*** Big Fat Weight Loss Thread ***

Sheff said:
Finding something else that you love doing which is less impactful on your foot might help - perhaps you could make a list of different things to try and give them a go?

It doesn't necessarily have to involve intensive exercise but I'd stay clear of anything that's too sedentary and lets you snack while you're doing it.
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Yeah, i do a few other things. I fairly enjoy cycling, just don't have the same love if that makes sense.

Walking/Hiking in the hills is another option, but again that could be impactful on my foot. Especially in the mountains where i'm most happy due to the rocky terrain around here.

I did buy a mountain bike to try and combine cycling with being in the mountains and off road, but similar to the above, i'm limited to ability, and naturally lack a lot of balance/agility which gives no confidence for some steep rocky descents which are inevitable around here, even if only trying to do "cross country" style riding.

Swimming has never really interested me, i do a few laps but get bored. Similarly i don't mind paddle boarding/kayaking, but proximity to the sea stops that being a regular option. It's also a bit slow which gets boring. Especially on the coast where the scenery never changes.

I've got weights and an indoor rower, and i do use them, maybe a few times a week.


I do think cycling is the best option. My main issue that due to weight and the hills here, they wipe me out. With running that was always fine as it was easy to just stop and walk but keep the momentum for a break. With cycling i often have to pull over and stop to rest my legs, which then makes setting off again difficult.
I think that eventually, i'd get the weight off and the strength in my legs to make it more doable in a low gear, and so could spin my way up without much power. It's just the effort to get to that ability level i'm lacking the motivation for, although i cycle maybe 2-3 times a week.

The main benefit is that it gives me the potential for big endurance sessions which i love.
 
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Martynt74 said:
Walking/Hiking in the hills is another option, but again that could be impactful on my foot. Especially in the mountains where i'm most happy due to the rocky terrain around here.
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Any chance you can see a physio? They should be able to give you advice on how to protect/strengthen your foot whilst keeping the exercise up.

In the absence of talking to people who actually know things, my suggestion is that you try strapping your ankle up with kinesiology tape and wearing boot style walking boots to give extra support and see if that helps. Walking should be reasonably low impact and help build your fitness until you can comfortably talk on harder exercise.
 
Mr Jack said:
Any chance you can see a physio? They should be able to give you advice on how to protect/strengthen your foot whilst keeping the exercise up.

In the absence of talking to people who actually know things, my suggestion is that you try strapping your ankle up with kinesiology tape and wearing boot style walking boots to give extra support and see if that helps. Walking should be reasonably low impact and help build your fitness until you can comfortably talk on harder exercise.
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Yeah it's not really anything that can be fixed (without surgery) as it's a nerve issue between my toes. I've had a few cortisone injections but the knock on impact is it erodes the fat pad in the foot which reduces impact protection! With my toe socks i can generally walk around the house ok which is decent as it forces my toes apart and reduces the compression on the nerve.

Strength wise, i'm generally ok. I do loads of calf raises with weights, split squats and tib raises to try and strengthen the general area, along with some hip flexor stretch/strengthening. Along with toe spreaders, foam rolling and ice on the sole of the foot. It's helped me get to where i am able to do short bits of running and fitness is generally ok, but it just takes something aggravating the nerve to immobilise me for days.

There's the option of surgery, but reading facebook groups, there's just as much risk as growing a "stump" neuroma which is worse than the actual neuroma in the first place! Which is why i've been taking all the steps above to try and fix it manually.
 
Cycle but don't "cycle" - do away with thinking about your FTP, Total watts on the session etc and just get kicking about on your bike as much as possible. Treat that as your walking if that causes you pain.

In terms of diet... I always struggled with being either all in, or going crazy... finding a middle ground where I eat sensibly as much as I can seems to be working for the best
 
blairw said:
Cycle but don't "cycle" - do away with thinking about your FTP, Total watts on the session etc and just get kicking about on your bike as much as possible. Treat that as your walking if that causes you pain.

In terms of diet... I always struggled with being either all in, or going crazy... finding a middle ground where I eat sensibly as much as I can seems to be working for the best
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Yeah, i think that's kind of what i do. Maybe i need to stop taking the computer out with me, or at least having it locked on the navigation screen. It's too easy to see avg watts and then push yourself a bit!

It's not helped that the roads around me here are so busy. Hopefully can enjoy it again more when i'm back in my place at the weekend.
 
I need to work on standing up on the hills.

I only really get in that position when I’m tired and so my legs feel wobbly and unnatural when I try.

I’m sure I’ll get there. It just goes back to my point of not having the inclination to put in the work to get to where I want to be.
 
@Martynt74 - Living in a delightful hot location is tricky with food and booze. An easy win for calories would be to switch to zero alcohol beer. Still absolutely delicious on a hot sunny terrace. I resisted it for ages, preferring not to have beer at all if it wasn't "proper" beer. However, the options are quite good these days and very refreshing. I hope you manage to get yourself on the bike. Use it as a leisurely sightseeing exercise and explore those new bars and restaurants in the local area. Everyone will have highs and lows with this, it sounds like you're really enjoying life and that's not something that you should beat yourself up about.
 
tom_nieto said:
@Martynt74 - Living in a delightful hot location is tricky with food and booze. An easy win for calories would be to switch to zero alcohol beer. Still absolutely delicious on a hot sunny terrace. I resisted it for ages, preferring not to have beer at all if it wasn't "proper" beer. However, the options are quite good these days and very refreshing. I hope you manage to get yourself on the bike. Use it as a leisurely sightseeing exercise and explore those new bars and restaurants in the local area. Everyone will have highs and lows with this, it sounds like you're really enjoying life and that's not something that you should beat yourself up about.
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Yeah, and i think you said similar when i posted a similar post around December. I think i just need to try and find my routine here to stop 3 months becoming 6 months becoming 12 months and still feeling like i'm disappointed in myself. I'll admit it's not helped that tomorrow we move into the 3rd house since we arrived and it's definitely the smallest and most limiting. This makes certain things harder to be able to do quickly. For example the first place i set the squat rack up in the Naya (covered terrace thing), but weights is usually my indoor activity when my wifes gone to bed, but it was close enough to the bedroom that my wife could hear clanging of metal. Same with the noise of the rowing machine.

