What I am finding is that I am saving calories and then not needing them, difficult to end up bang on at the end of the day, suppose the longer I do it the more adept I will get at timing the right amounts of food, tea was awesome and I nailed the whole lot but wont have anything else now.

My main issue was saying no to a drink, last night I wasn't bothered but tonight I fancied one but it was while I was cooking, I had the radio on and this a combination where I do my best drinking due to being hungry and close proximity of beer, just said no and had my food and now am not bothered again, wasn't some kind of shaking wreck but it was a quite powerful urge, think your body, when hungry craves calories from anywhere and alcohol is perfect for this, coupled with the lovely buzz it is a compelling combination.

I am at 1402 calories but think it is a little optimistic given the tea I just ate, so still under the 1600 I reckon. Also, dont forget to include brews, if you have six or seven in a day its a hundred or so calories.

 

I had sausage, chips and mushy peas from the chippy.

This follows a belly buster meal last night at the pub.

Healthy eating starts next week......unfortunately supermarket had some fine offers on booze, so I have quite a stock!

 

OK are we going to start posting before and after pics.

I see Bigsinsky has started us off

 

I'm in. 14 st and 6 foot tall. Yes this was taken in 2009 but I haven't changed shape.



And yes I hate this photo!

 

Haven't had a great day today as we were at a birthday party so lunch was all buffet food with lovely cake and 4 nice cold pints, not sure how I can put that into the app.

Evening meal was better, pasta with olives and aubergines an no snacking!!

 

still the same weight today

i've actually found maintaining the hardest part, staying on track after hitting the target weight.

 

J4CKO you sound very similar to myself. I'm 6ft1 and 238lbs (17st) but quite big from weights ect until 15st when I moved in with my mrs and put 2st of fat on in 14 months!! I've added you on the app and for other users my username is same as on here: oliVeR6

 

Yeah, I used to do weights, also have fairly substantial thighs from cycling, I get told I have a really good shape, kind of triangular but even so there is no way I can carry off all this podge, I feel better already from five or six days of being careful, my weight has gone from 17 st 1/2 to 16.9 3/4, do, four or five pounds fairly quickly but that wont happen permanently, will be a hard slog and I need to dig in, am sick of being fat, its like life with the handbrake stuck on, for example I have a gift voucher for an experience day and I want to do acrobatic flying in a Sopwith Camel but i am too heavy, not because I am a 6.5 wall of muscle, but simply put, over the last few years I have eaten too much and done too little, that isnt much but imagine how those 30 stone people feel about what they can do in life, nothing.

My missus doesnt eat as much as me but even so she racked up 2100 calories yesterday without trying, killer was she baked a cake (lovely but easy to resist) and had 2 glasses of wine which I found a bit harder to resit during the danger moments of cooking, was fine after, this is when we need to be strong, which sounds a bit dramatic but we do.

Alcohol is wonderful stuff, I love it and it is difficult for me to not have it on those days where I feel I have deserved it, Friday and Saturday nights mainly but I was enjoying the thought of it, the first couple of beers and really it soon wears off and I firmly believe, any substance that makes you feel good has an equal and opposite effect, sometimes even worse than equal, ok after four pints you wont really have a hangover. Maybe a bit fuzzy so you feel like you have got away with it but on Monday morning when the work pants don't quite fit and cut you in half all day, that is your payback so it depends how much value your temporary two hour feeling of wellbeing versus feeling uncomfortable all day at work, ok you can buy bigger pants but nobody wants that, im in a 38 which was a shock, as was going from 36, from 34, you get stick off the missus and at 38 I am 2 inches away from the ignominy of 40 inch pants and perhaps scouring the "Jackamo" (even almost says J4CKO) website for stylish trousers at reasonable prices for the "Real Man" and I really don't want that.

I want to keep this thread going as it is good for me to put my thoughts into words and it makes it easier to take not eating an drinking what I want, hoping its helping some of you lot as it is me.

