Countdown to April

[Clearingaspace]

Copying from @fouramclub : checkins are on Fridays but feel free to check in anytime for support/musings/a rant/anything else!

all welcome, original thread was by @peae

Tagging previous posters from March thread @HarpQuartet@CreationNat1on@FastingPhilly @Fullsteamahead@GreatHighway@HarpQuartet @LosingAndWinning@Notmycircusnotmydonkeys @PartridgeInAPearShape@PercyPea@Saraswati @StealthLaSilkySightHound @Welcometothenightcourt @loveyouradvice @pottypotamus @booksbooksbooks @Carno18 @desikated @catherino @GildedAge - please tag anyone I missed as preview suggests usernames don’t exist 🧐

Ah thanks for replying and giving me the calorie heads up.

Yeh I'm definitely able to sink a punnet of grapes 😂 (with no unpleasant side effects)

I think the problem is I buy them in punnets, they sit on my desk at work and once fast period is over I can just sit and snack on them which is NOT ideal.

Ok, so new target. Less grapes 🫠

@desikated you could freeze grapes so they take a bit longer to eat, but I guess that won’t help at work.

@loveyouradvice oh no! I was hoping Stealth would post soon and join us with April chat. Hopefully she can come back at some point, I will also really miss her posts.

@jane46b welcome to the thread

@loveyouradvice thanks for the note about silky/stealth

What a powerhouse she is! Silky, if you're reading this I'd like to say thank you for inspiring me and others. I bet your real life friends and family adore your humour and determination and I wish you well. If you do feel you'd like to come back it would be lovely to hear from you.

Welcome @jane46b ... Maldives in September, that's definitely an incentive and gives you a nice long time to lose just under 2 stone.. so guessing you're aiming for 1lb a week? Going to be challenging having no more haribos in the house...

@desikated I so get the grape challenge!! What works for me is telling myself I can only eat berries and the occasional apple ... How about trying a swop of berries for grapes`? Blueberries and raspberries hugely lower in sugar and so healthy... and frozen ones cheaper for when not in the office...

I had a bit of a moment this morning. I had a stressful work situation where I ran around like a headless chicken till it was sorted out. Then suddenly not busy I found myself starving hungry when I normally fast till 2pm. I was able to recognise it as emotional hunger from the stress and made myself busy till it passed. It is times like this where in the past I would’ve inhaled a packet of biscuits. I just hope it lasts as if I can avoid emotional eating I’d have it made.

Yeah it'll be very difficult, I'll totally miss my haribos - and wine 😑
But I've stripped my house of all the bad stuff (well, ate it all the day before I was sure to start this new health kick 😂)
On day 6 and feeling good 😀

Oh thanks @loveyouradvice that's really good advice!

Today I did much better - I kept thinking about how many grapes = doughnut 😂

Week 1 weigh in this morning...98.9kg! 🎉

SW - 100kg
CW - 98.9kg

Something must be working (although I feel really run down 🤧). Park run didn't happen as I had a migraine on Friday afteroon. Busy with work this week, so hopefully I keep on the right track.

Can I join please. You all seem so positive !

Started 3 weeks ago at 12.2

Was 11.8 on Saturday

Doing a mix of fast 800 and 16:8, found first week hard and sailed through second and third weeks but hungry this week now.. I'd like o lose another stone at least to get me into the middle of my bmi range and puts me solidly in the size 12 category

Love to be at 11 ish for Easter which I know is a big ask but think il be happy if I get close !!

welcome @Crazycrazylady

hope you start to feel less run down soon @Doughnutcarrotall35

I did a 17 hour fast today hopefully 18 tomorrow!

Hi all!

sorry been a bit MIA as work has been manic and I've been hit with yet another cold. I'm averaging one a month at the moment. Boo.

anyway, yesterday I weighed 70.7kg. Not quite the sub 70kg target I had in mind but at least it's not gone up!

starting weight: 75kg August 2023
cw: 70.7kg
goal weight: 65-67kg

according to the NHS BMI calculator I should be aiming for 63kg but I'll start with 67 and see how I get on.

my weightloss has been quite slow as I haven't actually changed my diet too drastically- I still eat what I want on weekends, but I do limit what I eat during the week. Fasting has gone out of the window while I have been sick.

