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?

Morning all thanks @BasinHaircut

Yesterday's food was
B: yoghurt and granola
L: leak and potato soup and popcorn
S: banana
D: prawn courgetti stir fry
P: halo ice cream

So I weighed this morning and I have lost 3.25lbs that makes 6.75lbs in total. Nearly half a bloody stone. Thanks so much @ginandchocs for creating the thread. It's really helped keep me motivated and accountable. Hope everyone has a good day!

Amazing @lmfaoo !!! that must feel fantastic.

I’ve just logged my food from yesterday and I may have gone 100 cals over. I have had to make a few assumptions on weight though so I might have had slightly less than that.

I’ve bought some crumpets for breakfast today. Usually I’d have them smothered in butter and then also melt cheese on top. Trying to decide between butter and cheese at the moment I was surprised to see that a crumpet is only 98kcals. Thought they’d be more.

@BasinHaircut thank you yes I'm really pleased. Buttered crumpets are my favourite! I've never tried them with cheese though. I also would have though a plain crumpet would be more calories then that. Enjoy your breakfast!

Morning all! Another 1lb off for me this week. I’m now 12st 3lbs. I’m really chuffed that this is working as I really don’t feel deprived at all. I know it’s early days and it must help that socialising is severely restricted at the moment but there isn’t much I can do about that right now anyway!

Congratulation @BasinHaircut !

Yes I think it so much easier to get in the swing of it when your not being social. Long may our new habits continue!

How's everyone getting on? I've just been for a nice walk with a friend and hit 11k steps. Todays food has been porridge for breakfast, banana for morning snack, ham cheese and tomato sandwich and a pear for lunch and dinner will be pizza with salad or stir fry with cauliflower rice, not decided yet!

Monday tomorrow, hope everyone is feeling positive and has a great week!

@BasinHaircut and @lmfaoo you've both had brilliant weight losses.

I'd had such a good week until about 5pm on Friday 🤦‍♀️ it happens every week and then I eat a ridiculous amount of calories. I really need to control my weekends a little better. My first aim to help this is to have an alcohol free week. That probably won't sound like much to most people, but after a week of home schooling the wine/gin definitely opens on a Friday night and keeps flowing until bedtime on Sunday (not ridiculously so, I don't spend my weekends drunk 😂). I have a glass of red wine at the moment, and once that's gone there's no alcohol for 7 days and then I'm going to look at how much I drink at the weekend and cut back.

Food wise I don't think has been too bad this weekend. If I keep losing, I'm going to keep calorie counting during the week and then not counting at the weekend. We'll see what tomorrow brings first though!

Weigh in tomorrow morning. Another half off would be lovely, but I wouldn't be surprised if the wine has ruined my week's efforts this week. We live and learn.

I hope everyone else has had a good weekend and has a good week ahead 😊

@ginandchocs the weekends are certainly harder. I actually had two large glasses of wine Friday night but I like to think I balanced it out by not having an afternoon snack and having an omelette for tea. If no alcohol is too hard maybe you could try having 1 or 2 glasses on one night and working it into your weekly deficit?

I admire your patience with counting calories! It's all been a bit of a guessing game for me as I'll check the calories on packets so I have a rough idea but I don't log anything. I think this may mean I'm airing on the side of caution and eating less because I can't be bothered to actually count!

One thing I have discovered is frozen bags of cauliflower rice from Tesco. They go in the microwave for 4 minutes and are only 45 cals a portion! If you substitute them for rice in a chilli or stir fry it can really bring the calories down.

I have also been drinking sparkling water with ice and lemon in the evening in stead of a g&t. I find it really refreshing and it's just nice to be sat with a drink whilst watching the telly so I don't feel like in missing out.

I have those cauliflower rice bags in the freezer. They're great with stir fries instead of noodles! I've also got a few bottles of sparkling water here with some posh cordial 😂 so I'm going to be turning that into my wine this week. The cordial has more calories than normal squash, but it will have far fewer than the wine has. I have a strange relationship with alcohol. I can easily give up for a while and can go months without or by just having the odd glass at the weekend, however having a glass or two at certain times becomes a habit which is made worse when I'm struggling with my mental health. I'm guessing lockdown isn't helping at the minute though we are much more fortunate than many others. Furlough is taking a lot of pressure off in many ways, but there's a good chance that the company I work for won't survive after the end of the year so that's a worry.

Weigh in day for me. I'm down another 3/4 lbs so that makes 3.25lbs down in 5 weeks. That works out at just over half a pound a week which is what I'm aiming for. Almost a quarter of a stone gone and I've not said no to anything. I've counted calories Mon to Thurs, but I'm very flexible with how many I eat and if I have a day where I go over it's fine.

