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

Great pic Flossy

I have a chocolate love too, I try not to have it in the house but I dread Easter as the dc's are bombarded with the stuff and I need to save their teeth.

Cycled tonight, am a bit scared of shredding still as my neck is not right from when I hurt it last week.

Motivated today though, met a friend and she said I look like I've lost loads of weight so the food/increased exercise must be working even if it's going to take a while.

Evening All,

magentastardust you have made so many positive changes to your diet, it's very inspiring! I am sure you will get to the half way point soon, and 21 pounds off is fantastic, you must be feeling great. Can you notice a difference in yourself, your clothes, your confidence?

RunningKatie that feels good when people start to notice. Too bad your neck is still bugging you, hope you are ok. Do you have one of those microwave wheat bag things? I always find mine helps with a stiff neck--was it from sleeping on it wrong? I can't remember.

Had some chocolate eggs come home today and was restrained, but I am also apprehensive about all of the chocolate headed our way.

I don't think that I have mentioned the fact that I am American (living in UK) but the amount of candy around there at Halloween is equally crazy, if not more! My sister has 3 kids and after trick or treating they have such an obscene amount of candy that she usually makes my BIL take it in to all of the guys he works with. Or, she can bring it all in and donate it or more like surrender it, to her dentist! God knows what they do with it.

Not sure my DH would let me donate chocolate , must work on my willpower!

Good luck all!

Hello
Can i join this thread? I have joined others before this but no luck losing....
I am 5'6 and weight 14.13. Ideally i need to lose 3 stone ( i weighed just under 12 stone about 6 years ago and it was the perfect size for me ) but short term looking at 2 stone. We go away early July and i would like to lose it by then. We also have a wedding mid May, a stone by then would be great too. Im firmly in size 18 clothes and would like to be a 14.
I have always been slightly overweight so its not all baby weight. And he is 2 so no excuses.
Also, we would like to start trying for another baby later in the year so lots of reasons to get fit!
I find calorie counting quite difficult - MFP limited me to 1400 a day but i cant seem to make 3 meals a day within that. I love a skinny cappucino in the morning, i really dont want to give it up! X

Absolutely welcome Lamby80!

I think several of us have summer weddings and holidays we are working towards.

Calorie counting is a pain, but for me I think it is really starting to work. I know that if I am over my goal of 1200, which I often am, then I need to step it up with the exercise.

Not to mention, I think the biggest thing I am learning from it is just how many calories I can waste on eating junk. One single bourbon cream is 70 calories, or I can have a huge, fairly filling salad for a bit over 100.

Also, I still need to re-read my Paul McKenna book, but his strategies are really helpful. Eat the same things, but stop when you are satisfied not full, always leave something on your plate, mostly just being really aware of every bite etc, etc.

Hope you find what works for you. Good luck and welcome :)

Here's another saying I liked

Welcome lamby - we are going away in late June so I am aiming to fit in my summer clothes by then. I'm using mfp which tells me to have 1570 calories a day which I find ok, and I am also exercising but not using all of those calories if that makes sense? It's really starting to work for me although like Flossy I do need to keep moving, I've had a lazy day today so got to make up for it tomorrow.

Dodgy neck is indeed from sleeping wrong Flossy, stupid injury. It's making my arm a bit numb and goes up into my head so I've really done a number on myself. I keep thinking it's wearing off and then I throw chunky ds in a sling and it's off again.

I have the Paul McKenna book & cd, might wheel that out next week whilst dh is away. I may need you all to keep me on the straight and narrow as I tend to waver in his absence.

Can I join too? Am also 5'3" and weighing in at 12,3. I was at 10st just 12 months ago! Have been emotionally eating and am now so fed up! I have got a lot going on but enough is enough! No more 'self-destruct'!
I know what my trigger foods are - crisps, bread,biscuits and chocolate. I call it the 'cbbc' diet. I need to eliminate them or at least eat them in a conscious manner!
Thank you for the inspiration!

Why is chocolate so good for a sore throat?

And why so I keep getting so many sore throats?!

Aargh!

Must try saltwater tomorrow, and no, that's not code for a Caramel!

I do notice a difference Flossy but not sure anyone else would yet. A close friend who I see regularly says she notices my waist when we are in excercise clothes and that my face has thinned down.
no one at work has noticed-i think mainly because I am still in same clothes...the whole 10lbs per dress size thing has never been acurate for me I seem to be 1.5 stone per dress size!
I wear a lot of dresses and I definitely feel and see a difference around my hips and tummy-clothes aren't as snug and fit as they should now.

Still not quite in a new pair of Jeans that I bought before xmas. I had been wearing dresses and leggings and an old pair of stretched jeans for ages bought a new pair in the size i thought i was and was shocked to realise I could hardly get them over my thighs!
I can get them on now and almost done up but its not a great look I think another half stone and they will be on!!

struggled a bit today - busy in the office so really wanted to snack when I came in -I did but it was relatively low cal and I managed to stop without doing too much damage. I also only made it too about 6k steps today as stuck to my desk.
school holidays on Monday and having a slight panic- excercise classes normally only run in term times, I won't be walking up and down on school run and Dh and I have 1 week off work with kids -which normally mean cafes, lunches out, ice creams, popcorn at Cinema so I am going to need some serious will power!
if I want to reach my target for July time going to have to stick too it as can't afford to waste two weeks.

oooh I could smell the chocolate eggs in tesco today

Lamby80 what is your username on MFP? ( if you want to share )

and yes to the wasted calories Flossy-I couldn't imagine wasting 100 kcals or up per glass on soft drinks and juices now.
Wine is okay though!

