MAY the force of the Slenderistas be with you. Join us to lose 7lbs in a month you must

[BitOutOfPractice]

This is the month when spring with finally...erm...spring (surely), there will be two bank holidays and a royal wedding and WE WILL LOSE WEIGHT!

Here is a link to the April thread

Welcome one and all - please bring a wagon with you

Jumping on your wagon, I’ve lost 16.5lbs since March 7th, but only 3lbs the last 4 weeks (crap effort from me and I like bbqs). Got about a stone and a half to go to get to my pre pregnancy weight, although I’m finally in a healthy BMI after losing the first half of my target!

Nan. I never really notice if I carb load but I definitely notice an impact on my running if I low carb.

I suppose that means I eat far too many carbs! Anyway it's a good excuse so I'd say go for it!

Hey all, I've not been paying attention at all to what I'm eating lately, but now the summer is coming I'm desperate to tone up and lose a few lb!

I think I managed to get down to 59.5kg in January and now I'm about 5lb above that, at 62kg (9st10lb).

Really want to loose those 5lb & tone up a bit😬😬😬

How has everyone else been getting on?

Diet fail for me last night, managed to eat v little before dinner yesterday then gorged about half a massive tub of ice cream sitting on the sofa. I also haven't exercised in nearly a week

A bit better this morning. 12st 8.4 - though largely because I didn't eat any dinner, I think. Not because I'm starving myself, I promise! I just wasn't at all hungry after eating waaaay too much lunch.

Stupid sinuses still hurt A LOT despite feeling a lot better this morning they are bad again now.

And we have another sociable aka diet disaster weekend ahead, as the inlaws are visiting.

Sorry to be on such a downer - I feel like I am hanging on to the diet wagon by a thread at the moment! I CANNOT put any more weight on, but I also can't seem to shift it either - and I know there is no one to blame for that but me!

Hello all! And welcome Bodging that's a fab loss!

I'm planning a golden week before I go away on Friday. Then it'll be tapas and Rioja a-go-go.

We have had no wifi at home for over a week so I have spent a lot of time in McD's and Starbucks camping on their wifi. Temptation has been great.

Very great. How's everyone's week going?

Bodging werlcome, lovely to have a new face mid-month and 16.5lbs is absolutely super, well done indeed!

Fizz I so feel your pain. It can be immensely frustrating at times, this weight management business, especially when you can't see a light at the end of the tunnel and can't seem to locate that steely determination you need to break a plateau. A big lunch + skipping dinner is actually a great strategy - did you say you're interested in the 16:8? You can always have a miso soup or something in the evening to keep your stomach entertained, might be worth doing it deliberately when it's convenient!

Thanks, Quim - I'm feeling a tiny bit better I think. You're right, it's so hard to get that steeliness back once it deserts you.

I do really like the sound of 16:8, and I'm pretty sure it would work well as a weight loss tool for me. Unfortunately I can't really commit to it for a couple of reasons. The main one is that as much as it would suit me, I know it absolutely wouldn't suit DH. He doesn't mind me nixing dinner on occasion but while he's a competent enough cook, he won't cook just for himself. So, he would either end up eating crap or living on sandwiches which I know he would hate and would make me feel too guilty.

And the other reason is that I don't think it'd be sustainable for me - as soon as I stopped doing it, the weight would pile back on. I need to find a way to eat where that doesn't happen.

But perhaps, as you say, the occasional strategic day might not be too bad an idea. Maybe nights where DH runs and we therefore end up eating later than I'm happy with? I'll talk to him about that, I think.

Fizz when I started doing the 5:2 I scheduled my fast days around MrQuim's sports schedule, as he could sometimes get in stupidly late (he doesn't always play at the same time) and it was hard to manage anyway, so it made sense for me. He's actually started joining me in a rough 5:2 diet, as he finds when he's been running around he can do without dinner afterwards anyway (and was finding his shirts straining...!), so now he eats something quick when he gets in (usually pitta bread and hummus) and we both go without dinner on those evenings, although originally the plan was that he'd have something quick like tortelloni (which is basically his favourite food anyway!) or I'd arrange it so there'd be leftovers from the previous day. Could something like that work for you guys?

Sorry, that wasn't clear - he has something quick when he gets in from work and before the sports, and then goes without afterwards.

He's found it really effective weight-wise to cut out "proper" dinner on two nights, as like I said, he didn't have an appetite for at least a couple of hours after sport anyway, so if he was getting in at say 9pm we were eating really late, and were really just eating for eating's sake. Since I'm guessing your DH can run at whatever time suits him (unless he's part of a running club?) it might be something for your DH to consider.

Thanks, Quim - actually that really does make a lot of sense. Definitely something to consider.

Day 3 of BSD here, going OK so far (although averaging more like 900cals per day but not too worried). It's basically same lunches/dinners as I normally have without all the picking and snacking and wine. Fingers crossed it yields some losses.

Finding a WOE that fits in with family life is really hard isn't it? It has been the hardest thing for me. I've more or less come to terms with the fact that I just can't eat the same meals as my DH and DS. Not every day, anyway. It does help that I'm vegetarian and they're not - it gives me a non-diet excuse to be eating something different to them a few times a week. Baring that in mind, I think that 5:2 could also work really well for me.
Good luck with the BSD pony - I have been thinking of giving it a go, but the only thing that puts me off is that I know I would really struggle to exercise on 800 cals. How are you finding it?

