Not sure what I'm doing right

Handsome Bob

Hey all. I wouldn't usually post in this forum but for those of you who know me you may have seen me mentioning that I've lost 4 stone in the past 3 years or so. But I've found it really difficult to shift the last two stone or so. I mean I'd lose a stone but shit happens ya know, and I would just pile the stone back on. However I seem to be hitting a rich vain of form now, I've shifted my obligatory stone but there's something different now, I don't feel anywhere near as hungry as I once did when dieting and exercising.

I suppose some of the different things I've done this time around is that for one, I'm drinking A LOT of water. Does water help quell hunger? Another thing that I'm doing is eating 3 small meals a day with no snacks. Basically it's pretty much porridge in the morning, sandwich for lunch and just my usual dinner (typically 1 spud, plenty of veg/stir fry and chicken/beef) in the evening. Would this 3 small meals a day thing also quell hunger? Finally, I'm not eating after 6pm anymore.

As I said it seems to be working. I do feel better, I always feel good when exercising and watching what I eat but I feel even better now. Not to sound vain but I do look a bit better now, I don't look as bloated as before when looking at my reflection. :pac: I don't even do all that much in terms of exercise, just lots of walking and an intense 20 minutes with the skipping rope in the back garden. That's it like.

So yeah, basically in a nutshell, can you help me identify the things that I'm doing right? Just so I know I'm doing it right and don't lose motivation. Am I eating too little? Is that sustainable? Is it wise to not eat after 6pm?

TommyKnocker

Hi There

Firstly let me say that I am no expert and have no qualifications in either physical training or nutrition. I am simply interested in health and fitness, nutrition and physical training and have read a number of articles on these topics. And congratulations on the weight loss.

It's very hard to know if you are eating too little as you gave no information to go on, but I would suspect that you may well be, as what you outlined (depending of course on portion sizes, and you did say small meals) is not a whole lot. Also what's with the not eating after 18:00? Something else that jumps out at me about your current food intake is that is carb heavy, the only pretein you are getting is a little from the milk in the porridge (if indeed you use milk) and at dinner in the evening and your diet seems to be lacking in healthy fats.

I think the reason that you do not feel hungry may be due to the fact that by eating so little, you have lowered your metabolism. The problem with this IMHO is that it makes it harder to lose body fat.

Have a look at this site http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

First use the BMR calculator to work out you BMR :cool:

Then multiply it by the relevant activity multiplier to get your daily maintenance calorie figure. This is the number of calories you should eat each day to remain as you are. Now to drop bodyfat (weight) you should create a calorie deficit of about 350-500 calories a day, which should equate to a drop in weight of about a 1lb per week, which is hopefully mostly from body fat. You create the deficit with a mixture of diet and exercise.

I think that running too large of a calorie deficit is unsustainable and will eventually lead to "falling off the wagon" which causes weight gain and you are into the vicious cycle of yoyo dieting that a lot of folks get caught up in.

So IMHO in a nutshell the things you are doing right is exercising and the thing that I am not so sure about is your diet.

Hope that helps a little.


Best Regards,

M

Handsome Bob

I hear you, and it does make sense in regards to my situation. I'm not sure where I got the not eating after 18:00 idea, I think I may have just heard it that it's best not to eat anything after that time (I usally go to bed at 21:30 fyi).

Very true on my diet aspect, I think that has always been my main stumbling block rather than the exercise. I'm just not clued in at all in regards to the right foods to eat and I'll have to rectify that.

I'll have a look at that website now and thanks for the input.

TommyKnocker

Hi There

If you have a look at the following thread which is stickied at the top of the main page http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055963342 there is a lot of useful information there regarding sorting out a good healthy diet.

Also the "Diet & Nutrition" forum Nutrition & Diet Forum have a similar sticky which has some good information Nutrition 101 - Author g'em.

A "Diet" always seems to mean something that folks do for a period of time to reach a certain goal and then stop. This is also IMHO why a lot of folks regain the weight they lose. A better stratergy would be to make healthy changes to your eating habbits that you continue for the rest of your life, which will benefit your health and well being and coupled with some type of physical activity that you enjoy, will help with weight control.

And if you want some ideas for home workouts to mix in with your skipping have a look at this thread Home Workout thread


Best Regards,

M