weight problem

LegacyUser

I am a strongly built guy 35 years old, 5'10" and weigh 19 stone. My diet is healthy home cooked food and my appetite is less than average. I would like to lose weight but myself and my partner can not work out why im overweight in the 1st place, my ideal weight is 15stone so im 4 stone off that. I dont eat too much. I am not in denial. I dont eat more than average cakes or sweets. I eat fresh vegetables, chicken and fish prepared in healthy enough ways. when i tell doctors or any other people I get the impression they think im lieing. My partner who eats with me and more than me is normal weight. any ideas or help appreciated.

bragan

sometimes its not what you eat, but how much you eat. Do you do any excerise?
I would but a post in fitness. There good with nutrition there, and could give you some better advice. They will also ask you to post what you eat on a typical day, so we can see what you eat.

If you are eating healthly, and getting excerise, then maybe its a medical problem. Some problems with glucoses levels etc can cause weight problems. If the doctor doesn't believe you, I would keep a log of everything you eat for a few weeks and bring that with you, and the doctor will be able to judge from that whether itf related to food, or if it could be something else.

justsomebloke

ye post up an actual day's diet (what do you eat and when) with no lies, also you might not be over eating at the moment but you could of added the weight a while back and the decent eating now is just helping you not to add any more weight.
Also as stated what is your current exercise regime as although diet is the key to losing weight exercise will play an important part in gettign you healthy

dame

Thyroid problems could make you heavy. Could it be possible that you sleep walk and eat in the middle of the night? :rolleyes:

You don't mention exercise anywhere there. You need to start going for a walk every day as a start and try and build it from there. The metabolism slows down in your thirties so exercise is needed more than ever to maintain healthy weight.

Also, you say you eat normal enough amounts of sweet stuff. Could it be that you don't know what portion sizes are too big? Try cutting out the sweet stuff completely for even a week and see if you lose a lb or two.

You say your food is prepared in healthy enough ways but do you then smother it in sauces? Even tomato ketchup contains high levels of sugar and salt.

Do you eat a lot of salt? Salt can cause you to hold water. Stop adding it to food and cut down on the foods that have "hidden" salt. Pepper or spices can be used instead.

Do your bowels move regularly (at least once a day)? Eat lots of fibre. The longer you have waste products lurking, the more toxins you'll absorb from them and the heavier and more unhealthy you'll be.

Finally, 4 stone is a lot of weight to lose so don't be expecting it to fall off in a week or two. It'll probably take you a good few months and then you'll have to maintain your new weight so the healthy eating combined with portion control and exercise will have to continue forever.

Do post a typical daily diet for advice. Include the actual portion sizes and actual cooking methods, etc.

Mighty_Mouse

I guarantee you are taking in more calories than your body needs. ie over-eating.

Plus you're well over-weight. You need to keep a food diary for one-week. Completely honest assessment on what exactly you are eating and either, post it in fitness forum, take it to a nuitritionist, or GP.

Also everybody needs excercise.

seamus

The language you use in your post says to me that, "I think I know what it is to eat properly, but I'm not entirely sure. I *seem* to be doing what the TV says I should". (No offense intended).

As jsb says, post up an honest day's eating (no point in lying to us ), and try and include sizes of meals if you can. Beliee or not, most people tend to eat the right foods. It's the volumes that are the killers.

Have you ever considered going to a nutritionist?

Steyr

Start exercising, i used to be 18stone but am now down to 12stone via Swimming 5 days a week for 45mins and only eating when hungry and never eating after 8pm as thats when your bodys metabolism is slow at night so you wont really help yourself by eating at night as the food you eat wont digest fully it will turn to fat, and if you feel hungry after 8pm just drink water instead as it will fill you up.

Hope this helps.

Jumpy

15 stone is not your ideal weight for 5' 10

Its lower.

I am willing to bet you dont exercise. You can eat as healthily as you like, but with no exercise, what you dont use is converted to fat.
Also be aware that sugar and fats together make for a bad combination, and I am not just referring to the 'sweet' sugar here, I am talking about the simple carbs in white bread and white rice.

Jumpy

There is a very good fitness forum on here, and through following their advice I lost 2 stone and gained a significant muscle mass.
I would recommend posting in there. Remember to read the stickies though.

