6 weeks, one stone to lose - anyone care to join me?

[dinkystinky]

Hello all - am off on holiday second week of August and have rather cunningly managed to weigh in at exactly 1 stone heavier than I'd like to be (through a combination of over eating and not exercising) so am giving myself a challenge - 6 weeks, lose a stone (or as near as damn it). Anyone care to join me?

Rules (that I'm imposing for myself are)

• 3 meals a day - if snacking between meals fruit only
• drink at least 11/2 litres of water/herbal tea a day
• one small treat a day
• try and fit in exercise at least 4 times a week
• weigh in only once a week

Good luck popsypie :)

Yes stay positive, if it were easy anyone could do it!

I'm finding it so hard not to eat between meals because I am breastfeeding. I try to have fruit most of the time but sometimes that is not enough. Any advice?

Try high protein things which will fill you up; boiled egg, slice of chicken (if you eat meat) or some tofu?

My very weak time is at about 3pm, I am at work then so there is nothing at hand although I find myself drawn to the vending machine.

I bought a new colourful lunch box for myself so that I can put my snacks in it.
That way I avoid wending machines :)

Good plan friendly. I have brought some sachets of miso soup in today in the hope that I can kid myself that its as yummy as a Mars bar.

fruit can raise your blood sugar levels up and then have them drop back down.
i agree with protein suggestion. also what about small spread of peanut butter on slices of apple? i''l have a look in my low fat recipe book what they suggest and get back later.

Thank you omeletta :) Good luck :) I just combine different veg in my soup. Today I just had a pack of asparagus, frozen peace, coriander and little spice and that was my soup. I absolutely loved it :)

omletta thank you for your "if it were easy anyone could do it" comment. That's struck a cord with me, it is so damn true! I was in a shop today and found myself continually lusting over the biscuits and chocolate. amazingly I left empty handed

However, I have now had my chocolate treat - eliminating everything is a sure cause for failure and I've logged my MFP calories for the day. Apparently I'll be 10 stone something in 5 weeks (ha, ha) but I'm gonna hold the thought as it will stop me snacking tonight.

Keep in the zone everyone.

Hi,

I don't know if you're find this helpful, but I have recently been using the site '123hellome' most people don't use it, because it's the site used for people who use diet pills but you can you it without!!! You can list your food and exercise and see what's going on with your diet...quite interesting!!! :) Always makes me feel good when the message to me is, good going!!!! :)

from my Judith wills book Top 200 low fat recipes ( great book). snacks- (max 100cals, 5 g fat_ 100g
low fat diet fromage frais, i satsuma, plum or kiwifruit

2 dark rye crispbread topped with 1 tablespoon low fat soft cheese, cherry toms or apple slices

25 g slice wholmeal bread with 1 tsp low fat spread and marmite
1 medium banana and 3 dried apricots

i'll post the 200 calories, 10g fat snacks tomorrow

oh there should be gap between the marmite and bread and the banana and apricots!

Too much food tonight... Have to work out something to loose something I've gained...

Wow, thanks blackcatsdancing! And thanks to all for the support.

that's ok safs i'm always on the lookout for good snacks. ok this from same book but bigger snacks (NB book pub 2003 so check covent garden soup calories as they have bigger range now) :

max 200 cals, 10g fat

1 large plain digestive; 1 desertspoon pumpkin seeds; 1 apple

1 sandwich made with 2 x 25g slices wholemeal bread, filled with salad and 2 slices extra lean ham; 1 orange

150g pot low fat rice pudding; 1 apple or pear

300ml any new covent garden veg soup; 2 dark ryvitas

sandwich made with 2 x 25g slices wholmeal bread, spread with low fat mayo and filled with 50g tuna in water/brine and salad

1 slice sultana malt loaf (from recipe) with 1 tsp low-fat spread

1 oblong slice apricot and apple flapjack (from recipe); 1 plum or kiwi fruit

well yesterday was a revelation. I can be very hungry and still wait for my dinner, especially if i have something suitable to snack on (in this case the last 4 olives in a jar)

yesterday had a very stressful thing to do in the afternoon so all i could eat prior to going there at 2pm was 1 slice toast as i felt physically sick. Between 2 and 5pm had a thin flapjack slice (130 cals). Got home around 5.30 feeling quite faint and thirsty. Had a lovely cuppa and a cadburys chocolate finger then said to DP would he be ok with an early dinner (yes) so stuck the oven on to do some roast chicken thighs . I had 4 black olives and a well deserved glass of wine whilst waiting and it was ok. Usually i'd have grabbed anything when i got in, then probably not wanted dinner or eaten dinner as well and ended up feeling over full.
Had roast chicken thighs, salad, piece crusty bread then fresh fruit, toasted almonds and some greek yogurt DP bought to celebrate . overall ate more than i have been doing for dinner and eneded up having 2 glasses of wine (double what i usually have) but didn't feel out of control and having eaten so little all day felt ok. Its not how i'd normally want to eat, feeling faint isn't pleasant and i didn't do any exercise as i got the bus both ways but pleased that i can wait.

