Dieting and getting fit

[BillyStubbsTears]

That think about water BJW. Technically correct but it's effectively irrelevant.

Heating 10 litres of water from just above freezing to body temperature takes about 30 calories of energy. It's something but not really effective.

[Dare to dream!]

Intermittent fasting. Have a 6 hour easting window and fast for the remaning 18 hours. The first week or so will be challenging but you adapt very quickly and don't feel hungry. The biggest benefit for me is the mental clarity it gives.

[Copps is Magic]

Yep, there is a lot of sound evidence to suggest intermittent fasting really works. Its sounds an intimidating concept as first, but when you rationalise it as - just don't eat anything until 2pm - then it becomes easy. Again, its really intuitive when you think about it - we were never designed to be grazing animals so why we eat like that is anyone's guess. Apparently we are slowly realising the mantra 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day' was also a faulty assumption.

Personally, I do it occasionally but for work I need a big bucket of coffee just to face opening my emails and there is a lot of debate about whether coffee breaks a fast, so I don't follow the routine fully.

[Dare to dream!]

Yep, there is a lot of sound evidence to suggest intermittent fasting really works. Its sounds an intimidating concept as first, but when you rationalise it as - just don't eat anything until 2pm - then it becomes easy. Again, its really intuitive when you think about it - we were never designed to be grazing animals so why we eat like that is anyone's guess. Apparently we are slowly realising the mantra 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day' was also a faulty assumption.

Personally, I do it occasionally but for work I need a big bucket of coffee just to face opening my emails and there is a lot of debate about whether coffee breaks a fast, so I don't follow the routine fully.

Black coffee doesn't but adding any type of milk (nut milks included) and sugar will.

[RobTheRover]

A mate of mine did the HIIT route too.  I did it a few times with him.

He'd go to the gym and just go on a cross trainer for about 30 mins.

10 minute warm up at a steady pace, then he had an app on his phone that just repeated 15 second and 45 second countdowns.

In the 15 seconds he'd work as hard as he possibly could on the cross trainer. Arms and legs went like bees wings.  Then the 45 seconds was at a really slow pace to get his heart rate down and his breath back. Then he'd go again for the next 15 seconds, then drop the pace right down again.

I managed about 6 reps before I had to stop. He did the full 20 mins, but he'd been doing it for a few weeks every other day. The weight tumbled off him.

30 mins, every other day. That was all it took. Sure he cut out some foods, lowered his alcohol intake and made sensible choices but didn't change too much.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Rob
You can do a similar thing with running. There's a park with a little lake in it near us. 600m round. When I'm in the mood for running which isn't very often, I'll do one lap fast, then one jogging really gently. Maybe 2.5mins hard running and 4.5mins gentle jogging. 3-4 repetitions.

It's not just that it is a more effective workout - it's more fun an all.

[knockers]

We did a similar thing yesterday at spin where you keep a constant speed then stand up and increase the speed with the next stage sitting but keeping the increased speed. Then just spin your legs on low resistance and go again building the resistance each time. 45 minutes of that sorts you out!

[bahrain rover]

Intermittent fasting. Have a 6 hour easting window and fast for the remaning 18 hours. The first week or so will be challenging but you adapt very quickly and don't feel hungry. The biggest benefit for me is the mental clarity it gives.

Otherwise known as Ramadan out here As I follow the fasting schedule I have to agree it works, I cycle a lot and adjust my training to directly before breaking fast. The results are good and fast. As said the first week is the hardest, especially first 3 to 4 days where you tend to get headaches and feel the fatigue. But it is surprising how fast the body adapts and bounces back. I am still riding the same training routes as before Ramadan and no joke even though at the end of fasting I have regular set new PB's on Strava covered sections. I am going to continue with a intermittent fasting training program after. BUT a sensible eating plan is also a massive factor in the game. Good luck on your goals.   

