TLF Fat Club

[Simon350S]

Anyone want to join me in my quest to loose 2 stone?

I've managed to shed about 1/2 a stone so far but I'd like to get another 2 shifted by the time I walk down the isle in just under 5 months time...

That would leave me a shade under 16 1/2 stone, a weight i've not seen on the scales in well over 10 years i'd say!

Weekly weigh ins and a progress graph updated so all can see and encourage/mock the progress made?

My start weight as of Yesterday.... 118.5kgs :)

[Paul C]

I lost two stone in two months in 2007 and have kept it all off.

14.2 to 12st

1, Quit 'Latte' coffees. A large Latte at starbucks (i did 4-5 a day) is

200 calories. I now drink americano (40 calories). Thats 800 calories

a day i saved just changing coffee. Latte is a fat persons drink.

2, Pastries. The 'deal', buy a coffee get a 300 calorie pecan pastry free

every day. Quit that. So now i'm 1000 calories down BEFORE 8 O'CLOCK!

and i still have a coffee!

3, Fruit. Today i took two bananas, a peach and a pear to work. Every time

i felt like a nibble i grabbed one.

4, Water. (Most important in view of the coffee), hunger is often mistaken for

thirst, Drink a bottle of water when you feel hungry.

5, The BIGGIE!...

'WATCH WHAT THE FAT PEOPLE ARE EATING AND SEE THE FUTURE'

This is the single thing that now prevents me from returning.

At weekends i have a pub lunch, the odd curry, several pints etc. (if you also like

food and drink then a proper out and out diet will never work for you) However,

if on a sunday i go down town and think i'm having a sod off full english at the

cafe. A big fat person on the table next to me eating breakfast will put me off

to the point i'll have poached eggs on toast instead. After this weekends drink and

brewery tour i walked into town sunday morning with a mate to have breakfast

and skipped it for some toast due in part to my previous consumption, but mostly

due to the lardy folk half clad in the sun on the green outside. Likewise if i pop into

the local chinese on the way home from the pub now (a weekend weakness) then

seeing the size of the folk in there will determine if i walk past or go in. This focus

has really helped, and at an indian i now only order what i will eat, rather than the

previous silly poppadoms, starter, dish, rice, side, nan, or which too much got ate

and the rest thrown away (

[Jonathan]

Nothing beats a bit of fiz

You could do it no problem but you have to be strict - the eating thing is hard but exersise requires discipline to do.

Go for walks / bike rides, it's not as if you dont live in a nice part of the world for that.

Weight gain and loss is a funny thing, I eat what I like when I like and dont move a pound unless I go WAY out of my way to do so.

Some poeple lose weight very quickly to start and then taper off and so on - it's specific to YOU.

Ergo you need to find your way of losing it.

I must admit I am a fan of the atkins diet but I'd couple that with a good lot of exercise too.

[punky]

This should work

[Simon350S]

Cheers Guys

Well as I'm working away perminently at the moment and staying in a bit of a shit hotel in Birmingham (

[Bibs]

Thats gotta be a good start I'm guessing and should allow me room to let my hair down a little with Lisa on the weekends

Mate, that's the first chink and shows a lack of willpower and determination. If you want to lose weight, then do it and don't fanny about with 'days off' and the odd kebab. Oh, and remember lager is 200 cals/pint at best...

[Simon350S]

Thanks for that Mate!

What am I supposed to do at next months BBQ? Its the first event on The Welsh Area Team Supports calendar!

[arbell9]

For me to get to my size has taken approxmately 14 years. I was a mean lean 12st 10 lb when i was married at 22. By 30 i was 15st, at 32, 16st, now 37 i am 18st. So by the time i die i should be the worlds biggest man lol.

But seriously slow weight gain is a bastard to remove for a few reasons. Big people do have a higer calorific demand than smaller people, unless the small people proportionaely do more exercise but i am talking resting basal metabolism here. You have more cells to feed in the body ergo, more calories per day are needed. So the body sets its nutrional hormonal status to get more calories. The body sends signals to the brain to eat more food.

Therefore when you lose weight quickly the demand for energy goes down a bit but the fat ECU (for want of a phrase) doesnt reset quickly. Its still wants energy , thats why dieters feel hungry often.

Secondly what is a fat cell inside the blobs of white fatty tissue around the body. Its a big sack of liquid fats. Its perfectly designed for converting any from of surplus energy into a blob of oil, and will do i tfast and efficiently. However to drain the fat from these cells takes effort, real effort.

Two ways to achieve, reduce food intake dramatically or burn a lot more calories every day.

So lets say you are successful in the first 3 months of a bit less food and a bit more exercise.

