Diet, Exercise and Weight loss - help!

[Luv2Travel]

WOW!! What size clothes would you wear when you are 54kg? I'd be size 8 if I was that size.
I'm 14 pants now but still 12 dresses and tops. When I'm just under 70 I'm size 12 everywhere. That's a good size for me.

I'm much the same as RumpledElf, 5'8" and 56kg at the moment, but my goal is 53-54kg which is what I was about 18 months ago. Clothes size depends on store, Valleygirl and those "teenage" (guess that makes me mutton dressed as lamb) type stores I'm usually a 10 or Target I'm about an 8. So what the hell is "size 0" in Australian, or the latest disgusting 00? Is that about a size 4 in Australian? Does that even exist... I wouldn't be able to get that if I was literally just skin and bone, not to mention it looks disgusting!!!

Congratulations travelbug, I think the hardest part is losing the first bit of weight, once you see it start to come off then it really motivates you to keep going.

 

[RumpledElf]

Yup, 8 (except I have to be careful with styles cos of the boob thing - boobs are evil I tells ya). I get any lower I end up having 'issues' finding smaller size clothes ... dunno how the SIL does it, she's shorter than me and similar build so she'd be a 6-8. Not at the moment though, she's pregnant as well ...

Currently a 10, although maternity stuff is expensive so ordinary 12 winter tops are working pretty well as a stopgap I have no idea what to pack as 'going home' clothes for the hospital, last two were summer babies so I wore elastic waist skirts. I'm thinking of just stealing some of the other half's jeans.

 

[beachgurl]

Oh, I've still got tears in my eyes from laughing so hard from the Meaty Bites story. Best laugh I'd had in ages.

I bit the bullet last week and joined Tony Ferguson. Compared to a few of you in here, I'm very overweight - 5'3 and 81kg. A few years back I was 64kg and was a size 10. I'd like to get back to that but realistically I'd like to get back to 70kg. Since 64kg, I got married, had a baby and a few IVF cycles and first trimester miscarriages which stuffed my body up a bit. I also decided to do the 10km in 10 weeks program that was in the Sunday telegraph last weekend. I feel like one of the Biggest Loser contestants where shuffling is the only form of running in the early days.

My mail goal is to be able to wear my wedding ring again. I'd also like to shed some weight and hopefully improve my prospects of falling pregnant and holding a baby to term.

I get a bit headspacey too when i haven't eaten for a few hours. During my IVF treatment, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. one of the criteria of PCOS is diabetic resistance. It has similar qualities as a diabetic and has to be monitored with diabetic medication, but doesn't show up in standard blood tests for diabetes so a lot of the time is not diagnosed.

I'm watching willy wonky at the moment. probably not the best show to watch in my first week of a health kick.

 

[pennyk]

WOW!! What size clothes would you wear when you are 54kg? I'd be size 8 if I was that size.
I'm 14 pants now but still 12 dresses and tops. When I'm just under 70 I'm size 12 everywhere. That's a good size for me.


Penny I've not been doing W11 fit for a longtime. I do mainly the balance (mine is pretty bad also) so that's been great. I do most of the muscle ones. The aerobics I only do the hula hoop (I am hopeless but getting better) and the step plus. I can't do the jogging yet. What's the fun ones you mention?
For the boxing do you need a different control?
I'm thinking of getting the Wii fit plus as it's on special now.

Hows everyone else going? This is better than paying $20 a week to weight watchers.

I would be a size 6 if I weighed 54kg! I was a mixture of size 8 and 10 at 70kg... don't want to think about what size I am now!
I have the WiiFit Plus. For the Boxing, you need a numchuck. With jogging, just try just walking quickly around the jogging track, and use big arm movements.... Its good, because its a longer, sustained exercise, unlike the shorter aerobic ones, like hula hoop.
The fun activities I do are ski jump (where I delude myself that I should join the Winter Olympics, cause I can jump further than the gold medallist!), soccer (heading the ball), marching band, bubble down the river. On Wii Resort, there is also the wakeboarding, which can be quite energetic.

cheers
Pen

 

[pennyk]

one of the criteria of PCOS is diabetic resistance. It has similar qualities as a diabetic and has to be monitored with diabetic medication, but doesn't show up in standard blood tests for diabetes so a lot of the time is not diagnosed.

