January 2025 Starters - Onwards and Downwards

[meatyryvita]

Thread 12 right here losers!

Hello @HeidiLite. Athens is so impressive isn’t it? And so good to feel warmed through this time of year.

I also found my most recent flights very uncomfortable.

Morning all.

Have a great break @HeidiLite .

I do think you need to relax the rules now and then. I also think that our former weight didn't go on overnight, wasn't lost overnight and it isn't going to happen again with a few weeks off piste a year. That applies to maintenance too @Zempy, our weight fluctuates daily, weekly etc..

My own weight is up today 😜, I ate a piece of sourdough toast yesterday and dinner, couldn't manage a great deal of dinner either. I'm taking it as it comes but it does pxss me off if I am honest.

Onwards and upwards, I need to work today which is a shame. It is barely above freezing here, beautiful sunny day. I think I'll skip my office and work in a sun filled room.

Morning cherry pips

have a lovely time @HeidiLite
I think @PenelopesPursuitPrevails is very wise (always). Life has to be lived and enjoyed so there are times to relax the reigns. Holidays, celebrations etc. for me it’s recognising and not getting back on track which will be the challenge I think.

hips for me. I have a fairly pronounced hip bone with very little padding over it and am a side sleeper. I now have to sort of lean forward a little bit.

After thinking I looked scrawny and old at the end of the week, I decided to look for some positives and my arse is lovely. It’s always been shapely as I am naturally fairly heavily muscled on arse/legs (again - pit pony genes) and the excess fat has gone whilst a reasonable amount of muscle has remained. Let’s not get too excited here of course but for my very almost 51 year old self it’s a good arse.

what I do need is a better bra. Again the girls are ok but age and weight loss take their toll and they have always been fairly bottom heavy. My issue is due to a benign cyst I’ve had for years and years, I am not meant to wear underwires as they irritate it. Whilst I have good enough non wires/sports bras, I’d like a bit of boost. Have done down a bit of a rabbit hole on this

I have eaten more but not massively so, walked a lot and been to gym, so I expect some gain but nothing I won't be able to handle.
But let me tell you, it's just AMAZING to not hate all photos DH has taken of me and kids. Especially the covert ones- those used to be the worst, as I wasn't warned so didn't have the chance to suck the stomach in and strategically place my chin to hide the extra ones. But the photos from this trip, I look actually quite good!

@myladyjane , re bras, I had a bra fitting recently. I have got deep scar tissue in one breast and struggled with underwires which caused me a lot of pain. The small independent shop I went to was amazing and found something that worked for me/fitted it. I'm sure you will find something that works. I didn't wear underwires for decades until I went for a proper fitting.

I hear you on the scales issue @Zempy. The scales are still showing that 2lbs increase here and instead of just keeping an eye on things like a normal person would do I’m in a blind panic, overanalysing food intake and considering a fast for a week! I may be exaggerating a bit here but those 2lbs are occupying more headspace than they warrant.

Still in my knee brace and for the history walk at lunchtime I’m adding a walking stick to the outfit. I’ll be one of those people finding parts of the tour inaccessible then. I’m going to pick up another brace for my ‘good’ knee as it’s not up to taking the strain.

So as I’m sure you can all tell I’m not filled with joy and it’s raining as well which isn’t going to improve my mood.

Make the most of Sunday folks!

Morning 🌄 losers!
I had a lovely day yesterday with pilates workshop and then a long date including a meal, a walk and a tourist visit. It was lovely 😍 xxx
Have a great Sunday everyone xxx

Hi everyone

Athens sounds amazing @HeidiLite, it’s on our list for next year, enjoy the rest of your time. I’m with you on the photos, I’ve just been down a photo book and calendar rabbit hole ( omg they take so long!) and there’s a photo of me from Budapest which I think may my favourite ever!

I’m down the same maintenance rabbit holes / panic as @Zempy and @Jins but I know @PenelopesPursuitPrevails and @myladyjane are right, a few weeks a year won’t put the weight back on as long as we get back to it. Pleased to report that all but 1 of the 8 I ‘put on’ last week have buggered off!! That gives me massive hope!

@PenelopesPursuitPrevails I'm not surprised you’re p**d off, bloody annoying, especially when you can’t eat! Hope you can enjoy some of the day as well as working.

@myladyjane great news on the bum! Mine isn’t my best feature I have to say!

@Jins sorry to hear about the knees, maybe time to speak to a physio? Hope the rain buggers off for your history walk too.

