Sugarless

Hangar Flying
41

You probably knew this, but milk has a lot of lactose, which is also a sugar, and fat.
If you are already going sugarless and want to lose more weight, reducing dairy and meat intake can be very effective from a typical western diet. Nuts and beans have a healthier mix of nutrients and are very filling compared to how much calories you are actually taking in.

I find it helps a lot when you want to eat something, to have nuts on hand: you can still eat whenever you want and fulfill your desires quite OK, but you end up feeling full without consuming nearly as many calories as you would have gotten from cheese/milk/bacon.

also reduces environmental damage and number of animals bred into terrible circumstances but that is political so I am not posting that and you did not read this. Let’s all pretend this tiny text is not here OK?

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42

Yes, thanks for the input. I don’t eat much meat at all - and then almost always chicken, either with veg or in Tikka Masala (our fave Sunday dinner). Same with cheese - the salt in it upsets my stomach. I will have it as part of a meal recipe, though. For example smothered chicken is my fave dish at the local restaurant, but I only go there maybe 4 times a year, so no worries.

I do have nuts to hand all the time - usually either cashews or pistachios. The trick is to get cashews unsalted. As for dairy, I have lots of milk. My doctor actually advised it and told me that despite what you hear, the difference between semi-skimmed and full fat milk is so small that I should just have what I prefer - so I have the full stuff and I love it! Mrs has semi - to me it’s like gnat’s pee.

I actually also have a mug of hot milk with honey as my last drink before bed. Those lattés were the first ones I’ve had in years. I don’t drink much coffee at all these days as I get reflux. The odd one or two a month, sometimes with a drop of Drambuie (scrumptious!) is nice.

I think a balance is important. Most things are okay in moderation, or as one-offs etc. I don’t want to make myself miserable and I’m quite happy with my current diet and as it does seem to be working - albeit slowly - I see that as a good thing.

PS - I am always open to suggestions, though, for sure.

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43

Sending good vibes your way for you to remain successful and keep the weight off for more than just a short period of time. Also watch out for the rebound weight gain when all your current efforts start to quit working. Do try to mix things up often so your body will not adjust to your routine and start pushing back against it. Been there and done that too many times to remember.

Wheels

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That’s good of you, thank you! :+1:

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So, how are things progressing?

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Slightly up - thanks for asking, but I’m happy things are going in the right direction.

102.2kg this morning. While that is slightly up on the lowest in recent weeks it’s down on the last couple of weeks readings and going the right way, of course.
I’m constantly adjusting the diet right now - some things are getting expensive and others have not shown the effects I thought they would - in a good way - so I’m able to eat more of what I like and less of what I don’t!

Hopefully I now have a diet I can stick to for a long time, and that should help get me down under 100kg. :grimacing:

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47

Having a better diet is a great step in the right direction. However, let me ask you this… what is your long-term objective? Cutting sugar alone is great, but in my experience getting healthier requires at least some form of low/medium intensity physical activity, which is incredibly helpful in the whole process. It could be simple stuff like taking a walk or going on a hike.

In my own weight loss journey (it’s quite an interesting one since I learned an awful lot about myself and how the brain works in general), one of the best piece of advice I got from a friend was to find the “best goal” for me. What he meant by “best” is that we’re not talking about a metric for X weight to lose, Y kilometers to run, Z pace to achieve… Instead, my objective was just to go outside and be active for dedicated parts of my schedule. It may seem a bit too generic when you think about it, but I ended up realizing that developing the urge to be active and enjoy being outside did a tremendous amount of good in terms of staying motivated, disciplined and accountable. I was consistently in a better mood, in better shape and it was a kind of positive reinforcement feedback loop. In the long run, this is what helped me the most in finding meaning into all this and keeping my habits sustainable.

The reasoning behind that is that if I had decided to set an objective of a numerical/performance-oriented nature, I would’ve likely gone “well, what now?” once I did it and reverted back into my old habits with a “mission accomplished” mindset. If my goal is just to go outside and sweat for an hour, it feels that regardless of how fast I was, I’m still progressing.

