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

9.4 on a monday morning!

Happy Birthday Hair congratulations on a massive achievement.

Ooh you’re so close hair, I’m amazed at what you’ve lost, phenomenal. Have a brilliant birthday, I’m sure you’re floating on air being as light as that😉

Any idea how to make steak and kidney pie a diet food?

You can buy low fat pastry or you could do it like a shepherds pie with a mash (cauli or swede) top?

You could just work your calories around it if it’s something you really want? Have a slightly smaller portion? Sometimes you need to have the thing you want, if you feel like a substitute will work - great! But if you really really want it, make it fit into your day.

Sorry I know that sounded very simplistic so I’ll elaborate. I’m learning no food is diet or non diet - it’s just food. Some is super nutritious, some is pure (delicious!) junk but none are magic. Too much of either will put weight on although it would take a few tonnes of lettuce😉 Not sure what you’ve set your calories to hoola but mine are set to 1700. So if I wanted steak & kidney pie, that’s what maybe 600-800 cals, I’d set those calories aside and spread my remaining for my other meals. If it “cost” more, I might just have a bit less of it. I’m working on eating the way I’ll always eat. Ultimately though I’ll be able to eat more once I drop the weight - that’s my plan anyway.

@Hoolahoophop i know everyone will roll their eyes as I reference the Hairy Dieters again but they make a steak pie with a pastry top made with potatoes. It works really well

Well done Hair, that is amazing!

I've done a weights/circuit/spin type class at the gym and now I feel terrible. The weights have left me really shaky and I couldn't really do the spin bit because of it. Is that what it's like doing weights? I am so weak it's a bit scary.

That sounds unpleasant Ofthread and no it’s certainly not normal. That class sounds a bit hardcore, did you overdo it? Any chance you were dehydrated or had no food in you at all? Or high/low blood pressure? When I’m not sick, which I’m beginning to think will never happen, I do weights around 4 times a week. I’ve gotten dizzy/nausea with extreme cardio but not weights. I’d say take it down a notch, don’t mind anyone shouting at you, go at your own pace. Something I’m going to do when I go back to the gym. My banjaxed back is from feeling pressured into lifting too heavy and I’m a bit 😡 about my own inability to say feck off

My steak pie with potato pastry crust (apologies for burned edges)

Yes, it’s not nice. Still feeling shaky even now and have eaten and had a lot of water. It does feel like low blood pressure, don’t know if I know what high blood pressure feels like. I’m sure it must be because I’m so weak, especially in the arm/upper body department. It has also made me feel absolutely ravenous, do weights do that? It’s very good to remember not to overdo it, but hard when the instuctor is barking.

If you decide to do it again, have a quiet word with the instructor to say you’d felt a bit unwell after the last session so you’re pacing yourself. You owe it to yourself to speak up. I’d say if you’re ravenous then your deficit might be too high - weight training specifically has never made me that hungry. Listen to your body, if you’re not thirsty and you are feeling ravenous, there’s a good chance that you are overdoing it and under-eating. I know we have to under eat to a degree, just not to misery level

Boop I love the hairy dieters and that looks great. Not I agree with your logic. I'm not overly keen on pie bit someone gave me kidney so thought I'd try. Maybe I'll just have the filling and veg. I get 1400 calories, haven't done much today and have already eaten 700.

Did you see the programme with will power koko loosing weight well maybe? Sounds like by being good all day you exhausted your will power for when you got home. I'm the same with the eaten before I can talk myself out of it.
Sounds like you have had a good week though. Maybe strategies to stop this would be a routine where you are not hungry when you get home. S healthy snack before you leave work maybe, and a drink as soon as you get in, head to the kettle rather than the chocolate cupboard on auto pilot?

Ahh you had a kidney donation hoola😂 I thought you were going mad for pie! Hairy bikers are the bomb boop, I have their second book and it’s brill. I’ve only made a few things but need to try more.

There's a second book!!!! Off I go to Amazon.

Just baked banana bread with the dc, not sure that is diet friendly either. I'm rubbish at this

This is making me laugh. My mum has both Hairy Dieters books. She loves them. But as with all her recipe books she's written comments and alterations in the margin.

In those books she's written "nice but substitute sheets of leek for real lasagne" and "better with butter and sugar added"

I'm sliding off the wagon today. I got 10 7 on the scales yesterday which would be a 3lb loss in a week. I think I've cut the calories too hard because I was starving last night and impulse bought a box of co-op posh chocolates and ate half of them. I logged them and was still under my calories!

I've been ok so far today (apart from a small cupcake!) But I am starving now and waiting in the car for dd and we need to drive home past McDonald's!

Any tips for lowest cal filling maccy d's meal? I'm guessing not the new massive Big Mac?!

Koko, I don’t know if this is helpful or just enabling but I read that a Milky Way is very low down on the calories in terms of confectionary.

Donald, FiletOFish is quite low on calories. Lots of the calories are in the fries and drinks. (How do I know this, haven’t been in a McDo for years?)

Thanks ofthread but too late. I had Chicken Selects (posh mcnuggets) on the basis that they were better than something with that fluffy sweet bread. Also had fries (be rude not to really!) I saved myself by having a bottle of water.

I'm only up 300 cals on the day and down 1200 on the week so we'll see what tomorrow's weigh in brings.

Boop, which one of the hairy dieters books is that pie in? It looks delicious, and DH and I do love a pie!

Hope you enjoyed the McD’s TheDonald, I’ve gone off them a while ago which is sad cause it’s a handy option. Not that I dislike them, I just came to the realisation I didn’t like them enough to waste my calorie budget on them. Scales is dropping again so I’m looking forward to seeing the new average tomorrow, it’s got to be better than the .1 of last week!
Been getting ahead of myself pre-filling Mfp for the next few days. It’s not carved in stone but it gives me something to work with. I find even if I don’t have exactly what I planned, I veer towards a similar value meal. Feeling a wee bit better so maybe some fresh air today.
Anyone doing anything nice for the weekend?

Very fresh air Not wrap up warm it's freezing. We are having a weekend of jobs and chicken pox watch here. Fun huh.