Need to get from 10 to 9 stone - anyone have advice or would like to join me?

[starcat71]

My natural weight has always been around 9st 3 to 9st 7, but have put on weight in the last few years due to a change in eating habits and stress. I have always loved my food and love cooking. I reached 11stone last October which shocked me into taking serious action after starting and failing so many diets. I reduced my food intake - eating smaller portions, reducing sugar and moving about more. This got me down to 10st 4 by April this year. After that I started to count the calories (1500 a day) and follow a more regimented exercise routine - cardiovascular and resistance work 3 days per week and pilates the other two days. I lost maybe 2 pounds over a month which wasn't quick enough for me so moved to an Atkins-type diet, eating mostly protein and low carb meals. This shifted a few pounds more quickly and I got to 9st 12 over the course of a month. However, lots of events came at the same time - weddings, big birthdays, trips away etc and I fell off the bandwagon. Now I'm in a position where I weigh about 10st. I eat mostly protein during the week, have not been exercising apart from a bit of walking and cycling, and drink a couple of times a week with a cheat day or two. This maintains my weight but I really want to shift the last 10 or so pounds - I'm so bored of thinking about it!! Having dieted before (5:2/juicing...you name it) I have always found myself stuck at 10st and that's when I usually lose faith. Another weight I get stuck at is 9 1/2 stone - although I wouldn't be complaining If I was stuck there now!!

So I'm really making an effort now to shift that weight - starting yesterday. The general plan is:

#Protein breakfast (scrambled tofu with spinach and avocado) OR a veg and fruit smoothy with pea or hemp protein powder

#Lunch mainly proteins with vegetables and maybe some grains

#Afternoon snack - handful of almonds

#Dinner: soup or high protein with veg

Exercise: Running 3 times /wk with some resistance training such as push ups and bench presses in the park.
Join a pilates class twice weekly.

Would love your support and advice. Friends around me who are thin do so in an unhealthy way (not that they would admit it) and skip meals etc That's not my style and it's hard to find good role models who aren't just naturally thin and have battled with their weight. I should mention my other huge obstacle is drinking - having a night out with friends once or twice a week means loads of empty calories and hungover-eating the next day. I don't want to not socialise with friends in this way but know it's stopping me from losing the weight. Any advice on this would be great.

Welcome twobambinos!

Thanks for your feedback - I think you're right. I totted up my calorie intake over the whole week (alcohol included) to take an average - came out around 1350 a day. This is 500 less than recommended per day so I should be dropping a pound but I drank on four nights rather than my usual two night limit, and haven't managed to fit in exercise. I'm hoping on Monday the scales will say 9st 11 or 9st 10! I'm going on holiday on Monday too for just over a week - with my partner's family. Any advice on how to not gain weight? I plan to exercise most mornings, and maybe eat half portions of whatever food is served to me? It's an all-inclusive place. At the same time I do want to relax and treat myself a bit. Tricky!

Hi starcat
Are you actually vegan?
Just that I'd say there is not enough protein in there to keep you sated
and definitely not enough vegetables.
You need some BIG, BIG bowls of vegetables

• 200g of stir fried veg with smoked tofu on top and soy sauce
• 600g of veg soup with pulses
• BIG salads of grated veg - the trendy red cabbage slaws are good

and what are you drinking other than the booze I cannot slag anybody off on that one as I drink too much

you need to have a BIG glass of water with every meal
and on fasting days at least two extra pints of water

star I stalled earlier this week on 5:2 but all of a sudden 2 pounds came off BEFORE my 2nd fast day. Then today after second fast day I was another punt lighter so 9st 9 today Weekends are harder but i'm determined to eat only upto my allowed calories of 1700 daily to not gain weight then fast again on Monday. I've got the 5:2 bug again. Hang in there and it will come off. Maybe give yourself the week off if on hols and start afresh when you get back. Mind you, i went on an all inclusive this year and came back same weight. I think it's because there were so many fresh sales and fish/chicken on offer. Also they didn't do snacks(the work of the devil) Holidays are for relaxing and enjoying yourself.Have fun.

Bloody autocorrect!!!! Punds not punts and salads not sales!

AGAIN!!!! pounds!!!!

Ha ha lovemyway! You are doing brilliantly and are where I wanted to be at this stage :-( I haven't lost any weight since fasting although I've only done three days (in just over a week). I'm planning on eating lots of salad and looks like there's an asian restaurant there which will help. I at least want to stay the same weight so I don't make work for myself when I get home.

Yes Talkinpeas I'm vegan. I do feel satiated on the whole as I'm incorporating protein into most meals. The salads I eat are pretty big and the soups are pure vegetable, with pulses thrown in for protein. Today I had some fried tofu with avocado and tomatoes for breakfast and a big salad for lunch with cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, olives, fried tofu and guacamole. Tonight I'm going to have cauliflower 'rice' with a chilli made from soya mince, green peppers, tomato, avocado and soya yoghurt. That's enough isn't it? How much veg do you eat on fasting days?

