Right!! Enough is enough!!!

[Hippychickster]

OK, I know this isn't massive in the big scheme of things but all my adult life I have weighed about 8 1/2 stone. I'm 5' 6" and have always been a size 8.

I'm 49 now and in the last year I've put on over a stone. I am now 9st 10 and I feel shit! I don't think my eating habits have changed, I think I'm just getting older. I feel really lethargic and like I can't even be bothered to go to the gym. My last swim cost me about £200 it's so long since I went before that.

I am going back to work tomorrow when I will obviously have loads more time than in the holiday as routine will be restored so I am hoping to stop eating crap snacks.

I don't want to go on a diet as I eat pretty healthily anyway. I don't have a sweet tooth which is good. My absolute achilles heel is savoury stuff like crisps and wine. I have had them every night this holiday (I'm a teacher so it's not just a week or so).

I don't want to look drawn and older, but I would like to be 9 stone again by Christmas. I think sensible eating, cutting out wine and crisps (apart from Friday nights) should do the trick.

Anyone out there who feel like me? I know there are people who will think 9.10 is not a lot but for me it feels uncomfortable.

I'm not going to weigh for at least 2 weeks. I rarely weigh anyway, I only did it because my clothes and bra feel tight. I just want to feel better and more like me again.

I may need some encouragement to stay off the wine

Morning! Ouch that sounds painful! Hopefully it will heal quickly so you can get back to a bit of cardio.

I know everyone says that it's all to do with the food you eat and I do agree it's 80:20 in terms of comparing to exercise, but I logged my run yesterday on Endomondo and it told me I'd used up over 700 calories! So I do think exercise has a massive effect. Speeding up your metabolism if nothing else.

Surely it has to be a combination of both? New week tomorrow and 5 weeks left. Half a stone sounds ambitious but maybe that's because my weight loss has been slow, but go for it I say!!!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone.

Thanks Hippy, hopefully limpville will shortly be a thing of the past. Exercise and calories burned are a bit of a problem for me it seems. I wear a fitbit and have found that I'm not nearly burning as much as mfp or the gauge on my treadmill reckons. A 30 day shred gets me about 140, a 40 minute run maybe 250, very disheartening. Granted it's more than if I sat on my very well cushioned ass but when I see a really decent hours exercise and a very active day only burning me 2000 in total when if I just had my normal active day if burn 1700, it's a bummer But yes you're right over time it will help the metabolism. They say you can't outrun or our exercise a bad diet - and that's my problem, I love the bad stuff. Anyway after my sermon this morning that I thought I hadn't been doing too bad, I decided to weight myself. Back to 12.4.8 - yep don't think I'll see 7 pound off for Xmas at this rate

Don't despair!!! A new week starts today. Even if exercise burns fewer calories than we'd like, it's still all going in the right direction, and doing exercise makes you feel better anyway.

Come on girls!! We have 5 weeks till Christmas! I'm feeling really proud that so many of us are still here. When I look at other threads, people fade away which makes me think they have given up, but there's still quite a few of us who have been here for ages, through good days and bad. I love coming on here - it's really made me keep track and when I read back I'm really proud I've done so well, especially with my running. I've got a dress on for work today that I haven't worn for over a year and it feels great. I also bought some Top Shop Joni skinny jeans (as recommended on S+B) and feel fantastic in them. I'm so pleased I didn't give up.

A new week. Let's ace this one!

Hello

I did post last week but I don't think anyone noticed me. Can I join?

Yay Millli of course! Good to see you. 5 weeks to Christmas - we need to be on it to get the most out of this last bit.

I'm still here :) well done to everyone who's still going! October was a bit of a write-off for me, but I have been working hard this last couple of weeks and have got back down to 9st 7lb. I'm working full time now so limited time for exercise but I've gone back to doing the shred every morning as it's the only way I can fit it in and I do actually enjoy it.

Anyway I would love to lose another 2-3lbs before the Christmas party season starts so will check in on here when I can!

