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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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Ok, so let's put this out there;
I'm carrying some extra weight now I've got to my 50's.
My diet is pretty crap and I eat pretty much what I want.
My Father suffered a heart attack when he was a little older the I am now.
Most of my weight is carried on my belly, no, I'm not a big drinker (if at all) so it's not a beer belly.
So guys, who has gone on a diet? What diets have you tried and how much success have you had?
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Its hard to say without knowing what you eat now... but healthy eating is not about dieting but a change of lifestyle. If you just eat good natural food and avoid processed stuff then that's a great way to start.
Ultimately though, losing weight it just about consuming less calories than you burn, and although exercise has only a little impact on weight loss it will have a huge impact on your health (especially your heart).
Cal |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Slimming World worked for me
I have to say though, that as soon as I added the gym into the mix, the losses slowed right down
I seem to maintain more than lose these days, but I am getting healthier and my body is changing, albeit slowly |
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By *ocbigMan
over a year ago
Birmingham |
Awesome answers, you really don't need more than has been said. However...as mentioned diet is a bigger predictor of obesity than exercise, but the positive effects of exercise are so much more than weight loss. Going by weight is not always a good thing, shape, clothes fit etc can be as useful as scales do not indicate body composition. Also, thinking about what you eat, when & why can change habits, are you really hungry or is it that you 'always' eat at that time, or are you bored & eating etc. Good luck, take the long view change lifestyle, not some daft 'diet'. |
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"For me. No such thing as a diet. Just eating sensibly and in moderation "
This. I made a bit of effort a while ago, got a Fitbit, tried to do my 10k steps a day, and also used MyFitnessPal to log my meals.
Using the apps to see calories in against calories out, and you really see that taking the time to weigh out food (especially carbs like rice and pasta) and the steps helping, it becomes a really good incentive. Once you get into a bit of a routine, it’s surprisingly easy to lose 1-2lbs week in week out. |
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"For me. No such thing as a diet. Just eating sensibly and in moderation
This. I made a bit of effort a while ago, got a Fitbit, tried to do my 10k steps a day, and also used MyFitnessPal to log my meals.
Using the apps to see calories in against calories out, and you really see that taking the time to weigh out food (especially carbs like rice and pasta) and the steps helping, it becomes a really good incentive. Once you get into a bit of a routine, it’s surprisingly easy to lose 1-2lbs week in week out."
A very good app, just to force you to become aware of how much more you eat than you believe!
It's amazing how the odd bag of crisps etc. add up. Being aware then means you can take better steps to improve things. |
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By *i1971Man
over a year ago
Cornwall |
And don't look at any changes you make as being "a diet". Look towards a healthier lifestyle overall as a long term goal. That will then become the norm, otherwise you'll see it as a short term fix. Have been there myself & that's what worked for me.
(Mainly cutting down on pastry, bread & cakes, trimming off all fat from meat, low fat sausages if I have them & plenty of fruit & veg. I can eat rice & pasta, but I know some have issues with that, but it's ok for me) |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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All of the above is really good advice and the only things I can add to it are smaller plates make a smaller portion look more satisfying and walking for half an hour a day will do wonders for you over time. Oh and try and avoid the special offers on snacks and sweets and remember that if you go to the trouble of preparing your own fresh food it will always be better for you than a bit of fast or processed food that’s a short term fix. It takes time and willpower to do it and if you find yourself slipping off the wagon and picking up something you don’t need just ask yourself why you want it before you go to the till and walk back to where you got it and put it back on the shelf. You will feel better for it. Phew....that was a long one  |
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Like many people I fit sporadically in both the healthy and overweight/unhealthy camps - depending entirely upon how disciplined I am at the time!
Personally I’m not convinced that classifying obesity as a disease will be of benefit. I could be wrong (I often am) - but to my mind it’s an easy way of blame shifting - which to me seems to be a large part of the issue. Ie those who currently lay all the blame on food manufacturers - or the government who allows them to produce and advertise food high in sugar and fats - can now take even less ownership by saying ‘look - it’s not my fault - it’s a disease!’
I’d agree that it’s more of a challenge to be fit, slim and healthy in the 21st century than its ever been! Most of us don’t ‘have’ to exercise at all unless we have an active job - and most are sedentary these days. We also have cars and public transport to take us almost literally from door to door!
However - we have plenty of gyms, parks and recreational areas where we can exercise if we chose to! Nobody ‘makes’ us use cars etc all the time - and most of us can walk out of the front door every day and take a walk - but it’s easier not to bother! (I know - as I go through periods of not bothering to exercise enough myself!)
Re food: Yes - there are more unhealthy junk foods/ready meals available than ever before (Britain consumes more ready meals than the rest of Europe combined) - but nobody forces us to eat them! They’re on supernmarket shelves because people buy them! If demand reduced, so would supply! And the last time I looked, supermarkets still had a huge choice of fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh meat and fish, and brown rice, wholewheat pasta, seeds and pulses!
In fact, though it’s fair to say that there’s more unhealthy food readily available than ever before, I think it’s also fair to say that, thanks to cheap global transportation, there’s also more HEALTHY food readily available than ever before! Though many will argue that it’s cheaper to eat unhealthily than healthily, if you’re open minded about which meats, fish, fruit and veg you eat - the vast majority have special offers from week to week offering reduced price meat, fruit and vegetables!
The fact is that, except in cases of mental illness, thyroid disfunction etc etc, for most of us it’s down to our own self discipline! It’s far easier to overeat than it is to control calorie intake. It’s far easier to sit in front of the tv or on fab than it is to go for a walk/ride a bike/hit the gym!