[Superspy]

Echoing some of what has been said on here already, when I wanted to lose weight last year I opted for the following:

- Intermittently Fasting - which, for me, meant having breakfast, skipping lunch completely and cutting out snacks, eating again after the kids went to bed at around 7:30\8pm

- Following something more closely resembling a keto-diet, essentially reducing carbs massively and getting energy from fat instead. It's fun watching people react to you eating bacon and eggs fried in butter while 'dieting' haha. I didn't go down the extreme route of almost zero carbs, but I reduced my intake hugely. There are simple steps you can take for this one too... for example, if you like chips\fries, swap them for sweet potato (about half the carb content) or cut some carrots into strips, toss them in olive oil, cumin and paprika and bake them in the oven (almost zero carbs).

- Going for a 30-45 minute jog\run 2 or 3 times a week, either on my lunch break round Lakeside or at Cusworth Hall after work. This made a HUGE difference to my fitness.

As has been said, IF and Keto can be quite hard at first (particularly when combined), but it doesn't take long to get used to it and the results can be fairly dramatic.
Bottom line though, only do things you're comfortable with, and if you aren't enjoying it (the food, the exercise OR the regime) then do something different, as you won't stick at it.

Here's my graph from last year, weight measured daily (which again, isn't for everyone).

[BillyStubbsTears]

Am I reading that graph right? Looking at the black line, did you drop from 13.5st to 11.5st in 2 months?

[Superspy]

Pretty much, yeah. My body has always reacted quickly to changes with this kind of stuff and I believe my weight was artificially high (for want of a better phrase) to start with as a result of the sheer amount of carbs I was eating and zero exercise at the time. I've now increased my carb intake a bit from what I was eating then and am currently maintaining around the 11.5 stone mark.

Going back further, the below graph started at Xmas 14 (weekly weigh ins this time). 15 stone down to 12st 10 in 2 months. The only changes I made that time were
- Cutting out snacking altogether
- Stopping going to Greggs for lunch (not even joking)
- Cutting takeaways down to 1 per week

I wasn't exercising and was still eating a fair amount of carbs (pizza and chips out of the freezer being a common meal), but that greggs lunch of a sandwich, 2 sausage rolls and a sugary drink was a killer.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Wow. That's seriously impressive. You have my admiration. I'm tempted to give that a go as I've been slacking this last 12-18 months and could do with a bit of shock therapy.

[Superspy]

Thank you, although in some ways I feel I don't deserve the plaudits. Many people out there work far harder at it than me and don't get the results. That being said I'm very proud of what I've done, and I feel so much better now than I did then I can't really put it into words. I look back at pictures of me from 4 years ago and wonder how I let myself go like that. The breaking point was hitting that 15 stone mark, looking down and not being able to see my dick...that's about the best shock therapy I could have hoped for, haha.

[Jenny]

I lost 9st and for me it was simple - consume less, exercise more.... I used various methods to consume less such as following weight watchers, slimming world and calorie counting but all diet plans are designed to just get you eating less calories...

I tried intermittent fasting but cant say that I particularly enjoyed it.

I'm looking forward to the challenge of getting back into shape once baby number two arrives, although last time it was definitely harder to focus on eating well in a sleep deprived state.

[Gelan Swift]

Skip for seven years, it will change your metabolism for good, then you'll always be slim.

ps. Diets don't work.

[Jenny]

Skip for seven years, it will change your metabolism for good, then you'll always be slim.

ps. Diets don't work.

I bought a book by Josie Spinardi called how to have your cake and your skinny jeans too which basically says the same thing, diets don't work. Only 0.05% of people lose weight and keep it off long term, and most end up weighing more than when they started.

I can't really get into the book at the minute and I am very sceptical as if 'Hunger Directed Eating' was so simple, then surely no one would be overweight and there would be no diet industry.

[Chris Black come back]

With only a very few exceptions folk have limited will power. ‘Dieting’ is pointless unless it is something you can live with permanently.

Best advice is eat less crap and do more exercise. Sounds like George Whitebread I know but if you really want to lose weight, improve health, etc it needs to be long term and gradually cutting out rubbish and gradually increasing exercise so they are both part of your lifestyle is the way forward - all this will be driven by a realisation that your belt size is dropping and you are no longer wheezing to get up the stairs.

Critically, for any Yorkshireman you will probably also see a few more quid in your pocket by the marginal gain of having that one less pint or pizza.