Goodbye belly.... hello toes!!!

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narmour said:
My real problem is portion size and greed. I don't need to eat that second serving but I hate to throw good food out, and if there is a small portion in the pot which isn't big enough to put in the freezer, I'll just 'tidy it up' rather than chuck it in the bin.

That was SWMBO's problem too, SW fixes it neatly. If you follow the plan fitting in all the components and if you have a "standard british" lunch (start with a sandwich...) it's impossible.

All those extra bits that would be a second helping or get chucked now go in the fridge and she has them for lunch the next day.

Seriously, I have previously slated all "diet plans" for being faddy and only there to make money but SW has changed my mind. It's structured in a way that makes it possible not only to lose weight but to sustain it by fundamentally changing the way you think about food and eating.

Still seems to take a huge whack of willpower to get the momentum up tho... give it big licks! :thumb:
 
alawlor66430 said:
Oops, I can't stick to a diet I have no will power when it comes to food, I wish I did have but I just can't stop eating !!!

This. Iv been procrastinating for about 2 and a half years now when it comes to exercise and cutting food intake. Will power of a dead frog. About 6 months ago i attempted 'Insanity' as mentioned in an above post. I couldn't move for a week, that program can do you some serious damage if your not majorly fit to begin with.

I shall start exercise next week.
 
I'm lucky in that I am quite slim and don't readily put on weight so I probably should not be commenting here but... have you heard of the 5:2 fast diet?

It's not a diet as such, more a way of life - Personally I don't think short terms diets are worth it, people lose weight only to pile it back on as soon as they come off the diet - much better to make a change that will last and only go through the "pain" once. I first heard about it watching Michael Mosely on Horizon last year and since his program, it has become very popular.

If you're not bored already, the idea is this. On 5 days a week, you eat absolutely whatever you like just as normal - yes, really! On just 2 days a week, you eat only 25% or the recommended daily amount for a man or for a woman (they are slightly different). You can eat that 25% when you like, e.g. split between breakfast, lunch and dinner or you can drop one of those and alter the split - it does not matter.

There are two reasons why the "diet" is good:
1) weight loss - even if you find you eat a bit more than normal on the 5 normal days, you still overall end up eating less during the week so you will lose weight - despite being calls the "Fast Diet", it is a pretty gradual weight loss (the fast bit means fasting, not rapid).
2) health benefits - there are a whole range of different health benefits that have been proven by studies and another raft of benefits that are claimed but not yet proven.

Anyway, after watching the program, I was so impressed by the science that I decided to make a change and follow the "diet" to get the health benefits. I have been doing it since January (started just after new year) and although I found the first couple of weeks to be hard (hunger pangs on fasting days) it now hardly bothers me at all. I save all my 25% calories for evening meal and I can happily get up and go all day without eating barely noticing it. (NOTE, I find that I have to drink a lot more than usual on fasting days - I have a drink every 30 minutes or so and more often if I do feel peckish).

Back in January I weighed just under 11 stone. I am now just under 10 stone. I don't intend losing weight particularly so I am thinking of switching to 6:1 (6 normal days and 1 fast day) because this is called the maintenance fast - studies show you still get the health benefits without significant weight loss.

If you are at all interested, I'd thoroughly recommend it. It does not cost anything and is pretty easy to stick to because you can think "I only have to do this for another few hours then I can eat what I like again". I did buy a 5:2 recipe book and made some meals the first couple of weeks to ensure I knew what 25% of usual looked like. I can't be arsed now and just have one large bowl of porridge in the evening (I'm too lazy to count calories so once I knew how much porridge was 25% I was sorted :lol: ).

If you want to read more, Michael Mosely's website is here and the BBC2 Horizon program details are here. It's not available on iPlayer any more but you can get it on the web - e.g. here.
 
SloeBrewer said:
However, I reckon a lot of that weight gain is down to home-brewing and drinking more beer
Mostly wine in my case but I agree, combine comfortable living with home brewing and the scales will gradually creep up.

Some photos from last year's Hot Break made me realise just what a porker I had become and I resolved to do something about it. I cut down on the booze, and actually took the first month completely on the wagon. I cut out snacking and reduced my coffee intake, switching to 'no added sugar' cordials and ginger beer instead. I didn't significantly change my food intake, apart from cutting down on bread and cutting out cheese and biscuits, and I lost two and a half stone quite easily (link).

Most importantly for me, when I declared to a work colleague that I wanted to lose two stone by Christmas, she bet me twenty quid for the charity of my choice that I wouldn't do it, and then the cheeky sod brought her bathroom scales into work and checked on my progress once a fortnight. The weekly weigh-in and motivational aspect of your slimming club should definitely help in that respect.
 
Try eating only 1/4 your recommended calories on Mondays and Thursday. It really boosts metabolism. I think its called the 2 and 5 diet. Lots of scientific backing.
 
robsan77 said:
Try eating only 1/4 your recommended calories on Mondays and Thursday. It really boosts metabolism. I think its called the 2 and 5 diet. Lots of scientific backing.

