2018 - Thread 2 of Help Me Mumsnet I have 4 stone to lose and 10k debt to pay off

[ChickenVindaloo2]

Hi everyone,

It's the day after the day after Boxing Day, Thursday 28 December 2017!

Just over a year ago, on Boxing Day 2016, I was 14 stone exactly (My highest weight ever was 14st 5, I'm 5 foot 2 ish). So I needed to lose 4 stone just to get to a healthy weight. After a false start, I lost 3 stone, getting down to a low of 11 stone exactly through stopping binge-eating. I also went to (private) CBT therapy and started going to the gym. I had popped back up to 11st3-4 in the run up to Christmas, mainly as a result of complacency and dropping the gym visits due to the dark evenings.Having eaten more than usual and some salty foods over Christmas itself, as of this morning, I'm 11st 5. I need to lose at least 2 stone really to be a healthy weight and perhaps 2.5-3 to achieve peak gorgeousness!

(I also had £10k worth of debt, mainly on credit cards. I re-mortgaged and I now have £5k on a 0% credit card for 2 years. I've worked out I need to pay it off at £200/month)

In terms of weight loss, the general rules are to err on the side of low carb, unprocessed food. I need to get in more salad/veg and restart the gym sessions. I also need to watch portion sizes and ditch the snacks, treats and extras.

Rowgtcfc has been an amazing help throughout and I hope she will join me on this shiny new thread! Would also be delighted to see new comrades of any size, shape or "diet" plans!

I've attached a pic of me at my heaviest plus one at the end of last year.

Thread 1: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weight_loss_chat/2811974-Help-me-MN-I-have-4-stone-to-lose-and-10k-debt-to-pay-off?pg=1

Some of my best tips which I hope help!

• every day is every thing. it's what you do every day over the course of a year which makes a difference. In a year, what will you wish you did today?
• it's ok to just not eat crisps/chocolate/sweets/cakes/biscuits, easier, even, than trying to moderate
• eggs for breakfast
• salad and veg are your friends
• low sugar but good fats is anti-ageing too!
• You need less food than you think. You won't die from hunger.
• The secret is: there is no secret. Most slim folk have to prioritise it and work at it.
• Practice being slim. Act like you're slim.
• Do what suits you, find your own path. Eg don't assume breakfast is vital for you.

Coffee you sound so lovely - and it's so often the nicest people that other people treat badly (and the same applies to you with your niece Kitty). I also know what it's like to have moved away from your home town and how hard it is to start again making friends - I've had to do it a few times and it's really tough. I also have a queen bee in my friendship group and they can be bloody hard work especially because they usually have a fawning inner circle who let them get away with it!
Great work on getting to the gym twice - I hope you can keep it up and don't forget on the days you can't get there to stick your work out gear on in the morning and try and exercise at home when the children are occupied or napping. Also the other thing is don't make the mistake I have frequently made in the past of eating more because you're exercising as it's great for toning but you have to do a hell of a lot of exercise to shift weight - it's much more about diet than exercise.

Kitty: My clean eating is going OK but I am not back to my recent low of 9 stone 3 lbs yet so I will keep at it until I am. I saw Mrs Boasty yesterday and she wasn't too boasty this time and I was slimmer than her which cheered me up. Anyway I am going to do my home HIIT workout now to stop me snacking!
The mindfulness sounds like a really good idea and hopefully it will help get you through the appointment. So many people I know are talking about mindfulness at the moment and how beneficial it is - I think I need to look into it. I do go through life at a million miles an hour though so not sure I'd be very good at it........

Thank you for being so lovely MrP, I have a something in my eye now sob.

It is so hard to make good friends as an adult! I'm sorry you've had to move around so much. Was that for work?

You're totally right about eating the extra calories post-gym. I've done that so many times before! It's easy to see why people lull themselves into a false sense of security, thinking they've worked really hard so must have burnt off loads

How did the HIIT workout go? 9.3 is super low (unless you're 4ft tall ). Is that your ultimate goal weight?

Good news that the Boasty Woman wasn't as boasty as usual!!!

P.S. I'm the same as you (going through life a million miles an hour). It's why I've never tried meditation, yoga, pilates etc...I just assume I'll get bored after 0.35 seconds!

