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?

Happy Monday. It does not feel like a Bank Holiday!! I hope everyone's had a great weekend. I've lost 1.25lbs this week which I'm really pleased with. I'm on the verge of dropping down into the next stone so fingers crossed next week. I love that I'm managing this without counting, weighing or measuring anything, but just by being sensible. In the past week I've had a McDonalds, apple crumble, prawn crackers, bacon sandwich, wine, crisps and ice cream, but I've also had salads, well balanced healthy dinners and good breakfasts to keep me going until lunch. We've also moved a bit and had a great family walk on Saturday as well as walking instead of using the car for other things. Happy balance 😊 I'm under no illusion that this is easy and there won't be times that I don't struggle but I love how this is right now.

Morning. Really cold here. Good work @ginandchocs. I forgot to weigh myself before breakfast and a ton of coffee so too late now. Not expecting a loss over this weekend though.

My focus this week is on trying to eat at least 50g of protein a day, even if this means increasing my calories. I fall far short of this at the moment.

Today:
B: Raspberries, trifle 450 3g protein
S: Turkish Delight 150
L: macaroni cheese 640 butter beans 210 41g of protein tomatoes mushrooms lettuce 60
S: babybel 70 ?6g protein

Still here but slight NC! Another 1lb off, so half a stone in 10 days which I'm not complaining at
Had a pizza last night but it fitted in my calories
Food shop done, I'm finding apples and 10 calorie jelly are my saviour

Back up to 69.5kg from 67.2kg a few days ago. I had just one day of overdoing it!

@Egghead68 that will be just water weight. There's no way you could have eaten enough calories to gain over 2kgs overnight. A couple of days eating normally and that will be gone. It happens to everyone. Please don't stress about fluctuations on the scales. They're absolutely normal.

Thanks @ginandchocs! I’ll weigh again in a few days.

Hi everyone, I'm still here, just lurking in the background as I've been focusing more on working out and my diet has really slipped! Still at 144lbs though so I'm pleased I'm maintaining even with all the wine and pizza! Been stressed with work and kids and just trying to fit everything in, something had to give and unfortunately that something was my diet 🙈 I have a hello fresh delivery coming on Tuesday (free trial) so I will at least have decent teas next week.

Week 15 weigh in

Weighing in a day late as been on holiday all week and amazingly I've lost 2.25 lbs! Im now 135.75 so still 0.25lbs heavier then week 12 so hoping to get that shifted this week!

@lmfaoo yay!
Another 1lb off for me

I'm having one thing a week that doesn't quite fit into my calories as I'm on 1200, so say McDonald's chips or a chocolate bar
Makes it easier!

Bad week for me. Overate by around 1500 calories for the week in total and have gone up from 67.2kg to 68.4kg. I’ve not been well though so will cut myself some slack.

Well done to everyone who’s lost!

Thanks @QueenPaws well done to you too!

@Egghead68 it's tough when your not feeling well just concentrate on getting better and get back to it next week

@lmfaoo and @QueenPaws well done 😁

@Egghead68 when we're ill we do sometimes eat more and different foods and that's perfectly ok.

I've been doing pretty well and staying in control. However I had a really stressful day yesterday followed by an awful night's sleep last night so today has been all about the carbs 😂 I have avoided lots of snacking though so it's all good! I had a gluten free pizza this evening (not on purpose, Tesco sent it accidentally instead of a regular one in my shopping. I ate 3/4 of it tonight (the Pizza Express one) and had to stop. I bloated up really badly and have not had a great stomach since. I wonder what's in a gluten free pizza to make me react like that.

Saw this recipe which looks nice
https://upfitness.com/food-nutrition/recipes/healthy-finger-licking-fried-chicken-recipe/

@ginandchocs have you heard of the FODmap diet? It's a process of eliminating foods which sit and ferment in your stomach and cause stomach ache / diorreah etc my friend is following it it's a pain but she's slowing adding things back in and working out what she can and can't eat

@QueenPaws that looks yum and you planning to make it?

@lmfaoo I am! Probably not this week as I've done my food shop already but I've saved it

@lmfaoo Thank you. I looked into it around 18 months ago, but decided against it as one week something can affect me, and then the next I'm fine with it. I think it's IBS flareups for whatever reasons so I'm just more wary and don't go overboard on the things that do affect me.

I've lost 3/4 pound this week. I've just checked back and I haven't calorie counted for over 3 weeks and lost 2lbs in that time so I'm really pleased. Slow and steady as I was looking for and without missing out on anything. I'm almost half a stone down since starting this thread 😁 I definitely feel as I have far more freedom around food.

Thanks everyone. It’s hard to get back in the weight loss habit! Good work @ginandchocs

Fell off a little bit.. still within my calories today though and just over for yesterday. I figure this is a long haul so I'm going to have off days

Absolutely @QueenPaws In my mind this is forever, and forever means enjoying what I eat. It's a lifestyle and not a diet. You're doing great!

I hope everyone's doing great this week. Remember the aim of this thread isn't to be on a big diet, isn't to cut back too much. It's to make small changes which will result in us being healthier and to very slowly lose some pounds. The aim being that it's sustainable, that we don't fall off the wagon because we're not on one in the first place.

Another 1lb off :)

@QueenPaws that's excellent, well done

Here's my meals for the day
The luminous thing is butter chicken

Unwell today but another 3lbs off. Got 4lbs to go and I'll have lost a stone