UKC

Ok, so there was a previous thread, back in Nov 21, about going for some lard loss - I was vaguely interested but didn't really do much about it.

Back in Nov 21 I said that my weight was x and I wanted to lose a few kg's, I thought about this thread today as I stepped on the scales this morning - turns out I'm the same weight as I was back in Nov - not sure of this is good (I haven't gained any) or bad (I haven't lost any)

Anyway, would still like to lose a few kg's, other may be in the same boat, some group encouragement - or even just general banter/light hearted abuse would help or else I will still look like "Daddy Thor" when it comes to beach day

Why are you on here and not exercising? Get down and gimme 20!!

Daddy Thor? I wish... I look more like Matt Lucas after a 3 month unlimited all-inclusive holiday binge

Although weight is the simplest and least disputable measure (you step on scales at same time each day and the number is the number!) is it helpful?

Would %bodyfat be a better measure which is also easy to estimate (https://kubexfitness.com/blog/body-fat-percentages-actually-look-like/) just match what you see in a mirror against a picture -(don't mention those ridiculous and fraudulent body fat % machines)

I mean you can lose impressive sounding weight by glycogen loss, muscle loss and less bowels content by not eating for 3 days but is that actual "genuine" progress compared to fat % dropping? or maybe waist tape measure?

I tend to go with body weight twice weekly, with hips, gut and moobs circumference fortnightly if I remember, as my limbs seem to be pretty lean.

I think I probably signed up to the last lard loss challenge, I'm down at my lowest weight for quite a while, having lost nearly a stone in weight since its crisp induced lockdown peak but still probably another stone of lard to go realistically. 

Unfortunately I still have moobs and a gut 😂

Edit to add I found the nutracheck calorie counter app useful.

I'm a slightly podgy, slightly unfit type too but I will push the envelope a bit. Walking down the steps to the lighthouse at South Stacks was a good one because we then had no choice about ascending them afterwards which turned out to be moderately easy and this pleased me! I'll be watching this thread, I'd like to get up a 3000'er again (it's been 7 years remarkably). I'll get there incrementally, that's the plan.

I'd be up for the fella.  I think it was me that started that thread, and then did naff all about it.

Some very bad habits have crept back in to my life, and I need to address them,,,

Yes, it was you and now is the time to do something about it - always easier when the weather is warmer and drier (ha) to get out and exercise more - even if its just pottering in the garden etc.

Obviously you cant be eating/drinking etc. whilst exercising so its a win win.

Right, motivation is high, going to go for a modest 1kg a week reduction this week - easier to monitor than BMI / %body fat etc  - see where I end up next Wed.

I lost a couple of stones 2 years ago using the (free) NHS weight loss app. Now I eat much more healthily and for the first time ever I think I've maintained a long term dietary change.

Anyway there's a podcast worth listening to 'A Thorough Examination' about ultra processed foods. Basically easier to lose weight if you avoid them, and this is what think made the difference for me.

I'll join....it may help my motivation to keep focused.  Beer is my Achilles heel for sure, bad cycle of drink, bad food, hangover, low energy, poor sleep quality etc...

Until Saturday I'd done 12 days without a drink but went out Saturday night then also drank on Sunday which pretty much wiped out my energy, volition etc...

Eaten well last 2 days and going for a walk up a local hill after work today so that should burn some calories...

Holiday to the sun booked for September and can't sit on the beach in my down jacket....!!

I'm in, I'm the heaviest I've ever been and have a trail half marathon booked in for November to train for, a new bouldering wall just opened local and a European mountain holiday next summer. 

Also, finally starting to get out and about with work again and I have very limited wardrobe options!

As already alluded to, for me this will have to dovetail with a concerted effort to drink less too..

Shifting 2st ish would take me out of the overweight category, but I'd settle for less overweight

I second that, the podcast is excellent!

I've got a couple of relatives visiting on June 18th, going home on June 21st...I'm going to pick this up on June 22nd.  Bring it !!!

So. Tomorrow is the day I turn this around. Happy to support if you're still feeling like doing it? 

