Weight Loss Discussion Thread

[hellymedic]

Sorry  fboab, Scotch eggs have much FAT and a bit of protein. You are craving calories; Scotch eggs have loads more than plain boiled eggs. 

[simonp]

Scotch Eggs give me the boak. 

It's a boiled egg (reasonably healthy food) coated in sausage meat and breadcrumbs then deep fried.  I'm going to have scrambled eggs on toast for dinner tonight, I've decided.

(I've eaten all the lettuce in the house).

[Feline]

Scotch Eggs give me the boak. 

It's a boiled egg (reasonably healthy food) coated in sausage meat and breadcrumbs then deep fried.  I'm going to have scrambled eggs on toast for dinner tonight, I've decided.

(I've eaten all the lettuce in the house).

You might as well give up food now in readiness for the weekend of gluttony that lies ahead!
My asthma is dreadful at the moment but has the fortunate side effect that I've totally lost my appetite. 2 slices of toast and a tangerine so far today and I'm not even remotely hungry!

[simonp]

This is why we need to get some miles in at the weekend. Anyway I *should* be eating haggis tonight, but I'm not. Scrambled eggs on toast is by comparison health food.

[Feline]

This is why we need to get some miles in at the weekend. Anyway I *should* be eating haggis tonight, but I'm not. Scrambled eggs on toast is by comparison health food.

Ocado is here 

[L CC]

mini scotch eggs aren't deep fried but they are a) minging b) cheap and c) not sugar rich.

Could've been worse 

[PloddinPedro]

Ok. Off on a few days holiday eating'n'drinking.

New me MUST start 1st February. Absolutely imperative lose a stone by June.

Being lazy (part of reason for needing to lose weight) can I ask the collective wisdom of the lurkers on this (humungeous) thread: what's the best on-line calorie counter/website for easily keeping track of daily ingestion?

(Sorry if this has been covered upthread, but it's over 150 pages!)

[Moultonaught]

it's those little marshmallow teacake things with the jam in them, i could eat...

IIRC in Germany those are called 'Super Dickmann' 

our family first aid kit is therein  (with apologies for the rubbish camera phone pic.)

It lives on top of the dresser next to the box of 'French Bogeys' (Bougies la Francais) -  qualite superieure, no less.
Despite my wife not doing purile humour, these are both permitted and are deemed amusing 

[L CC]

Ok. Off on a few days holiday eating'n'drinking.

New me MUST start 1st February. Absolutely imperative lose a stone by June.

Being lazy (part of reason for needing to lose weight) can I ask the collective wisdom of the lurkers on this (humungeous) thread: what's the best on-line calorie counter/website for easily keeping track of daily ingestion?

(Sorry if this has been covered upthread, but it's over 150 pages!)

We're all here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

[hellymedic]

This is why we need to get some miles in at the weekend. Anyway I *should* be eating haggis tonight, but I'm not. Scrambled eggs on toast is by comparison health food.

Happy Burns Night!

[PloddinPedro]

Ok. Off on a few days holiday eating'n'drinking.

New me MUST start 1st February. Absolutely imperative lose a stone by June.

Being lazy (part of reason for needing to lose weight) can I ask the collective wisdom of the lurkers on this (humungeous) thread: what's the best on-line calorie counter/website for easily keeping track of daily ingestion?

(Sorry if this has been covered upthread, but it's over 150 pages!)

We're all here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

OK, thanks. I'll have a look at that.

[mcshroom]

Just went to sign up on myfitnesspal to see I signed up last year, and was 5kg lighter

On the exercise thing, how accurate are the cycling numbers? I just set the cycling to <10mph (slower than I actually rode), and it still came out with over 500 kcals. My Cateye cycle computer reccons my commute burnt about 330 kcal, which I believe a bit more.

[Simonb]

We're all here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

I am http://www.myfitnesspal.com/goodlyvibes

[SlowCoach]

what's the best on-line calorie counter/website for easily keeping track of daily ingestion?

I'm using My Fitness Pal as well (I'm "slowcoach" there - someone else had already pinched "SlowCoach" grrr...). The other half must have been through every site out there and has independently come to the conclusion that it's one of the better ones. She tells me that it's great strength is that the food database is both extensive and anglicised. I can certainly find most things I eat in there. I'm a bit dubious about the calories awarded for exercise - I tend to divide by two...

At the end of the day, it seems to work for me. Having to record everything means that I think twice before scoffing it down.

[Chris S]

The MFP cycling figures are very optimistic. I manually use 400 kcals an hour unless I'm giving it welly.

[PloddinPedro]

........ The other half must have been through every site out there and has independently come to the conclusion that it's one of the better ones. She tells me that it's great strength is that the food database is both extensive and anglicised.

