MFP to lose weight - Part 4

[Emz449]

Part 4 Already! Thought I'd get things started before the old thread got full! Will be posting in a sec to see what my weight was at the beginning and end of the old thread

Aw Sesame on one hand I was hoping a healthy weight was some magic nirvana where I'd feel like a different and fabulous person . But it's so great that you can still eat some nice things and not have to obsess. Well done on another drop!!!

Welcome stewards I'm relatively new here but everyone is really lovely and this thread is great for tips, inspiration and kind words when things are tough.

Well done hopefully you are going great guns since your break. And Thank You so much - I just have to be careful that one bad week doesn't turn into a few as it's always been my pattern before. Speaking of which...

On plan so far today:
B: Porridge 190
L: Egg sandwich and leftover mini eclair from Mum's 390
D: Turkey, pasta, philadelphia thing 510

However 2 big buts:
#1 - I've caught a cold . Was v thirsty yesterday (should have realised) and woke up with that awful feeling across my sinuses - nose now running and head all stuffy. Should be doing C25K tonight but just don't have the energy to face it. Missing today will put me completely off plan as...
#2 - We are having a few days away this weekend. So not only do I have to shake off my cold in 3 days but I have no idea how I'm going to calorie count or even maintain my weight. I guess this is why I am the weight I am, but I have been really looking forward to diving into the buffet breakfasts. We will be doing some walking but I don't think it will help really. I am looking forward to the break of course, but I honestly don't know whether or how I'll log in MFP when everything will be guess work. This has always been my downfall before - I've never logged the bad days because I've known they were bad but didn't want to face the numbers.

I low-carb but eat carbs at breakfast. I'm fancying overnight oats, can someone please share some good recipe ideas? My diary tends to be low fat. Thanks as my normal breakfast of Ryvita, peanut butter and a banana is getting boring.

dawhead ok admittedly there are some advantages to having slimmed down overall. Not exactly life changing, and definitely not a huge difference between a bmi of 25 or 26 etc. But they are things like:

• fitting into a seat on easyjet
• having to tighten the safety belt rather than open it to its max setting.
• a friend you perceive as 'slimmer than me' lends you their jumper cos you're cold and says this'll be too big for you...
• I pick a garment off a rail in a shop to try and it zips up. But I reject it as I don't like the colour/pattern. I don't need to buy it just cos it fits me and don't know the next time I'll find something otherwise.
• knee length boots zip up. I don't need to go out in search of the special ones....
• I can walk up the stairs to my office and hold a conversation when I get to the top
• I can wear leggings with a normal length t shirt rather than rummage for one that covers my bum.

Anyone else got any other wins?

Steward how have you been, it's good to see you again.

Well done everyone you are all doing so well.

My wins.....I've got boots that I could no longer zip up that now fit and are loose.

I've got an expensive winter coat that's been worn about 3 times, you know one of those items that you buy even though it's a little snug because you don't want to buy the next size up....well that's big on me now.

Still can't get over the fact that I can fit in smaller clothes, I pick something up in a smaller size and think "that'll never fit, looks too small" so I grab my the next size up to try on and it's massive.

loli I'm also interested to try an overnight oats recipe. My typical breakfast is a couple of tablespoons sugar free muesli (I have to weigh exactly 20/25g as free pouring cereal is too risky for me), some low fat natural Greek yoghurt (75-100g) and berries. That's around 200kcal. A bit more once I add milky tea, and usually I add some extras like a boiled egg/half a banana (if I'm going to have very busy morning). The combination of oats in the muesli and high protein in the yoghurt easily keeps me full up till lunchtime.

Hello everyone. I need to get in the zone before my weight gets out of hand. I was on the thread last summer and through the winter, so hello to those who don't know me from then. Apologies for the swearing that may ensue from here. I am feeling angry with myself!

