I am going to lose this 2 stone, for good!!

[FlossyMcgrew]

I will be taking "after" pictures on July 1st.

I took before pictures yesterday and they are awful. I have at least 2 stone to lose. I have joined other threads here before, with some success. Then quit after getting halfway to my goal and gaining everything back in half the time it took me to lose it.

I am 5 foot 6, have been wavering around the 12 stone mark since having my 2 dc within 13 months. Youngest is now 2.

In my "before" pictures (which I won't post until I get to post them with my afters!). It is painfully obvious that nearly all of my weight is around my middle. This is particularly worrying as my family history is full of diabetes, heart problems, cancer, strokes- you name it.

My plan is this:

MFP to track my calories

30 day shred or alternate 30 min workout 5 times a week

More conscious eating. Re-reading Paul McKenna, "I Can Make You Thin."

Easy on the carbs. My current 2 slices of toast breakfast, 2 slice of bread sandwich and crisps lunch, and insert random carb heavy dinner here, is doing me and my middle no favours.

Drink more water. At least 4 pint glasses per day.

Chew gum instead of mindless snacking.

No baking. I can think up any excuse to bake, and then of course I have to test my product--no more!

And that is basically it.....

I am hoping that I can make all of these things my new way of life, rather than a diet.

I am tired of hating myself in every picture.

I am tired of refusing to buy new clothes in this size, and looking like a slob as all of my clothes are old and don't fit properly.

I want to be healthy and I want to be here for my kids for as long as possible.

I want to be a good example for my kids.

I would like to feel attractive again.

I am going to check in here at least once a week. Monday morning weigh in to keep me honest over the weekends. Please feel free to join me, or cheer me on.

I don't want to be a diet bore in real life so I am going to use this thread for my rambling instead.

So here goes......

Week 1
12 Stone 7

Well I am in Scotland so same old routine here -not a sniff of a BBQ or a glass of Pimm's ;) Which is just as well really as with 6 weeks to go it is time to focus like a fit person!
I stayed the same last week so hope to drop a pound-two this week. Would love to lose another half stone before my holiday so need to get stuck in and no more slip ups.

Had 2 or 3 people notice my weight loss in the last week (only took over 2 stone before anyone noticed but nevermind!) so that feels great.

Enjoy your anniversary meal Howi...

Happy anniversary howi - hope you have a lovely meal!

I am back at 12.5 so gained back the lb I lost midweek, frustrating but I'm not properly exercising at the moment so I am scuppering my chances.

5 weeks to ours hols so I need to keep focussed, I saw lots of nice summer dresses whilst we were out today at a food festival. I'm sure I have loads hanging in the wardrobe, I just need to see if I can fit into any of them.

Morning ladies! Another week stuck at 11 stone 7. Pleased I haven't gained, but really need to do something to get the weight loss ball rolling again.

I saw this 30 day ab challenge on Facebook. So going to give that a go. Hopefully you can read it in the picture if anyone wants to join me, starting June 1st.
My leg is still a mess so haven't been able to shred very effectively. Thinking I need to head in to the gp to have it checked out again.

Excellent self control avoiding the cake Amelia!

Well done on the loss howi, And hope you had a great night out :)

magenta I like that, "focus like a fit person" Going to repeat it to myself like a mantra :)

I love a food festival RunningKatie and a good market, food in general I suppose--Must focus like a fit person....

Hoping for some sunny, salad eating weather soon.

Hope everyone is well, good luck this week!

Happy anniversary howi.

Weighed in this morning
Weight lost this week: 2 1/2lbs
Total weight lost: 1st 4 1/2lbs

I having a very rare night out next weekend so have a week and a half to lost a little bit more.

Flossy I have signed up for that, though I have no idea how to do 5 planks?!

Thanks both, I actually planned to eat loads but struggled to finish my main - perhaps my stomach has shrunk a bit ...
Remind me who the cyclist is on here, is it you runningkatie? I've just got a bike and went out for my first ride with DH this morning. Was harder than I expected!! Really enjoyed it though, thinking cycling might be my new 'thing'. I'm also using a weighted hula hoop for ten mins a day to try and tone up the dreaded muffin top.
Hope everyone's well

I love my hulahoop howi and I am a wannabe cyclist, my dh is far better at it than I am. I really enjoy it too, but I'm not good at downhill, which is unfortunate given we live in a very hilly area and I don't like traffic.

