Chips no burger, lemonade no beer

DonDaddyD

My name is Dondaddyd and I'm overweight.

On my birthday 21 March 2009 I found I weighed 15st 8lbs. It's taken some time for that to sink in.

I want to be 13 stone. I ride my bike every day and on Sundays.

I'm in my mid - late 20s. I go out, I like a drink and I've got a tendancy to want a kebab and chips at the end of my booze filled night. I need to cut this out of my life and learn discipline. Chips no burger. Lemonade no beer.

So, in an effort to be fit I'm cutting out take aways and excessive social drinking completely until August 2009. I also need to cut the size of my portions down.
By that time the desire should be out of my system.

I'll still eat at restaurants and drink the occasional glass not bottle of red wine. But that's it I'm done. Healthy all the way for me.

Advice please?

ride_whenever

Pretty much the way to do it. The trick is to keep at it, and give yourself a reward for getting to 13stone and holding it there for a while.

I'm trying to get down to 75-80kg from 95, if i hold it there for 6 months then I'm getting myself a Ti MTB from lynskey!!!!!

il_principe

Make your own lunches to take into work, that way you know what is in your food. Too many ready meals/sarnies are packed with sugar and fat.
Have a healthier brekkie, I go for a smoothie with summer fruits, fat free yog and pomegranete juice, poured over Granola if I'm hungry.
Ignore croissants etc.
Drink less alcohol obvio, avoid soft drinks if you can. I almost never drink coke etc.

Don't snack on cr@p like choccy and crisps.

Don't eat fast food.

Be sensible, not point banning the things you love, just moderate moderate moderate.

My biggest struggle is with beer and wine. I've pretty much canned midweek drinking completely now.

MOST IMPORTANTLY - ride more, train more. Now the weather is better try to get out into the Surrey hills at the weekends, up your mileage, work harder and the weight will come off.

Good luck.

cee

agree with jash. cut the midweek drinks and crap food and you are most of the way there. get the rest of the way by riding more.

For me...I find that banning things completely does not work. I end up feeling so sorry for myself or that i have been 'good' all week, that I go on the lash and ruin it all.

Moderation. or alternatively a drug habit...those junkies are usually pretty skinny.

always_tyred

You may be interested in the "Kebab Diet". It goes something like this - if you eat only Kebabs, your body produces an excess of a certain enzyme and you lose weight. There are some modifications to it, where you can eat meat and eggs as well.

Petromyzon

There are kebabs and kebabs. A kebab made from grilled pieces of whole chicken, salad, chilli sauce and pitta bread is not a nutrition disaster by any means. A doner kebab with garlic mayonnaise and a side order of chips is about as bad as food gets for you. I'd bet you can get both of these at your local emporium!!

biondino

Jash is pretty much on the money. Don't drink lemonade - it's packed with sugar which does terrible things to your blood sugar levels (obviously) which has a lot to do with fat retention (not sure exactly what, but, like Dr Fox, I'm not a doctor). Either develop a taste for fizzy water, or find a compromise - lime and soda, say. Fruit juice is also full of sugar, though it's better for you than lemonade, obv.

Cutting out the snacking and the junk food will make a massive difference. I simply don't eat crisps or drinks soft drinks any more, and I'm no saint food-wise - they're just such empty calories and if I'm going to eat, I want to eat nicer things (like, uh, kebabs).

And I don't know why you want chips to be part of your diet! They're tasty, sure, but again they are pure carbs and fat - I guess in extreme moderation they can be part of your plan but they shouldn't really be anything other than a very occasional treat.

Once I am back on the bike properly I need to go on a diet myself - the aim is to be less than 12 stone for the first time since I was a teenager (well, last year my scales registered 11 stone 13.5 pounds once and once only, but I refused to believe it and they never went that low again). I have a trip to Tuscany on the 1st September - that's my target.

itboffin

Moving to the country put and end to my other hobby..... takeaways

It was not an easy transition :roll:

Giving up beer is just silly ask Greg66

Kieran_Burns

I always use the adage: All things in moderation

You CAN have some junk food. Completely cutting it out just makes you go and binge and that helps no one.

Treat them as... treats (damn)

When out drinking alternate the beer with a glass of water or 'fruit based cocktail . When I'm on a works night out I ALWAYS do this. Next morning I rarely have a hangover (and I'm 42!)