I keep posting for a few days then disappearing again and as a result my weight is creeping up and up. My lowest weight during the winter was 9st 12 (starting weight 13st 8) and now I am up to 11st 4. Yesterday was 11st 5! I vowed to myself my weight would never again start with 11 and yet here we are. I am a classic yoyo dieter but I really dont want to do this all over again.

I have been looking at photographs of myself from the last 10 years and I have been shocked at how heavy I looked. I didn't think of myself as particularly fat (sure I could stand to lose a stone or so) at the time but in comparison to how I look when I am 9st something or 10st something I looked quite hefty. I have a fine bone structure so extra weight really doesn't suit me.

And yes this is ALLLLLLL about vanity. My beautiful new clothes that I have bought for the new improved slimmer me are feeling really tight. Another few pounds and they won't fit. So then I will be screwed because I threw out all of my old clothes in size 12 and above. And fuck me, I am NOT buying more in a bigger size. So I either fit in my size 10s or I am going to have to stay in the house because I will be nude.

I need a plan. I think the plan is going to involve repetitive limited food choices so I don't need to make decisions. And a little bit of exercise to get me in the right mind frame. I am firmly of the opinion that weight loss happens in the kitchen, not the gym and in any case I don't have the time to work out enough to burn a significant number of calories. Also my joints are quite painful so too much exercise will result in no exercise for a week or two if I over do it.

I really loved reading back through the last few posts. Sesame your list of wins is fantastic. I'm going to read back through the full thread now and find some of my old posts to try to remember how it was to be on a brilliant downward streak and fucking get the fuck back on it.

Overnight oats recipe :
1 cup almond milk
Half cup Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp cocoa
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp stevia
1 cup steel cut oats
1/4 cup protein powder

I reckon that lot is about 850 calories and makes three portions so about 280 calories per portion. It is very filling.

Main thing is Steward is that your back on the ball, you aren't letting yourself get back into the 13s again. You are nipping it on the bud. You will be back in the 10s in no time because 3-4 pounds of that 11's weight will probably be bloat and nothing that a weeks worth of good eating and drinking won't sort out.

I started in February. My normal/fairly happy weight is 9.7 but after nearly a year without a horse I had gone up to 10.3. I got down to 9.4 but have been rubbish for the last approx. 6 weeks and have gone back to 9.10 and am utterly miserable about it.

I decided I would start yesterday, which was fine until 9pm when OH suddenly decided to fire the BBQ up so I ate a massive burger with loads of cheese, salad and mayonnaise. OK I think, I will start again tomorrow. I just filled my car up with petrol and the petrol station guy gave me two mini rocky roads for being a loyal customer. I go in there about once every six months. Damnit.

I need help clambering my butt back on the wagon! Back in late 2014 I went down to 9.5 from 11.7 using my fitness pal. It was amazing and I was like "I will never let myself slide ever again!"

Over the intervening time I went back up to 9.7 which was my happy place...then 9.11 which was less of a happy place...but could still fit into my clothes.

Now after an all inclusive holiday and somewhat gorging myself I have gone back to 10 stone exactly. It is not huge by any means...but I can just see the old pattern emerging. I feel like my clothes are tight and I feel sluggish/tired. My plan is to get back to 9.7 (or maybe a little less) by Christmas...where no doubt I will pile it all back on again.

I start today...wish me luck folks!

Steward so sorry I didn't realise you had posted here before . Are you me . I know I might sound like a broken record, but I see so many similarities in your story. I am also a yoyo dieter/weight loser-gainer. Since 2012 I have lost/gained significant amounts of weight 9 times. I don't know what the answer is obvs, but I do find posting on here gives me such an incentive at the moment. It's so weird but I'm very conscious that I will have to do a 'report-out' to everyone here when I'm tempted to eat something bad/sabotage myself - which I guess is one of the benefits of a traditional slimming club.

I also agree that repetitive choices/routine make a huge difference. I find it so much easier to log meals that I make at home regularly vs new stuff/eating out. I have even started logging in MFP 1 or 2 days ahead.

