Half a stone or 3kgs off in September!!

[cricketmum84]

Link to previous thread here: Half a stone (or 3kg) off for August!! http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weightlosss_chat/3652424-half-a-stone-or-3kg-off-for-august

Morning all! Welcome to the half a stone loss challenge for September. All are welcome whatever plan or method you are following. I'm mainly following ww online with some intermittent fasting thrown in for good measure!

All I ask is that we continue the uplifting positivity and support seen on previous threads! We cheerlead each other, celebrate success and support through the harder times.

We had a great month in August with lots of losses. I don't know about you lot but the longer this goes on the more it feels like a way of life for me now rather than "being on a diet"?

Stats for me are:
Starting weight: 19st 13
Loss for August: 14lbs
Loss for 2019: 5 st 3lbs
Target for September: 10lbs off

Ready for September??

❤️❤️

Morning everyone. This week has certainly gone quickly so far ! Really enjoying hearing people's daily updates and food plans. It's certainly helping me feeling that I am part of a community. Lots of support and encouragement being offered.
I have had a reasonable few days food wise. I had boiled eggs and wholemeal toast on 2 of the days and that kept me feeling full and away from any snacking way into the afternoon each day. Are eggs every day considered acceptable now ? I know it was always suggested you shouldn't have too many.
For the most part I am simply cutting down and trying to make better choices. Nothing is forbidden and I try not to give myself a hard time.
I had a lovely day yesterday trying on all my clothes and it was uplifting to fill a charity bag with things that are genuinely too big for me now.
2lbs down so far in the first 5 days despite eating a box of mint Matchmakers last night !! Onwards and upwards ( or should that be downwards ?) . I have a weekend of staying on the diet wagon to look forward to as I will be weighed on Monday at the doctors as part of the monitoring of my BP so no more Matchmakers for me !
have a great day everyone xx

Hi
I'm new.

I have been feeling a bit panicky about my steadily increasing weight and ideally would love to lose three stone. I have minor low blood sugar issues which complicate things slightly.

How does the 16:8 fast work? Can I still have a couple of coffees with milk in the 16 hour period? I think I can probably avoid eating from 7/7.30pm til 3pm with a couple of coffees (with milk) in between but I normally get a dull headache when my blood sugar drops. Are there my tips to avoid this, apart from drinking lots of water, which I do anyway? I dog walk around 3 miles a day in the morning so I find this a little difficult with low energy from not eating.

Any ideas or alternatives?

Thanks for your help!

How does the 16:8 fast work? Can I still have a couple of coffees with milk in the 16 hour period?

ideally not, but some of us do...
I just can't stomach a hot drink without milk in the morning it makes me feel queazy. so a teaspoon of milk in my tea/coffee it is...

Wehttam the lightest mayo is fine in strong tasting things. I tend to alternate with normal and light mayo, depending on where I'm shopping. DH prefers normal mayo, but can't tell if it is lighter, or just "not Hellman's" (marketing DREAM, that man!)

Confession time - after stressful day at work on Wednesday colleagues dragged me out to the pub. Three wines and a huge bowl of chips later, I went home and ate a healthy chickpea stew and baked rice but had pretty much undone all the healthy eating! So yesterday ate fruit during the day and had a normal dinner - lots of water as well. I'm pleased to say it did the trick as far as weight concerned!
Looking forward to a healthy weekend with yoga and running!

Thank you Redchocolate.

May I also ask if the 16:8 will still work to (albeit more slowly) if you eat lunch at the weekend? I get really grumpy when hungry and don't want to subject my family to this.

Also, do you eat normally in the /7/8 hour window or should you still be very careful? I find it near impossible to sleep if hungry so would prefer to be hungry at the start of the day.

How long does it start to work?

I'm feeling upset at the state I have let myself get into, so any help is hugely approached.

Wehttam I have never heard of that! Might have to give it a try. Sounds slightly terrifying though.

