January 2025 starters - it's our anniversary!

[HeidiLite]

new thread, losers!

Huge congratulations @PrepossessingPenelopeand @MJalltheway
Fingers crossed on going home @HeidiLite

I'm still weighing in around 8 stone 10 which is frustrating although last night hubby was away and I got the munchies as usual and ended up 700 cals over which puts me at maintenance level calories for the week. I've got pie planned for tonight as a treat and I'm just to keep on at it.
I'm hoping it will come down in its own.
I've got skiing in three weeks and my knee is sore so I had wanted to lose a bit to help with that. I have an ADHD appointment the Monday I get back and so depending on what is discussed there I may go for a small amount of mj just to get back to my goal. If my ADHD medication goes up I will see if that helps (although the whole point of it is to wear off by the evening and then a when I tend to overeat! So probably won't be helpful for the evening.
I'm still weighing daily, not sure on this. It has it's pros and cons. I think I will continue until skiing to log and weigh and then at least I will have some decent data to work with. In some respects I wish I'd logged calories whilst losing and whilst I maintained in the summer but I just didn't need to, so it means I have not idea on losing or maintaining calories (although I think I can eat more calories on mj than off it). I know what I was eating to lose and I just can't do that on my own, certainly not for long periods of time. But given I only want to lose 4-6lbs it doesn't matter how long it takes, it can take all winter for all I care. Although I would prefer less of life to be taken up with worrying about food.
Thank god for mj, I definitely think it will be a tool in my toolbox that I'm not worried to use.
Eli Lilly finally picked up my faulty pen this week, we will see how long it takes for them to come back to me. I hope in the very least they will replace some of the pen as I returned it with at least 2 doses in it.
(My get a drip pen arrived broken, not able to use the needle and with a dose missing. As I had no other I took a half dose out using a needle but then realised I had to return it, I would have got 7 more doses out of it as it was a 5mg pen so I do hope they honour the liquid I returned, who knows. It had to go to France. It was how I made the decision when to stop, I literally had no medication left and my Pharmulous order wasn't due until January). Maybe if they send me a pen before skiing I will do a 2.5 jab to cover the ski holiday. Hubby hasn't jabbed in weeks either but I don't want to pressurise him

Well done @MJalltheway , what a fantastic year! Hope you get to go home @HeidiLite. Lovely sunny day here, hope everybody has a great weekend

Thanks everyone, I've been trying for a role at this grade for about three years!

am home and got a nice compliment from the doc as well - "I can see you work out, but even if you are used to it, no sports for 2 weeks!"

Welcome home @HeidiLite. Please don’t be tempted to work out! There must be gentle stretches and stuff you can do that will release the appropriate endorphins.

Congratulations to @PrepossessingPenelope and to @MJalltheway fabulous stuff!!

@26inprogress it’s shit isn’t it? I know I really should go for one last promotion at work as I am sixty and on very good Final salary pension scheme. It isn’t the thought of the extra responsibility that puts me off, it’s the thought of having to go through the application and interview process.

Going to tackle my rodent problem today. He’s toast! I have had enough!

@PrepossessingPenelope congrats on your new role and the new level! Will that be your only form of work now or are you planning to continue consulting outside of that?

Whistles sparkle knit is more sparkly than I’m used to, however - have worn it for dinner in Copenhagen (was a dimly lit posh restaurant so felt appropriate), work Xmas do (embraced the Xmas tree vibe) and then I put a black knitted tank top over it and a belt over the tank top to dress it down for Xmas Eve dinner with my dad. For this reason I think it’s a good investment for me.
It’s v clingy though, so I need control tights to smooth out the lumps. My hips and bum cheeks are still ‘loose’ following fat loss and the merest hint of a seam on my underwear seems to create a deep indent. I know I should prob do more exercise to sort that out…

Speaking of exercise - @HeidiLite what a compliment, and insightful bit of advice from the doc! Hope you heal fast!

Keen to hear how the pen refund works out @tinyemmy. On calorie tracking I’m the opposite. I tracked religiously through weight loss. And now I don’t track at all, and I suspect I’m not getting as much protein as I need. So am back on the babybels for snacks and trying to get some steak and tuna back on the menu. Daily bowl of Greek yog, and usually eggs for brekkie. I can’t remember if you said you were veggie - but wondered if having more protein in the evening would help kill the sugar cravings.

I have this totally made up theory that it’s gut bacteria that causes sugar cravings. The more you feed them the stronger they are to send signals to your brain. So you need to starve them out to disrupt the cycle. And feed the other good gut bacteria so they’re louder. I went from being pretty bored of eating a bowl of Greek yog & berries for dessert everyday to now having to have a bowl regardless of how full I am from dinner.

