Joined today looking for help to loose weight, Started off at around 22 Stone and am now down to 15.4 in just over a year.
See picture to laugh
Iv always been heavy and have found it hard to not over eat, I destroyed my knee in a motorbike accident when I was 19, which really didn't help my situation, after that I pretty much just sat indoors watching TV for the next 16 years.
In 2015 I started to change my life, I moved away from Leicester where I was able to get any takeaway etc I wanted 24/7 and it was cheaper to eat junk than healthy, and delivery was free ! oww the temptations...
Anyway I sold up and moved to Stafford, mainly for the peace and quiet, here I have begun to take charge of my life, Iv been trying to keep to under 1000 calories aday on a low carb diet the last year.
anyone else crave bread ?? lol
Weight loss so far about 7 stones, I've gone from a size 54 jean to a 42 now so am happy to see results.
But one thing still plagues me, Whenever I look in a mirror I see no difference, I see no weight loss, why is that ?
Anyway thanks to anyone who reads this, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Written by
Dave78
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Fab, so very well done, I think you see yourself, a form of body dysmorphia, think of what you have achieved!
I still see fat, and hate my bloated days ( the old hormones at 54), it's just life and much better with herbal tablets.............my weight does nor define myself totally, just a part of me
I just wanted to welcome you to the forum, and say thanks for posting your photos. To be honest, you look lovely in both photos, but I can tell the difference between them, as you do look slimmer at your new weight. Congratulations on losing that weight, you must be feeling healthier and I hope that's a good feeling. However, how we see ourselves sometimes is a completely different matter, and you said you haven't noticed much difference yourself, regarding how you look.
I used to be 18 stone 8 pounds at my heaviest and when I see photos of myself at that weight I am shocked by how different I look. I'm just over 13 stone currently, at 13 stone 0.8 pounds. However, I still find it interesting that I 'feel' as if I'm still a larger person - i.e. when I'm walking around and about. So for me, the lag seems to be in terms of feeling how much space I feel I'm filling physically. I'm not sure if that makes sense. I am still surprised when I get comments from people who say 'you're skinny' or 'you're slim' - it takes me by surprise, and I think - do they mean 'me'? I think it takes a while for our minds to catch up with a change in our bodies.
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy being part of this forum, and I'd like to give you the link to a 'Welcome Newbie' pack that Moreless has collated, which has some of the things that people have enjoyed about this forum - it literally has lots of things on it, so you might find something that you find interesting and helpful to your ongoing weight loss journey:
If you like the idea of a group weigh-in, then please do join us in the Monday group weigh-in sessions. You can see a link to the latest one (happening today), in the 'Events' section of the homepage (right-hand-side of that page).
Wishing you a great week ahead.
Lowcal
Congratulations Dave on a fab transformation, you look really good and noticeably different from your before photo😃
To not see your wgt loss is a bit of a worry,but it does take a long time for the eyes to catch up with the reality.
You do see the changes in your clothes and hopefully you will start to recognise the huge changes you have made and are making😃
I think to have managed to get all that way down is amazing and the diet obviously works I am doing the same and hope to look as healthy as you do 3 months down the line.
xx
PS I was in the forces and both knees kaput at 20, one a bit of a mess, so dieting, tried it all apart from what I am doing now, low carb, low cal, and like you healthy omega fat in fish and very lean meat. Do not be daunted, keep going, all you need now is an increase in self esteem.
I appreciate what I'm doing isn't for everyone but so far its working for me.
About the under 1000 calories aday, some days its under 500 but I do have treats to, what I'm doing is this.
Everyday I eat one meal, no snacks, for example
Steak and eggs, griddled steak, fried eggs
Roast chicken breast and veg, no added oil etc , cooked in own juices
Beef or chicken stew, cooked all day in a slow cooker, meat and veg
Bacon Eggs tomatoes , my cut down all day breakfast , yum
Italian Chicken, chicken cooked in slow cooker, tomatoes garlic herbs.
And that's about it, no bread or bakery products, no rice, potatoes etc
If I'm truly staving during the day or at night I will have either a can of tuna or a can of soup, maybe have the extra twice a week, really helps kill the cravings.
Once a week normally a Saturday I have a free pass day, this is the day I go out for a treat, normally fish and chips or a carvery, maybe a donut or a bar of chocolate, avoid the multipacks, because if you buy them to same money if its in your house you will eat them all , lol
On my free pass day I leave the car at home, If I want a treat then I gotta earn it, I cycle the 6-7 mile round trip to my town centre, same with cravings during the week, on Monday this week I did cycle 7 miles for a donut
And yes it was worth it !
I find cycling doesn't hurt my knee, I just switched from an electric peddle assisted bike to a normal one, the electric bike was a godsend able to get out and get some exercise without worrying if I would make it home, at my heaviest 22 stones I liked to cycle down the canal, river paths into town, peaceful no cars , no one to point and laugh etc.
So that's what Iv been doing in my 1 year diet , 22st to 15.4 so far, any advice or feedback greatfully appreciated.
Woo-hoo! You look great - well done! I know what you mean about looking in the mirror and not seeing a difference, it is because we see ourselves every day and the changes are so small on a daily basis. I bet if you were to bump into someone who hasn't seen you in months they would be flabergasted.
As for bread - I still include it in my diet, but not too much.
