The battle with the weight

Took a free weeks trial of a local fitness club to try one of their strength based circuit classes. Just 45 minutes, and given that I was one of the younger (albeit bulkier) people there, that it'd be fine.

Absolutely not and ended my session with a nice relaxing chunder :greengrin

My arms, legs, and chest are killing me just now, however signed up to a membership with them. When I started playing the football I struggled to play on a fives pitch for even five minutes, it got to the point where I was playing at wing back for 90 minutes on a full sized pitch. Hoping if I keep the same attitude of working hard at it until it becomes easy, then I'll have the same progress in terms of strength.

Also going bouldering tomorrow which I'm looking forward to.

Me and the wife are on a health kick right now, dropping loads of excess carbs and no sugars/processed foods. She's been doing 4-5 mile walks or aerobics in the house, I've been on my spin bike with some added calisthenics. I've dropped 18lbs and she dropped 15lbs.

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Originally Posted by J-C

Me and the wife are on a health kick right now, dropping loads of excess carbs and no sugars/processed foods. She's been doing 4-5 mile walks or aerobics in the house, I've been on my spin bike with some added calisthenics. I've dropped 18lbs and she dropped 15lbs.

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That’s outstanding, well done!

I’ve been stocking the fridge with high protein and/or fibre and low calorie things to snack on and ditching anything outwith that.

10 cal fruit jellies, skyr pouches, protein yogurt pouches, satay chicken sticks, stuff like that. Plenty fruit and berries.

It’s so much easier (as long as you track calories) being able to snack and know it’s mostly not going to be an issue.

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Originally Posted by Northernhibee

That’s outstanding, well done!

I’ve been stocking the fridge with high protein and/or fibre and low calorie things to snack on and ditching anything outwith that.

10 cal fruit jellies, skyr pouches, protein yogurt pouches, satay chicken sticks, stuff like that. Plenty fruit and berries.

It’s so much easier (as long as you track calories) being able to snack and know it’s mostly not going to be an issue.

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Sounds similar to me, just bought the 10 cal jellies today, apples, strawberries, melon etc. I do all the cooking which is generally chicken stir fries, brown or cauliflower rice, chilli/paprika/spicy chicken on the George Foreman with mashed sweet potato and loads of veg on the plate (veg is free food). I also have bags of unsalted nuts, brazils, cashews and mixed to nibble on from ALDI and big tubs of zero fat Greek yoghurt.

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Originally Posted by J-C

Sounds similar to me, just bought the 10 cal jellies today, apples, strawberries, melon etc. I do all the cooking which is generally chicken stir fries, brown or cauliflower rice, chilli/paprika/spicy chicken on the George Foreman with mashed sweet potato and loads of veg on the plate (veg is free food). I also have bags of unsalted nuts, brazils, cashews and mixed to nibble on from ALDI and big tubs of zero fat Greek yoghurt.

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My weights not been shifting at the pace I’ve wanted it to at of late, so I’m now still calorie counting and we well as hitting my step count, focusing on strength too and finding activities that I enjoy that will help with that. I detest the gym so that’s out.

Just back from trying bouldering and loved it. Arms hurt, hands hurt, chest hurts but didn’t have the repetitive nature of the gym, filled with nice people, and a load of different difficulty climbs to keep challenging yourself.

Can see it becoming a part of my routine. I feel that my clothes are a bit looser so taken it as a sign to focus on the scales less and how my body feels a bit more.

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Originally Posted by Northernhibee

My weights not been shifting at the pace I’ve wanted it to at of late, so I’m now still calorie counting and we well as hitting my step count, focusing on strength too and finding activities that I enjoy that will help with that. I detest the gym so that’s out.

Just back from trying bouldering and loved it. Arms hurt, hands hurt, chest hurts but didn’t have the repetitive nature of the gym, filled with nice people, and a load of different difficulty climbs to keep challenging yourself.

Can see it becoming a part of my routine. I feel that my clothes are a bit looser so taken it as a sign to focus on the scales less and how my body feels a bit more.

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Cool well done.

I played many sports but particularly rugby and American football and competed in natural bodybuilding from 40-47, it was after that I sold my taxi and became a personal trainer for 2 years. I've had both hips done due to arthritis but retained the knowledge of doing the training, diet and nutrition. It's all about mind set.