1) fluid loss happens first and contributes to 1st 2-3lbs.

2) oil in the fat cells starts to go down but is not fully depleted. you lose some weight though.

If you now stop the exercise and increase calories back as before the fat cells rapidly fill back up and put a bit extra down, because it thought you just went through a famine so to be safe if stores some extra fat.

The poor person now regains their weight plus some.

Now fat cells are resiliant buggers. They need to be starved for a long time and sit empty so that they will eventually pack up and die. If you are not eating excess calories at this point you will not make new fat cells and your weight should retain stability. So for successful weight loss you have to think of it as a 12 month program to

A) lose weight

B ) destroy the fat cells through lack of use.

Otherwise you are destined to fail.

Now what is evil about sugary chocolatey fatty gorgeuos cream cakes is that they stimulate a chemical reward system in the brain, the same ones you get when you have a chemical high, an orgasm, your footy team wins, you lottery numbers come up etc. This positive stimulus generally outweighs the negative feelings of being a bit fat and so your brain gets used to your size. The food stimulus does become an addiction, just like smoking. The will power required to overcome the food cravings is a lot. The right exercise can produce the same endorphin rush as the doughnut, but the effort to get it is massively different

So add it all up.

1) control your calories

2) make time to exercise

3) do it for long enough to kill your fat cells

4) understand you need time to reset your nutrional hormone system (this isnt quick)

5) understand that you will feel a mental loss from a lack of kebabs etc - you need to replace the highs

6) plan to combat the cravings

7) chuck out your fat size clothes

Simon, i would join you in your quest but to be honest I am not in the right fram eof mind to guarentee success. The same was true for me in quitting smoking. No point trying until you a truely ready to go for it and stick to it.

Good luck matey. If i see you with a pie in your hand between now and the wedding I will confiscate it and dispose of it myself. How i do that is none of your business.

yours kindly

big man from ooop north

Edited June 2, 2009 by Alex --GT3--

[matk]

Mat will testify, on friday i did a starter, main and desert and had to go home

early. My body can no longer take it.

Confirmed!!

[arbell9]

i heard paul that your body is finely tuned to consume hook norton ale and food in exactly the the right proportion and on friday you ate too much. silly man!!!!

something like the equivalent of 1 burger per gallon i think.

[Jonathan]

What Bibs said (and what I said above) it's being strict and disciplined.

Sod the fitness trainer - you have me

1st = variety, dont do the same shit over and over again, your body and MIND will get used to it and get bored.

For fitness, running burns the most calories / min but is hard work (demotivating) and can be tough on your knees.

Go for something low impact, try power walking (set the machine to 4 - 4.5mph) and bang away on that, you'll be amazed how close it is to running but how much less an impact it has on your body.

Cycling is good if your knees are shagged - swimming is my favourite - rowing machine is good as well.

You might wanna try teaching your body to fat burn, some people are good at it others (like me) are terrible at it - basically it involves light exercise to promote fat burning. The body is naturally lazy so it uses carbs to move the muscles, however light exercise allows it to use fat instead - the more you do it the better the body becomes at it.

An hour of dedicated gym work should burn 600 calories, do 20 min stints on each and you'll do good.

Always finish off with your favourite.

I do 20min run, 20min bike, 20min row (or x-trainer) followed by a small weights circuit using 4 machines then hit the pool for another 20mins to wind down

Dont dismiss the steam room either. Next time mix it up so you have something different to dread/look forward to.

If you dont wanna go out exercise bikes are cheap as hell - I do 2miles on mine then jump off, 10 push ups (chest to the floor), 10 situps then back on for 2 miles and repeat that 10-15 times in 1 session whilst watching a DVD or Street Cops / Top gear re-runs or something.

Drink plenty of water - keep hydrated.

If you do that 3 times a week you will start to lose weight but as Bibs says, all that can be undone by 1 kebab so keep it within the lines.

On the diet - my tip is to eat sensibly but be disciplined.

Dont cut ANYTHING out (some people cut fat out and find themselves getting un-well) you need fats and protien to live, not carbs - just eat healthy.

[molemot]

Weight loss? I'm the world's expert. Or I should be....been doing it for the past 45 years. I was born during rationing, so the early life bit didn't contribute...then at 7, my appendix burst and I spent 6 weeks in hospital..with 1950's hospital food!...and emerged like a Belsen inmate. Family decided I needed feeding up...and that was it; food good, not eating bad. Spent the next 10 years eating....then discovered girls and the dieting started. Since then I've been up and down like a roller coaster...when I've had motivation I get fit and lose the weight...then the whole thing goes pear shaped (literally!) and the phugoid swerves back the other way. 2004 I got down to below 14 stone...now I'm 22stone 2lb; the prostate cancer hormone therapy doesn't help. I have found the only way that REALLY works is regular physical exercise combined with dietary restriction. For me, anything more than 1500 calories a day and the weight goes up ....need 20 minutes on the stationary bike at a reasonable effort level, as well, and then the weight goes down. It's entirely a mental thing; once the brain has got round the deal, it all works. Some external motivator is good, too...your forthcoming wedding ought to help you in that regard!