sorry for long indulgent post but as snacking and chaotic eating is my main problem, kicking that habit is going to be hard so pleased i'm on the way.

Does anyone else feel it is a bit harder to diet when the weather is so rubbish? Not that I am looking for excuses or anything, but..... These rainy evenings make me want to watch telly more than run round the block in a waterproof jacket!!!

I've been doing the shred workout 2 days in a row and I can already feel it in my thighs and upper arms. I'm rubbish at doing the abs but will keep pushing myself till I get some benefit from them.
I have to say though it is an intense workout and I am so out of shape I get out of breath after the first 10 mins and want to give up, thankfully its only 20 mins so I tell myself i'm halfway through.
I've been having boiles eggs for lunch with salad and I don't feel hungry until around 7 which is brilliant.
I'm staying away from the scales till monday, but I can't wait, I think i'm doing really well and its only wednesday night.

I feel harder to diet/eat healthy when one slip can take me to square one. I thought I've put 600g but I actually put 1.5 kg after one time eating too much. Well, I had for dinner 2 lamb chops with couscous and tomato salad. The coffee with 1 teaspoon of honey. The whole day I had salads (breakfast, lunch and snack). No work out yesterday and today I just don't feel like even trying. I'm so good at giving advice, one can't give advice to myself???

popsypie definitely harder to exercise. my main exercise is walking but it was torrential rain here all day. not much choice but for me to get the bus into town and back- usually i'd walk and rack up 10,000 steps. At the moment the weather isn't playing havoc with my food but i'm in the zone mentally at the moment.
friendly just try hard not to beat yourself up if you slip up. Your 1.5k gain is probably partly water or maybe your last weigh in was 'inaccurate', weight fluctuates on a daily basis. I weigh daily where possible so i can get an idea immediately of what's going on but i don't freak if i have a slight gain or get too happy with a massive loss. I just find waiting a week doesn't work for me. If you've eaten too much or been upset and used food to help you feel better just think about how to handle things differently next time. Don't worry about overeating at one meal or eating a bar of chocolate when you shouldn't. Really there is nothing you can't eat. Its just a matter of calories overall .And get straight back on your 'diet' or new way of eating. You might enjoy the Paul MCkenna thread on here, there's good advice on there about all or nothing thinking and mindful eating.

blackcatsdancing thank you very much for your advice. I absolutely love Paul MCkenna thread but I'm not able to follow it myself because we have family meals and I eat on a regular basis when I'm absolutely not hungry. I can't tell my family that I need possibly another hour or so. As a result, the whole idea of eating when not hungry and also stopping when full and for this, eat slowly, I can't do because I end up eating sooooooooo slow that the whole family would have to wait for half-an-hour for the next course. So in my case all I can do is try to reduce my portion size and eat as healthy as possible. I did weight yesterday several times, I moved my scales around and the difference is big. I just don't get it. My weight varies on the same time between 68.6 and 67.3. Scales are digital! My tummy feels nice first thing in the morning and totally like a baloon/huge ball every time in the evening. Oh well, enough complaining. Wishing everyone good luck!!!

Good luck to all the Friday weigh ins, looking forward to hearing your great news!

No good news here. 1.5 lb on the biscuit munching has taken it's toll. I tried moving the scales but the stupid things stayed the same!

Wishing better luck to others.

My scales today showed 3 different weights for me every time I tried them all without moving them about so I have no idea what my weight is. The difference is about a kg!!!

friendly that is odd. I wonder if there is something wrong with them?

I'm down 1.5 pounds. If it was yesterday it would be down 2lbs which sounds far better but still i am 8.12 now which is where i was when i got pregnant last year- i had a MMC in Feb and in the shock and sadness afterwards put on weight when i was already heavier than I like. I suppose i've hit the first milestone then. Next will be 8.7 i guess. Anyway i've lost 5.5 pounds in 3 weeks which is good.
good luck to any other weighers.