52 weeks to lose 52 pound. Anyone in?

[TotallyAddictedToLurking]

I am 4 stone over weight and it's making me very unhappy. I've been saying I'll lose weight for the last two years! Instead I've just gotten fatter.

I know most people don't keep up their new years resolutions but I am hoping having a thread on here will help.

If anyone is interested please feel free to join me. I will be using weight watchers but I would love anyone to join.

I intend to start on Jan 1st. I've bought
a nice diary to write my food in.

I'd love it if people could share meal plans and recipie ideas.

Maybe not biscuits but other lovely, healthy foods

finding the evenings so difficult can manage the day at work quite easily but as soon as i get home seem to eat everything in sight and always hungry. i know its all in my head. on a positive have been drinking lots and lots of water. anyone have any protein tips for veggies cant seem to get anywhere close to the target.

Can I provide a different perspective to the consensus on eating back exercise calories and say that I DO try and measure and consume my full total daily energy expenditure (previously, following daily calorie restriction, with a consistent 500 cal deficit; now, on 5:2, without a deficit on normal days)?

I calculate my TDEE/maintenance calories using the sedentary setting (which is certainly my natural state!). I then use Fitbit, which measures how much I've moved around during the day and syncs with MFP to add on any calories burned from that activity. I measure workouts using a heart rate monitor, although Fitbit is pretty accurate for step-based exercise like running or classes and I often don't need to override it. I then eat up to my actual TDEE, if I'm hungry for it. I weigh everything, so my calorie counting is pretty accurate. I see this as fuelling my workouts and providing sufficient energy for busy days - I don't want too much of an additional deficit or I would have set one up. Especially now I'm trying 5:2, as the beauty seems to me that you are not 'dieting' seven days a week and shouldn't have to feel deprived on normal days. This is why I'm hoping it will be more sustainable long-term than full-time calorie restriction.

I also find it really motivating when deciding, e.g., whether to walk or take the bus, or whether to go to the class you really don't feel like doing, that I know the calories burned will be logged and that I can eat to fuel the burn if I need to. But I'm a geek and like my metrics, apps, and devices and find tracking it all really satisfying (when I stick to it!). Just my tuppenceworth!

Betty, that's interesting. You've lost a lot of weight so it clearly works fr you. I just find Edomondo very generous with the calories it says I burn and feel pretty sure if I regularly ate them all I wouldn't lose.

But I definitely try and earn some extra cals on days I know I will be eating or drinking more and agree it helps with motivation. I've got a fuelband which isn't linked to MFP but helps keep me on track to do a certain amount of walking every day.

And I also find all the tracking and measuring works well for me. I lost about 30 pounds last year, most of it before I started using MFP. But I think it really helps to make you aware of where those calories lurk. Just had some Shreddies and decided to weigh them properly and 40g seemed very litte. I probably usually have almost twice that which is 300 cals before any milk. Quite a chunk out of the day's allowance.

Saturday night is usually takeaway night but I'll be making my own curry tonight. Got about 700 cals left from today so I will enjoy this!!

afternoon all
Previously I lost 4 1/2 stone doing weight watchers, and I generally did eat back my exercise calories.
(glossing over the fact that I then stopped exercising and put 4 stone back on LOL)
anyway... have had a couple of fairly good days. finding tracking on MFP very helpful.
Have just been for a 3 mile run, so feeling virtuous...will probably not eat all the calories back but may go over a smidge...
Hope everyone's going strong

Well done everyone. I've planned and added to MFP all dinners up to and including next Saturday and done a click and collect shopping order for what I need to do them.

I'm not weighing until Monday, I really hope I've lost at least something. I think I would be ok with 1/2lb as I only started on New Year's Day and will be over the moon with a full lb.

I will start c25k (I've done it before and did race for life in 30 mins last year) soon but want to get my eating habits sorted first and will just try and walk as much as I can in the interim.

Back on track after a day offline, looks like everyone is still hanging in there.

I'm about 10 days in now and my hunger is starting to receed, has anyone else found this? I've only had a light lunch today, no breakfast and I'm not really hungry at all. A touch peckish, but not the outrageous gnawing hunger I had last week. Anyone else finding this? It's giving me hope that this might be not as hard as I thought, I haven't been able to fast for a day yet but am hoping to this week sometime.

Had a lovely tea tonight stirfry minus the noodles. Then chocolate mini roll and yoghurt. Starting to feel full quicker and feeling better about not eating as much. quite like my grumbly tummy

Hug - that is amazingly organised, i am impressed.
I have been reading this thread for support and inspiration but I won't start my diet until Tuesday - I was going to start on Monday but I don't think I can cope with dieting on my first day back at work. Getting a bit worried about exercise as I am stupidly unfit - can barely go upstairs without huffing and puffing

I weighed this morning (exactly a week after last time) and found I had gained nearly 2lbs....
Must be because I had a few healthy days and a few days polishing off the Christmas chocolate, Baileys, wine etc...

