Losing weight

[Steve Maskery]

I'm a big bloke and have been for years. I don't like being so fat but it's difficult to imagine being otherwise, to be honest.

A few years ago I did the 5:2 diet. I lost a stone in an acceptably short time, but then I went and fell and broke my knee, meaning I sat around with a knee brace and crutches for months, put most of the weight back on and TBH, I've never really got back to walking as I did. Apparently I walk with a limp. It doesn't feel like it, it just feels a bit stiff, but I'm told that I do. I've never got rid of the weight again and it has continued to creep up to where it was before I did the 5:2.

But with various other age- and weight-related issues going on, too, I've been thinking of trying to see if I can replicate my previous success. The 5:2 did work - 5 days eat normally, 2 days consume no more than 500 calories. That is not very much. But I am a foodie, I like being in the kitchen just as much as I like being in the workshop; after all, they are very similar activities - take raw materials, use shiny sharp things to cut them up, perform various operations on them, put them together in various ways and enjoy the result.

Woodworking and Foodworking

But 2 days a week of fasting is not appealing. I've done it before and so I could do it again, but I can't say that I enjoyed the diet, just the results.

Last week my mate Charlie came round. He is just a few months older than I am, but much, much fitter. He goes dancing every week, as I did pre-knee, is 6" taller than I am and a couple of stone lighter. But he feels the need to lose a bit. Charlie is into "alternatives" in life and he was telling me about Keto. Keto is cutting out the carbohydrates to very low levels. Serious Ketos stay below 20g per day. Given that there are carbs in almost everything, including, for example, coffee, that is a challenge. But as well as low carbs, Keto is high fat. So butter with everything. Coconut oil with everything. The problem is that with no bread (and I do make exceeding good bread) what is there to put my butter on?

I was was not sceptical that it would work, I was just sceptical that it could be enjoyable eating. I like my bread, my pasta, my rice and potatoes. I cook chips 2 or three times a month, and they are the best chips

Charlie told me about Cauliflower Rice (CR). Made from cauliflower, looks like rice. Dismantle a cauli, blitz the core, blitz the florets and you end up with something that looks like boiled rice. You can microwave it, pan fry it or bake it and provided that you put something in it to give it some flavour, such a cumin or fennel seeds or caraway, it does the same job on the plate as rice does, and even looks the part. So I've been having that virtually every other day.

Other dishes have been:

Bacon, egg, sausage, mushrooms (but without my beloved North Staffs Oatcakes, sadly)
Steak with mushroom and pepper sauce and lots of salad with lemon balsamic dressing
Kapuska stew (didn't look very appetising, TBH, but tasted fantastic)
Trout with bacon sprouts and CR
Smoked salmon with pak-choi and CR

I can honestly say that there is nothing I have eaten this week that I have not enjoyed, in some cases more than my usual fare. And there has been no portion-size limitations, a good plateful every time. I've never felt hungry, but there have been a few times when I have really wanted a good steak and kidney pie and chips, lasagna, pork pie all together in a sandwich

Breakfast is the hardest. I used to have two slices of toast. Sometimes porridge and sometimes Weetabix, but usually toast. I miss my toast.

But.

After just one week of this regime, eating just as much as I did before (and on some days certainly more), never feeling hungry (wanting to eat, yes, but that's different) and enjoying it all...



... I have lost 7lb. Half a stone. Just by eating differently. My trousers feel more comfortable, I have more energy and I am sleeping better. I've not slept well for years, but I've had 6 or 8 hours straight several nights this week. No afternoon naps.

Now I know that with most diets it is easy to lose weight at the start and it becomes progressively harder so I'm not expecting this to continue forever, but whilst is continues like this I'm happy to keep it up.

Chicken and chips tonight, Keto-style!

 

[sunnybob]

I started "weight loss" late november. Loosely following my wife's slimming world regime.
My main losses, both in what I eat and how much I enjoy it, was Bread and Beer.

2 extremely large slices of home made toast covered in butter and bovril for breakfast, and a toasted pitta bread filled with salami and onions for lunch, with a half litre of beer.
Replaced by 16 weetabix mini chocolate rusks in a small amount of semi skimmed milk, and a can of beans or vegetable soup for lunch. Evening meal as normal.

