help

[mel6677]

im finding it hard to lose weight

[harleychick]

Yeah it's never easy to loose weight. Do u get enough protien in your diet and enough exersize

[Vixbear]

There is no easy way I've found so keep going - some people find 5:2 diet works?

[FatbellyGutbucket]

Hi Mel

You'll find lots of support and excellent suggestions here. Most of them come down to eat a bit less, improve what you do eat and be sure to get the right amount of regular exercise.

It's important to remember a couple of things. When you eat too much you store some of the excess as fat. When you don't eat enough to meet your needs you burn some of the stored fat, and lose a little weight. Unfortunately, when your body is consuming fat it's also consuming muscle. By exercising we are building muscle to replace what we've consumed but if we exercise too much we will turn too much fat into too much muscle. In the most extreme terms, which is heavier? 30kg of fat? Or 30kg of fat turned into muscle?

Obviously the science of human biology is far more complicated than that, but that (I think) is the essence of weight loss. I am obese - but technically, if I turn all my fat into muscle - I'll still be obese.

My aim, now, is try to only exercise enough to maintain my muscle mass while I'm losing fat mass. While I'm doing that I'll, hopefully, improve the health of my internal organs. When I'm down to the lower end of 'overweight' I'll probably start to build some muscle mass.

I've also found that it's essential to allow yourself to go hungry. The current recommendation seems to be to have a low-cal day 2 days out of 5 - and that's what seems to be working for me.

Time to get off my expounding plank, now. Sorry if I've been "teaching you to suck eggs". Good luck with your future you. It ain't easy to get there but it'll be worth it.

[FatbellyGutbucket in reply to FatbellyGutbucket]

Sorry - 2 days out of 7 (hence 5:2).

Doh!

[Penel in reply to FatbellyGutbucket]

Hi, here's an article about fat and muscle, which I hope you might find informative. When you exercise, fat is turned into energy and carbon dioxide.

weightwatchers.com/util/art...

[FatbellyGutbucket in reply to Penel]

Sorry, probably "if I turn all my fat into muscle - I'll still be obese." was a little badly phrased.

I meant (hopefully more clearly) "if I replace all my fat with muscle I'll still be obese."

[Penel in reply to FatbellyGutbucket]

And you would be incredibly fit!

[FatbellyGutbucket in reply to Penel]

I'd have a lot of muscle, but that doesn't equate to being 'fit'.

In reality, of course, it would take a great deal of exercise. It was proposed as a thought exercise (which is heavier - a lb of lead, or a lb of feathers?). Go to any gym and you'll see at least one muscle-bound loon gloating and pouting in front of a mirror. So muscle-bound and heavy in relation to his height he's almost certainly overweight, if not obese, using the standard method of calculating BMI. Whether he started obese/overweight, or body-built to the point of absurdity, the result is the same. Just as we are, he has a body out of balance. We're out of balance because we used to over-eat - he's out of balance because he over-exercises. Not healthy. He might get away with it, but I wouldn't expect it to take him into old age without problems. I don't want to end up where he is.

I aim for a healthy reduction in weight, while increasing the proportion of muscle to fat, until I've reached a 'normal' weight. For me that would be 67kg - 'only' 16kg to go (near enough).

[gingernut49]

Others have suggested the 5:2 Diet, so here is all about it - it's very easy, and it works!

I lost the three stone I needed to on the 5:2 Diet after watching Michael Mosley's excellent Horizon programme in 2012, "Eat, Fast and Live Longer" tinyurl.com/qzgo7tq or tinyurl.com/a8ppjl7 and went from a size 16 to a size 10 by eating 500 calories two non-consecutive days a week. I've been maintaining my weight loss since April 2013 by just fasting one day a week - in the past I piled the weight back on as soon as I finished 'dieting'. I'd very much recommend you read Kate Harrison's book, "The 5:2 Diet" (tinyurl.com/qe6mz4u) - it really does work and it will save you a fortune (towards your smaller clothes!).

I'd also very much recommend a free app for your phone called MyFitnessPal. Counting calories is very important so you can see how much you're eating and therefore eat mindfully rather than mindlessly. There are excellent videos in the Help section on the app that show you how it works - there's even a barcode reader to scan in branded foods.

It's important you don't eat more than your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) on non-fasting days. You can work that out here thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-.... If yours works out at more than 2000 then aim at 2000 on non-fasting days.

Here I am in the Daily Mail on 7th January tinyurl.com/m7rqecq. The other two ladies’ stories are inspiring!

Here Michael Mosley answers many questions on it dailymail.co.uk/health/arti...

This little video explains more youtu.be/W9Aj6hRYg4A(Not working as expected?)

[Trixie1]

I've had life-long struggle with weight loss and have found that cutting out snacks and increasing exercise levels is the thing that has finally helped me to gain some control. I've lost 4 stone in 2 years and have another one to lose. Very slow weight loss, but I'm maintaining it and feel that I now have a long term solution. I find writing a list of all the benefits of losing weight also helps, I've stuck it on the door of the fridge which tends to stop me from being tempted to snack. Good luck with everything.

[Penel]

Different things work for different people. I have found that cutting out processed carbs like cereal, bread, sugar, and getting my carbs from vegetables has worked for me.

There are various medical reasons why someone may not be able to lose weight. If you have tried everything, then check with your doctor. Good luck.