Anybody fancy losing a stone and a half by Easter?

[MercuryRising]

I have just weighed myself and the results were hideous. I need to start taking some steps to shift some pounds - the first one being moving away from the Christmas chocolates. Does anybody fancy joining me?
It is 16 weeks until Good Friday so losing a stone and a half is very doable. I am a ww monthly pass member but haven't attended meetings regularly or followed the plan properly since the Summer
Please come and motivate me.

I do! I've managed to gain just over a stone since November.

My favourite jeans hag there mocking me cruely! The bastards!

babybarrister a lb a week is still down though! Don't despair. Sometimes it takes a few weeks before it starts to really move.

no loss here, but no gain either, which given the week I've had is definitely ok with me. we're out again on Saturday, but this time I'm going to try to really cut back a couple of days before, with the aim of restarting the weight loss

Start Weight - 12st 0
Current Weight - 11st 10
Total loss - 4lb.

babybarrister
are you logging your calories on non fast days to check that you are staying within your TDEE .....
on the main 5:2 thread (which you are more than welcome to pile into) the most common problem is that people do not realise that their "normal" portions are actually way over their TDEE so there is no calorie deficit ....

and remember
drink more water
no snacking
those two alone will set you on the right track

Gah well that was a lost week for me... still 10 st 3. (total loss 5 lbs).

talkin thanks for the support! I have been thinking some more about the problems of guilt, all or nothing, success and failure. It is such a fine line. This weekend I was all over the shop. I went away for the weekend with a sick DH and DD (probably a mistake) and just ate ridiculous things. On the one hand I needed to say 'okay well this is just a shit bit, get on with it and then back on the wagon when things are a bit easier'. On the other hand I can almost always come up with a reason why now is not the right time to be messing around with my diet etc.

One needs just the right amount of self-criticism....not enough to put you off and make you give up and not too little to allow shirking of responsibility.

I wonder if another issue with perceived success/failure is that I found it easy to keep the weight off while I was still in awe of my new figure. I kept seeing myself and remembering why I was still restricting myself. But then I got used to looking that way and even started to wonder if I still needed to lose some more weight. Suddenly I found it harder to restrict myself because I didn't feel like the restrictions had properly paid off any more. So my weight started to creep up again...

Ah, it seems like I need a goal of an event or something. Will be going down south to see DH's family. That has spurred me on again, even though stalled this week. No bugger sees me at home, so I don't really care [grin Neither does anyone especially DH notice if I've lost weight.

Oh, dear. Smiley fail..

Icebeing
Its less about being self critical than about thinking of the positive things you can do when you are fitter and leaner.
I'm nearly 50 and have had trashed knees for 30 years.
I want to be fit and able for when my kids have kids.
I therefore take the long view.
That and every pound I put on gives me an extra day a month of pain when walking. At target weight I have no pain.
Its a great motivator.

You need to think of the reasons - other than just appearance in a mirror why you want to lose the weight.
Look at family health and how active you want to be at 70.
Because those things will help you learn to stay on the path for invisible inner reasons rather than superficial clothes size reasons.

AND
you had a bad week but did not put any weight back on.
Success.

ToysRLuv
I also suspect that for you the non "appearance" aspects are what will help you to be motivated.
Think about how much you are reducing your risk of

• alzheimers / dementia
• diabetes
• stroke
• heart attack

all things that may not kill you but will make your old age crap. They are worth trying to avoid.

I want to be able to windsurf....

you need a good power to body weight ratio for windsurfing (and a happy go lucky attitude to health and safety which is a whole separate issue) and I have never had that before...but I want it....I really do!

At the WE I was demonstrating my new found press ups abilities...my sister was pretty amazed having watched me all but fail to get off the floor at xmas.

Icebeing
So, for windsurfing you need to get lean and toned and do lots of mindfulness to train yourself to see that the sun is always shining somewhere.
Losing weight will make all of those easier.
It is not an end in itself, its a means to and end.
If you see what I mean.

Talkin: I know it should be the health stuff that motivates me, instead of appearance, but I'm a bit too careless stupid for that ATM. Maybe I will care when I am older. It's terrible really, isn't it.. I don't think I'm very grown up in many ways.

A friend commented on my weight loss today. That was nice.

