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Alien
21-02-2007, 04:43
...or losing pounds & trying not to find them again. :)

Someone suggested the idea of starting a weight loss thread, so here it is. I figure people can post what does & doesn't work for them, as well as acheivements, etc.

As weight naturally tends to fluctuate up & down a couple of pounds on a regular basis, it's too soon to know if the nice surprise I got when I weighed myself a few minutes ago is worth celebrating yet. Having said that, so far this year I've lost about 1/2 a stone. :)

lauzjp
21-02-2007, 08:21
amongst other things - I had a fried egg sandwich yesterday. very bad. (very yummy though!) unless I say I'm going to go atkins again... ;) lol. must go fill out my fitday thingy.

& must get on the rower before my mum comes up to visit today. :o:

best of luck to all fellow dieters - how do you all cope with cravings and hunger pangs?

Ramrod
21-02-2007, 09:19
Take in a little less energy than you expend and you will slowly lose weight :shrug:

Pia
21-02-2007, 09:40
Take in a little less energy than you expend and you will slowly lose weight :shrug:
You skinny people make it sound so easy ;)

zing_deleted
21-02-2007, 10:21
It is that simple. www.fitday.com (http://www.fitday.com) will give you a figure that is your burnt calories per day. This of course depends on certain factors the most important one is breakfast if you do not have it your metabolic rate slows so you body uses less energy all day so always have breakfast.

At 23 stone my body was burning well over 3000 calories a day and the heavier you are the more energy your body needs to literally do nothing. So by consuming 1500 calories a day I was burning 1500 a day in fat . 4000 calories = 1 lb of fat so in about 2 and half days id lost a lb.

My breakfast.. Every day I have a smoothie. In the summer I just blend fresh fruit and drink it about a pint. This will provide a good carb load and kick start the body on a daily basis. Over the winter ive adapted it. Basically I cook the fruit. An Apple a Pear a banana some strawberries cooked in the microwave for 5 mins and then blended . This is very nice ;)

Lunches . Well a salad obviously is a good choice but a couple of slices of toast or a low fat soup would be fine.

Dinners. I basically buy large amounts of boneless skinless chicken breasts and freeze it in 300 - 400 gram bags . I cook a portion of this in either a weightwatchers soup or Asda low fat varients with a few mushrooms onions or anything you fancy. The soups make these meals although similar but taste totally different so you do not get bored,just simmer in a pan till all is cooked simple and serve with a small amount of rice or pasta.

Snacks. Fruit as much as you want I also bought the low fat asda desserts or weightwatchers. Skinny cow ice creams are all less than 100 cals per treat and they are a treat very nice,Eat a few dont feel guilty

The worst thing you can do is repress yourself if you do you will fail you will crave foods and eventually you will crash and burn so if you fancy a treat have a treat just make sure you have healthy goodies in the house and reduce the amount of high fat high calorie treats in the house. I knwo this is hard with kids but having healthy treats in the house will help with the kids diet as well


This is the Zing diet it works some guys in the NTHWCLAN know how big I was and Bopdude and Stu have seen me since I lost a lot of it so my diet does work.
I have not mentioned exercise I deliberately didnt because a lot of people just do not want to do any. If you do then of course it will help but simple steps can be made walk a bit more use steps instead of lifts this will make a difference. Good luck to anyone wanting to lose weight . I can tell you once you cut out the rubbish in your diet you will feel so much better even without having lost a lot of weight.
I feel like a different person to what I did :)

Delta Whiskey
21-02-2007, 12:01
The Paul McKenna Diet is interesting, it boils down to this:
Eat only when you are feeling hungry (drink some water first to see if it really is hunger). If you are really hungry eat whatever you want, but put your fork down after each mouthful, chew slowly and savor everything.

The one thing I've learned is you mustn't crash diet, aim to lose a maximum of 2lbs per week. Anything more than that is not fat loss but lean muscle loss, you're body goes into starvation mode and starts storing fat, the very opposite of what you're trying to achieve.

DW

andygrif
21-02-2007, 15:08
I can say what worked for me.... be anal about the amount of fat you eat to lose weight. I lost a stone a month over two months. I was manic, even rejecting low-fat margarine (which isn't low fat really at 20% fat) in favour of Philadelphia Extra Light, used instead of marg (4% fat).

What I didn't change much was sugar intake...I continued to drink coffee with Semi Skimmed milk, not skimmed, and I still put a teaspoon of sugar in.

The other thing that kept me sane was a treat once a week - usually a take away, but not going mad...chinese with boiled rice etc.

I went back to eating normally (although a lot less, as my stomach had shrunk) at the end of the two months, and I have not put the weight back on - that was five years ago. And I'm no health freak...I don't exercise that much and I often eat junk food due to my lack of time to cook.

Here's a typcial day's intake:

Breakfast - Cereal bar - <1g fat.
Lunch - Sandwhich (usually chicken or ham salad) - 6g fat (inc bread)
Dinner - Approx 10-15g fat.