I've lost one and a half stone and am now lean with a very low body fat percentage.  Easy with an avoid processed carbs and 16:8 fasting pattern.  No sense of hunger and fat had disappeared from midriff.  Absolutely no effort for me 

I'm still up for it....done another week of no booze....trouble is when I crack one open it's never one! Doing 2-3 hour hill walks at night 3x per week plus one day at the weekend.....holiday booked to Portugal first week of September!! When I was a lad the shirt would be straight off......now almost 57 I'm struggling with this.....still wanting the same feel and being up for it ..

I'm in. My goal is to lose a stone before the end of the year and get as close to losing another one before the Fred Whitton in May should I be successful in the ballot.

I could do with losing the couple of stone I've put in over the last few years.

Can anyone suggest some good guides on weight loss/ training regimes?

Try 'The Full Diet' approach advocated by Dr Saira Hameed.  Research results speak for themselves and she is the NhS advisor.  The main point is that it doesn't feel like dieting at all.  Brother in law has lost 3.5 stone since January.  Similar approaches often advocate completing any training when fasted to maximise fat-fuelling / burning.

My top tip would be:

Working hard, like heavy weights, hard running etc burns carbs (but almost no fat).

Gentle exercise like fast walking, very gentle running, hiking burns fat (as well as carbs).

The main exception to the above is high intensity interval training where you burn carbs whilst working hard, then fat when recovering between intervals.

If you enjoy hiking, go for a hike every weekend. Longer the day the better.

Aye, lets do this - I do need the encouragement / banter from others or I will just revert to normal after a few days, no staying power 

Right, will start this tomorrow morning, weigh myself then start from there.

How hard can it be to loose a few kg's?

Gentle running - what is that - I'm either running, or not running, there is only one pace!

What about cycling then - gentle cycle burns fat, hard cycle burns carbs?

There was me just thinking if I stopped the booze during the week, laid off the crisps completely and upped the exercise the weight would soon drop off - or have I underestimated this?

In the right frame of mind, it's a doddle.
 

Weigh in this morning was 21 stone 9 which is bloody horrific.

The critical not with the exercise is to keep to zone 2 which enables the body to fuel with fat (aerobic).  Above zone 2 you have to fuel with stored carbs and will struggle to burn fat.  The boundary between zones is related to age, fitness and your usual ability to switch to fat burning states (some people struggle as their diet raises insulin levels, which signals the body to store fat - winter is coming!).

Another point here is that carbs (particularly processed ones) raise insulin because they quickly raise blood sugar.  The body has to reduce this, so preferentially burns glucose.  This isn't so bad for elite athletes running a marathon, but is rubbish for losing weight as insulin closed the gate on fat burning.  I run fasted and can measure weight loss on a fairly short run (some of which is no doubt fluid).

Is your one pace of running gentle or not gentle?

That's the theory.

You may well be right.

I keep reading that weight loss is 75% diet and 25% exercise.

I don't believe this (for me at least).

I find no matter how I eat, my weight stays the same.

But it changes depending on how much exercise I do.

Maybe I'm just weird.

Day 2 weigh in, 21 stone 6 pounds. Total lard loss 3 pounds

Obviously that first day blip caused by small portions of food, a 7 mile walk in the hills with a weighted pack, and an, ahem, 'clear out' from the weekends excess

I am the total opposite. Running, cycling, hill walking doesn't make any difference to my weight. Avoid carbs for a few days and I see an immediate difference. Maybe it's a male / female thing?

86.3kg's this morning, ideally targeting 80kg's

Big weekend ahead unfortunately, will involve copious amounts of drinking and snacking (its a tough life) with little scope for any exercise (apart from running around daft attending to everything) but will see where it ends up on Monday morning and will climb back on the horse again - a week of frugality next week 

Ok good luck. I'm no expert but I have to avoid drinking during those kinds of weekends now, or I eat far too much as well. Being the nominated driver keeps me off food and drink. But it's not for everyone.

What is zone 2? 

Hill walking doesn't seem to have an effect weight wise on me. Running certainly does. Diet is fine for maintaining my weight, even if I'm not exercising, but doesn't seem to shift any.

