The Losing weight motivational thread

[Poly Hive]

After looking long and hard at myself and heading for my 58th birthday the wife and I decided to lose weight.

She is down 29 lbs and I am at 25lbs.

We are using the Slimming World eating plan and cycling for exercise, and it has been painless apart from cycling up hills..lol

Share your ambitions and hopes here please.

PH

 

[Bee-Key-Pur]

I’m hoping to give up addictive hobbies that seem to have a bottomless pit when it comes to spending money.
I’m already into sailing which is described as standing in a cold shower tearing up £50 pound notes and it seems to me that beekeeping is not far from that, especially with the weather we’ve had this summer...
That way I could gain a few pounds instead of losing them ....

 

[Winker]

Me and my wife did the same 2 years ago, she lost 28lb and i lost 42lb. Between us both we lost the same amount in weight than our 9 year old son weighed.

2 years latter the wife has still to put a pound on and i have put all mine back on. Going back on a diet in a few weeks

 

[ultreen1]

I'm being sent away on secondment (again) but the plus side is there is a gym 2 mins away!
I plan to join the gym and lose the pounds I've gained since January! I've been a 38 inch chest suit jacket since 2002! This season (A/W 2012) I've have to buy a 40 inch chest!
To make maters worse I have to buy tailored fit jackets because the slim fit won't fit around my gut!

 

[Queens59]

I was told that when I started on morphine (for a medical condition) I would lose weight...still waiting, just seems to make it harder. None of the diet plans work because I can't eat as much as I need too...so still too big, and too annoyed to try any harder...

 

[VEG]

All down to will power you can do it if you really want to.

 

[ultreen1]

Who's Will Power? Has he wrote a slimming book?

 

[Drew]

After looking long and hard at myself and heading for my 58th birthday the wife and I decided to lose weight.

She is down 29 lbs and I am at 25lbs.

We are using the Slimming World eating plan and cycling for exercise, and it has been painless apart from cycling up hills..lol

Share your ambitions and hopes here please.

PH

Well done that man! (and that woman obviously )

 

[Poly Hive]

If you can get on a bike all it seriously helps as you are gently burning off the calories.

Found the heart monitors yesterday so am off to a battery shop today to get them powered up again. Actually cycling with them is a challenge in it's self to stay in the fat burn zone, I find I want to push on more and get out the zone but hey as I say it's a challenge.

PH

 

[psafloyd]

Myself and the other half have been more careful over the past year, but I have always found it hard to shift weight, despite a good diet and regular exercise. It ain't ALL willpower.

However, got the opportunity to do a trek where I have to raise money for charity and as I have a good reason for doing so – you can see why at www.justgiving.com/PadraigFloyd – I have started some personal training.

This is about not just for basic fitness but also to improve my strength as I have a muscular condition which throws my gait out and makes me stiffen up. And as all my travel costs are being met, it should be money well spent.

 

[madasafish]

I was 70kg - and quite fit (weight lifting and judo) - when I was 21.

Some four decades later I weigh the same and have the same waist size and eat what I like - but don't drink much alcohol - gin excepted.

A regime of running every second day and exercises and yoga keep me aware of my weight and I adapt my eating to match. At present I am running 20+miles/week so can eat what I like and still lose weight.

I've had roughly the same regime - with obvious modifications for age - for the last 30 years . It started when I realised how unfit I was.

Having said that, many of the exercises I do are found on the Insanity CDs (as per the TV ads).. but that's just too extreme for me.

You need to be fit to move hives around

 

[asol]

I think there are two important objectives to satisfy a long term fitness goal.
The first is to avoid overindulging in the rubbish food deptartment, the other is to find a suitable form of physical exercise that you enjoy and is sustainable. The changes you make will be difficult to endure if they do not fit in as part of your new lifestyle.
A long term objective is useful to me as an on going measure of my success (or failure).
Personally my objective is for my waist size never to exceed 32, (I'm a small build).
I'm lucky to have found that I enjoy running but I readily accept it isn't suitable for everyone. Mid term goals such as annual marathons etc keep my focus and training in check.
Food and alcohol are more difficult to control as I love them both. I certainly don't deny myself anything but try to eat the more healthy stuff and limit my intake.
I live near a lovely forest nr Cannock and still after ten years plus of running approx 3 days a week, I love to go out for more.
At the expense of sounding smug I'm really content with my routine and the health benefits it provides.
If ever there is a reason to become a little fitter then there is none better than the joys of life itself and the ability to experience as much of it as possible.

 

[garlicpickle]

Well done PH

I reached my target weight of 10 stone at the end of last week. I have lost a total of 61lbs. In June 2010 I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes after having felt tired and ill for a few years beforehand, being constantly starving and putting on loads of weight. At my heaviest I was 14 stone 5 and I'm only 5'4". I hated being fat but any attempts at dieting failed because I was constantly ravenous.

Once I found out I was diabetic my symptoms made sense. I had to make some fairly radical diet changes including cutting out almost all sugary and starchy food. Now I very rarely eat pasta, rice, bread or any baked goods. I've got used to eating that way now but it was hard at first. I was rewarded by seeing the weight start to fall off me without much effort on my part and I was glad to be rid of the carbohydrate cravings and constant hunger.

I also recruited hubby into the new eating plan and although he isn't diabetic and wasn't really overweight, he had a bit of a belly which he didn't like. He's lost a stone and a half over the same period and gone down 2 trouser sizes. We are shadows of our former selves! My diabetes nurse raves over me so much when I go and see her that it's almost embarrassing

 

[Moggs]

Well done PH. It’s a lifestyle thing isn’t it?

It was only a few years ago that I decided that I had to take drastic measures.

