Healthy weight loss without weighing ourselves

[BrimfulOfBaba]

Weighing myself is driving me crazy! I know what works for me and that's managing my calorie intake and exercising regularly. Whether or not I have the drive to stick to it consistently is another story entirely...

It doesn't help me to see the fluctuations in weight on the scales anymore. All it does is demoralise me if it's up, or make me compete with myself to get it even lower. Not healthy!

My wedding is in July and I want just enough fat loss to feel comfortable. I can monitor this via how clothes fit and photos rather than the scale, for now.

I'm going to use this thread to record my activities for the day as it keeps me motivated. Please feel free to join me!

Thanks @BrimfulOfBaba, I’m totally back to normal now. Phew! I’m lucky to only get migraines rarely and they only last a day or so. Yesterday I had a lovely swim at a randomly quiet time in the pool, plus an evening walk with dh and the more or less podcast (not at the same time!). Today it was HIIT this morning and a short walk to the local shops. It’s glorious out. I’d forgotten how nice our village is when it’s quiet snd sunny.

I’m still eating a LOT of cabbage. Last night’s dinner was a curry with spinach, spring cabbage and new potatoes. Double portion for the freezer. There’s still a whole spring cabbage left. Maybe Saturday brunch will be bubble and squeak. I will be like Popeye by Sunday!

Today I’ve had a 5p hot cross bun for breakfast, half a pack of squeaky bean pastrami and a nut bat thing post hiit (so many squats and lunges today!). Lunch was leftover bolognese with spring cabbage (of course!). I’m trying a new feta salad for dinner to use broad beans from the veg glut with garlic tear and share bread. Couldn’t find orzo so we’ve got little pasta stars. Classy! I’m pleased at least there’s no cabbage in it…

www.theguardian.com/food/2021/jun/21/thomasina-miers-recipe-for-kritharaki-broad-beans-and-tomato-with-baked-feta

How’s your sweat challenge going Brimful? Hope you’re doing ok too crazy.

Apologies for falling of this thread. I somehow managed to give myself a bit of food poisoning, so my week has been low on both exercise and food. I’m still feeling a bit weak, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll manage some food and light exercise later today!

I hope you had fun at your virtual hen party @BrimfulOfBaba! I hope you’re making good progress getting through all that cabbage @PurpleDaisies. Sounds like a challenge 😄

Oh @Crazzzycat that sounds so miserable. Look after yourself.

Today I’ve been to the vet for a guinea pig tooth trim. I treated myself to a posh coffee on the way home and a posh nut and sea salt bar thing that hit the spot. Marmite houmous on toast for breakfast. Last night’s pasta salad was really lovely. I’ve got leftovers of that for lunch and leftover dal for dinner. With cabbage of course… I can see the end. I have already skipped the veg box this week.

I’ve got a really annoying day of admin and work stuff planned. I’ll have a walk and hopefully Zumba tonight. I’ve bought some more new sports kit because it’s so hot. Debut for some very small shorts… wish me luck!

Ooh, new sports kit sounds exciting @PurpleDaisies! After 3 months of exercising in some very old track suit bottoms and a normal t-shirt, I’ve finally got myself some proper exercise gear too. I think it’s the warmer weather that made me realise I was being a bit silly by persevering in clothes that weren’t really up for the job. Now I feel like an exercise pro! Good luck with your tiny shorts! 💪

My plan for today is veggie burger wrap for lunch and pasta puttanesca (or at least my very own veggie version of that) for dinner.

I think my diet will go out of the window this weekend as it’s my birthday 🥳 I have a lovely coastal walk planned which I’m sure will go some way towards burning it all off again!

Ahh @Crazzzycat, hope you make a full recovery soon!

I hadn't heard of guinea pig tooth trims before so that's given me some very adorable visual imagery @PurpleDaisies!

Had a really lovely courgette and chilli carbonara last night, and used the egg whites to make a cheese and tomato omelette for brekkie. With wedding and work stress, as well as my period, 90% of my food intake this week has been Toblerone!