Thanks; that's exactly what I'd hoped someone had done!

............. Having to record everything means that I think twice before scoffing it down.

That was my thinking - more an aid to strengthen willpower, rather than to be taken absolutely literally.

[SlowCoach]

That was my thinking - more an aid to strengthen willpower, rather than to be taken absolutely literally.

All I'm trying to do right now is first lose the 3.5 kg I put on over Christmas, and then lose another kg which will get me down to the weight I was when I got married some 30+ years ago. After that I just want to try and maintain that level. However, my weight is now some 22kg below what it was when I first started taking things seriously about 18 months ago. I think the most successful single action I've taken was to send the coffee bar staff at work a memo telling them that they were not sell me anything more than tea or coffee, no matter how much I begged. Cutting out the snacks and the lunchtime butty has helped significantly. I now make a salad every morning to take into work for lunch every day (you only need to forget a couple of times and then go hungry for the day because of the butty ban - and you'll be making them religously).

[Sergeant Pluck]

My Fitness Pal... I can certainly find most things I eat in there. I'm a bit dubious about the calories awarded for exercise - I tend to divide by two...

At the end of the day, it seems to work for me. Having to record everything means that I think twice before scoffing it down.

Agreed - it's thinking about what you eat. I found that all I had to do, more or less, was to ensure that I recorded everything I ate for the first week or so. Everything. After a few days, I just naturally took note of what the major offenders were.

The FP app on Android is excellent 



There was a lengthy discussion last year in this forum on the matter of energy consumption while cycling. The upshot of it was that it is overestimated, in general, and particularly for regular cyclists who ride efficiently. I think 500 W / hour was agreed on as being not too far off, and probably not a wild overestimate.

What I did was to ignore my 70 minute commute as far "earning food" goes, and I only counted "proper" rides, day rides, in my Fitnesspal reckonings.

I need to get on top of my eating habits again  I feel fat.

[simonp]

Tsk. 71kg.

[Ashaman42]

I'm still finding it relatively easy and have lost 4kg since the beginning of January (haven't weighed myself for a week so here's hoping there's some more lost as well). However, the only reason I am succeeding is that I am, without fail, cycling 20 miles per day to earn myself 700-800 calories, plus walking the dog (good for another 100). I can't exist on just 1660 calories a day, but with the extra that I earn I am managing to finish each day with a reasonable calorie deficit (usually 400-500) which seems to be working. This is a deficit over the amount MyFitnessPal says I should eat to lose 1lb a week, which is I think a 500 calorie deficit over 'remain the same'.

What's been fascinating to me is realising HOW MUCH I was eating during the day in the run-up to Christmas. Not portion sizes particularly (they are still huge - I like my spuds and veg) but biscuits, nuts, other nibbles. I reckon I was taking on board at least 1000 calories per day in nibbles. And having lots of cake.

Thank God for bicycles!

Regarding earning extra calories. I hope I'm not being rude/stating the obvious by pointing out that you should take a portion of the earnt calories away as they'd have been burnt even if you hadn't exercised.

It's something I read a while ago that supposedly catches many people out.

[simonp]

Not if you only count the additional calories in the first place.

[Wonky]

Simon, any news with the graphs yet? No pressure, just curious.

[simonp]

Simon, any news with the graphs yet? No pressure, just curious.

Been a bit busy (12h days at work etc), sorry.  Will be on a train for a few hours tomorrow which might give me enough time to make progress on it. There ain’t much left to do really.

[DrMekon]

Regarding earning extra calories. I hope I'm not being rude/stating the obvious by pointing out that you should take a portion of the earnt calories away as they'd have been burnt even if you hadn't exercised.

It's something I read a while ago that supposedly catches many people out.

I think most people use the BMR plus sedentary Harris-Benedict modifier option (ie BMR x 1.2), which means anything that isn't wallowing like Jabba on the couch counts.

The MFP cycling figures are very optimistic. I manually use 400 kcals an hour unless I'm giving it welly.

Yeah, my weight loss spread sheet says that I burn 60% of what MFP says from cycling (or I'm one of those magical people that can live off light and air alone).

[citoyen]

Regarding earning extra calories. I hope I'm not being rude/stating the obvious by pointing out that you should take a portion of the earnt calories away as they'd have been burnt even if you hadn't exercised.

MyFitnessPal estimates a calorie allowance for you based on your general level of activity ("sedentary", "active" etc) so any other exercise you add outside your normal activity level is genuinely "extra". Although, as others have said, MFP does overestimate calories burnt for cycling.

If you use MFP synched with Fitbit or similar, you don't need to enter a general activity level because it uses the data from the device to measure your activity. You only have to add other exercise if it's of a kind the Fitbit can't measure (eg swimming).

d.