Sick of being fat

ILikeBoats wrote: »

Going the wrong way!

it's been a tough few months! don't be hard on yourself

rolling boh wrote: »

You are still down from early jan that 's the main thing

huge comment!

one or two week blips are to be expected but an overall downward trend is the main thing

Glad I came across this thread. Finding it very hard to get going with my weight loss. Completely lacking willpower at the minute but this thread will hopefully help!

I wasn't fat I don't think but definitely had weight to lose.

I started on my fitness pal on 28th December and am currently down 5kg, with another 3kg to go to my initial target weight! Slow and steady wins the race... as unexciting and frustrating as that can be, it's the truth for sure.

Welcome!

you can post however you like, there are no rules! people who do post regularly usually find it keeps them motivated

looks into eating a calorie deficit, it's the only way to actually lose weight, you cannot out run a bad diet

but immediately look at "treats" and cut back on empty calories - don't deny yourself all treats and go living like a monk that won't be sustainable, but do recognise that you'll need to halt your intake somewhere.

excercise is great, but bad diet is the worst thing.

SouthWesterly wrote: »

I cut down the bread and portion sizes.

Instead of bread and snacks during the day its rye breads.
I get in a walk every day of at least 30 minutes. Hit the 1 stone milestone this weekend. 2 more to go.

Well done! Bread is lethal I find... I’m going to try to limit it to once or twice a week. I find it hard to stop when I start.

Instead of a sandwich/wrap I bring a flask of protein shake to work.Porridge oats,protein powder, strawberries, peanut butter, banana and water.I make it the night before and keep in the fridge. Better alternative than bread.

You will find a fair few posts on here about weight loss from my own experience of dropping and keeping it off was fairly basic stuff like changing over to better food choices across the board .It does take discipline but you see results and combine that with an activity that you enjoy you will lose the lbs .Everybody knows the better foods to be eating and you will find lots that you enjoy just get into the habit .Posting your progress on here may well act to keep you motivated but whatever you do just keep at it and it will come good in a short time good luck .

Springfields wrote: »

Do yourself a favour and look up Intuitive Eating. Diets dont work. (Theres a ton of research and studies with stats if you want proof).

There is and there isn't. Unsustainable diets don't work. Temporary changes to your eating habits to reach a goal weight, followed by a quick or even gradual resumption of your old eating habits will lead to regaining the weight. But when people make real, healthy, sustainable changes to their diet and lifestyles, there is no evidence whatsoever that this doesn't work. In fact there is plenty of evidence that it can and does for significant amounts of people. Just look at the the long term research conducted by the American National Weight Control Registry, for example.

As for Intuitive Eating, well it depends on what you mean by that. I eat intuitively. I lost weight by eating intuitively and I maintain my weight by eating intuitively. But to do that, I had to recognise that I was essentially addicted to processed sugar, eating far, far too much of it and experiencing blood sugar crashes that I mistook for hunger. Once I quit processed sugar over the following months I got in touch with my appetite again. I know how to work out what my body actually needs, I know when I'm not ready to eat, when I am and what I both want and need. Intuitive Eating with capital letters however, is generally a totally different thing and involves eating without due consideration of what you are eating. It tells it's followers to eat whatever they want, whenever they feel they might want it. It makes no distinction between fresh, whole foods and a transfat and palm oil laden salted caramel doughnut or 10. Intuitive Eating, in capital letters, is frankly, potentially extremely destructive.

iguana wrote: »

There is and there isn't. Unsustainable diets don't work. Temporary changes to your eating habits to reach a goal weight, followed by a quick or even gradual resumption of your old eating habits will lead to regaining the weight. But when people make real, healthy, sustainable changes to their diet and lifestyles, there is no evidence whatsoever that this doesn't work. In fact there is plenty of evidence that it can and does for significant amounts of people. Just look at the the long term research conducted by the American National Weight Control Registry, for example.

As for Intuitive Eating, well it depends on what you mean by that. I eat intuitively. I lost weight by eating intuitively and I maintain my weight by eating intuitively. But to do that, I had to recognise that I was essentially addicted to processed sugar, eating far, far too much of it and experiencing blood sugar crashes that I mistook for hunger. Once I quit processed sugar over the following months I got in touch with my appetite again. I know how to work out what my body actually needs, I know when I'm not ready to eat, when I am and what I both want and need. Intuitive Eating with capital letters however, is generally a totally different thing and involves eating without due consideration of what you are eating. It tells it's followers to eat whatever they want, whenever they feel they might want it. It makes no distinction between fresh, whole foods and a transfat and palm oil laden salted caramel doughnut or 10. Intuitive Eating, in capital letters, is frankly, potentially extremely destructive.

Have to disagree re intuitive eating, well some of what you have said. Yes you can eat whatever you wish and whatever amount you wish and there is not guilt shame or judgement attached to it. There is no calorie counting and no magic number on the scales to strive for. The point is that if we can re learn our bodies own hunger cues and feelings of fullness (which we are all born with) and recognise the emotions behind our eating habits that our own bodies are excellent at choosing what foods are right for us at the time. Maybe that's a nutritious plate of greens and lean meat, maybe it's a donut. Our bodies will soon let us know that eating fat / sugar / "unhealthy" foods all the time , we will not feel good and have little energy. As you've described above you have learned what and when to eat to make yourself feel great , weight loss just happens to be a side effect, and a good one if that makes you feel better. It just saddens me to see people watching the scales go up and down and restricting themselves, feeling bad when the lbs dont come down and having treats and cheat days. It's a vicious cycle for the majority who never sustain that magic number. There are so many more factors that affect your weight but people look for the quick fix and so the cycle begins again.

