Weight Loss and Getting in Shape

[Susie]

I'm also trying to diet. Mostly just cutting out snacks and Ice Cream.

 

Ooshie, that is so strange that you lost your sense of taste for a while. Were you on some sort of medication before that?

 

I lost a lot of my sense of smell after being on a certain antibiotic. It was leaving a horrible taste in my mouth and I quit taking it after two days.

It took almost two years to get sense of smell back.

Yay, I can smell candles again.

[Johnny Carson Whit]

I've needed to lose probably about 3 stone for a number of years, and have decided this week to finally take it seriously and stop eating chips, crisps, pizzas etc. I have eaten chips almost every day of the week for years. Have been living on stir fry since Wednesday, and wondering why I havent done this earlier its cheap, quick and fills you up more than a ton of chips ever does.

[vodkafan]

I have a question for anyone who might have some insight. Tonight I just finished the most intense workout I've had in months and for some reason no matter how much water I drink I'm still insanely thirsty. This isn't a recent issue as it would happen way back in my soccer/dance days too. I would be able to chug down a whole litre of water and fill up my stomach to the point where it would hurt and I would just feel sick and miserable afterwards, but my mouth would still be craving water.

 

Has anyone else had issues like this or know how to better pace water intake during and after a workout?

 

Abby it is probably some salt and electrolytes that your body is missing, if you had a heavy workout you sweat out a lot of salt. Your body needs 3 , potassium, sodium and chlorine, and ideally they should be in balance .

Here we have a product called Losalt which is half sodium chlorate (ordinary salt) and half potassium chlorate, much better for you than just ordinary salt, of which most of us have too much.

Another good source of potassium is bananas.

Filling your stomach up with cold water is definitely not good as you have found.

[vodkafan]

You can all hate me now.

I am one of those annoying people who can eat what the I want and do not put on any weight

 

I do need to get in shape though I have a bad back and shoulder.

[Johnny Carson Whit]

You can all hate me now.

I am one of those annoying people who can eat what the I want and do not put on any weight

 

I do need to get in shape though I have a bad back and shoulder.

 

I was like that until I hit 25, then all the rubbish I had eaten over the last 10 years decided to make itself known:mrgreen:

[AbielleRose]

Good luck, JCW, sounds like you're on a good track so far with the stirfry

 

You're a lucky man, vodkafan! *Is jealous* I actually went in to have some blood work done today because my doctor thinks I may have a thyroid problem. Hopefully the results will help somehow.

[Susie]

Vodafan, I hate you!

 

Just kidding!

I didnt start to gain weight until I hit 30 years of age.

[Nollaig]

*Glares at Vodkafan*

[Susie]

Me too , Johnny!

[frankie]

Hiya guys, I need and want to join your merry ranks

 

Some of you already know that I had my own weight losing thread last year and while I was able to shed a few kilos, I grew tired of it and the whole eating for living and not living for eating -thing So I deleted the thread.

 

I'm back now, with vengeance!

I love reality TV, and I watched the latest season of Celebrity Fit Club – Boot Camp, featuring celebs such as Sebastian Bach, Jay from Project Runway, Mr K-Fed etc etc. I loved the show and it inspired me to start living a healthy life again and to lose those pounds. Now, I have to confess I actually bought the book they were using as a guideline for their weight loss project. Ian K. Smith was a nutritionist on the show and his book The 4 Day Diet was introduced in the show. And I bought it. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit to resorting to a dietary book but hey, some of the embarrassment is starting to fade because the book and it's guidelines have been a tremendous help for me.

 

For those of you who are interested to know more about the book: The title doesn't mean that one's able to lose all the weight in four days! It means that each module lasts for only 4 days and then you move onto the next, and the idea is that you can always do 4 meager days, right? First there's detox. Lots of fruit, and raw veggies, yoghurt, brown rice and beans. And exercise, of course. Next there's transition module to reintroduce food groups. Once you do these two, there are 5 modules left and you can do them any which way you want. There's even a smooth module where you're allowed pizza/pasta/french fries (you need to remember proportions though, of course!).

 

I've now gone through detox, transition, and protein module and excluding the detox stage I haven't been starving or anything like that, and I've been very careful to do all the exercising as well. And I've lost 3,4 kilos in 3 weeks!

 

I know I won't be following the book and it's guidelines for the rest of my life but the book has taught me to proportion my meals the right way again, and now I'm more careful of what I put in my mouth. It's really helped me to see how bad I was eating before, and how one's really supposed to eat.

