Oh, that's why I look fat...

[anothercrackatit]

Apparently I am fat! 13 stone, who'd've thunk it? Spurred on by the dreaded holiday photos I'm biting the bullet, would anyone like to join me? My BMI is 28.5. I'm hoping to lose 3 stone but 11st 6 would squeak me into a healthy BMI.

I've got My Fitness Pal and a Fitbit. I'm also embarking upon Couch to 5k. I've gained weight steadily in my 30s, I'm now 37 and clearly push has come to shove! I'm not averse to any faddy quick-fixes if anyone has any to share (!) but I'm currently basing my efforts on a review of the Hairy Dieters program on YouTube! Their lasagne is absolutely delicious by the way and there is no way you'd guess it was 350 calories a portion.

I hate Facebook! A friend has just put a photo of me on there in which I look hideously fat. It was taken on Wednesday when I was feeling slimmer and really cheery and yet there is my great, gurning, moon-face above mounds of flab. Not feeling good :(

Another, ask her to take it down, or you could use it as your inspiration pic? Either way, you are doing something about the way you feel about yourself and that's what's important. Keep strong x x

I've not accepted it for my timeline, I don't know if that does anything? Indeed, thinspiration! It's fine, I know I'm overweight and I take a terrible picture, it was just a shock to have it pop up.

So, weight loss-wise, I'm down to 12 1/2 stone (I know, watch out anorexia!) and loving the Hairy Dieters' recipes. We've done lasagna, pizzas, carrot cake, ratatouille, crispy chicken, paprika chips, chicken cordon bleu and doner kebabs. They've all been very tasty and easy to prepare. I'm finding the Fitbit very motivating, especially with it's horrifically cruel way if wiping calories from your allowance if you're still for too long. I'd budgeted them for wine! It's lovely seeing you all on MFP, a "like" or a well done always makes me smile

Another, which hairy bikers recipe book do you use? Has it got a yellow cover?

I've got the first two books, they've got a third coming out soon. The second book, "Eat for Life" or similar has a yellow cover, the second one is white with green writing. I'm finding them really good as I love food and I love cooking and I always find dieting a bit depressing. Everyone's enjoying the recipes which is very pleasing and they're filling, I've had to work out ways to slip in extra calories for the children! I'm baking cakes which I really enjoy, especially at this time of year but I'm not all that keen on eating so it's working out well so far. I gave them a tin of rice pudding that's been lurking in the cupboard for over a year the other day! Yesterday we had a big, fat pub roast and had to have zero noodles for supper while the children had the fancy steak and ale pies I bought on offer, froze and have had my eye on for quite some while . They were 600 calories each and not big at all. The hairy dieters have a recipe for minced beef and potato pies at 335 calories per pie and a rich beef and ale casserole at 337 calories per portion, I'm going to have a look at combining the two.

Dusted off the fitbit and it's still linked to mfp so that was a bonus. At least the walk to school serves a secondary purpose...Haven't lost anything this week, because I ate too much. another I think I'll have to hunt down the hairy bikers

I was sure you could adjust your calorie goal in the fitbit app but maybe they've taken that away - do you follow fitbit calorie allowance or mfp? They seem to wildly vary.

Oh and I'm Jolemon on mfp - will look you all up now!

I'm following the MFP calorie goal unless the fitbit one drops dramatically. My MFP is set to not drop whereas the fitbit revises downwards when I sit on my bottom all afternoon.

Well done for digging out your fitbit Liz, are you finding it motivating? I take it you abandoned it before

Yeah, I let the battery run down in April. Amazing how you can fool yourself that you're moving more than you are so yes, motivating to have it back in action.

Haven't tracked a thing today, mind you. Still working on getting back into the habit, but even thinking about it keeps my hand away from the biscuit tin.

I did a fab class at the gym tonight called body jam. It was like high intensity hip hop dancing, great fun

I was hoping to lose a bit of weight this week after several gym trips, but have stayed the same... Think I paid the price for falling off the wagon spectacularly on Friday and getting very drunk at a work leaving do!!

I can't work out how to make my Fitbit sync with MFP - it just sends me to a link to download the Fitbit app again! I do want to start tracking again, even if it's only via pen & paper - it's a month till I have my op (laparoscopy) and I'd like to lose a few more lb's by then.

Body jam sounds amazing! I go to a Glow Fit aerobics class but sadly my gym is just a gym, so I have to pay for them both

body jam does look good, I've been wanting to try that for a while. I think they only run at peak times at my gym though and I only have offpeak membership atm. I do body pump a lot. I did 35 miles on the bike and pump today :)

I've just weighted in at 12 3.5 which is very cheering although clearly still a lot! I started week 4 of C25K yesterday and I'm pretty proud of myself for sticking with it. My ankles are feeling a bit gippy and new shoes have given me blisters so fingers crossed!

Body Pump sounds fun, I'm hugely malcoordinated so it wouldn't be for me! I used to like Body Balance but I'm just sticking to the free stuff at the moment having spent quite a lot on running shoes and kit.

