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.

Have been lurking here but have friended a few of you on MFP. I am bornagain2608 if anyone wants to friend me.

I have been over target all week but I know why - Indian rellies brought over a kg bag of the most delicious cashew nuts. Do you realise 100g has over 600 cals in them . When I'm back at work next week after half term is over I will be better .

I told dh to hide the scales last week so have no idea what I weigh since starting the EMTWL lifestyle. This is a major thing for me as I was addicted to weighing myself. My last weigh in was over a week ago and it was an embarrassing 66.5kg which for someone who is 5'1" is frankly dreadful.

My biggest ishoo though is snacking when bored. When I've got stuff to do I eat properly but if I find myself at a loose end then the food demon rears its head. Anyone else suffer from boredom eating?

Bad day today, show cancelled so went to pizza hut for lunch. I am having Pringles as a snack and not much food in so super noodles for tea for me I mean, I don't feed the kids such things! A weekly shop never seems to last a week in our house.

I'm hopefully still on target for cals though, this is a major change for me as before I would have thought 'right, I've had pizza hut might as well sod it for the rest of the day...ooh there are treats in the cupboard might as well have several tons of them' etc, but I'm not feeling like that today. The Pringles actually taste a bit minging.

Shotgun, I'd stick with TDEE less 15% for a few weeks and see how it goes.

Bunjies, I ate when bored but find with eating more I'm having more regular meals and snacks so don't get that boredom eating in an evening. I knit as well which keeps hands busy and out of the biscuit tin! Drinking more water has helped too, realised I was grabbing a snack in the evening when I was really just thirsty. Don't be embarrassed about your weight number, I'm 5 foot 4 and well into the 100s. Hopefully for the last time! I will look you up on MFP.

Hoola hooping is not in the MFP exercise bit. It is however, my new favourite form of exercise. Even if I do look like a twat

Eating today has not been good. Couldn't snack because we were at PIL's all day and I am weird about eating in public, so I'm dying of hunger now and going to eat the world.

Have convinced DP on the EMTWL front though, he now understands why (after consuming nothing but coffee until he gets home from work at 6.30) he buys tons of junk on the way home and eats it all!

Thanks Muddled. I've actually been eating my TDEE (have gone over a few times). I thought the idea was to start there for a few weeks then start to reduce?

Yikes 56% fat today [shocked] that is appalling.

Oh well, new day tomorrow!

I just went straight in at TDEE minus 15%, it seems to be working for me.

I think it depends if you need to reset your metabolism- so if you were starving yourself for a long time (eating less than BMR) then you would eat at TDEE for a few weeks to reset, and you probably would gain a little weight initially until your body got out of starvation mode.

Hopefully Shirley will be along with some more advice for you soon, I'm new to all this too and it can get a bit confusing!

I want to say a big thank you for this thread.

I'm marking my place here, although I'm going to be away till the middle of the week after next, but then I'm going to start this.
I've done everything in the past and learned that starving myself does not work for me and makes me rebellious and I stuff my face. I've tried almost every diet before but never done cal counting at a reasonable daily allowance like this one. I've done WW before but only lost about 1st before the hunger got to me. I'd pretty much given up on diets and resigned myself to being this big forever.
Need to lose about 5st but will be very happy with 3st. I've got ishoos with food now and i'm sure it's from all the dieting I've tried done over the years.

Please everybody keep posting and keep this thread going so that when I come back from my biz trip it will still be thriving and I'll be joining you all. I don't care if I lose weight slowly because I'm eating more cals. I just want it to come off eventually, and I'd rather be happy doing it than it come off fast but I'm hungry all the time..

Well, I s'pose I haven't been starving myself by any stretch of the imagination - I was just hoping to be able to eat more for a bit longer, if I'm honest!

Now that my excuses (birthday weekend and half term) are over, maybe I should start in with the -15%. 1600 crappy cals . mind you, by the same token you re-calculate when you've lost 5lbs, the same applies when you've gained no?

Shotgun 1600 sounds quite low, unless you're a tiny wee thing? Did you set your exercise level to moderate on the calculator thing? Try putting your details in again and see what it says.

Hi SmallCardi, welcome! I was just thinking today that I've lost a few lbs eating this way, well to lose those same lbs on a diet last year I was so hungry and so miserable and it was such hard work. This way is so much easier, and it gives me more energy. I just need to improve my nutrition now!

