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.

@Hermoinestrousers personally I find it quite handy when I'm in a calorie counting/fat loss phase to have a load of calorie counted ready meals for myself and add a pile of veggies to bulk them out. Probably not as ideal as home cooked, I do love cooking but find it a faff to track every little ingredient going in and also too tempted to add oil, butter, cream, cheese etc! I have an awkward family who all tend to eat different things at different times anyway 🤦‍♀️

@thelittlestbird welcome 👋 I know what you mean about calorie counting being liberating, especially for those of us who may have followed diets which were more restrictive or eliminated food groups. For example today I made myself a plan, I was aiming to do 1300 cals to bank a few for the weekend, life happened - I took the kids to the cinema and couldn't resist some of their popcorn and Maltesers. However, I tracked it and adjusted my dinner plans to go lower calorie, coming in at just over 1500 today. No harm done and no fuck it "let's dive face first into the Easter eggs" button pressed. Winning 🤗

A protein shake/meal replacement shake could be a good idea if drinks aren't a problem @Bookaholic73? If you can give us a rough idea what you do it might be easier to advise e.g. desk job would be different to nurse.

I've had a 900cal day today and it's been tough but I'm on the home stretch, but tomorrow will be a "high" day so I can have the carbs I'm craving.

Lunch was a protein-y salad (200)
Dinner is a homemade chilli, small portion of rice, then remaining cals on a few tortilla chips and some grated cheese- relatively high at 685 but I found I didn't need a snack this afternoon so it will be nice to have some extras with dinner.

Planning a pamper type eve to distract myself and feel better for the weekend!

@bella1426 do you have any favourite ready meals? I find a lot of the low cal ones are generally bland or watery. I'm open to try any suggestions. I wish there were more low cal veggie/vegan ones as chicken in ready meals is pretty rough most of the time I find.
Oh I understand the awkward times for eating. Trying to juggle when/if my husband will be home, my son's football and my daughter's kickboxing -not forgetting the second dinner my son always wants after football (stupid rake thin teenagers lol) means I feel like I am running a dodgy cafe half the time

Hi@thelittlestbird welcome! Do you mind me asking how you manage to get so much protein on a vegan diet? I’m a meat eater but want to reduce the amount but not lose any protein.

Thanks everyone for your ideas about eating without any breaks.
I work in retail, in a supermarket and they are TERRIBLE for giving breaks, I’m pretty sure a 20min break on an 8 hour shift isn’t legal?

Anyway, I know we can drink, so I might buy one of those Huel drinks that are replacement meals.

Tonight for dinner I had lasagna. Not low calorie at all. But that’s ok. I’m full and it tasted good, plus I stuck within my calorie allowance. Just.

I am craving wine and chocolate tonight, but talked myself out of it. I’m so pleased with myself, as the wine consumption has been getting a little out of hand over the past year.

Well done @Summerscomin on sticking to your low calorie day. I hope you have a lovely pamper evening. I think I might do the same tomorrow.

Also well done @bella1426 , the cinema treats and how you handled your food for the rest of the day sounds really healthy and a great mindset!

@Hermoinestrousers something I do is make things like roasted vegetables and some sort of protein, skip carbs on my plate and give my family pasta, couscous etc on theirs. No real extra cooking required beyond some simple carbs.

@Hermoinestrousers could you buy the veggie option and add your own protein to it? I normally batch cook chicken breast, chop it and freeze it, then just add it salads etc. Maybe do the same but add it to your ready meals?

@Bookaholic73 i worked on Asda checkouts back when I was at uni and it was the same then. I started at I think 8:30 am, didn’t finish until 7:15pm and got 1 short break. Other departments got more breaks but apparently there wasn’t time for us to have the same and obviously we were sat down all day so didn’t need it 🙄
I’m happy to have the veggie option with no meat really, love veggie food, just find it’s usually higher in cals than say the Tesco calorie controlled range.

@WeirdPookah i used to be much better at doing stuff like that. Or having courgetti with Bol etc just most packs of meat won’t feed me and my greedy family. I should make double then freeze the rest I guess but the cost of meat at the mo is crazy.