Blazer

Ideal weight for a 5'10" man is around 11st 5lbs.
I was about 15st (height as above), brought it back down to 12st 10lbs (and falling) by cutting out milk (used to drink pints of the stuff daily), fries for breakfast, white bread, red meat etc. I had gone to a dietician who I found to be absolutely brilliant and after a quick blood test recommended a variety of food for me to eat.
As well as going to the gym 4-5 times weekly I never ate after 8 o'clock and like the op suggested had water if I was peckish which to my surprise I never was.
Apples, Yeast free bread, porridge and brazil nuts are all good to eat especially the porridge as it keeps you going for a lot longer. I started eating chicken/fish with veg and rice instead of potatoes.
Within 5 weeks of this I was down over 32lbs which was pretty good going.
Of course over christmas I pigged out (put up about 6lbs) but I have about 5 months to slowly take it off again at my own pace.

LegacyUser

'thks for the replaies so far. to answer some questions...

@ jumpy i dont excercise but i have a very active job.

@ mathew 15 stone is good for me as im very strongly built. I do drink 1.5 litres of low fat milk a day but as i dont eat so much that is offset.

@ seamus u are right i think i eat healty. here is a breakdown of what i ate yesterday a typical day with nothing omitted.

- 1/2 small bowl of frosties with a dash of milk.
- 2 glasses of milk ~400ml total.
- 1 slice of toast with thin layer of butter.
- A cup of white coffee.
- A cup of white coffee.
- A free range chicken breast, 2 small boiled potatoes, small bit of salad.
- Glass of fresh orange juice.
- 2 Glass of milk ~400ml total.
- 1 capuchino.
- A packet of skips.
- 2 slices of white bread toatasted with a thin layer of butter and cheddar cheese.
- 2 glasses of milk.

@ mouse I did keep a food diary for 2 weeks and the above is typical.
@ dame i got the thyroid checked out and its ok. I dont add salt to anything for blood pressure reasons. my bowls are grand ;O)
@ jsb yes ive had trips abroad with restuarant meals daily but that is 10 years ago...

I think maybe a dietician would be a good move but for a long time now ive been reluctant as I just dont understand whats wrong. I love low fat milk alright but coupled with what i eat i dont think my intake is that bad !'

bragan

From just taking a quick look at that, alot of the food you eat is quite high in sugar. 3 slices of white bread, and and a bowl of frosties. Try switching the white bread for wholemeal, and change the frosties to something like porraige, weetabix, etc.
If you eat more sugar than your body needs this will also be converted to fat. Eating a diet low in fat but high sugar will be of no benefit. You need to get a healthly balance.
Try getting most of your carbohydrates from fruit and veg, and from "good" starchy foods like brown rice, and potatoes. (although too many potatoes aren't great either).

Another thing, It doesn't really seem like your eating much overall. Try having 5-6 small meals every day. It seems like you have one big meal and then bread for the rest of the day. Try getting some other food into your day.

Hope this helps.

Jumpy

jmh wrote:

'thks for the replaies so far. to answer some questions...

@ jumpy i dont excercise but i have a very active job.

@ mathew 15 stone is good for me as im very strongly built. I do drink 1.5 litres of low fat milk a day but as i dont eat so much that is offset.

@ seamus u are right i think i eat healty. here is a breakdown of what i ate yesterday a typical day with nothing omitted.

- 1/2 small bowl of frosties with a dash of milk.
- 2 glasses of milk ~400ml total.
- 1 slice of toast with thin layer of butter.
- A cup of white coffee.
- A cup of white coffee.
- A free range chicken breast, 2 small boiled potatoes, small bit of salad.
- Glass of fresh orange juice.
- 2 Glass of milk ~400ml total.
- 1 capuchino.
- A packet of skips.
- 2 slices of white bread toatasted with a thin layer of butter and cheddar cheese.
- 2 glasses of milk.

@ mouse I did keep a food diary for 2 weeks and the above is typical.
@ dame i got the thyroid checked out and its ok. I dont add salt to anything for blood pressure reasons. my bowls are grand ;O)
@ jsb yes ive had trips abroad with restuarant meals daily but that is 10 years ago...

I think maybe a dietician would be a good move but for a long time now ive been reluctant as I just dont understand whats wrong. I love low fat milk alright but coupled with what i eat i dont think my intake is that bad !'

Ok, personally I would no longer go with the 'I am strongly built' thing.
That was my excuse for ages as well. "Sure this weight isnt bad, I am a big strong guy" It turned out I was simply fat. I looked like I had muscles with a layer of fat, but no. I was just fat.
After the weight fell off, it proved a lot of things.

