Weight on departure and weight on return are all the metrics that are of any use. Otherwise there's no way of knowing whether the +5 kg since yesterday is the ice cream you had in Mallaig, or the floorboards of the Glensleech B&B.
Here we have the difference between a scientist and an engineer. Are you an engineer, Firenze?
I think of myself as more a Nartist.
Though when it comes to construction, I spent an hour or so this morning turning 10 pieces of wood, 4 hinges and a bag of screws into a two-tier bread bin with integral breadboard and knife holder.
Last week, for the first time in a very long time, I cycled 5 miles to work each day (and 5 back, funnily) for a five-day week. I played cricket yesterday.
Was I fit and revitalised? Was I fuck! I was creaky and stiff, and worse this morning. To add to the fun on Wednesday evening we do the first leg of the cycle to the Cropredy festival, and to get my bike fettled by the Bike Doctor beforehand I need to cycle to work that morning, as he's there on Wednesdays. So I'll be doing 20 miles or so, 10 towing a trailer full of camping gear.
We watched the "Cymanfa Ganu" (Welsj hymnfest) from the Eisteddfod last night. The hymns going round in my mind all night, coupled with a sticky warm bedroom, meant I didn't sleep well. So I gave up and went swimming - I never go on Mondays! Now I feel both tired a revitalised at the same time.
On Friday my husband had a post-TIA assessment by a physio.* Prior to that he had been recommended to take regular walks, but to restrict himself to walking along ambulance-accessible roads or pavements. He hadn't stuck strictly to that, but he has never been far from a road.
On Friday he got the all-clear to walk anywhere! And yesterday we went for a lovely 5 mile walk along the banks of the River Dee and through woodland. The weather was glorious, we saw a red squirrel, we could hear the busy cheeping of goldcrests, there were lots of speckled wood butterflies and we finished off with a nice lunch out.
We are aiming to do a lot more walking!
* And, yet again, we are marvelling at our health system and so thankful!
That walk sounds lovely, red squirrels are extinct round here, so lovely to hear they are still around in your bit of the UK @North East Quine. I do a fair bit of walking with our local Ramblers. Not only does it keep me fit and improve my mental health I've never come across a more sociable bunch of people.
The NE Man is doing really well. His blood pressure is down, his cholesterol is down, his blood sugar is down and he's losing weight at a steady and sensible rate. (Why, no, I'm not losing weight myself, thank you for asking.)
People responding differently to diets according to their individual metabolisms, hormones and psychology; what works for one person won’t necessarily work for another. For me to lose weight I have to drastically cut back on carbs and this is the same for most of my family (we all carb load on our bellies and have a tendency towards diabetes) and it needs to be part of a routine. I would hate weekly public weigh ins but I can do willpower by myself if I have a firm short term goal; I did Michael Mosley’s The Blood Sugar Diet with no problems and just incorporated it within family meals (I did my own recipes rather than the book’s fiddly ones).
Originally posted by Sandemaniac: Back to health... NEQ, could you be slipping into stress-response eating habits because you are worrying about him?
I'm not gaining weight, I'm just not losing it. I think he's finding it relatively easy to lose weight because he got a hell of a scare in May. I did, too, of course, but his health isn't impacted by my weight, so I don't have the motivation he has.
Someone remarked to me that he retired from a high-achieving, goal-orientated job in January, and since the TIA and the resulting lifestyle changes he's found a new way of being high-achieving and goal-orientated...
I should be trying to lose weight, but at present I'm focussing on keeping moving and increasing my activity. At one point I was using those meal replacement bars for lunch but they were so sickly sweet that I couldn't stand them and stopped.
For the last couple of weeks I've been encouraging Cheery son to come for a walk with me. Even if we are only going out for 20 minutes, I figure that it's better than us doing nothing.
As I've said before I manage to lose weight when I pursue a 'minimal loses' strategy. So I try to avoid eating cake, try not to snack, weigh my breakfast cereal in the morning etc etc. That along with a reasonable amount of exercise works, but it isn't very fast. I've gradually put on about a stone due to too many extras in my diet and its taking a while to shift it.
The NE Man continues on his downward trajectory, weight-wise. But I too, have lost another couple of pounds. This morning I am 16 stone 13lbs! Below 17 stone! I am very pleased!
Last night's dinner, the British Heart Foundation recipe for Cottage Pie, was a real faff to cook (15 ingredients! - none of which were butter for the mashed potato on top!) and I was thoroughly fed up by the time it went into the oven. But it probably had half the calories of my usual Cottage Pie and it was certainly filling. Tonight will be a no-cook night as we have the other half of the Cottage Pie to reheat.
Yesterday also included a swim, a short walk and some gardening.
Being a Good Boy and doing things like cycling to my gaming group (it's only a five mile round trip, albeit with 100m climb) is helping me stick around the 13st which is technically slightly overweight but which my metabolism seems to hone in on.
I feel like everything about me is designed for putting on weight, and yet I need to lose about 20 kg - or 3 stone. I hate a low-carb diet, find being hungry intolerable and food is my first line of emotional defence. Oh, and I've found regaining stamina after I had COVID last year very slow going, though I am not TOO bad now, given that I managed to walk about 4 miles in a day without actually nodding off as soon as I sat down. BLEUGH.
