Starting today... 2st to lose.

[owlets]

Whilst shopping with my super slim friend over the weekend I realised just how fat I feel - and getting on the scales provided proof. I've put on 2 stone - 1 stone of which has come on very recently ( think a month or two?!).
Other than looking lumpy and increasingly featureless, my legs are achy and I don't feel like I've woken up properly ever.
So, I'm going to start on the diet today. The plan is to eat lots of veg and fruits, lean meats, and limited carbs. I'm going to have 3 decent sized meals a day, and not snack unless I'm truely hungry.

I'm going to weigh myself and post on here every Tuesday. Anyone who wants to join in please do!

Starting weight; 11st 13.
(Target weight 10st so 1st 13lbs to lose)

And well done right back atcha!

Sorry to hear about your unsupportive friends, are they naturally skinny then or could they do with losing a bit and are just jealous you're doing so well?

I'm incredibly impressed you only had 3 wines in 2 weeks I can't imagine having that sort of willpower. Weekdays are wine free but come the weekend it's a trolley dash in Sainsburys!

So pleased about your dog
Can't wait to hear how you get on with the dreaded Shred! Am curious but more afraid!

Madwoman - Moose is right. Try to step back and look at the bigger picture, it seems like one step forward and two back at the moment, but when the time is right (and everyone has fecked off home) you'll be raring to go.

Hi Lambskin

Nope, definitely not skinny friends, both big foodies and also anti anything to do with appearance or (in their words) girly.

I was very selective about the wine - only had a glass when they opened a really good one!

Am both excited and dreading the shred in equal measures. Have watched a bit of it on YouTube and am not at all sure I'll be able to do much of it, but at the same time so pleased that I feel well enough to try. Still, am willing to keep on doing the warm-up on its own for as long as it takes before moving on. Could end up being the 30 month shred in my case - but at least I'll have tried.

How is looking after your health girly!? I couldn't have done this without the support of dh, my mum and some friends. One of my friends is a major foodie and doesn't do diets but she always considers me when cooking for us all and I really appreciate it and makes me love her all the more!

moose - The fact that you're even thinking about the 30 day/month shred shows how far you've come in fitness and health. It doesn't matter how long it takes you to do it, and good on your dh for doing it too

I'm only exercising during the week now so that I can properly relax at the weekends. I've been making the workouts longer and using weights more too. I'm now a proper size 12, and weighed myself early this week and I'm 10 st 5 which is a loss of 3 lbs since last week (I stayed the same from the week before and even put on 8 oz).

Feel a bit weird that I'm actually 5lbs off losing that bloody 2 stone! The big test will be keeping it off though. I do really want to be 9.5 so I've still got a stone to go.

Ds1 is getting his A level results tomorrow so may be drinking heavily and indulging in some yummy food, either in celebration or desperation, and it's his 18th at the weekend. We're going out to a Japanese restaurant so more delicious food and alcohol but Japanese food is super healthy so I'm really looking forward to some guilt free feasting

They automatically assume that weightloss = diet = vanity. I'm not a girly girl, but they annoyed me so much I bought some pink nail varnish and made a point of painting my finger and toenails in front of them!

I wouldn't mind, but I didn't make a fuss about my diet, just ate smaller portions of what everyone else was having or quietly made myself a salad to eat when I was cooking for everyone else.

10st 5lbs is fantastic - you must be ecstatic and you should be so proud of yourself, you've worked so hard for this.

I have just found out that one of our oldest friends are coming over from NZ at the beginning of October and really want to try and shift a bit of extra weight and shape up a bit before then. Daft really, but he's married a girl that is a lot younger than the rest of us and they are both super healthy and fit, so I don't want to be the fat and flabby middle-aged mum at the gathering.

At 2lbs a week I could potentially lose another stone and hopefully with attempting the shred could tone-up to improve the overall effect by the time we see them. I will still be a stone off my final goal (I was my goal weight last time we got together) but won't feel anywhere near as self-conscious being a stone overweight, as I would have done being the 4 stone overweight I was at the beginning of all this.

So, yes, there is some vanity involved in my wanting to lose weight at the moment - but my long-term, overall motivation is better health, more energy and setting a good example to my dcs.

Hope your ds gets the results he wants - enjoy your celebrations!

I know what you mean about wanting to look slimmer when you see your friend. I met up with a friend I hadn't seen for a couple of years recently, we went to Uni together (when I was a size 8/10) so I'm pleased I'd managed to lose a bit. Not that she would have judged but being slim is so tied in with being successful and happy that I actually felt like a failure for having put on weight - stupid I know. And very shallow. But that's me, stupid and shallow!

Thank you, ds did get the results he needed! so he's off to do (can't bring myself to put read) French! Very proud of him as he was doing French, maths and History, not easy.

