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.

Unfortunately, he has been told multiple times, years ago when he told my daughter she'd be a fatty if she had cream, it was part of a horrible weekend I flipped out and made my husband talk about it and other things like the lack of control of their spoilt asshole of a dog. And again I've mentioned it after he said it would be piggy to eat more than one bit of baklava. And again when in a restaurant last November, when he said a menu choice was piggy, I just snapped back it was what I was having and I'm not a piggy.

Since embarrassing him like that in public it had been better until this weekend, he went round the whole damn table commenting how big everything was. How much we ate. Except for my MIL's small greek salad she had chosen.

Done ok today, we have a bigger breakfast Sunday's, sitting at the table cooking fresh waffles with berries and yogurt, so light (rice free) poke bowl for lunch and lentil bolognaise over cabbage for dinner.

On another note, I use MyNetDiary to track, it syncs with various trackers, and there is an app and a website version.

Good evening, I hope you're all enjoying the last of your bank holiday.
How did you get on with tracking your calories?

I am so pleased with myself, as I stayed away from all alcohol, all takeaways and tracked the bit of chocolate I had last night. I came in over by 150 cals yesterday, but am under by 100 today. So all in all I'd call that a win.

I've meal planned for this week, as it's the week leading up to my period. So I KNOW I'll want wine and chocolate. I'm 100% determined not to cave in, so I knew I needed to meal plan. I also know that it is the week leading up to my time of the month, so I probably won't lose any weight this week.
I normally gain about 3lbs. But is that because I eat loads of crap, or because it's hormonal?
That is OK, I know it happens every month. I'm tempted not even to weigh myself this Friday and wait til next Friday.

Hello all, hope you've had a good bank holiday weekend?
@Bookaholic73 you sound really focused- good that you recognise that you're likely due a hormonal gain and mentally prepared for it! Personally I retain a lot of fluid around time of the month.
I peeked at the scales this morning and I'm looking at a 4lb gain 🙈 I'm sure a lot of it is temporary/water etc but there's no doubt I've been off plan big time.
This takes me 0.5lb above my ideal "range" so I'm back on track today- I need to hydrate, and I need vegetables!
@WeirdPookah what an absolute melon fil is. I'm sensitive around this sort of thing, for myself as well as DC- food shaming helps literally no-one. It's hard to call it out without causing an atmosphere but after the first couple of times they usually learn..

Have you got space for another one? I went on the scales and it was worse than I thought.
I want to lose 2 stone to at least put me where I was before covid.
The couple of years have been awful, but I just need to do this.
Has anyone been successful on this and gone through peri-menopause?
Sorry for the warbling but I used to be lean and now I am anything but.
Ps I have been using nutracheck this weekend and quite like it.

Welcome HalleLouja. I'm 52 and going through Peri and have been losing quickly and easily since calorie counting. Its been 4 weeks now and I dropped a dress size in the first 2 weeks. I've only ever done low carbing before to lose weight so feel a bit of a fool that it's taken me this long to realise that calorie deficit actually works. So yes, dont worry about the Peri, just keep on going!

I had a strange day yesterday, feeling fine, went out for a walk with children on the prom, then when they were playing back home I started to feel so cold, aches and my skin crawling with that pain you get when ill. Didn't eat lunch, weird fitful dozing on sofa in afternoon. Ate some toast after they had gone to bed. Came on so fast, was scary. But today? Feeling ok other than a bit wobbly and aching joints.

B: Blackbean burrito
L: Jersey Royals, asparagus, eggs and real butter
D: Lemon lentils, cabbage, vegetarian sausage.

• iced protein coffee

@Summerscomin I think it's going to take another public embarrassment to stop things, at least for a while, until I need to do it again! Just not my nature to stir things up, but I can't accept my daughters being exposed to it.

@Summerscomin I wouldn't worry about the gain, like you said it's probably water weight anyway, especially if you've eaten a lot of carb-heavy foods over the last few days.
Yeah, I really am feeling focused at the minute. The warmer weather is so inspiring and motivating me to stick to my calories and workouts.

