Losing weight when you don't have time to lose it

[uncfnp]

Thanks a lot for your detailed and helpful answers. I need to look a bit into some of the things you've mentioned (Keto, figuring out the calories of what I eat...). One thing I can do easily is reducing my portions, I think. Walking more isn't something I can do, since my commute consists of taking a coach and a bus: the coach has no intermediate stops in the hour-long trip between my home and the place where I take the bus, and walking from the previous stop to my workplace would mean an extra thirty minutes (which I cannot afford to "waste", since there's no coach before the one I take).

Trying the Mediterranean diet isn't going to change anything for me. I live in Spain, you know. All I eat is part of the Mediterranean diet (I haven't moved into fast food or processed food). Only, I eat in restaurants, so I cannot really control what goes to my meals, even though I try to choose the healthies choices available. I have never drank alcohol or coffee. But, as I said, I'll start leaving some food on the plate starting tomorrow.

Thanks for the tips! I'm sure I'm going to get something out of them.

I am not sure living in Spain automatically makes a Mediterranean diet. Only you know your food choices and eating in restaurants puts the nutrition largely out of your control. But if a true Mediterranean diet isn’t working for you then think LCHF or keto.

 

[BlueTrin]

Yes google what people mean by Mediterranean diet: it is not just eating food available in Mediterranean countries

 

[ElizaDoolittle]

Well, of course that living in Spain doesn't make everyone eat Mediterranean diet. We have McDonald's and all that. What I mean is that I try to eat exactly the same type of food I ate when I was a child, when there was no food that wasn't part of what nowadays's labelled "Mediterranean food" (only we didn't call it anything back then). It's also true that, even though I eat at a traditional restaurant (the only one available near my workplace), I can never know what they have put in the pot. Probably their food is not as good quality as that I buy, or they are reusing the oil to cook different things... But their food seems as traditional as can be. They've only got three first courses and three second courses to choose from.

As to being careful about sauces... I don't really know how that can be done. It's not as if I had a bottle of ketchup and another of mustard on the table. There's nothing of that, not on the table, not on the kitchen, as far as I know. Whatever goes into the meal, it's cooked all together. For example, my meal yesterday was something like this:

https://www.pequerecetas.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Patatas-riojana.jpg

(Not the actual one I had; it's from the internet.)

I spent all evening yesterday thinking about a way to count calories, and I find it almost impossible. How am I to know the calories of the dish above? Even when eating home-made meals, there's no way I can know how many calories I am eating. Food doesn't come out of bags with labels with that information! At least, unprocessed food doesn't. How do you do it?

What I am going to do, anyway, is write down everything I eat, even without calories if it's not possible, and see whether there's something I am eating which is not necessary.

Sorry for the confusion between bus and coach (I thought they were two different things, a coach being for long distance, and a bus for metropolitan areas - at least, that's how I use the terms). I walk ten minutes to get to the coach station; I arrive at the next and only stop, which is 60 miles away, and in the same place I get the bus, and when I arrive, it's a five-minute walk. Were I to get off the bus at the next closest stop, I'd have to walk for thirty minutes; that would be great, but I'd arrive late to work (and there's no way to fix this, as I get the first coach of the morning).

Anyway, please don't believe I'm trying to disagree with all your suggestions. I'm just trying to explain where the problems lie, and I will try to take everything you've said into account, to see what I can use. The under desk elliptical definitely looks like something I could try. I didn't know such a thing existed.

Thanks, guys!

 

[uncfnp]

Forgive me. Perhaps I should have said Mediterranean style diet. Here are visual examples of a Mediterranean style meal. I believe Greece and Italy were the inspiration countries for this diet.

 

[uncfnp]

A 3 minute search and scroll through options to find Patatas Riojana

 

[Lorenzoid]

Yeah, you can eat "Mediterranean," but ditch the patatas and add more low-carb vegetables, fish and fowl. Consider using a hard squash like Butternut, or even turnip, as a low-carb substitute for potato chunks. A low-carb but flavor-packed Mediterranean-ish spin my wife and I like to give seafood is puttanesca sauce (tomato-olive-caper), going easy on the olive oil. Chunks of firm-fleshed fish, rings of squid, or maybe even clams in puttanesca. I envy you living in Spain--such access to high quality food.

We do a low but not zero carb diet, and it works for us. The idea is to eat enough of what we enjoy that it doesn't feel like a diet. Fortunately, we love our vegetables.

