Don't Starve! The Eat More to Weigh Less Group

[ShirleyKnot]

Hello!

OK, stemming from this thread I promised to start a thread to explain a little bit more about eating well and still losing weight.

I'll start by telling you about me because I love to talk about me

About 5 years ago (when I was 34) I went back to work full time, this time locally, in a sedentiary desk job. I drive to work everyday and was often far too busy lazy to do any exercise at all. My weight remained fairly static (At about 11 stones, I'm 5ft 7.5 and fairly chunky) for a good couple of years and then it started creeping up.

For the past two years I have skipped on and off WW, SW and I have tried low calorie diets, the lot. My weight has gone up to 12 stone 11 lbs at it's highest and I'm carrying it pretty much all over. My gut though TERRIBLE - It hangs over my knickers and in January my size 16 clothes were starting to strain.

Miserable ain't the word. It has affected my confidence (yes, honestly) and I know that at my age (39) it is only going to get harder to lose.

So, in January I started back on WW. I watched everything I ate, I thought about food compulsively, I went for walks in my lunch hour, and every weekend I fell off the wagon and stuffed my face. WHY? It makes no sense! I gobbled bread and cakes and biscuits and sweets like mad.

In April, after having lost and gained the same 7lbs over and over again I joined BIWI's Low Carb Bootcamp, and started upping my exercise at the gym (Doing classes mainly and swimming and I also started the Couch 2 5K) this is where it got weird...I stuck to the diet, it was pretty easy! I loved the food and didn't feel hungry at all - my endurance during exercise was affected but I thought I'd break through that barrier sooner or later. I watched as people on the thread lost masses of weight and I was completely stalled out. What? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? I believe that during this time I was eating a good couple of thousand calories per day, plus exercising almost every day.

I left the group as I felt so fed up with not losing and limped back to my fitness pal, but decided to stick with the no crap (no white bread/pasta/rice, easy on the white potatoes, easy on the fruit) WOE. MFP gave me a calorie limit of 1,200 cals per day and I did this for a a few days before starting to feel rotten. I started looking around the MFP community pages and found the Eat More To Weigh Less Group and read every link, and lots of the discussion boards.

It was a lightbulb moment - WHY was I expecting my body to cope on less calories than it needs just to exist? WHYYYYY?

I started EMTWL on 16th May and have lost 1 lb. That doesn't really mean very much though, as the scales are FILTHY liars - but I have eaten very well and am losing inches consistently. Since I started eating more calories (I include BIWI's brilliant Bootcamp in this calculation) I have lost 4.5 inches from my waist and a good couple of inches from my hips, arse and bust. I have dropped a dress size.

OK. I'm going to post this essay and then I'm going to talk a bit about metabolic rate calculations and the sciency bits.

That makes sense, Trills. I didn't realise it was that clever.

hi all

I've not been around for a couple of days and yesterday was spent at a bbq drinking cava and eating a frankly gorgeous assortment of food - I didn't gorge but didn't hold back from having whatever I fancied!

I'm skimming through the thread and seem to be noticing that some of you are low-carbing - is this true? I though we didn't need to do that - I'm under in my carbs every day, in fact the I'm under in everything except fat, which is always over. How should I address that? I've been having seeded bread and brown rice, not really any bad carbs and I've been enjoying not having to avoid them!

Also, did the 5k Race For Life on Sunday which I ran without once walking - a complete first for me. And I really loved it! Can't wait for the next one...

You call that a a record? I could beat that easily? I think I did yesterday in fact!

I am always over in fat but I always eat loads of nuts, oily fish and good fats. My protein is a bit better today and I've had a huge load of yummy trifle too! I did try to balance it out with other stuff.

As it's half term I'm doing less walking around shunting kids to school/pre-school and we seem to have had 3 lots of jubilee tea the last few days. Hoping to get eating/ exercise a bit more back to "normal".

Am not really no carbing, but trying to low carb with a little wholegrain carbs at meals/snacks e.g. brown rice, spelt/rye bread/pancakes, bulghar wheat etc. with lots of veg, fruit and protein.

Dp has got the Briffa book which I'm trying to prise out of him. He had also bought the potatoes not prozac as he is quite a sugar addict and did I know how to help.

Shit, shit, FUCK!

I was under my goal tonight so I thought I'd follow advice and eat a few nuts. I've just added 750 calories to my total in one fell swoop. Gone way over

Should have checked first, shouldn't I, instead of just merrily gorging?

Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

But bloody hell.

Oops. Just checked the amounts. Grossly over-calculated . I'm still over my totals but not by nearly so much

< unclenches >

What if you can't exercise?

quirkychick i am the same re activity levels in half term...tho you wld think we wld all be busier!!! DS1 at tennis ( ooooo feeling v pre wimbledon here in sunny co durham ) tomorrow so am shoving ds2 in buggy and going for a run for the 'free' 90mins that that gives me : )
seventheverything a paltry half a carrot cake??? You obviously are putting zero effort into 'blipping'...ha ha!!! I would've had the whole thing and then started on something else so that I get to a nice even number...am a bit OCD and calorie count even when I go a bit mental and have to be a nice 250 /500 / 1000 etc calories over 'budget'!!!!!
shotgun what on earth are you unclenching??? are you busy cracking nuts in an effort to balance out your protein %s???