Just on the way back from three days away for my brother's funeral, so all bets off as far as diet is concerned. I expect the wotthehell attitude will persist into next week as I decompress plus I have other stresses (vaccination, roofers) and two food-based social events.
I feel like everything about me is designed for putting on weight, and yet I need to lose about 20 kg - or 3 stone. I hate a low-carb diet, find being hungry intolerable and food is my first line of emotional defence. Oh, and I've found regaining stamina after I had COVID last year very slow going, though I am not TOO bad now, given that I managed to walk about 4 miles in a day without actually nodding off as soon as I sat down. BLEUGH.
I'm not dissimilar. A trick is to balance your carbs - especially in the form of potato/pasta/rice with veg and protein within a given meal. Bread and pastry are a bit harder as it fills you up less for a given amount of calories (rice and pasta you add a load of water to; potatoes are already full of water, but bread and pastry you bake a lot of the water out of).
That's essentially what Slimming World does, in a nutshell. They just hide it behind a load of jargon.
The scales, if they can be trusted, tell me I have dropped 10 lbs since eating more intentionally and exercising more often. Down under 190. Would like to drop to 180.
Since I have to follow a gluten- and dairy-free diet, I should theoretically be at an advantage. But there is a lot of GF stodge available, far too much of which is also DF. It looks attractive, and has lots of fat and sugar in it, creating a good buzz. And then I wonder why I put on weight..... Mind you I'm nowhere near the size I would be if I could eat cheese, sourdough bread, butter, proper cakes etc etc etc
Surprised to find myself this morning 0.4 kg lighter than when I went away - presumably the greater calorie intake offset by the effort and stresses of travelling.
We have an over-plus of milk and apples, so I see an immediate future of pancakes, cheese sauce, custard and crumble.
Comments
I think of myself as more a Nartist.
Though when it comes to construction, I spent an hour or so this morning turning 10 pieces of wood, 4 hinges and a bag of screws into a two-tier bread bin with integral breadboard and knife holder.
No, as it happens. Bought online as are most things, and Made in China - again, as many such purchases turn out to be.
Was I fit and revitalised? Was I fuck! I was creaky and stiff, and worse this morning. To add to the fun on Wednesday evening we do the first leg of the cycle to the Cropredy festival, and to get my bike fettled by the Bike Doctor beforehand I need to cycle to work that morning, as he's there on Wednesdays. So I'll be doing 20 miles or so, 10 towing a trailer full of camping gear.
Exercise, schmexercise!
On Friday he got the all-clear to walk anywhere! And yesterday we went for a lovely 5 mile walk along the banks of the River Dee and through woodland. The weather was glorious, we saw a red squirrel, we could hear the busy cheeping of goldcrests, there were lots of speckled wood butterflies and we finished off with a nice lunch out.
We are aiming to do a lot more walking!
* And, yet again, we are marvelling at our health system and so thankful!
Me, I'm able to commute on a bike again, doing 50-odd miles a week. Does it make me feel fitter? Does it hell! I just feel creakier.
Given so many posts in AS are food related I had to scroll back up to make the right sense of the squirrel comment there...
Squirrel Pie, anyone?
Glad he’s doing okay, NEQ.
Squirrel is tasty, closer to pork than rabbit, but allow one per person, there's not a lot of meat on one!
Back to health... NEQ, could you be slipping into stress-response eating habits because you are worrying about him?
But it will come off.
I'm going to Slimming World as a target member now, so don't have to pay any more. (I'm still in target range)
The only way I can keep on track is to have someone else weighing me every week. It's fun too - the leader is really entertaining. 🙂
Back to health... NEQ, could you be slipping into stress-response eating habits because you are worrying about him?
I'm not gaining weight, I'm just not losing it. I think he's finding it relatively easy to lose weight because he got a hell of a scare in May. I did, too, of course, but his health isn't impacted by my weight, so I don't have the motivation he has.
Someone remarked to me that he retired from a high-achieving, goal-orientated job in January, and since the TIA and the resulting lifestyle changes he's found a new way of being high-achieving and goal-orientated...
For the last couple of weeks I've been encouraging Cheery son to come for a walk with me. Even if we are only going out for 20 minutes, I figure that it's better than us doing nothing.
Last night's dinner, the British Heart Foundation recipe for Cottage Pie, was a real faff to cook (15 ingredients! - none of which were butter for the mashed potato on top!) and I was thoroughly fed up by the time it went into the oven. But it probably had half the calories of my usual Cottage Pie and it was certainly filling. Tonight will be a no-cook night as we have the other half of the Cottage Pie to reheat.
Yesterday also included a swim, a short walk and some gardening.
I'm not dissimilar. A trick is to balance your carbs - especially in the form of potato/pasta/rice with veg and protein within a given meal. Bread and pastry are a bit harder as it fills you up less for a given amount of calories (rice and pasta you add a load of water to; potatoes are already full of water, but bread and pastry you bake a lot of the water out of).
That's essentially what Slimming World does, in a nutshell. They just hide it behind a load of jargon.
We have an over-plus of milk and apples, so I see an immediate future of pancakes, cheese sauce, custard and crumble.