Anyone fancy joining in, using the 6 weeks Summer hols to make new habits to lose weight and be healthier?

[CharleyDavidson]

I've read that it takes about 21 days to make a new habit. So I'm using the time off work with the kids to tackle a few areas and make some new, healthier habits.

I'm going to up my water intake by starting the morning with a glass of water and by keeping a bottle of water by the bed for sipping on. (Has to be a bottle or the cat will help himself to my water!)

I've joined the local fitness place. It's not a gym, but it does host lots of fitness classes and I've taken advantage of their half price offer for the first month.

And I've got a food diary to start being more mindful of what I'm putting in my gob. I have good food habits when it comes to work lunches, but I won't have any of those til Sept. I need to make good habits when eating at home too. Like portion control and not going back for seconds. Like including fruit and veg more. And not finishing every meal I eat with a sweet something afterwards.

[PassTheSatsumas]

Count me in! Have been on a bit of a weight loss push for the last month and lost around ten pounds. I'd like to really focus on losing another ten to 14 over coming weeks.

Diet is going ok (vegetarian, lowering my carbs and cutting way back on cheese). My focus will be minimising empty calories (alcohol) and getting into a really good fitness habit so I don't slack off come autumn and pile it all back on

Food diary is great :) I'm using MFP for mine and it's been a real eye opener!

[WhatsGoingOnEh]

YES PLEASE. I did the last school run this afternoon feeling fat, frumpy and fed up. Vowed that I would return in September, svelte and glorious! ;)

[PassTheSatsumas]

charley and what's - are you using MFP? Maybe we can add each other on there?

How are you getting on Charley?

And what's - do you have a particular plan/goal in mind?

I've managed my 10k steps, stuck to meal plan and just finished dinner - a veggie bean chilli, sauteed spinach with garlic and couple of new potatoes

Looking forward to a svelte and glorious September too!

[WhatsGoingOnEh]

Hello PassTheSatsumas, Yes I'm on there- AnuvvaMuvva.

Using that app has been an eye-opener! Eek.

[PassTheSatsumas]

I know! I think I will be using it to maintain too...

[CharleyDavidson]

I'm bright red and boiling hot from doing my zumba class in this boiling weather and have another booked for tomorrow morning.

My water bottle is by my bed and being used. By me, not the cat.

But there was cake at work due to the boss leaving, so food could have been better. But tomorrow's salad is made and dinner shopped and meal planned.

I'm not a big fan of MFP but may go back to it if all else fails.

I'm away in Menorca in 5 weeks so have to make the most of those weeks in the run up to then and then try not to blow it while I'm there.

I have a tape measure for recording my starting measurements which I will do in the morning. Glad to see a few more on board with me. Svelte for September sounds great.

[PassTheSatsumas]

Love it! svelte for September is a great motto :)

Have a holiday in 5 weeks too so same timescale

Sounds like a brilliant start Charley!
My good news is that my stomach seems to have shrunk ... Struggled to finish my wrap at lunchtime!

[CattDamon]

Count me in! I have lost my way .

Start a uni course in September so want to feel confident!

[PassTheSatsumas]

I have a new boss coming in September too so that's another motivator (sadly I think people do judge you negatively on your weight at work...)

So - what is the plan, are we going to do weekly progress reports?

[CharleyDavidson]

I'm happy with a weekly progress report if others are, as well as general supporting each other posts.

I was on mfp but haven't been on it for years. A bit curious to see how much I've gained since I was last on there!....... Actually, I've lost 3lb since I last logged on but that was well over a year ago so I think I've lost any other progress data.

I'm much happier using the nutracheck site, but you have to pay to be on there and I last joined then didn't get into it, so wasted my money. I am torn between cal counting anyway or counting my points as I've got to goal with ww in the past. Either way, I have a paper diary for logging in.

I've done another dance fit/zumba class this morning. So 5k steps completed by 10am. In an air conditioned studio this morning, and the weather isn't as hot here so I didn't come out so hot I looked like I had sunburn.

All the other ladies (mostly older than me) were in exercise leggings and there's me, boiling in my joggers. I'm too conscious that my legs is where I carry a lot of my weight so I don't like to wear leggings, but I wish I could. I hope I feel happy about myself enough to wear them by the end of the summer!

I also have a new boss in Sept, and understand what you mean about making first impressions!

[PassTheSatsumas]

Well done on the Zumba! Planning a jog tomorrow myself ;-)

[PassTheSatsumas]

Shall we do weekly progress reports on Thursday? I always call it 'thin day' as being good all week shoes on the scales! Also motivational before the challenges of the weekend!

Have had a good week food wise - stuck to my 1500 cals a day and lost around 2 pounds this week
Exercise wise - been derailed by a cold but did a workout and swim on Monday, walked home (5 miles!) on Tuesday and a decent 3 mile walk each of today and yesterday

Planning a day off from exercise tomorrow and a sensible weekend ahead - a family birthday party in Sunday so hoping not to go too mad!!

[CharleyDavidson]

Fine by me. :) I'm actually heavier this Thurs than I was last Thurs. I HAD lost 2lb, but all the cake and social events that I had last week (2 meals out, drinks and plenty of birthday cake) meant I put the 2lb back on. Hence the re-grouping.

So I started this Thurs as a fresh start. 13.8 this Thurs. I'm in a challenge with a friend. Whoever has lost the most weight by the Wed before we go away on holiday together wins.... and has to treat the other to lunch one day.

This morning brought another zumba class. We usually have zumba gold (zumba light!) on a Friday. It's my morning off when I'm working and the only class I can get to - and the chap who does the instructing is lovely. He was off yesterday so the lady who does dance fit did that with us instead. Very jumpy and bouncy. And today he was still on his holidays so we had a different instructor who did NOT do the lighter less bouncy version. So I had a great, active start to the day.

