Needing to lose 4st+ - support thread!

[HippyJess]

Since I want somewhere to track my progress I'm gonna do it here and have it act as a support thread for anyone else who wants to join me - because it certainly feels daunting and we can use all the help we can get!

I am 5 foot nothing and post DS (almost 6 months) I weigh (as of this morning) 95.2kg which I believe is around 14.5stone, but I avoid using st and lbs as I find it triggering. I would like to be back down to my pre-baby weight of circa 80kg by BiL's wedding in June. So...

HippyJess
SW: 95.2kg
GW1: 80kg (June)
GW2: 68kg (September)
UGW: 58kg (March 2016)

Short Term Goal: Do Davina's 15 Minute Fit every day for a week, starting today. I did it, and some of the easy versions were hard :( which is why I need to keep going.

Hope someone out there will want to join me! Hoping to post once a day to keep myself on track :) now off I go to make myself an omelette and veggies for lunch!

If you think about it 50 years ago snacks weren't even a thing. I try to avoid snacks as they're made up by the food companies and make us fat. Humans shouldn't need to eat between meals and outwith the Western world they don't.

I stood on the scales...

I've put on 5 lbs.

FIVE!

So, what's that? I'm not premenstrual and I'm visibly thinner (folk have started to comment). Even I can see that I am starting to have biceps and quads slowly emerge from the lard.

This is where it all goes wrong for me - one standing-on-the-scales that I don't like and I eat a cheesecake.

Five pounds?

Mind you, there has been a couple of family celebrations, a date night and three end of term nights out...in the last fortnight, but, how can I look thinner and yet be heavier?

Fecking body.

thanks for the headsup about the feta and olives
sounds good

siiiiiiigh - don't panic. Really don't. How long was it since you last weighed yourself? Because weight can fluctuate a lot just over a few days - how much water you've drunk, etc. How much salty food has an impact on me. Also, you sound pretty active now so because of the way our bodies work, you can be leaner and healthier but still weigh a little more. Weight is not the be-all and end-all. We all know this, but still it exercises that hold over us.

But whatever the reason - and whether it's a short or mid-term thing - cheesecake is not the way forward.

Humans shouldn't need to eat between meals

For me, that varies from day to day. For example, if I eat a 200 calories salad for lunch, then some days I'm fine with that until 6/7ish. But if on others, I have a banana or a cereal bar at 4pm, I'm not going to worry about it. I could just eat a bit more at lunch to be sure I don't want a snack in the afternoon, but the fact that I don't always want/need a snack means that I'd sometimes be consuming unnecessary calories.

It's a trial and error thing though, and different things work for different people. I'm wary of all shoulds and shouldn'ts.

i see what you're saying pippi.

Is there any way you could ditch the cereal bar? Maybe stick with just the banana or the banana and another piece of fruit.

Cereal bars are a classic invented snack, designed to make us over consume.

I don't see a need to ditch the cereal bar. I give myself a calorie allowance each day. For now that's my target. If I achieve it by eating only Haribo* for a day, then I'm okay with that.

Clearly, you have different targets, Downtown, and that's great. For you. But I'm in a different place, and I'm doing what works for me. I've lost 39lbs in 15 weeks, so I'm currently pretty happy with what I'm doing.

• don't worry. I don't even like Haribo. But my point is I don't have a problem with 100 cals less good and 900 cals good.

I get your point. The trick to weight loss is finding what works for you.

I personally have a bee in my bonnet about snacks, food companies and advertising. Don't get me started on diet/low fat food

I appreciate you've done really well pippi...that's brilliant

I won't let anyone force-feed you a Slimfast shake, I promise!

Ultimately, I think you're absolutely right, and ideally, we should* all be eating only good, whole foods. But, I'm not sure that'll ever be an entirely realistic aim for me, or that I'd even want it to be: I like chocolate too much. I think my personal line is drawn at meal replacement stuff like Slimfast, but, on the other hand, it seems to work for some people, and if I were one of them, I'm sure I'd have a different view.

• there's one of those 'shoulds' I'm wary of...

Right there with you with meal replacements. Utter, utter garbage.

At least chocolate doesn't claim to be anything else!

Pippi - you're right, and, this is exactly why I promised myself NoMoreScales!

Have been thinking about it, and, actually, I have eaten a shedload in the last fortnight. Premenstrual sugar cravings and end of term parties, and, using-up-what's-in-the-freezer, it's been a carb fest. And, a fair bit of wine.

We're going on holiday, I've packed my running stuff and will enjoy myself, but, be sensible.

Meal replacements -

Hello keepon. Welcome.

My Fitbit is the thing that has motivated me the mist. I bloody love it. There's a Fitbit thread that's quite helpful. It's a good idea not to eat the calories you "earn" from walking. I think both MFP and Fitbit overestimate how many you burn.

Hello everyone else, too. How are you all?

I'm going to try siiiiiigh's approach of not focusing on the scales and aiming for size 14, if possible. Weighing myself obsessively is not helping. Pippi is spot on about weight fluctuating. I am definitely leaner (well, not so fat!) And healthier, but those damn scales are moving so slowly. 400g loss this week. I've done poos bigger than that!

So, size 14 Next jeans by the end of July. Hopefully. Real size 14 by the end of August (given Next's wonderful vanity sizing)

Hello keepon. Welcome. It sounds like you've made a good start, and the trend will still be a downwards one when you restart tomorrow. I certainly recognise that sabotage business. I tend to do it about once a week. But I'm starting to learn that that isn't necessarily a disaster as I've so far managed to limit it and get back to what I need to be doing the next day.

siiiiiigh - have you considered logging all that you eat? I find knowing that I'm recording it can act as a bit of a brake when I might otherwise get a bit carb-festy.

I know some people swear by MFP for that, but I prefer a notebook and pen, as it allows me to indulge my stationery fetish..

That sounds like a Breakfast of Champions to me, Brains! 33lbs in 10 weeks is excellent. You've really kept up momentum.

I'm also not exactly sure what my goal weight is. For the time being, I want to get to a healthy BMI - not because I think that the BMI scale is super-reliable in these things, but it's a target. So, that's about 20lbs away at the moment. When I get there, I'll reassess.

Can someone explain to a techo-iliterate like me how a fit bit works. Thanks in advance - I have seen them about and am none the wiser, do they link to your ipad or something?