To be annoyed that I put on weight everytime I try to lose some

[dealer]

I'm generally just over 11 st, I would like to be about a stone less.

So, as per usual, I started a health kick 3 weeks ago. I'm now 11st 9. I've cut out all snacks and I've been getting up an hour earlier to go for an hour's bike ride before I get the kids up. I drive for a living, but have to average a drop every 4mins to make any money. Where practical, I usually run up and down the paths, so not a totally sedentary job.

I know from previous experience that as soon as I stop trying to lose weight I will drop back to just over 11st. So how the hell do I get to below 11st? Pre-dcs I was 8st. My eldest is 14 and the only time I've been below 11st since then was when having hg with the other 2 pregnancies.

To make things worse, everyone always seems to bang on about the waist-to-hip ratio thing. I have no bum or hips at all, so my waist measurement is actually larger than my hips, and of course the weight I always put on goes on my belly, making it worse.

I'm just really fed up with this now. Am I blatantly doing something wrong?

[HowToLookGoodGlaikit]

Try not dieting. I have been doing it since March and have lost almost 2 stone. Im using the Paul McKenna method, there is no dieting involved and it has been the best thing I have ever done.

Diest dont work, especially not long-term. Its not what you eat, its when you eat and how much you over-eat.

We have a fab thread over in the big/slim/whatever section with loads more information :)

[280169]

I do this all the time, I would love to loose 2 stone but I find it darn near impossible.Life just gets in my way :)

[280169]

ooo how to look good, I am off to look at that now.
Someone at work got hypnotized and lost a shed load of weight.
I am just sceptical aboutthat way of loosing.

[IWantToBeAFairyWhenIGrowUp]

Hi there have you tried logging your food - there is a free website called my fitness pal and I've been using that (as well as dieting and exercising) and I've lost 19lb in 13 weeks.

Website

[ObiWan]

What are you eating during an average day/ week generally and during your health kick?
The exercise thing, you really need to exercise at a relatively high intensity for a sustained period of time I think. Maybe going out for a run in the evenings/mornings, or going to the gym. Or maybe swimming?

[mrsscoob]

You probably need to cut down your portion sizes. This will seem hard at first but then you get used to it so you will find you can't eat as much after a while.

[dealer]

I'll have a look.
But, I feel like my change of diet should not make me gain weight. I only eat twice a day, weetabix in the morning and then pasta and veg or whatever in the evening. All that's changed is that I've cut out all the bicuits and chocolate in between.
I don't drink either, so I don't understand why I've got a vast beer-type gut.

[BelleEnd]

Are you gaining muscle and that's what makes you heavier?

[dealer]

No, because my waist measurement has gone up (again)

[lookingfoxy]

This used to happen to me as well, I'd buy the low fat food and end up heavier, I'd just go back to burgers and takeaway and my weight would go back to 'normal' (11st a sticking point for me as well). Thats when I was younger though.
Now I just eat smaller portions and try to avoid 'obvious baddies' like cakes.biscuits etc, I've lost a half stone that way, I think portion size is the key though.

[BelleEnd]

Aaaah. I think that eating little and often actually helps with metabolism... Something to do with the body not going into starvation mode or summat. So you may want to take some fruit in the car with you for snacking. You'd probably find that you'll need less dinner then, too.

[dealer]

I could understand if I maybe wasn't doing enough to make a huge difference, but what makes me so annoyed is the GAINING weight business. It's what always makes me fall off the wagon in the end.
I get fed up, go back to me old habits , and hey-presto, back to 11st2.

[Chandon]

so how tall are you? is your BMI healthy?

I am 12 stone, and would dearly love to go "back" to 11 stone (pre baby).

but even at 12 stone my BMI is 23 (am v. tall), and somehow I think it is harder to lose weight if essentially you are not actually overweight to start with IYSWIM?

FWIW, my weight is just written in stone, no matter what i eat and how much exercise I do. Swimming makes me even bigger as it makes me SOOOOOO hungry....

[Librashavinganotherbiscuit]

It COULD be that your body thinks it's going into starvation mode (2 meals a day is not a good way to lose weight) and therefore is clinging to every morsel you eat, start eating little and often, be strict with portion sizes and eat healthy food. Exercise is GOOD but won't really lose the weight.

[dealer]

I've tried the fruit in the car thing, but usually find I come back with it. I literally have to work at such a pace that I have to eat while driving, which I find difficult to do with fruit, and often forget anyway. I sometimes have a bag of fruit and nut, but that's high calorie isn't it? (And expensive)

My dinners aren't big, usually the same size as my skinny 9yo, and smaller than my skinny 14yo.

[anotheracademic]

There isnt that much evidence to support the frequent meals theory. Ultimately its still total calorie consumption.

[dealer]

I'm 5'5, so BMI is overweight, but not obese.
The waist to hip ratio thing is extreme though. I think I'd be OK with my weight if I weren't such a ridiculous shape. I have such a boney bum, but a massive belly.

[Librashavinganotherbiscuit]

Evidence to say what anotheracademic? I agree I don't think it necessarily helps your metabolic rate but by eating little and often you are less likely to think you are hungry and snack.
dealer unless you are working for a straight 8 hours without any sort of break (you don't get lunch break?) you don't have to eat whilst driving. fruit and nut (i.e. I'm guessing dried) is loads of calories.

[dealer]

Often 10 hours straight, and no lunch break. They class us as self-employed (although we're not).
I know the fruit and nut wasn't ideal (and have'nt had it within this last healthkick anyway) it's just that it's in a bag and I could eat a nut or whatever before starting the engine.
Fruit is a nightmare because I can only have a bite or two at anyone time while starting the engine, and then you need to balance it somewhere while driving. Even if I succeed in not rolling it into the general muck in my car, apples or whatever are usually totally dried out by the time I finish them.

[FabbyChic]

I'd cut out your carbs. Don't eat weetabix and certainly cut the pasta.

I lost 2 stone without any exercise, I lead a sedentry lifestyle.

[dealer]

Does anyone else have the same problem I do with putting ALL my weight on my stomach?
I have no bum, no hips, long (for my height) slim legs, literally spindly arms and 34B boobs, just a whacking great belly.

[dealer]

Dh does all the cooking, so I'd feel bad making him mess about with the evening meal too much. And we both know what happens if I'm supposed to sort out my own food when I get in after 10 hrs, I just don't eat at all.

Same goes for breakfast really, I've got a nasty habit of not having that either, which I don't think is good. Weetabix is about the only thing I can persuade myself to eat.

[BelleEnd]

I do have the stomach problem, dealer. It's crap, isn't it. I had a big belly even before having children, so I can't blame pregnancy! And I have a tendency towards bloating, too. I remember losing a stone or so a few years ago, and five or six people congratulated me on my pregnancy- My body was thin but my belly was big, so that was what it looked like. I am low carbing now, and finding that it does help with the stomach more than any other diet I've tried.

[LittlePickleHead]

dealer I put weight on in the same place as you, and I second low GI/low carb in evenings. It also could be that some of the weight is bloating? Pasta late at night = not good...

Try having a low GI filling breakfast such as porridge and compote or banana. You really do need to eat in the day, it's hard having to eat on the go, but if you kept a little cool bag in your car you could perhaps make a fruit salad (so ready chopped into bitesized pieces) and them perhaps some pieces of chicken and some cherry tomatoes?

Then evening try high protein, cut out the carbs, and have loads of veg.

I used to be 11 stone, 9 1/2 now, but I find if I start on the pasta evening meals again I immediately bloat and don't want to eat breakfast etc. Viscious circle. Now I wake up looking forward to my porridge!

It's worth a try anyway?