Weight loss accountability/support 2024 edition

I had planned to do a 72 hour fast myself, but I've started 2023 in a bit of a mental funk, so would have made me too grumpy for the rest of the family to cope with I think!

I’ve been uncharacteristically calm rather than hangry, which given the kids are still on holiday is remarkable…

I'm in on this. 86.3kg today. Want to be at or under 80kg by May. Initial plan is just cleaning up my eating, drinking less and moving more, but if this isn't working after a month I'm going to have to get more serious.

Started to feel ropey last night, weak, shaky, I felt myself clenching my jaw often and I began to panic. I really dont want to be ill as I'm going for a week of hard cycling in Malaga from Saturday which I have been counting the days to for months.

Looking at my nutracheck I am consistently every day way way below the recommended intake of sugar and have been since 26th December (even for my current recommended 1800cals) Seems to me that it would make sense that its round about now its started to cause me problems.

Does low blood sugar sort itself out quite quickly once I begin to take in more?
I've had High5 energy mix this morning to see if there is an effect.

Eating sugar will spike your blood sugar, so if you have low blood sugar, you should see a pretty quick rebound (like recovering from a bonk)

If your body is not coping well with being under fueled, then probably best not to worry about cutting calories before a week of cycling. I would eat to a slight surplus before a big week of cycling, 2kg less weight isn't going to help you much in Malaga if you're dying on the bike.

Yeah I'm feeling better. Will eat like a normal human today, not a normal me because thats ridiculous.

I've done the diet change many times but never felt that weakness before so wasn't sure what was going on.

I'm not losing weight for Malaga its just in the way of a general weight shift but will lay off the deficit for the next few days and next week is a free for all, yeeeehaaaa!

In on this, need to lose some weight and get fitter. Usual way, cutting down on white carbs/booze and more exercise. Would like to get down to 78kg
05/01 - 86kg

600cal lunch (but could easily be a dinner with a couple more veggies)

2 egg omelette w/low cal cheese, chicken breast, brown rice and salad.

This is my go to when working from home (replace chicken with Tuna/salmon/turkey) and as today I have a Kenyan hills running session before dinner a bigger lunch than normal is called for. Took 5mins to prepare (as cooked chicken yesterday). Had a protein yoghurt with some blueberries to round it off - total meal 750 cals

1 Attachment

Worth checking Aldi out for some of their protein deserts which are pretty low cal, tasty and help sate appetite

I'm back on the de-tub train, 82.2kg this morning as a start point.

I'm going to do my old 2,300 calorie/high protein diet and will adjust as I go - goal is to lose Christmas tub by the 1st of March.

Go on then. If Dammit’s playing I’ll play.

I was a lithe 65kg pre pandemic, more usually 68kg. Currently 75kg and definitely not fitting into most of my clothes. That’s a bit sad on its own, but saddest is how slow and lumbering I’ve become. I move like Kwarteng.

<70kg by the 12th of Feb is my goal as we’re off on hols and I’d like to be fit enough to frolic around the French countryside like a spring lamb.

This is really helpful, and I'd love to see what other people are eating and the calorific content. We started in earnest yesterday and two meals have been:

• roasted salmon fillet with ginger and sesame oil, served with wholewheat noodles mixed with a shit tonne of veg (carrots, mushrooms, cabbage, courgette) and seasoned with fish sauce, soy, sesame oil and a bit of black rice vinegar. Estimated calorie content 7-800.

• Baked chicken breast (marinated in soy, fish sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, sriracha and spring onion), served with brown rice, smacked cucumber and roasted brocc - est calories - 900

As a guideline, my (super, super boring) meal plan is:

• 500 Calorie breakfast (salmon, boiled egg, asparagus, avocado)
  
• 500 Calorie lunch (4 egg omelette, rocket and watercress)
  
• 250 calorie dinner 1 (pan-fried chicken breast, 100g steamed veg)
  
• 250 calorie dinner 2 (as above, meat and two veg)
  
• 3x250 calorie snacks through the day (45g of cashews, say)
  
  

Sounds delicious, but calories sound a bit too high to fit it easily into a diet?
Also watch out for how many calories you are adding with sesame oil. 40 calories per teaspoon, easy to load it on because it tastes so good.

As a benchmark, a Big Mac and medium fries (+ diet coke) is 830 calories.
No doubt the chicken breast on brown rice meal will be better for you, but on a calorie perspective, you'd be better off with a Macdonalds.

Obviously calorie goals differ for everyone, but I try and make my 'diet' meals no more than 500-600 calories. 3 meals in a day would be between 1500-1800 calories, with some rooms for a small snack or a coffee.