.

I'm officially diagnosed as insulin resistant, or pre-diabetes.... saw there were a few comments about it, so thought I'd give my understanding. I may have already said this in an earlier post, but worth repeating anyway, given the number of comments around it.
In a general fasting blood test that I did, it showed up some discrepancies with insulin levels. I then did a 2 or 3 hour Glucose Tolerance test, which is the same test that you would do to diagnose diabetes...take a fasting blood test, then give big shot of sugar, then take blood tests over the next few hours...
This showed up that I had insulin levels around 2x the normal level. Insulin will block the cells from receiving glucose if high blood sugar is detected, and the excess sugar is stored as fat. BUT, because my insulin was overactive, the cells weren't actually getting the glucose that they needed, so they were sending out messages that I needed more sugar.... so I was having extreme sugar cravings, eating lots of chocolate and drinking lots of alcohol and getting on a very nasty cycle and putting on weight rapidly (like 2kg a week!). Apparently, it can then get to the stage where the pancreas is overworked and shuts down, which is when you get Type 2 Diabetes.
While diet can have an impact, I had yo-yo dieted for years, and decided that I was unlikely to be successful unless I treated this underlying issue.... so I started on medication. The change was immediate.. no sugar cravings.
It makes a proper diet much easier to manage when you are not climbing the walls wanting chocolate!
So, I'd recommend getting tested if you have concerns about insulin or sugar levels, and considering medication in conjunction with diet.
Pen

 

[batgirl]

Insulin resistance is a concept that means your body's cells are "resistant" to the effect of insulin.

Insulin is like the key that opens the lock to the door on the cells to let glucose in. If you have insulin resistance it is like the key not working very well - hence your blood glucose will rise. This then gets fed back to the pancreas to tell it to produce MORE insulin. (So get high insulin level as well).

Eventually after years of this your pancreas packs it in and can't produce enough insulin. So lots of Type 2s will eventually end up on insulin.

This is what Type 2 diabetes is all about.
I think of it as the body trying to tell you you've eaten enough food!! The fat cells are full !! They dont want any more glucose shunted in to turn to fat.

Interestingly if newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetics lose jst a few kg they often lose their diabetes. While there is a genetic predisposition it really is a lifestyle disease.

it is a completely different disease entity to Type 1 - in which the pancreas cells are destroyed by antibodies.

I did a project on this when I did my nursing training.

 

[RumpledElf]

I passed my glucose challenge!

Not by much, mind you. I got 7.1 and the cutoff was 7.8. And I've gained 3kg since my last official weigh-in *sigh*

 

[pennyk]

Insulin resistance is a concept that means your body's cells are "resistant" to the effect of insulin.

This is what Type 2 diabetes is all about.
I think of it as the body trying to tell you you've eaten enough food!! The fat cells are full !! They dont want any more glucose shunted in to turn to fat.

Interestingly if newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetics lose jst a few kg they often lose their diabetes. While there is a genetic predisposition it really is a lifestyle disease.

.

While I agree with this all of this in theory, my experience of insulin resistance was different to what I would have expected, and while I know its a "lifestyle" disease, the impact of it makes it almost impossible to lose weight.
I started to get the first signs of it after having lost a significant amount of weight (over 40kg), and being in a healthy weight range.....and then I began piling on the weight as a result.
and the sugar cravings were so bad that I was beginning to think I was an alcoholic..... I tried many diets which had worked previously, but after a few days, I literally began to think I was going insane, because my mind and body felt completely strung out. It was simply not possible to be successful.
One day on the medication, and my world changed. I have had so many people ask me how come I don't eat chocolate anymore... I still do occassionally, but I don't "need" to (and certainly not a family block in one sitting!). and I no longer have the urge to drink alcohol. I can if I want to, but its not a desperation. and the change in behaviour was literally overnight.... definitely not the result of an increase in self control!
Now the foundation is there that allows me to be successful with diet and exercise. Before my body was sabotaging every efforts to diet. Today 4 people commented on the fact that I'd lost weight... so I guess its working!
Pen

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Well I've been very pleased with myself so far. I was 78.5kg last Saturday. This morning I was 76.3. Yesterday was difficult. I had to make morning tea on Thursday night (I ate half a cupcake) I stayed away from the staffroom for most of morning tea and resisted temptation (well I did have half a piece of beesting- I LOVE that stuff).

