Need to lose 5 kilos

[Gotanno]

Hi all,

My BMI is borderline obese and the NHS calculator says I need to lose at least 5 kilos.

I'm currently active as I graduated from C25K two months ago and have kept running for 30 mins 2-3 times a week since, but I've haven lost any weight yet. I've just started training to increase my time running.

I switched from having bread and cheese to "light/fit" cereals in the morning. I consume very little sugar, most of it goes in my 2 (sometimes 3) coffees in the morning. I do not drink soft drinks nor eat candy.

Perhaps my biggest sin is that I have fried steak (tenderloin, which is quite lean) several times a week because it's easy and delicious. I love meat, so I'd rather not cut it out from my diet just yet. I serve my meat with either whole grain rice or regular pasta.

I like to have pizza a couple times a month.

What would be some easy changes I could make to my diet? I'm not very good at cooking, so I need to keep it simple...

Thanks!

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

Hello and welcome, Gotanno 😊

From what you say about your current plan, I'd suggest you reduce your carbs and be more relaxed about healthy fats. It's the carbs that are converted and stored as fat and I'm sure you'll see a difference if you try something like this phcuk.org/wp-content/upload...

You'll find all our groups and activities in Pinned Posts healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... , plus a Welcome message. A good place to start is with a weekly weigh-in on the day of your choice, and the Daily Diary, where members share their meal plans.

This gives you a tour of the forum healthunlocked.com/?tour=true and, along with Pinned Posts, will show you how things work. Active participation can be a great boost to your own efforts so I hope you'll become an active member and we will see you joining in around the forum 😊

PS the app doesn’t give access to all parts of the forum so we advise everyone to get rid of the app and log on to the full website using the browser on their phone

[SofaJockey]

The fried steak sounds great. If it were me I'd ditch the rice and pasta for some veggies. It's a simple change that I think would make a difference. Actually, if you like steak and veggies, that would make a good replacement for the pizza as well. 😄

[Gotanno in reply to SofaJockey]

OK thats a *great* tip! I'll look for some frozen, ready to use veggies. Thanks

[SofaJockey in reply to Gotanno]

I'm a big fan of healthy meals with meat. If you like meat there's no need to abandon it on a diet. Though portion control is a factor. I tend to aim for a 120g gram portion of meat or fish (the more unprocessed the better, so not as good if it's smothered in batter or pastry) for a lunch or a 180g portion for dinner.

A bag of frozen veggies is great to have always on standby for the microwave. Cauliflower Rice is excellent (not rice) as well. I've also found joy from eating fresh bell peppers, mushrooms, sweetcorn and carrots, all dead easy to heat up stir-fry.

😄

[Gotanno in reply to SofaJockey]

Yes, I'll take my portions into consideration as it's much too easy to over do it 😅

Going to get myself a food / kitchen scale

Thanks again

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to Gotanno]

And you don't need to go for a lean steak. My favourite is ribeye - so juicy and full of flavour

[Gotanno in reply to BridgeGirl]

Really? That's amazing news to me 😍

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to Gotanno]

You might enjoy reading this fatismyfriend.co.uk/

And have a good look at the first link I gave you, above

[Gotanno in reply to BridgeGirl]

Had a look at the links and it seems that what is needed to achieve weight loss is to cut out pasta, potatoes and to reduce rice. I love my pasta and rice but I'll be cutting and reducing accordingly.

How much rice should I be looking at? A handful?

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to Gotanno]

If you're up for giving it a go, then cut all those major carbs completely for a fortnight. That will reset your tastebuds and get you burning fat instead of needing carb top-ups. Then you can gradually add some carbs back in but you'll be finding new recipes and new ways of eating that won't mean building meals around rice, pasta etc.

I realise you're new here and there's a lot to take in.

Here's a useful Q&A from TheAwfulToad healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

And another of his posts to help you get started, if you think it's for you healthunlocked.com/lchf-die...

[AnnieW55 Visitor in reply to BridgeGirl]

Agree Gotanno - I just had the most amazing rib eye for lunch

[AnnieW55 Visitor]

The early days (and after graduation) of C25K don’t actually use that much energy or burn fat, that comes with the longer, slower runs. You may however, find that your shape changes. Also, don’t be tempted to eat more carbs before a run - it really isn’t necessary.

[Gotanno in reply to AnnieW55]

That's interesting, because people say I look thinner in the face! Maybe I lost some there and built more muscles in my legs....

[AnnieW55 Visitor in reply to Gotanno]

Yes, we don’t need extra “cushioning“😀 in our face as there are no vital organs to protect so the face is usually the first place to lose and folk notice more easily as they generally see more of your face. Rather than using the scales (although I do, old habits) measure yourself and do some odd ones like calves, thighs, biceps, neck as well as the usual (I do this too) as this will show your shape shift even when the scales don’t move. Our bodies can deal with weight loss in mysterious ways. They have their own agenda to ensure all is well before they allow fat/weight, to be jettisoned!

[Gotanno in reply to AnnieW55]

That makes a lot of sense and thanks for the measuring tips; will do.

Cheers!

[Lytham 3 stone]

Hi, I do low carb so steaks are allowed, I would ditch the rice and pasta any day in return for steak

Would you like to join us on our weigh in? Here's the link, I hope to see you there! x

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[Gotanno in reply to Lytham]

Thanks