Anyone need to lose a stone or less and needs motivation?

[Flippetydip]

Not that I can provide the motivation but hey ho, I thought perhaps if there were more of us it might help!

I'm currently 10 stone 12 and 5 foot 7. My fighting weight is 10 stone and I would like to get back down to this.

Lockdown has seen me put on at least half a stone. A bad back has seen me stop running and lack of school runs means a distinct deduction in time on my feet.

Anyone else in the same boat?

[Lurkingforawhile]

mouth fulls

[houseforanartlover]

Well done @BorsetshireBlueBalls, that's great! I've also been losing/regaining the same half kilo for months so I feel the frustration. When you make a bit of proper progress, it's so much more motivating!

[clippityclop]

Thanks for this thread. I put in half a stone over Christmas and it's stuck on my belly and tops of thighs and growing thanks to lockdown baking and having more snacky stuff in the house to keep skinny teens happy. Seriously worried I won't fit into my summer clothes. Trying to walk more and do minimum two yoga classes a week.

[FiveShelties]

Please may I join. I have gained around 4 pounds over the last two months and don't want to gain another 4 over the next two months.

I am excellent until around 6pm then out comes the wine, then dinner, later is ice cream or cheese and crackers! I have found it interesting how quickly I have lapsed into bad habits - only wish it was as easy to lose those bad habits again.

So from today, more water - less wine. No silly eating after dinner. Am already walking but will walk a little faster and a little further.

[PeasandCucumbers]

Morning all. I have now done a full 7 days, weighing and logging everything that passes my lips. Where there has been any doubt I have recorded calories on the high side.

At the same time I have recorded the calories my Apple watch says I have used. I don’t wear it at night so although I realise that I won’t be burning many calories while I sleep I will be using some.

I’ve walked just under 79,000 steps, so averaging 11,000 per day so have been pretty active on top of some yoga and two Couch25k sessions.

Based on above my calorie deficit for the week is 4,686, but I honestly think it is a bit higher than that. My weight loss for the week is 1.2lbs.

I hope this isn’t disheartening for anyone but for me it is a reality check of how hard (or maybe just slow!) loosing weight is. I’m 46 but am post menopause and I really don’t think that helps. I am determined that I am going to do this so am trying to mentally prepare myself for the long haul and to be realistic with my expectations. I guess it also doesn’t help that we don’t have much to lose and are starting from a healthy BMI (albeit right at the top for me!)

I’m pleased, I’ve lost weight 😁 But to get to goal is going to take me until the middle of August so I’ll be here for a while!!!

[houseforanartlover]

@PeasandCucumbers Thanks, that's really useful to see it laid out like that. Well done so far!

[Lurkingforawhile]

@PeasandCucumbers massive well done. That's such great discipline. I'm 41 and conscious that it becomes harder ever year, and from what I've seen on here the menopause makes it much harder, which is giving me an incentive to do it now!

[dudsville]

I've been lurking, whenever i join these threads i end up dropping out but I've been trying to lose weight for about 3 weeks now and thought i could say hi!

At first i was just increasing exercise but I've added in calorie counting. I've got over the initial hurdle of adapting to the changes to my diet.

I'm 5'7" and was 12.6 stone, I'm now 12 stone and want to get to 11. At that weight I'm still hourglass and i like that and feel good. I'm not "eating" any calories i burn, just considering that a bonus. I'm low carbing and the only not healthy thing I'm having is alcohol.

[clevername]

I've had similar realisations, @PeasandCucumbers... My first week of doing 5:2, I felt so deprived and worthy and I genuinely expected to have lost about 5 lbs! I didn't lose anything (in fact, I think I put on a lb) and felt so demotivated. But when I looked into it and did some reading I accepted that this wasn't going to be an overnight thing.

I've got a very similar attitude to you, @BorsetshireBlueBalls - too much deprivation just won't work for me. Being realistic about what I'm prepared to do, as well as the resultant progress is the only way to go I think. Slow and steady wins the race, I suppose.

Although, me knowing this doesn't quite stop the disappointment at the lack of any progress. I doubt I'll be able to stop myself jumping on the scales all the time but I just have to keep reminding myself of the bigger picture.

[BorsetshireBlueBalls]

OK, from the camp of those who swear by small and sustainable adjustments: last night I substituted my 20g of dark chocolate for 10g, equating to three little squares which I could let dissolve slowly in my mouth and make last (I think I'm thinking too much about this...) Lots of pleasure, half the calories. @Lurking - yes, it's about the first few mouthfuls!

A tip I read, which I think makes sense, is that you should not have more than one portion of any food stuff per day. This ensures a wide range of nutrients and helps prevent getting too dependent on/obsessed by a particular type of food. So, today I had a slice of sourdough toast with a small amount of cheese and some tomatoes for breakfast (eaten after 11), which means no more cheese or bread for me today. (I don't suppose the tomatoes really matter too much, but my aim is to eat a variety of fruit and veg, and the principle of not repeating helps with that).

[Lurkingforawhile]

@BorsetshireBlueBalls that's a great idea about variety of foods. I tend to have a very unvaried diet - and I virtually never get my five a day.

[Cathy31]

I finally remembered to weigh myself today. 51.3kg, so I have about 3-4kg to lose to get back to pre-pregnancy weight (I am very short). Not feeling that optimistic about it today, probably because I ate so much at lunch. A run this afternoon will hopefully help - I think I'm finally getting to that stage where I almost look forward to it! I like the idea of having only one portion of anything each day @BorsetshireBlueBalls. That means no more yoghurt, or nuts, or bread, or dried fruit, or oatcakes for me - all things I snack on constantly.