Lost 1 kg a week for 4 weeks straight and did not feel hungry in the stomach, only the brain.
But then along came xmas and new year in hotels, and a week of visitors. 3 kgs back on. DOH!

Staring again tomorrow, honest.

 

[AJB Temple]

I think I may well do this too,as porkiness is taking over. Did you ditch booze and fruit juices too?

 

[Steve Maskery]

I think I may well do this too,as porkiness is taking over. Did you ditch booze and fruit juices too?

Not really. I drink too much. But I've not had a beer in over a week. Wine and whiskey as normal, I'm afraid.

I've had some fruit juice, but only a glass now and again, not even every day. Not much fruit. I did buy a couple of pots of grape and melon, didn't look at the sugar content, but ate them with lots of cream, so that's all right

I've got a chocolate orange, a box of Thornton's and cake left over from Christmas and have resisted the temptation.

So far...

 

[sunnybob]

I think its a pure coincidence that reducing the red wine and vodka intake during december affected my weight. Even when increasing it over the holidays also increased the weight, I'm still not convinced. (g)

 

[John15]

Don't eat cakes, chocolate bars and pastries. Simples!

John

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

didn't read your wall of text but,

There's no secret to losing weight, or any special diet that you must follow.
Simply eat less calories than you need and that's it. Not a rocketscience...
Exericising really doesn't burns that much calories, you need to run for like an hour to burn 500calories, or you might as well just not eat 3 donuts and you got the same effect.However once you start doing some physical activities you realize how hard its to burn calories off that way and you automaticly stop eating all the high-calorie junk food so it's still kinda win-win..

I think the easiest way is to stop eating bread/cookies and anything of that sort of stuff and the rest is easy.

 

[defsdoor]

I'm three weeks into eating no crap - all the "treats" you reward yourself with for sitting on your backside for too long. Nothing sugary - no biscuits, cake, sweets, chocolate or crisps. No alcohol!

So all I'm eating is the occasional breakfast of all bran or toast, weekday lunch has been salad, and dinners smaller portions but of normal variety.

As I said - 3 weeks in to in.

Haven't lost an ounce

I do feel better though and I've not once fancied something on the banned list - this is a by product of a far far too indulgent Christmas I think.

 

[BearTricks]

I did keto for a year or so. I lost a stone in the first week as it drains your excess water weight almost instantly. I wasn't in bad shape, but I was a bit doughy so I just wanted to get the excess weight off. The way it works is that you reduce your carbohydrate levels to the point that your body starts burning fat instead. Your body burns fat much more efficiently, but if it has the carbs to burn then it burns those first and reserves the fat in case of emergency. If your body is burning enough fat then it produces ketones as a by-product, which come out in your wee. This is called ketosis.

I found that if I stayed under 100g of carbs a day, I stayed in ketosis. I measured it using strips that you wee on, but you can generally tell due to an odd smell that your wee has and a faint chemical taste in your mouth. I barely noticed the taste, but my girlfriend told me that my breath smelled like nail polish remover in the mornings before I had brushed my teeth.

The biggest issue is getting enough salt. If you haven't already you should switch to a low-sodium salt because you need that potassium. I can't readily remember how I was getting extra electrolytes but that was one route, as well as drinking the blue sugar-free poweraid. My other issue was that it was expensive, although I did supplement my food with protein shakes. If you don't get enough of your various salts, it can play havoc with the functioning of some of your organs.

I also used something called MyFitnessPal (I think that was what it was called) to track where all my calories were coming from.

It got tedious after a while, and I became (wrongly) convinced that some medical issues I was having were due to it. I will say that I stopped a few days before going on holiday where I gorged on bread and sweets. I should have eased myself back in to it. I had some pancakes with fruit one morning and spent the rest of the day doubled over in absolute agony as my stomach couldn't take it.

It is a really good way to lose weight very quickly and there are some well publicised benefits to it such as increased clarity of mind which I agree with. There's also some research to do with cancer which I think is credible, but probably disputed. The one thing that goes against it is that it isn't really sustainable for longer periods of time. It can be incredibly expensive to meet your protein requirements for the day, and it takes some effort to work out if you're getting the right amount of vitamins. If your vitamins get out of whack with it you'll have much more immediate symptoms than on a regular diet.

