LOSE IT! April 2021

[TheRealHousewife]

Hello & Welcome 😊 WOW 😯 April came around so fast. The sunny Spring weather and easing of Lockdown brings so much joy and promise for the coming year.

This thread is for those of us who enjoy healthy eating, exercising and feeling motivated to reach (or maintain) a healthy weight/bmi. The members of these threads are inspirational, supportive and happy to share their progress (the ups and the downs).

We all know 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.

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 light 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.

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 😊

Useful Links

Useful Tips For Lockdown Weight Loss

Free Recipes

Free NHS 12 Week Plan

MFP

How drinking more water helps you lose weight

@ShakerMakerGirl your head has to be in the right place for one to be able to make any changes ime and you are shattered with a new born! Do what you can even if it is a tiny change like drinking more water or having an extra piece of fruit or portion of veg. You can just chat. Do whatever works for you and it will all come together. Two walks is excellent!

Thank you @132orbustand @sunshinecake. That sounds like a good plan. Doing what I can without massive pressure but will all go in the right direction eventually! To be honest the 4 year old is harder than the 6 week old. Looking forward to preschool reopening and then some extended walks, easiest way to get the youngest to sleep!

I've struggled with binges for 20 years so working on this being a slow and steady change. I'm very all or nothing so trying to change the mentality that if I can diet perfectly I might as well not bother. I thinking adding in fruit/veg and water would be a good start x

Hello everyone, I'm hopping belatedly onto the April thread, drinking tonnes of water as per @SunshineCake's advice, and resolved to stay below the 11 stone barrier forever now I've got here.
I'm very worn out by the holidays, trying hard to make things fun for the kids, still not able to do much although we can travel from Friday, woohoo! Spring finally being here is helping, I like being outside and am naturally active when there's a lot to do in the garden.
SW 12 ST 13
CW 10 st 12
GW Undecided

Shakermaker you need to be rested and take care of you. Sunshine has it totally right- small changes. I'm a natural yo-yoer and since DS3 9 years ago I've done the binges too and emotional eating (he has ASN and life can be very emotional and difficult) but I'm determined now to stop that. Small changes.

Drybird your CW is my GW - you've done so well. Travel from Fri is soooooo exciting. I'm driving to a beach- I don't care if it's baltic, the DC will just need to freeze!

I previously would give up after three days -2 minutes if no weight loss and then eat all the chocolate and cheese to consolw myself. Then I'd hate myself for all negative reasons I won't post.

It is tough. I read that Dawn French had said she's put all the weight back on and how she never disliked her body before she lost weight and doesn't now. It is always so much pressure on women, never men it seems, and as long as we are healthy it shouldnt matter. But we all know it does and it is a shame.

I'm desperate to weigh today to test out @Puffalicious' theory for me but what if it isn't a good result???

Have a good day everyone.

Thank you for being so welcoming everyone 😊
@Drybird2020 your weight loss is inspiring to me as that is roughly what I want to achieve!
Today's food is
B overnight oats, coffee
L eggs, spinach, tomatoes and spring onion with a ryvita and some low fat houmous.
D TBD but probably some form of pesto chicken with a load of veg, and a yoghurt.
I'm going to weigh myself on a Friday morning I think.... I think I need to break my recent habit of stepping on the scales daily and focus on weekly instead. Going to try to up my water intake, never very good at drinking water - I tend to live off coffee, diet coke and wine

Need to work out next week too... I'm a teacher and back to work, and although I eat pretty well at work as I just bring a good lunch with me I then eat LOADS in the evening especially when I've just got home and I'm hungry - so I need to work out how to stave that off!

I am in a foul mood today!😤🤬😡

Didn't sleep well, DD fell over on the way to school so loads of tears, then when she settled down we realised we'd forgotten her PE kit so more tears, then mad dash home and back to school with PE kit, then irritating emails to start my day at work.

Grr, stomp, bang!

