LOSE IT! January 2021

[TheRealHousewife]

HELLO, WELCOME & HAPPY NEW YEAR! Actually that doesn’t read right with all the C19 malarkey. Strange & unprecedented times. Nonetheless, 2021 marks a fresh start and and an opportunity for renewal. This thread is for those of us who enjoy healthy eating, exercising and feeling motivated to reach (or maintain) a healthy weight/bmi. The founding members of these threads are inspirational and supportive in equal measure. I’m sure @SunshineCake & @FatGirlShrinking won’t mind me holding them up as our Poster Girls. They both did absolutely fantastic in 2020! ⭐️👏🥇

They have both demonstrated that if we eat right, get outside, move more your mental health will heap the rewards. Better mental health = better choices. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

Me personally? In the main it’s been a way of life for 3 years and I’ve lost over 40lbs. I had a bit of blip at the start of C19. After all my hard work I just started eating with impunity. Before I knew it I was10lbs up in a few short weeks! I needed to get back on it and COVID proof myself 😬 I calorie count, log via MFP app, Intermittent fast, eat-low carb Mediterranean style aka Fast800 Plan and try to stay well hydrated. In December I maintained; I’m hoping to see a loss this January which would see me firmly in the healthy BMI bracket.

There are so many enjoyable lifestyle options out there without the need to resort to extreme measures. Whatever way you choose, it needs to be enjoyable & sustainable for the long term. This is a long term commitment rather than a quick fix. I rarely drink alcohol and keep sugar to a minimum. I exercise by doing walking vids & strength sessions with lite weighs.

As no one size fits all members need to follow their own way of eating. Nonetheless this thread aims to offer guidance, support and a bit of hand holding.

There is no shaming, competition or harsh words to be found on these threads. We are in this together.

Useful Links

Getting Back On Track

How To Lose Weight

The Fast Diet

Mediterranean Diet

MFP

Intermittent Fasting

Meal Planning

Mental Health

Jump right in! If you’re not too shy, post a bit about yourself 😊. How do you plan to do it? What do you want to achieve? What excites you about your future self? Together, we can create a whole new you!

You’ll be glad you got on board this time next month 😊

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo I was just thinking exactly the same about winter as I plod round the boggy field with the dogs trying to get my steps in. I normally like winter but I’m pining for some sun. I think the last lockdown was so much easier with the warmth and the light evenings, I’m finding this one trickier as I feel more trapped in my four walls despite technically being allowed to do the same things.

Welcome to everyone new, I’ve not been on this thread long but I’ve noticed it’s so friendly and welcoming already.

I seem to lose every other day - so I’ll have one day where I stay the same and one day I’ll lose half a pound or so. I’m pleased abojt that though as in the past on diets it’s taken me a week to lose half a pound, I just hope it continues.

Good day for me so far. I’m noticing my appetite is reducing which always makes it easier. I made some cheddar and brocolli muffins yesterday which are delicious and only have 3G carbs which is good as whilst I’m not doing Keto I am trying to cut back in carbs. Had a courgette protein shake for breakfast/lunch and one of the muffins. Going to have some apple and peanut butter as a snack when I get in and then some wholegrain pasta bake with 7-veg sauce and brocolli on the side for tea. Did a workout this morning and just plodding round the field with the dogs now to get
My steps in. Going to weigh in tomorrow and see what I’ve
Lost since being fully on board a week ago.

Doing well @SkeletonSkins 👍

Treated myself to a stick blender today, because I'm just that exciting 🤣

Made up a batch of leek and potato soup for lunches for the next few days, DD 'helped' me so had a couple of extra steps in the process, like 'find potato peelings flung on kitchen floor and throw them away' but she enjoyed the peeling, chopping and blitzing so it was worth it.

I will now be joining in with all the soup making going on in this thread so feel free to throw your low cal ideas at me. Just to be an awkward bugger I don't like fish, seafood, curry flavours, cauliflower or lentils/beans.

There's a very good reason most of my food posts include the same few vegetables

Oh and I'm knitting myself a lovely warm thick Aran woolly hat. The rate i'm going I anticipate it being completed sometime around July!

