Slightly overweight, advice please?

Go for it.... Jump on your bike, walk a little extra and try and reduce calorie intake. Have you been that weight for a while? If so, simply walking abit more and cycling will do the job, without changing your diet (the hardest bit)

As someone that needs to loose eight or so stone and am medically obese the hardest bit is the mental side and emotional attachment to food... If someone had a fix for that I would be laughing :) and 11 stone!! Hehe
 
for all you people working out the maths..

if a bloke is 6ft tall and has a thingy (you know a thingy) thats 9 inch long and weighs 2 pounds... what does he weigh? you have 10 mins
 
KIPAX said:
for all you people working out the maths..

if a bloke is 6ft tall and has a thingy (you know a thingy) thats 9 inch long and weighs 2 pounds... what does he weigh? you have 10 mins
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i weigh 13 stone :D
 
Do NOT go on a diet :)

Change what you eat but do not think of it as a diet as diets are temporary things and what you need to do is pemanently change what you are eating. Therefore do not switch to foods that you really dislike and will never continue eating but choose those which you can get to like - and remember to give your taste buds time to change.

Fats have almost twice the calories per gram than carbohydrates and protiens so cut down fats. Fat should only give you about 1/3 of your calories and saturated fats should only be 1/3 of your fat intake.

There is a lot of hidden fat in processed food so you need to read labels and preferably cook fresh food for yourself. So called "Lite" meals cut down on the fat but often have more sugar and/or salt so are not good for you.

Do not eat 5 a day :) 8 or 10 a day is much better!
It is quite boring to repeat but more exercise, less fat, more fruit, more veg and oily fish are what is recommended to lose weight, to reduce cholesterol, to get a healthy heart, to fight cancer etc.etc.

Look here http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/prevention/healthy-eating.aspx for good advice.

As for exercise get on your bike more, if you commute get off a stop early and walk the rest, never use a lift always the stairs. Incorporate it into your daily life and don't think of it as an add-on.

Good Luck!
 
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Suvv said:
Do NOT go on a diet :)
!
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absoloutly bob on advice for anyone who needs to lose weight... as daft as it sounds this is the best advice ever.... going on a diet is temporary and the chances are you will put more on when you come off the diet..

the rest of the advice by Suvv is also exactly right...Been there done that.. I now eat differently than i used to.. its making a massive difference :)

but to be honest I dont think the OP has much to worry about.
 
footman said:
If you are of average height ( 5ft 10 ins / 1.776 m) then you weigh 166 kilos (26.2 stones).
Is that correct?
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Yup :clap:

At the beginning of September I weighed 30st 2lbs.
 
KIPAX said:
but to be honest I dont think the OP has much to worry about.
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May be nothing to worry about but a medical professional who has met and examined the OP has given their advice so should be listened to rather than people debating the validity of BMI etc.
 
TopBanana said:
May be nothing to worry about but a medical professional who has met and examined the OP has given their advice so should be listened to rather than people debating the validity of BMI etc.
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as far as i know those medical professionals of the NHS lean heavily on BMI. at least they did for dad and a couple of others i know who are short and stocky but mostly muscle, who they diagnosed as MO.
 
duttytd said:
It is and it ain't. All depends on what your eating at night.
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no ... it all depends on what your eating all day.. eating it at night makes no difference.. its a myth that its worse to eat at night..
 
TopBanana said:
May be nothing to worry about but a medical professional who has met and examined the OP has given their advice so should be listened to rather than people debating the validity of BMI etc.
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And the validity of your post is? ;) :lol:

The OP seems slightly upset by what she's been told so I think the comments about the BMI calculator are valid in trying to put what she's been told into perspective.

There was also nothing said about what advice had been given to help the OP to lose weight and what may work for one person may not work for another.

I was just reading an article which goes into detail about how different body types need different kinds of diet/exercise to make weight-loss effective.

In another example, my Fiancée's best friend went to the nurse for a general check up before they renewed her prescription for the contraceptive pill, the nurse told her she was so overweight the pill would soon become ineffective. The woman in question is around 5ft 5in tall and (I think) around 10.5st in weight, there is no way on this earth she should ever be referred to as fat and knowing how upset being told so made her I can empathise with the OP!
 
