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)

Phew! Day 3 done. Did it as soon as I got up today as I have a busy day with lots of walking this afternoon and don't think I will have the energy later. Woke up stiff as a board, but feel ok with the notable exception of my calf muscles now.

I may be bonkers, but I think I can see a bit of a difference in my upper arms already. I suppose they're the bit that gets the least exercise normally, so using weights is bound to have a fairly instant effect to some extent.

I did eat back my calories yesterday in the end - well all but about 75 of them anyway.

I haven't worn a bathing suit since 1987! I was 17 years old, weighed 7st 4lbs (which as you can imagine at 5'7" and of broad Irish stock, was a tad on the skinny side ) and addicted to excercise back then though. Of course - being a teenager - I thought I was fat!

Right, all 3 gym sessions done this week - very pleased. Will do a weight check on Monday as it'll be a week since getting the programme.

Managed to get a heart rate monitor watch so that's really helped!

Just having a think at the minute as I REALLY want to start a business but have no idea if it's viable or where to start up.

It'd be a photography studio - but I'd specialize in working with families where a family member has a disability, so I'd go and get trainingin BSL, Makaton, autism awareness etc, etc. No idea if it's something people want though, or how to start.

Anyway, doing half a day volunteering in my local charity shop today, I do all day Wednesdays and Friday afternoons, been there about 6 weeks and I love it!

Well done Lollipop of sticking with the gym sessions.

I think your business idea is great. We had a family photo done for MIL's birthday last autumn and ds1 looks terrible in it, as they didn't get that the lack of eye contact with the camera meant he would need a different pose to look his best. She kept pushing him to look at the camera as well and it really stressed him out.

Anyhoo, back to the dreaded weigh-in.

Well I'm gutted.

Weighed myself earlier this week and I was 174.4lbs, so on target for this Friday's goal of 12st 6lbs - all but 4oz.

Been doing the shred - have done day 6 of level 1 today - and am definitely finding it easier and noticing muscle definition appearing on my arms, shoulders, thighs, calves and to a small extent abdomen. Have gone in a notch on my watch strap and can't keep my trousers up either!

BUT - I've gained weight since then!

Weighed in yesterday and I was 177.4!

This morning I am 176.4, so slightly better than yesterday, but still 12st 8lbs 4oz.

I think that might be the first time I've missed my target since I started.

I am going to stick with it though - I have done my workout every day, plus walking and keeping generally active and been 100% good with my diet as well, so it has to shift eventually.

I've decided to read up yesterday and found out that your muscles hold onto water while they're repairing themselves and this is often seen as a gain on the scales - so I'm praying that's what it is and it will start to settle down soon.

I did take my measurements at the beginning of the week - but am only going to re-measure once every two weeks.

Anyway, my depressing stats for this week are:

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
Weight 26/8: 12st 8lbs 4oz

Am keeping next week's goal at 12st 6lb in the hope of something changing and starting to shift between now and then.

Good luck everyone else!

Well its going down, slowly, but at least its going. This morning I'm at 175.2, which is 12st 7lbs and 2oz. So, you never know, if it carries on going down I might actually make this Friday's goal!

Completed day 7 of level 1 this morning. Taking tomorrow off, so will be back on board with day 8 on Monday morning.

Moose - don't feel bad! I've put on 3 lbs too! I had a feeling I had, I have been cheating during the week and I've just had the period from hell so that miraculous 10st 5lb is now back to 10 st 8 lb. I'm not going to panic though it is depressing. Hopefully I'll have lost a pound (or 2!) for next week.

Well done with your exercise though Lollipop and moose. We have to remember we're doing this for our health not for numbers on scales.

I think that sounds like a great business idea too Lollipop

Thanks Lambskin.

I'm feeling a bit better now, after checking my waist measurement and finding out I've lost 2 1/4 inches since last Monday!

I thought it felt slimmer and my jeans won't stay up, but I didn't dare hope for that much of a loss. I only checked my waist because dh commented on how far I've gone in on my belt.

