over 1900 calories so if his daily expenditure was 2600 or 3,000 he is still going to lose weight?

Also is height not a factor?

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

Height is a factor, but not by much. My dad is 6ft, which is pretty average male height. Not sure how tall OP is, but a few inches doesn't equal a 500cal difference.

If OP is eating 2000 calories then no, it doesn't make a difference. But if OP's food goal has been set at 2500, which I believe is incorrect, and OP then eats 2500/day, and then OP doesn't lose weight, well, that's why.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

JS, you may simply lose weight by having cut out full Coke. Each can has 9 teaspoons of sugar, so at 4-6 cans you were consuming around 45 teaspoons of sugar per day !!

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

Height is a factor in the BMI calculation.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

My height is 6'4.

I signed up for 4 different websites today to compare to the lose it website, and all give a different number of calories per day. lol.... Talk about confusing. :confused:

Lose it after inputting my current weight, height and goals says 2,500

My fitness pal says 1,500 calories.

American Cancer Society says 2,300 calories.

Web MD says 1,743

Seems to be no real consistency on what is the ideal number....:rofl:

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

Uhhhh are you sure about MFP's numbers?

I just re-calculated it myself... granted I don't know your age, so adjust up or down as required, but experimenting with different ages only changed it by about 100 cals tops.

So when I put in your stats (attached), I got a goal of 2000-2100 calories, which would have been what I'd have expected... what did you put in differently to me?

BTW, I put in all the activity as zero... I left mine at zero then put in manually whenever I did a workout. Putting in activity at zero would give you the lowest possible number for 1lb/week, if you up the activity level it gives a slightly higher goal. I always put in zero to be on the safe side.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

Taking the average of the 4 websites is about 2000 calories too.

That sounds healthier to me. Especially for a guy who is 6'4

You'll be starving other wise!

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

I got my fitness pal fixed. I had made a typo. I now get 2,090. Only difference between what you have and mine now is the age, my birth year in 79 not 74. ( I had mis-clicked and chose 2 pounds per week, I want 1lb so that is where the difference came from.)

I like the my fitness pal layout and set up the best, so I am going to go with them.

Thanks for your help, much appreciated. :thumbsup:

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The cheek of of it. I was talking to a rather big boned lady the other day about weight loss and she said I was fatist. I said, no, you're fatist. :o

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I thought what a charming accent & asked "Are you ladies from Ireland?" She said "It's Wales you idiot!" I said "I'm sorry, are you whales from Ireland?"

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

^^LOL, both those posts are great.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

As you (and others) have said, your fruit intake is far too high, especially if you have concerns about diabetes/high blood sugar! I am currently being monitored for type 2 diabetes and my doctor has told me a MAXIMUM of 2 pieces of fruit a day. It should be "whole" fruits too - so your apple and banana is fine - as it's too easy to spike your blood sugar by not carefully measuring out berries, grapes etc.
Another tip when eating fruit when watching your blood sugar is to have something to balance it out. Eat an apple and some nuts or cut it up and dip it in a couple of tablespoons of natural nut butter. Have a low fat cheese string on mini babybel with your banana or other fruit. IT all helps to keep your blood sugar from spiking.
Watch the sugar content of your bagels too. Carbs (the wrong type) can be the enemy when watching your blood sugar levels. The less refined your carbs are the better and the earlier you eat them in the day the better (I'm not so good at that last part). A veggie diet is also a great way to stabilize your blood sugar - my dad was just diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and is complaining about the lack of meat he now eats :rofl:

I want to wish you the best of luck on your weight loss journey. It's not easy - although the process sounds simple enough. I have struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember and have far too much of it to lose right now (70 - 80lbs) with other complications thrown in such as not being able to be overly active due to chronic pain (I'm only 34 FFS!!!!), hormone pills whose main side effect is weight gain (no, it's not an option to not take them even though they don't seem to be help be helping the pain which is why I am taking them!!!!!) and so now I have been referred to a weight management program. My intake appointment is December 11 (great just before xmas.....) and I will wait to see what that brings.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

The fruit will be worked on. I just have to figure out how to make vegetables taste good, I have a very select few I can currently tolerate....

I can certainly say for me car = getting fatter.

When I lived in Abbotsford and Vancouver and was taking transit/walking I had no issues, and maintained a healthy weight, but in the past 13 months I have gained 40 ish pounds, only thing that has changed is not taking transit and not walking as much since it's not feasible to get around this town that way, so a car is a must.

Hopefully next summer we can move and I can go back to my transit/walking ways to get around.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

I would swap out the bagel for some whole grain bread - there are some good, tasty loaves out there, and some have extra fibre too. I'm on the WW Plan for my sins (I need the motivation of paying money and shaming myself at a weekly weigh in) and a bagel is at least twice the points of two slices of bread!

