Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, you can't have any - you're a Slenderista! Join us to lose 7lbs of February flab

[BitOutOfPractice]

Welcome to the new Valentine's edition of the best thread on MN™ where we encourage and support each other to lose 7lbs in a month (though that happens so rarely maybe we need to change our USP!)

Link to the January thread here

Everyone welcome, new and old

Morning everyone - love reading the meal ideas, lots of good inspiration. I haven't weighed in a couple of weeks because I am a scaredy cat and I have officially lost it, but hoping to clamber back on in an ungainly fashion after the weekend. (Not before, obviously )

Wow amazing hair! I'm so tempted by your egg diet😀

@twinkledag great ideas there. I've actually not tried cauliflower rice before. Pushed for time this week so is the frozen version any good? Not too sure where to buy this...

@Quim avocado is always something I'd only really eat on toast but I'm avoiding bread for the next 7 days. I'll defo give it a go with fish though. I do love fish and could happily eat it every day. I'll be hitting the gym hard this afternoon after work so fingers crossed for a good day all

That’s brilliant that your egg plan is working hair, it sounds quite doable. If you could manage to stick on it for the weekend that would be a great way to change behaviour- my own weekend behaviour is abysmal😔 I’m working on planning all meals/snacks/drinks but I have company tonight & Saturday and that always cocks up my plans. Was watching how to lose weight well and they did an experiment on how when you drink your body burns the alcohol before everything else - hence possible weight gain but if you eat a protein rich meal, the blood sugar levels stay stable so that’s my plan for meals - protein heavy! Might break my carb rules and go low’ish carb for a few meals where 🍷is included.
Scales down another smidge, holding out for the average on Sunday. No matter how well behaved I am (it is rare I know that) on Friday & Saturday, my weight always jumps up a bit. Woe betide I have something like Chinese, it rockets! Have a good day all

Hair so glad it's doing well for you! I seem to remember neither of us were wowed by the results last time, are you doing anything different this time?

I'm pretty much the same weight I was last Friday morning, so still 3-odd Lindas over target. Yesterday I did a bit of a Mega Fast to compensate for tonight, which I didn't much enjoy, but I think I'll have to do one a week for the rest of Feb to make up for my bloody social calendar, so I'm not starting March in an even worse place!

12 st 4 today, thats a new low for me and I think about a 18-20 Lindas down from when I started.

So pleased . I thought I was destined to stay at 12st 6 or 7 for ever but I need to seriously get some new smaller clothes

I have been walking 5 mornings a week, playing badminton once and a cardio tennis class so hopefully all helps along with keeping an eye on calorie intake for the last 14 months with the slenderistas

I thought my healthy BMI weight was 12st 4 when I joined the board so I went looking today and the questionnaires i found didnt ask gender/activity or anything else so when I typed in my weight and height the message was that I was overweight/obese...WTF...

Having hit the main target of 12st 4 I am keen not to stop and wonder if something beginning with an 11 is possible

Well done hairspray on your new low for 2018

Up a lb today, but considering I had McDonald's yesterday (went about 100cal over for the day) I don't think that's too bad.

Quimmy I totally changed the rules a bit a lot this time.

No Snacks
Meals must be made up of at least 2 eggs and green veg.
Upto 1 tbsp of fat per meal - oil, butter, avocado, mayo, cheese etc.
Also aloud: Broth, spices and hot sauce.

My "green veg" list is as follows:
Alfalfa sprouts
Watercress
Cabbage
Bamboo shoots
Celery
Chicory
Lettuce
Broccoli
Cabbage Chinese
Curly Kale
Pak Choi
Cucumber
Marrow
Spinach
Courgette
Fennel
Cauliflower
Leeks
Asparagus
Okra
Green peppers
Green Chilli
Brussels Sprouts
Olives
Spring onion
Green beans
Broad beans
Flat beans
Edamame

But I have mainly been eating spinach, cabbage, kale, leek and celery, purely because that is what we got in the veg box this week!

Hair, how long are you egg fasting for? I'm so pleased it is working for you! DH is allergic to eggs that aren't fully cooked and because of that is very dubious of eggs full stop - so eggs are usually my treat to me when we aren't eating together, as I love them!

Well done, Claire! It's great to hit a goal, especially when you break through a plateau to do it. 11-something is totally doable! My 'normal BMI' top weight is 12st 2 (ish), so we must be a similar height.

And I've done it - I've set up a 'Target Weight v Actual Weight' graph (so technically, just a Target Weight graph for now - though if you look carefully, you can see a tiny red dot for my starting weight at the top).

I've allowed myself a couple of weeks of remedial time during and after our break in Wales. It's quite challenging until then, as I need to average 1.5lb per week to hit my part-way goal, but I think it's doable. I'll plot my actual weight against it too, and if I'm feeling brave enough, share it as we go.

Hair sounds like your calorie intake must be coming in at next to nothing, no wonder it's falling off you! Was this supposed to be a 3-4 dayer like before? I'm wondering if I should try it in the last week of Feb to really try and see at least a mini loss for the month.

(I missed the memo about olives being a green vegetable though )

TV 12st 4 is brilliant! Is that 2 Lindas off in a week? That's the lowest you've ever been, isn't it?

You can DEFINITELY see the 11s. I remember you saying you thought 12st7 might be too ambitious for you, and now you're 12st 4!

I'm ravenous and thinking about all the delicious things I could be eating. Somebody give me a slap - I mustn't start stuffing my face right now just because I'm out tonight!

Well 2 eggs and 1 tbsp of oil = about 270-300 cals depending on the oil being used, then the rest is green veg which obviously varies per portion to between 200 cals for edamame and 9 cals for marrow - if you class 100g as a portion I probably have about a 500g - a kilo of green veg a day, depending on what I am eating.

