Weight Loss Discussion Thread

[Butterfly]

Helly, I'm trying hard to forget that offer

[hellymedic]

Lindor truffles are great for domestic 'Easter egg' hunts.
Hide them in pairs in various drawers and crannies.
David is usually still unearthing them at the Summer Solstice...

[Andrij]

I'm finding that MFP is really helping.  Mainly it appears to be the shock one gets when one sees how many calories certain foods have.     

Today's lunch wasn't that healthy, but was with clients so my choices were limited.  As a result I only have 150 for the rest of the day!  Then again, I don't work out my 'calories earned' from cycling until I get home at the end of the day, so I should be OK.   

Looking forward to tomorrow's weigh-in.

[citoyen]

1 Cadbury's Boost = 2 thick slices of cheese = 6 apples = 1.25kg cabbage.

d.

[L CC]

1 Cadbury's Boost = 2 thick slices of cheese = 6 apples = 1.25kg cabbage.

d.

Is that lunch?

[citoyen]

I'm not sure all those things would go very well together but I think it would constitute a balanced diet.

d.

[Katie]

Got bored of MFP myself, but I've been doing Slimming World since September.

Shiny progress graph!  I started at 16st 3½lbs, have lost 3st 11½ so far. Red line so far, blue line predicted, purple line target weight.

[Wowbagger]

I'm not expecting to lose much when I weigh myself tomorrow. We've just had a curry to celebrate Dez's birthday. As a token to weight loss, Jan an I shared the onion bhaji and naan. Still too much though.

Edit: and now he's passing round Toblerone!

[L CC]

Up 400g.

What the hell else am I supposed to do? I'm hungry, a lot of the time. I'm riding for at least an hour, usually longer, every fucking day. I'm doing some stupid american woman's circuit training. I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm bored of this, and I'm not fucking losing any weight!

If I had any money, I'd be spending it on Acai berries or whatever the latest herbal supplement bollox is. Maybe I should just detour through the mean streets of one of Thetford's many charming estates and stock up on some speed, that'd work, at least in the short term.

/Stomps off to drink water and eat an apple and pretend to be satisfied.

[Wowbagger]

Down on last week, but up on yesterday. Not surprised really: not only was there the curry and a piece of Toblerone, but I made the mistake of winning a prize in the raffle yesterday at choir - and people had been making cakes. I'm afraid that when I got home, the will-power went and so did the cakes. I did share them with Dez & Mrs. Wow, but there were four...

I must climb back on the wagon!

[clarion]

After being level last week following seven days of being well behaved, I've done another week where I was clearly under my calories every day except one, when I didn't ride as much.  And so, I, too, am up 400g.

I can accept three weeks of not losing weight as blips, but gaining just means the gods are toying with me.

Bah!

[Auntie Helen]

Well I'm down a kg this week again which makes 11 this year. All will change next week - I'm off to Austria for a week's holiday and although I shall be doing lots of walking I will also be doing lots of eating.

[mcshroom]

Down 600g, which is a bit of a surprise really as I haven't been out on the bike as much as I intended. I do my first 200 of the year on Saturday so it will be interesting to see what effect that has on the weight.

I don't do measurements, but I hve noticed some of my cycling shorts are getting a bit baggy, so something must be changing

[simonp]

This morning's weight is almost exactly the same as a month ago.

[trixie]

Only 1.5kg to go for me, then i can stop all this calorie counting - phew

The new job has helped, long hours with only 2 x 15 mins and 1 x 30 mins opportunity to eat.  Once target is reached i'll just have to swap the cereal bars for chocolate bars.

haha! so healthy 

[citoyen]

Only 1.5kg to go for me, then i can stop all this calorie counting - phew

Only 1kg to go for me, but I intend to keep counting after I reach my target, otherwise I know I'll have a relapse very quickly...

Like I did just now, for example. Thing is, we've had a delivery to the office of assorted baked delicacies from Greggs... Forgive me, father, for I have sinned - to the tune of 1 sausage roll, 1 chicken fajita pasty and 1 cheese and onion pasty. 1,220 calories. I feel dirty.

But it's OK - according to MFP, I still have 50 calories left for dinner. I shall ride the long route home for penance.

d.

[simonp]

So far today I've eaten a banana, a nectarine, a can of coke, and a mug of coffee. 349 calories consumed, 248 burned, so I have 1949 calories left for lunch and dinner and haven't even cycled to the tip with my trailer yet, or cycled home!

