Weight Watcher's Thread

[ColinJ]

What I do care about is the layer of fat I am getting around my middle which I have possibly wrongly put down to being too heavy. I think I am going to forget the scales and concentrate on toning up a bit.

That makes sense.

The waistline is the best guide. My face is looking slimmer now that I have lost about 45 pounds in weight and some people have suggested that I do not need to lose much more, but the truth is that my waist still has about 7 inches of flab round it and I want to lose at least 5 of those.

 

[Cycleconvert]

To be fair, I suggested that Cycleconvert is "just into [the overweight category]" and her weight "fairly high"; I did not suggest that 11 stone is huge. I am not a big fan of BMI, but the description of what is happening to Cycleconvert's waistline confirms that something isn't right.

Cycleconvert isn't "struggling to lose weight" - that would be staying the same weight, despite all efforts to cut down; she said "I seem to have done nothing but gain weight and fat around my middle" which is a different thing altogether and implies a significant calorie surplus, despite efforts to count those calories.

It goes against the laws of physics to suggest that it is possible to gain fat without taking onboard surplus food and/or drink. It is possible to gain weight through fluid retention, but surplus fat doesn't come from water.

If Cycleconvert has got her calculations right and is genuinely only taking in 1,300-1,500 cals a day, then she must have a superbly efficient metabolism. More likely, there is a mistake somewhere and she is eating (or drinking) more calories than she thinks. Either way, the answer is to shift the balance by taking in fewer calories and/or doing more exercise. It takes a lot of exercise to burn significant amounts of fat - in my case, about 100 hilly miles on the bike to lose a single pound. In a week, cutting back by about 500 calories a day would achieve the same as riding 100 hilly miles. If I did both, I would lose about 2 pounds.

Ok I see your point. But say I cut down to 1000 calories a day, on the days I commute on the bike I am burning 600 of those leaving me with 400 net.

Over the past few months I have cut down on any unhealthy snacks, I'm not a big drinker anyway and I have cut down on carbs at dinner time. My OH thinks I don't eat enough and that is why my body is storing everything as fat. It is all so very confusing!

 

[sazzaa]

Ok I see your point. But say I cut down to 1000 calories a day, on the days I commute on the bike I am burning 600 of those leaving me with 400 net.

Don't do that. Food is fuel. You maybe just need to have a look at what exactly you're eating and it might turn out that you need more calories but from other foods.

 

[ColinJ]

Ok I see your point. But say I cut down to 1000 calories a day, on the days I commute on the bike I am burning 600 of those leaving me with 400 net.

Over the past few months I have cut down on any unhealthy snacks, I'm not a big drinker anyway and I have cut down on carbs at dinner time. My OH thinks I don't eat enough and that is why my body is storing everything as fat. It is all so very confusing!

I honestly think that you have made a mistake in your calculations somewhere. Give us an example of exactly what you eat and drink in a typical day and let's see if we can spot something.

1,000 calories a day isn't a healthy amount to be eating on a regular basis.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Ok I see your point. But say I cut down to 1000 calories a day, on the days I commute on the bike I am burning 600 of those leaving me with 400 net.

Over the past few months I have cut down on any unhealthy snacks, I'm not a big drinker anyway and I have cut down on carbs at dinner time. My OH thinks I don't eat enough and that is why my body is storing everything as fat. It is all so very confusing!

NOOOOOOOOOOO that's asking for trouble. If anything from your posts so far, you could perhaps do with eating a tad more

 

[ColinJ]

Beaten to it!

 

[Rob3rt]

Ok I see your point. But say I cut down to 1000 calories a day, on the days I commute on the bike I am burning 600 of those leaving me with 400 net.

Over the past few months I have cut down on any unhealthy snacks, I'm not a big drinker anyway and I have cut down on carbs at dinner time. My OH thinks I don't eat enough and that is why my body is storing everything as fat. It is all so very confusing!

Please, buy a book... read it and digest it. You describe the fast track to malnutrition!

 

[ColinJ]

Please, buy a book... read it and digest it. You describe the fast track to malnutrition!

How is eating paper going to help?

 

[Cycleconvert]

NOOOOOOOOOOO that's asking for trouble. If anything from your posts so far, you could perhaps do with eating a tad more

Don't worry I would never do that. I'm clued up enough to know what is healthy or not thankfully.

Rob3rt - A book might be a good idea!

 

[Rob3rt]

I would recommend Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald, but I haven't read it for a long time and can't remember how technical it is or how prescriptive it is. Definatelly a good book but might not suit you.