I am also monitoring fluid intake as of today. I think I drink a lot in the early part of the day, but frequently only have maybe a cup of tea between dinner and bed, and I'm guessing being well hydrated overnight will help my body process everything, and hopefully help the gut issue too. So I've marked 3 of my 10 cups of water for the day to be after 6pm, and will only count them if I manage that.

Aurea all the things you’re describing there like the headaches, feeling grumpy, not being able to sleep etc are simply the side effects of your body adjusting to less food.

As you seem to be feeling those quite badly, it might be an idea to build up to doing 16:8 a bit more gradually, so your body has time to adjust. So you could for example start by only eating during a 12 hour window, and reduce that window by an hour a week until you hit 16 hours?

Personally I calorie count, as well as do 16:8, but if you eat a reasonably healthy diet you don’t really need to. One of the reasons 16:8 works is because it’s actually quite a challenge to eat that many calories in an 8 hour window! I’m sure it’s possible, but most days I have to add in extra snacks just to make sure I make it up to 1400 kcal.

I’ve found 16:8 to be pretty flexible. If you want to have the occasional day off it’s really not a problem. I also tend to have a slightly different eating window at the weekend, which again is not a problem. I can definitely recommend it.

My plan for today is to have my usual spicy bean wraps for lunch and a bit of an Indian feast for dinner; homemade dhal, chickpea and spinach curry and rice.

I haven’t made up my mind about today’s snacks yet, but the Chronometer app tells me I’ll be low on calcium and potassium today, so I guess I better eat a yoghurt and a banana at some point 😂

I haven't weighted myself yet. Will do it on Tuesday. I broke a tooth on Monday night and have to get treatment done so can only eat soups/yogurt at the moment. That will help my weightloss I suppose. Will see on Tuesday. I must look into 16:8. Well done to all so far

Can I join??? I went on an all inclusive holiday for two weeks, came home on the 1st of September, horrified at the amount of weight I'd put on I was overweight to start with....

I desperately need to shift some weight, can't really afford £5 a week for SW so going it alone. First weeks weigh in tomorrow after almost breaking the scales last Saturday

My week so far

Saturday Jesus I've never been so heavy

Sunday roast chicken dinner, just the good stuff

Monday pft interview and hungry, meant two flapjacks and two vodka and slimline tonic to celebrate

Tuesday yay a proper healthy day

Wednesday yay another healthy day (but ate too much if my daughters chocolate

Thursday a healthy day but hit the Nutella jar at night

Friday going out for lunch

HollyTheHarrier I think you're right - I need to mentally put the money I'm saving through not drinking/eating crap into a fund for something bigger. Won't get me the instant gratification but it might be the solution long-term. I also need to keep myself busy in the evenings - getting back into crochet or cross-stitch means my hands are full, which stops me from eating and drinking mindlessly in front of the TV.

Today will be a bit of a write-off - Friday pub lunch with work and then out for dinner as well. Will just have to try and make good choices - I was down 3lbs when I weighed myself this morning so really don't want to wreck it all tonight!

*CraazyCat
*
Thank you for your advice and kindness.

The regime does sound pretty doable.

Do you know when the symptoms of grumpiness and headaches go?
Also, does it reduce your metabolic rate long term by abstaining?

How long will it take to see results?

If I say have 100 calories milk in the morning, will this reduce the overall effectiveness of the regime apart from taking into account the extra calories. I do like my milky coffee in the morning!!

Thank you @cricketmum84! Landed and trying to make healthy choices, though I did succumb to some Pringles on the plane (utterly delicious and worth every overpriced penny!)

This morning: 2 slices delicious local bread with tomatoes, some sliced cheese. One black coffee, lots of water.

Good morning all,
Healthy week so far but weekend is always my downfall so need to try not to break diet and then binge on everything in sight. Will allow myself a couple of treats and stop...
@Wanderlusting99 Biggest Loser is my guilty pleasure but I found Bea Wilson's book -How we learn to eat, really interesting. Goes really in depth into how we form relationships with food etc. As a disordered eater herself who has come out the other side its positive too. In fact I'm going to re read it.

