Losing lockdown pounds & MOVING - 10k steps/day - please join me!

[10kaDay]

I’ve gained a whopping 2 stone since March, and have an overall 3-4 stone to lose. This is a combination of : alcohol/crisps/general boredom snacking while WFH and a very sedentary lifestyle.

I used to walk 5-7k steps most days just going to work/out and about at weekends, but now seem to be glued to my office chair or sofa and am really feeling the ill-effects... also without the motivation of social life I have been less inclined to look after myself .

Does anyone want to join me on a push to be less sedentary (& eat healthily) to lose weight

My focus is:

• 10k steps/day minimum
• healthy (mostly unprocessed food) diet
• limiting empty calories from alcohol & sugar

Just got a fit bit to count steps, & will be going for a walk/jog 1st thing to get most of my steps in, then making myself have a few other breaks in the day to get the numbers up

I've been doing some barre workouts - I normally do Arms & Abs and Express Barre each week, but I did the cardio barre class as well this week and it was really good!

Well done @10kaDay and @onemouseplace ! The barre workouts sound very interesting.

I'm ending the week on just over 60k, my back is still niggling a little bit so it's been a bit of a struggle some days but I'm determined to keep doing at least 60k a week as my back won't get better if I stop but I know it will gradually get better if I carry on. I'm hoping to be able to up it to 70k by the start of feb. My eating went well Monday-Friday but this weekend was a bit of a downfall, I don't think I actually ate enough during the week (I didn't mean too but one day I only ate 1100 cals) so I'm going to get some more filling snacks when I do the food shop tomorrow night.

Plan for this week is 7.5k each day and then I'm decorating at the weekend so hoping that will give me the rest I need for the week, I'm also going to try and do 4 virtual gym classes rather than 3.

Well done on hitting your 60k goal @LarsErickssong!

The decorating next weekend is sure it be a workout

What are you planning for snacks? I do find I need something at 4-5pm (I usually eat lunch around 2pm, dinner at 8.30 - so at least I don’t snack after dinner...). I’ve been having sliced pepper/carrots with a tbsp humus, couple of cherry tomatoes, olives & almond (so it’s like a mini meal really). I’d like another option, but not processed food...

My go to last week was a small bag of popcorn in the morning and then half a pepper with soft cheese in the afternoons, I do 16:8 so don't eat breakfast but I think I might get some crumpets for this week and swap the popcorn for a crumpet with a little bit of jam. I could do with some more options really but I struggle with healthy snack ideas!

Pepper with soft cheese sounds a good idea for a change!

I think veg/fruit with any other food (yogurt/cheese/humus/nuts) is my plan... don’t want to eat lots of flour based things so not many other options really

Just checking in as I've managed to crack the magical 70k this week, but it's taken a hell of a lot of effort to do it and I'm not sure how sustainable it is. I've been terrible with food this weekend and unsurprisingly I've lost nothing. Booo.
I'm seriously looking at holidays for 2022, and that might give me a kick as I don't want to feel fat by the pool. I've got about 18 months to both drop and save pounds for it.

Let's all have a good week. Most of the snow is gone here so that will make steps easier and the days are getting a little bit longer.

Hello @Jemmy360: well done on the 70k!

If you don’t think it’s sustainable, what about a more manageable goal (7.5k perhaps?)

I have been knocking some of my steps out in front of the TV so realise it’s time consuming..

Speaking of time, it’s half 7, drinking a cup of tea in bed and getting ready for my workout. Before Covid WFH is have been heading to the station to go to work, so need to think about that re using this time well

Wishing everyone a great start to the week!

@Jemmy360 well done on hitting 70k it really is harder than it sounds! I'm finding 60k is getting easier so I'm hoping that I can build it up to 70k soon. Holidays are definitely good motivation, we were supposed to be going to Florida last may and I wanted to lose this weight before that but failed miserably, obviously it was cancelled but I felt so crap wearing summer clothes last year that it's given me the kick up the backside to lose it before we can hopefully go again as I don't want to hate the photos of me on a holiday of a lifetime. My friends are also starting to think about a ski trip next March so again I certainly need to lose weight for that!

I've started the day with a virtual gym class which has put me on 1.8k, it was a nice mix of lighter cardio and weights so I might swap my Monday evening HIIT class to this one going forward. Will go for a lunchtime walk and then need to go food shopping tonight so I should hit my 7.5k easily

Hi @Jemmy360, @LarsErickssong: I didn't really wear any of my spring/summer clothes in 2020 as I was WFH in leggings/1 very roomy skirt ...

Most of my summer clothes would be a good fit at about 2 stone down from now, and I think its very realistic to be that weight by late April/early May. Its encouraging to think of looking a lot better at that time!

Also shows we need to find sustainable plans for the months to come to be able to stick at it...

I am also thinking that 70k a week isn't sustainable for me- at weekends I can do over 10k easily but during the week if I don't have a reason to go out (and I am doing my best to avoid unnecessary trips as I'm in London) its quite hard to get my steps in WFH! I think I might aim for 5k a day as I'll probably exceed that and feel better than I do not hitting the target of 10k- if that goes well I'll try and work up from there.

I'm now down 3lbs since I first weighed on Thursday- I am sure it's mostly water weight and I don't want to weigh daily going forward, I want to do once a week on a Monday morning so that's it now for a week. Its just because I bought the scales on Thursday so it was an odd day!

