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.
Join the chat on our Weight Loss forum.
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Don't Starve! The Eat More to Weigh Less Group
ShirleyKnot · 25/05/2012 10:04
Mumat, I'd suggest sticking with the Potatoes Not Prozac method if you're feeling wobbly about giving up sweet stuff. Knitknack's right about the feeling of calm it gives you - it really steadies you. I couldn't do the carb-free thing, though - every time I've tried, I've had a gallbladder attack. Not a good sign.
I find yoghurt for breakfast isn't solid enough to hold me; I've tried smoothies and refrigerator yoghurt and found myself climbing the walls an hour later.
Maybe it goes with being sensitive to sugar (which fruit is, btw).
Pm me if you'd like to ask anything about PNotP. I've just had potato wedges and mayonnaise - was yummy and will mean I can start the day feeling relaxed and eat breakfast a bit later. Has a knock-on effect all day as you can eat all your meals a bit later.
Beans on toast is a good breakfast - my DCs sometimes have it but I generally stick with nuts and eggs 
. I know they contain sugar but they are basically a savoury food so I wouldn't sweat about it - they won't spike your blood sugar like fruit can.
hi Bibbity! I'm also 5'7'' but only allowed 1800 cals. I think I'm getting a handle on it now though - basically avoiding sugar and extraneous crap seems to keep my numbers down.
But the trick is not to let yourself get to starving point - which I would be by now if I'd had nowt but cornflakes. Protein consistently at every meal, starting with breakfast, gets me through the day.
I'm StandsToReason on MFP if you want to 'friend' me and see my diary - although it figures cream teas and wine as I was in Cornwall last week 
.
Good morning!
Hey Bibbity. Nuts are a good source of protein (and GOOD fats) and easy to eat. A handful (which for me is about 25g) is enough to stave off hunger and get my protein up a bit.
Very interested to read about Tobe's new Love Of Her Life aka the Nike Fuel band.
Had a terrible weekend foodwise, so feel flabby and tired this morning. SO.....I'm thrilled to be Houseguest free and am booked to do Step AND Pump tonight. Pump on Friday nearly killed me - so I dread to think how I'll feel after doing both tonight. I find it really interesting how quickly you can LOSE your fitness level, I'd only had a week away from Pump.
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