Given that they suggest you intake 70g a day (for a man) for weightloss, this is obviously quite a lot less, but I rarely got very hungry, and if I did I ate some fruit or one of those zero fat crispbake things.

Good luck to those who are trying now.

zing_deleted
21-02-2007, 15:12
imm addicted to philli xl ;)

Maggy
21-02-2007, 15:26
You skinny people make it sound so easy ;)


Ok Pia please tell me or pm me your weight,height,age and dress size and we will see who is truly fat..I supect that it isn't you.;)

Pia
21-02-2007, 15:35
Ok Pia please tell me or pm me your weight,height,age and dress size and we will see who is truly fat..I supect that it isn't you.;)
lol well i've seen bigger people, but i'm still overweight!:D

Then again, i can't be bothered to start on a diet, and actually thinking about what i eat cos i don't eat excessively as it is so i'll accept being a stone or so overweight for now :disturbd:

Ramrod
21-02-2007, 15:53
You skinny people make it sound so easy ;) oops: :D

Alien
21-02-2007, 18:38
It is that simple. www.fitday.com (http://www.fitday.com) will give you a figure that is your burnt calories per day.
Hmm... I just had a quick look, & it does look interesting, I may even give it a go some time soon. :) I like that they have a bit of software for a low 1-time fee, though I'd like it more if there was a [for example] 30 day trial of it, but considering the price & the exchange rate I guess it's not so bad.

At 23 stone my body was burning well over 3000 calories a day and the heavier you are the more energy your body needs to literally do nothing. So by consuming 1500 calories a day I was burning 1500 a day in fat . 4000 calories = 1 lb of fat so in about 2 and half days id lost a lb.
That's the prob I have with the calorie part of my treadmill's computer, it doesn't ask for height, weight, or age, just gives a reading based on time & speed. Last nite it reported I'd burnt 321 [86+235*] calories, although if I understand the way things work correctly it'd be a bit more than that.

*I say that because I initially set it for 1.5k [you can set a countdown alarm type thing for time, distance, or calories], but after about 16mins/1k I decided I was gonna go for a full hour, but to change the countdown thingy you have to reset it. I set it for another 44 mins, but to do that I had to reset it which clears everything. The problem with that is, IIRC, the rate at which calories are burnt goes up after about 20 mins.

My breakfast.. Every day I have a smoothie. In the summer I just blend fresh fruit and drink it about a pint. This will provide a good carb load and kick start the body on a daily basis. Over the winter ive adapted it. Basically I cook the fruit. An Apple a Pear a banana some strawberries cooked in the microwave for 5 mins and then blended . This is very nice ;)
I've considered the idea of smoothies, but I don't think I could hack it. I'm very much a creature of habit, so if I change anything it has to be bits at a time. For years now my breakfast has always been a mug of orange juice, some form of cereal or whatever, & a coffee. It used to be cornflakes with milk & sugar, but now it's Oatso Simple [plain, not 1 of the flavoured varieties], made with water instead of milk, & a dollup of honey.

Lunches . Well a salad obviously is a good choice but a couple of slices of toast or a low fat soup would be fine.
No wonder you lost weight so fast.! I like a salad now & then [with salad cream, of course ;)], but my "lunch" [to me, lunch carries with it an implication of a time of day as well, & with me it can vary widely] consists of sandwiches [1x marmite, 1x peanut butter, & 1x mashed banana], a pack of crisps, & a cup of tea. I used to have blackcurrant jam instead of banana, but that's like 60% sugar, & mashed banana is fairly sweet anyway, so I figure the banana's better. Oh, also, I don't have marge or butter in my sarnies - it's just bread & the filling, marge seems to spoil the taste of the filling for me.

Dinners. I basically buy large amounts of boneless skinless chicken breasts and freeze it in 300 - 400 gram bags . I cook a portion of this in either a weightwatchers soup or Asda low fat varients with a few mushrooms onions or anything you fancy. The soups make these meals although similar but taste totally different so you do not get bored,just simmer in a pan till all is cooked simple and serve with a small amount of rice or pasta.
Dinner is my failing point, sort of. Remember what you said about missing meals & the metabolic rate? Well, I sometimes miss my evening meal, so that's probably played a part in my weight gain, so I'm trying a bit harder with that. Usually I have a couple of vegetarian "vegetable quarter pounders", mash & 225g of Tesco Special mixed veg.

As for the veggie burgers, I was having the Tesco ones, but the Co-op near me recently started doing a brand called Grassingtons, which taste pretty much the same, but are made with sunflower oil instead of HVO [hydrogenated vegetable oil], which is what the Tesco ones have]. Anyone wanting to lose weight should try to reduce the amount of HVO they consume (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fat). If you don't want to miss out on a particular food item, just find a brand that uses normal vegetable, sunflower, etc oil instead of HVO.

