A weight loss thread with no boring diet info

[AcornAutumn]

Hi all
I really need to lose a total of about 4 stone.

I'm not keen on the usual weight loss type chats with methods and foods etc discussed in detail.

So I was trying to think how it could be more interesting.

This might be a crap idea but I know I do better when I have interesting things to do. Today I've done my workout, some drawing and keyboard practice. I've also read a couple of chapters of Women Who Kill (!) and watched The Crown, I'm on Season 2.

It was those things that made snacking on a boiled egg less of a shock 😂

So I was thinking, what about a support thread where we don't talk about the details of our methods, but just check in for support, and tell each other something interesting we've done that day, even just a film we've watched.

Is it a bonkers idea?

Gwen thank you. i think it's 6 and a half but not really sure.

I might have to do some tweaking. I'll still be fat in summer at this rate.

Given how much I have to lose, fat in summer is inevitable...but still this loss needs to speed up I think.

Overall I'm aiming for 11.5 stone. Which is what I weighed when I was 25, half my life ago. I have a nice photo of me at that weight. Obviously at the time I thought I was a total hippo.

HappyScale predicts at the rate I'm going that since Jan I will have lost two stone by mid summer's day. I'm ok with that, I'll still be porky, but at least I'll hopefully still be making progress, rather than going for a more hardcore approach now and then giving up.

Gwen that's really good, six months to reach a weight you're happy with.

I am on track to lose the same amount but have 4 stone to lose so at this rate, no chance of a healthy weight in under a year.

When I did my plan, I did not realise it would be this slow.

Gah! I missed out the important bit.

I should have said... if I lose at 1.5lb a week I will have lost about 2 stone by midsummer's day.

I too want to lose 4 stone altogether from January's starting weight, we're on v similar paths. Even if I achieve that I'll still be an 'overweight' BMI, but I'll look OK. I'm chunky.

I'm very short so tbh, even at the upper end of a healthy weight, I look rubbish. A two stone loss won't look that different on me.

I must admit that's one reason I got so fat; I realised that after a certain point, fat is just fat on me and I don't look much different.

I wonder if my standards are lower. I'm 5'4" but have never been slim, I have a really stocky frame, so I think if I could get to 11.5 stone I'd be content.

I'd love to be all angular and willowy (and shop at Cos), but sadly that is not my destiny.

@GwendolineWindowlene

I wonder if my standards are lower. I'm 5'4" but have never been slim, I have a really stocky frame, so I think if I could get to 11.5 stone I'd be content.

I'd love to be all angular and willowy (and shop at Cos), but sadly that is not my destiny.

I would to have to lose half my body weight to be really slim

I'm not aiming for that, don't worry.

The yellow shade (so we can all avoid it) was Wicks own brand 'Lions Mane'. We have now got Valspar 'Bonjour' which is a happy compromise between migraine and loose bowels.

I love yellow and have managed to work it into almost every room. DH describes the yellow I like best as 'e-coli yellow' but kindly allows me to pepper the house with it anyway.

I have been reading various threads about weight-loss. I got slated on one about a woman who was a size 10 and had slimmed to a size 6. She had posted a pic of her abs, in her size 6 hot pants. I found it hard to be happy for her. In her position, I would just keep my smug feeling to myself

Yellow wall...

MrsBob I saw that thread and was well impressed but other posters implied an odd history so I didn't comment.

I used to be size 8 and got nasty comments just for existing. Colleagues would see me eat lunch and say "oh, are you going to throw up later?"

If instagram etc had existed back then, I wouldn't have used it because I was always a private person. But if people are still nasty to thin women IRL, I can understand the urge to post pictures.

What's the link with yellow and migraines please? I do think you need a house and big rooms to use yellow, it wouldn't be right in my tiny flat.

I like that yellow! I also like your contrast radiator. You’re working the mid century sludgy vibe beautifully!

Hmm. I’ve never been a size 8. I went straight from kids sizes to adult 12. I think if I’d ever been a size 8 I might feel pressure to get back there. But if I could get to a 12 I’d be smug as fuck.

That said, I’ve been mulling over loose skin recently, if I do manage to lose 4 stone at the age of 50, the result may not be pretty. My under chin already looks like a concertina made of ham.

How is everyone today?

Gwen I saw a thread with someone asking about loose skin. Quite a few posters had lost a lot without any trouble with that. I wonder if it's linked to losing quickly?

Am feeling quite low today

Debated starting a thread in weight loss chat but that will just attract a billion suggestions of diets that I don't want, won't it.

