The Weight Loss Blog...

As New Year has come around, and I am sure we are all a bit more portly than we feel we should be, I suggest we have a weight loss blog to help us along (obviously for fun). What I want people to do is outline the following (using me as an example):

Name: Dibden Purlieu Saint

Age: 28

Starting Weight: 17st 11

Target Weight: 15st

Height: 6ft 3

BMI: 31.13 (divide your weight in kilograms (kg) by your height in metres (m) then divide the answer by your height again, to get your BMI )

Tactics Used: My Fitness Pal App (set to lose 2 pounds a week - 1619 calories allowed per day), Light Cardiovascular

Week 1 - Weight: 17st 11lb

Week 1 - Weight Lost this week: N/A

Every week you should weigh in and edit your post with the latest results. Hopefully this will help people see what ways help to lose weight, as well as offering encouragement to those that may struggle.

Any other ideas welcome!

Week 2 - Weight: 17st 4lb

Week 2 - Weight Lost this week: 7lb

Week 3 - Weight: 17st 1.5lb

Week 3 - Weight Lost this week: 2.5lb

Overall Weight Lost: 9.5lb

Go to raves every weekend.

my current boss does the 5:2 diet...and it seems to work for him

I could just tell that DPS was a fatty.

1619 calories is really low for a bloke, let alone a bloke who's 6foot 3 and 17stone. I think that needs revising...

1619 calories is really low for a bloke' date=' let alone a bloke who's 6foot 3 and 17stone. I think that needs revising...[/quote']

 

been watching the Hairy Bikers programmes this week - theyare trying to lose weight without giving up their favorite foods such as pies and curry.

 

They are on a 1200 calorie/ day diet and the were 18 and 19.5 stone. More worryingly, they had their fat content measured and were 39% and 42% fat . After eight weeks they had both shifted two stone and reduced their fat content to 25% and 32%. The had also both significantly reduced their blood pressures, so much so one of they could stop taking his pills.

 

Some of the food that they have come you with has been great - a Beef pie, lasgane, Chicken Korma, sweet and sour chicken - all at around 300 calories a portion - if you want to lose weight but not live on lettuce leaves - check out their recipes.

 

Basically they are working on the principle of putting less in your gob and exercise more. Simple really.

As New Year has come around, and I am sure we are all a bit more portly than we feel we should be, I suggest we have a weight loss blog to help us along (obviously for fun). What I want people to do is outline the following (using me as an example):

 

Name: Twentytwentvision

Age: 56

Starting Weight: 14st 6lbs

Target Weight: 12st

Height: 5ft 8"

BMI: 30.67 (divide your weight in kilograms (kg) by your height in metres (m) then divide the answer by your height again, to get your BMI )

Tactics Used: No snacking, no alcohol, walking to and from work, gym

 

 

Week 1 - Weight:14st 6lbs

 

Week 8- Weight 13 st 0lbs Lost this week: 2lbs - I started 2nd week of Nov

 

 

My problems had been the snacking between meals, sweets in the afternoon, 2 packs of hoola hoops before my evening meal (I always get home first) and sometimes biscuits, as well as 2 pints or 2/3 glasses of wine daily (sometimes 4 pints if Saints lose/win/draw.) late in the evening. I reckon this amounts to close on 1000 calories through snacking and drinking in addition to the calorific intake from meals. Thiscaused my weight to go up. I took on more calories than I needed.

 

It's been tough some weeks have been frustrating with little weight loss to show, others such as this week have been better.

 

My only advice for dieters is to look for the trend in weightloss if you plateau and don't lose weight....other advice would be to be honest with yourself about what you have eaten.

 

Good luck to those on diets.

I'm about 6foot 3/4 and really wanted to get in shape when I was about 14stone. I lost 2 stone in a couple of months eating around 1900 calories a day. That's worked out using BMR to work out how many calories I'd burn per day without doing anything then factoring in my activity level. (Google Harris Benedict equation) Then I took off 20% of this amount to ensure that I was working at a deficit (burning more calories than I was consuming)

I could just tell that DPS was a fatty.

To be fair I don't look like a fatty. I used to work out a lot but that stopped at the beginning of last year and since then I have put on 22 pounds as some of the muscle has converted itself to fat and I've eaten more.

