*** Big Fat Weight Loss Thread ***

I'm a little unsure at the moment, what to do. I'm finding myself hungry more than I usually have been, so have eaten a little more than I normally would, maybe between 3,200 and 3,600 a day. I have put on a couple more pounds (15st 7 this morning, up from 15st 4 or 5 I've been hovering at) but at the same time, I'm making more effort in the gym than I have for years. I've still got some DOMS from Chest & Triceps day on Thursday for example and it didn't used to be often I would have DOMS at all (I didn't used to split body groups, I just did a general overall workout to 'stay in shape'). My scales say my body fat % is still ~20.4%, so I guess I shouldn't be concerned. I suppose I just don't want to keep making excuses and before you know it, I'm way to heavy... It doesn't help, now the weather's turning, I wont be out cycling as much. I jog, but I can't maintain a prolonged run due to my knee being in a bad way.
 
Marvt74 said:
I joined the gym last week, just in time for them to close tomorrow!
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Ha ha, I did see that in the running thread and thought it was some good timing ;) I think one thing to think about is what you want to achieve (you say build some muscle) and what you need to do to achieve that. I guess I point this out as you say you wont using huge weights, but bear in mind, you need to push pretty heavy weights to gain the muscle. I see some people in the gym who, I think, go way to easy on themselves and so they probably don't get all that much out of it...

AndyCr15 said:
I have put on a couple more pounds (15st 7 this morning, up from 15st 4 or 5 I've been hovering at)
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I guess I worry about nothing, back to 15 - 4 this morning. It will be interesting with the gyms closing, if I lose that extra 3 or 4 lbs again.
 
Get a tennis ball. Put it on the ground and sit on it, with the tennis ball effectively massaging your injured area... roll yourself over it until you find the point of unbearable pain... and hold it for about 20 seconds :)
 
I feel like I have two good days of diet, then one horrible day, but I'm keeping the exercise at a pretty good level although cycling mileage is going to suffer with how cold it is and how early it gets dark now. I think come Christmas I will kind of let myself lose on the cake and cookies... I'm confident I can get it back off again when necessary.
 
tom_e said:
Getting an online coach onboard has definitely stopped this cycle for me
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It's not particularly a concern for me. Because I'm still exercising a lot, my weight is staying pretty stable. I'm also reasonably confident, if I put half a stone on over Xmas, I can get it back off quite easily... I think :)

How does it work with your online coach? You have to log food and exercise and they give you feedback every week or something?
 
tom_e said:
At the end of the day if you're happy with the price and you feel it'll actually get you working out then it's worth the cost.
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I'm not going to lie, when I saw £500 I wondered if it was some kind of scam... I imagine it costs a few pounds to make and is a pretty simple device surely? (I've not watched videos or looked into it at all, so could be wrong)

But, as said, if it actually works for you, then it's worth it to you.
 
Yeah, I've kind of written off the diet from now through Xmas... I should try to stop myself going crazy still, which is often what I do when the reins are released...

15st 4 (97kg) is my current weight, my starting point. I'll get a weigh in the new year, then try and make sure it's all off again by the end of January :)
 
Yesterday morning I weighed in at 15st 13lbs, so I think I've put on about 8-10lbs in the last week of eating whatever I wanted. I'm going to try and really restrict calories until the new year (about 2,100 yesterday with a 10k run thrown in) and hopefully get back down 6 to 8 lbs and then go back to 'normal' calories (around 3,200) from that point.

I also finally got round to watching Freddie Flintoff - Living with Bulimia, which was quite interesting. I watched it as someone said so many of the things I do (strict calorie counting, almost addicted to exercise to 'pay for' the calories I might over eat, the occasional binge eat) actually line up with being bulimic. It's not just about making yourself be sick after eating. I think they were half joking, but having watched it I'm confident I'm not, but it's an interesting watch all the same.
 
Well, I just about did it. Just weighed in at 15st 4.5lbs, so pretty much back to where I was before my Xmas binge. It's interesting, it's just all about your will power. I remember a couple of months back I just couldn't understand how I managed to stick to 2,000 cals previously, but I did it without too much difficulty for the last four days, mainly by just skipping a protein bar at each meal and only having porridge for breakfast. I didn't even feel all that hungry through the day.
 
ultralaser said:
[9] Don't think you need shiny stuff to lose weight. I'm terrible for this, as a defence mechanism to actually doing what I know needs doing I'll invent a need for a million different devices that I need before I start to train / lose weight. It's all none sense, linked to [6]
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As said above, a good post with some good advice, although this point 9, I used my new hobbies as an excuse to buy some new shiney's. Cycling has literally cost me thousands! But I love it, so money well spent, right?

