Losing Weight and Getting in Shape - Getting there Slowly!

[TheSalisburyTeacher]

I haven't actually started a thread before but felt compelled to today after reaching a bit of a milestone. I'm overweight and have been for most of my life as far as I'm concerned. It's gotten worse over the past couple of years as I've settled into my job and have often thought I hadn't enough time to be active, (Tosh I know). As a teacher however, I get good summer holidays, a perk of the job. So back in July I followed a colleague's advice and began the 5:2 diet with my partner, she also wanted to lose some weight. We started running, and as I was pushing 23 stone I also decided to get into cycling to take the strain off my knees.

Well, we're now about 3/4 weeks in and I have lost about 5kg and my fitness is much improved. I used to be unable to run a couple of km without having several breaks, but I haven't just returned from an 8.3 km run in which I didn't stop once. We have also done several 25 mile rides and cycling is now definitely one of my new favourite hobbies. Currently using a Specialized Crosstrail, but eager to try a road bike.

We're far from our target weight, but hey, we're getting there and enjoying it!

 

[ianrauk]

Good on you. Your life will only get better for you.
A lot of us have been in the same situation so chapeau Sir and keep it up.

 

[G3CWI]

5kg in 3 to 4 weeks is rather faster than a lot of places recommend. I am on a diet at the moment with a target of 0.5kg/week.

 

[fossyant]

Good work.

I've recently shed 6 kg. Wouldn't recommend my method. Orrible drugs that make you feel sick so you don't eat.

 

[ColinJ]

Well done - keep it up!

5kg in 3 to 4 weeks is rather faster than a lot of places recommend. I am on a diet at the moment with a target of 0.5kg/week.

True, but the bigger you are the more you can safely lose per week. I saw 1%/week suggested as a limit. 23 stone is 146 kg so that would correspond to about 1.5 kg/week, approximately what TST's loss was.

I lost about 29 kg (~4.5 stone) using the 5:2 approach and riding 3,500+ miles a year.

 

[TheSalisburyTeacher]

G3CWI: Yes, in our book we used for research it said that was a good amount to aim to lose. Truth be told, we're not starvimg ourselves, I think it's just a result of the fact that bike rides and runs cost nothing and get us out the house. Hence we've been very active!

Fossyant: I'll avoid that method I think! Sounds nasty!

 

[Drago]

Excellent work. Keep at it!

 

[TheSalisburyTeacher]

I must admit, the 5:2 thing has been quite easy to keep to, and lots of people seem to get results from it. I normally steer clear of diets I consider a fad, but the truth is if you burn more calories than you consume you'd hope to lose weight. Here's hoping it continues to work!

 

[Racing roadkill]

Well done on the weight loss, however, ADF diets are ultimately a load of unsustainable bobbins (they work very well for shifting the weight initially, there's little doubt about that).You're doing the correct thing, by changing your lifestyle, which is the only way to prevent the harmful Yo-Yo cycle of dieting to establish itself

 

[G3CWI]

if you burn more calories than you consume you'd hope to lose weight

..at the end of the day there is little more to it than that!

I use the MyFitnessPal app and have found it excellent.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

 

[TheSalisburyTeacher]

Well done on the weight loss, however, ADF diets are ultimately a load of unsustainable bobbins (they work very well for shifting the weight initially, there's little doubt about that).You're doing the correct thing, by changing your lifestyle, which is the only way to prevent the harmful Yo-Yo cycle of dieting to establish itself

We were always adamant from the start that merely adopting a diet wouldn't get us where we wanted to be, adopting a healthy lifestyle would! Plus it has led to loads of days out!

 

[Racing roadkill]

I must admit, the 5:2 thing has been quite easy to keep to, and lots of people seem to get results from it. I normally steer clear of diets I consider a fad, but the truth is if you burn more calories than you consume you'd hope to lose weight. Here's hoping it continues to work!

It's a lot more complicated than just "burn more than you take in to lose weight" unfortunately. There are hormones, which can adversely affect the equation, in your biological systems, which can end up giving you seemingly baffling results. It gets very complicated when you delve into that particular murky water, but a good example, is a hormone, who's levels change, and can actually start to waste muscle, and promote fat storage, just dependent on exactly when, and for how long, and of which quality sleep you get, just for one example. This is where ADF diets go badly wrong as well. You are essentially tricking your body to produce certain hormones, out of kilter, which has the effect of aiding weight loss initially. However, your system soon gets wise to the trick, over compensates, and suddenly the weight loss plateaus. The mistake a lot of people make, is to try and compensate, by either upping the intensity of their excercise, or eating even less, or both, which leads to fatigue, which actually triggers the hormone levels to increase again, and you end up losing no more weight (or increasing slightly) and you feel like crap as a bonus.

 

[Racing roadkill]

We were always adamant from the start that merely adopting a diet wouldn't get us where we wanted to be, adopting a healthy lifestyle would! Plus it has led to loads of days out!

That's exactly right

 

[raleighnut]

 

[TheSalisburyTeacher]

Have you thought about swimming?

Well, we're about to stay in Crete with family for a week who have a pool! So I will see how we get on!