Crash Diets

Peggy * wrote:

A few years ago, I shifted over four stone and have kept all but a few pounds off ever since. I didn't go on a diet as such, but simply started watching what I ate (I found writing it down, as advised by a friend who works in health promotion, really helpful) and taking more exercise. When I first started, I was losing over two kilos - 4.5 pounds - a week, which would get you to where you want to be.

Try this: eat when you're hungry, and don't eat when you're not - this might sound obvious but the way we eat nowadays it isn't. Eat whatever you fancy (denying yourself just makes you fed up and therefore more likely to give up) but restrict your calorie intake to 500 less than the recommended daily limit (I think that's 2500 for men, so go for 2000) PLUS unlimited fruit and veg. Include low fat milk and other low fat dairy products - apparently other fats stick to something in this so you excrete more fat. For exercise, do something you enjoy - in my case, swimming, which is brilliant exercise too (especially if you also sweat a bit off in the sauna afterwards). And - perhaps above all - try to minimise your alcohol intake: that's probably where most of your calories are coming from. So instead of cider, try drinking apple juice or better still no added sugar apple squash.

Two final points. First, try to eat more slowly and to concentrate on what you're eating - for instance, don't eat in front of the telly. An awful lot of what we eat goes down without our noticing it, and we miss the signs that we're full. Nowadays, I find it almost impossible to overeat. Second, I'm vegetarian - I don't know if this makes any difference, but when the weight was visibly falling off me, a few people reckoned it was all very well for me but wouldn't work for them because they were meat-eaters (I think this is rubbish, but I'm no expert).

Cheers for that. Some good points, especially the 'writing down what you eat' bit. I'll start doing that.

I've just shown the missus what you wrote about swapping cider for apple juice. She nearly fell off her chair.  

If all else fails I can resort to 68's suggestion!  

you could always convert to islam and observe ramadan.

worth a go they dont eat drink or get frisky during daylight hours and its the summer time so the weight will melt off you

hairy j wrote:

punchdrunk wrote:

My favorite session is called 21 Down....

21 Press ups followed by sit ups then squat thrusts as quick as you can,1 minutes rest then 20, all the way down to 1, you will be like Jelly after the first few sessions but after that you'll start to find it a bit easier...do this 2-3 times a week.
Do a 1.5 mile run once a week .and if you can do it between 8-10 minutes your doing very well indeed.

Its not bollocks, this is about as close to building core sustainable fitness and stability if ever there was a
way, its a lot more healthy and a more organic fitness then the steroid popping insecure freaks that you see spilling out of that gym on Seymour road for example.

I'm sure it isn't. It just reminded me of Full Metal Jacket. Seymour Road? That's a bit specific Punchie. My mate at work lost 3 stone recently by just eating at meal times only (and healthy stuff) and walking more.

Run and eat sensibly, simple as that, if you have it to lose you will lose that in a week

Some very good points from everyone.
I only suggestion I could give is...

accept you are overweight, no longer a twenty something babe magnet Adonis, who can eat and drink what you want without side effects and stay up till 3 in the morning and still go to work for 9am the next day.

I have. I'm so much happier!  

I'm with you on that one Mouldy although I thought goats could eat anything and generally do.

Have you ever seen a goat shit out a shoe? It don't 'alf make their eyes water!  

Angry wrote:

you could always convert to islam and observe ramadan.

worth a go they dont eat drink or get frisky during daylight hours and its the summer time so the weight will melt off you

Blokes in work say I'm on ramadan when on a fast day as advocated by Horizon program last year ## beeb report ##

Certainly lost some weight despite the home brew scrumpy, but have also been doing the High Intenisty Traning from earlier Horizon ## another beeb report ##.

When you realise you have to run 1/2 mile to burn off ONE ginger nut biscuit you do tend to STEP AWAY FROM THE BISCUITS.

Good test today. Fast day today and out & about with colleague who'll want a full english.

mouldyoldgoat wrote:

Some very good points from everyone.
I only suggestion I could give is...

accept you are overweight, no longer a twenty something babe magnet Adonis, who can eat and drink what you want without side effects and stay up till 3 in the morning and still go to work for 9am the next day.

I have. I'm so much happier!  

Wise words goaty. Thing is, I'm not really what would be classed as hugely overweight. 5'11 12stone 10. My issue is that up until my early thirties I was pretty lean at around 11stone. You're right though, I do accept I'll never see 11 stone again, but 12 is deffo the target.

punchdrunk wrote:

hairy j wrote:

punchdrunk wrote:

My favorite session is called 21 Down....

21 Press ups followed by sit ups then squat thrusts as quick as you can,1 minutes rest then 20, all the way down to 1, you will be like Jelly after the first few sessions but after that you'll start to find it a bit easier...do this 2-3 times a week.
Do a 1.5 mile run once a week .and if you can do it between 8-10 minutes your doing very well indeed.

Its not bollocks, this is about as close to building core sustainable fitness and stability if ever there was a
way, its a lot more healthy and a more organic fitness then the steroid popping insecure freaks that you see spilling out of that gym on Seymour road for example.

Plus you become a trained killer:face: 

Czarcasm wrote:

mouldyoldgoat wrote:

Some very good points from everyone.
I only suggestion I could give is...

accept you are overweight, no longer a twenty something babe magnet Adonis, who can eat and drink what you want without side effects and stay up till 3 in the morning and still go to work for 9am the next day.

I have. I'm so much happier!  

Wise words goaty. Thing is, I'm not really what would be classed as hugely overweight. 5'11 12stone 10.  My issue is that up until my early thirties I was pretty lean at around 11stone. You're right though, I do accept I'll never see 11 stone again, but 12 is deffo the target.