P.P.S. I just bought this dress from Oasis in the sale. It's 2 sizes smaller than I currently am (that's all they had in the sale, but the size is my pre-pregnancy size). I can't even zip it up at the back, but I am determined to get into it. If I remember, I'll get DH to take a photo of me in it this weekend and then I'll get him to take more photos as I (hopefully) shrink. I also seriously need to sort out the guns and back muscles if I ever wear it .

Hi Coffee, I'm sorry to hear how this woman has treated you. Ditch the bitch and see your other friends that show they do care. I hope you don't feel too isolated where you are. I hope you are feeling better mood wise too? Sorry to hear you have been feeling a bit down. Hopefully getting out and exercising (You sound like you really enjoy it?) will help somewhat.
40 squats is amazing! I couldn't have done that! Well done, and well done on your walk/runs and weights.
That dress is gorgeous! I'm sure you'll look great in it, it's a good motivation tip.
Hi MrPeevly, glad the clean eating is going well. Good luck getting to your goal weight. I'm glad you are beating boasty woman! As for the mindfulness, my brain is always stuck in the future and past and sometimes goes 100 mph too! I tried the Headspace app but just got really annoyed. I found I was paying to just sit there and listen to nothing for 20 minutes! Someone recommended to me www.calm.com and I've found it much better. (IIRC there is a free taster, 7 days of calm.) The lady doing it guides you and there is not too much silence. She also gets you to concentrate on your breathing so your not just sat there doing nothing/have no direction. The '21 days of calm' is really good and focuses on the basics and mindfulness.

coffee it is harder to make friends as an adult I agree. Typically when we've moved to a new area we have a party or bbq and invite the whole road and this has always helped massively. It's my husband's job that has caused us to move several times and I do enjoy making a new start (I find it invigorating) but am always sad to leave friends behind and it does take a while to make new ones. I think it's easier to befriend people in the same boat as yourself who are not locals as they are more receptive. Have you ever tried meetup.com - it's great and nothing to do with dating - just a site for finding people with similar interests in your area like craft or hiking or whatever (although harder to get involved with something like that when you've got little ones I guess).
Your oasis dress is beautiful and it's a great incentive too.

I managed to get out for a run yesterday and will do some HIIT today. We went out for dinner last night and I really pigged out on the food and wine (no sugar though!) and we're out again tonight so the clean eating will have to restart tomorrow!
kitty I sometimes use breathing techniques to help with insomnia and just concentrate on nothing but breathing in for ten and out for ten and often it helps me to get back to sleep.
In other news I am committing to doing at least 30 minutes exercise a day for the next three weeks as I have an event coming up where lots of people will be taking photos and posting them so I need to be on my A game. It would be good to get back to 9 stone 3 for that or at least tone up. And coffee I am 5'6 and a half so that weight is good for my height and I'm at my happiest around that as clothes look nice and it makes me feel confident. Fancy joining me on the 30 minutes exercise a day for the next three weeks (you might have to do some of yours in small chunks through the day but it could be do-able?) Anyone else is welcome to join in too.

MrP - That's great about the run and the HIIT session. Don't worry about the meal out. We all need nights off and at least you will have burnt a fair few calories with the run and HIIT. We're having pizza tonight as a treat. I'm planning on going to the gym today and tomorrow, subject to feeling better (see below), so hopefully there won't be too much damage.

9 stone 3 is a great look at 5 foot 6 and a bit. I say that because I'm 5'6" too! 9 stone 3 is definitely my "happy weight", although I'd be happy with 10 stone or under TBH. Good luck getting to your goal soon. Good luck as well with the 30 minutes a day! I'll do my best to join in (although it may have to be more like 210 mins spread over 7 days!).

I weighed in today at 12 stone 10.75. Not great, but hopefully the start of a loss. I had my smear test the other day. It was a little uncomfortable for once, which I was told is due to the fact I'm only 12 weeks PP and my hormones are still awry and obviously there's been all sorts of sh*t going on "down there". Since then I've had 48 hours of bleeding. I think it's actually my period, but it's so painful and I feel REALLY light headed. I've taken some SpaTone in orange juice, so hopefully I'll feel a little less weak later today and can hit the gym!

