Shorties trying to lose weight!

[SwimmingOnEggshells]

I started my fatbusting journey a couple of weeks ago and my plan is to document my progress here.

So far I've been doing a fair bit of cardio - 5 times per week - and I'm hoping this will help me get rid of some lbs. I posted a thread on AIBU looking for people's advice on only using exercise to lose weight but the general consensus is that no, I need to calorie restrict too. Boo! is what I say to that but maybe I need to face facts that I'm no longer a spring chicken and need to make a concerted effort with food too to shed anything!

Anyone want to join me?! @neverenoughchelseaboots

Current weight: 60kg/132lbs
Target: 50kg/110lbs
Height: 5'0 :(
Age: 39

[neverenoughchelseaboots]

I'm in!

Current weight: 135lbs
Target: 126lbs
Height: 5'1
Age: 38

Trying to exercise 5 times a week and just drink on weekends.

[SwimmingOnEggshells]

Woo! let's do this :)

I did 50 minutes on my bike today, felt great after. 3 more sessions to do and I've reached my weekly target.

What exercise are you doing? @neverenoughchelseaboots

[neverenoughchelseaboots]

I've got back into exercising only last week after my 2 year old's bedtime and I'm already in a bad habit of 'gentle exercising to get me fit enough to do proper exercise'.

So tonight I'm going to make myself sweaty and uncomfortable, either a Les Mills spin class or a set up a circuit training sequence. I'm lucky that I've got a fair few bits of gym equipment.

Will post my minutes etc later. Maybe I can justify a new fit bit with heart rate monitor now

[neverenoughchelseaboots]

Shall we have a set day of the week for weigh ins?

[SwimmingOnEggshells]

That would be great, I tend to weigh in on Friday. Do you have a preference?

[SwimmingOnEggshells]

I'm thinking the same about a fitbit! I had one before but it didn't have HR which is pretty crap really.

[neverenoughchelseaboots]

Friday is good. Will either keep me motivated for the weekend or give me 4 days to be very good after a heavy couple of wine nights.

[SwimmingOnEggshells]

Those are my thoughts exactly. If I slip up on the weekend I can undo it Monday-Friday and hopefully still see a loss.

[MrsAvocet]

Can I join in? I'm 5ft0 and have been dieting since January. I started at just under 70kg and am 51.4kg today. My original target was 50 kg but really I would like to be 47/48kg. The last few kg are proving difficult to shift. I suppose it makes sense really. To lose a pound of fat you need a calorie deficit of about 3500 over a week which was fairly easy to start with, but now my basal requirements will be fairly low and it is difficult to keep losing at the same rate. My ability to exercise is limited by health problems at present, and exercise burns a depressingly small amount of calories too. Obviously it is good for you for other reasons though!
I am also getting a bit fed up of the number of people who are now telling me that I don't need to diet because I am "tiny". Well yes, I am very small and I am certainly a lot lighter than I used to be, but I can still grab handfuls of fat in a few places! People talk as if you must have an eating disorder if you want to weigh 48kg but actually it is a perfectly healthy weight for someone of my height, and I weighed quite a bit less than than that for most of my adult life. I'm not trying to get back to the size 6 of my youth when I weighed about 42kg- I know that's unrealistic for a middle aged woman and wouldn't be healthy. But seriously, the grief I have had for saying that I'd like to lose a bit more weight . Does anyone else feel that weight loss is judged differently in short people?

[neverenoughchelseaboots]

@MrsAvocet hey, 👋

I'm hoping to be the same as you and bump up the target in a few months, but trying to give myself a fighting chance to start with. I've never ever dieted before. Hence why I'm going for small permanent changes instead.

[MrsAvocet]

Good plan neverenough. When I started I actually thought 50kg was overly optimistic, and that was my target for the end of the year. But it looks like I am going to be there or thereabouts within the next few weeks, so I may as well try for a bit more loss. With anything, if you set yourself a target that you don't really believe in you are more likely to fail. Definitely better to set small targets and then keep going.
I have lost at an average of a pound a week all year, with my biggest loss only being 2lb, but it is sustainable. I've got friends who are currently posting on social media that they are losing 4 and 5lb a week on some fad diet or other, but I am pretty sure that in a few months they will have put it back on and be trying something else. Different things work for different people, but basically it has to be something you can keep up in the long term and doesn't make you miserable!

[TheDogsMother]

Can I join please ? I'm 5ft 3 and have about 5lbs to lose, ideally by 30th October. I generally weigh in on a Friday and I have been following Jillian Michaels workouts for quite a while. I'm stepping it up minimum 5 days, ideally 6 days per week

[neverenoughchelseaboots]

Hey @TheDogsMother good to have you on board.

Well I've just finished a workout that wasn't as good as I'd hoped but did manage 13k steps for the day on top of a 20 minute session on the bike.

Glad I've publicly committed to Friday weigh in, will get me out of bed for a body pump session in the morning.