Paul C makes a valid point about NOT buying stuff ... sometimes I wander around supermarkets ogling the really scrumptious stuff, and come out with an empty basket. I find that the violent physical exercise thing really helps there, as you do NOT want to sacrifice all that effort for a few minutes of pleasurable intake!! The real problem is not losing the weight, but keeping it off. I have never succeeded in that; and I have never known anybody to manage it in the long term, either. Aids to the awful business...Marks and Spencer's "Count on Us" packet meals. They are well produced calorie and content controlled portions..you know exactly what you're taking in, and it makes the whole deal simpler. If I cook, it always seems to turn out to be enough for a regiment...and,to quote Oscar, "I can resist anything but temptation!"

To sum up....no beer, no more than 1500 calories a day, at least 20 minutes reasonably violent physical exercise a day, and it WILL work. After a couple of months, things will be going so well that everbody compliments you..after four months, you will be fit, much slimmer and far more healthy...and you will start to thing you've cracked it. THIS IS NOT TRUE!!!! You can NEVER crack this deal, it is a lifetime's endeavour, and whether or not you give the pallbearers hernias will depend upon which part of the phugoid you happen to be on when the Grim Reaper hacks you off with his scythe!!

However, the weight loss bit CAN be done...I've shifted 8 lb in the last week...and I'm sure you will be very lissom on The Day!! Good luck!!

[Günter]

hmmm...what should i think of that

up to 1.90m [depends on daytime, something about shrinking spine..] @ 108kg, and i don't like bacon and beer

('OK, to be fair -dark beer is something else )

90kg would be perfect, bud there are 10kg to much since I quit the military [it was 100kg out of the military, in an age of 21-22], and the more or less additional 5-8kg are in steady change... .

[Laura]

We're following the Atkins way of life now (not a diet as that would suggest a some point it will stop and I've no desire to put any of it back on again) which is basically a low carb diet. It has had lots of good & bad press but it's working for me. Lots of tasty food, feeling great and I'm loosing weight slowly & steadily which is exactly what I want. I'm 12lbs down so far.

I'm not doing much in the way of exercise which would probably help the loss dramatically but I'm aiming to walk in to town every day. That's a lovely, especially in this weather, half an hours walk which I think will be a great help.

[Bibs]

At Donington I consumed 4,500 calories in beer/wine over dinner (which itself was probably another 1,500 - 2,000 calories) and that was with an early night. Since then I've been on a diet (as has Laura) and I'm down 9kgs at the moment which is close to a stone and a half and to be fair I do feel much better for it

[Günter]

9kg down with plenty to eat ? that sounds like an fantastic thing for me

I do eat various thing too... bud it does not work for me so far, maybe it's my style to eat: I do eat either way i stay on my feed or walk around -In one hand a spanner & in the other something to eat

Edited June 2, 2009 by G

[Jonathan]

End of the day weight loss is a simple calculation - if you burn more than you eat during the day, you are essentially eating yourself !

Weight gain is when you burn less than you eat, fats and carbs are stored for use later as flabby bits.

As Laura says atkins works but again as she says - for her, everyone's different and people have reacted bad to it becuase their bodies dont like / agree with certain foods and or lack of foods.

Same with exercise, everyone has different muscle groups and strengths / weaknesses. When I had to put a stone on I had to eat ~ 4500 calories a day !

Atkins works on the principal you cut the only food type you dont need to live OUT of the diet which is carbohydrates.

The body then sustains itself on fat and protien based foods both of which you need or you die - both can be used as energy sources but protiens are not stored as fat when not used (they go elsewhere hehhe) so all you need concern yourself with is fats. You need ~ 80g of fat a day depending on your size - you can have more but it will store on you unless you burn if off with light exercise.

Each gram of fat = 7 calories so technically if you process all this food / exercise as a calculation you can almost define how much/how quickly you can lose weight.

Remember you dont burn fat well during harsh exercise, if you're on the atkins you will suffer big time if you go running and stuff becuase you'll have no sugars, you'll cramp and get all sorts of probs, so it's perfect, eat loads of meat / low fat fry ups and do light exercise to lose weight - LOL no wonder people swear by it.

