Weight Loss (Problem)

MikGriff

MikGriff

MikGriff

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Joined
21 Nov 2002
Posts
3,910
Location
Accrington, Lancashire
I decided in January that I'd had enough and wanted to lose weight, I was over 20st, and Im currently stuck at 17.5st I've been stuck here for around a month and it's really frustrating me, I work nights Fri-Sat-Sun and this keeps my sleep pattern interesting.

My average food for a day consists of:

Breakfast: 3 Weetabix with Semi-Skimmed Milk

Lunch: Low-Fat Super Noodles, with Chicken breast, onion, and some chilli.

Dinner: Pasta, Tin of Tuna, Sweetcorn, Onion, Beetroot, Tablespoon of Low-Fat Salad Cream

Snacks consist of bananas, and usually a fat-free yoghurt and a go-ahead bar.

Now I'm not doing anything differently than before, and I can understand that my diet isn't perfect, but I'm really not a big meat/fish person so Chicken is really the only option on that side of things, I've cut out bread completely.

Basically I'm looking for some advice, where do I go from here, what can I do to kick-start the weight loss again? Even meal advice, I'm starting to feel desperate!

I do some weight-training at home Mon-Thu, I also have a cross trainer which I've neglected recently.

Just in from work, heading off to bed now, I await some replies when I awake.

Cheers,
Michael.
 
Last year I weighed 22st 4 lbs and started to cut down, I managed to drop 3.5 stone and then hit a hill, I decided to join a slimming group and went to Slimming World, I did manage to get down the 16st 10lb by December 2009, but have since that time put around 2 stone back on. I am about to start Weight Watchers as I do like snacks, and would rather be able to buy the WW cakes and snacks etc.

It did teach me about certain things in terms of what not to mix, i.e dont eat loads of pasta, rice, noodles, potaotes with lots of meat. Things like Go ahaed bars are not too great either.

It may just be you need more excercise, you have mentioned weights but it needs to be in conjunction with cardio, you may have built muscle which is heavier then fat which might explain why your stuck at 2.5 stone.

It may just be a case of swapping out some means, try fresh fruit for breakfast I know cereal was not great on SW.

Let us know how you get on it is not easy, I know I am in that place now, where I know I need to lose weight, but I dont smoke or drink and food is that one thing I enjoy over all other things.
 
You'll need to up the cardio and cut out some carbs and when you do have carbs try keep them as complex as possible (brown pasta + rice, sweet potatoes)

Proteins and fibres keep you fuller for longer; chicken + a load of veg is my go-to meal when I want to drop body fat.
Snacks would be an apple and some cottage cheese or a protein shake post workout.

Cardio is straight calories burned and will be (alongside your diet) the cornerstone of your weight loss. Try get it in your regieme as much as possible.

A couple of questions:
What sort of weight training are you doing?
What sort of body fat are you?
 
I was almost 20 stone, then purchased a bike on the cycle to work scheme. In the first year I had gotten down to 17 stone riding 11 miles a day 4 to 5 days a week.

I must admit though I do enjoy a drink, and like food for that matter to, so have found in the last year I have just maintained the same level.

My snag is that the work I do is mainly sat down at a PC all day.
 
reiyushin said:
You'll need to up the cardio and cut out some carbs and when you do have carbs try keep them as complex as possible (brown pasta + rice, sweet potatoes)

Proteins and fibres keep you fuller for longer; chicken + a load of veg is my go-to meal when I want to drop body fat.
Snacks would be an apple and some cottage cheese or a protein shake post workout.

Cardio is straight calories burned and will be (alongside your diet) the cornerstone of your weight loss. Try get it in your regieme as much as possible.

A couple of questions:
What sort of weight training are you doing?
What sort of body fat are you?
Click to expand...

Weight training consists mainly of Side Bends, Curls, Squats etc. I don't have anything set in stone as I really don't know where to start as far as a "regime" goes, how long I should be doing it for etc, I do reps of 12 which is basic as far as I can gather.

As for body fat, i honestly don't know, what's the easiest way to find this out?

And on the cutting out carbs, I'd love to be able to eat a chicken breast and a load of veg, but me and veg don't really get on, I can do carrots, potato's, sweetcorn, onions etc, but other than that, it's not great, so suggestions on this dilemma are welcome, I generally eat pasta because it's filling, and it's something I can do quickly and easily. I'm toying with the idea of going to the gym during the week atm.
 
OP, is this the same diet that you've had since you started trying to lose weight?

Is that batchelor's super noodles? if so, I'd find something else to eat, as that's horrible processed food.

Also, in terms of excercise, why not try doing HIIT instead of weight training? It may end up burning more calories
 
Pretty much the same diet, yes.

As for the noodles, any suggestions for lunch? I'd normally stump for a sandwich but I've cut out bread.


As for HIIT, I looked at it but it confused the hell out of me.
 
Last edited:
Check out http://stronglifts.com/

This site keeps things simple and provides a lot of useful information :)

If you've got veg you like then eat them in place of the pasta or rice (easy on the potatoes, they're a carb heavy food) and try eating them different ways to keep it interesting :)

For lunch, try out things like olives, cottage cheese, any form of fruit, lean meats etc.
A favorite of mine is Sliced tomatoes and sliced mozzarella drizzled in olive oil and balsamic vinegar :)

I'm not so sure about HIIT at your size and conditioning but IT (Interval training) could help the old metabolism and get you into a better shape for HIIT.

For the IT get on your cross trainer and after a 5min or so warm-up try get your heart rate to about 150-160 and keep it there for a minute, then ease off for 2 minutes to let yourself recover (don't stop) and go at it again, 1 minute at 150-160bpm... and so on.
 