Hi everyone, didn't have too much of a bad day today. Started with porridge with a spoon of Greek yoghurt in topped with some berries. Took my dd to a soft play and had a chicken sandwich with a side of crisps there, then had a small portion chicken pasta bake for tea.
How do you track your calories when you've eaten out? Especially if the calories aren't on the menu? My breakfast and tea were fine but I don't know what my lunch was so not sure if I stayed on target today.

I’m ending on 1600 cals today because I had 2 glasses of wine after finishing working for the long weekend. My food has been ok, my evening meal was quite high calorie and I’ve been very tired today so have eaten quite a bit of fruit. So all in all, not excellent, but I’m still in overall deficit - I ran 5.5km and walked 5km so have acrued a few exercise calories which has covered my extra food with some to spare.

Interesting, my appetite has ramped up a lot today, and I have also felt really yuck- feeling fat, bloated, just generally feeling horrible- then checked my Garmin and I am ovulating, so that could be why. Once I knew that I felt a bit more accepting of it and decided to just ride it out, allow a few extra cals and feel a bit better about it tomorrow.

tomorrow: short run and a hiit workout, plus either housework or gardening depending on weather.
food: not decided yet, I have a chicken tikka masala kit so probably that for dinner with salad.

@birdywillow i try and guestimate as close as I can when eating out. It can be tricky though!
So i would track 2 slices of bread, mayo or butter, then all the fillings.

@thenewaveragebear1983 i feel the same today. I’m due on my period today so am always extra hungry, and fee so bloated and uncomfortable. I can’t wait for the magic 3 days after my period ends and my stomach shrinks!

Honestly, it's hard ! I have to think 'protein first' every time.

Some principles:

• swapped my usual oat milk for high protein soya milk
• protein powder in morning iced coffee
• protein bar as a snack
• meals are built around tofu / tempeh
• embraced processed meat alternatives such as quorn / vegan sausages - this is especially challenging as I've previously eaten a whole food and unprocessed diet but my god the weight piled on
• use things like red lentil pasta and soybean noodles rather than their 'normal' counterparts

I don't always hit the 110g protein goal but i would say eight days out of 10 I do.

I've been a vegan for about six years and it's really opened my eyes to how little protein I've been getting.

Hope that is even vaguely helpful!

@Bookaholic73 just saw your post about replacement drinks. That'd be a good place to start with protein. I find Huel a bit dubious tasting but I keep seeing yfood advertised and have heard those are good. 33g of protein per bottle.

Can I join? I could do with some advice on not binge eating and lying to myself / my fitness pal. I struggle with this the most being an emotional eater. Esp as it’s Easter this weekend 🤯

I would also love to see people’s meals ideas / favourite snacks etc.

Good morning, happy Friday. It’s weigh in day and to say I’m shocked is an understatement.

Last week I was 12st exactly. Today I weighed in at 11st 6lbs! I thought the scale was lying, so I checked 3 times.

I mean, I knew I was doing well sticking to my calorie allowance, and my stomach looks a LOT less bloated, but I’m very surprised!

I think the biggest difference has been eliminating alcohol, wine especially. So I know what I need to do in order to have sustained weight loss.

@Showerpowerer welcome, please do join in. I’ve been a big binge eater in the past too, it’s a very difficult thing to overcome isn’t it.

@thelittlestbird that's impressive, I try to think "protein first" but as a meat eater it's easier to hit that goal, I can see you have to put a lot of thought and effort in! I have had to cut gluten out of my diet and have a similar whole food/processed equivalent debate in my head.

Welcome @Showerpowerer I'm a bit nervous about Easter too! I try to be honest with MFP just so if I have a disappointing result on weigh day I can at least see where I messed up. It's usually by using my cals on empty stuff - crisps, chocolate, booze

I can't remember who suggested Friday for weigh day but I ran with it. I only really started on Monday but I'm down a pound to 10st5 this morning. Have a busy weekend of meals out/Easter fun with DC so will just have to do my best!

@Bookaholic73 that's amazing, well done what a great start! I'm 2.2 lbs down on my Monday starting weight so delighted with that. If I can maintain over this weekend I'll be so happy...I'll do my best to make the best food choices I can and not go mental on the wine 🤦‍♀️ This is the last weekend having alcohol for a few months, I'm with you on the wine. I just can't seem to lose weight when it's in my life. I'm not the best at moderating so I do better with total elimination, the crap sleep, bad food choices and no motivation to exercise after a few wines completely throws me off!

