Fitness plans to lose 3 stone.

Redlips

Well-known member
Hello,

Over the years I have heard some fantastic success stories on FMTTM.

Prior to lockdown I walked to and from the train station and I went swimming at lunch.

I have returned to the pool, but I am serious about losing the tub.

I had a session with a personal training for free abs it was just not for me. Too much of a gymosexual and his diet appeared to be just eggs.

I am after a gym plan/fitness plan. With weights sets etc.

My Achilles heel is bread, I just loved sandwiches and toast. Need an alternative carb.

I have done the couch to 5k before but I never really saw a difference in my weight.

Any suggestions or success stories would be appreciated.

Thank you
 
carbs are a constant battle. Whenever I cut my carbs the weight drops regardless if I'm heavy on the exercise.

The best alternative to carb product I have found is cauliflower rice instead of rice. I have struggled to ever find a replacement for bread. I've had the Carbzone wraps, they're ok, haven't tried their bread yet. You'll save 5g of carbs per sandwich.

I found for a quick reduction that huel is pretty good. But takes a bit of discipline to stick to it. Huel black meals are low carb, and low calory and taste pretty good, paired up with some cauli rice and sweet potato or chicken it's pretty filling too
 
Been doing this for the last 3 years, lost 3 stone in weight gained a fair bit of muscle, flexibility is miles better and had no back pain since I started it. Only drawback is I needed to buy a lot of clothes as my waist went down from over 36" to around 32".
All you need is a yoga mat and subscription , but having a heart rate monitor helps.
 
Substitutes for bread are akin to substitutes for milk, i think. They just dont exist. Ive tried them all. Some look like bread but all taste like cack. As for milk....jesus

I try to do keto but its more a very low carb diet - I think I eat too much protein sometimes to hit keto. This is something that isnt ever going to stop. I know if I eat carbs I will get very fat, very quickly.
 
My weight has yo-yo'd for years and have tried various plans, diets, exercise routines which have all had short term benefit but eventually I have slipped back into the old ways and the weight creeps back up.

That is until my wife and I signed up for Team RH (you'll find them on Facebook).. Their idea is a very simple one of calories in vs calories out.. Live in a calorie deficit and you will lose weight. We use MyFitness Pal app on our phones which helps us to track what we eat and a weight tracking app to keep an eye on progress. You do have to weigh your food which sounds a faff but soon becomes very easy as the app remembers previous meals you've eaten. They use a simple macro calculator to give you a steer as to what level of protein, fat and carbs you should be eating. Then put simply, providing you are sensible you can eat what you want. I eat way more bread now than i've ever done.. if i want a chocolate bar i have one.. even whilst losing weight, because I know I have the spare calories. Clearly you need to try and be fairly active each day in order to create a calorie deficit but once you get into a good routine with it (which might take a few weeks to get somewhere close to your macro targets and stay within calories) you will lose weight.

I've found this the most sustainable regime i've ever done.. I've shifted over 2 stone and am now the lightest i've been for 20 years! Good luck with whatever you choose to do.
 
The other half has signed up (not cheap) to Michael Moseley's Fast800 diet. Eight weeks in she's lost about 12kg and will soon move to the 5:2 regime. I've sort of half joined in, and without really trying have lost 7 or 8 kg.
 
Sorry, misread title.... I've given up on weights and my best effort and regaining fitness was HIT or whatever it is called.... the thing where you do 3 minutes absolutely flat out - I used a turbo trainer for it
 
Did Keto last summer and dropped 2 stone in about 7 weeks.

I like you love bread and the weight shoots up. Obviously beers need to be cut out.

I found fasting really helped me. I’m about to start again, but I’m not going to go full Keto. I’m going to go low carb, lots of green veg and lean protein. If I need to have something super cheesy and fatty when I have cravings, fair enough if it keeps me off the carbs, but won’t be doing a Keto cheese fest like last year.
 