[Paul C]

One of my workmates is 23 stone. He'll eat a whole pack of digestives

on the way to work (85 cal per biscuit) and despite only being 22, the

bank made him take a medical before they would give him a mortage.

Believe it or not, he's not actually a moron either, he's a nice guy...

[matk]

Don't forget that a given amount of muscle weighs more than the same amount of mass. I've known loads of people begin exercise programmes and get disheartened because they put weight on initially (as they swap fat for muscle). Its not all about the scales. As long as you're honest about it and keep up the exercise, you reach a point (normally after between 3 - 4 weeks) where the body stops putting on as much muscle but keeps burning fat. Its at that point that you get serious and sustained weight loss.

Also the extra muscle burns extra energy, speeding the metabolic rate and increasing the rate of fat burn. All good but you only see full effects after 3 - 4 weeks. Keep it up!

[Iconic Ride]

A good friend once told me that he was on a "See Food" diet: "I see food, I eat it." The humour, of course, comes across better as a verbal statement, as the first word is assumed, initially, to be an aquatic reference.

While the Atkins diet does work for many, as noted above it also has its critics, notably the vast majority of cardiologists. You may lose weight, but can more readily develop atherosclerosis (corornary artery disease, etc.). Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse.

Personally, I have found that a sand, cardboard, tree bark, and water diet works best. The sand gives one the sensation of "fullness," the cardboard and tree bark provide excellent roughage, and the zero calorie H2O washes it all down before you can think about what you're eating (the "escargot effect"). While cardboard can taste quite bland, there are many varieties of tree bark, several exhibiting subtle (often refined) nuances of tannic bouquet and earthy complexities. When suitably ground into a sawdust-like paste, and with the addition of small amounts of extra virgin olive oil, a close approximation to hummus can be achieved, into which the cardboard may be dipped. A sprinkling of sand will add "texture."

For those of us with an affinity for spicier fare, one of my favourites is "Hickory Bark Fajitas," using thin posterboard to form the tortilla wraps. Top with your salsa of choice (the hotter the better), and off you go. Yummy!

[mayevora]

All good but you only see full effects after 3 - 4 weeks. Keep it up!

Agree with Mat.

Started my 'big time' loss 6 weeks ago exactly, but has taken until now to actually start to feel a bit healthier. (I firmly blame PaulC's after saying it was ok to get into his Elise )

I probably do one of the most unhealthy jobs I know sitting on my behind for 13 hours a day so have slowly piled it on over the last 7 years.

My Goal Target is a pretty big 100lbs to lose.

As of last night I'm 32lbs less than I was 6 weeks ago. Not too bad but seems like a long way to go.

One of the biggest problems for me is the fact I like my food (don't we all.) I haven't found it that hard, just smaller amounts of everything, so don't actually feel I've missed out that much.

Biggest miss though is the odd pint. Had just 1 with Peter England99 last weekend, but that was the only one to touch my lips in the last 6 weeks.

Good luck doing this Si - but you don't need luck, just a bit of disipline.

Edited June 3, 2009 by mayesprit

[Laura]

Ian, that's a fantastic loss, you've done really well to shift over 5lbs a week! Well done & keep it up, well... down.

[Kimbers]

I have been worried about my steady increase in weight, since my visits to hospital over the last 2 years. 2 years ago I was 15 stone, in Dec this year I was 17'5"

I have done several things since March.

1. I haven't stopped drinking or eating.

2. I limit myself to 3 cuppas a day, intead of 6-7 and have reduced sugar to 1 instead of 2. It's water the rest of the time.

3. Instead of guarantee'ing myself a takeaway on a Friday I now have 1 in a month.

4. I have stopped drinking larger during the week (only 1-2 but it all counts)

5. I only drink to excess on a saturday and now I drink Gin and Slimline Tonic

6. I walk up the shop and take dog for more walks

I am now at 16'7" and on average lose 1-2lbs a week. Thats both sustainable and won't mean when I come off a diet I yo-yo. I don't miss out on anything!

My target is 15'7" for now. And I have till Dec to do it. Nice and easy target is very important..

[Simon350S]

Well 3 days in, each day I have consumed just under 1200 calories and each day I have also been to the gym...

30 mins mixed cardio, bike & cross trainer, 30 mins resistance training and 30 lengths in the pool as a cool down.

Roll on next Monday for the official weigh in, the intermediate results are positive although I do realise its mostly fluid and other crap and not all fat but hey its all good!

[Iconic Ride]

Whether it's chicken feathers or lead weights, a pound is a pound, Simon. Steady as she goes, mate.