Remember, remember to lose in November - join in to lose 7lbs before the festive juggernaut kicks off!

[ponygirlcurtis]

We are determined to lose something in November - half a stone would be fab but realistically whatever you can. Come join us and be lighter by the start of December - what a great advent gift to yourself that would be!

We have as many different weight-loss approaches as we have posters, absolutely everyone welcome. Let's get started!

I didn't mean that at all Koko! I was just pointing out that yes, 2lbs a month is not heaps, but in a year it'd be almost 2 stone. If you haven't lost that much in that time period with your current methods, then slow-and-sure is the clear winner. It's all very well calculating how you can lose 2lb a week, and talking about doing 1300 calories a day, but if you can't actually do it then it's just moot.

I'm not trying to be harsh, just helpful. I flim-flammed for absolutely ages before I found something I could do, and I settled into a 0.5-lb-a-week plan, because I could just plug away at it. It took ages, but it did actually happen, which is more than could be said for all the juicing diets I did for four days before giving up on, and the gym membership to 'cancel out the calories' which I never actually used, and the low-carb which I managed for almost a fortnight. I talked and thought and read about ways to lose 2 stone really quickly and effectively, and meanwhile I wasn't losing a gram and was actually gaining.

And I promise-promise-promise you that when you find something that doesn't stress you out, it'll become totally routine (i.e. rather boring but at least not stressful!).

@kokoloco oh I know how it feels- I faded around for bloody years before I knuckles down. Like Quim slow and Stewart is what worked for me and once I did see the weight drop off steadily it motivated me
To do more. I lost close to 3 stone over a 9 month period and it has stayed off for almost 5 years now which is more than what I can say for any of my methods before.

What worked for me is thinking of changes I was making as lifetime changes and not a “I will do this till the weight comes off “ if that makes sense.

I finally found IF and portion control is what works for me. I went to a criticisms and she actually told me to only focus on diet changes I was making and not to weight myself for atleast two weeks and focus on non scale victories. I thought she was bonkers but actually stepping on the scale after two weeks of making healthy diet and life style changes - I had lost a pound Andy it felt good!

You will get there I promise - just find a way that works for you in the long term and not something that you struggle with to sustain.

Managed to lose a pound this month.... better than nothing I guess

Linda and Stewart: that annoying couple who live next door who you regret inviting in, because she loves to hang around even when it's clear you want her to leave, and he tells long, boring stories which hardly ever seem to go anywhere

I had lost a pound Andy it felt good!

...and Andy is the mate you phone up to celebrate the relief of their eventual departure with!

queenie I'd take that!

I seem to have gained 500g on last week Guess I won't be getting to goal before Christmas after all... I wonder why I'm not losing lately? I did eat a fair bit last night and we ended up eating quite late (9:15) but that's not unheard of for me and it was only chicken leek soup. I think I used to be stricter with myself about snacks and seconds. Maybe I need to incorporate that S diet people do to make it the Patented Quim 2:2:3:SSS diet...!

Koko I found the same thing as Autumn, that once I started to see the loss really consistently(ish) dropping off, even in tiny increments, it was really motivating for me. The losses really stack up, too - if you think about how little time seems to have gone by since we were all whinging about it being too damn hot, that was like 3-4 months ago, it just flies by, and once you start seeing small losses week-on-week, you do just naturally adjust your expectations down to "I want to see the next kilo bracket!" etc. In fact, you may remember me celebrating "new kilo brackets" a couple of years ago, I was only seeing a new one once a month or so so it was a momentous occasion! And it's gratifying to see a new kilo bracket just, by a whisker, and then a few weeks later to be fighting for a different kilo bracket, and reflect back "that other number I was so happy to see is old news now". It's a good feeling which I personally found very motivating, even though if you say "four pounds" or whatever, it sounds a bit lame. Just a question of perspective I guess.

I think one of the reasons you're so demoralised is that nothing you do is yielding real lasting results, so it feels like desperately swimming against a strong current - you can absolutely bust a gut and make a small amount of progress, but then you go "phew!" and relax and the current drags you back in half the time, and you have to start struggling again just to make up the same ground. I know exactly how that feels and it stymied me for absolutely ages as the whole thing just felt so hopeless. Once I found something I could stick to without as much effort, it was more like swimming through a stagnant swampy lake - boring and slow, but not a desperate struggle, and I got to enjoy new scenery along the way, with occasional real beauty spots (like when I got into my red dress again )

Hi everyone. Got back from London yesterday. I don't think I did too much damage although I did an impressive job on Saturday at the four seasons for afternoon tea .

I'll be back at the gym on Sunday so I'll weigh in then. Hope everyone is doing ok x

Given it’s been a sociable month it’s ok I guess!

@Quim 😂😂.

Well Stewart seems to the theme this month - weighed in 57.3 end of the month. 300 gms short of where I wanted to be but it’s my lowest in 5 months so I have decided to be pleased and keep going.

Ideally I want to lose another kg in next two weeks before I fly to India to meet family over the holidays.

There will be lots of food especially as we have a fabulous holiday planned with both sides of the family all coming together. I am

Do we have a December thread yet ?

@kokoloco the only thing my mind can think of is losing the last few pounds in the last month of the year? Not my best effort but I can’t cone up with anything else