I am from Australia, so I supported the Wallabies, but I am more of a soccer fan, but I don't mind wathcing Rugby at the highest level.

To be honest I am not a huge fan of water sports, but swimming is a great form of non-impact aerobic exercise. I don't each much meat these days, because I have a slow metablosim and put weight on too easily. That said, I prefer fish over rmeat and chicken, my diet these days is mainly fish, fruit and vegetables, I still have some vices like sweets, but I have cut on down them for the most part.

I'm an Arsenal fan myself, I prefer football over rugby to be honest.

Yeah I think when i get older I'll have to gradually switch to swimming to maintain fitness which doesn't impact the joints. Metabolism is sort of controlled by the thyroid gland right? It seems like exercise can increase your metabolism somewhat but if you have an underactive thyroid or something then one can still gain weight easily or something, I'm not too clued in about it as you can see haha. Fish is nice aye, much easier to catch, prepare and cook compared to landlubber animals

Oh babe, I love you so much. I meet you every day, and I am so anxious about it. Your perfect built makes me gasp when I see you. I wait for this moment all day, and get prepared in the evening, to spend it just with you.
I slowly start you up, and you respond, you make me so excited and get me moving. The longer we are together, the faster I go. I sweat, I moan, I lean and cling to you like I am hooked. And you are so insatiable, you want more of me, every instant. You never let me stop. And then, my cutie, I come to a finish. I pant heavily, and say 'Yeah, babe, that was so nice!' I am all covered in sweat, tired, exhausted, but absolutely happy. I gently pat you and caress your wonderful features, saying 'we will meet again tomorrow, my sweety'. And then I leave you to cool down. I don't know what would I do without you, my lovely, my only, my greatest... treadmill machine!

Your are a football fan, good man and I too am an Arsenal fan, and yes your metabolism is regulated by your thyroid gland, my mum has a slow thyroid gland and has to take medication to speed it up otherwise she will pile on the weight. I suspect, I too may have a slow metabolism, hence why I have to exercise so much to lose and keep the weight off.

Bugger, genetics can be a real bitch, so if you are gifted with a slow thyroid then it's not really something you can change, save for medication?

Insp Monty, if you think you can, please put aside whatever differences we may have over other issues and consider answering the following questions:

Do you stay away from fatty foods and meats?

Are you mindful of eating healthy snacks such as fruit and vegetables when hunger strikes you between meals during the day?

Do you make sure to eat healthy whole grains instead of overly processed foods derived from them?

Have you mindfully restricted your caloric intake to encourage weight loss?

Again, please put aside whatever differences we may have over other things and consider answering the above. Your progress is impressive, I merely hope to open a dialog concerning health matters only. Thanks.

To answer your question, I do for the most part stay away from fatty foods and meats, with meat I only eat lean beef/skinless chicken/pork once a week, most of the time I eat fish, fruit and vegetables. The snacks I eat mainly consists of "pink lady apples" (a juicier and sweeter type of red apple), strawberries and some watermelon. The only bad snacks I have are "jelly babies", to curb my sugar craving, especially after a work out, I also have a small glass of sustagen chocolate flavoured protein powder with either low fat skim milk or soy milk.

I rarely eat rice or pastas, and even then only small amounts, and I very rarely eat chocolate bars. With drinks I should be drinking water, but I only drink either Pepsi Max or diet Coke as there are no calories, plus I like the taste of artificial sweetner. In my coffees I use artificial sweetner as there are very little calories. In the morning I have a small of Kellogs "Sultana Buds" with skim milk, and a glass of orange juice.

Yes, I have reduced my caloric intake dramatically compared to 12 months ago, where I used to eat 2 chocolate bars a day (approx 500 calories), too much McDonalds and other take away food, where I'd put away close to 800 calories at each sitting. Looking back it was a miracle my weight didn't baloon to over 100kg (220lbs), and I maxed out to 95kg (210lbs). At the moment, I am around the 74 to 75kg mark (163lbs).

Your diet's pretty much what I thought it would be.

Just to put a comparison out there:

I eat three or four eggs for breakfast. Usually scrambled, sometimes fried. Always with salsa, and adding either sour cream or cheese. Sometimes I make bacon or sausages too, usually on weekends.

Three cups coffee, Splenda and 2 tablespoons 18% cream in each. After this, I drink water all day.

No snacks in the morning. Not hungry.

Lunch is usually leftover meat from the night before: 2-3 chicken drumsticks or thighs (skin on), or about 1/3 to 1/2 lb of fatty beef. Add a simple salad to this with full fat blue cheese dressing and bacon bits if I have them made up. A couple hard boiled eggs usually end up in there as well.

No snacks in afternoon. No need, not hungry.

Dinner is again 2-3 pieces of dark chicken w/skin, or red meat. No salad. Sometimes steamed veggies. Sometimes for dessert a 1/4 cup of frozen berries with 1/4 cup full fat (11%) Greek yoghurt. And a few times a week you can add a couple pints to that later in the evening as well.

So, you're basically doing entirely the opposite of myself. I have no idea how many calories I'm eating, I just eat till I'm satisfied. I grab the full-fat version of everything I can. Yet I've lost over 30 pounds in 4 months (245-250ish to 215) doing nothing but eating this way. And I cheat quite a bit, sneaking in a burger or the like at least once a week. Granted, I started at a higher weight than you, and still want to drop another 20 at least, but I eat like the above and am still losing a pound a week, again doing nothing. Logic demands "calories in must be less than calories out to lose weight", and I think that's true... but I don't count calories, and I'm not hungry.

Apologies if that got a bit preachy. Just food for thought.