One thing I've realised- I log my weight on MFP, and it keeps a history of every time I've ever logged my weight. It's interesting to see what I weighed on a date 2 years ago when I considered myself very slim, it's more than I would now say I'd need to weigh to be that slim again- if that makes sense?! Basically means I only need to lose 2 stone to see a real different, not 3 as I thought- I'd still like to lose 3 overall but it feels less of a challenge to start with.

Oh that posted before I was done- was just going to say good luck everyone for the week ahead!

I went for a quick walk at about 7am before work as was awake anyway and DH was snoring. Have done 2,703 so far - will have proper walk at lunchtime which will help.

I find getting steps done isn’t a problem but despite having managed to lose about 2.5 stone between end of June and end of November and being able to discipline myself tk not eat sweets and chocolate etc I am finding it hard to be strict and so have put on about 4lb since then. Would ideally like to lose another 10lb or so but currently lacking motivation!

You've done so well though Miranda. I don't know, but if you had the odd sweet treat while losing that weight, maybe it's not a bad thing. Trouble is with me, I think 'I'll just have that today' and the next day, 'well, it doesn't seem to have made much difference' and then on to the downward slope!

I am amazed at the number of steps I'm using while just in the house doing my usual things. My latest tip (from DS) is to walk while I'm on the phone. The sitting room carpet will be threadbare soon.

I signed up for this thread and after a brief flurry of steps the lockdown and WFH has completely sapped my enthusiasm. I’m only averaging 2000 steps a day but I really need to change. So my target for the rest of the week is 3000 a day which is poor but 50% more than I’m doing. I will set myself a new target at the weekend. Everyone else seems to be going great guns though

Oh @MirandaWest that's amazing weight loss well done!
I agree with a few of you and I'll count it as a win if I click over 60k a week going forward, same as pp it's much easier at the weekend do get the 10k.
Had a really good day with food today, I use mfp and try to stay in my macros and TDEE, doing this has worked in the past so trying it again.

@Onthebrink67: welcome! 3k is 50% more than now, so it’s a great place to start. I was reading that it’s good to work up around 500 steps/day per week. So 3k, 3.5K, 4K etc

I think 10 mins on your feet (& moving) is about 1k steps so 3k would be a good start at 30 mins... I think anything over 5K is decent going tbh

@ajandjjmum: pacing on the phone is a great one!

Everyone is doing so well!

Didn't go out yesterday but paced a lot so managed 8k steps and 900 calories on the bike. I need some food items today so will go out and try and have a good long walk.

Well done @KatherineJaneway, 8k steps is great!

At 4.5K steps after my morning workout: my meetings finish at 4 today so hoping to nip out then (praying I will beat the rain!)

Down another pound today, so feeling really happy with that - I've been averaging 3Ib a week for January, so if this continues I will be at my 'pre-pandemic' weight in a couple of weeks which will be a relief.

I realise I need to have a low-cal filling snack around 4-5pm to hold out til dinner - I've been starving in the afternoon & thats the only time I've had mental eating fits

• thinking veg (crudites, tomatoes), a protein (humus/low fat cheese/a boiled egg maybe), some olives, couple of crackers if particularly starving (& generally trying to avoid flour but I think Ryvita or similar is ok. I would then not be having carbs at dinner).

I'm trying to get that to about 100/200 calories. Giving it a go today & hoping it will help

I will be going out for a run in an hour. It will be raining but then I will have a bath

(Am working 7:30-12:30 and 5:30 until 8 today)

Nice work @MirandaWest! I guess it won’t kill me if it’s raining later on

Split shift Miranda - I used to hate them!

That's great weight loss and consistent 10kaDay. I seem to loose and then plateau for a few days. Still as long as it's going in the right direction generally.

Just done a big walk - 12k steps. Really enjoyed it, but also like the fact that it puts me ahead of my target for the week, so I don't feel under pressure.

Hope everyone's week's going well!

well done @ajandjjmum! Having extra steps in is great for the days to come :)

I'm a bit shocked re rate of it tbh... but I was eating terribly and not exercising at all before so i guess that makes a huge difference

Amazingly it wasn’t wet when I went out - was much warmer than it’s been recently too. I still had a nice bath when I got back though - daytime baths always feel luxurious

@MirandaWest: a run & a hot bath after sounds lovely!

As anticipated, today has been more challenging. I woke up at 2.30 am so only had 4 hours sleep ... and thoughts are turning to chocolate! (fortunately there is not much in the house, few xmas dregs )

I only managed a 30 min workout today, but managed to pace for most of a 1 hour meeting so am up to 7K steps for today. I have calculated that gets me 2k steps in 30 min, so less than actually going for a walk

Today is the 1st day I won't be able to get out for a walk since I started, but planning to do a bit of pacing around the house to get my next 3K steps for the day

Really struggling here this week, I work in tax so every waking minute for the next 11 days will probably be spent glued to my computer doing tax returns! I'd been managing to at least get out for a walk at lunchtimes and then a gym class at night before doing some more work 8-10pm but this week I don't even have time for that! However there is still a slight bonus in that if I was in the office there would be a lot of chocolate and takeaways being ordered in to keep us going so being at home I'm at least avoiding that.
2.4K steps so far today just from moving about the house and I'll try and get some more in whilst I cook tea.