Vanity pounds to lose - any takers?

[PrincessConsuelaBH]

So I have approx. 15lbs to lose to get back to my comfortable weight and for my clothes to fit! Thanks to lockdown and a toddler that still doesn't sleep meaning I rely on sugar to get me through the day...

I'm aiming to break it up into 3 5lb mini goals so I don't feel like it's unmanageable before I ever start

Nothing faddy, just planning to make better choices with my food, plan more, and move more too. I have some short-ish term goals that I'm hoping will be enough motivation for me to shift the weight 👶🏻

Anyone want to join? I'd be happy to keep a list going (if there's not too many of us!) to record our weights and losses if anyone would want that too.

I am so envious of the good local cheese-enjoy! I think for those sort of occasions, just go with it. Hope it’s a good work trip.

It’s MIL’s birthday today and we have to have cake for the zoom chat. If it’s for good family relations, going to have to partake... I’m torn between baking, doing mince pie mug cakes the last of the mincemeat or just buying something. The mug cakes have the advantage of no leftovers. Plus they’re bloody nice!

I finally weighed myself and am pleasantly surprised - I am about 4lbs up from last time I checked, but I had assumed the number would be much higher! Also it is reassuring to see how quickly I went back to feeling a bit fitter and trimmer after a week or so of consistent sensible eating and exercising.

Mmm enjoy the local cheese @RainingBatsAndFrogs! @PurpleDaisies ooh you really can't beat refried beans on nachos...some things just demand being enjoyed with no regret! I've never thought to put mincemeat in a mug cake, that sounds lush.

We are slowly redecorating our kitchen which means making a cooked brekkie is not the easiest thing to do before work atm, hopefully finishing soon as I am sick to the back teeth of Skyr and granola!!

Haha at Skyr and granola.
I like my granola with yogurt and blueberries but am branching out into porridge in this weather, and have bought a grapefruit. Cutting out slices of toast in the morning was one of my early adjustments.

I am maintaining quite nicely. Missed my exercise last week.

I am now happy with my weight and size but might slowly take another couple of Kilos of my tum. While upping my core strength regime. Still very gradually.

How are you doing Brimful?

I'm doing well thanks @RainingBatsAndFrogs, also skipped exercise last week. It is annoying that even a short break puts my fitness back, struggled with the cross trainer yesterday!

Sounds like you are in a good place! I've slipped in my habits and am getting annoyed at the up-down-up-down. I have my dress fitting in two months so need to pull myself together and focus. Motivation is always low this time of year, and the allure of cosy warm stodgy dinners in front of the telly too strong. I'm also starting a new, more demanding job next week.

Need to make sure meal prep and exercise schedules can be maintained!

Oh wow - congratulations and good luck in your new job!

I find soup is a good answer to the 'cold winter day' cravings.

I went into Waitrose the other day seeking luxurious but healthy treats - fed up with my frugal shopping at Aldi and Tesco - and they had their own brand chilled soups on special offer. Some great flavours. Half a tub is really filling and feels 'cosy'.

I also bought two multipacks of Itsu Crispy Seaweed Thins which were reduced. Foul! But they might be all right crumbled on top of Laksa soup or noodles.

This thread dropped off my active, really nice to see the new posts.

I’ve weighed this week and I’m steady at 0.5kg below my target so I’m happy. Exercise has been going really well but I’ve neglected stretching a bit so I’m feeling a little like an old granny at the moment.

It’s been a bonkers week here with a pet needing an op and the water supply to the house exploding so there’s been a lot of dealing with the fall out and not a lot of thinking about food! Thank goodness for oven chips and quorn fish fingers.

Congratulations on the new job @BrimfulOfBaba. Hoping it’s been a good start so far.

@RainingBatsAndFrogs I’ve been caught out by those seaweed thins before. I normally love that kind of thing (Yo Sushi seaweed salad is one of my favourite dishes there) but those were disgusting. Eating industrial quantities of soup here-just the thing for cold days. My current favourite is an ottolenghi dal with pasta in it. It takes ages but most of that is sitting on the hob.

Just thought, I don’t know what I was talking about saying 0.5kg. I obviously meant two packs of butter.