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Originally Posted by J-C

Cool well done.

I played many sports but particularly rugby and American football and competed in natural bodybuilding from 40-47, it was after that I sold my taxi and became a personal trainer for 2 years. I've had both hips done due to arthritis but retained the knowledge of doing the training, diet and nutrition. It's all about mind set.

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Outstanding - well if you have any advice, I’m all ears!

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Originally Posted by Northernhibee

Outstanding - well if you have any advice, I’m all ears!

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TBF you're already doing exactly what you need to do, eat clean and healthy and do more exercise, remember don't stop eating wee treats or the occasional alcoholic drink, moderation is the key, have a chippy or Chinese now and then, just not every second night. It's not really rocket science, you need around 2000 calories for a man, if you eat 2300 calories but only burn 2000, you have an excess which turns to sugar and then into fat, it's that simple.

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Originally Posted by J-C

TBF you're already doing exactly what you need to do, eat clean and healthy and do more exercise, remember don't stop eating wee treats or the occasional alcoholic drink, moderation is the key, have a chippy or Chinese now and then, just not every second night. It's not really rocket science, you need around 2000 calories for a man, if you eat 2300 calories but only burn 2000, you have an excess which turns to sugar and then into fat, it's that simple.

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I think it's 2500 calories for men and 2000 for woman. That's obviously massively dependent on the size of the person though.

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Originally Posted by Since90+2

I think it's 2500 calories for men and 2000 for woman. That's obviously massively dependent on the size of the person though.

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Think your right, I don't really calorie count, I just look at portions and cleanness of the food.

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Originally Posted by J-C

Think your right, I don't really calorie count, I just look at portions and cleanness of the food.

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If you have 3000 calories every day of clean high vitamin food and don't burn extra, you'll be obese eventually.

It really is as simple as eat more calories than you burn and you'll put on weight, less and you'll lose it.

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Originally Posted by Northernhibee

That’s outstanding, well done!

I’ve been stocking the fridge with high protein and/or fibre and low calorie things to snack on and ditching anything outwith that.

10 cal fruit jellies, skyr pouches, protein yogurt pouches, satay chicken sticks, stuff like that. Plenty fruit and berries.

It’s so much easier (as long as you track calories) being able to snack and know it’s mostly not going to be an issue.

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The Grahams high protein yoghurts are excellent, and 85p in lidl

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Originally Posted by Stairway 2 7

If you have 3000 calories every day of clean high vitamin food and don't burn extra, you'll be obese eventually.

It really is as simple as eat more calories than you burn and you'll put on weight, less and you'll lose it.

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I don't think it's quite that simple. Taking your example someone eating 2500 calories but eating nothing but chocolate would not put on weight. The amount of sugar in that would be insanely high even though the calorie amount might be correct.

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Originally Posted by Since90+2

I don't think it's quite that simple. Taking your example someone eating 2500 calories but eating nothing but chocolate would not put on weight. The amount of sugar in that would be insanely high even though the calorie amount might be correct.

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It is that simple. He wouldn't put on weight. He wouldn't have a healthy diet and would be lacking nutrition, but he wouldn't put on a pound if he was eating 2500 and burning the same.

Diet companies and programs like to make you think there is some secret but it's as simple as taking in less calories than you use to lose weight.

It's better if they calories are balanced nutritionally but non the less, if you have 10 bars a day for a month at 2200 calories and burn 2500 you'll lose about 1.5 pound by the end of the month. Its about 3500 calories to lose 1 pound

My fitness pal app is great for counting calories

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Originally Posted by Stairway 2 7

It is that simple. He wouldn't put on weight. He wouldn't have a healthy diet and would be lacking nutrition, but he wouldn't put on a pound if he was eating 2500 and burning the same.

Diet companies and programs like to make you think there is some secret but it's as simple as taking in less calories than you use to lose weight.

It's better if they calories are balanced nutritionally but non the less, if you have 10 bars a day for a month at 2200 calories and burn 2500 you'll lose about 1.5 pound by the end of the month. Its about 3500 calories to lose 1 pound

My fitness pal app is great for counting calories

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I'm not an expert by any means but I find it hard to believe if you ate 2500 calories a day of just chocolate for a month against 2500 calories of nothing but vegetables you'd be the exact same weight.

