How accurate?

Bramish

Hey folks,

Just joined here and been tracking my progress for a week or so. I'm trying to lose around 30-40lbs over the next year but so far it seems like it's going to be pretty easy, without wanting to sound arrogant.

My goal is 1lb a week, which allows me around 2000 calories a day. So far I've barely changed my eating habits - I've had stuff like fish and chips and pizza and a lot of stuff that I thought was fattening, but have remained under my calorie limit mostly. I've gone over by a couple of hundred a couple of days, but on others I've been under by anything up to 1000. I do pretty much no exercise other than around an hour's average speed walking daily.

I can't believe that having gained around 40lbs in the last 3 years, I'll be able to lose it within a year, with minimal stress or effort.

Could I be misunderstanding something maybe?

charmednz

You could choose to only lose 1 pound a week, or make it a bit more challenging and go for 2 pounds, and you can choose to eat foods high in fat but with the reduced calories you have to be more careful in what you eat and have to exercise to keep under your calories...

Bramish

Yeah, I think I might up it soon to 1.5 - wanna ease myself into it. I'm not particularly overweight (6´4" and 220lbs) but according to the BMI scale I could stand to lose a few pounds.

kwaters7

Hi

First off - well done on choosing a sensible weekly target. There is no quick fix or panacea out there, just takes time. At least this way, there is a lesser sense of 'deprivation' that's quite typical at the start.

I dont know your circumstances, but I will say a couple of things.

1 - Going over the odd day helps the body (as long as it's nothing excessive) adapt and can confuse it so that you dont slow your metabolism as it gets used to the lower calories. So that's totally fine.
2 - Make sure everything goes in the log. When I started, there were a ton of things I kept missing when logging - sauces, the occasional nibble etc. It really does give a true picture that way.
3 - Zero in on your bad habits and make sure they're no longer habits. So I know in theory you can eat the bad stuff in moderation, I think if you cut out all that for a month (fish & chips, pizza, alcohol, takeways, sweets or cake) then your body gets used to the cleaner types of food and your mind becomes clearer with choices. From my experience, I did try and hang on to the stuff that got me overweight in the first place as much as i could within my daily goals and realize now it would have been much easier just to put cleaner fuel in the tank. I have gotten to the point that i'm not scared of junk food, alcohol or sweet treats because of the calories or salt, but because I know how quickly they bring my mood down, my ability to exercise optimally and more importantly, how they affect my choices at my NEXT meal. The sugar, salt, fat content really messes with your brain and I find even now an indulgence just creates an exponential appetite for more and messes with my peace of mind.

Good luck!

Bramish

Cheers. Yeah, I pretty much know that the main cause of my weight gain was alcohol - I run a bar and sometimes having access to all that delicious booze is just too tempting! I've cut out most heavy drinking sessions.

I never really ate sweets, and the majority of junk I ate would be whilst drinking as well, so that's stopped.

I also tend to snack at work on things like cheese and ham, just because it was there and free! Also gonna stop that and actually think about what I'm eating, rather than just eating for eating's sake.

And I've been very anal about logging everything, even down to the last slice of cucumber.

kwaters7

All good! When i used to go out on a Saturday, sometimes i couldnt believe how much i spent when i checked my account online the next day (looked like i'd been robbed , and I had as little control over food as money. All night takeaways and stuff after booze really do the damage - when your body thinks it's been poisoned by alcohol, it puts its energies into protecting the liver and the food you eat turns to fat.

Can I suggest that you try and up your lean protein - it will give you a great kickstart. Maybe have a look at the Dukan?

Kenny

and cucumber, nasty .....