Diet and Weightloss

[Rds1983]

Just did my weekly weigh in. I'm 6 weeks into my diet/cut and I was bang on 90kg last Sunday.

Ive only got one weight session in all week and been sporadic on the cross trainer due to being tired from the covid jab. 

Apparently I'm now just under 87kg.

I've lost 3kg in a week. That's half a stone. No wonder I've been knackered all week. 

I'm now expecting a massive correction next week as that can't be genuine, especially this far into a diet and there must be a lot of water weight and stuff in that. 

 

[Rds1983]

Myfitnesspal says I've hit 75%of my weight loss target which is nice. Down from 14st 10lb to 13st 5lb and feels like a much better weight for me. 

[StefanAVFC]

I think I wrote about it previously, but I've had my own battles with weight, as probably @Stevo985 @villarule123 and people who have met me IRL would attain to.

Calorie counting did nothing for me. I just stopped snacking, I ate 3 meals a day with fruit as a snack and exercised 3/4 times a week and lost nearly 20kg.

Don't beat yourself up if you eat 650 when you should eat 600. It's not the end of the world.

[El Zen]

On 15/10/2021 at 10:05, StefanAVFC said:

I think I wrote about it previously, but I've had my own battles with weight, as probably @Stevo985 @villarule123 and people who have met me IRL would attain to.

Calorie counting did nothing for me. I just stopped snacking, I ate 3 meals a day with fruit as a snack and exercised 3/4 times a week and lost nearly 20kg.

Don't beat yourself up if you eat 650 when you should eat 600. It's not the end of the world.

Very true, but that is calorie counting, just without the counting. You’re doing the same thing, cutting calories, just that you didn’t need the counting bit to control it. Which is great, and preferable, if you can do it. I found the counting bit a helpful motivator and control mechanism, but for some it can make it unnecessarily complicated and stressful. 

Cutting cals is what actually matters, of course.

Edited October 19, 2021 by El Zen

[Stevo985]

14 hours ago, El Zen said:

Very true, but that is calorie counting, just without the counting. You’re doing the same thing, cutting calories, just that you didn’t need the counting bit to control it. Which is great, and preferable, if you can do it. I found the counting bit a helpful motivator and control mechanism, but for some it can make it unnecessarily complicated and stressful. 

Cutting cals is what actually matters, of course.

100% this.

All diets that lose weight boil down to calorie cutting. Fad diets are all just a way of tricking you into eating less calories. 

Like you said if you can do it like Stefan is doing where you don't have to actually count the calories then that's ideal.

 

Whatever works for you. But it all comes down to calories in vs calories out

[Risso]

I was nearly 18 stone at the start of the pandemic last year. Got down to 13 and a half which was a bit hard work, so now holding around 14-14.5 stone, which suits me I think, and I feel good on it.

[foreveryoung]

I've always been quite active and cycle which I guess is why I don't really have to worry about my weight. The Mrs too has always gone the gym and lived a pretty active lifestyle like me, until around 12 months ago. As harsh as it sounds she has now started to put on weight noticeably. But we all know lads, how hard it is to tell your partner to go back to the gym or keep a eye on it. She says she got bored with the gym and now has no time (she's a nurse), an just wants to live her life? Time for a divorce maybe

[Risso]

I could see that the choice might be taken out of your hands if she reads this thread.

[Vancvillan]

On 08/08/2021 at 00:16, Rds1983 said:

I'm now expecting a massive correction...

 

I read this too quickly and just spent 20 minutes researching your diet. 

[foreveryoung]

11 hours ago, Risso said:

I could see that the choice might be taken out of your hands if she reads this thread.

We could never let our partners read VT. She would think we are all secretly insane.

[Risso]

On 20/10/2021 at 09:04, Stevo985 said:

100% this.

All diets that lose weight boil down to calorie cutting. Fad diets are all just a way of tricking you into eating less calories. 

Like you said if you can do it like Stefan is doing where you don't have to actually count the calories then that's ideal.

 

Whatever works for you. But it all comes down to calories in vs calories out.

Not entirely sure I agree with that. Calories aren't all the same.   One calorie from carbohydrates affects your body differently to one calorie from protein or fat.

[El Zen]

2 minutes ago, Risso said:

Not entirely sure I agree with that. Calories aren't all the same.   One calorie from carbohydrates affects your body differently to one calorie from protein or fat.

That may (probably) be true, but not to the extent that you can eat as many calories you want as long as they’re from fat, and not carbs, and that you can’t lose weight on balanced diet. You can eat carbs and lose weight.

