I’m starting to calorie count. Anyone want to join me?

[Bookaholic73]

I’m going to be starting calorie counting from tomorrow, with the aim of losing around 2st (28lbs).

Would anyone else like to join me and hold each other accountable here on this thread?

I’ve tried so many ways of losing weight (Keto, Vegan, Low Carb etc) and none of it works long term.
So I’m quitting the fad diets and starting something that I can stick to.

I’m 5,5 and 12st. My aim is 10st, and I’ll be eating 1600 cals a day.

@Weallgottachangesometime Asafoetida shouldn't be in the list twice, I missed it when I tidied the list of spices to be at the top. You only need a little, or miss it out if you don't have it.

I lost 3lbs this week which is pleasing putting me back towards goal after only losing 1lb last week.

Today:
Breakfast: black-eyed bean burrito
Lunch: Poha
Dinner: roast vegetables with smoked haddock

Great result @WeirdPookah well done! Weigh day tomorrow for me so I'm in a 900 cal day. I'm experiencing some pretty horrid side effects from my medical procedure yesterday so am not expecting a loss but I am sticking with it regardless.
Today:
Lunch- Turkey salad sandwich with "half" a packet of crisps- I haven't actually got willpower of steel, I buy a share size bag and measure out the weight. (300 cals)
Dinner: mexican chicken fried rice with onion, peppers and mushrooms (400 cals).

That leaves me 200 to play with. If I don't need them this afternoon, I may well add a dry-fried egg and a bit of cheese to my dinner, but I'll decide later.

Amazing @WeirdPookah well done! 3lbs is a great amount to lose in a week.

@Summerscomin i hope you’re feeling a bit better after your medical procedure.

Today I woke up feeling so bloated and that’s stuck with me all day today. I don’t understand why. It started after lunch yesterday.
I have had a super emotional day today and was adamant that I was going to buy a bottle of wine on the way home today.
But I’m holding onto the fact that I may wake up tomorrow feeling less bloated. I hope so!

I had Thai Green chicken curry & rice for dinner.

Can’t wait to climb into bed tonight, I’m knackered.

I’ve had another good day today although I’m totally spent on calories now as I just walked with ds to the shop and we each had a caramel magnum (231 cals, which I actually didn’t think was too horrendous) - so closing the kitchen on 1485 cals. I’ve had 116g carbs and 116g protein (not by design, just fluke!) and went to the gym and a slow walk.

tomorrow- could be challenging. Rest day (no gym or run) but I will walk to get my steps in as I otherwise will just sit all day. I have a day of meetings, plus a guy coming round to clean my oven. I got confused with my days so got a gym kitchen meal out for tomorrow thinking it was Saturday so will now have to factor that in somewhere. I don’t know if I want to drink tomorrow, we are out Saturday so if I do drink this weekend it will be then. Could easily stick to cals tomorrow, but then it’s Friday and it’s been a loooooong week so not making too many bold promises!

I’ve been taking pics of my food this week as it all just looks so fresh and healthy, I like to do this sometimes just to inspire/motivate me and to remind me that this is delicious, healthy food that I actually really love eating.

Weird question but what do you use to chop your carrots @thenewaveragebear1983 ? It looks so evenly julienned! Such colourful food- you do eat with your eyes.

B- usual fruit/ yogurt/ muesli/ protein mix 315 cals
L- a tuna salad. I’ve got jars of flavour stores in- handfuls of olives, capers, chopped up peppadew peppers, gherkins etc. 325 cals

T- salmon fillet, udon noodles, miso dressing and peppers/ spinach. 600cals.
Snacks- 1 mini flapjack 60 cals. I can’t believe my restraint. Normally I’d eat 3-4.

I’m on 1300. Only 98g protein when I have a target of 121g according to my LoseIt app.

@ForSaleChesterDraws I buy it ready grated from Asda in the salad section.

Ahh, that explains why it looks so uniformly perfect!

I got a mandolin type grater with different attachments to do veggies like that - I really should dig it out! I think it was a middle of Lidl buy @ForSaleChesterDraws

And your food looks amazing @thenewaveragebear1983! I also take pics of mine, it's good to look through when I can't think of what to eat.

I have the good grips mandolin @Summerscomin but it just slices rather than shreds. It’s 2 years old and the blade is getting quite blunt.

