Who's in for healthy weight loss in 2012?

[TartyMcFalalalalalalalalarty]

I'm sat here piling on the pounds over Christmas, not quite having lost those I gained last year!

It's got to the point where it's now or never - DH and I are TTC #2, so I have to get to a healthy weight to give us the best possible chance, which is motivation in itself. I need to lose about half a stone to get into my healthy weight range, but ideally would like to lose another stone on top of that.

I've half-arsedly tried Weight Watchers and Paul McKenna over the last year, and if I gave it a decent shot, either of those would help. The main thing I'm going to do to kick start the weight loss though, is make a new year's resolution to cut right back on junk food, which is my weakness. Basically, if it's not something nutritious, or if there's a healthier alternative, I'm going to try to give it a miss!

Having cancelled my gym membership last year, I joined a running club instead and will be going out with them once a week, and once with my DM. I have a kettlebell and DVD at home, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kettlercise-Just-Women-PLUS-Kettlebell/dp/B0053YNSDY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325074972&sr=8-1 this one, and will continue to use that twice a week. I'll also be going to a PAYG spinning class once a week, and maybe the odd Kettlercise class to vary the routine on the DVD a bit.

So, anybody interested in joining me? I'm not sure whether to go for it immediately from 1st January, or to wait until the 3rd (I have parties to go to on Sunday and Monday, so might be setting myself up for failure). That said, it would be a real buzz to manage a couple of social occasions straight away - they're usually another downfall for me!

Ooh think I am being thick! I think you meant you went from 12st to 9st !

phew
you thought I'd done better than I had!
yup - size 16 to size 10
and having done that and given away ALL of my big clothes I'm darned if I'll have to buy them again

Well done Mollyfloss, that's great and in such a short time.

TalkinPeace2 my main problems are portion size and that I'm always eating (the wrong stuff) instead of sticking to mealtimes and maybe 2 small snacks. These are two things that if I manage to remedy, I should be able to keep the weight off. Hopefully this diet will also reduce my appetite a bit so I don't want to eat as much. Also I'm now doing exercise for the first time in years, that should also hopefully help not only keep the weight off but to be generally healthier.

Today I've done quite well. For breakfast I had a fat free yogurt and a banana. For lunch a chicken and veg wrap and for dinner a grilled turkey breast and some veg. Snacks 2 fat free yogurts and 2 mandarin oranges. I've also drunk loads of water and done the Shred so I'm happy.

vicky
portion size - its the modern stinker
normal dinner plates are 10 inch
designer ones are 12 inch
if you can, pick up a set of 8 inch (at wilkinson or a poundland)
and smaller glasses - the mental thing of "a glass of wine" can be utterly jigged by a tiny glass
and a full plate of food is tricked by a smaller plate

as somebody who has kept BMI under 23 for 10 years
ditch the fat free and low fat versions of foods - they are a con : the additives in them make your body crave more
diet fizzy drinks are one of the worst offenders
buy normal butter, cheese etc, but buy the more expensive ones - so you resent overusing
and the bit that ALL the diet schemes miss (as it deals with it so removes their long term revenue from failure) - UP the flavour - strong cheddar, stilton, parmesan, pepper, salad dressing
its better to eat a small portion of a really tasty thing than a bucket of blandness

Problem I have, is if I eat something really tasty, I want the lot!

LOVE the idea of the Duran Duran diet! Sounds more fun than most.

Well done Vicky, brilliant start. In answer to your question I'm in very very sunny central Queensland. Which also means I'm 10 hours ahead of the UK so when I say I have just done the shred at say, 3am, please don't think I'm totally weird.

Agree with you talkinpeace about strong flavours and no low fat. I'd rather have real food any day of the week, and this was indeed always my approach, but greed has got the better of me so need to buck my ideas up.

drywhite: how long are you planning to do he attack phase for? It is weird eating only protein, especially as I love carbs but it sort of gave my body a break even if it was for only 2 days. I'm enjoying the added veg now.

Talkinpeace: Wine & cheese are my guilty pleasures too :)
there are 4 stages in the Dukan diet, the 1st is the strictest but by the 4th stage you are basically eating normally with some rules. It seems like a good diet for people who have a lot of weight to lose but I don't have too much (just last bit of baby that wouldn't budge). I think anyone who sticks to it could lose a lot of weight though and I don't think it is unhealthy. I thought I'd try it for a while to sort of retrain my eating habits. I need to have strict rules for even a week or two because without a plan I'll just keep snacking etc. Once I lose a bit of weight, I'm motivated and even though I won't be following the exact diet I'll be motivated enough not to eat tons of crap and put the weight back on.

molly was going to do attack for up to 5days if I can. Need to loose a stone.

Well, first weigh in. I weigh 80.1kg. Which is what I weighed before Christmas, but it's not too bad for not even the first week (I didn't really start until Wednesday, but wanted to get my weighing on a Monday because otherwise I cheat too much at the weekend). It's a loss of 1.4 kg, but my weight does fluctuate a bit even first thing in the morning with breastfeeding, so I think it's realistically maybe more like a kilo.

Next week's goal is to get as close as I can to 79kg. That would be about 2.5 pounds if I managed it. But since I've quite a bit to lose and it's only week two, it might be doable. This week is mission exercise!

Lost 0.6lb over the weekend (my stupid scales break down lbs into 0.2 increments ) so I'm quite chuffed as we had lamb shanks on Saturday night. They were lovely and it's a recipe without much added fat at all. I also made sure that I had a tiny amount of mash - just enough to soak up the gravy at the end.