Hi Coffee, hope the bleeding/pain has stopped. I've had a couple of uncomfortable smears - there was one near retirement age nurse at my old doctor's surgery who was terrible and it's now made me dread having smears done.
Food wise it's not been good this weekend as we were at friends last night so ate all the wrong things (no sugar though - she kindly provided fresh berries and cream and a cheese board) in great quantities.
Exercise wise it's better and I've been doing more than my 30 minutes a day and am running 10k this morning although I'm well aware of my own advice that you can't out train your fork so need to get my eating sorted out this week.
210 minutes over 7 days sounds like a good plan and it sounds like your weight loss is moving in the right direction which is great. By the way I went up to about 12.5 stone after both my pregnancies and it took me about a year to lose both times (it would have been faster but I was propping myself up with chocolate due to lack of sleep!)

Hi guys, haven't been on because I ended up having one niece yesterday, and the other today. Pain in the arse as normal. I feel bad writing that but it's true. Sorry to be confusing Coffee, my nieces are my brothers kids, their mum is his ex-partner. I know it sounds woosy but everyone is scared of her! You can be talking all innocently and doing good thne, BAM! In she pops with a scathing comment that catches you totally unawares. She tries to upset my brother as much as possible. She's always been like it.
Hi MrPeevly, I am 5'6 and a half Snap! Down to the 'and half'! I'd love to take you up on the exercise challenge, reporting to you guys would be good motivation. I've bombed and bombed hard this weekend. I woke up Friday am and ate about 1k calories on chocolate. Because my nieces have been round chocolate and cakes were around and my willpower just goes! I've eaten shed-loads of chocolate, and haven't exercised or meditated. I did exercise until Friday though. So a kick up the bum is what's needed and having to 'check in' will help me I think. Sorry to hear you bombed too, but well done on the 10K!
Hope you are feeling better Coffee? I hope the bleeding has stopped. Did you manage to hit the gym?
I hope you are both having a great weekend. Will be back tomorrow to check in!

kitty sorry about the ongoing problems with your niece - it sounds very difficult.
That's great news re you joining int he exercise challenge - the more the merrier. I did plenty of exercising at the weekend but not sure when I'll fit it in today as have a busy day at work and one of my dc has after school clubs tonight but I can always do a home HIIT session later this evening. I feel a bit more virtuous diet wise as although we had lunch out yesterday I managed to skip dinner so the tummy bulge has subsided this morning. My TOTM is due soon though so I won't weigh until that's out of the way as it always adds a few pounds.
I have full sympathy re the chocolate. When I used to eat sugar I would binge on chocolate and keep going until all the chocolate in the house was gone. I couldn't just have some and leave the rest. At dinner with friends on Saturday night they put chocolates out at the end of the meal and everyone else was tucking in and talking about how they'd had the same box of chocolates since xmas and just had one now and then. To me that was the strangest thing - if a box of chocolates is open they have to be finished the same day even if you're feeling sick. This is why I had to give up sugar - I'm too all or nothing - I either eat ALL the chocolate or none!!

how they'd had the same box of chocolates since xmas

Sacrilege! That goes against all natural known laws. As you have stated, chocolate needs to be eaten as soon as! It is the law.

Sounds like you have a busy day. Hope it's not too stressed and rushed for you. I did my exercise today, 1 hour. When I first started I heard a voice in my head saying, "I can do this." Towards the middle I heard a voice saying again, "No, I can't do this, it's too hard!" Lol I carried on anyway and did it. Luckily there's only a few exercises when you need to balance in the DVD as I'm rubbish at it!

If you do manage a HIIT session, I hope you enjoy it. Do you do it on a particular machine, or run etc?

Hope everyone else is OK? and having a great day.

Well done for doing an hour of exercise Kitty - that's fantastic. I didn't do HIIT in the end but went out for a run which I felt a lot better as the PMT is coming on and always makes me feel a bit anxious. I will try and fit some more exercise in sometime this evening to keep up to my 30 mins of exercise per day. Also I want to eat more when I have PMT so exercise keeps me away from the kitchen.
Still not weighing until after the TOTM has passed by.

Hi everyone

MrP - That old nurse sounds awful. I'm so sorry. Please don't let that bad experience put you off, as smears are so so so important. Great work on the exercise though! It definitely sounds sensible not to weigh until after your period. You don't want that to bring you down when you've (mostly) been really good for months.