Snacks. Fruit as much as you want I also bought the low fat asda desserts or weightwatchers. Skinny cow ice creams are all less than 100 cals per treat and they are a treat very nice,Eat a few dont feel guilty
I generally tend to avoid treats, & actually manage it about 1/2 the time. :)

The worst thing you can do is repress yourself if you do you will fail you will crave foods and eventually you will crash and burn so if you fancy a treat have a treat just make sure you have healthy goodies in the house and reduce the amount of high fat high calorie treats in the house.
As long as I don't go shopping when I'm hungry [always a bad idea if it can be avoided], I usually manage to avoid buying things I shouldn't [like those sinfully gorgeous little chocolate pudding things they do in the Co-op - 250 calories each! :Yikes:].

I have not mentioned exercise I deliberately didnt because a lot of people just do not want to do any. If you do then of course it will help but simple steps can be made walk a bit more use steps instead of lifts this will make a difference. Good luck to anyone wanting to lose weight . I can tell you once you cut out the rubbish in your diet you will feel so much better even without having lost a lot of weight.
I feel like a different person to what I did :)
I'm not really an outdoor sort of person, which is why having the treadmill helps, as I can just have the lights low [me & bright light do not mix well], music on, let my eyes go out of focus & just sort of put my brain on auto-pilot. :)

The one thing I've learned is you mustn't crash diet, aim to lose a maximum of 2lbs per week. Anything more than that is not fat loss but lean muscle loss, you're body goes into starvation mode and starts storing fat, the very opposite of what you're trying to achieve.
I'd like to lose more than 2 pounds a week, but I'm aiming to do it from exercise, not dieting.

I can say what worked for me.... be anal about the amount of fat you eat to lose weight.
That reminds me of a joke about a monkey who used to eat anything, but became a bit more cautious after eating a pool ball. :D

What I didn't change much was sugar intake...I continued to drink coffee with Semi Skimmed milk, not skimmed, and I still put a teaspoon of sugar in.
Yeah, I couldn't have my coffee without sugar. Also, I don't use milk, I use a slightly-less-than-heaped teaspoon of Coffeemate.

The other thing that kept me sane was a treat once a week - usually a take away, but not going mad...chinese with boiled rice etc.
I'm kinda the opposite in a weird sort of way. I don't usually need treats [unless I'm having a really bad day], but rely more on having the stuff I normally eat - if I forget to get something from the shops, or run out, then that can tend to throw my discipline out of the window.

lol well i've seen bigger people, but i'm still overweight!:D

Then again, i can't be bothered to start on a diet, and actually thinking about what i eat cos i don't eat excessively as it is so i'll accept being a stone or so overweight for now :disturbd:
You're moaning about those "skinny people" and you're only a stone over weight?!?! Why I oughta.... http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alien42/smilies/troutslap.gif Flippin' cheek!

peanut
21-02-2007, 18:49
I'm 35 years old, (male), 5ft10in and I weigh just over 8st on a good day. I'd love to be able to put weight on and 'look' a bit healthier. I have to eat just to stay visable (and alive).

Being overweight a few pounds here and there is fine, When people moan becuase the are over weigth by a pound or two is just being stupid.

I sympathise with people on the opposite scale of myself, that have to watch every single thing they eat, that must be a nightmare.

Enuff
21-02-2007, 19:02
Drink plenty of water, it works wonders!

TheDaddy
21-02-2007, 19:15
I'm 35 years old, (male), 5ft10in and I weigh just over 8st on a good day. I'd love to be able to put weight on and 'look' a bit healthier. I have to eat just to stay visable (and alive).

Being overweight a few pounds here and there is fine, When people moan becuase the are over weigth by a pound or two is just being stupid.

I sympathise with people on the opposite scale of myself, that have to watch every single thing they eat, that must be a nightmare.

You could always try 'eating' a milkshake :erm:

highlandlassie
21-02-2007, 19:16
I joined Weight Watchers on 20/7/06. I weighed in at 13stones 12.5lbs. I decided on the points diet - you are allowed a certain amount of points a day, and could still eat what you like, as long as it was within your daily points.


My next weigh in is tomorrow. As of last week I weighed in at 11stone 5.5 lbs - a total loss of 35lbs so far .(2 stone 7 lbs):)

I was a size 16/18 and now a size 12 in most clothes, still a size 14 in jeans

Alien
21-02-2007, 19:17
I'm 35 years old, (male), 5ft10in and I weigh just over 8st on a good day. I'd love to be able to put weight on and 'look' a bit healthier. I have to eat just to stay visable (and alive).
I can't remember when I was last 8 stone! :Yikes: I'd settle for somewhere around the 13-14 stone mark.

I sympathise with people on the opposite scale of myself, that have to watch every single thing they eat, that must be a nightmare.
I'm lucky in that respect, as long as I stick to my routine [food-wise], I'm ok, it's lack of exercise that's my problem.

Drink plenty of water, it works wonders!
Last night's stint on the treadmill made me wonder how much of my weight is water, I had to literally ring my t-shirt out over the sink afterwards!

peanut
21-02-2007, 19:27
You could always try 'eating' a milkshake :erm:

I was waiting/asking for that, lol. It's not quite that simple I'm afraid, I wish it was though.

