*** Big Fat Weight Loss Thread ***

[Raymond Lin]

getting used to feeling hungry and being able to ignore it. Ideally id love to switch my thinking and see food as fuel for my body rather than as a lovely mouth treat. Hoping some of that thought process will trickle through to help with the whole ordeal. It was the treat chasing that got me into this mess in the first place.

That feeling of hunger and able to get past it can be so difficult. I find that having a structured meal time helps because there is a goal post that i can hit. So if i am hungry at 4pm, and dinner is 5pm then i know i only have an hour of suffering to do.

Also I need to remind myself that i am not going to die because i am hungry for an hour or 2. But I find hunger isn't the biggest problem but the drop in blood sugar that i can feel light headed. A real drop in energy.

 

[opethdisciple]

That feeling of hunger and able to get past it can be so difficult. I find that having a structured meal time helps because there is a goal post that i can hit. So if i am hungry at 4pm, and dinner is 5pm then i know i only have an hour of suffering to do.

Also I need to remind myself that i am not going to die because i am hungry for an hour or 2. But I find hunger isn't the biggest problem but the drop in blood sugar that i can feel light headed. A real drop in energy.

Drink lots of water.

Also you do get used to a calorie deficit eventually. You get in to a groove after 3-4 days.

 

[marinersfan]

I feel like I need to lose a bit. I'm usually about 86)87 kg, but last time I checked I was 90kg. Feel a bit sluggish.
I'm going to buy a few bits of gear and use the loft as my work out for 5 minutes a day room.

 

[tom_e]

Back to pre Christmas weight of 182lbs as of yesterday so now we're on to make some new progress

 

[Martynt74]

Awesome. Mine has gone up slightly back to 101.3kg, but still in a range i'm ok with. If i can get to the end of Jan around 98/99kg i'll be happy.

 

[Martynt74]

You need to CARRY ON weighing daily and look at the trend! You might take 3 dumps the day after your weekly weigh in and be disappointed at the lack of progress that week!

I'm stuck at 93kg. This is Christmas layover and I've got work to do. MFP is being used for logging. The calorie deficit has given me a bit of a shock on the bike this morning, but still managed a decent session for an hour.

Similar has just happened with me on a run. Very little energy on the hills. So think i need to be more mindful of eating a bit more. Maybe even just a small carb load pre exercise, so if i go out at 1pm and have a breakfast of Huel at 9am, i should grab a little something around 11am or so

Maybe need to add an evening snack/drink on other days to avoid the long gap from tea at 6pm to breakfast at 9am

 

[baritonejohann]

is there any reason i shouldn't go under my recommended deficit if im comfortable and not feeling any drawbacks from it? maintenance is 2500 im aiming for 1700 and hitting 1500 most days...

 

[Martynt74]

There's probably not that much risk, but you might hit a plateau at some point where your body goes into starvation mode and stores fat and consumes muscle instead. (Note i'm not a scientist but this is my basic understanding). You'll probably lose weight quicker and then slow down a lot. Whereas keeping to 1700 might end up with more fat loss over the same period

Is "Starvation Mode" Real or Imaginary? A Critical Look

When you lose weight, your body responds by burning fewer calories, which is often referred to as starvation mode. Learn about the concept,

www.healthline.com

 

[baritonejohann]

There's probably not that much risk, but you might hit a plateau at some point where your body goes into starvation mode and stores fat and consumes muscle instead. (Note i'm not a scientist but this is my basic understanding). You'll probably lose weight quicker and then slow down a lot. Whereas keeping to 1700 might end up with more fat loss over the same period

Is "Starvation Mode" Real or Imaginary? A Critical Look

When you lose weight, your body responds by burning fewer calories, which is often referred to as starvation mode. Learn about the concept,

www.healthline.com

interesting thank you. sounds like ill be fine as long as i don't go too extreme, and should do some resistance exercises to mitigate any potential muscle depletion. i cycle everywhere anyway, so time to do some morning press ups and should attempt to use the pull up bar again.

 

[Martynt74]

interesting thank you. sounds like ill be fine as long as i don't go too extreme, and should do some resistance exercises to mitigate any potential muscle depletion. i cycle everywhere anyway, so time to do some morning press ups and should attempt to use the pull up bar again.

I guess the only thing i'd add is if you're doing a lot of cycling it's worth re-thinking what that maintenance level really looks like for you.

 

[baritonejohann]

I guess the only thing i'd add is if you're doing a lot of cycling it's worth re-thinking what that maintenance level really looks like for you.

on the days i ride a lot i fuel those rides, cycling far on nothing is miserable and i hate it. but i appreciate the input.

 

[Martynt74]

Good plan. I know some people don't think about it.

The only other thing i'd mention would be experimenting with fueling. I used to aim to fuel long runs, but then on non active days i'd drop back to the 1700 level. Whereas i found energy levels were generally better if i averaged my weekly activity and added it onto each day to aim for a consistent intake, rather than spiking.

So as a rough example, taking the below, i'd aim for 1900/day and then maybe just add a little bit for each ride to minimise the spikes

 

[baritonejohann]

Good plan. I know some people don't think about it.

The only other thing i'd mention would be experimenting with fueling. I used to aim to fuel long runs, but then on non active days i'd drop back to the 1700 level. Whereas i found energy levels were generally better if i averaged my weekly activity and added it onto each day to aim for a consistent intake, rather than spiking.

