could portion size be the problem?

[abigail09]

im feeling a bit low today, put on half a lb last night, i know its not alot but this is my second gain in a row AND i have tried really hard this week. im the same weight now as i was 7 weeks ago!! and frankly im p*****d off. im wondering, i have on average 10 syns a day and eat ALOT of free food, some days i might even have 3 evening meals. i know you can eat as much free food as you want but maybe im takin advantage of this and need to try to stick to my 3 meals a day? take this morning for example i had leftover free rice pudding and i ate 2 bowls for breaky. am i over doing it? i jsut dont seem to have an off switch

 

[SpaceAngel]

Ok, lets have a look at this then.

Are you drinking lots? If you are drinking loads of tea/coffee/diet drinks, try cutting back as these contain caffine which has been proven to effect weightloss in a detrimental way.

Try reducing your syns to 8 a day. This may kick start things.

Try eating little and often, 3 evening meals shouldnt be a problem so long as they aint too big (not that I am an expert, just a suggestion )

Any changes to medication or such like?

 

[abigail09]

Are you drinking lots? If you are drinking loads of tea/coffee/diet drinks, try cutting back as these contain caffine which has been proven to effect weightloss in a detrimental way.

thats ALL i drink, never have anything else, tea all day at work with sweetener and milk as healthy a and then diet coke or anything else thats diet. i havenever really 'done' water lol

 

[SpaceAngel]

Lol. I a diet coke addict, but because I am only at the start of my diet, I havn't reached a plateau yet. This is what I found on the net:-

Caffeine intake often perpetuates many of the factors contributing to weight gain and continued obesity. Coffee and caffeine intake aggravates stress, including physical, mental, and emotional stress, leading to increased levels of the glucocorticoids including cortisol. A well documented relationship exists between chronically elevated levels of these stress hormones and deposition of excess fat in the abdomen leading to obesity as well as increased caloric intake, particularly increased ingestion of fats and sugars.

I used to have the food doctor book which also said that caffine can hinder weightloss? Not sure how true it is, but might be worth switching to non caffine stuff and see if it works?

 

[KD]

Portion sizes could be the problem. To lose weight you need to expend more calories than you put in. SW calorie counts most foods for you really, by giving you the option of eating more foods which will fill you up for less calories and restricting your intake of sugar and fat.

But...if you really over indulge in these lower calorie foods, your intake might exceed your expenditure (sound like an accountant here ), especially if you are getting closer to goal when you need less calories.

 

[abigail09]

A well documented relationship exists between chronically elevated levels of these stress hormones and deposition of excess fat in the abdomen

omg thats where i carry all of my weight, maybe i should try not to drink so much caffeine, its convenience more than anything, at work we all drink tea and coffee all day, and at home i drink pop becasue the tap water in sunderland is absolutly disgusting. i might try to start drinkin squash to hide the taste, when i lived with my parents the water was nice and clean tasting but now i cant stand it. squash is probably the answer then,

still, i feel like im eating too much tho

 

[abigail09]

Portion sizes could be the problem. To lose weight you need to expend more calories than you put in. SW calorie counts most foods for you really, by giving you the option of eating more foods which will fill you up for less calories and restricting your intake of sugar and fat.

But...if you really over indulge in these lower calorie foods, your intake might exceed your expenditure (sound like an accountant here ), especially if you are getting closer to goal when you need less calories.

its really more habit i think, im never hungry but jsut bored. when im busy i dont eat as much and just stick to my 3 meals, like tonight for instance im tattooing until 9 so ill get in and have a quick tea then just crack on working and i wont eat after but if were ust sitting in watching tv the fridge is my first port of call. evenings really are the hardest point of my day

 

[SpaceAngel]

I think that you should try the diet caffine free coke and see how you go with that. You can buy caffine free tea-bags too.

Totally off topic, but I saw a tattoo you posted recently of a pin up girl on your boyfriend and I wondered who did it? My husband has a few tattoos but he really like the colour work in your boyfriends tat.

 

[Lindam]

this thread has me thinking - I may go for a 'caffiene free' month through September. My weight has been the same for ages and i do drink a lot of coffee/tea and diet drinks. Will keep you posted!

 

[Tina T]

omg thats where i carry all of my weight, maybe i should try not to drink so much caffeine, its convenience more than anything, at work we all drink tea and coffee all day, and at home i drink pop becasue the tap water in sunderland is absolutly disgusting. i might try to start drinkin squash to hide the taste, when i lived with my parents the water was nice and clean tasting but now i cant stand it. squash is probably the answer then,

still, i feel like im eating too much tho

I never drank water for quite a while as our water taste yuck here even when made into squash, so have invested in a Brita water filter jug and it's made a great differance!!