1619 calories is really low for a bloke' date=' let alone a bloke who's 6foot 3 and 17stone. I think that needs revising...[/quote']

 

It's just going from this app that I'm using. It is low and I'll see how it goes over the next 2 weeks.

been watching the Hairy Bikers programmes this week - theyare trying to lose weight without giving up their favorite foods such as pies and curry.

 

They are on a 1200 calorie/ day diet and the were 18 and 19.5 stone. More worryingly, they had their fat content measured and were 39% and 42% fat . After eight weeks they had both shifted two stone and reduced their fat content to 25% and 32%. The had also both significantly reduced their blood pressures, so much so one of they could stop taking his pills.

 

Some of the food that they have come you with has been great - a Beef pie, lasgane, Chicken Korma, sweet and sour chicken - all at around 300 calories a portion - if you want to lose weight but not live on lettuce leaves - check out their recipes.

 

Basically they are working on the principle of putting less in your gob and exercise more. Simple really.

3 or 4 years ago I decided to lose some weight and basically this is what I did, I cut down on the food intake, had 3 meals a day, nothing inbetween and started using a cross trainer for half an hour a day, 6 days a week. I found losing weight quite easy but I was very disciplined and rigidly stuck to this.

people believe now that the best idea (with healthy food) is to have about 5-6 smaller meals a day.....definitely a breakfast but have some fruit about 10am, a nice lunch, another bit of fruit about 4pm and a nice healthy meal...

easier said than done I guess....but keeps your metabolism going or something

I like a plate of roasted veg....very nice

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3 or 4 years ago I decided to lose some weight and basically this is what I did, I cut down on the food intake, had 3 meals a day, nothing inbetween and started using a cross trainer for half an hour a day, 6 days a week. I found losing weight quite easy but I was very disciplined and rigidly stuck to this.

I think that is the main difficulty, being disciplined to do it.

people believe now that the best idea (with healthy food) is to have about 5-6 smaller meals a day.....definitely a breakfast but have some fruit about 10am, a nice lunch, another bit of fruit about 4pm and a nice healthy meal...

 

easier said than done I guess....but keeps your metabolism going or something

 

I like a plate of roasted veg....very nice

Roasted Mediterranean vegetables are good, got to admit!

people believe now that the best idea (with healthy food) is to have about 5-6 smaller meals a day.....definitely a breakfast but have some fruit about 10am, a nice lunch, another bit of fruit about 4pm and a nice healthy meal...

 

easier said than done I guess....but keeps your metabolism going or something

 

I like a plate of roasted veg....very nice

I think there is some truth in this.

I got really tubby when living in Northern Ireland, but was eating a load of crap. Been fine since coming back to the 'Pool.

My maxim has always been "if you can't see your own **** when going for a p!ss then you are probably too fat".

Another thing that really helps is the configuration of my office in the house. It's upstairs, I'm up and down the stairs all day long. Good non-invasive exercise. Oh, and if you've got time, walk somewhere instead of drive. Bung a podcast on, time and distance fly.

Don't become a runner though; you'll bore all your mates to death

people believe now that the best idea (with healthy food) is to have about 5-6 smaller meals a day.....definitely a breakfast but have some fruit about 10am, a nice lunch, another bit of fruit about 4pm and a nice healthy meal...

 

easier said than done I guess....but keeps your metabolism going or something

 

I like a plate of roasted veg....very nice

I could just tell thedelldays was a bird.

Don't become a runner though; you'll bore all your mates to death

i doing the plymouth half marathon again this year...haha

need to get into training..have utterly pigged out on food/drink for the last two weeks and done no exercise what so ever

Just going to walk into Newbury....3 miles there and back and 200 calories burned as a result. 2 bananas earlier, and baked potato with spicy chicken for lunch, I walked a couple of miles to work already as I do every day and I will walk home later.

Going to the gym this evening for a 35 minute cycle (it tells me that I burn off 300 calories doing that alone) and a sauna/steam room afterwards.

I can fully vouch for the 5:2 diet, works like a charm and is easy to stick to.

I started in Sep last year and lost 7.5kgs with basically little effort. Weight has now pretty much stabilised in the Normal BMI zone and just about a couple of kg's more than when I was in my early 20's.

