Weight Loss Discussion Thread

[LEE]

4) Stay fit and at a consistent weight to avoid ending up like my Mum who was overweight for most of her life and now in retirement can barely walk, is depressed, has alcohol issues

I think this is the main thing about fitness, that it enhances the quality of life rather than perhaps extending it greatly.

To be honest it pisses me off a bit when I see sedentary and morbidly obese people living as long as fit, "healthy" people.

I think I should expect to live at least twice as long as someone like Cyril Smith, but the sick bastard lived to 82.  164 years old doesn't seem unreasonable when you compare our lifestyles.

However I think it's all about those final 20 years and the quality you can expect.  Sure, I know some cyclists who die, mid-ride, in their 70s and 80s .  That seems unfair until you realise they were cycling in their 70s and 80s,  not tied to an oxygen cylinder in their front room.

In 50 years (or maybe today) I can see that the UK will have an enormous issue with people in their 70s and 80s who may not have been able to walk for the past 20 years of their lives, never mind cycle 200km.

The incredible rise of "Moby-Scoots", far from giving people back their mobility, are robbing them of it, from an early age.  We have a WIMPY Burger joint in town, it looks like a Mobility Scooter dealership outside.  I assume the only exercise these people get is walking from their Scooter to the counter, to order their burger-fries.

Note.  I've heard them referred to as "Obescycles".

So, from a life-expectancy point of view, I expect I'll do as well as my Mum, Dad, Grand-Mothers & Grand-Fathers on average (Actuarial Tables say that the best way to increase life-expectancy is to choose your parents carefully) and that all I can really do is to make the intervening years as good as possible, avoiding the mobility-scooter and Oxygen cylinder for as long as possible.

To that end I think I'll focus on a sensible mixed diet (all research seems to point to "eat a varied diet, in moderation"), a fair amount of cycling and a bit of swimming.

I've found it takes a disproportionate amount of exercise to lose the same weight as cutting back on the calories but this is about being lighter, slimmer AND fitter.

[davelodwig]

I'd like not to be so fat for my wedding! In fact that's my primary motivator right now.

4) Stay fit and at a consistent weight to avoid ending up like my Mum who was overweight for most of her life and now in retirement can barely walk, is depressed, has alcohol issues

I think this is the main thing about fitness, that it enhances the quality of life rather than perhaps extending it greatly.

To be honest it pisses me off a bit when I see sedentary and morbidly obese people living as long as fit, "healthy" people.

I think I should expect to live at least twice as long as someone like Cyril Smith, but the sick bastard lived to 82.  164 years old doesn't seem unreasonable when you compare our lifestyles.

However I think it's all about those final 20 years and the quality you can expect.  Sure, I know some cyclists who die, mid-ride, in their 70s and 80s .  That seems unfair until you realise they were cycling in their 70s and 80s,  not tied to an oxygen cylinder in their front room.

In 50 years (or maybe today) I can see that the UK will have an enormous issue with people in their 70s and 80s who may not have been able to walk for the past 20 years of their lives, never mind cycle 200km.

The incredible rise of "Moby-Scoots", far from giving people back their mobility, are robbing them of it, from an early age.  We have a WIMPY Burger joint in town, it looks like a Mobility Scooter dealership outside.  I assume the only exercise these people get is walking from their Scooter to the counter, to order their burger-fries.

Note.  I've heard them referred to as "Obescycles".

So, from a life-expectancy point of view, I expect I'll do as well as my Mum, Dad, Grand-Mothers & Grand-Fathers on average (Actuarial Tables say that the best way to increase life-expectancy is to choose your parents carefully) and that all I can really do is to make the intervening years as good as possible, avoiding the mobility-scooter and Oxygen cylinder for as long as possible.

To that end I think I'll focus on a sensible mixed diet (all research seems to point to "eat a varied diet, in moderation"), a fair amount of cycling and a bit of swimming.

I've found it takes a disproportionate amount of exercise to lose the same weight as cutting back on the calories but this is about being lighter, slimmer AND fitter.

I've often said when the grim reaper comes for me I'll be upright with my trainers on and the bugger will have to catch me first. I certainly don't intend to spend any of my old age slumped in a chair mindless watching tv unable to walk if I can help it.

D.

[simonp]

Life is a lottery.

On my father's side:

My grandmother died of lung cancer at 69.
My grandfather, also a smoker, lived into his early 80s.

My uncle - don't think he smoked - died of spinal cancer at 61.
My dad died of motor neurone disease at 64.

I have a remaining uncle and aunt, both in their 50s.

Here might be a reason to keep active:

bicyclelab.com/masters-athletes-keep-their-muscle-with-age/

[jhob]

That's the sad thing about my Mum, it was all so preventable if she'd managed to exercise more self-control and made different life choices when she was younger.

Come back to bite her with venom in its teeth now. 

The time she should have to relax and enjoy herself is instead spent in a chair doing very little and slowly wasting away.  It's taken my Dad (himself formerly a keen cyclist) down with her too as his retirement has turned into a new job of full-time carer for my Mum, any plans he had now washed away.

