Small amount to lose but want support?

[NewYearNewNickname]

Just weighed in after a couple of short breaks. I was allowing myself to eat / drink what I wanted and knew it would result in a gain which is fine but just feel I need to get straight on to losing it.

I am 5ft 5, 43 years old and this morning weigh 10st 4.6lbs. I want to lost at least half a stone, ideally 9lbs.

I know there are obviously lots of other threads available but often people have longer term goals on them. I started a "less than a stone" thread before and it was quite busy so thought I'd give it a go again

Oh dear wrinkles that's the danger of daily weighing! I do it too, I will admit. I lose much more weight when I face the daily reality check.

I've cancelled today's booked legs, bums and tums class as I went to the gym for it yesterday and the instructor didn't even turn up. Not going to risk the same today, I'll go for a run later when it's a bit warmer (I'm a wimp!)

Yesterday I tried on my Coast dress I'm planning to wear for the Buckingham Palace garden party on May 25th. Disaster!! It doesn't zip up!! I bought it last summer when I was about half a stone lighter, it must have been snug then although I hadn't remembered that. It's a size 8 but I have another one (not as nice or as suitable) which is a size 10 and definitely fits, so will have to use that as a fall back if I can't get into the blue one I want to wear. DH is away this weekend so said try it on when he's here to do the zip and we'll see if there's any chance. Since I'm meeting him there and I'll be getting ready alone, wearing a dress that needs a third party to do the zip is far from ideal!

My Parkrun time was cut down from 38 minutes to 34. I was still one of the slowest, but also least progress is being made.

Am also furious today because I stepped on the scales and gained a kilo. Stepped on again and got a different number. Stepped on again and had a different number again!! So no idea how much I weight now. Serves me right for getting fancy electronic scales which tell you your BMI and body fat etc.

butlerchauffer I've got a soup maker...it's a saucepan!!! you chop up veg, pop it in with stock and 20 mins later it's done! Please tell what a soup maker does that's different, does it blend the soup for you? I use a whizzy stick.
wrinkles never mind, are you counting calories? If not, maybe do for a week in case you are eating too much without realising.

orangecake that's a good idea re treats allowed on certain days after walks.

Yesterday I had lunch of small slice lentil pie with medium salad with grated Parmesan on. Also had cheesy Doritos with salsa. For dinner had pizza express from supermarket pepperoni hot pizza and small salad. Had 2 g&ts when out and another bag BBQ hula hoops when home. Had 1 x camomile tea. Managed to do 2.48km walks and 4 stairs/ floors climbed which doesn't seem a lot but better than nothing. Also climbed some more stairs/floors when not with phone...

I think I will try more with the salads at lunch this week but with maybe cooked chicken and something else to add variety. Should I ditch the small yogurts?

This morning so far had a few cups of tea with skimmed milk, toast (Vogel soya and linseed) with peanut butter and marmite and 1 x digestive biscuit.

Day 2, I still haven't weighed myself so will try and do that tomorrow so I can log my starting weight.
Anyway I've been up literally all night with a vomiting toddler, so I am very pleased to report that I managed to avoid what would be my usual response the day after (comfort eat on lots of sweet stuff) and I prepared a delicious breakfast of chopped fruit, natural yoghurt and a little bit of cereal sprinkled on top. If I can stay on track on exhausted days like today maybe there's hope for me! I also used my newish scales to exactly weigh and MFP the contents. Who knew granola was so calorific! (Well, probably the whole world but me).

The only downside is that I am in no fit state to swim or run which was the plan, but at least my eating Is under control for a change.
@OrangeCake123 life's had a bit of background stress since NY(in the process of changing jobs) but I wouldn't have thought it was to blame. I think what has been the main struggle the last few months is the constant flow of minor bugs and illnesses (colds, flues, and now the tummy bug my toddler has) which, even when it's not me that's sick, seems to throw my exercise routine out the window. Any good tips for staying on course when your routine changes for whatever reason? (Including things like having visitors (family don't live locally so we sometimes have family visit stay), as that always scuppers me and I end up eating and drinking way too much and dropping my excercise habit.
I'm finding this thread a great help, thanks to all of you for the motivational tips and sharing.
I must make some soups too! Am also intrigued by what a soup maker does! Anything less than an actual person to come in and make it for me and I think I'll be disappointed :D

@SuperFlyHigh how about switching to natural yoghurt? After a while you get used to not having the sweet flavour and you can have with fruit. Or sometimes I add a squirt of agave or honey (or lemon curd yum) if I really want some sweetness.but at least you're in control of what you add.
If ditching anything I would probably target the savoury snacks you mentioned (doritos and hula hoops). Easier said than done though - I've just ordered a multi pack of almond snack packs with me weekly shopping so I have an alternative at the ready...!

superfly I think to lose weight you will need to ditch the crisps, biscuits and. When you reach your target reintroduce in small quantities and only occasionally. Try to stick to real food with nutritious value, as crisps and biscuits are high calorie and of no value,they are just empty calories.

Bumble and Giddy, I agree re the biscuits and crisps...