[DrMekon]

Cheated today, and weighed myself after a lunchtime run. Half a kg down, half a kg to go.

Won't stop MFPing, as it helps me keep an eye on what I eat. Without that structure, I'd live off beer and nuts.

[DrMekon]

Up 400g.

What the hell else am I supposed to do? I'm hungry, a lot of the time. I'm riding for at least an hour, usually longer, every fucking day. I'm doing some stupid american woman's circuit training. I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm bored of this, and I'm not fucking losing any weight!

Can you borrow a HRM? MFP estimates can be quite variable in their accuracy. I know I went through a patch with livestrong where the fact it was telling me to eat more made me feel hungrier, but it was just down to the calorie overestimation.

Of course, that could be bollocks. I was sure yesterday that MFP overestimated, but the numbers came out near identical.

Are you doing the rolling average measurement thing Citoyen recommended?

[simonp]

Those MFP estimates are based upon a set of assumptions which will never precisely match reality, and sometimes be wildly wrong. They don't allow for towing a trailer for sure! I tend to bump up the speed I record a bit when I have the trailer on. Other than that, I find it ok for me.

I'm not surprised "16-20mph" isn't particularly accurate, since 16mph and 20mph are substantially different in terms of power output requirements, all else being equal.

[Lady Cavendish]

It seems to be just me that the MFP things don't work for! If I put things in according to what MFP tells me I've burnt, I end up with a 1500 deficit every weekday, and about a 3500 deficit on my long ride day at the weekend. So on that basis I'd be losing 4lbs a week, every week.

Good losses everyone.

Fboab, I totally empathise. I don't know what else I can do, I get up before 5am every day- 3 hours of exercise before work, 45 mins spin class every lunchtime and 1 hour exercise after work. Plus an audax every weekend. I eat 2000-2200 calories a day. I'm frustrated too.

[L CC]

Can you borrow a HRM? MFP estimates can be quite variable in their accuracy.

HRM reckoned (about a year ago, about 5kg lighter) about 700kcal/ 55 minute commute. I'm allowing 500kcal/hr as I don't believe MFP

Are you doing the rolling average measurement thing Citoyen recommended?

I'm weighing daily and watching the trend. It reckons me to be losing 0.8kg/month. It's not enough. Net calories are around 7700/week. MFP reckons my BMR is 10,200/week. I must have the BMR of an inert gas, I think.

It's not rocket science is it?
I'm not losing weight, so I must need to eat less and/or do more. I just don't want to, I'm doing as much as I've time & energy for, and I'm eating as little as I can bear.
No wonder I'm depressed.

[L CC]

Fboab, I totally empathise. I don't know what else I can do, I get up before 5am every day- 3 hours of exercise before work, 45 mins spin class every lunchtime and 1 hour exercise after work. Plus an audax every weekend. I eat 2000-2200 calories a day. I'm frustrated too.

How much sleep are you getting? I'm not being facetious, it's a serious question. I reckon for me the answer is 'not enough' and I think it would make a difference.

[simonp]

A high volume exerciser such as yourself will be more sensitive to errors in estimation of calorie burn. Trying to maintain a precise calorie deficit (250 kcals per day, say) in the face of an error of only 10% in calorie burn figures if you burn say 2000 calories per day becomes quite tricky, since the error bars are already nearly as large as the thing you are trying to measure.

It's also problematic when trying to estimate food intake if you didn't prepare it yourself. I try to weigh stuff I do myself, and it helps that Feline is doing MFP as well, so when I ask how much stilton she gave me, she can tell me "70 grammes". When I was at my parents' over Christmas & New Year 2009-2010, I had just started the Livestrong calorie counting and was often not cooking for myself. I had to guess how much food I was given. My sister also thinks I'm greedy and doesn't get how I can eat as much as I do. Hence small portions which I seemed to be over-estimating, constant hunger, and excessively fast weight loss.

[Lady Cavendish]

The answer for me is not enough too. Its hard isn't it- I aim to be in bed about 10 but its always 10.30, and my alarm goes off at 4.50, so about 6.5 hours.

For me its not enough, I definitely need 8 hours really, especially with all the exercise, but if I sleep longer, I can exercise less and therefore burn less calories. Who knows whats best any more.

I'm always totally knackered.