NSV here, I bought a pair of Uniqlo curve jeans a couple of weeks ago, they were in inches and I had no clue what size I’d be so tried a few pairs on. Ended up with a 26, wore them yesterday and decided to see what size they equated to- an 8,I have never ever had anything in a size 8!! So like Zempy, I’m protecting this weight loss with everything I can, no bigger clothes left and it makes me feel so good!!

enjoy the rest of your Sundays all!

Having a little pitstop @2025istheyeari . I am working in my snug, candle burning, wool blanket on my knee 😍, mug of miso soup. Could be worse.

Amazing news that your gain has virtually all gone! Flipping amazing, plus 🏆NSV.

Sounds like a good day @BreezyPeer .

Yes, I am annoyed tbh, yesterday I ate .. 1 small piece of sourdough toast with proper butter - not lashings. ½ waitrose pork schnitzel, ⅔ of one person's portion of waitrose prepped leeks, peas and pancetta, handfull of frites. OK, not the most nutritious of menus but it was a meal deal thing that included rhubarb crumble which DS loves - I did not have any crumble 😫. Lots of water, two doses of electrolytes, tea, herbal tea, 2 x espresso. No more than 800 cals and that's overegging the portions I ate. Not by design, just that's all I could eat.

@PenelopesPursuitPrevails I do feel for you as I know this is normal for you and you are right, that’s not an excessive amount by any standards. As you know it doesn’t fall of me with any speed either. I think we’ve spoken about daily weighing before (I am very against for me) but would having a break from this help do you think?

after almost passing out I have made an effort to eat a bit more this week (mostly protein) and I do feel better for it. Quality is still patchy and and I get a bit twitchy if my calories top 1200 (ffs - that’s stupid and I know it) but I feel better in myself, sleep is better if still not ideal and I have found it easier to move more. Be interested in what the scales say.

very hard not to set myself a time goal - it’s 8 weeks to Christmas and I am 10lb from goal and I’d love to get there before but what is the rush eh.

I do feel like we are twins @myladyjane , slow loss, similar goals, similar shape.

I quite like a daily weigh in 😂, I've learned to expect nothing at all.

I'm glad you feel a bit more with it, that is good news.

I'm really realistic, I do not want to change what I eat beyond what is normal for me as someone with a family who cooks. I could eat even more protein, but that's not realistic for me long term. I eat fewer carbs than I've ever done. Tonight's dinner is roasted venison meatballs, some sort of creamy gravy/sauce with cranberries (with oat cream so not terrible), mashed potato (very sadly I will eat a tiny portion of this 😥), spiced red cabbage and sprouts. Wintery comfort food but not unhealthy, I've put it into nutracheck and it is 500 calories. Add that to my poached egg on toast and 75g of grapes and I will be sub 1000 cals again today.

My goal is 13.5lbs away. I don't expect to get there this year tbh. Oh well 😑. I could go up to 10mg but I can't imagine being able to eat/function.

Another small gain for mankind me this morning. I've actually cracked open the 'colon cleanse' @Jins recommended a couple of threads ago to try to move things along. No idea how I could be constipated again after Monday tbh but I am.

I'm not meant to take anything with liquorice in it due to my blood pressure, but it has reduced since I left my former workplace so I thought what the heck. 💣

Morning 🌄 losers!
I had a lovely Sunday. Very quiet until a theatre trip in the evening. It was great!
Off for a couple of days break in the UK with DS 16 later this morning.
@2025istheyeari Amazing on the size 8 jeans!! That's brilliant.

I am also scared of maintenance but determined to succeed.
@PenelopesPursuitPrevails that was such a cosy scene you set! Sounds lovely. 13.5lb might be a spring target?
I understand what you mean about the family dinners. This is a consideration of mine, too. DS is an athletic so he likes protein rich food but he is a teen so interspersed with junk food 🤣

I will be shopping today/tomorrow for underwear! ( might be date related 🙄) can anyone direct me to app for measuring for bra sizes? I definitely need all new. I have replaced almost all my clothes but my underwear is still hanging around from before the weight loss! Xx

I hope they work for you @PenelopesPursuitPrevails. I find them helpful as, for me at least, they don’t work explosively.

Slight improvement in the knee today despite working it hard on the history walk. Will stick with the knee brace for a while longer as partial immobilisation seems to be helping. One thing I’m finding after turning 60 is that recovery time is much longer.

It’s wet and windy here so I think I’ll be staying put and starting a second and probably final attempt at jeans. It’s the sort of project I enjoy but it’s even more enjoyable when something wearable emerges.

Hope everyone has a great week!

