To ask for tips to lose half a stone and tone my tummy up in 3 weeks??

[Aria20]

I'm going on holiday in 24 days. I'd like to lose half a stone and tone up my tummy before. I realise I've left it late but we moved house a couple of weeks ago and we've had a lot of takeaways while we were busy unpacking/decorating etc and I've eaten lots of ice creams with the hot weather!!

I'm trying to eat more healthily, an apple in the morning and then salad in a wrap at lunch. Dinner is unfortunately usually carb based as kids are all pasta lovers.... do I need to quit the carbs and eat a different meal in order to lose weight? I have a dog so I walk for minimum of an hour/hour n half each day but it doesn't seem to make a difference! I don't have much free time for extra exercise or money for a gym membership. I don't drink alcohol but I do eat sweets/choc usually as a treat once kids are in bed - I know it's a bad habit and I'm cutting down but as I say it's my one treat.

I'm 35 and 5 years ago I could eat anything and not gain weight... people used to say it would catch up with me one day and it has

Losing 7lbs depends on where you are starting from. A week of low calorie low carb will easily do it for me. But if you were alteady e.g. a size 8, it might not. Regardless, you can’t tone muscle by dieting.

What’s your current weight?

To be honest, I would accept that realistically, losing half a stone is unlikely. Getting a toned stomach in three weeks is impossible. I’d try and eat as healthily as possible with loads of veg, lean protein and measured carbs. Focus on looking forward to your holiday and not your stomach.

If you give up bread, pasta and sugar for 24 days you will do it easily. Don't eat in the evenings. Once you stop for a week it's easier.

I would eat more in the mornings - full fat yoghurt and some nuts with your apple.

You need protein at lunch instead of the wrap. Some tuna. An omelette.

Google diastesi recti exercises and do those for 10 minutes a day and your stomach will firm up. 24 days is plenty of time

To lose 7lb you need a calorie deficit of 24,500 calories. That's over 1000 calorie deficit per day, which is difficult unless you fit in a lot of exercise. It's almost certainly not sustainable and you might not lose in from where you want on your body!

Work out what your daily calorie requirement is, and then add exercise and lower calories consumed to get there. In my experience the easiest way to lose weight fast is a) cut sugar and refined carbs b) fill up on masses of veg & salad c) stick to lean protein- fish and eggs are great. d) add exercise - a mix of weights and cardio.

I'm a size 10, around 9 stone 2 currently.

I do like yoghurts but unfortunately seem to have developed a lactose intolerance so have been having lactose free milk in tea but lactose free yoghurts aren't as nice lol and I've tried soya, oat, almond, coconut ones etc and haven't found one I like 😩

I guess I need to really cut the carbs and my sweets haha and find some time to exercise.

I would say it is unrealistic and would have to go on a diet like exante. Toning will depend on previous muscle memory. It's still a long way to go for me but that tone is only after two weeks. I workout on and off, but it's mostly the former (which is why I shrink so quickly after a period of not working out).

Drink loads of water too although it will short term bloat your tummy (well, it does for me) it really helps to speed up weight loss on either low carb or low cal diets.

Ok I could make an omelette I guess. I hate fish lol but eat chicken/turkey so could try to just eat that and salads. It does seem pasta and bread are the worst things and unfortunately I do eat a fair amount of stuff like spag bol with ciabatta or other pasta based dinners.

Losing half a stone when you’re already a size 10 and only 9stone 2 is going to be really hard.

Carbs don’t have to be bad-it’s about portion size. Are you currently measuring yours?

@Onlyrainbows I'd be more than happy if my tummy looked like that lol. I'm at the point where if I'm wearing jeans and t shirt it's hidden, but in a dress I look like I'm pregnant - def not haha!

Could it be bloat?? Detox diets do work (IME) but only if you're regularly bloated.

