Weight loss coach? Need help!

FreshKnickers · 29-11-2020 5:10pm #1

Hello sexy Boards people. I am in need of help and sure who better to ask? I'm looking for a weight loss coach maybe, or a magician or a genie or a feckin shamen or something!!

Here's why, I have been getting stuck into this 'losing the extra weight and getting to something healthy' for a while now. A grand while tbh. It's not really important how long exactly, is it, I mean it's a bit embarrassingly long 31 months so we'll just crack on without saying how long I've been trying to shift the weight, okay? Cool.

Seriously though, I think I do need some outside help. I haven't been doing very well so far. Had a bit of success in the first few months but nothing since. So if anyone has any advice on where to go next I'd be really grateful. I know you'll probably need to know a bit about what I've been trying so far. I'll try to keep this bit short (!)

Have been at the gym ('cept when they've been closed) since May 2018. I've been working with a PT who's done me various programs and given me calorie /macro targets. I've also paid for a 1 to 1 with a nutritionist (waste of money, learnt nothing that you wouldn't read in an article on MyFitnessPal).

I'm happy to provide any more details that you might need. Like that I'm a 38 year old female, 5“ 3 (and 7/8ths), 81.3kg and 30% bf. I'm gonna just leave it there now before this essay turns into a dissertation! Thanks everyone who's made it this far, you should get a piece of cheese for making it all the way to the end.

Patsy167 · 30-11-2020 9:19am

A good starting point is tracking and logging everything you eat - absolutely everything for a couple of days/weeks. Check online for calculators and apps. My fitness pal is a popular one. You might surprise yourself with what you find.

It should be quickly able to spot where the issues are. It may be food quality and quantity, mindless snacking, portion size, emotional eating (Stress, boredom, loneliness), late night eating.

Once you've reached this point, focus on making changes that are easily sustainable in the long run.

Billythekid19 · 30-11-2020 9:32am

What Ive found from experience is that it really is what you eat. Its 80% food and 20 % exercise thats the key. Try cutting out bread, alcohol, sugar and deep fried foods for a month. I find I can drop a stone by doing that alone.
Exercise of course helps but the key really is having 3 balanced meals a day. My mantra is that if its made by man try to avoid, cut out refined processed foods and choose whole foods like potatoes, vegetables , fish.

FreshKnickers · 30-11-2020 10:07am

Thank you lads. Do appreciate the replies. I do reckon it's more important what you eat alright. That's why I thought I'd give a nutritionist a go. I'm already tracking it all in MyFitnessPal and I don't drink. Have the odd bit of chocolate tbf, try to stick to 2 or 3 portions a week.

I'm thinking total meal replacement might be the way to go. No worries about eating too much or the wrong things etc.

Patsy167 · 30-11-2020 11:05am

FreshKnickers wrote: »

Thank you lads. Do appreciate the replies. I do reckon it's more important what you eat alright. That's why I thought I'd give a nutritionist a go. I'm already tracking it all in MyFitnessPal and I don't drink. Have the odd bit of chocolate tbf, try to stick to 2 or 3 portions a week.

I'm thinking total meal replacement might be the way to go. No worries about eating too much or the wrong things etc.

Please, please, please don't go down the route of meal replacement meals or shakes. Unless you mean an intermittent Fasting approach - This works for some, so it may be worth exploring and testing out. It's not a magic cure though. Just to caution that it requires a lot of discipline and can be difficult to sustain in the long run.

ismisecraic · 30-11-2020 12:07pm

Im on 100+ days of tracking on MyFitnessPal and ive seen great results, i think ive dropped around 14kg in the 3 months.

WFH had me too easy access to the biscuits so i knew i had to do something. Eternal runner, convinced i could eat what i wanted. I couldnt.

Something i did that kick started all of this was i took a metabolic test earlier in the year, and i also took a vo2 test (running fitness etc) but the main thing from the metabolic test was it gave me an exact figure calorie wise to work off of. Sometimes the online calculators can be off. So this gave me a daily calorie allowance of 2347kcal a day. I set my target for each day around 2066 and worked from there. I kept up exercise but NEVER ate any of the 'exercise calories' back, it's a false economy!

Then i drilled down into what meals i liked, what i could sacrifice and what alternatives i could find.

I find if I have a low calorie breakfast and that can get me to lunch i'm already winning the day. So i have 1 scoop of oats and 1 scoop of protein powder and a couple coffees which gets me up to lunch, then I look at lunch, maybe some scrambled egg and 1 slice of toast then a cuppa and a yogurt (protein one) or a penguin bar (Try find snacks you like that have alternatives for a lower calorie count. Bread,sausages,rashers, there are plenty of low calorie alternatives that taste just fine. )

Then its all about repetition and working on forming a habit.