It really is, Hounds - it's the thing I struggle with the most. DH and I are both greedy sods by nature so that makes things doubly tricky!

Today has started in a mixed fashion - I'm still suffering with my sinuses, my period has started (and with a vengeance!) and I've been up since 4:30 with a very grumpy toddler (I think she has wind).

But! I weighed 12st 7.7, almost a whole Linda down on yesterday and my lowest weight post holiday. I feel I'm making some progress at last. I know I'll be derailed this weekend again, but I've given it some thought and I think the important thing is I just somehow manage to cling onto that thread through the bad days. If I can make it through them and capitalise on the good days that follow, I'll lose the weight eventually. I MUST NOT give up!

My solution is to eat the same as DH but either ringfence the portions so I am forced to eat a sensible amount (i.e. if he has to have some left over for lunch the next day), or to make the same but do a carb element for him. If I make, for instance, a frittata when I don't have to keep some for his lunch, I'll eat twice as much of it as I need Same with stuff in the slow cooker, it's all very well doling out a sensible portion but if the rest is just sitting there it all too frequently makes its way into my mouth...

pony props on the BSD - how long are you hoping to stick to it?

900 calories a day fair play pony. Really don't think I've the willpower for that.

For me it's not my husband who is the source of derailment, for me it's my toddler who never finished his meals so I end up eating it instead!

That being said I'm doing quite well the last couple of days. It's not weigh-day until Friday but I had a sneaky peek this morning and I'm down a quarter of a Linda. Arguably it could be water weight or the fact that I'd just done a poo () but at least it's not going the other way! I also saw a flash of the next lb down before it settled. I'll take it as a win for now :)

Strict eating regime Monday-Friday and a bit more relaxed on the weekends and I should lose weight, albeit incredibly slowly.

Had a very virtuous day yesterday until two glasses of wine and some chocolate magically found its way into my stomach🤔 still. Better than I have been for a while, and half a Linda down from yesterday. So i'll take that.

WI tonight for me. I'm still plodding in but not seeing much difference in the scales. Had a couple of nights out over the last few weeks but they have been long deserved. Still waiting for my milk to dry up though so I think it's due to that really. Hopefully I'll have a lovely big whoosh in a few weeks time!

Hounds I am not doing loads of exercise right now, just keeping my steps up as much as possible, so I haven't come across that issue. But I would say it's still possible - you might need to adjust up a bit on exercise days. Hoping to do it during the week only, Quim, for as long as I can keep it up or until I hit my elusive target (currently 7lb away).

Oh, god, there is so much here that is familiar!

Quim, portion control has always been really tough for me. I definitely fell into the trap of eating the same as DH in the past. The way we combat it now is that he eats the portion that is the right size for me, and he has a bigger lunch to compensate - or he has a snack later. I do sometimes add carbs just for him (so I'll have salmon and veg, and he has some new potatoes too, or I give him a bigger potion of rice with his curry), but we eat so many carb-based meals it isn't always an option. I could never do a low carb diet!

Twix yes, I know that one too! My toddler is incredibly fickle and fussy with food. I'm trying not to make a big deal of it so it doesn't turn into a 'thing', but that does mean far too many tasty, tasty leftovers. We have a waste disposal in our sink (which I adore - it is fab!), so I try to chuck her leftovers straight in without thinking about it too much so I am not tempted. Because as much as I would love to believe that calories don't count if you eat them with toddler cutlery, it just isn't true, is it?

Fizzing I used to feel a bit peeved when DS1 was a toddler if he cleared his plate.

Lunch today is feta and ham omelette with wilted spinach, toasted pine nuts and a wee spoon of salsa. Just over 300 calories.

Yes all that tasty, tasty food I make especially for him in the vain hope he'll eat something, rather than subsist on a diet of milk! I'm ashamed to say I regularly buy Chicken Dippers and those crappy pizzas you put under the grill for him - who knew half eaten Chicken Dippers were so nice?

So far today: Cappucino for breakfast, soup and two small slices of bread for lunch (I must confess to lashing on the butter ), homemade paella for dinner.

It is very hard with little children - I am, obviously, a domestic goddess and so made all manner of delicious morsels for DS. DS, being an irritatingly fussy bugger, rejected virtually all of them. I consumed most of them. But, it would have taken a much stronger woman than me to have chucked it in the bin...it would have been a waste of criminal proportions!
pony Your omelette sounds lovely. I might have the same tomorrow (minus the ham).

1.5lb on but it's fair enough.

To a PP, if served with some veg I don't think there is anything wrong with mini pizzas and chicken dippers for toddlers.

I am sick of myself could I please have a huge kick up the arse and a smack round the mouth?

I cannot for the life of me focus for more than 1 week. My scales need new batteries, I haven't been going for walks and I have been regularly snacking on sweets and crisps and chocolate. I have had enough of myself, the pathetic woe is me needs to stop as this extra weight could seriously affect my health. I need to just suck it up and get on with it. Today I had 1,145 calories and managed to go for a short walk. Plenty done round the house too. It WILL be continuing tomorrow.

Well done to everyone else who has stayed firmly on the shiny new wagon, please feel free to throw tomatoes at my head, I am hanging it in shame ready for you all