Haven't checked my other measurements, as I'd promised myself I wouldn't check them for two weeks. I think my arms actually look bigger, but more sculpted, so probably better.

Roll on next Friday when we can all come on and log lovely 2lb losses (at least).

Hi everyone, hope you're well!

I'm weighing in tomorrow, have a feeling I've gained even beyond my start weight, although I'm due on and always gain then. And crave rubbish food.

Anyway, I've found our old weights, some little dumbbells and some wrist and ankle ones.

At this moment, I've found some wool and knitting needles and am once again going to attempt to learn to knit. I've tried numerous times but never succeeded.

Good luck for your weigh-in Lollipop. Remember that both the TOM and the gym work may make you retain water, so don't panic if you are up this week.

I took today off, which was lucky, as my neuro problems resurfaced quite badly last night and I've not been good all day. We did do an interactive museum and a walk in a country park though, so at least I've not been lazy.

Funny you should mention knitting, I was inspired by our museum trip to start doing some crafty stuff again. I had a plan once (before the dcs arrived) to make papier mache models of dogs and sell them, perhaps taking commissions for doing replicas of peoples own pets, but it all fell by the wayside. They were selling really poor papier mache dog things in the shop at this museum - for £17.50 each! Its given me a bit of a kick up the rear to consider getting back onto it. I really need to be making a bit of money now and it has to be something I can do from home, so making and selling on the internet seems to be my best option at present.

I've had a go at the knitting, and once again cannot get on with it. At the recommendation of my lovely gran, I'm going to get a crochet hook and give that a go, as it might be having to deal with 2 needles, and wool, is just too much for my not-great hand eye co-ordination. I have visions of making tiny hats and bootees and jackets for the charity shop I volunteer in, or possibly the local NICU/SCBU if I can find patterns and get good at it!

I know the gym can make me retain water, and lo and behold earlier today I came on so this week will not take the weigh in to heart and will try extra hard to eat right and exercise :)

I can't do knitting. My sister is absolutely amazing at it after being taught by our grandma. Unfortunately, she threw down her needles in despair when she tried to teach me.

Mum tried to teach me to crochet when I was expecting dd. I desperately wanted to make her some lovely unique crochet baby clothes - but I just couldn't get to grips with it.

I find it really frustrating, as I can turn my hand to most things - although am a bit of a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none really.

You are such a lovely person wanting to knit/crochet for charity Lolllipop.

Hi, I was hoping this is a bit of a more active thread, I am doing the dukan diet. Looking to lose 1.5 stone/8kgs. Have just started last week, been posting a bit on the dukan thread but no response on there. Can I join you?

Hello oncemorewithfeeling - we tend to ebb and flow a bit but you are very welcome to join us

Dukan is one of the diets I've toyed with the idea of. I'm having an 'oh dear' few weeks and just can't seem to get back in the right mind set. I think I need something strict to kick start me. Is it any good and easy to stick to so far? I need to lose about another stone I think. I'm ok now but if I relax, because I'm the upper end of healthy weight, I can very easily go over again.

Knitting, papier mâché? What can I do? I feel left out! I know I can't knit, I used to make a lot of papier mâché stuff though when I taught art lessons to special needs students. I loved it - couldn't believe I was getting paid

Doing things with your hands stops you from nibbling. However, having said that, I've been painting all day and been thinking about food and nibbling mostly healthy stuff, but .... I must admit ....

Today I have had 3 chocolate buttons and done no exercise.

Feel better now

well, bum.

so i lost 6 pounds, and now have put them all back on again. too much ice cream and restaurant stuff with the visitors. it didn't seem to be making a difference for a few weeks, and then suddenly, wham, it's all back again.

kids have gone back to school today, so i finally have some time and space to organise my life! typically, i've now been referred for some health tests in a couple of weeks time, so i can't do any drastic dieting, or even heavy exercise, until i get the all-clear, so i'm just going to have to cut down on the carbs again and do more gentle exercise (the dogs are going to love me!). interestingly, one mner suggested it might be gluten related anyway, so that's given me pause for thought.

