Anyone looking to lose 100lbs plus in 2017-18 - Part 3

[NoTractorsAtTheTable]

Hello, welcome to the third instalment of the ‘Anyone looking to lose 100lbs plus in 2017’ thread. As we’re getting closer to the end of 2017, I’ve added 2018 for good measure

If you want to read them (but by no means feel obliged!), the first and second threads are here: Part 1 and here: Part 2

We’re a very friendly, supportive group, and I think we’re all seeing some real changes in ourselves and our attitudes to food. It’s a long old road, but it helps to chat along the way Collectively, we’ve lost 612 lbs since the start of the first thread, which is pretty amazing

We tend to weigh in on Fridays or Saturdays, but feel free to join in at any time, with whatever weight loss method you think works best for you. Some of us have lost more than others, but we're all in this together, so if you're losing, gaining or staying the same, it's nice to have some inspiration to keep going.

We’re always welcoming to newcomers, but as with the previous thread, I will make one caveat - we’re all here because we are trying to lose a LOT of weight. If you’re looking to lose the last half stone, or even two or three stone, this might not be the thread for you. Good luck with your goals, but you may find more support with in threads with people who have similar goals.

And with that, I'm off to spam our old thread to fill it up

AnotherOtter I've not had a bad binge yet this time, but in the past I've always tried to hold on to how shitty it made me feel afterwards, and then try to remember that feeling when I'm tempted to do it again. It doesn't always work.

I think it's important to accept that most of us here have an addiction to food, one way or another. And it's not like smoking or drinking where you fight to give it up and then never have another one ever again (hopefully). You have to eat. So every single meal, every single day, you have to make the decision to choose a good option and constantly resist temptation. If recovered alcoholics were forced to drink three times a day forever, do you think you'd blame them if they occasionally had four, or five, instead? No. You'd recognise that alcohol is addictive, and how hard it is for them to abstain from having more every single day.

So, be kind to yourself. No-one, not one of us, is going to go the rest of our lives without having a week where we gain, or a bad binge. Of course we are. But what's important is that we recognise it, accept it, and make good choices again.

Quick question please

How many calories are not enough? Like today I’m busy so less time to sit around and get hungry and I think I’ll come in under 1,500 calories

Yesterday I was on around 1,300 and saw someone say they hadn’t had enough calories so I ate a packet of mini cookies (125 cals) and got to around 1,500 but I honestly wasn’t hungry

I know there will be days when I’ll easily go up to 2000 calories but what should I do on days where I’m not eating enough?

Thanks for the advice, folks. You are all very kind You are right, need to be pragmatic and realistic. I have a bad tendency to perfectionism so when one thing goes wrong I say fuck it all. Been having a better couple of days and just going to keep plugging on thinking about one day at a time. I think I panic a bit when I binge thinking it is the beginning of the end (as has happened with me before) but there is such a thing as one bad day and getting back on it the next too.

Welcome Fezzes. I am the same with not telling people in real life that I am dieting. I have only told one relative, and sworn her to secrecy, and one friend. I've read that people do that because they are afraid of failing and don't want to have to explain themselves to other people but I don't know if that is true. I think there is crap that you can get from other people when they know you are dieting and it's fair enough to want to avoid that. Anyway, best of luck with your plan. You have made a good start.

Well done on your loss, Ouais. I am not convinced about that website. The first part is a TDEE calculator to work out how many calories you need a day and there are lots of those on the web using various formulae. The rest is about selling you a very expensive exercise DVD for $38 promising that you will lose 10-15lbs every three weeks which I think is a con. Each to their own though!

There is no way I would take orlistat, OJZJ. Anal leakage is not something I'm willing to risk especially for very modest increase in weight loss. Bollocks to that.

Thanks for keeping this thread going, Tractors Very much appreciate it.

Honey, how about chopped up avocado with lemon juice and salt and pepper? Very simple but high fat and protein and counts as one of your five a day too. Your husband is a man of great taste. Celery and peanut butter is lovely!

Thanks Otter, I think that’s it I don’t want people going on at me or giving me advice when they haven’t got a clue of being my size and how it’s not simple

AnotherOtter I have literally just sat down to feed baby, having scooped the flesh from some avocados and thinking what to do with them!

Ok been running around tidying and just came over really dizzy Where’d I go wrong today?