I’ve said before, I think people who think they’re losing weight from cutting carbs, are actually losing weights from cutting calories. They’re unintentionally eating less. 

[Risso]

1 hour ago, El Zen said:

That may (probably) be true, but not to the extent that you can eat as many calories you want as long as they’re from fat, and not carbs, and that you can’t lose weight on balanced diet. You can eat carbs and lose weight.

I’ve said before, I think people who think they’re losing weight from cutting carbs, are actually losing weights from cutting calories. They’re unintentionally eating less. 

That might be true to for some people, but if anything my calorie intake increased. It was certainly higher than a usual "diet" daily amount of calories. Weight dropped off like a stone though, and crucially stayed off.

[danceoftheshamen]

Ok here is my take on diet. I have quite a bit of knowledge on the subject and recently lost four & a half stone in a 12 month period at Slimming World.. but the lady at our local one was very knowledgable. I also get a lot of training about toxins and the impact of junk on the body as a Doterra wellness advisor. 

Firstly the diet.

I followed a plan which limited the amount of bread to 2 x slices of a small wholemeal loaf per day. Ideally for breakfast or Lunch.

No Sauces as they are packed with toxins & sugar. If i wanted any extra flavouring i used Worcester sauce or Soy sauce although both have salt in i believe but for weight loss great!

I ate as much fresh fruit (although only 1 x banana max per day and always before 5pm) as i wanted so used this as desert in the main. Chopped up "Fresh" pineapple is a godsend. I did not however eat "smoothies" as although 100% fruit not good for a diet as the sheer volume of calories & fructose is too high. Banana's are a bit odd i was told so be careful as they can trash your diet.

Milk was another biggy. So i only had 200ml per day of skimmed. Enough for coffees & tea's. 

Breakfast cereal another diet killer!! We need fibre of course but these are often laden with sugar so i always had weetabix or shredded wheat and only 2 x bix max with a trickle of skimmed milk & no sugar. (Zero fat youghurt or a bit of fruit instead).

As for main meals, none of these: 

Pie, Sausages (unless extremeley low fat skinny but don't believe all the packaging as often false claims), Minced beef (again unless 5% fat but i found minced pork or chicken 5% better) 

As much vegetables as i liked... including potatoes (but only a couple of roasties on my sunday lunch). I also removed butter & milk from mash.

No chips if possible (Although on the odd occasion i cheated this if we went out for a meal or something, i just had a small few and chopped them into halves which weirdly meant i barely noticed the small portion)

What i could eat:

Bacon (grilled or oven baked only) Eggs (But careful on how many as they put your cholesterol up & always poached or boiled),

So English breakfast is fine "YIPPEE!" just ditch the fried bread and grill it don't fry. If you do fry use the "One cal spray" don't bathe it in oil!!

Unfortunately if you are vegan the pre-cooked "Linda McCartney" type stuff is not good, neither is the Corn based stuff. 

I also ditched the obvious:

Crisps (really bad) Chocolate (even worse) & sweets & Ice-cream.

I did however follow the Slimming World "Syns" system. What this basically means is you can eat up to 10-15 "syns" per day. In other words each "Syn" is approx 20 calories. So if you had a pack of crisps (80 - 140 calories) this would be 4 to 7 syns. Or a very small cadbury's "animal" choclate bar would be approx 7 syns too.

Life-savers:

If i got really hungry i would keep a stash of pre-cooked chicken legs as they the protein takes the craving off.

If a sweet craving i would have a "mini twister" lolly. Not great for additives but suprisingly low in calories (about 4 syns).

Way too much info to list here for the entire list of foods of course but that worked really well for me. 

The absolute Key was forcing myself to weigh myself once a week on the same day at the same time either at home in front of the missus, or better still at the actual Slimming World meeting. This means there can be no HIDING!!!

Of course there are other clubs out there like Weight Watchers which i have never tried this was just my choice as the venue was local.

 

 

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by danceoftheshamen

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 hour ago, danceoftheshamen said:

Ok here is my take on diet. I have quite a bit of knowledge on the subject and recently lost four & a half stone in a 12 month period at Slimming World.. but the lady at our local one was very knowledgable. I also get a lot of training about toxins and the impact of junk on the body as a Doterra wellness advisor. 

Firstly the diet.

I followed a plan which limited the amount of bread to 2 x slices of a small wholemeal loaf per day. Ideally for breakfast or Lunch.

