[Wykey]

No athletic setting on it. Really I'm not expecting to be some super fit, completely toned person but if I'm no longer overweight, can get my body fat down slightly and feel generally a bit healthier and energetic that is what I'd be ecstatic with.

Some of the fat analysers have an 'athletic' setting, which instead of telling a 'fit' person they have a body fat percentage of 30%, tells them it's 15% - because they're not very accurate!

[Wykey]

i have a Salter scale that gives 4 peoples BMI, Fat% and water %, I think the fat is derived from the water and the other stats, as lottie says it's pretty good at monitoring things like when I have been to the Gym recently the fat % does down more dramatically than the lb's, and it some how knows I have been drinking more water, and it knows that my misses is not as fat as me too!

Wykie, I have been doing the 5:2 diet thing, that was on Horizon last August, I fast for 3 days (not really you can have 600 cals) and then eat at you TDEE the rest of the time. Basically you get to be indulge every other day or so, so it doesn't feel like a massive diet, as you know tomorrow you can eat more of what you fancy. Although it is a simple in/out equation I know on Cals, this way you can mix it up a bit, plus, and I do not stand by this, but it improves your health, makes you better at managing your own insulin, and just generally makes you less dependent on food and meal times as you learn that actually 20 hours with no food is no big deal really.

Anyway, it's just a tool, and it got me going, and I am still doing it, but I am learning a bit more about eating more protein, less carbs, less salt, balancing my macro's better to get to where I want to be etc etc. * love http://www.myfitnesspal.com/
for help with tracking and advice.

My big weakness is still I enjoy a drink, but it's much better now, and I think following this WOE it should become less habitual.

Like Lootie, I too feel a bit healthier and more energetic, but would like to feel better still, still the fags don't help with that either!!

It's funny, I've been to parties where I haven't eaten for 3 days and felt 100% - well, kind of - but if I didn't eat for three days while I was at work, I'd be climbing the walls!

Discipline's a great thing, as you say once you know you can do it (whatever "it" is - fasting, eating just protein, eating just veg or whatever) then you've cracked it - the hardest thing with any diet, or change of eating regimen I often find, is boredom. There's only so many tins of tuna or bowls of boiled chicken I can eat before it starts to taste like cardboard - "cheat days" are a brilliant way to keep things fresh and make it feel much less like a drudge.

When you drink, do you drink the same things - beer/lager/guiness/wine - or do you mix it up? The odd vodka lime and soda makes a huge difference to the calorific intake in a night out - it's something worth thinking about....

But, good effort - sounds like you've got a good solid base of understanding and recording going, much easier to stick to like that...

[Boboff]

I tried Gin & Slim line Tonic, 4 Pints later I was absolutely Shittered.

[Yudster]

Its probably purely psychosomatic, but after just a day and a half of this commitment to low carb eating (and more to the point no sugar) I already feel a bit brighter.

[Wykey]

There's an interesting article on carb-high food that I read a while back, to do with how it affects you and how it can lead to lethargy, a more sedentary lifestyle and an increased craving for carb-high food - I think it was to do with blood-sugar spikes, I'll try and find it.

[Nicola_Red]

I definitely feel better when I eat low carb. Nothing to do with trying to lose weight, my digestive system just feels cleaner and less sluggish.

[Wykey]

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innova ... /food2.htm

This was the first of the articles - there's a good bit of other info on the pre and succeeding pages...

[Yudster]

Made a good start. I've lost a few pounds, I definitely feel better and so far, whilst I'd be lying if I said I didn't WANT to eat stuff that I mustn't, I certainly haven't felt hungry or underfed.

Onwards!

[Travis Bickle]

My opinion is that dieting is flawed. Losing weight and keeping it off means a commitment to changing your eating habits permanently. It will take longer to lose the weight, but you stand a far better chance of keeping it off.

[Yudster]

My opinion is that dieting is flawed. Losing weight and keeping it off means a commitment to changing your eating habits permanently. It will take longer to lose the weight, but you stand a far better chance of keeping it off.

I mostly agree, and that is effectively what I am doing. All of the things I have stopped eating are things that are bad for you in many ways, not just weight. I'm glad I have lost weight already but actually - and I never thought I would say something like this - the thing I am happiest about is that I feel better for not being full of sugar all the time.

And all the best Char, keep it up and you'll be half-marathoning in no time!

[Nicola_Red]

My opinion is that dieting is flawed. Losing weight and keeping it off means a commitment to changing your eating habits permanently. It will take longer to lose the weight, but you stand a far better chance of keeping it off.

That's definitely true. You have to change and stay changed forever. That's why organisations like Weight Watchers make so much money - they have around a 95% failure rate because as soon as people come off the plan, they regain weight, and then they go back and start again. (I have used the Weight Watchers points system myself in the past, but I bought a calculator on ebay and taught myself the points system so at least I wasn't giving them money.)

[Wykey]

My opinion is that dieting is flawed. Losing weight and keeping it off means a commitment to changing your eating habits permanently. It will take longer to lose the weight, but you stand a far better chance of keeping it off.

It's certainly flawed, but that doesn't mean it can't work - if you follow a 'diet' for a fixed period of time and go back to doing precisely what it was you were doing before, then it's not hard to guess what's going to happen.

