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.

Shotgun I find I'm better if I always have baked stuff around - knowing it won't run out means I'm less likely to eat 5 slices of cake over indulge, I find.

Started the day with scrambled eggs on rye bread with tomatoes. Have tons of fruit leftover from weekend, so will have big fruit salad with Greek yog for morning snack.

Hello all!

Well, what with all the alcohol and trifle various other completely mad food stuffs I have been utterly dreadful all weekend!

So, I am planning on eating very cleanly for the rest of this week, it's quite difficult because we have houseguests and so there's bundles more cake and crisps and sausage rolls and cheese. CHEESE! I can resist anything other than temptation.

I'm not at all hungry today - isn't that ODD? I don't like it.

Been lurking on this thread since Friday and all I can say is -Thank You!
I've been on and off MFP for almost 2 years and have lost - and put it back on and lost it again. In Jan I had binged so much I felt ill (I have IBS) so got back on track, lost a stone but come Easter I was binging again. I'm a chocaholic and all the kids Easter eggs were just too much for me to ignore :o

The thing is I know 1200 calories is not enough but so desperate to lose weight I listened to the advice so this thread makes so much sense.

Since Friday I've lost an inch round my waist, I know most of this will be loss of bloating from my IBS but still makes me feel so much better. Yesterday I felt great and this morning I've lost a 1lb (I'm another that can't resist the scales). Not bad considering I had a work night out on Sunday and was way over on calories! But even without the weightloss I feel great, for a while I've been struggling to stay awake throughout the day, on the days I work I fall asleep within an hour of being home and on the days I'm not working I'm asleep after lunch, I've not fallen asleep during the day once since Friday.

I'm struggling a bit to keep carbs down, so did my shopping yesterday and stopped myself from buying cereal bars and the like to snack on. I'm hoping this good feeling continues, I am optimistic whenever I start a diet but after 8 years of being on and off diets and going up and down 2 stone I know what I'm like at sabotaging them too.

Hello all. I have been lurking for a couple of weeks and simultaneously trying to put EMTWL into action. I am also rosalux on MFP if anyone would like to friend me. It was going okay until last night's jubilee party, but I don't feel too bad as I know I can start again today with eating healthily and mindfully. I'm 5'6" and about 10st I think. I would like to be 9st or at least 9st 4-6lb, which is where I was pre-DS (now almost 10mths). According to the site I should be on 1650cals a day so I'm aiming for 1600 mon-thur and 1700 fri-sun to allow for vodka & slimline tonic or frozen yogurt etc at the weekend. I find that wine is frankly the devil for me and leads to excessive consumption of food that makes me feel ill (as last night amply demonstrated).

Morning all. Have been lurking since Shirley started the thread and have been drawn in.

I don't do dieting, I just do phases of eating a bit more healthily/ bit less healthily, as the mood takes me. I also always SAFTFBS I haven't weighed myself in many, many years, but I know I need to lose some weight by the tightness of the trousers.

I've mainly been trying to shift my macro balance around to a bit more protein and a bit less carb, though it's surprisingly hard to hit that 30% , and to stay at around 2000 calories each day.

I've never even been diety enough to count calories before, but the MFP app makes it very easy. I am AMAZED at how many calories there are in everything! My habitual breakfast of Bircher muesli (which I think is basically the same as the refrigerator porridge) was coming in over 700 calories , so I've reduced the quantity of oats a bit and knocked the honey on the head. I've been having various forms of lentilly soup for lunch for the last couple of weeks, and even a bowl of that (or at least, a bowl of the size I would usually have) was coming in at around 600! Add a 250 cal bread roll, and I start really running short on calls for dinner. I'm going to try replacing the roll () with a boiled egg and a poached chicken fillet.

I'd like to switch to wholemeal pasta/ brown rice (though it would be to DH's disgust), but I'm wary of introducing too much high fibre stuff for DS (3).

Does anyone follow Heidi Swanson's blog 101 cookbooks? She is all about natural foods; all vegetarian, loads of whole grains and pulses etc. This recipe from there is my lentil soup of choice at the moment.

