Shorties trying to lose weight!

[SwimmingOnEggshells]

I started my fatbusting journey a couple of weeks ago and my plan is to document my progress here.

So far I've been doing a fair bit of cardio - 5 times per week - and I'm hoping this will help me get rid of some lbs. I posted a thread on AIBU looking for people's advice on only using exercise to lose weight but the general consensus is that no, I need to calorie restrict too. Boo! is what I say to that but maybe I need to face facts that I'm no longer a spring chicken and need to make a concerted effort with food too to shed anything!

Anyone want to join me?! @neverenoughchelseaboots

Current weight: 60kg/132lbs
Target: 50kg/110lbs
Height: 5'0 :(
Age: 39

Hello @RaskolnikovsGarret and @WellTidy welcome to our diminutive weight loss group.

@MrsAvocet hang in there. We all get blips and plateaus. As long as you're consistent it will come off. Probably slower than before, but it will come off with patience. Think of things in the long term!

My weekend wasnt too bad, I avoided excess but didn't exercise, also missed today because life got in the way.

My scales battery is gone which I need to rectify so no idea of potential weekend damage done, I shouldn't weigh every day anyway so no harm.

Re strategy mine has been no junk, three meals and exercise. Awaiting results!

I totally get the bingey thing when I count calories, it's like I try to sabotage my own good work? It's so strange! For me it's not sustainable to count calories forever, I just need to learn not to overeat or eat outside of meal times. It's so flipping hard because food is so yummy!!

Bloody Tesco have subbed a single kid's gingerbread man with a pack of Finest triple chocolate shortbread. And now it's all I can think about.

But I weighed myself this morning (even though you're absolutely right @SwimmingOnEggshells that daily weighing isn't good) and I was 9st 7.4lb. That's half a pound off my lightest since before I was pregnant three years ago. I soooo want to be there on Friday at proper weigh in.

@MrsAvocet sounds like a really stressful time so no wonder you're struggling. Hang on in there.

Hopefully this thread will help, it certainly has me over the last few days. I've never been this disciplined before.

Please can I join.
I’m 5’3”
Current weight: 10stone 3lb
I need to lose at least a stone to be back in my less stretchy clothes comfortably. This is the heaviest I have ever been when not pregnant

@Totallycluelessoverhere welcome! I'm also at my heaviest weight so you're in good company!

Yes I agree @neverenoughchelseaboots I'm being focused. I don't know how many times I've said to my husband I don't want chocolate! He keeps offering me choc when he's having some. Lovely of him of course but he's annoyingly one of these people who's always trim and never seems to put on weight! I look at chocolate and I put on a pound.

Today I killed it on my spin bike listening to really bad dance/techno for 55 min

Breakfast: coffee
Lunch: brown bread and smoked salmon
Dinner: pasta arrabiata...might've eaten a bit too much pasta...

Welcome totally :) and thanks for starting this thread swimming , I think being short makes a huge difference with weight loss, our calorie needs are irritatingly low. Have been v sensible, and half a pound down, which is pathetic - but better than up I suppose!

I know @cathyandclare, it's not fair!

I put batteries in my scales and I'm up 1/2 a pound on Friday, I'm raging! I'm hoping it's just a blip and I'm going to be super careful the next two days and hopefully my exercise will pay off.

Did another session on the bike this morning, 55 minutes this time and again I was properly sweating with a blotchy face so I have to be working hard. I plan on getting a secondhand fitbit to see if I can get a better handle on my calories burned. Consistency is key, I just need to remind myself of that...

@SwimmingOnEggshells if you just want a Fitbit to feed data to the app (rather than having full smart watch features etc) you can get them pretty cheap on eBay. But watch out if they have a heart rate monitor or not.

I didn't realise but the model I got has some with and some without and I got the one without. And annoyingly they're both pretty similar prices 😡

Snap! I have one and it also has no HR monitor. Will make sure the next one I get has one :)

Morning
Welcome to newbies!
Well done everyone for keeping on going.

I'm 4lb down this morning and have settled into the food plan a bit more. I can feel the difference in my clothes and I'm excited to be under 10 stone again finally!! I've increased the exercise but still need to do more, just so busy with kids and house at the moment.

I'm missing my wine still but during the day I have much more energy and I'm loving the disappearance of that sluggish mild hangover.

This whole thing has got me thinking about m my life in general and living how I want to live, being as happy as I can be. I used to think happy meant doing as I liked (eating, drinking) but I'm starting to realise that those things were actually stopping me feeling at peace with myself because the fact is, in my 40s, I can't get away with just doing as I like anymore!!!

I’ve found my people!! Please can I join?

I’m 5’1 and 56kg/8st9. Was 59kg in January.
I want to be 53kg which is my happy weight and 20.5 BMI, and it’s so hard shifting this last bit because at my size and frame your actual calorie needs are so low and other people don’t always understand. But that little extra really shows on me.

I’m doing calorie counting, 1400 per day, and aiming for 1lb off a week. I can’t bear exercise for exercise’s sake and I already have quite an active life so I’m hoping that will be enough..!

