or doomed to fatness forever?

[Silbury]

I am fat. I have been for years. I rarely eat crisps or chocolate. I have a takeaway about twice a year. I have wine 3 times a week.
My work hours are crap so i go for hours not eating, then get starving. Work is constantly on the move and not sitting at a desk.

I am still fat.

I go to the gym 2-3 times a week and do a 2 hour dance class once a week.

I am still fat.

The last 3 weeks theres been a bootcamp at the gym do i have been 5 times a week.

I am still fat.

More than that. I am actually a kilo heavier than i was last week.

AIBU to be unutterably pissed off. And fat.

Exercise does help you lose weight but diet is the key

Losing weight is 75% diet and 25% exercise.....years ago I lose 4 stone with SW and did no exercise at all and lost weight pretty quickly.

I do loads now though, for me a mix of the two work mainly I think because if I do lots of exercise I think theres no point wasting it by eating crap.

Where did those statistics come from?

I lose weight better when I exercise.

I lose weight better when I only concentrate on diet. We are all different.

Cock - seriously it is a fact......maybe when you diet you are more conscious about what you are eating, I know I am. If I am trying to lose weight I do better if I dont exercise quite as much as usual.

It's an interesting theory about diet and exercise, just having a read about it - where did those statistics come from?

There are some interesting articles about weight loss, diet and exercise like this one:

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/19/exercise-dieting-public-health

There's interesting theories about people eating more when they exercise.

Personally I do better if I exercise more as well as keep an eye on my diet. It's an individual thing I think.

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/19/exercise-dieting-public-health

Have you thought about getting a heart rate monitor to see if you are exercising hard enough. I find it provides an incentive to keep going or to go faster to get to a set amount of calories burned.

I also think you might have to get used to being fat for a while, just gradually less fat over time, hopefully. Too many people put weight on over years but expect it to fall off in weeks if they diet and exercise, then give up claiming it doesn't work for them (completely ignoring their starting point). Make small lifestyle changes one at a time, perhaps adding the occasional bootcamp style week to give you a boost - good luck.

Yeah we're all different......I think a lot of people eat more because they think they are due a reward for doing a workout. I know A LOT of people who think like that - Oh, I've just done body combat so gonna have a doughnut now as a treat

runner did you read the article? There's research into gentle exercise being more effective to combat the doughnut reward!

I think it's true that diet changes account for a greater proportion of weight loss than exercise does, but....BUT....the toning that exercise gives cannot be gained at all from dieting and I have often found that my actual weight/dress size becomes irrelevant when I am well-toned. Building a bit more muscle means having less flabby bits and makes you look better, regardless of actual weight.

Agree with the others re swimming- please consider it OP. It's good cardio and toning exercise and a great stress-reliever. I swim regularly and see all different sized people in my local pool (including some who I woul guess are a great deal larger than you). No-one points or stares, it's just people going swimming.

Can I ask those who are science-minded (I am not). If one buggers up one's metabolism through starvation/restricting, can it be improved again or is the damage permanent?

I have to say, exercise helps my cellulite. I think it's the toning of the muscle pulling me in.

Seriously OP, not one really cares what you look like in a swimsuit.

It might feel like a huge deal to you, but actually the world is completely indifferent to your thighs, belly, bum etc - yes even when they are clad in a swim suit.

God yeah exercise def helps cellulite. I do lots of exercise to keep strength up and to tone - my upper body, esp arms and shoulders have nice muscle definition which is definately down to the exercise I do rather than diet.

It all helps :)

You are legally entitled to a break after 4 hours.

Cola

Bloody hope so, even I couldnt exercise for 4 hours solid without a little break

Exercise definitely boosts my weight loss when dieting but yes I could do it with diet alone.

1. If calories consumed are more than calories expended you will put on weight.

1. As you approach menopause your metabolic rate drops so more excercise/less food needed to maintain the same weight.

I have the same kind of situation where I don't have much chance to eat at work in the day,.

What is working for me is to have protein shakes, I make two in the morning, one for breakfast and put one in a drinks bottle and keep it in the work fridge then throw it down my neck when I get a couple of minutes. When I get home I have a light meal and allow myself another shake later if I feel my meal was a little light on the protein.

So far so good on my weight loss, 8lbs in a week and I've not felt hungry once.

Breaks simply do not happen at work. As it is there is far too much to do in too little time.

Swimming is never ever ever ever ever going to happen ever. Ever. Nope.

Will do Food diary. Avoid carbs. Eat salad.

What is in a protein shake? Milk makes me puke. Can i make it with soya or rice milk?

Well I have lost 103.5lbs over the past 17 months so feel able to comment on this. I have had a hypno-grastric band and have been doing a mindfull eating program similar to Paul MacKenna's. Basically, you can eat what you like within reason as long as you eat when you're hungry and stop when you've had enough. Learning the 'had enough' point is the hardest bit.

I've just recently switched back to counting calories on my gym work out days as I wasn't eating enough! I was losing and gaining the same pound for for months! I now eat 1800 cals on gym days (very high energy!) 3 days a week. I still eat out and drink wine, although not all the time.

I haven't cut the carbs out completely. I love bread but I'm not so keen on pasta, potatoes or rice. I just eat smaller amounts of everything. And funnily enough, the things I thought I really loved really just aren't that tasty any more.

I have another 40-45lbs to lose but I'm not worried about it. I know I'll get there. Losing weight is a mental marathon. It takes time to get used to new eating habits, low calorie shakes and cutting everything out you like just makes the cravings so much worse. A little bit of something occasionally (and I do mean that) won't do you to much harm.

And you must eat breakfast! Your body has shut down overnight and needs the fuel at the beginning of the day to get you going again.

Silbury please excuse me if I'm jumping to conclusions but you seem to have a very difficult relationship with food. Plus this compulsive calorie counting. It doesn't add up to a healthy attitude.

Would somethink like CBT help break these negative patterns?

I truly don't think just eating salad is going to be the answer for you. No-one can do it forever and you'll just be buggering your metabolism more.

Wow, well done Butternut!

I second the Paul MacKenna approach (in his book, "I can make you thin"):

Eat what you like (scary, but he explains why this works!)

Only eat when you are hungry - but don't let yourself get so hungry you want to eat huge amounts/binge (his books has more details on this - you gauge your hunger on a scale of 1-10 and eat/don't eat accordingly.)

Stop when you think you have had enough (this takes training for some people - his book tells you more).

Eat slowly and mindfully, paying total attention to every mouthful. No reading/TV watching or other distractions.

His book has a lot more in it, but it is definitely worth reading. There's also a cd to listen to.

The Paul McKenna cd makes me giggle