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TopBanana said:
May be nothing to worry about but a medical professional who has met and examined the OP has given their advice so should be listened to rather than people debating the validity of BMI etc.
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have you read the OP opening message... a nurse told her she is slightly overweight... she hasnt been given 3 months to live unless she loses 10 stone .....

i can guarantee that everyone posting here will be doing somehting the nurse could say is slightly wrong..

talk about mountains out of molehills..
 
Just reduce the portions and never snack

Start preparing your own food, so you know what goes in it
 
to the OP

I have done a fair bit of reading on this topic. What i'd suggest is
1 - forget your BMI and your weight (if you follow the other suggestions)
2 - find out how different foods affect your body (e.g. eating fat doesn't make you fat, cals in/cals out has been proven to be crap, pasta is NOT good for you, etc)
3 - stop eating the wrong things and eat more of the right things (from 2 you'll find that lean protein and veggies are good (potatoes are not a veggie) and can be pretty much eaten in any quantity you like, fat should be consumed in modest quantities and sourced from the right place (grazed meat, macadamia's, olives/olive oil, avacados). Ditch as much of the processed food as you can and anything with wheat or sugar in the ingredients (in fact just ditching wheat will probably make a major difference).
4 - get active - if you can't get to a gym learn some activities you can do at home. a simple body weight regime (i.e. movements using only you) will have you shedding lb's in no time, especially if you haven't worked out before - buy the book "Never Gymless" if you need some inspiration.
5 - reduce your alchohol intake - try to go to no week night drinking for example
6 - learn to use your mirror - if you feel and look great but are heavier that's not a bad thing

If you don't lose fat doing that I'll eat my shorts.



hope that helps
 
I'm not denying that BMI is a flawed metric, all I'm saying is that all the nurses I know are good enough at their job to not just rely on a figure - they wouldn't call a short stocky superfit rugby player obese because of their BMI, they normally discuss lifestyle with the patient as part of the examination.
The OP doesn't seem to be disputing the nurse's verdict and has agreed that they need more exercise so why are people telling them to ignore the nurse's advice because it may be based on BMI?
 
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KIPAX said:
no ... it all depends on what your eating all day.. eating it at night makes no difference.. its a myth that its worse to eat at night..
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following common sense -

If I eat a packet of crisps at 5pm and i got to bed at 10pm then I have 5 hours of time within which I will be moving my body around and I might burn off some of the fat.

If I eat a packet of crisps at 9.55pm and then go to sleep there is little chance I'll be burning off any of the fat.

no?
 
your body doesn't use calories or fat in that way. Your body also burns a lot of cals in the night as it is the major repair time for it. Many bodybuilders wake themselves up in the night to get a feed in for that reason*.

*edit - erroneously IMO as the length and quality of sleep is a major factor in your health
 
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TBH, the OP will know how they feel and look themselves. Example: If you have always been 10 stone, and you just lept up to 11, something needs looking at

At the end of the day, overweight, marginally overweight, top end of normal is irrelevant, at these levels it's the general trend you need to keep an eye on
 
Richard King said:
Just reduce the portions and never snack
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funny.. just been reading the british heart foundation website on healthy eating and losing weight... theres another myth.. snacks...it actualy says nothing wrong with snacks...
 
BazEP said:
your body doesn't use calories or fat in that way. Your body also burns a lot of cals in the night as it is the major repair time for it. Many bodybuilders wake themselves up in the night to get a feed in for that reason*.

*edit - erroneously IMO as the length and quality of sleep is a major factor in your health
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yes i see. because if your body is going to do a certain amount of exercise in a 24 hour period then it doesn't matter what times the food is consumed as the input and output will be the same.

However whilst technically it might not affect it, i bet there are repercussions to the later you eat and the amount of exercise you may or may not do depending on your lifestyle. I play squash at 9pm on a thursday for example, so I make sure i eat at 5pm because i don't want to play on a full tummy. But if I ever eat late at say 8pm, I cancel squash cos I'm full.
 
KIPAX said:
no ... it all depends on what your eating all day.. eating it at night makes no difference.. its a myth that its worse to eat at night..
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In the day you move and burn calories but at night you don't burn hardly any as your not moving. It does matter
 
BazEP said:
to the OP

I have done a fair bit of reading on this topic. What i'd suggest is
Clip
2 - find out how different foods affect your body (e.g. eating fat doesn't make you fat, cals in/cals out has been proven to be crap, pasta is NOT good for you, etc)
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Could you show me where cals in/cals out has been proven to be crap please. :)
 
duttytd said:
In the day you move and burn calories but at night you don't burn hardly any as your not moving. It does matter
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no you're wrong. he's right.