Some people need calories to know what they're taking in, weight watchers for example, it's really all about taking out the junk in your diet. Carbs is the biggest problem in most diets, bread, pasta, potatoes, change to seeded bread, brown pasta and rice and switch to sweet potato. Take out as much processed food as possible and fill the plate with veg, veg is free calories in any diet.

I competed in the BNBF natural bodybuilding championships, I was 2nd in the Scottish over 40's and 5th in the British with a body fat of 5%. I became a personal trainer but after 2 years had to return to the taxis as I had arthritis in my hips and in lots of pain.

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Originally Posted by J-C

Some people need calories to know what they're taking in, weight watchers for example, it's really all about taking out the junk in your diet. Carbs is the biggest problem in most diets, bread, pasta, potatoes, change to seeded bread, brown pasta and rice and switch to sweet potato. Take out as much processed food as possible and fill the plate with veg, veg is free calories in any diet.

I competed in the BNBF natural bodybuilding championships, I was 2nd in the Scottish over 40's and 5th in the British with a body fat of 5%. I became a personal trainer but after 2 years had to return to the taxis as I had arthritis in my hips and in lots of pain.

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In your experience is it purely down to number of calories consumed or what the actual content of those calories is?

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Originally Posted by Since90+2

In your experience is it purely down to number of calories consumed or what the actual content of those calories is?

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The difference isn't in the amount of calories, it's in satiety and blood sugar dips really. 2000 cals of chocolate isn't actually that much in quantity so the chances are you'll be hungry quickly and will eat more calories so dont lose weight . you'll also get a sugar high then crash making you want more food and left feeling sluggish and headachy. 2000 calories of meat or other protein, veg and fibre will keep you full for much longer as its good sized portions and will level out your sugars so there's no crash and therefore hopefully no sluggish feeling. 2000 calories is 2000 calories at the end of the day.

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Originally Posted by Since90+2

I'm not an expert by any means but I find it hard to believe if you ate 2500 calories a day of just chocolate for a month against 2500 calories of nothing but vegetables you'd be the exact same weight.

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It might be hard to believe but it's true. It's very simple it doesn't matter what makes up the calories if you have over what you burn you will put on, under and you'll lose weight.

Vegetables aren't free calories sweet potato has 120cals per 100g. If you ate 2500 calories for the rest of each day then ate sweet potatoes on top you'd put on weight

Here a professor did an experiment to make it clear to people. He changed his diet from healthy to mostly junk but took multivits to keep it safe. He lost weight obviously as he was in calorie deficit


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mensxp.com/amp/health/weight-loss/48286-here-rsquo-s-how-a-professor-who-only-ate-junk-food-for-10-weeks-lost-12-pounds.html

Here's How A Professor Who ONLY Ate Junk Food For 10 Weeks Lost 12 Kilos

Professor Mark Haub aka the Twinkies professor started eating a diet that ensured he ate less than 1800 calories in a day. For a person of his weight, he would need around 2600 calories a day to maintain weight. This effectively put him in a calorie deficit. Two-thirds of his calories came for absolute junk food and sugary stuff like Twinkies (a brand of cakes), Oreos, Doritos, and a variety of sugary cereals. Along with that, he ate some green veggies, a protein shake, and a multivitamin per day.

The results:
1. He lost 27 pounds of body weight in 10 weeks.

2. His body fat dropped from 33.4 to 24.6 percent.

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Originally Posted by Jay

The difference isn't in the amount of calories, it's in satiety and blood sugar dips really. 2000 cals of chocolate isn't actually that much in quantity so the chances are you'll be hungry quickly and will eat more calories so dont lose weight . you'll also get a sugar high then crash making you want more food and left feeling sluggish and headachy. 2000 calories of meat or other protein, veg and fibre will keep you full for much longer as its good sized portions and will level out your sugars so there's no crash and therefore hopefully no sluggish feeling. 2000 calories is 2000 calories at the end of the day.