I was 53.9kg in May and felt amazing, but I’ve put some back on. I restarted 2 days ago!

Good luck everyone!!

I didn't do great on food yesterday:

Coffee for breakfast
Soup on its own for lunch
three onion bhaji and then a Patak's chicken curry and rice
Before bed I had a whiskey with water (better than wine for calories!) a random handful of gherkins and one slice of cheese

And i'm up 1 lb. I know I'm not calorie counting but surely that ^^ isn't too much food in one day?? I did nearly an hour on the exercise bike and I was working really hard!

I haven't mentioned this previously but I'm on an antidepressant and have been for nearly two years and in the last year the weight has piled on. They say the tablets don't cause weight gain but I think longer term there is evidence there is. In any case, I'm coming off them, I'm on half my dose now and I plan to be fully off them in a month. Fingers crossed my weight will start coming down when I'm off them completely!

@Beroltheperil well done! It's great to see results. And welcome @LittleLapwing

I’ve not had a good start. I have been surviving on less than 4 hours sleep the last few nights so heathy eating isn’t coming easy. Im going to start properly when I do the shopping tomorrow and can stock up on the right foods rather than the easy foods which I currently have in abundance.

Hi LittleLapwing, welcome to the group. I know exactly what you mean about it being difficult to drop intake sufficiently when you are small. I don't know how accurate these things are, but I did an online estimate of my basal requirements and it came out as about 1300 calories a day. Well a pound of fat is worth about 3500 calories, so to lose that in a week you need to be about 500 calories per day under your requirement. So I would only be allowed 800 per day, which I think would be downright dangerous for any length of time, not to mention unbearably miserable! When I was 70kg it was relatively easy to lose, but its tough now that I am so close to my target yet struggling to get there.
I'm aiming to eat 1000-1200 calories a day and do a bit of exercise so that I lose around a pound a fortnight now. Its kind of counterintuitive, but when you only have a relatively small amount of weight to lose it seems to be harder than when there's a lot to come off. Or that's my experience anyway!

Hi LittleLapwing, welcome and well done Berol!

I'm going to preen for a moment because I've managed to drop 3.5lbs! I know I'll have gone up for official weigh day tomorrow, so thought I'd get the good news in quickly. I'm being stricter with carbs, so it's probably all bloat- but my clothes feel a little less restrictive, so all good!

brilliant results @cathyandclare and @Beroltheperil

I don't think I'll be down this week either @SwimmingOnEggshells but sounds like you're exercising tons! I feel like I've had a really good week. So if I haven't dropped, I'll at least know I'm feeling better and getting into better habits.

I'm exactly the same @Beroltheperil - usually I'd have a wine or two in the evening but I'm so much more energetic in the mornings now. And that time I'd have been sat faffing on my phone and drinking, I've been reading, doing my nails, having a long bath - all the things I thought I didn't have time for.

@MrsAvocet if it helps, at my weight and height I lose a steady half pound to one pound a week on 13-1400 calories. Only steady loss but I can’t sustain 1000-1200, I go all fainty!

I’ve not had a great day but I’ve had a few good ones before this - and it needs to be sustainable :)

Hope everyone else has had a good day!

Do you have a day for weighing in?

Fridays @LittleLapwing

Last week was the first one, so you've not missed much!

And I totally agree about it needing to be sustainable. I went to the pub on Tuesday because I got the rare opportunity to. Only had one (large) wine, came home and had a shortbread but have been good the rest of the week. So it feels like a balanced lifestyle rather than depriving myself completely.

If I don't have balance I binge! I think as long as it's in moderation it's fine :)

Dreading weigh in tomorrow...!

Please may I join in? I'm 5ft and 48 years old with chronic knee problems (ex figure skater), so I need to be a lot lighter than I am. I've already lost a few pounds so:

Current weight - 134lbs
First Target - 126lbs
Realistic Final Target - 118lb
Dream Final Target (my knees would love me) - 112lb

I'm finding calorie counting seems to be working... I just need to keep going and going and going...

Of course @qwerty1972 hello! We've v similar stats :)

Welcome @qwerty1972!

@SwimmingOnEggshells yes definitely need moderation! Last time I dieted I was super strict, not a day off and weighed everything, even ketchup 😂
I thought I was doing really well, and I did lose lots of weight. But as soon as I stopped, it just all went back on super quickly as I just binged on everything I’d cut out for the past few months.

So this time round, I’ll be having the odd day off. The weight might come off slower, but hopefully I might actually have a chance of keeping it off!

@SwimmingOnEggshells I'm on antidepressants top, but long term unfortunately. I gained 1.5 stone over the first year of taking them. It's hard to say whether it was increased appetite or related to mood and anxiety but either way that was the situation. That's the weight I'm still trying to lose now. For me the weight was an unfortunate casualty of the situation and a sacrifice I was kind of willing to make since I was so ill, I just wanted to be well. Now after 5 years with the meds long term and my mental health very good I don't notice any particular impact on my appetite but I am finally ready to tackle the problem. Good luck to you. Take it very slowly tapering off the meds, I'm sure you'll get good advice on here if you look at the mental health board.