[nai]

In one of the TB podcasts, might have been the Steve Bechtel one, the interviewee stated that changing one habit has a high (these figures are vaguely remembered so are only ballpark) ~80% chance of success; try to change two and it drops massively to 30ish; three things was, iirc, about 5%.  So two is about as realistic as most will manage.

[Oldmanmatt]

I found the calorie counting apps (my fitness pal I think?) really useful for tracking/logging calorie intake.. of course this is a pretty crude breakdown (lots of assumptions in the calories in various dishes - and the whole what do the calories actually mean - aka the good vs bad calorie shit) but that aside, it gives you a good overall indication of how much you are taking in and allows you to monitor it day by day...

Incidentally, I have a colleague at work - similar age to me (45) similar height and build (scrawny) who's only exercise is cycling 2-3 miles to work and back and drinking coffee. He monitors his weight - and it varies by up to 9lbs a week!!! He fattens up over the weekend (eats more and drinks more) then loses it all again during the week... I was quite shocked at how fast it came and went!

I use this app and have been monitoring my weight.
As with you, I thought to use it only as a general guide (it monitors "steps" too, giving a discount against your target). If you can be bothered to upgrade to premium it logs all of your nutritional intake (assuming you are fastidious in entering your consumption).

I targeted a 0.5kg/wk drop and then discovered that I could eat as normal (all the meals I would normally eat) and still not consume enough to meet the 2300 kcal that was my loss target. Often falling 500-600 kcal short.

I was just eating too much crap between meals (I don't really eat my kids leftovers (except crackling/chicken skin)).

And I was eating too much crap because I was hungry.
Because I wasn't eating enough at meal times.

A quick review of the constituents of a few typical meals and their nutritional content showed I was eating fairly well.

For me, the main habit to break was failing to fill up at the table.

I suppose I should/could also try having a calculated snack slotted in at the right time (say mixed nuts at elevenses instead of a sticky bun with Mr Gruber).

Oddly though, despite being very ill the last 5 days, hardly eating at all (though still tracking (1200-1500 kcal per day) and having the Augmentin two-step to boot; I lost the grand total of 0.1kg this week.

This just goes to prove that life sucks big dogs bollocks and even grey clouds have fuckall in the way of silver linings.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Fultonius]

No "Iron Will" required. I just met a girl who is a veggie.  I often have to remind myself to eat now. Almost never hungry. In fact, it was a bit of a surprise today at 5pm that I felt a bit light headed and realised I was starving after doing DIY all day. 2 bread rolls and a bowl of soup was far too little for lunch!

P.S. Previously I'd be starving by 11am,  starving again by 3pm and always struggling to not put on weight.

So, quite a big change to habits but once the change is made, very little effort required to maintain it.

[Mike Tyson]

Some great info, been mega busy so will reply soon but thanks for the info so far. 

[petejh]

Whilst thinking about this a bit in a fit of post christmas self loathing I listened to thing on radio 4 about nutrition in running:
Part 1
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06tq3tk

Part 2
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06zqd89

It is very interesting, lots of experts on sports nutrition and anecdotal rubbish too (everyone who seemed to know anything seemed to slam low carb-high fat as a fad and the paleo diet as total bullshit).
But the final statement (in the main show rather than the online extended podcast) was really interesting, a guy from some ivory tower in the states (Harvard I think) simply says (I paraphrase):

"We can argue about sports nutrition all day but in the end it can all be summed up in nine words:"
...

This makes me chuckle. People like to slam things with labels - like 'Paleo' etc., as 'fads'. And I agree anything taken to an extreme - like eating raw meat and getting OCD about staying in ketogenisis - is just a little bit bonkers and fadish.

Just like craft ales, beards and obsessing over coffee are fadish. But I love a good coffee and a decent ale, doesn't mean I'm taken in by the other pretentious bullshit surrounding it all.

And then in the next sentence you get the nugget of wisdom from the anti-fad wad: 'Eat real food, plenty of vegetables, not too much'.

So Paleo would qualify then. 
Or any other 'fad label' that emphasises avoiding the worst of the food industry and focusing instead on eating lightly processed food that comes out the ground and from other animals and into your mouth with minimal interference/additions from the food industry.

Anyone quoting the 'eat real food not too much...' line in response to a diet with 'a label' should research or maybe try it out... might be surprised to discover when used as a guideline it's pretty much the 'eat real food not too much diet'. I don't know anyone who dabbles with these diets who actually sticks to avoiding carbs and doesn't eat sugary treats and bread now and then. Paleo and other 'labels' are at best just guidelines to keep on track instead of being taken in by the a lot of the shite food on sale made by people with their own profit as the main priority and not my optimum health. And at worst the 'fad' diets are just excuses for some quack to sell diet books (profit again). But just about everything can be found for free on the web if you didn't know.