Keep up the good work! well done

I got offered some birthday cake yesterday. I chose footy over the cake. I tell myself I like cake but i love my footy. I choose footy! Its not worth it.

This is working for me!! I'm mentally strong.

I am so determined to be back and playing, and playing again like I used to be able to play when i was a healthy body weight. I am doing everything to get there.

This is going to sound strange but I am so very glad I stuffed my knees up. I have inflammation of the kneecaps which for the past week have been getting physio treatment for. Anyway if it wasnt for the constant soreness after training I wouldn't have changed my ways. I had to hit rock bottom. It was either stay at the same weight or play footy. I had to decide on one or the other.


I take a strong positive out of not playing atm. I have taken control, taken action to get healthy, to lose the weight. I dont care that I've had to have a few weeks off from footy for my knees to recover. Its all part of the process. I also think because i hadn't run for a while i pushed myself to hard too soon and this effected my body parts. My fitness was there but my body struggled.

When i do come back it will be a balancing act between getting fit and keeping my body healthy. I will have to go slowly at first.


So far ive lost 4.5 kilos in about 6 weeks. I've hit a plateau for the past 2 weeks now. Even though I havent lost in the past 2 weeks in that time I have gone a pants size down and 1-2 shirt sizes down. I took my measurements a month ago. I'll have to retake them to see what they are now.

I have to watch my portion sizes though and be stricter with my tracking. This I have to work on.



Good luck to everyone and keep up the good work.


I like this thread.

 

[pennyk]

I weighed myself this morning, for the first time in 3 weeks or so.... I've lost an additional 3 kg, for a total of 10kg since February.
In the past 3 weeks I've had pleurisy, and was in bed/ lying down/ hardly moving for around 5 days, and then had a week or so of reasonable health, and then one of the worst head colds I've had - so another 5 days of lying around doing nothing.
No exercise, no change in food consumption - just lots of rest!
So, perhaps that is also a weight loss key!
I guess there is a reasonable probability of a bit of a "bounce" as I get better. But I'm hoping to make the most of the "lying down" benefits!
Pen

 

[Nards]

No exercise, no change in food consumption - just lots of rest!
So, perhaps that is also a weight loss key!
I guess there is a reasonable probability of a bit of a "bounce" as I get better. But I'm hoping to make the most of the "lying down" benefits!
Pen

Hmm...might have to try the "lying down" diet....sounds great

 

[Luv2Travel]

No exercise, no change in food consumption - just lots of rest!
So, perhaps that is also a weight loss key!

I've heard that not getting enough sleep can affect your weight i.e. you put it on. Perhaps being tired and run down affects your metabolism? I don't know, I'm only guessing.

 

[BlackSpider]

Weight loss through inactivity sounds nice and easy, however, it can't be a good thing for body composition.
Unless, you are some sort of effective myostatin inhibitors.

 

[Lil Skater]

I'm much the same as RumpledElf, 5'8" and 56kg at the moment, but my goal is 53-54kg

So what the hell is "size 0" in Australian, or the latest disgusting 00? Is that about a size 4 in Australian?

Haven't read the rest of the thread, but i'd like to point something out.

Biggles, i'm 5" almost exactly and i weigh more than you (Mind you i do A LOT of sport and i have more muscle on me than most guys) but i'm not fat.

I think if you're 5'8" and only 56kgs, you're skinny already, right?

I mean you don't have love handles and all those sexy extras that come with "fat". So in saying this, even losing the extra weight (which i would see as "unhealthy" due to your height) the likely hood of you reaching a size 8 in your hips is unlikely as you are an adult and your hips aren't going to get smaller unless you do actually have extra weight.

From how i see it, i wouldn't think you'd need to lose any weight at all. I had a friend about your height who was a size 12 with fairly large hips, but she was hot! And i was always insanely jealous because i was skinner, but i couldn't throw on anything and look like she did.