Nothing's going to change that now, the damage has been done.  It's just sad. 

What I take from it is a resolve not to let the same happen to me and to instil in my kids the importance of a healthy lifestyle and regular exercise.

[LEE]

Life is a lottery.

On my father's side:

My grandmother died of lung cancer at 69.
My grandfather, also a smoker, lived into his early 80s.

My uncle - don't think he smoked - died of spinal cancer at 61.
My dad died of motor neurone disease at 64.

I have a remaining uncle and aunt, both in their 50s.

Here might be a reason to keep active:

bicyclelab.com/masters-athletes-keep-their-muscle-with-age/

Yes it's a Lottery but it's not totally random, we don't each have just one ticket.

Risk factors are like Lottery tickets and choosing your parents unwisely is the same as buying a lot of Lottery tickets. 
Heavy smokers buy lots of tickets.
BASE Jumpers and Free-climbers buy shed loads of them (Sometimes Free-climbers inadvertently become BASE Jumpers)
With every passing year we are all allocated a lot more free tickets.

All you can do is to reduce the number of tickets you own, but we all own some.

Actuarial Tables/calculators are devoid of any sentiment and make for scary reading if your parents died young of certain diseases, you smoke and you are obese.

Edit.  Of course the human brain has been programmed over millennia to be over-optimistic on such matters.

[jhob]

Here might be a reason to keep active:

http://bicyclelab.com/masters-athletes-keep-their-muscle-with-age/

Indeed, any of us could fall down dead tomorrow.  But we might not, and if we don't wouldn't it be nice to feel fit, healthy and well?  That we can control, the genetic hand of fate we can't.

There's also this recent study, the subjects of whom were audaxers!

[hellymedic]

When it comes to the longevity lottery, I am extremely fortunate. I am not convinced that my forebears' lifestyles have made a huge difference. I am lucky, very, very lucky.

Mum is 79 next month, 69kg fit, active and probably on an aeroplane heading back to Blighty with
Dad, 84, slowing down and getting frail. He's been overweight most of his adult life, though not HYOOGE.

Dad's three sisters were all older than him and have all died; one was wiped by a drink-driver at 38 and the others died at 78 and 85.
Mum has three of her four siblings.

Mum's parents lived into their mid 90s.
Her mother was slim, smoked cigarillos but knew how to LIVE.
Her father smoked 40 per day for many years, then stopped abruptly (in his 50s I think) for a 'dare'. He was overweight in his later years but not grossly obese. He took daily walks until he was too slow and feeble.

Dad's father died at the age of 41 from some abdominal surgical problem.
Dad's mother weighed 14 stone on the big weighing scales at Woolworth's in 1964. She died in 1999 at the age of 101. She never smoked and drank little.

Dad's mother was demanding BUTTER on her Matza on the day she died; no low-cholesterol fads for her!

I am very, very lucky...

[Chris S]

Mixed news from my genetics.

GN: Most of my ancestors lived to ripe old ages (90+)
BN: They nearly all died of "dementia".

I'm hoping that was then a synonym for "a bit old and doddery", rather than full-on loony toons. 

[hellymedic]

One of Dad's sisters had vascular dementia.
Mum's father probably suffered from this too from 93+
There seems to be little dementia in my family.

[Ham]

I'm not convinced that the genetics lottery works in our favour, whether it colours our expectations for better or worse. We should see ourselves as individuals, but we are influenced by our perception of our likely chances, it's easy to see how that perception can be unhelpful, whichever side you are on.

In my case, my father and his father before him were both fat gits, who smoked all their lives. They both lived into their late 80's, they both suffered strokes that blighted their last years. Despite my determination not to have one of those if I can possibly help it, I can't help thinking that just not smoking and being active should be enough. Where I should be terrified of being overweight, there's a little voice that says "you cant escape your destiny".

[hellymedic]

It is very difficult to prevent oneself becoming fat.
It might help load the dice in your favour.
I am sure being very fat is not very healthy but you don't need a doctor to tell you this!

[L CC]

I might as well Eat All the Pies

GM: Died 78, dementia (10 year slide downhill). Stroke too, while enfeebled.
GF: Died 48, Heart Disease, non smoker, active (canoed down the Tyne aged 45)

F: High BP, statins (67)
U: High BP, statins (64)
 
GM: Died, 52, early onset alzheimers
GF: Died, 58, Heart disease (smoked till age 50?) active (planted Kielder- with some help)

M: Fit and well. (66)
A & U: Mostly well (early 60s)


To be honest I'd rather emulate the paternal Grandfather who despite leaving unfinanced wife and children just dropped down dead, than either grandmother who didn't recognise their own offspring and were dazed and confused living in homes that stank of piss for years. 