But if you 'diet' for a fixed period of time and also exercise more then undertake to change your ongoing diet, then you can get the best of both worlds. The best thing is to find out what works and keep doing it.

[Yudster]

But if you 'diet' for a fixed period of time and also exercise more then undertake to change your ongoing diet, then you can get the best of both worlds. The best thing is to find out what works and keep doing it.

Surely that's the definition of a "lifestyle change"?

[Nicola_Red]

It worked for me, cos that sort of calculating and adding up appeals to my OCD. My problem with it really is that it doesn't teach you to follow your internal hunger cues, which no weight-loss diets do. And don't even get me started on Slimming World and their 'syns'

[Yudster]

Well since cutting out carbs I have felt much better because I'm not full of sugar and glycogen, lost weight and not been hungry or felt that I am not eating enough. And I've eaten more vegetable in six days than I reckon I have eaten in the last few months put together! So so far its a win for me. So far....

[Wykey]

But if you 'diet' for a fixed period of time and also exercise more then undertake to change your ongoing diet, then you can get the best of both worlds. The best thing is to find out what works and keep doing it.

Surely that's the definition of a "lifestyle change"?

Yeah, but I was just trying to emphasise that "a diet" can still be part of a successful weight loss regimen, one doesn't have to dismiss them out of hand just because they're flawed.

[Yudster]

If you have weight to lose, simply eating healthily in a "normal" way won't help you, however much people insist that it will. If you need to lose weight you have to diet, simple as that unfortunately. Its integrating that into something sustainable that is the tricky bit - but its perfectly possible.

[dimtimjim]

^^ Wot she sed.

[Travis Bickle]

If you have weight to lose, simply eating healthily in a "normal" way won't help you, however much people insist that it will. If you need to lose weight you have to diet, simple as that unfortunately. Its integrating that into something sustainable that is the tricky bit - but its perfectly possible.

It will help you up to a point though. I don't really disagree with what you have said, but I suppose it is just how the individual views the process. I have lost weight on numerous occasions on diets, ranging from 7lbs to 5st at my heaviest, only to put some or all of the weight back on every time.

I don't consider what I am on at the moment to be a diet. It is just a slightly more restrictive version of the way I intend to eat permanently. I don't have a weight loss target, I don't have a weigh-in day, and I don't calorie count. I just eat sensibly. Granted, slightly more sensibly than I would if I only wanted to maintain weight, but the way I eat now will certainly be the basis of my 'diet' for the rest of my life hopefully.

My approach is working for me anyway. I am losing weight at the slowest rate I've ever lost it, but this time I know I won't put it back on.

[Boboff]

Travis has it sussed I reckon.

I lost 1.2lb last week taking the total to 27lbs in 12 weeks.

Pigged out the last two days as I was getting a bit hungry and "bunged" up, back on it today.

[Yudster]

I genuinely believe that if you need to lose a significant - by which I mean 21lb plus - amount of weight, simply "eating healthily" won't work. Eating healthily is what we do to maintain our weight, not lose it, surely?

That said, there are a million ways to go about losing weight, changing your diet, getting healthy - and if anyone finds one that works for them, do it and don't listen to me or anyone else.

[Boboff]

On my fitess pal, there is this thing called in place of road map, and in short, you basically eat the calories per day that would maintain your weight at the weight you want to be, it gets a bit scientific, but basically you work out what these calories would be then you stick to them or below.

The idea is that the fatter you are the more calories you need to maintain, so be eating at or below you TDEE for the weight you want to be, you will eventually get to that weight, you have to, there is no other way to go, you should be able to do this eating normally, as the calories you will be consuming whilst on a "diet" will actually be the calories you eat to maintain the weight you want to be. The best way to do this is to eat less shit, more veg etc etc, which you could say is healthy.

There are allot of variables, and people delude themselves about the calories they consume and the exercise they undertake.

It's not really very complicated actually, but you do have to be honest. Cider and Wine screw your calories up big time!

[Wykey]

The time of day you eat whatever it is you eat plays a big role too - as does the amount of sleep you get.

For a 'normal' 6.30am - 10.30pm day, I was advised to try and eliminate carbohydrates after 4pm and after that stick to water / fish and meat as a snack.

[Yudster]

I have in the past had success dieting by counting calories and avoiding fat, but my obsessive nature tends to lead me to starve myself, whilst at the same time managing to convince myself that I'm eating too much - its not healthy to do that, but I have a lot of trouble controlling my behaviour.

At the moment I'm not counting calories at all. I have no idea how many I'm consuming on a daily basis. I'm not missing any meals, I'm not worrying about fat (had some lovely pork belly strips the other day...) and I am snacking - the only thing is that its all as carb-free as I can. I've lost a significant amount of weight already and I feel better, so I am being more active which will hopefully mean I will lose more!

The fact that I am losing weight is a lovely side bar to the fact that my blood sugar level has evened out at the low end of normal and isn't fluctuating so I feel well (before it was all over the place throughout any given day - hence the type 2 diabetes concern), and that my doctor confirmed yesterday that just a week after starting to do this my cholesterol level, which was very high (runs in the family), has dropped to the top end of the normal range. Hopefully it will go a bit further.

I'll stick with this I think.

[Boboff]

Drink lots of water, reduce your salt intake.

Seriously, if your piss is even tinged with yellow in the morning or after exercise you arn't drinking enough water.....