Hi please add me in !!! I lost four and a half stone over eighteen months but over the winter gained two stone back so really need to stop the downhill ride and get my mojo back

Morning everyone, can I join please.
I'm another at 5ft 5 and 12 stone hoping to get back down to 10.
I've been calorie counting for 2 weeks now using MFP keeping to 1200-1300 daily and going well so far. I can see a definite difference especially in my stomach.

I'm wondering whether to combine it with 16:8 and cut out breakfast, leaving more calories for lunch/dinner. Does anybody else do this?

Brilliant @bella1426 , well done on your loss! Me and wine just aren’t compatible I don’t think. That makes me so sad, because I love it, but it’s time I eliminated it.

Welcome @Casdentwo you’ve done amazing with your weight loss. I find winter so much harder to maintain. It’s easier in the summer with salads and lots of fresh foods, but in the winter I just want stodgy stuff.

Hi @Sisisimone welcome! 1200 cals a day is already quite low, I wouldn’t skip breakfast as well.

I don’t know about everyone else, but the appearance of the sun this week has helped keep me on track, as I’m thinking about having to wear swimwear at the beach this summer!

Welcome @Showerpowerer, I'd say a lot of us have struggled with some sort of disordered eating in the past, I definitely have. For me bingeing is a direct response to restricting and I have to sometimes force myself to ignore the voice that says to restrict. So if I have an unplanned treat or go over my calories the temptation can be to try to compensate by skipping a meal or one of my healthy planned snacks for example, but I find if I do that I can get hungry or unsatisfied and reach for the unhealthy thing in a moment of weakness and the binge/restrict cycle just keeps self perpetuating. So for me calorie counting is a bit of a balance between drawing a line under a "slip up" and cracking on with the rest of my day (even if that means I've gone over my calories) and not allowing the slip ups to become so frequent that I'm never in a calorie defecit and get results. It's hard but I need to remind myself that imperfect action and consistency get better long term results than always striving for perfection and hiring the fuck it button when I don't achieve it

Love how busy this thread is, a lot of the weight loss chat threads are deserted. Welcome all newcomers!

that’s a great loss @Bookaholic73 , very motivating!

well done to everyone else who is trying hard and any losses.

re: wine- I have realised recently how much I actually don’t enjoy wine or being hungover. It’s really motivating me to cut down. I love feeling healthy and energetic and having that conversation with myself about whether I really want it and whether it’s really worth it really does help. One of the hardest parts about cutting down is actually dealing with the (real and imagined) pressure from other people to drink. I’ve even had my father in law say at a family party “gosh you’re not pregnant are you?” In front of everyone when I said I wasn’t drinking. Everyone has their own parameters of what is healthy alcohol consumption as well, for example my sister in law drinks a small glass of white wine every single day when she cooks dinner. Her overall units is fine, but personally I would never ever drink every day. But I would drink a whole bottle (or even 2) on a Saturday and she would be horrified at that.

2 things I have learned though- if it’s just the first sip you want, then that’s dopamine not alcohol, so get your dopamine somewhere else (not food!); and also I feel much much better overall when I only drink the ones I want and am prepared to suffer the next day for. I have learned to be assertive and say no thank you. I do this with puddings and bread and other ‘treats’ too- so often we have things we don’t want because of our perceived impact on other people. I don’t have room in my calorie budget to eat things to keep other people happy. I don’t have miles of running in the tank to burn off food I’ve eaten to keep other people happy either.

and - our treats feel so much more like treats when they are on our terms, when we want them, when we have factored them in and feel in control. I will eat an Easter egg for example, but on my terms when I’m ready.

*I know I sound really harsh and stompy about this, but honestly, I handle it politely and sensitively. Eg. I might say I’ll have dessert later and then take a piece home and then let the kids have it. And the reality is, no one actually knows or cares if other people are drinking or not.

I feel inspired by your weight loss and the pounds coming off! I can do this, going to book a holiday for the summer and have a goal in mind.

Can I join as well please x