Springfields wrote: »

The point is that if we can re learn our bodies own hunger cues and feelings of fullness (which we are all born with) and recognise the emotions behind our eating habits that our own bodies are excellent at choosing what foods are right for us at the time. Maybe that's a nutritious plate of greens and lean meat, maybe it's a donut. Our bodies will soon let us know that eating fat / sugar / "unhealthy" foods all the time , we will not feel good and have little energy. As you've described above you have learned what and when to eat to make yourself feel great , weight loss just happens to be a side effect, and a good one if that makes you feel better.

I've learned to eat intuitively because I recognise that the food environment we live in is not one we have evolved for. You mentioned the 'diet industry' in your earlier post while ignoring the much bigger, much more lucrative food industry. An industry that employs food scientists to make it's food as addictive as possible. That employs psychology experts to market and advertise it's foods in ways designed to maximise it's sales. We did not evolve to be constantly surrounded with practically unlimited supplies of sugary, fatty foods. We evolved to survive through periods of scarcity and in order to stay healthy in our current environment we need to actively engage our brains.

When I was over-consuming processed sugar I had no idea what I was missing out on, I thought I felt fine. I considered myself reasonably physically active as I walked more than most people (though it was definitely lessening). I thought the regular digestive pain I felt on my lower right side was a result of pregnancy damage. I thought my constant low level back pain, with occasional bouts of debilitating pain was a result of an injury I suffered in my early 20s. I thought the knee pain I was starting to experience was the approach of middle age. I thought the same was true of the general weakening of my strength. I thought my constant need to snack on fatty, sugary foods was the result of my low blood pressure. And as someone who in my 30s ended up getting 3 free ambulance rides due to low blood pressure, I 'intuitively' recognised the first signs of my blood pressure falling as a need for a quick fix of food to elevate it quickly. I was 'listening to my body' but ignoring the facts that my brain knew. Two pan au chocalaits and a can of Coke is never what a body needs to feel better longterm but the immediate result was to stave off a blood sugar crash and resultant loss of blood pressure so it felt great in the moment. And the negative effect was so gradual that on feelings, intuition, alone, I would never have put two and two together.

Thankfully, we are not just instinctive creatures. We have highly intelligent brains, capable of recognising that what feels good in the moment isn't always actually good for us. And I was able to use that capability to over-ride my intuition. Overconsumption of processed foods, especially sugar laden ones, interferes with our natural understanding of our bodies. Cravings and blood sugar crashes overtake our bodies' hunger cues. Intuitive eating is only a good choice if you actually acknowledge that so, so, so much of the food available to us is not good for you and should only be consumed very moderately. I have never, ever experienced more constant pleasure and happiness in my day to day life than I do when I'm making the most of my body's abilities. When I stopped carrying around nearly 50% of my current weight in fat and developed a strong core, the back pain I'd lived with for nearly 20 years disappeared. I almost never have any knee pain. I'm full of energy, I'm physically capable of regular athletic ultra-endurance. I'm strong, I'm muscular, I can easily do things that I used to think were a fantasy. And guess what, that's just biologically normal for our species but most of us have lost touch with that. You can not Intuitively Eat when you no longer intuit what you should be feeling.

Springfields wrote: »

Just to be clear there is no calorie counting or scales for that matter involved in intuitive eating. No counting of any kind, just as there is no such thing as an 'ideal weight' ....

There is usually a threshold above which your weight isn't ideal.

January 9th 18st 4 lbs (-34 lbs overall) (+6lbs over the holidays)
January 16th 18st 2 lbs (-36 lbs)
January 23 rd 18st 4 lbs (-34lbs )
January 30th 18st 1 lb (-37 lbs)
February 6th 18 st 2 lbs (-36 lbs)
February 13th 18st 2 lbs (-36 lbs)
February 20th 18st 5lbs (-33 lbs)
February 27th 18St 1 lb (-37 lbs)

I went back to 20 hour daily fasting for the 5 weekdays. It seems to work for me, allied with low carbing. I'm drinking warm water with lemon during the day, I really guzzle down a few glasses in the early part of the day. Am really enjoying them.

I was listening to a podcast this morning and there was a study by Kevin Hall, who has been on Sigma Nutrition Radio a few times and who has done some great studies.

The carried out a trial on impact of ultra-processed and unprocessed diets. Half the people were on impressed and the other half on ultra-processed. The diets presented to each cohort for were matched with respect to calories, total ugar, fat, total fibre and macronutrients. They were given 60 mins to eat meal and could eat as much or as little as they liked.

The people on people on the ultra-processed diet consumed more calories compared to the unprocessed diet. Furthermore, people gained weight on the ultra-processed diet and lost weight on the unprocessed diet.

Now, while they matched total sugar and fibre, the percentage of added sugar was much higher on the ultra-processed diet and the insoluble fibre was too.

Food quantity is the single biggest factor in weight loss or gain but food quality is important in terms of its impact on food quantity.

Anyway, I don't mean to detract from the thread as its primarily a place for people to support each other and I think it serves a great purpose so best of luck to everyone and keep on keeping on