Attempt No.2 - looking for advice

NiallTTC

NiallTTC

New member
Hi all. This is my second significant weight loss attempt.

At the first time of asking I lost 2st 8lbs in the space of 25 days, back in 2006. I read about and proceeded with a modified juice fast, complimented only by solids in the form of oranges or apples and the weight loss was the result of that. My main problem was that after the weight loss, I put it all back on again as I quickly returned to a lifestyle of takeaways and snacky foods.

Now, in late 2010, I am about to end my second day of a cold water diet. I have read some information on it, and in terms of mental endurance, it sounds like it is on a par. However, I have curbed my calorie intake where it concerns food. Both mornings I have been eating Bran Flakes with semi skimmed milk, followed by an evening snack of a brown bread sandwich or toast.

I fully expect to find myself having lost at least a stone in the next week or two - but my question to others is what I do after this? Does anyone have any advice or steps that I should take in preparation for my body adjusting to the starving I'm giving it? I know before that after 20 days or so, the weight loss reduced to almost nothing despite being 1000+ lower than my calculated daily calorie burn. How do I prevent that shutdown from happening?

Thanks,

Niall
 
NiallTTC said:
Hi all. This is my second significant weight loss attempt.

At the first time of asking I lost 2st 8lbs in the space of 25 days, back in 2006. I read about and proceeded with a modified juice fast, complimented only by solids in the form of oranges or apples and the weight loss was the result of that. My main problem was that after the weight loss, I put it all back on again as I quickly returned to a lifestyle of takeaways and snacky foods.

Now, in late 2010, I am about to end my second day of a cold water diet. I have read some information on it, and in terms of mental endurance, it sounds like it is on a par. However, I have curbed my calorie intake where it concerns food. Both mornings I have been eating Bran Flakes with semi skimmed milk, followed by an evening snack of a brown bread sandwich or toast.

I fully expect to find myself having lost at least a stone in the next week or two - but my question to others is what I do after this? Does anyone have any advice or steps that I should take in preparation for my body adjusting to the starving I'm giving it? I know before that after 20 days or so, the weight loss reduced to almost nothing despite being 1000+ lower than my calculated daily calorie burn. How do I prevent that shutdown from happening?

Thanks,

Niall
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eating... how many cals do you consume a day?
 
So far, I've been trying to keep it to about 500 in a day, allowing for a bowl of Bran flakes and some toast in the afternoon.
 
500 o_O that's way too low. Guys should eat a minimum 1800 and that's rock bottom. But to answer your question, you should always mix up your exercise routine every few weeks, increase intensity and eat a cheat meal during the week to avoid weight loss slowing down.
 
yeah thats very bad basically when u do stupid diets like that as soon as you come off it you gain all your weight because your body is in starvation mode i eat 2000cals a day and been loosing 3lbs a week plus all the lean muscle your body is eating up when u eat that low of cals you probably hardly lost any fat weight... hope you soon realize how bad this is for you and stop it and get on a real lifestyle change.. no wonder you stalled... Also with 500 cals a day you have no energy to work out properly..
 
No, this is the kind of feedback I'm looking for.

I suppose I'm looking for the quick fix but maybe long term there isn't one. Should I be starving myself as much as I am, as I intend to begin doing 30 mins a day on an exercise bike and going for long walks 2-3 times a week and I would hope that it contributes to how many calories I burn?

I hadn't considered that the body would eat muscle as well as fat. Would increasing my exercise levels have any impact on that, or is it just a case of eating an acceptable minimum?
 
scottsblue said:
i think you should back the guy whatever diet he`s on, we cant all be on the low cal diet.
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Why this is basically aneroxia... why would i back that up i wont back up anything thats not healthy and can lead to his death.. i cant belive you think a 500cal a day "die t" should be supported...
 
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NiallTTC said:
No, this is the kind of feedback I'm looking for.

I suppose I'm looking for the quick fix but maybe long term there isn't one. Should I be starving myself as much as I am, as I intend to begin doing 30 mins a day on an exercise bike and going for long walks 2-3 times a week and I would hope that it contributes to how many calories I burn?