Your weight loss is impressive 13.60kg (30lbs) is very impressive based on the above, but you must take into account we are all different, and some people have a higher metabolism than others. If I was to eat the above, and not do any exercise I would probably put on too much weight.

That said, I have reviewed my diet with a dietician, and she said that for the most part my diet is good except for the sweets. Compared to more than 12 months ago, my diet is much better, and I strongly suspect I do have a slow metabolism although I haven't had this confirmed by a doctor. Going by your diet, I probably need to increase my water consumption to stop the constant hunger.

I don't know for certain, but my metabolism is typical I'd wager. I can tell you that I'm pretty close in age to you (40), and literally cannot remember the last time I weighed 215. I am not one of those "was athletic in high school, then got a bit paunchy, but has muscle underneath" guys either.

All I'm doing is eating real food, cutting out almost all sugars and grains, and a few other fine-tuning things. Unless I'm cheating, and I try to keep that to once a week or so.



I apologise ahead of time for this. It may seem preachy.

A) The thing to remember about dieticians and doctors is that they have to champion a certain party line, which was for the most part put forward in the late 70's/early 80's. Since then heart disease and obesity has swelled (pun intended) into a larger problem every decade. But they cannot deviate from what their books say or they can be held legally responsible. It is therefore in their best professional interest, if not your best interest, to merely parrot on their info about fruit/veg/lean meats/whole grains/etc. If they follow their officially sanctioned guidelines and you get cancer, you cannot sue them. If they don't follow their officially sanctioned guidelines and you get cancer, you can- even if the cancer has nothing to do with their recommendations.

That said, when she says your diet is good except for the sweets, it makes me wonder what list of foods you show her.

Here are the foods you list that you eat regularly, which contain a pile of hidden sugars: apples, strawberries, watermelon, "jelly babies", skim milk. Orange juice has more sugar in it than a Coke.

Kellogs "Sultana Buds" are good for another 11g of sugar alone, total carb count 28. Plus skim milk, adds another 8g. Good grief man, they look like fig newtons.

And OMFG dude. That Sustagen "protien powder" is a sugar-loaded milkshake meal replacement, if it's the one I found a listing for online. 23g of sugar (39g carbs total) in a typical 3 scoop serving, add another 8g for the cup of skim milk, or 16g for soy milk.

Other than the fish, and lean meats once a week, what are you eating that isn't a sugar/carb bomb? Honestly, this makes your weight loss an even bigger accomplishment IMO than you can ever know. I have no idea how much exercise you must be doing to burn off all that sugar before your body can mobilize any fat at all. I'd imagine it's a lot.

B) Increase your water intake? NO man. If you have a local library near you, see if you can find either of these books by Gary Taubes-

Why We Get Fat, and What We Can Do About it.

OR

Good Calories, Bad Calories

I recommend them in that order, because while GC:BC has much more info (it was actually published first), WWGF is an easier read to digest because it takes just the most important info from GC:BC. If you don't believe me, that's cool- I'm just some dude on the internet who is making the ludicrous claim that you should eat fat and be satiated to lose weight. But if you read either of those books with an open mind and still want to eat Sultana Buds and those milkshake meal replacements, that's your call.

Again- sorry for the preachy, I just think you could really improve what you're doing.

Yes, I probably can fine tune/or improve my diet like you have alluded to, but compared to what I used to eat a lot of eg. two chocolate bars a day, McDonalds and other take away food, my diet has improved.

That said, I do have to bust my guts in the gym 6 to 7 days a week (2 days of weights/cardio, the other 5 days cardio) in order to lose the 21kg (47lbs) I have lost, and maintain my current weight of around 74 to 75kg (163lbs), (13 months ago I weighed 95kg or 210lbs). Most of my cardio is consists of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), most of that is running on the treadmill, I used to run on the road, but it was hurting my knees, plus I hate dodging cars and trucks, in fact I have done so much running I have blown out almost 3 pairs of runners in a year. Plus I am a soccer player, and cardio training is of most benefit to me. However I am proud of the fact that I am at my lowest weight since August 1987 (the last time I weighed under 80kg), and have been able to undo 24 years of dietary and exercise mismanagement in less than 12 months.

If you can lose weight based on your diet, then you must have a much higher metabolism than me, but you must take into account that we are all different, however I am open to all new ideas and suggestions.

Wo, that is impressive indeed mate, interval training is something I'm fond of too, and nothing beats a good game of football!!

Just IMO, after the reading I've done and my personal experience: your diet doesn't need a fine-tune, it needs a total overhaul. You may have improved from your previous diet, but you are eating precious little real food, and way too much sugar. Consequently you are hungry much of the time because carbs open a bottomless pit of appetite. Feed your body correctly, and you unlock energy, eliminate hunger, and can lose weight at the same time.

But hey. Just another guy on the internet, 8000 miles away, yadda yadda yadda.



If you have never actually eaten a fairly clean low carb, mid protein, high fat diet, I can see why you could think that I have a "high metabolism". Personally, every guy I know with a "high metabolism" can eat whatever the hell they want and stay skinny. If I try and go Big Mac to Big Mac and Pizza to Pizza with a guy like that, I'll get fat. So my metabolism can't be all that quick, sorry to say. It's just that my chosen food is satisfying, so my body is happy, so I don't get hungry.

If you really do have an open mind on the subject, I still maintain that you should read "Why We Get Fat" by Gary Taubes.

Literally just started yesterday. I could really use some tips on a great cardio routine. I'm already pretty big so I plan on slimming down before trying to build back any muscle (and even then I just want to define some abs and that's about it).