2012 Weight Loss Thread

paradigm · 27 Jun 2012 at 17:05

elmarko1234 said:
If you are around 30 and around 6 foot, then at least 1800 a day.

Eating too little will just slow down your metabolism, making it harder to lose weight in the long term - not only that but once you go back to eating normal amounts you will just regain weight quickly.

It's best to cut it slowly & add some weight training.

I'm 27, 191 pounds, 5"11 & eat 1800 on off days & 2200 on training days losing about 2 pounds a week (3 days a week I'm doing weight lifting for 35mins a day).

Sorry, but I'm not weight training, nor joining a gym as id be bored senseless. you're giving me almost the opposite end of the spectrum figures wise to other advice I've been given.

I'm relatively sedantry day to day, and have a desk job, so my ONLY ACTIVITY is 45 mins of walking/jogging.

elmarko · 27 Jun 2012 at 19:56

paradigm said:
Sorry, but I'm not weight training, nor joining a gym as id be bored senseless. you're giving me almost the opposite end of the spectrum figures wise to other advice I've been given.

I'm relatively sedantry day to day, and have a desk job, so my ONLY ACTIVITY is 45 mins of walking/jogging.

I'm not sure who is telling you to eat 1300 odd calories a day, try any of the hundreds of BMR calculators online & they will all say you need more than that.

The only reason I suggest lifting is because otherwise it's going to take much longer to drop the weight, not a problme if you are happy with slow progress.

But I'd strongly suggest eating more than you are.

Dave M · 27 Jun 2012 at 20:00

paradigm said:
you're giving me almost the opposite end of the spectrum figures wise to other advice I've been given.

I'm relatively sedantry day to day, and have a desk job, so my ONLY ACTIVITY is 45 mins of walking/jogging.

I target around 1700 calories a day and have gone from 16st7lb to 14st10lb in about 7 months.

I used a website that calculated your calorie requirement (the slightly more complex calculation, can't remember what it was called) and I should have a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day.

I don't exercise, I drive to work, sit in an office all day then drive home. I also have about 10 pints of the weekend and only eat to my 1700 calories mon-fri. 1300 kcals a day is, in my opinion, nonsense.

elmarko · 27 Jun 2012 at 20:26

Telescopi said:
I target around 1700 calories a day and have gone from 16st7lb to 14st10lb in about 7 months.

I used a website that calculated your calorie requirement (the slightly more complex calculation, can't remember what it was called) and I should have a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day.

I don't exercise, I drive to work, sit in an office all day then drive home. I also have about 10 pints of the weekend and only eat to my 1700 calories mon-fri. 1300 kcals a day is, in my opinion, nonsense.

My thoughts exactly.

On 1300 you will be burning muscle at an alarming rate.

Btw Telescopi, from what you've put you seem to be doing the zig-zag diet (By only doing it monday to friday & eating more on weekends) - very good to see it working so well (been toying with the idea myself) - congrats, thats some impressive weight loss.

bloodline76 · 27 Jun 2012 at 20:53

Ok this seems like the place to talk about food.

Recently started eating healthier at work. Which is a large portion (no pun intended) of my day as I work 12 hour shifts.

So I have switched sandwiches for salads, crisps and chocolate for fruit and full pop for diet or water.

Questions are though, can I eat too much fruit or is it too sugary? Usually have one or two bananas, an apple or orange and blueberries or grapes (hand full).

Still eat normally at home because I am busier and my problems are boredom eating at work.

My other question is do I need to increase my food intake when I start exercising? Prone to colds when I do exercising.

elmarko · 27 Jun 2012 at 21:06

bloodline76 said:
Ok this seems like the place to talk about food.

Recently started eating healthier at work. Which is a large portion (no pun intended) of my day as I work 12 hour shifts.

So I have switched sandwiches for salads, crisps and chocolate for fruit and full pop for diet or water.

Questions are though, can I eat too much fruit or is it too sugary? Usually have one or two bananas, an apple or orange and blueberries or grapes (hand full).

Still eat normally at home because I am busier and my problems are boredom eating at work.

My other question is do I need to increase my food intake when I start exercising? Prone to colds when I do exercising.

First thing I'd do.

Sign upto myfitnesspal, you can record the amount of calories in everything you eat.

As a rule, fruit is ok in moderation - but it has a lot of sugar in it, so best to avoid eating too much of it.

One banana & one apple a day is all I'd have (personally).