Also @Vebrithien well impressed with you having chocolate left over from Easter!

Scrambled egg with red onion, spinach, red and yellow pepper and some bagged salad on the side. Wasn’t bad, although took me a while to eat it as it was so crunchy! I’m eating lunch earlier and earlier in an attempt to stop snacking on so much fruit but I think it’s just shifting the issue to later in the day. Might be something for me to adjust next week.
Having a low calorie bolognese for dinner with veg.
Will make sure I drink plenty of water today as I’m sure I’m a bit dehydrated. Have a good day everyone.

How does everyone cope with eating on an evening? I can be perfect all day, but get really strong sugar cravings about 8pm.

My dh is in bed as he works shifts, the dc are asleep so it's only me, crap telly and the dogs - and last night a jar of Nutella and a teaspoon

Aurea I found that the headaches and grumpiness disappeared pretty quickly, in no more than a week or so. Getting used to feeling a bit hungry took longer, but as long as you tell yourself that it’s just normal and a sign that your diet is working, it’s much easier to deal with.

As I understand it, the biggest advantage of intermittent fasting is that it does not slow down your metabolism long term. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen mention of it speeding up your metabolism for the first few weeks or months.

As to when you might see results, it kind of depends on the results you’re after and how much weight you have to lose. I did normal calorie counting first and switched to 16:8 when my weightloss stalled. After the switch, I lost about 1 kg/2 lbs a week for a few weeks, slowing down to about 0.5kg/1 lbs as I got closer to a healthy BMI.

WhoKnewBeefStew I’ve found that just drawing a firm line around the times I eat made a big difference. I always stop eating at 8 and over time that’s trained my brain into also stopping to think about food after 8!

But it does take time to get to that point. Other things that helped me is making sure I have a filling and tasty evening meal. I get hungry so fast if I eat bland food, so I go a bit crazy on the spices and herbs these days

At the start, I also tried to keep myself busy with things that meant I couldn’t snack. And I have a large selection of teas, so I always have something interesting to drink.

@WhoKnewBeefStew
have that spoon of nutella (just the one) directly after dinner - then brush your teeth.

Thank you Crazzycat. Doing ok today so far. Just a coffee with a bit of milk.

Am trying to hold out til 2pm before I eat, but I can smell cheese on toast that my son is making (he's waiting to start uni) so this is SO hard.

I'll report back. Very many thanks for your support.

@Aurea I’d suggest watch Dr Fung on you tube or reading a book. My favs are the obesity code by Dr Fung or delay don’t deny by Gin Stephens.

To answer your questions- unwanted side effects are usual while your body adjusts to fasting. I’d suggest like a pp suggested to build up to 16 hours by fasting 12 hours, then 14 then 15 until your reach 16 hours. I find it quite easy as I eat 9-5. I don’t calorie count.

As far as fasting ‘rules’ it depends what you want to do and what suits your body. I only have water and black coffee and tea. People who are more strict only have water water because technically the organs have to work to break down coffee and send the caffeine around the body etc.
Others are more relaxed and will have a small amount of milk or cream in coffee. It’s called a ‘dirty’ fast. The reason I don’t do this (I actually HATE black coffee) is because I’ve read that consuming a small amount of calories will make you feel more hungry until the end of your fast.

Try out the milk in your tea. See how your body responds. If you find that you don’t shift weight then you can always try cutting it out ☺️

Hello, can I join? I've been following SW for about a year. I've lost 2.5stone in that time - it really could have been more but I put on at Xmas/Easter/summer (I'm a teacher!) so I've been hovering around a similar weight for a while now. Really want to lose more as going to Florida next summer which is my best motivator! I'm a very slow loser but I know in the long term it adds up.

My starting weight was 13st12 (think it may have been more but I started watching my food for a couple of weeks before I started SW)
Current weight is 11st5
My target for September is to get to 11st 🌟