[TheDogsMother]

@neverenoughchelseaboots Thanks I'm so pleased about this thread as I need focus

[SwimmingOnEggshells]

Hello @TheDogsMother and @MrsAvocet lovely to have on our weight loss journey!

@MrsAvocet 70kg to 51kg is impressive! Well done! I agree with everything you say. Right now I'm 9 1/2 stone / 60kg and to some people that's a very healthy weight and if I were to moan about my size they'd have little to no sympathy but on me it doesn't look good! I look dumpy :( in fact I'm technically overweight.

I used to be 48kg 6 years ago and I looked great, I think that's a BMI of about 21. If people knew how light I was back then they'd probably be telling me I had an eating disorder or something🙄

What did you do to lose? I find sticking to very low calories difficult.

[MrsAvocet]

Thanks @SwimmingOnEggshells. I am quite proud of myself to be honest, particularly as due to some bone/joint problems I have been quite limited in the amount of exercise I have been able to do. That was one of the things that motivated me really, as whilst carrying an extra 20kg around wasn't the cause of my problems it certainly wasn't helping. I haven't had a miraculous improvement in my condition unfortunately, but the rate of worsening has slowed down a lot and I feel better in myself.
I have fairly loosely followed Slimming World. I haven't been to any meetings or anything, even pre Covid, as I am quite introverted and whilst I will happily chat away online, going to a meeting and talking about my weight in real life would totally freak me out! But I paid for online membership and downloaded the app and have found it quite useful. I think you need to take some of it with a pinch of salt, and you definitely do need to control portion size as well, particularly of carbs, but the basic principle of lots of veg and lean protein is sound, and I liked having a structure but not actually having to count calories. Most of the recipes I've tried have been nice, and not, as people told me, full of weird ingredients and sweetner. I think simply moving to cooking almost all meals really from scratch instead of using jars of sauce etc has made a big difference, and logging what I eat certainly has helped me not give into temptation!
That said, I think that to get rid of my last few pounds I might have to start formally counting calories as I have stagnated a bit over the last few weeks.

[neverenoughchelseaboots]

It's so true about cooking from scratch rather than pre-made. I was without a kitchen for almost a year and put on a stone and a half. Lost half of it rapidly without any effort just switching back to proper cooking.

The rest is proving harder to shift....

[SwimmingOnEggshells]

I'm planning on getting my exercise in after my kids are in bed tonight because work is busy today. Getting the motivation to exercise at 8.30 at night is really hard but I'm going to force myself onto the exercise bike! I might forego my music and watch Selling Sunset but I don't know whether I'll work as hard if I watch TV?

I was hungry in bed last night and I fought it, I didn't get up for a snack! Very proud of myself.

[neverenoughchelseaboots]

Managed a morning workout and have eaten really well today.

I won't mention last night's toast and glass of wine.

[Beroltheperil]

Hello

Please can I join?

5ft 2in
Current : 142lb
Target 1: 128lb (1 stone)
Target 2: 122lb ("ideal" weight)

I'm doing quite a strict eating plan with restricted carbs and regular lean protein plus lots of veg. Also upping my exercise.

I started yesterday. I'm super motivated at the moment. I've tried and failed so many times but now I feel strangely calm like I can focus and do this. Lets hope that continues!!!

Good luck everybody!

[Beroltheperil]

@SwimmingOnEggshells I was also hungry in bed and resisted it! I'm anticipating a bit of disrupted sleep with this, mainly because I usually go to bed pleasantly full and with a couple of glasses of wine helping me to drift off. But I think after 10 days or so my body will stop fighting me and start thanking me!!

[SwimmingOnEggshells]

Hello @Beroltheperil You really sound like you're mentally in the zone, I know exactly what you mean by that calm feeling :) Welcome!

One glass of wine isn't going to do a whole lot of damage @neverenoughchelseaboots, you need to live a little! I had a whiskey diluted with water and then some yoghurt just before I went to bed. I was ravenous but that bit of yoghurt just took the edge off and I was able to sleep.

So I've managed 4 days of exercise so far this week and I had a sneaky look at the scales this morning...I think I'm down a lb! Proper weigh in tomorrow so I'll update then.

[cathyandclare]

Oooh, can I join? I'm 5' 2.5 and am around 130, which is where I start to feel a bit ughhh. I feel best around 117, so aiming for that by Christmas. Will weigh in properly tomorrow.

I've low-carbed for years but have had too many nuts, protein-bars and wine in lockdown. I'll weigh in properly tomorrow.

[SwimmingOnEggshells]

yes of course you can join us @cathyandclare, the more the merrier! Lockdown has a lot to answer for...

[neverenoughchelseaboots]

Hi @cathyandclare 👋. Please send some of your motivation and strength this way!

I did a Les Mills Grit workout this morning. I say 'I did' I actually did the warmup and nearly died. But bumpees and squat jumps? In a warm up? What the hell!

So I did 20 mins on the step machine instead. Not really enough but I desperately need to get my fitness levels up. It's been three years (pre DD) that I exercised.

I'm really hoping this thread keeps me going.