Exercise is the only way I can sustain weight loss (obviously I must be able to lose weight by dieting, you don't see any fat people during a famine, but it'd be bloody miserable). 

No loss this morning, despite running around a school field for two hours trying to stop a one year old toddler from joining in with (and ruining) her sister's sports day.  A lot of running, bending, carrying, lifting and also chasing the sun hat that she refused to wear.

The heat was ridiculous.  I should be at least 10 pounds lighter.

Not sure measuring on a daily basis is a good idea, you could just be measuring fluid loss rather than lard. Maybe do it weekly (mid week rather than after a heavy weekend) to get a clear trend and cut out the 'noise' caused by normal fluctuations in weight.

My understanding is that it is exercise at the intensity that allows conversation to be easily maintained.  This is low intensity and ensures aerobic fuelling, rather than anaerobic where higher intensity forces the body to access stored glucose (glycogen).  The idea is that zone 2 will burn fat and improve endurance, whereas a slightly higher intensity (a bit breathless, one word answers in conversation) will switch to carb burning with little impact on stored fat.  Oddly enough going a bit above zone 2 has least training benefit of all.  Elite athletes train 80% in zone 2.  Naturally the more you do it, the faster you can go while able to maintain conversation.  There are more precise ways of calculating the zones for age, BMI etc 

Nah, I know it's generally frowned upon but I like getting it into my daily routine (out of bed, clean teeth, toilet, then weigh in wearing pants and t-shirt).  I don't obsess about it too much, don't mind seeing a few days of upward jumps as long as the overall trend is downward. 

It appeals to the OCD / spreadsheet nerd part of my brain.

Day 4.  21 stone 4.  5 pounds down.  Today is going to be another knackering day of keeping a 5 year old and a 1 year old entertained and carried around town...

Heart Rate Zone. I’m not a fan of Heart Rate Zone training, so I couldn’t tell you the specifics, but low intensity.

It doesn't help that there seem to be a couple of conflicting tables as to how many zones there are, and some confusion over the various thresholds.

I also have a wrist based HRM on my Garmin, which tells me I'm not trying when nearly puking my guts running uphill, and that my hearts about to explode on a fast but almost comfortable downhill.

155.75 lbs (yes, I'm old skool). Down 3.75lbs this week.

Day 7, 21 Stone 3, 6 pounds down.  Looking forward to breaking that 21 stone barrier!

Possibly not. During the Spring 2020 lockdown circumstances switched two things in my life: from normally drinking beer (no pubs, infrequent shopping) to homebrew wine and from ready-meal curry & snack at lunch to mostly bread and soup. A good 10 kilos fell off over about 6 weeks without me even noticing.

Alas return to the pub and office returned the lard but at least I now know it doesn't actually take much to shift it, it's keeping it off that's hard.

jk

See, booze is a definite massive factor in my weight loss.  As I mentioned earlier I weigh myself everyday, and I've got this on a spreadsheet going back about six years (I know, rock and roll, right?)

It's startling to see the point where I gave up Booze in May 2021 and the graph plummets from 22 stone to 18 stone.  And then like an idiot when I started drinking again, it immediately turned around and started to climb, back to almost 22 stone again.

There are obviously other things in there apart from the booze, but they all tend to be influenced by the booze...all of my food control goes out of the window when I drink, my motivation to exercise goes out the window..  it's an absolute no brainer with me and I feel like such a plonker for going back on the beer.  

But hey ho, day 7 alchohol free.....looking forwards and all that!

How's everyone getting on? Hope the motivation is still strong? 

I'm pretty chuffed that I've finally hit my 1 stone loss target, down to 12st 7 from 13st 7 at my lockdown peak. Was bloody hard getting those last 3lbs off, and took almost twice as long as the previous 10lbs. But still, all in the right direction!

I have 'two or three inches' to lose from around my middle, after spending since January working from home and occasionally uni while doing my course work. I'm skipping lunch and eating a huge bowl of porridge on less active days and still eating tea/dinner, and eating lunch when cycling during the day to get things moving.