Alien
21-02-2007, 19:42
You could always try 'eating' a milkshake :erm:I was waiting/asking for that, lol. It's not quite that simple I'm afraid, I wish it was though.
I don't get it. :confused: Though it does remind me of something I had when I was in a US branch of Wendy's, many, many moons ago [1984, IIRC]. It was called a Frosty (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frosty), & was sort of a cross between a milkshake & icecream.

peanut
21-02-2007, 20:09
I don't get it. :confused: Though it does remind me of something I had when I was in a US branch of Wendy's, many, many moons ago [1984, IIRC]. It was called a Frosty (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frosty), & was sort of a cross between a milkshake & icecream.

I've been on countless 'milkshake' diets, they are not your usual milkshakes but ones that contain lots of vitamins and calories etc, elderly people take them as suppliments (build up) etc, they are usually prescribed milkshakes. (They don't taste like milkshake either and they are totally disgusting).

And when you've had to go on those disgusting shakes and have nothing but them for weeks (no solid foods at all), you soon get a phobia about them, if I get within a 1 mile radius of an open bottle of them I will throw up continuously, lol.

So "You could always try eating a shake" to me is more like try one of those shakes and lose even more of my non existant weight through throwing up constantly after 'eating' one.

I've have a dietician and even she know's it's a pointless effort, normalilty/common sense does get thrown through the window.

And for the record, I have Crohn's disease, (20 years since diagnosed), a stricture, and kidney disease (and unfortunately quite a lot more that just that, but no need to go into that here), I mention kidney disease as well because most of the medication for either contradict each other so I basically don't take anything at the moment apart from painkillers (lots of) . (Tried all the usuals from Pred, to Entocorts - for the Salo's here).

Being fat is like being skinny, I'd give anything to be able to be fat, and fat people would love to be me, but reality isn't that simple. I feel exactly the same as someone who is obese, the stares, the "eat more, try a milkshake"s, which I could take offence but after hearing the same things millions of times it's comical.

I know what obese people feel like, but tody's society is most geared up about obese people, what they should and shouldn't do etc etc and people who are very underweight just get told to 'eat more'.

Alien
21-02-2007, 21:01
I've been on countless 'milkshake' diets, they are not your usual milkshakes but ones that contain lots of vitamins and calories etc, elderly people take them as suppliments (build up) etc, they are usually prescribed milkshakes. (They don't taste like milkshake either and they are totally disgusting).
Oooh, those things. Not had any of them, though I did once try Slimfast [chocolate]. :sick: Never again! I suppose they could have improved them by now [it was over a decade ago].

And when you've had to go on those disgusting shakes and have nothing but them for weeks (no solid foods at all), you soon get a phobia about them, if I get within a 1 mile radius of an open bottle of them I will throw up continuously, lol.
LMAO!

lauzjp
22-02-2007, 07:16
I joined Weight Watchers on 20/7/06. I weighed in at 13stones 12.5lbs. I decided on the points diet - you are allowed a certain amount of points a day, and could still eat what you like, as long as it was within your daily points.


My next weigh in is tomorrow. As of last week I weighed in at 11stone 5.5 lbs - a total loss of 35lbs so far .(2 stone 7 lbs):)

I was a size 16/18 and now a size 12 in most clothes, still a size 14 in jeans

well done! :tu: do you exercise too?

djstevie
22-02-2007, 08:51
I was roughly 3 stone overweight and started that Cambridge Diet over 3 weeks ago. So far i've lost 21lbs in 3 weeks. Almost half way there.

ikthius
22-02-2007, 09:07
DIETS DON'T WORK

sorry just had to be said.

Healthy eating smaller portions more often is vital to keep your metabolism working at peak performance.

don't consume more calories than you have to, burn off as many as you can with exercise (fitness level taken into consideration).

Remember you burn more just by being alive, so whatever else you burn off is a bonus.

if exercising...
don't just do the CV, do weights too. More muscles mean more burning of calories to keep the muscles alive, this in turn increases your metabolism, which increases your fat burning potential.

Work on your core region so as to flatten your tummy, I prefer the swiss (fit/reebok/gym) ball for this, as your not stable and you have to work your transverse abdomins as well as your rectus abdominis, External/internal obliques, erector spinae muscles so your full core region is working on keeping you stable and helping you do your exercises, see an instructor.
This flattening of the tummy will help you feel slimmer.

and lets be honest its feeling slimmer that you all want, with a flatter tummy......

well remember BMI (Body Mass Index) is a lot of rubbish. How can Rugby players who are very very fit be obese when they have less fat than most people? but lowering your Body Fat % is what you want, so have this checked regularly.

please, if you have to "diet" just eat sensibly. just exercise sensibly, don't kill yourself.

ik

Pia
22-02-2007, 11:03
I was roughly 3 stone overweight and started that Cambridge Diet over 3 weeks ago. So far i've lost 21lbs in 3 weeks. Almost half way there.
:Yikes: That's 7lb a week, too much too fast!!