No Sauces as they are packed with toxins & sugar. If i wanted any extra flavouring i used Worcester sauce or Soy sauce although both have salt in i believe but for weight loss great!

I ate as much fresh fruit (although only 1 x banana max per day and always before 5pm) as i wanted so used this as desert in the main. Chopped up "Fresh" pineapple is a godsend. I did not however eat "smoothies" as although 100% fruit not good for a diet as the sheer volume of calories & fructose is too high. Banana's are a bit odd i was told so be careful as they can trash your diet.

Milk was another biggy. So i only had 200ml per day of skimmed. Enough for coffees & tea's. 

Breakfast cereal another diet killer!! We need fibre of course but these are often laden with sugar so i always had weetabix or shredded wheat and only 2 x bix max with a trickle of skimmed milk & no sugar. (Zero fat youghurt or a bit of fruit instead).

As for main meals, none of these: 

Pie, Sausages (unless extremeley low fat skinny but don't believe all the packaging as often false claims), Minced beef (again unless 5% fat but i found minced pork or chicken 5% better) 

As much vegetables as i liked... including potatoes (but only a couple of roasties on my sunday lunch). I also removed butter & milk from mash.

No chips if possible (Although on the odd occasion i cheated this if we went out for a meal or something, i just had a small few and chopped them into halves which weirdly meant i barely noticed the small portion)

What i could eat:

Bacon (grilled or oven baked only) Eggs (But careful on how many as they put your cholesterol up & always poached or boiled),

So English breakfast is fine "YIPPEE!" just ditch the fried bread and grill it don't fry. If you do fry use the "One cal spray" don't bathe it in oil!!

Unfortunately if you are vegan the pre-cooked "Linda McCartney" type stuff is not good, neither is the Corn based stuff. 

I also ditched the obvious:

Crisps (really bad) Chocolate (even worse) & sweets & Ice-cream.

I did however follow the Slimming World "Syns" system. What this basically means is you can eat up to 10-15 "syns" per day. In other words each "Syn" is approx 20 calories. So if you had a pack of crisps (80 - 140 calories) this would be 4 to 7 syns. Or a very small cadbury's "animal" choclate bar would be approx 7 syns too.

Life-savers:

If i got really hungry i would keep a stash of pre-cooked chicken legs as they the protein takes the craving off.

If a sweet craving i would have a "mini twister" lolly. Not great for additives but suprisingly low in calories (about 4 syns).

Way too much info to list here for the entire list of foods of course but that worked really well for me. 

The absolute Key was forcing myself to weigh myself once a week on the same day at the same time either at home in front of the missus, or better still at the actual Slimming World meeting. This means there can be no HIDING!!!

Of course there are other clubs out there like Weight Watchers which i have never tried this was just my choice as the venue was local.

 

 

 

Good on you mate. Do you think this type of diet is just a sustainable way of keeping calories low and ultimately it’s just calories in v calories out.  So if you ate what you wanted but kept the calories in a deficit you would achieve the same weight loss?

[Vive_La_Villa]

On 20/10/2021 at 09:04, Stevo985 said:

100% this.

All diets that lose weight boil down to calorie cutting. Fad diets are all just a way of tricking you into eating less calories. 

Like you said if you can do it like Stefan is doing where you don't have to actually count the calories then that's ideal.

 

Whatever works for you. But it all comes down to calories in vs calories out

I don’t think this is entirely true. Cutting carbs puts your body in to ketosis which will use body fat as fuel. So this would lead to a faster weight loss. It’s very hard to do though and not sustainable for most people so calorie counting and steady weight loss is normally the best way. 

[Stevo985]

11 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I don’t think this is entirely true. Cutting carbs puts your body in to ketosis which will use body fat as fuel. So this would lead to a faster weight loss. It’s very hard to do though and not sustainable for most people so calorie counting and steady weight loss is normally the best way. 

It might make weight loss faster but you still need to be on a calorie deficit for it to work. 
 

most fad diets convince people they don’t need to worry about calories. But they do. Whether it’s conscious or not

[tomav84]

2 hours ago, danceoftheshamen said:

Ok here is my take on diet. I have quite a bit of knowledge on the subject and recently lost four & a half stone in a 12 month period at Slimming World.. but the lady at our local one was very knowledgable. I also get a lot of training about toxins and the impact of junk on the body as a Doterra wellness advisor. 

Firstly the diet.

I followed a plan which limited the amount of bread to 2 x slices of a small wholemeal loaf per day. Ideally for breakfast or Lunch.

