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)

I had baked beans.

Yup, coat washed and dried ready for the morning, along with ds2's trousers which were also plastered in mud after a fun afternoon doing geology on the school playing field.

Hope you manage to get through your morning on schedule and fit in a good bit of skiing in in the afternoon.

Gutted of guttsville here:

Weight: 20/01: 11st 0lbs (154lbs)
Weight: 27/01: 11st 0lbs (154lbs)

Target for next week (03.02) remains the same as it was for this week: 10st 13lbs

Overal goal weight: 10 stone 4lbs (144lbs)

Really fed up. Worked out every day this week and stuck to my calorie goal and what do I get for my trouble? Harrumph!

Fingers crossed its just a repeat of what happened last time I started shredding and it will just plateau for a week or so, then start dropping again.

I suppose I should at least be pleased my 3lb gain was only water weight/temporary really.

You get lots more muscle which weighs more than fat, and an increase in your metabolism which will pay dividends next week...

If it helps, mine was equally bizarre. I weighed myself on thurs and had put on 5 lbs, and was then also back down to the same weight (less half a pound gain) on fri... But I did ski yesterday and today. I think I'll have the day off tomorrow and then I've got an offer to go x country skiing on Monday to go over what I missed in the lesson on weds... And then boot camp again on tues. so I think it will def start paying dividends next week.

Today is my birthday though, so going out with dh and the still -here in-laws for dinner. I will be sensible, but don't intend to starve! And I will have at least one glass of vino. 41

Ah now you see, I read on MFP that that's been debunked. You can't gain muscle on a calorie deficit, you can only improve the quality of what's already there. Its really hard to put on muscle and requires a massive calorie excess. Apparently its much harder for women than men as well. All of which means I can't use it as an excuse anymore. Double harrumph!

The good news is, according to all the bods in the know over there, when you start working out again your muscles grab water by the gallon to help with all the tear and repair stuff they have going on. Therefore, any additional weight is simply down to water retention and will dissipate as your muscles strengthen. So, that's my new excuse!

Sounds like you've being doing stacks of excercise. Gold star and go straight to the top of the class!

I managed to work out every day bar Friday, but haven't had any sleep since Thursday night, so not done any yet this weekend. Planning to do a bit of BFBM today if I can motivate my lardy backside out of this rocking chair.

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y !

You are the same age as me ..... well ... until June when I will sob.. sob.. be.. sniff... 42!

Enjoy your meal and birthdays are official days off - twould be wrong if it were any other way.

I've got a lot of tear and repair stuff going on...

You sound as though you need to relax as a priority! That might help, too. I'm sure I read somewhere that lack of sleep contributes to weight gain too, but goodness knows what the science behind it was...

Dinner lovely, but far too large. Hey ho.

Morning

Glad to hear you had a nice dinner on your birthday.

I read about lack of sleep being a barrier to weightloss as well. It makes the body produce the stress hormone cortisol, which then has an effect on how the body stores sugar - I think.

I am failing dismally with healthy eating at the moment. Ended up with three slices of pizza and oven chips last night. Fortunately my weight doesn't seem to be going up, just fluctuating up and down a bit. Am currently back down to 10st 13oz. I'm just so tired, I'm finding it really hard to get back into it all and exercise is a real struggle. I had a mountain of healthy food delivered on Saturday, but am too tired to cook from scratch.

I did manage to get some sleep last night though, for the first time in days. Our old lady dog (13 years old) has decided to develop late onset separation anxiety and has been whining, pacing and generally banging about at night and she's in the room directly under our bedroom. I'm a really light sleeper and there's just no way I can sleep through it. Dh has tinnitus and can't hear her even if she's full on howling.

Cracked it last night though. Decided to try leaving the laundry light and baby monitor on (we still have it as we've very thick walls and can't hear it from the living room if dd wakes up). She obviously found being able to hear dh's snoring comforting, so didn't feel abandoned and there wasn't a peep out of her last night - phew!

Still very tired today but a million times better than the last few days.

Bless you and bless that dog.

Ah, cortisol, my old friend. That makes sense. I'm quietly certain that ds is the way he is because of the demon cortisol... Dh got blown up when I was 10weeks pg with ds and was only given a 20% chance of survival, (brain injury and surgery etc) so poor old ds was sloshed in the stuff throughout pretty much his entire gestation. I might have known it'd make me fat as well. tis obv nowt to do with the eating and sitting on my backside, oh no...

Well, the ils have finally gawn, and so I must attempt to get my life back together. It's been lovely having them around, but an additional 'something' to take into account iyswim... And I don't have much residual brain space left!