Lovely to see you PurpleDaisies! That does all sound very full on. Eek! Is your pet OK? Is the water supply restored? What a nightmare!

Great maintenance! Good to have a couple of packs of butter ‘contingency’.

How was your week Brimful? I bet you needed your weekend after starting a new job. Hope it went well.

Aargh to muddy parks! I did combine two of my local walks yesterday and went out for 2.5 hours. But I am fantasising about a week on the fells in the lakes (old favourite) or Hadrian’s Wall or the coastal paths of Wales (never been).

I have started using a new BMI calculator www.smartbmicalculator.com/
I am smack bang in the middle of the green band, so very happy with that. With Christmas and work travel done I am back to my normal life and down 500g / 2 packs of butter this week: only pursuing a bit more loss to get the remaining flab off my tummy.

Was 67.9Kg this morning.

Have a great week everyone!

Oh, haha I looked at the label of the Waitrose chilled soups: twice the calories of the M&S and Covent Garden soups I often buy. No wonder they were so lovely: cream, coconut...

I do make my own soup too, usually spicy carrot and lentil. Need to branch out.

We’re basically sorted @RainingBatsAndFrogs, thanks. We were really lucky there wasn’t any real damage except a lot of very wet stuff. Our heating bill is going to be a biggie this month! Guinea pig has been for post op check and is doing really well. She was most affronted about having to have her bum shaved! Still waiting for the pathology report saying whether the lump was a tumour or infected cyst.

This week I’m exactly the same as last week which is good. All the bridleways round here are mud slicks at the moment. I can’t wait until we’re allowed to travel for walking. Dartmoor is top of my hit list. I have done a lot of Welsh coastal paths-Pembrokeshire in particular is just beautiful.

I didn’t know they did operations on Guinea pigs!

I was looking at a campsite near the Pembrokeshire coast. Sounds like a must! An incentive to keep fit.

They do @RainingBatsAndFrogs! The anaesthetic is usually the big risk so it can be a very nervous wait. We’ve got a fantastic vet who really knows what she’s doing. Over the years, various piggies of ours have had various bits and pieces sorted out.

There are so many lovely places to visit in Pembrokeshire. We had all our childhood holidays round there. That would be an excellent thing to look forward to after the restrictions are eased up.

How’s everyone this week? I got confused about the days and forgot to weigh. This morning, I’m four packs of butter (the official unit of measurement for this thread!) under my original target. It’s half term next week and we’ve got a hello fresh box coming plus take away plans so it’s nice to have a buffet!

My arms are killing me after Zumba last night. I might try and do a stretchy yoga class later if I can find an arms focussed one. It’s a day off today so I’m planning on some trash tv and a walk. There’s a local baker about three miles away so I’m tempted to go there. I’ve seen they’ve got some amazing looking focaccia today. The walk will cancel that out?!!

Hi @PurpleDaisies - is it just you and me now?

The days and weeks have all merged - I have had to go away for work / family a couple of times and it really confuses my days.

I see that when I started on this thread I was 74.7Kgs and wanted to lose 5Kgs-ish in my slow and steady way.

After some stalling and plateauing over Christmas and in Jan, I was 67.6Kgs this morning, so happy with that.

A bit more vanity tweaking for my still-flabby belly. I have been doing a core routine and I can feel the muscles underneath, surely a 6-pack is still achievable for a middle aged woman. Or at least a two pack or a carton of low sugar Ribena?

Brimful - you must be very busy with Baba and new job, but would love to know how the job and wedding planning is going,

Hello @RainingBatsAndFrogs and @PurpleDaisies! Sorry I've been absent - one reason is that the new job has been keeping me v busy and the other and more accurate reason is that I have been doing nothing but eating, napping and sitting. The result is very tight clothes and a huge anxiety about my wedding dress fitting!

@PurpleDaisies how is the guinea pig doing? I hope she has recovered from the indignity of a bum shave!

Awesome progress @Raining! Any advice you can send me for giving myself a kick up the arse most welcome!

I am back to counting calories today and am hoping to exercise today, too. If I can keep to a week of calorie deficit and planned workouts, I will be able to carry it through at least another week, I find...fingers crossed!