[Lurkingforawhile]

@cathy31 I wish my snacking was as healthy as yours! It has given me some ideas though

[prettygreenteacup]

I fell down a chocolate hole today 😭 cannot stop!! I always struggle depending on the time of the month

[BorsetshireBlueBalls]

I wonder if the narrow range of foods is linked to ideas of control and fear about food? Way back in the day, when I did have a lot of emotional issues around food, I would eat the same thing every day, because I felt that I would at least not gain weight. But - in my case - it led to overeating because, with repetition, the food lost its flavour and capacity to satisfy me. So I would need more of it, or more of other foods on top. Anyway, I think it worth trying the 'once a day' only as a way of countering that tendency.

[clippityclop]

Lurking - the menopause definitely has an evil hand in this. Something to do with oestrogens dropping off. If anyone had knowledge to share please do. Meanwhile the zip on my jeans keeps sliding open.
Sugar free Alpen and semi skimmed for breakfast with a few blueberries, banana mid morning, about four spoons of leftover rice noodle veg and steak stir fry for lunch, a mini picnic bar and a cup of tea after work, jacket spud cauli cheese, roast smoked gammon and peas for dinner. There will be no wine, honest.

[Cathy31]

@Lurkingforawhile, haha, yes it's all healthy food but that might be why I eat it in such huge quantities I eat more calories in snacks than in any one meal, really want to stop that!

Today was ok - muesli, apple and yoghurt for breakfast,

• oatcake mid morning
• green veg soup, bread and butter, and 2 dried figs for lunch, plus a homemade biscuit - would have been rude to refuse...
• yoghurt and 3 Brazil nuts mid afternoon
• a chickpea and spinach curry and rice for dinner.

I'm pretty sure I've forgotten something there, but I definitely got 5 portions of veg and 2 of fruit, and I did a 30min run and a 10min stretch video from YouTube - trying to get my splits back after 10 years! So I'm feeling healthy. Aim this week is to really reduce if not cut snacking between lunch and dinner. Written down it all looks fine but a lot of what I ate today was grazing. I think if I can just stop that, I'll get back to my target weight gradually and be able to maintain it because of healthier habits.

[Lurkingforawhile]

So I've been doing my food journal for a couple of weeks now which has been really useful. Clearly the issue for me is the time between lunch and dinner which is when all.my snacking takes place. The worst situation is when I eat snacks whilst preparing dinner and then am too full but feel guilty so have to eat dinner. And then feel too full I haven't got the solution yet, although I know I can't be trusted with cookies or crisps in the house.

[AIMD]

Just bought some new, more accurate, scales.

Now I’m depressed!!

[greytminds]

@cathy31 I also eat all my calories in snacks. I am a total grazer. My meals are usually fairly healthy but I cannot stop dipping in to the cupboard! I also tend to eat toddler’s leftovers.

I did day one of a juice cleanse today. I was supposed to start it on Tuesday but the delivery was delayed. It’s been fine. I had to have a handful of almonds at about 3pm as I was flagging but to be fair I felt pretty good, once I got past the banging headache that came on early morning and lasted for a few hours. I’m probably much more hydrated than I usually would be, as I’m totally rubbish at drinking water. Going to do a second day tomorrow and Saturday up until lunchtime, then I will treat myself to a celebratory light meal on Saturday night. I’m hoping it will act as a reset for some of my bad habits! Having a peppermint tea and then heading to bed for an early night.

I have been thinking about the changes I need to make. Apart from the obvious overconsumption of crap, I am also cutting down on dairy alternatives and carbs more generally as I realised that these had been featuring more and more in my diet. I find myself making carb heavy meals like risotto because todddler DD will eat it, and then eating a load myself.

Bought an Apple Watch (happy early 40th to me!) but need to set it up and haven’t had time until now. I really need to find the motivation to start exercising again.

[Cathy31]

@greytminds @Lurkingforawhile we can conquer the snack habits. I've done it before - went literally years not being a habitual snacker. Morning sickness and sleep deprivation changed that, but I know it's in me!

Today:
Breakfast - muesli, yoghurt, apple
Lunch - green veg soup, bread and cottage cheese, homemade biscuit
4 hazelnuts mid afternoon
about 10 salted nuts before dinner
Dinner - veg curry and rice, a scoop of ice-cream
2 oatcakes

It's no less food than yesterday, but it all felt more conscious, so hopefully it'll be easier to cut stuff...

[Lurkingforawhile]

@cathy31 the only way I've managed not to snack before is when I had a clear brace in and couldn't! Any tips? I really feel it's the solution

[AIMD]

Anyone here really struggling with low mood since changing food habits. I’m wondering if it’s a sugar things or mental thing (not feeling satisfied). I’ve been proper grumpy!

[Lurkingforawhile]

@AIMD it's a tough time at the moment for a lot of people, so it could be that as well as maybe less sugar? Be kind to yourself

[greytminds]

Just low mood generally here AIMD....although I was definitely using sugar and treats as a pick me up, so it’s harder when that’s not an option.

I have shitty hayfever. Have been awake since 2.30am, after being woken up by DD and then unable to get back to sleep before she was up for the day at 5.20am. Day 2 of the juice cleanse. Not missing meals really but missing snacks and treats! Not been all that hungry really, considering.