8am Breakfast Mullierlight yorgurt with cornflakes and a coffee

No snack (out at playgroup and then half day at Pre school so early pick up)

11:30 Lunch Lentils with carrots, celery and whole meal roll with butter

2:30 Exercised for a hour with plenty of water

So since then mad rush round the house tidying and cleaning, doing kids dinner and planning on having my dinner at 6 so didn’t have a snack

Just got really dizzy and so had a mini bag of cookies and coffee with extra sugar Now scared to move around too much until dh comes home (got 2 kids under 5)

I’m not sure what I did wrong, I honestly wasn’t hungry for snacks and I’ve got healthy things in to snack on

Last night for dinner I had a steak bake slice with beans and jacket potatoes So I haven’t gone mad on existing just on cabbage

fezzes I don't think a day of 1200 kcals will matter and it's saving it for days when you go over so your over all weekly calories would average out.
A lb of fat is around 3500calories so to lose a lb a week that's 3500 a week or 500 a day deficit but if you added the weeks cals deficit up as it varies slightly it will work out as a mean average.... Some days I have 1200 some days 1800 i always just try to balance it over the week. I think the points based slimming group does that too doesn't it where you save your points or syns for a Friday night out etc. It's when your cal s go low all the time ie 700 a day, every day so your body goes into starvation mode

Thanks OJZJ, I don’t think I’ll ever go done to just 700 calories! I’m really trying to eat what I will be able to substance look term so not cutting anything out that I like but portion control and adding in vegetables and fruit

But good to know if I have a very healthy day it’ll make up towards any bad days and not making myself eat for the sake of it

Sorry I’m posting so much but I’m so bloody upset with myself!

Feeling really sick and dizzy on and off. I thought I was doing really well and being sensible.

All I’ve done really is stopped binging on pretty much a whole loaf of bread, crisps and tomato sauce all day everyday! It’s not like I’m starving myself, I had a macdondals at the weekend!

I feel so awful and basically failed at this whole thing 😞

Well done Honeysuckle, yes you are totally going to do this!

Moonlight STS definitely a positive in my book,

First half stone done and dusted Moonandstars, well done.

Welcome OJZJ Not tried Orlistat, it hasn’t ever sounded very appealing to ge honest.

AnotherOtter I do get what you mean about a wasted week but I think actually what you have done ie. kept going and turned things round is really positive. Hopefully in time the binges will go but what in my opinion is really important is if they do happen, not to give yourself a hard time and practice moving on from it as you have. Very wise words from Honeysuckle and others.

Chesty well done ! Glad things have got moving again.

Well done QuaisMaisBon 6.25% is gone !

Well done B1rd , I like the idea of ‘because I deserve it’ chocolate. It is hard breaking that mind set, Great you found alternatives and enjoyed them.

NoTractors , thanks so much for sorting the threads.

Welcome Fezzes, I can relate to that weight. I lied my arse off and halved my weightloss when telling people for ages. Hard enough doing it without all the input well meaning people put in. You haven’t gone wrong, it just takes a bit of time for your body to adjust at the start and is the exercise new and are you vegetarian?i might be tempted to switch the Mullerlight and cornflakes for porridge or Greek yoghurt and fruit. That’s a long gap between lunch and tea with exercise in between, I think your blood sugar has dropped a bit hence the dizziness, I get it sometimes. Tomorrow maybe try and eat at regular intervals . You absolutely haven’t failed at this and you will feel better after you’ve eaten this evening and slept. Have you worked out what your TDEE is ?

Just stuffed my face with nuggets and tomatoe sauce sandwich’s, I figures that I might as well go crazy tonight if this is what my body’s craving! Still feeling sick and dizzy though.

No I’m not a vegetarian, just didn’t fancy any meat at lunch.

Yeah I’ll try porridge tomorrow and the miller light as a snack. Although I’ve really scared myself today so I want to get some bread in too somewhere.

What does TDEE mean?

How long do your dizzy spells last for? I thought it would have gone by now

Right just looked it up and my TDEE is apparently 2886 calories! Surely that’s not right? I was aiming for 1,700 to 2000 calories a day (only counting food not liquids and I’ve not been counting butter either as I’m not at a point where I’m weight out anything).

fezzes I don't mean to be rude but your day sounds pretty haphazard, and quite unhealthy. Not the food - the pattern. Essentially you've had minimal calories in the day whilst running around like a blue arsed fly and exercising, and then binged on cookies and nuggets. I know you're already feeling crappy and the last thing I want to do is give you another kicking, but it's quite a disordered approach. You're setting yourself up for failure.

You probably want to be eating about 1800 a day, plus extra for any exercise you do. Try to split them evenly throughout the day to avoid blood sugar food and dizzy spells. I think the government recently recommended a 400/600/600 split between the three meals, although you can adjust those for your calorie requirements. Use MFP for a week or so if you're not sure on calories and what your needs are.

It was me that was worried about not eating enough calories. As OJ said you don't want to go into starvation mode by eating too little. And you shouldn't really be finding yourself with a huge surplus of calories to use up in the evening.

Today I had porridge for breakfast and soup for lunch. All together that's only 400 cals (I have 2000 a day). So I made sure to have plenty of houmous and carrot sticks at lunch and I had a bacon pitta bread mid afternoon so I didn't have too many left over. I've now had dinner (aubergine curry) and a 25g bar of chocolate. I have 150 cals left which will probably account for the cups of tea I've had during the day which I always forget to log.

I guess what I am rambling about it the need for this to be sustainable. What you've done today has given you bad side effects physically and mentally. Obviously not intentionally, but it would be good to think about how you can change habits to prevent it happening again.

As I say, I'm sorry if this sounds really rude and preachy. I want everyone to succeed and in your posts I recognise the errors I've made in various dieting attempts in the past.