Getting some exercise in today before DP whisks me away to London for a surprise weekend away :)!

How is the cabbage going down? Ooooh love new sports kit days, hope you have a lovely time at Zumba Purple :)

My new tops arrived. One seems badly made (one seam is clearly stretched out of shape) but the other is gorgeous and I can’t wait to wear it. Zumba is so hot at the moment I’m down to wearing tiny shorts and tops. This will be perfect.

www.sweatybetty.com/sale/zero-gravity-running-vest-SB5012_BlackNeonTropicalPrint.html?cgid=sale&dwvar_SB5012__BlackNeonTropicalPrint_color=blackneontropicalprint&tile=190.0#prefn1=product-type&prefv1=All%20Tops&start=190&sz=36

We’ve had our usual Saturday brunch (today avocado on ciabatta baked with olive oil and an egg on top. Bargain bbq jackfruit sausage rolls from lidl with rocket salad for lunch. I’ve also had weekend crisps and a chocolate bar. We’re going out for dinner so any thought of healthy eating is being left at home.

@BrimfulOfBaba the guinea pig tooth trim is very cute. He gets a little bit of gas and the vet just whips off the tooth length. Because he has dental problems, he only has one left at the front so it can’t grind down against anything and it overgrows. Literally as soon as it’s done, he’s back in the food dish. He’s got a fairly high running cost but we like him! I can see the end of the cabbage now and I’ve already cancelled this weeks one which has more cabbage!

Happy birthday @Crazzzycat. Hope it’s a fantastic one!

Thanks @PurpleDaisies. I had a great day. My birthday walk turned into a bit of a trek, thanks to some bad planning on my part, but no-one seemed to mind. The scenery was gorgeous and when we finally sat down to have a picnic, we were treated to a real wildlife spectacle. Porpoises and seals all made an appearance, as did some of my favourite sea birds. I could have stayed there forever! ☺️

That top looks great @PurpleDaisies. Was the badly made top Sweaty Betty’s as well, or was it from somewhere else? I got some wild looking exercise leggings from there last week and was impressed with the quality. For the prices they charge, I’d expect all their stuff to be triple checked!

I hope you had a lovely weekend away @BrimfulOfBaba

My plan for today is spicy bean wraps for lunch and aubergine lasagna for dinner. I’ll aim to drink lots of water too, as I got a bit dehydrated during my walk. The wine I had yesterday obviously didn’t help either!

Have a great week everyone!

@Crazzzycat I hope you had a lovely birthday! The trek sounds gorgeous. Sorry, missed it being your birthday in your last post!

Love the print on that set @PurpleDaisies. Did it hold up well at Zumba? @crazzzycat I have some Sweaty Betty leggings too, the quality is ace. I may need to go on a shopping spree to inspire me keeping to my workouts!

Had a lovely weekend away with DP, managed to see a friend and her kids in London and managed to be overall very balanced with my meals, I think!

My plan today is to do some time on the crosstrainer and do a circuit, breakfast will be toast with coffee, lunch will be a pasta salad with cottage cheese for protein and harissa pesto and lots of veggies - and I haven't decided what dinner will be but I have a courgette and an aubergine to use up...and some goats cheese.

Your weekend sounds like it was lovely too @BrimfulOfBaba!

I’ve started doing 45 minute sessions on the cross trainer and am thinking of (slowly) working up to doing an hour a few times a week. I don’t know what it is, but I kind of feel like I have to constantly push myself and set new targets to keep things interesting. I guess I just get bored easily.

All the hard work is definitely paying off though. Last week, my Fitbit finally upgraded my fitness score to “good to very good”. 🥳 For the past two months, it’s been “average to very good”, which doesn’t sound particularly accurate!

My plan for today is pretty much the same as yesterday; bean wraps and aubergine lasagna. For exercise, I’m planning some time on the exercise bike and may be a nice walk this evening, if the weather holds up.