Been on a longer run today (time to move up from 5k to 10k) and a walk. I'm doing 1000 miles walking in a year.
We have leftover indian take away and I'm going to bulk that out with some more vegetables for dinner.

Oh I love leek and potato, it’s my fave.

I’ve made this Minestrone soup and it was very nice. We didn’t have any cabbage so I left that out, and perhaps in the future I might leave out the pasta and reduce the amount of liquid slightly, but it was delicious. www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chunky-minestrone-soup

@SkeletonSkins please can I have your recipe for the seven veg pasta sauce?

I'm feeling pretty not right atm and will try not to fix with food.

Hello @Foreverlexicon lovely to have you back 😊

Oh my @HalfShrunkMoreToGo that lunch sounds delish 🤤

warm welcome @HamishDent @GoLightlyontheEarth.

Apologies if I’ve missed anyone.

Early night for me as under the weather.

Take care, stay safe.

@SunshineCake of course, it’s bloody delicious. I got it from here. I actually find websites designed for feeding kids so good for healthy recipes.
www.healthylittlefoodies.com/veggie-pasta-sauce/

Hope you feel better soon @TheRealHousewife

@TTCAbroad so jealous of your ski trip! Where did you go? I am desperately missing the mountains, and am hugely regretful of letting the weight and fitness slide, am 15kg up on my seasonaire days

Good day today though - 10 min hiit and 20 min online dance class and delicious steamed salmon & veg for dinner. We bought a deep fat fryer at Christmas so got a steamer in Lidl the other day to balance it out

Fasting day here so it's been difficult to read about all of your delicious soups and other foodstuffs. But tomorrow I can enjoy all kinds of niceness which I must log religiously and honestly in MFP.

I am now back on track after the Xmas blip and my stats are;

SW 12 St 13lb
CW 10 St 13 lb
TW 10 st 7lb but I will reassess when I get there and decide if I want to lose a bit more.

Week 1 completed on WW. As I've said upthread I'm very rigid and stick to the points despite how much I want to eat a box of After Eights!

So:
SW 13st 4.5
CW 13st 0.5
TW 11st

Day 9
SW:151
CW:145
GW:132
I'm pleased with that as even doing the 1 mile Leslie Sansone last night was a real effort at the end of a too long working day.
Dry January is helping too.
@Drybird2020 the carrot and coriander soup I made at the weekend is very low cal and delicious so ideal for a fast day (if its a 500 cal one rather than a complete fast of course). It's just some stock, a potato, an onion, big bunch of coriander and a ton of carrots. I swop in parsley if the coriander is looking a little sparse on the window ledge at this time of year - it's a very forgiving recipe!

@lemontova I live in Japan so was in Hokkaido - had unreal thigh deep powder. I've come to realize that the 'base' fitness level I had at 20, which could see me through a week of skiing no problem, does not exist at 30. I'm still tired.

@132orbust - your SW/CW/GW are very similar to mine! Though you're ahead in the CW - well done! How tall are you?

Small @TTCAbroad only 5'2" but I know I will not see my weight in the 8 stone bracket again at my age so I am working towards 9 stone 6 and then when I get there I'll think again.
If I get there. I have found it gets a lot harder after 50 and I need to be realistic. At 132lbs all my lovely dresses and jackets will fit well and I'll be happy. They would fit better at 129lbs possibly but I will not think about that yet. What about you?

Thank you @SkeletonSkins. I look forward to making it. Not today though as woke up feeling even worse. Not even contemplating going running. Dh has banned me from getting up so he will walk the dog and I have to rest. I feel like crying as can't face being poorly again.

Hope everyone else is well.

I really want to see DS1 too. Haven't cuddled him in a week or more, don't really know, it feels ages, as he is working so wants to keep away just in case. Though we heard last night everyone at work tested negative so hoping that means my son doesn't have it though he went to the shop once a few days ago.

