Help an old man

[tony268]

Struggling to loose weight, I eat sensibly i.e. little or no fried only grilled food, next to no sweets, no sugar, low salt, jacket or boiled potatoes, chicken, low fat meats, lots of veg and fruits, as I do all the cooking, I cook from basic with fresh veg and spuds pasta rice etc, I don't smoke, I drink 4-5 pints of beer a week, I exercise at the gym two to three times a week, I cycle and walk. I am 68 years old and the table says I am morbidly obese, but my doctor says I am ok because I am muscular, I am 115kg. I have to loose a third of my body weight How??? I am considering a slimming club but I don't want to watch my weight I want to loose it.

[Diana]

Prob too large portions

[Caz28]

Hi, it's all about portion control, you need to weigh everthing and record your calories to make sure you are staying within your daily allowance. Well done cooking everything from scratch and exercising 😊

[Pamed]

Hi Tony

You are amazing what you do for your age , I think what you should do is weigh your food and count your calories and you will soon loose the weight may have to cut down on the drink just a bit give it a try

Good luck to. You

Pam x

[Seuzan]

If you haven't already done so, google the nhs 12 week plan.

Work out your BMI and ideal weight and also the calorie allowance.

Then download the myfitnesspal ap to help you log and calculate the calories you consume.

Good luck!

[rammsteinqueen]

Personally I would cut out the beer, potatoes and pasta and see what happens.

All the best.

[Hidden]

Hello,

I suggest you invest 70p in getting your body fat measured on the special scales in your local large branch of Boots. This will tell you what your body fat% is. For a man, you need to be (I think) around about 20% fat, and anything much over that is bad news. The Boots scales will tell you if you are too fat. BMI is not a perfect measure, and people who are very muscular can show as being overweight and obese when they just carry a lot of muscle. Having said that, for most of us, if our BMI says we are overweight, we are overweight!

Be honest with yourself - if you are wobbly, then it is fat, and it needs to go. If you are firm, chances are it is at least partially muscle, and it can stay.

It's hard to say, from your description of your diet, what might need changing. "Next to no sweets" covers a multitude of possible quantities - I am a great sweet eater myself, and my feeling is that a once a week sweet, eg a Mars Bar every Saturday after the gym, is probably OK, but a daily intake of sugary rubbish is not good. Also, your beer intake - can you stop that while losing weight? I know it's quite depressing if you enjoy a drink (I certainly do, although my choice is wine). But I find that alcohol makes me hungry, so if I need to lose weight I am better off avoiding it altogether. Put your mind on non beer-related activities so that you minimise any feelings of deprivation.

I'd also suggest that you measure out your potatoes and pasta - 4-6oz of potatoes and max 2oz dry-weight pasta is a portion. You might be inadvertently overdoing the starch portions sizes. It's easily done.

A slimming club may in fact be a good way to go for you. While they are considered to be mainly for women, the evidence is that men respond really well to the club mentality and tend to do much better than women members. So I wouldn't rule it out. You could have a look at your local slimming world or weightwatchers to see if it would be of help to you.

Best of luck!