Weight Loss

galwayreds73

Hi All, first post on Boards. About 4 weeks ago i decided i needed to lose weight, my diet was high in sugar so i adopted a new approach. I drank about 4 cups of coffee a day with 3 sugars in it, i was constantly snacking and ate takeaway regularly (twice a week). exercise was an hour and a half indoor football a week. despite being 2 stone over weight i'm reasonably fit. so here's my new lifestyle in a nutshell, breakfast - water (2 litres a day) and porridge with honey, snacks - apples and oranges, lunch - salad or soup and dinner gluten free pastas, potatoes veg, fish , meat, no rice and oven chips once a week. no bread, sweets, crisps or chocolate, coffees replaced by pepermint tea and i don't eat after 6pm. i play indoor for an hour and a half twice a week and play football on grass for over an hour twice a week too, i also run once a week too for approx 6km. when i started i was 13 stone 10 and am 13 stone 7 as of this morning.......3 lbs in a month GUTTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! has anyone any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong?

homemadecider

How many calories are you eating?

How many calories do you need?

If you know the above then you can make the weight come off. Read the stickies at the top of this forum.

Alf Veedersane

Well you've made a good start on the types of food you're eating. Now you just need to know how much you're eating and use an app like MyFitnessPal to calculate how many calories you're eating. You can still eat too much even if it's the right foods.

doctorwhogirl

A pound a week is a solid amount to lose and that's nearly what you're losing! I know it might seem silly but that's what's recommended. Hopefully it's 3 pounds of actual fat you've lost. Some people lose big chunks at the beginning but a lot of it can be fluid and then it could be some muscle if they're not fueling their body properly.

I would recommend investigating calories though just to give you a rough idea what you're consuming and allow you to get a sense of portions etc... as the gluten free pasta and potatoes could be giving you a big chunk of calories without you realising if you'r'e not aware of portions. A small change like minding portions could increase your losses but anything I've ever read about weight loss always recommends about 1-2 pounds a week.

Well done on the changes though, sounds like you've done some serious lifestyle changes already and are sticking to them!

Also, don't be trying not to eat after 6pm! Again, I'm no expert but anything I've read about that seems to say it's nonsense. Fuel your body properly and you'll see the results.

runawaybishop

3lbs in a month is grand - you'd be down a stone and a half after 7 months at that rate and weight loss should be steady and sustainable. You aren't doing anything wrong except not eating after 6pm, just eat when you need to. Watch your portion size and the weight will continue to drop off. Ensure you get enough protein into you, often when people diet they lose muscle mass too which isn't what you want.

Consider strength training as it aids weight loss and will improve your shape (i.e it will help you maintain or grow your muscle mass). People strength training could lose over 40% more fat than just dieting and a third more than dieting + cardio.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10487375
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9280173

Sounds like you are well on the right track, well done.

silverharp

I found it best to reduce sugar and carbs at the start. So breakfast would be egg based not cereal based and lunch , salad, avocado. Ideally you should not need any snacks during the day. So initially I'd drop the fruit but eat plenty of veg for lunch and dinner. Maybe let up a bit 1 day a week and have your porridge and fruit then.