still wont let me inbox you, arghh... heres my message anyway...
hi, i havent got long as my internet keeps cutting out so i'll keep it short for now.
firstly well bloody done on what you've achieved with your own determination. you are truly an inspiration.
i started at 29 stone 7, (yuk) and ive managed to lose 16 lbs in the first two weeks, but now ive stopped losing
i started exercising on a stationary bike and i put on 2lb! i realise about water retention bla bla bla but i still havent lost this week.
so im wondering if you could tell me how you did it. a few people have told me i should be eating all my cals, and myfitnesspal tells me to have 2260 a day. this seems like a lot, as ive been living on 1600 a day for the last month.
theres been no one else as heavy as me to begin with to ask, so im hoping you can shed some light on this for me.
thanks , louise
x
Hi Louise,
Firstly thanks so much for your comments
Now onto your journey, awesome job on loosing 16llb in two weeks
- Well my fitnesspal, and your friends, are right in a way with 2260 cals a day because the heavier you are, the more calories you need to maintain that current weight i.e. at an average weight / height the average person needs to eat 2000 cals a day to keep to their current weight (this is an average, everybody is slightly different and men are slightly higher) so when i was 30 stone i would need to eat in the region of 4000 cals+ to keep at 30st. 2260 is higher than i would aim for and your about right at 1600 cals, but if you do eat too little the body will go into starvation mode, and it sounds crazy but if you do eat to little it becomes harder to lose weight. Its very much a science losing weight and it's takes some experimenting to find the right balance for you. If you find your struggling at 1600 cals then trying decreasing again by 100-200 (absolute max though) and if that isn't working then maybe you do need to go higher and try adding 100-200 cals and so on.
You need to keep the exercise up though to keep the metabolism going, if you do good cardio exercises (treadmill, bike etc) then the body speeds up it's metabolism and you can carry on burning calories from that workout for hours after, but of course you have to be careful not to push yourself too hard when your at a big weight, again it's down to you and it's a bit of a science, work too little and it becomes pointless doing anything, do too much / work to hard and you can hurt yourself.
In terms of my routine that is exactly what i did, i experimented loads with food and different types of exercises. I aimed for 1200-1500 calories a day, and i routinely did some sort of exercise everyday. My diet consists of 3 weetabix with skimmed milk for breakfast, and sandwich or chicken with houmous for my dinner, and then a range of foods for my tea which include, wholegrain pasta / rice, eggs, low fat meat, beans, roast veg the list goes on. I've pretty much ate that diet every day to some degree and i still eat alot of those foods now because i enjoy them, and that is a big key word "enjoyment" dieting on food you don't particularly like is setting yourself up to fail in my opinion, you need to set yourself up with food you can carry on eating, with treats of course, throughout the rest of your life, because believe me losing the weight is half the battle, for us big weight losers trying to keep it off is never going to end because it can be so easy to fall of the wagon so to speak. Ii have to keep myself in check, i've stopped going to the gym (lose skin) and i've recently started socialising more and more and drinking more and eating more, which is partly what got me into the mess in the first place, and all of a sudden i've gone up a few pounds in the space of a few weeks, so i have a big wake up call and get back on the wagon!!!!
Having a good exercise routine no matter how big you are is a definite must, i am testament to the fact there are no excuses (some obvious exceptions here), i could barely walk up a hill at my biggest and tried to kid myself i couldn't lose weight by exercising as it would kill me, but look at me now. I started off small and you or anyone has to do that then do it, it's hard but doable and i see your working out on an exercise bike and that is excellent. As i said i started off small by taking 10-15 minute walks in my lunch break, whatever the weather, and when i got home i sat in front of the tv lifting small weights for 15-20 mins, i then gradually did these things for a little longer, and walked up a hill and so on, you know just basically building myself up and slowly getting fitter. I then made the biggest and best purchase on my weight loss journey, a treadmill. That thing was such a big factor for me, i came in everyday from work and got on it, again started off at 15-20 mins, slow speed and low gradiant, and week by week, month by month i upped the anti
to the point where i could walk for hours if i had the patience.
The first couple of months are so important to winning or losing the battle for weight loss, every person is different and different things will work for some and not others but i don't think i'm not far off the mark with this. Keep experimenting for a few weeks with calorie intake, foods your eating, exercises etc etc. You will find a balance that works, try and not to get tempted by thinking eating alot less will give you great weight loss results, but of course don't get over confident and think the odd chocolate bar won't hurt either. The right type of foods play an important part, high protein foods can help to keep hunger pains away for much longer, as well as high fibre, the 3 weetabix i eat in the morning keep me going till lunch time most days
, high carbohydrate foods like white bread burn off very quickly and you get hungrier more quickly, replace these with there wholegrain equivalents i.e. brown rice instead of white. Drinking plenty of water is another good tip and believe it or not i was told by friend of mine, who is a big keep fit fanatic, that sometimes the body confuses hunger and thirst and sometimes when you feel hungry, have a drink and the hunger will go away and he was spot on, obviously not all the time, sometimes i was just bloody hungry lol
Tips for exercising are basically just don't get settled into one pace, or one set of exercises. After every few weeks mix it up a little or do something a little different. The body will get used to the same exercise and it gets harder and harder to get the same level of results from that exercise, but of course any exercise is better than nothing so definitely keep doing it if that is all you can manage
I could type for hours about everything i've either learnt myself, or people have told me, but i hope i've given you a good starting point. Good luck and if you need to know anything else just shout and i will answer
Cookie