You have taken the hardest first step in joining back here and you have lost loads before - you will do it again! And anger is good - it's a real fuel . As must said you will be knocking lbs off in no time and you really only have a stone to lose, so depending on how strict you want to be, you could be back in the 9's by October.

Sesame and must thank you for the list of wins - they are brilliant - I hope I get there one day! Timely because today I was trying to find tops for my weekend away - was fit to cry . Even tops that fitted me in February are now showing my spare tyre off like there's no tomorrow - have put on net 9 lbs since then.

Welcome Prosecco and karate are you both new new .

Prosecco You have done great so far - isn't it interesting that so many of us (well me and you at least ) get sidetracked by our OHs? Do you track in MFP and if so, would you weigh something like a burger or just guess? I try to weigh everything but it does get tiresome.

Karate well done on your 2014 loss I am almost at the same starting point that you were and my ultimate goal would be 9 ish so you are inspiring me already! Even if you can do 1/2 lb a week you will make it before Christmas - it is harder to shift when you're so close to your goal.

Best of luck to both of you - please keep updating us here!

Me - soup day today, but both H and I are having bad days at work so fast food is looking extremely likely for dinner . Weigh-in tomorrow, but not hugely optimistic, even if I don't pig out tonight. Cold is not as bad, but still not gone so think c25k will have to re-start next week in the middle of week 1. Sigh.

Well in my first post-camping day back logging I have run out of calories and it's, ermm, not even 5:30pm yet . Dinner is for losers, right?

Nice to see new and returning faces! Hope you are all doing better than I am today.

Those talking about vanity - I actually incentivise my weight loss with vanity. I have a spreadsheet with a wishlist on and every time I lose a pound I buy something. Some things are little, like a new nail varnish, and some are much bigger like new underwear (I know that I lose about cup size when I get down to about 10st, so that's a way off yet!). It's working surprisingly well, which just goes to show how immensely shallow I really am .

We've been out this afternoon to a National Trust place as part of my cunning plan to make the teen leave his bedroom and walk. We did one of the walks around the grounds, it went down and down and down so there was no escaping the very large amount of "up" at the end. It was hot, sunny and cloudless and all I could think about as I trudged up the steep field was "I'm glad I've lost that stone and a half".

I had a National Trust scone which was so big that I didn't know whether to log it as two normal sized ones or just pick the one in the MFP list with the largest number of calories.

Thank you dawhead I am sure you will make your losses too.

My 2014 loss was definitely my biggest ever. I kind of got stuck in a rut of emotional eating and colleagues who would bring in mounds of cake every other day! My current excuse is working and commuting to london...where I am bamboozled by wonderous foods at every bloody turn.

hopefully I sort of incentivise with vanity as well. I took progress photos last time and every so often would compare before and after and marvel at my changing shape.

Today has been ok foodwise and tonight I have karate to go to. Hopefully it will be a hot one and I can burn some extra calories!

Went for a long walk this evening to 'earn' enough calories for half a veggie burger and some salad. One of the things I love about MFP for me is the incentive to do things like that rather than writing off the day completely. I try not to eat exercise calories on the whole, but I do let myself when I really want them!

No worries dawhead - I have been gone ages!

Well done you Hopefully - I find that good about mfp too. There is something you can do to keep on the straight and narrow if you are feeling extra hungry!

I'm kind of thinking I might like to go somewhere IRL to be weighed a few times to get me back into the groove. Do any of you know if WeightWatchers will allow me to join with a BMI of 23 and goal BMI of 20? They don't need to know I'm not following the diet!