Back to work on Monday so will really make a start then.

I must cut back my caffeine intake, that is my biggest aim for the next month. Cut back (or out?) the coffee and increase water...
But I don't like the taste of water and love love love coffee so this could be interesting...

I'm finding that I'm feeling full quicker and also I don't have as much of an urge to snack.

On most days I'm staying under my calorie allowance but I don't feel like my meals are that healthy. Dh won't eat salads or cold food in general really so I might have to make some seperate meals.

I'm in. I lost 2 stone last year by using MFP and calorie counting and doing as many gym classes as I could.

Seem to have lost my way from November and just can't get my motivation back. I'm desperate to get my bmi down before I start ttc no 2 and just feel if I can't do it for that and to be healthy for my first one when else am I going to do it. I will be 38 this year so have to do it now.

I'm going to do low carb/Harcombe and just concentrate on eating well and spinning, running and pilates.

Dreading my weigh in on Monday at the gym as think it will make me despair but need to get back on it. I feel so much better when I eat properly and exercise - I feel like a bloated waddler at the moment and hate feeling uncomfortable in my clothes. I won't be weighing every week as tend to weigh monthly.

Looking forward to inspiration from you guys and support!

Welcome, you're in the right place! Doesn't take long to start feeling a bit better - good luck with it.

I'm having to make separate meals, even though dh is trying to do 5:2 as well. He's a fussy bustard.

So that's 3 meals for every evening meal as the kids need to eat too.

But... Actually I don't mind, it gives me more freedom to just eat what I feel like. So I can just have soup or salad in my own time rather than trying to be imaginative.

I've done recipes from the change for life app which are great and the hairy dieters cookbook is about £5 for kindle at the moment. Some nice ideas but track the calories through the mfp recipe builder as they aren't accurate.

I mention the seas they are hood for the whole family (and I have to feed a fussy Dh and ds1 has ASD and can freak out about food).

Ah, I was trying to find the Hairy Dieters one in Waterstones today as I had a booktoken for Christmas, but they didn't have it in stock, which was annoying!

My MFP user name is mysk_girl if anyone wants to add me who I'm not friends with already, I keep forgetting to check back up the thread to see who has added their user ID.

I'm lucky that DH wants to lose weight as well, I couldn't be doing with cooking 3 meals a night! Fair play to you though, it takes dedication...

After a really rubbish dinner thanks to a cooking error DH and I are still v hungry so the inevitable snack fest (for him) and baileys (for me) has occurred.

All logged though.

I also think Hairy dieters' cookbook is great!

Just ate a Lindt chocolate bunny.

That's me 500 cals over for today

I looked at the Hairy Dieters book and thought it looked really good. The meals look a lot more appetising than some you find in healthy cook books! I've downloaded it on my kindle. Do they underestimate the calories for the meals though?

DH and I are an odd couple, as I am 17 stone and he is 9 stone, but both the same height. So he really doesn't want to lose any weight!

They underestimated some and overestimated others. It could be that mfp is out but I'd rather go by that. I'll do reviews of the recipes I try here

With MFP it adds on the calories from exercise, but presumably it's better not to eat them? I got out of couch potato mode today and did two hours of exercise but I wasn't going to eat nearly 4k of calories in a day - though I did pig a whole pizza :( Still had calories to spare thank goodness as I was going to eat half the pizza but.....well, you know!

Last day before weigh in tomorrow! Not many plans today, getting ready to go back to work and school tomorrow, booooo! Had a lovely Christmas break and for the first time ever I will be going back lighter than I left, by 4lbs minimum! It may be 5lbs if I lose another one tomorrow, and losing close to half a stone over Christmas is so amazing and it's thanks to you lot for keeping me going. Another 3 stone to go, but if this last 10 days is anything to go by, it'll be fun :-) I know the weight loss will slow down, hopefully to around 1lb per week, but if I succeed then this time next year I will have be the slimmest I've ever been in my adult life, and a much better role model for my kids. And DH, if he succeeds, will still be overweight, but much closer to the healthy zone.

I had scrambled eggs for breakfast - just 2 eggs in a non stick pan, no milk or fat and I'm stuffed. Interested feeling on such a small amount of food, I'm hoping my body is learning to listen to the hunger cues more accurately.

OK, going to go and have a busy day. Need to move a desk, go to church, iron school uniform, attempt to locate PE kit / lunchboxes / homework books.

Joy. Have a good day everyone!

Im actually looking forward to getting on the scales in the morning!

Im starting my Zumba class back up Monday and I usually have my tea after it but with eating less I think I might need something snackish before I start - anyone know what would be best to give enough energy for the class without being calorific?