I drink plenty of water during the day (at least two litres) plus one coffee and one tea. I will be sure to up my intake on the fasting days too - I could definitely do more then. I might take another fasting day on Sunday. That will be three in a week. Is it too much? I won't be fasting on holiday so thought it would be good to squeeze another in.

Thanks for your help guys :-)

starcat
My lazy fasting supper is a whole 600g tub of fresh veg soup
or a shakshouka with 1 onion, 1 pepper, handful of peas and any other leftover veg plus tin of tomatoes per person
because I save all my intake for supper ands make it huge so I'm then not hungry till lunch the next day.

Pop into the big 5:2 threads if you fancy as breadandwine is vegan and he has some really great recipe ideas

Any chance I can jump in and ask how tall you all are? (only if you want to disclose obviously!)

I'm 5'5 and am around 10 stone but would like to be closer to 9, seems like only way to achieve this is to eat around 1400 cals a day, which quite frankly is boring and hard, especially when it's cold!

Also don't have time/inclination to do lots of exercise, its just easier to eat less cake!

Really fancying the shakshouka, love egos and also tomatoey based things so will give it a try.

trouble
non vegan shakshouka has eggs poached in the tomato ness : its just fab

I am 5'5" 9 stone and 50
5:2 is my thang because I love to eat well
so this evening is martini followed by wine and pizza

my normal 5:2 week is as follows :

Monday = 500 calories (100 during the day as milk in tea, 400 for supper)
Tuesday = TDEE less 10% (small lunch, big supper, tea)
Wednesday = as Tuesday
Thursday = as Monday
Friday = TDEE
Saturday = TDEE plus a bit
Sunday = TDEE

so I limit when I eat to allow me to have about 5 really scrummy meals a week

• full blown Sunday roast
• pizza
• curry
• fajitas
• pasta pig out

but the other meals are small / missing so I can really enjoy my food when I have it.

For a vegan, allowing a blow out aubergine and chickpea curry with dahl and naan bread once a week makes life worth living

Yes I agree with you guys the drinking has to go for a while. Pleased to say I weighed in at 9st 11 today so another pound shifted. I hate how slow and irregular the weight loss but just got to keep at it and not get disheartened at plateau. I had a protein breakfast and lunch today but got real cravings for sugar (I'm more of a savoury person so that's v unusual!) and ended up eating a biscuit and some sweets. Oops! Will have a mini protein meal tonight and fast tomorrow - hopefully counteracting my slip up today!

Hi - Peeps, I was of last week 10 Stone, also 5ft 2 and small boned my ideal weight is 8.9-8-12. I know at this weight I am healthy and look good. I have lots of excuses as to why I have put on a good stone but not many as to why I can't lose it! So I started this last monday and have lots 5lb so far. I had a night off last night but kept my nibbles to high protein - prawns and veg sticks with hummus. I then had two glasses of bubbly with lemon and mint cordial and an ice cube - lovely.

This diet was hard for the first two days but keeps me relatively full and I find it not too expensive and healthy because of the lack of sugar, carbs, alcohol and caffeine. I am going to continue until next Friday and then take the weekend off. Hoping to lose at least another 4-5lb over the next 6 days. Here is the diet - If you look it up on here, you will see that everyone who actually follows this DOES loose weight.

The basis of this diet is chemical. If you follow the diet to the letter for one week you should lose 14 pounds (and possibly up to 20 pounds)

Day 1 Breakfast 1 slice dry toast and grilled tomatoes
Lunch Fresh fruit (any amount)
Dinner 2 hard boiled eggs, salad, grapefruit

Day 2 Breakfast Grapefruit, 1 boiled egg
Lunch Roast chicken (any amount) & tomatoes
Dinner Grilled steak and salad

Day 3 Breakfast Grapefruit, 1 boiled egg
Lunch 2 boiled eggs and tomatoes
Dinner 2 Grilled lamb chops, celery & cucumber

Day 4 Breakfast 2 slices dry toast, 2 poached eggs
Lunch fresh fruit (any amount)
Dinner 2 hard boiled eggs, salad, grapefruit

Day 5 Breakfast 1 slice dry toast, 2 poached eggs
Lunch 2 poached eggs & tomatoes
Dinner Fresh or tinned fish and salad

Day 6 Breakfast 1 boiled egg, 1 glass grapefruit juice
Lunch Fresh fruit (any amount)
Dinner Roast chicken, cabbage, carrots

Day 7 Breakfast 2 scrambled eggs, grilled tomatoes
Lunch 2 Poached eggs& spinach
Dinner Grilled steak & salad

Good luck

starcat71 - great news you're going down with the weight! From your food diary I would say minimise the nuts, nut butter, seeds and hummous because they are high calorie - so good to eat as they fill you up but only in v small quantities. I would also say if you're going to drink have a spirit with low cal mixer or wine - beer is much higher calorie. And if you're having tea/coffee is that minimal milk (skimmed) otherwise you need to be aware of the calorie content?

