Weight gain from food or drink???

a.man

Right I'm 29 and have been a healthy 8 stone for the last couple of years. I have been eating normally i.e light breakfast, lunch and proper dinners and treats on the wkend i.e take away once a month bacon buttys of a saturday morning! I used to drink Cider (well known brand) but didn't agree with me anymore so switched to beer (also well known brand often drank with a lime) Anyway the last 3-4 months I've noticed the weight has creapt up on me and I'm panicking now as to why...I eat the same thing every day breafast bar at 10am, 2 crispbreads with scraping of butter at 1.00 and proper dinner at 6.00. I also walk for 30mins every day...

Is it my age (turning 30 body has slowed down?) Is the drink? I'm lost because I dont know what I can do to lose it I've looked at diets online but what their advising to eat is more then what I actually eat in a day anyway! Any advice welcome

careca11

alcohol be it beer/cider is one of the worst things for putting on weight ,

a.man

Thanks. I thought that myself too but I was thinking switching from cider with all the sugar to beer would have been better..... Hmm soooo frustrating this whole body lark!

mydearwatson

a.man wrote: »

Right I'm 29 and have been a healthy 8 stone for the last couple of years. I have been eating normally i.e light breakfast, lunch and proper dinners and treats on the wkend i.e take away once a month bacon buttys of a saturday morning! I used to drink Cider (well known brand) but didn't agree with me anymore so switched to beer (also well known brand often drank with a lime) Anyway the last 3-4 months I've noticed the weight has creapt up on me and I'm panicking now as to why...I eat the same thing every day breafast bar at 10am, 2 crispbreads with scraping of butter at 1.00 and proper dinner at 6.00. I also walk for 30mins every day...

Is it my age (turning 30 body has slowed down?) Is the drink? I'm lost because I dont know what I can do to lose it I've looked at diets online but what their advising to eat is more then what I actually eat in a day anyway! Any advice welcome

Hi a.man,

To be honest I don't know how you're even functioning if you're eating like that! A complete overhaul in your diet would not only help you control your weight, but it would also do wonders for your energy levels and overall health.

A few questions for you:

• Apart from those three "meals", is there really nothing else you eat all day at all?!
• What's a "proper dinner" for you? As much detail as possible, including portion sizes!
• What do you drink all day?
• What's your diet on a typical weekend like?
• How much beer (or other alcohol) do you drink a week?
• What's your height and gender and current weight?
• Do you do any exercise apart from the 30 minute walk each day?
• What's your job and lifestyle like - are you active or sedentary most of the day?

a.man

mydearwatson wrote: »

Hi a.man,

To be honest I don't know how you're even functioning if you're eating like that! A complete overhaul in your diet would not only help you control your weight, but it would also do wonders for your energy levels and overall health.

A few questions for you:

• Apart from those three "meals", is there really nothing else you eat all day at all?! 1 apple + 2 mandarins
• What's a "proper dinner" for you? As much detail as possible, including portion sizes! 2 days a week would have 1 salmon fillet with tblsp of soy sauce, chillis, tsp honey with veg (the prepacked baby sweetcorn and sugar snap peas) other days would be chicken breast with salad and coleslaw or chicken on burger bun with trimmings
• What do you drink all day? I drink 1ltr of water
• What's your diet on a typical weekend like? well last saturday had venison steak, dollop of mash, carrots, red wine jue (other half is a wanabe chef!) and probably his mams roast on Sunday
• How much beer (or other alcohol) do you drink a week? Probably about 5 bottles ( more if on a night out) and 3 glasses of red wine
• What's your height and gender and current weight? 5ft1, female, probs about 9 and half stone (if not more I'm afraid to look)
• Do you do any exercise apart from the 30 minute walk each day? none
• What's your job and lifestyle like - are you active or sedentary most of the day? sitting at a desk but probably about 6 stair runs a day

Thanks a mill for the reply

mydearwatson

OK I'm no nutrition expert at all! But I reckon you could eat a hell of a lot more, be healthier, lose weight, and feel better if you made a few changes.

