Moving down in May

[Octopus37]

So here's the new thread for tomorrow, excuse the boring title. Unless a miracle happens by tomorrow, I will be starting the month heavier than I started April. Weigh 9st1.5. Aiming for 8st13. Hopefully things might start to change in May. even if its only slightly, which will lift our spirits.

Stop I think I’d be really happy to get to bouncing around between 10st 7 and 11st but that’s a long way off. For now I’m just happy to be losing rather than endlessly gaining and feeling powerless to stop

Hi guys so had the first super healthy day in a while today which feels great. BUT I tried on a couple of new swimsuits I’d ordered in the sale and they looked awful! Feeling demoralised but trying to remind myself that realistically I won’t be in a costume for quite a while so I have time right?!

@mimi nothing wrong with you, it's just that the swimming costume didn't suit you, please don't take it personally. It's like putting peas in porridge - the peas are nice, the porridge is nice, but just not together. Honey and porridge though, yum!

B: Yoghurt
L: Chicken noodle soup
D: Spaghetti Bolognese
S: Fresh pineapple, Reese's peanut butter cup, 1 stick of a kinder bueno

Well done on your healthy day Mimi. I know that if I want to make myself cry then I should go bra shopping. I'm guessing it's the same with swimwear for you...It's gotta be the toughest metric to measure ourselves by, right?! There aren't enough sarongs.

Hey Mimi don't feel bad about swimming costumes. I bet you look better than you think and anyway the main point is that you can swim without your boobs falling out.

I'm having a tough day trying to stick to calories. Didn't leave enough for the afternoon, but I'm weighing myself tomorrow. I'll be sad if I've not lost any weight, but also the urge to just eat is strong.

Thanks all for the support. I like the peas/porridge analogy! I think I’m going to concentrate on having a healthy month of good food and exercise and then I’ll try costumes again - hopefully with a better result. Iggle I have two kiwis after an early dinner - the seratonin helps you sleep and I find them quite filling too or you could have a small banana. I often just go to my bedroom really early as I know I won’t be tempted to eat after that.

Evening everyone... I write this with a very full stomach! Chinese takeaway for dinner after a healthy week and totally worth it.

Weighed 10st 7 this morning, which is a 2lb loss for this week and 9lb in total over the last 6 weeks. I think I've had a good week because I'm mid cycle, wouldn't be surprised if I plateau for a few weeks now.

Today's food...

B banana, 2 coffees
L porridge with blueberries
D 5 chicken skewers in satay sauce, tonnes of prawn crackers
S 2 apricots
Zero exercise

Hope everyone has had a good day, whether that means super healthy or going with what you fancy

That's fantastic! @Hangoverstruggles you must be so pleased :)

Hey congratulations @Hangoverstruggles you've reached your goal!

Well done @Hangoverstruggles! That's amazing!
I weighed in this morning too, I've lost half a pound, which is better than nothing I suppose. I'm now a total of 13lbs down since I started, which is great, I do feel better for it, but bloody hell I'm getting sick of dieting now in this slow wobbly way.
I'm still not down to what a couple of years ago was my trigger weight to start a diet. I could do with a kick up the arse.

Well done @iggle

I know what you mean. I feel like I've been dieting on and off all my life. But I'm trying to think of this as a healthy lifestyle change, just with a few fewer calories at the moment

Well done Hangover and Iggle, thats great. Stopfunding, pasta grannies sounds great, will have to look it up. I'm another one that doesn't think low carb is sustainable; I have done it a couple of times and had initial fast results, but life is far too short for no carbs. 9st2 for me this morning, as ate pizza and Birthday cake. Still winging it really as I've got so much going on at the moment. Hope everyone is enjoying this lovely weather.

Has anyone got any thoughts on diet breaks?