Hi ladies, may I join too? You seem to be doing really well and might be what I need to stay focused....

In 5'5 and was 10st 9 the other day. I'd like to get down to 9st and back to a size 10. Middle age spread is creeping in though and being menopausal doesn't help. I'm 41.

The 'I've just had twins' excuse is no longer usable (they're in school!'

I will download mfp and I'm also planning to start the c25k (once I've shifted this cold). Any other recommendations?

I'm vegetarian and find some diets difficult to follow.

I started c25k about 2 years ago and noticed a change in my shape after only a few weeks. An injury meant I had to give up but I'm really wanting to restart. I still have the injury, I think it's unfixable.

My biggest downfall is chocolate, biscuits and sweets. I don't really drink just an occasional shandy.

I'm about to have a go with my biggest loser DVD. I only got half way through the warm up the other day when my brother in law arrived. Boy, did I ache yesterday though! Tomorrow will be painful!!

Magentastardust, i am gingeriscute on MFP but be warned, i am rarely on it! Done well with food the last few days. No snacking at all, even when i am craving chocolate! I did have a couple of glasses of wine last night but they were the first in a week!
Feeling confident that i will lose a lb come Monday! X

Hi all
Was very restrained at the all-you-can-eat Chinese at lunch time - few veg, ltd fatty stuff, AND none of the yummy choc cake.

Made homemade chips for tea, too, which will kick in enough guilt that my only snack later will be a teeny kitkat, or an Options hot choc!

I definitely prefer to eat calories and have occasionally found myself scouring the house muttering, 'what can I eat that's under 50 calls'?! thanks to MFP discipline! Quality, not quantity, eh?

Magentastardust take skinny sweet n salty popcorn into the cinema with you - 4 packets for £1 in your local Poundland! I'm apparently heading to a pool next week, too, so will have some baked llamas to hand for after, and eat good breakfast before I go.

RunningKatie how long is your DH away for? Feel free to add me on MFP (same name) and I will happily harass you there. Hope your neck is getting better.

Hi Yummymummyagain, the cbbc diet is also what got me into this mess! Sorry to hear you've got a lot going on, but way to take charge of this, you can do it!

magentastardust I am the same with soda now, what a waste of calories, and I used to go through spurts of drinking it almost daily. I do like to save up some calories for wine though! But even that, sometimes on a weeknight when I used to think, oh a glass of wine with dinner would be nice, now it's more like once a week or every 2 weeks, because I can't really "afford" the calories.

I am starting to notice a bit of a difference in some clothes, but it's not feeling like, "hey, that looks nice" more like, "hey, that is slightly less uncomfortable and embarrassing!"

I also need to come up with some coping strategies to keep me on the straight and narrow for the school holidays, gum anyone? :)

Welcome Jerin sorry to hear about your injury, I keep threatening to start couch to 5k. I felt great when I did it in the autumn, what am I waiting for?
I am not vegetarian, but know that sometimes it can be difficult to work in enough protein, do you find that's the case for you?

Well done Dudess for skipping the chocolate cake at lunch, I shall try and channel some of your strength for my DS's Easter bonnet parade tomorrow, where there will surely be an abundance of cake, cookies and chocolate.

I need to come up with a buzz word to say to myself, when I am about to make a bad snack choice....maybe muffin top? There was the idea of counting down from current weight to goal weight, that could work too, if I remember in time.

Good Luck everyone!

'aven't made the best food choices this week - found 3lbs this morning.

one rubbish week does not a ruination of healthy living make

Bummer Dudess, but way to stick with the positivity, you can do it!

Oh dudess, thats a shame, hopefully next week will banish those pesky pounds.

I am being stalked by 2lbs, some days they are here and some days they aren't. I think it's indicative of my lack of exercise this week.

He's away from tomorrow flossy to next saturday. Dd is getting an awareness now and started asking me to make him come home if only it were that easy.

I will stalk you on mfp when i get near a laptop, it does motivate me knowing someone else will see "runningkatie has sat on her bottom all day and eaten cake"

Thank you, had cereal for lunch, as we have fish & chips for Friday tea.

Tomorrow is a spring clean sort of day, and I'm going to take photos of all the clothes I want to fit back into and see if they motivate me.

Happy weekending everyone!

Sorry for not updating yesterday. I put on .6 of a kilo. About a pound

Boooo

Hi everyone.
Not a great day today so far. Been snacking with my son all day. I was thinking i would haveaglass of wine tonight but think i will give it a miss!
Weigh in tomorrow. Still hoping for 2lb!

Hi everyone.
Not a great day today so far. Been snacking with my son all day. I was thinking i would haveaglass of wine tonight but think i will give it a miss!
Weigh in tomorrow. Still hoping for 2lb!

I am supping fruit tea. I would dearly like a slab of cake.

My neck is finally better so I am hoping whilst DM is staying to keep us company I'll be able to go for a run or a bike ride.

FIngers crossed for all those weighing in tomorrow too. I'm not anticipating anything major happening.

"runningkatie has sat on her bottom all day and eaten cake" did make me laugh, thanks for the add :)
Hope you are doing ok with your DH away. The whole concept of being away and travelling is so confusing for little ones isn't it? Whenever my DS sees coins, he thinks, great now we have money to get tickets for the airplane !--To go visit my family in the states. Sometimes, he even gets his little suitcase out :(

Hope your spring clean went well Dudess!

Funky that's annoying, try not to get discouraged.

Good luck tomorrow Lamby

I must admit, I haven't had a great weekend as far as health and "diet" focus this weekend. I have had lots of fun, but I am dreading my weigh in tomorrow morning.

Time to refocus, good luck everyone!