Does anyone want to lose weight as a snail's pace?

[ginandchocs]

I'd say most people want to lose weight quickly. I certainly do. But it just doesn't work. Or, it does initially, but then it all goes back on and some.

I've decided to try a different method. I'm aiming to lose weight slowly. Maybe a couple of pounds a month. If I achieved that, I would lose almost 2 stones in a year but in a way that would be sustainable.

I'm going to do this using myfitnesspal. I'm setting my calorie goal for the week to be relatively near to what I usually burn without exercise (obviously a little lower otherwise I wouldn't lose anything!). I'm splitting the calories unevenly throughout the week though as I always tend to eat that bit more at the weekend (I end up falling off the wagon and giving up another diet - hopefully by having a greater calorie allowance would allow for this). Any exercise I do would then increase the weight loss (by a tiny amount) and would obviously make me healthier. I will not eat the extra calories.

The calories I've allotted myself may need to be tweaked if they're too high and I'm not losing at all. Time will tell. This may be a bit mad, but if it works then great. I would have to eat around this amount of calories to maintain my weight if I had lost anyway so I'm hoping this brings with it lifelong good habits.

My calories will be:
Monday to Thursday - 1675
Friday - 2000
Saturday and Sunday - 2250

Some days I may be over, others under. I'm not going to eat for the sake of it nor will I say no to something because I don't have the calories left for it. However, I want my weekly calories to be 13,200 or less. As I said, though, these calories may change if the numbers aren't right. It's a bit trial and error.

Anyone else fancy a slow weight loss journey that will hopefully create new habits, and allow me to maintain forever more?

I still have my treats daily @Egghead68 but I've found slightly lower calorie options that I enjoy. With the exercise, I would spend that 40 minutes doing something higher intensity some days to burn more calories. You may be toning up your abs but you will never see them until you have very little fat around that area. Feel free to ignore me as I'm not an expert, just repeating a few things I've picked up along the way from following YouTube workout etc! Hope this helps

Thanks @MrsEHB. I’m doing 8 hours mixed exercise a week but can’t do any high intensity at the moment as I have post-Covid syndrome and it triggers relapses. I’m really looking forward to the day I can though as I usually manage my weight/fitness via lots of intensive exercise. I think in the meantime you are right - I need to stick to lower calorie junk. Hope things are going well with you.

For weekly exercise at the moment I am stepping through 3 HIIT classes, each with an abs section, doing 3 couch 2 5 K sessions, 1 swimming session, 1 hill walk, 1 yoga class, 1, Pilates class and 1.5 hours on the exercise bike.

@Egghead68 ah I see, sorry I'm terrible at keeping up with everybody on this thread 🙈 looks like you are doing really well on the exercise front, I hope it's not too long until you feel back to normal!

Oh no not at all - thank you for your help! I think I am doing what I can on the exercise front but can maybe add in more abdominals. I need to apply the same energy to sorting out my diet now. Hope everyone’s having a good week!

67.6kg - another .2 off!

144lbs today. That's the lowest I've been so far and 1.2lbs off this week!

Day off today. I say off.. I had breakfast and then nothing until tea so I could have a takeaway which was lovely
My thyroid is definitely affecting the weight shifting a lot, I think might need to drop down to 1300 cals

Well done @MrsEHB. Glad you enjoyed your takeaway @QueenCT.

I’m finding it hard to get back on track and am 67.9kg this morning (.3 up). I’m eating more healthily though.

160.7lbs for me so only 0.3lbs down but not been trying at all. I’ve lost all motivation

Well done @MrsEHB

It’s been a mixed few days for me - I managed to hit a new low on Friday 59.2kg but back up to 60kg today!

Have just had Linda McCartney veggie duck, peppers and wrap for lunch. About 558 cals so far

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm really pleased with how mine went. I always eat differently at the weekend, heavier foods, etc. But, I didn't snack much at all this weekend and when I did I portioned out a smaller amount of something and enjoyed it rather than eating a family size packet of something! It wasn't difficult to do this either, I wasn't craving or wanting to eat loads. I hope this is a shift in my mindset and bringing in better habits.

I weighed this morning and have stayed the same, but something I ate over the weekend bloated me (I think I've worked out what) so that won't help. I usually drop a pound or 2 by Tuesday so that will give me a better idea. I'm not worried though because I know I've eaten well.

67.8kg today.