Edit: Just re-read through your post. There are only negligible levels of carbs in coffee, not enough to make any difference to a keto diet. In fact, most people on the keto died boost their fat by putting butter or coconut oil in their coffee instead of milk. They call it bulletproof coffee.

 

[MusicMan]

Agree with MrDavidRoberts. I successfully lost about 50 lb over about three years simply by eating less. I avoid much sugar anyway as I'm diabetic. I found that approximately halving my portions did fine and after a while I got used to that. In fact after some quite bad urinary tract infections last summer I ended up losing too much weight and had to eat hard to put a stone back on! I also lost a lot of muscle strength. I hate the gym, but about three months of working for a few hours a day in the workshop or garden - which are hobbies anyway - has restored the weight to about ideal for my age and height.

Keith

 

[Steve Maskery]

Thank you BT, that is helpful and constructive.
Yes I did know that coffee is very low in carbs, I was just making the point that few things are absolute zero.
I have heard of bullet-proof coffee, but I didn't realise that that was what it was. Thank you. I used to drink coffee all day, but now I have just one or two mugs at breakfast-time and that is usually it for the day. (Except when Ray comes over, when the kettle never gets a chance to cool down).
I wasn't aware of the side-effects, although I'm not the least bit surprised that there are some, and as I say, I don't plan on doing this for ever. I do have a short-term target, which I see no problem in reaching now. After that, I'll have to see how hard it has become to keep going.

 

[Keithie]

I had a kidney transplant a few years back...since when I've learned about lots of stuff that can damage kidneys (so I dont mess up the new one I have). Diets can do all kinds of stuff to folk...and diff folk can react in diff ways to all sorts of things.

This link talks about stuuf in relation to 'keto' diets

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945587/

I'm not a doc and if you were thinking of a special diet it might, for some folk, be best to check with a doc in case there's some bizarre reason why that particular form of diet might not be right for you!

Since I turned 50 weight management is a right pain ..basically nothing works for me in practice due to me having the mental strength of a jelly ...lol

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

Sir, I think you are focusing too much on some magic bullet solution - There is none!
Eating sliced packaged fruit... WHY? Most of the time they are already spoiled.. Just buy the regular fruit and slice it up when needed.
Get the regular vegetables, not already sliced/prepered stuff which has stood for God knows how long already, People are just so lazy that they can't peel their own carrots anymore,

Also what's bullet-proof coffee? Again.. Stop focusing on some stupid fads/ superfoods or some fancy packagings which says how good they are.. I have even heard people on diet eating weight-watchers low-fat cookies and thinking they are doing a good job... Oh lawd.. why?


As long as your calories in are less than your calories out= you will lose weight!
That's it!
You could eat 1500 calories worth of cookies per day and still loose weight if you eat nothing else, but how much is 1500calories in cookies? Not a lot by weight and not much minerals/good stuff gained by eating them as well.

Stop focusing on the stupid fads and eat normal regular healthy food, and start to cook more yourself and that's it!

 

[iNewbie]

Personal opinion: Diets are a short stop-off to gaining weight. That is, unless you make a complete change to your eating habits and stick to it, for life. Sure people lose weight on a diet, but once they go back to their old habits they put it back on,.....with extra!! I speak from my own experience and I'm not what you'd consider overweight. I just have a sweet tooth...

As David Roberts said: There's no secret to losing weight, or any special diet that you must follow.
Simply eat less calories than you need and that's it. Not a rocketscience...

It really is that simple. Most people know it but don't adhere to it.

I walk everyday and find walking up an incline until my heart rate increases, to then walk back down so it decreases and then do this in repetition helps me lose weight. No diet, just watch the amount going in and stay off the crap and do some form of exercise for health and mental health wellbeing.

 

[Steve Maskery]

David, what you say is 100% accurate and 100% unhelpful.

Have you ever had a weight problem? Have you ever had to shift the stuff yourself? Or are you just an expert in the same way that I am an expert in parenting? I know exactly how other people should bring up their children.