@CocoaMojo

Thank you for being so welcoming everyone 😊 *@Drybird2020* your weight loss is inspiring to me as that is roughly what I want to achieve! Today's food is B overnight oats, coffee L eggs, spinach, tomatoes and spring onion with a ryvita and some low fat houmous. D TBD but probably some form of pesto chicken with a load of veg, and a yoghurt. I'm going to weigh myself on a Friday morning I think.... I think I need to break my recent habit of stepping on the scales daily and focus on weekly instead. Going to try to up my water intake, never very good at drinking water - I tend to live off coffee, diet coke and wine Need to work out next week too... I'm a teacher and back to work, and although I eat pretty well at work as I just bring a good lunch with me I then eat LOADS in the evening especially when I've just got home and I'm hungry - so I need to work out how to stave that off!

I’m a teacher too! Back to work on Monday. I rarely have time for breakfast if ever. So I’ve decided I’m going to take fruit to snack on at playtime! I end up absolutely ravenous by 11am and recently one of my children has been making white toast with butter! Need to not have that when we go back!

Today B is porridge, lunch TBD and tea will be chicken curry and boiled rice. I’m not starting properly till Monday but going to try and do as much as I can to reign it in before then!!

Thanks once again all for making me feel so welcome

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo sorry to hear about DS...I always feel like days when my son isn’t himself or falls (this happens a lot at the moment as he’s just started walking) are the days when I feel utter rubbish :( and everything gets to me! Fx your
Day improves! Sending lots of hugs

*DD

I'm struggling with the evening munchies at the moment, going to bed at 8pm to avoid eating is getting a bit silly! Does anyone have any tips for tasty fruit teas or no-cal drinks? We're going to a friend's garden tonight, they don't drink so that's not the issue but I want to bring something along that will stop me diving into the nuts and crisps...

@CocoaMojo I am doing intermittent fasting but get through it with a 3pm snack. What about a snack once the children have left ?

Hope your mood is better now @HalfShrunkMoreToGo.

I failed. Got on the scales. Said I was up yesterday, I don't believe it. The only positive is I didn't get upset. I am feeling really poorly today and don't know why. Just sick and faint. Wondering if I need to break the fast but then I only have an hour to go so I will try and do it.

@overthecorona maybe a smaller dinner then make a little picnic of good stuff?

Oh no SunshineCake, that’s annoying. When this used to happen to me, I’d remind myself that I’d need to eat at least 750 calories on top of my TDEE to put on 0.1 kg. So, unless I’d done that the day before (which was pretty unlikely) the “gain” was just a temporary blip. Those scales WILL come down again 🤗

overthecorona, for me it’s easier to cut a few calories during the day, when there’s plenty to distract me from feeling a bit hungry. That means that I usually have enough calories left to have a snack in the evening, when it’s just me and my empty stomach!

I like things like corn thins with a little bit of peanut butter, or hummus. A bit less virtuous, but PopChips are really good too, especially the little packets you get in a multipack, which are only 70 calories each. You just need to be disciplined enough to only have one!

Hi all,

Good news on the scales this morning, 1lb off, which takes me into the 11s!!!! I'm buzzing that it says 11 something. Only 1lb to go to get to 2 stone. It'll have taken me 5 months- Sunshine and I are the slow team!- but it feels good.

SW 13st 12
CW 11st 13
GW 10st 12

Sorry your day not going so great Halfshrunk and you're feeling poorly Sunshine . Go with the feelings- we need to experience our whole range of emotions to feel truly alive- and nourish your bodies and minds with whatever they need today.

Overthecorona I adore liquorice tea. Discovered it about 8 years ago and I can't get enough. Soft drink wise I love fiery ginger beer, Sainsbury's do a great 0 cal one but you'll get them elsewhere, loads of ice and it's delish. I'm also partial to a Virgin Mary or Mojito when they're all having cocktails. I don't drink (has never agreed with me) so I have had to adjust.

Waves to fellow teachers Supergirl and CocoaMojo . Back on Monday too and I'm actually better at not eating whilst at work.

Well done @Puffalicious !

Not far for you to go now - 1lb and you'll be able to say you are just 1 stone away from your goal weight!

Congrats on getting into the 11s - I know exactly how you feel as I'm teetering on the edge of them myself (crossing fingers for my next weigh in).

Slow and steady is a good way to be

Thanks so much Arbadacarba it feels momentous as I've been up and down with this half stone.

I definitely have slow and steady wins the race as my mantra!