Plan tomorrow:
B almond croissant 475
L sticky rice and mushrooms 475 Veg 200
D beetroot & feta pasta 350 with poppy seeds 50

5lb off altogether now

Great! I’ve lost 2.3kg since early July which is OK.

Seem to have fallen into a routine with food

Late breakfast on my first break at work of an Apple, bit of peanut butter and a light babybel
Lunch - wafer thin chicken salad sandwich, pack of snack a jacks
Tea - gousto meal

Had a whoosh and now 67.2kg which is nearly 3kg down on early July.

It would be so good to break the 67kg by the end of the month but probably a tall order knowing how much I fluctuate.

Today’s plan:
B: Fruit, yoghurt, cream 500
L: Pizza 625 salad 100
S: 2 pieces Turkish delight 200

Hi all, can I jump in? I saw this thread when it first started but I wasn't quite ready to address my weight at that point. I'm now fully into losing some weight and have settled into a routine which is helping me do that, although definitely at a snail's pace!

I've switched to 16:8 intermittent fasting. Most days I eat between about 10.30am and 6:30pm and I've found it so much easier than I expected. The losses are slow but I think it's really sustainable so I'm hoping it's the way for me as I don't feel too deprived. I have a long way to go as I'm extremely overweight but in the last 3 months I've lost 3.4kg (7.5lbs).

I weigh daily as I find seeing the fluctuations helpful. The impact of a takeaway is massive so I have cut down on those, and hormonal fluctuations can big for me too.

I still eat quite a lot of junk food and feel that if I could combine the fasting with a healthier intake the weight would fall off much faster but at the moment I'm just surviving the school holidays and hoping for a return to relative normality in September. I may try to cut out or reduce the snacking then.

Good luck everyone, it's been great to read how you're all getting on. I will keep updating with my progress. We've got this.

Lowest ever weight for a while today and looks like I've lost half a stone altogether
I'm aiming for a stone in total off by mid sept

Congratulations @QueenPaws! Welcome @snappycamper! I can’t offer advice on giving up junk food I am afraid.

Where is this week going?! I think this is one of my best food weeks. I've been eating a variety of things (some full of vitamins, some fast food 😂) but feel completely in control. I really hope I'm moving away from the diet mentality that's been hanging over me for far too many years. I am currently not counting calories, not restricting food in any way, not limiting when I can eat. I am mindful of my health and try to eat healthy foods a lot of the time (but try to vary it so it doesn't get boring), but if I fancy something different I eat it. We had McDonalds last night (not my favourite food in the world, but I had the sweet chilli crispy chicken wrap and it was actually pretty decent...of course I had to have fries and a mini mcflurry with it 😂).

I had ice cream delivered with my food shop last Saturday and it still hasn't been opened. That's unheard of for me, but I know it's there, I know I can eat it whenever I want and I'm sure I will soon but I no longer feel the need to eat everything just because it's in the house. I do still want to be a healthier weight, but I'm not stressing about it. I'm hoping that if I continue as I am my body will naturally find its ideal weight.

I'm sure there will be struggles and ups/downs along the way but I am feeling so much more positive about my relationship with food. I've been looking at hashtags such as #saynotodiets #haes #intuitiveeating on instagram and find some great posts there. Intuitive eating is a bit of a strange one and it seems to be taken in different ways but I'm just going with the eat what I want (within reason.....burger and chips every day wouldn't be great!) and if I'm hungry between meals I eat something. It happens some days but not others.

Sorry for the long post, I'm feeling super positive, and not in 'diet mode' and I'm probably healthier than I've been on any of the diets I've been on. According to my fitbit, my heart rate is currently averaging at around 10 beats per minute less than it was a couple of months ago. For someone that has family history of heart issues, that's so amazingly positive!

Week 14 weigh in

I'm up 2 lbs!! 🙈
Really need to get back in the game! TOTM is due any moment so I'm sure that's not helping but I have deffinatly over indulged this week! I'm going on holiday on Saturday so will be a day late weighing in next week hopfully I can at least maintain!

Sounds great @ginandchocs! I didn’t open the Ben and Jerry’s I had delivered for two days this week and haven’t touched the chocolate cake from two weeks ago so I think I’m in more control too. (Or I have just adjusted/got bored with having junk food in the house over lockdown. In normal times I wouldn’t keep it in and would just buy a single serving as and when I fancied it).

That's brilliant @Egghead68 It's like when we give ourselves permission to eat what we want, we don't feel the need to eat it all now (which I have always done in the past). It takes time to get there, and I know I'm far from out of the woods but big steps made!