Boot camp was actually ok today... I mean, not ok, it was clearly knackering lol, but I actually left feeling like I hadn't ruptured anything... so a definite improvement. I can't see any difference yet. I'm still appalled by my reflection in the giant freaking mirrors, with everything bouncing every which way, whilst everyone else looks somehow together, like they've got their flesh under control! I'll get there. And now that I'm a couple of weeks in, I know I'll keep going. I'll be glad when the whole stomach thing reduces enough to do a squat thrust properly though.

Hope tonight is as restful and you managed a few veggies...

Hi

Just got back from ds1's SA medical .... then lunch at a local farm cafe where I failed dismally to eat healthily and had an all day veggie breakfast. Ds1 was so pleased to have a treat eating out somewhere with Mum and Dad and no little brother though and this particular cafe is one where we know we can get gf food for him - so one bowl of chips, milkshake and gf cookie later and he went back to school a happy bunny.

Paed was great, said she totally supports our request for a statement and agrees that what we are asking for is appropriate to ds's needs.

It was actually quite funny in some ways. I was worried that he was going to come across too nt, as he's been doing so well recently, but e sat there with his massive Star Wars Visual Dictionary on his knee, reading away, then answered her questions without looking in her direction and finally asked her to explain herself because he didn't understand what the words she was using meant!

Arrived home and my clothes order had arrived, including my skinny combats for the fancy dress party. Got them out and held them up thinking, er ... skinny would be an understatement. Tried them on and couldn't get them over the tops of my thighs. They are supposed to be a UK 14, but look more like a 10 and have absolutely no stretch in them.

So, it didn't take me long to regret my breakfast/lunch indulgence and resolve to do better from now on.

Can't decide whether to keep them as motivation to stick with it, or send them back and order the other ones I looked at that have stretch to the fabric and aren't such a skinny cut.

Am feeling very fat now and also very cross with myself for losing the diet and exercise plot over the past few days. Still, its probably good for me to have got a swift kick in the rear to wake me up to myself before I start gaining weight again.

Sounds like you are doing great with building up your fitness. I bet there is already a difference showing, you're probably being too self-critical. Have you considered measuring strategic points to monitor for inch loss? I found that far more motivational than weigh-ins when I was doing the shred first time round.

I am not going to eat much at all for the rest of the day. Think I will just have a bowl of natural yoghurt and berries for dinner and maybe a detox tea or two!

bleurgh on the comabts. i had a similar experience a few weeks ago when i thought i could do a smash and grab raid to buy a pair of jeans whilst we were picking up a birthday present. i legged it into the changing rooms with the two different sizes i thought might work and couldn't get either of them done up at all (with similar issues about not getting them higher than above knees in one case). so i'm wearing these ones until they damned well fall apart, and if i don't fit into a smaller size (like the billion pairs i have in my wardrobe) at that point i'll turn to sackcloth and ashes. send them back. if having smaller clothes was in any way motivational, i'd be about 4 sizes smaller than i am.
i might do some measurements... good idea.

good news about the paed appointment. ds seems to be doing a little better on his meds, but worse with his continence. yesterday (deep joy) i was hand scrubbing pants that that been soaked overnight in a bucket. we do seem to be rather one step forward, two back currently, but will keep battling on.

can feel my muscles this morning, so something has to be working... hot bath in a minute i think, before i head off to get all my jobs done. mil and fil left yesterday, and i am not going to x country this morning (tactical decision) and i've got loads to catch up on that has been hanging over me. need to get it out of the way so that i feel free-er!!! suspect it will take longer than a day though!

You're right, I know - I should send them back.

Good to hear ds is doing a bit better on the meds, not so good about the continence though. Hope you start to see some improvement with that soon as well.

Good luck with your catch-up day. I did that on Monday, made a pact with myself not to sit down until I had the ground floor of the house sorted and all my phone calls made. Managed to get it all done by 12.30, but was then pooped for the rest of the afternoon. Same again on Tuesday, but lots of admin, phone calls and emails, plus the odd unscheduled foray into MN territory, so not much actual physical activity. Then ds's appointment followed by being too full to move today, so still no proper workout for fear of throwing up.

I have visitors all morning tomorrow and then toddler group and two school runs in the afternoon, so can't see me squishing one in then either.

Maybe I should just write this week off exercise wise and start again at the weekend. I will definitely amend my eating habits though - just bought a set of stainless steel salad bowls with lids off ebay so I can store some made up salads in the fridge and just sling in some protein to make a decent, but healthy meal. I hate that awful eurgh feeling every time I need to start preparing one and am far too easily put off by it. I never mind doing it in the summer, but somehow in the winter it seems so much more of a chore.

