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

@PusheenLove me too until the 1st jan. I realised I was having 4 chocolate bars worth of wine a night though so did dry jan to reset and hoped to get back to only drinking a couple of glasses a night as it was really creeping up. But it's gone way beyond that I've really enjoyed it. Interestingly on the dry jan thread it's a common theme - lots of people extending it to 100 days.

@Beroltheperil Good to hear from you but sorry you're feeling rubbish. I decided to have more veggie meals last jan and over the last few months I've got better at varying them and getting into the swing of things (and working out which aren't mainly cheese!).

A couple of favourites for me are:
Ottolenghi pea and za'atar fritters. (More summery but lovely and fresh and flavoursome)

Jamie Oliver's pumpkin and chickpea Sicilian stew (but I use standard squash)

Any sort of dhal.

We were eating fish but are naturally starting to cut right back on that too as the veggie repertoire grows. It was a very useful transition though to stop us getting bored and going back to meat.

Although fish tacos are on the menu for tonight 😋. Lunch is a week's worth of leftover veg blended into soup. Not that appealing!

@neverenoughchelseaboots wuuuuuuuuu?? How much wine were you drinking?

I can eat really well during the 8 part of 16/8 and keep well within my projected calories for the day . But even after a substantial healthy meal and yog and fruit I immediately am craving either chocolate and/or crisps and then easily could sabotage the day. Any tips apart from not having them in the house? I’m even breaking off a piece of the dark cooking chocolate in my baking department some nights!
Really odd how the body works isn’t it? I can go weeks on the wagon and be so happy with the progress I’m making and then if I fall off I can’t get back on until the cravings have gone. Definitely sounds like an addiction when I write it down like that.

A bottle per evening and apparently it's equivalent to a chocolate bar per glass. Perhaps 2/3rds of a bottle some nights but an extra glass on a weekend.

I was always half a bottle max and not every night but the last few months just really crept up in an unconscious attempt to make lockdown more interesting. Glad I've got it in hand again though.

@knittingnanny to break the habit of eating in the evenings I went to bed very early and watched tv on my laptop in bed. It kept me away from the kitchen! it really worked and I don't tend to snack as much in the evenings like I used to do.

@Knittingnanny I have this problem from time to time. When did you last eat choc/crisps? I find the longer I go without them, the less I crave them. They are intended to be addictive.

Also, if you have an issue with binging (I do), I can highly recommend the book Never Binge Again. I went months binge-free thanks to that.

@neverenoughchelseaboots every time I attempt a bottle I throw up I always assumed it was my height.

On the topic of , have you tried Aldi wine? Best wine I've ever had.

Ooh thanks I’ll see if I can put it on my kindle
I can go about 6/8 weeks without choc/crisps and if I succumb it’s like going back to square one. None in the house now ( except the cooking stuff which I’ll use up with the grand children next time and not replace it
Before my husband retired and was working shifts, when he was on nights I made him put the chocolate in the car and take it to work so I didn’t eat it all whilst home alone! That makes me sound a true addict!
I was talking to a former colleague this week, she was one of my lovely LSA s and we were laughing about us filling up the children’s Easter baskets with mini eggs after school each year and eating any that were cracked/broken/funny colour. The ladies in the office often asked if we had more children in our class than anyone else as we seemed to get through more of the big jars than anyone else!

if I succumb it’s like going back to square one

Indeed, and they are designed to produce that effect. "Once you pop, you can't stop".

And I can probably trump you in the addict stakes. Once I poured washing up liquid over left-overs so I wouldn't be tempted to over-eat

The book is free on kindle so I’ve downloaded it and will read it tonight

@Knittingnanny do let me know your thoughts on the strategy he recommends.

Will do

@neverenoughchelseaboots thanks for the veggie reccos!

I totally get the wine thing. Mine has crept up too and it makes me feel shocking the next day plus is driving the weight gain. But the first 2 glasses are so enjoyable that I want more .... greedy! I was doing well with it back before xmas, just need to get back in the zone somehow

Berol that’s exactly me with chocolate! My husband can just have one or two and can’t understand how I can’t do the same. I’m teetotal but can relate to this scenario. I think I’ve been like it all of my adult life.
The number of Christmas chocolate/ coins/ tree chocs / selection boxes I’ve replaced over the years...

I have a very addictive personality too - hence why I gave up drinking around 16 months ago.. I just can't stop at 1 or 2 glasses of wine, has to be the whole bottle.. and then some more.

I'm the same with crisps, chocolate, biscuits... I just can't moderate! So I have to tell myself not to have any at all, because once I start it's a slippery slope..

I'm 4 weeks into my 6 week 'healthy eating' stint and haven't touched any junk but I am definitely missing it!

Pusheen, thanks for book recommendation, I’ve read the first few chapters but it’s absolutely not my thing! But it has inspired me to have a good look on Amazon to see if there any others I might enjoy reading
Thanks though

Oh well, it was worth a shot.

Absolutely.
Had a reasonable weekend on the mindful eating front but given myself a week off weighing as wasn’t that careful during the week.
Had a wet and windy not very pleasant stroll along the seafront but only managed 4000 steps overall today so hoping to increase that tomorrow.
Best wishes to all of you preparing for another week of homeschooling. I’m going to do something non food based for my afternoon contribution this week!

What happened? Did a tall person crash our thread?

Haha, maybe @knittingnanny

I'm pretty silent here because I'm struggling to stay on track. Plus the bike in still in the shed...

Today I had coffee, soup, egg and stir fry with rice and about 6 milk trays. I overdid it on the weekend too. Must. Try. Harder.

Ha ha ha @Knittingnanny I like to think it's that 

@SwimmingOnEggshells me too. I've been really hungry this week, up until this point I've never deprived myself to the point of being hungry. But I made letter biscuits with DD at the weekend to learn some spellings. So now they're hanging about they're too easy to reach for! I can resist cake and crisps but biscuits - not so much!

I quite enjoyed the month long challenge of dry January so have decided to give myself one for February - to do 150 miles on my Fit Bit.

My hope is that it gets me out running as that will be the quickest way to clock up the distance but I also have walks that count to it and if the weather is bad, the step machine.

Can I join? I’m 5’1, not sure how much I weigh as I don’t have scales but would like to lose enough feel comfortable again so I think around a stone but I’ll know when I get there without scales.

I’m doing exercise daily and trying the 16/8 regime

Sounds like a good plan @Fembot123. On 16:8 I lose weight even without exercise, but I've stalled lately. January lockdown has made things doubly hard.

Fair play @neverenoughchelseaboots you must feel great being alcohol-free. Do you find your skin is any better? Brighter complexion?