Good luck @Zempy get the little bastard!

It’s a batch cooking weekend - going to do aubergine again, bolognese, and maybe a soup. We ‘only’ have 4 portions of soup left in the freezer.

@Zempy I'm not a gentle stretch person, I have tried but any kind of yoga, BodyBalance etc drives me mad. Not the least bit relaxing. Now give me a good BodyCombat class where you can kick and punch with your heart rate at max, that's relaxing!
What's the plan with the rodent, getting another cat?

But at the moment I just wish I could breathe through my nose. Also on soft diet, which is a bit boring. Then again, good excuse to eat ice cream.

Hi @DGmaintaining I’m wrapping everything else up to focus on this role. Even my longstanding consulting contracts (I’ve had one of them for a decade). It is a requirement of the job, but I think I’ll be glad to lose the complication to be honest.

Thank you for the sparkly dress info, I’m not sure I’d wear it. Re clingy have you tried a full slip? I have some plain stretch satin slips that I wear under dresses, they smooth out knickers lines etc.

Just popping in to say get well soon to @HeidiLite, congratulations on the fab job @PrepossessingPenelope and well done to all the anniversary achievements.

given it’s my anniversary weekend too, it may help pep me up with some stats as well:

67lb lost
bmi down from 39 to 27
waist 10 inches smaller
hips 15 inches smaller
blood pressure down from ‘we really need to think about tablets’ to normal.
knee pain from struggling to walk upstairs without it crunching to (carefully) restarting c25k

still half a stone to go to get to my bmi 26 goal but it’s slowly moving again and I am seeking out ways to be active which is a huge deal for me.

so thank you for all your support- it has meant a lot.

@myladyjane those are very impressive stats.

@PrepossessingPenelope so pleased for you.
@Zempy lots of luck
@HeidiLite recover well
@26inprogress your spa break sounded perfect
@tinyemmy hope you get your refund
@DGmaintaining that’s an interesting theory - id love to cut out sugar and see.

Fabulous stats @myladyjane . Not long to go at all.

I’ve just had what I hope is my penultimate jab. 47 clicks left in a 10mg pen so 7.83mg. I might have 5mg next week from the bonus depending on how I feel, or not.

Then definitely cold 🦃 .

@DGmaintainingisnt it interesting how we all do things differently! I try and get to 100g of protein per day and 30g fibre, some days are better than others. I eat meat and a lot of greek yogurt. Lunch is greek yoghurt with oats and apples, then usually something protein based (although with a healthy portion of carbs) and then every evening I have baked apples with greek yoghurt. I then end up having a couple of hifi bars for the chocolate hit and to up the fibre and then I either close the kitchen or go for it (very much an emotional rather than hunger choice).
I was looking last night at Ocado and I'm thinking of buying an apple, chia, flaxseed combo from Linwoods to add to my evening yoghurt. It would add 100 calories but also nearly 10g each if protein and fibre. I may even also add to lunch combo depending on how the calories are going.

RIP Little Fucker. Hopefully he was a solitary fellow.

Was he glossy and healthy looking @Zempy ? I am always amazed by how healthy the mice 🐈catches are.

What a boring day I have had, tax return and lots of life admin - at least it is done now I guess.

He was certainly sprightly!

Glad to hear the rodent problem has been resolved.

Over here I am really not such a happy bunny. Nose totally blocked so I can't sleep, keep waking up with extrnely dry mouth and throat, even though I have a humidifier on. Tooth extraction site hurts. Half the face swollen like a moon, am looking like I did a year ago😅 but swelling slowly going down, which has made it all really ..wobbly, especially half the neck and skin under my chin. So whenever I move, I really feel like a turkey. Eww. Overall experience so far one star, would not recommend.

Sorry to hear that @HeidiLite , I have to say that it was a very unpleasant experience for me too, many years ago.

Well, I have now gained 1.1kg from my lowest weight last week according to my scales today, still tracking calories, still within 8000 cals a week, still very constipated. Yesterday I ate a boiled egg and half a piece of sourdough at about 11am, marinated chicken skewers, four new potatoes and a huge salad for dinner, two dates and a nectarine mid afternoon - 3 cups of tea, two cups of coffee and tons of water. FGS. I will carry on.