Well, I'm not caught up, but I did get some jobs done.

Had to miss boot camp today as there were no volunteers who could accompany dd2 on the school ski lesson, so I had to go. Still not really very sure how dda stuff works here. All the kids with sn were told they could go with the rest of the class if someone came with them... Ie a helper. Hmm

Anyway, it was fine. They have kept her in the beginner class so all I had to do was haul kids up off the floor for two hours. I did have to jump off a chairlift at one point - first time ever, but only because both dd2 and the other boy I was riding with had their skis right under mine at the getting off point, and so I had to sort off fling them both forwards so that they got the momentum to shift, but couldn't go myself until I had flung them forwards out of the way... They just skied off, but I had to do a sort of leap as by then it was about a foot of air underneath my skis . As I jumped I thought 'hmm, if I fall this is going to be really embarrassing', but fortunately I didn't.

Well, I have the nephrologist appt tomorrow. Have of course been consulting dr google just to build my anxiety levels nicely. Am fairly sure it will all be a non-event, but I can't help but wonder. Mum has ra, and I've had joint pain for a few months (not exercise connected) and so I had been wondering if it could be a family disposition.... But then, deep joy, I discover that there are things that can combine joint pain and hematuria... FFS.

Anyway, I'll haul my ass into the city and see if anything else came up in the lab work. At least I know they seemed to be doing a lot, so surely if anything was out of whack, it would show?

Hope yours is restful and dawg is still satisfied with the snoring x

That sounded random... Had been wondering about ra as a completely different subject, as clearly ra not linked to investigations. But turns out joint pain might be.

Step away from Google, its nowt but trouble y'know. Actually, iI am just the same, I like to have as much info as possible before I go, so that whatever they have to say at least I will have some chance of understanding it.

I am very impressed by you jumping out of a ski lift. You wouldn't even get me into a ski lift, let alone see me jumping out of one. Did you see that thing on the net the other day about the little boy in America that fell out of one? His dad was desperately holding onto his hands, but eventually he slipped from his grasp. Fortunately, a group of onlookers bunched together and caught him from a 25 ft drop! He wasn't injured at all, apparently and went on to get back in the lift and then ski for the rest of the day!

I am not weighing in today. This week has been disasterous food and exercise wise and then my period arrived over a week early and helped to explain why I have been feeling so rough. Going to start again on Monday (I know, I know its an age old diet mantra, but I am so fed up of feeling like a dieting failure so far this year, especially after it all went so well last year, so am determined to try and get back on track.

Good luck with your appointment, I will be thinking about you and I'm keeping everything crossed that they've identified the problem and its something simple that can be easily sorted out.

Hi both!

Just passing so thought I'd pop in to see how you both are.

Moose, don't get despondent, it quite often feels like 2 steps forward 3 steps back but you will get there. Don't forget how far you've come and it's COLD dammit your body wants to hold onto extra layers.

I put on 4 lbs over Xmas which I was actually quite pleased about (made up of cheese mainly) and I weighed myself this morning and I'm 10st 4lbs so I've lost 2 lbs in a month. Very slow but in the right direction. I've also to given up eating red meat. I started eating it when I was pregnant with ds2 7 and a bit years ago and I feel so much better already.

Outofbodyexperience - loving the new look wow to the skiing! Very impressed at jumping!

Anyway, hope you're both keeping ok. I'm trying not to think too much about weight at the moment but always like to check out how you're getting on. Cheering you on at the side lines x

Hello Lambskin, I have been wondering how you were getting on. I nearly pm'd you last week, but decided you'd pop back when you felt like it and I shouldn't stalk you.

10 stone 4lbs is fantastic! That's my target weight at the moment, but as you've obviously read, I'm not even close and definitely not getting any closer at this point in time.

Do come back and chat occasionally, we often end up talking to ourselves now there's only the two of us left.

You can pm me whenever you like! I was going up and down and all over the place with my weight and eating. I was so desperate to get below 10 stone it got a bit silly so I took a deep breath and stepped away from the scales and the diet books. Back to porridge with water for breakfast, boiled eggs and ryvita for lunch and fish and salad or stir fry veg for dinner which feels healthy and is satisfying. It means I can treat myself occasionally - I do so love a take away Still leaping about with Davina which is definitely helping.

Ds2 is at new school every morning now and SALT have been amazingly supportive which I was a bit at really because until now it's been pretty grim. So anyway what I'm babbling about is that I think I'm back on track and should hopefully be posting a bit more

Oh that's great news Lamb, I knew you were very stressed about what was going to happen with ds last time we heard from you and was keeping everything crossed that things turned out well for him.