[tim palmer]

And I agree anything taken to an extreme - like eating raw meat and getting OCD about staying in ketogenisis - is just a little bit bonkers and fadish.

But the point is ketosis works by being extreme, you nearly completely exclude carbohydrate forcing your body to create ketones for your brain to feed on.  If you dabble it doesn't work (as Dave Mac rightly said in his beta podcast), so it isn't a guideline it is a rule.

As for your facetious comment re-paleo, being "eating real food etc", it isn't really because I am sure you would agree diary and cereals (excluded from the paleo diet) are real unprocessed food.

[petejh]

This is getting ridiculous. Not 'real food'? In what way is a paleo diet not real food? Maybe you're getting too hung up on what it tries to avoid rather than what it doesn't.
I'm not on a paleo or any other diet btw so have no motive to defend it. I just try to eat real food and minimise refined sugar.
Can't read this till next week now. Off to eat soda bread.

[tim palmer]

This is getting ridiculous. Not 'real food'? In what way is a paleo diet not real food? Maybe you're getting too hung up on what it tries to avoid rather than what it doesn't.
I'm not on a paleo or any other diet btw so have no motive to defend it. I just try to eat real food and minimise refined sugar.
Can't read this till next week now. Off to eat soda bread.

I am not saying that paleo isn't real food, I am saying that there are a lot of things which are "real food" which are excluded under the paleo diet.

[Mumra]

Just buy some fucking ephedrine and get on with it

[lagerstarfish]

Just buy some fucking ephedrine and get on with it

had a pretty similar suggestion from South African Mike (a low nonsense blacksmith) when he overheard some climbers whining about weight

"just do some fucking speed" or something like that

works fine as long as you don't need to use your brain for day to day work and looking after kids etc.

[Mumra]

Caveat: avoid if you have or suspect mental health issues

[Oldmanmatt]

Caveat: avoid if you have or suspect mental health issues

Well...

That's most of UKB out, then.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[slackline]

Just buy some fucking ephedrine and get on with it

In the past I've found a weekly dose of MDMA combined with vigorous exercise (        ) to be beneficial to weight loss.

Not sustainable long term though.

[a dense loner]

You madman!

[lagerstarfish]

Caveat: avoid if you have or suspect mental health issues

or if you don't want to risk developing some

[webbo]

Get tape worm less of an impact on your mental health.

[rodma]

Get tape worm less of an impact on your mental health.

the documentary i saw about an edinburgh copper going completely off the rails suggests otherwise 

[Mumra]

Irvin Welsh books are not documentaries Rodma 

[SA Chris]

What about that documentary about Trainspotting?

[rodma]

Irvin Welsh books are not documentaries Rodma 

Next you'll be telling me that film about a top naval flight school isn't a documentary either

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

[slackline]

You madman!

Crazy times.

[Mike Tyson]

Finally getting chance to read and reply to this thread.

So, my eating habits are certainly changing, for the better hopefully.

Usual day looks something like this now:

Breakfast - porridge with some flaked almonds, two eggs scrambled on a single slice of whole grain bread.

Mid morning snack - rice cakes with peanut butter on and an apple

Lunch - chicken breast with sweet potato mash, low fat coleslaw, spinach and beetroot. Yogurt.

Mid afternoon snack - mixed nuts and fruit, protein shake.

Dinner - salmon with more sweet potato mash, broccoli, carrots etc

I vary the dinner option, but most of the day time stuff stays the same. Getting breakfast right seems to be the key to controlling my hunger issues. I skipped my mid morning snack a few times last week, which is generally unheard of! So far so good, been using myfitnesspal to monitor things and after some research, I estimate I'd been about 1500 calories short of what I needed as a minimum for someone who does my job!

Finding the balance is going to be the tricky part, with an instant change in eating habits proving tricky. In other words, I enjoy having a curry or fish and chips and I like beer and wine and sweets and cake. I don't think I going to beat myself about it if I do have a treat every now and again. Key is to keep them low in quantity and frequency.

[SA Chris]

I try and limit crap to weekends only?

[Oldmanmatt]

For 10 weeks I have cut my Carb intake (Potato, rice, Pasta) by 2/3. Otherwise, I have eaten normally. 2-3 glasses of wine per week and either a pint or a half (mood dependant) on a Monday evening. Generally upped my activity levels and restarted training.
Lost 9kg, 5 to go.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[slackline]

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11518804/weight-loss-exercise-myth-burn-calories