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?

This plan won't work either if you can't stick to it.

@BasinHaircut oh I'm the same. It's a local farm and we didn't have to book just buy a punnet when we got there and leave when you're done. It felt so normal. It's been really tough on the kids hasn't it? I can't wait for the parks to be open!

On a positive note I went to the supermarket at 5.30 last night and there was no queue! That feels like progress.

Has anyone been reading the thread 'if your slim how does this conversation in your head go' on weight loss chat? I'd recommend flicking through it's really interesting!

Not sure if I'm allowed to mention another thread so maybe this will get deleted!

@SoleBizzz not sure if that was aimed at me but please be kind. This is a supportive thread and everyone is doing brilliantly so no negativity please.

@lmfaoo I’d just ignore that I don’t think it was aimed at anyone, they clearly haven’t read the thread and just want to stick the boot in.

Glad I could be of service @Nettersrunboulder86!

I’ve just ‘treated’ myself to a bowl of granola, my usual breakfast before I started calorie counting. I knew it was fairly high cal but for comparison, I’ve been having either a protein shake with banana, weetabix or rice crispies with milk plus a coffee and 2 sugars, all for under 300 kcals. My usual granola and milk, plus my coffee is 600kcal!

Just goes to show how small adjustments can add up to big calorie savings. Makes it easy to see how my weight crept up slowly but surely.

@SoleBizzz 😂 there's always one. This is a positive thread, if you can't say anything positive then just move on. Be kind.

@lmfaoo I’ve read a bit of that thread you mentioned and yes it is interesting. Eating in the evenings for me is 100% about boredom and fancying something and never really about being truly hungry unless we eat an early dinner. I do usually have a glass of milk if I am craving something after dinner and find that is enough to see off the craving.

@lmfaoo Thank you for recommending the thread, I've started to read through it. I really wish I didn't just fancy eating something when I'm not hungry, especially after 7pm. It's important to me that we all eat as a family, though, which means we eat early so plenty of time to hunt for snacks 🤦‍♀️

Today's been another good day. I had:
B: bagel with 2 scrambled eggs and a glass of cranberry juice
L: leftover fish pie from yesterday's dinner
S: a packet of Monterey Jack mini cheddars I found whilst sorting the snack cupboard recently
D: curry, rice, half a large naan and 2 poppadoms,
S: 2 x digestives

All that with drinks (no alcohol!) came to 1,636 calories.

I hope everyone else has had a good day 😊

Yes I'm a total boredom eater too! I found allowing myself a pudding within my rough calories each day really helpful and also means I eat less at dinner because I know I'm going to have a delicious toffee ice cream afterwards for 220 cals. I feel like I'm starting to train my brain into this routine so I know when I've finished my ice cream that's it until tomorrow. It helps that they take much longer to eat then a yoghurt or something! I tend to eat around 6pm and I like to shower and brush my teeth and be in my pjs ready for bed whilst I watch a bit of tv in the evening and relax.

One thing that a someone wrote which stuck out to me is that people who eat more tend to underestimate how much they eat and people who eat less tend to over estimate how much they eat. This makes a lot of sense!

Well done @ginandchocs for yesterday!

Everyone is doing so well, this thread is definitely going to help me going into the weekend. I've had a really good week so far with my calories and exercise, but Friday afternoon is usually where it goes off track for me! Does anybody have any tips how g they manage to stay on track over the weekend?

Week 4 weigh in for me and 2.25 lbs down. That makes 9lbs down in total and 7.25 to go!

@MrsEHB I have been treating the weekend the same as any other day with the exception of maybe 1 or 2 glasses of wine on one evening. To me going off track at the weekend is just not worth undoing a weeks worth of progress! Maybe pick a small extra treat to look forward too but other than that eat normally?

I also think weighing on a Friday helps motivate me to eat well over the weekend

I am tending to weigh every couple of days. My weight goes up and down but the lowest number is getting lower and the highest numbers are coming down so it’s all going in the right direction!

Weekends mean very little at the moment but in normal times they are always a struggle for me @MrsEHB as there is always something happening involving food, or alcohol, or both! I think advance planning is key though. Know what you are having before you have it. Also a big one for me - don’t make weekend breakfasts an event. Just have what you usually have. You don’t need a sausage sandwich just because it’s Sunday!

I do relax things over the weekend, but have still been losing slowly so whilst that happens I'm continuing as I am. If I stop losing then I will look more at the weekend. I am not drinking any alcohol this weekend for the first time in absolutely ages so it'll be interesting to see what happens on my Monday weigh in.

However, Friday so far is going really well, and I usually start to relax things from about this time! After dinner I'll still have over 400 calories left over (but I do have some really nice chocolate in the cupboard so I predict I will make good use of those calories 🤦‍♀️).

I hope everyone's had a good day. Today has been the best Friday food wise I've had in a long time (and probably the first wine free one 😂). I'm finding that I'm wanting fewer and fewer snacks, and my meals are keeping me full up.

