Weight Loss Discussion Thread

[Wobbly John]

I lost over 1kg this week (total lost = 8kg), which was pleasing.  Perhaps I should do an FNRttC every week

Well done Clarion! You now weigh less than I do. 

Time for me to start cycling a bit more. 

[Wowbagger]

I just sent an email to my younger daughter which included the brief paragraph:

This week I celebrated losing 10kg since the start of the year. I had an apple.

[Gus]

A day late updating my weight, but I'm down 2 kilos since last week, I feel I've lost to much to fast these last weeks.
I haven't been much on my bikes but my running shoes gets plenty of use at the moment.
I'm still around 27 kilo from my primary target. 

[clarion]

Blimey, Gus, you're losing it really fast!

[Andrij]

I've decided to give MyFitnessPal a try.  I've never counted calories before, so this could be interesting...

So what do I do for lunch today?  Gave in to temptation and dig in to the leftovers from one of today's meetings (canapes and other assorted finger foods).  How am I supposed to record that?  Oh well, lesson learned.  As things stand, don't think I ate more than I did for lunch yesterday, and if I carry on as yesterday I should have a few hundred left-over calories.  In the long run, guess this should keep me from munching on meeting leftovers.

[clarion]

Most stuff will be on the database, though you might have to root around a bit.  Just list it and see where it ends up.

[simonp]

I've decided to give MyFitnessPal a try.  I've never counted calories before, so this could be interesting...

So what do I do for lunch today?  Gave in to temptation and dig in to the leftovers from one of today's meetings (canapes and other assorted finger foods).  How am I supposed to record that?  Oh well, lesson learned.  As things stand, don't think I ate more than I did for lunch yesterday, and if I carry on as yesterday I should have a few hundred left-over calories.  In the long run, guess this should keep me from munching on meeting leftovers.

For most things, I usually try to find something which is a rough match in the database. For instance, there's a carrot cake slice that the local cafe I go to sells. I put in that I had a pret a manger slice of carrot cake.

[Andrij]

*heads off to search for "single prawn, cherry tomato, button mushroom and olive on a skewer"*  (skewer not consumed)   

I'll think up of something roughly equivalent to the various bits I scoffed.  I realise it's not an exact science.  Maybe this will make me think a bit more about what I eat, not just how much.

[L CC]

Indeed. Our TheSloth flapjacks are 'm&s flapjack bites'.

(But infinitely more tasty).

I've been quite impressed how wide the range of stuff on their database there is. I cook most of our meals & cakes from scratch, and CBA to work out recipes, so I always pick the most calorific option from the database, just in case. I can afford to eat a bit less, after all.

[hellymedic]

*heads off to search for "single prawn, cherry tomato, button mushroom and olive on a skewer"*  (skewer not consumed)   

I think up of something roughly equivalent to the various bits I scoffed.  I realise it's not an exact science.  Maybe this will make me think a bit more about what I eat, not just how much.

There are very few calories in undressed cherry tomatoes. It's hardly worth counting.
Naked prawns are also quite low but attract fatty dressings, which can be rather calorie dense.
There's also little in a raw button mushroom but if it contains its own weight in garlic butter... (think 8g fat ~ 70kcal)
Olives are fatty and vary in size...

You can't go wrong with crudités...
... so long as you avoid the dips!

[citoyen]

I often grab a couple of cherry tomatoes and pop them in my mouth like sweets while I'm getting something else out of the fridge. I never bother to count the calories in them.

Likewise, when I'm making a cheese sandwich, I don't bother counting the lettuce or cucumber, of which I always have plenty.

Dressings are indeed another matter - they can be surprisingly high in calories, even the supposedly "light" versions.

d.

[hellymedic]

Many 'low-fat' dressings are high-sugar. You have been warned!

[simonp]

They also seem to be full of strange stuff that isn't in the normal 'unhealthy' full fat one.

[hellymedic]

Various thickeners seem fair enough.
David objects to the titanium dioxide in Thousand Island dressing...

[Chris S]

David objects to the titanium dioxide in Thousand Island dressing...

Why? It'll make his teeth look whiter. Well... everything really, not just teeth.

[clarion]

It's all about the mouth-feel.  A phrase which, in itself, makes me want to hurl.

[hellymedic]

David objects to the titanium dioxide in Thousand Island dressing...

Why? It'll make his teeth look whiter. Well... everything really, not just teeth.

Titanium is hardly a natural part of the diet, is it?

[DrMekon]

Just got an HRM. Very surprised to find the calorie estimates it gives are really close to MFP.

eg MFP said 2780 for 240min of 14-16mph. Hrm said 2673 (101km at 25.2kph). This morning, MFP says 1054 for 91mins of 14-16kph. HRM says 891 for 37.6km at 24.8kph. Given I live in an unnaturally flat part of the country, I'd say that's pretty good. FWIW, I'm riding fixed with 4kg of luggage on a fairly upright tricross with 37mm tyres. Obviously if you are on a Venge in Norfolk or a bakfiets in the Peaks, the MFP estimate is going to be much worse.

Still waiting to get my actiheart monitor data back from the epidemiologists I work with. When I get that, then I'll have a better idea of how far out MFP is for me.

[Wowbagger]

I thought your part of the world was naturally flat.

[CrinklyLion]

I went to my mum's to deliver an early bunch of M's day tulips, which meant that I did my usual if infrequent weighing myself since she, unlike me, owns a set of scales.

Looks like I've dropped another half a stone in the last month-ish, and am back below my Dun Run weight for the first time since, well, the Dun Run.  In 2010.  Still another stone and a half over my 'fat but fit' weight from pre-PGCE, when I could actually (just) buy ordinary girl trousers in ordinary girl shops rather than in 'just-for-biffas' shops/ranges, and a generous 4 and a half stone into the obese category, of course.

[simonp]

Just back from our longest tandem ride yet. Just weighed in when we got in - 68.7kg.

Might be a tad dehydrated.

[Andrij]

I've decided to skip recording in MFP this weekend - just too much hassle.  TBH, don't need confirmation I burned a lot o calories on today's ride.

I've been exercising great restraint at my mate's place this evening. If I didn't I doubt there'd be anything left for his other guests to eat.  OTOH, I am 'rehydrating' with a lovely red wine - there are quite a few bottles here. Well, there were...

[Wowbagger]

Down 0.4kg on last Sunday's figure. I'm quite pleased with that as on Friday we went to see our daughter where a reasonably large lunch, a dinner of fish & chips and a pint of beer, and absolutely no cycling were involved. Yesterday I did just over 40 miles at a reasonable speed for me, so presumably that helped, although there was a very nice Eccles-type cake on the ride and I had a beer to celebrate Wales' achievement on the rugby pitch yesterday evening.

Back to austerity today!

[Auntie Helen]

My fingernails seem to be getting rather splitty and weak - is that a side-effect of dieting? I'm still getting loadsa calcium, but perhaps it's not that.

[Chris S]

My fingernails seem to be getting rather splitty and weak - is that a side-effect of dieting? I'm still getting loadsa calcium, but perhaps it's not that.

The air has been very dry for quite some time now. Could it be that?