Stuck at 15 stone

Markjf

I was wondering if you could give me some advice, I will turn the big 40 in a year and a half and about two months ago I decided it was about time I lost a bit of the fat.
I am 6ft2 large build and was about 16 stone 5 pounds I started to watch what I ate and also got out for power walks for an hour a day and so far so good I am down to 15 stone the problem is I seem to be stuck there, I would like to maybe reach 14 stone as I still have a bit of a belly and would love to be shot of it for the summer holidays.

Just to point out I was never a fitness kind of guy so this is not coming easy to me but it has to be done as I don’t want to be going into the later years of my life with health problems that could have been avoided.

A little about my lifestyle, I don’t smoke and drink very little maybe a pint or two a month.
Average day for me food wise,

Breakfast: fruit and fibre and the new Knorr Vie fruit and veg shots
Lunch: brown bread salad sandwich with tea {no sugar}
Dinner: here I eat mostly what the family eat, spaghetti, curry, stir-fry and once a week chops chips and veg. I have got them eating whole-wheat spaghetti and rice.

So if any of you could give me any pointers I would be very grateful.
Mark.

Ger the man

Plenty of walking will work wonders, you could invest in a good quality bicycle too, this will tighten muscles and is a great man for burning body fat.

kmick

Jeez theres not much left to trim off your diet anyway. Do you eat very large portions? I would recomend swimming for toning and pilates to help you get core strength for a big belly.

BaZmO*

kmick wrote: »

Do you eat very large portions?

I was just going to say the same. Have a look at how much you actually eat, portion wise, at each meal and take it from there. I'm guessing that you get "Daddy Size" portions compared to everybody else?

rubadub

BaZmO* wrote: »

I'm guessing that you get "Daddy Size" portions compared to everybody else?

Yep, very common. At 40 you should be eating far less than a 14 year old boy, you simply don't need all that energy, while they do. In most households though the young lad gets a small dinner, then the mother wonders why he eats so much junk. His body is crying out for energy, and he is not going to spend his pocket money on brocolli and chicken.

Advice would be to lift heavy weights, check out www.exrx.net

Markjf

Thanks for the input guys,

My portions a year or two ago would have feed a small family but I have cut way down on the amount I eat and over the last few months I have cut back even more, I do most of the cooking so it’s quite easy to monitor what is put on the plates.

My biggest love is chocolate and I have taken the painful but appropriate action of cutting it out nearly all together.

I was thinking of getting a bike so I will look into that as for swimming I am ashamed to say I can’t swim so maybe to learn is something I should put on my to do list.

Thanks Mark.

crotalus667

You either need to drop cals from your diet or burn more cal's during the day
more cals out than in = weight loss

Markjf wrote: »

Breakfast: fruit and fibre and the new Knorr Vie fruit and veg shots

Id drop the veg shot , thoes things normaly have all the cals with none of the fibre, oats is a much better choice than f&f (propper oats not ready brek type stuff) wack it in a bowl with some water or milk and zap it for a min and a half try to get some protien in the morning aswell

Lunch: brown bread salad sandwich with tea {no sugar}

say bye bye to the bread and try using lettuce leaves instead , avoid processed meats in the salad , I like to pre cook chicken so I always have a handy protein source, if you can stick it drop the milk from your tea (all those cals add up threw out the day )

Dinner: here I eat mostly what the family eat, spaghetti, curry, stir-fry . I have got them eating whole-wheat spaghetti and rice.

Ok here is where you need to be care full your cals should be tapering off during the day , in particular the carbs should be very low (you can always save this meal and have it for breakfast or lunch) another thing to look out for is the amount of sauce (ie you don’t always need a whole jar) and the sugar content of the sauce a lot of these jarred sauces are piled high with which in turn will spike your insulin and cause you to store fat

But the really big thing has all ready been mentioned Portion sizes watch them !!! (also read the stickies )

and once a week chops chips and veg

once a week is fine just watch the serving size

crotalus667

Markjf wrote: »

Thanks for the input guys,
My biggest love is chocolate and I have taken the painful but appropriate action of cutting it out nearly all together.
.

the 70+% is not too bad for a once a weak treat

aye

If you are still doing the same walk workout you started with your body will have adapted to it. you need to increase the intensity.
as said buying a bike to cycle, or jog instead of walking, or walking up a hill instead of on a flat surface.
and as also mentioned a weight training program will help.

learning to swim would be great, not just for the fitness but for yourself too.

