Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => General Chat => Topic started by: Mourneman on March 19, 2012
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For those of you who know me i've always struggled with my body weight,few years ago i lost over seven stone through Weight Watchers(Fat fighters) ;D ,but slowly but surly the weight creeped back on,no surprise really i'd stopped going to class & with little or no exercise what else would happen ???anyway all that counting points & sins is pure madness,if anything it made me a worse eater as i tended to think about food all the time.Just over a year a half ago i decided to give it another go,this time however there would be no counting points or sins i was determined to lost the weight again,but only this time it would be by working out :P.So far i've lost over six & a half stone & now weigh 16.7 stone,according to the Body Mass Index i should be around 11 stone,which means i need to lose another 5.7 stone,madness >:(,anyway following recent days on the hills with much fitter ,younger walkers i've being somewhat annoyed at my performance as i appear to have hit a brick wall were i'am finding it hard to lose weight & i can't improve on my fitness.One of the reason for this is quite clear to me ,in October of last year i tore my abductor muscle while on a days hiking with Mountain goat & only got surgery in mid February to correct this ,which included wrapping the muscle in mesh & sowing back in place.Recently the surgeon told me to carry on with the outdoor pursuits but to avoid any climbing or impact sports,heavy lifting.when the muscle does get a wee bit sore i slow down as i don't want to damage myself anymore,question is how to i overcome this barrier were i can improve on my fitness & lose some weight but still protect myself against further injuries?I don't want to put all the weight back on again but my surgeon has advised me that i'am still carrying too much weight & the tightness i'am feeling on my abductor's are mainly the result of my lard-ass ;D excess weight is putting on them,so my goal is to shed a stone over the next 4-5 weeks,also to keep of the booze :-X & avoid all fatty high cal food,i've also just started using the wife cross trainer which is very good,that together with a 5 mile walk everyday i hope to meet the target i've set myself,any advice form a non-mad person would be great ;D
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I wouldnt have much knowledge of this subject, but I'd imagine there are plenty that do.
If I was to give an estimated guess it would be something along the lines of:
Reduce meal sizes as well as snacks
Only eat till you are satisfied, try not to overeat
Drink plenty of water during the day
Have a glass of water immediately before meals to fill the stomach prior to eating
That along with your original exercise regime and a gradual change in food intake.
And from watching TV shows do they not say Dieting isnt as effective because it changes your metabolism etc? Does the saying "Everything in moderation" have any relevance here?
Again, just an estimated guess, wouldnt take my word as the gospel.
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I'd agree with Oisin that I don't know what I'm talking about on this subject either! But from my understanding of how it all works, you need to be careful of increasing your exercise and lowering your calories, at least in the short term. Your body is used to operating at a certain level with a certain number of calories. If you go and up your activity and lower your calories then your body gets confused and can often end up holding onto the higher energy fatty calories because it's not used to this new regime. Once your body gets used to this new regime then it can often move past this plateau stage all of its own accord. Keeping a truthful food diary is good too. Sometimes we think we eat better than we do! As for hill fitness, that's one that continually evades me. I'm starting to think that some people have it and some don't! But increasing general fitness is good, stuff like swimming or cycling, which being non weight bearing will be great for working strength back to your injury too.
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I saw a reputable post online saying..... Fast ... Go without any food for as long as you can.... It sounds hard, but maybe, until you try it, you don't know. Think you need to top up with vitamins.
Perhaps more inline with what people would recommend, use protein as your primary food source, causes thermo Genesis, which means your body Burns more calories then it gets from the food itself. throw in a cold shower, again cause you're body to burn calories. Check out Tim ferris, he has the detail on this kinda thing :-)
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During treatment for cancer last year i ballooned to 19 stone , When treatment ended in June i started walking, then after a month bought a bike and some weights , I hate cycling on the roads .. so started off on forest paths then progressed to the coastal path between Hollywood and Bangor and back and the tow path from Stranmillis to Lisburn and back
I cycled every other day . racking up 80 -100 miles a week , I didn't follow a diet as such , just counted the calories aiming for a 500 calorie deficit a day , I used an online calorie counter website , PITA weighing everything you eat but necessary . I was never hungry , and used lot of vegetables to bulk out any meals
I weight trained every other day between the cycling days , gradually increasing the weights until now where im benching my own bodyweight
I started in June and by October I was 14 stone and still am, gives me a BMI of 26.9 which classes me as overweight ... which is total bull , Im 6 foot tall and very broad
Thing is to keep at it .. my motivation was the cancer . it was my way of saying f**k you you haven't beaten me and you never will ..
