₦airaland Forum

@ modath
OMG!!!! That 30 day shred is a killer! I probably lasted like 10 mins on level two no one had to tell me to go to level one, but the results are amazing.

@ Romeo
I'm currently walking 6 miles every morning and doing squats and lunges twice a week, I forgot to ask if I can work my arms as well, haven't started on the yoga, ordered a dvd just waiting for it to come. Also is psyllium husk okay during pregnancy, I usually have 10g every morning mixed with natural yoghurt

@ Eja, Hourglass & mightlove
Thank you

Thanks every one for all your lovely comments it means alot!

@genbuhari

@carpe diem
I do not kow about anybodyelse, but I would like to see you continue you log here.

You are an inspiration to others and as long as you are still continuing to stay health , Iam sur other would agree that you should continue posting on the thread even if it is to maintain weight.

I am curious to know what you current exercise regime is like.

I think it would be too confusing posting my food here because I pretty much eat anything I want just healthier options e.g dodo, I just cut the plantain spray some frylight on it and put in under the grill!  I also replaced white rice with brown, wholewheat bread and pasta instead of regular just healthier options really, and I try to make everything from scratch so if I feel like cake I'll make a small one myself instead of buying from the shops this way I can control the amount of butter and sugar and all the other crap that gets put in it, it gets really easy the more committed and consistent you are.

as for exercise I'm really no expert, but for me it was just finding activities that I enjoyed so it didn't feel like exercise

@ Ejadamen

Hi all. Carpe diem nice to hear you achieved your goal. I'm super motivated to strive towards that after dropping my baby.

Thanks and I just found out I'm pregnant 

@ modath

@Carpe diem,
You are a superwoman cos i know it takes a lot of dedication to maintain weight loss especially at a low weight,babe you are a piece of work  cos my 5'4 14yr old average[flat belly] niece weighs the same and my 30 yr old 5'6 cousin weighs about 65kg and she is downright skinny and she ''fasts'' a lot .
Do you have children?,how long were you overweight before you made the switch to the healthy side?,i am not going to ask you for your meal plan cos i am never going to work it here,calorie counting in Nigeria is ,
Once again,well done!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm no superwoman, just someone who the penny finally dropped for.

I think I've been able to maintain my weightloss mainly because of the healthier options I've made with my meals,  I think its really important to get healthier habits anytime I crave something that I know is not good for me I try to find a healthier way of making it, I've had lots of disasters but a few winners. I also ran a few half marathons last year, so I'm sure that helped as well I was going to to run the london marathon this year but my pregnancy has put paid to that. I'll probably just walk it.

I don't have any children yet (apart from the bun in my oven) but I carried a full term pregnancy which I lost at birth and looking back now I think thats where my weight issues really began, I was about 75kg at full term, and got really depressed after the loss and just turned to food so a couple of years after I found myself at 97kg. I think it was the fear of getting to 100kg that got me spurred on to lose weight , so answering your question i think I was overweight for about 2-3 years although being a typical woman I was always trying to lose about 5kg since I was about 20!


@ romeo

Fancy starting a fitness and nutrition thread specifically for pregnancy?

I use a garmin watch with a heart rate monitor that I strap around my chest when I go running and for strength training was just wondering if its still safe to use  while pregnant, I know you should avoid x rays and stuff like that but I don't know what the verdict on HRM is and I don't see my midwife for a couple of weeks?

I usually do my abs and legs on mondays but I skipped the abs this monday, I was just wondering since its still early days if I could continue or if you could recommend gentler exercises,  this is what I usually do dumbbell sidebends, dumbbell push crunch, crunch, twist crunch and plank. I'm obviously not looking to get my tummy flatter any more  just for it to be in the best shape it can be.

Romeo4real:
Does anyone have any information regarding the following? They are MIA (missing in action)!
Some of them seem to spontaneously reappear, only to disappear and go incognito again.

Mightlove
Aladunni
Sammiejo
Omotoyen
Coxty
Omomamae
Shoze
Mylove4him
Carpe diem

Hi Romeo,

I still lurk, I use spark people for my food and activity log instead, and since I'm no longer trying to lose weight I didn't think the thread applied to me anymore. I reached 55kg (at my target of 60 from 97kg I still didn't look right) in January 2010 and I've been maintaining between 55 and 58 ever since.

I finally joined the gym! Mainly because my dumbbells kept becoming too light for me and it was getting too cold to run outdoors!

