I have decided to try a different approach to weight loss...I have tried logging calories and it just doesn't work for me! I have started following Joe Wicks (getting in with the trend!) and have been doing this for 3 weeks now...I can't believe how much food I get to eat, it is amazing! I am doing his HIIT exercises on youtube and they are difficult but I can see the improvement in my fitness already. You also get a carby meal afterwards which is a good motivator when doing the HIITS I do generally feel that something I can sustain and the food is delicious! It has changed my mind set and really educated me about what types of food my body needs and when. I went out for dinner last night and did a HIIT session before then had chicken skewers with rice and salad - I would never have ordered that before but it was lovely and fits in with the low fat/carb meal that you eat after a work out.
I haven't weighed myself yet - I am waiting until the end of the 4 weeks and hopefully will see a drop. I get demotivated if I don't lose anything in a week and tend to go back to my old habits of eating so I thought I'd wait. It's been hard not to step on the scales though! My starting weight was 10 stone 10 lbs. I am only 5ft 1" so that puts me overweight (and it is all on my belly!) but I am not going to focus on a target weight - I am going to judge it on the way I look. I have taken measurements and photos in my undies and will take more photos when I am at 4 weeks. I am hoping this works because I have never had a diet where I can eat so much food!! The only thing is my shopping bill has gone up loads to keep up with the demand!!
Is anyone else trying this approach?
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NoMoreJunk
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A lot of people have success with Joe Wicks, I liked his to programme but they only showed one 😕
My philosophy is moderation in all things, and the longer things take to digest the better, hence I prefer low GI carbs 😊 It's amazing how full I feel after 25-50 g wholemeal pasta
Hello! That's good to hear, I am hoping to see results next week when I do my weigh in eeek! I love it because you get to eat so much food, but its all good for you The HIITs are hard to begin with (he has some beginner ones on youtube) but you soon get fitter!
Sadly I'm unable to exercise much because of disability, but since last October, I've been following a low carb Mediterranean style diet and increasing my consumption of "good" fats and cutting out processed foods, especially those with a lot of added sugar. I did Michael Mosley's 8 week Blood Sugar Diet - cutting out potatoes, pasta, rice, bread, wheat/grain products and trying to stick to 800 calories a day for 8 weeks. I struggled with the 800 calories, but most days I was below 1,000 and lost 13lb in 7 weeks, which I was VERY happy with as my weight loss had stalled and I am fairly close to my goal weight.
I now incorporate Greek yogurt, regular cottage cheese, avocado, oily fish such as mackerel, nuts (in small quantities), peanut butter (100% peanuts), butter, olive oil. I have increased the beans and pulses that I consume.
I've VERY short (4ft 9") and sedentary, so believe me, I have tried most ways of eating to discover what works best in the 5 years I've been losing my weight!
Love Jo Wicks' enthusiasm though and I would LOVE to be able to do the HIIT sessions along with my diet! I'm sure it would increase my losses...
Hi Pineapple27, that's fab you are so close to your goal! We just need to do what we can with the body we have and you certainly are! I get hangry so I think my boyfriend would disown me if I ate less that 1000 calories a day, I would be a walking nightmare! The Mediterranean diet is meant to be a really good one. I do think sugar is the devil! Keep going, you don't sound like you are far off and I bet you feel better for eating such as healthy diet!
Well done at finding a plan that works for you NoMoreJunk .
I love my body coach recipe books and his approach is very refreshing.
Can I ask, do you use recipes straight from the books? I found the volume of protein too much personally and that I although I felt great my shape didn't change that much. I already worked out anyway and found that only eating carbs on workout days was just too restrictive for me.
I think we are all so individual that we each have to find our own way. I have found that calorie counting has been a real eye opener and works for me at the moment.
Hi Active_43, I am using the books, but I do struggle to eat the amounts of food. I tend to not use the whole amount - he has one recipe where it says you have 2 sea bass fillets! One, I can't afford that and I couldn't possible eat it so I just have 1 fillet. I have been doing it for 3 weeks but haven't weighed/measured myself yet (next week!). I don't think there has been much change but I am hoping I haven't noticed it because it's gradual...I think I have toned up though.
I have IBS and I have realised that carbs are actual a trigger food for me (another positive from doing this!) but I seem okay when I eat carbs after a workout. If I eat them without a workout it flares up.
I think we need to find out what works for us as individuals and stick with it! I got fed up of inputting my calories all the time but it works wonders for others!
Luckily, I love midget trees hehe! Good luck with your plan
I've also been exercising after I've consumed carbs in order to burn it off. I've considered the low carb diet, but that's simply not an option for me, as I have no control over what I eat, as I am reliant upon my mother for food.
It sucks, because I believe I may have insulin resistance, mainly due to the fact that my mother has diabetes, and I've heard it may be slightly hereditry (?).
But, even before I was exercising, the carbs didn't seem to be hurting my weight loss. The exercise helps a lot. Unfortunately, I can't do HIIT as you can, as I'm MUCH larger. I struggle with low intensity workouts, lol!
On the Joe Wicks plan, you only eat carbs after you exercise (this took my a while to get my head round). So, you eat high fat, low carb meals when you are not training to make your body go into fat burning mode. When you exercise you are burning fat as your body is still in fat burning mode, but after you train your body needs some immediate food to help it recover, so you then eat high carb, low fat to make your body use the carbs as fuel for repair and then it does not store the carbs as fat. That is my understanding anyway!
It is difficult when you are living at home - I was trying to healthy eat a couple of years a go when I moved back in and my Mom is a feeder! In the end, I said I would do my own shop and cook my own food and explained why. Mom was okay with it. She is now obsessed with cooking me low carb things now when I go round for dinner!
I do think exercising is the main factor with the HFLC way of life, I don't think I would be losing weight unless I was doing the training. Like I have said above, we need to do what we can with the body we have so you may not be able to do HIIT now but you will in the future
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I do generally feel that something I can sustain and the food is delicious! It has changed my mind set and really educated me about what types of food my body needs and when. I went out for dinner last night and did a HIIT session before then had chicken skewers with rice and salad - I would never have ordered that before but it was lovely and fits in with the low fat/carb meal that you eat after a work out.
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