A friend commented on my weight loss today
excellent Non Scale Victory

if appearance motivates you to lose the weight and then later health motivates you to keep it off, job done
but long term success comes from internalising the healthy eating so that you do not miss or even fancy the splurge foods you ate before you deflated.

Right I'm back after being awol for a week or so! I have been logging my food religiously on MFP (good and bad) and have had a little success, not as much as I would like so have returned here for support and encouragement rather than throw in the towel, which is what I would normally do.

Start weight:11st 4.5lbs
weight at 17/01/14 11st 3lbs so 1.5lbs gone in about 3 weeks.
Ideally I would love to be 9st 7lbs but that seems such a long way off, so my first target I am aiming for is to be 10st something - only another 3.5lbs to go!

Hi ladies... Taken a while for me to get back to post! Weighed myself yesterday and have managed to lose 1.5 lbs since the previous week.

So, starting weight 13st 7, now 13st 3... Slowly does it!

Talkin - you're right about changing ones attitude towards healthy eating, I think that's key really. I'm sure plenty of people lose weight with specific "diets", and I'm not knocking things that help people lose weight, but I've honestly found the best way is just to eat a little less, and swap out some of the unhealthy things. Have one less weetabix in the morning, have it with skimmed milk, use a smaller plate, have soup with pulses / brown rice rather than, I dunno, pizza, have some dark chocolate rather than a dairy milk - I find this so much easier, and the weight comes off gradually because you barely notice the difference in what you're eating.

Also cutting out food that's been through a lot of factory processes is a good way to judge it's nutritional value - I know it can be hard to avoid, but you'd be hard pushed to gain weight on a more natural diet, even with things like avocados, lots of olive oil, nice cheese, unsalted nuts etc rather than biscuits, cake, processed meals & refined carbs. It's about making better choices...

Hi All,
I should have checked in on Tuesday but I was really busy and also wasn't happy with my weight loss. In fact, I'd been really careful food-wise and I'd done loads of exercise too. And I'd managed to put on 2lbs or so.
I decided not to get into a hig about it and just to stay on course. Today , I've lost the extra 2lbs and I'm just aiming to keep on doing my usual careful stuff with FDs and NFDs.
Strange things these bodies eh !

Teat,
Very similar situation and goals to my own . Good luck and look forward to catching up on you back here eh !

Ah well, my scales are not budging either, despite being pretty good. I think it might just be the time of the month, though. Nevertheless.

Bought some new tops from e-bay and had a crappy moment trying on one of them, as the arms were bursting at the seams. In the other top, the stomach area was tight. Depressing. I know clothing sizes are arbitrary and vary even within brands, but still. Maybe I'm not doing as well as I though I was - I'm not even down one measly dress size..

I am still 9st 6lb... after being ill last week, I've had a rotten cold this week so have not been exercising and have been eating comfort food!

Good job I've got til Easter to get the scales moving!!

AWWW ! I'm sorry for all of us who felt we were doing ok and are disappointed with the weight-loss results at the moment.

Good job we're not alone eh !

I've just done some exercise and am feeling better after having done it - even if it doesn't affect my weight at the moment I'm still happier after doing exercise - it's just actually doing it in the first place that's hard .

Thinking about you - fingers crossed for next weeks weight loss

Hi all! Some great progress for everyone, I don't think I pressed "post message" on Monday, but I lost another 2lbs bringing me upto 7lbs. However daily weigh ins suggest Monday at 12st10 was a fluke. I highly doubt it will be 12st10, never mind any less on Monday. I'm frustrated because I've been really good!

....and I'm CRAVING sweets. Fudge and jelly beans specifically. I have 500 calls spare after dinner (philly and spinach stuffed chicken breast wrapped in bacon, served with roasted lemon and Parmesan cauliflower- 566 cals) but 100g of pick n mix seems so pathetic for 500 cals!! Help!

Haribo sugar free gummybears? Sorry, have no actual suggestions..

I've been craving sweet stuff and carbs, as well.

Toys I'm like you in that I need visible results to feel like I am getting somewhere. I think some of my clothes are a bit looser so I hope that's a good sign.

I am still having sweet cravings but am avoiding snacks and am less hungry. Lots more healthy food being eaten though!