I feel like if I'm a bit stricter with portion sizes, especially over the weekend, I could drop the weight a quicker but where is the fun in that?? I want my weightloss to be sustainable for the rest of my life and I've been there done with extreme dieting and I don't really want to do that again.

prior to getting sick I joined the gym and went swimming three times and did x3 strength training. Hopefully I can get back in the saddle once my bunged up sinuses un-bung themselves.

hope everyone else is doing ok! I'm sorry Stealth is no longer on the thread, I really valued her wisdom. She had such a way with words!

@desikatedi have also had problems with eating too many grapes/fruit in general. What I liked about it was sweetness and the element of hydration so I swapped it out for blueberries and cucumber and red pepper sticks. I find the veg sticks, when freshly cut so satisfying and the red pepper oddly sweet!

welcome to all the new comers and well done to everyone so far!

@Fouramclub oh that's so helpful, thank you!

Glad I'm not the only grape addict. I swapped out grapes for blueberries and raspberries so far this week. But good shout on carrots etc.

Sending strong will to everyone on Thursday and heading into the weekend

Just checking in and am BEYOND DELIGHTED with my first weekly weigh in!

Have been IF 16:8 for 7 days with the following result...

SW: 12st 4lb
CW: 11st 12lbs

☝🏼That is exactly what I needed for my first weigh in to keep me on track (I'm terrible and giving up if I don't see results initially!)
I'm happy with even 1lb a week now till I reach my target.

Have a lovely day everyone, from a very happy (and hopefully soon to be slimmer) intermittent faster 🙌🏼

And thank you for this thread ☺️

Whoops! I just realised check ins are on Fridays - I promise I won't weigh myself or bother you lovely lot till next Friday 🙈

@jane46b Gorgeous to have your enthusiasm and that's a fabulous loss! What a great approach too, that you are okay with a pound a week now that the first 6 have come off... very pragmatic, especially as the second week can be quite low if the first has been so successful. Great to have you on board!

So lovely seeing new faces....

And looking forward to tomorrow - Shall we post about something positive we're going to do for ourselves in the coming week?... as simple as something joyful we're planning, or some self-care alongside the fasting...

Looking forward to posting tomorrow morning and gently hopeful the scales will be good... fingers crossed for all.

@jane46b Post as much as you like! It’s always fantastic to read when people have had a good week and certainly makes me smile!

And for anyone who hasn’t had a good week post too. I feel a bit bad posting tomorrow as I know I have gained - big time. The mothers days chocs were snaffled way too quickly - but really my overall diet leaves a lot to be desired.

my self love will be to record my plant diversity again as that was easy and will encourage me to eat better. An Epsom bath and an early night would be great too! Also want to spend some time with my sister who isn’t well but I love seeing her so it’s still self love 🤣

I was given 3 boxes of Mother’s Day chocolates. Not sure why as everyone knows I’m trying to lose weight, I much preferred the daffodils! I bake at home but try not to have normal sweet stuff. I put less sugar in baking and those chocolates were so sweet but also so morish. Still, mostly gone now so if I pass them round after dinner I can get back on track tomorrow. I lost a couple of lbs at the beginning of the month but put them back on due to Mother’s Day. I will just have to make the rest of the month count. I’ll record weigh in tomorrow as important to be honest with myself but not optimistic.

@jane46b wow that's an impressive loss well done! Post as much as you like, it's great for motivation.

Another pound off this week so 9st 9lbs now and only 2 pounds from my original target. Wondering if I should make a new target? 🤔

I've been doing more running which I'm enjoying so have signed up for a trail 10k in May, it's a week before my holiday so that should keep me motivated to keep running and eating well.

In terms of self care this week I'm going to schedule in 3 runs and a strength training class and make sure I start reading a book which is non-work related so just for fun! I do a lot of research in my job and I miss reading just for pleasure.

@Saraswati wow fantastic work getting do close to goal. Maybe your next goal should be a dress size - particularly if you work out a lot. Gin Stephen’s talks about how fasting can really aid body recomposition while weight can hardly move.

