25 stone to 19 stone in 8 months.

[TracyGWill]

It's in the Silver Members section, Chezz, I didn't realise. xx

 

[chezz]

ohh thats why some cannot see i can and wow she as done brill x x x

 

[TracyGWill]

ohh thats why some cannot see i can and wow she as done brill x x x

She has, she's a shining example of eating more to lose more! xx

 

[TracyGWill]

At the end of the day, Helena, you need to experiment and find your own level, we can only advise based on experience. But the most important thing its realise that it will take a long time, so you really need to be able to reduce your calories as you go along, which you can't keep doing if you start too low. xx

 

[366to266]

you really need to be able to reduce your calories as you go along, which you can't keep doing if you start too low. xx

Yep I understand that concept. However, if the starting calories don't produce weight loss... then what?

 

[366to266]

Something doesn't seem right! What does MFP quote? I'm about a stone lighter and even with moderate exercise my calorie allowance - to lose 2lbs a week is 2130!!! Also you have to remember you need to eat back the cals you burn off if you're worried about going over 2000 then don't - stick to 2000 for a week, and aslong as you follow it properly and there are no underlying health issues, you should lose weight xx

Jojo ~ what is it that 'doesn't seem right'? I do have all the figures correct, and a 1,000 deficit, as directed, makes my daily allowance 1,600, or up to about 2,000 on the days I do exercise (I am not doing aquafit at present as I sliced off the top of my finger and it isn't healed yet).

Do you lose 2lb a week if you eat 2100 calories?

How can I eat back the calories I burn off when there is no way of telling how many calories I am burning as I go about my day? Today I spent about an hour walking around a shop, for example; how could I calculate that? It's going to be different for every person depending on their sex, weight, musculature, metabolism, age ....

Underlying health issues ... well, I suspect I still have hyperinsulinaemia, and there are no medications for that. I might have PCOS, I dunno. My thyroid has been tested many times, no problems found.

It's a paradox that I was losing more weight when I was just sitting around all day. When I started painting and doing other DIY my weight loss stopped. Could be coincidence of course.

Helena

 

[Superfree Princess]

I think I eat more doing SW than I did before, the difference being eating the right stuff. Initially I weighed myself occasionally twice a day, this was beyond daft. Once I talked myself out of doing this, I found I wasn't beating myself up mentally every day with changes in the scale. I took the weight over a month, then stopped worrying I was eating too much. I think whether your doing sw or calorie counting, your body needs food to lose weight. It may seem like a lot, but its probably all really good stuff

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[WelshJojo]

Jojo ~ what is it that 'doesn't seem right'? I do have all the figures correct, and a 1,000 deficit, as directed, makes my daily allowance 1,600, or up to about 2,000 on the days I do exercise (I am not doing aquafit at present as I sliced off the top of my finger and it isn't healed yet).

Do you lose 2lb a week if you eat 2100 calories?

How can I eat back the calories I burn off when there is no way of telling how many calories I am burning as I go about my day? Today I spent about an hour walking around a shop, for example; how could I calculate that? It's going to be different for every person depending on their sex, weight, musculature, metabolism, age ....

Underlying health issues ... well, I suspect I still have hyperinsulinaemia, and there are no medications for that. I might have PCOS, I dunno. My thyroid has been tested many times, no problems found.

It's a paradox that I was losing more weight when I was just sitting around all day. When I started painting and doing other DIY my weight loss stopped. Could be coincidence of course.

Helena

I mean that some calculations somewhere don't seem right! I go by what mfp tells me and it seems ok so far there Is an option to enter your exercise on mfp too so that will estimate how many cals you burn off using your weight. I just want to point out that I personally am not having a pop at you - and i highly doubt anyone is as we're all trying to help each other - but we're all offering valid suggestions to help you as you seem to be stuck in a rut, and you appear to be dismissing them all. Surely you actually need to try increasing your calories to nearer what is recommended, and at least allow a chance to fuel your body to lose weight. You seem to focus so much on the daily fluctuations and seem to beat yourself up when you gain 1lb over night. This doesn't matter as it wouldn't be actual weight. If you try to look at it rationally, then you'll see that weighing yourself once a week or even once once a fortnight, you'll see a difference. If you can't do this then maybe weigh daily if you feel you have to but don't record it. xx

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[Bigbear]

Hi Helena,

wow what. A lot of posts!!

For what it's worth, I'm think 1600 is a hoot amount to stick to. Looked like you were being really creative with working out what your could eat within the limit. If you're ahoy with 1600 as a good dieting amount then stick to that, but in would agree with others that watching the scales is not going to help, particularly if your motivation is affected by the fluctuations that our weird bodies throw at us.