I keep doing the 5:2 regime each week and that’s it, sorted for life and there are supposedly many other health benefits too.

Its based on the BBC Horizon program and the rules are basically to eat 600 calories 2 days per week and for the other 5 nosh whatever you like.

For me it works as I can be disciplined 2 days a week no issue, controlling/restricting myself constantly however I find impossible.

I eat a big bowl of complex carbs muesli and either a can of soup or a shrimp salad on the "2" days and seriously on the other 5 I eat steaks, crisps, cheese, chocolate, booze whatever and in whatever quantities.

Links below if you want more info:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19112549

and I found the whole program here:

http://vimeo.com/50912488

Thank me later (or the BBC!), as your non-lardarse selves tuck into a pork pie bonanza

Back in Feb this year I had a target. I HAD to lose weight in order to look good for daughter's wedding. My problem is not being a fatty, simply a bit of a beer gut.

Anyway, FMDP also wanted to get down a dress size (she could only find the one she wanted in a size too small)

She went all professional - Dukan Diet. It mixes Protein weeks with Veggie weeks. It caused her all manner of grief, ups and downs, feeling good one day feeling lousy the next. Anyway, over 2 months she lost 10kg (from 60 ish to 50ish).

Me? I did simple things in the same period. I had cereal for breakfast, had 1.5 spoons of sugar in my one cup of tea & 1 cup of coffee a day (instead of 2). I cut out bread, chips, (potatoes completely in fact) tinned peas (my favourite) and rice.

Grilled Meat/fish/chicken with winter Veggies or fresh green leaf salads, plenty of mushrooms/onions etc, and plenty of fruit juice.

I also cut out the evening beer/wine with dinner (BUT I still had one drink each evening later on while watching telly but more like Bacardi with Orange Juice instead of Coke)

Averaged 20 mins a day on an exercise bike and some VERY gentle weights for about 10 mins a day and a swim at weekends.

Point was just doing that, in the same time period as FMDP who had all the pain, I dropped from 112Kg down to 102.

We've just gone back onto the same routines (me today FMDP 2 days ago) (although the Gym is still a week away due to work)

So basically, as the Hairy Bikers point out, it doesn't have to be some expensive or expansive diet, you just need a SERIOUS target and then simply eat proper stuff and cut down the booze

I can fully vouch for the 5:2 diet, works like a charm and is easy to stick to.

 

I started in Sep last year and lost 7.5kgs with basically little effort. Weight has now pretty much stabilised in the Normal BMI zone and just about a couple of kg's more than when I was in my early 20's.

I keep doing the 5:2 regime each week and that’s it, sorted for life and there are supposedly many other health benefits too.

 

Its based on the BBC Horizon program and the rules are basically to eat 600 calories 2 days per week and for the other 5 nosh whatever you like.

For me it works as I can be disciplined 2 days a week no issue, controlling/restricting myself constantly however I find impossible.

I eat a big bowl of complex carbs muesli and either a can of soup or a shrimp salad on the "2" days and seriously on the other 5 I eat steaks, crisps, cheese, chocolate, booze whatever and in whatever quantities.

 

Links below if you want more info:

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19112549

 

and I found the whole program here:

 

http://vimeo.com/50912488

 

Thank me later (or the BBC!), as your non-lardarse selves tuck into a pork pie bonanza

This does sound really good, I think I could do this one quite easily.

This does sound really good, I think I could do this one quite easily.

Give it a go DPS. For most people I know who have tried it, it really works. A few it has not, for a couple of reasons:

1, They really struggle when feeling hungry and typically on the 2 days, it does leave you peckish before bed. I counter this with a small glass of skimmed milk plus I can handle hunger for 2 days, its the constant regiment of cutting back on the food I love to eat I have difficulty with. If I waiver on a 2 day, I simply think about a bacon sandwhich etc. which I'll have in the morning.

2, Girls who already have a normal BMI, but want to lose further weight. In my experience as soon as you hit "normal" you kind of plateau.

Also I found it does not matter if occasionally you only do a 6:1 etc so long as you normally follow the 5:2.

