Louise Parker Method

[ElvenDreamer]

Hi, anyone following the Louise Parker Lean for Life method? I'm just starting (using her books) and could do with a group to swap thoughts with!

Before I forget it again, I discovered a nice pleasure pop for myself and wanted to share it with you - i made a playlist on spotify with motivational songs for times when i feel low and need some extra spirit. it includes a few of my favourite songs like disney songs, but also sex bomb and such songs which make me laugh and feel like dancing. Great help!

Love the play list tip! Well I'm signing in quickly, I had my vaccine this morning and now starting to feel distinctly rough so off to bed early for me. Weird day as with that I didn't really have proper meals as such and just ate bits and pieces throughout the day when I could, mainly cheese and oatcakes! I did get over 18k steps though so that's all good at least. Not sure how tomorrow will go, suspect I'll feel quite flu-ey if husband's side effects earlier in week are anything to go by so exercise may dip a bit but will wait and see. 🙂

Hi there, sorry to hear you felt a bit sick but i hope you're doing better soon.
My steps this week are 35 k, so not even close to where they sould be....weather, university, i dont know. didnt get it all in.
I did my exercise today and will do it tomorrow so that makes 4 times/ week which is okay.
Eating... well mostly okay, but i'm not as disciplined as i was in transform before. I sometimes just put it in my mouth before realising it's not on method, i dont know what is wrong with me at the moment.

We are celebrating mothers day tomorrow, so my family will bother me with snacks and alcohol which will be hard. i created a little extra dessert for me with yoghurt and berries, for my family it contains biscuits and basier (somethign like eaton mess).

Have a nice WE!

I'm not being as disciplined this time round on transform either but my mother in law was round today and commented she could see I've lost weight recently so I guess the method has generally been working over the last few weeks! I find it's too easy to look in the mirror and still see flaws, am trying to be a bit more positive there instead. Feeling a bit delicate still today but went for a walk with the family for a bit of exercise. Plan to attempt my usual Sunday morning run with my daughter tomorrow. I look forward to that as it's a nice bonding activity too. Had pancakes for breakfast today and chilli for dinner so not too bad on the food front. Slightly too many cheese and pickles for tea though! Have a lovely time tomorrow 🙂

hey, how was your weekend? :) great that you're efforts start to show, thats such a nice feeling and so you are on the right way. I also have the feeling some things really stuck, mostly the meals, but also some habits regarding sleep and exercise.

Time with my family was a bit different than expected because our dog (13 years old) died last night :(
We sat in the sun and tried to have a nice time anyway, but the food wasnt healthy/ on the method at all and i snacked too much, i dont know why i cant stay away from all this at the moment.
At least i did my exercise in the morning.

next week has to be better which means i have to make myself/ my plans a priority again....
Steps will be low because i just dont want to move 90 minutes outside when its raining to be honest.

Hope you are starting well into the next week (our transform week 2.......)

Ah, sorry to hear about your dog, that's very sad, especially when they've been a family pet for a lot of years.
I've been rubbish with eating this weekend, still feeling lousy with after effects of the vaccine so comfort eating has definitely played a part. Hoping tomorrow will be better, meals are planned and that always helps! Did manage a run this morning, been exhausted for the rest of today though 🤣

Hahaha, i feel you, i still need recovery from my exercise too. But somehow i still manage to eat good enough to keep my PMS away which is really nice.

I have planned meals too, hope i can stick to eat this week. Maybe i will ead the chapters again, that helped me a lot in round 1.
I wont weigh myself today

I cant weigh myself today, stupid scales are broken so I've had to order new ones which don't arrive until Thu! Started reasonably well today, rain held off long enough for me to walk the kids to school and hopefully will do the same at pick up time. Breakfast was egg and rocket on wholegrain toast, salad for lunch with a small piece of homeade sugar free flapjack after. I have made a vegan pie for dinner tonight (which very simply is a load of veg and lentils with a mashed sweet potato topping) so nicely on method there . Snacks so far just a handful of nuts. Will probably be a piece of fruit this afternoon. The danger for me today will be drinking too much coffee and not enough water as I'm just still exhausted and have to work etc. But, so far, today is definitely better. I feel a bit more motivated to it this week too. I like your idea of re reading the book and may do that too, it does help to reinspire.

Well, its not been a great couple of days, I just can't find any motivation for anything at the moment. I'm just floating around, going through the motions, now feeling so behind on everything that I'm eating badly as a comfort thing I think. New scales arrived, it wasn't good news 😭 Trying to see the positives, I did my workout class yesterday, lunch was perfectly on method, (beluga lentil salad) and I have a couple of nice meals planned for today. Just keep on telling myself, get back in that circle! How are you doing @GloryLory?

