MFP Thread 7

[Not2bObvious]

Continued chat for those using MFP as a weight loss tool

FFS 'man cement' should read movement!!!!!!!🙄😳

Rofl, man cement is quite apt reallly😉 My lack of movement is making me think what's in my body has turned to cement! Although I know you weren't meaning anything as unsavoury jonty Well done on keeping more or less to cals despite the hungry day. Did you say you're doing dry Jan? Could be your subconscious looking for comfort in food instead of the thoughts of a vino after a long dag'y. Very sensible to accept those pounds & keep expectations realistic, it's an amazing kick off really. I'm hoping to see a dip by Saturday, I can't bear what I've been seeing so far. I'm at about 1200 but I'd say I won't finish on that, 1500 is prob more realistic

Might be back in the groove. 1194 total. And nothing left to eat. Weigh in on sat.

Jonty I think we all have hungry days, they are hard. I find that having something like a chopped apple or crudités helps as it's something to nibble on. And hot drinks- I have fruit tea, peppermint tea or miso soup. Makes me feel like I've had a meal I think!

I also don't do low carb, although I certainly do lower carb, as I find more protein keeps me full longer. Many close family members are coeliac so I tend to cook gluten free a lot although I'm not gluten free, it's just habit!

I'm closing the kitchen at 1250 cals. 18000 steps and a HIIT workout. Keen to get back running but it's very icy and I'll almost certainly slip and further damage my dodgy knee so focussing on general fitness and strength at the moment and hopefully get back to running once the weather picks up. I love running but I'm afraid running doesn't love me anymore but not ready to give up on it yet.

Closing kitchen just under 1600, that'll do for first back tracking everything - no cheating. Just wow sugar lotta steps on very few cals! Cora you're total is amazing too. I have to try a bit harder to stick to 1300-1500, I think that'll help get the fat off if I keep at it

Kitchen close at close to 2100 calories. Useless at diets me

Definitely too icy to run tonight, it would be dangerous Sugar. Great steps!

Hungry days are tough, but I do get non-hungry days too, so go with it and eat more, if anyone else does?

They guys at work have the worst diet you could ever imagine Not. I do like how the PT is really keen simply to improve the health of ALL his clients, not just the lean and fit gym bunnies. I've seen him out walking gently with elderly women, and training semi pro rugby players. One lady trains 3 times at week at 6am, wow! Seems a sensible sort about diet too and realistic expectations.

My friend took DD to her activity (I will return the favour next week), so I might have gone to Boxercise... so a fair bit of activity today. Ended up with 25,000.00 steps but feel pretty energised. Calorie deficit of 250.

Glass of wine in hand and in my jammies!

Lots of people doing well today. My calories have been low, but so has my nutritional content unfortunately. Will try harder for healthier options tomorrow.

Kitchen eventually closed at 1700 calories, 200 over. Am also exceptionally tired tonight, so just accepting today my body needed more fuel. Off to bed now, praying DS sleeps through again so I get some decent sleep.

Hi everybody!

Oh my, you are all a chatty bunch! I'm just about managing to read all the updates. Keep up the good work! Sorry for lack of personals. There's plenty I'd like to respond to if I could, but I need to get this posted before I go to bed and there will probably even more posts to cover if I waited till tomorrow ...

Today was the best day I've had in ages. Woke up to scales saying I'm now 9st8. So 3lb down from NY and back at my lowest maintenance weight again. I think a few sensible days eating have emptied out all the water weight hanging round to process the excesses of Xmas week. Also some extra runs have helped limit the damage. So feeling and looking good. I went for a run this morning - 5k. And there was plenty to keep me busy with all day, so kitchen closed under at 1680. That was:
Breakfast: boiled egg and milky coffees (I'm trialling cutting back the amount of breakfast to allow more cals later in the day)
Lunch: muesli with yoghurt and fruit, 1 piece of toast and peanut butter, clementine
Snack: 2 leftover mini stollen and some chopped fresh fruit
Dinner: homemade minestrone soup, 2 veg sausages, a couple of potatoes, lots of cauliflower, then a meringue nest with yoghurt and berries for afters

Well done Sesame sounds like you're feeling the benefits!
My prediction was right - no weight drop today, and I feel oddly bloats this morning. Only thing I can think is I had a couple of foods with higher salt in yesterday, so maybe I've got water retention?
I'm upping my breakfast this morning - I normally have one egg on toast with spinach, but after yesterday's hunger attack, I'm having two eggs today. TOTM is only four or so days away, so it could be the start of the hormone slide into that 🙄

Well done Sesame!