Making your own lunches goes a LONG way to helping though - and you save a fortune

Roastie

Cold turkey can be bad (no, I'm not talking about salmonella).

Drastically reduce the consumption of the bad things, but denying yourself beer will probably just make yourself miserable (although you could substitute with whisk(e)y).

Jus13

DDD,

We could be twins !! I found I was 15st 8lbs in Sep 08 and have managed to get it down to 13st 7lbs . . . .not easy and at times not enjoyable but extremely satisfying.

I found that daily weigh-ins worked for me, kept me motivated and stopped me falling off the wagon (some people would rather weekly though). I cut out any hollow calories as Biondino suggests and really cut back on the booze (I have a very close affection to Jack Daniels !!).

The real key was starting to cycle, I feel I can allow myself more treats and still see the weight coming off as I am now averaging an hour a day in the saddle.

Good luck matey, once you see the weight start to shift it becomes addictive . . . . .

Stone Glider

To add to the flood of good advice can I +1 for portion control? My cousin swears by using smaller plates at home to kid you that the meal is as big as ever. It worked for him, although he did have a quadruple heart by-pass as well, which might have had something to do with it. I too am not a doctor.

jimmypippa

Always Tyred wrote:

You may be interested in the "Kebab Diet". It goes something like this - if you eat only Kebabs, your body produces an excess of a certain enzyme and you lose weight. There are some modifications to it, where you can eat meat and eggs as well.

Isn't that basically the Atkins diet?

I'm sure that fidgeting is the secret of my slimness (even when I wasn't cycling)

desweller

1. Drink water when you want a snack during the day. I don't know why this works but it does. Downside is frequent trips to the loo.

2. Reduce the amount of meat in your daily diet, especially if you eat a lot of red meat. Start eating lots of vegetables.

3. Ride more! Find a long, challenging commuter route home and have a difficult stock Sunday training ride that you can do if you're not taking part in something specific (like a sportive). Increase the length of the training ride every two or three weeks, and/or vary the route so your body does not get used to a specific loading cycle. Make sure you have a rest day though or you'll be buggered all the time.

I've knocked about 8 kilos off since Jan doing it this way. Ruddy knackered come Sunday afternoon though ;-).

crankycrank

Eat lots of fresh fruits, vegatables (cooked is fine too), unsalted-unprocessed nuts, seeds, and whole grain breads. Instead or beef and pork eat grilled skinless chicken. Use extra virgin olive oil for cooking and salads. Reduce your processed sugars which is in almost everything these days but having a bagel instead of cake or biscuits is a big improvement and juice (watch for added sugars in packaged juices) or tea sweetened with honey is better than a coke etc. I was amazed at how much weight I lost just by greatly reducing processed sugar from my diet. Don't keep junk food in your house to remove the temptation. You can still eat loads of food as long as it is of the fresh non-processed variety and enjoy some cake and beer every so often so as to make life worth living. Sit down sometime and read the contents of all the packaged food in your house and notice how much fat, sodium and sugar is in each serving. It's a bit surprising how much junk most of us consume every day. The weight will come off eventually.

Hey Jax

jimmypippa wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

You may be interested in the "Kebab Diet". It goes something like this - if you eat only Kebabs, your body produces an excess of a certain enzyme and you lose weight. There are some modifications to it, where you can eat meat and eggs as well.

Isn't that basically the Atkins diet?



yes sounds like Atkins. as much meat poultry fish eggs as you like!.. but on the downside, you may struggle to commute!
I am doing this at the mo, and i have NO stamina! my legs feels like lead after 5 mins of excercise!

prawny

Last christmas I weighed 15st 13lb my wife was 6 months pregnant so I decided I needed to get fit so I could keep up with the little one when he started walkin. Anyways y sister had given me a copy of body for life by bill phillips so I did the workout plan in there and loosely followed the diet. By August I was down to 13st 1lb.

Have a look on the website bodyforlife.com it involves doin weights but thats fun anyway. Don't bother buying the book everything is on the site. Don't waste money on fat burning supplements either just maybe whey protein if you ache a lot.

For your diet you'd be better off cutting out chips and keeping the burger, when I was a teenager I was a sprint canoeist for GB the coaches always recommended if we had to go to maccies have 2 burgers instead of fries.