So, we're at the start of a new week. I hope everyone has a good one 😊 My period is due at the end of this week so that's going to be a bit of a struggle food wise but I'm determined not to let it take over as I'm pretty sure it did last month.

Have a great day 😊

Nice one @ginandchocs!

I haven’t counted calories over the weekend as we have been doing a bit of visiting/been visited and there has been less control than normal over food.

I have been fairly restrained I think, but due to getting a takeaway last night, I know that if I were to weigh myself now I’d be heavy due to water retention but that’s ok. We’ve had such a lovely weekend and it was just what the doctor ordered so to speak.

But back to it today! Although due to not having a Tesco slot for this week I actually don’t know what we are eating this week yet, so need to sort that out today.

Huge Congratulations @ginandchocs

I'm feeling really great today! I think it's because the shops have opened, and the suns been shining! I've been working and will avoid anyway because I hate queuing but it feels like normality is round the corner!

Today has been good food wise and I've hit 14,000 steps. Going to try for an early night tonight as I didn't sleep well last night.

Hi everyone

Well done on your losses! I e had a fairly disastrous few days diet wise as I'm on my period and it just makes me want to eat! I had two bags of crisps in a row yesterday plus cake, ice cream and burger and chips for tea. Trying to be much better today. Will try and be extra good this week to try and counteract the weekend. Haven't weighed myself yet but my clothes are fitting better than they were two weeks ago. I might weigh myself on Saturday morning after having a good weeks hopefully.

Don't worry about what's happened @cornflakecrispie It happens to us all and you know why it happens. It's great that your clothes are feeling much better already. Try not to restrict your calories too much this week, that tends to be when we give up because it's not sustainable. Just draw a line and move on. I know it's much easier said than done.

I've had a good food day today. I've eaten:
B: bagel with 2 scrambled eggs and cranberry juice,
S: a small left over pancake from yesterday's breakfast (we had 5 left, the boys had 2 each so I had to eat the last one to stop them falling out over it 😂)
L: 2 x chipotle chicken and salad mini wraps
S: an Aldi watermelon ice lolly
D: pasta and broccoli in cheese sauce with garlic bread
S: Aldi Roser Moth chocolate.

That brings today's calories to 1,484. Today is day 1 of my 7 days of no alcohol, but I don't often drink on a Monday so it was no issue. The weekend will be the challenge. I'm already thinking of extending the week to 2 weeks to get out of the habit of the weekend wine.

I agree @cornflakecrispie don’t try to ‘make up’ for having a bed few days by being restrictive, just get back on track.

I came in on calories yesterday after the weekend’s free for all so I’m pleased with that.

Did anyone go to the shops yesterday? I went to Tesco and it was empty. I’m assuming everyone was at Primark instead

Hi everyone, can I join in too? Started doing this last week but it was my anniversary at the weekend so I was basically a write off from Friday night 🙈 started this week well, keeping my calories at 1400-1500 per day, my bmr is about 1422 calories so I figure aslong as I'm doing some exercise each day I've got to lose weight! Starting at 10stone 13lbs, my goal weight is roughly 9.5stone but I'll probably reassess that as I get closer!

Welcome @MrsEHB Well done for a good start to the week after a weekend of celebrations!

@BasinHaircut I'm in Wales so nothing has changed here! I bet there were a lot of people out shopping yesterday in England! I'm happy with my weekly supermarket visit at the moment 😂

Today has gone well. I've eaten:
B: bagel with scrambled eggs and cranberry juice
L: was supposed to be some soup with a slice of seeded bread but I didn't like the soup so just had the bread! Not the best if meals but I couldn't be bothered to make something else!
S: dreamy chocolate bar from Tesco
D: red lentil dahl with rice and a chapati
S: sour jelly beans
That all comes to 1,636 calories (I had quite a few jelly beans!!).

I had a rubbish walking week last week, but I went out with the boys for a walk this afternoon and had a long walk yesterday afternoon. I also went food shopping this evening so a few more steps there 😂 It was actually the cheapest food shop I've had in a long time!! Let's hope that's not just a one off!

Welcome @MrsEHB!

@ginandchocs I couldn’t have just stuck to the bread for lunch I’d have been ravenous!