I have heard those veg shots contain lots of sugar.
do you drink milk during the day? if not i would keep the milk in the tea as you need calcium.
while cutting out bread isnt a bad idea, would you stick to it?

are you a member of a gym?

xanthe

Markjf wrote: »

My biggest love is chocolate and I have taken the painful but appropriate action of cutting it out nearly all together.

use to enjoy chocolate too, but found by drinking hot chocolate with half water/ milk, then reducing it gradually to just drinking it with hot water, it satisfied the craving for chocolate. Less calories too. No sugar of course.

kmick

Instead of drinking those shots squeeze a couple of Oranges. There is a lot of evidence to suggest those pasteurised drinks have no nutritional value as the enzymes the natural fruit contains are deactivated by the heat treatment. Also a squeezed oranges enzymes will naturally degrade to the same point within half an hour. Its not proven but it makes sense.

crotalus667

kmick wrote: »

Instead of drinking those shots squeeze a couple of Oranges. .

again juice = cals with out the fibre and oranges give an insulin spike

Markjf

A lot of info there guys thanks,

I was thinking that the knorr shots were too good to be true so I think I will knock them on the head maybe replace them with fresh fruit?

I will also look into the oats as I find that the fruit and fibre does leave me hungry and that’s not a good start to the day. As for cutting out the brown bread I don’t know if I could work for an afternoon on just lettuce leaves but maybe I could meet somewhere in the middle with an alternative?

The only milk I take is in my tea and on my cereal in the morning, I use low fat and I don’t drink many cups a day maybe 2 to 3.

I am not a member of a gym but I am in the process of changing my job and the new company has a gym I will hopefully be able to use.

As I said in my first post I hope to be able to get down to 14 stone and feel healthy as I have a wife and kids so trying to impress the ladies other than the wife could be hazardous for my health:D

Hanley

Markjf wrote: »

.

As I said in my first post I hope to be able to get down to 14 stone and feel healthy as I have a wife and kids so trying to impress the ladies other than the wife could be hazardous for my health:D

A great example of how weight loss isn't always healthy!!

crotalus667

Markjf wrote: »

maybe replace them with fresh fruit?

that’s ok just avoid the higher gi fruit , I cant recall if it's pink or white but one of the grapefruits is beneficial in losing weight

As for cutting out the brown bread I don’t know if I could work for an afternoon on just lettuce leaves but maybe I could meet somewhere in the middle with an alternative?

Not really if you are going to keep eating the brown bread make sure it's wholegrain check the label on the back the no1 ingredient should be wholegrain flower

The only milk I take is in my tea and on my cereal in the morning, I use low fat and I don’t drink many cups a day maybe 2 to 3.

say you drink 200 cals in milk a day (I cant recall how many cals are in milk) thats 1400 per week thats 5600 per month 3500 cals = 1lbs of body fat it all ads up u said you where stuck at 15 stone so every little helps

BossArky

OP, try to increase your activity levels.

• Instead of driving 1 or 2 miles, walk it.
  
• Taking up swimming is a good idea. Newbie swimmers are alot more inefficent than "proper" swimmers, so you will get greater benefit from 1 hour splashing around up and down the pool than someone who is more streamlined and efficient. It is kinda odd, but the better a swimmer you are, the less benefit you get more it as your stroke evolves and you use less energy.
  
• Lift heavy stuff.
  
• Skip carbs such as rice, pasta, spuds. Just eat the stir-fry without the rice etc. This means you can fit more chicken (good protein, build muscle, speed up metabolisn, burn fat quicker) and veg. Sounds odd but will work wonders if you are looking to loose weight.
  
• Drink gallons of water to flush salt and sodium out of your body, which help store excess water. Don't just sip from a timble sized paper cup. Have a litre bottle and drain it every 2 hours. This water will help you feel a bit fuller and you won't eat as much.
  
• Snack on almonds continually throughout the day... like 5 an hour. They will keep your hunger at bay and stop cravings for chocolate. They will also give you good fats and protein. Good fats help you loose bad fats and eat bad fats like this :pac: :pac: :pac:

Good luck!