We had a Chinese last night instead of tonight because we thought he'd probably rather go to the pub with his mates tonight. The MSG has given me a puffy face and a hangover (nothing to do with the wine, oh no) but I kept away from carbs - like that's really going to make a difference!

I'm not going to weigh in tomorrow as I did it yesterday and I think that last night's festivities could have done some damage.

When's your first shred?

Congratulations to your ds!

Dvd hasn't arrived yet. I ordered it from Amazon first class yesterday, so hopefully it should arrive before the weekend. Think the stress of the holiday and looong journey home has finally caught up with me though, am totally exhausted - again, so its probably a good thing it hasn't arrived yet.

I totally understand what you are saying about feeling like a failure for gaining weight. It shouldn't be like that though, I think its all tied up with the media and pressure on women to be skinny and beautiful all the time. Out of all our uni friends, the guys, well excluding dh and one other (the one that's coming over from NZ) have all put on A LOT of weight and are really big - definitely well into the obese category. Only myself and one other girl have gained weight though and we both feel embarrassed/judged for it and stress about every meet-up. Seems its ok for men to be obese, but not for women to be anything other than downright skinny.

Morning

Am up and raring to go on this bright sunny morning, off to walk to the better park with the dcs (which is a couple of miles round trip) shortly, so thought I'd better get in early with my weigh-in.

Didn't actually expect much of a difference from Tuesday, perhaps a couple of ounces, but am pleased to report I've lost another pound, so:

Starting weight 16/6: 14st 2lb
Weight 24/6: 13st 8lb
Weight 1/7: 13st 7lbs
Weight 2/7: 13st 5lbs
Weight 13/7: 13st 4lbs
Weight 14/7: 13st 1lb
Weight 21/7: 12st 13lbs
Weight 29/7: 12st 11lbs (and 6oz)
Weight 16/8: 12st 9lbs (weighed in Tues not Fri due to holidays)
Weight 19/8: 12st 8lbs

Overall weightloss to date: 22lbs

As a result I have adjusted next weeks target from 12st 7lbs to 12st 6lbs and am now keeping everything crossed for the whole 2 stone to have gone (so 12st 2lbs) by Friday 9th September.

I'm relieved to have lost some more this week, as I had a serious wobble last night and almost decided to give up after seeing our holiday photographs Nothing scary like swimsuits, haven't worn one of those since I was 17, but all the same I was so disappointed to still be looking so chunky. To be fair, there is a big difference between the photos taken of me at a festival in May and those taken last week, but I guess I was hoping to look a bit better by now.

Have pulled myself together now and am hoping starting the shred will help me to shape up as well as lose weight and improve the overall effect. Am also thinking of asking to borrow my Mum's exercise bike and rower for a few weeks, as she's just had an op on her foot and can't use them herself until at least October. Not sure where I'll put them in my tiny shoe-box of a house, but it would definitely give me a bit of a boost and be really useful for days when I'm stuck in the house.

Dh is quite excited about doing the shred with me. He rarely manages to fit in any exercise and is looking forward to shaping up a bit. Only dilemma now is that he is a morning person and would prefer to get up and exercise first thing, whereas I am a night bird and would prefer to do it after the dcs are in bed in the evening.

Right, get sorted for going out - the dcs are all dressed and raring to go and I'm still in my pjs.

Oh well done moose!

I think you'll find that exercise will make a huge difference, not necessarily in terms of weight loss, but in how you look and most importantly how you feel. I get a massive kick out of feeling fit, and it does take a couple of weeks but get a buzz after exercising that lasts all day.

I'm more like your dh, I prefer to exercise in the morning. It sets me up for the day and then I know I've done it and it's not hanging over me. Do you have to do it together? Could he do it in the morning and you do it in the evening? I tried doing a Davina workout with my dh once. Our front room is not as big as we thought

I'll join you in a weigh in next week when I'm less bloaty and pre-TOM

I think dh wants to do the dvd together, as we get so little time together these days and have very few interests in common. It would also help us to motivate and encourage each other. Our living room is tiny, but from what I've seen, most of the shred exercises are fairly static, so I'm hoping we'll fit.

Dvd arrived just as we left for the park this morning, but I think we'll start tomorrow, as I've already walked miles in the hot sun today. Will probably scare ourselves witless watch it together tonight, to get a feel for exactly what we're letting ourselves in for though.

Good luck! I'm sure it'll be fun actually (did I really just say that!) and by doing it together you'll be less likely to give up than if there was no one around to see your shame.

Looking forward to my Friday

Well .... I DID IT!

Dh and I completed Day 1 - Level 1 of the dreaded Shred this morning, with a jeering and sniggering crowd of ds's looking on and 2 yr old dd 'joining in'. We were supposed to do it last night, but I had a whole load of neuro symptoms yesterday and decided it was better to have an early night and try for today instead.