So most of the stuff this week has been between 10-35 cals per 100g so I am probably eating about 150-350cals of veg on top of the 600 for eggs and oil. (plus an extra 70 for the boiled egg I have for breakfast, never really want much else(

So
B - boiled egg(70) and milky coffee(40) - 110 cals
L - 2 eggs 1 tbsp fat (300) and spinach (50ish) and celery (35) - 385cals
D - 3 eggs 1 tbsp of fat (370) and 3 or 4 portions of green veg (140ish) - 510

Makes 1005 for the day, so not as low as I was expecting, but I just don't lose on anything over 1200 because I hate the exercise part of losing weight!

Also - not felt hungry at all this week except last night when dinner was cooking because it smelled so yum!

Hello all. I am back on the wagon but I'm back up to my post-Christmas high which I am quite ashamed of to be honest. It hardly seems fair for 4 days away.

I feel so fed up of it all now. I just cannot seem to make any headway on this last half stone and I'm fed up of getting close then PILING it back on after a little break. Can't exercise at the moment either as I have a nasty cough and cold.

Gah! I am so gloomy about it all

Well done on all the losses though. Especially TV because I know you've been battling gamely to get down below that 12st 6lbs barrier for ages. Well done!

Ah, Boop, I know exactly how you feel. I am back up to where I was before I lost weight for my wedding. I thought I had got myself motivated to lose it all again in October, and I lost over half a stone in 6 weeks, but then it all went back on in December. And I definitely put it back on quickly if I have an off-weekend. It's so hard when you're so close to your goal! But you ladies who have already done so well as such an inspiration to me - you will get there, I know you will.

BOOP it's so sucky, isn't it. I distinctly remember I got to Target 1 (2kgs over Ultimate Target) at the very beginning of 2017, my very first weigh-in of the year, I felt SO proud and absolutely fantastic, but then I stayed that way for 3 months! I didn't lose a sausage until Dad was in hospital and everything went topsy turvey, just kept floating up by a pound and then battling it back down.

That said, of course you'll be artificially high straight after 4 days of eating and drinking! Remember after your last holiday you had a 5lb whoosh?

Hairspray am I right that you've lost 4lbs in 4 days on that? Like you I'd have thought you'd have to eat far fewer calories than that (at your current weight) to lose a pound a day. It's proof positive in my opinion that calories are not made equal. I've never subscribed to the opinion that we need to be careful with things like edamame beans and avocado and egg yolks.

Quim I was 10.6 Monday morning, weighed in this morning at 10 dead so that is 3 days of dieting and 6lbs off, carrying on for today and tomorrow, and we will see what my weekend plans are but I am thinking I will carry on with the ratio 2 eggs per meal plus 1 tbsp fat but include things like tomatoes peppers, and maybe a bit more cheese.

I agree not all calories are the same, sugar/white carb calories make me hold onto water and crave more of the same "junk" I don't really measure my green veg because it is almost impossible to overeat on it. I measure protein, fats and starchier veg like pulses and carrots though.

www.eggrecipes.co.uk/recipes/baked-eggs-in-peppers I might have this next week at some point...

thank you BOOP, Quim and Fezzles and yes you are right Quim that is my lowest since joining

I think the walking and maybe just a few fewer evening desserts have been the recent factors

Away to a hotel for a couple of nights next week and will be having large dinners and breakfasts. Hopefully some walking inbetween although I fear I won't be breaking any steps records

Still haven't got back to running but I am thinking of doing the London 10k when we are there in July. I should probably just sign up and see if it gives me some motivation....

Miso soup for lunch, I have six million packets of the stuff from a friend!

Hairspray 6lbs in 3 days is astounding, congrats! You definitely get the this week. I think sticking with it but loosening up the rules is a great idea, you're much more likely to stick with it for the extra couple of days if you don't have boredom to contend with.

I find it so easy at work, I get super engrossed in what I am doing mumsnet and I don't even think about food till someone suggests we go for lunch.

If I am at home it is a different story...
ooh I'll just open the fridge to grab the milk for tea, ooh that pickle looks nice, bit of celery with cream cheese, I'll just have a nibble of cheese, a few cherry tomatoes wont hurt will they? ooh peanuts great let's have a few of them! Yum I love olives! Ooh apples are so healthy for me. I think I will have an oatcake with some peanut butter....

The slope is so slippery and before I know it I have eaten 1/4 of the fridge just from "nibbling"

Slenderistas how can I get over my addiction to "Fridge Tapas" on the weekend!? *

*N.B: this can also happen mid-week if I don't have my dinner early enough!

Weird cravings today - not for particular foods, but for texture: I want to chew something!

I am eating a lot of steamed veg and chicken, lots of veg soup, lots of fruit, a bit of cereal and a few biscuits/small chocolate treats. because snacks make the world a better place

I really like all the things above anyway so while I do miss carbs (toast and pasta mainly), I'm happy to fill up on veg instead.

Today I was choosing dinner though and absolutely nothing appealed - even treat meals like filled pasta, spag bol etc - all I wanted was something to chew. I realised I really wanted a curry, but purely for the big meaty chunks.

When I came home and had lunch I realised that what I really wanted for a snack afterwards was something to chew again - a twix or toffee crisp or something - twirl just didn't cut it.

Anyone else get this?

I like a crunch rylan hard without carbs have to stick to celery or pepper sticks

Have you tried gum?

I like to crunch too but I think I'm ok because I eat at least one, if not two, apples a day, and also like to munch on raw sugar snap peas so I'm getting enough crunch in my diet. I don't think I'm really chewing much though.

I can't stand chewing gum unfortunately so that won't work. Might need to stock up on curly wurlys for snacks next week!