So as a rough example, taking the below, i'd aim for 1900/day and then maybe just add a little bit for each ride to minimise the spikes

Super informative thank you. Its still very early days for me but these types of insight are super helpful. I think im doing ok at the moment because I have quite a lot of reserves to fall back on while in deficit, but long term the plan is to maintain a healthy weight whilst maintaining a good baseline fitness. My goal is to train myself to rethink my approach to eating so I am more considerate long term, but to be able to be a pig sometimes as i am a bit of a gourmet. Just not to the point of it effecting my wardrobe choices.

 

[tom_nieto]

Super informative thank you. Its still very early days for me but these types of insight are super helpful. I think im doing ok at the moment because I have quite a lot of reserves to fall back on while in deficit, but long term the plan is to maintain a healthy weight whilst maintaining a good baseline fitness. My goal is to train myself to rethink my approach to eating so I am more considerate long term, but to be able to be a pig sometimes as i am a bit of a gourmet. Just not to the point of it effecting my wardrobe choices.

I put in some hard yards at the start of my journey which saw great progress and allowed me to relax about having “cheat days” or whatever you want to call them in the present. I went to the lengths of getting the scales out to see exactly how much I was eating. A big/decadent meal once a week isn’t suddenly going to put you back to square one if you’re consistent the rest of the time. Food is absolutely for enjoying and a great pleasure in life. There’s so much food that is just not worth the calories and you’ve got to decide to savour the things that you really like.

Christmas has necessitated a bit of a reset due to too much consistency in over eating, but it’s felt welcome rather than a chore. Consistency at the start was the key for me.

I do want to re-focus a few things and I’m also pretty set on adding in a bit more resistance training in 2026.

Snow has hampered Deliveroo drivers, so had a sensible Friday night!

 

[Martynt74]

Oddly i've been creeping up! Not overly fussed at this stage, but would like to see it start to drop at some point. As

Yesterday had an amazing meal out at a place an old neighbour when we first arrived recommended. Funnily enough he was in there too. They also had my favourite Primitivo on the wine list which i couldn't pass up! Still ended the day pretty down on my target calories due to a longish gravel ride.

 

[baritonejohann]

them lotus biscuit ice cream sandwiches you can get in co-op in a pack of 4 are 138 calories each and feel like much much more. great little treat for those days you need a little something sweet.

 

[Derek W]

Today was the weigh in for myself and two other guys in the office. We've set ourselves a competition to see who can lose the largest percentage from their starting weight over the course of 12 weeks. Starting with weights of 94kg age 40, 108kg age 46 and 113kg age 49. I've been eating relatively sensibly but the lack of exercise has been my downfall for weight gain over the last 10yrs if I'm honest. I've gone through Chatgpt for a safe diet and exercise regime and it estimates that i should realistically be aiming for a 9 - 12kg weighloss over the 12 weeks which i don't think is too unrealistic. I'll have a mixture of weights, T25 HIIT, cycling and general walking for the exercise side of things (lasted 30 mins on the bike this evening without pushing myself too hard but I was still breathing through my arse!). I've removed pretty much all temtpations of crisps / chocolate from the house but I know i won't want to deprive myself of them completely and save them for an occassional treat. I do have a holiday coming up next month with the missus but there's a pool along with a gym so might have to make use of them most days before we're sat by the pool or out on an excursion.

 

[tom_nieto]

them lotus biscuit ice cream sandwiches you can get in co-op in a pack of 4 are 138 calories each and feel like much much more. great little treat for those days you need a little something sweet.

Good call! A lot of the mini ice cream sticks are quite reasonable calorie wise. Halo top ice cream is decent enough too.

@Derek W - good luck with the competition! 1kg per week weight loss is quite a challenge in that it requires a lot of discipline to maintain that deficit over a prolonged period (I had to weigh everything when I started out!). It’s achievable for sure, but even if you drop a stone (7kg) in that time you should be proud of yourself. Holiday away will be a challenge! I’d keep active and aim for maintenance on that rather than being miserable. It’s amazing what an hour on the bike or in the pool can let you get away with.

 

[brendy]

Today was the weigh in for myself and two other guys in the office. We've set ourselves a competition to see who can lose the largest percentage from their starting weight over the course of 12 weeks. Starting with weights of 94kg age 40, 108kg age 46 and 113kg age 49. I've been eating relatively sensibly but the lack of exercise has been my downfall for weight gain over the last 10yrs if I'm honest. I've gone through Chatgpt for a safe diet and exercise regime and it estimates that i should realistically be aiming for a 9 - 12kg weighloss over the 12 weeks which i don't think is too unrealistic. I'll have a mixture of weights, T25 HIIT, cycling and general walking for the exercise side of things (lasted 30 mins on the bike this evening without pushing myself too hard but I was still breathing through my arse!). I've removed pretty much all temtpations of crisps / chocolate from the house but I know i won't want to deprive myself of them completely and save them for an occassional treat. I do have a holiday coming up next month with the missus but there's a pool along with a gym so might have to make use of them most days before we're sat by the pool or out on an excursion.

Id be wary of exercising too much as you'll gain muscle too which is great usually but if you want to win, you need a big calorie deficit only. Get on the Mounjaro! it'll fall off (speaking from experience)

 

[Derek W]

Id be wary of exercising too much as you'll gain muscle too which is great usually but if you want to win, you need a big calorie deficit only. Get on the Mounjaro! it'll fall off (speaking from experience)

Aye I won't be using outside assistance for the weight loss. Just going to be relying on my own will power.

I'll be easing myself into the exercise relatively easily. Last night I did half an hour on my bike it was tough as I have been off it for a while but I'm not going full tilt right from the off.