I started a diet!

[Nikolas]

Ok!

As far as I remember I don't recall such a thread, so thought to give it a try!

I'm currently 194 cm (6'3") and 118 kgr (18.5 stones)! This is immense, since I should be around 95-99 tops (14.9-15.6 stones)! I do feel the weight getting me down and I also feel completely out of shape.

So?

I started a diet! Which involves the very basic principal: Quit eating rubbish and drinking tons of beer.

1. No more pizza, along with garlic bread and 3 pints of beer for lunch
2. No more beer in general, maybe 1 pint per week, if I go out (which I won't! kids)
3. No more going to the Indian restaurant and ordering 4 portions, because supposedly we are 4 (me, my wife and our two kids) and I end up eating 2 1/2 portions of big, full of fat and cream, curry dishes!
4. No more chocolate bars!

I started eating plenty of salads to battle my hanger for the first 3 days, and it seems to be working fine. I won't quit the tasty food, it's rather impossible, but compairing a pizza, with garlic bread and beer with a ceasar salad with chicken, seems like a big winner! Chicken is roasted of course with a tiny bit of oil and lots of spices.

Dinner involves either some bread and fruits (don't like yougart), or yet another salad, or maybe some kind of ready made soup (which taste lovely if you add a bit of spice).

I also started biking, but will stop until the weekend, since my PhD review is coming up! After that I'll start again. No reason to do only diet, when you can also excersize! No reason to going to tescos by car in 5 minutes when you can do it by bike in 15 minutes!

[Tuomas]

Brilliant! Great for you, mate. Reading this made me smile, though I bet after a while I'll feel bad because of my own body-ruining process that's going on. No really, I'm having fun in this body with its parts. In fact, to make sure there's anough beer drinking in the world, I was just about to head off to some nice outdoor place to have a nice cold pint in the warm spring sunlight

Although I tried losing weight too, then people said I shouldn't because I'm normal, so ok, I'm fine with that. What's the best usually is to start eating less but more regurarly. I used to eat once a day, twice tea and bread, to save money. Now I eat rye porridge every morning, then sometimes a snack, a hot meal some hours after that, and some tea and ryebread before going to bed, and I feel great

[big brother]

Give yourself one day a week to cheat on the diet. The majority of diets will fail without one. Designate which foods you crave that you'll allow yourself to eat on this day. Also, not consistently eating fewer calories than you burn will help your body not to go into starvation mode -- where it will retain body fat.

Snack in threes. Instead of eating one cookie 4 or 5 times in a row, plan a snack. Pick one item from three food groups. For example, if I want a cookie, I'll eat it plus an apple and a glass of low-fat milk.

Eat small and frequently to keep your body metabolic.

Eat carbs in the morning, especially those with low glycogenic index, like oatmeal (this is important for maintaining your energy levels throughout the day). Try not to consume any carbs after dinner.

Exercise. Weight loss is tricky, because it's more important to burn fat than lose weight. Under many diets, an individual will lose a lot of muscle (since when forgoing food, your body tends to burn stored protein first). If someone loses 10 kilos of weight, but 5 of that is muscle, they're pretty much in worse shape than they were (higher risk of heart attack, etc). I would suggest getting your body composition taken and using that as an indicator instead of weight.

Best of luck!

[Oliwerko]

Give yourself one day a week to cheat on the diet. The majority of diets will fail without one. Designate which foods you crave that you'll allow yourself to eat on this day.

Yeah, this helped my grandma. (Don't laugh, I'm trying to help  ). I guess it is important not to spend 2 months losing weight and then "OK, 2 months is over, I have perfect weight, diet is over.". It is IMHO important to remain in this "diet life" so you do not gain the weight again. That is how I see it around me though, I have never had any weight problems, I am now roughly 180cm and I weigh hardly 60 kilos, no matter how much I eat. I wish you could give away some weight to me 

[rharpe]

Big Brother is right -- those are the rules to go by. (I know I did just that.)

I've been on a diet since the start of December last year and I've lost 30+ pounds (or 2.142857142857143 stones.)
My goal weight is 180 pounds, (which I'm only 6 pounds away from that goal.)

Motivation on a diet is key, I use http://www.traineo.com as a means to stay motivated and track my progress.
(Let me know if you need any help setting up an account, finding motivators, etc.)

It's a long road -- but it's well worth it! 

[Nikolas]

Thanks guys:)

[ryanlandry]

Oliwerko! I have the same problem. I eat all day and i haven't gained a pound in the last 6 years! Maybe someone has some tips for gaining weight?...

[auriond]

I'm on a perpetual diet! Good luck Nikolas - you're not alone!

Big Brother - that looks like very sound advice. Thank you for that

[Peder 🚀]

I am like 174CM and I weigh over 100 KG :O..
Even though my body build (or what to call it) is "big" I could still loose some weight .
I eat far to many pizzas and FAR TO MUCH SWEETS!!! .
Oh, and I drink FAR to much milk! (I love milk! )
Also I dont drink beer and such... so thats no problem!

Its stupid because I love most food and could easily eat salads and such, and I love fruit!
Its just, its exspensive!! but so is all those pizzas , which I gotta cut down on anyway because I cant afford it.
I used to use my bike ALOT and walk alot when I still lived in Norway, and I had alot of healthy food etc (as my mum cooked it ) but over here I dont have a bike, though I do walk alot..