 

I'm not here to sell the book but I can say that it's definitely helped me, and I'm here to join in on the support for our weight loss and share tips and exchange thoughts

[Kimmy619]

Hiya guys, I need and want to join your merry ranks

 

Some of you already know that I had my own weight losing thread last year and while I was able to shed a few kilos, I grew tired of it and the whole eating for living and not living for eating -thing So I deleted the thread.

 

I'm back now, with vengeance!

I love reality TV, and I watched the latest season of Celebrity Fit Club

[frankie]

Is it good for a veggy?

 

There's a lot of fruit and raw vegetables on the menu, and during detox stage there is no meat at all of course. The author seems to like people eating a lot of beans and brown rice. I'm sure you could substitute the chicken, turkey and fish with soy products or the stuff that veggies normally eat. The diet isn't there so we would diligently eat the foods that Smith has listed, you can mix it up if you want, as long as your own choices are as healthy and as low in calories as Smith's are. And proportions are vital as well.

[Kylie]

That sounds like a really interesting book, Frankie, and I'm so proud of you for losing all that weight! I have put on a lot of weight recently and currently weigh about as much as I ever have, which is so disappointing because I had been losing weight gradually and then just piled it all back on.

 

I think a gym is the best way for me to go at the moment, because I know that paying money will give me the motivation to go on a regular basis (to get my money's worth ).

[frankie]

Thanks Kylie I know how you feel though, I lost some kilos last spring but after that I put on 10 kilos in a year I was 5 kilos away from my heaviest years back in early 2000, and I was beginning to freak out a bit. I know how it feels to have worked hard for something and then somehow losing focus. However, we can't do anything about that anymore, we can only control what happens now and in the future

 

I think gym is an excellent way to get in shape, it might make you a bit heavier though in the beginning because muscle weighs more than fat, but you'll be toning up and sculpting your body

 

For me, at this point in my life when I was so lost with my eating, it was really handy that I got this book where someone else had counted out the calories and made the decisions for me and I could only follow the regime and go with it, since my own choices would've been way worse. It's like I'm on my own boot camp. And I, who haven't been working out or going jogging for ages, have been a very good girl and followed the workout regime to a T.

[Kimmy619]

I know what you mean Frankie, I just want to be told what and how much to eat, I find that so much easier. I am definately going to check out this book.

[pickle]

I always find its a lot easier in the summer to think and stick to a diet, I have started walking to work when its sunny which is about 2 miles each way and its hilly in lieu of going to the gym (which I have done religiously for ages) mainly because its nice to get some fresh air and to shake of the days work. I always feel more energised by the time I get home.

 

I have tried a number of diets but its the getting started I always find difficult, part of the problem that I and many others have is that its not what you are eating thats unhealthy but the amount i have started weighing my food especially the carb part of a balanced meal (all in moderation is my catch phrase)..although saying that I do like chocolate

[frankie]

I always find its a lot easier in the summer to think and stick to a diet, I have started walking to work when its sunny which is about 2 miles each way and its hilly in lieu of going to the gym (which I have done religiously for ages) mainly because its nice to get some fresh air and to shake of the days work. I always feel more energised by the time I get home.

 

We are complete opposites! When summer hits town I would just rather chill out with friends, maybe drink wine and have picnics... It's easier for me to stick to my exercise plans in the fall and spring when the roads are clear and I can go jogging but when it's still not warm enough to start enjoying outdoor picnics However, this year I'm determined to find people who'd be interested in playing volley ball with me, it's a nice outdoors activity I'd like to try out

 

I have tried a number of diets but its the getting started I always find difficult, part of the problem that I and many others have is that its not what you are eating thats unhealthy but the amount i have started weighing my food especially the carb part of a balanced meal (all in moderation is my catch phrase)..although saying that I do like chocolate

 

For me it's always easy to start; what's the difficult part is to keep going and be consistent and not give up after a few days or a week or when there's a party or a vacation. I do agree that moderation is the key to all, thouh

 

I've lost another kilo since last Friday, I'm very happy And I'm off the do a free Zumba class with my friends, I'm pretty excited and petrified at the same time, I haven't been exercising in public since highschool... Yikes! There's Afrojazz after Zumba, I'm excited about that one too!