Gives you a body mass index of 24 with 24.9 being the higher edge of what is classed normal weight, so not bad at all, half a stone would put you right in the middle.

Czarcasm wrote:

Wise words goaty. Thing is, I'm not really what would be classed as hugely overweight. 5'11 12stone 10.  My issue is that up until my early thirties I was pretty lean at around 11stone. You're right though, I do accept I'll never see 11 stone again, but 12 is deffo the target.

Facking hell!

I thought you were one of us, 12 stone ten? I could shit 12 stone ten.

My BMI only recently skulked below 40 so I am a fat f**k(obese), except I am not, I don't have trouble getting out of a chair, I don't get out of breath exercising fairly hard for an hour or more despite closing in on the big 60, I don't eat badly and I don't have to shop at Field and Trek, are they still in business?

That's a funny thing, I recently bought some Ts from a firm whose products I have worn for decades, these are XXXL but are actually slightly snugger than some of the XLs I have from 15+ years ago. I think there is a whole industry out there trying to make us think diet.

So I need to drop about 6 stone to just be fat, being a tad over 6 foot. I am just over 2 stone below where I started about 18 months ago, I have been a stone below where I am now but every time I actually enjoy myself, hols, footy, golf, whatever, I slip back then have to really miserable up to get it back, frinstance, just the other day I discovered that tonic water, my staple summer drink with just a dash of Bombay Sapphire, has 310 calories a litre, but that diet shiite just doesn't taste the same.


Aaaaaaaargh!

Jog on fatty!

But seriously, yeah I can understand why proper lard arses would see 12'10 as nowhere near approaching overweight. But everything's relative innit, so being nearly 2 stone heavier than I was 10 years ago is still not great for me personally.

To be ultra-simplistic, if my tits wobble when I run on the beach, I'm not a happy hector.

ZYPH wrote:

Being born just before WW11......food rationing took care of overeating.

Mum always made me eat everything up....because food waste was not an option.

So ingrained into my life from a early age was... finish what was on your plate....and that can be a problem that is difficult to overcome later in life.

When eating out I am amazed at the mountains of food that people leave on their plates... especially children......and it aint because there conscious of their figures....because quite often they are overweight to start with.

Being overweight is hard to rein back when you get less active.....mind over matter I expect.

Czar.......7 to 10 pounds.....thats an armful in Tony Hancock speak....you could always cut one off to achieve that...at least you'd still have two legs to stand on.

blimey I was born in the early 70s and had 'don't waste food drilled into me' im still like it now !

I was 10st 4lbs when I joined the Navy in 65 at the tender age of 16. I am 11st 4lbs now and have never been on a diet in my life. I eat pretty much anything and have a bit of a taste for a cream cake or three. The only thing I don't do is drink much. Some people just don't seem to put much on whatever their lifestyle. I pretty much waiver between 2lbs either way at any one time.

Lucky you, I lost 4 stone for my daughters wedding in 1990, put it back on, then lost it again when I was diagnosed diabetic. To put it into context I reduced from 20 stone to 16 stone so I am still a big bloke.

Czarcasm,

The problem many dieters have is they go cold turkey with what they eat thinking it will work and in away yes you do lose weight but sooner or later the hunger kicks in and the urge to eat more than a salad kicks in and before you know it all the weight you lost is put back on with a little extra.

The best way to diet is to do it gradually combine with a healthier diet. Accept you wont be a size zero by this time next week but maybe this time in 6 months to a year (depending on your target weight loss) and eat more sensibly.

Dont cut all your vices out of your diet but limit them, for example if you have 5 bags of crisps a day have just the one bag and make it last over the course of the day then liek with smoking gradually bring yourself of the bag over the course of the diet.
Take up an exercise or two. The exercise doesn't have to be like Punchy said at least not at the moment anyway but something simple like a walk or a bike ride maybe a short circut of exercises too. You could join a gym naturally but may join them in your position and get put off by meatheads and fit feckers.

But in closing the most important aspect you must do before you start is be in it for the long haul and do it gradually and dont except to be a swimsuit model in quick time.

How's it going, Czar? Any update?

Pretty good up until the weekend. Was camping down in Cornwall so a combination of BBQ's and Thatchers Gold has set me back a bit.

If I can lose 4-5lb in the next ten days Ill be pretty pleased.

It should be easier in this weather. Mind you, though, I can't understand the eating (or, more crucially, the preparation) of hot, heavy food when the temperature's over 20C.

Be careful with salads, though - if you have loads of cheese, meat or other fat-laden foods on them, you might as well be eating a burger and chips.

mouldyoldgoat wrote:

Have you ever seen a goat shit out a shoe? It don't 'alf make their eyes water!  

I saw a goat tightrope Chedder Gorge once.

Pitta. Home-made humous. Gherkins, tapenade, leaves, felafel..... and I'm stuffed!!!!

I need to lose weight. I'm off for 30 sit-ups, a 5 mile run, 20 chin-ups and am going to lift several pints all the way up to my mouth. That ought to do it.

I tried the Quorn Cumberland sausages the other day
Not sure about fat content but as these do not contain meat I would think they are less than a normal Cumberland sausage
By the way they actually taste good and you can buy them in burger and sliced meat (although of course they are not meat) format. Recommended.
Plus I just found that eating regular meals at regular times, combined with some exercise does make a difference. Also I don't drink much alcohol, which is bad for weight loss

In the last couple of months I have gone from just under 16 to 12 stone whilst doing no more than laying in bed. All it took was a few weeks in Derriford,a few days in icu on life support lol. Total removal of a diseased large intestine and the wieght just fell off. Been home a few days now and feel crap and weak but on the plus side haven't smoked for nearly five weeks so after 20/30 a day for 40 odd years I see no point in starting again now iv'e gone this far even if it was forced on me.