Let's lose a bit of weight

[Two_Sheds]

If anyone's interested: I've been a size 8-10 most of my life (I'm 40 next year). As you know, I don't drive and get everywhere on my legs or my bike, so I get 5 miles of exercise most days: it's not difficult, it doesn't take long (a mile takes 5 mins on a bike, 20 mins on foot).

When I used to go to college (14 miles by bus) I would get off a stop or three early, and walk the rest.

I do tend to put fat on my bum, thighs and stomach at Xmas time, mainly because of zero exercise and having cream with everything, and it goes on frighteningly fast. At the moment I'm a size 12 bottom half: I guess I've put on half a stone over the winter.

Running is the quickest way for me to lose the fat: even just 5 mins round the block. Sometimes I have to take painkillers first for my neck pain, but the exercise is a natural painkiller, and although I dread the running and hate doing it, I always feel better afterwards.

I don't snack, I don't keep snack food in the house. If I fancy a big bag of Doritoes, I'll have them, but skip a meal.

I eat 3 sensible meals a day, always have breakfast, and sometimes just a bowl of cereal for lunch, but I like a big hot dinner in the evening. I don't eat diet foods, but I do measure my portions, but that's a habit I've always had, it comes from hating waste.

I love a big Indian meal, with lots of different dishes, but I'll eat half and save the rest for the next day. Alcohol is my worst enemy: it's full of empty calories (a bottle of wine is equivalent to one meal = 600 cals) and it makes me want to eat big bags of Doritoes.
If I'm trying to be strict, I'll have a drink, but only after 8pm, or 9pm.


Mr TS is the polar opposite to me: he does no exercise whatsoever, he'll drive to the corner shop rather than walk, and he eats what he fancies & huge portions at every meal. He'll eat non-stop if you let him.
He's now about 5 stone overweight, morbidly obese with high blood pressure, and he gets out of breath just putting his socks on; his father had a heart attack and quad-bypass 10 years ago.
Yet he will not exercise or cut down his food. I've given up trying to help him, it just causes rows. He thinks he can just get his stomach stapled at some point in the future.

[kirsty b]

My OH is opposite, he eats what he likes, in huge portions and never puts on a pound.
He is a smoker though, but he is cutting right down in preparation for giving up. He wants to give up, but do it in his own way, so I'm not going to interfere.
He may put some weight on when he kicks the fags though, but knowing him, probably not all that much!!

[bobleponge]

Whilst not always the case, in general we are blessed/cursed genetically with our weight.
If you are born genetically to be generally thin, you will be so unless you really work hard at not being so.
If you are born genetically to be generally not quite so thin, you will be so unless you really work hard at not being so.
As a human race we are also evolving. There are less and less natural size 8's being born currently in Europe, due to changes in our socieoeconomic situation.

Exercise and sensible diet do help to curb weight gain/loss but the above is generally true, hence we all know people who stay slim and the same weight no matter what they eat and others who only have to think about an After Eight mint to balloon a jeans size.

If you are naturally disposed to being not quite so thin, it certainly is possible to lose weight and keep it off, its hard work but it can be done, and I wish all of you good luck if you are trying to do so, for whatever reasons.

Me? I'm an overweight slob but it doesnt really bother me.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Whilst not always the case, in general we are blessed/cursed genetically with our weight.
If you are born genetically to be generally thin, you will be so unless you really work hard at not being so.
If you are born genetically to be generally not quite so thin, you will be so unless you really work hard at not being so.

Whereas that might be true about frame size, Bob, I don;t think that it is true about BMI (eg fatness). The reason that members of a family are all on the tall side is down to genetics, the reason that members of a family are all fat is because they all eat too much, and don't do enough exercise

[bobleponge]

But BMI Hazel is a ludicrous system.
If you can honestly tell me that the entire England rugby pack are clinicaly obese and therefore not fit and healthy, I would disagree with you totally.
But according to the BMI charts, they all are.

[OverWyreGrower]

Me? I'm an overweight slob but it doesnt really bother me.

Nowadays it generally doesn't bother me either, however, my health is starting to be partially affected by it, and I don't really want that!

[di]

Whilst not always the case, in general we are blessed/cursed genetically with our weight.
If you are born genetically to be generally thin, you will be so unless you really work hard at not being so.
If you are born genetically to be generally not quite so thin, you will be so unless you really work hard at not being so.
As a human race we are also evolving. There are less and less natural size 8's being born currently in Europe, due to changes in our socieoeconomic situation.

Exercise and sensible diet do help to curb weight gain/loss but the above is generally true, hence we all know people who stay slim and the same weight no matter what they eat and others who only have to think about an After Eight mint to balloon a jeans size.

If you are naturally disposed to being not quite so thin, it certainly is possible to lose weight and keep it off, its hard work but it can be done, and I wish all of you good luck if you are trying to do so, for whatever reasons.

Me? I'm an overweight slob but it doesnt really bother me.