Also if you can, be really anal with weighing and measuring ingredients for your meals, at least at the start. You'd be surprised at how many calories you might be under-estimating.
Extra glug of cooking oil might be +100 calories, eyeballing the quantity of noodles, rice, pasta could be vastly different in calories.

If you're aiming for a 500 calorie deficit, that can be easily wiped out in estimation errors.

My rough plan:

300-400 calories at breakfast (30-40g protein) - lots of eggs, or huel black or protein shake
400 calories at lunch (meat + lower calorie veg)
500 calories at dinner (meat + veg + some starchy carbs if training)
150 calories protein shake (30g protein)
200 calories optional snack allowance (subject to training)

Swings between 1350-1650 calories daily.

I tend to sack off breakfast, huel shake or hot & savoury for lunch, an afternoon snack (~200kcal) and a relatively normal tea (pre 8pm). I add another random meal if exercising.

FYI my meal above is all weighed :)

2 egg omelette + 20g of eatlean protein cheese + 1 tbsp sriracha (250cal)
2handfuls of salad leaves (undressed) (20cal)
100g of microwave pouch brown rice (130cal)
1 chicken breast baked + nandos marinade (200cal)

The oil point and eyeballing that @Acliff talks about is a real thing and if you're keeping relatively small deficits can be an issue to slower weight-loss. I tend to find several meals which I just know are in a calorie range and decent macros and just stick to them. That is boring but seeing continual progress at the early stages is a key to successful weight loss and then these meals can become part of your regular meals when you're maintaining weight later in the year/cycle.

It's why I also like to buy specific snacks which is more expensive but means I am certain of the calorific content.

With the healthy eating, how do you guys keep things interesting? Any good resources for recipes? Maybe I'll do a Saturday/Sunday cheat.

As much as I love chicken/salmon/turkey with rice, I can see myself getting bored after a few months.

Also my tip is, get some hot sauces for a flavour kick!

This is helpful, thank you - re context I'm not trying for dramatic weight-loss and the meals above are in the context of no breakfast (first meal of the day around 1pm just works for me), a lighter lunch (500 cal max) and if anything carrots or apples to snack. I'm not boshing the oil in. My problem will undoubtedly be drinking calories. That said, I know that this approach and an active lifestyle (~60 mins commute a day, lots of walking, minimum 3 intense interval sessions on treadmill) sees me drop weight fairly steadily.

Low fat Chilli sauces of various types (nandos/sriracha) are your friends, as it adds lots of flavour but hardly adds calories.
Sauces in general can be a bit of a minefield:

15g of sriracha - 21 calories
15g of nandos medium - 7 calories
15g of chinese chilli oil (my favourite) - 120 calories
15g of standard hellmans mayo - 108 calories
15g of full fat vinegrette (varies loads depending on recipe) - 50 calories
15g of gochujang - 35 calories

Adding sauces, butter, oil, good fats is not a problem, as long as you account for them. If its something that you find you overuse, then best to avoid.

Sounds excellent as a meal to look forward to after a day of reduced calories.
When you're starving, having steamed chicken and broccoli and brown rice takes some special mental strength.

I think of it in blocks:

Block 1 - Reset. Create routine, higher calorie deficit. This is probably boring meals and no cheating, no eating out/drinking. 6-8 weeks. Hopefully drop a decent few kg
Block 2 - Taper. Re-introduce some food which you like but cut out in Block 1 and try some more interesting meals - during first 6 weeks I'll usually think about these meals or things I've really craved. Weightloss wont be as dramatic but over period of time should still be losing weight. 3m.
Block 3 - Maintain. This is where I would have looked to shift the weigh, more focus on building muscle and in general maintaining. Looking at weekly calories rather than daily too much. Aim here is not to lose weight but keep it flat and form a pattern. 6m

This is a pretty much annual cycle for me (bc Christmas) but if you notice yourself slipping from the maintain block into a period of gain, then I'd look at restarting the process. If you can stick to it then the above doesn't have to be so militant. This year I maintained weight/fitness for 8m and only put some weight on at xmas so my work to get back to maintaining block should be quicker/easier.

I weighed myself this week for the first time in 3 months. During that time I gained about 3kg (which isn't that much tbf - maybe) but I do want to lose them asap.
The issue for me is that I haven't been on a bike for a very long while, can't do running (knees) and atm my only form of exercise is some pilates/yoga + some low intensity fitness classes once or twice a week.
My target is 69kg.
Stretch target 68-68.5kg.
165cm and 51 y.o.

This is really helpful, and I'd love to see what other people are eating

Agreed. I'm pretty content with my home meals (except for the times when I have all the beers/carbs), but keen to hear what people are having for lunch during the week and especially if buying out.