TheNorm
22-02-2007, 11:49
I was roughly 3 stone overweight and started that Cambridge Diet over 3 weeks ago. So far i've lost 21lbs in 3 weeks. Almost half way there.

The Cambridge Diet is an excellent product - a great deal of research has gone into it, and if you follow the instructions you will lose weight at a phenomenal rate.

The only downside is that most people put the weight back on when they come off the diet. To avoid this, you have to change the way you think about food, which is very difficult.

highlandlassie
22-02-2007, 18:25
Hi Lauzjp - no exercise at present - but starting next week hopefully to tone up. Basically I am still eating the same, only cutting down on portion size and eating lots more fruit and veg. Soon as I reach my goal, treating myself to a sliced roll or chip buttie:)

homealone
22-02-2007, 19:38
There has been some good stuff in this thread, but I must point out that not all fat is bad. It is an essential part of a balanced diet, especially as some vitamins need fat to be absorbed properly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin

Also, Calorie-wise, there is no difference between 'types' of fat - monounsaturated, hydrogenated, polyunsaturated all have the same 9 Calories per gram - protein & carbohydrates for comparison are 4 Calories, per gram, less than half the Calorific value of fat.

However, given we must eat some fat, it is better to stick with monosaturated & polyunsaturated, where possible, and to try to have some omega3 fats (which are polyunsaturated), with that (oily fish are best, sardines, herring, mackerel, for example).

I agree that hydrogenated & saturated fats are best avoided - especially if they say they are 'partially hydrogenated', as they can contain the trans fats which contribute to high levels of 'bad' cholesterol. ('fully hydrogenated' fats actually contain no trans fats, but are still not good for you)

Alien
23-02-2007, 00:54
This flattening of the tummy will help you feel slimmer.

and lets be honest its feeling slimmer that you all want, with a flatter tummy......
Considering that's where the majority of my excess weight is, I have to agree. :D

well remember BMI (Body Mass Index) is a lot of rubbish. How can Rugby players who are very very fit be obese when they have less fat than most people?
IIRC, it's becuse muscle tissue is more dense, so weighs more per volume than fat, yes?

There has been some good stuff in this thread, but I must point out that not all fat is bad. It is an essential part of a balanced diet,
True.

Also, Calorie-wise, there is no difference between 'types' of fat - monounsaturated, hydrogenated, polyunsaturated all have the same 9 Calories per gram - protein & carbohydrates for comparison are 4 Calories, per gram, less than half the Calorific value of fat.
The reason I mentioned it was not about calorie value, but about the fact [apparently] that hydrogenated/trans fats actually interfere-with/hinder the body's ability to use the fats we do need.

and to try to have some omega3 fats (which are polyunsaturated), with that (oily fish are best, sardines, herring, mackerel, for example).
Or Flaxseed oil [for vegetarians].

ikthius
23-02-2007, 08:43
IIRC, it's becuse muscle tissue is more dense, so weighs more per volume than fat, yes?


basically yes.

MBI = weight divided by height
BMI = Kg/m2

So if your a rugby player who can run for the whole game, have a VO2 (mls of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute) of 49 or above (METs of 14 or above) have a % body fat of say 16, but are 18 stone then yes your BMI will say your obese.
Although the %BF says your fine, your VO2/METs say your fit

thats why, I dont like the BMI. I tell the clients I deal with that this result is pointless to know, stick with body fat %, VO2/METs result, HR (resting and how quick it recovers after exercise), all the other basic ones, but mainly How do they feel? this is the most important factor.
ik

Nidge
23-02-2007, 22:09
Fats we need them to live

'Fat' is a word which conjures up negative thoughts when we hear it; we tend to mentally associate the word with poor nutrition and we have traditionally been encouraged to cut down of levels of fat in our diet in order to promote good health. Confusingly, more recently some advocators of the low carbohydrate eating regimens have been telling us to eat more fat.

So, who is right? The answer: neither and both! Now you're even more confused, this article will try to unravel the issues which have been made unnecessarily over-complicated!

Nutrition experts often tell us that we need to eat 'good fats' in order to grow muscle. Whilst certain fatty acids are essential in our diet for good health, (as discussed below) the direct effect of consuming these to stimulate muscle growth is debatable. Obviously, as bodybuilders, we desire optimum health to keep well in order to train hard and grow more efficiently, which naturally includes looking after our heart and circulatory system.

And in the real world, I find it hard to believe that people who declare on paper a 'perfect' low fat meal plan, in practice actually do stick to their regimen rigidly, and most of us don't really consume a diet rock bottom low in total fat intake. So then, why do we need to add extra fats? Surely we're getting all of these, and won't more fat in our diet prevent us from cutting?

I am going to discuss the use of fats and essential fatty acids from a fitness and bodybuilding angle. However if anyone wishes to read more into fat manipulation and heart health I thoroughly recommend the book The Heart Disease Breakthrough - The 10-Step Program that can save your Life by Yannios (1999).