Feels like there's a lot of stagnant energy round the place. I practically shouted at mum on the phone yesterday as I was so irritable. Could be lockdown, at 45 could be peri?, could be that I don't eat choc to cheer up..
Could be anything I guess.

Going to watch an episode of the West Wing on my lunch break, feels like comfort TV!

Are you feeling low because of the speed of the weight loss, or because life is meh in general. I think all bets are off at the moment regarding mood, I'm finding I'm swinging from anxious to low, to content, to bored etc. Bloody lockdown.

I think I'm peri-menopausal, I'm suffering from hideous anxiety in the middle of the night.

Thanks for feeding back the research re the skin, by the way. I feel a total train wreck at the moment, I've aged a huge amount in the last few years.

Gwen it may be general blahs.

I also feel as if a suddenish age related change is happening. I thought that was meant to be a cliche?!

I didn't watch West Wing, I murdered "Always look on the bright side" on the keyboard - learner version obviously - and it did perk me up.

My older sister does a lot of dark muttering about getting older but never wants to specify anything.

It feels as if my window of energy to get stuff done is much smaller.

That said, I do wonder if we expect too much of ourselves in the current era. I try not to let appearance related stuff get to me but I am considering dyeing grey hair. It's annoying, the only reason it ages me because everyone colours theirs! Mum only just stopped at 82!

Oh and I'm in pain from bruxism at night. That's been on and off in lockdown but seems to be back. I try to ignore the pain but even taking a tranquiliser at night isn't helping any more.

I get bruxism, it sucks doesn't it? I do think it is related to anxiety, as mine got loads better once I started taking sertraline 3ish years ago. I also have an overly large bottom jaw (like Buzz Lightyear ).

Sorry you not feeling it atm @AcornAutumn. When I hit my 40s, my older sister sagely told me this is at the time women are at their most productive. She thinks it's because in our 20s and 30s we have it all ahead of us, but once we are in our 40s, we can see the finish line and it spurs us on!

@GwendolineWindowlene I didn't want to laugh but you got me with the concertina of ham. Please write a book, you have the best turn of phrase ever 

@AcornAutumn We could do more diet talk if people want? I am mostly eating 2 small meals and rounding the day off with a mint magnum. It is a slow way to loose weight but I do everything slowly so it suits me.

Also this lockdown my anxiety initially went through the roof. I was about to up my medication when my younger sister (I am very lucky to have two wise sisters) managed to impart some psychological support during a three hour walk.

My parents were useless but I forgive them because they provided me with great siblings 😂

MrsBob re bruxism, I think there is a meds link but not 100% sure what it is. I won't bore you with the details.

I'm just having an off time, really my life has improved vastly after turning 40, so far this definitely my best decade. I worked such long hours in the past, so so glad that's behind me. I'm probably just thinking odd thoughts re age because I'm a bit down.

Gwen does have an excellent turn of phrase!

I am so glad I got the keyboard. I am not going to have lessons IRL I don't think, but it's good to have something you can do just for yourself to have a laugh.

I’ve been clenching my jaw a lot the last week or two. Common side effect of Elvanse - another reason I might switch back

Ah, thanks team.

Bruxism is a bugger, I grind my teeth too, and wear a fetching mouth guard at night. I don’t have pain with it though, fortunately.

I wouldn’t mind a bit more diet chat. I’m trying to reduce portion size too MrsBob, but my real weakness is mindless eating of sweet crap.

So many bruxism sufferers!

I have had it for years but only got pain with it last year.

If people want to have diet chat, please feel free.

I have a couple of options for losing more than a pound a week

One is to exercise less and eat less. Not keen on that.

The other is to move exercise to earlier in the day where I know it will give me a boost in mood and in theory burn more calories but tbh that risks making me more hungry throughout the day.

There are others I guess but I don't consider some of the weight loss options seen on the boards here to be remotely realistic, or necessary.

My parents didn't have weight issues; I think there are generational factors attached to that. Then again,I joke about mum eating like a bird...my best friend, who is slim, says she can't manage on the food she is given at her parents. They live far enough away that she generally has to spend at least a weekend. She literally packs extra food to visit them and always has, since she left home.

I exercise first thing, otherwise I don't have the motivation. I'm full of admiration for those people pounding the pavements after tea, when I'm settling down to put the telly on.

I agree that some of the weight loss tips on here are not realistic, not for me anyway. More power to the elbows of those posters, but I can't cope with the feelings of deprivation that come with making big changes and counting calories, weighing food etc.

I'm following the 'gradually eat less shit' diet.