For anyone that's in the remotest bit interested, I'm about to find out.
I last smoked on 3rd Dec 2012, I'm halfway through month four. Now admittedly Xmas came pretty soon into my quit, but in that time I've put on a real lump of weight. Here are the stats:
Adult male (oh yeah, really??)
6' tall, right on the nose.
Weight pre-quit: 14 stone 7 lbs - all muscle, honest
Current weight: 15 stone, 9 lbs
Weight gain - 16lbs.
That gives me a BMI of 29.68 which according to the NHS is borderline obese. :eek: That's proper tosh in my view, as is the 'desired' weight of 13 stone 2 lbs for my frame which gets me back to 'normal'. I'm sure a doctor may advise me otherwise, if he does then he can tell the entire welsh rugby team too, and see what happens.
I'm splitting the difference and going for 14 stone 5 lbs by the 23rd of May. That's 18 lbs off, in 9 weeks, 2 lbs per week.
Last night Mrs Hawkeye ordered the cross-trainer, which I'm sure will come with an appropriate exercise routine and a way of avoiding my neighbours hearing the grunts from the garage. And as of today I'm on a diet of zero red meat, cheese or alcohol. It's gonna feel like I'm living like a monk for a while
There. I need to get back into my shorts by the time the May half term holibob comes around.
How hard can it be???
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Ah thanks Kat, lovely words! Max - grrrrr! haha :p
I've actually never tried this before, dieting and exercise like this I mean. I'm not in really bad shape, I go without any alcohol and reduce carbs for a few weeks every now and then and tend to drop about five pounds when I do, so that'll help for sure.
I'm working on the physical law of 'what goes up must come down', i.e. my weight and waistline (and with what Mrs H spent on the cross trainer last night, my bank balance too). If I can put it on, I can take it off. Hmmm... Actually I have no idea what I'm doing, :eek: and I'm not too hung up on it to be honest, but it's time I at least gave it a bash to see what happens. I will take inspiration from the hero that is Angry Bear, and the financial incentive - I don't want to have to buy new shorts
Hi, It`s normal to gain around 9lb in weight when you quit smoking but remember the benefits of quitting smoking far outway the negatives of gaining that weight.
I think One step at a time when trying to quit - but it`s easy to forget about what we are eating and before you know it the weight has pilled on.
Tips for weight loss:
1.Try to eat 3 regular meals each day - if you feel you need for something in between then try to have fruit or something healthy rather than high fat/sugar snacks
2. Eat at the table or at least without distractions such as TV. Mindless eating makes us less able to recognise when we have reached the point of being 'satisfied' and thereby leading to overeating.
3. Chew food slowly - it takes 20 mins for our brains to recognise we have had enough!
4. Dont 'diet'!! Diets DO NOT work. Eat a balanced and healthy diet which includes foods from each food group. Try to fill half your plate with veg/salad, and don`t cut out carbs!! These are our main energy source but we just need to get the balance right.
5. Guidelines recommend at least 30 mins of exercise per day. This can be anything that get your heart pumping (!!) and it can be in no less than 10 minute sessions. Obviously the more you can do the better.
Hope this helps!! OH, by the way - just completed day 7!!
Well good for you! You know what? I think you will be as successful at the dieting as you have been with the quitting cos you have got the will power and the drive. Can we have a before and after picture?
I have put on weight too. I had put on 1stone ( 6.4 kg) but I've managed to lose half of that ( for now anyway!!). One thing I have found helps - every now & again when I start gorging on food - something I do now that I've stopped smoking - I go & get some hunger reduction tablets.
The tablets contain Caralluma Fibriata an edible cactus native to India. The advertising blurb says that this plant was used to help reduce hunger when the tribes had to go for long periods of time without food as when they were hunting or travelling.
For me, my appetite is suppressed. I don't take them all the time ( too expensive, about $1:50 per tablet at the supermarket) but I do buy them when I just want to eat all of the time - something that didn't happen when I was smoking.
Hi, I am curious on how things progress too. I have done many diets over the years and I have also been a victim of The Gym "No pain no gain" attitude. Did 5 miles walking per day and 2 often up to 4 classes 5 days a week. I would have done all week but hubby put foot down. Anyway, the rule is sweat buckets, buy a heart rate monitor and burn those cals away daily and at the end of the week lose lbs right? WRONG!!! Energy in vs energy out is FALSE! Your body will use what it can and store the rest. If you understand which foods make fat stores, stop eating as much of it and the body will start using up fat stores for energy. Once in that mode, the body actually becomes more efficient and atheletes cope better with "The wall". So eating lots of fruit, grains (anything made with flour) and spuds will spike blood sugar, making insulin which is the fat hormone. The body can work on 1 tsp of sugar per day and that can be found in natural produce. Good luck and keep us informed
Wow, forum is working as intended - post, and get support by the shedload. Thanks all!