 

Simon, don't think the bumbag is helping as it has accentuated your belly, suspect you arent that far off (Stone and a half ?) and tend to pile it on the front but aren't fat elsewhere, I think that will be easy to shift, bet two months would see dramatic differences.


I think that for most on here, booze is the problem, not that we are alcoholics but its the additional calories on top of normal eating.

Get me, I am the new Gillian McKeith, I will be receiving turds in tupperware in the post at this rate.

 

Jacko, the quiver doesn't help, but the paunch is still there! Your spot on with your weight estimte too!

 

Mine starts properly today after the birthday party yesterday.

Bowl of shreddies for breakfast and I've only drank water today, about a litre so far.
I'm in work and I've brought in some left-over pasta for my lunch and I'm hoping to cook a healthy tea.

I'm not a great cook so it's hard for me, I was thinking of grilling a chicken breast and having a baked spud with no butter and veg - is it too much having chicken and baked potato for an evening meal?

I need educating on what is good and what isn't

 

I love a jacket spud. Only problem is, I HAVE to have loads of cheese on it. Kinda defeats the object of a healthy meal

 

No, the chicken and spud is fine, have some butter, you need fats but measure it out and don't go mad, half a tablespoon will suffice, about sixty calories. It seems to be about moderation, go in too daft and you will be ready to kill for some real food in a week, use the app and it keeps track of it all, I am still using butter on things but a small amount where it needs it and it can be tasted to best effect.

Don't need to be great cook, plus it is easy to learn, cooking from scratch is a massive start as no company can adulterate your meal with loads of fat, salt and sugar like some of the processed stuff is, all designed to get you coming back for more by pushing the primeval buttons in our heads that cause us to crave stuff that will keep us alive, the buttons that still light up even when we have stored many pounds of stored energy, the buttons we press ourselves like cheese addicted lab rats, we are slaves to instant gratification and wonder why we feel crap, head full of alcohol and glucose, need to break the cycle, feeling good all the time is at the end of a long road.

 

I had breakfast about 8:30am today and by 12:30 I was feeling awful, no energy and feeling dead weak, it was like my blood sugar was very low.

I ate my tub of pasta and felt okay after that. I plan to eat tea around 5-6pm and hopefully I won't be tempted to start snacking tonight.

 

I left breakfast a bit later, about 10:30 as wasnt hungry, was getting peckish late last night but in reality I wasnt hungry as I had not long since had a big meal, my body was asking for sugar whilst I was walking the dog at about nine, I told it to **** off and went to bed, normally I would throw a bowl of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes at it but as I went to bed it was fine, I slept and didnt wake up hungry, had a brew at about 8.30, made the wife some Jam on Toast and didnt want any, at 10:30 was getting a pang so had my breakfast.

I hoovered the whole house (Including my man hut) and got hungry about 1.30 so had a Sainsbury's Chicken Balti Meal Soup (Awesome, bit of extra chill for good measure) and a Ham roll, about 500 calories and should be a decent combination to keep me going to tea.

Think being really tight on yourself is counterproductive, if you feel bad eat but go for slow release energy, ok, it doesnt give you that instant sugar kick that your body is asking for and you need to make that leap of faith to going for foods that you might not be wanting, they will get rid of that feeling, an Apple instead of a bag of crisps, it is bloody hard if there is a choice but if you want to lose weight you have to, there is more at stake than you enjoying some Walkers Cheese and Onion, they will always be there, they arent stopping making them, you know what they taste like already.

 

Well, just had a roast-chicken dinner. Worked out to about 580 calories

Going to walk the dog now. And that almost wipes out the Sunday dinner :rolleyes

 

You have to watch those dogs, they are *******s for dragging you into the pub, ours mithers like mad when we pass the Farmers Arms.