Yep - see what I posted 2 posts above :lol:
 
Well here's the first update... I weighed in on Wednesday night and I've lost 12lbs in a week!!! :party: :party: :party:
I couldn't believe it. It makes the motivation for another careful week sky high now. I'm starting to get used to the diet as well, it's not so much of a struggle. The worst bit is the undesirable effect of a huge increase in fibre on your 'gaseous output', although it's more of a negative to SWMBO, to be fair :sick:

If anyone is seriously procrastinating about losing weight I can highly recommend the group approach... you get a bit of gentle nudging along to encourage you to keep on track, and the fact that it's 95% old dears doesn't make me feel uncomfortable at all! it's quite interesting to hear them talk about their weaknesses which I can totally identify with. Bringing our 4 month old daughter along helps too as they all love a good coo over the baby...

I'm quite looking forward to Wednesday nights now :lol:
 
narmour said:
I've lost 12lbs in a week!!

WOW! That's awesome!

Are you starting to feel brighter with it yet? It's strange how eating less gives you more energy...

Do remember to not get downhearted in future weeks with more modest losses, the big losses always come early on and then things level out a bit as your body readjusts to the new calorific intake.

Top job though, keep us posted! :hat:
 
I feel brilliant already Calum, I'm out for a 2 mile walk everyday at lunchtime (which previously I would've sat out most days because I just didn't feel I had the energy), spent two hours digging at the allotment yesterday and have started a challenge where I record the distance I walk and log it against the distance between Land's End and John O' Groats. So far I have 590 miles left to go and I intend to do it before the summer is over.

I'm under no illusions that the weight loss will slow, although they say that if it goes on quickly it'll come off quickly. Well I've put on about 5 stone since I quit smoking 3 years ago so I would expect that to drop off pretty sharpish but the last four stone will take a looong time to come off. I haven't been my target weight since I came up through it for the first time!!!
 
That's absolutely awesome!! Great going and and great start.

Have you set yourself any targets for certain times or are you just rolling with it and seeing how you do?
 
Moley said:
SloeBrewer said:
However, I reckon a lot of that weight gain is down to home-brewing and drinking more beer
Mostly wine in my case but I agree, combine comfortable living with home brewing and the scales will gradually creep up.

Some photos from last year's Hot Break made me realise just what a porker I had become and I resolved to do something about it. I cut down on the booze, and actually took the first month completely on the wagon. I cut out snacking and reduced my coffee intake, switching to 'no added sugar' cordials and ginger beer instead. I didn't significantly change my food intake, apart from cutting down on bread and cutting out cheese and biscuits, and I lost two and a half stone quite easily (link).

Most importantly for me, when I declared to a work colleague that I wanted to lose two stone by Christmas, she bet me twenty quid for the charity of my choice that I wouldn't do it, and then the cheeky sod brought her bathroom scales into work and checked on my progress once a fortnight. The weekly weigh-in and motivational aspect of your slimming club should definitely help in that respect.


yup i remember you groaning at the pics...... :nah:

well done on the weight loss.... :clap:
 
Take before and after pics of each other, just in a pair of shorts, that really helps with motivation, as even if you're thinking its not coming off and you're not noticing a change look at the pics and you'll soon see!

When we were in Thailand we went on a detox fasting week. Bit of a hippy retreat but it was amazing. Nothing solid passed our lips for a week, just coconut water in the morning and afternoon, cleansing herbs, and thin broth in the evening. Not only did we lose a shed load of weight that stayed off I credit it to the birth of my daughter. SWMBO had some cysts on her ovaries that they wanted to operate on and were causing her some pain. After the fast she went for a scan and they'd gone completely, and a few weeks later we got pregnant. It was really hard and for the week we had little or no energy, but all we had to was watch the gentle waves lap the shore and lie in a hammock. Would do it again at a drop!!!
 
JimmyB78 said:
That's absolutely awesome!! Great going and and great start.

Have you set yourself any targets for certain times or are you just rolling with it and seeing how you do?


We're getting married in May next year and we have both said that we want to be a healthy weight for our height by then. It would be nice to have wedding photos that we will be proud of!! but that's not the only reason of course, our daughter is 4 months old and I want to be fit enough to keep up with her when she's up and running about!!
 
Good luck with the weight loss plan narmour :thumb: - a wedding is a great incentive :cool:

I have been doing the 5:2 fast diet since January; without actually wanting to lose weight. I weighed myself last night out of interest and I've lost exactly a stone. I will at some point have to drop back to a 6:1 regime otherwise I might vanish :eek:

Would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting a permanent lifestyle change :cheers:
 
Another 1.3kg gone :D

That's 13.3 kg since beginning of February :thumb:
Only another 9 kg to go :mrgreen:
 

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