First of all, get a good breakfast into you! It really does set you up for the day, and those breakfast bars are so stodgy and sugary and not a bit filling. Maybe you're one of those people who doesn't "do" breakfasts - I used to be the same! But honestly, just make yourself do it for a week or two and you'll get into a nice little routine. Scrambled eggs, porridge, fruit and yoghurt, that sort of thing. I've a nice routine going where I get up a full half hour earlier than I have to, and relax and enjoy my breakfast out on the balcony, and potter around the apartment a bit. It's a far nice start to the day than cramming a breakfast bar into you on your way into work.

Eat a proper lunch! A couple of crackers with butter is NOT going to keep you going for the afternoon (and by the way, you say you use a "scraping" of butter. Butter is actually very healthy - rich in vitamins A, E, and K amongst other good stuff - you shouldn't be afraid of fats, they are an essential part of your diet. For my lunch, I tend to have a massive bowl of salad in the fridge (lettuce, baby spinach, cucumber, onion, peppers, tomatos, garlic etc) and I throw a bit in a lunchbox each day, and bring a tin of tuna or something. Then at lunch I mix in the tuna, with a generous dollop of olive oil, or a few chunks of cheese. Really keeps you going for the day!

People talk about this thing called "starvation mode", although I'm not sure if it's a myth or not? But basically it's where your body isn't getting enough regular calories, and so when it is fed it stores the calories rather than using them. By the sounds of it, you're basically starving yourself all day - so when you have your dinner, your body converts it all to fat rather than using it, as it doesn't know when it's going to be fed again! As I said though, I'm not sure how true this is. Either way, it's certainly not good to be eating so little for most of the day - and surely, earlier in the day is when you'd need the calories more?

Your dinners sound quite good, although I'd avoid the burger buns as much as possible! And make sure you stay away from any breaded fish or chicken. Just load up on as much veg as you want at dinner, with plenty of variety (although I wouldn't go overboard with the potatoes!) Passata (crushed tomatoes) is a great base for any dinner.

Try to gradually increase your water intake. 1 litre a day isn't bad, but personally I feel better when I drink about 2 litres. Then again it's different for everyone - 1 litre might be plenty for you!

Snack on fruit, veg, nuts, etc. Don't ever let yourself go hungry - there's plenty of healthy snacks out there. The problem is, a restrictive diet might help you lose weight, but it's not sustainable long-term. You shouldn't see any changes you make as a "diet", but rather as a "lifestyle change".

In the short-term, if you really want to lose weight, you could try cutting down the alcohol a little (however you're not drinking excessively as it is, really!) Alcohol is quite fattening though, so it might be an idea to limit it as much as possible.

Anyways those are just my own ideas, which are of course open to correction by the more knowledgeable posters here!

digme

a.man wrote: »

Right I'm 29 and have been a healthy 8 stone for the last couple of years. I have been eating normally i.e light breakfast, lunch and proper dinners and treats on the wkend i.e take away once a month bacon buttys of a saturday morning! I used to drink Cider (well known brand) but didn't agree with me anymore so switched to beer (also well known brand often drank with a lime) Anyway the last 3-4 months I've noticed the weight has creapt up on me and I'm panicking now as to why...I eat the same thing every day breafast bar at 10am, 2 crispbreads with scraping of butter at 1.00 and proper dinner at 6.00. I also walk for 30mins every day...

Is it my age (turning 30 body has slowed down?) Is the drink? I'm lost because I dont know what I can do to lose it I've looked at diets online but what their advising to eat is more then what I actually eat in a day anyway! Any advice welcome

if you eat an excess of only 100 calories a day extra be it from a banana or a biscuit over 6 months that would be equal to around 17500 calories which is around 5 pounds.

Make your portions a bit smaller or go for a walk and try get it to minus 200 calories and you will lose weight again without trying so much.All these big long overly technical replies will only wreck your head.They mean well don't get me wrong.

mydearwatson

digme wrote: »

Make your portions a bit smaller or go for a walk and try get it to minus 200 calories and you will lose weight again without trying so much.All these big long overly technical replies will only wreck your head.They mean well don't get me wrong.

Reduce her portions? So you're saying she should eat one crispbread instead of two for her lunch? :rolleyes: By the sounds of it she isn't getting nearly enough calories each day as it is! I don't thing that portion size is the issue here at all.