Drinking lots of water is a great way of staying full, but I'd start by decreasing the amount of snacks a little bit at a time - your body will get used to eating less & you will start to feel less hungry.

To know if you need to eat more when exercises we would need to know how many calories you are eating (myfitnesspal solves this little problem).

Try to eat lot's of chicken, beef & other high protein foods - you will notice you feel much more full (say 125g of chicken with the salad etc), 2 eggs in the morning (Scrambled with no butter) - it should make a big different to how full you feel throughout the day.

One thing, if you increaes protein make sure you have a reasonable amount of fibre in your diet,

Are great in the morning.

bloodline76 · 27 Jun 2012 at 21:36

Thanks. I have my weetabix in the morning

I will check out that siite, thanks

Dave M · 27 Jun 2012 at 22:11

elmarko1234 said:
Btw Telescopi, from what you've put you seem to be doing the zig-zag diet (By only doing it monday to friday & eating more on weekends) - very good to see it working so well (been toying with the idea myself) - congrats, thats some impressive weight loss.

Thanks. Honestly I did consider the benefit of keeping my body off balance but my real reason for changing my diet at the weekend is it fits my life and I don't see my recent weight loss as a temporary diet but rather a change in lifestyle.

I'm sure I'd lose weight faster if I kept clean 7 days but I'd probably have given up after a month and hated it. In fact if I'd just kept clean the 5 days I'd lose weight a lot faster - some months loss has been minimal. I have managed to keep to my one promise to myself though and that is to weigh less at the end of each month than the start. Direction is more important than velocity

rG-tom · 27 Jun 2012 at 23:18

paradigm said:
Sorry, but I'm not weight training, nor joining a gym as id be bored senseless. you're giving me almost the opposite end of the spectrum figures wise to other advice I've been given.

I'm relatively sedantry day to day, and have a desk job, so my ONLY ACTIVITY is 45 mins of walking/jogging.

So you don't get bored of jogging 45 minutes a day, but would get bored of following a decent lifting plan and trying to beat your previous record every other day, especially when you have alternate workouts? Jogging is possibly the most boring thing in the world, and nowhere near as effective as lifting at burning fat and improving fitness in my opinion and experience

paradigm · 27 Jun 2012 at 23:27

rG-tom said:
So you don't get bored of jogging 45 minutes a day, but would get bored of following a decent lifting plan and trying to beat your previous record every other day, especially when you have alternate workouts? Jogging is possibly the most boring thing in the world, and nowhere near as effective as lifting at burning fat and improving fitness in my opinion and experience

Yep, I get bored walking and jogging, but having had a gym membership for 6 years, I know that I'd be worse off at the gym by far, and as for lifting I see no benefit to that at all, I want to lose body fat, not gain muscle. I have no desire to lift anything at all, that to me sounds 100x more boring than the scenic views of jogging.

you all seem to be confusing weight loss and fitness/strength/stamina. I'm more than happy with my stamina and strength, I just want less body fat.

Dave M · 27 Jun 2012 at 23:50

paradigm said:
you all seem to be confusing weight loss and fitness/strength/stamina. I'm more than happy with my stamina and strength, I just want less body fat.

Ignoring the fact that repairing/building muscle will increase mbr, I don't exercise, at all, eat more (it seems) and lose weight, surely there's a reason?

I've posted this before, but as a norm mon-fri is:

Breakfast: one pot of instant porridge with a handful of blueberries (~230kcal)
Lunch: 1 tin of tuna (no drain in brine) with 1/2 tin of mixed beans, 38g (dry) of wholemeal pasta and 1 tblsp of quality olive oil based dressing. (~550kcal)
Mid-afternoon: 1 tin of mackeral in tomato (just eating the fish, chuck the remaining tomato slop). (~200kcal)
Dinner: 1 tesco 300kcal beef burger with relish and mustard in a bap. (~550kcal)
1-2 alcohol free beers (140kcal).

elmarko · 28 Jun 2012 at 08:56

paradigm said:
Yep, I get bored walking and jogging, but having had a gym membership for 6 years, I know that I'd be worse off at the gym by far, and as for lifting I see no benefit to that at all, I want to lose body fat, not gain muscle. I have no desire to lift anything at all, that to me sounds 100x more boring than the scenic views of jogging.

you all seem to be confusing weight loss and fitness/strength/stamina. I'm more than happy with my stamina and strength, I just want less body fat.

The main logic behind doing weight training is if you aren't currently losing weight by dieting.

