The 2018 Weight Loss Thread

faniebraai said:
You are either going to starve yourself if you try do low carb and low fat, or you are purely going to be living on tuna fish and chicken.

Either Fat or Carbs is needed for energy, pick one
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Bacon! And pork belly, hmmmmmm.
 
themba990 said:
How far are you riding? What bike do you have?
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I have a MTB and unfortunately I do not have a lot of time to hit the trails very often, so I am stuck on the road for most of the time.. The full route I have planned is 10km but, the vast majority of that is punishing uphills..

For my first ride yesterday I managed 4 of the 10km, hoping to make it 5 today..
 
Subbed:

Goal: Weight loss and motivation

- Age - 22
- Gender - Male
- Height - 1.81
- Method of Weightloss - Calorie Deficit + weight lifting
- Highest Weight Ever - 137kg
- Weight at sign-up 128kg
- Goal Weight 80KG
 
bigboy529 said:
No offence taken at all. I actually ment the part about beer TIC, alcohol is not a problem for me, it just stops me from losing weight. For example I'll go on nicely for a week or so then a weekend happens and 6 beers messes it all up again. Start Monday and string together 2 weeks where everything goes well, then a party or something messes it all up again etc.
Care to share how you lost 25 kg's in 6 months?
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Dieting is hard. It takes constant good decision making to achieve a goal. If you fall off the wagon, don't beat yourself up. We all do. Get back onto track, and put it behind you. Having one or two beers is not going to derail your diet. Just don't use it as an excuse to carry on drinking and eating when you do make a mistake. Don't mean to sound preachy - but this is how my mind was in the beginning.

What I did:

I ate FitChef. It's a little expensive, but it kept me out of the kitchen, and on track. If I cook, I always overeat. Each day my food was set, and I didn't have to make stops at the shops / canteen, which removes temptation. I ate oats or eggs and avo for breakfast, then FitChef for lunch and dinner. I didn't do the smoothies. Instead, I had small snacks in between, such as lean biltong, fruit (such as apples, watermelon, oranges), cucumber, carrots with hummus, boiled eggs etc. They are all low calories snacks, and portion sizes are very small. I was under eating. I ate around 1500 calories a day, and my body needs around 1550 calories just for basic functions (my basal metabolic rate). My goal was to drop the weight as quickly as I could in a reasonable(ish) manner.

I am a sugar/carb fiend of note. So, on top of being starving for the first two weeks, I was also going through sugar withdrawals. I completely cut out all sugar - which helps stabilize my appetite. Eventually, I was not so hungry anymore, and my cravings went away.

I had a cheat MEAL once a week. I don't believe in cheat days, as one heavy day of eating can undo an entire week's worth of dieting. My cheat meal was usually spent with friends, and I could only eat anything I wanted in that sitting. Restaurant portions are huge, so eventually, my cheat meal was just a main meal, which I couldn't finish. We really do overeat. It is important to start listening to your body, and not follow old habits (like plate cleaning). Every now and then (one day every couple of weeks), I would eat as much as and whatever I wanted.

In terms of exercise, I started training with a personal trainer/ex pro boxer. We did a lot of functional fitness type stuff and some boxing. It was fun - and surprisingly challenging. We also did a little running, and I very slowly started to get into better shape. I took it slow - two 60 minute sessions a week to start. I then realized that I cannot get and stay fit for the sake of being fit. I needed some very specific goals and I started triathlon. You really don't need to do this. The key is finding something you enjoy doing and keep doing it. If you don't know what you enjoy, start somewhere, and accept that you won't enjoy everything. But, keep at it until you find what you love. Losing weight is all about what you eat. If you want the benefits of being active, but hate gym, do something else. You can take long walks, trail run, swim, garden, get a bike or hike. A personal trainer will keep you accountable however, and will help teach you form if you want to go into weight lifting. Seeing results takes a while, so don't get disheartened.

You don't have to take the approach I did either. Starting with small changes is also a good strategy. You could start with eating a little less each day, and cutting out two beers. The next week cut out something you normally eat/drink every day that is not healthy (such as fizzy cold drinks). The next week start drinking more water, etc. Small changes eventually add up to big results. The biggest thing however is consistency. It's a hard journey in the beginning. Be ready to fall off the wagon, and the hard days ahead, but you will get there. The results are worth it.

Good luck. If you want any advise, or bounce ideas, you are welcome to PM me.
 
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Emjay said:
Dieting is hard. It takes constant good decision making to achieve a goal. If you fall off the wagon, don't beat yourself up. We all do. Get back onto track, and put it behind you. Having one or two beers is not going to derail your diet. Just don't use it as an excuse to carry on drinking and eating when you do make a mistake. Don't mean to sound preachy - but this is how my mind was in the beginning.

What I did:

I ate FitChef. It's a little expensive, but it kept me out of the kitchen, and on track. If I cook, I always overeat. Each day my food was set, and I didn't have to make stops at the shops / canteen, which removes temptation. I ate oats or eggs and avo for breakfast, then FitChef for lunch and dinner. I didn't do the smoothies. Instead, I had small snacks in between, such as lean biltong, fruit (such as apples, watermelon, oranges), cucumber, carrots with hummus, boiled eggs etc. They are all low calories snacks, and portion sizes are very small. I was under eating. I ate around 1500 calories a day, and my body needs around 1550 calories just for basic functions (my basal metabolic rate). My goal was to drop the weight as quickly as I could in a reasonable(ish) manner.

I am a sugar/carb fiend of note. So, on top of being starving for the first two weeks, I was also going through sugar withdrawals. I completely cut out all sugar - which helps stabilize my appetite. Eventually, I was not so hungry anymore, and my cravings went away.

