Slow but sensible weight loss

[slowandsteady]

Hi 😊

Up until last March, I had spent almost 20 years on a diet. My weight had gone up and down so many times over the years following different plans. However, last March when the Slimming World group I was a member of went to zoom classes I decided to stop. I decided to stop dieting and to work on improving my relationship with food.

Almost 12 months later my weight is pretty much exactly where it was then. I am really happy about this as to me it means that my relationship with food is so much better. I don't binge or restrict. I don't avoid certain foods because they're 'bad'. I am now far more aware of my health and have started exercising from time to time, just because I feel like it.

But...I do want to be smaller, fitter, leaner, healthier. I want to achieve this without counting points or syns, categorising foods, fasting, massively restricting calories or avoiding certain food groups. Obviously I do need to burn more calories than I consume to achieve this but I want to do it in a way that is sustainable. Slow and steady.

I have decided to set up calories at 1700 per day. 12 months ago I would never have thought it would be possible to lose weight eating 1700 calories (I'm only 5ft3") but I now know that it's possible. As long as I burn more than that.

So, I thought I'd keep a note of how I get on here. My personal rules are:

1. Eat an average of 1700 ish calories per day over a week (some days could be 1500, others 1900),
2. Burn at least 2000 calories a day,
3. Sit down and eat the same evening meal as my family every night,
4. Exercise if and when I feel like it,
5. Don't restrict food. If I've reached my calorie goal but would really like something else then go for it (sensibly),
6. Take daily vitamins,
7. Drink a sensible amount of fluids.

I know weight loss won't be fast, but I just want it to be sustainable.

If anyone would like to join in, please feel free (but please no serious restricting, slimming clubs or fasting.....if they work for you then that's amazing.....they don't for me).

@Angbunnyboo that's really interesting about fibre. I've recently increased my fibre intake as I felt I didn't eat enough. I'm definitely going to keep an eye on that one!

I'm pleased slow and steady is working for you. After trying the quick fix version for almost 20 years (and gaining more back each time) this definitely sustainable/long term.

Lovely idea for a thread.May I join, please? I have put on lots of weight in part because of lazy eating and in part because of an ankle injury the last eight months. I just don't seem to be able to do strict discipline at the moment. I have done successfully in the past but not now. I just don't feel like it.

I have decided to try and make a couple of small changes a week and try and stick to them. So far I have added a big bowl of leafy greens per day of whatever sort, no snacking at all and an iron supplement.

I am interested in the idea of not drinking water when you eat and of not eating protein and carb together. I guess that means no cheese on toast! I'd be really interested to know more.

Another 1lb loss this week, 7lb altogether. I know slow and steady is the aim of the game but its so painful!!!!

This sounds like a sensible approach and glad it's working for you OP. I'm wondering how I would go about doing something similar, I'm just not sure how I could count the calories in my evening meals. I cook from various recipes but none specify calories and there are too many ingredients to estimate to get any accuracy. How do you do it?

@margaritasbythesea small changes sound great. I love cheese on toast and a cheese and pickle sandwich far too much to not eat them!!

@Covidconfusion89 1lb is great! Well done. Half a stone lost! Ot may feel very frustrating, but if you're like me you'll have been on lots of diets where you've lost the weight quickly only for it all to come back again. It feels tough at the moment but when it works in the long term it will be so worth it.

@KimsPonytail I use myfitnesspal and you can create recipes on it. You add all the ingredients that go into the dish and then state what your serving size is. Once you've done it once the same recipe will be there for you to add quickly next time. I do admit that I sometimes guess. As long as it works and the weight is going the correct way then I'm happy with some estimating! If my weight loss stopped or I was gaining I would have to look a bit closer.

I am so pleased it's Friday night and half term. So pleased in fact that I poured myself a g&t tonight. I'm usually ok and not unwell after 1 so fingers crossed!!

Today I've had:
B: toast and marmalade
L: pitta bread pizzas and a salad
S: fibre one bar
D: we eat beige freezer food every Friday night
S: choc chip cookie and a g&t

Calories consumer: 1830
Calories burned: 2056
Exercise: blustery walk!

So despite going over my target 1700 I am still within a deficit. Life needs flexibility so I'm keeping this as flexible as I can.

Just a quick one tonight so I can keep track of calories in/out. I've eaten differently to usual today...I generally do at the weekend. I'm quite bloated and have a blotchy face tonight which I'm guessing means I've eaten something that doesn't agree with me!

Hopefully it will be better by tomorrow, and I plan to have a more 'normal' food day tomorrow (for health reasons rather than weight loss).

Today I have eaten 1971 calories but I have burned 2326. We went for a long walk today where so my steps are quite a bit higher than usual. Bloating is likely to affect the scales on Monday, but it'll all work out in the end.

Sunday!