Today I have eaten:
B: toast, 2 poached eggs and a slice of bacon (I really enjoyed this and might have it again tomorrow morning!). Also a glass of cranberry juice
L: chicken stir fry with noodles, babycorn, mangetout and carrots
D: Fishcake, jacket potato and broccoli
S: Chocolate
Including drinks, my total calories for today come to 1,657. Last Friday I was just under 2,200 (wine and snacks) so I'm really pleased with today. I'm not going to count over the weekend but plan to check in here to see how everyone's getting on.

Well done on this weeks loss @lmfaoo! I'm already 1lb down this week so that's helped to motivate me to keep at it over the weekend. I think I will up my calories though to maybe 1800 for Saturday and Sunday, aslong as I don't just slob about all day it won't do any damage! Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Everyone doing so well. This is a great thread.

We decided to have a takeaway last night. I’d promised DH one for Father’s Day but I just wanted to get it out of the way so I can get back on track so we had it early.

Back to it today.

@lmfaoo I completely missed your weigh in post, I'm so sorry. Your loss is amazing. Well done!!

So, it's Saturday afternoon, I'm not calorie counting, can eat what I want but haven't eaten any more than any other day! I'm starting to get peckish now, but it's getting too close to dinner time to eat anything. Everyone else is having chippy tonight (hubby's favourite for Father's Day as they're closed tomorrow) but I'm not fancying it as we last had it about 2 or 3 weeks ago and I find it quite a stodgy meal so I've decided to make a traditional carbonara. I'm really looking forward to it, and it will be interesting to see what it's like without cream.

I hope everyone's Saturday is going well.

@ginandchocs thank you! Mmm carbonara is my favourite, and fish and chips for that matter! We had chicken Kiev with dolphinoise (?) potatoes and veg. I had a smaller portion with lots of veg and it was delicious. I've also had an ice cream and 2 glasses of white wine. I've bought a couple of new tops for Sainsbury's today in a size 12 whohoo my size 12 jeans are also feeling much more comfortable!

Hi, can I join please?

Finally decided I needed to do something as my weights crept up and up and I'm now in the obese category.

Cheese and chocolate are my downfall. And butter. Had half my normal amount of cheese and butter this lunch and realised it was 300 cals so my normal lunch is 600cals even without the bread.

Using mfp to log calories as that's worked for me in the past.

Of course @Beawillalwaysbetopdog welcome!

Well I’ve ended up having the weekend off. Bit disappointed with myself but it’s not been all bad, just been over my calories by about 400-500 for the past 2 days so I shouldn’t have done any damage as such. I’ve also had the laziest weekend. I’m determined to get right back to it tomorrow though.

Hope you’ve all had better weekends!

Welcome @Beawillalwaysbetopdog 😊

@basinhaircut As long as you enjoyed the weekend, that's all that matters.

I don't usually count calories at the weekend, but I've added up my weekend's calories now (I didn't do it throughout the day, just roughly at the end of the day) and I've been about 400 calories over each day. I'm really happy with that, and just hope I still have a loss tomorrow.

I haven't had a drop of alcohol all weekend (and have now decided to extend it to the 4th July - my husband is cooking that night so we'll share a bottle of red) and haven't snacked as much as usual either. My meals have been far stodgier and carb heavy though.

I hope everyone else has had a good weekend and I'll update with my weigh in tomorrow morning 😊

Happy Monday! I have lost 1lb this week which I'm obviously really happy about. That's 4 1/4 pounds in 6 weeks. Slow but steady. I definitely haven't missed out at all. During the past 6 weeks I have eaten pizza (more than once), chippy, chocolate, sweets, crisps, sausage rolls, carbonara, curry with naan bread and poppadums, garlic bread and have drunk plenty of wine and gin! But, I have balanced that by eating salad, stir fries, plenty of home cooked dinners, poached eggs, and lots more filling, balanced meals.

I haven't found it a struggle at all, and for the first time in forever I have made it through the time of the month without binging and without my mental health issues deteriorating. I'm convinced it has to be massively linked. I definitely think that this is far better than restricting, losing quickly, struggling, falling off the wagon and then gaining a massive chunk of it back again. Rewind and repeat.

I hope you all have a great day 😊

Well done @ginandchocs great progress not only with the weight loss but with navigating that time of the month so well! I’ve put a bit on over the weekend but if I compare myself to last Monday I’m half a pound down so I’m still heading in the right direction. I’m feeling positive about today x

@ginandchocs that’s amazing! You are so right, this is the sustainable way. New habits, staying aware of what we are consuming but not depriving ourselves to the point it becomes a miserable existence.

Well done @Nettersrunboulder86 too. 1lb in a week is great!

I’ve weighed myself this morning and I am weighing 12st, 1lb, 4oz. I think this is 2oz lower than my lowest weight so far. I know that 2oz could be the difference between wearing something slightly heavier than last time but having expected an increase today given my weekend I am just so pleased that it wasn’t 12st 5lbs or something. Although it’s all about the average weights not specific days I am spurred on that I’m not going to have to wait a few days to get the weekend bloat off.

Also makes me realise that I wasn’t as ‘bad’ at the weekend as I felt I was being. That feeling isn’t anything to do with what I actually consumed, it’s just that negative voice in my head that might have made me throw in the towel previously.