[SlowCoach]

Actuarial Tables say that the best way to increase life-expectancy is to choose your parents carefully

Last week I had an NHS check up. At the end of it I was given a risk score which indicated that I had a 1 in 8 chance of having a heart attack or stroke within the next 10 years. I exercise regurlalry, don't smoke, drink to moderation, eat a mixed varied diet and am not overweight (BMI in the 22/23 range). The only black mark was a slightly raised cholesterol level of 5.1, though the HDL was good at 1.38, so they didn't seem concerned. I asked the nurse if there was anything I could do to improve the score. Her recommendation was to either lie about my age (the main factor counting against me) or take up base jumping so as to increase the chance of an untimely death before a heart attack got me. Both answers are technically correct, but not exactly helpful. I'll have to phrase my questions in future so that I actually ask what I meant to ask.

[SlowCoach]

I'd like not to be so fat for my wedding! In fact that's my primary motivator right now.

Don't lose too much - or you'll make a rod for your own back in future. My motivation to lose weight some years ago was to be the same weight for my eldest's wedding as I was at mine. I made it - just. Since then I put about 6kg back on which I'm currently trying to lose so that I can be at my wedding weight for the birth of the first grandchild. It's going to be a close run thing as the baby is due any day, but this morning when I checked I only had 0.1kg to go. I'm hopeful that at tomorrow's official weigh in I'll be there.

[Polar Bear]

Tough week as it included my birthday which, being part of a very large family (in more ways than one!), requires much visiting, tea and cake, celebratory meals, etc.   I was optimistically hoping to not gain so to register a 0.2kg loss for the week is a big win.   

Back to the routine now saving a second weekend of birthday and belated Christmas celebration.   Still, get all the excess over early in the year.   

[jhob]

Tough week as it included my birthday which, being part of a very large family (in more ways than one!), requires much visiting, tea and cake, celebratory meals, etc.   I was optimistically hoping to not gain so to register a 0.2kg loss for the week is a big win.   

Back to the routine now saving a second weekend of birthday and belated Christmas celebration.   Still, get all the excess over early in the year.   

This week also included my birthday, hence 0.4kg up on the week.  Still need to turn the corner on post-Christmas weight increase.  Just had the last bit of birthday cake for breakfast so that's all the bad stuff in the house now eaten.  Back to healthy!

[SteveC]

100g loss is better than 100g gain I suppose

[Ham]

I am clearly a.m. not f.m.

coz I am static

[SlowCoach]

Did it!!! Today I hit my interim target of 74.0kg, which is the weight I was when I got married, some 35 years ago... I'd like to lose another kg before the summer, but I'm happy at the weight I am for the winter.

[Polar Bear]

Looking at my genetic pool it's a mixed picture and a large sample size, both sides of the family being quite numerous.

Paternal:

Without outside influences such as accidents, industrial accidents or wars, my father's side of the family tend to like well into their eighties or even nineties.   No records of telegrams.   There has been a small spattering of smoking but it seems to have had little effect and only a few have smoked.   In physique the best way to describe them is slightly larger than average.

Maternal:

These mainly fall into two categories:   Those that have debauched themselves into an early grave and those who haven't and thus have made it into their eighties.   Again, no telegrams but an awful lot more smokers and drinkers.   The early gravers start in their mid to late forties, through their fifties and into early sixties.

What is promising is that all who manage to survive into their eighties from both sides remain fairly active and sound of mind right up to the end.   There has been very little lingering death.

So, having briefly dallied with smoking at a teen and alcohol as a midlife crisis adult, I've got over the big hurdles my family have faced so just need to avoid the stupid accidents whilst out exercising or being active.  Oh... 

It is an ambition of mine to become the first in the family to receive a telegram, or will it just be a Twatacheogram by then, just as it was my honour to be the first to graduate even though I did so aged 47!   
   

[Dibdib]

Gained a bit this week, but less than I lost last week so I'll survive. Need to put some effort in over the next week.

[jhob]

I've been tracking my weight for over 2 years now, I find it helpful as it means that I can't hide from the facts and can clearly see when I'm gaining weight.

[LEE]

I asked the nurse if there was anything I could do to improve the score. Her recommendation was to either lie about my age (the main factor counting against me) or take up base jumping so as to increase the chance of an untimely death before a heart attack got me.

You need to join BUPA, they weed out the smart-arse bastards at the interview stage.

Funny though, if not very comforting.

[hellymedic]

I have gained a bit.
Plod on...

[SlowCoach]

Helli, you win some, you lose some. Last week I was up, this week I was down by over a kg (which isn't realistic - that loss was made over 2 weeks at least). At the risk of teaching my grandma how to suk eggs you know that you'll get there. You have the motivation. The problem is that you are now close to your goal and the last little bit is always the hardest. Your charts show a sustained downwards trend. If anyone knows what they are doing, you do. The thing that amazes me is that you have to do this by dieting alone. Without the chance to get some exercise, my weight would balloon.

If all else fails, you could go on the Harry Secombe diet: eat as much as you want, as often as you want of whatever you want. Just don't swallow  (It's a pity it never really worked for him)