@HalleLouja always room! I'm currently going through peri I think, and although I feel like the weight is coming off slowly, it's still coming off. Slowly is better than not at all.

@WeirdPookah how are you feeling now, I hope you are better! Nothing worse than being poorly. Your lunch sounds lovely!

I've had a good day today. Went for a run this morning, I'm glad I didn't wait til this afternoon as it's been so warm! I hate running when it's hot. I sweat enough already.
I also mowed the lawn this afternoon and I'm exhausted now! Dinner is chicken fajitas. I'm over by 2 calories today, which is fine with me. But I'm also VERY hungry today. I know it's because it's my time of the month. DETERMINED not to cave in today and eat chocolate and crisps and all the junk food.

Tuesdays always a tricky day for me. I come home totally frazzled and eat my feelings a bit. I tried to preempt it by having fruit after work before football, and a protein flapjack (which is high in protein but also high in carbs, 255 calories) but my dinner was uninspiring and boring and I had a protein yogurt afterwards and then 2 bourbon biscuits. Still 100 times better than some previous Tuesdays though. I am ovulating and that gives me like a mini pmt and very blister stomach for 2-3 days so I’ve felt quite uncomfortable today.

anyway- gym tomorrow at 6 and collecting the shopping on my way home so I should have a bit more choice tomorrow. I’m going out to deliver some training in the afternoon so I’ll have an early lunch and then dinner will be a spicy chicken thing that I ordered they sounded nice.

@Bookaholic73 yes, I feel fine now! Was so weird, I thought I was coming down with something terrible, but it's just gone.
And the lunch was lovely! Nothing better than really seasonal food that hasn't travelling thousands of miles! And worth making the calorie space for real butter too.
Had some new season English strawberries as well, perfection.

Today I have been for a 3 mile walk on the prom in the sun, it's surprisingly hot. I'm going to have to start using the dreaded suncream, I get an allergic reaction to the sun (how very goth) which takes weeks to subside, but I have sensory issues with the suncream. Got a spray to try for my face this year, hoping it works.

B: kidneybean burrito
L: Ful medammes with salad leaves
D: Vegetable and chickpea korma, half naan and cucumber.

I'm hoping so @Bookaholic73 although unfortunately it hasn't given me much incentive to get back on track!
I'm counting cals today but don't have a specific target in mind, more trying to get back into the habit of it. I might aim for 1400 for a week and see how it fares on the scales.
Thank you SO much to whoever said the barcode scanner still works on the free version of MFP! I'd read somewhere that you would have to pay for it and assumed it to be true without even trying. It does still work!
Today:
Lunch: chicken & bacon sandwich, m&s chilli crisps (600)
Dinner: chicken curry, pilau rice & one onion bhaji (700).
I've got a piece of rocky road leftover that realistically I will probably eat, but I have no idea how many cals it would be- homemade.

I’m closing up the kitchen on 1438 cals, carbs = 152g so quite high today, and protein 125g so I hit my target. My food has been nice, and I know where the carbs were- I had 2 mini wraps for my lunch, and grapes, and my dinner was a pre-seasoned cook kit with a sticky Chinese sauce. So lots of opportunities for carbs to sneak in. still, went to the gym, stuck to cals, feeling good!

tomorrow it’s gym at 6am, then I have a really busy day at work with loads to do. I will try to get out for a walk at lunchtime. Food will be maybe another wrap and salad at lunchtime (it may be carby but it was really nice) and dinner will be salmon fillet and veg. I have some protein yoghurts and will make a fruit salad I think for a snack.

I weighed in today for the week, I lost just over 2lbs, which I'm happier with.

42 pounds down now.

Noticed an odd correlation, the weeks I manage to stay on a low calorie plan all week I've lost less than the weeks when I have had one higher (not crazy) day.

My children are off school today (yeah, close a 700 student school just to use one room as a polling station, heaven forbid you park a mobile unit on the massive field with car park down the road) so we walked to the shops, looked at the pets, got the hamster another chew toy, and bought some things for an at home picnic on Saturday.