What I will say to you , if you have a buddy on the same path it will be easier to push each other. Never underestimate a motivation buddy who you can hold each other to account. But ultimately you have to hold yourself to account.

Honestly the approach above works for me. I have a couple days in the week where I know I can cut my calorie intake , bank it for the weekend and have a pizza or a take away burger meal and STILL come under my weekly calorie count. 2347*7

Also a little trick I do is to start your week on a Sunday. There is less chance of you having a F this ive already screwed up the weekend if you know you get a fresh start on the Sunday.

Then exercise to compliment it all. Do whatever you like. Walk, run couch to 5k, cycle or gym and once you nail the diet down you will see the results of training much quicker. Its not overnight and its slow but you will feel great! Best of luck

Jimmy Bottlehead · 30-11-2020 12:29pm

FreshKnickers wrote: »

Thank you lads. Do appreciate the replies. I do reckon it's more important what you eat alright. That's why I thought I'd give a nutritionist a go. I'm already tracking it all in MyFitnessPal and I don't drink. Have the odd bit of chocolate tbf, try to stick to 2 or 3 portions a week.

I'm thinking total meal replacement might be the way to go. No worries about eating too much or the wrong things etc.

Total meal replacement is not the route to take. You have to face your dietary failings at some point plus it looks like unsustainable misery while you're doing it anyways.

Obviously there's something that isn't adding up. Calories in -v- calories out is fairly straightforward. If you're consuming less calories than you're using, you will get smaller. So either you're not using MFP correctly, or you've miscalculated your kcals in/out.

Heed the advice on here (including NOT going down the meal replacement route), look for slow and steady progress, nail the diet and be CONSISTENT and you'll find success creeping in. There's no quick fixes. Someone didn't become overweight or obese or in amazing shape overnight, it took a long time and sustained effort to get there, and that's what it takes to reverse it too.

FreshKnickers · 30-11-2020 12:40pm

Cheers all. Anyone I do say 'meal replacement' to they tend to say 'feck no!!' Not one fecker ever says 'good plan, yeah, try that' So it must be a bleedin awful idea. :pac:

I was hoping to work with someone (?) and then, if I'm still facing it not work for me week after week or month after month maybe they'd have new ideas. Maybe they'd have worked with lots of people before and have a bit of experience with different things that have helped /not helped different people. I've been doing all these things for over two and a half years now! That seems like a good indication that what I'm doing is not working.

ismisecraic · 30-11-2020 1:29pm

FreshKnickers wrote: »

Cheers all. Anyone I do say 'meal replacement' to they tend to say 'feck no!!' Not one fecker ever says 'good plan, yeah, try that' So it must be a bleedin awful idea. :pac:

I was hoping to work with someone (?) and then, if I'm still facing it not work for me week after week or month after month maybe they'd have new ideas. Maybe they'd have worked with lots of people before and have a bit of experience with different things that have helped /not helped different people. I've been doing all these things for over two and a half years now! That seems like a good indication that what I'm doing is not working.

The only thing that will work is what you make sustainable. That's it.

You can only do it if it causes the least amount of friction as possible.

Just be honest with yourself is all. If you have a blowout day, make sure to log it on MFP but one hot day doesnt make a summer. 'Crap i had a midweek pizza ...now if i plan the next two days, aim to come under my balance by a couple hundred kcal now im back on track!'

I was running up to marathon level and convincing myself i could eat whatever i wanted because of it. I gave up drink in 2018 and of course my body was chasing every sugar known to man to replace it.
Slow and steady but not miserable. That's what you are aiming for.

What we tend to eat on a weekly basis is actually quite boring and routine based so it's handy to get into a rythm fairly quick but if you are shopping , you control what goes into the basket too

Cill94 · 30-11-2020 5:10pm

Why do YOU think you’ve struggled? I’m sure 31 months is enough time to have noticed some personal behaviour patterns?

Chances are there is something you already know deep down that is holding you back.

Examples could be: not tracking calories consistently, emotional eating, not having structured meals, not planning ahead, etc.

You need to be realistic about where you want to be and what you’re willing to do to get there. I fear it sounds like you expect a coach or a meal replacement shake to work some kind of magic that will exclude hard work and discomfort.