I haven't managed to do any exercise yet - I'm still shaking off a chest infection (viral so no short cut of antibiotics). Once I do, I'm going to go for a shuffle run. And do my pilates dvd.

Am feeling quite positive actually! Made butternut soup last night for a couple of lunches this week so I've got something yummy and healthy to look forward to. I think that's the key - organisation.

Looking forward to a bigger loss at my weekly weigh in!

its better to eat a small portion of a really tasty thing than a bucket of blandness

Just read this from TalkinPeace. Very true. Shame I often end up eating a bucket of a really tasty thing!

Seriously though - I agree. You can still make a half decent cheese sauce with a small amount of an ultra strong cheddar. And it's cheaper too as you use much much less.

Well done Vicky, Molly, NYR and buttonmoon. And me, because I've lost 2.5lbs.

Sorry for keeping a low profile - I've been under the weather, not exercising and comfort eating, so I was dreading stepping on the scales. However it doesn't seem to have mattered. I'm listening to / reading Paul McKenna again, so I'm going to try a more natural approach as well as staying away from the scales. It's a lot like TalkinPeace suggests - no unrealistic or unsustainable plans, no low fat and no diet food. We'll see ...

Well done!

I have been having a think about my diet. I think where I am going wrong is that my instinct is to eat the way I did when I was at my slimmest - which was as a student more than 10 years ago. I ate loads of pasta and other carbs, plus veg. Very little meat. Some chocolate, but not masses and very few cakes, etc. Thing is, I was 20 and I was walking fast for at least an hour each weekday, often closer to two hours (long way to lectures and spread out campus. No useful buses so always walked). It was probably my age and the exercise that kept the weight down - not the mountain of carbs!! I am making an effort to balance out the protein and fat and not rely too heavily on carbs to keep me going. Mind you, DD2 slept really badly last night. That's a real risk for me diet-wise as I tend to reach for the sugar to compensate. I will report back later in the week.

Well done Tarty, great start!

Oh me too! Baaad night with ds2. Am struggling to stay away from the biscuits I made last night for the children.

Lack of sleep is a killer both energy and willpower-wise.

Drywhite: 1 stone is about 14lbs so Dukan recommnds 3 days of attack but if you can do 5, all the better. I really wanted the veg too though so was happy to do only 2 days attack. I'm thinking of just doing the cruise phase without alternating with pure proteins. I now he recommends alternating but surely I will still lose weight or will I mess it up... What do you think?

Newyears: I find if I'm really tired my diet goes to pot. Your diet sounds a lot like mine when I was 20 and I think eating more lean protein, veg, fruit, 0% dairy etc and cutting back on the carbs will definitely help.

Yep, bad night for me too! I have just very slowly and thoughtfully (!) eaten half a Pret baguette and stopped when I was just full. I have a load of fruit and the rest of the baguette to nibble on when I get hungry again, so no need for biscuits here today! If I have some energy later I'll go for a run.

Advice from a medic friend at the gym
do NOT weigh yourself every day.
Set a weekly target and weigh yourself at exactly the same time once a week
(mine is 10.15am on a Tuesday on the scales at the gym)
apart from that lock the scales away and learn to let your waistband tell you how you are doing.
Internalising the cues is better than looking down at the numbers.

STRONG garlic sausage makes a small sandwich take longer to eat I found today

Hmmm, well, the weekend was as I expected. Drank quite a bit, and then we made things 10x worse by deciding to just get pizza back at the hotel.

Still, have been good so far today, and plan to go to the gym tomorrow with my friends, so back on the plan again :)

mollyi am sure you would still loose weight but to be honest I have not read that chapter yet!
I am on day 2 of pure protein and an amazed at how much I have eaten and how filling it is.
Day 1 I had some nat yog, a galette with smoked salmon pâté, prawns and chives on it. 2chicken breasts and a vanilla activia (half glass of red....oops!)

Today (day 2) I had a galette with c cheese,a chicken breast,some smoked salmon pâté with prawns and a vanilla yog.tonight I am having sirloin steak and a yog for dinner! Can it really work?

Trying not to weigh myself till Fri.

molly have swatted up on next chapter and I think you will still loose weight but more slowly.from what I can understand the reason why pprotein days are so effective is just water loss and veg has a lot of water which is why he alternates pure protein days and veg +protein days.
Lecture over !
Sorry everyone else

Couldn't wait until tomorrow, weighed myself. I have lost 4lbs! Woooo!!! :)

Yay, well done buttonmoon78 and TartyMcFarty.

I also agree with TalkinPeace that's it's better to eat a little of something tasty than a lot of something bland. During this diet spices are definitley my friend.

Wow putyourhatonsweetie Queensland, I didn't know. It must be lovely out there.

I have a question, are you all telling everyone that you're on a diet? I don't really like to but it's difficult to hide in certain situations.

Today my legs are KILLING me after doing the Shred yesterday, it's so sore to sit down and stand up and walking up and down stairs is a real effort!

Also a big well done to SparkySparrow.

Thanks Vicky :)
I don't tell anyone I'm on a 'diet'. I hate that word for some reason. If anyone ask's I just say I'm trying to eat healthier. I only told dh the day before yesterday that I was following WW. To start with I just told him I was going to stop eating chocolate/junk. I find that if I just keep it to myself then I start off better.

First week nearly done :) I have started slowly as so many times I have thrown myself into something faddy and failed in the first 3 days. So I have been eating healthily, upping my veg and only eating wholegrains, getting more exercise. I think I will have lost 2lbs this week which is fine but I think I need to start either counting calories or cutting carbs and I can't decide what is better. I do think I would struggle with the low carbs tbh but it seems the best way to lose

Will update with my new weight tomorrow :)