Also I'm no expert. I've been lurking on here from the start but it's only now I'm putting the advice of posters like Tractors and Post and all the other long term marvels in to practice.

Cross post as I got distracted by baby. Is 2886 a maintenance amount?

Mfp currently recommends 1500 ish a day to lose 1.5lbs a day. I weight 17.3 now and I add on 500 a day as I'm breastfeeding, so actually about 2000 a day. I'm posting between 1 and 3lb a week at the moment so although 2000 is actually what's recommended for a woman in general, it's low enough to make me lose quite a lot of weight.

Ooooh, just found my BMI when I was googling TDEE. I was 41 when I booked in at hospital with baby #2. It's now 38.8. yesssssss!

If you’re fairly young and not short that could be right. There’s a choice of activity levels, which did you set yourself as? If you’ve been doing a lot on not much food it can go on a bit , well the headache does. I would think about weighing food soon as gives you an accurate idea of portion sizes. Make sure you keep your fluid levels up as well. Protein helps fill me up I find.

Tomorrow maybe go for 2000 and try to space things more evenly throughout the day, if you have something sugary have it at a meal time then in between have something that will not spike your blood sugar as much, it should help a bit. It is hard at the beginning and steep learning curve.

No, you’re not rude it’s all good advice that I need!

The thing is, I know I can do this this time around. I’m now sure why but something’s telling me that this is my time and in order to be successful I need to be doing this right.

One of my big problems is I don’t like fruit or vegetables but I am working this into my eating plan and trying out new things.

The cookies are supposed to by my treat snack if I want it and I’m supposed to have a healthy snack too but didn’t want any the last couple of days.

The nugget binge tonight was that everything that I googled about dizzy spells and diet was about blood sugar levels dropping and having bread to counter this quickly so I thought might as well go for it properly after trying just one slice of toast not helping. But saying that I totally get your point of that not being healthy.

It just seems so weird that I’m almost having to force myself to eat when I’m not actually hungry. Which is something I never thought I’d be saying!

So tomorrow’s plan, but please help me change it up if I’m wrong!

8am Breakfast Porridge and coffee
9:30am 60mins exercise
11am snack, maybe grapes/yorgurt Not sure
1:00 pm lunch Jacket potatoe and baked beans
4:00 snack not sure what yet, was supposed to be mini cookies
6pm dinner Tuna and whole meal pasta
Then a dessert of some kind?

Wow, when you do things the right way it really takes a lot of thought!

Thanks again for the help

fezzesarecool

The devil is in the detail.
Your porridge - with water or milk? What milk?

The jacket - how big? Butter?

Why not serve with a salad. Will fill you up a bit and count toward your dose a day.

The pasta and tuna - again, portion size? Any dressing? Why not add some sweet corn. Again, count towards your five a days and help fill you up.

At face value the menu isn’t great. Lot of stodge, very little fresh. But on the plus, no “junk”.

As for “dessert” Greek yoghurt, raspberries with some ground cinnamon?

fezzesarecool

Your body wasn’t craving that food. Your mind was. Hence still feeling sick and dizzy afterwards.

The porridge pot says to make with water

Jacket would be average size with butter and half a tin of beans

The pasta will be one cup and the sauce I’ve made myself with onions, leeks, garlic, spinach, tomato’s and peppers and will add 1 cup cooked mushrooms I tried it with sweet corn last week and it tasted really odd

Yeah I do need to get salads in there at some point but I really really hate them! It’s on my to try list. This week I’m trying out celery, which I don’t hate but I don’t love. Another problem of mine is that I’ve kind of fell into this whole thing, I started exercising just to get a bit fitter, diet want never a factor, more a knock on effect. The other thing is these meals are actually filling me up to the point although it’s like a average serving I’m telling myself not to leave food.

Sorry I’m not replying to everyone, my dd’s playing up

Is that amount of exercise new to you? If so maybe work up to an hour.

Blinky makes good points. Personally for lunch if you do jacket potato switch beans for scrambled egg, keep potato decent size wouldn’t bother with butter then some salad. I’d put the mini cookies after tea and have yoghurt mid afternoon and add some veg to the tea. When I make bolognese I liquidise onion, garlic, carrot, celery with tin of tomatoes going back to the days of fussy children.

Sorry, cross post.

There's not wrong with mini cookies, a treat is important. I have a mini bar of chocolate most days if I have enough calories. Keeps you going.

blinky has given you some good feedback already. I'm also going to have porridge for breakfast, 40g made with water. I will mash in a banana and stir it in with a teaspoon (20g) of peanut butter.

For lunch it'll be another portion of Jack Monroe's minestrone soup, which took about 30 minutes to make on Monday. And then carrot sticks, bread sticks and houmous, maybe a toasted pitta bread.

Dinner tomorrow is Cajun chicken pasta which is relatively high calorie so I need to calculate it before I eat lunch or I might go over.

But you’re absolutely not failing, you’re learning and it is a steep learning curve at the start.