Do you know how to plank at all Amelia? it's very good for abdominals, you can start off cheat and do a half plank as you build your strength up.

V hilly here too runningkatie, am also very nervous if the traffic but was pleasantly surprised at how quiet it was.
Off to google ab challenge- planks are great, make you feel so strong when you get good at them.

I have done the plank exercises on the 30DS but not sure what they mean by 5 planks. Isn't a plank just the position of pushups without actually doing one? How can you do 5 in a row?

I like the idea of cycling on theory but not sure I would want to go out on the road. Its also very hilly where I am which would make it very hard.

I think planking is this position, more resting on your elbows and holding your core tight, rather than the plank in shred where you are on your hands and doing other moves, but I may be wrong, and no, this is not me demonstrating!

What do you all do with your hula hoops ? Is there a workout with it or is it just plain hooping? That us so weird as just last week I started searching for a good deal on one from eBay.

Yes I googled and you hold that for 5 seconds rather than do it 5 times. It looks good, by the end you will be doing 100 sit ups!

I have a hulaerobics dvd flossy, i used to do a class.

Naturally most people hoop one way, so say, spin to the right. So try spinning the other way, or slowing right down so the hoop starts to drop a bit and then speed up to whizz it back up to your waist. You can also walk round spinning it - that's where you need a bit of room. We also span them round our arms sat on a gym ball, swapping from one arm to another.

I'm just doing plain old hula hooping for ten mins every day with it at the moment, I heard that even that can help. Can't go the other direction, tried last night! Might look into DVDs when I get a bit better. Don't know if it will make any difference but I have got some rather impressive bruises on my waist which I am weirdly proud of!!

I thought of more i've been sat on the M1 for a while.

Try moving your arms whilst you hoop, so if you normally have them raised at chest height in front then try moving them over your head. Anything that makes you work harder to keep the hoop up is good.

Or, go up on the balls of your feet, lean your torso back and put your pelvis up so you're hooping on your hip bones. That hurts! :)

Well I am convinced, think I'll order a hula hoop! If nothing else the kids will have fun with it :)

My DH is away again this weekend, so going to take the opportunity to really focus. For some reason I find it easier to eat healthily when he's not around.

Hope everyone is well

Yes I'm the same flossy, much easier to be 'good' when DH is away.
Have just ordered a hulaerobics DVD as runningkatie has made me realise I'm not actually doing a great deal with my token ten mins of hooping in the living room, time to up my game! Although my living room is pretty tiny so this could be tricky...

Hi Flossy it's day one for me. I've just weighed in today at 10st.2lb!
That stone has crept on in the past couple of years but I am hoping to get rid of it in about 8 weeks if possible as many of my clothes (size10) don't fit me as well as they should. I could not fasten any of my shorts at all yesterday. :(
We are going on holiday in 8 weeks time and I cannot afford to buy new clothes so I am just going to have to fit my lovely old ones. I expect I will save money as I intend to cut out beer and wine and reduce consumption of rich foods.
Does a before picture help you with your motivation? I wonder if I should do a before picture but I would be too scared to see it!

I haven't intentionally taken a before photo of me but I've just found some close ups of my backside that dd has taken.

It is so much easier to be good when DH is away, he's a terrible snacker and yet weighs 2.5 stone less than me as he's cycling all the time.

Weigh in tomorrow, I think I've gained again, because I've got an on again, off again period. I cannot wait for this implant to be removed i hope dh is firing blanks

Day 2. I did my 'before' pics on my iPhone last night.
I've stopped drinking alcohol but I ate more or less what I normally would on Sunday but with more fruit than usual.

Today I have eaten what I normally eat but just halved the amount:
1 weetabix and milk no sugar and a white coffee this morning
1 crumpet with butter and marmalade mid morning with water to drink

At 12 I did 45 mins spinning then half an hour sauna at the gym

Then for lunch I had Half a baguette with Wiltshire ham and Gouda blasted in the oven for a few minutes with rocket, cherry tomato, red onion, cucumber and a bit of salad cream washed down with a cup of water

I have shopped at Lidl this morning and got loads of fruit and veg, I'll make a casserole tonight

I forgot to weigh in this morning, was late up going for my bike ride so fell into my clothes and out of the door.