If you want to hit the fat and get it moving you need intensity workouts.

The kinds that are brining you to feeling like death and almost throwing up. Don't push to the throwing up point, it sucks but you need to get damn close.

It's VERY hard to do alone and I certainly found it helpful to have a PT standing there forcing me to push that bit extra. I went from 21st to 16.5 stone in about 6 months JUST with a PT twice a week and some diet changes.

I used to get into my car and need to wait 5 minutes until I had the physical strength in my arms to turn the steering wheel. Cardio just wont cut it.
 
Why have you cut out bread? Brown seeded bread eg. burgen is pretty good and fills you up. Also if you havent already make the swap to brown pasta

Ditch the super noodles, I'm pretty sure they're likely to be processed high GI crap.

Do you measure your portions? If not Id start just to gauge how much/how many cal's you're eating.

As for HIIT you will want to build up a good cardiovascular base well before attempting it.
 
MikGriff said:
Pretty much the same diet, yes.

As for the noodles, any suggestions for lunch? I'd normally stump for a sandwich but I've cut out bread.


As for HIIT, I looked at it but it confused the hell out of me.
Click to expand...

How about buying some normal noodles yourself? then cooking them, and adding some sauce or something.

If it's the same diet, then you're getting pretty much the same amount of calories as when you started. The key is progression, this is why:

A 20 stone man needs more calories a day than a 17.5 stone man, due to being heavier. so if they both eat 3500 calories a day, the 20 stone man will lose weight quicker ;)
basically, start eating a little less, maybe start with 2.5 weetabix a day.

Also, HIIT in a nutshell: if you're using cardio equipment (eg: cross trainer) then you can monitor your speed. find out what your fastest speed is. then, take around 90% of it. eg: if on the bike max speed was 40mph, then you should be looking at around 36mph. Here's the key bit, split it into intervals. these intervals are usually around 30 seconds, but you can make the rest interval longer if you want. 30 seconds of going all out at 90% (36mph in this example) and then 30 seconds rest interval going at about 40% (16mph in this example) repeat this for 10-20 mins and you have a solid workout :)
If I've made a mistake about the HIIT, someone please correct me :)
 
Cheers guys, I'm gonna make a change to my diet starting Monday, and try and cut out most carbs, Try going the Chicken & Veg route for dinner. Maybe go the brown bread route for lunch (sandwich), we'll see.
 
Looks like lots of carbs in that lot (opening post), remember that carbs love holding water
 
The main thing to remember is total calories in < total calories out will equal weight loss. This means its not what you eat, its how much you eat. Therefore, dont go avoiding your favourite meals thinking they will make you put on weight, just make sure you've made adjustments to your overal calorie intake so far. Do this by going to fitday or foodfocus and counting what you have eaten as this is very important when losing weight.

Most people underestimate/overestimate what they eat massively, so by counting what you eat, you can eat your favourite treats without worrying, this will make it easier to stick to a diet as well by not having to always eating things you dont want, just dont go overboard and make sure you get the good stuff in too.

Another thing to remember is that fat isnt the devil, and its very important to overal health. Eat things such as oily fish, nuts, cheese, olive oil and red meats.
 
Bit of an update:

My day now consists of:

Breakfast : 2 Weetabix with Semi-Skimmed Milk

Lunch : Bowl of Home-Made Lentil/Carrot Soup

Dinner: Chicken Breast, Carrot's & Sweetcorn

I have a couple of bananas through the day, maybe the odd apple, But I'm finding I still get hungry.

I've done 45 Minutes on the Cross-Trainer Tue/Wed and Today, And going off what it says, I'd burnt off over 500 Calories. I wont be doing any over the weekend (Fri/Sat/Sun) As I work 10pm-6am filling shelves at Asda, so it's physical in itself, and I'm just too tired.

Feedback Welcome as usual !
 
that's not a lot of food in one day, especially not for a guy anyway. no wonder you still get hungry!

i'm on a calorie counting diet and this is what i eat:

breakfast - crunchy nut cereal with semi skimmed milk

lunch - either one of the following:
1) small snack size houmous pots with sliced peppers/celery or carrots
2) sandwich with 1 layer of ham or salami and philidelphia spread
3) tuna, sweetcorn, red pepper and celery salad with no dressing

snacks - everyday i allow myself 1x snackajacks, 1x tracker choc cereal bar, 1x low calorie chocolate mousse or yogurt and fruit. but i don't always eat it all, sometimes i don't feel the need to snack so i save on the calories instead.

dinner - anything i like, but avoiding large portions and fatty/high calorie foods

i tend to bank as many calories as i can during the daytime, so that i can have a nice normal diet-free meal at dinner time and maybe some ice cream afterwards as well :D

you should also drink lots of water as it helps you keep that 'full' feeling
 
-@MikGriff - Try getting some more protein into your diet, it keeps you feeling fuller for longer. Lean meats/Soft cheese would be a good start. Failing that try some protein supplements.
 
Do cardio. Honestly it will make so much more difference than just dieting. I just cut out uneeded crap like crisps in the evening out but still allow myself some sort of unhealthy snack once a day, but I'm doing normally 2k rowing, 3k running, 8k cycling and 1k swimming per day, and the weight is falling off at 1 or 2 lbs a week.
 
As I said, I've been doing 45 mins (I think It's 10/11K, stupid display doesn't show the unit of distance) on the Cross-Trainer for the past 3 days, and working Fri/Sat/Sun nights means im knackered Sat/Sun/Mon usually :p
 
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