I also gave up completely over the Christmas period for 3 weeks to concentrate on some serious eating. I put on about 3.5kgs in that time and am already shifting it quickly since I have been back on 5:2 after New Year.

Diet is the most important thing, cut out the carbs such as bread, potatoes and all that. They just bloat you out. Stick to Turkey, Chicken, steak salads.

If you feel you're getting hungry and want to gorge on crappy foods, jus have some nuts, water, a shake - whatever. Cutting weight is much easier than most make it seem. Just takes some commitment and willpower. You dont have to excercise that much, 20-30 mins on a bike and you'd be surprised. No one is too busy to do that.

I was out of work for a year and that combined with some trouble with my Achilles tendon, flat feet and shin splints, led me to put on some weight. I was eating and doing next to nothing, absolutely no exercise, so it was inevitable.

Got onto the Dukan diet which Phil has mentioned, which relies on eating protein alone to begin with, then gradually reintroduces carbs with a bit of exercise each day and it fell off. Lost around a pound a day. Down side is that no carbs basically means no fibre and that can mean only one thing, constipation, but there are ways around that too.

I think I lost nine pounds in one week then it slowed down as my body put up resistance. I never went through with the other three phases of the diet and gradually began putting it back on, but it's great because you don't starve yourself, you don't have to count calories, you can eat some very good stuff and feel full.

I started on it again yesterday, was down 0.4 on my BMI this morning which isn't great given my previous success stories. That said, I'm doing it by the book this time and even buying special Dukan cut oats which you are allowed for porridge each day.

Would recommend it to anyone - I certainly couldn't starve myself for two days as per the 5:2 diet, as envious as I am of the results.

Doing 5:2 myself as I had a lot to lose and had set myself a tight deadline (50th birthday in April!) so I was combining it with calorie counting on the other days and regular long walks. Plan is to raise the non fast calorie level as I get closer to my goal and end up with not counting on the other days. Lost about 2.5 stones in just over 2 months but since then have had christmas and a bad cold/flu so only going to get back on it next week and will probably take a while to get back to where I was.

Main problem I found was getting to sleep on a fast day and waking a bit earlier the day after but that sort of thing allegedly reduces over time. The bloke who did the horizon has written a book about it, currently no 1 on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1780721676.

Diet is the most important thing, cut out the carbs such as bread, potatoes and all that. They just bloat you out. Stick to Turkey, Chicken, steak salads.

 

If you feel you're getting hungry and want to gorge on crappy foods, jus have some nuts, water, a shake - whatever. Cutting weight is much easier than most make it seem. Just takes some commitment and willpower. You dont have to excercise that much, 20-30 mins on a bike and you'd be surprised. No one is too busy to do that.

As you say it is straightforward - would have to disagree with the nuts bit though, most are full of lipids.

Also egg whites are the purest form of protein you can get, very good for you. Leave the yolk alone, again, pure lipids.

Don't agree with fad diets at all. I've seen plenty of people lose a lot of weight suddenly only to put it back on again.

The only way to get to the weight you want and stay like it is to put the effort in and be disciplined. It's a simple science....eat well but sensible and train hard and regularly. Too many people say they want to achieve x y and z but want to skip corners and do it with minimal effort required on their part. It just doesn't happen.

I have also been thinking about doing this 5:2 thing. For the two days that you have to stay to 600 calories or less, does that have to be two consecutive days or can you do whichever two days of the week you want??

I’m starting a new program, called the Pasta Diet. The Italians have been using it for centuries. Here are the few simple steps:

1) You walka pasta da bakery.

2) You walka pasta da sweetshop

3) You walka pasta da Ice Cream shop.

4) You walka pasta da table and fridge.

I have also been thinking about doing this 5:2 thing. For the two days that you have to stay to 600 calories or less, does that have to be two consecutive days or can you do whichever two days of the week you want??

any two days a week....does matter which ones

Ah OK cheers

Don't agree with fad diets at all. I've seen plenty of people lose a lot of weight suddenly only to put it back on again.

 

The only way to get to the weight you want and stay like it is to put the effort in and be disciplined. It's a simple science....eat well but sensible and train hard and regularly. Too many people say they want to achieve x y and z but want to skip corners and do it with minimal effort required on their part. It just doesn't happen.