I've just seen explaining a couple of research articles. It's only 8 mins long but a quick summary is this:
2 experimental groups, instructed to eat at the same caloric deficit. Group 1 straight dieting for for 16 weeks.
Group 2 for 30 weeks but alternating between 2 weeks dieting and 2 weeks eating at maintenance calories.

Group 2 lost 50% more fat and suffered 50% less metabolic slowdown than group 1 and had 80-90% more fat loss at 6 month follow up.

Now this is only one study and was on obese males so limiting how much we can apply it to females of varying weights but it's interesting. I'd be vaguely interested in reading it to see if the difference was at all related to group 1 giving up on their diets more.

From that study, it seems like a great idea. A worry that I would have about implementing a diet break though would be getting back on the wagon afterwards.

Have you watched any Jordan syatt? He says that breaks can be helpful and explains why. I'm definitely planning some breaks in (and have had breaks already during this process) - it's a marathon of lifestyle change, not a sprint. For me, it means still eating sensibly just not counting every little thing , I personally need breaks to give myself a mental break from it all and start again when I feel like it. I'm planning to take a break as soon as I stop bothering to count calories / syns properly, for me that means that I need a bit of space away from it for a while, and that's ok

You're doing so well @Octopus37, all sounds very sensible to me :)

I also find breaks are helpful in establishing a way to maintain my weight. If I eat too much then I'll gain, so it's important to me to find a way to maintain now and again as that's my long term goal

Hmmm, that's interesting about breaks. Do you keep weighing in each week to keep track of it?

I don't know. I think I'd be reluctant to do it for more than a week at first. I guess I wouldn't trust it or myself...

I am going to give it a try though. Not completely sure when, if I manage to get to 10.7 this week then I'll take a break next week.

Yes I still weigh in, and I still try to eat healthily. It's DP birthday soon so may have a break that week, will see if I feel like one. I like the idea of a whole week or two or three off rather than a 'cheat' day - I think a cheat days make me feel like I've failed and then I will blow out the whole week, whereas knowing I have a set amount of time to relax means I don't go so crazy

Think it’s similar to the fasting in the sense that you’re mixing things up so your body doesn’t just adjust to eating 1200 cals and slow down bmr to that level.

Well done to losers
If you do the same thing for a long time the body accepts it as the new norm. If you mix things up it kind of tricks the system.

It worked last time I needed to lose weight about 7 or 8 years ago so I’m hoping it works again on the fat explosion I’ve had over the last year.

Still xst10 today which is ok. Didn’t sleep well and actually went out for a decent walk at about 3am so it’s going to be a lazy day and I’m going to allow myself a couple of beers. Beers are the nemesis of my weight loss but day off.

The break weeks idea is really interesting. Definitely something to think about.

I started this process 6 weeks ago, slow steady losses each week apart from one week where I had a break for mine and DH birthdays (fall in the same week). I gained 2lb in that week, which demotivated me, but actually, in the 2 weeks since then have lost the extra 2 plus another lb so feels like the break did give my metabolism a bit of a boost? Who knows!

My challenge will always be finding a way of maintaining sensibly. I don't want to be a calorie bore for ever!!

Keep going everyone. It's a gorgeous day!

Hmm I'm always sceptical about metabolism and body getting used to things etc. But it just think it's so real life - sometimes we will have weeks where we just want a few extra treats and that's fine! :)

I've definitely had several breaks since I started in January 2019 and I think it's a great way of adapting to maintenance. There's no way I'd have been able to carry on for the length of time I have without them. The only problem is that you have to be very strict with yourself so that a break week doesn't slide into a couple of weeks...into a month...into a few months...but then I suppose that's life!

The only problem is that you have to be very strict with yourself so that a break week doesn't slide into a couple of weeks...into a month...into a few months...

See this is what happens around Christmas for me. I plan on skipping the diet at Christmas. Which starts on the 1st of December right? End of November is practically December. Mid November is basically Christmas season, there's Christmas lights up in the street...then the diet starts again in January. 😕 😔