Sorry Kitty, I don't know why I assumed she was your sister. She sounds like a difficult character. I know it's easier said than done, but try not to let her nastiness bring you down. I can't stand grown adults who like causing drama.

Sorry you also had a bit of a rubbish weekend diet-wise. It's a new week this week though, so think about how far you have come and how een the tiniest of losses is still a loss!

I had a good weekend (apart from the pizza on Saturday, but that was pre-planned). Yesterday was a bad day though. I went to visit my friend for a "quick coffee" and ended up staying 6.5 hours. I hardly ate anything at all and it was so hot in the car on the way back, I just couldn't face going to the gym like I'd planned. I also ended up having another pizza as I had serious pizza-cravings. Oh well, today is a new day and all that.

Arghhhh how am I still 12 stone 11?! It’s Weigh-in Wednesday and the scales haven’t budged. I’ve had 5 really good days, 2 bad days and have been to the gym 4 times this week. I really thought I’d have finally lost 1lb .

Kitty how did your appointment go today? I've been thinking of you and really hoping everything is ok
coffee I feel your pain - there's nothing worse than being good and doing loads of exercise only to find you've lost no weight. Low carbing is the best way I've found to shed the pounds and if you're keen on pizza you can get this amazing paleo pizza base from amazon that tastes as good as the real thing but is virtually carb free.
I am keeping up the 30 minutes of exercise per day - in fact most days I'm doing more like 45 minutes. I am hoping this is combating the pre menstral over eating I've been doing. Obvs no sugar, but plenty of crisps!

Thanks MrPeevly, did my 30 mins yesterday and 60 mins today. I do two sections of the DVD when it's an hour long. I'm finding it a bit of a struggle so on days I do two sessions I have decided I'm going to do one session in the morning and one in the evening. Hopefully that will be a bit easier.
I hope your PMT is better. Well done on you run! When I used to get PMT and want to eat more I always craved pickled onions. lol
I am keeping up the 30 minutes of exercise per day - in fact most days I'm doing more like 45 minutes. Well done! I'm sure you'll soon see the results and it will spur you on.
Kitty how did your appointment go today? I've been thinking of you and really hoping everything is ok
Thank you for thinking of me. I had a mammogram and ultra sound and the good news is the lady doing it could find nothing of concern. Yay! I have top go back to see a consultant which should have been on the same day but they explained that they
have more patients than appointments at the moment. As far as I understand the consultant will give me a physical exam and go over the findings. It's on the first on June. I'm still going with todays results though and thank God it's not cancer! Thanks for your kind thoughts.

Hi Coffee, how are you? Sorry you had a bad day diet wise too. I could really eat a pizza right now! Haven't had one in ages. Sorry, that's not helping is it?! I've decided to knock the calorie counting on the head for now (Though I did tot up todays offerings.). I found I was being really 'good' all day then binging at night. I was so desperate for something sweet the other night that I found an out of date packet of bourbon biscuits and was eating those. I'm still being careful with what I eat but I'm trying to ease up a bit for now. I hope you are OK? How's the gym going with all the check-ins and instructors? Leaving you alone to get on with it hopefully! Hope you are having a good week anyway.

I think Chicken would be off on her holiday by now? Hope she is having a nice time. Hi Row, if you're out there? Hope you are doing OK too?

Wow, what a inspiration!!

So I'm about 4-5 stone overweight (I was size 10 three years ago); I have £7000+ of debt that I've accumulated in one year (more if I include my overdraft) and my life is a bit of a train wreck just now.

I hope things are still going well and will come back to this thread!

Hi Aylarose. ] Have you been on this thread before or is it your first time? Welcome, or welcome back. Good luck with dealing with your debt (Have you tried the money saving expert website? I hear it mentioned a lot.) and weight.