Will probably make me unpopular,but I'm afraid I disagree Bob.
There may seem to be sopme people that can eat whatever they want and not put on any weight,but I bet for the most part that they're a lot more active than your average slob?
I think blaming genetics is the first step to failing in losing weight...you're telling yourself the odds are stacked against you from the start!
Eating habits are learnt from a young age and hard to break away from...I think this is more the reason why some families are more on the large side than others.
Like Two Sheds said,incorporating exercise into you day really isn't that tough and I believe that even just an extra twenty minute walk a day will help shift the pounds.

[Rhona]

Bob, you're right of course about the BMI seeming to not apply to athletes/rugby players etc. but it IS a sensible system to apply for 'ordinary' people. So no, it's not flawless, but it's suitable for most people's purposes?

[Hazel at the Hill]

Whereas that might be true about frame size, Bob, I don;t think that it is true about BMI (eg fatness). The

Sorry - I was using 'BMI' as a shorthand for 'how much fat you're carrying' - I do appreciate that BMI doesn't mean much for people at the extremes of physicality (e.g. boxers, rugby players, weighlifters) but it is a reasonable measure of porkiness for the majority of people.

What I meant is that your frame is dictated by your genetics, the amount of fat you haul round isn't.

I'm 'naturally' about 9 and a half stone (5'4") for my frame (although I'm 10st at the mo as I'm carrying a bit of spare) - I'm never going to sustain being at 8st though, as it wouldn't be natural for my frame.

[TPeers]

Bob, remember that muscle weight more mass for mass than fat. Bodybuilders and athletes are never going to come out with the 'correct' BMI, they will always be over.

For most of us it is a useful guideline to indicate if we are well balanced in terms of weight to frame or on the heavy side.

Given the proven health risks if one is 'overweight' long term the scale is useful. It is not however a bible!

[Alison]

I've always been pretty slim and can still quite happily fit into clothes I've had for 10 years and am constantly being told that this is my genetics. I used to believe this and certainly my height is an advantage in that the weight is spread out over a longer length. However, quite a lot of OH's family are overweight but when you go round there they are constantly snackinig and do no exercise which is a total contrast to how I live. They blame it on everything but themselves and think they eat healthily but when you look at the amount of cake and high calorie products they consume you quickly see where the extra weight comes from. Obviously there are exceptions but you need to be honest with yourself. I particularly liked it when MIL went to weightwatches and if she didn't know the points in something she just ignored it - Baileys for example she considered to have no points! Funnily enough she didn't lose weight.

At a risk of making myself unpopular (again), I don't think the use of the word diet helps. A diet isn't something you do for a few weeks to lose weight, your diet is what you eat day to day. If you change what you eat and reduce your intake then you'll lose weight which is great (less in that you use will always = weight loss) but if you then go back to your previous way of eating then it shouldn't be a surprise that you put weight on again. The only diet that will result in a permanent and healthy body shape is one which has the right nutrients and calories long term and it's a case of learning to enjoy the right foods for the long term not just a blip. Maybe I'm lucky that I genuinely don't like butter on my potatoes and loads of cream and could happily eat a plate of steamed veg every day of the week, clearly none of us have all the answers etc etc.

[basketcase]

But BMI Hazel is a ludicrous system.
If you can honestly tell me that the entire England rugby pack are clinicaly obese and therefore not fit and healthy, I would disagree with you totally.
But according to the BMI charts, they all are.

Agreed Bob!

Also when we had our BMIs done at work, my friend - much slimmer than I am and only about 7lb overweight - was classfied as obese (BMI 31). I - c 2 st overweight - had mine done 3 times to "Well, that can't be right". It still came to 28!

[Two_Sheds]

The only diet that will result in a permanent and healthy body shape is one which has the right nutrients and calories long term and it's a case of learning to enjoy the right foods

Absolutely.
Eating habits are learned, and can be unlearned.

Genetically, I'm destined to have fat thighs & bum, so I have to really be disciplined to keep my shape. If I slip up, like over Xmas, it piles on. And as I'm only 5'2" every extra pound shows up.

When I was in my 20s I used to live on biscuits, minty Aeros and Belgian Buns.
Then I started getting chunkier and decided to cut out the carp. I soon lost the taste for cakes and rubbish and don't crave them now.

[marigold007]

The more fat one has in one's system, the more one craves it. This is why it is harder to lose weight than to gain it. I saw a show last night that showed a serum representing the blood of a normal weight person and a clinically obese person. The normal one was clear, the obese one was about as clear as mud, with all the white, fat particles floating around in it. Apparently, many of the naturally thin people who can't get fat were killed off by past famines and that's why there are so many of us fatties running around in the lands of plenty, post-WWII.

[janeyo]

Well I had a bit of a blip with some pink wafer biscuits, but am doing better today.
Porridge, banana, apple, low fat berry bar, no fat soup and one roll. Just had mince pie with my mum. But been doing painting all day so have been using my muscles lol

Having a glass of wine tonight too .