Types of Fatty Acids
Fat is an essential macronutrient (if you haven't come across the word 'macronutrient' before it refers to the big nutrients: protein, carbohydrate and fat; whereas 'micronutrient' refers to vitamins and minerals). We need fat for a number of healthy body functions, and without it we die. Moreover, some fatty acids are 'essential' due to the fact that vertebrates lack an enzyme involved in their metabolism, or that insufficient amounts of that fatty acid can be synthesized in the body for it to function effectively for good health.

Fatty acids are the simplest unit of fat. There are a large number of fatty acids which differ in respect of their chain length and their structure. Saturated fatty acids (SFAs) are those which have no double bonds in their structure, whereas unsaturated fats have one double bond (monounsaturates) or more than one double bond (polyunsaturates) in their chain. Fatty acids can also differ in structure at the point of the double bond, making them trans fatty acids which in turn makes the whole molecule look and act somewhat like a saturated fatty acid.

SFAs are most commonly found in foods of animal origin such as meat and dairy produce and trans fats are formed from the hydrogenation of fats (for confectionary and some margarines). Both these groups should be kept to a minimum as they can adversely affect blood cholesterol levels.

Monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) are found in high amounts in olive, rapeseed and flaxseed (linseed) oils. Consuming more of these fats as a proportion of our total fat intake may reduce our LDL or 'bad' cholesterol level, whilst keeping HDL or 'good' cholesterol levels high.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are more complicated to explain due to the fact that they are subdivided into three categories depending on where their first double bond appears: omega-3, omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids (omega may sometimes be abbreviated to ω or Ω). As a general rule increasing levels of PUFAs in our diet as a proportion of total energy intake, has been shown to help reduce the total cholesterol level, however this unfortunately also means the HDL level may be reduced.

Strictly speaking only the fatty acid linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid, is essential as it cannot be synthesised by the body at all (Hunt & Groff 1990). However, some omega-3 PUFAs may also be essential, principally α-linolenic acid (ALA1). However, the omega-3s eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) could be viewed as 'conditionally' essential. Also 'conditionally' essential are arachidonic acid (AA) and γ-linolenic acid (GLA) as they reduce the dietary requirement for linoleic acid.

The essential and 'conditionally' essential fatty acids, their classification and principle dietary sources


Fatty acid Type of PUFA Rich dietary source
Linoleic acid Omega-6 Corn, safflower, sunflower, soyabean, peanut oils
α-linolenic acid (ALA) Omega-3 Flaxseed, soyabean, rapeseed oils
Arachidonic acid (AA) Omega-6 Small amounts in animal fats
γ-linolenic acid (GLA) Omega-6 Corn, safflower, sunflower, soyabean oils
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) Omega-3 Oily fish
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) Omega-3 Oily fish

Essential Fatty Acid Supplementation
One of the most frequently asked supplement questions at the moment is 'Do I need to take essential fatty acid (EFA) supplements?' The answer to this is some of us may benefit from using EFA supplements whereas others may not; it depends on your diet and lifestyle.

The modern Western diet is abundant in omega-6s from vegetable oils used in commercial cooking. Also eating a balanced varied diet means it's very easy to get a sufficient intake of linoleic acid and AA. This has actually lead to a situation where our intakes of omega-6s are too high in respect of our omega-3s. The optimal ratio of omega-6:omega-3 is as close to 1:1 as possible, however in the UK diet the figure is more like 6:1 or in some areas as much as 20:1. The benefits of a good intake of omega-3s are well documented and they have been associated in numerous studies with good cardiovascular health, reduction in some cancers, improvement in brain function and possibly enhanced athletic performance. You may be interested to know that some population studies have revealed that areas where the ratio of consumption of omega-6:omega-3 is high, cardiovascular disease rates are also high, and in regions where the ratio is nearer to 1:1 the incidence of cardiovascular diseases are significantly lower.

Bodybuilders often consume a lot of oily fish - salmon, mackerel, sardines, pilchards, trout and even tuna - due to their high quality protein content. These fish are also very high in EPA and DHA and so their regular intake is encouraged. However vegetarians obviously do not consume fish, so will need to get their omega-3s from flaxseed oil or from sprinkling ground linseeds on their salads.

Flaxseed oil is a great source of omega-3s and also contains significant amounts of MUFAs. If you are not getting enough of these fatty acids from your food, it may be an idea to supplement your diet with a tablespoon daily. Flaxseed oil is great poured over salads or mixed in fruit juice. However, do not heat flaxseed oil as it is not suitable for cooking with. Rapeseed oil also contains good amounts of omega-3s and is high in MUFAs, and as it can be heated, is a suitable cooking oil, but make sure the rapeseed oil you buy is labelled 'low in erucic acid'. Another good choice of fat to use in cooking is virgin olive oil which is very high in MUFAs.

Cod liver oil supplements have been available for decades but offer little benefit in respect of fatty acid supplementation, as the doses of EFA are quite low. More recently many fish oil supplements have appeared on the market. If you'd prefer to take a capsule than improve your nutrition or incorporate an oil into your diet make sure you choose a good quality fish oil supplement, as some cheaper ones have ineffective low doses of fatty acids and haven't been treated properly in the manufacturing process, becoming rancid and effectively useless.