I do tend to have a snack of crisps at lunch a day as well as eg a chocolate wafer biscuit. I think really I should alternate those to either one of those a day, not both!

Bumble I suppose that's a good idea re the natural yogurt, I may just cut the usual ones out.

Hey, hope no one minds if I join in this thread? :) I'm not really sure how much weight I want to lose, I think a stone at the most - I'm 5'8" and 10st 3lbs right now, lost 7 pounds this year so far, very slowly but surely coming off now I'm actually sticking to calorie counting!

Yay hey! Under ten stone today. I really feel motivated to stick with it now. But I'm going to need to do something about toning my tummy, my stomach muscles were destroyed by my huge babies and I don't thing losing weight is going to be enough to eliminate the bulge.

Any one any suggestions for stomach exercises suitable for someone with split abdominal muscles?

Ok the soup maker blends as well as cooking the veg so once it's in you do nothing! The consistency is brilliant. It also has measuring marks on the inside so you don't under / over water and has a pouring spout so you don't even dirty a ladle!

I'm a full fat natural yoghurt fan and they taste sweet to me now so that plus a squre or two of drak choc is pudding if I want one.

@Joinourclub have you tried Pilates?
@FitBitAddict would some Spanx type underwear help at all?
@butterchauffer thanks for explaining it! Do you have any favourite soup recipes to share? I nwed some inspiration..

Wishing everyone a good and healthy week ahead!

PS a tip if you normally like beer (lager). Becks Blue alcohol free lager is only 38 calories a bottle and tastes pretty good (needs to be chilled). Very handy to have in the fridge as an alternative to the real thing (or wine).

My weight is still static. Stuck at 10st 5

I eat my sisters homemade lentil lasagne a lot and I'm starting to question how calorific it is. I'm upping exercise this week and throwing out the Haribo which absolutely call my name whenever they are in the house.

joinourclub try this

I went from a 5 finger separation to 2. Huge improvement. I was 12st 4 and had a 37.5 inch waist. With exercise and healthy eating I went to 10st 2 and 30.5 inch. I've put a bit back on now . Waist is now 31.5 so not too bad but my jeans are tight

It also helped to spend time on my exercise bike whilst engaging my core muscles. 5 minutes at a time.

Also actively remembering to pull my stomach muscles in while sitting at my desk and walking. It's hard at first. Took me about 4 months to feel the muscles begin to 'work' and pull together again.

Weigh day for me!

Starting weight 9 stone 11
Current weight 9 stone 10
Target weight 9 stone 6

So I've lost 1lb

I'm happy with that. I hoped I'd post something as I have been really good this past week - the only 'junk' I ate was 4 squares of dark chocolate. So I'm quite proud of myself and now motivated for another healthy week!

• lost

Well done, Butterfly! Here's to another good week

This morning I weighed in at 66.1kg, making the total loss 2.9kg. I wasn't sure if I could trust the scales after yesterday's performance, but DP said he can see the difference in my body so I'm talking that as a good sign.

Gamtanner is it a vegan lentil lasagne? If not then the calorific pasta and cheese won't be cancelled out by a few lentils. Do you weigh your portions?

No it's not vegan. I usually weigh everything but not this as it's homemade and not by me so I haven't got a full list of ingredients.

My portion size is about 200g I reckon. Eaten with Spinach.

gam...200gm would be a very small portion, it might be worth weighing one to see..sorry you might be in for a shock

starting weight friday 74.7 kg....today 74.0kg...hurrah, just three days of reducing snacks and only drinking wine on saturday has already seen a result..got to keep at it !

well done on the running painting owls...i am trying not to get too hung up on timings and splits with my running, some days i seem to run faster than others. ...

You're right the red. I've just weighed the frozen portions and they are each 250g so that's more than I thought.

Well done on your loss

Thanks JellyBean. I was overtaken by a pregnant woman do I feel like I should be doing better!

I've also found that running with the group makes me faster than running alone, which is interesting.

Just a 50 mins walk for today. I don't own a scale and only measure at the gym-so I'm not sure what my current weight is exactly, and I would want to wait until I know hormonal weight isn't at play. Only real downside is I haven't been sleeping well at all- My calorie average is around 1900 calories. I'm eating real food. More salads and vegetables . Some days it's been 1400 but I was thinking maybe I should increase my calories a bit more, as I exercise heavy. Or should i just wait it out?

@bumblebzz I've only done this once, but I batch cooked and made enough food for three days and separated it off in containers so I knew what to eat already. I found it easy knowing what I was going to have and it meant that I didn't have to think about what to eat.

@coconutcats- Hello ;)

@joinourclub- well done!

@Butterflyoffreedom- great work! Keep going.

@Painting owls- Well done- speed will come later. You need to keep going and just build up endurance first!

Well done butterfly

Bumble I don't think spanx etc would help, as it fits fine below the waist and at the waist but is too tight around my ribs. I'm 34B so it's not boobs that are the problem!

It might not be much but I lost another 2 ounces!! So it's going in the right direction. I've just been out for a long evening walk in the late sunshine. It does make you feel better when you've hit your target number of steps or even exceeded the target!