I bought some dumbbells last week, so I guess I should have a think about what to do with those. I’m a bit clueless when it comes to weights 😂

New top made a debut and it did well! It was nice not to end up in my sports bra for a change. I really like Sweaty Betty most of the time-everything I’ve had up to now (strictly sale only) has been great quality so I’m thinking the dodgy top was a rogue one off.

This morning I’ve been for a swim but started a migraine on the way home so it’s a long sleep for me now. Have lots I should be doing but there’s not much other option.

Glad you’re both getting on well. London weekend sounds fantastic and it must feel great to be moved up a Fitbit category!

@Crazzzycat it's great to vicariously live through your increased stamina/endurance! At the start of this thread you were at 20 mins on the crosstrainer if I recall correctly - really inspiring! That's what consistency can do. I'm inspired to work on that - after wedding palaver!

Hope you're feeling better @PurpleDaisies. Glad the lovely new top did well on the debut!

Food and exercise is scatty in the extreme at the moment. Work is crazy, my house is a mess, lots of wedding bits and bobs (get married in 8 days!!) and it was my birthday and I was given lots of chocolate.

So my main goal is balance. I am walking as much as I can, moving between meetings/tasks and just eating what I want/can be bothered to reach for but in sensible portions. I've scheduled the next few days down to the hour but have promised myself I won't cause any undue extra stress!

I hope your weeks have been going well?

This week has been a bit of a one for me. Bad combination of not feeling well for most of it and also being really busy. There’s been a lot of freezer food and not a lot of vegetables. Next week is going to be the same and the week after I’m away on a catered thing so won’t be able to choose what I’m eating. The plan is to try really hard to get plenty of healthy stuff in next week and hope for the best with what I get the week after.

Today I’m baking for a family birthday and going to try a Bombay potato bake thing from today’s guardian for dinner. Planning on lunch in costa at a retail park with a hobbycraft. I’m supposed to be on task mode shopping but I do love a wander around hobbycraft.

Happy belated birthday @BrimfulOfBaba and good luck with the last minute wedding stuff. Your balanced plan sounds great.

Hope you’ve had some fun with dumbbells @Crazzzycat. I mainly use mine in an online Hiit class. I’ve got some good shape on my arms now. What size did you get? I’ve got a few now because there are some moves I still can’t do with heavier ones!

Thanks @PurpleDaisies. I hope this week is treating you a bit better?

I'm busier than I thought I would be with work, last minute wedding planning stuff and getting the house in a less chaotic state ahead of my bridesmaids arriving. I've not exercised at all and I'm not sure I will get time to until Friday unless I get better at waking up early!

I didn't want the thread to drop away in this chaos even though I don't have any interesting updates. I didn't get to the size I wanted before the wedding but I'm still happy with where I am at. And then there's the postponed reception to work towards :)

I may be a bit quiet over the next couple of weeks but I hope the two of you are doing well - and that you have a nice week away, Purple!

Good luck with your wedding @BrimfulOfBaba. I hope you have a fantastic day! It’s great that you are feeling happy with where you are. That’s the most important thing.

Your week sounds like a challenging one to combine with healthy eating @PurpleDaisies. I hope things return to some kind of normality for you soon.

Apologies for falling off the thread. I’m currently on holiday, so not been posting much. I’ve been reasonably good - lots of walking, brought healthy snacks etc. I even brought the kitchen scales to make sure my portions didn’t get too big 😂 But I also brought a big box of homemade brownies, which no doubt negated at least some of that positive stuff. I’m sure it all balances out in the end. Compared to what I used to eat on holiday it’s nothing!

Hi both! It’s bonkers here at the moment. Exercise is happening and mostly vaguely healthy food is happening but it’s full on survival mode until a week on Monday.