Hi all, would you mind if I join your thread? I would LOVE a bit of motivation. I've read the Louise Parker books, and have just finished the prep week of the 6 week programme.

I have done the Method before a few years ago, but I had a baby (who is now nearly 2!!! So no longer a baby) and am carrying about 2 stone of baby weight still. But if I'm honest with myself it's not really baby weight, it's weight I gained whilst breastfeeding and sat around eating too much/drinking too many sweetened coffees whilst being a mum during maternity leave.

I struggle with 2 things in particular - the temptation of snacking here and there and inactivity because I work from home at a computer based role, so a lot of time spent sitting down . So the 2 things I'm really trying to focus on are getting up and about for walks during the day, as well as eating 3 meals with 2 snacks, rather than just continuous snacking.

Yes please do join us! Will write again properly later when more time but welcome to the thread 🙂

Thanks!

I started today, day 1 in the circle. Fruit, greek yoghurt and nuts for breakfast, cappucino as my pleasure pop mid-morning, a light pasta dish with salad for lunch, salmon and roasted vegetables for supper. Lots of water with lemon.

No formal exercise as such but went for a brisk walk at lunchtime and did some gardening this afternoon. I've been so inactive for the last 3 years or so, during pregnancy and motherhood, so I'm trying to build back up gently. I have had a look at the exercises in Louise's books but I think I'll leave those for now.

The thing for me to get used to is the portion sizes. I've got to get used to eating more delicate sized meals.

Hope you all have a good rest of your week!

Well I did ok for most of today. Greek yoghurt with bran and fruit for breakfast, mozzarella stuffed sweet pepper for lunch and spring cod en papillotte for dinner. Oat cakes and fruit for snacks. Walked to pick up the kids from school so 2.6 mile decent stomp, 14k steps today. Went slightly wrong this evening as had to bake cakes for school fundraising bale sale tomorrow, quite a lot of ingredients got consumed 🤦‍♀️

Long time no see and i am really sorry for this. I had a lot to do while i did basically nothing, i dont know how the days could fly by so fast.

@MrsToadlike hi and thank you for joining us! welcome to our thread.

I..really did nothing. I ate a lot of crap, moved even less than last week and i am constantly worrying about food and weight. Very unhealthy here and i dont know how to stop all of this again. I put on weight - i dont know it because of the scales, i see it.
i did some exercise but not enough.

I really have to start all over TOMORROW....

@ElvenDreamer seems like you are doing good which is great! So nie that you are getting all those steps in!

If it makes you feel any better @GloryLory, today I had 3 meals on method, then ruined it by eating 3 cup cakes and an entire tuble of pringles. The scales have not so much crept up as rocketed! I can't get my head right at the moment, the only thing I'm keeping up with fairly well is the steps, that I've genuinely formed a good habit with. I've been eating good meals too I guess, but am terrible for snacking on rubbish in between, I don't even notice I'm doing it sometimes. I think I'm not very organised with other aspects of my life and I'm quite hard on myself too so then I comfort eat, which makes me feel even worse, vicious cycle. However, I'm not going to give up, we can do this. Onwards and upwards, day 1 again tomorrow!

Ohhh gosh, I really needed your words. I am experiencing exactly the same at the moment, i dont do enough for university, household is on hold most of the time and i dont notice how much/why i am eating.

I will do my best tomorrow - steps, exercise and have good meals.
Without this thread, i would never step back in the circle i guess. Its so good to hear its not our fault only, its the life that happens while you're making plans.

I really admire your positive energy

Right, here's my plan for today. Still feeling groggy and grumpy, no doubt due to all the crap I ate yesterday. I'm going to have a try and push on through it day today. Each time I automatically reach for something rubbish to eat I'm going to try and have a glass of water, walk away and replace it with a pleasure pop instead, maybe do a row of crochet, read a couple of pages of my book or go and do something in the garden, and most importantly NOT FEEL GUILTY about taking time for these things. Jobs wise I tried yesterday, rather than see the overwhelmingly massive pile of tasks, to just pick one small one, and complete it, 5 min tasks, I mean there's still a ton to do but I can see a couple of clean corners now as a result of yesterday so that gives me hope! Kids have woken up and argued over the most trivial stuff this morning, so currently I'm sulking over a cup of coffee, but off to get dressed now, will put on my favourite perfume for no other reason except that it makes me feel good, then I'll crack on! Speak later, good luck with your day too @GloryLory, baby steps, we've got this! How are things going for you @MrsToadlike ?

