HELP! I eat well but I am now too fat to go on a riding school pony.

[BoffinMum]

I need everyone's support and advice. I am four stone overweight. There are a number of perfectly understandable reasons for this, to do with pregnancy, disability, work and so on, and I still look quite nice, but things have to change.

I rang a riding school this morning to book a lesson but when I told them my weight they said they didn't have a pony big enough for me. This is officially a turning point for me.

Now I eat well and sensibly, I can cook well, and I take a little bit of exercise (I can do much aerobic stuff as it sets off my osteoarthritis). But I need to do more to help myself so I get back into a normal weight range and start to try to have a life again.

Please help me everyone. I really need to do this.

Sorry, meant to say can't do much aerobic stuff.

Walking
My fitness pal.. There's a thread about it
Shred

It works

Maybe not shred with the osteo but def the first two

Hi BoffinMum

I lost three stone last year (and the half stone that crept back on this summer) and the main way I did it was focussing on my portion sizes. It had become quite normal for me to eat as much as DH and I really didn't need to. I started cooking from recipes on BBC Good Food's website, where they give you the nutritional information so kept them low calorie, and weighed every ingredient according to the instructions and served up the appropriate number of portions. It seemed like I wasn't eating a lot during the first few weeks as I got used to what was a proper portion again, but now the portions I used to eat are completely unmanageable. I also really cut back on the booze!

I regained some of the weight following an injury that meant I couldn't exercise (I train hard) and not adjusting my intake to reflect the lack of calorie burn, but that came off by sticking to my BBC recipes and not overdoing the treats.

One thing that helped DH particularly (he lost weight with me) was having treats. We buy multipacks of treat sized chocolate buttons to keep in the fridge. One mini bag is 75 calories, and provides a much needed chocolate fix. It's sometimes easy to stop at one bag because it's a finite portion in its own wrapping.

You will be able to do this - to lose the weight and to improve your health as a result. Sometimes it will be easy, sometimes it will be hard, mostly it'll be boring! Just remember that if you have a bad day, to start again the next day and carry on. We cheated a fair bit on our diet but still managed to lose a lot of weight!

Boffinmum -how much time do you have to yourself to do exercise? I'd suggest walking if possible (whenever and wherever possible), swimming and pilates combined with weightwatchers or slimming world (a structured diet plan which helps you figure out how to substitute cooking ingredients for other ones which will help you get to your target may well make a world of difference). And give yourself treats along the way - massage, new haircut, outfit, etc - as you meet mini-targets (along with riding lessons when you get to target).

These are great ideas, thank you.

Step one is to reduce portion size by about 20%. I will start doing this now. Presumably you do not have to reduce the amount of raw fruit and veg you eat?

I already do the walking thing - even though walking can be painful, I never get buses or tubes or take short train rides, I walk or cycle instead, and I bought specially smart but comfy shoes that I wear all the time to promote the inclination to walk. Shred would probably hospitalise me, but I am off to look at My Fitness Pal now.

I could probably spend an hour a day on fitness until Christmas as I am on study leave from work so have practically no commute. I do belong to a gym with a pool, but I always seem to find (good) reasons to put off going - I am really not sure why this is. Currently I have been going once a fortnight. I also have three personal training lessons left from a course I booked in the summer - I definitely got fitter but put weight on rather than losing it! I could ring the trainer and use those session up again.

I have got the WeightWatchers books in the cupboard, so I am getting them out now and I will go back onto the core food plan (lost a stone and a half on that in 2007, but before disability struck).

I think I know how to do this, but I think I am just having trouble getting my act together, for some indefinable reason. I think I don't actually believe it will work, in my heart of hearts, and my manual override button for overcoming this rather porky, sedentary state is not working. I have no idea why this is. Any thoughts?

Okay you need to look at the Paul Mckenna thread on here i have lost nearly 3 stone on it and you don't need to calorie count or weigh food or anything because it changes your attitude to food .

For your health have a look at the Blood type thread on here there's a scientist on it who can vouch for it.

OK, WW vegetable lasagne in the oven with a WW banana and blueberry crumble for dessert.

Currently downloading free pedometer onto iPhone.

Will do a top up shop later for WW friendly foods - suggestions?

Off to look at websites now.

There is a Paul McKenna iPhone app! Anyone tried it?

Is there any reason you've chosen 20% as the amount to reduce your portions by? The reason I ask is that I was probably eating about 50% too much!

As much as exercise helps maintain weight and is essential to staying healthy, it doesn't really help that much in weightloss. It does create more muscle, so you have more metabolically active tissue and it helps firm things up but 80% or so of weightloss is down to addressing what you put in your body. The trick is to find what works for you - Paul McKenna may work for some, WW for others, for me as I'm a bit obsessive counting and understanding calories and weighing portions worked best.

It took a year from me first thinking I had to do something about my weight to actually doing something, so I understand the trouble you have about getting your act together. I self-sabotaged a lot when I would start dieting and then stop, but I got to a tipping point (not being able to fit into my size 16 pair of "fat" jeans) and started properly looking after myself. It became a lifestyle change rather than a diet so it helped me to not worry if I broke it. Maybe your horse riding problem is your trigger point so you can now start on your new lifestyle.