But there are those that find it hard, like an addiction, an insatiable craving for food or types of food... so nothing to do with will power and discipline.

I find it easy to shed a few pounds, cut down on the carbs especially chocolate and other sweet things or more exercise and its gone. A friend finds it extremely hard and has found low carbing (avoids the hunger feeling) and The Harcombe Diet to be very useful.

I’m starting a new program, called the Pasta Diet. The Italians have been using it for centuries. Here are the few simple steps:

1) You walka pasta da bakery.

2) You walka pasta da sweetshop

3) You walka pasta da Ice Cream shop.

4) You walka pasta da table and fridge.

Quite ironic given the Italians are the ones who have provided us with coffee, ice cream and indeed pasta for all these years.

But there are those that find it hard, like an addiction, an insatiable craving for food or types of food... so nothing to do with will power and discipline.

 

I find it easy to shed a few pounds, cut down on the carbs especially chocolate and other sweet things or more exercise and its gone. A friend finds it extremely hard and has found low carbing (avoids the hunger feeling) and The Harcombe Diet to be very useful.

Disagree, it has everything to do with will power and discipline.

The body may be addicted to all kinds of crap like sugar, fat and salt etc but feed it clean natural food for a period of time the body will begin to respond positively even if it's difficult to begin with.

I have also been thinking about doing this 5:2 thing. For the two days that you have to stay to 600 calories or less, does that have to be two consecutive days or can you do whichever two days of the week you want??

I find it does not really matter. I always try to do 2 days together as I prefer it that way, but often do split days too.

The good thing is that as its only 2 days a week, so you can fit it in with real life. If you have business dinners, friends birthdays, random nights out etc. you dont need to worry about being on a diet, just plan your 2 days around it.

I usually try to do it Monday & Tues as these days are pretty quiet socially plus, if something does come up last minute, I can always push one of the days later in the week.

I have also been thinking about doing this 5:2 thing. For the two days that you have to stay to 600 calories or less, does that have to be two consecutive days or can you do whichever two days of the week you want??

I was doing Monday and Wednesday but Monday and Thursday also appears to be popular.

Don't agree with fad diets at all. I've seen plenty of people lose a lot of weight suddenly only to put it back on again.

 

The only way to get to the weight you want and stay like it is to put the effort in and be disciplined. It's a simple science....eat well but sensible and train hard and regularly. Too many people say they want to achieve x y and z but want to skip corners and do it with minimal effort required on their part. It just doesn't happen.

The thing about the 5:2 diet is that its supposed to be a long term change rather than something you do just to lose weight and then stop. Many people find that they end up going to a 6:1 diet once they have reached the weight they want to be to save losing more weight so the whole thing shifts from being disciplined all the time, which people find tricky, to being disciplined one or two days a week, which is easier. Plus its important to remember that their are significant benefits in terms of a lot of illnesses from doing 5:2 or similar and that its not just about the weight loss (In the horizon the weight loss was very much a secondary aim behind reducing various biological markers).

So on this 5:2 diet, you can eat ANYTHING you want and just because you have 2 days at 600 calories you wont put weight on? I don't believe that. If it works then it must be because of magic or voodoo. What if someone ate a pizza for breakfast washed down with mountains of sugary fruit juice and then had a massive portion of lasagne and chips for lunch with 3 beers and then had a Chinese takeaway for dinner, and snacked on crisps and chocolate throughout the day......and they did this for 5 days, are you claiming that because of the 2 days of 600 calories theyd lose weight? Bullsh*t.

I might give this 5:2 a go as I could do with losing 10kg I reckon.

Combined with the extra exercise that I'm getting the weight should hopefully shift.

So on this 5:2 diet, you can eat ANYTHING you want and just because you have 2 days at 600 calories you wont put weight on? I don't believe that. If it works then it must be because of magic or voodoo. What if someone ate a pizza for breakfast washed down with mountains of sugary fruit juice and then had a massive portion of lasagne and chips for lunch with 3 beers and then had a Chinese takeaway for dinner, and snacked on crisps and chocolate throughout the day......and they did this for 5 days, are you claiming that because of the 2 days of 600 calories theyd lose weight? Bullsh*t.

