Fat and fifty

[Emilia88]

I am so fed up being seriously podgy. Vegetables are ok... but i have to make them my best friends for the rest of my life it i want to get slim and normal!!! It is a life long curse. Feels unfair as i have a skinny husband!

[TheAwfulToad Visitor]

Well, vegetables don't make you slim as such. It's more to do with the things that they displace from your plate (potatoes, pasta, rice...).

One serious problem with the "Eatwell plate" is that it advises people to get all their energy from carbs. Not only is this inadvisable for health reasons, it's not really physically possible. Your stomach only has a limited capacity (even though carbs compel you to over-eat), and because carbs are not very energy-dense, there's little room for anything else. For example, if you wanted to get 1200kCal from rice, you'd have to eat more than 1kg of cooked rice every day. That's a lot of rice! Similar math applies to pasta, bread and whatnot. In fact USDA guidelines do actually spell it out, telling people to eat unfeasibly vast portions of carbs.

So it's no wonder people aren't getting their veg.

Here's an experiment you can try, if people are allowed outside these days (I don't live in the UK, so I have no idea):

Take the family for lunch at the nearest Carvery with a good reputation. Skip the potatoes and the Yorkshire, and heap up your plate with veg instead (if they've done it right, they'll have cooked all the veg in meat dripping or similar). Add plenty of gravy. Do not limit your portions. Eat until you are full. That's a weight-loss meal. After you've finished, ask yourself: could I eat like this every day, for the rest of my life? Did I feel deprived by not filling up my plate with stodge? Hopefully, the answers are 'yes' and 'no' respectively.

(If you're not allowed out, or the restaurants are closed, of course you can just replicate the same thing at home...)

[Subtle_badger in reply to TheAwfulToad]

You're allowed out, and you are allowed into carveries, but you aren't allowed to fill your own plate. Apparently you have to point out what you want, and they fill your plate.

[TheAwfulToad Visitor in reply to Subtle_badger]

Good enough

[Hidden]

I would start by checking your BMI and working out what your calorie allowance is and what changes you're happy to make on a longterm basis. For myself I use intermittent fasting (IF) and go easy on the carbs and processed food. I keep an eye on the numbers with myfitnesspal and have lost 3st since end of October last year. I've had spells where I haven't lost weight or have gained, but that's been down to booze (I'm a problem drinker), so I try to avoid alcohol completely.

If you join a daily weigh-in group you'll find so much support and inspiration and also generally join in the forum as much as possible.

There's no "one size fits all" when it comes to losing or maintaining weight, so best of luck finding what works for you!

[Emilia88 in reply to Hidden]

Yes I like the sound of the IF. I try to eat breakfast at 10 and last meal of day at 6 ish.

I do like a nice drink of wine too. Hard at parties not to drink!!

A weigh in will help maybe. Where do i find these?

[Hidden in reply to Emilia88]

I think admin have sent you a link for the weigh ins or if not search Saturday Superstars weigh in Saturday 11 July sorry I don't know how to send links 🤷‍♀️

[Emilia88 in reply to Hidden]

Found it!! Thanks

[Emilia88 in reply to Hidden]

3 stone is fantastic

How much a week 1lb or so?

[Hidden in reply to Emilia88]

Thanks! It's not been linear to be honest, I've had ups and downs but this place keeps me getting back on track and overall I'm lighter and healthier 😊

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

Welcome back, Emilia88

Carrying on from TheAwfulToad's post, my Sunday lunch last week contained 10 different vegetables and no potatoes. I didn't feel a bit deprived. Have a look at this, because it's a way of eating for all - fat, thin, old, young and in between healthunlocked.com/api/redi...

As things have changed since you were last here, all of the information you need about the forum can be found in Pinned Posts healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... and I hope you'll be joining all the Events, Challenges and Clubs that we run, especially a weigh-in and the daily diary.

If you haven't already taken it, here's a tour of the forum healthunlocked.com/?tour=true

We've found active participation to be key to successful weight loss and, of course, it's a good way to get to know people, find inspiration and share support and encouragement.

Wishing you all the best

[Emilia88 in reply to moreless]

Thankyou. I will look now

[IndigoBlue61]

Your hubby maybe skinny but is he healthy? Refined carbohydrates and sugar isn’t good for anyone ☹️

[Emilia88 in reply to IndigoBlue61]

He is healthy with a normal appetite too ! He knows when to stop unlike me

[Subtle_badger in reply to Emilia88]

Is his waist less than half his height? if so, he probably is healthy.

But there are a lot of skinny guys that isn't true for.

[Emilia88]

If he was bigger i might look smaller😉

[Bee-bop Maintainer 2st 7lbs]

Were omnivores and were designed to eat a variety of foods, fat is a human invention as cheese, milk, butter would not even be on the menu in the wild. Evolutionary we have adapted to fat.

[Bee-bop Maintainer 2st 7lbs]

Evolution works slowly. Yes, some people become insulin resistant but, only some end up with chronic ill health because of that.