Men need on average 2500 calories a day and women 2000 which is 20% less. We live similar lives. So if I eat 20% less than him I reckoned I would be on the right track, if the foods themselves were good choices.

watch the calories in fruit Boffin - you could be thinking you are ok, but in reality not on the calorie front.

True, Boffin, but that only works if he is eating 2,500 calories per day, and not more. Also 2,000 is to maintain weight, not lose, so you may need to restrict further if you want to drop some pounds.

I realise, but as it happens, he is trying to slim down too (although he is not overweight as such, his tummy is bigger than he likes it to be).

Agree with the warning on portion sizes. You need to weigh everything to get a real grip on what a portion size should be. Things like cereal/pasta/rice are absolute classics for people eating far too much of, whilst thinking they are being healthy. They should be fairly teeny ortions tbh unless you are able to burn a lot of calories in exercise. I think (happy to be corrected) that a lot of sustainable diets advice around 1400/1500 calories a day - the trick is getting those calories in the form of food that will fill you up so you don't feel humgry. That means plenty of protein, complex carbs and minimal fat. I find soup great for filling me up (not the creamy kind, obviously!)

can you go swimming? It's not exactly hard core high calorie- burning exercise for most of us, but it is very gentle on the joints, and it's really hard to eat while you are swimming!

Oh, and if you really want to go riding try a different stables where they have bigger horses!

I have lost nearly 4 stone since Easter. Going from 13 and a half stone to 9 stone 10 pounds. I started of with cutting all chocolates, biscuits, crisps, biscuits, cakes and puddings etc. Then after three months stepped it up a pace and reduced portion sizes and most carbohydrates. Making small changes first helped me. Good luck.

I would need a blooming shire! A cart horse!
I can now do swimming (couldn't before, too poorly) and it does me a lot of good. So I will factor that in as well.

Current to-do list:

1. Portion size - probably need to think of things in terms of how it relates to the size of my hand, and/or weigh when possible.
2. WW core food plan - currently re-reading pamphlets between posts and about the cycle, yes cycle, up to supermarket to stock up on basics.
3. Car use - put car keys somewhere hard to get at.
4. Gym - schedule two sessions a week in Outlook, starting Friday (various domestic reasons for starting then).
5. Personal trainer - have emailed and asked for an appointment asap.
6. Pedometer - have downloaded a free one onto iPhone.
7. Wii - will do 10 minutes every day on it, starting today.
8. Paul McKenna - have purchased and downloaded iPhone app.

Also had WW-friendly lunch (still starving actually, but waiting for appetite control mechanisms to kick in).

Does anyone know which fruits to be wary of? I seem to recall it was bananas and grapes that sabotage weight loss.

Have a large glass of water see if that helps if you still feel hungry.

From memory, advice seems to be to avoid eating loads of fruit as sugar causes blood sugar spike and then feeling hungry afterwards. You can google 'low glycemic index' and it will list the food that are best to eat - i.e those that keep you full longest and cause the blood sugar spike. Mashed potato= terrible. Baby new potato= not so bad etc. Think apples are one of the better ones.

BoffinMum - homemade soups are great at this time of year, filling, healthy and v WW friendly (you can do them as family meals with garlic bread or jacket potatoes for other family members).

Also agree with earlier post about drinking lots of liquids - 2 litres of water a day (either straight or in herbal teas) should help stop you feeling hungry.

And if possible take your time to savour and enjoy the food you do eat - mindful eating is my mantra!

Good idea about the water. I will do that now.
I am off upstairs for a bit to listen to the Paul McKenna hypnosis thing while DC4 has his nap.
Thanks for all your help this far, it has really helped me come up with a workable plan, I think. Back later. xx

The Paul McKenna iPhone app is very impressive. I am not a great believer in diet industry stuff but actually it is very well put together. I would recommend it. The trance was great.

Have tried on old jodphurs from previous life as a slim mother of one. I can still get them on and do them up, but they look pretty terrible on! Even worse with the Husky jacket skimming the widest part of my thighs. It is clear there is work to be done.

Hello Boffinmum, I have lost 3 1/2 stone since mid january and I still have a stone to lose realistically but I am now withina healthy range. I joined weightwatchers and followed the point plane but I didn't and haven't bought any of their diet foods or ready meals and have just ate what I ate normally but I have been more aware of the fat content and portion size. I have also found going to group immensely useful as I feel less of a freak about my over eating now. I think the only things I have really swaped with regards to food is cream, to elmlea light single for pasta dishes etc and I use half fat cheese, skimmed milk and watch how much bread I eat as I am a bit of a pig with bread.

Exercise though i had to start opff slowly, so I MADE myself go out twice a qweek for the first month and I walked about a mile. I used to ACHE afterwards, I was that unfit :( but after a month I increased it to three times a week, then four and eventually started walking longer and longer distances. I now walk 3 1/2 miles once a day without anything hurting at all, but you need to just start off slowly and stick to it. You may feel unfit and hurty to begin with but if you think withina year your fitness levels will be tranformed then it is well worth sticking to even if you don't want to do it

I tried shred but I am going to be honest, I was too fat to do it and I just kept pulling muscles and it just wasn't worth it, so I stuck to something that I could do easily and that wouldn't cost me any money.

Does any of that help? I haven't found it particually easy to be honest, but you just need to draw a line under now and focus day by day on improving what you eat, how much you eat and how much you move. It takes time when you have stones to lose but you have to start somewhere :)