Obviously if you go out of your way to eat high calorie foods on the non-fast days then its not going to work. I suggest you watch the horizon. Basically people just don't make up for the fast days by overeating on the non-fast days. In fact it appears that most people report their overall appetite goes down.

I was under the misapprehension it was two consecutive days, that makes more sense. Still sounds tough though.

Don't agree with fad diets at all. I've seen plenty of people lose a lot of weight suddenly only to put it back on again.

 

The only way to get to the weight you want and stay like it is to put the effort in and be disciplined. It's a simple science....eat well but sensible and train hard and regularly. Too many people say they want to achieve x y and z but want to skip corners and do it with minimal effort required on their part. It just doesn't happen.

I actually agree with this.

As you mention its simple science and ultimately why I don't classify 5:2 as a diet. It's a lifestyle change and its permanent. People don’t stick to fad diets, as for anyone normal they are impossible to maintain and sooner or later your life intrudes.

The initial Horizon Program actually only talks about weight loss at the end of the program as a by-product of the general health benefits of fasting.

It seems we are designed to need occasional bouts of hunger and the science seems to show if we do this it reduces our chances of contracting heart disease or cancer (and potentially makes us more intelligent)

In terms of weight loss, 5:2 does cut down the amount of calories you consume in a week and needs less willpower than being careful everyday. If you do some exercise too that also helps of course.

Diet is the most important thing, cut out the carbs such as bread, potatoes and all that. They just bloat you out.

Carbs are what the body uses for energy when it needs to get it quickly. If you cut out carbs totally you’ll just feel lethargic, have little energy and struggle, which in turn will mean you’re more likely to just think sod it and eat something unhealthy. You need carbs to help with the fat burning process, as well as for just keeping you going during the day, just cut them down rather than out!

The only way to get to the weight you want and stay like it is to put the effort in and be disciplined. It's a simple science....eat well but sensible and train hard and regularly. Too many people say they want to achieve x y and z but want to skip corners and do it with minimal effort required on their part. It just doesn't happen.

Pretty much agree with this, but the one thing I’d disagree with is the training hard part. Part of the reason many people fail to shift excess weight is because they train too hard to soon. If you’re in good shape already then yeah I agree, train hard, but if you are a fatso it’s not such good advice.

When the human body needs energy it can get it from two different sources, energy stored as foods/sugars or from your body fat. If the body needs energy quickly it goes to the foods/sugars source as it can access this quickly (this is why energy drinks, bars, etc given an almost instant boost).

Your fat takes the body a bit more time to start burning down and it needs to be more comfortable with the exercise you are doing to allow it to switch to fat burning, push too hard and your body will panic and just take the energy it needs from foods/sugars as it needs a quick source. That’s why on gym equipment the fat burning zone heart rate is lower than the cardiovascular heart rate, you need to push yourself but not to the extent you’re just burning all your energy off rather than body fat. (all just my opinion of course).

people believe now that the best idea (with healthy food) is to have about 5-6 smaller meals a day

'tis a myth.

So on this 5:2 diet, you can eat ANYTHING you want and just because you have 2 days at 600 calories you wont put weight on? I don't believe that. If it works then it must be because of magic or voodoo. What if someone ate a pizza for breakfast washed down with mountains of sugary fruit juice and then had a massive portion of lasagne and chips for lunch with 3 beers and then had a Chinese takeaway for dinner, and snacked on crisps and chocolate throughout the day......and they did this for 5 days, are you claiming that because of the 2 days of 600 calories theyd lose weight? Bullsh*t.

It honestly works!......but as someone said, you need to be realistic. I eat about 3000-3500 cal on my non fast days. I'm 179cm, started at 84.9kgs, got down to 77 and now pretty much hover around 78.

I think it does impact the amount you are capable of consuming however, as since I've been doing this, I cannot eat as much as I used to on the non 600 days even if I try to.

To be fair I don't look like a fatty. I used to work out a lot but that stopped at the beginning of last year and since then I have put on 22 pounds as some of the muscle has converted itself to fat and I've eaten more.

