oliverwnc Member

Thank you, and I'm sorry not to have responded sooner. I hope things are improving for you. It's not my place to give advice but I hope you'll be reassured that things can improve and that you have all the time in the world, so you can try different approaches and see what works for you. What you do today or tomorrow will…

Apologies - I only just saw this but wanted to reply all the same. I'm sure habits are learnt over a lifetime and, in this case, I've not done myself any favours by controlling my diet excessively as I've wanted to manipulate my weight over the years. A lot of what you say ("perceptions become reality", "perfectionism...or…

Thank you for this, Ann. I agree with all of this - and I hope I've learnt from my own mistakes here!

Thanks, Kim - I think you're right. Although my activity still seemed about the same, I'm sure you're right that my NEAT and TDEE increased. As someone else mentioned, the fact I was no longer cold all the time seems like evidence of that. I also was able to walk faster without feeling tired and probably to workout harder.…

I'm not sure about doing this weekly, but I think there's something to be said for a proper diet break when you hit a plateau!

I suppose so, though to be clear - in a sense those low calories (1700) had effectively become my new maintenance. I had stalled for weeks at the same weight on those calories.

Sure - I should've been hitting around 2000kcal (for my deficit) but actually ended up bringing that down to around 1600-1700kcal per day on average. I'm active, work out frequently and I'm a 6'0 26-year-old guy, so this is fairly low. I brought it up to about 2100kcal (which is where I ended up when eating more…

Your thoughts are, at those moments, not your own. Everything is out of control and feels unmanageable. But you wrestle back control over time (whether minutes, hours, days or weeks) and it does imrpove.

Well, let's hope so! I'm trying to think what I would've needed to hear in the worst times, and hopefully that helps others. Thanks for your kind words.

Absolutely true, and I did the same. Something about diluting electrolyte levels. It really messed me up for a while! More salt / less water can actually be a good thing. That said, it's also very possible you're undereating. Don't. There's no benefit to a bigger deficit, and in the long-term it's less likely to lead to…

Try 40kcal, 2P 8C 0F for 100g. Strongly recommend picking up a low/no calorie sauce to go with it. Next level vegetable game!

Sounds like about 40 weeks' work! That isn't that much... It's just maths, so don't sweat all the details. Work out your TDEE and subtract 300-500kcal per day to put yourself in a deficit. Have a healthy amount of protein if you're working out and then split the rest of your calories between carbs and fats. Eat whatever…

Were you in a deficit before? The previous comments are bang on - it's water, bloating and food in your system. It isn't fat. I only ask about the deficit because don't forget that the effects would be exacerbated if you were previously depleted. Your body will have taken carbohydrates into your muscles, which in turn…

Well put it this way - with a very steady and easy diet (simply a 300-500kcal per day deficit), you'll be able to lose that again in 6 months. I wouldn't worry!

There are some pretty horrific stories here! Quite a few kids have a phase, don't they? One I heard was only eating Marmite sandwiches (white bread) and peeled apples. Seems odd to me. Food is just too good!

...doesn't that mean you're down 20lbs from where you started? Sounds like pretty good work to me! Don't forget the massive impact of glycogen in your muscles and water retention. When you're in a calorie deficit, your body is depleted. When you pick it back up to maintenance, your body will store some carbs in your…

Just take a couple of weeks and reassess. It's not a race. Work out your Basal Metabolic Rate, given your age and size. Work out how many calories you burn on average per day in all of your walking (a step counter will help) and exercise and add that to your BMR. That's your total maintenance calories. And then subtract…

I completely agree with the comments above - it really doesn't matter for weight loss. That said, it might matter a little bit for how you feel. I only say that because I'm using myself as an example. I'm 8 weeks into a cut and I've lost exactly 8lbs, which is 100% on schedule. Everything is going nicely. The easiest way…

Hi there and happy new year! I rarely comment but I find this topic really interesting so wanted to weigh in (no pun intended). I do agree with the various comments above, such as Gallowmere's, which say that it's easier to eat less than exercise more. It probably is. But let's start at the beginning because I think…

The answers here are already covering most of it but just to add: Water weight is very noticeable - I've known people to go up or down 5lbs overnight and panic / be delighted when it's just water. Weight loss is obviously different from fat loss so you'll have to judge. It can make you look a little less cut if you're…

Insulin can be great stuff - allows us to actually use our energy, has incredible anabolic properties which allow us to build muscle and so on, yes, but you want to avoid peaks and troughs. Equally, I'm really not sure why you're saying saturated fats aren't worse. Again, for performance and aesthetics maybe you're ok. For…

Yeah ok, now we're starting to agree to some extent just in an argumentative style. If you can hit your macros and get in your micros but you're taking in bad kinds of carbs then it's better than nothing and you can lose weight but it could be better. As mentioned, insulin spikes have an effect on fat retention and burning…

Off the top of my head, I think there's about 40g in 335ml of regular Coke. But of course, no one ever has that in large quantities.

The idea that a calorie is just a calorie is the one which I agree with least of all of the regularly mentioned theories on this site. It is absolutely, categorically not true. I hate to be the guy saying it but, as people are often inclined to question credentials, I am a nutritionist so I do roughly know my stuff. As far…

Ok, now I understand the need for energy to actually allow you to a) get a good workout with enough intensity and b) to allow your body to actually undergo the process of muscle repair and building with the protein you have. At risk of being stupid, what I still don't quite get is why your body can't use energy from fat…

Good answers, thanks. As for that last point - that isn't what I said. We all have fat to burn first. When we're short of carbs, fat gives us the energy, protein gives us the muscle building potential.

Tove Lo - Stay High. Absolutely gets me started.

I half agree with the people saying that it's fine if it hits your macros and also you've chosen good sources for your fats and carbs and so on. However, I think it's really important to mention that your macros must be figured out using your lean weight, or just slightly more. Someone above said something which made me…

Lime juice and ginger are both good additions but I was feeling particularly simple. Envy the extra nuts - I'm on about 50g fat at the moment so not too much leeway!