I find when I stop eating crisps/cakes the weight flies off regardless of what else I eat.....sadly I have zero will power!
 
Hello,

Over the years I have heard some fantastic success stories on FMTTM.

Prior to lockdown I walked to and from the train station and I went swimming at lunch.

I have returned to the pool, but I am serious about losing the tub.

I had a session with a personal training for free abs it was just not for me. Too much of a gymosexual and his diet appeared to be just eggs.

I am after a gym plan/fitness plan. With weights sets etc.

My Achilles heel is bread, I just loved sandwiches and toast. Need an alternative carb.

I have done the couch to 5k before but I never really saw a difference in my weight.

Any suggestions or success stories would be appreciated.

Thank you
You probably just need the right PT. I've had a few and found one who gets that people still want to eat. The key thing is proper weight loss needs a combination of improved eating habits and sustained exercise regimes. Try and avoid fad diets and "lose weight quick" options. These are short term and don't help maintain an overall fit and healthy lifestyle
 
I've taken a very gentle approach of calorie control - try and stick to three meals a day and keep it healthy, but not worry too much about whether something is 'good' or 'bad'. I find that if I'm too hard on myself then I'm much more likely to just lapse, so if I have a few beers or eat too much, I just put it down to one of those things and try and have a less carb-rich next few days.

I exercise 3-4 times a week. Run for about an hour twice a week, getting to wherever I get to without pressure (although Strava says I'm improving), a half hour HIIT session from YouTube and I also go swimming - doing about 40 lengths. Will add in five a side once we've got that back up and running.

Been doing this since about February and have lost about a stone and half but put on lots of muscle.

I think my success is because I was doing it to feel better - I was sick of lockdown and needed to make a change and regular exercise and looking after myself gave me something to focus on. As a younger man fitness had been a) easy and b) motivated by vanity! This was different.

As other lads have said, it's about being sustainable. This is my lifestyle now, rather than an ordeal I have to go through to get to somewhere I want to be.
 
Been doing this for the last 3 years, lost 3 stone in weight gained a fair bit of muscle, flexibility is miles better and had no back pain since I started it. Only drawback is I needed to buy a lot of clothes as my waist went down from over 36" to around 32".
All you need is a yoga mat and subscription , but having a heart rate monitor helps.
Presumably you changed your diet too?
 
Hello,

Over the years I have heard some fantastic success stories on FMTTM.

Prior to lockdown I walked to and from the train station and I went swimming at lunch.

I have returned to the pool, but I am serious about losing the tub.

I had a session with a personal training for free abs it was just not for me. Too much of a gymosexual and his diet appeared to be just eggs.

I am after a gym plan/fitness plan. With weights sets etc.

My Achilles heel is bread, I just loved sandwiches and toast. Need an alternative carb.

I have done the couch to 5k before but I never really saw a difference in my weight.

Any suggestions or success stories would be appreciated.

Thank you
Keep training, anything, ideally varied and don't be too concerned about the scales if doing muscle training.
Muscle weighs more than fat, and you can be losing fat at the same time as gaining muscle, except your volume/ appearance will be thinner. Loads of people get disheartened by the scales, basically as their education on the weight makeup/ diet is poor.
Rely on measurements, as well as weight, if you want to track progress, and these improvements will spur you on.
I'll bet you fall into this category from your last 5k training, I'll bet my hat your measurements were better but you didn't record or remember them?

It's good that you want an alternative carb, carbs are extremely important, especially if you're training. Bread is fine, just use the "smaller" bread, use thins, or use brown bread which has more fiber (keeps you fuller). Potatoes have fiber too, learn how to make healthy chips, get a rice cooker.
For anyone else, don't do a low carb diet, as all that happens is your body loses loads of water initially, so it appears like weight loss (it's fake), then all that happens is you will crack, with training on low carbs, and then binge and then put more back on and then more water retention etc.