Try the nutriarian diet 10 pounds in 20 days - it’s a v effective vegan whole food plan. It is strict, but you can eat large quantities of veg so you won’t be hungry

gonutritarian.com/dr-fuhrman/go-nutritarian-dr-fuhrman-10-in-20-pdf/

otherwise I’ve known people have success with keto or fast 800

@Onlyrainbows it's possibly partly bloat from carbs?! How can I get rid of bloat though? It's definitely some fat too though from the sweets and choc and ice creams.

I lost 5lbs in my first week of slimming world. Lost 2.5lbs the next week, then 1lb the third week. So that's 8.5lbs in three weeks. I didn't even optimise as much as I could have.

I've stuck with it and now lost over a stone so it does work.

You can't tone up your tummy. You can lose a bit of body fat but you can't choose where it goes from.
I would focus more on enjoying your holiday than what your tummy looks like.

@BlooberryBiskits thank you I will look at those diets. I could certainly eat more fruit and veg than I do. I actually added mixed beans to a dish I made the other day - DH was like wtf are these beans doing in here and picked them all out of his portion haha! He's more fussy than the children so it will mean doing separate dinners I think which is a pain but hey ho.

So when I had my colonoscopy I had to follow this diet as well as having to take 4 sachets of laxido for 2 days (8 total). It completely de-bloated me and stayed that way for 3-4 months. Most likely it will be frowned upon, but it worked for me...

healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/washington/get-care/additional-services/gastroenterology/colon-diet-low-fiber

Carbs are fine in small amounts, but protein and vegetables are more filling. Try cutting out sugar and not eating anything after your evening meal.

On slimming world you can eat pasta, rice and potato but bread is limited, so it might well work for you.

It's essentially a low fat diet but it's a great tool for working out where hidden fat and calories are.

It's taught be a lot about how the body uses different foods and which are best for losing weight whilst never being hungry. I'm sure other diets do the same but I find slimming world easy to follow. There is an app and I love the weigh ins and group as they are really motivating.

I know I sound like a promoter but I'm not, honest.

The other idea would be fasting - you can download an app for it

I honestly think if you completely cut out the treats and snacks, and drink lots more water (unless you already do) you'll see a difference in 3 weeks. You have to really stick to it though. Absolutely no crisps, chocolate, sweets etc. and no takeaways! Eat your normal dinners but only have one slice of garlic bread (or none at all if you can bear it!)

Good luck and have a lovely holiday

You won't be able to healthily and safely lose half a stone from that start weight. I'd focus more on making yourself feel good from the inside out (as cheesy as that sounds) as often that does change how you feel about your body the most. Try to eat fresh foods as much as possible- filling foods that aren't going to cause you to spike and dip or be hungry soon after. Fresh fruit, veg, chicken/turkey with unprocessed sides- make sure you are eating enough calories though to keep yourself going. Try and cut out refined sugar as much as possible (yes fruit is sugary but it has nutrients, fibre and other benefits as well), limit carbs but don't cut them out completely. If you're having pasta for dinner for example, have half of what you normally would and add veg; you'll be satisfied still but won't be as carb heavy.

Easy to do if you stop eating crap! Your diet is very sugar heavy (sweets, the wrap, pasta). Increase protein and cut out the sugar; you'll probably lose more than half a stone.

@CloseYourEyesAndSee yea very true you can't choose where you lose it from and in my past experience I always lose it from my boobs first and I don't want to lose it from there lol

I would bet that the stomach is bloat… rather than actual fat if you’re that weight/height.

stop the sweets and chocolate at night. Just stop, don’t cut down as you will still get that regular sugar craving every night. I’ve done this!

Add protein to your salad at lunch. Ditch the wrap, and make a really nice chicken/ham/egg salad. No creamy dressing- use red wine vinegar and olive oil (which I actually prefer to anything else now)

Then for ease, I would keep your evening family meals the same. If you wanted too, don’t have the garlic bread. Have more green veg instead of potatoes. You get the idea!

Ditch the morning apple so you're fasting for 16 hours +. Black tea/coffee only.

Lunch salad by itself, no wrap.

Whatever the family is having in their pasta can be served on cauliflower rice, courgette/carrot noodles or just a bed of baby spinach.

Drink a shit tonne of water and you'll be good 👍