@RainingBatsAndFrogs really sweet of you to ask, thank you. The new job is great. Just the challenge I needed! Wedding planning is a bit of a standstill as we are just swinging between optimism and pessimism about it going ahead (planned for mid-June). Part of the reason I am comfort eating and demotivated, I think. What core routine are you doing?

Oh. Brimful, so pleased the job is going well - well done you!

The wedding uncertainty must be really stressful. I hope there will be some hope when the Gvt announce their exit strategy. But then they love a U Turn so....

Once you get started again on your healthy eating / calorie deficit regime you will be fine. It's just the gear change that takes a bit of hard work. And really difficult to make sure you have the right food at work and at home for quick meals in between everything else that happens. Don't panic about your dress!

My whole thing has been snacking. I originally piled weight on when going through a difficult time at work, long hours, very sedentary, and going to the cafe for a beak, to pick up a toasted sandwich. Then working from home, I was always at the toaster.

So I found a breakfast that I could manage on, only allowed satsumas or carrot sticks as snacks, and reduced my general portions. Stopping the snacking habit was the hardest. And it came back with a chocolatey vengeance over Christmas!

I have just decided that I like tinned grapefruit. Quicker and less fiddly than fresh. Tinned prunes with yogurt, too - they are so rich and winey!

Are you working from home, or out a lot?

Thank you Raining! The gear change really is the hardest. I've had false starts every week since Christmas. But putting all my energy into believing this week is THE week!

Having pre-approved snacks is a good idea. I am working 100% from home at the moment. I have a serious savoury tooth, so crisps etc are my kryptonite. I do remember liking roast chickpeas/broccoli florets as a substitute, so I'll try that again.

Ahhh tinned prunes are a good shout!

Lovely to spot all the new posts-it has gone quiet recently!

I’ve had a half term carb blow out over the weekend! It was bloody worth it and I’m back on the wagon again today. I’ve managed to eat better today and it’s a Hiit and Zumba day so that’s felt good. The scales have been kind and although I’m a bit up on last week, I’m still under my original target by a couple of packs of butter.

Guinea pig is doing really well thanks. Full recovery from the op and butt hair is starting to regrow.

Brimful it must be so hard with the uncertainty. Hopefully the “route map” announcement next week will help. I’ve found this lockdown much harder than the others and I’m finding it tricky not to just eat rubbish all the time.

Raining I hadn’t realised you’d lost so much. I’m seriously impressed!

Well done, PurpleDaisies - fluctuations are fine, it's just a matter of keeping overall control and tweaking, I think.

I am sort of getting used to maintaining, now. And have been up and down by a pack and a half of butter for a few weeks. But I'm very happy with my overall shape and clothes size. Almost back to my pre-pregnancy weight of all those years ago (Not as fit though - I was seriously fit!).

This lockdown has been so hard. The weather, the feeling that we were back at square one.

I have been appreciating the longer daylight - I have the luxury of a very flexible working pattern, so it is nice to be able to get on a long morning's work and still have time for a long meaningful walk between a late lunch and dusk. Which puts back the late afternoon munchies attack.

Hope your week is going well, Brimful.

Thanks @RainingBatsAndFrogs, I did a sneaky mid week weigh in and was back down again. I’m very pleased about that!

Half term is proving a challenge given dh (very tall, eats like a horse, doesn’t put any weight on ever) is around all the time. We’ve had some nice treats but split them instead of having one each. I’ve discovered a new local shop that does amazing coffee and pastries. Half a cinnamon bun can’t be too bad-it was absolutely worth it.

I’ve bought a new cookbook. I’m absolutely sure Ching-He Huang would be my friend if I knew her-I love her on Saturday kitchen. Asian Green arrived yesterday and looks like has loads of healthy veggie recipes. I will update with pictures...

It’s a lovely day here and I’ve been out for an hour around a local lake. The sunshine has made a massive difference to my mood.

Keep going everyone!

Asian Green looks good!

Yay for the better weather. I was so sick of tramping about in MUD and dinge.

Monday weigh-in - I have dropped into a new Kg bracket - 66.6 this morning, 700g down from last Monday, and 15.4 Kgs down from when I started during Lockdown 1.

How you doing @BrimfulOfBaba ? The 1lb a week thread is good for manageable slow and steady.