HI everyone, and welcome (or is it welcome back?) to Downton! I recognise the name, haven't you been here before?
I became like a hobbit with breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses etc
This really made me laugh 
Elloello I did, it was my Patented Quim 2:2:3 diet! 4 golden days composed of 2 fast days, interspersed with 2 low-carb-sensible-eating days, each with a hefty whack of steps; then three days (Fri-Sun) of anything-goes. It certainly helps me keep on top of things, and usually means any gains are countered pretty quickly if I'm focused. I know what you mean about the mental energy of meal planning - I know it's not the healthiest and certainly not the cheapest thing, but I often go for supermarket soups to remove any temptation and mental effort: the Yorkshire Provendor roast chicken soup is something absurd like 300 calories for the entire tub and it's really delicious. I usually keep one in the freezer to just drag out when I can't be bothered / am eating alone. I think I'd try and focus on Monday-Thursday and try and find four low-effort things you can either eat together or adapt. So if your kids have a day a week when they have something simple like beans on toast or omelette, they could have that whilst you have a pre-prepped our bought soup or ready meal; you could have one day where you bung something in the slow-cooker and chuck some rice / pasta / jacket potato in for them to have alongside it; one day where you do a chicken & veg traybake, etc. I'm sure we could come up with some suggestions. Another option, of course, and I don't want to encourage this so much as suggest it, would be you skipping dinner one night to remove temptation altogether. Cooking when you can't eat is torture (I find), so you'd have to have something ready for the kids which could go straight in the oven. I find Monday the easiest day to resist food as I'm still full from the weekend, and usually feeling chubby and determined! That way you could also put something together for the kids, like a lasagne or a fish pie, on the Sunday, and then it'd just be in and out of the oven to feed them. Just an idea of course but it could relieve some of the mental load whilst kickstarting some weight loss.
Kick it's really really flipping hard right now. Lockdown has gone from scary to exasperating, it's summer but it doesn't feel like a normal summer, it's damnably hot, and you've had all that beastly HRT to deal with as well as house guests, I am not surprised you're struggling. As Red aptly reminds us, it's all so HARD AND BORING (I think it was some else who wailed "WHY IS IT SO HARD AND BORING?" and I decided that should be our light-hearted mantra.) I'm still half a stone heavier than my lightest, and except for a brief (probably stress-induced) miracle at the start of Lockdown back in April, have been consistently stuck 1-2kg over my "happy weight" all summer - I'm reasoning that the world is so barmy right now, it's more or less inevitable, and I'll worry about it when things aren't so unpredictable.
Everyone's made such a great start, well done on the losses! 4.5lb is amazing paws, what a lovely boost. I saw a 300g drop on Friday which means I'm treading water with reasonable success, so I'm happy enough with that. I had to FORCE myself to get any steps done yesterday, it was so horrendously hot and I felt absolutely rotten, sweaty and floppy and exhausted. I think I overdressed which didn't help. On the plus side I drank huge volumes of water, and am attempting the same today. I had intended to get some earlier stepping done today before it heated up but it didn't happen, so I'll just have to see how I go and make up for it when it cools down. Roll on next week, I'm much happier back down in the 20s. I've got this week and next week to be golden, then another week to be not golden at all, so hoping to at least see a couple more small losses, then start September back at square one...!