All New "Lose a stone in 5 weeks" thread - come join me?

[SundayGirls]

Hi

I have a significant birthday coming up in 5 weeks time.

I really really want to lose a stone by then. I'm 10st 8lb now. I have been creeping up from 9 1/2 stone since autumn last year. I'm best at 9 1/2 stone, I feel like "me" and my clothes fit properly.

I've been snacking and being lazy. Buying junk I know I don't need. Telling myself I'm going to start "tomorrow" every day but failing by teatime. I really don't want to have this extra stone on my birthday.

Does anyone else fancy joining me for support/tips swapping/motivation? Apparently, if you've made a written commitment, it's 58% more likely to happen than if you only thought it. Or something. All I know is I want to lose this stone and a few buddies along the way would be great

Anyone in with me?

Sunday I’m getting slightly fixated with weighing myself .I still can’t quite believe it myself that I’ve lost any weight at all and the urge to eat is always there in the background. Thank you for starting and keeping this thread going ! You are right that there will be some good days and some not, in terms of type and amount of food intake and we just need to make up some other day.I’m trying to keep it ticking over and not lose my mojo ..it’s somewhat daunting .
Also worrying about falling off the wagon as going to a friend’s dinner get together this weekend and a meal out on next Monday that could upset the present routine .Reminder to self - I can get back on it !

Well fitness is really important and if you feel strongly physically then it can only help motivate you emotionally. I'd be wary of letting MFP lull you into having more calories when you exercise, I've stopped adding them to my calorie intake as I'm really not sure it's an accurate calculation. Weight loss 'just' requires us to eat fewer calories. If we can do that then we will lose pounds. I've had two evenings out with friends. Unusual for me! I kept a handle on things but definitely didn't stick to calorie goals. I'm feeling good though and this thread is helping massively. Thanks all. Hope everyone has a good day. I'm hoping to stick to 1200 on MFP.

More you know we're all here for you. Try and relax. Weight loss is a slow game. And if you can handle ups and downs then you'll be ok over 12 months. Don't assume you'll lose control. Maybe consider calorie counting across a week rather than a day? Mental stuff is hard to tackle. I found Paul McKenna really helped. I tried to visualise how I would feel when I was slimmer. It really motivated me. Good luck.

I found this on the internet as a general guide:

"For sedentary women, also between the ages of 31 to 50, the average calorie burn is 1,800 per day; for moderately active women, it's 2,000 calories; and for active women, it's 2,200 calories per day".

This does show me that even small changes can make a difference - not having the extra biscuit (say 150 calories); walking a short way instead of driving, even parking at the far side of the car park instead of finding the space nearest the door will make all make an overall difference. Something for me to think about before I reach for another snack! Making little changes can all add up!

I'm still 10st4lb today but hoping it's bloat as there was so much going on yesterday I ended up having my dinner (plus 2 drinks) at midnight. I'm going to be extra strict with myself for the next 3 days and weigh in on Sunday morning.

I think the same about calories, Sunday. In theory if I don't snack that's minus 200 calories and if I do an extra 150 calories of activity that should be a pound of fat off every 10 days with extra weigh loss for the associated water loss.

Yes I think snacking has to be a thing of the past.

No movement on the scales yet for me this week so 3lbs is probably unrealistic but still hopping for 2 off by Monday.

Moreof you have lost weight and you've done that from your own efforts, nobody else has done it for you... so you can do it and you can do it again!

I know it's hard with social occasions messing up the usual routine, it's often the case if we have dinner with friends or whatever then more calories will be consumed than normal.

What I've found helpful is not carry on with the excess eating the next day, when the party's over. It's so tempting to think we've ruined everything so what's the point in bothering the next day or the day after that... but there is a point. If you can plan for the day after a party or occasion - decide on your meals, get the healthy food in ready etc, then its far easier to continue on track than if we'd thrown the towel in and waited for the next "fed up of weight" moment to get started again, which might be in a month or six months or never.... If we can learn to have party food on occasion and enjoy it but not eat like a party everyday, well then we've cracked it! (I'm saying this to remind myself as well, to be honest, as yesterday it felt like going back to work after a holiday to get back onto the healthy eating, but I have and it's good to feel in control again instead of mindlessly snacking - a lot of which I didn't even love. Wasn't even my fave snacks!).

Start I think that not logging exercise to pay off extra food is a really, really good idea especially in the early weeks. If only food is logged, then any exercise done is a bonus effect, weight-wise.

Lucked Sometimes I don't have movement but then 2lbs come off at once, so you never know. Keep going!

Bought my kids a truffle bear from the Sainsburys bakery counter and had a tiny nibble... oh Lord, yum!! What have done to myself??

Thanks @Sunday to be honest I've lost it completely. I keep meaning to start fresh and it doesn't happen. I'm in a really dangerous spiral right now and I need some support pulling myself out. DD had another crap night and I slept for about 3 hours. I met friends for lunch and had a falafel wrap rather than going to the waffle place but that's about my only decent choice today. The rain had also meant I've had to drive the 2x 30 min walks I would have done.

tomorrow I am going for a run DH bought me some new workout gear so I'm gonna leave DD with him, have a positive run and enjoy a long shower after. Please pull me up on this tomorrow!

Hello all,

Reading all this helps me so much, 9st13lb today ‘

Hi everyone

Is it too late to join? I'd rather be on an active thread than one that falls apart after a few days...