(i am lol at the three choc buttons lambskin )

today i am mostly nervously waiting for the dcs to get home from school so that i know it is all fine. i dropped dd2 off this morning as it's a new school (she'll ride the bus tomorrow eek) and found her class list and teacher. it's a 3/4 split class and she's yr3, so i'm a bit extra nervy. it also didn't help that when i introduced her to the teacher by name, the teacher looked completely blank and had clearly never heard of her. and asked me if i had only just registered. er, no. look, she's on your list! this is slightly more perturbing as she has cp, and it is always sooooo much easier if the teacher actually looks like she is prepared for a kid with a disability. or even, y'know, recognises that she has one in her class.

so i suspect i'm going to be pacing around the house for the next 5 hours. dd2 has been so excited about going to her new school. i really hope they don't wreck it with lack of prep.... please let them find her someone to play with!

Madwoman - I'm sure that with things back to normal you'll get back in the swing with your weight loss too. It's always disruptive in the holidays, I love autumn/winter because you can just get on with it without everyone being able to so blatantly see, thanks to lack of jumpers, how well/not well you're doing. Not that anyone's noticed anyway

Glad my chocolate buttons gave you a laugh! I've been beating myself up about it so thought I'd put it in writing to see just how ridiculous it looked - it worked! Feel silly now, but this why this is so good, gets all of this in perspective. Strangely not feeling guilty about the wine consumed over the weekend or the wine to be consumed tonight - funny that

Fingers crossed your dc had a good day at school (especially dd2) x

Lambskin - go and stand in the corner and think about what you've done!

Just kidding!

My turn to confess now:

Today I have had breakfast (very good, porridge made with water and a small banana) then used the rest of my MFP calorie allowance plus 100 kcals (although to be fair, still inside all my other goals - carb, fat protein etc) on a slap up roast dinner followed by homemade apple and blueberry pie and fresh custard!

In my defence, I had planned to do this and have been ridiculously under my calorie goals for days now, so you never know, it might kick-start my metabolism a bit. Oh - and I did do day 8 of level 1 of the shred this morning before I stuffed my face.

Oncemorewithfeeling, I think the thread will wake up a bit once all the dcs are back at school.

Madwoman, hope your health issues are resolved soon. Am sure you will get back on track now your dcs are back at school. Fingers crossed this morning was just a blip and dd2 loves her new school.

actually, it occurred to me yesterday that i probably can't get into my snowpants and jacket (not that i even know where they are...) so i'd like it to stay warm for at least a month whilst i find my waist again! jumpers i can do willingly though. although i have been known to wear undone snow pants underneath dh's exceedingly warm fleecy jumper thingy... i really shouldn't have admitted that out loud, should i? that's my new target then. to be able to do up my clothes in december...

enjoy your wine tonight x

oo, hello moose, x-post. you are doing so well with the shred, you must be chuffed. i love a roast dinner, i have to say.

appointment is on the 15th, so i need to take it easy-ish until then. hoping it is all fine, but still a bit nerve-wracking.

dd2 loved her new school before she even got there! i just hope i was completely wrong and that the teacher did know she was getting a kid with cp in her class, just had momentarily forgotten which one i susoect it won't be long before she works it out anyway...

Thanks madwoman. It was really daunting to begin with, but my fitness levels have drastically improved in just 8 sessions - to be honest I'm a bit gobsmacked by it.

I have a neuro appointment coming up on 6 October and am dreading what they are going to say, especially the prospect of another MRI, as I'm claustrophobic and only just managed to force myself through the last one. I've just got my head in the sand until I actually have to face it though.

I love roast dinners too, but am limiting myself to max one a month as they are killer for calories, not to mention carbs and fat. It helps being a veggie though - one less item to add to the calorie list.