Hello! Well yesterday I was doing quite well until supper when I ate loads of mashed potato. I'm trying to get out of the all of nothing thinking, so I've jumped straight back into the circle today - fruit salad with walnuts for breakfast this morning and I'll have a cappucino mid-morning as my pleasure pop.

Exercise wise I'm still not really doing her pillar although after my brisk walk the other day I did spend a few minutes afterwards doing some planks and some bench dips using the bench in my garden.

Are you both doing her exercises or are you doing your own thing?

Hi girls, nice to read you :)

I have the same problem as you @ElvenDreamerElvenDreamer, i feel a bit under the truck today and i know exactly where that comes from. I did some housework first, now i will do my exercise. Maybe i will walk a few steps in later, but i still have studies to do.
@MrsToadlike I do my Jilian Michaels workout dvds because I find it uncomfortable to look exercises up in a book and to be honest i dont find them hard enough, too. But i'm doing sports for a very long time and i'm only 29, so find what feels good for you! I like to see someone else doing it :)
Bodyfit by Amy somewhat was recommended here, too. They are available on youtube.
Whatever you do, do it constantly - 5 minutes is better than nothing!

I need to incorporate more pleasure pops again and i need some proper planned meals over the next days which i will do this evening.

We've got this girls!!

@MrsToadlike How are you doing with the other pillars?

Ah ok I might look up Jillian Michaels, like you @GloryLory I prefer to watch something being demonstrated and follow that, rather than interpret a book!

@ElvenDreamer the other pillars are ok I think. I'm getting good sleep each night and I don't struggle to find 5 mins here or there for a 'pleasure pop' once or twice a day. I am also following Louise Parker's advice regarding simplifying my surroundings. I wouldn't say my house is messy but there are small things I can do here and there to make it look a bit better, and she's right, I think you are more likely to look after yourself if you're surrounded by calm and tidiness. I'm not reaching 10,000 steps a day but I am making a real effort to get up and move more. So I think it's the exercise pillar that I'm not really doing at the moment.

How are you both getting on with the pillars?

Sounds nice @MrsToadlike and i am glad our group is getting bigger :)

I did all pillars really good when i had semester break, now it is a bit more complicated.
But mostly, i do get lemon water, movement, steps and beauty routine in. Its amazing how many habits her method builds and how easy it becomes to follow.

Today I didnt measure anything for my lunch, altough it was on the method (salad with feta and falafel). I was really hungry and i need to steo back into the circle - today that means no added sugar and please myself with getting fed up. her portion sizes are a problem to me sometimes...

I could need some meal inspo :) what are you cooking this weekend?

I'm cooking courgetti bolognaise from her cookbook tonight, that's a big favourite of mine.

Another favourite for lunch is flat mushrooms with goats cheese on top, that's delicious and very on method

Agree @GloryLory I struggle with the portions too because it doesn't look much.

Yes, the bolognese is a fav of mine, too. Mushrooms with cheese on top are also nice.

Yeah we have to get fed up by the greens but even after weeks i'm not always satisfied after a lunch, it varies depending on my day.

Hi folks! So today has been a pretty good day I think. A rasher of bacon and an egg on rocket for breakfast, half a sweet pepper stuffed with mozzarella for morning snack (leftovers from yesterdays lunch), beluga lentil salad for lunch, oat cakes and grapes for afternoon snack and I've just had the Nonna's chicken tray bake from the cookbook for dinner. If you haven't tried that one before, then you should, it's really good! I agree with you both about the courgetti bolognese, that's a really nice recipe.

Exercise wise I don't really follow the books either, it's annoying to keep flipping pages, although I have used them on occasion. On a regular basis though I have a zoom class on a Tuesday which is a 1 hr HIT and clubbercise run by a friend, totally exhausting. I run 5k on a Sunday morning with my daughter. On other days I have a fitness app I do (currently 'reduce belly fat' 🤣) which is only about 10 mins so easy to fit in, and I walk the school runs as many days as I can with work timings etc. Usually 3 days a week and it's 1.3 miles so that racks me up a good few steps! On a Thursday I try and walk the kids to school then run the long way home.

Other pillars. Hmmm, well I'm quite good with sleep, I've always been pretty good with sleep. I will only struggle with that when I'm back doing concerts a bit more regularly because then late nights are inevitable. The thing I think I struggle with most is creating my calm environment etc. I feel like I'm fighting a constant battle with my kids over the mess and clutter everywhere!