Has everyone else got this awful rain? It hasn't stopped here for days. As it runs off the hills it is cracking the road surface in some places (probably in a badly repaired spot) and there are little fountains bubbling up from underneath the tarmac. Absolutely torrential. I think I will work today instead of driving into the city and running a few errands and do that whichever day looks driest next week.

So sorry @HeidiLite . I hope you feel better soon.

Yay, great stats @myladyjaneyouve done brilliantly and the health benefits are incredible, hope writing it down rightly cheered you up.
@HeidiLitethat sounds painful, hope you feel better soon.

yes @PrepossessingPenelopeit's grim! So much surface water everywhere.

Lovely meal last night, reformers this am and think I’m going to do some cooking and sorting today. Couple of interviews in the pipeline which I should really prep for but think that’s tomorrows job!

have a good Sunday all

Fab stats @myladyjane especially on the blood pressure, and lovely to see you on here again.

@HeidiLite sorry it’s a painful recovery, hope you get to rest today.

@PrepossessingPenelope frustrating on the up and down weight! It has been raining here, small break in the downpour at the moment but London is soggy. I’ve also got a bit of work to do today too, need to get into the right headspace for it.

@26inprogress dinner with friends is always good for the soul! Enjoy reformer.

My batch cooking weekend continues. I’ve portioned up the aubergine bake for the freezer, the Boston pork butt I marinated last night is going in the slow cooker later this morning, and I’ve got the bolognese to do too. Back on the protein!

Gym with PT yesterday and did barbell back squats - maxed on 50kg which is a 86% of my body weight. Would like to get to 60kg so I’m officially over my body weight. But I’m not doing them every week, so might take a while. In the meantime my pull-ups training continues. Still nowhere near unassisted, but getting incrementally stronger on the bands. My ability to do push ups off the floor is getting a tiny bit easier now.

Was expecting a bit of water retention but weight is 57.95kg today, have jabbed just under .5ml that was left in the pen so still on the ~2mg dose - that’s now 4 jabs on 2mg, will maybe do another 4 weeks on this unless I end up under 58kg again next week. Starting new 2.5mg pen next week. Have a 5mg in fridge and another 5mg on order. Likely could get 13 weeks out of each 5mg pen. So that’s 6 months supply. Might switch to Pharmulous and get another 2 x 5mg and that’s me sorted for a year, then I can go back to 2.5mg if I want to continue.

For those planning to eventually come off WLIs I thought this YouTube video was quite interesting:

I think I’m benefitting for the GIP part of MJ, increased fat metabolism and improved insulin function. I can still eat 3 meals a day and easily clear my plate now, so the appetite suppression of GLP-1 is much less than when I first started.

I’m starting back on MJ today after a week’s gap from Wegovy. Hoping that the other ingredient in MJ will kick start some losses for me.

I’m beyond fed up of the grey skies and rain. It is so depressing. I have to keep going out in my tiny garden and tipping pools of water off my sofa covers and table. It’s ridiculous. I’ve got some more stuff to photograph for Vinted but it’s too bloody dark in the house to get any decent photos. Driving me insane. January really is torture.

Good luck @Polkadotdash. Only three more weeks of January to go!! 😆

It really has been a hideous month hasn’t it?

Busy week ahead for me. Have a good one losers.

Loads of posts to catch up on. We are a bunch of chatterboxes.

Must shout out to @myladyjane. Look at those stats! Bloody well done! Such significant health benefits as well.

Quiet weekend here which was needed. Today the plasterer is coming to price up the job but he’s busy so it’ll be chaos for a while longer. DH took it on himself to tidy up yesterday but this involves asking me where to put things so it’s not great. There just isn’t anywhere to use as a temporary holding area anymore.

Family get together at local gastropub tonight to spend a voucher we won in a raffle. I last ate there well over ten years ago and had the worst meal I’ve ever eaten so I’m not exactly looking forward to it. Everyone I know loves the place but I’ve never had anything but a drink. I think the chef has changed several times, the one in charge when I last ate there had really embraced the flavoured mash thing. Vanilla! Coupled with a sauce that looked and smelt like bin juice. 🤮

Have a great day all.

You have all been very chatty! I've been keeping up (just!) but not posting much.

Really annoyed with my broken body which is stopping me from running - apparently it's my sacroiliac joint which is causing all the issues in my hips and glutes, so I'm embracing stretching and core exercises. And missing running alot.

WI this morning was 2lb up, so I'm knuckling down on good eating and no drinking this week. I expect it's time of the month, and water retention, but I've gone into instant panic mode and it won't do me any harm to track everything for a few days.

January is long, and grey and rainy. Bring on the Spring.