overweight

[fburgoyne]

i am 34 5'3 and weigh 13 stone, i dont eat loads i work in cafe which involves lots of walking and carrying heavy plates - but why am i getting so big,

[alijangra]

Probably an age thing, I find that as I approach 30 I have to work harder and harder to keep my weight down. A varied exercise regime will help you to shift the pounds.

[jacksava]

Hi im 5ft 2 and 12and1/2stone and 3 years ago i was I was nine stone and i am 29 now. I am a full time mum and never get to sit down. I want to lose weight too but every monday seems to come and go and a new a diet starts and is over by the Tuesday. But i think if we were to right down everything we really ate and the amount of exercise we really do (im talking out of breath sweating e.g. aerobics, running etc) we might see we are actually only trying to convince ourselves that we are not eating healthly and exercising alot and there is maybe room for alot of improvement!

[ALLO5775]

whats a stone?

[abranei]

If you havent got a health problem that could cause increased weight to be gain then it simply comes down to engergy in V energy out.

Like the previous answer you need to monitor and measure you food your consuming and ensure you dont eat more than you need otherwise you will store the excess food as fat.

Write down all that you have been eating in a day and maintain the same calories every day. Simply decrease your calories for each week by 1400 or (200 a day) until you see a drop in weight. Keep eating the same amount of food until you stop losing weight. Then drop another 1400 calories a week until you lose weight again and maintain that level once you reach you goal.

The reason for dropping down 1400 a week is to make sure you dont drop too many calories that you begin to lose muscle mass or put your body into hibernation mode.

You must eat clean foods like fish, veg and no cakes, sugar or junk food as these will cause your body to produce insulin spikes and help your body store fat.

You must train 3-7 days a week at 70% of you max aerobic capacity for 30-60mins any less and you wont be in the fat burn zone.

Many people make excuses about not being able to lose weight but its simply a case of consuming more energy in foods than your body is using up.

Recently scientists have figured out that 1 in 6 people have the fat gene. So 1 person many had difficulty losing fat the other 5 are making excuses.

Forget diets as they are unsustainable and make changes to you diet that are premanent.

[KARL]

For Allo5775: Stones come in many shapes and varying colours. They are rather heavy and very hard, the ground seems to be made largely of stones. I feel terribly sorry for people who lose stones because I really cannot think how they could hope to find them again - how do you recognise one from another unless you have somehow marked it ? How do you seek help in the search ?

[ratbag66]

I'm 41 and since the start of the year I've lost 2st 4lbs through calorie counting and exercise. I disagree that age is an issue here - if you eat more than you need to you will gain weight, it's simple maths.

I found that keeping a food diary really helped - you list everything you eat or drink and then you can see how many calories you are really consuming (often far more than you realise!). Keep to around 1500 calories a day and the weight will slowly come off : )

[sallycroc]

I have lost 1 and a half stone since January - I've been doing it slowly because I have lost weight in th epast but it just goes back on...

If you can do 30-40 mins of cardio exercise (swimming/running/walking) try and do this every day and it will really kick your body into gear.

Eat complex carbohydrates (wholegrains, brown rice, oats) potatoes, a good mix of proteins, plenty of fruit and vegetables. Good fats i.e seeds, nuts, avocado.

Cut out red meat and fatty meat.

Eat nothing frozen or processed.

Drink lots of water throughout the day.

Eat a good breakfast and lunch. If you can have a lighter dinner.

If you feel hungry - eat! Never starve or feel hunger.

Once a week - eat the food you would consider as "naughty"

Good luck and keep us updated x

[alijangra]

If age is not an issue, how could I eat what I wanted at 17 but now I need to work out everyday in order to eat the same? Metabolism does slow with age.

[abranei]

There is some rather poor advice that has been posted.

Dont eat Frozen food? Why

Dont eat red meat? Keep intake low. Red meat has creatine that helps support msucle growth while training.

I use mathmatical formulas to figure out my calorie needs based on my age height and lean body weight. Age does play a part in the calories you need as you metabolism does slow down.

Be careful - While ratbag66 has lost weight on 1500 calories (Congrats by the way) 1500 for me would be lower than by BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate - Calories required for basic support of life). This would put my body into hibernation mode forcing my metabolism to slow down.

Refer back to my previous post about where to start.

One of the biggest issues I have with weight loss is that measuring you weight loss on scales is not a true picture because you dieting could mean you lose weight from muscle mass and not fat (Or a combination of the two) which can lead to the "Skinny fat person" look. Go get a skin folder caliper. The one I use is Accu-Measure and comes with instructions for basic measure and montioring of you fat and muscle mass.

[wookette]

for karl - dont be so sarky! people with weight issues do not need it thank u very much

[wookette]

for allo5775
a stone is the term used for 14lbs of weight. so , for example , if u lost 7lbs then that would be half a stone