B: Kidney bean burrito
L: Vegetarian Sloppy Joes (I'm having a potato, not bread roll for more nutrition and skipping cheese)
D: Roast vegetables and vegan not-chicken
iced protein coffee (got the hang of these now!)

Frustrating re the school closure @WeirdPookah I'm juggling strike days and work too, I hope they come to a resolution soon! Congratulations on the loss, how fantastic! When I was following slimming world years ago, I always seemed to have my best losses on weeks where I'd had a "blowout" day. I think it scuppers me now with water retention and bloat 🙃

Bit of a mish mash today, I still haven't been food shopping, or meal planned, and seem to be surviving on snacks, leftovers and microwave meals..

L: leftover ham frittata and cucumber. Some chilli cheese crisps (400)
D: sweet and sour chicken and fried rice micro job (510) but have added cooked yellow pepper and mushrooms for a bit of goodness. I might add a few cashew nuts too.

I'm really struggling with sleep at the moment, I suspect because of work stress (redundancies, end of contract looming) and am exhausted. I'm not sure if being off track is more stressful than on track, but I'd really like to get back to cooking at least.

I’m struggling a bit today, this week actually. I haven’t really had anything too terrible. But I have just eaten a lot. Quite a few snacky bits, grazing a bit etc. I had quite a stressful day - lots of work on, plus the builder was going through the wall today so even though my rational head was saying it’s cool, there’s still something stressful about hearing the side of your house get sawn into and knocked down.

anyhoo- ending on 1750, 170g carbs, 120g protein. I drank my water target and went to the gym, and a walk at lunchtime so all good there.

ovulation definitely affects me more now I’m getting older, I’ve really craved sweet and carby foods this week, and much more in quantity. I don’t know if I’ll have lost this week, and obvs the bank holiday is looming again. I’m going to really try not to drink tomorrow and to keep my food in check.

I spoke to my PT yesterday and she has said not to limit too much. She said to stick to about 1500 calories a day. What is everyone else doing? She said she wouldn’t go much lower as I will fall off a cliff and bot be able to maintain it…

I am finding the tracking not too bad. Have been doing some prep and took lunch to work and made some overnight oats. I forgot how much I like them.

@HalleLouja yes I’ve been seeing loads about not limiting too much as as to not suddenly break and eat tons. I suppose it’s about trying to be sustainable.

My calorie target is 1,390, because that’s what my app told me to do, but I’m usually closer to 1,500.

I don’t know how to work out what I should have really. I think my metabolism is screwed plus I’m having perimenopause ‘things’ happening. My job is from home and sedentary but I am active and exercise every day, and I carry a fair bit of muscle. In short, I don’t know how to calculate myself. Nutracheck would put me on about 1500 to lose 1lb a week, but I didn’t lose really and that’s based purely on BMI . Garmin gives me a daily calorie burn of around 2000-2100 a day which I feel is more accurate as it uses my heart rate and other factors and it’s using a whole year of data. I set my nutracheck to 1300 and try to get fewer carbs and around 120g protein in that. I usually end up going over, to around 1500 a day, and that feels about right (as in I do have to actively restrict but I can still have some treats, wine, or dessert etc). However my weight loss is painfully slow. Like less than 1lb a week, and long plateaus. Skinny, healthy people like my PT say I’m not eating enough but genuinely, if I eat more I will gain weight week on week. I find it all tremendously confusing. I also have zero appetite control whatsoever, I can eat and eat and eat and eat, so I have to have an upper limit and I have to actively make myself stop when I get there. On the plus side though, I can be very disciplined both with food and exercise so I do stop- most of the time- near enough at 1500 cals each day.

the one thing guaranteed to give me a good weight loss is very strict calorie counting and cutting pretty much all carbs. Sort of Fast800 style (maybe 1000 cals though). After this bank holiday I’m doing that for 3 weeks until we go away.

@HalleLouja i have my tracker set to 1430 BUT I don’t count the milk in my tea and the calories in no added sugar squash or omega 3/ vit D capsules so it’s closer to 1530.

@thenewaveragebear1983 dont use your garmin as an indicator of calorie consumption- they are all highly inaccurate. I used 3 TDEE calculators online which all gave similar results and used the average (minus 100 to allow for the non counted stuff above).