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It's about 10 Mars bars. Some people do 500 calorie diets to get rid of diabetes ect. I'm not advising a chocolate diet as it's nuts. But you'll lose weight if you had 2000 calories of just chocolate as you say

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Originally Posted by Stairway 2 7

It's about 10 Mars bars. Some people do 500 calorie diets to get rid of diabetes ect. I'm not advising a chocolate diet as it's nuts. But you'll lose weight if you had 2000 calories of just chocolate as you say

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Yep and how long does a Mars bar fill you up for? When I'm calories counting I'm nowhere near 2000 cals being a wee woman I'd get about 5 or 6. A portioned balanced diet and a walk every day is the way to go.

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Originally Posted by Jay

Yep and how long does a Mars bar fill you up for? When I'm calories counting I'm nowhere near 2000 cals being a wee woman I'd get about 5 or 6. A portioned balanced diet and a walk every day is the way to go.

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No 100 agree. Fat doesn't fill you up long and chocolate isn't the way to go on a diet. Just showing that calories are the most important factor in loosing weight. I find kitchen scales help as you can be surprised how small a bowl of cereal is if your following the portion size example on the box

There was a NASA study done a few years back where an employee only ate 6 donuts a day, which kept him in a caloric deficit and over 6 weeks he consistently lost weight. It’s as simple as Calories in over Calories out when it comes to losing or gaining weight.

Good video here which sums up pretty much everything being said here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_tDYrKgYd0

Sean has other great videos on dieting, weight loss and excercise, well worth a follow on Youtube.

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Originally Posted by Since90+2

I'm not an expert by any means but I find it hard to believe if you ate 2500 calories a day of just chocolate for a month against 2500 calories of nothing but vegetables you'd be the exact same weight.

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It is exactly as simple as that. Calories are a fixed unit of measurement so if you're talking about purely counting calories then 2500 calories is the same weather its chocolate or potatoes or protein powder.

Where that argument is less valid is when you consider the satiety of the foods and their macro nutrients. It would be a lot harder to build muscle eating 2500 of chocolate because you're taking in calories in the sugar and fats in the chocolate and not in protein which helps you develop muscle. Plus, higher fat and sugary foods don't keep you full, so you'll spend a lot of your time hungry. Plus the amount of sugar you intake will probably develop risks of health complications.

I didn't say sweet potato was a veg, it's classed as a carb like rice, pasta, bread etc. Any other veg is seen as free, such as cabbage, broccoli, green beans, they are full of vitamins and nutrients. More recently things like kale and seaweed have become very popular. Carbs turn into sugar which gives energy, if you don't burn off this energy it gets stored and turns into fat. Cut our simple carbs like white bread and pasta and replace with complex carbs like wholemeal. Porridge in the morning is great as it's a slow release carb, in other words it releases energy in dribs and drabs meaning you don't feel hungry as quickly, bran flakes are similar, also sweet potato.

I've cut down on my bread and cut out unnecessary extras like crisps, biscuits and chocolate and get my sweet fix from fruit. I've dropped 18lbs in 8 weeks by doing this and upping my daily exercise.

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Originally Posted by J-C

I didn't say sweet potato was a veg, it's classed as a carb like rice, pasta, bread etc. Any other veg is seen as free, such as cabbage, broccoli, green beans, they are full of vitamins and nutrients. More recently things like kale and seaweed have become very popular. Carbs turn into sugar which gives energy, if you don't burn off this energy it gets stored and turns into fat. Cut our simple carbs like white bread and pasta and replace with complex carbs like wholemeal. Porridge in the morning is great as it's a slow release carb, in other words it releases energy in dribs and drabs meaning you don't feel hungry as quickly, bran flakes are similar, also sweet potato.

I've cut down on my bread and cut out unnecessary extras like crisps, biscuits and chocolate and get my sweet fix from fruit. I've dropped 18lbs in 8 weeks by doing this and upping my daily exercise.

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Great stuff JC, well done thats a fair whack 👍

I've lost 4 kilos in a month, but that's because I had a kidney infection and lost my appetite for a while.

It was effective... but I wouldn't recommend it. 😏

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Originally Posted by Keith_M

I've lost 4 kilos in a month, but that's because I had a kidney infection and lost my appetite for a while.

It was effective... but I wouldn't recommend it. 😏

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Aye, not the best way to lose weight 😁

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Originally Posted by J-C

Aye, not the best way to lose weight 😁

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I definitely prefer your method. 😁