Size "0" in American i believe is a size 4 Australian, (I had a pair of bonds that was an 8 and said i was a size 2 American) which makes a "00" a size 2!!!!! I mean that's like a 6 year old's waist!

 

[Luv2Travel]

Size "0" in American i believe is a size 4 Australian, (I had a pair of bonds that was an 8 and said i was a size 2 American) which makes a "00" a size 2!!!!! I mean that's like a 6 year old's waist!

That's absolutely insane, as you pointed out my hips would be too big, my skeleton wouldn't even fit into a size 0 pair of jeans!

I was around the 54kg about a year or more ago, so I'm just trying to get back to that. I do almost no exercise, just a little bit of walking, nothing extreme so not much muscle there. So if I have any excess weight, then it's just fat which does look flabby which I hate and I'd rather back off on the junk food than go to the gym, I'm too lazy. I eat fairly healthy (perhaps quantities could be a little more), so I'm not starving myself, I just don't eat foods with high saturated fat/kj content.

 

[Lil Skater]

That's absolutely insane, as you pointed out my hips would be too big, my skeleton wouldn't even fit into a size 0 pair of jeans!

I was around the 54kg about a year or more ago, so I'm just trying to get back to that. I do almost no exercise, just a little bit of walking, nothing extreme so not much muscle there. So if I have any excess weight, then it's just fat which does look flabby which I hate and I'd rather back off on the junk food than go to the gym, I'm too lazy. I eat fairly healthy (perhaps quantities could be a little more), so I'm not starving myself, I just don't eat foods with high saturated fat/kj content.

I don't think my hips would fit in those either, and half the time my hips are too small for a size 8! (although i have a HUGE bum, which doesn't so much fit in the 8 )

And yes, muscle weighs more than fat, so if you had muscle on you 53kgs would be scary!

 

[Samantha]

Great Thread

Hi all

I live on the edge of the desert in WA and whilst we have a impressive gym and trainer here, we do not have a group of people interested in coming together to support each other. This Somersoft Healthy Lifestylers Club is a great alternative for me to get motivation and information from. Thanks to everyone for sharing. I am really enjoying the thread.

I have been off line for a couple of weeks but will be making a daily visit to this thread.

I have been working out since the new year and going well until 3 weeks ago when I got sick but hopefully next week I will be back into it. The bummer is the fitness I have probably lost. I have not put on any weight so that is a bonus.

I will share more details next time I am on......I am off gold prospecting now...wish me luck, it is our first time. We have done the trials and training and now we are off with the experts. Fortunately we live in a very rich mining area and the local gold mines dont mind you ferreting around on their boundaries.

Good luck to everyone on their weight loss and greater health journey.

Samantha

Where's Rob Williams? He looks healthy and fit to me - I amsure he could add some value here?

 

[Alex P Keaton]

I weighed myself this morning, for the first time in 3 weeks or so.... I've lost an additional 3 kg, for a total of 10kg since February.
In the past 3 weeks I've had pleurisy, and was in bed/ lying down/ hardly moving for around 5 days, and then had a week or so of reasonable health, and then one of the worst head colds I've had - so another 5 days of lying around doing nothing.

congrats good work keep it up.

wow 10 k since feb

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Weight loss through inactivity sounds nice and easy, however, it can't be a good thing for body composition.
Unless, you are some sort of effective myostatin inhibitors.

I had a weird week the other week. i was walking > 2 hours every day. 1 day i even walked 3 hours 20 minutes. I only lost 0.2!! I think i hit a plateau. Thought I would lose at least 1 kilo with all the work i did

body works in strange ways.

And then last week i didnt lose anything. I hardly did any exercise because of my knees. So I wasnt too surprised.

My goal for next week is to get into the 87 range again. I need to lose 0.1 to achieve this

 

[prusli]

I ride to work everyday and bring my own lunch and mixed fruits with yogurt for afternoon tea to work for healthier choice. I try not to eat carbs at nite mainly just red meat and salad and no soft drinks. Weekends I can eat anything I want so I have something to look forward to.