Today I have consumed 1582 calories and burned off around 2010.

I have eaten:
B: Chicken sausages with scrambled egg, spinach and a bagel
L: roast dinner
S: Fibre now bar (Aldi version of a fibre one)
D: cheese on toast
S: 3 chocolates from a Cadbury's Heroes box

I did have a glass of red at lunch (a small one) but otherwise it's been squash, sparkling water and a pepsi max cherry to drink.

Exercise: I did a YouTube workout (20 min one) followed by an 8 minute yoga one. I also went out for a walk in the rain with one of my children.

I'm weighing in tomorrow morning but even if the scales don't show a loss I have lost an inch from my waist in the past 2 weeks. I'll do the other measurements tomorrow as well to see if there's a loss from anywhere else.

I've weighed in this morning and stayed the same. I'm obviously a little disappointed, but I'm going to keep going and know there could be a million reasons why. If I continue not to lose, I'll relook at calories, but think it's far too soon to think about that. My skin has gone horrible over the last few days, so I think my body is adapting to change.

I've started a Les Mills 30 day free trial today and completed a workout this morning. I actually really enjoyed it!

Are you weighing and measuring accurately? i hope you don’t mind me saying this, but the food you list looks as though it would come in as more than that.

@oneglassandpuzzled

Are you weighing and measuring accurately? i hope you don’t mind me saying this, but the food you list looks as though it would come in as more than that.

I'm not sure how you can come to that conclusion when I haven't mentioned quantities of anything 🤷‍♀️ For example, my roast dinner yesterday was a small amount of beef, one dauphinoise potato from Aldi (the frozen portioned ones) and then a load of carrots and broccoli.

Yesterday I ate:
2 x chicken chipolatas (84), 2 eggs (120), 1 cup of spinach (7) and 1 protein thin bagel (160) - 371 total
The roast dinner came to 426 calories and the wine 119 - 4545 total
Fibre now bar - 84
2 x seeded bread (268), 40g cheese (167) - 435 total
3 x mini chocolates - 147

Total for the day 1582.

I know my body and know it is adapting to change. I have also mentioned I suffer with IBS and have suffered bloating after each something that my body didn't like. I had a carb heavy weekend which will affect.

I do appreciate the suggestion, but I'm going to keep going as I am. Hopefully it will show that you can lose weight eating good food!

Fair enough: broken down it looks a lot less than 'roast dinner' and 'cheese on toast' etc, implied.

No offence intended

@oneglassandpuzzled

Fair enough: broken down it looks a lot less than 'roast dinner' and 'cheese on toast' etc, implied.

No offence intended

I'm not in the slightest offended and I do appreciate the suggestion. We have a roast most weekends and maybe once a month do the whole roasties, yorkshire puds, etc. The rest of the time just meat, pots and veg.

2 slices of cheese on toast is exactly as described.....cheese on toast!

Last week I lost 2 lbs. Over the last 2 weeks I've lost 1" from my waist and 1" from my hips. No loss this week is disappointing but I hope it'll balance out eventually. I'm definitely moving more and eating less than before. It's all positive 😊

When I was following a diet plan, not losing weight one week would probably result in a binge. In fact any sort of weigh in would usually result in a 'cheat meal'. Now, there are no such things. I eat the foods I enjoy all the time. Sometimes I need to make sure the quantities aren't massive, or that I bulk it out with veg/salad but I meal plan with our 'normal' meals.

Today I have had
B: 2 x poached eggs on 2 x slices of seeded toast with a tsp of chia seeds on top
L: stir fry using leftover beef from yesterday's roast.
S: some peppermint creams my children had made
D: pasta bake with salad and 1 slice of garlic bread.

Exercise: Les Mills workout (sh'bam) and a walk with the children.

Calories consumed: 1685
Calories burned (estimate): 2139

Pancake day tomorrow! I've already put the ingredients into mfp to work out calories! Yum!!

Forgot to mention the jelly beans I had this evening! I'd already added them to the calories in mfp so that's correct, just forgot to write them down here!

Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day

Today I've had:
B: 2 x shop bought scotch pancakes and berries
S: Trek flapjack/oat bar
L: salmon stir fry (but minus noodles today....loads of veggies though)
S: peppermint creams my children made yesterday
D: pancakes with lemon and sugar
S: jelly beans

This brings today to 1614 calories eaten. I have burned off around 2052.
Exercise: les mills bodycombat 30 minute session. Loved it!

Sounds like you're doing well Slow!

I've been following 1700 cals a day and its been really good for me. I did go over a bit today cos I had some big snacks after I spoke with my psych and then I had pancakes - only went over by about 100 cals. And Ive done less than 3000 steps cos I didn't go for my running cos it was raining.

Basically not my best day, but not beating myself up for it.