I've decided to make Friday my weigh in day as Mondays tend to allow for the weekend bloat! I'm down 4lbs from NYD which is hopefully partly real weight loss along with bloat. Better nights sleep lady night but overslept a bit and had to leave without breakfast. I'll pick up a banana to keep me going. Rest day today (so other than my usual steps no exercise). DH out tonight so will watch some rubbish film in peace!

Jonty it's probably TOTM. I'm due in about a week I think, and always start putting on bloat at this point- so next week I'll be delighted to stay steady as once period comes along there will be a drop.

Morning all. At last a few decent hours sleep, well 6.5 but that's a massive improvement on the last few days. loli you made me laugh last night with your falling off barstools comment, you poor thing, sounds ouch. sesame you give me great hope dropping the holiday bloat so fast. I'm so bunged up but I don't want to resort to remedies as it becomes a vicious cycle. I'm not sure how much of my scale gain (no official numbers til tomorrow) is bloat or real as I haven't been in unelasticated clothes for days! I find my clothes the truest measure, I very rarely wear anything baggy anymore. It helps me to stay on track I find if I can barely breathe in my jeans😁 I'm so frickin bored but can't really go out except for a walk to the local shops. I'd happily pop the kids in the car & go for a wander about the shops but dh is adamant I need to recover. Probably as I work for him, so it'd be a bit rich saying I'm too sick to work but well enough to shop. Tbf I know I'm really not up to shopping centres, apart from lack of energy I'd frighten people - my face is quite literally grey. Oh well, I'm back to work Monday so I should make the most of my hermit status.

How you feeling now Not? Best to rest and recover (advice I ignore with gay abandon when applying to myself...!).

If I don't eat a good breakfast Sesame, I just find myself hungry all day, although I can't eat immediately upon waking, like the rest of the family.

I'm of the opinion, which is just my own of course than a couple of pounds fluctuation in weight HAS to be normal surely? TOTM, whether we are hydrated etc? I'm 7st 7lbs this morning, was 7lb 5lb yesterday, I pretty confident that's fine and normal.

Had a busy day of running around but all done now, and will go for a run soon. The dogs have already had 4.5 miles in total, I ache from 2 classes yesterday!

Breakfast - porridge with coconut water, mango.
Lunch - Ham salad sandwich.
Dinner - Davina pork and sweet potato chilli, cooked in the SC, with rice. Lots of extra veggies in this recipe to bulk it out and cumin and chipolte paste used to flavour.

For those that enjoy cooking, DH got me a recipe book for Christmas called Lets Cook. It's a book to raise money for Cancer Research and all the well known chefs have contributed. Pretty much all the recipes are lovely and healthy, and not one is particularly bad that I can see.

Any plans for the weekend? We are pretty quiet here. I have a race on Sunday, but that's it really.

Thanks for asking need, I'm alternating between wanting to go out to wanting to lie down. I think the anti'b's have kicked the worst of the strep but have also kicked the crap out of me. Had a shower and cleaned my bathroom which gave me a bit of a lift, fighting the urge to ask dh to bring us all out for dinner as I swore I'd cook something - kids have already had fast food this week but then again, they've been so good with spending their school holiday minding me. I'll keep pondering😉 I'm not surprised you're achey, loving the sound of your dinner. I got 3 (a hint maybe😁) cookbooks for Christmas but on first glance I feel they're going to be dust collectors. Weekend will be quiet, house needs full de-decoration & clean. It's our custom to keep them up until the 6th and I am heartily sick of looking at them. My dads over for B&B tomorrow night, that'll be fun without 🍷 If the weathers ok I want to go for a walk on Sunday, I need some outside! Actually if I feel better tomorrow I'm doing that.

OMG so many updates! All read and caught up but you're all doing brilliantly! I am here to bring disgrace to the team .

Cora well done on those calorie counts - so brilliant to be back on track.

Loli I was also at you dancing on a bar stool - good woman! How did the hairstyle change go today? Funny what you and Need said as I've been thinking about trying blonde this year for the first time in my life...part of my ongoing mid-life crisis probably haha. Well done on the Wednesday calories!

Mumble I eat more when I'm tired too. Don't beat yourself up too much about the nutritional content yet or you might lose patience. Give yourself a couple of weeks focusing on the calories and then maybe try to tackle the nutrition as stage 2 .

Cheddar 5lbs is fantastic - well done ! I do MFP every day too - like Loli said I'm a bit obsessed too but I kind of feel like I have to be to stay on top of this. Would also recommend trying a switch to sweetener. When I'm eating normally (ahem) one of my guilty pleasures is a few biccies after my lunch - have never kicked that habit yet.