Complacency and denial had resulted in a rather tubby Moggs, with a BMI that did justice to my diet of crisps and chocolate, diastolic and systolic bordering on the hypertensive and a general preponderance for television over more healthy pursuits!

My motivation was that I would only need to get fit once and I would do what was necessary to get back in shape. So commenced a routine of no alcohol (and still none), better diet (ahem) and a kill-or-cure jogging programme designed to lose weight and build cardio-vascular improvement.

My regime started with ‘run 1 minute, walk 1 and a half’ sessions for 20 minutes at a time. This was enough at that stage. My second target was to run (jog) for 30 minutes without walking. After a month or so of this gradual build-up, I was starting even to enjoy the programme (and the results).

Spurred on by the ‘new me’, I was able to integrate the exercise into a new lifestyle, now seeing good results. Whether out of madness or not, I set a new target and my training was adapted to build strength and stamina. Just as an added motivator, I entered the ballot for the Great North Run (half marathon 13.1 miles).

I was accepted.

To cut a long story shorter, after a lot more conditioning, I completed the Great North (and three more GNR's and Birmingham Halves in consecutive years). I lost 40lbs in weight. My blood pressure is good. I have a runner’s resting heart rate.

Last year, I coached my daughter into running the GNR with me and this year, we will once again be taking part in the world’s biggest and most iconic half marathon.

The lead up to this event will see us running 300 miles in preparation. That is a lot of energy (in fact, approximately 33,000 calories each). Rather than waste all of that energy, we will be running in support of Barnardo’s. As an added incentive for us, for those of you who may wish to make the remainder of the training miles easier, you can sponsor us at

https://www.justgiving.com/teams/babada.

My daughter has the fundraising target to meet so she would particularly value your support.

I can’t say that I have enjoyed every run but I can certainly say that I have never regretted one!

It has been a long, long journey (but every step has been worthwhile).

OK – off for four miles of lunchtime hills! All in a good cause

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

My other half says she's determined to get rid of 17 stones of ugly fat.

Not quite sure why it involves her solicitor, but apparently I'm due to hear from him soon.

Dusty

 

[Pete D]

Well done PH.
I came out of the festive season and rolled into 2012. My new Christmas Sheriff suit was a wee bit tight when bending and I was determined not to get so hot whilst inspecting this year. (weather has helped with that)
Anyway rolled up at my local slimming world on a Thursday evening and watched 40 odd ladies strip down to get weighed in and thought I would go along for a few weeks to see how it all went.
I weighed in at 16st 12lb, I have always been short for my weight !
I considered myself reasonably fit having only just stopped playing rugby (last game in 2011) and still doing Enduro off road motorcycling at weekends. I also did 2 London marathons in 2005 & 2006 for Leukaemia charity, finishing both in a tubby short legged 5 hours.
Anyway at last Thursday weigh in I weighed 12st 13lb, so a staggering 4 stone all bar a pound in 7 months.
Its been relatively easy just eating healthy most of the time, havent really felt hungry as I eat the same volume but just healthier choices.
I dont eat much bread, keep away from roasts and gravy most of the time, cakes and bicuits are a treat and I just have 1 or a small piece.
I eat pasta, salads, fruit, curries, rice, chicken (no skin) fish and loads of lean meat, bbq's I love.
My secret is being organised all week whilst I work, early breakfast (6am) of cereal, yoghurt and banana, I then graze on fruit till lunch which is normally salad and fish or chicken and have a healthy tea (before 6pm). Odd pint, odd glass of wine.
Weekends are a different matter, I eat mostly what I like but choose healthy where possible. I drink a bit more beer and wine but only usually on 1 day out of the 2.
My suit is very comfortable now, I have a new wardrobe, a 32 '' waist and just wear large shirts now instead of tents.
I just felt I was getting to the age of no return if I didnt do something soon (48). Yes it takes will power at times and I wont pretend its all been easy but if you want something...................
Anyway my target is 12st 10lb, which I lastwas when I was 14 !, and I never want to see 13st again on the scales.
My off road biking has improved, currently leading my class in this years championship and I am now considering going for a morning run again, which bores me but sets me up for the day.
Oh and the missus has been reading 50 shades of grey and this coupled with my weight loss has had other benefits......

Pete D

 

[MuswellMetro]

I have just had a forced retirement /made redundant and as part of the package i was given a BUPA wellman retirement assessment.....terrible, pre diabetic, BMI OMG!, high blood pressure , very high cholestrol

so since March i have been of a 1700 calories diet...measured everything going in but not everything coming out

lost 31 pounds and just got to BMI 25....blood pressure, glucose sugar high but in normal range etc etc

so the problem now is I have found it very expensive to diet,...had to buy new trousers and underpants as they kept falling down ....waist was 44" now 36" and getting smaller

 

[JamezF]

I’m hoping to give up addictive hobbies that seem to have a bottomless pit when it comes to spending money.
I’m already into sailing which is described as standing in a cold shower tearing up £50 pound notes and it seems to me that beekeeping is not far from that, especially with the weather we’ve had this summer...
That way I could gain a few pounds instead of losing them ....

Astronomy is one of my hobbies. That's another unbelievable money-pit. I try not to think about how much I've spent, and I've not even reached the dizzy heights of paying £500+ for just an eyepiece yet.

James

 

[Greatbigchicken]

Well done everyone. I do the slimming word thing too and it works (as long a I follow it) Never hungry, very varied diet, no weighing or measuring food and 2 stone lighter . PH stick with it and keep us updated with your progress.

 

[bee56]

I put 3 stone on when I stopped smoking 4 years ago now 16 stone, wish I could loose some weight.