@TTCAbroad I think a week of skiing would do me in, I'm no where close to the fitness level that kind of activity would take. I'm much more of a sipping hot chocolate in front of the fire while looking out the window of the ski lodge kind of person 😁

Think I'm going to be happy with tomorrow's weigh in, my joggers are slipping down when I walk so I know there's been some loss. Need to buy a couple more pairs as still wearing size 18 and they're becoming a bit too baggy. Trying to avoid replacing clothes till they reach the unwearable point as seems a bit of a waste to buy things and only keep them for a couple of months. Plus it's hard getting anything to a charity shop at the moment and they're only emptying the big charity bins at sainsburys infrequently.

Hi everyone,

Even more new members, magic.

Have had a hard few days. First day of online teaching here in Scotland yesterday and my head was completely fried. I'm secondary so the classes just kept coming and coming along with the technical issues. 2 teens did well but DS3 was totally neglected both days and I feel so guilty.

I hit the Galaxy big style through sheer stress (why do we do that?!) but awoke to stinky period so that may have been part of it.

Not looking forward to Thur weigh in!!!

All bets are off during the run up to my period....I simply need chocolate then and nothing else will do!

Hormones always have me reaching for chocolate too @Puffalicious

Sometimes through a miracle I can resist, sometimes I convince my brain an alternative will do like an options hot chocolate or a FibreOne chocolate brownie, sometimes I just have the chocolate and say fuck it.

No ones perfect and one day of chocolate will not mess up your overall trajectory so don't let it get you down.

homeschooling is a complete pain in the rear, I find it makes me feel deficient, I feel like I'm doing nothing well: work, school, parenting. In reality it's completely impossible that you could be doing all 3 of those things well at the same time. Logically if it was possible we'd all have been doing it by choice rather than spending hundreds on nurseries/wrap around every month or losing hundreds because we dropped to part time. So you need to decide what can be dropped and drop it, set yourself realistic standards and expectations and please, please find ways to reward yourself, even if it's just 20 mins of quiet for a bubble bath.

My reward today is Toad in the Hole for tea with lashings and lashings of gravy. Used Sainsbury's reduced fat sausages so calorie count is actually not exorbitant. Might save some gravy aside for later so I can dunk a bit of bread and butter though 😂

I can not believe it. I feel like it is March/April again and haven't been out of bed all day. Last time day three was when I couldn't do a thing so I'm doing nothing today in the hope I'm just tired and not got covid even though I feel exactly as I did when I had it expect the breathing difficulties hasn't kicked in yet. I ran yesterday. This is ridiculous.

Thank you halfshrunk and auldfox I am thinking fuck it today!

Just off the phone to my mate in work and we had a right old moan/ bitch/ whinge and I feel transformed! DH has been a star- cooking and coralling children when he got in- so now chilled before the marking starts.

Soup now to counter the chocolate!

I’m feeling gently stuffed right now after some shepherds pie for tea. I only had a small helping so am under my calorie count for the day but boy has it stuck to my ribs.

I’m finding lockdown trying. My family are getting under my skin today and making me irritable - two sons talk about nothing but football and my husband keeps interrupting me to ask how work is going and am I having a good day . I haven’t been in the office since last February (our office closed voluntarily before the first formal lockdown when someone developed symptoms after a trip to Asia even though they actually tested negative in the end). I can’t even remember what normal office banter is like at this point!

Hope everyone is ok! I love reading your updates (especially whilst working )
I’m down about 7lbs since New Year’s Day so feeling good! DH says this is the best I have ever looked (I have been exercising more since Nov/Dec) but I still have a stone I want to lose!

Funny day at work - been offered an opportunity that would mean a lot of stress, a lot of hours but more money and just don’t know what to do... so I walked to the shops and bought a bottle of wine but hey at least I walked and back on it tomorrow!

@Katrinawaves

I’m feeling gently stuffed right now after some shepherds pie for tea. I only had a small helping so am under my calorie count for the day but boy has it stuck to my ribs.

I’m finding lockdown trying. My family are getting under my skin today and making me irritable - two sons talk about nothing but football and my husband keeps interrupting me to ask how work is going and am I having a good day . I haven’t been in the office since last February (our office closed voluntarily before the first formal lockdown when someone developed symptoms after a trip to Asia even though they actually tested negative in the end). I can’t even remember what normal office banter is like at this point!

My DH has been home this week and he is up every hour asking the same thing... I feel like a taxi driver with all the small talk