Hi! I've been tracking my calories since new years day, I've lost 6lb so far. I've had about 3 occasions of pigging out, eg pancakes tonight!! But I'll be back on it again tomorrow.
I walk at least 30 minutes a day, my total step count is between 8 and 10k.
I did team RH and lost 20lb about 3 years ago, but put it all back on.
I also want more of a lifestyle change, so I'm using my fitness pal to get me into the routine of eating healthier and portion control.
I plan on increasing my exercise as the days get warmer as well.
I'm currently 186lb and 5ft 6.

@Angbunnyboo

Sounds like you're doing well Slow!

I've been following 1700 cals a day and its been really good for me. I did go over a bit today cos I had some big snacks after I spoke with my psych and then I had pancakes - only went over by about 100 cals. And Ive done less than 3000 steps cos I didn't go for my running cos it was raining.

Basically not my best day, but not beating myself up for it.

Sounds like you're doing really well too. We all have days where we eat more for different reasons and move less, but it's all part of life.

@Eloradannin

Hi! I've been tracking my calories since new years day, I've lost 6lb so far. I've had about 3 occasions of pigging out, eg pancakes tonight!! But I'll be back on it again tomorrow. I walk at least 30 minutes a day, my total step count is between 8 and 10k. I did team RH and lost 20lb about 3 years ago, but put it all back on. I also want more of a lifestyle change, so I'm using my fitness pal to get me into the routine of eating healthier and portion control. I plan on increasing my exercise as the days get warmer as well. I'm currently 186lb and 5ft 6.

Well done on the weight loss. It's brilliant. Don't worry about days where you eat more. I try to plan it into my day but if I go over my calories then it really doesn't matter. Making lifelong changes for me is far better than following a 'diet' though I know that watching calories is to a point dieting. I was eating my pancakes last night thinking that if I was following Slimming World I would be far over my syns so would have gone 'stuff it' and ended up having a binge day. Yesterday was just a normal day with pancakes for dinner (and breakfast 😳😂)

@slowandsteady, exactly, take one day at a time.
I find the more strict I am, the more likely I am to give up.

@Eloradannin I agree with you there!

Today has gone well...
B: All bran fibre crunch berry burst (I'm really enjoying this cereal!) with strawberries, blueberries and chia seeds
L: a can of leek and potato soup, cheese and a fibre now bar
S: Trek bar
D: bbq pork belly with rice and broccoli
S: jelly beans

Dinner was high calorie today but I balanced it out with a lower calorie lunch.

Calories consumed: 1614
Calories burned: 2133
Exercise: Les Mills Bodybalance 15 min session and 1hr 20 walk

Slow have you tried the All Bran clusters? I find normal All Bran too hard going but the clusters are great on my yoghurt in the mornings.

Your BBQ pork sounds good - we've been eating aubergine parmesan for the last three days as I made a big dish of it - recipe made 8 servings so only one more day to go! It's 270 cals a serving so dinner for under 300 cals when we have it with a side salad.

Is Les Mills any good? I'm getting tired of just running for my cardio.

@Angbunnyboo I think it's the clusters that I'm eating (I googled all bran clusters and the box I have came up!). They're really nice! I love finding tasty, low calories dishes (and making plenty is a great idea).

I only started Les Mills on Monday so maybe too soon to judge properly, but I'm 100% loving it! I've done a different type of workout every day this week and look forward to doing them! They have a 30 day free trial (that's what I'm on at the moment....just make sure you cancel before the end of the trial if you don't want to continue) and at the moment I fully intend to keep going with it. I have a Roku and can watch it through that so have it on the tv which is great.

I started today off with another Les Mills workout. It was bodyattack this morning. It was quite hard work (it felt like a hiit session without the breaks 😂) but I love the music, the range of exercises and the trainers are great too.

Food wise has been good. I've had:
B: 2 x chicken chipolatas, scrambled eggs and a slice of buttered seeded bread
L: salmon and roasted veg
S: a homemade biscuit my children had made
D: chilli con carne, rice and a few nachos
S: a second biscuit (they're really tasty!!)

Calories consumed are: 1673
Calories burned: 2321

Exercise: Bodyattack and a walk

My husband made a comment as when I was about to start my workout this morning saying that my top half is looking slimmer. I'm pretty chuffed about that, especially as I only started really looking at fitness/losing a few lbs on the 1st Feb. Also during a facetime with my mum yesterday she made a comment about needing to 'fit something in' and my youngest son replied with 'mummy's fit because she exercises'. I love the fact that my children are noticing (my eldest followed one of the Les Mills children's sessions today after I finished my workout and says he wants to do it again tomorrow!).

It's been a very positive day!! And on top of this I've baked with my children a couple of times this week and have eaten what they've made rather than making excuses because 'I'm on a diet'. Calorie counting brings flexibility.