I was very surprised to see I have both of the above and have to introduce a healthy lifestyle, I have gained alot of weight over the last five years,I have become complacent about my health and now am shocked with my results from my tests.
Any ideas where I can start to change above and diet ideas,welcomed
First of all find a good site to monitor your calorie intake. (I use foodfocus.co.uk).It takes into consideration your age, height and activity level, then tells you how many calories a day you can have to lose 1 or 2lbs a week It's a free site too.. I did have a cholesterol of 6.9 at one time, but have now managed to get it to 5.0.
Cut down on your fat intake. I went on to low fat olive spread, and found that really helped. Trim all fat from your meat, and leave out the cheese. Make sure that you have your 5 fruit and veg each day.
Good luck with your efforts.
Thank you so much,the support is most encouraging and I intent to continue,I have been told by my GP that I now have medical problems,as I previously mentioned and this is a good reason to take care of my diet and wellbeing and lower my cholesterol,you have done so well , Thank you,
Hi teriscriv,
If you have a good read up of the NHS live well lose weight pages,you'll find much of what you need, including a BMI calculator - a good starting point - and a free 12 week plan.
You'll also find lots of good advice on these blogs which are mainly written by people who are actually on a weight loss journeys themselves.
Then it's pretty much a matter of making a decision of how much weight you intend to lose.
Once you have that determined, plan to lose it at an average rate of about 1 to 2 lbs (1 kg max) a week. You'll probably lose more at first, and your journey will have its blips and its spurts, but that's a healthy and approriate sort of rate for weight loss.
It's also a good idea to set yourself some milestones (mini-goals) to tick off as you go.
Then make a commitment to yourself, your body and your ongoing health and fitness to get on the weight loss bus.
I did that on 11th January weighing 106.1 kgs and this morning I'm 87.5 kgs. I've still go a bit to go to get to "normal" BMI, i.e. under 25, but I feel so much better for it that I really don't know how to put it into words.
The only nagging question for me is, why didn't I do this years ago?
Good luck with your weight loss journey.
Thank you so much for your help and suggestions,I will do as you have suggested.I am pleased to see how well you have done,my BMI.another big problem,I have to admit,I have become very lazy and used my car to go anywhere.I am on my journey now to get well . I think it is so easy to forget how much of a impact gaining weight has on health and wellbeing.
I have dieted so many times it is unbelievable,I did not have weight problems in my earlier years ,I am now in my 50s and wow ,it is a battle to not look at a biscuit or cake but I am encouraged by the sharing I have received,thank you
Hi terriscriv,
One tip - and for me, this took me a while to really sink in.
You're overweight because you continue with "bad" eating and "bad" exercise/activity habits - those are what have made you overweight and will continue making you more overweight unless you take control of the situation.
So you need to be brutally honest with yourself about what, when and how much you eat. You need to count E V E R Y thing. Not just at home or work, but on the journeys back and forth, when you're out shopping, all through your weekend (or equivalent if you do rota or shift work), when you're socialising, etc., etc.
You need to count not just the main part of the food, but the sauces, toppings, gravies (often the fattiest and/or most calorific parts) and be truly honest about the portion sizes. Yes, and ALL (not just some) of the chocolate bars, biscuits, cakes, crisps, fizzy drinks, glasses of wine, pints of beer, etc., etc. E.g, a slice of toast has less calories than a slice of toast with peanut butter on it, a piece of cod in batter has more calories than without, a few raspberries suddenly have a lot more calories if you drown them in extra thick dairy cream, etc., etc.
It's not about being on a "diet" - it's about changing your ways of eating and your exercise/activity levels to first reduce your weight and then maintain a healthy weight.
If you're reasonably overweight, you'll find that when you have lost your weight, you'll need less food (as you don't need the same level of calories to 'maintain' your lower body mass), so wave one final 'good-bye' to the way you do things now, 'cos you ain't going back there!
If you just "diet", without changing your underlying habits and choices, you just end up being a "yo-yo" dieter.
The nub of it is, that if you don't know what made you overweight - you'll not know how to lose your excess weight.
Good luck with your weight loss journey.
I so agree with you as I have tried all the other ways and I only cheated myself,this is so good of you and I will do as advised,It is inspirational to hear others especially when I know they have succeeded and continue to do so as you say it has to be a way of life and good eating habits,not just now and again, I have take note and will look and count all not just some of the food I consume daily
Thank you, I did not follow the good advice so I am back to beginning again,I will now count everything and make notes of exercises etc
Remember that it's not just the calories, it's the type of food you eat as well. Try to avoid processed carbs, like white bread, breakfast cereals and foods with added sugar.
Thank you Penel ,for you help,I am now taking your suggested advice and this is a new beginning with healthy eating for me
I am now on the brown breads and pasta and watching my fibre,carbs and far intake.Hidden said it all when mentioning everything should be counted in my daily intake, I constantly make a good start and do lose weight and feel energetic and non bloated and then without noticing I take myself back on the over eating and wrong foods and back to square one. This is the first thing for me to do,stop going backwards .
Thank you all so much
My cholesterol is still a little high,the receptionist at my doctors stated but can be managed by diet,I am doing this now ,but there are times when I just seem to want to have the wrong foods so have to be vigilant .Distraction helps at times but not always,once I see the crisps etc,I appear to have no willpower,logging on here is really helping me ,thank you all
British Heart Foundation has a free cholesterol and fats info course. Information and dietary changes are the way forward . Good luck. You can bring your cholesterol levels down with diet and exercise.
This is quite an old post you’ve replied to so you may not receive many responses
Thanks lol
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