Yesterday for me was:
B- protein shake with banana and almond milk. Coffee with 2 sugars (260 cals)
L- falafel and salad wrap (450kcals)
Snack - strawberries and natural yogurt (120kcals)
D- tofu noodles and mangetout (appx 600kcals)
Glass of milk before bed (140kcals)
1570 kcals total

I’m still finding myself amazed at how much I can eat and still be within my daily calories.

Weighed myself again this morning and I am the same weight as I was on Saturday morning. I’m very pleased with that given I have no idea on calories consumed at the weekend. I’ve promised DH a takeaway for Fathers Day on Sunday which I plan to enjoy so I’m hoping I can see a small loss before then. I hadn’t been taking any notice of the ounces on the scale but I was 12st 3lb 2oz this morning so if I can get a few ounces down by Sunday I’ll be pleased.

Going to visit my sister today and am preparing a packed lunch. Still loving that during this time of social distancing you can do that and not look rude or odd by not wanting food prepared by others. So handy for calorie counting!

Hi everyone! Can I join please? I’ve been trying to eat around 1750 calories a day Mon-Thurs and then let it go at the weekend a little but do plenty of exercise. I’ve lost around 11lbs since Christmas. I would definitely like to get to a stone of weight loss in the next month or so and then maybe a few more very slow pounds in the second half of the year!

Hi everyone welcome @MrsEHB and @Nettersrunboulder86 well done in loosing 11lbs since Christmas you will find it so much easier to maintain when you need to with that steady progress. Maintaining is something I worry about because I've never been able to do it. However i do feel like I have a different more realistic outlook on healthier eating this time. Just need to focus on loosing the weight first!

@BasinHaircut I've also been taking my own food when visiting people's gardens, in some ways the lockdown has been a really handy time to change my diet for the better.

What's everyone doing today? We are going strawberry picking!

Thanks @lmfaoo! One of the reasons I’ve joined this group is to help keep going / maintain. It can be hard to be motivated when weight loss is slow but it all adds up! Have a lovely time strawberry picking! I’m hoping for a bit of rain but not too much rain later so I can have a quiet run after work

@lmfaoo 100%. Without all of the office biscuits and birthday cakes etc I find I’m not eating any of that unless I bake it (which I’ve stopped doing now).

I did have a small twix at my sisters for 113 kcals but I’ve counted it and so it’s all good. Got enough left for dinner and my nightly glass of milk if I fancy it.

Welcome @Nettersrunboulder86. 11lbs is great! If you’d have lost that in a few weeks what are the chances you would have gained it back by now? What you are doing is making long term changes that are leading to a healthier weight, rather than dieting to lose weight and changing nothing long term. If it’s slow but permanent then it’s got to be worth the wait!

We can keep each other accountable though.

Strawberry picking sounds good but I really can’t be arsed to do things like that at the moment given that it’s all pre-bookings only and limited access etc due to social distancing. DS was asking to go to the zoo and I explained to him about all of the inside bits being closed and he said he can’t be bothered then. I think this summer is going to be parks, beaches and back gardens only for us, but that suits me to be honest.

Chicken noodle soup cooking for dinner and it smells so good!

Welcome @Nettersrunboulder86 You've had a great loss with 11lbs, well done!

Just a quick update as I'm shattered tonight! Was late to bed last night and feeling it now!!

Today I've had:
B: 2 x seeded toast with marmalade and cranberry juice,
L: teriyaki salmon salad
S: 2 x salt and vinegar rice cakes
D: fish pie with broccoli and peas
S: jelly beans and 3 x digestives.

That brings today to 1,766. I was feeling hungry tonight, but that's definitely pre-menstrual. That's where the digestives came from! I hope everyone else has had a good day 😊

@BasinHaircut thanks! Seeing myself tagged in your post last night stopped me from misbehaving.

No run last night as the thunderstorm hit us just as I was planning to go out. Did a 10 minute HIIT workout instead.

It’s a grey raining day here today. Anyone got anything exciting to do? @ginandchocs I’ll try and post my food today but I think the amount of snacking I do will be bad!

@Nettersrunboulder86 well done for doing the hiit instead of the run. I'm awful with exercise at the moment. I aim to go out for a walk after lunch each day but the storm hit here about 12:15 yesterday and hung about on and off all afternoon. It looks grey here again today too.

My plans are the same as every other day at the moment 😂 Home schooling, cooking, laundry and cleaning. My husband is back in work full time this week for the first time since lockdown started. I'm on furlough, though, so at least not working at the same time! I'm making a curry for dinner tonight, and have bought in naan bread and poppadums so I need to be a bit more careful with today's meals. I'll probably have leftover fish pie for lunch as it was pretty low calorie.

I hope everyone has a great day 😊