I hadn't considered that the body would eat muscle as well as fat. Would increasing my exercise levels have any impact on that, or is it just a case of eating an acceptable minimum?
Click to expand...

Whats your height and weight and im guessing your male.. you need to do weight training while on a reduce cal diet but at 500ish cals i wont matter what you do.. so with you height and weight i can make a better assumption about your cal intake..
 
just for clarification, are you eating 500 calories/ day, or per meal?? And please state what you eat for an entire day to verify that you are counting correctly. 500 calories/ day would be near impossible to actually eat, I am guessing there is some correction we can make to your counting. Have you actually written it out on paper (tracked your calories). I found when I was keeping track in my head, I GREATLY underestimated the amount I was eating, once it was on paper, I had a better idea. Please write down what you eat like so:

Breakfast:
Cereal (2 cups) - 220 calories
Milk (1 cup) - 120 calories

etc. etc., then we can see where 500 comes from.
 
Here's the deal - there are serious health risks if you don't get enough protein in your meals. Even now, most very low calorie diets (VLCD) are only done under doctor supervision.

There are different options on the whole 'fast weight loss' deal. In general, people who lose quickly don't sustain it - in part because once you're not on a liquid diet or whatever else it is, you haven't learned how to eat 'normally' so that you don't gain it back.

You have a couple options long term - I personally favor learning to count calories now so you have an idea how many calories you eat, how many it takes for you to lose weight etc. Then after you get the hang of it, the actual calorie counting becomes optional.

I have my personal 'rules of eating'
1) Get at least 110g of protein a day (this is slightly more than 1g per pound of non-fat body mass)
2) Get at least 20g of fiber (I have cholesterol issues and this helps me)
3) Eat less than 1800 calories a day. (Again, probably more for you. This is around 11 times my weight in pounds)
4) Try to eat foods that are less processed - it's arguable whether or not Cheetos are "food" ;) This is more of a general guideline than a solid restriction.
5) Don't buy foods I know I'm likely to overeat - triscuits can't come home with me any more. I very rarely buy the Skinny Cow bars. Goldfish crackers... Well, anyway, you get the picture.

This isn't the only way to go about it, but it's one that's worked for me.
 
NiallTTC said:
No, this is the kind of feedback I'm looking for.

I suppose I'm looking for the quick fix but maybe long term there isn't one. Should I be starving myself as much as I am, as I intend to begin doing 30 mins a day on an exercise bike and going for long walks 2-3 times a week and I would hope that it contributes to how many calories I burn?

I hadn't considered that the body would eat muscle as well as fat. Would increasing my exercise levels have any impact on that, or is it just a case of eating an acceptable minimum?
Click to expand...

Hey there,
I understand your need to get a quick fix, but these things are always short lived. I lost 100lbs in 2 years. Jesus it was boring. I mean, 4lbs a month, it was so slow it was almost un-noticable. Painfully dull. But now I've maintained the weight for a year and its all good. Couple of setbacks when I quit smoking but now its all back to normal. But basically the type of weight loss you are interested in will take some time. Try to be patient. I know its hard. I would have loved to have lost my weight in 3 months, but I would probably have died.
It is so boring to have to sit and wait for so long to get to your goals but believe me, you will maintain the weight so much more efficiently if you take longer to get to your goals. But like I said, the waiting period is so devastatingly boring and depressing at times. Just keep your chin up and try to distract yourself with other aspects of your life.
:)
 
Hello again everyone. Thank you for the responses.

Having spoken to a number of people, calorie counting seems to be the route that will work best, mentally for me. I'm on Day 4 now and in that time I've lost just over five pounds. I'm drinking approximately 6 pints of cold water a day, but have decided based on advice that I cannot proceed with such an unorthodox method alone.

Meals during the day now consist of:

Bran or alternate cereal with semi skimmed milk for breakfast
Sandwich (usually ham or chicken) for lunch
A light meal (soup or pasta) for dinner

This has been the formula for the past two days. With absolutely no snacking or beer consumption (which was predominantly my problem). I estimate that based on that, my diet is approximately 1500 Calories a day. I'm told that I am probably burning about 2800 in a day, for height, weight etc.