@WeirdPookah congratulations on another 2lbs. Have you been getting comments on the weight loss and how does it make you feel?

Sure I am in 👍
Tiered of trying to lose 15 pounds

@ForSaleChesterDraws actually (perhaps a sign it's sinking in that it's rude!) only one person has directly asked, and I took it positively as it was our neighbour, huge, tattooed, scarred, Staffy owning bloke, who behind that is the most respectful guy ever, won't even swear in front of me and is a carer for his housebound wife.
He asked had I lost weight, I said yes and he responded that I "was looking healthier for it".

A couple of other Mums at school gates have mentioned repeatedly that they are losing weight, looking to me to join in the conversation, but I don't.

Today I have done some cleaning, not much as an online game I play has it's Spring event starting and I want to join in!

B: Vanilla soy yogurt, tinned pineapple, 1 thin end slice of fruit loaf (no butter)
L: Vegetable curry with boiled eggs
D: Actually not sure, as my children have party at school and don't want to bother cooking lots if they are full of party food!

Where has this week gone?? Just a minute ago it was last Friday!

Anyhow. @HalleLouja my PT told me to increase my calories by 300 a DAY! So I did that for 3 days, and this week I've lost 3lbs! And it's my time of the month!
So I think I'll continue at 1800 and see how I go.
I'm definitely noticing a lot of changes in my body this week, which I'm loving.

I'm taking this evening off plan. We are having pizza and celebrating the coronation a bit early. I'm sure I'll have wine & chocolate.
Tomorrow I'll be back on plan. I think the gym will be busy in the morning, so I'm going to get there at about 9am and then write my plan going forward. I need more of a routine instead of just fitting in my exercise when I have time.

@AMZ2 welcome, great to have someone else on board. Have you CC'd before?

I didn't try and count yesterday, my children wanted a indoor picnic with the Coronation, and had leftovers for dinner.

It was a learning experience for eating good food for my older daughter. I'm always trying to be careful about how we label foods, but she mentioned she didn't feel great, really tired after she eats lots of party food. So I got to point out her body is used to lots of fruit and veg, healthier foods, and while it's great to enjoy the party foods, this is how it can make you feel, which shows long term, it won't be a way you want to always eat.

Today has been pretty good, short walk and better food.

B: Banana waffles, peaches, bit of Aldi greek honey yogurt (which was horrible)
L: Rice free poke bowl
D: Arepas with BBQ Jackfruit, peppers, tomatoes and a little cheese as needed some fat in my meals today.

Been out for a long walk on my own today, the sea mist blew in while I was walking back, pretty spooky looking.

Yesterday:
B: black bean burrito
L: Salad and pilchards in tomato sauce
D: Spicy not-chicken burger in sandwich thin, courgettes with salt/chili/pepper like takeaway seasoning!

Today:
B: Black bean burrito
L: egg with leeks/cabbage, sriracha
D: Minestrone, pesto, chicken breast
English strawberries for snack.

Hi everyone. What a week it's been!
I can't believe it's actually Tuesday already.

I have been out for my run this morning and had some protein porridge with almond butter & strawberries. I made it with dairy-free coconut milk as it has fewer calories. So breakfast came to 578 calories, which is a lot I know.
I will have chicken salad for lunch, just a small one, and then a low calorie dinner.
I have the meal prep king cook book with lots of recipes under 500cals, so will browse through that this evening for some dinner ideas.

How did everyone get on with yet another bank holiday weekend? I drank far too much wine.

I drank too much wine too @Bookaholic73!
I'm glad to be getting back to normal this week. As I've got a lot on with work and health stuff, I'm aiming to maintain in the range of 10st2-10st5lb. I feel okay at this weight and I know I can maintain it if I try- in the past I've hit 10st target then just gone back to eating whatever I want basically. So it'll be interesting to see if/how long I can keep at this weight.
I've had some cheese/crackers and fruit for lunch, and dinner tonight is going to be chicken skewers. I'm not sure what to serve them with yet, maybe a pitta and salad.
Haven't got much of an appetite today so struggling to meal plan!