Not I'm so, so glad you're getting better every day. I'm in bloody awe of you doing so much (and cleaning!) while you're still under the weather. Could you face any coffee to help with the TMI issue? Not sure how it would affect your poor throat though. That's a great calorie total yesterday for your first day back tracking. Also, can you add me to the list for a new bottom? I'd like a non-cellulite-ridden, non-saggy, pert-a-la-Victoria's-Secrets-models one please .

Need when I read your post about your losses and before I read Not's (excellent) advice, my first thought was that I think of you as an athlete compared to someone like me. So, like Not said, you probably need calories as fuel rather than the opposite. Very good call from Sugar and Not about putting yourself as Very Active on MFP - no doubt about that.
This is probably a stupid question, but did running improve your bottom, and if so, in what way (if that's not too nosey ). I can completely imagine how it improves arms, legs, abs etc, but I've never thought about the benefits for bottoms before. I blame Not for making me obsessed with bottoms all of a sudden .

Sugar wow 4lbs that's brilliant too - well done . I don't feel that I look any different either, but I bet if you had photos you'd be pleasantly shocked. You've been having brilliant calorie totals this week too.

Dont wow 4lbs for you as well - well done too !

Jonty 5lbs is fantastic too - well done for you as well! I don't have much advice for hungry days, but I've started drinking a lot of (decaf) coffee and I'm finding it brilliant for appetite and movement issues (ahem). The bloat could well be TOTM and don't be at all disheartened by any plateau now for a while - 5lbs is more than I've lost in some months!

Sesame aw such a lovely happy post well done on the 3lbs ! Such an incentive for all of us - feeling and looking good - so thrilled for you!!

Hope I haven't missed anyone. to Bath and any other long-timers out there - hope you're all ok!

So, as hinted, I've been an ongoing disgrace. Wednesday wasn't going too bad, but had a Baileys before bed (320 cals!) that sent me right over.

Yesterday, ate all round me. Will spare you the gory details but finished up on 2500. Today I'm on plan for 1540 but there is a risk that H and I will go out for something naughty. Or if not, there will likely be Christmas Cake and a bedtime G&T.

General meals have been fine, but it's completely about the snacks and my lack of willpower. I haven't even been able to convince myself to have 1 'no-Xmas-snacks' day yet. Maybe when the decorations come down (starting tonight too Not) it will get me out of the Xmas spirit a bit (hopefully).

Oh dawg a g&t I could really go for, coffee isn't half as appealing😉 We started to put cucumber in ours and it's really nice - so I might have a t&c, tonic and cucumber! Once little Christmas Day is done, the bad eating spell will be broken and you'll be back on it like the proverbial car bonnet. I have to say confessing my urge to eat out made me think about it seriously and quite honestly there's nothing I really want. So we're having dinner at home, feck it, I'm not wasting cash & cals for mediocre when I do mediocre very well thank you😁

I must look like a loon laughing at all your updates! I'm sat in Cafe Nero in Terminal 2 in Heathrow waiting for my baby (the nearly 19 year old 6 ft baby) boy to land from his awful, horrible holidays in Australia. Ha ha revenge will be all mine when he complains about the cold, and that's before we get home to Wales!!
Well, hair came off and colour changed and I love it! According to DD I look like a little pixie (is that a compliment?) but I wish I'd had it done before.
Diet wise I'm waaaaay under. Not good. I'll probably have to rob a bank and feed said prodigal child at the services on the way home and try and find something for me.
Hope you're all good. I'm VERY jealous of the amazing losses you've had.
not keep taking the drugs!

. I wish Dawe, but I do love you just a little bit for saying so, just saying......

Re the bum. Running gives you an amazing bum, I must say. Tones everything up, and you use your glutes with pretty much every running action. Plus, the weight loss. It's a win win on the derriere front.

Loli I KNEW you would love the hair. Everyone I know wishes they had done it sooner. Has your DS enjoyed himself? Good news (I think) on being under.

Not M&S do an amazing cucumber and mint gin, with the flavouring coming through strongly.

Chilli had mixed reviews, DD and myself enjoyed, DS and DH thought too spicy, hey ho.