The bombay potato bake I mentioned in my previous post was delicious. It took about fifteen times as long as the recipe said but it tasted great and made great leftovers. I used the last of the cabbage mountain (hooray!). I will not be buying green leafy veg for a while!

www.theguardian.com/food/2021/jul/03/roast-cauliflower-nacho-style-bombay-potato-tray-bake-lamb-shawarma-simon-rimmer-recipes-easy-football-snacks

Have a fantastic holiday @Crazzzycat and so excited for your wedding @BrimfulOfBaba

That potato traybake does look delicious @PurpleDaisies! I’ve bookmarked it

I’ve returned from my break, wishing it’d lasted longer! I could really feel the benefit of all the exercise I’ve been doing over the last few months. Some of the walks we did were pretty challenging and I really don’t think I would have pulled them off a few months ago. Also DH took some pictures of me and, while I don’t look as slim as I’d like, I look so much trimmer and healthier than I did at the start of the year. The difference was pretty shocking. Lots of NSVs to keep me motivated!

My plan for today is a veggie burger wrap for lunch and spicy “meatball” tagine for dinner. I use the Linda McC. tomato flavoured meatballs, which have a really strange dense texture. It’s not unpleasant, but if anyone knows of a better alternative, I’m all ears.

I’ve already been on a walk this morning, but am also planning to spend some quality time with my good friend, the cross trainer 😄

Morning! I had a bit of a dieting wobble at the weekend, when I got more than a little frustrated by not seeing much progress. My DH reassured me that it was all in my head, so I’ve spent some time drawing up a new plan, which is mainly focussed on exercise and nutrition goals. I think I’m just a bit bored of weightloss as an end goal, if that makes sense?

I found this challenge online to eat more than 30 different plant foods a week, so I’m giving that a go. I started quite strong yesterday, with 15 different plant foods. I wouldn’t be surprised if progress over the next few days is much slower, as I do tend to eat the same things over and over again! This should be a good incentive to diversify a bit.

My plan for today is spicy bean wraps for lunch and roasted vegetables & halloumi for dinner. Unfortunately dinner is leftovers from yesterday, so that’s not going to add anything to my list of plant foods for the week.

For exercise, I’m going to do a workout with my new weights. They’re only 2 and 3 kg, but my goodness, some of the exercises are hard! I’m also planning some time on the exercise bike.

I hope you have a good week!

Hi everyone!

The wedding went brilliantly, and I definitely felt the benefit of exercise and eating sensibly. I could have done with my arms being more toned but I have my reception in a month to work towards!

@Crazzzycat you've had some amazing NSV's. The challenge you've chosen sounds great, hopefully an opportunity to discover things you hadn't known you'd love!

@PurpleDaisies that traybake looks delicious!

Back to thrice weekly circuits and tracking food from today :)

That’s brilliant news @BrimfulOfBaba! Congratulations 🥳 What exercises are you using for your arms? After recently discovering that there ARE some muscles hiding in my flabby arms, I’m trying to build them up a bit. I am incredibly un-muscular though, so I’m a long way off being able to do any body weight exercises. I feel a little bit stuck, but hoping I can make some progress with my little handweights.

As expected, I only managed to add 4 more plant foods to the list yesterday. Not sure I’ll do much better today. As well as often repeating the same meals, I also seem to have a lot of recipes that all use the same ingredients. Ninety percent of the time, fruit is an apple, or a banana. So there’s room for improvement there too.

My plan for today is bean wrap for lunch and stirfry for dinner. I might have to start the melon I have lurking in the fridge, just to get the number of plant foods up for the week 😂

Congratulations Mrs @BrimfulOfBaba!!! Wonderful news. Lovely to have the reception still to look forward to.

It’s been a bit of a covid related nightmare here. Just as I was supposed to be going away, dh was phoned by test and trace for close contact with a positive case. Because of the nature of what I was supposed to be doing (I’d be with high risk people, no social distancing, effectively living in one household for a week) I wasn’t able to go. Disappointing but at least I found out before I was there.