My fats are really high too but I had a weird day at a children's birthday party in a forest with very little to eat. Lots of walking around which I've discovered uses different muscles on bumpy woodland ground (pushing a light buggy not made for uneven surfaces) than smooth, hard pavements. Very sore legs!

I'm eating lots of good fats but also too much some bad fats - pizza/lots of full fat yoghurt/milk.
Think I need to look at saturated fats.

I don't think I'm teenytiny - 5' 7'' and 10 st 7lb. It's no more than about 10lbs to a stone over, so I suppose that's one reason for the relatively low amount - plus am 49.
But I used the 'light exercise' option - should I choose the moderate? Thing is, I hardly do anything - I live in the country so drive everywhere, walk the dog for 25 mins about three times a week, and manage an easy gym session or not-too-strenuous DVd about twice a week. So I'd feel a fraud claiming to be a moderate exerciser; if that's moderate, what on earth is light? Putting on your tights??!

Oh, and it does give me a couple of hundred more if I use the 'moderate' descriptor. That's fine as far as the eating goes, but if I don't actually do a moderate level of exercise I'm just setting myself up for more porkiness, surely?

FYI, everyone who thinks that normal life isn't moderate exercise, how's this?

I got a Nike+ Fuelband today. It's (among other things) a pedometer and it counts the calories you've burned.

I got it at lunchtime, and have worn it since. I have meandered around the shops at Westfield Stratford, got the train home, walked the 10 mins back from the station, got together some crap for a boot fair I'm doing tomorrow, made some banana bread, showered, went to a wedding reception (didn't dance, just sat and chatted) and have just got home. So nothing in any way strenuous.

I have taken 12440 steps and burned 1040 calories. Since lunchtime. Doing nothing which might be construed as exercise.

So daily life counts as 'moderate exercise', I'm sure!

Ooh, Tobey that sounds good. It's like that experiment they did to see how much people moved/used calories. They had to wear "fidget pants" - the band sounds much cooler! Apparently you shouldn't stay still/sat down for more than an hour at a time (chance would be a fine thing!).

Shotgun you weigh less than me! Am feeling smug though, because I have lost 2lbs and another inch round my waist - I am starting to have a waist back and I weigh under 11st for the first time in years. Big thanks Shirl!

Toby I'm so glad you got one!

We went out last night with in laws, ate really well but also had three g&ts and 3 red wines :( blurgh, the thing keeping me sugar fre and carb-low was how good I've been feeling and now I don't feel so good haha - going to get back on it today!

Have just started re-reading 'in defence of food' again - its so good. "Eat food, not to much, mainly plants" with 'food' = actual FOOD, not the 'food-like products' (as he calls them) that the supermarkets are stuffed with!

'too' blinking iPad!

Knitknack In Defence of Food is so good! I might have to re-read too. All that stuff about don't eat anything that has ingredients your grandmother wouldn't recognise i.e. processed crap.

I saw a trailer for a program about what maked us fat in our food, can't remember the name but looks interesting. I will see if I can find out.

toby if you dont mind how much was the band? in the region of is fine if youd rather not say. ive been looking on ebay and the wildly range in price from £99-£400

The Fuelband was £150. DP bought it for me as an anniversary present. It's the only jewellery he's ever bought me :o

morning all

just popping in to tell you all about this dvd - 60 Second Promise

It's excellent. Just done it for the first time and it's not as American as 30 Day Shred, which I love - it's British and straightforward and I was sweating like a good 'un by the end

Had a bad weekend, food wise, but am getting back in the saddle today. Will be making a big lentilly-veggie soupy-stew later I think. and I'm going to reread this entire thread and get it all straight in my head.

And Toby - I want a Fuelband!!

Shirl - thanks re the protein shake advice - think I'll stick to making my own smoothies with added nuts for now

Hope everyone's having a lovely Sunday

snigger at "60 second promise", sorry!

How long does it take, foosty? I'm still on the shred, but I can usually fit that in first thing before DD wakes up and wants to "help".

WTF is colour analysis?

MrsMango - there are 4 workouts in it - upper body, lower body, core and full body fat blaster(!) and I'd say each is about 15 minutes long. today I did the warm-up, then full body, then core and then upper body. I think all in it took about 45 minutes, or thereabouts, but obv you can do just 1 or 2 routines if that's what you've got time for. Lots of press-ups and variations, lots of cardio, lots of planks and squats etc. It's intense!

Ooh that looks interesting foosty. I'm up for trying some different exercises it's important to not get stuck in a rut with fitness.