The big things that have worked for me to date (35lbs lost since May) are:

• Tracking my food (on an app as its nice and easy - theres a lot of calorie tracking apps out there)
• Portion control (my view of a 'portion' and WW's view of a 'portion' are a long way apart!)
• Pre-planning and preparation e.g. I make a big container of salad stuff and keep it in the fridge so it take a few minutes when I get in to chuck it on a plate next to something. When I cook dinners I make a couple of extra portions and freeze them for later on. Its just too tempting to eat crap when you are in a rush.
• NOT depriving myself - just having smaller and more quality treats e.g. a good bit of dark chocolate, a decent glass of wine or beer, etc.
• I have a kind of eat-what-I-like-within-reason day once a week, usually at the weekend e.g. will have a nice steak, or a dessert out somewhere.
• Major food groups I don't eat so much of these days are pasta (sob) and spuds - instead I often have brown rice. I have hardly seen cheese, except for blue cheese (which can go a long way in a salad taste-wise)
• I also stepped up my fish intake - nothing fancy, just 2 to 3 times a week - plain white fish, and I pep it up with various herbs.
• I have experimented more - I used a pack of lentil-y type things as a soup base, and chucked a load of veg in, blended it and it was pretty tasty, plus I had about 14 portions of soup I could freeze and take to work! I also try to make lower fat recipes of my favourites e.g. I made a low fat Delia rice pudding using 0% fat evaporated milk and skimmed milk and it still tasted pretty good.
• I haven't settled on an exercise regime just yet - just been trying to get out and walk more at lunch, use the stairs instead of the lift, and I got back on my trusty bike for the first time in about 8 years so its a start.

Good luck - its a hard road, and its easy to stray. You just need to find what works for you as everyone likes it a bit different, although there are some really good suggestions on this thread. I'll be watching it with interest.....

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

different strokes for different folks

IMO, eat & drink whatever you like that makes you feel good. Its all about balance, as long as the calorie intake = calorie burn rate.

Need to get up & at it to move the body around for at least 30 minutes a day... vigorous is good for you. watch your BP, careful on the sugar & salt intake. Minimize if at all possible the processed foods

I survive on 1200 - 1400 calories/day on a well balanced diet of meat, fruit, veggies, various dairy items, sweet tooth, tea, juice, water, milk & the rare occasional drop of alcohol.

The once in a while pig out of course

I never eat after 7pm nor drink any liquids after 8pm

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

Has anyone found a way to have fish taste good? I have tried every combination I can think of (my other half eats fish 2-3 times a week) and I cannot make fish of any sort taste good.

I can tolerate canned tuna with lots of mayo as a sandwich, but anything else is just gross.

I've tried a variety of sea food over the years and making it taste good has not been possible.

Suppose I could just be one of those who will never find fish tasty.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

if fresh fish doesn't suit your taste buds, then IMO do not eat it.

If you try to disguise it by frying it - then do not eat it

Fish is not for everyone, similar to green vegetables or just like cheese. I never ate cheese till I was 20 years old

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

Might sound too obvious but don't overcook them. Green beans are best when you hear them 'squeak' while chewing.

Add a few corn niblets to veg - assuming you like corn. Steaming veg works very well.

Bake it with lemon juice, butter and or milk and pepper.

Make a cheese sauce?

Partly bake fish, add mixed veg and a white or white/cheesy sauce and finish baking.

Might defeat the object somewhat to disguise the taste and maybe the sauce is less healthy than no sauce. But if it helps replace some meat with some fish that can only be good.

It's a bit like those who say a dressing may add the calories to a salad. Look, it's a salad not a sodding hamburger with fries!!

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

agree with that, as long as he is into fish

Another suggestion is to buy from the dollar store a bottle of Italian salad dressing

In a pan, one tea spoon of light oil on high, a quick flash fry the 4oz fish (make sure the fish is not wet - dry it good & at room temperature before doing the quick fry.

When the fish had been flipped over (cook 2 minutes each side) pour some of the salad dressing onto the fish in the pan. Check if its cooked after 1-2 minutes .... bingo & it tastes great.

You can do the same process with vegetables. Steam vegetables (do not boil them). When 3/4 cooked. Dry them. Then in a pan with a small amount of butter do a quick sear then add a drop of the Italian salad dressing. Add blanched walnuts, almonds, pine nuts etc to the veggies to eat

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

Or just disguise the taste enough. Also depends on the price of the fish. Haddock's way more expensive than chicken.

Pollock works fine.

I shall have to try that. :thumbup:

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

I had an operation in which I lost 25kg (55lbs) in one day. I didn't lose any limbs. I didn't have bariatric surgery or excess fat removed. Not recommended for weight reduction.
Go figure. No prize for the correct guess.

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You had triplets???

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I think 55lbs would probably convert to at least decuplets, probably more, so no.

Re: Weight lost attempts
 

I just get plain frozen cod or whatever fillets are on special:

- dip in flour, egg and then panko breadcrumbs with maybe some grated parmesan and seasoning
- put some pesto on top
- italian herb seasoning
- lemon and pepper is a classic
- I've even used montreal steak spice!
- cover in tomato (and maybe cheese) sauce?
- bung it in a fish pie then you can't taste it
- deep fry in batter (oops, wasn't supposed to add that one!)

Smoked fish is also quite tasty and because its quite intense you don't need as much. I quite like smoked haddock, although I bet the salt content is a bit on the naughty side.

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I know there's no prize but curiosity is getting the better of me. Was it maybe fibroids or one of those big tumour thingies that grow slowly?

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Sorry, but no.

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Conjoined twin removed?