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48

For me, historically, physical activity was the only way I could reduce my weight. In the old days if I got a bit of a tummy, I’d just go on some extra runs and get it back down to shape - but since I can’t run (or ride a bicycle) now and haven’t been able to for a very long time, that isn’t an option.
In recent weeks things have worsened considerably, to the point where I can’t raise my right leg without pain and, well, you know what it’s like when you bang your elbow “funny bone” and it tingles down your arm? I have that 24 hours a day, from the lower inner point of my left shoulder blade all the way to my finger tips.
Been that way since late February but my consultant won’t see me until end of June - I reckon it’s a pinched nerve.

That’s in addition to my other issues which i think I mentioned elsewhere. So VR is a bit of a saviour for me, because I can do gentle exercises without actually thinking too much about it and even enjoy myself at the same time! I tried the popular “Beat Saber” demo but it was just impossible for me to play.
That’s another reason I like playing In Death and No Man’s Sky - plenty of arm exercises. edit - after an hour’s sesh of In Death I am in agony when I move or sit down. Yesterday I did two hours, was amazed I could stay on my feet that long, but God did it hurt afterwards.

My objectives are to be more mobile and secondly not to be ashamed and feel crap about myself every time I see a photo with me in it. I also have been told I need to lose weight else risk more liver damage.

The reasons I put on weight were firstly the lack of exercise after becoming unable to run (I used to run 15km every evening and did regular distance races - 10km, half and full marathons - and also they put me on medication which slows the metabolism and causes severe constipation and didn’t give me adequate advice or solutions. I piled the weight on in just a few years, despite trying my best not to, as at the time I didn’t know why I was putting weight on. There was also the fact that I met my Mrs and went from not only all that running with only one main nutritional meal a day to three full meals a day plus the no exercise thing.

These all came together in the “perfect storm” and I ended up looking like a beached whale and having all manner of issues with it. I had sleep apnoea but have lost enough weight and done well enough to have been declared clear of that a few months back - same with asthma.

So things are definitely on the up, and as long as they continue that way, I’ll be happy.

I want to change my whole lifestyle - well I have, though latest developments have meant a bit of a slowdown - but not make it a chore to do so, so that it will be easy to continue that lifestyle permanently.

PS - thanks for telling me your story, I can associate my own experiences with it, and I agree with you, getting out and doing things is great for all sorts of reasons. If only I could do it more, I would. I’ve ended up far too often doing this things and making it worse for myself. So now it’s gently, gently. See how it goes then increase or not, depending how it turns out.

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PS - 101.3kg this morning! :smiley:

been going that way for a week, so aiming to keep the downward trend this time - 99kg here I come!

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The shame goes away once you realize a very simple thing: when people see you working on improving yourself regardless of how you’re doing it, their initial reaction should be “well, look at that guy, he’s working hard, good for him!” instead of “ha, look at that guy, he’s so out of shape!”. People who think the former have been in your shoes before, understand the struggle and respect the effort. People who think the latter aren’t the kind of people whose opinion I value anyway.

Whenever I run and happen to be running across someone in the opposite direction, I always make sure to send them the runner’s nod. Especially if they’re having a hard time or just in the beginning stages of their fitness journey. Why? Because to me, it indirectly tells them I understand where they’re coming from and that I’m rooting for them… the same way we’re all rooting for you. :wink:

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51

I know what you mean. I used to run 5km as a warm up, then 10km at speed - which for me (remembering I already had Reiter’s at that time) was about 45 minutes on a training run. I used to see people out jogging and I was amazed at how slow they were and often wondered why they bothered when they were so obviously out of shape. Just as a sidey - I used to run around the old Death Zone on the city border round southern Berlin. It was still there then although without the fences, barbed wire and minefields! The watchtowers were still there, though, this in the early '90’s. It was perfect for running.

After my accident, when I could barely walk without problems, I forced myself out running - not the best idea I ever had, but I was so desperate to have it not mean the end of my running days and I’d been really crushed when I realised my beautiful runner’s leg muscles had totally disappeared leaving just skin and bone down to my feet. I actually didn’t even notice that until I was having a bath one evening while on sick leave and I honestly burst into tears when I saw what my legs looked like. It was devastating.