You seriously can't see that you are half the size you used to be? One thing I found helped, was to try on the old fat clothes. I think mirrors are a problem, when we are fat we change how we stand so we look our best, or we just look to see if the colours are OK together etc, limited checking. I suggest that you look at photos of yourself. For a lot of us, it is that photo (you know the one) that made us realise how fat we were and gave us the impetus to change. Maybe use the two above as screen savers, I am sure you will start to see yourself as you really were and as you really are. Try putting clothes in your new size on top of your clothes at your largest and see the difference. And realise that the change is twice as much as that because the clothes have a front and a back. If all the old ones went in the move, try doing this in a shop and maybe take a photo of that. You have lost 7 stone, that is a small woman! So you have lost a whole person. I am looking forward to hearing your ideas. Anyone who can lose 7 stone in a year, has really got this business of healthy eating. Thank you for sharing your success. I really wish you could teach the men in my life, who both have at least the weight you have lost, to lose. Thank you for the inspiration. What would your ideal weight be? Do you have a target yet?
On the bread thing, don't know if my tricks will help but... I buy all my bread in portions, so ready sliced, crumpets, thins, bagels, wraps, pitta and rolls. I keep them all in the freezer and just get out what I am planning to use. This keeps them available but not too available! I find medium sliced bread practically defrosts while I am making the sandwich. I do toast some of the others as I find crispy bread more satisfying. This system also means I can stock up with my favourites and have a lot of variety, which I really like. What's your best idea?
Hi Venus, I avoid bread completely, but sometimes have wraps, but mostly I make like a thin omelette and use that , or whisk an egg white until fluffy and spread it out on a baking sheet, it comes out like a wrap and is healthy.
but mainly an omelette is a great bread replacement, ideal for wraps tacos etc etc, can even use for sandwich , lol
I think my ideal weight would be about 12 stone, or when I can fit into anything a size medium, that's the goal and to fix my diabetes through healthy living
I was amazed in December when I went shopping and could fit into store bought trousers and jeans, normally I had to order my clothes online, I think that was the first time I realised I had actually lost weight.
I ordered scales from ebay, making sure they could go upto my 22 stones, and first time I stood on them I was shocked to see I was 17 stones ! shocked isn't a strong enough word but you can imagine...
Since December my weight has been dropping steadily, and hopefully I can keep it up.
How wonderful your scales story is. Have you had a look at the BMI information on the NHS website? And the information on how many kcal a man your size can lose weight on? Just a bit worried at how little you are eating. I think what you are doing has served you well for losing weight, but it sounds a bit harsh for life. I know there are scientists out there who think we will live longer when we fast, but it might just seem that we are living for longer! Just wondered if you could learn a more normal pattern of eating in the next stage of your weight loss plan, so that you have learned how to do it for life, once you get to goal. After all, you want to stay slim and not have to go through this process again. But I know from trying similar diet plans to yours that this method is a very filling way of eating. I just don't lose weight when I do it. Mind you, I would have had 3 meals a day and not been restricting kcal or portion size, just the types of foods I ate.
Hi Venus, yes Iv used the bmi calc, I'm still obese , same as I was at 22 stone, no change there, they should add another category to that, normal, overweight , obese, your going to die, lol
Iv tried many diets and eating plans over the years being diabetic, however Iv never seen any results on the scales, I was once put on a high dairy diet, lots of cheese and milk etc, and that didn't work.
So I ignored everything on tv and the web etc and asked a friend for advice, she suggested a low or no carb diet, I don't count calories just keep my portions sensible and only eat once aday.
I was taught that our body only burns body fat after 10 hours of not eating, so by only eating once a day my body will burn more body fat.
I tried a similar diet afew years ago, but with oats for breakfast and a healthy lunch and dinner, basically spreading low calories throughout the day, this did not work for me however.
My plan when I reach my ideal weight it to start having lunch again, and toast for breakfast... I really miss toast *weeps*
I haven't noticed any side effects to what I'm doing, I just try to make my meals as healthy as possible, and as natural as possible, nothing processed.
You have followed the same path as me Dave. I did once lose about 1 stone following the high fat diet and ended up allergic to eggs and seriously intolerant to diary. My cholesterol (previously very good) went through the roof on the bad side and I developed high blood pressure. Not good and I did it for 18 months, mainly because it was a good excuse to eat all my favourite fatty stuff that I had not eaten in years (eggs, bacon, cream, cheese, pepperami full fat milk etc).
This time I am eating 3 times a day, sugar free jelly and fruit for breakfast, tuna or cottage cheese or other (135 cal max) with loads of pickled stuff (love pickles) celery. Dinner not after 6pm lots of veg, protein limited to very lean or fish but a decent 135g uncooked weight. Plus, dodgy knees allowing, I am trying to do the 2:1 high intensity workout which is only 20 min (most days only doing 10 min).
It's all well and good people saying increase your exercise but when you can't achieve full aerobic to really get your metabolic rate going because of injury or illness pain, weight gets out of control and then you have to get down to a level you can start doing some without crippling yourself. I share your pain lol
Same here, just spend most of my life trying to hide the problem, letting people think that I was just lazy because i needed to have a career that would let me earn a very good wage. Disability not accepted, so just tried to preserve what was left of my knees. No longer possible and had to accept other issues about 4 years ago now. I often laugh when people say, just cut out the deserts, or chocolate or maybe join a gym. I was always in a gym but could only do strength exercises and have always done leg strengthening regardless or i would not be walking. I even have my own treadmill as the only safe way to walk any distance, which I am using now. Up until 4 years ago i was still doing power walking on it 5 miles 3 times a week, when another illness hit and floored me and no treadmill until recently.
Perhaps we should write that plan you talk about or set up a forum on here for the fat, crippled and misunderstood
Well whatever it is, it is working fine. As long as you can do it. I do think you must be incredibly strong willed to manage your diet. It'll be great when you get to goal. I am so impressed with what you are achieving. Good luck for the rest of the week and that next weigh in.
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