Unfortunately it’s purely down to ourselves as individuals - which sucks slightly when I REALLY want to eat cheese and chocolate! |
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By *emini ManMan
over a year ago
There and to the left a bit |
I lost three and a half stone in a year a couple of years back - simply by adjusting my diet and cutting down on intake.
For example where I used to eat typically two sandwiches, a bag of crisps, a piece of fruit and a cake for lunch - I cut that down to one sandwich and a piece of fruit. Likewise main meals I cut down a little on portion sizes and also avoided finishing off what others didn't eat.
Cut out all snacks between meals too.
It just fell off - now I've put some back on and am finding it harder to shift this time round but the above worked for me at the first go and the funny thing is I didn't notice it a bit.  |
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By *tevew9Man
over a year ago
Lanzarote |
As with most of the other posts, a diet isn't going to do anything worthwhile. It needs to be a lifestyle change. After reading up on the subject I changed my eating habits and lost nearly 2 stone and went from a 36" waist to a 32". This was mostly due to a change in my eating habits. Higher protein lower carbs, less alcohol more water, 3 meals a day and 3 snacks all with at least 20g of protein. And eating before you get hungry makes a big difference, as you will eat less. And then regular exercises, nothing heavy just walking,swimming and the weight slowly came off. |
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"Like many people I fit sporadically in both the healthy and overweight/unhealthy camps - depending entirely upon how disciplined I am at the time!
Personally I’m not convinced that classifying obesity as a disease will be of benefit. I could be wrong (I often am) - but to my mind it’s an easy way of blame shifting - which to me seems to be a large part of the issue. Ie those who currently lay all the blame on food manufacturers - or the government who allows them to produce and advertise food high in sugar and fats - can now take even less ownership by saying ‘look - it’s not my fault - it’s a disease!’
I’d agree that it’s more of a challenge to be fit, slim and healthy in the 21st century than its ever been! Most of us don’t ‘have’ to exercise at all unless we have an active job - and most are sedentary these days. We also have cars and public transport to take us almost literally from door to door!
However - we have plenty of gyms, parks and recreational areas where we can exercise if we chose to! Nobody ‘makes’ us use cars etc all the time - and most of us can walk out of the front door every day and take a walk - but it’s easier not to bother! (I know - as I go through periods of not bothering to exercise enough myself!)
Re food: Yes - there are more unhealthy junk foods/ready meals available than ever before (Britain consumes more ready meals than the rest of Europe combined) - but nobody forces us to eat them! They’re on supernmarket shelves because people buy them! If demand reduced, so would supply! And the last time I looked, supermarkets still had a huge choice of fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh meat and fish, and brown rice, wholewheat pasta, seeds and pulses!
In fact, though it’s fair to say that there’s more unhealthy food readily available than ever before, I think it’s also fair to say that, thanks to cheap global transportation, there’s also more HEALTHY food readily available than ever before! Though many will argue that it’s cheaper to eat unhealthily than healthily, if you’re open minded about which meats, fish, fruit and veg you eat - the vast majority have special offers from week to week offering reduced price meat, fruit and vegetables!
The fact is that, except in cases of mental illness, thyroid disfunction etc etc, for most of us it’s down to our own self discipline! It’s far easier to overeat than it is to control calorie intake. It’s far easier to sit in front of the tv or on fab than it is to go for a walk/ride a bike/hit the gym!
Unfortunately it’s purely down to ourselves as individuals - which sucks slightly when I REALLY want to eat cheese and chocolate! "
Shit! Just realised I posted this to the wrong thread!   |
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Some good advice here
It's really just paying closer attention to your diet and learning to eat more healthy food and less rubbish and smaller portion sizes. Then combining that with being more physically active.
By the way, beer is high in calories hence the term "beer belly." It's not a different kind of belly, just the same fat gain you'd get from excess calories consumed from food. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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My routine is simple (and the good thing is that work sorts it out for me really) Though I appreciate it is just down to chance with my employment, there's no way I'd have time to it in addition to another job lol!
Do 40,000 steps a day over 12 hours on consecutive days, up to 42 days on the bounce.
Do most of these carrying 50-75kg loads that you lift and lock into place. In between these smash 5 foot stakes (up to about 120 of them) into the earth using a 16lb sledgehammer, pull up to 20 roof skins into place using ropes, tighten numerous bolts off using a 2 foot toughened adjustable spanner, and plenty more besides.
For this I tend to have a snack aboit 6am before I start, eat about 2000 calories, mainly carbs, for breakfast at 1030am that I'll burn throughout the first 2/3 of the day, eat a low-carb, high protein lunch of about 1500 calories about 230pm, and when I finish I'll eat an evening meal of around 1500 calories that has virtually no carbs whatsoever (so my body then burns up any fat on it as it's primary fuel source) and is sky-high in protein (as most muscle repair is done overnight during sleep, so I want to ram it in to give me the best shot at being recovered as much as possible for the next day)
I also tend to avoid sugary drinks,
indeed anything with sugar in except fruit (complex carbs, though caffeine I allow myself, especially early on) and trans fats and drink about 5-8 litres of water a day, usually dependant on how hot the country is that I'm working in.
Granted my exercise is freakishly high, but advice can still be taken from it, just scaled back?
Do a mix of cardio and weight routines, (you will also be able to give muscle groups rest days which while I'm working I don't often have the luxury of which is where most aches come from) and follow the proportionate amounts of each main nutrient, just scale them down so that you're hitting 2000 calories to reduce weight and 2500 to maintain what you have.
Hope this helps!  |
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Diets are pretty straight forward. Eat less calories than you use and you'll lose fat. Eat less. If you're hungry eat more and do more. Simple. Don't get caught up with weight loss. Go for fat loss. No scales just jump up and down in front of a mirror. Keep at it until you're happy with the level of jiggling you see in the mirror. |
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