Lunch was chicken and bacon kebabs and an apple and one triangle of toblerone (one of the gifts from my class) at the cinema with DD2. Pork and pepper kebabs, potato and sweet potato wedges for dinner with veg. And there will be a little bit more toblerone later, but only within my cals.

I caved and signed up for the nutracheck membership for the next three months. It's just a lot easier to count cals than ww points (of any variety) and I much prefer nutracheck to MFP.

[BopperBop]

Hi, can I join in too please? I've lost a stone over the past 6 weeks and want to keep up the momentum over the school holidays and lose my last 10 or so lbs.

[PassTheSatsumas]

Hi Bopper - well done on the stone! Pretty good going :)

[PassTheSatsumas]

Lady who waxes my legs told me I was looking trimmer today - that'll keep me motivated for the weekend . Hope you have a good one ladies!

[BopperBop]

Excellent satsumas.

Thanks - I'm determined to stay on plan and shed the rest now!!

[PassTheSatsumas]

Ten pounds should definitely be do-able (assuming you've got some spare to lose!)

That's pretty much what I am aiming for by September too ...

What plan have you been following Bop?

[CharleyDavidson]

Hello Bopper.

DIsaster of a day! Had a light cooked breakfast (just toast and egg) and was feeling virtuous. Went walking with DH and the DDs round Chester, then ending up going out for a meal. No salad choices, so I had gammon. And no pudding. But there was end of term chocolate for pudding once we got home.

Yes, it was a bad meal compared to what I'd have cooked at home, but it was one meal that covered lunch and dinner as we ate at 4pm.

I've adjusted my cals on nutracheck. It's currently giving me 1450 (as it requires you to earn 200 a day as well to get up to that amount) but you can choose a day of the week or two for it to allow you more cals and it reduces the other days to compensate. So.... not been at it long and already had a bad day. But that's life. My next bad day (lunch out with work friends) is on Thurs next week so I'm going to adjust next week's cals to allow for a higher day that week and concentrate on being as good and as active until then. First step....meal plan.

[PassTheSatsumas]

Charley - your day doesn't dound like such a disaster to me, you are being so hard on yourself!!

1450 isn't much at all (especially if you have been walking a lot!) . It's actually the amount I have as my target on mfp (I don't 'eat back' exercise calories as they are ridiculously over-estimated, maybe 1-200 of I've done a big run or something)

I've been finding that I eat way over on dinners out (1800 or do those days), so I have been compensating by dropping cals in the next 2 days - maybe 1250 day after, 1350 second day

I quite like doing that - so higher cals 1-2 days a week when I go out, and then even-ing it out over next few days (plus a bigger than normal meal out usually makes me less hungry). Been finding that makes a break from the monotony of diet food and is probably a good way to think about how to balance it out when maintaining (which is my big challenge vs losing weight)
I'm sure you will still be down this week :)

[CharleyDavidson]

If everything that has passed my lips is added up it's about 2100 cals I think. Not earth shatteringly bad, which is helped by the lunch/dinner meal rather than 2 meals.

Nutracheck allows 1450 but then adds on cals once you've earned 200 from your steps (and it synchs from my fitbit to work that out for me). Not that I eat my extras every time. And now I've adjusted, it's allowing me 1940 once a week and 1425 (plus exercise cals over the 200 it asks for first) for the rest of the week so I'm not too far over.

I am sitting with a shopping list ready for a trip out tomorrow. Protein, salad, veg and a few carbs like jacket potatoes or new potatoes will do me.

I much prefer how nutracheck does the cals thing from my fitbit. MFP was forever synching early in the day, assuming I would be that active all day and allowing my too many extras. And then the next day would re synch and adjust and steal them all back again. Which, if I'd eaten any, was demoralising.

Nutracheck has the 200 cals a day (6000 steps ish) target that it wants you to aim for and THEN will start giving you exercise cals you can choose to use or not. And you can of course add in exercise that you've done manually.

I'm hoping I will still be down. I started my 6 week break on Thurs so still have 4 days to stay at it for my first week's loss.

[BopperBop]

Charley that doesn't sound too disastrous at all, and at least you've tracked it all and can compensate on other days.

satsumas I'm following a diet plan from Freedom Diet Coach, it's an online diet coach thing. I've been really impressed with it so far and am hopeful about shedding the last 10lbs. It's really taken all the hassle out of working out what to eat every day, and I've been trying out lots of new recipes to change things up a bit too.

[PassTheSatsumas]

Morning All - just checking in to wish you a good start to the week !

Slightly 'off' weekend : was away for a family party so missed my workouts, and ate tons of floury/cheesy party food that I have been avoiding yesterday. Scale is up 2 pounds but hoping that is just water weight!

Also recovering from a nasty cold so no workout today - will do an hours walk after work instead
Have a good week all - and Charley, sounds like you've really got organised on the shipping/meal plan front!!

[CharleyDavidson]

A good day today

I cooked a couple of different meats for tea last night so as to have lots of leftovers as the kids and I are all off for the hols. Very lazy, but a good way to avoid grabbing junk if not prepared.

So I've had pork, stuffing, mustard and salad sandwiches for lunch.
And ten mins on the exercise bike (while watching food network)

And roast chicken, stuffing, leftover roast veg (heated through in the air frier to be crispy and delicious) for tea. A couple of choc chip cookies for pudding.

Then DH came back from the ice cream van with mr Whippies for us all. Not too bad calorie wise as far as nutracheck is concerned.

Then I've just been to my zumba class. (First of 4 this week) :)

[PassTheSatsumas]

Sounds like a great start Charley - your menus sound nice (not dietic deprivation which no one can stick to!)