I remembered you mentioned muay thai once and they were giving free introductory classes one day so I went and got hooked. I also enjoy spinning classes as well I still run but just at the weekend. My major love now is weights  and I lift heavy I can't believe I  actually asked you if 5kg dumbbells were too heavy. I realized with just cardio and light weights, I was losing weight but my body had no definition now I can proudly say I have my own little two pack

Thanks for all your advice and good luck to everyone

[quote author=Orton1_0 link=topic=585299.msg7531162#msg7531162 date=1295006029]@topic.
Love Respect Attention[/quote]Exactly!

could I have the materials sent to me too please, thanks

MzDynamite:
Hi Carpe Diem - did you ever get that french visa as a nigerian spouse with ILR? I need to get a visa now and I am not quite sure how long its going to take. Also, I got married in Nigeria so where do I go to get my marriage certificate endorsed, any ideas?

Thanks - I would be grateful for responses from anyone who knows!
Thanks in advance.

Hello Mzdynamite (cool name)

Sorry I'm just getting back to you I haven't been regular on the board

It took a week to get the visa after I submited my passport, I also got married in Nigeria and I got my marriage certificate stamped at the nigerian high commission I did it same day and I think it was £45 (not too sure, check their website) postal order. I didn't need to do insurance or hotel bookings because of the EU spouse thing, hope this helps

I finally found someone that watches it too, everyone at my house hated the show but I thouht it was hilarious, I was so happy for Daisy I thought she was the best of the lot although I think the guy (Ben) is a bit of a prat, he was also in secret millionaire.

gerri:
Abeg! na by force,way person go like dbanj. She was not impressed,simple.

Exactly, she was not impressed, unless it was edited and we didn't get to see what else happened she didn't actually say anything nasty about him she was just not impressed and actually considering how crappy the video was she should count herself lucky she was cut out of it.

chemali:
last time i checked BOOTS, uk, it was 25pounds.
but good thing is just a little squezze is okay, so it can last you for 3months.

Its currently half price at sainsburys and about £14 on amazon

Affirm

Florence + the machine - Cosmic Love

OMG OMG OMG, live feed last night was off the wall! I didn't go to bed till 6am! she dumped Siavash (told him they should cool it until they get outside the house) then told Marcus about the kiss with Siavash and then told Bea and dogface she fancies Tom, is she for real?

Here are a few things I'd like to know more about

1. Portion Sizes - I keep hearing the stomach is the size of a fist and that because of that meals should be that size too, what are ideal portion sizes for different foods i.e protein carbs etc

2. Water -  drink 8 glasses of water a day is what is commonly said but we never hear anything about the size of the the glasses,  big? small? I read somewhere that taking anything more than 2 litres of water a day is dangerous is that true? Does the amount of water to drink depend on your weight? Whats the ideal amout of water to drink?

3. Weight loss -  there are so many fad diets around, what would you recommend as the healthiest way for someone to lose weight

4. Excess skin - As I'm losing weight I'm beginning to notice quite a bit of excess skin in my stomach area, is there any way, apart from surgery to get rid of it

Is this what you have in mind? I have loads more,

on another note, saying that unsweetened soy milk is bland is an understatement! I'm trying the Alpro brand and its horrible, not a huge fan of honey is splenda okay? or do would you recommend another brand.

I think Karly is leaving, I hope she does she got loads of boo's from the crowd. I really want halfwit to win, he wass the only housemate that didn't take the prize offer and instead shared his token with the group, none of the other housemates seemed to notice though, lol

Looking forward to the five new housemates

I think its a good idea, definitely a separate thread, looking forward to it!

thanks I've just checked and all is well now

Cheers

thank you was wondering if I had done something wrong, here are the links to the threads
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-293508.0.html
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-282744.0.html
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-291817.0.html

cheers

For some reason my posts are not showing on threads I post to. I can still see the posts in my list of posts but just not not on the thread.

Would be grateful if someone could explain to me what is going on

Thanks

thanks Romeo, I will go easy on the protein shake, I have been having feeling bloated but thought it was the 50ml of semi skimmed milk I used to add to it, (I'm lactose intolerant). I'm one of those people that totally abhors gyms, i feel extremly uncomfortable and self conscious in them so I avoid them like the plague! I'll mix Tae bo with running and maybe get different workouts to make it more exciting.
Here's a new meal pla with more carbs what do you think
Breakfast 2 weetabix skimmed milk and some fruit eg strawberries, banana OR quaker oats with dried fruit OR 2 eggs 2 sausages and a slice of whole wheat bread
Lunch 1 cup cooked beans with fish stew OR chicken salad with a bread roll OR Tuna sanwich
Dinner Chicken peppersoup OR fish peppersoup OR grilled fish OR a suralose free protein shake

PS for some reason your post seems to have dissappeared

Thank you so much, it all makes so much sense. I'm so happy you started this thread, I've become so serious about health and fitness now my family and friends think i'm getting a bit obsessed!