Lovely to hear you are getting back on track after all that stress and also, from a purely selfish point of view to hear it is possible to get back on track when your diet goes wobbly.

Thank you, yes definitely possible I'm just trying not to be too hard on myself so you should do the same. Chocolate buttons are medicinal aren't they? That's what I always thought anyway.

Do you have any more gentle exercises to do for if you're not feeling well? Ds's new school is 15 mins walk away so I was really pleasantly surprised how just walking him to school and back burned more calories than some aerobics I was doing how does that work? It helps me to keep on track if I don't get to exercise that day.

I'd love some chocolate now but am planning to drink too much wine tonight so probably best not but we'll see ......

Yes, dh bought me an exercise bike for christmas. Unfortunately I seem to have some sort of mental block about using it, despite it being my idea.

I usually get back on track by walking, but its just too flipping cold. If I wrap up against the cold I get too hot once I get going and if I don't I feel too cold to want to start walking.

I'm feeling pretty anaemic to be honest and as I ran out of floradix over a week ago, its highly likely. Think I will despatch dh to the health shop for some tomorrow morning, if he's willing to go. I've also been missing out on my omega 3s because we're awaiting a delivery and I need to prioritise them for ds1.

Thinking about it, between that and this ridiculously early period, its no wonder I'm feeling rough. Seems like I always have an excuse of some sort these days though - I just get going and then something stops me in my tracks again. Haven't managed a sustained effort at all now since 16th December.

So annoying that things have stalled at exactly the same weight it always happens at 11 stone. Perhaps its some sort of subconscious mental block?

Stalling is what I've been struggling with. I think it is a common complaint, you get so far then your body gets used to the new way of eating and exercising and it becomes old iyswim so you just maintain. Maybe having a little break is a good thing, you can gather yourself, get well (stock up on floradix and omega 3) then just go for it. I look on each period as a mini goal as I know I'll just want to eat and wallow then, and then start again.

I'd love an exercise bike be somewhere to hang my clothes, dh seems to have taken over the wardrobe!

Lol, historically all my exercise equipment has become glorified clothes horses eventually. I swore I'd never buy any more, but I want something for when my symptoms are bad and shredding is just not an option - like now really.

Mine is a Davina folding one, which is actually really sturdy and almost silent, in fact my only complaint is that its a touch short in the leg for me.

Unfortunately, despite folding it still won't fit in the living room or our bedroom, so I have to carry it into the living room from behind the kitchen door every time I want to use it and then put it back again - which is just another excuse reason not to do it when I'm already tired.

I think I need to come up with a plan over the weekend to get me back on track and then see if I can summon up some willpower to implement it come Monday. Of course the snow isn't going to help with these carb cravings is it.

My boys are out at a school PTA thing with dh tonight, so I'm going to veg on the sofa. I know I'll want to munch, but can't think of anything healthy-ish I want to munch on. I really fancy sour cream dip with crudites and some vegetable crisps - but other than the veg - there's nothing healthy about that.

Make the dip with fat free yogurt? Maybe add a bit of horseradish sauce if you've got some. Olives are pretty good, I love them. Roasted peppers and mushrooms are delicious too! Blimey, hungry now! I've got grilled Sea Bass and Chinese stir fry (made with fish sauce, soy sauce, mirin and garlic) and red wine. I've got some green olives to nibble later too. It's tough to be strong when you're menstrual though - just coming out the other side myself so know I have no excuse this week.

Now you're going to think I'm just being deliberately awkward, but we don't have horseradish sauce and I don't like olives. Thanks for the suggestions though.

Lots of people on MFP use fat free natural yoghurt mixed with some sort of instant dip powder they can get in America - not much use to me though.

Dh has just text to say he's picking up the low fat one and they have any veggie crisps, so perhaps it won't work out too bad after all if I only have raw veggies and salady stuff with it. Won't make up for the chocolate buttons though.

Forget about the chocolate buttons and move on! I don't think you're being awkward at all I know that olives are an acquired taste. There's not a lot I don't like tbh only celery and lamb (obviously!) but I'm just greedy

What about mustard? Or is that just bleugh!? Enjoy your Friday evening anyway x

I do like mustard - but not mixed with yoghurt - definitely bleugh that one!

I have reduced fat sour cream and chive, but am too tired to chop the vegetables now, so might not get to eat it anyway.

Dc's dinner dishes done, dogs fed and toiletted and am just about to take dd up to bed. Will most likely fall asleep while I'm doing it.

Have a good Friday evening and enjoy your sea bass and wine.