In terms of holidays I just do what I want and never end up exercising much! I find that I am more tempted by higher protein/ salad / veg meals now so minimise the carbs and that definitely helps. If I put on a few pounds I find that I can shift it easily and quickly when I get home by getting back into routine - it's the weight that goes on and stays on over a longer period that is harder to shift in my experience.

How do people work out that they can eat 1400 cals per day to lose weight?? I'm 5'6" and really need to stick to 1200 cals per day to see any meaningful difference.

Sadly I'm still sitting at 9'8" as have been really busy so treating myself with lots of treats (cheese, takeaways, cake, wine) at the weekends and I need to have a consistent period of better diet to get my last 4 or 5 pounds off.....

I don't really like 5/2 but do my own version of it on a couple of days during the week if I see my weight rising. I eat a small breakfast (200 cal) then a smallish dinner (2 or 300 cal) and veg soup for lunch (100 max). I do also have at least one nice coffee though (maybe 70 cal) and possibly a small snack (100 cal).

Star, if the weight has gone on over a course of years then it's unlikely you'll be able to get it off and for it to stay off. That's because your body has got used to its new, higher, resting weight now, and doesn't want to depart from it, which is why you're finding it so hard to lose the weight.

So says the doctor in my family...

Hellofromtheout, Thank you for that. I completely agree with you - it's so hard getting past the 'average' weight you've been over recent years. It was such a battle getting under 10 stone (like it used to be a battle getting under 9 1/2 stone when I was younger) and frankly it has stopped me staying committed to diets in the last three years. This time I am totally determined though. Weighed in at 9st 10.5 pounds today. Ridiculous that I'm counting 0.5 pounds but it's the lowest I've got to in ages and as I've said the weight is dropping off so slowly. Fasted today and it was v easy - barely felt hungry and probably won't eat dinner until 7pm. Hoping to get to a new 'average' weight of 9st 7pounds - I assume it's possible to reprogramme my body that way?!

Thanks for the feedback mrsplumb. I'm afraid I'm the same - it has to be 12,000 a day or no weight loss. And that's pretty miserable after a month or two isn't it? That's why I'm incorporating 5:2 - means I can have a little extra When I need it as I know I'll have a couple of 500 calorie days.troubleatmillcock I'm 5' 5.5".

Well done on the weight loss everyone. The chemical diet sounds hardcore. What happens when you stop does the weight creep back on?

Today went well 4 mile run and the eating was healthy apart from one jelly baby and a choc covered rice cake. Still not as much rubbish as I usually eat so I'm happy. Fingers crossed tomorrow will be good too.
Here sipping my water grrr!

Well done twobambinos. I just sat through Spectre with my boyfriend eating his way through a large bag of popcorn on my fast day. I meanwhile sip a bottle sparkling mineral water pretending it's a treat!

I'm in! I want this so much and am a hair's breadth under 10st.

Starcat I hope the film was good to take your mind off the water.

Weighed in this morning 9 6.5 so I'm happy with that a step in the right direction.

Brekkie was an apple and a natural yoghurt how boring. Now if I can just avoid the temptation of lunch break. Because of course I didn't bring lunch with me.

Dinner will be chicken breast, wholegrain rice and some curry sauce. Maybe a few greens on the side.

Welcome bang bang

That chemical diet is not sustainable.
The secret of getting and staying slim is to average your calories across the week / month to be at or below your TDEE
allowing for the fact that TDEE drops with age

"calories per day" is a tough way to do it as it allows no really enjoyable days
"calories per week" allows flexibility
and then mixing strict weeks with relaxed weeks across the year makes it work for years and years and years

I like having a BMI of just under 21. It works for me and I plan to stay this size till I'm 90.

How is everyone getting on today? I did 12 km on the exercise bike so I'm happy with that. Did have a mini milkway bar and also a creme egg sweet tho. Hopefully they will balance with the exercise.

We have our Christmas party in a month and would like to be 9 stone by then. Wishful thinking I know.

Good to see other people's heights.

And it's good to see you are the same height as me - seems like the average amount of calories for people our height is around 1400 to be anywhere near under 10 stone.

It's hard but worth it!

Am doing little exercise at the moment but intend to start spinning again next week and absolutely no treats at all - more protein and more veggies, loads of water.

Going to be hard as have birthday supper at the weekend so no doubt cake will be involved.

I've never done 5'2 but am seriously thinking about it, even just a relaxed version of it, maybe 800 cals per day.

Massive veggie omelette for brekkie, cottage cheese snack, lentil and veg soup, water, more veg or small soup.

I have never done 5 2 either. Usually I just cut my junk food intake back a bit and that does the trick. I eat far too much of it. Here sipping a mug of tea and dreaming about dinner how sad is that.