Anyway, it was having seen those unfit people plodding on that gave me the incentive to carry on trying to run, despite the heavy limp and weakness. I wonder what they thought of me, then. tbh I didn’t care what they thought, I was initially determined, but after a couple of weeks I knew I was doing myself a lot of harm and needed to stop. I’ve tried many times since but every time I end up doing myself more harm than good - and now I couldn’t do it if I wanted to.

edit - swimming is another matter, though and I did some a couple of years ago. I will try and get back to doing that when the consultant gives me the OK. It’s still painful on my spine, but I can live with that because it does a lot of good for my limbs.

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Unfortunately, I’ve been a bit negligent and am really mad with myself about it.

I’d been doing really well and had stuck religiously to my diet over the last couple of weeks. I was almost certain I’d be down to 100.x this week - but instead I’ve put on 2kg since Monday.

It’s dates - I’d been using them in my cereal, just as a sweetener as I’m currently eating rolled oats with milk, which is pretty tasteless and bland. Then Mrs accidentally bought whole ones instead of chopped, so in addition to having them on my breakfast, I’d been eating the whole ones as snacks, too, or dessert.

After seeing my weight this morning I started wondering why - and found that the dates are 80% sugar content.

At least I know, and that’s good - I just threw away the remaining dates and in future I’ll just put a dribble of natural honey on instead, like I used to. Fed up of setbacks, though. Activity is well down now, due to some physical limitations from my messed up nervous system (struggle to bend my right leg at all without pretty bad pain and as it’s the main nerve the morphine and ketamine don’t work on it) which mean my dog walks are a lot shorter and I’m rarely even driving as I struggle to get in and out of the car. Bike is okay, though - just getting on and off is a bit iffy :slight_smile:

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Well, there you go, there’s at least one thing you can do: biking!

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Yeah and after a good sesh on the Throne yesterday (sorry!) this morning my weight was back down to 101.8 - so not as peeved :slight_smile:

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Hope you did not have to wait as long as Charles. :crown: :laughing:

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Well, now biking might not an option, either, with the duff right leg. Yesterday I got the bike out so a friend could show me the best way to raise the front on my paddock stand, which can be a bit awkward.

Just to test, I got on and off the bike several times, just to be sure it wasn’t too difficult and I was so pleased that it went really well (I did have some extra morphine yesterday morning though, so probably not completely representative of a typical day).

But I had a horrendous night with pain in the right leg. Last time I rode to the monthly TOMCC meeting a week ago - about 35 minutes away - the ride went very well, but I had the same pain through the night.

The problem is the question of do I just grit my tegs and get on with it and maybe things will improve, or will I thereby just make things a lot worse? My appointment with the guy who should be able to give me a qualified answer isn’t until the end of June. Also, he isn’t the kind of guy I am likely to get a straight answer from.

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Yeah - weight has gone up a bit. I’m going to try and go to the Auster Fly-in on the bike tomorrow. I really hope I can hack it as I really need to be getting out and about.

I have also been having something a bit more than usual the last week, to see how it affected my weight. I hoped it would be okay (small amount of meat and veg every evening instead of porridge or sandwiches) but seems not, so back to fat camp diet it is, then…

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Update - there’s nothing to say, really - I’m still hovering around the 102kg mark. So although I haven’t really lost anything for a couple of months, on the plus side I’ve not gained anything, either.

Really surprised I haven’t lost more, considering the diet and the fact that I’ve cut down hugely on sugar intake all this time.

I made the assumption that the only way I’m going to lose more weight is by activity - diet changes are no longer effective. So the sooner I get my new bike so I can get out more often, i think the sooner I’ll see a change for the better.

That’s provided I’m able to, of course. Have to wait and see. I cleaned my bike up yesterday - not a wash, just a sprucing up before my final appraisal in the next week sometime. It took me the whole afternoon as i was trying to take my time and be gentle with my knackered body. But today I have been suffering badly for it, so the jury’s still out on the activity side.
After riding up to Lincoln last week I had a bad 24 hours - but that was all, after the 1 day i was back to normal, so that’s good, I can deal with that.

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