Muscle does not convert to fat, that is a load of bollo*cks. Quite simply you will have lost some of the muscle that you had when you were training, it sounds like you've carried on eating as much if not More than you did when you were training. If you were doing weights then the protein you ate would feed your muscles and build mass, but if you aren't training now and eating it you'll just pile the pounds of fat on.

Your BMI is also in the obese category. This is dangerous, although if you have trained in the past using weights then it might not be an accurate reflection as you will have retained some muscle mass. Most heavy weight boxers and rugby players would be classed as obese and they are big, fit, strong lads so its only really sensible to use this if you don't train with weights. Fat percentage is a far more accurate way of measuring your fat levels. At your age you should be looking for between 15-19% to be healthy.

My fitness pal is very effective though and as its an app easy to use. Ignore those that say your calorie count is too low, as long as youre eating enough carbs, fruit and veg and proteins and drinking plenty of water, get your calories from the righ sources, not 2 chocloate bars a day or 3 pints and then skipping tea like some do!! you'll be fine but don't go below 1600 a day if you're training though as you'll feel knackered, washed out and likely get colds and bugs as your immune system will be low. 2ib is about the right amount to lose, anymore than that is too much.

Good effort though lad.

Diet is the most important thing, cut out the carbs such as bread, potatoes and all that. They just bloat you out. Stick to Turkey, Chicken, steak salads.

This. I lost nearly 3 stone between April and December, mainly due to a change in my diet. I stopped working away during the week which meant I could plan meals better (and I stopped being in the pub most nights after work), and it happened so quickly with a bit of gym time to get the muscles burning calories more quickly.

Breakfast - instead of toast or cereal, have porridge.

Lunch - instead of sandwiches, tuna or chicken salad (tuna is much cheaper to make so I usually have that)

- apple and a banana during the day too

Dinner - most of our meals used to contain pasta, rice or potatoes. Cut it out. Chicken/fish and veg is quick, easy and healthy.

Buying all that fresh food is a bit more expensive, but it works so well. Now just under 14 stone, I'm aiming to get to 13 but that might be a bit of a push. Regular 5 mile or 10k runs, a few push ups, sit ups and chin ups a few times a week is plenty to keep the weight loss steady, and I now don't have to be anywhere near as strict with the diet. It's now all about getting properly fit rather than less fat. Can do 10k in just over 50 mins but want to be running further and faster.

Best bit of advice I had, if you naturally put on weight quite quickly as I do:

to lose the weight and keep it off, you've got to make a lifestyle change, there are no miracle fixes or shortcuts. It's a simple equation - burn more calories than you take in, you WILL lose weight. Also, work hard at first to build some lean muscle, that'll help to strip that fat off and burn calories more quickly.

people believe now that the best idea (with healthy food) is to have about 5-6 smaller meals a day.....definitely a breakfast but have some fruit about 10am, a nice lunch, another bit of fruit about 4pm and a nice healthy meal...

 

easier said than done I guess....but keeps your metabolism going or something

 

I like a plate of roasted veg....very nice

My Krav instructor does the warrior diet. He lives his life like it now. It's a really back to basics way of living, the idea being that in ancient times men would be out hunting during the day, eating berries and nuts etc from the land then in the evening they'd eat their kill for the day. In essense during the day you live of fruits and berries and broth then at night you have a two hour window where you can eat what you want within reason so you have all your carbs and proteins then. He is in fantastic shape and ripped to f*ck so it works for him, not sure my lifestyle would enable me to follow it though.

I’m starting a new program, called the Pasta Diet. The Italians have been using it for centuries. Here are the few simple steps:

1) You walka pasta da bakery.

2) You walka pasta da sweetshop

3) You walka pasta da Ice Cream shop.

4) You walka pasta da table and fridge.

Quite ironic given the Italians are the ones who have provided us with coffee, ice cream and indeed pasta for all these years.

My mrs is italian, and the first time she took me to meet her parents her mother snapped something I didnt understand, but took to be uncomplimentary. Turned out she'd said "he's nice, but too skinny", which is true (5'9" and back then a little under 8 stone.) To her eternal credit, the mother in law took it on herself to feed me up, I put on 2 stone in 2 years and genuinely enjoyed the food which was invariably shoved in front of me the moment I walked in their door. Stabilised now at 10 and a half stone, which feels about right. God bless italian cooking.