Everyone can exercise in some form or another.

I was unclenching whatever had been compelled to clench by Floreat's mild macadmia-induced hysterics. Solidarity and all that.

Wise words from Toby. In desperation the other day I added in 60 cals' worth of 'food prep.' . And the tedious, time-consuming stretches I do most days for various achey bits are going in as 'Pilates.'

I know, I only did the food prep once - was embarrassed seeing it out there in bold blue as part of my exercise achievement for the day. The stretching's staying in though.

Have been lurking on this thread for a week or so, completely fed up with losing 7 pounds or so at slimming clubs and then for it all to pile back on. It has dawned on me that the diets are just too low in cals for me and just leave me tearing my hair out from hunger

So, will start with this approach tomorrow. I'm aiming to eat 2000 cals per day or less. I will try to eat fewer carbs, so have a salady type lunch and more carb-free snacks. Oh, and gym x 3 per week.

Have totally gorged myself silly over the weekend!

PMSL @ 'mild macadamia-induced hysterics'.

It's me, by the way. The poster formerly known as Floreat. I've got rid of my jubilee nc. And I couldn't cope with being called Floreat

Is there a 'carrying heavy shopping from car' exercise choice? I do that quite a lot. Running up and down stairs dealing with DC who won't go the fuck to sleep - 30 cals?

devilinside, I gorged myself stupid over the weekend too. To the extent that I actually revolted myself and set myself up nicely for being good better this week.

I am loving just how bad we all seem to have been over this Jubilee weekend...can I just add that I bought 3 pairs of asda coloured skinnies today and have truly repulsed even myself when I tried them on...am def back on the wagon this week..think I may have cracked the mirrored wardrobes I was such a ghastly sight in them...am trying to convince myself they are wrongly sized but hey ho...3 pairs in 3 different colours can't all be wrongly sized!!!!

CJ - oh no! I feel guilty! I did say 'handful' (didn't I? I meant to!). That's why nuts are so brilliant for bringing cals up even if you're not hungry - even half a handful is about 150 cals! If you're trying to give up suar (me too! Day 9!) you need to look at things like white pasta too I'm afraid - no difference as far as our bodies are concerned :(. I've been having shredded cabbage when dh & ds's have spaghetti.... Get Briffa's book, weep a bit, weep some more, experiment (that was my approach!) hahaha

Isn't the Briffa book anti-carbs? Not something I could manage - just one high-protein, low-carb meal triggers a gall bladder attack in me.

Avoiding sugar and white carbs is more realistic and sustaibable for me, so I try and have wholemeal spaghetti, brown rice, and always leave skin on potatoes.
That's when I'm in 'sugar free' mode, which I'm not atm - but gradually reducing it so we'll see.

Been awake since 5am with the feckin dog scratching at the door (we're away atm). Am starving, but I'll wake DS2 if I go in the kitchen as he's sleeping in the open plan living area.

A quick hello from another one who gorged thoroughly over the weekend!

Between that and camping the previous week I have gained tons. Not sure how much is water weight, but I'm prepared to accept that 2-3 lbs at least is probably 'real'.

Have guests this coming weekend, and have decided I need to master social eating - I am good when it's just us, but at any kind of social gathering I totally lose it and stuff my face. Will do a bit more planning for this weekend I think. Any other tips for staying on track with guests?

Shotgun I think Briffa is low carbs. For me, eating clean is much more realistic - wholemeal carbs and only refined sugar in things that I make myself (like cake) so at least I know it's not mixed in with a ton of preservatives etc too.

I have lost 4lb. I am assuming this was mainly because I eat when bored and camping with friends kept me happily busy!

We had crab curry fried rice for dinner last night, which was a huge hit with the children and bloody delicious. Eating 6 times a day really suits me!

Shotgun- you have my sympathy! 2yrs ago I had gallstones- ouch! I followed a really low fat diet but gradually found I could eat good fats. Luckily, my symptoms have gone as gp thinks it was pg related. Wholegrains should defo help as fibre helps fat digestion. Like Hopefully says.

Not weighing myself this week as that time of the month and I can fluctuate wildly as much as 1/2 stone will wait till after - and trifle/cakes have gone.

Off to do some weights as dds still sleeping - miraculously!

That sounds similar to the approach I aim for Hopefully - although I do tend to grab the odd biscuit because I hardly bake any more couldn't keep my hands off it.
Same applies to the healthy home made snacks using peanut butter and cocoa - if I knew I had them in the fridge I couldn't keep away until they were all gone!