@thenewaveragebear1983 the food looks lush.
This week feels never-ending.
I will weigh properly tomorrow for first time as starting point, because when I weigh last time was at evening and was fully cloth and will be not realistic.
B. Yogurt with fruit and tea
L. Quesadilla with salad
D. Beef burritos
1370 cal.
I have bought some low cal chocolate ice creams. But now is cold and raining and cannot be bothered. They are the aldi ones, anyone has tried them?

Wow @thenewaveragebear1983 what a lovely week of food! Taking photos is a great idea!

@ForSaleChesterDraws i struggle to get 100g of protein, especially within my calorie allowance! It’s difficult some days isn’t it.

@Lalanbaba ive nit tried much from Aldi, but Morrisons so lovely Hagen Daas gelato for 150cals per few spoons. It’s so yummy, but I won’t be buying any because of the sugar.

Had another successful evening with zero snacks or wine. Every single evening I don’t eat junk is a win, and I feel like I’m getting into the swing of it.
However, the weekend is fast approaching. I know others here have issues with going off plan over the weekends, do you have any pearls of wisdom/advice you can pass on?

Friday & Saturday are always difficult because I use food and wine as a way to wind down after a busy week at work. But I really don’t want to, because that’s what stops me from losing weight.

Morning all, happy weigh in day ;)

This morning I weighed and I've lost 1lb this week.
Honestly, I'm kind of disappointed. I have been so good, apart from the 1 bottle of wine, and have only lost 1 measly pound.

However, I think this proves that in order to lose any proper weight, alcohol has to go completely. So no more wine for me.

Despite only having lost 1lb, I do feel a lot less bulky around my middle. Also, in the past 19 days (when I started this post) I've lost 9lbs. So overall that's a win.

Can you tell that I'm desperately trying to find things to be happy about? My biggest challenge now will be not letting my disappointment lead to overeating/drinking wine this weekend.
I'm going shopping today, so will be buying lots of fruit and alcohol-free low-calorie drinks. So if I do get the urge, I'll have the stuff to eat & drink.
I don't mind going slightly over my calories as long as it's not with junk food and alcohol.

Gosh ,don't be disappointed,that's brilliant.
Snacking on raw sliced mushrooms with a yoghurt and garlic (home made) dip is quite good for evening munchies .

Thank you @rileynexttime I'm trying to remember this is a marathon, not a sprint.
I can't expect to lose a pound a day as I did in my 20's, I'm in my mid-40s now!
I just need to stay consistent now, and not let this disappointment derail my healthy eating.

Morning everyone.

I have been completely AWOL. I started a new job after being self-employed for many years last week and it has sent me spiralling into old habits. I've also been too tired to 'fight' my husband and kids when they decide they want take-away so I'm pretty sure my weight has gone up not down. I have so little time to myself now as still trying to juggle doing everything I was as well as new job, really need to get myself organised. Going to allow myself a few hours this morning to try and write a meal plan for me and try and catch up with my work stuff later (not at new job today, should be doing my old job stuff)
Going to read back through this thread to see what everyone has been up to.

@Bookaholic73 I totally agree with the food and wine being my way of winding down. Would have been a big night out (where eating was cheating) 20 years ago but most of the time now a take away and a bottle of wine is about the only thing I have to look forward to, not really sure how to convince myself a pepsi max and a weight watchers ready meal is just as good lol

I can imagine you're feeling disappointed because you've done so well with not evening snacking/alcohol @Bookaholic73 but it could just be that it's going to take a little longer for results to show. You mentioned feeling bloated and a bit yuk after your meal out, could be down to a bit of water retention etc. Stick with it!

@Hermoinestrousers I struggle with the juggle too, organisation really is the key. My DP would be happy to grab a takeaway to save me cooking on nights we're together, I get round it by having something in the slow cooker ready to just dish up when we want it rather than starting something from scratch. Batch cooking and freezing portions works well for me mid-week.

I weighed in this morning fully expecting a gain as I'm so uncomfortable, kind of like first day of period feeling, but have a tiny 3/4lb loss. I'm anticipating it all to slow down now anyway as I get closer to target, will keep going as best I can.

(I swapped from wine to either prosecco or gin, not quite as calorie laden!)

I've done 2 hours of cleaning this morning, we were all ill before the easter holidays so I didn't clean before, then 2 weeks of children home, and the house is a mess.

Today:
Breakfast: black eyed bean burrito
Lunch: vegan chili, sweet potato wedges
Dinner: Broccoli, vegetable sauce, veggie meatballs (family gets pasta too)

I'm now down a total of 38lbs since starting over in January.