I'm 4lbs into a 2st loss and need to lose it sharpishly as none of my clothes fit! I'm occasionally logging on MFP, but their target cals are ridiculously low (recommended 1290, even with daily exercise), so I aim for 1650kcal and 30min cardio a day. MNing while I exercise, a good way to pass the time

My nemeses are sugary drinks, alcohol and portion sizes. Made a cottage pie with loads of veg yesterday, but I do need to get used to smaller portions again.

DH is away this weekend, so will live on soup, rabbit (leanest meat I kow!) and generally less crap.

Just weighed myself and the scales say 9st 10, so another 2lbs down this week. That's after an average of 33min light cardio/ day, plus a shedload of walking (I'm a teacher).

I'm on holiday now, where keeping up the walking part is more difficult. I live out in the sticks, so quite reliant on the car with a toddler DC.

Bobbie I have fallen off as well...
Lunch out with DH yesterday, had mussels and bread with a glass of wine.
Then had risotto for dinner with more wine, followed by cheese and yet more wine...
Probably won't be great today either- DCs are staying with granny for a few days, so we have time to stay in bed and eat amd drink far too much! Not often we get the chance, so diet is on the back burner until Saturday for now.
Welcome Narkle, well done on the weight loss so far!

@bobbiepin what are your goals for today? It's so hard to stay off the cake with non sleepers... Do you drink green tea? I find that a green tea (either jasmine or mint usually) really wakes me up, amd makes me more likely to have an apple, as it doesn't go so well with biscuits! Also, I swear by berocca when I have been on nights, followed by a pint of water.
Chin up this morning, once you have made a good start it will get easier, but be kind to yourself

I’ve joined the falling off the wagon team as well

Have both grown up DC ( and a GF ) home. With the inlaws coming for dinner tomorrow night , it feels a bit like Christmas

Will waddle back , with determination , on Tuesday
Happy Easter 🐥

Can I join? I’m struggling to lose half a stone. I know it doesn’t sound like much but it’s as if I’ve just lost the will power towards the end. My ideal wouldn’t be 9stone, I’ve as far down as 9.5 then just keep rapidly ballooning back up 10stone, I’m 5ft. In feb I just gave u p but I have a major bday party coming up and want to fit into this amazing slim lined dress, but tummy won’t fit.

So I’ve started again to reduce my snacking (biscuits) and toast, I’ve gone down to 62.8kg (too scared to check what that is in stones.). I’m hoping I stay on track, party is end of April.

Well done on everyone’s effort, it’s hard but you can get there.

@happyface thank you, we had another bad night. I think DD is heading towards another leap (great ) but DH is home and has had her for most of the morning so I could sleep a bit.

I like green tea, but will have to find a caffiene free version as I'm still bf. That's a good suggestion though. I'm not sure if the run will happen as we're off to the in laws soon but parkrun tomorrow definitely will.

I think today will be to cut out the crap, no biscuits or fizzy drinks (as is the standard at the in laws) and drink a lot of water. I've downloaded the NHS app too, so hoping that will help. Weight hasn't gone up either so I'll take a win for there.

Enjoy your day with DH and no DC. I think after everything recently, you deserve it.

Did you see that MyFitnessPal was hacked? Apparently they only got email addresses and usernames though.

Can I join please? I've slowly been gaining weight over years of eating whatever I wanted - I'd like to lose 1.5 stone.

My real weakness is salty and savoury foods - cheese, ham, crisps, etc. I find trying to eat more healthily really hard as so many of the recommended foods are cold or wet, and sweet - fruit, yogurt, vegetables, etc. I usually just make myself eat some at a certain point in the day, through gritted teeth. (Although blueberries in hot porridge is a new discovery!) This is especially bad at breakfast, when what I ideally want is a ham and cheese croissant and a packet of crisps, not some liquidy sweet thing! I've recently upped the amount of lean protein I eat - feel a bit bad as I was trying to cut down on meat, but now I seem to be eating loads of meat and seafood! (Also nuts and Greek yogurt - yuck.) I'm using MyFitnessPal to log the calories.

Does anyone else have a "salt tooth"? What are your healthy salty foods?

Can I join please?

I’m currently dieting and am losing weight though not a stone a month. I lost a stone between new year and end of Feb.

Was on holiday last week so went to pot a bit but have been back on it for the last week. Weigh day is today (this evening).

Hello all and A Big Welcome to the new posters! Good to see you!

Well done to Littlejay and Narkle! Keep up the great work!

I think there's a few of us who are wavering a little at the moment, it's understandable with the bank hols, family over, extra chocs around etc....

How About... (for those in this position) we agree to do the best we can, make the healthiest choices we can - but enjoy our bank hol and Easter, and get back onto properly on Tuesday? Anyone up for that? I'm still going to be checking in every day a lot here as I find the new starters joining, and any losers very inspiring and it reminds me of why I want to lose weight. And who knows, sometimes giving yourself permission to deviate from a plan actually helps you to stick closer to it!

Maintained today at 10s 3lb but have done a shed load (ha!) of gardening and running after the DCs this afternoon, so hopeful (if I don't ruin it all in this next hour, my favourite trick!) that I might have lost half a pound by tomorrow. Fingers crossed...

See you back here on Tuesday Sunday
Managed to resist the malteser bunny cake , but has my nose in a glass of Chardonnay [bottle of Chardonnay]

Lost 1.1kg in the last 7 days. Pleased with that.

I don't know what I've lost but I know I've lost because my clothes are loose.

Not given in to temptation yet but I am hungry so may get stuck into my sons left over pizza (two slices left) it would keep me away from the crisps and chocolate.