The good (or bad) news is that i am going on a spa evening on saturday. I don't have a nice costume that fits and my wobbly bits are way more wobbly than i want them to be. Miracles are unlikely to occur between now & then

Lovely evening though so might get out for a walk later

I am trying a 'bodyattack' class on Wednesday? Anyone been? I am not really a fit person at all but in the last 6 months have been doing Zumba classes and Insanity classes once a week on top of lots of walking -surely it can't be as hard as Insanity?

Another week with no change for me. Time for me to get my butt in gear!

I also have my period RunningKatie, so trying not to get too disheartened about my no change. I have been encouraged to get the coil but really don't want to because hormones mess with me, and I am worried about weight gain. Also hoping DH is firing blanks! On the rare occasion, we use condoms, very retro and not ideal!

Magenta I have never done a fitness class in public! I toyed with the idea of a spinning class. But have never made it. Dh's schedule is too erratic for me to sign up for anything regularly. Plus finances are a bit tight--I'm great with excuses.
You should go for it and report back! You've done so well with all of the other classes.

Welcome Mozzereena, sounds like you are off to a very disciplined start :). I think taking before pictures really helped me at the time give me a much needed kick start. But I am starting to realise that striving to get to "After" pictures could be part of my mindset problem. The whole idea of "after" implies being finished. What I am really starting to see is that when I lose focus it doesn't take long at all to undo hard work and spiral out of control.

When I first started this thread, July 1st was my goal for after pictures. It was plenty if time to attain my goals IF I hadn't lost focus, and if I'm honest with myself, really haven't been putting the effort in for the last month. I could have done it. Instead, here I am again. A little over a month away from one of my original motivators, a wedding we are attending. 40 days or so in which I would like to lose at least a stone :( tempted to do some sort of binge diet to no doubt end up going too far the other direction after the wedding and undoing all the work.

I am not going to do that. I am going to keep plodding away. Slowly but surely, trying to change too many years worth of bad habits and unhealthiness.

I have started the 30 day ab challenge. Will continue with the shred. I am going to get serous about the diet side and seriously cut back on carbs, I know they are my downfall, yet I continue to have at least 2 slices of bread nearly every day. Time to snap out of it!

I am not sure I will be exactly happy with after pictures taken on July 1st. I need to realize that they will be during pictures. Because in order to lose weight and keep it off, I don't think I'll ever be able to consider myself finished.

Sorry for the ramble, hope everyone's doing well.

Flossy -you stayed the same -I know it is disheartening but you also didn't give up and put on a few pounds. No damage has been done-keep going. You will lose something next week as you will be retaining fluid this week.

I also go a bit of track as it gets closer to my goals ( bizarre isn't it!!!). My goal on 4th Jan was to lose 3 stone or just over 40lbs by first week in July -I don't think I will quite get there now -but hopefully will make it to 2 1/2 stones-2 3/4 stones loss.
What I have to remind myself is that if I hadn't done anything about it or had given up and thrown in the towel -I would still be going on my holiday but would have been grumpy and sitting there in clothes that felt tight and horrible and been really down about myself.
I also have now decided that I need to keep going-holiday isn't my ultimate goal -I need to enjoy it then get back on track when I come back and continue with losing weight and doing exercise until I reach a healthy weight.

Here a couple of motivationals that you are normally so great at posting Flossy! I find your posts on this thread really ispiring!

Anyone got any favourite/successful arm workouts? My weight is coming off I can see a change in clothes size -I started taking measurements a couple of months in and now take them every month-I can see results in my waist, hips, thighs but my arms aren't really getting any smaller! (They aren't very attractive arms -I like to have them covered up where possible!)

They have to shrink sometime right? I can't just have really humungous arms can I ?

I am at bookclub so will try and post later but without you lot i wouldn't have got this far.

You're all amazing and i am in awe of how you are all doing.

I am back at stupid 12.5 and sat in a room full of women who has just been weighed at slimming world. I know we can do this.

/unmumsnetty hugs/