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How do you find the motivation to keep dieting

Iain

A few weeks ago I had an appointment with a nutritionist to help me look at my physical health and diet so I could work out a healthy approach to aging (I'm just over a year away from being 60).

They did a bioimpedence scan (like bathroom scales but with a T shaped handle you hold so it measures electrical impedence in your body) and I had to stand there in my underpants while she used a set of skinfold callipers all over my body to measure the subdermal fat in a most undignified way. Height, weight and age were all plugged into the software and the results were that I was well above average for muscle mass but also for body fat.

As a result I need to drop 9kg to get back into the healthy range for the long term. I've been around my current weight for 4 decades now so it is going to take quite a shift to drop the weight (done it before, twice) and keep it there.

I've started out on a slightly lower calory intake (1,500 a day) and upped my gym sessions to just over 2 hours a day (about an hour each), one of which is all cardio.

So far so good, dropping about 1.5Kg a week over 2 weeks but I know that I'm approaching a normal barrier for me where it takes a big effort to drop more and the effect of dieting starts to make me crave my favourite foods badly.

I'm planning on taking up running in addition to my gym activity, but when a work project comes along then the routine for all this goes out the window for 2-3 months. The work itself if quite physical at least (I renovate apartments) but it is hard to plan ahead well enough to eat healthily when there is no fridge, little running water etc for most of the day.

How do you cope with this stage of a diet? What motivation keeps you going when all you want is a big plate of chips and ribs then ice cream or whatever?

I do love my food so this is a real challenge for me.

Parents

  • Over the last 3 or 4 years I've dropped 2-3 dress sizes just from eating less and doing more, I've gone from being obese to be a bit overweight. I've not done anything special just half a spoon less and keep reducing it until I've pretty much taken a third off my portion sizes. 

    I devised my own diet, year ago, one that takes into account the things that trigger IBS and stuff like that, I doubt if it's one that any dietician would devise. One thing I did find some years ago when seriously trying to loose weight, was having a glass off orange juice, (or citrus of your choice) 10-15 minutes before eating made fatty foods much less appealing, they just didn't taste right. Also the sort of exercise you do can be important too, I found yoga better for me, it builds up long muscle fibres which apparently burn energy, fat, quicker than short ones and do it for a longer period post exercise.

    I'm robably lucky that I don't like chips or sticky ribs and I can't eat ice cream unless its non dairy which is expensive and often hard to find. FOr example our tesco only started stocking daiy free magnums in september, all through the hot weather there was only one place that did them and they were almost constantly sold out. I bet by next summer tesco will ave decided not to stock them anymore, because not enough people are buying them. Just another way people with dietry needs are shafted.

    Do you cook your own food? If not you might find that you can shed calories without even trying because so much pre packed food is full of fat and sugar.

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  • Over the last 3 or 4 years I've dropped 2-3 dress sizes just from eating less and doing more, I've gone from being obese to be a bit overweight. I've not done anything special just half a spoon less and keep reducing it until I've pretty much taken a third off my portion sizes. 

    I devised my own diet, year ago, one that takes into account the things that trigger IBS and stuff like that, I doubt if it's one that any dietician would devise. One thing I did find some years ago when seriously trying to loose weight, was having a glass off orange juice, (or citrus of your choice) 10-15 minutes before eating made fatty foods much less appealing, they just didn't taste right. Also the sort of exercise you do can be important too, I found yoga better for me, it builds up long muscle fibres which apparently burn energy, fat, quicker than short ones and do it for a longer period post exercise.

    I'm robably lucky that I don't like chips or sticky ribs and I can't eat ice cream unless its non dairy which is expensive and often hard to find. FOr example our tesco only started stocking daiy free magnums in september, all through the hot weather there was only one place that did them and they were almost constantly sold out. I bet by next summer tesco will ave decided not to stock them anymore, because not enough people are buying them. Just another way people with dietry needs are shafted.

    Do you cook your own food? If not you might find that you can shed calories without even trying because so much pre packed food is full of fat and sugar.

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