@BreezyPeer I am saying nothing……. Boob or bust is usually recommended but I struggle with it tbh. My boobs are bottom heavy and wide set so a lot of the bras they suggest are too big in parts of the cup but not all and chest is agony as band is so tight. When I went down a bra rabbit hole on Saturday there is a sub Reddit which does bra fitting and they seem to have a slightly different one which measures shape of bap and suggests best bras to work. I did t try it but may well do.

@PenelopesPursuitPrevails clear out vibes your way my darling.

@jinsas ever in awe of your prowess.

i really really need to start work. Short week for me this week and I am fighting my urge to therefore work 2 14 hour days to ‘make up’ for the audacity of taking annual leave…..

@myladyjane that sounds like my boob shape. The only ones that I’ve ever found that work for me are the Satine bras from bravissimo.

I’ve got a few days off to cover half term with my delightful children. We went to visit friends over the weekend. No one mentioned any weight loss. I’ve spent the morning looking at the photos and depressing myself. So many chins. I’m now googling face lifts, eye lid liposuction and for the first time in my life eyebrow tinting. I’ve always had really thick, dark, bold eyebrows to frame my face. Never had to use any eyebrow pencil or anything. Now they are looking weedy and sparse and making my face look more piggy. Any tips on what type of treatment I should look for? What are HD brows?

@Polkadotdash I am the queen of low maintenace so feel free to disregard what I say next. I had a session with a make up person 20 odd years ago 😂, yes freinds I am super invested here!

Anyway this chap recommended that I brush a mac eyeshadow through my brows, they're highly pigmented and blendable, for a natural look that enhances what you don't have much of!

I think I use 'espresso' which suits my hair colour. I use this brush. I'm happy with it.

I may be wrong but I thought HD brows was threading/waxing/colouring so taking away to achieve results rather than adding to ifswim.

Oh. I’ve just had my style analysis back. I know I didn’t pay loads for it (£85) but it’s an absolute bag of shite.

so I’m a pear. Fine - no issue with that and interesting as previously I’ve been told hourglass but I get it-can see it. Then 8 pages of stuff you can google about how to dress as a pear. I was hoping to get stuff about how to address being so short waisted, manage the mum tum a bit better, something a bit more personalised. Absolutely not in any way. For pears, never wear a scoop/v neck apparently. Not for this pear, I look like Miss trunchbull. Honestly so bad.

the colour analysis was fairly interesting- she’s got me as a true summer not a bright spring and I can kinda see that.

but overall really disappointed - all the online stuff gives her rave reviews including a couple of comments on here and I just don’t see it at all, barely anything which isn’t copperplate generic

That’s really disappointing @myladyjane and £85 is more than enough to get annoyed about. Sounds like money for old rope tbh.

I decided not to go straight to jeans because of the potential waste of fabric and instead I’m well on with a pair of very short shorts. I’ve got loads of notes for future amendments but I won’t know if they’ll be made again until tomorrow when I put all the pieces together. Complicated and fiddly as it’s been I definitely prefer it to jeans shopping which is second only to bra shopping as my least favourite shopping experience.

Knee definitely improving thank goodness. Excess 2lbs still present 😡

Oh no @myladyjane that’s so disappointing… I used an online stylist for my colours and wasn’t convinced she got it right, this was borne out by the personal stylist at JL who thinks I’m a true spring rather than autumn and I agree. It was also pretty generic so I understand your annoyance.
Hope @BlueLimes is ok, haven't seen her for a while.
@BreezyPeer enjoy your few days away. I used bravissimo online bra fitting, they were pretty good.

Thank you for all the bra advice. I'm going to go to some actual shops tomorrow and try some on!! Radical! 🤣🤣Xx

I also had a makeup lesson about 7 years ago and I use a Mac eyeshadow on my brows. I also went to a different makeup session a couple of years ago that suggested using gel eyeliner under my eyes, set with this same shadow as when I was just using the powder on its own if get Panda eyes by the end of the day. Age apparently, which makes sense as the makeup lesson was when I was in my 30s Vs 40s skin... Perhaps the advice will change again when I'm 50...

I don't know if HD is more permanent, I dye mine. i actually do it myself. It's not too difficult. It's not as good as when you get someone else to do it. But it's not £20 different!
Maybe the HD dyes the skin a bit, which the salon sometimes achieves and I don't seem to achieve at home but I don't mind doing a bit of eye shadow colouring in

I get my eyebrows waxed and tinted every month - they are completely blonde and it makes a difference. In between I just colour them in myself - but they need a good shape to follow.

We've been away for a few days in Cornwall - I have eaten lots, but I have also run lots. All about balance! Clocked my longest run this morning at 11.5km - up some huge hills. So hopefully WI won't be too bad on Wednesday when I'm back. It's been so nice to have some time off work.