Struggling with Weight Loss

[OldGuy67]

Over Christmas I put on 8 and half lbs. Since then I have managed to lose 4lb. Last week I gained 1lb. That was the result of Pancake day, Valentines day and Chinese new year. The hard part for me is motivation. I belong to Slimming World and find the meeting therapeutic and help me keep an eye on weight creep. Largely it works but I get frustrated when I don't seem to reach my targets. I Guess we are all different but I just need to kick start again. My partner also attends slimming world we celebrate weighing in day with treats such as bread cakes on Saturday followed by Sunday roast. We all need to have treats to make it all worthwhile. I will add one point that you may find interesting about exercise. Exercise is great for making you feel better in your body image but it is unlikely to result in weight loss. I have proved this by not taking exercise for a week and improved my weight loss. However I normally exercise in the gym 3 times a week and visit the Sauna, Steam Room once a week. I must say it makes me feel good about myself. I hope you find my personal opinions useful. Good luck all with your Journey just try not to do it on your own its so tough!

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

Thanks for sharing what works for you OldGuy, you're looking very well on it

Please take heed though, your picture and post are open to the entire www, if you don't lock your posts.

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

Onwards and downwards!

[Tiggerr]

You've done so well up to now and you're only a few pounds short of your pre-xmas weight.

As you're an old hand here (so to speak), this is a bit like teaching granny to suck eggs... but coming on here regularly, is a great way of maintaining a permanent focus

Loads of good exercise too, though as you say, its actual baring on weight loss isn't as substantial as food management.

Good luck!

[Pineapple27]

Hi OldGuy67 - well done on the weight loss and losing the 4lbs since Christmas!

Just wondering if you can break free from the idea of food as a "reward"? Otherwise it will be inevitable that you'll slip back into bad eating habits....

Those of us who are over weight have been used to "treating" ourselves, eating portions that are too large, eating the things that we know are calorific because we can!

It's been a combination of changing all of those aspects of how I behave around food that has meant I have been successful this time.

I rarely eat "on the hoof" any more, I rarely eat between meals. I take time to sit at a table and present my meals nicely. I take a moment or two to really look at my plate of food before I pick up my knife and fork.

I do have sweet treats, but I buy my own choice, so things like 2 finger Kitkat, single finger Twix, Club biscuit... these are all around 100 calories. I keep them in a tin and I can have one whenever I want to, but I limit it to no more than one a day and usually with my afternoon cup of tea. That's not to say I eat one on a daily basis (usually about 2-3 times a week). They are always logged into my diary.

I have also learned not to plan each trip out of the house to include food. Once upon a time, I'd have included lunch with a trip into town, coffee and cake with a visit to the garden centre.

I now plan or even prepare a meal BEFORE I go out (usually a salad) so that I know exactly what I can eat as soon as I walk into the door... and don't turn to "what I fancy" (usually high calorie carbs that don't keep you full for very long...)

Mind you, both myself and my husband LOVE cooking - and I have to say that often I prefer what we make at home to food that is served to us in a restaurant!!!

I have to say that my palette has completely changed in the 6 years that I have been losing weight - cakes and very sweet things just don't have the same appeal to me any longer. I often eat something sweet and immediately regret it because it wasn't as nice as I anticipated it might be.

[OldGuy67]

Thanks for your very pertinent points, my main problem is that I am lazy and can't be bothered to cook. Luckily I have a lovely partner who prepared some meals for me. Motivation is the key for me and I look at my old photos when I was 3 stone heavier than I am now. (photo on my fridge of me now and then helps) I am fitter now than I have been in the last 20 years. So thanks for your kind words. Keep up your good work.