I do feel hungry, but in a very manageable way. It doesn't bother me and I feel very motivated at the moment. I just hope I can keep this up.

Primevci - I am male, 29, 6'1 and (now) 18st 6lbs. I don't drive and therefore walk everywhere, usually 1-2 miles a day (albeit at a leisurely pace).
 
My first set back, undoubtedly was weighing myself for the first time. I had never expected to be much over 18 stone, but to discover three days ago that I was closer to 19 stone was quite a shock.
 
Can I just ask why you feel that you need a gimmicky diet? It's not going to keep the weight off because you just are not learning what you need to do lose weight and keep the weight off.



So you are burning an extra 70 calories a day or so..that's not going to help you lose weight at all. You are drinking 96 oz of water a day..which I might point out is more than even the (now debunked) 8x8..and you know what that does? Calorie-wise you are only burning MAYBE 120 calories a day extra. You aren't going to be able to drink this much forever. Hell, you could be overhydrating which can cause damage to your body. There is such a thing as too much water.

but let's refocus on calories here..you are about 258 pounds. The 'safe' amount of weight loss a week you should aim for is 1% (2.58). In four days, you are twice that. Granted, some of that is initial water weight but look closely at your diet and what you are doing. You think that this is safe? You think that starving yourself and overhydrating is a good idea? I think your numbers are alot lower than you think (I don't see you getting 1500 calories out of what little you said to be honest here). I think you have gotten yourself into a mindset of radical ideas for fast results..but it never lasts and it does more harm than good.

Toss the cold water diet (it's a scam) and read the forum stickies. Weight loss is not hard in theory. The science is there. It is your application that matters.
 
Jericho said:
Toss the cold water diet (it's a scam) and read the forum stickies. Weight loss is not hard in theory. The science is there. It is your application that matters.
Click to expand...

In reality, I don't really believe in any great benefit to drinking cold water other than it actually does force me to drink more water. My water consumption was ridiculously low prior to this. Is 6 pints of water a day too much? It doesn't feel like a lot. Better that it's water, than diet coke, which I usually wouldn't have been far off 4-6 pints of.
 
Jericho said:
Can I just ask why you feel that you need a gimmicky diet? It's not going to keep the weight off because you just are not learning what you need to do lose weight and keep the weight off.
Click to expand...

I don't plan on using a cold water diet as a crux for weight loss. My primary plan is to eat less, but dramatically less. My diet prior to four days ago was:

- No breakfast.

- Lunchtime toastie, pie, chip shop food and/or sandwich, followed usually by a cake or chocolate snack. 3-4 cans of diet coke during the day.

- Takeaway, fast food or microwave meal in the evening, accompanied by 2-3 cans of diet coke and/or 2-3 cans of lager.

- Evening snack food of large bags of crisps and/or chocolate biscuits

I need to change this.
 
1) there actually isn't anything wrong with Diet Coke (ok studies counter but it's not the devil juice)

2) Don't go by the number of pints. Look at your urine. When your urine output is clear to pale straw yellow then you are hydrated just fine.
 
You can make smart changes. We can eat perfectly normal. We can have the 'bad' stuff too. It is all about moderation and education. Have you taken time to read up on nutrition, calorie counts of several things you like to eat? How about learning portion sizes?


KNOWLEDGE is what you are missing.
 
Jericho said:
1) there actually isn't anything wrong with Diet Coke (ok studies counter but it's not the devil juice)

2) Don't go by the number of pints. Look at your urine. When your urine output is clear to pale straw yellow then you are hydrated just fine.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll certainly pay more attention to water consumption. Diet coke is always going to be a necessity for me I guess, as I do spend quite a lot of time in social environments when people are drinking. Simply asking people for a glass of water doesn't really cut it, whereas a Diet Coke is at least round-worthy.

I must admit I am not very well read when it comes to nutrition or diet advice, so this is all very new to me. What I do know however is that my diet prior to deciding to lose weight was absolutely atrocious and with two young children, I don't want to be on death's door when they are growing up.

As ever, I appreciate any and all advice offered. Thank you again.
 
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