its not easy but stick at it

[scater82]

with years of different "diets and fad meal plans" it has taken a change of how I view things to make the changes work.

Now I have always been a large person 25st at my heaviest (i'm 6'2") but i have always been active, always played in all the teams for schools and uni and on top of that an active athlete that trains 3-5 times a week depending on work and injuries. so it has always baffled me as to why i was alot bigger than most my friends that did, well not alot in comparrison. Very very upsetting at times as well. portion sizes were right with regards to fueling for the training/exercise i was doing nope weight kept piling on or not shifting. Tried the whole have more calories going out than going in thing and well that just made things worse.

Body goes into a starvation mode and stores everything!!! bit more technical than that but easier to type out.

Soo something needed to change and it appeares to be how i was focusing my efforts on the weight loss part, now rather than focusing on the weight loss as a goal I just focused on the being fit part..... now believe it or not to can be overweight and fit. I have got down to 21st as a by product of this I eat what i want in moderation as part of a mixed varied diet... with a few exceptions due to being diagnosed type 2 diabetic. how ever this is all under good control with my blood readings regularly between 4.6-4.8 so all happy days there. Apparently the on set of this was due to the fad diets and rapid fluctuations in weight loss and then gain.

if you put my stats down on paper and then looked at me you'd think it was wrong... nice resting heart rate of 46 beats per minute and a blood pressure of 112/76 with a cholesterol level thats lower than my GP's. As an asthmatic my Peak flow is off the standard chart .... it goes by age and height in cm. For an average 30yr old male of 188cm you'd be expecting to get around 650, on most days I can get around 780-800... the chart only goes up to 680!

peakflow.com/pefr_normal_va... heres the chart so you can take look. after an asthma attack its been as low as 200 which is not on the scale either. so when things are good they are very good haha. I am quite lucky in that i can monitor most of these regualrly with the job role that i have as a Health Trainer in the NHS its what I do.

But try not to get too focused on weight loss, if you have a healthy diet and do exercise it will happen.... wont always notice the results externally for a while.

You may start to just feel a little more energetic, less lethargic and tired, have better concentraition. You may feel better about yourself and be happier in general. But feel put off with it all because your not geting the desired look you want with your body image... keep at it!!

Internally things will be changing, lower cholesterol levels, less fatty build up in arteries and around organs. these changes you may not be seen on the scales but you may feel them and see them in inches being lost and your body shape changing

We are our own worst critics you may not want to see those changes unless you have something you can measure like a number on the screen of your scales....soo if someone gives you a compliment take it in and be proud that you are doing something to better yourself.

Few Tips then:

Weighing yourself....

use same scales same place same time or as close to as you can each time. different scales vary by quite a bit. times of day you weigh differently, best time to get weighed is first thing before food and fluids are entering the body. try and weight once a month dont get obsessed with it. maybe measure your hips/waist/thigh and arms as well once a month so if things dont show on the scales they may show on the tape measure.??

try and get a healthy sleeping habit in place.....

Lack of sleep and being lethargic will make you crave the carbs and quick sugar fixes and also be more reluctant to so any activites/exercise. Set alarms and on days off get up at same time as you would in the week if you are in bed same time each night youll probably find than on the weekends after a few weeks the alarm wont be set and youll be waking up about 5mins before an alarm would be going off anyway. The body likes routine...

swap it dont stop it when it comes to snacks....

If you're feeling peckish rather than grabbing that chocolate biscuit could you swap it for a healthier option thats relaistic such as a digestive or rich tea? fruit/nuts

just for example if you ate a bag of walkers crisps 1 pack a day for a month you would be taking in around 500ml of oil, yet swap them for the baked walkers and the same amount of 1 bag a day for a month you would only be taking in around 100ml of oil. small changes add up!!!!

Get your 5 a day in...

vitamins and minerals play an integral part of all the processes that happen within your body.

Dont shop when your hungry....

Make a list and stick to it, supermarkets are laid out purposfully to get you to walk past the bargains and treats with most having the bakery at the back of the store to tempt you over there past everything else. If you shop when your hungry your likely to pick up alot more than you need/want.

Feeling hungry???

Try drinking some water/fluids first see if it helps... the body gives off the same signals for dehydration as it does hunger so if its an hour or 2 before dinner then have a glass of water that should tide you over.

BREAKFAST....EAT IT

Make time for BREAKFAST... if you "dont have time" what about a yoghurt or banana with a portion of nuts that can be eaten on the go. youll not feel sluggish and be able to concentrait better, plus this can be eaten round getting the kids ready. No Excuses

hope this hasnt bored you all.

[Hidden]

Hi scater82,

I'd agree with much of that, except perhaps the comment about 'starvation mode'.

I'd also add that getting into a good eating routine is something that I found really helpful in my weight loss journey. I personally went for a meal-snack-meal-snack-meal-snack routine to try to ensure that I didn't go for more than about 4 hours without anything to eat. That helps to prevent the blood sugar dropping too low and inhibiting fat burn.

However, whilst in the final analysis it is a matter of choice what body weight a person chooses to be, the facts of the matter are that those with higher BMIs and therefore higher percentages of body weight are much more prone to a wider variety of medical issues such as heart problems, cancer, skeletal issues, etc., etc.

Some of that is due to no greater fact than those who over-feed themselves (my former self included) end up lugging around 24/7 an amount of extra weight which puts additional stress upon their skeleton, heart, respiration, etc., etc.. (In my case, an extra, quite unnecessary, 4 stone odd).

I also think that people need to be clear about separating two issues, i.e. fitness and healthiness.

It is totally feasible for someone with serious health issues (including weight related problems) to be quite active and fit. Or to be quite muscular but also carry significant excessive body fat too.

In by far the majority of cases - excepting certain medical issues - whilst there may be family or societal factors to it, there is predominantly only one person who is the cause of an individual's overweight. It's a self-inflicted problem.

I am so glad that I took the bull by the horns and took control of my eating and my body weight. My lighter, slimmer body is just so much easier to move around in and, indeed, to live in. And my new eating habits are much healthier - i.e. I'm now eating less but getting much better nutrition from my food - than the ones that were causing me to be overweight.

My only ongoing doubts remain as i) why did I ever let myself get as large as I did? and ii) why didn't I get my weight under control years earlier?

Good luck to everyone with their weight loss efforts.

[suzybenj]

To both of you - useful reminders of what is what. I like the grounded comments about the less eating but getting better nutition. In reference to doiskop last two questions - salutory reading - but I guess if was that easy we wouldn't all be here on this site..but still something to think about....