I would carry in doing what your doing on your 1600, and perhaps NOT weigh for a few week and then see how you are? If you stick to 1600 cals, you WILL weight... Surely?!

 

[tranquility]

Hi Tranq... I was taken aback by your comment. "I would suggest that you base your meals on "real food" rather than ringing the takeaway."

Since I started this diet one month ago I have eaten all real food every single day. In the whole month I only had ONE takeaway and that was three pieces of Southern fried chicken and some chips. One meal in a whole month that wasn't home cooked.

I have a freezer full of home made spag bol and home made cottage pie, having spent hours slaving over a hot stove to make those meals in batches specifically to avoid supermarket ready meals. My fridge is crammed with salad stuffs, wholemeal bread, fresh vegetables, yoghurts, fruits, milk, ham, chicken, lean beef which I am about to casserole and other "good" foods.

Helena

I wasn't referring to what you have been eating Helena it was when you started waxing lyrical about if you upped your calories you could fit in fish & chips/KFC to use some of the extra cals.

Didn't mean to offend honest.

I often find that the lbs come off very slowly or not at all for most of the month then once a month I seem to lose a months loss overnight. A lot of things affect the numbers on the scale it's just best to roll with it and review it each month.

Just being more active can store some water weight as well.

To be honest if I have cals left at the end of the day I never eat them just because they're available. I'd rather store them in case I need them another day.

 

[366to266]

I mean that some calculations somewhere don't seem right! I go by what mfp tells me and it seems ok so far there Is an option to enter your exercise on mfp too so that will estimate how many cals you burn off using your weight. I just want to point out that I personally am not having a pop at you - and i highly doubt anyone is as we're all trying to help each other - but we're all offering valid suggestions to help you as you seem to be stuck in a rut, and you appear to be dismissing them all. Surely you actually need to try increasing your calories to nearer what is recommended, and at least allow a chance to fuel your body to lose weight. You seem to focus so much on the daily fluctuations and seem to beat yourself up when you gain 1lb over night. This doesn't matter as it wouldn't be actual weight. If you try to look at it rationally, then you'll see that weighing yourself once a week or even once once a fortnight, you'll see a difference. If you can't do this then maybe weigh daily if you feel you have to but don't record it. xx

Hi Jo Jo and Tranq.

Please don't talk in terms of being offended or giving offence. This is about gaining the right knowledge to gain control of my weight and my health. I don't want to be too scared to ask a question in case it "offends" and I am certainly not offended myself by people giving advice.

I did not say anyone was "having a pop" I just want to see the science behind something before I follow it as a lifestyle. Is that so bad?

I am certainly not "dismissing" every suggestion made. To give just one example, last night I force-fed myself 600 calories I did not want because of what the ladies on here are telling me to do. Another example, I now eat a tin of pilchards over 2 slices of toast instead of 4 since someone suggested I cut back a bit on the bread.

The very basis of what I have been following (1600-1700 calories a day) is based on listening to someone else's suggestions!

It's a fact that the post that you copied-and-pasted did not back up the theory that I should eat more ~ it actually said the exact opposite: i.e. that I should aim for 1600, or 1900 if exercising 3 times a week. I don't think there is any need to be offended at my pointing this out.

Sorry I forgot to reply to your query about MFP. When I input all my stats, it came up with 1,700 calories for me and that is why 1700 appears on my daily food journals. Because of that, I aim for 1600 but don't fret if I go up to 1700.

It's not the gaining 1lb overnight that has scared me, but gaining 4lb when my total loss was only 11lb over three weeks. I have regained more than a third of what I lost! I think that is rather worrying, Jo Jo.

Helena

 

[366to266]

1600 is a hoot amount to stick to. Looked like you were being really creative with working out what your could eat within the limit. If you're ahoy with 1600 as a good dieting amount then stick to that, but in would agree with others that watching the scales is not going to help, particularly if your motivation is affected by the fluctuations that our weird bodies throw at us.
I would carry in doing what your doing on your 1600, and perhaps NOT weigh for a few week and then see how you are? If you stick to 1600 cals, you WILL weight... Surely?!

Hi Claire

About 95% of the time I find 1600 an absolute doddle to stick to. And if I do, then once a week I can have say 2,000.

Now that I am stocked up on low calorie foods, and know the content of everything, and have ditched the butter, frying in oil and mayonnaise, I seem to get by on about 1200, leaving 400 for treats like chocolates and fruity yoghurts that stop me from feeling deprived at all.

(BTW I have sold my 6 jars of Hellman's for £2 each!)