You ideally need to track your calories and training to be successful or figure out your body. Probably try and stay in a 20% calorie deficit per day. So if your body needs 2500 calories, limit yourself to 2000 per day, on average for the week. Use myfitnesspal to track calories, and track EVERYTHING. I've been doing it this way for years, and it's great.
As a new starter you can search for TeamRH on facebook, they do things the right way, slow and steady, no gimmicks, proper food and encourage exercise. Even if you don't use them, the education will help massively.

I don't know your starting weight but for me, that would take about 2 years, as I would probably lose 2 stone over summer, then put 0.5 back on, then lose more next summer. My weight is cyclic, with time of year as I do more outside when it's nicer, and eat like a pig in winter, when I get mardy at the $hite weather.
 
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I would start without a plan to lose three stone - build up your fitness see what works and what doesn’t work for you, then and this is the important bit - make it part of your lifestyle so it’s not seen as a chore but just something you do. The results will follow after that!
 
Presumably you changed your diet too?
Not a massive amount, cut out high fat yoghurts and that’s about it. Still eat bread every day.
Never really eaten lots of takeaways or processed food anyway.
didn’t do any exercise at all apart from dog walking before I started DDPY and it was getting diagnosed with MS that made me want to do something to build my strength up in case my legs go weird again.
There is an eating plan to go with the program but I've not looked at it
 
The only way to lose weight is for you to be in a Calorie Deficit - Track what you eat or Use a meal plan from a meal prep company, - I've lost 7 stone using Mike Hind's Macro Based Diner meal prep. I also get use the scanner in his gym monthly to weigh myself, this is also measures every body part and gives you a 3d image of yourself, so you can see the progress & the numbers behind it.
Diet is key - you can't out train a bad diet.
Use a heart rate monitor to track your output calories when your exercising - I use a MyZone Switch - You can wear it around your chest, or on your forearm/wrist depending on the exercise. It links to your phone and shows you on the screen how hard your working by your heart rate, how many calories you've burnt and the effort %. I used to use an apple watch but I find this was a lot less accurate. As others have mentioned you'd be best off looking into HIIT work outs 2/3 times a week rather than lifting weights or Swimming/Walking on the days you do lift weights this will accelerate the loss.
Hope this helps. Good luck. Its about hard work and dedicating yourself. Consistency is key.
 
You ideally need to track your calories and training to be successful or figure out your body. Probably try and stay in a 20% calorie deficit per day. So if your body needs 2500 calories, limit yourself to 2000 per day, on average for the week.
I was told by my doctor that I had let my weight creep up through lockdown. I bought a Fitbit and I use the app to record everything I eat and drink and it allows you to see how many calories you are burning so how much you can eat. In about three months I have lost 8kgs without increasing my exercise (mostly walking, though want to start swimming again soon) I have reduced bread and processed meat consumption. I have done this before and it works for me, by losing weight slowly when I reach my target weight I can maintain it pretty easily by monitoring my weight weekly and if it starts to creep back up a couple of weeks back on it will drop the odd pound and eventually you will re-educate yourself to how much you can/should eat.

Best tip I can give is drink at least half a pint of water (preferably a pint) before every meal, it will make you feel fuller when eating and keep you hydrated.
 
Keep the bread but reduce it, and change to whole meal. Keep an eye out for bread that looks whole meal but isn’t.

likewise pasta and rice, switch all our to whole grain.

c25k won’t make you lose much weight getting to that point - it just gets you to being able to run a 5k. It’s getting out and running a 5k+ run regularly that will help hit any exercise is only part of it, the rest is what you eat. Personally I’d sack off all fad diets or plans and just count calories to begin with using an app like my fitness pal, it’ll highlight if you’re eating too much fat or hot enough protein etc

You can set a calorie goal and add excercise in, ultimately having a calorie deficit is what you’re going to need, and develop your diet as you go and see what works for you.

ignore calorie counters on gym gear eg cross trainers they are famously inaccurate. Only take heart rate tracked things which know your age and weight etc to calculate it (heart rate watch or app with a strap)
 
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