Optimum oil blends are currently also very trendy concoctions to use as part of a health and fitness supplement stack. These include formulas like Udo's Oil, which is claimed to provide the correct 'ratios' of essential PUFAs. However, as these do not take into account people's individual diets and what EFAs they obtain from their food, which will obviously vary greatly in total fat and fatty acid quantities, I feel it would be preferable to ensure good intake from food and oils, as opposed to formulated blends.

Whilst any keen athlete or bodybuilder should keep their fat intake fairly low, they should be cautious not to consume too little, or they will be limiting themselves of a good source of energy. We also need to ensure we are including good levels of EFAs to ensure efficient metabolic functioning and adequate energy levels for optimal performance.


Key Points:
Cut down the amounts of saturated and trans fats in your diet
Include foods and oils rich in monounsaturated fats
Maintain a moderate intake of omega-6 polyunsaturates
Increase your intake of omega-3 fats by consuming oily fish, flaxseed oil or ground linseeds - you may wish to do this by supplementation
Enjoy your food!


'Men should eat 2500 calories a day, woman 500 less.' So state Government recommendations (1)
'The more muscle you have, the more calories you need.'
'The body doesn't use carbs after 5pm.'
'65% of your maximum heart rate equates to fat loss.'

All Carbs are not equal.

Well briefly all carbs are not created equal.
Some people have no problems what so ever with carbohydrates. Others do. About 1/3 of all people have problems with carbohydrates spiking blood sugar levels. When this happens insulin raises to accommodate the rise in blood sugar and insulin is a storage hormone. Of all the hormones if there were a tug of war insulin would win. So insulin’s job is to store that last meal (high blood sugar) as fat. The problem with that is this. When the insulin stores that last meal as fat the brain calls for more carbohydrates because the brain did not get any carbohydrates. Your brain is the single biggest carbohydrate hog in the body. Carbohydrates store in muscle tissue and the liver but if the brain is starving for the carbs and the last meal stored them as fat then you will eat again. Well guess what if you are spiking your blood sugars again with carbohydrates the insulin will rise again and store that meal as fat as well.
To slow down the spiking of blood sugars there are a number of things you can do like:
1. eat carbs low in the glycemic index.
2. eat a protein, fat and fiber with the carbs.
3. keep the carbs pretty low.
4. carbs exit the stomach really fast and if you eat a protein with it you will get more stable blood sugars. By doing that you will not get sleepy after a meal, have more constant energy and get carbohydrate cravings which is not good. There is actually people that have an addiction to carbohydrates. Now that can be a problem especially if the carbs are high in the glycemic index and you are prone to spiking of blood sugars. Also after prolonged periods of time the pancreas gets kind of worn out and you can be a candidate of Type 2 diabetes.
So if you are prone to that kindof condition modification of the diet might be in order if you want to keep the weight down. Remember later on in life your metabolism will slow and some point in time you will need to modify it.

Most of all people eat plenty of fruit, veg, EFA's like peanut butter and dried nuts, plenty of fish like Salmon high in omega 3 and protien, for a great snack mix some quark with peanut butter, cottage cheese is also a good source of protein plus it's low in carbs and fat.

Try this site http://www.caloriesperhour.com/ and this one http://www.nutritiondata.com/ and this one http://www.peter-thomson.co.uk/foodc/protein_food_lists.html

idi banashapan
23-02-2007, 22:16
It tend to find not buying 'fatty'/'bad-for-you' foods and doing exercise work well. If it isn't in the cupboard, it's not gonna get eaten.

Nidge
23-02-2007, 22:21
It tend to find not buying 'fatty'/'bad-for-you' foods and doing exercise work well. If it isn't in the cupboard, it's not gonna get eaten.

If your on a diet you need one cheat day a week where you can eat what you want (in moderation of course), this will raise your leptin levels fooling your body into thinking that the diet is over thus increasing your metobolic rate thus burning more fat when you ease off the calories the next day, it's called refueling your system it's the same as refueling a car, when it's fueled up it runs better the body works much the same.

homealone
23-02-2007, 22:37
The reason I mentioned it was not about calorie value, but about the fact [apparently] that hydrogenated/trans fats actually interfere-with/hinder the body's ability to use the fats we do need.


Or Flaxseed oil [for vegetarians].


afaik, fully hydrogenated fats behave just like 'normal' saturated fats, but the partially hydrogenated ones with trans fatty acids are, as you say, not metabolised in the same way.

