Weight Loss Discussion Thread

[jogler]

I found smoking much easier to ditch than I find losing weight -

same here.
I found the symptons of nicotine withdrawal much easier to accept than being hungry.

[clarion]

Currently struggling with the temptation of my mid-morning chocolate.  I know it's only habit, but it's what I do.

I gave in a bit today with half a flapjack.  It'll get me to lunch

[zigzag]

Really impressive losses from both of you. I've *never* lost weight that quickly

maybe because at the lowest recommended bmi there's no fat left to lose?

[Wowbagger]

I found smoking much easier to ditch than I find losing weight -

same here.
I found the symptons of nicotine withdrawal much easier to accept than being hungry.

My smoking was a combination of being in a peer group of smokers, and stress. I didn't really start smoking until I started teaching, and at lunchtime the staff room was a fug. There was an amusing scenario frequently played out towards the end of lunch time: PE teachers, fresh from running lunch time sports sessions, would appear in the staff room about 5 minutes before afternoon school started. A Welsh lad invariably led the charge with "Bit smokey in 'ere!" whereupon he opened several windows. The senior teacher looked up from his cribbage game and responded "If you want fresh air, you go outside!".

In my second school, I think I was the only smoker and I only smoked at home. However, the stress levels were lots higher and eventually I left full-time teaching. About 9 months later I made the effort to stop smoking and it wasn't that difficult.

[L CC]

Really impressive losses from both of you. I've *never* lost weight that quickly

maybe because at the lowest recommended bmi there's no fat left to lose?

DrMekon hasn't always been the string bean he currently is...

I'm trying to view him as a success story.

[Jacomus]

The new year has started well for me - joining the gym by work (and going to it!) is feeling really good. At last I feel confident enough in my shoulder to start exercising properly again. Sadly though, I have lost so much strength and a not insignificant amount of fitness in the last six months. My weight has remained stable in absolute terms, but the composition has changed. I'm still 82kg though now I have less muscle and more fat round my tummy.

I've been so down following 2 shoulder dislocations last year, that I pretty much gave up caring about how much I was eating and what it was doing to my body. There were plenty of moments where I was in a 'fuck you, body - you let me down, now I'm letting you down' frame of mind.

I've started on the course back to being fit, strong and flat stomached, fully up for the journey. The bit I am struggling most with is the eating. I've never had a problem being hungry, it really doesn't bother me, but now I am actually 'catching' myself eating randomly (or more) when I don't need to and it is driving me up the wall.

Posting about it will likely help, so 'hi everybody!'

My goals are:

1) To get back to that irritating half-way house between 32 and 34in waist.
2) To reach 90kg whilst conforming to Goal 1

[citoyen]

Don't wish to sound smug or make those of you who are struggling feel depressed but I'm another who has got off to a good start in 2012...

At the turn of the year, I was tipping the scales at just over 75kg. Don't quite know how I've done it, but I'm down to 72.3kg at this morning's weigh-in - which means I've almost reached the target I set for the end of 2011 of 72kg, and only a couple of weeks late. Pretty pleased with that.

Aiming for 68kg now. I'm already inside the healthy BMI range but I reckon 68kg will be pretty much optimum for me - and should make cycling up hills a lot easier, which is my main goal. No intention of going any lower than 68kg though.

d.

[clarion]

Doesn't sound smug, but does sound like good news!

Reaching 'normal' range on a BMI chart seems a bit implausible for me.  I think I need to be about 82kg to do it.  Unlikely, but I'll see what I can do.

[Ham]

Anyone lost 1.6Kg this week? If they have, give me a shout, I've found it.

I may have heard that eating is going out of fashion, soon, so I'm trying to get it all in now.  There's something about feeling sorry for yourself that is particularly unhelpful, especially when combined with not being able to ride. Ho hum.

[citoyen]

Reaching 'normal' range on a BMI chart seems a bit implausible for me.  I think I need to be about 82kg to do it.  Unlikely, but I'll see what I can do.

BMI is a crude measurement anyway, not to be trusted. With the amount of exercise you do, you must be an awful lot healthier than your BMI would indicate.

I know I don't need to lose any more weight, but I'm aiming for "athletic", not just "healthy". I've been "athletic" in the past and I liked it. On the other hand, I don't want to end up like my colleague who, after a few years of strict dieting and intense exercise, got to the point where his doctor told him that his body fat level was too low!

d.

[clarion]

I'm not healthy at all - just battling off long term conditions as fiercely as I can!

[L CC]

There's something about feeling sorry for yourself that is particularly unhelpful, especially when combined with not being able to ride. Ho hum.

Very much so. It's not called comfort eating for nothing.
Try getting a teddy bear and sucking your thumb?
Cake really hasn't worked for me.

(there may be elements of unhelpful facetiousness in this post)

[Ham]

Cake really hasn't worked for me.

<<== will work for cake

[LEE]

Reaching 'normal' range on a BMI chart seems a bit implausible for me.  I think I need to be about 82kg to do it.  Unlikely, but I'll see what I can do.

BMI is a crude measurement anyway, not to be trusted. With the amount of exercise you do, you must be an awful lot healthier than your BMI would indicate.

+1

Simple BMI measurements mean nothing without a proper muscle-mass evaluation.

Lawrence Dallaglio was famously obese according to basic BMI calculations.  The fact he was basically 18 stone of muscle, when taken into account, meant he was perfectly healthy.

You will probably find that your legs add a large amount of your body mass in the form of (heavy) muscle.