30-11-2020 5:13pm

I think it is possible a nutrition coach would provide a neutral big picture view or know things the OP doesnt. i'm all for getting expert advice whenever you feel you need it ... it sounds like the one session you had before wasnt much use but then it was one session
hopefully someone will have some recs

FreshKnickers · 30-11-2020 8:47pm

I tell ya, I feel like an awful eejit not being able to make any headway with this. Whatever I am doing wrong I haven't cracked it yet - as in, I don't know I'm doing wrong that I need to fix. Obviously there have been a few slip ups, emotional eating wise / having the odd 'off' day and maybe skip the gym or not put the full effort in. I do think I'm putting a lot of work into it though. But, tis hard to be objective when it's yourself.

But thanks again to everyone for taking the time to reply. And if anyone reading this has struggled and managed to break though I'd love to hear from you.

Alf Veedersane · 30-11-2020 9:06pm

I think sometimes its easy to develop blind spots. To be less objective without realising. Especially with tracking. That's an issue whether or not you have a nutrition coach.

Sometimes people benefit from a coach if only for the accountability. Obviously the guidance would help as well but while you can let yourself off the hook because you ate so well (when you didn't) and tracking everything so honestly (when you didn't), having to report to someone else might make a difference.

You've obviously tried different things and instead of jumping to the next potential solution and look at what it entailed and what didn't work and try figure out why it didn't work. The root of the problem is in there somewhere.

Black Sheep · 30-11-2020 9:34pm

FreshKnickers wrote: »

I tell ya, I feel like an awful eejit not being able to make any headway with this. Whatever I am doing wrong I haven't cracked it yet - as in, I don't know I'm doing wrong that I need to fix. Obviously there have been a few slip ups, emotional eating wise / having the odd 'off' day and maybe skip the gym or not put the full effort in. I do think I'm putting a lot of work into it though. But, tis hard to be objective when it's yourself.

But thanks again to everyone for taking the time to reply. And if anyone reading this has struggled and managed to break though I'd love to hear from you.

Have you looked at any online nutrition coaching services?

Hybrid Nutrition etc.

They can be expensive, but maybe it’d be of interest.

FreshKnickers · 30-11-2020 10:54pm

I hadn't heard of them, I will check that out, cheers.

I tried the Layne Norton app actually. I found his first book to be very good.

Black Sheep · 01-12-2020 9:12am

FreshKnickers wrote: »

I hadn't heard of them, I will check that out, cheers.

I tried the Layne Norton app actually. I found his first book to be very good.

You’re on the right track I think. Good luck!

Segotias · 01-12-2020 1:28pm

I recently did a 4 week accountability program where you did an one on one consultation which assess what you wanted to achieve and the potential blocks as to why you are not.

It designed especially for women, to take your cycle into consideration, things like mood, sleep, energy levels are monitored to work on the best program for you. Not everyone is on it to lose weight but some are.

I find if you have people who are doing similar to you then its easier to make progress as you have back up as such.

Segotias · 01-12-2020 1:29pm

ismisecraic wrote: »

Something i did that kick started all of this was i took a metabolic test earlier in the year, and i also took a vo2 test (running fitness etc) but the main thing from the metabolic test was it gave me an exact figure calorie wise to work off of. Sometimes the online calculators can be off. So this gave me a daily calorie allowance of 2347kcal a day. I set my target for each day around 2066 and worked from there. I kept up exercise but NEVER ate any of the 'exercise calories' back, it's a false economy!

Just wondered what the difference was between an online calculator and the daily allowance given by the metabolic test

ismisecraic · 01-12-2020 2:57pm

Segotias wrote: »

Just wondered what the difference was between an online calculator and the daily allowance given by the metabolic test

It varied, possibly to whatever i had wanted it to be at that point in time.

It ranged from 2100 to 2600
I know it was based upon my weight at that time. Not wildly off but in the scheme of a week if it was 100 kcal a day*7 is enough of a surplus

I think once i got the metabolic test and started using MFP more accurately , thats when the main weight was lost.

Also, i was totally codding myself about eating back calories i thought i was burning.

FreshKnickers · 01-12-2020 3:59pm

Segotias, that deffo sounds worth looking into, thanks. Could you post a link please or PM me if on thread links aren't allowed? Thanks again.

Segotias · 02-12-2020 1:27pm

Her name is Kelley Connor, she uses her instagram and Facebook for it, Her insta name is kellconnorbts, her facebook is Kelley Walsh Connor.

You can also find her on Body Transformation Studio page, if you've any problems let me know and I'll send on the links, I just can't access them at the moment

FreshKnickers · 02-12-2020 9:18pm

That's great, thank you

Weight loss coach? Need help!

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