Even a half decent book might be better than an internet forum or various websites where you will get loads of little bits of information (good and bad) from different people/sites and find it difficult to piece it all together etc.

 

[Cycleconvert]

I honestly think that you have made a mistake in your calculations somewhere. Give us an example of exactly what you eat and drink in a typical day and let's see if we can spot something.

1,000 calories a day isn't a healthy amount to be eating on a regular basis.

Ok a typical cycling day

Small banana when I get up
Porridge once I have cycled to work
If I get hungry mid morning a snack of fruit or nuts
Lunch is either tuna/chicken pasta salad (homemade) or soup with either ryvita or a brown roll. Very occasionally sandwiches made with thins.
Mid afternoon if I need it is more fruit or a cereal bar to fuel my ride home
Dinner is usually some sort of protein with veg and new potatoessweet potato. A jacket potato or something like homemade chilli or Bolognese.

Throughout the day I drink plenty of water and about 3/4 cups of tea or herbal tea but with no sugar. Don't usually drink on a weekday and occasionally drink wine at the weekend.

 

[michaelcycle]

Don't worry I would never do that. I'm clued up enough to know what is healthy or not thankfully.

Rob3rt - A book might be a good idea!

Just read this. It's free and pretty much covers the bases.

http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/

Can I be blunt with you? You probably suck at calorie counting and / or portion control. If you are in a sustained caloric deficit then you will lose weight (although how much of that is fat is another matter.) Whilst eating too little can be detrimental to fat loss (particularly due to adaptive thermogensis and food seeking behaviours) it doesn't stop it dead.

 

[sazzaa]

Ok a typical cycling day

Small banana when I get up
Porridge once I have cycled to work
.

This is where I was going wrong!! Have the porridge first thing, it seems to make a difference to me anyway! Makes me less peckish and gives me more energy... I'd be wary of pasta salad, they tend to sap energy from me and are fairly calorific. I'm going for a tin of tuna with tomatoes for lunch at the moment, filling and stacked with good stuff. Tatties, chilli and bolognese are all pretty heavy as meals, maybe try something like spicy chicken with greens and cous cous? Lamb and veg kebabs? My latest one is a bowl of salmon, sweet potato, spinach and dried cranberries, sounds like an odd mix but it's lovely - get creative with your food and ditch the thick sauces and pasta for a while, see if anything changes?

 

[Cycleconvert]

Thank you for the advice, your meal combinations sound good. This week I have grilled chicken breast one day and a fish cake on another day to have with just veg, no potatoes or rice. When I say pasta salad as it's home made it is literally a handful of brown pasta with loads of lettuce, cucumber, sweetcorn, spring onion etc with either grilled turkey or tuna.

 

[Fubar]

To be fair, I suggested that Cycleconvert is "just into [the overweight category]" and her weight "fairly high"; I did not suggest that 11 stone is huge. I am not a big fan of BMI, but the description of what is happening to Cycleconvert's waistline confirms that something isn't right.

Cycleconvert isn't "struggling to lose weight" - that would be staying the same weight, despite all efforts to cut down; she said "I seem to have done nothing but gain weight and fat around my middle" which is a different thing altogether and implies a significant calorie surplus, despite efforts to count those calories.

It goes against the laws of physics to suggest that it is possible to gain fat without taking onboard surplus food and/or drink. It is possible to gain weight through fluid retention, but surplus fat doesn't come from water.

If Cycleconvert has got her calculations right and is genuinely only taking in 1,300-1,500 cals a day, then she must have a superbly efficient metabolism. More likely, there is a mistake somewhere and she is eating (or drinking) more calories than she thinks. Either way, the answer is to shift the balance by taking in fewer calories and/or doing more exercise. It takes a lot of exercise to burn significant amounts of fat - in my case, about 100 hilly miles on the bike to lose a single pound. In a week, cutting back by about 500 calories a day would achieve the same as riding 100 hilly miles. If I did both, I would lose about 2 pounds.

Fubar - well done on losing the weight you have so far!

Yeah, fair point - perhaps I was reading things incorrectly and I know BMI is contentious (though it kind of works for me) and I was trying to say that if you are calorie counting you need something to measure it against - and I suppose I was trying to say something positive as the OP seemed to be posting similar "it's not working" posts. If I could get to 11 stones I'd be out celebrating with a pie and a pint! Though I realise that probably will never happen for me and 12-13 stone is more realistic - different strokes for different folks. Certainly wasn't calling you into question @ColinJ , or if I was I didn't mean to...