I did my run. I did not feel like doing my run. At all. I would have rather sat in the warmth and chilled. I did 4.5 slow miles. But I did them. These are the runs you think of at the end of a race, when you are exhausted and still pushing to gain a placing and digging in mentally. The long slog runs. The ones that actually make you better than the rest. It's easy to run when your legs work well and the weather is good and you are fresh. Harder at 5pm on Friday night when it's cold and dark and you want wine. But I did it. And it didn't take that long. And now I'm drinking wine.

thunk. That, by the way, is the sound of me falling off the wagon. A latte on the way into work because I was annoyed at our ridiculous GP surgery (another story), a lunch from PRET because it's Friday and I couldn't be bothered to sort lunch, 3 coffee machine lattes at work, hardly any water, dinner at in-laws including pudding with ice cream, and two large glasses of wine.
Oh well. Start again tomorrow. 😁

Double thunk, that's me substituting crisps & sugar for wine.
loli! Your baby's big baby😉 home, ahh, lovely for him to experience Aus but I'd say you're happy he's back on home soil.
Gawd, not drinking on a Friday is a bit...odd, but had to be done. I'm loopy on this medicine let alone add vino/gin to the mix. Night all, feeling tired now, here's hoping for a decent few hours😘

Loli I'm in desperate need of a new hairdo. I'm going very grey I'm afraid (and I'm not 35 yet!). I'm sure yours is lovely. Hope the drive passes quickly.

Dawhead what shape are you? I'm very bottom heavy and ran most days for years until I injured my knee- I was still bottom heavy but better toned. My calves were still big but had a good shape for example, but bum and thighs were never as small as I wanted them (although I was only 9.5 stone and a size 10-12 on bottom so objectively they couldn't have been that big, just my small waist made them seem more pronounced).

All this running talk makes me want to get running again, I keep getting back to a comfortable 5k and then ending up with a swollen painful knee again. Really want to avoid more surgery (don't think it would even help long term). Physiology suggested building up surrounding muscles so I've been doing squats for months now and am reasonably fit so fingers crossed this will be the time! Anyone have any suggestions for injury avoidance?

Today it's my rest day, kitchen closed at 1450cals. Less steps than usual (13k). Allowing myself 1500cals a day at the weekend, and back to 1300 on Monday.

Sugar This is someone who has until recently spent 6 years out from running with a back injury, thankfully okay now, I won't bore you with the complex details. Imagine how that messed with my head?

Pre-injury I just ran and ran, Forest Gump style. I didn't stretch (much), cross train, do abdominal work, weight or anything. I ran. I was also told that all of the former would make me a stronger, better runner but I didn't listen, said I didn't have time for all that as well. Truth is, I did, or I should have.

Anyway, this is what I am doing different this time around, particularly core and particularly lower abs, which are very weak and make the back take more strain than it needs to. But I'm doing it all, to take the strain from the weakness. Irony is - I love it! A strong core would protect your knee too.

Only thing I would suggest is that you get specific advice re the exercises to build up your muscles round your knee. I've discovered it's way more complicated that lots of sit ups iyswim? PT does some many different exercises that I forget, and stops every so often and stretches everything out or makes me jog to push blood flow to the muscles etc. Or targets a different area then goes again.

7.6 today. Within the 2lb range I expect to see.

All this talk of going dark has me pondering🤔 Delighted it was successful for you loli, must be a wonderful change to go with your lovely new figure, elfin no less - trés francais (sp?) I'm fair haired all my life, helped the last few by hairdresser of course! Maybe when I get to goal.
Ok step of shame completed. 11.8, up 1.2 on last Saturday, up 3.8 since Christmas Eve. All in all I think that'll do. Much improvement on previous years. Of course it puts me back 4-5 weeks but it's a long slog. I have to get the sugar monster in check though, my biscuit/chocolate/crisps binge/graze yesterday cost me...over 1300. That's just ridiculous and quite disgusting. Lost the absolute run of myself. I have this idea for weekends, if I set aside a lunchbox, with something like 700 cals of junk - making sure I had enough cals to do this of course - and that was all I was allowed to have junk'wise over a weekend. Is that mental of maybe the sanest thing I've said so far? Maybe if I can see it in its entirety rather a biscuit here, a chocolate there, it could break the pattern. And a little checklist on top, an inventory of stock - note when & what I felt when I ate something out of it. I might have to trademark this one ladies😉

My core is a definite problem Need. Had an emcs with DD due to a bad uterine infection, needed weeks of antibiotics. Left me with incredibly weak lower abs, took months to be able to get from lying to sitting without rolling over first. I've been working on it but still can only just hold a plank. I'd love to get a personal trainer but around here it's around £60 per session. When I first recovered from injury I had a good strong core but very weak quads, and squats really did the job. Might explain why I haven't been able to get back to it after DD.

Not 4lbs isn't bad at all. You'll be back on track in no time. I find with sugar the more I have the more I want so I'm better to limit it. I try having dark chocolate at the weekends if I really want some. I do find planning my treats helps too.