Hi and welcome, Umaami. You're almost my thinner twin! I'm an inch taller and half a stone heavier at the last count, but my cals when I start to cut them will be around 1650.
I'm sticking to my TDEE for now (1800) - this is my second week and I want to see what happens when I don't try to 'diet' then throw it all in when a celebration or holiday or weekend crops up.
That soup looks lovely - wonder if it works with green lentils? You're a stronger woman than I am if you can have it without bread! Ime, though, rolls have a lot more cals than sliced bread, and are no more satisfying.

(Lost my extra 'a' now jubilee is over)

Thanks Shotgun! I'm sure it would work with green lentils, though perhaps just simmer a little longer. I have, though been planning to try this green lentil one, as soon as I remember to buy some coconut milk. Plus, some fried paneer cubes must be excellent for upping the protein and fat stats!

It will be a struggle to fight against the bread rolls (or indeed sliced bread). Bread to dip is almost the whole point of soup, isn't it?

I have had a snack of pinto beans mixed with mackerel, and also some homemade flapjack, but this is a healthfood, as they contain oats (obv), plus peanut butter, linseeds, dried fruit, nuts, coconut etc, though I may try to halve the sugar next time I make them.

Not everyone can exercise Toby. even typing can leave me in chronic pain. Hence my question.

Thanks. Just working out the calculations.

Hey Kal!

I think you should probably choose "light" exercise rather than totally sedentiary.

The other thing that's an option if you are unable to do exercise on a regular basis is to choose the sedentary option, and then, if you have a day where you're more active than usual, then you can eat back your exercise calories.

I thought of you guys yesterday - I am proofing a book on phys ed. It has the following question, where you fill in the blank:

'Weight loss as a result of physical activity is achieved by '

It then gives the suggested correct answer as:
'Using more calories in your daily exercise than your daily intake in your diet.'

I had to practically sit on my hands to stop myself correcting it to a very long answer about BMR and TDEE etc. etc. and oh-so-gently suggested that perhaps, maybe, this answer might be a bit misleading and implies you have to 'do' exercise to the equivalent of 2000-odd calories.

Anyway. In simpleton terms, can someone just remind me what's not great about white pasta and rice?? I can't remember, and I know I can google it, but I want a human answer not a techy one!

AFAIK re white carbs, the main problem is that they don't fill you up for as long as brown carbs, so you end up eating more.

I think!

Plus they cause a 'spike' in your blood sugar levels which is followed by a corresponding dip. Leads to low moods and craving more sugar/chocolate/white carbs to get the 'high' again.
Brown carbs burn more slowly so your blood sugar (and your moods) stays level and you don't get the cravings.
< more science >

That's kind of what I meant. That they digest faster. But Shotgun and Seventh said it far more intelligibly :o

Ok, no white carbs then. Boo. I knew it was too good to be true

I'm cooking some brown rice - it takes aaaaaages. Going to have it with avocado, pine nuts and some vinaigrette. And maybe some proscuitto. [slavering]

No more macadamia dramas, I promise.

Hmmm. I do find wholemeal pasta a bit, well, thick if that makes any sense. Chewy.

Still, I'll consider it. My stomach is still having odd protests at the very slight change in regime...

I am starving today! Weirdly (and a big non scale victory for me!) I am so glad to be back eating mor whole foods after camping.

In two weeks I am going calming for ten days, staying in our yurt with vegan friends. No idea how I am going to do EMTWL there!

mmmm shortbread [unhelpful]

Thanks, seventh. I have to say that lunch was utterly delicious. Now to see if I stay full

Minnie, I know what you mean - wholemeal pasta can be a bit gritty as well. I have come across nicer ones, but haven't taken note of the brands. Will try and do so next time I have a good one.
Thing is, pasta was invented with white flour (I think), so any healthier versions we concoct are just never going to be as nice as the Real Thing. Like making cakes with no sugar (and I don't mean those beetroot/courgette monstrosities which use agave syrup which is still sugar).

I've just reminded myself of the Miranda episode where Gary gives her a muffin which she spits out after one bite: 'it's a ^savoury' muffin! I don't know you any more, Gary!' < shrugs and eats muffin >

I really, really like wholewheat pasta. I bought it once to try and everyone preferred it, so it's all we buy now. I like the fact that it has more texture.

So it turns out that a bag of Minstrels contains about 4x fewer calories than the same weight of dried banana chips. Which is a bit crap!