I did need to take a few of JM's allowed 5 second breaks and was definitely seeing silver and on the verge of fainting at one point - but I got my breath back, took a sip of water and got straight back into it.

Can't believe I actually managed the whole workout rather than just the warm up. Have a feeling I'll be walking a bit funny tomorrow though!

Even better is that I weighed myself yesterday morning and I'd lost another pound, so I have some more new stats to add to the thread:

Starting weight 16/6: 14st 2lb
Weight 24/6: 13st 8lb
Weight 1/7: 13st 7lbs
Weight 2/7: 13st 5lbs
Weight 13/7: 13st 4lbs
Weight 14/7: 13st 1lb
Weight 21/7: 12st 13lbs
Weight 29/7: 12st 11lbs (and 6oz)
Weight 16/8: 12st 9lbs (weighed in Tues not Fri due to holidays)
Weight 19/8: 12st 8lbs
Weight 20/8: 12 st 7lbs

Overall weightloss to date: 23lbs

Don't think I'll change next weeks target though, as I can't believe I'm going to continue to drop pounds this quickly - so I'm leaving it at 12st 6lbs.

That should have read 'joining in'

I'm back! I've been mainly over on MFP, but for some reason really fell out of touch with it. I think it was because I joined one of the chjallenge groups that demanded posting every day etc and found it too much of a chore.

Anyway, I've been doing alright, have let things slip though so now have 7 weeks to lose hopefully a stone. I reckon with diet and exercise I can easily manage 2lbs a week til holiday.

Going to the gym to get my personalized workout plan tomorrow - bit nervous but I know that because I said on the form I qwanted to lose weight and tone for holiday, they'll have done a programme to help.

Will be aiming for 1400 cals a day and gym 3x per week, plus all the up and down stairs stuff that comes with my voluntary job.

My insides are currently mush at the minute thanks to having a cuddle with my friend's 11 day old DS yesterday... oh that baby smell :) On the way home the other friend who was with us looked at me, sighed and said "My car smells of baby now".

Well done for getting back on track after your blip Lollipop. Sounds like you are doing really well now - I'd love to go to the gym and get a personalised plan - but there's nowhere I can get to - or afford - around here.

I couldn't keep up with a challenge group either, far better to do it at your own pace and not feel pressurised.

I'm very impressed moose , mini hecklers really don't help with the concentration do they? So what's involved then? Is it loads of squats/sit-ups/lungey type things? And your weight loss is amazing!!

Welcome back Lollipop! It does sound like you have a renewed determination, a personal plan is a really good idea - good luck today!

Well, we had a great weekend. The Japanese restaurant was fantastic, it was entertainment as well as eating out, the chef showed us all his fancy moves - juggling eggs, hot plate on fire and loads of metal on metal clanging and clashing which was pretty dramatic, then he got ds1 up to juggle, break and cook an egg on the hot plate and we all sang happy birthday! Really made it special for him.

The food was incredible. Japanese is my favourite but I don't get to have it very often and although I cook it at home it's just not quite the same. Sashimi - yum

Last night was Champagne, paella and chocolate cake so I'm a bit lardy today, but have done Davina DVD and back on track with eating so hopefully haven't done too much damage

Just done day2 - couldn't move this morning, all my muscles had knotted up tight. Dh is the same. We couldn't find a time to work out together today, so he's doing it later.

All you need is a pair of hand weights and an exercise mat if you are working out on a hard floor. Its 3 6 minute circuits, 3 minutes of strength (so far lots of squats and lunges whilst simultaneously doing weights with the upper body) 2 minutes cardio (star jumps, skipping without a rope, something she calls kick-butts) and 1 minute of abs (crunches, lateral crunches, butt raises etc). She keeps the pace up all the way through and you aren't supposed to take a break at all, but she does allow you 5 second breathers if it gets too much (which is does for me obviously). You do 10 days at level one and then 10 at level 2 and 10 at level 3 - hence the 30 day title, but she does say only to move on when you are finding it easy and are definitely ready. I think you'd probably find it easy, given all the other workouts you already do. I'm really appreciating it only being 20 minutes, any longer and I would definitely have to quit before the end.

Went to a family (ILs) party yesterday and not one single person noticed my weightloss, despite the fact I was there with the same group of people in June at almost two stone heavier. When I mentioned it to my SIL she said its impossible to lose that much weight so quickly (nice - implying I'm not telling the truth). I think its because she is very big and struggles to lose weight because she refuses to stick or comit to anything long enough and says she can't exercise because its too hard on her knees. I was feeling so good when I went out as well, wore something flattering and was delighted to find I can no longer keep my jeans up.