Sw 204 lbs
Lw 181.5 lbs
cw 182.2 lbs
gw 149 lbs or a comfortable size 12
waist 98cm goal waist 79 cm

so some fasting has managed to shift a bit of the chocolate damage to less than 1lb 😅 I am very happy about that. Hopefully I can start to reverse the creeping up weight situation. I know what I need to do. It’s so weird as o was finding extended fasts Fairly easy but I can’t get further than 18 hours lately.

Well done @Saraswati @Clearingaspace

Slow and steady wins the race is always my motto! And on that....

I dared to weigh myself and fight the head monsters. 68kg (down from 72 ish around January time). Am almost in the middle of the healthy weight range for my height which has made me pretty happy.

My goal like @Clearingaspace is to be a comfortable size 12 currently a small 14 in jeans but dresses and tops are now size 12.

So definitely a slow weight loss for me. I think this is because a) I don't lose weight quickly (just gain it quickly 😜) but also b) I am quite free and easy at the weekends with food intake c) probably all the BLOODY GRAPES and d) I could probably eat less overall but I do quite a lot of running and I would find it hard to run without eating what I do

Self care: might to be buy some new jeans. My size 14s look a little weird (big) around the waist so I might need to go and look for some generous 12s somewhere. This would be huge achievement/moment! I haven't been a size 12 since I was 18 (now on the cusp of 40..)

Morning all, beautiful day where I am and wishing the same for you. @jane46b as others have said, post as often as you like. I think everyone hear likes to know how others are doing. Encouragement when needed, celebration too.

I'm celebrating another small but significant loss:

Last week 79.1kg
Today 78.9kg

I like getting into the next kilo down, and we have two Fridays left on this thread, so a solid 78.5 by then would be hugely encouraging for me.

As ever, that's down to me. I've eaten out a lot this week, and again tonight, which I do enjoy, but often I don't pick the salad-y-est thing on the menu and there's just more on the plate than I would typically serve myself, so actually even that small loss represents a good win.

I was thinking of this group as I got my lunch out of the freezer this morning - veggie chilli to heat up at work - and have made a little tub of chopped cucumber and tomatoes to have with it. Delicious and good for me.

My self care this week is going to be building my brain strength: I've been seeing a therapist about a work issue, and now that that's more or less resolved we're moving onto my food habits. She's great, and has hit the nail on the head with several habits and attitudes/connections, and I now think the success will come if I practice the sort of thoughts we've spoken about and cultivate a helpful mindset. Right, better post before I hit something wrong and lose it all!

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments.

I'm am dedicated to this and can see how IF can easily become a way of life and work longer term.

Since starting 9 days ago I have declined to go out for food/drinks twice with my sister (she is wondering if I am suddenly ill - I would never normally knock back dinner dates😂)
I am more careful about what I'm eating - yesterday I bought one jam filled donut for my stepson rather than a pack of jam donuts to keep all temptation at bay!

And last night - I booked up for a 1:1 session at the gym to have a training plan made up and signed up for an outdoor bootcamp starting in April.

Thank you all again for the motivation, threads like these really really help me, it feels like a wee circle of friends you're on the journey with - we've all got this 🙌🏼

And well down to everyone reaching their goals, whether that be weight goals or clothing sizes.
I like the idea of focusing on the clothing so thanks for the inspo, I'd also like to get down to a size 12 - well done 👏🏼
(Most of my clothes are size 12 as I was that last year - does anyone else refuse to but many/decent clothes when they go up a size and buy the minimum and wear them all the time? That's what I've done when I got to a 14 😂)

@jane46b i still do meals out but on those days I do omad and pick carefully from the menu. I think it’s important as I want to look at this as a way of life rather than a short term diet.

As predicted I gained this week, but only 1lb. Most of the Mother’s Day chocolate has been eaten. I also have a zit today, which shows I have been eating worse.
I would normally drink at the weekend but I won’t and will try to get back on track.
On the subject of jeans for the more curvy among us, I bought a pair of the magic m&s jeans this week. I was impressed with the way they fit so worth a look if like me you buy at the budget end of the market.