I dont think I could give up all those tasty sweets and such but for sure, big brothers suggestion is a good idea!
I wish you good luck Nikolas! and I hope both of us will reach the weight we SHOULD be .


Oh, also, I am REALLY out of shape!
I mean, I got like a 5 minute walk from where I live to the train station, and one day I rushed and had to run,
It made me cough all day! :o

[Nikolas]

Actually the "easy" factor in food is a big one I'm afraid. with ready made pizzas, you just shove them in the oven and they're done in 10 minutes. With salads and stuff, (especially home made) you have to spend ten minutes. With chicken breasts, etc, even more...

Auriond: Thanks, good luck to you too! But don't forget: we are married now (both), no need for diets, we have our partners hooked and locked!

[TwinMoon]

I'm not gonna tell you how much I weigh or you might feel obliged to force me to diet with Nikolas    (or should that be )

Good luck, hope you can keep it up. Just remember that's it's not the diet which keeps the pounds away, it's your eating pattern.
Just say no to all those curries!

[voh]

1.87m and 102kg. I'm fairly on the overweight side, and I've got a gym subscription which I hardly ever use. I'm a lazy mofo, and I've decided to change that once my first salary of my new job gets in. Additionally, the new job is being a movie theatre operator (the guy who puts the film into the projector and turns it on and off and cuts and sticks together the films being run through the projectors - it's sweet and technical ) and the movie theatre I work at is one hell of an old building, with long stairs that I have to go up and down like 40-60 times a shift.

So I'm getting a good part of excercise there.

Now to change my diet

I'm looking into weight watchers, because they've got a fairly good and simple system. Choose a calory total you're comfortable with and fits your build, then it gives you suggestions based on points as to what you can eat. You've got choice, bad stuff is allowed to a certain extent so you won't get cravings, and it's worked wonders for some friends of mine.

So yeah, I'm supporting you, Nik, 'cause I'm in the same situation

Ganbatte ne!

[Domino]

I am watching what i eat now because of being diagnosed as a Type 2 Diabetic.

I am eating much better than i was before, but i still drink too much beer which isn't good and just packing on the pounds which i lost recently.

I want to get an exercise machine soon, so i can play video games on a treadmill or something.

Good luck,
Shawn

[Nikolas]

I want to get an exercise machine soon, so i can play video games on a treadmill or something.

I doubt I can write music on a treadmill or I'll end up like these guys probably.

But in all honesty a day in the playground with the kids, should be an ok exercise, no?

For the record: I started on the diet simply because I felt disgusting with myself after a huge meal!

[Layabout]

If you want to eat pizza, have thin and crispy (if you are ordering from a pizza place) have half the amount of cheese and a good mix of veg and maybe chicken. I'd recommend a pizza chain as opposed to your local kebab place that also does pizzas, as the kebab places stack on the toppings (which doesnt need to be done, it kills a pizza, particuarly too much cheese) Thing about mozzerella, it has little taste and binds the toppings together so the pizza doesnt fall apart. half the amount of chesse will not affect the binding much.

Beer. It's bad and it is good. Beer for lunch? not unless you are on holidays. Maybe a couple on a saturday or sunday lunch. If you choose to drink through the week, stick to something like vodka and diet coke or diet tonic (or gin if you prefer) Much healthier for you.

And Beer is not too bad for you calory wise. Half a beer, 284ml or 10fl/oz is less calorific than a small (pub) sized glass of wine at only 175ml.

Everything in moderation is good for you.

Just don't make the mistake of going on a session and eating afterwards, as this food will go straight to the belly (beer belly).

Don't ever starve yourself, as your body will start storing more fat. Eat 3 meals a day, dont eat 3 hours before bed.

And if you want to realise how much you eat, write down absolutly everything you eat in a week, and every thing you drink.

Don't listen to those do-gooders about alcohol consumption. The only good advice they have is not to drink on an empty stomach.

But you sound as though you are off to a good start.

[Emerald]

The advice I've always taken is - eat like the French. They eat whatever they want, whenever they want, but they always eat a small amount of it. I mean, they have the fattiest cuisine of all, but you never see an obese Frenchman, because they'll eat about a tenth that a tourist would... It's just how they're raised.

Though the main reason I'm skinny is because I'm just too lazy to shop, cook or eat in general.

[Stupot]

Also - and I know this sounds obvious, but it's amazing how we all need reminding sometimes - drink loads of water.  Not only is it helpful in all the ways that we all know, but also, whenever you're drinking water you're not drinking beer or milkshakes or anything else thats full of calories.

[Oliwerko]

This reminds me that I somehow prefer drinking water to anything else all my life. I do not know why, I just kind of realized that I drink only water...

[SSH]

Watching the people get chubby
Is not very pretty I tell ye
Walking through town like Mr Blobby
And not very sensible either
A friend of a friend he got eaten
He looked the wrong way at a policeman
Would never have happened to Smeaton
And old Leodiensian
La-ah-ah, la la lalala la
Ah-ah-ah, la la lalala la

I predict a diet, I predict a diet
I predict a diet, I predict a diet

[riseryn]

but you never see an obese Frenchman

sorry but there is a lot of people obese, specially the youngest and it becomes a problem.
Thanks c..a c..a and M.c d....d