Andybtsn said:
Really useful advice, well done. Your starting weight is around what I am now, did you cal count? How did you keep track of your eating habits? What exercise? I'd love to get down to that weight, I've been a yo-yo dieter for the past decade.
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I'm sure Ultra will reply soon, but I would say, yes count calories. I don't really know how you can be sure/happy you're in a deficit if you don't? If you use MyFitnessPal and link it in to Strava, for example, if will import exercise too, so you can see cals burnt vs cals consumed.

In time, you get to know what exercise is best/works for you. For example, I can't really run for more than 40 mins to an hour, so it's a max of maybe 500 to 800 cals from a run. This morning I cycled 40 miles and burnt around 2,000 cals. Clearly cycling is a better option for me, but then it's time and weather dependant. (I also know I can get by on about 2,500-3,000 cals eaten today, so a decent deficit)
 
Andybtsn said:
My biggest flaw is late night eating, I will have my tea at 6ish but come 10/11 I'm starving and usually binge a load of carbs :(
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Same here and there's definitely a correlation between going to bed hungry and me not sleeping well/getting up during the night. I had set myself a resolution for 2020 to eat less after 7pm, but tbh that just meant I needed to eat more before 7pm to get me through, so binned it. I often find it easier to go very low on cals through the morning and lunch, so I can load up a little later in the day... so I sleep better and still hit my cals target.
 
I've been using Huel as a one meal pretty much every day for almost two years now I guess. I like it, if you find the flavour that suits you. For me, either vanilla, or coffee, with some instant coffee, almond milk and a flavoured sweetener. It wont be just that, usually a yogurt and a protein bar too. On a day off that would usually be my lunch, if I'm working that will usually be my evening meal. It fills me as much as an actual meal would. In either case I'm usually hungry two hours after eating. At least if I've controlled calories at the 'meal' stage, I don't feel bad having a snack a few hours later.
 
tom_e said:
I actually find weighing myself daily more helpful but the important thing is you need to remember that the daily numbers don't matter, what you're looking for is the weekly trend.
If you only weigh yourself once a week then that could be the day that your weight for that week has spiked for whatever reason but if you've been doing it daily you can see the actual trend in your weight gain/loss.
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I agree, for the same reason. Whilst I no longer weigh myself every day, when I do weigh myself, I often do the next two or three days too, to get a better idea, as has been said, one days measurement can be a little high/low.

The amount you lost in 4 days isn't that odd, especially at the beginning. Also, bear in mind, if you are literally eating less now, I find it takes 2 to 4 days for the volume of food that you have in you to lower to the lighter amount. (eg, Sunday's is always kebab night for me. I will eat more simply in actual volume, than I normally would. If I weigh myself tomorrow, I will likely be 3 or 4lbs heavier, which will have gone my Wednesday or Thursday)

As for exercise, anything that gets your heart rate up for 30 mins or more is great. Even something like skipping. This can very quickly get your HR up over 140, so do this for 15 to 20 mins will burn a reasonable amount of cals. A brisk walk is great, as like cycling, you can sustain it for quite a long while. A decent one hour brisk walk would be great.
 
I think Strava has re-integrated it's ability to connect Bluetooth, so I would get a Heart rate Monitor and track your walks in Strava. These can be linked into MyFitnessPal, so you'll see credit for your exercise in calories in there. I've not used it for some time, but I think in Strava you can then keep an eye on your heart rate. If it drops down below 100-110, try and pick the pace up. I think 30 minutes would likely only burn around 250-300 cals, but it's a good start. Is jogging an option?
 
Merlin5 said:
Where do you put your phone when jogging?
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Now, I have some nice Gore jogging tights, that have a tight pocket on the leg for a phone and a small zip pocket on the lower back for keys. In the past I've used a running belt that you can get off Amazon for about a tenner and it was fine.

Merlin5 said:
Any inexpensive jogging shoes you'd recommend from Amazon?
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I have no recommendations, but I will say, I was in a lot of pain when I used to run in 'regular' trainers. I spend £100+ on proper running shoes and it made a huge difference to my ability to run without pain in the souls of my feet or my shins and calves. I know it doesn't help, just bear it in mind :)
 
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