I’m not isolating so I’ve been able to do the shopping and go out for walks. I’m being extra careful so no group exercise classes and I’m missing the cardio hit. We’ve not done too badly for eating. I tried a weird curry stew thing with coriander dumplings that was pretty nice apart from having totally wrong proportions of veg. Too many peas! I’ve got leftovers of that tonight. Last night was a greek type mezze with things in tins from lidl greek week plus a raid on the deli counter.

@Crazzzycat I started using 1kg weights in my hiit class and now I’m up to 5kg. I could do with some heavier ones for certain exercises so I’m very pleased with that. I used to have a PT which was helpful for getting the basic moves right. Most classes we’ll do some of : clean and press, shoulder press, bicep curl, skull crushers (an overhead triceps exercise), chest press, lateral raises, frontal raises, bent over rows, dumbbell swings… I wouldn’t be confident coming up with a routine on my own but I’m sure there will be something suitable on YouTube. Even if you can’t do all of it, do what you can until you absolutely can’t do any more. That’s the key to building more muscle apparently!

Oh no @PurpleDaisies! How disappointing for you. Might you be able to go some other time?

Thanks for sharing those arm exercises. I’ll have a Google! Reassuring to know that you’re not using huge weights either. I grew up with four muscle obsessed brothers, so somehow got it into my head that I’d need to use much heavier weights to get results. I wasn’t particularly confident I’d ever manage that!

I just noticed that FitBit Premium (I have a free trial) has a three week program to get you from complete beginner to being able to do a push-up. I doubt I can do that in that time, but I might give it a go and see what happens 😁

I’m still counting my plant based foods. It’s interesting that it’s already starting to change what I’m eating. I’m sneaking extra fruit, vegetables and seeds into everything, and I’ve been Googling ideas for meals with a greater variety of vegetables to try next week. Not sure how many I’ll actually try in this blistering heat, but it’s a good starting point 😊

Thank you both!

Ah @PurpleDaisies how disappointing. Hope you've been able to make some exciting new plans. Very cool progression on the weights during your hit sessions!

@Crazzzycat glad the challenge is going well! Have you tried any new plant foods that you hadn't before?

The fitbit starter session looks really good, I had a quick look at it a few months ago and it looked the right balance of easy to learn but challenging. Re: arms, what has tended to work for me is dumbbell workouts, tricep dips (although I hate them) and trying to progress my pushups. The Nike Training Club app has some really great arm and shoulder circuits too. Alas I know what to do, I just need to kick start my drive!

After a week of general admin and catching up with family, we are now off on honeymoon to Scotland. I haven't exercised since the day before the wedding but the hotel we are checking into tonight has a lovely looking gym that DH (first time I've said DH!) And I have agreed solemnly to make use of tonight. And the holiday will include lots of walking and, apart from one very nice meal, lots of moderation and healthy foods. Here's hoping!

Sorry for going awol! It was a bonkers end to term but survived. I’ve been swimming a fair bit because of the heat and I’ve never eaten more salad! I can’t wait for the rain tomorrow.

How’s everyone doing? I’m off exercise apart from walking because my arm bloody hurts after jab two. I’m so glad to have it out of the way.

Hello!

How are you feeling post jab @PurpleDaisies?

Hope you've both had good weeks. I had a lovely honeymoon exploring some very beautiful parts of Scotland!

Right, after a few months really of being pretty lax I am ready to start from scratch. I want to get back to an exercise routine of working out at least 4x a week. DH and I want to move over to a more intentionally Mediterranean way of eating for the most part so I have planned the next two weeks worth of meals accordingly.

I weighed myself this morning to kick start the new beginning. The number was a stone more than it was at certain points in this journey. I expected this - we got our wedding photos back and while I wouldn't change anything (I made a decision to prioritise my mental health in the lead up) I'm just very aware I wasn't at my healthiest.

I'd like to TTC in the new year but I'd like to have some time feeling my fittest first. So I'm aiming to reach my goal size and fitness by 1st November. I really do feel more determined and in a healthy mindset now :)

Sorry for the essay!