Kind of obliged now, eh Lostie? :rolleyes:
timetolive, got it thanks. In summary then carbs are fine, balanced diet is the key, three square meals, nothing unnecessary and 30 mins per day of exercise. Or I could take a pill (nonico), and sugar is almost unnecessary (Soziberry). Looking forward to the cross trainer arriving now.... This is a bit of an experiment, so red meat is replaced by chicken or fish, and alcohol by tomato juice. Must remember plenty of water too, thanks Kat...
Haze, sorry you'll have to picture a chipmunk for the time being I'm afraid, I may post an 'after' pic but for now, here's the 'before' ppffffft:
I'm not sure I could go the stretch, I'd be too tempted to 'grab stuff' on the fasting days, but I've read some of the posts and understood the detail. I do need to think about it some more. Thanks for the pointer!
Not yet for the cross trainer Kat, expected date according to Mrs H is Thursday. I've been a bit lax over the last few days with kids broken bones et al, but similarly have stopped the rot which is a good thing I think. Start in ernest tomorrow, currently 15 st 9 lbs so no gain...no loss
With the objective and timeframe in mind, KK's 5:2 diet is starting to look very interesting :confused:
Technically true Kat m'luv, I'm just being pessimistic at the moment as I think the odd pound here or there is inconsequential, kinda depends on whether I'm wearing socks or not!
I'll try harder from tomorrow, I think a two pound loss to around 15/7 will be an affirmation of whatever it is I'm doing right :confused:
That is, when i take it as seriously as quitting smoking, without excuses. I will do it :rolleyes:
Well, one week in and the cross trainer hasn't arrived, apparantly it's somewhere in Kent. Hopeless! Due for delivery on Tuesday now.
I haven't stuck completely to my plan, I've had a couple of glasses of wine but no cheese or red meat, and no pizza or pasta (I swear if I lived in Italy I'd be the size of a rhino by now:eek:). This weekend may be a small challenge as family are away and leaving me to my own devices, but I'll be relatively disciplined I think.
Anyhow, stopped the rot. Scales at 15st 8lbs this morning, and I think for motivation I'll use 15/10lbs (almost what's on the pic earlier in the thread) as my starting weight. That makes it 2lbs off from peak
This thing that now resides on our garage is not a cross trainer. It is an instrument of abject torture. I thought I'd used enough energy contorting into wierd positions just to put the damn thing together to shed a pound or two, but alas no.
Instructions:
Assembly step one - count the parts and nuts/bolts/washers provided and make sure you have all 87 of them before you begin. 87 bits!
Step 2 - throw away the tools we have provided for assembly and use your own, for the ones we have given you are entirely useless and will lead to bloodshed from slippage.
Step 3 - put it together, then stare at it for ten minutes wondering what in the name of all that is holy you've let youself in for.
Mrs H has used it already, and for ten minutes directly afterwards she had a look on her face I have never seen before. :eek:
My only excuse now is finding the time, and I have to do that. It will be six weeks of hell, but I've done this kind of thing before, and I'm expecting two things by the time the holiday rolls around at the end of May: I'll be lighter than I am now, and I'll have calf muscles like razor blades.
ohhh, it does sound rather scary. Are you going to be belting out some music to cross train to? That will get the neighbours wondering what is going on. without music or a TV, I would imagine it could get pretty boring.
good luck with your loss, you have already got passed the first hurdle of putting all 87 bits together ( I am assuming that you didn't have any bits 'left over':eek
we are all looking forward to seeing the proof of the scales
Kit Kat I agree with you about the alternate day fasting diet. I've lost 11 lbs in 6 weeks. I don't do alternate days and I don't totally fast. I have diet days on Mondays and Thursdays where I try to keep calories to about 600. The other days I eat what I want when I want....apart from chocolate. I have limited that to a treat every now and then. I'm so chuffed because it's so easy to do and it works.
Glad to oblige Kat, hope the zumba thing went ok at the weekend? Becky - that is sooo great, I'm actually amazed. Well done!
Trea, yes indeed. I have to drown out the grunts somehow I think. So what should the toones of choice be then...something with a steady beat I think? But not punk. I think if I tried exercising to white riot by the clash I'd proper hurt myself!
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I can't believe how hard day 2 is!
This is going to be hard :(