Ruby have you tried updating your fitbit app? Liz, I love that you let it run down in April and haven't used it since . I've had mine since Christmas and only opened the box in September.

anothercrackatit - are you wearing the right socks? I got blisters in the early days of running cos I was wearing cotton socks that were retaining all the moisture and running. I bought some proper running socks and haven't had an issue since.

Well done on the weight loss!

I'm not exactly the most co-ordinated neither. One guy nearly put me off body pump for life cos he laughed at me most of the way through one of my early classes! I got there tho, found a teacher that let me get to grips with it in my own time :)

I clocked up nearly 15000 steps yesterday! Easy once you leave the car where it is... Not sure how I'll do today, as I'm at the desk for most of it.

Ruby - I can't remember how I synced the two up since it was so long ago, but I'm sure I did it from the mfp help pages. Making sure apps are up to date is def good advice though.

Nice weight loss acai!

Next item in the arsenal is the slow cooker. Half my problem is getting to tea time and shoving any old crap in my mouth because I'm tired/can't be arsed. I've got meatballs in tomato sauce in there for later for us all.

I should start running again soon. I use the treadmill in the gym for the extra bounce (crappy knees). I've started doing weights at home using a book called new rules of lifting for women. The routines are fairly short to begin with and mostly can be done at home, not in the scary weights corner of my local gym. More muscle burns more calories right?

Did 2nd body jam today, still love it I am the fat one in the group though, wobbling about lol!

Chops thanks for the tip re socks, it was in fact a pair of ordinary shoes that did the damage. I've got Karrimor shoes and their matching socks and they are fantastic for stopping friction.

Liz well done on the 15,000 steps, that's quite some achievement. I think you're right about the muscle, doesn't 1lb of fat burn 1 calorie a day and 1lb of muscle burn 2? Or have I misremembered? It's all good regardless!

I'm shattered now, I did my 2nd week 4 of C25K this morning, followed by a half hour walk (poor old dog!) and 10 minutes on the rowing machine. I've got visitors this evening and we've planned a take away but now in panicking about the calories as I know they'll want curry. I've had 117 calories for lunch, saving them all up for this evening! I hope you've all got lovely weekend plans

Order something like a nice tikka grilled chicken, or dhal - high in protein, low in fat, if you are worried. :) I tend to avoid having rice and bread with indian food. DH is indian so we generally eat quite a bit of it, but homemade paper thin roti do tend to be lower in carbs.

We're off to an Indian/Italian fusion restaurant tomorrow actually. By the end of today however, this week I will have cycled over 100 miles and been to three body pump classes, so I think I've earned a treat!

Or a chicken shashlik (sp?) - basically grilled chicken & veg on a skewer. A kebab type thing. Some salad, a roti, and maybe some veg curry or daal.

Now I'm hungry

Went to the gym this morning while DH took DS swimming. Decided to do the cross trainer, because I had a foot injury last autumn which stopped me running, and I've got heavier since then. I figured taking off some weight/building up the muscles again might help before I subject them to more impact. Clocked up 5k, which isn't bad to start with.

admire the body jam mcdog - never had the gumption to go to a class.

also admire the mileage chops - you've earned that treat!

Goodness only knows what I ate, all sorts! No bread or rice though and no pudding so not a total disaster. I'm dashing about the place trying to get up to my 10,000 paces. DH arrives back this evening from working abroad. I'm going to investigate the "two eat in for £10" in M&S rather than the temptation of a second takeaway or meal out. You're all so active you've earned chips and curry :-)

Omg, I must have just eaten approx 2million calories at dinner!!! And a bottle of wine, need to seriously exercise tomorrow to counter all that lot :)

I ate the left over bread-wrapped Hairy Dieters' pasty for lunch and had my first really hungry afternoon. I'll definitely be avoiding bread at lunch from now on. DH is home and I've drunk too much but that's ok, I'll just make up for it in the week.

Well done mcdog on your fun Saturday night, why the hell not?!? We'll pay for it later

I think mine was quite healthy in the end - duck, tilapia, puy lentils, banana spring rolls! Lunch wasn't quite so good, but I deserved it

In the early days, when I wasn't burning so much, I found that fish and salad or veg was a good way to keep me full with minimum calories. I would pile up on things like tomatoes, mushrooms, or salad and buy frozen 'dusted' fish portions or fresh fish just to pan fry with a bit of spice. Carbs def give you a sudden peak which makes you hungrier in the long run.

Help, I've just ordered dominoes!!! Need to be on it in a big way from tomorrow!!

I'm starving now! Tried to cut back tons today after yesterday's binge but I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep this hungry. I had a barbequed burger with salad for lunch and soup for supper. I've got my period which always makes me ravenous! I'm quite envious of your Domino's mcdog! Chops what on earth is a banana spring roll? I'm not keen on cooked banana but I love spring rolls . I've got red wine and olives now, hoping to offset the cravings. I'd murder a good bar of dark chocolate right now!

Banana Spring roll - literally a banana in spring roll! It was flavoured with 5 spice. Was very nice!