No Sauces as they are packed with toxins & sugar. If i wanted any extra flavouring i used Worcester sauce or Soy sauce although both have salt in i believe but for weight loss great!

I ate as much fresh fruit (although only 1 x banana max per day and always before 5pm) as i wanted so used this as desert in the main. Chopped up "Fresh" pineapple is a godsend. I did not however eat "smoothies" as although 100% fruit not good for a diet as the sheer volume of calories & fructose is too high. Banana's are a bit odd i was told so be careful as they can trash your diet.

Milk was another biggy. So i only had 200ml per day of skimmed. Enough for coffees & tea's. 

Breakfast cereal another diet killer!! We need fibre of course but these are often laden with sugar so i always had weetabix or shredded wheat and only 2 x bix max with a trickle of skimmed milk & no sugar. (Zero fat youghurt or a bit of fruit instead).

As for main meals, none of these: 

Pie, Sausages (unless extremeley low fat skinny but don't believe all the packaging as often false claims), Minced beef (again unless 5% fat but i found minced pork or chicken 5% better) 

As much vegetables as i liked... including potatoes (but only a couple of roasties on my sunday lunch). I also removed butter & milk from mash.

No chips if possible (Although on the odd occasion i cheated this if we went out for a meal or something, i just had a small few and chopped them into halves which weirdly meant i barely noticed the small portion)

What i could eat:

Bacon (grilled or oven baked only) Eggs (But careful on how many as they put your cholesterol up & always poached or boiled),

So English breakfast is fine "YIPPEE!" just ditch the fried bread and grill it don't fry. If you do fry use the "One cal spray" don't bathe it in oil!!

Unfortunately if you are vegan the pre-cooked "Linda McCartney" type stuff is not good, neither is the Corn based stuff. 

I also ditched the obvious:

Crisps (really bad) Chocolate (even worse) & sweets & Ice-cream.

I did however follow the Slimming World "Syns" system. What this basically means is you can eat up to 10-15 "syns" per day. In other words each "Syn" is approx 20 calories. So if you had a pack of crisps (80 - 140 calories) this would be 4 to 7 syns. Or a very small cadbury's "animal" choclate bar would be approx 7 syns too.

Life-savers:

If i got really hungry i would keep a stash of pre-cooked chicken legs as they the protein takes the craving off.

If a sweet craving i would have a "mini twister" lolly. Not great for additives but suprisingly low in calories (about 4 syns).

Way too much info to list here for the entire list of foods of course but that worked really well for me. 

The absolute Key was forcing myself to weigh myself once a week on the same day at the same time either at home in front of the missus, or better still at the actual Slimming World meeting. This means there can be no HIDING!!!

Of course there are other clubs out there like Weight Watchers which i have never tried this was just my choice as the venue was local.

 

 

 

good on ya mate. i tried SW for a bit, lost about 3st before i plateaued, at which point (i'm told) you then need to look at exercise & calories.

the thing i struggled with mainly was (and this was something that is part of the plan but not made clear enough IMO) - there's this big emphasis on 'free' foods and 'syns' but they dont enforce the message enough that 1/3 of each meal needs to be 'speed' foods (veg, fruit etc). so eating these skinny sausages with potatoes sounds great because it's all free, but you won't lose weight unless you incorporate the 'speed' foods. and i hate vegetables...so i really struggled. it annoyed me a bit because i was roped into SW with all this "you can eat as many potatoes and pasta as you like" then after i signed up it was like "by the way..."

i need to revisit though i think. i did lose a bit initially through it so should try it again.

[El Zen]

27 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

It might make weight loss faster but you still need to be on a calorie deficit for it to work. 
 

most fad diets convince people they don’t need to worry about calories. But they do. Whether it’s conscious or not

A pal of mine swears low carb is the right diet for him. Doesn’t watch his cal counts at all, but religiously watches carb %. Eats as much as he wants and, crucially, drinks as much as he wants as long as it’s a ‘low carb’ product. Even «low carb» beer and wine. 

Needless to say he’s not losing anywhere near what he should be losing, all because he’s lulled himself into thinking ‘low carb’ is the only thing that matters. 

If I remind him I lost 20 kgs in 80 days counting calories, he says he can’t count calories and it doesn’t work for him. Sure it does, you just don’t want to. It hurts, but it works. 

Edited November 23, 2021 by El Zen

[El Zen]

@danceoftheshamen. Could you explain about these ‘toxins’? What are they and what do they do to my body?