 

your efforts make good reading, keep it up

as for alcohol, and empty calories, just changing what you drink can help

ideally you dont want to be drinking atall, but in order to remain on track and ensure the longevity of your plan, total denial isnt always best
most things in moderation wont throw you off track.

trying to live like a monk and eliminating what you would consider lifes pleasures can soon deter people once the initial focus drops a lttle, its easy to just revert to past lifestyle

so maybe vodka and diet coke would offer some alcohol without soo many empty calories.
again im not saying you must drink, but there are choices you can make that can help reduce your intake.
ive not looked at kcals of alcohol tbh, but i think wine and beer hold more kcals than the likes of many spirits - or even if its purely volume related?

enjoying everyones comments

 

We are going to the States in 9 weeks, have done a booze free week and my goal is weightloss as dont want to look fat in Las Vegas as there are no fat people there

Having something like a holiday is a good motivator, I can do without booze until then and for now I want to see what I can do, drink will hold me back and plaus I want to get my BP down to normal, not pre-hypertension or a bit high, just normal though the medical fraternity seem to keep dropping it, used to be 100 plus your age and I am around that but now they want you 120/80 or some are saying 115/80 which seems a bit unrealistic, it means that most people go from ok to "patients" with a disease, studies have shown that for most people they dont actually live any longer going from 100 plus their age (within reason) to being on meds, I dont want pills, just want to get it so I am not constantly back and forth with "well Its still a bit high" and out come the pills which make you dopey, fat and other side effects.


Would be interesting if John Banks is around to get his view ?

 

yeah good to have an aim, and helps keep you focused and on track

but its once that focus has passed, and theres not much to aim for, thats likely the point where most start to stumble, and slowly edge back into previous habits.

thats when i would say, totally eliminating pleasures could ultimatley lead to long term failure.

johns the man for b.p info and drugs side effects - and maybe why in particular b.p goal posts have moved somewhat - id presume its just in response to more information being available.

and a fat man in the U.S.A!!! highly unlikely sight lol

 

Good luck to Jacko and everyone else on this thread. You'll be surprised what just doing a few simple things (consistently) and that's the key word, will do. Don't deprive yourself of a little of what you fancy now and then; no point in being slim if you're miserable, just try and avoid over-doing it.

Skip dessert except for one "treat day" a week
Ditto alcohol.
Replace Fizzy drinks with water
Get some exercise every day
Don't snack on chocolate and biscuits
Try to eat little and often and up your protein rich foods which has the effect of making you feel fuller for longer and will help you avoid losing muscle rather than flab.

If you can get to a gym, all the better, but get some professional advice on how to burn flab so your routine isn't sub-optimal for your goals!

 

LMAO Good luck J4cko! Mid life crisis in full effect

 

Mid life crisis ? I bought an old, bright red Porsche for that !

Will be on my bike tomorrow, going to do 3 or 4 days hopefully, 14 mile round trip, the exercise thing says "Vigorous Cycling 14-16 mph" uses 884 calories in the 50 mins I ride, about 25 mins each way, cant imagine I use that much energy as really it isn't that vigorous, there is very fast above that, 16-20 mph which is nearer but its even more calories at 1060, dont know where they get their calorie things from.

 

Its been 120/80 since at least 1996! It what was in my text books at uni. I on the other hand would love a bloodpressure that high! I'm only just in triple digits!

 

Really ? think a lot of it is genetic, think my mum is on the BP tablets but then she smokes for England, my dad who is about 11 stone has had some issues with it, my uncle had one of the highest readings the doc had ever seen, I kind of get stressed thinking about it and there is a lot of guilt inherent as I assume it is all my doing so will get my weight right down so it cant be included as factor and then work from there. I think a lot of people go on the pills, it comes down, they carry on as normal and it goes up despite the pills and then you end up with dosages that have big side effects, think its kind of like going down a road you cant come back from. I think we all have our Achilles heel.

 

You could be right there Jacko. Dad gets told every year at his checkups that he should be dead, his is that low! We aren't sure if thats down to him or the chemo / radio he went through though.

 

your like a reformed smoker

 

I'm on a a diet fad thing , where it's just protein for the first week.

Making big changes to what i eat is the hardest thing.

 

I noticed I've had headaches yesterday and today, probably my body craving fat!!!

 

Or caffeine