Gigantor:
Diet
Your diet and water intake seem fine. If anything, i would say u are not eating enough. There are minimal carbs in ur diet. If your body senses its starving (not getting adequate calories), it regulates the metabolic rate to compensate, shutting down any weight loss mechanisms. Simply put - it attempts to survive by putting a halt to the weight loss. Your diet should contain adequate carbs from food with a high Glycemic Index in small portions. You should be having some carbs ideally with every meal - with the exception of the last, if you choose.

I find it really difficult to eat now, I have very little appetite and immediately feel full when I start eating, I will increase my carb intake

(1) What protein shake are you taking?. Does it contain any artificial sweeteners? If so, what are they?

Its called Boditronics express whey, I take it on mornings when I'm running late or in the evenings when I get home too late to eat here are the Ingredients : Whey Protein Isolate , Whey Protein Concentrate , Micellar Casein , MCT Oil , Prebiotic ( Oligosaccharides ) Natural Identical flavouring , Dutch Chocolate Powder, Stabiliser ( Citric Acid ) , Contains Natural Sweeteners Sucrolose , Dextrose

Also, is the salad a dry salad, or are you using any dressing. (Nandos salad dressing are notoriously high in salt and calories).It is important to watch your salt intake,  will cause you to retain water amongst other things.

sometimes its a dry salad and sometimes I make my own dressing a mixture  of extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and black pepper. when i buy nando's salad i take it with out the dressing

Also, what filling is in the Sandwich you have for lunch? and where do you buy it from?.

the filling is sometimes tomato or smoked salmon or salt beef, I buy it from pret manger a sandwich shop near my office

I actually don't go to the gym, I run at 5.30am usually back at 6.30  and do the exercises at home afterwards.

I agree with you on the running, when I first started running my knees and feet really hurt so I saw an orthopedic who said I had excessive pronation and recommended i get specialist running shoes, since i started using them i haven't had any problems would the fact that I run in the park which is all grass and that I use specialist running shoes help?, I  really don't want to give up running.
Apart from my dumbbells, I also own a skipping rope, could i get the same effect from skipping? The reason I ask is I notice I don't get the same results from brisk walking as I do from running,    If you still think its a bad idea I have some Taebo high intensity DVD's I could use for cardio, I just find them boring.

I'm going to follow to the letter your weight training recommendations, what are your thoughts on increasing my dumbbells to 5kg? I've been using the 3kg because I keep hearing that if my weights are too heavy it will make me muscular, is that true?

Hello,
WARNING LONG POST!

First of all, thanks for starting this thread

I started trying to lose weight in March at 97kg, as at last sunday I am 79kg, my target weight is 60kg, I'm 5"7 so that will give me a BMI of  20 which I think will be fine. I have an underlying medical condition which makes me have hormonal imbalances and insulin resistance.  At first I still ate practically anything just reduced my portions and took long walks and the weight slowly started coming off but stopped so I started watching my food by counting calories (1200 daily) and only eating complex carbs (whole wheat bread, brown rice etc) with lots of veggies and protein. I also started running and started working with weights (dumbbells)

I seem to have stalled again at 79kg and would like to know your opinion on if I'm doing things right or if I need to change anything

Here's a typical meal plan
Breakfast - chocolate whey protein shake (this contains carbs 5g protein 31g fat 3g per shake) OR 2 boiled eggs & 2 grilled sausages OR omelette with tomatoes, pepper and mushrooms
Lunch - I either pack a salad (chicken breast, lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, spring onions) OR buy nando's chicken with a salad OR buy a whole wheat bread sandwich
Dinner - I try to have dinner before 7 most nights  either Chicken or fish peppersoup, OR okra soup (no palm oil) with shrimps and dried fish OR a beef stir fry
Water I try to take a minimum of 3 litres of water a day (a mixture of plain  water and still low calorie flavoured water)
Snacks - If I get hungry between meals I snack on strawberrys or a slice of cheddar cheese or a piece of chicken or carrots.
I do have have occasional cheats (it was my birthday so I had some birthday cake!) but I always try to make up for it by either exercising more or cutting back food wise.

Exercise.
for cardio I run /walk 6 times a week for about an hour depending on my pace sometimes I cover about 7km, if I'm really slow it'll be about 5km. I run for about 15 mins then walk for about 3 mins then run again.

strength training for mon wed fri I use my dummbells 3kg each  and perform 2 sets of 10 reps of
Dumbbell Straight Leg Dead lift
Dumbbell Lunge
Dumbbell Single Leg Calf Raise
Dumbbell Bent-over Row
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Dumbbell Front Raise
Dumbbell Curl
Dumbbell Kickback
Dumbbell Push Crunch
Dumbbell Fly
Dumbbell Side Bend

on tue thur and sat I work without weights and do some squats push ups and sit ups, I just started this at the beginning of the week

I hope I've given you all the info you might require, so what do you think?