Andy
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The best decision I have ever made for my weight was to have smaller evening meals. I was behaving myself all day, then coming home to a grotesquely huge feast in the evenings.
We bought smaller plates lol - it works.
Also I have the odd protein shake with water, to keep the food cravings at bay. The people I work with are never done having fish suppers and burgers at their desks and the odd protein drink keeps me from giving in.
I swapped a big lunch and hour long lunch break for a bag of microwave rice and a 30 minute run - that has paid dividends too.
I'd recommend tracking body fat percentage in a spreadsheet (scales for BF are cheap enough) as weight changes in mass alone can be discouraging. I've only lost a lb of weight since january, but I've lost 6lb of fat and put on 5lb of muscle. With all the hiking you're doing, I bet the legs are beefing up muscle wise all the time, and this is taking away from your total "weight loss" even though you're actually improving.
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I have never struggled with my weight, I just let it win! :P
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Lots of very good advice,most of all bOogaloo,credit to you fella ;D
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The cycling worked the best for me .. my knees are wrecked from too many motorbike spills , but i haven't suffered any discomfort yet
I use an on-line tracker called endomondo on my android phone . not only does it tell you how many miles you've done , your average speed but also how many calories i've burned . its a great help .
From today Stranmillis to Lisburn and back
b0ogaloot was out mountain biking. He tracked 19.25 mi in 1h:27m:22s.
Personal best 10 miles of 42m:09s which is a 1m:57s improvement.
Workout
Sport
Mountain biking
Start Time
Mar 19, 2012 1:05 PM
Distance
19.25 miles
Duration
1h:27m:22s
Avg Speed
13.2 mph
Max Speed
21.5 mph
Calories
1873 kcal
Altitude
172 ft / 328 ft
Elevation
807 ft ↑ / 875 ft ↓
http://www.endomondo.com/home
Andy
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Advice from a lardy sports scientist.
For weight loss, 80% is down to dietary factors and about 20% due to exercise.
Some tips that are reasonably up to date:-
As mentioned above, eat off a smaller plate, rather than a smaller potion on a large plate. It's supposed to fool the brain into thinking it's not missing out.
Don't skip meals, it makes you crave high fat and high calorie food, and you won't be satisfied until you get it.
Drink milk with your meals and it will decrease the amount of fat absorbed.
Protein in your food eg meat (or veggie alternative) will help you feel fuller, but you can only digest about a quarter pound or so a day. Any extra won't be digested properly. (Bobybuilders & Atkins dieters may tell you eat as much protein as you can, but they won't tell you about the headaches, flatulence and constipation that they suffer from as a result)
Take your time over your food, chewing before you swallow, giving your brain more time to register your stomach is filling up.
Train yourself to always leave something on your plate, rather than "eat it all up like a good boy". (And don't be like me and clean the kid's plates too!)
Do calorie count, as a little bit of the wrong food can blow a day's hard work.
If you are going to exercise for a prolonged period, ie. mountains, drink two cups of coffee beforehand, as it will help your body metabolise fat more easily.
I just wish that I could do everything above properly myself. Unfortunately since getting married and having kids I've grown to enjoy sitting down but
I still eat like I'm training five times a week.
Last of all, don't put alot of faith in the BMI charts, they don't take different body frames into consideration, particularly athletic types, such as you and me.
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well put chris.
According to BMI I could stand to lose a good 3 stone. I'm 13 stone 2 and I honestly think if I dropped by 3 stone I'd look ill.
Fat percentage is a much better way to go than BMI in my book
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According to BMI I should be 10st 6lbs.
I was 10st7lbs when I was about 13!