 

[KD]

its really more habit i think, im never hungry but jsut bored. when im busy i dont eat as much and just stick to my 3 meals, like tonight for instance im tattooing until 9 so ill get in and have a quick tea then just crack on working and i wont eat after but if were ust sitting in watching tv the fridge is my first port of call. evenings really are the hardest point of my day

I can understand that.

I lost 6 stone with SW and noticed that I needed to get more disciplined with quantity as the weight went done, and my evenings were my worst time.

I think this is a good time for you to work on knocking the boredom demons on the head once and for all. Learning to manage these times without turning to food.

After all, it will be something that you'll need to deal with once you get to goal if you want to keep slim. Just a thought.

 

[abigail09]

Totally off topic, but I saw a tattoo you posted recently of a pin up girl on your boyfriend and I wondered who did it? My husband has a few tattoos but he really like the colour work in your boyfriends tat.

they were both done by Bez at Triple Six, Sunderland. he is pretty much known as being the best tattooist in the UK at the moment. he is fully booked until March and will not be taking any bookings til January. I booked my tattoo in early March and going for my thrid sitting on Tuesday, fingers crossed it will be finished then!!

 

[SpaceAngel]

Wow!! He must be seriously good. We live in Bedford, so it would be a seriously long drive up there but I think it would be worth it for the quality of that tattoos. My OH has a massive tiger on his arm Japanese style and he wants the bottom half of his arm done so he has a full sleeve.

 

[zenabob2105]

I think that you should try the diet caffine free coke and see how you go with that. You can buy caffine free tea-bags too.

I drink de caff coffee, so it evens out when i have diet pops, but if you are gonna reduced your caffeine intake, be warned it may give you headaches at first, withdrawl symtoms...daft i know but i drasically reduce my intake whilst pregnant and suffered for a few days, but slept a whole lot better, which alos helps with weightloss, because you lose as you sleep.

 

[Charisma]

they were both done by Bez at Triple Six, Sunderland. he is pretty much known as being the best tattooist in the UK at the moment. he is fully booked until March and will not be taking any bookings til January. I booked my tattoo in early March and going for my thrid sitting on Tuesday, fingers crossed it will be finished then!!

wow your a tattooist?? thats gotta be an interesting job to have?? what made ya want to do that??

 

[sinbadsgirl]

If you attend a group why don't you talk to your consultant,thats what they are for aren't they !

 

[dehli]

I have a water filter jug, it makes the water so much better to drink, and it's nice and cold straight from the fridge. I like to pick in the evenings and I always save a hex B for two alpen light bars. If you're struggling with the weight, try to stick to 3 meals a day and just snack on fruit in between. I know I get really hungry days and it's amazing how much free food you can eat when you put your mind to it! It's ok once in a while, but not good for weightloss if you do it too often. Good luck!

 

[Jenmac]

From your ticker your BMI is 23ish so you must be pretty slim already - it may be that to get down to the lower end of the BMI you would need to do *serious* exercise and really watch your diet?
For example I have maintained at 9 stone in the past without too much effort, but to maintain at 8 I had to really really watch my food, hardly anything other than veg, fruit, smallish portions of meat/fish, not many carbs and TONS of exercise (running 5 nights a week etc). I looked good but I was exhausted and realised it wasn't worth it for me (I then went nuts with ice cream and bacon sarnies hence where I am now!)

Just wondered if it might be worth you reevaluating your goal and what it would take to stay there?

 

[abigail09]

im 5'4 and would like to be 9 stone i think that is very realistic, im 13lbs away from that and starting to squeeze into 10's, which is where i want to be. i may end up changing my goal but im not happy with where i am just yet, maybe 9.7 will be good but until i get there i just dont know.

 

[Carolanski]

In answer to your original question - have voiced this opinion before and it may be controversial - but please believe me I think SW is a fab plan, my Mum used to be SW consultant and helped hundreds of people successfully lose weight!!!!! Weightloss is all about calories in versus calories expended. SW works by controlling your calories for you - if you eat reasonable portions of the free food you will keep your calories at a level where you will lose weight. But you may be taking in more calories than you are using if you are having 3 main meals a night!!

I know - I struggled with overeating all my free foods when I was on SW - no stop button!!!! I had loads of sts weeks and even put weight on some weeks - particularly on the green plan! Took me 9 months to lose 12lbs - how hopeless am I?

You're quite near target and your BMI is already nice and healthy - losses just seems to slow down a bit then as well. Are you exercising - as Jenmac said, that will burn extra calories and will boost your metabolism too.

If you are doing a lot of green days - maybe you are a little carb sensitive. Maybe try some super-free main meals for a while. Or see if cutting out one of your three main meals makes a difference!!!!

Good luck with it

Carol x