Some people seem to lack the willpower to lose weight through dieting alone & require the additional exercise (Either to burn more calories via cardio, or increase BMR via building muscle).

Two points regarding weight training while dieting,

1. You will not be gaining that much muscle while dieting, to increase muscle mass significantly you need to be on a surplus.

2. The main reason to exercise is to ensure the weight lost, is fat - not muscle.

By exercising/eating lots of protein you lose weight slower, but the weight lost is actually fat.

Doing weights isn't just for people who want to get big & bulky, it's also for people who want to retain existing muscle.

You stated you want less body fat, well the best way to get to that goal is with a combination of less calories & more exericise - if you want a low bodyfat percentage & wish to retain existing muscle then doing weights is a good idea.

But weights or no weights - 1200 calories a day is not enough maintain existing muscle.

elmarko · 28 Jun 2012 at 08:58

Telescopi said:
Thanks. Honestly I did consider the benefit of keeping my body off balance but my real reason for changing my diet at the weekend is it fits my life and I don't see my recent weight loss as a temporary diet but rather a change in lifestyle.

I'm sure I'd lose weight faster if I kept clean 7 days but I'd probably have given up after a month and hated it. In fact if I'd just kept clean the 5 days I'd lose weight a lot faster - some months loss has been minimal. I have managed to keep to my one promise to myself though and that is to weigh less at the end of each month than the start. Direction is more important than velocity

Well thats the thing, with zig zag dieting you may be losing more precisely because you are eating more on those two days.

Also, having the calorie surplus on those days also helps retain existing lean mass - another great beneift (From what I've read).

Totally agree, as long as you see progress - the speed doesn't matter.

paradigm · 28 Jun 2012 at 09:42

elmarko1234 said:
But weights or no weights - 1200 calories a day is not enough maintain existing muscle.

That's fair enough, and I'm already increasing my intake to counter this.

I'm going to keep on with the jogging though, which should be more than enough to keep me in deficit. I'm in no huge hush to lose the weight, and I have more than enough will power to make it stick.

LOAM · 28 Jun 2012 at 23:13

Not updated for a while, I've broken the 50lbs barrier

. Running is still stripping it off me, I'm running 25k a week now with at least 1x8k run in there. Have joined parkrun as we have both discovered we like running outside more than the treadmill. Looking forward to my first 10k shortly then I need to work on my pace.

Still lots of weight to lose though

Chris1712 · 29 Jun 2012 at 10:48

paradigm said:
Yep, I get bored walking and jogging, but having had a gym membership for 6 years, I know that I'd be worse off at the gym by far, and as for lifting I see no benefit to that at all, I want to lose body fat, not gain muscle. I have no desire to lift anything at all, that to me sounds 100x more boring than the scenic views of jogging.

you all seem to be confusing weight loss and fitness/strength/stamina. I'm more than happy with my stamina and strength, I just want less body fat.

Weightlifting is far more effective at losing bodyfat and body recomposition than anything your doing. Fact.

The Hierarchy of Fat Loss by Alwyn Cosgrove

Sorry for the font, but it really is a must read for EVERYONE in this thread.

koolpc · 29 Jun 2012 at 12:13

Nearly reached my summer goal. Lost one and a quarter pounds this week!

Was 15stone 10Lbs 6 months ago. Now 1Lb short of losing 2 stone. Only done through diet.

Maxeh · 2 Jul 2012 at 12:05

26th week weigh in:

Last Sunday - 16st 3lb
This Sunday - 16st 2lb

1lb loss

Really pleased with this result as I couldn't make it to the gym 3 times last week.

(Total loss since September '11 - 9st 11lbs)

Maxeh · 9 Jul 2012 at 15:08

27th week weigh in:

Last Sunday - 16st 2lb
This Sunday - 16st 0lb

2lb loss

1lb off the big milestone. Come on chaps where are the updates?

(Total loss since September '11 - 9st 13lbs)

LOAM · 9 Jul 2012 at 16:50

Maxeh said:
Come on chaps where are the updates?

I dont mind doing one

. Been ill with a cold though since a week Saturday gone, went straight to my chest and I've not been able to do any exercise at all really. Ran at the weekend and am going out tonight even though I'm still slightly colded up.

Saturday 7th July weigh in saw me at 114kg down from a 140kg start weight on the 6th April. So 26kg / 57Lbs loss and under the 18stone mark (still sounds to much

).

Week loss was 4lbs again.