- sorry, btw, I didn't mean to sound as if I was contradicting you :)

- I only found out recently that dairy products also contain trans fats, due to the digestion process in cattle, so butter & cheese and cream could be quite significant sources - damn :erm:

Flaxseed oil doesn't contain the 'full range' of omega3 fatty acids, but has one that oily fish doesn't, so a combination would probably be best ;) - to think I used to use it to waterproof my cricket bat :D

SMHarman
23-02-2007, 22:54
<snip>
thats why, I dont like the BMI. I tell the clients I deal with that this result is pointless to know, stick with body fat %, VO2/METs result, HR (resting and how quick it recovers after exercise), all the other basic ones, but mainly How do they feel? this is the most important factor.
ikBut Body fat % is notoriously difficult to measure if you are dehydrated your body fat % improves, if you are overhydrated it gets worse (or the otherway round I forget).

idi banashapan
23-02-2007, 23:52
If your on a diet you need one cheat day a week where you can eat what you want (in moderation of course), this will raise your leptin levels fooling your body into thinking that the diet is over thus increasing your metobolic rate thus burning more fat when you ease off the calories the next day, it's called refueling your system it's the same as refueling a car, when it's fueled up it runs better the body works much the same.

Eat well and play some sport. Fresh fruit and veg, make dinners from scratch (no frozen / processed rubbish) and a little run-around a couple of times a week, job done. The whole thing about people going on 'diets', is that by definition, it means they are chanmging their habitual eating habits in order to lose weight, seemingly with intention to NOT continue eating in that manner (ie - the way the diet dictates) once the 'goal' weight has been met. Why not just eat well all the time anyway? Then you won't get unhappy with your weight in the first place...

All you have to do is stop eating when you are full. The problem is that as kids, we were always taught to finish our plate. Fine if you spend ALL day running about, but as adults, we need to get out that habit of feeling guilty if you leave food. Well, just save it for later if you FEEL hungry again. People seem to eat at certain times of the day because of habit, rather than because they are actually hungry. Listen to your body more, look at the clock less.

Alien
24-02-2007, 05:23
afaik, fully hydrogenated fats behave just like 'normal' saturated fats, but the partially hydrogenated ones with trans fatty acids are, as you say, not metabolised in the same way.
From what I could find on Wikipedia, it seems you're right [re: fully vs. partially hydrogenated], however...
Originally posted on Wikipedia
Hydrogenation is widely applied to the processing of vegetable oils and fats. Complete hydrogenation converts unsaturated fatty acids to saturated ones. In practice the process is not usually carried to completion. Since the original oils usually contain more than one double bond per molecule (that is, they are poly-unsaturated), the result is usually described as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil; that is some, but usually not all, of the double bonds in each molecule have been reduced.

Also, I may be wrong, but it seems as if companies who use PHVOs have just been listing them as HVOs. I remember noticing a couple of products whose ingredients used to list HVO changed their labelling to a more ambiguous "vegetable oils" very shortly after that documentary on BBC1 about trans fats [presented, IIRC, by Top Gear's Hamster]. I can't remember what the other was, but I'm pretty sure 1 was Nutella.

- sorry, btw, I didn't mean to sound as if I was contradicting you :)
Don't worry about it. :)

- I only found out recently that dairy products also contain trans fats, due to the digestion process in cattle, so butter & cheese and cream could be quite significant sources - damn :erm:
Contain, yes - significant compared to food products made with [P]HVO, no [except products that have specially been reformulated to reduce trans fats].

Flaxseed oil doesn't contain the 'full range' of omega3 fatty acids, but has one that oily fish doesn't, so a combination would probably be best ;)
Except vegetarians don't eat fish [or they wouldn't be vegetarians :)].

- to think I used to use it to waterproof my cricket bat :D
I doubt it would have been the edible variety, it gets boiled to make it more suitable for use on wood, but IIRC that renders it unsuitable for human consumption.

P.S. 1hr, 4.5km, 343calories, & 1 knackered Alien. :D

Nidge
24-02-2007, 07:39
Eat well and play some sport. Fresh fruit and veg, make dinners from scratch (no frozen / processed rubbish) and a little run-around a couple of times a week, job done. The whole thing about people going on 'diets', is that by definition, it means they are chanmging their habitual eating habits in order to lose weight, seemingly with intention to NOT continue eating in that manner (ie - the way the diet dictates) once the 'goal' weight has been met. Why not just eat well all the time anyway? Then you won't get unhappy with your weight in the first place...

All you have to do is stop eating when you are full. The problem is that as kids, we were always taught to finish our plate. Fine if you spend ALL day running about, but as adults, we need to get out that habit of feeling guilty if you leave food. Well, just save it for later if you FEEL hungry again. People seem to eat at certain times of the day because of habit, rather than because they are actually hungry. Listen to your body more, look at the clock less.


I agree 100% but also when in the local ASDA or TESCO looking for the 99.9% fat free meal look on the reverse and take notice of the carbohydrate content, it will be loaded with carbs causing an insulin spike when you've eaten it. Fat doesn't make you fat we need fat to survive, we need fat for our skin, we need fat for our joints. A woman needs 70grms of fat per day a man needs 80+ grms a day that's just to tick over.

Alien
24-02-2007, 18:23
Fat doesn't make you fat we need fat to survive, we need fat for our skin, we need fat for our joints.
True, if I don't get enough vegetable oil in my diet my knees can play up a bit.