 

[Tippytoes12]

Life can be a short and only you can decide whether spending four hours on a coach every is worth it. Personally I would try to move nearer work or to get a job nearer home. I am certain you have thought of that many times already !

 

[lowwall]

I walk ten minutes to get to the coach station; I arrive at the next and only stop, which is 60 miles away, and in the same place I get the bus, and when I arrive, it's a five-minute walk. Were I to get off the bus at the next closest stop, I'd have to walk for thirty minutes; that would be great, but I'd arrive late to work (and there's no way to fix this, as I get the first coach of the morning).

I'd focus on the exercise. It's well established that regular physical activity/exercise is more important for your long term health than a few kilos of weight either way. For example, see: Mortality trends in the general population: the importance of cardiorespiratory fitness

[This is not addressed to Ms. Doolittle, but for general info.] Even for the obese, physical fitness reduces health problems and early mortality. It is also a necessary part of keeping off any weight lost through dietary changes. From The Best Way to Keep Weight Off | Live Science

When you're trying to lose weight, your diet is the most important factor, but when you're trying to maintain weight loss, exercise becomes the most important factor, said Dr. Jacinda Nicklas, a physician and weight-loss researcher at the University of Colorado Denver's School of Medicine.

Studies involving data from the National Weight Control Registry have shown that people who successfully keep weight off exercise more than the average person; for example, they walk for 60 to 75 minutes per day. In line with these findings, Nicklas recommends 60 to 70 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (like walking) per day, six days a week. If you do more vigorous activity, such as running, then your exercise routine doesn't need to be quite as long: about 35 to 45 minutes a day is enough, she said.

More immediately, SCUBA is a physical activity, better fitness makes for a safer and happier diver.

Back to the OP. What can you do to get additional exercise on a daily basis? Is there a later coach, so you could walk from work to the more distant bus stop? Could you bring your lunch and eat at your desk and then use your lunch break for a walk (at least in the winter when the weather is favorable)? Maybe install a treadmill desk?

I'd focus on trying to build exercise into your day because it's going to be very difficult to maintain an after-work fitness regime given your long work+commute schedule.

 

[KathyV]

I'm 55 years old, 5' 7" and 172 pounds, which classifies me as overweight. But when I was a slim teenager I still weighed more than most of the people in my class, so I suppose I have heavy bones (and I look like it, having broad shoulders, long arms and legs...). When people see me fully dressed no one believes I am on the plumpy side (I've never been one for tight clothes); seeing me in a diving suit exposes my fat rolls around my belly and my thick thighs.

So, yes, I could do with some weight loss, though maybe not as much as one would thing seeing my heigth and weight. I've known this for years, but it's only diving that has provided me with the willingness to do so.

I lead a healthy life in all aspects but one: I'm terribly sedentary. I spent four hours a day commuting to work in a coach (if it were in a train, I would be able to walk in the aisle), and I'm seated most of the day in my workplace. When I'm not, I try to walk fast, I walk up and down the stairs instead of getting the lift (though my workplace has only got two floors)... But considering I only spend 9-10 hours at home (Saturdays included), and that I must use them for sleeping, having a showering and having dinner, and housework, there is no way I can go to a gym or do some sort of exercise. Breakfasts and midday meals are had in cafeterias/restaurants, and although I try to eat the healthiest dishes I can see, there's not much I can vary here. There's no microwave oven or anything like that at my workplace, and eating cold salads every day is not my cup of tea, really.

Is there anything you can recommend so I can try to lose some weight in these conditions? Gaining strength / endurance are also in my wish list.

Thanks!

Joining a weight loss/healthy lifestyle program will help you to set goals and provide education about your food and activity options. It also gives you the opportunity to draw support from colleagues to help you address some of the unique challenges of your commute and workplace situation.

Weight Watchers (WW) is a successful program in the US and Canada and they also have international programs. They offer WW in France but I don't see a program in Spain. But they do have a UK program and right now they are a offering a "try it for free for 3 months Special" so that would give you a chance to try it out and see if it is a good fit.

They have a robust online app and resources, and virtual coaching options and meetings so you could access the resources remotely, perhaps during your long commute? See the link below:

WW (Weight Watchers UK): Weight Loss & Wellness Help

 

[GRH]

What do you do for your mid-day meal? If you currently go out to a restaurant or eat at a cafeteria, consider packing a healthy lunch you can eat at your desk while working and use your lunch break to visit a gym or take a walk.