 

[L CC]

Reaching 'normal' range on a BMI chart seems a bit implausible for me.  I think I need to be about 82kg to do it.  Unlikely, but I'll see what I can do.

BMI is a crude measurement anyway, not to be trusted. With the amount of exercise you do, you must be an awful lot healthier than your BMI would indicate.

+1

Simple BMI measurements mean nothing without a proper muscle-mass evaluation.

Lawrence Dallaglio was famously obese according to basic BMI calculations.  The fact he was basically 18 stone of muscle, when taken into account, meant he was perfectly healthy.

You will probably find that your legs add a large amount of your body mass in the form of (heavy) muscle.

BMI is as good an indicator as any other.
We like to tell ourselves we're big boned, or carrying a lot of muscle, or have a low metabolism but they are mostly excuses.
Clarion ain't Dallaglio, I'm not Catherine Spencer, there's lard to shift on both of us.

[Andrij]

Ham (et al.)

I just love the German word for your situation: Kummerspeck 

[clarion]

Clarion ain't Dallaglio,

How very dare you! :p

I'm not Catherine Spencer, there's lard to shift on both of us.

Ok, fair.

[hellymedic]

I am 74kg. I should be less.
I'll report my progress occasionally.

[DrMekon]

Really impressive losses from both of you. I've *never* lost weight that quickly

maybe because at the lowest recommended bmi there's no fat left to lose?

DrMekon hasn't always been the string bean he currently is...

I'm trying to view him as a success story.

Did have a BMI of 18 from about 17y - 24y old, thanks to lots of MTB and BMX


Then I did a got married and started a PhD. I also discovered you could buy beer by the crate and that Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey is like crack. BMI of ~27


I feel best below 70kg, so I aim for a BMI of 19. There is still plenty of love handle and backfat to spare even at the lower end of normal BMI, I promise. I dunno why I lose weight so slowly. Slow metabolism or something. I enjoy cycling and am enjoying getting back into running, so I don't mind that it's taking a while for me to get back to target weight.

[Notsototalnewbie]

I’ve not been good this week. Been hungry more than I could cope with. I cannot help wondering if I should award myself more calories for cycling the heavy singlespeed Dutch bike round town, even if it is at a glacial pace for not-all-that-long

I have talked my sister into coming spinning this evening on a free trial. I may have lured her with talk of how nice the changing rooms are and the fact that they have Very Fancy hairdryers and straighteners (this kind of thing Matters to my little sis moreso than dragged-thru-a-hedge-backwards me). She may not be talking to me by the end of the evening, but at least she can’t have ‘forgotten’ to ride that kind of bike…

Going to the spinning studio also means I get to have a weigh-in (I own no scales), so we’ll soon find out if I really needed the extra food I’ve been hoovering lately.

[jogler]

I like your sticksupattheback haircut Dr.Mekon 

it's amazing what you don't see thru' the viewfinder that only becomes apparent afterwards 

[Feline]

Well so far drastically reducing my wine intake has been a big success, 2.6kg down and another 5.1kg to go. I didn't manage to stay completely off it for long, but my limit is now 1 glass and not every night. I think it's not just the actual calories of the wine but the way it reduces your willpower not to raid the fridge that does it. Myfitnesspal seems to be a useful way of keeping tabs on what I eat and sometimes makes me decide against a snack I might have given in to otherwise. This regime is costing me in dog food however, I have doubled their mileage with the bike and had to increase their food to stop them getting skinny!

[Jacomus]

Well so far drastically reducing my wine intake has been a big success, 2.6kg down and another 5.1kg to go. I didn't manage to stay completely off it for long, but my limit is now 1 glass and not every night. I think it's not just the actual calories of the wine but the way it reduces your willpower not to raid the fridge that does it. Myfitnesspal seems to be a useful way of keeping tabs on what I eat and sometimes makes me decide against a snack I might have given in to otherwise. This regime is costing me in dog food however, I have doubled their mileage with the bike and had to increase their food to stop them getting skinny!

As well as calories, when your body breaks down alcomohol, it creates an enzyme that reduces your body's ability to use fat as energy.

[LEE]

Well so far drastically reducing my wine intake has been a big success, 2.6kg down and another 5.1kg to go. I didn't manage to stay completely off it for long, but my limit is now 1 glass and not every night. I think it's not just the actual calories of the wine but the way it reduces your willpower not to raid the fridge that does it. Myfitnesspal seems to be a useful way of keeping tabs on what I eat and sometimes makes me decide against a snack I might have given in to otherwise. This regime is costing me in dog food however, I have doubled their mileage with the bike and had to increase their food to stop them getting skinny!

Yes, I find there's a vicious "Now Eat Cheese" & "Now Drink Wine" cycle that starts when drinking wine or eating cheese.

[jimbhoy]

I found smoking much easier to ditch than I find losing weight - which why I'm an 18 stone ex-smoker.

I've lost 5kg since 1/1/12 - exactly 115kg this morning. I think it goes to show exactly how much I was stuffing my face in the run up to the new year: I was tending to match Woolly portion for portion while they were here, and boy can that guy eat! Add to that the surfeit of Jarlsberg - that is such a lovely cheese! At times I was actually making an effort to eat when I was already full.

I reckon a kg or possibly two of that weight loss is the fact that I'm running with a half-full tank all the time.

Now for the hard bit...

Totally agree. When i was a smoker i weighed 12st 8lb, 2 years after quitting i weighed 15st 1lb, i replaced the fags with empire biscuits and other sweet savouries. I don't mind going without the fags, but going without biscuits and crisps is what really hurts.