Losing Weight

[kano]

If you accept these two facts and moderate your lifestyle accordingly you will lose weight.

1. You are not special in any way, your body works just like everyone elses in that it burns/stores calories and if your eat less than you use you will lose weight.

2. The human body is efficient, we have survived a long time through very tough times. If it was possible to go for a brisk walk and burn off the calories in a MacDonald's humans as a species wouldn't have survived. You can ALWAYS take in more calories than your using no matter what exercise you choose, sadly you can't be a glutton and lose weight.

 

[Bozza]

As others have said, MyFitnessPal is a terrific aid in terms of keeping watch on what you put in your mouth.

There's probably not many people who really need to be told what is 'good' and what is 'bad', but it should help you moderate the things you eat and drink. It may also open your eyes on where some of the hidden calories you may be consuming are coming from.

From there, throw in a bit of exercise and you'll be all sorted.

 

[SB005]

I've tried different things, starving myself, cutting certain things out, following different diet etc, but last summer I found the best thing bar none was to join virgin active and go two or three times a week, football twice a week and just exercise is the best tactic.....

......of course I've since put it all on again, but that's not the point!!!

 

[albionite]

Cambridge diet works if you can bare the boredom of it. Lost 2st in 7 weeks when I tried it 2 years ago. You will have to hit the gym as soon as you come off it thou or risk putting your weight back on plus more.

 

[HOFNSKIN]

Give up alcohol.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

The good thing about 5-2 is that there is no special foods that you have to eat, or avoid. Apart from the two fasting days, you can pretty much eat whatever you like. However for maximum effect, a healthy diet is probably best!

Eat, Stop, Eat, by Brad Pilon, is an excellent read on the intermittent fasting, and the dieting and food industries in general.

parkrun is also a good shout. Very good motivator by seeing your times come down as you get fitter. Hove Park or Preston Park, if you're local.

 

[teaboy]

The one thing that everyone always misses in this sort of conversation is time. You cannot and will not lose 3 stone in 2 weeks by eating a bit less and moving a bit more. However, over a year you should be able to lose a fair chunk. It will also give you time to adjust your mindset and you'll see it doesn't actually take a huge amount of effort/sacrifice to STAY slimmer. You may change parts of your lifestyle for the better, but after enough time it just becomes your lifestyle, not your 'new' one.

 

[BuddyBoy]

Ditch fried foods and sugar. Get exercise and eat plenty of protein and high fibre foods. If you think a change in diet will achieve weight loss alone, you're on the wrong path. Get the heart pumping everyday. Cardio, buddy.

 

[seagully]

I found that even by riding to and from work each day (roughly 6 miles) and playing football twice a week, that despite being fitter, I couldn't shift my belly at all. I recently upped my water intake to around 3 litres per day and gave up soft drinks and this seems to have had an impact.

 

[Landgull]

Be informed

I'm a fatty, and need to lose weight.

BMI is 28, and trust me none of that is down to muscle.

I want to know your personal experiences in how you lost weight, the best techniques you've come across ect, as I generally have no idea and am a amateur in the subject. (Before a few months back, I hadn't weighed my self in over 2 years).

So yeah, I just need tips basically, cheers.

Be informed:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/06/15/obesity-dangers.aspx

 

[BuddyBoy]

I found that even by riding to and from work each day (roughly 6 miles) and playing football twice a week, that despite being fitter, I couldn't shift my belly at all. I recently upped my water intake to around 3 litres per day and gave up soft drinks and this seems to have had an impact.

Yeah sugar and booze are the belly enemies. I'm trying to shift the stomach flab and found laying off the beer and sugary snacks is working slowly.

 

[StonehamPark]

Don't take BMI too seriously. It doesn't take body shape, muscle or fat into account. It's a bog-standard guideline that you should take with a little pinch of salt.

I was 5ft 10 and weighed 87kg (13.7 st) in April.

I lost weight by setting a relatively easy target which was to finish 5k in 26 mins (I was emphatically unfit and a smoker).

I also had to follow a few rules:

1. Stop smoking (went cold turkey and haven't looked back)
2. Drink lots of water (from waking up to going to bed)
3. Don't eat after 6pm
4. Bed & sleep by 10:30pm
5. Cut out nearly all bread & sugar

I then started running/jogging 3x a week up Hills and started running http://www.parkrun.org.uk/brighton/.
Running up hills tears fat away and rapidly increases general fitness. I can't emphasize how good I think running/walking hills are.

I now weigh 79kg (12.4 st) and have smashed my target by doing the above. I'm now aiming for 21 minutes by September.
I don't starve myself but I do not overeat. I now really enjoy exercise and I'm fully focused on beating my new target and losing the last 4kg of fat over summer.