I had a cheat MEAL once a week. I don't believe in cheat days, as one heavy day of eating can undo an entire week's worth of dieting. My cheat meal was usually spent with friends, and I could only eat anything I wanted in that sitting. Restaurant portions are huge, so eventually, my cheat meal was just a main meal, which I couldn't finish. We really do overeat. It is important to start listening to your body, and not follow old habits (like plate cleaning). Every now and then (one day every couple of weeks), I would eat as much as and whatever I wanted.

In terms of exercise, I started training with a personal trainer/ex pro boxer. We did a lot of functional fitness type stuff and some boxing. It was fun - and surprisingly challenging. We also did a little running, and I very slowly started to get into better shape. I took it slow - two 60 minute sessions a week to start. I then realized that I cannot get and stay fit for the sake of being fit. I needed some very specific goals and I started triathlon. You really don't need to do this. The key is finding something you enjoy doing and keep doing it. If you don't know what you enjoy, start somewhere, and accept that you won't enjoy everything. But, keep at it until you find what you love. Losing weight is all about what you eat. If you want the benefits of being active, but hate gym, do something else. You can take long walks, trail run, swim, garden, get a bike or hike. A personal trainer will keep you accountable however, and will help teach you form if you want to go into weight lifting. Seeing results takes a while, so don't get disheartened.

You don't have to take the approach I did either. Starting with small changes is also a good strategy. You could start with eating a little less each day, and cutting out two beers. The next week cut out something you normally eat/drink every day that is not healthy (such as fizzy cold drinks). The next week start drinking more water, etc. Small changes eventually add up to big results. The biggest thing however is consistency. It's a hard journey in the beginning. Be ready to fall off the wagon, and the hard days ahead, but you will get there. The results are worth it.

Good luck. If you want any advise, or bounce ideas, you are welcome to PM me.
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Thanks for the advice. I guess for me it actually then gets down to smarter decisions, deciding not to have a cheat hamburger and chips, deciding not to have a brandy and coke, deciding to only have 2 beers etc.
 
bigboy529 said:
Thanks for the advice. I guess for me it actually then gets down to smarter decisions, deciding not to have a cheat hamburger and chips, deciding not to have a brandy and coke, deciding to only have 2 beers etc.
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by the sounds of it you have a couple of beers on the weekend. Emjay makes it sound like you suip everyday
 
faniebraai said:
by the sounds of it you have a couple of beers on the weekend. Emjay makes it sound like you suip everyday
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Yup, bar this past December, I very very rarely drink anything during the week unless there's some or other occasion, clients taking me out for lunch etc.
I usually only drink over a weekend and not even every weekend, 5 - 6 beers maybe a brandy or 2. My days of a suip session every weekend have long passed, I'm too old for that now.
 
faniebraai said:
by the sounds of it you have a couple of beers on the weekend. Emjay makes it sound like you suip everyday
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Well, even just having "a couple of beers on the weekend" seems to have gotten bigboy529 to where he is now.

"but it's just a chocolate", "but I only have 1 a day", "I only have 2L of coke per week". All these justs, couples and onlys add up...
 
Emjay said:
Sounds like a drinking problem in that context.
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Sure, but he clarified it's just weekends, and afterwards you mentioned it again... but nevermind




Emjay said:
You don't have to take the approach I did either. Starting with small changes is also a good strategy. You could start with eating a little less each day, and cutting out two beers.
Click to expand...

This piece
 
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faniebraai said:
Sure, but he clarified it's just weekends, and afterwards you mentioned it again... but nevermind






This piece
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Yes. Cutting out the beers to eliminate empty calories. Want to lose weight? The alcohol has to go. Also, not being able to say no to alcohol is problematic, even if it is a "few beers over the weekend". It's not a huge problem, but still an issue when we cannot control ourselves to not consume something. We tend to be very cavalier about alcohol as it is socially acceptable (and even expected) for people to drink. Don't drink and see how people react to you.
 
Emjay said:
Yes. Cutting out the beers to eliminate empty calories. Want to lose weight? The alcohol has to go. Also, not being able to say no to alcohol is problematic, even if it is a "few beers over the weekend". It's not a huge problem, but still an issue when we cannot control ourselves to not consume something. We tend to be very cavalier about alcohol as it is socially acceptable (and even expected) for people to drink. Don't drink and see how people react to you.
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I'm not disputing that be is bad, it was about making him seen like an alkie :crylaugh:
 
Eedubz said:
Well, even just having "a couple of beers on the weekend" seems to have gotten bigboy529 to where he is now.

"but it's just a chocolate", "but I only have 1 a day", "I only have 2L of coke per week". All these justs, couples and onlys add up...
Click to expand...

This is also probably one of the biggest issues with controlling weight. If you cannot get a handle on weight issues now, more weight gain down the line is inevitable. That's how come we end up with too much fat and wonder how we got there. As hard as my diet was, weight management is a daily thing in my life. It's not as tough, as I can be a lot more flexible now, but I do need to be careful what I eat, even with all my training. A side effect of modern times I guess.
 
Emjay said:
This is also probably one of the biggest issues with controlling weight. If you cannot get a handle on weight issues now, more weight gain down the line is inevitable. That's how come we end up with too much fat and wonder how we got there. As hard as my diet was, weight management is a daily thing in my life. It's not as tough, as I can be a lot more flexible now, but I do need to be careful what I eat, even with all my training. A side effect of modern times I guess.
Click to expand...

Also why this thread is good for you, helps keep track.
 
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