Thankyou

Still here too, though only just managing to cling on really! Been a few really tough weeks - very, very stressful time at work involving preparing for audit (tomorrow) and a huge conference (Thurs) - some people would get a buzz out of all the rushing around but I react by craving sugar :( Also sadly last week my Grandma passed away and arrangements for the funeral (next week) are proving very difficult.
I haven't either lost or gained. I wish I had lost as I feel like I've been being careful but I think I really need to watch portion sizes and also I need to stop overcompensating at the weekend for saintly weeks ...
I'm finding it a struggle to keep things in perspective as we've recently moved house so I don't have any friends nearby and one of my younger sisters is currently going through major eating issues (anorexia) meaning that it's difficult to discuss food etc with family. That's what makes this thread so valuable for me.
I have not been doing as much exercise as I would have liked this past week (though cycle everywhere as don't drive) as I've had lots of work to do at home in the evenings. Really agree with what was said above that it's food intake that's key in losing weight though exercise is really beneficial for me personally in terms of endorphins and also toning, which does make a difference even if the lbs are not coming off as quickly as I'd like.
I have booked on a class at the gym for tonight and I will try and make sure work doesn't steal that time! I wish I could go running as so much more flexible in terms of timings, but currently waiting for second opinion from consultant as to my knee op ...

Still not doing enough exercise and eating rubbish :-(

brainwashed I think you are just not in the zone at the moment, but don't despair, if you had really given up, you would not still be posting on this thread! You just need some motivation.

millli how are you doing? I know you said you want to lose 2 stone, but would be happy with half a stone before Christmas. Any loss yet? Or are you doing what I do and hardly weighing so when you do, there's a decent loss?

running sounds like you have had a couple of really stressful weeks and I'm impressed that you haven't gained any weight. I too do the overcompensating at weekends!
I'm so sorry about your Grandma

Hi Hippy. I do mindful eating and eat whatever I want as long as Im hungry for it. I have lost 6lbs already and do not want to put it back on again. I think I weigh myself too often to be honest. I have stuck at the same weight for the last 3 weeks which is frustrating but am pushing through. Will listen to Paul McKennas weight loss cd today to get me back on track.

Hi, 6lbs is great, especially if you haven't really been dieting. That's kind of what I've been doing. What is mindful eating? I do mindful meditation but can't work out how eating fits into that. Does it mean that you have to be conscious of everything you eat? I see people at work who eat sweets and cakes without even knowing they've eaten them (seriously!) so I assume it's the opposite of that? Is Paul McKenna any good? I think I may have listened to that CD many years ago but it made no impact at all!!

Mindful eating is where you only eat when your truly hungry and then eat whatever you want. By having all the food in the kitchen that you love rather than what you think you should eat enables you to view food as just food. Not good nor bad, just food. When you start eating anything you like you eventually eat a good healthy range. Once you get over the joy at eating cakes, sweets, crisps, cheese, cream, oils, butter etc it all just becomes normal. I have been doing this for 15 years when I got fed up of dieting and feeling like I was constantly overthinking what I ate. I read a book called Overcoming Overeating which was an eyeopener. There are many books in this style now and the world slowly seems to be coming round to the fact that dieting is what causes obesity. People have lost touch with instinctive eating (eating what their body wants) and eating like a "slim" person with no body issues. For me it means that I eat whatever I want but only tend to have a few good mouthfuls of the most amazing tasting food before all my senses are satiated.
The Paul McKenna CDs work for me as a good back up along with the 4 rules of eating when hungry only, savouring each mouthful, eating whatever you are hungry for and stopping as soon as satisfied (not full).

So yes it is like mindful meditation, thinking before you eat and whilst you eat. Slim people when studied do this automatically.

Morning girls! Another week begins. I've had a mixed weekend. It was my son's 21st yesterday so we had a huge family takeaway meal which was lovely but too much food and far too much champagne/prosecco. BUT I did run 9 miles yesterday - my longest run yet and it felt great.

Millli, I think I do mindful eating most of the time. I don't eat anything I don't like and only buy my favourite foods. It does help that my kids are grown up and don't live with us so I don't have to buy family food iykwim. My Achilles heel is wine, and when I drink it I eat crisps. Since I started this though, I've cut down massively and only drink at the weekends.