Another thing me and the wife did after she had the baby was weightwatchers the points thing is good for portion size she's gone from a size 14/16 to a 10/12.

Rich158

Hey Jax wrote:

jimmypippa wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

You may be interested in the "Kebab Diet". It goes something like this - if you eat only Kebabs, your body produces an excess of a certain enzyme and you lose weight. There are some modifications to it, where you can eat meat and eggs as well.

Isn't that basically the Atkins diet?



yes sounds like Atkins. as much meat poultry fish eggs as you like!.. but on the downside, you may struggle to commute!
I am doing this at the mo, and i have NO stamina! my legs feels like lead after 5 mins of excercise!

Atkins is a disaster for any sport, all protein and no carbs will leave your glycogen stores depleted, and you'll run out of energy really quickly, as you've noticed.

I subscribe to the eat less, move more diet. You do have to be careful if you're active though, as you'll naturally need more energy anyway. I eat two main meals a day, a large breakfast, plus a substantial snack about 1hr after riding, and various snacks and fruit throughout the day and I still lose weight.

I have found that since I've started spinning the weight has come off far quicker, and I think there's some research to support this that also debunks the myths relating to heart rate zones and fat burning.

bigmat

I'm not convinced cycling is a great way to lose weight. Great for improving fitness, but its difficult to avoid taking on board calories. On a sportive, say, think how many gels / flapjack etc you get through. And energy drinks. Not to mention carb loading the day before... I'm not saying you can't lose weight by cycling, but its very easy to fall into the trap of taking on board as much as you're burning off and I think you have to be quite discuplined if its your main form of exercise to lose weight.

Running / gym sessions, whilst far less enjoyable, are probably more efficient. That's what I find anyway, although the likes of Rasmussen and Hamilton don't exactly back up my theory

cjcp

MatHammond wrote:

Running / gym sessions, whilst far less enjoyable, are probably more efficient. That's what I find anyway, although the likes of Rasmussen and Hamilton don't exactly back up my theory

I've just started running in the gym again to shake a bit more weight: I can't seem to lose the weight I gained over the winter, although part of me really wants to believe I gained more muscle on the legs from hammering the mtb over the winter. :P :roll:

To achieve the Rasmussen or Hamilton look, you need to stop eating. Full stop. We also know how they got up those climbs without a good meal inside them...

jedster

DDD,

My weight tends to fluctuate and I'm always a bit heavier than I want to be. I find that the only way for me to lose weight is to track calories out and calories in - food and exercise diary. Otherwise I tend to forget how much I've eaten.

What works for me is to eat three fairly generous meals, exercise plenty and cut out snacks between meals (fruit only if I am starving). If I do this then I tend to lose 1-2lbs per week.

J

posh_pedaller

Rich158 wrote:

I think there's some research to support this that also debunks the myths relating to heart rate zones and fat burning.

Can you point me towards that please? I'd love to read it as HR zones seem to be such a large part of fitness training for just about every sport - it would take a stonking piece of research to debunk it.

DonDaddyD

Thanks guys. My goal is 12.5stone I just need to set a when.

I was talking to my girlfriend who is into the nutrition side of things and my Mum...

Mum's advice.
How you cook it. It's a myth that most Carribean food is cooked with a lot of oil and grease. It's done so here in the same way that Indian take aways are laden with grease and oil. A proper curry (like the ones the people next door cook) is nearly devoid of all grease.

Point is, it's how you cook it.

Needless to say, I'm off to my Mum's to learn the secret techniques...

Girlfriend
Eat smaller amounts over the course of the day. Most people will have one piece of meat for dinner. Last time I cooked I had meatballs and salmon because I couldn't decide between the two.

Do this in moderation though I need to train my body to eat less and not feel like its starving.

Me.
Stop drinking excessively on nights out with the lads. Drink beer and wine in moderation.
Avoid drunken favourites donner kebabs and chips (grilled chicken, salad in a pitta is not a kebab) and other take aways. Stop eating chocolates bars and fizzy drinks. Eat crisps as a treat.
Leave cash card at home.
If I have to eat outside, choose the sensible meal not the hunge- buster rib, chicken and steak challenge.
Make food at home and bring to work.
Eat 3 square meals a day or 5 smaller meals a day made from the 3 meals but divided into 5.
If you have to have a take away, make sure it's once a month.

linsen

Eat less

Exercise more.