I don't buy, and never have bought, prepared veg. There are no pop-and-ping meals in my freezer. Everything is freshly prepared, cooked from scratch. I enjoy it. I often think I should have been a chef.

Cooking for one is much more difficult than cooking for two, which in turn is harder than cooking for a family.

I bought the grape/ melon pot, because it was offer and quite cheap. If I bought a whole melon and a whole punnet of grapes I would be eating it for days. I've never bought it before and probably won't again unless it is as cheap again.

As to cooking more myself, I know no man who does more cooking than I do. You know nothing about me.

And I don't eat rubbish. I rarely buy chocolate and biscuits, I do sometimes buy a bag of Midget Gems or Liquorice Allsorts. They sit in the car and go sticky. I don't drive much. They have gone, now, anyway. I bake a cake occasionally, eat some but usually give most of it away.

If losing weight was easy we would not have an obesity problem. I was just sharing my present journey in the hope that someone else, with a January resolution, would find it interesting and helpful. Clearly in your case I was wrong. You are just being glib without being constructive.

 

[Steve Maskery]

basically nothing works for me in practice due to me having the mental strength of a jelly ...lol

Well that's OK, provided it is sugar-free jelly!

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

Well than it's all good, at first you sounded like a person who does all those things
Yes I was near 260lbs once myself. You are getting a bit annoyed that I mentioned those thngs, aren't you? That tells me there's clearly a problem you don't want to admit yourself...

Perhaps make a list of what exactly you are eating/how much and find out the cause.. I can bet however much £ you want that you don't have any genetic problem or whatever of that sorts.
It's all about calories in vs Calories out, that's all. Oh and a willpower to actually make yourself a better man.
Get kitchen scales, if you don't have already and start counting the calories, that's all one could suggest.
No Magic or special solution Sir, just willpower!


Ok I just actualy checked your First post, and you are not even asking for things I'm saying.
Failure on my side...

 

[iNewbie]

And I don't eat rubbish. I rarely buy chocolate and biscuits, I do sometimes buy a bag of Midget Gems or Liquorice Allsorts. They sit in the car and go sticky. I don't drive much. They have gone, now, anyway. I bake a cake occasionally, eat some but usually give most of it away.

If losing weight was easy we would not have an obesity problem.

Steve, rubbish can be anything thats going to have lots of calories that people know is destroying their wish to lose weight. Beer & Wine/Spirits all increase calorie intake. Its rubbish.

As for obesity, losing weight can be easy, but most people choose to keep shovelling rubbish into themselves knowing it won't help their issue. Its self-defeating.

I'm sympathetic to peoples issues, but a lot of people just make excuses - we all do it. You can't help people who won't help themselves, though.

 

[iNewbie]

Well than it's all good, at first you sounded like a person who does all those things
Yes I was near 260lbs once myself. You are getting a bit annoyed that I mentioned those thngs, aren't you? That tells me there's clearly a problem you don't want to admit yourself...

Perhaps make a list of what exactly you are eating/how much and find out the cause.. I can bet however much £ you want that you don't have any genetic problem or whatever of that sorts.
It's all about calories in vs Calories out, that's all. Oh and a willpower to actually make yourself a better man.
Get kitchen scales, if you don't have already and start counting the calories, that's all one could suggest.
No Magic or special solution Sir, just willpower!

Willpower is ok as long as the winds behind your sail. When that windy willpower drops people go overboard...

Basically you have to make a life altering (Goal) decision and stick with it through thick & thin.

 

[Keithie]

Well, the good news is that you can make a huge lifestyle change that will help keep weight under control (pretty much all thatcanbe hoped for imo) and improve your overall quality oflife for £50 (fifty quid). Its exactly what I did. and it works.

So what is this magic item for only £50?

Its a donation to dog rescue, in exchange for which you get a dog.

If our dog isnt walked twice a day for at least an hour at a time, if not mire, she is such a pain that it takes no will power at all to walk her...life just isnt worth the stress of her going ape for not being walked.

So an hour a day or more, every day, rain or shine, no matter how you feel.no willpower required (just a wife who wont do both walks with the dog!) and you get a decade or more of enforced positive lifestyle change. Simple.