Your ds1's birthday meal sounds amazing. Don't worry about the celebration food and drink. You're so good at getting back on track and sticking with it and now you're fitter and have more muscle you can probably eat more and burn it off more easily anyway. I'm sure it will melt away in no time.

Hardly anyone has noticed my weight loss either! Well, apart from family members, but I've been boring the pants off them all summer with weight loss updates so they sort of feel obliged I think Bit off of your SIL to say it's not possible when there you are, the living embodiment of proof that it is! As you say though, the fact that you have got off your (much smaller and toned) arse and done it negates all her crap excuses. If she lost some weight through diet that would help her knees and then she'd be able to exercise. Voila! Hard work though isn't it?

And thank you for your lovely comments I just worry that if I start thinking that I can get away with a bit extra here and there, I'll soon slip back into eating too much more than I'm being careful, and it's a delicate balance isn't it? I wonder if you can ever be at a point where you can not worry and just naturally eat in the right way. I'm a binger at heart so have to really think about what I'm putting in my mouth. I could eat a family size bag of crisps and a garlic bread no problem - after my evening meal! And many's the time I've had a manholecover pizza to myself with a bottle of wine. Shit. Hungry now

Forgot to acknowledge your sterling shred work! Sorry about that.

I am tempted to give it a go, sounds tough but I imagine that you feel fantastic when you get to complete a level. Are you doing it on consecutive days or as and when you can? I find that exercising when you have muscle ache can actually help them to loosen up again and if you keep at it your muscles soon get used to all that new activity and get all blasé and you stop feeling it - why you have to move up a level I suppose!

I have the weights and the mat. I may join you

I'm back! Personal trainer man was lovely - plan only cost me £5 because the gym is owned and operated by a local university where I'm a student :) I pay £2.90 a session, so it's a bargain!

Got some really good advice, and a copy of my plan is in a little filing cabinet in the gym for when I next go (tomorrow hopefully!)

Yep, I'm back on track and determined to kick this weight out of my life! :)

I'm a binger too Lambskin. In truth I think my fairly rapid weightloss is more down to the fact that I've cut out all the 'after evening meal' bingeing I was doing rather than what I eat a meal times. My actual diet in relation to mealtimes was never that bad - probably too few kcals if anything. I could never have a small bar of chocolate - always a huge one and if there were cakes or biscuits in the house, it would be me that ate them - I'd just keep going back for them one by one until they were all gone. In fact, since starting this I'm gobsmacked at how much longer my baking lasts - just goes to show who was really scoffing it all.

I was going to do the shred every day, but have been reading up and apparently Jillian Michaels recommends taking one day a week off for muscle recovery and rest.

Exercising definitely loosened up my muscles today, but they've stiffened up again now - ouchee! From what I've read it settles down after a few days though ...... and then comes back in different muscle groups when you start the other levels.

I got my copy for 5.99 I think off Amazon and it arrived pretty quickly with first class post. I think I may be shamed by the ease at which you manage it though - you are so much fitter than me already.

I've been arguing with myself about whether or not to eat back my exercise calories - it doesn't sit well with me to do it, but I do know that if I have a few consecutive days with more than 100 kcals off my target for MFP, my weightloss either slows down or stalls and I need a higher kcal day or two to kickstart it again.

Hi Lollipop, glad the personal training session went well. You're all set to shift that stone before your holiday now.

Right, has anyone used one of these heart rate monitor straps?

If so, where the heck do you wear it so that it actually works and sends a signal to the machine you're on? We've got some that are free to borrow at my gym and I tried one today, but still had to hold the handles of the tradmill to get a reading...

PS: Was told that the ones they had were compatible with their CV machines.

Sorry I don't have a clue about heart rate monitors Lollipop - can you get them to give you a quick demo next time you go?

Dh and I have decided to measure ourselves this evening, as apparently you sometimes appear to have gained weight, but can lose quite dramatic inches with the shred. I am dreading finding out what my measurements really are. denial emoticon

On a more positive note - the linen trousers I bought to take away with me, that fitted me comfortably the week before we went, now won't stay up on me, they literally fall down as I walk.

Moose, I think I've got it in the right place, just need to get it to talk to the machines so will ask when I go tomorrow :)

Bought a new swimming costume for holiday today. Annoyingly, with it being the end of season, variety was thin on the ground and I've had to buy 2 sizes bigger than I am. However, it stays up and makes me look nice as it has tummy control, so it'll do. Unless I can order a smaller size online then return this one...

I don't know anything about heart rate monitors either I'm afraid Lollipop. Can anyone at the gym help? 2 sizes too big could be taking a bit of a risk there, especially if the sea's rough

moose I do eat my exercise calories, just at the weekend. I think it keeps your metabolism on its toes. I ignore mfp most of the time now as I eat under during the week and over at the weekend - gives me something to look forward to which I think it helps to keep my bingeing in check as well!