Don't skimp on food when riding long rides, but you could try some "fasted" rides.

Concentrate on the mirror and your clothes, not your weight.

I haven't cut out food but all my clothes are much too big for me since I got the road bike. Weight has not changed too much.

Sadly I now have the chunkiest, most muscly legs of any girl I know.......

Rich158

posh_pedaller wrote:

Rich158 wrote:

I think there's some research to support this that also debunks the myths relating to heart rate zones and fat burning.

Can you point me towards that please? I'd love to read it as HR zones seem to be such a large part of fitness training for just about every sport - it would take a stonking piece of research to debunk it.

I can't find the article, although I'm pretty sure it was either an article on here or in Cycling Weekly. iirc the argument was that the way our bodies fuels exercise is far more complex than the rather simple split between heart rate zones. If you spin (95-120rpm) there is a greater emphasis on aerobic capacity at any given heart rate, and this affects the way our bodies fuel the effort. This is a rather over simplification of the process but from my experience I have lost a lot more weight since I started trying to spin more. I'd hit a plateau at 164lbs that I couldn't break, and now I hover arround the upper 150's.

+1 to Linsen on the fasted ride. I never eat breakfast untill I get into the office on the basis that it's teaching my body to use fat rather than the glycogen stored in my muscles.

itboffin

Stop it DDD you're making me hungry no really and leaving the cards at home is a great way to stop you spending better yet leave them with me :twisted:

1-2lbs a week should be your goal, i'm sure you already know it but crash weight loss doesn't stay off.

I've been researching my calorie intake recently (too much free time & no bike projects) and found out that apart from my modest addiction to Guinness i'm getting most of my daily cals from bread, for the love of god have you seen home many cals one slice of bread has, jebus!!!

joew4ll

A good bout of the runs is what you need, my wife had it about 6 months after giving birth and got back to pre-pregnancy weight in about a week. Granted it's not fun, but then neither is giving up beer wine and take aways

Rich158

I tried that just before christmas with the Norwark virus. :? Not a fun way to lose weight, and most of it went back on as I think the weight loss was mainly fluids, not fat

prawny

Rich158 wrote:

I tried that just before christmas with the Norwark virus. :? Not a fun way to lose weight, and most of it went back on as I think the weight loss was mainly fluids, not fat

Me too! I was 13st 4lb on new years eve and 12st 8lb on new years day, JOY!

asprilla

The best advice I would give you is not to use the scales as a target, but use the mirror or possibly even take photos of your progress. I weigh pretty much the same as I did 20 months ago when I decided to get fit, but my body fat % has dropped from about 30% to about 14%.

As for nutrition, this is possibly the weakest part of my 'healthy lifestyle', but this is what I generally try to have:

Breakfast Options:
Omlette with veg or makerel fillets
Porridge with some honey
Poached eggs on brown toast

Breakfast is the most imortant meal of the day.

11.00 Snack:
Generally an apple or a banana

Lunch Options:
Grilled fish or chicken with brown rice or wholemeal pasts
Sanwich on brown bread

15.00 Snack
Some plain nuts (peanuts, brazil, almond or cashew) not salted
An apple or a banana

Supper Options:
Full meal with meat and two veg.
Yoghurt with fruit for desert

I still drink wine and beer in moderation (and sometimes not) since there are more calories in a pint of orange juice than there are in a pint of Guinness. Just because it's fruit, it doesn't mean it's healthy.

Try and avoid musli or special K type cereal; they might be low in fat, but they are generally high in sugar which doesn't help with the calories and it doesn't help with your insulin levels either. In fact, most prepared foods that are advertised as 'low fat' are high sugar instead.

I generally eat when I'm hungery (helps keep the metabolism up) and I stop eating when my hunder is sated, rather than when I feel full.

I don't stick to these rules all the time, I'm not an athlete, but I'm making improvements every day orver a long period. I figure that if I aim to lose weight over a long period of time then the changes I make to my lifestyle whould be pretty much permenent, rather than aiming to crash off a load of weight and then find myself putting it back on again when I've reached my goal, which I've done before.

prawny

+1 except for makerels blugh!