@WeirdPookah that’s amazing, 38 lbs this year!! ⭐️

I weighed myself too @Bookaholic73 and got equally sulky as I’d only lost 0.8lbs and I feel like I’ve been really on it properly this week. And I feel hungry, and skinnier around my middle so I would have liked to see a couple off. And I agree that realistically for any kind of weight loss, alcohol has to go.

on the plus side, all day I have been drinking lots of water and visiting the loo a lot so maybe it’s a touch of water retention being mid period and also brewing a cold, Annoyingly. I wanted to do a long run this weekend to try to gear myself to Birmingham half marathon in 3 weeks time…. But the last 2 days I’ve had a grainy throat..

I have a man here cleaning my oven so I have sort of missed my lunch break which might mean I have a few extra cal for tonight. I don’t think I’ll drink tonight but this grey, never ending cold weather is so depressing, I think I could easily be tempted. Hmmm.

Thanks for your lovely words of encouragement everyone.

@Hermoinestrousers yeah Pepsi max doesn’t really cut it, does it! I need to find another way of winding down. I actually think I might attempt a run this evening, which is something I never do in the evenings. I’m very much a morning exercise person. I think a run this evening might totally shake up my routine, so hopefully it helps.

@Summerscomin good point about it possibly be down to water retention after my meal out the other night. I am so determined not to cave in this weekend.

@Bookaholic73 That sounds good! Well, I say good but I still haven't found my love for running. I have completed c25k twice and tried faking a love of running for a while but I still hated every single second 😂 I'm going to try and haul my wobbly bum back on to my spin bike, I have been neglecting it lately. Might do my favourite Foo Fighters class or maybe find a dance one. I am always less inclined to pig out if I have done a workout, but actually getting ready and getting on the bike seems like an impossible task.

@Summerscomin I love a slow cooker special! The teens however think casserole etc is some kind of torture food 🙄I do cook a gammon in the slow cooker to shred up and serve with rice/salad/wraps but I only really like gammon covered with onion sauce so no good for me. I've not really found many whole family approved recipes to do in it, I need to look, it would definitely be useful, especially as most evenings both kids have activities at different times which ends up with me getting in a right tizz trying to get them places and fed all at different times. I don't think they can cope with many more pasta bake nights 😂

@WeirdPookah wow 38 pounds is amazing! Feels like an impossibility for me to get to that stage even though I have done it before.

@WeirdPookah wow 38lbs is fab! Well done.
I have been tipping along this week. Not amazingly but not totally off course either. I had a 1.5lb loss which is ok and I'm delighted to move down the scales. I am going to try to really stay on track this weekend. Tomorrow we will be out and will have fish and chips after my son's match. It's rare we are in the area and really love the fresh fish!
I will stick to just the fish and lay off the tartar sauce also...
Today I have not eaten yet as had to bring the car for an NCT test and then got dug into some cleaning. I will make a protein rich lunch and plan an early dinner too

Hi everyone!
Well done with your losses.
Today first weigh in at 70.2 kg. Not bad around 10 days ago was 72 (but different time of day)
Hopefully I can know better next week how/if I'm loosing.
B. Yogurt, fruit and tea.
L. Toast with peanut butter
D. Burger! Some chips and salad
1480 cal for the day if I stick to it

@thenewaveragebear1983 @Hermoinestrousers @Happymama24 thank you all. It's a third of the goal I have, so still got to do this twice over again and of course it gets harder when you have less to lose.
It does feel rubbish having to do this all over again, I lost so much 12 years ago, then regained through difficult pregnancies and depression. I feel like I should have controlled things better and not gone so far, but hey. I'm here and having to do it again, again.

Looking forward to making arepa's at the weekend, my children love them and it's easy to stuff theirs with cheese and not mine and they look the same.
I worry about my meals looking too different to my girls, one is 9 now and she's slim and fit with karate, but her meals are often larger than mine recently.

@Bookaholic73 I much prefer a morning run, but I’ve started embracing the post work slow jog as well to mix things up. I am noticeably slower, less bouncy, more sluggish in the afternoon/evenings and I’ve stopped trying to achieve any kind of pace, I just run (sometimes walk) and appreciate the benefits of destressing and fresh air after a day at the screen. It’s hard though. And yet I love evening gym classes and feel much stronger and can push myself much more - not sure of the science behind that 🤷‍♀️