Coming out of my funk, not helped by a combo of new eating style and period starting today so hormones and body chemistry probably all messed up.

On a plus side managed to get into primark on my lunch so DD now has new clothes and I've grabbed a few new vest tops for me and lots of lovely plant pots for the garden.

Heading to B&Q tonight for essential garden stuff as we have 1 month to get the garden nice before DDs very small birthday party. If it rains on 15th may I just might cry!

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo I will pray to the weather gods for you ❤️. Glad the day has improved and DD has some nice new clothes.

Can I ask two things. Does everyone use MFP to input calories and such. If so, if i was to make a big pasta salad that I would say portion into 4, do input the whole recipe and then say I’m having 1/4? How does it work?

Secondly if I was to make a batch of pasta salad, how long would it last in the fridge (pasta, Mayo, cucumber, pepper, tinned ham) many thanks and sorry for too many questions.

@Supergirl1958 MFP has a function that lets you create recipes and then say how many servings that is so if you have meals you tend to repeat it's an easy way of logging them.

Hopefully this screenshot will work

Oh and I usually give leftovers 3 days in the fridge

@SunshineCake I think that is a really good idea, thanks. Something I have at work to pre-empt ravenous snacking once at home!
@Supergirl1958 your message makes me think you are planning lunches for school! I started doing this a few weeks before the Easter holidays. I made a big rice salad on a Sunday and then portioned into 3 to eat Monday-Wednesday, reckoning that about 3 days in the fridge is OK. I have Thursdays off this year so obviously at home then and then on Friday I would 'treat' myself to a low-calorie sandwich from the supermarket After Easter I might try saving something from Thursday night dinner to take in on Fridays. It did work well though as I'm so tired during the week I can't be bothered to make myself lunch every evening - instead I just grabbed a pre-made lunch in a tupperware from the fridge and added a piece of fruit.

Can I ask how does intermittent fasting work? It seems like a good idea but I'm scared of being hungry haha. Also not sure how teaching on an empty stomach first thing would work (I think the only way I could make it work in my life would be eating 12-8 so skipping breakfast) Do you do it every day or a few times a week? Does it actually help?

I'm lucky in work- we have a large salad bar and home made soup on offer every day. I have now trained the dinner ladies not to offer me macaroni cheese and garlic bread at lunch or cheese on toast/ hot chocolate at break time!! They're so good to us, they just want to make sure I'm 'not fading away'- aye right, as if that's likely!

Cocoamojo it's worked really well for me. I do 11-7. I'm not a natural breakfast eater so it works for me. I am very hungry by 11am break so my go to then is a low fat yogurt and a Babybel light. It seems to keep me going (along with a cuppa) until lunch at 1. I'm ravenous when I get it from work so those timings work for me. The after 7pm snacking was a real issue for me, so I think putting a stop to this has been key.

[quote HalfShrunkMoreToGo]@Supergirl1958 MFP has a function that lets you create recipes and then say how many servings that is so if you have meals you tend to repeat it's an easy way of logging them.

Hopefully this screenshot will work[/quote]
Yes thankyou that’s amazing! ❤️ Makes so much more sense seeing it in the screenshot.

@CocoaMojo I’m trying to plan my lunches. You know what it’s like, I’m so tired and it’s easy to make butties in the morning so if I batch cook pasta salad it will be better for me! I’m tired of having butties and I get up with my son, make the dinners etc whilst my fiancé has the luxury of a shower and child free time to get ready for work so it’s really hard!

@CocoaMojo, I’m a (sort of) intermittent faster. I fast between 22:00 and 13:00, so not quite 16 hours. You get used to it pretty quickly and I’ve found it very effective for reminding my body of what being hungry actually feels like. It’s made me far less likely to snack when I’m feeling a bit peckish.

I’m a keen hill walker and regularly go on long walks while I’m fasting. I usually take something to eat with me, because obviously it would not be a good idea to start feeling faint on top of a mountain, but so far I’ve never had to use it. So, basically it’s pretty easy once you get used to it!

If you’re not sure if you can do it while working, could you perhaps build up slowly, e.g start with 10 or 12 hours of fasting and add an extra hour each week?