[frankie]

Ian K. Smith allows 3 tablespoons of low-fat or fat-free mayo in salads. To me that was really weird because I've never used mayo for anything and I always thought that it's really rich in calories. I was kind of hesitant to start using it but because those salads are quite dry if I don't add it, I just went along with it. Yesterday I was buying another can of mayo and I checked out the calory content in the normal mayo and the fat-free one: about 720 calories vs. 55 calories per 100g!! A huge difference. I have no objections to having my fat-free mayo now

 

How's everybody doing?

[Nienna]

Joining in!

 

I've started doing a low-calorie diet. This website - https://www.purelifestyle.co.uk/Calculators.aspx?idx=5 - allows you to calculate your BMR (Base Metabolic Rate). This is the amount of calories you would burn, according to your height, weight and age, if you just lay around in bed all day. I'm trying to keep down to not much more than this amount of calories per day (I'm not being too strict). This way, theoretically, all the walking about and activities I do all day should burn more than this.

 

It's sometimes a bit difficult to keep track and I have to do a lot of rounding-up because it's hard to find specific calorie amounts for everything I eat. However, although some people have told me that that it sounds like WAY too few calories to be taking in during the day, it does feel like a lot of food. For example, last Friday I had a small punnet of strawberries on my break (about 50 cals) then a ham and turkey Subway at lunch (about 350 cals) and at dinner I had honey chilli chicken and boiled rice from the takeaway (it was hard to quantify calories here, but I estimated about 700 or so, and that was rounding UP instead of down). That's still only 1100 calories, so I had room for snacks!

 

I also try to only eat when I'm hungry, not just snack when I feel like food, which should help a lot.

[Kylie]

That's a useful site, thanks Nienna. I agree about snacking. One of my problems is that I take a variety of snacks to work and leave them in my drawer so I eat whenever I get bored. I need to ration my snacks and only take to work what I plan to eat that day.

[iamnotreal]

Hi guys! I wanna join.

 

I've just read through all ten pages of this thread, and it's all very helpful stuff! While I may only be 17, I can't actually remember a time when I was thin/of a healthy weight. I've always been overweight for my age, and now it's just completely out of control and I want to do something about it.

 

Luckily for me, my mother has recently bough a treadmill and rowing machine to go alongside the cross-trainer my brother's girlfriend kindly gave to us. My main problem is with finding the time to exercise (schoolwork... ugh); and I need to stop snacking! My school timetable means that I don't get to have lunch on most days, so when I get home I'm usually starving so I head straight for the fridge.

 

Not any more, though! I intend to formulate a plan tomorrow to be put into effect immediately.

 

This thread is so helpful, though; you can't know how thankful I am for it! ^.^

[Kylie]

I had the first lesson of my 10-week cardio/boxing class today. I forgot how good working out can feel. Even though it's exhausting at the time it feels great to know that you've done something good for yourself. I was worried about being too unfit but everyone seemed about the same. I think I'm going to be sore tomorrow but I'm looking forward to next week's class, which is a good sign!

[frankie]

Sounds like you had a blast, Kylie! It does feel exhausting at the time but afterwards it feels so great knowing you've done something good. And knowing you managed through the class and will be continuing to go there and feel that good

 

It's funny how we always think that all the other participants are all really fit and have the perfect bodies and don't sweat and look beautiful and don't ever need a breather. Where do we get those illusions?? I blame advertising!! It's so nice to notice that all kinds of normal people go there and one blends in just like that.

[Kylie]

I agree. When I was looking at various gym websites today, they all have pictures of beautiful, trim people. I wonder if they realise how off-putting it can be to people who have low self-esteem or who might be nervous about joining for those very reasons. Anyway, it's nice to be proven wrong.

 

I saw an ad for Zumba DVDs the other day and man it looks tiring! It's so fast paced and hardcore. I admire you for taking that on.

[frankie]

I agree. When I was looking at various gym websites today, they all have pictures of beautiful, trim people. I wonder if they realise how off-putting it can be to people who have low self-esteem or who might be nervous about joining for those very reasons. Anyway, it's nice to be proven wrong.

 

If they realised it they would do something about it, right? But I guess they might think that putting a normal woman in their adds might drive away the "better and fitter" clients.

 

I saw an ad for Zumba DVDs the other day and man it looks tiring! It's so fast paced and hardcore. I admire you for taking that on.

 

It can be tiring but it's really great cardio! And it's really a lot of fun as well, the instructors are smiling (not fake smiles!) and they seem really encouraging and there's ethnic music and nice dance moves which you can incorporate in your own dance moves on your night out in the town