The bike was fairly easy because there was a big garage i could use, so that was easy to grab. The place tomorrow doesn't have outdoor storage, so i need to work out where i can store bike stuff to make it accessible easily without it being in the way. One day i'll have my own place, set up how i want and i'd like to think that will make it easier, but often it's mindset that's the crucial part, and it's too easy to say "i'll be better in X scenario", then that scenario happens and you're exactly the same.

I do try and choose 0% beer. Especially at home. A proper beer is nice when out and you get the frosted glass, but sometimes the 0% beer comes in real cold bottles too so it does sometimes help. The benefit is that "proper" beer isn't readily available out here, so a 0% Mahou isn't much different from a 5% Mahou. It's when you start getting to proper DIPA's etc that the difference really opens up.

I guess i need to probably caveat the above post. I am still getting out 3-4 times a week in various activities, just not enough to out train the number of food binge days i'm having and also lose weight. Looking at Strava over the last 2 months i''ve done 41 activities of 32 hours. In 60 days that's probably more active than most people could hope to be (admittedly those stats are padded by multiple activity days where i've cycled somewhere, walked, then cycled home which is recorded as 3 activities). My current "problem" is i don't have the goals/motivation to push those 3 activities a week and drag me out the other days.
 
Started last Wednesday at 92kg, first couple of days are water.

This morning (Thursday), 89.06kg

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I can't do that. I find simply eating less is easier (for me).

1 - I can eat everything I want, just less of it
2 - I don't need to pop any pills to supplement missing nutrients
3 - It's cheaper....carbs are cheaper, even good carbs are cheaper than meat
4 - I don't need to modify recipes to accommodate
5 - I can go out to dinner with friends and order anything on the menu and not asking the waiter for substitutions
6 - I get to treat myself with things that I like. (in moderation)
7 - Much easier to follow from day to day. I don't need to plan any meals, I don't need to think about whether this food has carbs.

I simply eat normally, in a portion size that causes weight loss. If I feel hungry, I suck it up, or eat a carrot. It works for me. I mean I might be hungry but by that point, the next meal is often an hour away anyway. Don't need to fast for 24hrs to lose weight, I get to eat at regular times, good food, all the food that I like and lose weight. I see that as win-win-win.

Moreover, I enjoy food, and I don't mean Steak and Cheese, or chicken breast. I mean like Cantonese cuisine, Japanese cuisine, Italian food, a good burger (and I mean with the bun), a real pizza with a good crust. I enjoy the texture of food as well as the flavours. I get to experience all that still, which is why Keto never worked for me. Not because Keto doesn't work, I just find it incredibly boring.*

*yes I know you can cook meat in all kinds of flavours, but I like to cook mean with different kind of sauce, which often have cornstarch, and I like cook it with vegetables. The texture contrast is amazing when it's with the right vegetable. I like to serve it with some rice, bite of meat, some peppers, a bit of rice. Yum. More than just flavour, texture for me is very important.
 
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overnight oats have become my go to now for a week, so quick, simple , cheap & tasty aswell . using lidls really thick protein greek style yogurt mixed with some milk and flavoured protiein, frozen fruit and cheap oats. sometimes add a drizzle of honey, i actually look forward to eating it every morning.

in the gym it was weights and cardio was pretty much just using the eliptical machine and rower a little, now its some running now the man moobs have gone , and also the stepper machine which really really sucs the energy out of you.
 
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djcj said:
Just checking in - I've recently restarted my weight loss journey. I was 117.1kg on 28 January and as of today I'm 114.4kg.

Not a crazy loss, but a loss all the same.

I am looking to have a calorie deficit of at least 500 per day, aiming to walk an hour per day and start back on using my Concept2 bikeerg with Zwift!
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Ok, so it's been a week and i have meticulously counted every calorie eaten or drank. Over the last seven days I have consumed a total of 10,961 calories, which divided by seven is an average of 1,565 per day.

I have just weighed in at 113.3kg, so I've lost a further 1.1kg over the past week.

I am happy enough with a weight loss of just over 2 pounds per week and I'm now more determined than ever to stick with this!
 
djcj said:
Ok, so it's been a week and i have meticulously counted every calorie eaten or drank. Over the last seven days I have consumed a total of 10,961 calories, which divided by seven is an average of 1,565 per day.

I have just weighed in at 113.3kg, so I've lost a further 1.1kg over the past week.

I am happy enough with a weight loss of just over 2 pounds per week and I'm now more determined than ever to stick with this!
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I aim for 1lb a week, slow and steady wins the race, as they say. Some weeks it's 2lbs and that's a bonus, but as long as it is trending in the right direction it's all that matters. Too fast, too soon is not healthy anyway.
 
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