Welcome Aylarose - hope you'll come back and visit us soon. I am useless with money and food and am either over eating or over spending. In recent months I've got my eaten more under control by giving up sugar but prior to that I was constantly bingeing on chocolate.
kitty I am beyond delighted that they found nothing of any concern at your mammogram - that is the most wonderful news. Also well done for keeping up to the exercise. Today is my first exercise free day in a week as it's just been too busy to fit any in. I went to the hairdressers to have my hair darkened as the highlights had gone light in the sun but somehow it seemed to come out even lighter but stupidly I pretended I loved it and gave her a tip! Anyway will be doing a long run tomorrow to make up for no exercise today. And the hair is quite nice even if it's the opposite of what I asked for!

Thank you MrPeevly. That's very sweet of you.
I've been doing the exercise daily but will have Saturday and Sunday off. I'm encouraged by the results I will have (Does it sound nuts to say I feel like it has made a difference already?) but it ain't half knackering! Saying that, I've ordered some weights from Argos to do the arm section (Beginners didn't use any.). I swear I can see some definition in am arm already. How often are you exercising, are you going to do it everyday?
I hear you with the hairdresser! I remember many a time grinning from ear to ear agreeing with the hairdresser how nice it looked only to be inwardly crying. I'm glad you like your results now anyway.
Thanks again for the kind words. Do you have any plans for the weekend? I'm hopefully niece free this weekend. Will be nice to have a weekend off. I bet I end up bored! lol
Hope you are OK Coffee? Haven't seen you around for a few days. Hope everything is Ok.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Kitty - exercise can start to make a difference very quickly so well done. The key to success is perseverance so keep it up! That's great that you're getting some weights too - using weight helps build muscle quickly which in turn helps the body to burn more calories.

I am trying to do some sort of exercise every day. I ran yesterday and am running again today and hopefully tomorrow (if I don't get too drunk tonight).
Lots of nice plans for the weekend involving lots of eating and drinking so as usual I will be avoiding sugar and bread and trying to eat the stuff that's not too fattening.
I was at an event at another company this week for work and lunch was a vast sandwich buffet. I was determined not to eat any bread so I emptied the contents of about 12 sandwiches onto a plate to make a salad. I got a couple of strange looks but it was worth it for not ingesting all that white bread and looking pregnant for the rest of the day. I snuck all the left over bread into the bin and put napkins over it. I am hoping it'll be worth it when I weigh next week!!
Coffee you've been quiet the last couple of days - hope all is well and you are getting to the gym still.

Hello

May I join you??

I'm now 76 kgs....the heaviest I've ever been :(
I'm only 163cms so bmi is now officially in the overweight category.
I have back issues and fibro but I do like walking and have bought a Pilates dvd :)

I plan to low carb - not uber strictly though and 16:8 too.

Since I turned 40 the weight is not so easy to shift :(

Kitty brilliant news about your appointment. Pleased all is well.
Hi to coffee,chicken and MrPeevly too!

Busy busy here. We've had Sats and an upset 11yr old. Moved the shed down the garden and done a load of digging and booked the dog in for its last vets visit end of May

No time for being good or healthy but surprisingly enough had to put a frock on to take dd for afternoon tea reward and said frock was too bloody big compared to this time last year!
Will catch up later properly as celebrating wedding anniversary a day early as we're both at work tomorrow.

Welcome to Aylarose and mrsreynolds too

Very quick message as I hope to do a proper reply in the next day or two.

Fantastic news about your appointment Kitty, such a relief!

Welcome newbies. I hope you stick around.

I am ok but have had a spectacularly bad week. I’ll update properly later, but I’ve been really bad diet and exercise wise. I think a gain is inevitable .

Hello everyone! And welcome to the newbies!

Thanks for keeping the thread going in my absence - you guys are great at supporting each other! Puts me to shame!

Yes, I've been away in Portugal this past week.

I was about 11st 7 before I went. During the holiday, I didn't eat badly but not perfect either. Tended to have sausages, beans, etc from the breakfast buffet. Then not much during the day when sunbathing - just a packet of crisps and one icecream. Then a dinner at night - meat, veg, chips basically. I felt horribly bloated though, as I often do when away. I'll step on the scales tomorrow. I don't expect too much to have changed.

Sorry to hear you're struggling Coffee - we're ready to listen when you get your thoughts straight.

Row - so sorry about your dog. It's just so hard isn't it. I've been there with pets in the past so I share your pain.

Kitty - good news on the health front, so pleased for you!

And well done MrP on the exercise!

Off to start my post-holiday laundry!