Down to 10st 7.5lb this morning (about a pound more than my pre-holiday weight). My aim is to get rid of that last lb in the next week before PMT makes me explode again. I'm house-sitting on a smallholding next week, so will be very active looking after all the animals etc, maybe that will help! This has been such a static couple of months for me - I have hung around the 10st 7lb mark since the beginning of JUNE. Ridiculous. Really want to pass this barrier once and for all.

karatekid I'm so annoyed I never took 'before' photos, I think I have changed quite a lot. I can see it in my face in family pics.

fitter I want a scone now! Wonder how many miles I'd have to push DD in the pram for to earn a cream tea... About 15 probably!

sesame I ignored your question, whoops. Yes, camping was lovely, we go a lot in the summer. Although I can never resist the urge to over-indulge!

stewards I know WW turned away a friend of mine who was trying to get her BMI down to something like 19 or 20 - she is very petite framed and it wasn't too thin for her, but they said they couldn't support it or something.

Thanks for the overnight oats recipie Stewards. I tried them today for the first time. Nice (I think!) and made a change from my usual.
Haven't lost this week which is gutting as I'm on 1100 calories and doing 4 hours of exercising (Zumba, Latino fit and swimming). I am fitter though. Why can't it fall off the way it piles on???

Own up, who had the National Trust cafe scone?! I hold you entirely responsible for this.

Luckily I have another hour's walking to the shop and home, and I don't think I'll need to eat again for about a week.

Hopefully I just had butter on my huge scone but I could have probably had the jam and cream as well and stayed within my calorie limit. With all the walking I did yesterday I ended up with 1300 additional calories from exercise so I had the hummus with my wraps and a glass of wine as well.

Lolimax the accepted wisdom would be that you are not eating enough. I know it sounds strange but if your body thinks it is starving it hangs on to every calorie. Supposedly if you eat a little more you will lose more weight.

Down to 9.12 this morning. I am 100% sure it is just a bit of dehydration from exercising though. Colleague is leaving work today so someone has baked a massive cake. I will either need to be sneaky and avoid the "sharing out" or have a tiny slither.

Sticking to the plan so far...which is porridge for breakfast. Cuppa soup, roll and apple for lunch. Dinner remains unchanged. No snacks. Weekends will be a bit different...but i will figure that out when I get there.

What is everyone's worst day for snacking? Mine is Friday evening after getting in from work. Got into a habit of buying those Walkers chilli coated peanuts and wolfing the lot!

I'm having my soup for lunch and I had overnight oats for breakfast. I made them without the cocoa and added some berries for a change. I went for a little run yesterday too so I'm gradually getting back in the swing of things.

Thanks Hopefully for the info about WW. I might see what they say. I'm not petite so maybe they won't have such a problem. Saying I want to get to 10st is hardly a weight problem weight, surely?!

fitter Mmmm National Trust scones… I had a very disappointing plain scone in a café on Sunday afternoon – obviously I was in the wrong place.

stewards you will be out of the 11s soon enough. You can do it! I was 12st4 when I started logging into mfp 128 days ago. Now I just need one more lb off to record a 2st loss.

prosecco how did you get on today – is it turning into the fresh start you wanted?

karate good luck! I think half a stone off is totally achievable and it sounds like you’ve already made a good start. Worst times for snacking for me are in the afternoons in the office. I’m totally fine in the mornings, but after lunch, if it wasn’t for self control I could probably continually eat until home time.

dawhead I also find it hard to log things while eating out, especially with my workplace canteen - at the beginning it was really hard as I just had no reference point – but I did manage to find similar sounding recipes and quantities. An educated guess is my advice.

hopefully I’m with you on the non food treats. You reminded me that one of the things I used to do in my early days of weight loss was paint my nails of an evening – something to do with my hands and impossible to snack while I’m waiting for them to dry. Well done for recording the loss today, now lay off those scones!! [scolding smiley]

loli if you haven’t lost, could it possibly be a bit of water weight hanging about?

So the pre-period bloat has just started chez sesame and I’ve recorded a 1lb gain this morning. I might need to hang off on the weigh ins for another week or so to let it settle back down again, but it’s so frustrating…