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well being out for at least a couple of hours each day this week,eating plenty of boiled chicken breast,veg & buckets of fruit,also as advised i'am drinking at least a pint of water with each meal.Monday we did 6 miles on country lanes,tues day started with a ten miler in tollymore,then we returned back the same night & done it again :P too much i know,rested most of the day yesterday,then done a 7 miler last night & same again tonight on a mixture of forest treks & mountain side.Power walking maybe forty feet,then jogging the same,feeling good & holding back when i need too,protein bars & jelly used when needed,also plenty of fruit.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7063/6860307438_45ac33594d_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/78041970@N04/6860307438/)
Panorama178 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/78041970@N04/6860307438/) by cue13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/78041970@N04/), on Flickr
(http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6116/6860297510_21b05e724f_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/78041970@N04/6860297510/)
Panorama177 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/78041970@N04/6860297510/) by cue13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/78041970@N04/), on Flickr
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7230/6860287270_1bf5b87d91_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/78041970@N04/6860287270/)
DSCN2514 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/78041970@N04/6860287270/) by cue13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/78041970@N04/), on Flickr
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7042/7006403179_0240c32ddb_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/78041970@N04/7006403179/)
486279_409529905739786_100000483417187_1633382_1812884781_n (http://www.flickr.com/photos/78041970@N04/7006403179/) by cue13 (http://www.flickr.com/people/78041970@N04/), on Flickr
I know i'am too fat & i don't want to lose weight too quickly but i'am not on a diet,I'am maker better choices about my food & improving my fitness,anyhow lost just over 9 lbs this week,but it's been by training ,not straving :-X
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Lol, starving sounds counter intuitive, but it also sounds the most straightforward way too!! its like a paradox and also its hard to accept these ideas even tho at a simplistic level they make a lot of sense!! Good luck dude!!!
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Orlastat helped me, the doctor gave it to me on script..
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well done John, you're doing great, i'll not be able to offer much advice as i'm steadily gaining the pounds again, maybe we need a target to work towards other than being a certain weight, my current target is doing donard in under an hour, look forward to racing you up some day soon :)
p.s. looking forward to the before and after photos, no mankinis though ;D
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Well done John. As people say, body fat% is a better measurement than BMI: you don't even need fancy scales... if you know your height, weight, and measure around your belly button (few extra measurements for ladies) you can enter it in this site (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/metric-body-fat-calculator.php) to calculate. US Navy did loads of tests decades ago and found this method is really quite accurate.
Think MikeD mentioned Tim Ferris. His 'slow carb (http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/06/how-to-lose-20-lbs-of-fat-in-30-days-without-doing-any-exercise/)' thing is pretty good.
I've been eating 'primal' (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-101) for fatigue reasons for a few years and love it, but incorporate some of the slow carb stuff (or eat any calories on top of it when I'm in hard training). Either way, it's eating lots of veg, enough protein and real, whole foods.
Diet (lifestyle, not weight-loss diet) will be 80% of the battle as BigE says. It's actually hard to balance heavy training with fat-cutting as you'll burn out your muscles as much as the fat, but interval training, be it strength or cardio, will trigger raised metabolism and stimulate improvement. Light, endurance stuff is catabolic on the body as there is no stimulus after the initial adjustment period. Obviously don't injure yourself, but you'll know what niggles you have or what you are able to do.
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As people say, body fat% is a better measurement than BMI: you don't even need fancy scales... if you know your height, weight, and measure around your belly button (few extra measurements for ladies) you can enter it in this site (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/metric-body-fat-calculator.php) to calculate. US Navy did loads of tests decades ago and found this method is really quite accurate.
I like that. Apparently I am acceptable and only a tiny bit away from being fit! If only that were true *sigh*!!
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Being back to proper training now for four weeks :P ,eating loads of the right food groups,chicken,fish,veg,fruits,getting out everyday if just for an hour,some days i feel no energy at all,on those days i take it a bit more easy,although most days i've noticed an improvement in pace & fitness,just over 15 lbs off in a little over four weeks ;D which i'am quite happy with,again its all the training,diets are a complete waste of time,if i want chips i have chips,i jst work a few more miles on my next day out :P
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Over 15 miles today in the mourne's,all the training has really improved my fitness,never had an easier day.