It was lovely, but I am on herbal tea for the rest of the day as I've used up all my allowance and then some.

goodness this thread moves fast. Nice to meet y'all!
Ive been struggling to gte back to a weight I am happy w since pregnancy. I developed some poor eating habits while preg. DD is composed 90% of toffee!
Anyway shes 18months and I only just made it back to a healthy weight. This is good, but I still dont like myself at this weight.
I have tried and failed at a couple fo diets now so I have planned to di Dukan for 15 days and then consolidate that loss, give myself a bit of a break then have another go at losing a bit more weight when I feel ready. Sounds good in theory....

Welcome on board oncemore.

I tried low carbing. Did the attack phase and lost a stone in two weeks, but subsequently put it right back on - just couldn't keep it up being a vegetarian. I've hardly been able to eat eggs since.

I've heard great things from people who did manage to keep it up though.

We generally weigh in on a Friday - but you can pick your day and there should be someone around to support you.

I love a good roast too! I ate about half a pig on Sunday (you are what you eat) but had no carbs, although maybe the harumph amount of wine counterbalanced that!

What happened after the last neuro appointment moose? What did they say to you? I'm a not good with confined spaces either, closing your eyes and deep breathing might help, and visualisation. Have you got any yoga DVDs you can practise with? How long does the scan last? Sorry about all the questions!

How did your dc first day go madwoman?

Oncemore - my ds2 is mainly made up of fried chicken and pizza at least you're tackling it before you get too used to it. The longer you leave it the more you just think 'oh this is me now, I'm fat' and the harder it is to change.

Last night's wine was lovely. No more now until Friday!

Just realised how much I talk about wine

they had a great time at school - phew! no idea whether the teacher knew/ cottoned on fast or whatever, but dd2 was full of the joys of the new term when she got home (on the bus, in one piece, yay!) she's definitely asserting herself and trying for a bit more independence - she wanted to walk to the bus stop and catch the bus on her own today, too. she isn't really ready for that, she's only 7! but i guess a girl can ask.

was reasonably good yesterday a la food. salad and tuna for lunch, salmon and baked potato for dinner with asparagus. (dh decided he was desperate for a spud, so i succumbed - i turned out the double choc ice cream that he rounded off with though ) and as i spent the day moving furniture around, and walked to and from school in the morning, and walked with the dogs, i feel as though i'm burning calories, even though not by sweating it out! and i actually slept last night - i was obviously just waiting for the new routine to kick in!

oh, i did have a glass of wine though... that might have helped.

dd1 and ds1 are largely made up of soft fruits for some reason i craved nectarines. and jaffa cakes, obv. dd2... hmm, i suspect she's made of mac n cheese, as that's all the other two would eat at that point, so i probably existed on toddler leftovers. i am loving the idea of a toffee baby though.

moose, do you usually have to have an mri when they do your checks? or are you having some additional/ worsening symptoms? just thinking about your extra exercise and stuff really - but it seems to be going ok? 6 oct is such a long time to wait too. head in the sand is probably a good approach for another few weeks...

turned down lol, not out. i had NO ice cream! honestly! i had a plum

Lambskin Last neuro appointment was 6 years ago when I was being treated for complex migraines using the epilepsy drug Topiramate/Topomax. They had some other concerns so did an MRI and found lesions. Initially thought it may be lupus, but that was ruled out after blood tests. Then, because I was only under them for migraine, they discharged me without resolving the cause of the lesions.

I didn't worry because the migraines stopped and I had no odd symptoms, but from November to May this year I was really ill and had repeated episodes that appeared to be TIAs (mini strokes), plus inability to speak properly, coordination issues, parasthesia. In the end I was rushed into A&E at the eye hospital with excruciating pain behind the eye and loss of vision - they checked me out, said there's nothing wrong with my eyes but they suspected a neurological problem and I'd need another MRI to compare with the last one, then sent a letter to my GP, who was appalled that it hadn't been followed through at the time and referred me straight back to the neurologist.

Last MRI took about half an hourish, but it depends how many slices of image they want and the extent of the scan. Got through it last time by reciting poetry in my head and counting in a loop. I'm sure I'll cope, but the thought still fills me with dread.

I haven't been good today with it all, lots of pain behind my eye again, so have been on the sofa with my duvet and haven't eaten a thing. No shredding for me today.