Four weeks to go before school ends. We can do this!! Let's make this week a good one.

OK am trying to be more positive and get back to this. Back to logging on MFP for a start!

www.ted.com/talks/sandra_aamodt_why_dieting_doesn_t_usually_work?language=en

This was posted by Sleepwhenidie on a thread about wanting to stop the lifelong battle with weight loss. Very interesting.

She is a neuroscientist by the way.

That clip was interesting Millli. I agree with everything she said, but it's hard to break old habits. I don't think I do 'diet' but I know that I am very very body conscious and have massive body dysmorphia. My whole life since I've been about 14 (when my Dad continually told me I was fat), has been about controlling food. It's exhausting but I don't really know another way. My mood generally depends on whether I'm having a fat day or a thin day (this has nothing to do with how fat or thin I actually am).

For the last few days I have felt really fat. I don't know why. I ran 9 miles on Sunday, and over 5 last night. I still do Pilates in the morning and my food intake hasn't changed. I am afraid to weigh myself as I feel like I'll be about 15 stone! My target was to get to 9 stone for Christmas and I've done that now, so maybe it's getting used to being a bit lighter again. I don't know. Just not feeling it at the moment.

Hope everyone else is getting on well. However I feel, I'm not giving up till Christmas!

I had that growing up too Hippy. My mother wouldn't let me eat anything unless is was food she gave me at mealtimes. Never normal food like normal people had though, always low carb low calorie. She always restricted what I ate and kept my weight very low for someone of 5ft 8. I think I was seven and a half stone but she thought I looked great and it made her happy for some reason. Then if I did put weight on when away from them she and my dad would tell me I was fat and had legs like tree trunks. I had to sneak food when they were not around. Awful really.
I know what you mean about body dysmorphia. I have it. Can stand to see photos of myself as I think I look fat and ugly. Thing is that I am told I am actually very pretty. Somedays I can see it and then others I can look in the mirror and hate myself.
There are books out there to help. Help you to change your mindset.

I have had a big breakthrough recently. I have stopped weighing myself. Im still only eating when hungry and eating exactly what I want though.

OK am at the same weight as when I lost my motivation and went AWOL. Motivation still an issue tbh but will keep checking into this thread. Am off to a one stop shop clinic for running problems today so hoping get my Achilles issues sorted.

How bizarre Millli. My dad used to make me weigh myself in front of him and then tell him everything I'd eaten. I'd never never do any of that stuff to my kids. Sounds like we had similar fat (very very slightly puppy fat) phobic parents.

Good to see you brainwashed. I've had a bit of a motivation issue recently, but I'm going to really go for it next week. Hope your Achilles gets sorted.

My parents used to ask me what I weighed, my mother was horribly competitive. Last time my father asked me I told him 8 ¼ stone. That shut him up as how could he accuse me of lying? I was around 42/3 at the time. I am going to Pilates, stretch etc & doing some cardio, but very little as my leg starts to hurt again. I think it could all be foot related. My weight is stable but higher than in the spring - I am just hoping that by maintaining when I go back to exercise weight will drop off

I'm in. I started another thread Lise half a stone before Christmas but it isn't the busiest. I am 5ft
5" my weight had crept up to 9.11 I was always between 8.7 and 9.
I have been doing this for about 3 weeks. I'm now down to 9.7. Helped today by. Nasty tummy bug. I would like to be 9.5/4 for Christmas. I'm 40 and big time in the perimenopause. I will be delighted for my goal to be 9-9.2.
I have found weighing I. On here keeps me going.

Yay! Welcome fidelma. I've had a bad weekend food and wine wise, but kept up with my running so feeling good about that. I am going to be ultra strict this week, even though I have reached my target. I have my first Christmas party next weekend in London and want to look good!!

OK girls, we have 3 weeks till the end of term and 4 till Christmas. I've not been great over the weekend and as the party season is starting I know I have to be religious over food during the week.

DH and I are going skiing at Christmas and I want to look good. We are so nearly there, let's try extra hard this week.