@ Uchey I'm with Edjadmen on this one, just visualising how I'll look at my target weight is great motivation for me, I took mine a step further and used a website where if you upload your current picture and tell them how many pounds you want to lose they will edit the picture to show the weight loss and send it back to you, lol, and its free. its on my phone, on my fridge, my wardrobe basically all over the house.

@ trim hope you feel better

Exercise
run/walk 5km

Strength training: I found this really cool website with very good descriptions & images of the exercises being performed. I did two sets of 10 reps for each,  it took about 45 minutes, I'll be doing this on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays
Dumbbell Straight Leg Dead lift http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/DBStraightLegDeadlift.html
Dumbbell Lunge http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Quadriceps/DBLunge.html
Dumbbell Single Leg Calf Raise http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Gastrocnemius/DBSingleLegCalfRaise.html
Dumbbell Bent-over Row http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/DBBentOverRow.html
Dumbbell Lateral Raise http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/DeltoidLateral/DBLateralRaise.html
Dumbbell Front Raise http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/DeltoidAnterior/DBFrontRaise.html
Dumbbell Curl http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Biceps/DBCurl.html
Dumbbell Kickback http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Triceps/DBKickback.html
Dumbbell Push Crunch http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/RectusAbdominis/DBPushCrunch.html
Dumbbell Fly http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/DBFly.html
Dumbbell Side Bend http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Obliques/DBSideBend.html


Food
Breakfast small bowl of fruit & fibre with 200ml semi skimmed milk
Lunch nut bar
Dinner chicken peppersoup
Water 3 litres

Exercise
I’m taking things up a notch exercisewise so on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays I’m doing the 100 push up program http://hundredpushups.com/  the 200 sit up program http://www.twohundredsitups.com/ and the 200 squats program. They are programs to get you to gradually increase your strength training over 6 weeks to be able to do 100 push ups, 200 sit ups and 200 squats http://www.twohundredsquats.com/
So today which was day 1 for all programs I did
Push ups: 12
Sit ups: 38
Squats: 18
Cardio: Run/walk 6 km

Food
Breakfast: Raspberry whey protein shake
Lunch: Nandos chicken (quarter) small salad no dressing
Dinner: beef stir fry
Water 3 litres

@ trim, thanks it's not my time of the month or near yet, will be more careful with my food this week & exercise more
exercise
run/walk 6km, dumbbell strength workout,

food
breakfast chocolate whey protein shake
lunch chicken salad
dinner omelette (2 eggs)
water 3 litres

Posting a bit early today, did the almighty weigh in today and my weight remained the same! 79kg (I AM NOT HAPPY) lol

@ trim or anyone could you look at my weekly intake and see if I went wrong somewhere this week. apart from the chocolate cake

Exercise
run/walk 8km

Food
Breakfast 2 sausages 2 boiled eggs

Lunch
small salad (cucumber, iceberg lettuce, sundried tomatoes) with 2 small slices of smoked salmon

Dinner
Will have a whey protein shake

Water
so far about 3 litres

ok, so here's the gist I've gotten so far from here and the immigration board forum. Thought I'd put it all down in case someone else is in a similar situation. This is strictly for a non EU spouse.

1. I do need a visa but it will be issued free of charge.

Spouses of British citizens require visas because their residence permit does not bear the endorsement " family member of EEA national" as required by the art 10 of the European Council/Parliament Directive 2004/38 CE.

Required documents
- A full national passport or official travel document valid for more than 3 months beyond the validity of the requested visa, with a blank visa page to affix the visa sticker. Your British residency should be stamped onto your passport.

- One application form duly completed and signed by the applicant
- 2 passport-sized photographs.
- You may be requested to provide a self-addressed stamped envelope.
- Your spouse's European Union passport;
- Your original Marriage Certificate with official translation (certified by a consular officer) if not in French or English.
- If your Marriage Certificate has been issued outside the European Union, it must be stamped by the Foreign Office of the issuing country, or its Embassy in the UK

2. I will most probably not receive my visa on the same day because I come from a country where my passport has to be sent for "consultation" with other Schengen countries, lol. This process usually takes between a week and 4 weeks

3. For an EU spouse travel insurance, hotel bookings, tickets or financial status are not required

4. I can't send my application by post based on where I live

The appointment booking system is either by phone or  online. New online appointments become available every Thursday between 3pm and 5pm. This will also cover cancellations so sometimes you can get earlier dates. As at now, the online appointments available are for the end of August.

I'll update the thread after I get the visa.

Thanks again to everyone that took the time to respond

Thanks for your response, your questions were actually answered in my first post,

Vicjustice:
First of all, where are you applying from,

carpe diem:
Does anyone have any experience with getting a short stay visa[b] from the french embassy in London?
[/b]

Vicjustice:
what kind of residence permit do you hold?

carpe diem:
My husband (a british citizen) and I (Nigerian with ILR)

I have an indefinite leave to remain in the UK - ILR