I actually ENJOY having the 1600-1700 limit. It's been fun finding out how to get as much "bang for my buck" as possible... it's like a game of Scrabble, where you try to get the biggest score with your tiles.. I am trying to get the most amount of oral and digestive satisfaction for my calorie "spend".

Hi Tranq

Yes, I am sorry about that post. I see what you mean. In a way, the other benefit to the 1600/1700 limit is that it stops me having fish n chips or other takeaway crap. I have bought some frozen cod in breadcrumbs and can have that, with a tiny baked spud, as my fish n chips, for about 600 calories. It would not be a disaster if I had a bit of that Southern chicken now and again, but I would pass on the chips, and could then have three pieces for about 700 calories.

What is amazing is how absolutely stuffed I felt after eating my home made spagbol yesterday. One for breakfast and one for lunch, a total of 700 calories, and I had no desire to eat for the rest of the day. Maybe it's the wholewheat spaghetti that made it so long lasting?

I have 333 calories left to spend tonight, but am not at all hungry.

"To be honest if I have cals left at the end of the day I never eat them just because they're available. I'd rather store them in case I need them another day."

I can do that, then allow myself some Southern chicken!

I will see if I can stay off the scale tomorrow, ladies!

Last but not least I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who visits my thread here and makes suggestions and cares about me. I KNOW that you all want to see me succeed, and that means an awful lot to me. I think my b/f is bored by diet talk, so I barely mention it to him. He eats what he likes and is thin as a rake, and would not know a calorie if it jumped up and smacked him in the face. He's also seen me try and fail 100 times before, so there is an amount of empathy fatigue there. So I really need you ladies, because this time I am not going to quit!

Helena

 

[tranquility]

I think you have made the connection that the weight gains started when you began painting floors and building flat packs Helena. You might want to look into the gaining weight when beginning exercise factor.

It is always surprising how filling home made food is. I think it's because we don't add the flavour additives and preservatives the ready meal manufacturers do.

MFP gives me 1670 for a 1.5/week loss on my current weight but I have been eating between 1800-1900 since January and I lose approx 5-7lbs a month on that amount still. I did go through a phase where I cut the calories back to MFP levels but ended up with a 6 week STS in April/May until I upped the calories back to the original figure. It is all trial and error in the beginning though.

You could always make slimming world chips to go with your fish.

 

[PrincessSparklePants]

I understand your worries, I really do.... when I first started I tried to stick to 1200 despite what MFP was telling me and I happened to mention that I was doing it and that I wasn't seeing the losses.... and then Tracy and others explained it all very patiently - from the working out of the formulas right through to having to up things. I was reluctant to do it as - obv like you I wanted instant results and didn't want to wait..... and then I did it and - wow! It dropped off at a consistent level rather than coming to a total halt.

Please remember that you're still only less than a month in so it takes time to adjust in your head as well as in your body. You've done AMAZINGLY and already swapped and changed what you're doing/avoiding/eating several times. Give yourself a break hun!

 

[PrincessSparklePants]

PS: I love HM chips! All you need is potatoes and frylight chop them up, parboil them and then spread them on a baking tray with greaseproof paper underneath and spray with frylight and then bake in the oven for approx 30 mins on gm 6 - turning halfway. (is that the same as what you suggested, Tranq?)

 

[tranquility]

That's the ones PSP. Although I don't bother with the parboiling any more and I leave the skins on as well. Strangely I find the sunflower fry light makes crispier chips than olive fry light, no idea why lol

 

[PrincessSparklePants]

Oooh I didn't know there was a sunflower one - will have a look as almost out of the Olive oil one Ta!

I parboil only because I find it cooks quicker (though when you factor in the parboil time it doesn't really but it does when they're actually in the oven if that makes sense? )

 

[Drag0nfly]

How's things today Helena?

 

[366to266]

How's things today Helena?

Gained another pound and now at 343.4.

Obviously this is a great worry to me. Gonna stick to 1600 calories and try my best NOT to weigh for a week. Hopefully I shall be under 340 then.

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

Helena

 

[366to266]

Could not stop myself from having a quick peek at my weight today.

Gained yet another pound, now at 344. In another week or so I will have regained every pound I have lost since I started.

This is despite keeping to my diet, and weighing and measuring and logging everything religiously.

Clearly, calorie theory is a load of tosh, because whether I am taking 1600, 1800 or 2000, I am a good 800 to 1000 in deficit every single day, which, says calorie theory, guarantees a loss of at least 2lb if not 3lb a week. Well I have gained 4lb in 10 days eating a 1,000 a day deficit!