3 vitally important rules to keep you motivated:

1. Record Everything (make a calendar of your workout/run plan/weight loss)
2. Use a fitness app (I personally use Adidas MiCoach, I think it's great. Google it)
3. Weigh yourself only once per week, say first thing Monday morning.

Good luck.

 

[seagully]

Yeah sugar and booze are the belly enemies. I'm trying to shift the stomach flab and found laying off the beer and sugary snacks is working slowly.

Funnily enough I only ever used to drink Diet soft drinks. From what I've read though, they can cause water retention which was probably causing the belly!

 

[Brian Parsons]

Speak to your Doctor first, he may reccommend a diet plan that suits your build/BMI. Apart from that its simple maths really, calories in needs to be matched or bettered by calories out ( vigorous exercise ).
Wieghtwatchers online is worth a try.

 

[Dancing Sock]

Well, I've taken all into account and have decided to do the following.

1. Eat a lot less, for the next week I will be skipping two meals, and the third will be a small, healthy one.
2. Jogging twice a week, will only be able to do a bit at first due to my shoes but it's a start. I'm also playing football once a week.

Since the start of yesterday all I've had is a nutella sandwich, a small piece of cake, 3/4 coffees and obviously plenty of water.

It will take a while, was told to only go for a MAXIMUM of losing 5 pounds a week, any more than that is dangerous. Aiming to get down to 13st by the end of the month though (I'm 13 and 3/4s, not 14!), which if I just don't really eat anything which I'm doing now will be done easily.

Thanks for all the tips, those who are suggesting apps are no good as I don't have a smart phone, don't understand them!

 

[wunt be druv]

As many have advised on here,simply eat sensibly and exercise regularly.It is very hard at first but once you see the weight dropping off,it is worth every ounce of effort.I speak from my own experience,I was 3 stone overweight and got down from 15 down to 12 stone.I feel so much better,mentally and physically and now really enjoy hard physical exercise.Good luck and don't give up.

 

[CorgiRegisteredFriend]

Stay below 600 calories on two non consecutive days two days a week and eat NORMALLY for the other 5 days. It's called Intermittant fasting and it works.

My girlfriend has done this and eats 600 calories on Monday to Friday. The weekend she eats what she wants. She bought her first ever size 8 top yesterday so results are pretty good. Only problem is it takes discipline!

 

[Nibble]

I'm a fatty, and need to lose weight.

BMI is 28, and trust me none of that is down to muscle.

I want to know your personal experiences in how you lost weight, the best techniques you've come across ect, as I generally have no idea and am a amateur in the subject. (Before a few months back, I hadn't weighed my self in over 2 years).

So yeah, I just need tips basically, cheers.

Eat Less
Exercise more
Don't be a pussy

 

[Napper]

No crisps , no chocolate , no takeaways , no full fat drinks , limit bread , swap white pasta for whole meal , exercise = guaranteed weight loss

 

[StonehamPark]

Well, I've taken all into account and have decided to do the following.

1. Eat a lot less, for the next week I will be skipping two meals, and the third will be a small, healthy one.
2. Jogging twice a week, will only be able to do a bit at first due to my shoes but it's a start. I'm also playing football once a week.

Since the start of yesterday all I've had is a nutella sandwich, a small piece of cake, 3/4 coffees and obviously plenty of water.

It will take a while, was told to only go for a MAXIMUM of losing 5 pounds a week, any more than that is dangerous. Aiming to get down to 13st by the end of the month though (I'm 13 and 3/4s, not 14!), which if I just don't really eat anything which I'm doing now will be done easily.

Thanks for all the tips, those who are suggesting apps are no good as I don't have a smart phone, don't understand them!

Just a couple of important tips on the above highlighted:

Nutella, Cake & Coffee = Sugar/Fat
Caffeine raises blood sugar, which will raise insulin levels to convert the extra sugars into body fat. Include the sugars from the Nutella and cake and you're doing yourself in.
Don't starve yourself as your body will go into 'starvation/survival' mode and retain all fats from your next day/s meals, which completely defeats your objective

Maximum 5 lbs a week!?!?
There's absolutely 0% chance of that happening. 5 lbs is 2.2kg. That's roughly a 17,500 calorie DEFECIT per week. This will NEVER happen, especially when you're jogging twice a week and consuming that much sugar & coffee. Aim for a steady 1 lbs per week.

I don't mean the above to sound harsh, but you'll only feel defeated when you don't hit your targets if you don't take the above into account.
Set long term goals. Not a short term starvation 'fix' as they never last.