As bragan said. Your diet is far too sugary, remember that sugar carbs are not the best for you, you need to go for foods that have a very low (or nil) reading on packets for sugar carbs, look for; "Carbohydrates - Of which sugars" on a packet of food.

If you have sugar and fat together and dont work it off, then it will simply store it.
You should read the stickies on the Fitness forum. It tells you stuff you need to know, it can be a bit head-wrecking trying to understand it, but if there is anything you need to ask just post it.


The two thing I would DEFINITELY cut out of that diet are the frosties and the cheese toasties. Especially if they are late at night.

eurotrotter

try this website: www.normalbreathing.com

milod

OP, the equation is simple - you must use up more calories than you take in if you want to lose weight. You'll hear a lot of bullsh1t 'science' about eating late in the evening, 'slow' metabolism, etc etc but these factors don't have an enormous effect on the basic principle. Portion size is the one factor that has a huge bearing and your perception of what a 'small potato' is can change depeding on how hungry you feel!

Metabolic rate varies only by a fraction of a percent in - that has been scientifically proven, but people mix it up with physical activity, e.g. some people are constantly active with nervous energy, whereas some like a nice sit down for hours on end.

You can theorise and convince yourself that your diet is healthy, but the fact that you are overweight means that you take in more calories than you use up - you just need to tip the balance by introducing more exercise and taking in less calories. You can also change the way the calories go in, by reducing simple carbohydrates (sugar is the enemy as pointed out by previous posters). Even the lactose (dairy sugar) in the amount of milk you drink is going to have an effect - you don't need that much dairy and radically reducing it would have great health benefits, especially if your diet already contains cheese.

If you take in enough sugar, your body will use that as an energy source and deposit the dietary fat on your body. I'd recommend you adopt the principles of the GI diet - it's basic common sense and it works.

Mighty_Mouse

That has to be the highest intake of milk ive ever seen!!

Plus orange juice, skips, frosties, cheese, white bread...........

While the amount of food you eat isn't too bad the diet itself is pretty poor,

Substitute out the above and replace with musli/porridge, fresh fruit, low fat yogurts......

justsomebloke

jmh wrote:

- 1/2 small bowl of frosties with a dash of milk.
- 2 glasses of milk ~400ml total.
- 1 slice of toast with thin layer of butter.
- A cup of white coffee.
- A cup of white coffee.
- A free range chicken breast, 2 small boiled potatoes, small bit of salad.
- Glass of fresh orange juice.
- 2 Glass of milk ~400ml total.
- 1 capuchino.
- A packet of skips.
- 2 slices of white bread toatasted with a thin layer of butter and cheddar cheese.
- 2 glasses of milk.

hmmm, bar the actual meal part of your diet I wouldn't generally try include anything else that you are eating into a healty eating plan.
Frosties as already stated is just full of sugar as is orange juice and seriously anybody who says that they really are trying to lose weight and includes a packet of crips (and yes even low calorie crips) is just kidding them selves. Also any variety of white bread isn't good for you. I would also get rid of nearly all of the milk in your diet and instead drink plenty of water (approx 2-3 ltr a day) instead. As you don't do much exercise I would say that you probably should only have a small amount of carbs in your diet and increase in your protein levels which are quite low

a decent sample diet could look like this

7: porridge made with water with a spinkle of seeds and 2 boilld eggs

9:30 small amount of nuts and seeds and a piece of fruit

12.00. chicken or lean beef stirfry with small amoutn of brown rice

3.00 . chicken or lean beef salad

5.00 small amount of nuts and piece of fruit

7.30 fish/chicken/lean beef with steamed veg.

9.30 small amount of cottage cheese

all day. plently of water

If you eat smaller meals but eat more often you will help keep your metabolism high and thus help increase fat loss. You can also use www.fitday.com to help monitor your daily intake and your macro nutrional breakdown and it will help spot some of the problem areas for you

D-Generate

Precision Nutrition by John Berardi.

The best sports nutritionalist there pretty much is. Unreal book that will help you achieve your goals no matter what they are. I'm quite in to sports and fitness and found this book to be pretty much the bible on nutrition. Its a bit pricey but cheaper than hiring a dietician i suppose.
Has loads of recipies and all that for tasty meals.

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/