Think about this:

dave walks an hour to work between 7am and 8am, sits at his desk for 8 hours then walks home at 5pm till 6pm. He sits down until 10pm and then goes to sleep.

during his day he burns 2000 calories.

It's irrelevant whether he takes in those 2000 calories all in one go, all at 10pm, all at 7am or gradually throughout the day. he still takes in the same calories and he still uses up the same number.
 
Suvv said:
Could you show me where cals in/cals out has been proven to be crap please. :)
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I don't have any articles to hand but not only is it common sense (100cals of brocolli is going to burn differently and have a different impact to blood sugar and hormonally than 100cals of flour) even weight watchers now recognise that cals in minus cals out doesn't have the impact that was once thought. Of course it is part of the situation but it is not a good way to approach your diet (and by diet I mean what you consume rather than what a book says you should eat on a Wenesday).
 
I am morbidly obese at slightly over 26st and have lost 4st since the beginning of September. I am also not on a diet, in fact I eat more now than I did previously.

I have changed the way I eat completely, I have 3 meals a day and I have 2 or sometimes 3 snacks in between my meals, I drink a minimum of 1.5 litres of water a day and no more than 5 cups of tea or coffee throughout the day.

A typical days intake would be

Breakfast: 40 grams of Fruit & Fibre with a teaspoon of raisens, and 4 chopped Brazil Nuts with semi skimmed milk.

Mid Morning Snack: a banana and sometimes an apple too.

Lunch: Home made salad with Peppery Leaves, 6x Cherry Tomatoes, 6 small sweet pickled onions, an inch of Cucumber cut into chunks, 1/2 pkt of Spiced cooked chicken (cut into chunks) and a small chunk of chedder cheese (cut into small chunks)

Afternoon snack: An apple and sometimes a small orange

Evening meal: Small plate of Pasta with some chilli mince or baked potato with beans and 3 sausages.

Evening snack: (not always) some grapes or tinned (in their own juice) pears with a small bowl of sugar free jelly.

I have also slightly increased my activity, not by much as my knees are not capable of doing too much as they are wrecked from years of carrying my overweight body.

I should also have added that nothing is prohibited, so if I have a fancy for a bit of chocolate or a pastie for example, I have it. If you deny yourself too long you will end up having more than you should to overcompensate.
 
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BazEP said:
I don't have any articles to hand but not only is it common sense (100cals of brocolli is going to burn differently and have a different impact to blood sugar and hormonally than 100cals of flour) even weight watchers now recognise that cals in minus cals out doesn't have the impact that was once thought. Of course it is part of the situation but it is not a good way to approach your diet (and by diet I mean what you consume rather than what a book says you should eat on a Wenesday).
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I've read something along those lines too..... 100cals of protein is processed differently to 100cals of carbs so calorie content is only part of the story.
 
BazEP said:
I don't have any articles to hand but not only is it common sense (100cals of brocolli is going to burn differently and have a different impact to blood sugar and hormonally than 100cals of flour) even weight watchers now recognise that cals in minus cals out doesn't have the impact that was once thought. Of course it is part of the situation but it is not a good way to approach your diet (and by diet I mean what you consume rather than what a book says you should eat on a Wenesday).
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:plusone:

A woman's calorie intake per day should be 1500 (reducing for a diet). You cannot burn all of them off in one day, you would have to take 3 one hour spin classes a day to break even.

I find I lose more weight when I exercise, try to find some body combat or body attack classes, they keep up your motivation and give you a thorough workout.
 
I am actually the idea weight - just 18 inches too short !
 
BazEP said:
I don't have any articles to hand but not only is it common sense (100cals of brocolli is going to burn differently and have a different impact to blood sugar and hormonally than 100cals of flour) even weight watchers now recognise that cals in minus cals out doesn't have the impact that was once thought. Of course it is part of the situation but it is not a good way to approach your diet (and by diet I mean what you consume rather than what a book says you should eat on a Wenesday).
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So no proof then :shrug:
I'm afraid that the problem with common sense is that it is not that common :)
Cals in minus Cals out is the major part of losing or gaining weight. I would agree that it a bit more complicated than just using arithmetic on the values but keeping things simple is the best way to go.
I understand from surveys that Weight Watchers is one of the best groups to join to lose weight but I sometimes feel that even they try to complicate matters in order to generate more clients.
 
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