Thread 2 because we have reached our goal weights and we want to maintain not regain. We might be going cold turkey or titrating down or staying on!

[MargoLivebetter]

Can't believe we filled up a whole thread! Welcome to thread 2.

On a positive note to start us off, I've lost 1lb of the two that I gained from my autumnal apple crumble caper. Filling full of resolve and pleased to know I can gain a pound or two (which is of course completely normal) and then lose them again.

See my post above.

But I should also add - I love being slimmer and buying nice clothes, and being able to grab a size 8/10 or whatever and know that it's going to look okay. Quite honestly, that in itself has been a huge motivating factor. My desire to stay slimmer is stronger than my desire to eat certain things!

@SnacklessWonder
I hope I can do the same.
I've always done lots of walking, as a non-driver. I work 3 days in a nursery school so getting steps on work days is not a problem. I average over 12500 steps everyday.
I am in Venice at the moment and had pasta last night (small portion) bad stomach this morning. I rarely eat pasta which makes Italy on a budget hard.
It's so good to read your positivity.
I have another 7-14 pounds I would like to shift before coming off. Like you a shorty. BMI was 36.9 now 25.3
Nearly there

@SnacklessWonder I love pasta and pizza

wails

I did too but I realise I don't like how bloated and sluggish it feels, and now I don't miss it at all.

Keep going, you've got this!

Where it doesn’t do that to me

hence why I love it

That's good @Blondeshavemorefun I'd eat it too if it didn't make me feel like trash!

Agreed on remembering how food makes you feel. I don't want to feel that over full bloated feeling ever again - I spent most Christmas' feeling like that, and it doesn't feel good. That's stopped me over eating 'bad' food a few times over the last week. I eat it, I just try not to eat too much of it...and when I say bad, I mean food that isn't really nutritionally good.

Nothing really makes me feel like that

grapes were an issue and would be sick. But that was months ago.

taste buds changed as in don’t like a chicken spicy pizza anymore from Aldi and was something else ‘hot’ I couldn’t handle but otherwise makes no odds to me

@Merlin23 Enjoy Venice. I was there a couple of weeks ago and it was heavenly - the views and the food.

I had a busy October with lots of socialising and travel and also dropped to 5mg from 7.5mg a couple of weeks ago. I don’t feel like 5mg is enough but that’s cos I have been eating and drinking a bit more than usual (including daily gelato in Venice!). Currently 6lbs over my goal. Need to have a focussed November before Christmas starts. I may have a week or two on 7.5mg to boost me a bit. Like @Blondeshavemorefun I was on 15mg during my weightloss so 7.5mg is low for me and 5mg seems terribly low.

I am wondering if I might find I can manage on a slightly lower dose in summer as generally more active and eating lighter but might need the next dose up over winter to combat the lower activity. Am not averse to being on a low dose forever. I am taking it day by day, week by week.

@Choux I agree and think we all have to listen to our own bodies and reactions. On the original August 2024 starters threads that I was on last year, it was clear that every one of us responded differently to MJ. In a way we are lucky that we can tinker around with the doses and find what works for us.

I definitely find it harder when the weather gets colder and the nights get longer. I really love salads but not in November!!!! Hopefully, a week or two at a higher dose (if you decide to do that) will help you get back where you want to be.

@SnacklessWonder you've inspired me to do some more walking today - thank you. I got out at lunchtime and will definitely hit 10k today.

Well done on getting out there.

Walking makes a huge difference for me. I have a desk job and I'm at home 3 days per week. I average approx 11k steps a day, which includes any running. If I don't get that in, I have to eat less. Simples.

We were all so very diff. Me 15 no issues. Ninja crab I don’t even think got to 5

maybe 3.75

@Blondeshavemorefunyes, it was mad how differently we all reacted. Can’t believe how long ago it seems now too. How time flies when you’re slim !

Tho I still don’t feel slim at times

I still see a porker in the mirror

not all the time

and I do now see a diff between my first pic in black and 2nd with 7s lost

but I’m so used to me being bigger so still see that

It is interesting that body dysmorphia thing, isn't it? I think I have finally come to see myself as slim - which I really am, size 8-10. It still catches me unawares though - I just don't expect it when I look at myself in the mirror or put on an item of clothing!

What I notice now is how much of a difference an extra couple of pounds plus or minus makes. I really don't want to be any smaller than I am AT ALL because I am on the cusp of starting to need a smaller bra size, and I am not blessed in that department as it is, and bras are really bloody expensive Well, good ones are! But equally if I gain a couple of pounds, even from short-lived carb bloat, I can feel it and see it. So my comfort zone for weight fluctuations is really small. Fortunately so far I have stayed in that zone fairly easily.

@Blondeshavemorefun totally agree! I look at the before and after pictures and I'm like wow you've lost so much. I buy size 6 clothes. Then I look in the mirror and see l the fat 🙈

When I'm out and about I catch someone in shop windows and it takes me a few seconds to work out it is me! I love that though. Makes me so bloody happy. I'd forgotten how much you had lost @Blondeshavemorefun . That is fantastic. Your brain will catch up eventually.

@IrisPallida agree. I almost feel the pound before the scale does! Maybe that is how people who've never gained significant weight know that they need to cut back for a few days. Previously, I wouldn't have noticed that at all. Sometimes I'd get a shock that I'd gained nearly a stone without really noticing.

@Blondeshavemorefun Are you still counting your calories? If you are, does it matter if you eat naughty stuff? It's a question I am asking myself...not sure about this.

I have more or less maintained since June, with a few blips. Currently on 7.5.
Still counting calories but recently allowed myself a few 'naughty' sweet treats out of the extra maintenance calories..which for me as a shortie is only 350 calories.
Been so worried about gaining that I have actually lost a few more pounds as I keep to my lower end calories about 5 days a week.
After a holiday I expect to gain a few pounds then go back to my weight loss calorie allowance..1000 calories 😱 That's what I have been on since August 2024 most of the time (not on holidays or at celebrations) Couldn't have done it without MJ! Finally got to my goal at age 69..it's never too late 😊

Yes still counting calories but the many chocolate biscuits I ate from the tin my lovely friend brought round from yummy M&S was too much temptation

and I went way over my c

But normally I have ‘treats’ crisps or Maltesers and in my 1800c and been fine

@SnacklessWonder well done...brilliant. Any strategies you can share with us?

Wow at size 6

im a 12. Odd 10 in tops

i would have to lose a lot more to be a 6 and tbh wouldn’t suit me nor could I sustain it

Once in a while that's OK isn't it?

I’m a shortarse. My BMI is 20. Although it is mad to think I could still lose another stone and stay in range.