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

I had a 3lb loss this morning - the most I've ever lost in a week! I may have been dehydrated as I woke up with a bit of a headache so I won't be surprised if that's reflected in next week's weigh in.

But ... I'm into the 11s! Yay! Now I am only one 'stone number' up from my goal weight.

@Arbadacarba wow that's awesome!! Well done! I am hoping I can get to the 11st bracket by end of April 🤞

Yay @Arbadacarba I love moving into a new stone it feels like a real milestone.

I have been shopping in town this morning then spent the last 3 hours digging post holes and fixing in concrete fence posts, so lots of lugging around and sweating, think I'll feel it tomorrow!

Well done arbadacarba! Always a great feeling to get into the next stone bracket

Thank you! Went for a long walk today to capitalise on the lovely weather so feeling very virtuous

Brilliant Arbadacarba 3lbs in one week? Amazing! It feels good in the 11s.

Well done @Arbadacarba.

I was hoping this month I would drop to the next stone. Tomorrow is my running day but my knees are a bit sore but I don't cope well with two consecutive days off.

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I have been AWOL!
Had a couple weeks to "relax" as it were. Still been aiming to eat healthy, but I haven't been counting calories or worrying too much if I have a treat (which I have most days 🤣).

I weighed myself Friday as I hadn't weighed since before Easter. I am up 2 lbs to 10 st 3 lb. I have been doing lots of exercise, I'm on a 14 day streak on the fiit app (some of those days have been yoga/stretching) but I'm aiming to keep that streak going with some form of movement each day. Really enjoying it!

So back on it (again again again!)
Will re-start MFP tomorrow, set it to 1lb loss a week. Drink tons of water!
I still want to get down to 9 st 7lb ish.

I took some progress photographs and made a side by side from when I first started this with you guys in Oct last year and I am shocked!! My body has changed so much! It has kicked me up the bum to not fall at the last hurdle, I need to keep going!

@halfshrunkmoretogo I will be interested to see how you find the low carb BootCamp!!! I'm intrigued!

Hope you're all doing well 💕

Ps. This is previously CescaNicole - name changed.

Waves to Cesca/ Heatwaves.

I love reading this thread. Everyone is so kind and inspiring. I feel motivated after catching up!

My eldest got into het first choice primary on Friday so I feel the stress of that has ended as the one I wanted is always very oversubscribed!

My husband bought me a fancy fitbit so set that up today, it has loads of functions but I don't have the brain power at the moment with with new baby so just going to focus on hitting steps and increasing my water intake and fruit/veg.

Those intermittent fasting, do you calorie count within the hours you eat? Just trying to get my head around what might be the best method for me to lose weight. Thanks x

Thank you @SunshineCake. Sorry to hear your knees are sore - is there any exercise you can do that's lower-impact today? Still plenty left of the month so fingers crossed you will make it into the next stone!

Hi @HeatWaves - I wasn't on the thread last October but it must be great to be so close to your goal weight.

I know from past experience those last lbs can be stubborn but you sound like you are really in the zone with your fitness at the moment so hopefully you will soon see them drop off.

I'm feeling muscles I didn't know existed this morning. Apparently digging holes in the garden and lugging concrete posts around works muscles in thigh, butt, arms and shoulders that don't get worked as much as they should.

Scales down to 172lb this morning which is nice, looking forward to Wednesday to see how it ends up.

That next day feeling you get when you've used new muscles is very satisfying! Great result on the scales HalfShrunk!

Just very quick as I'm dyeing my hair. @ShakerMakerGirl I don't calorie count full stop and wouldn't do now I'm fasting even if I did. I think the point it works is that there is less time to eat so less to do with calories. @TheRealHousewife will know as she knows everything about fasting.

Hi @ShakerMakerGirl I told you it is lovely over here.
I don't calorie count while doing 16:8 but if the scales are up then I extend the fast window a bit so maybe 18:6 but only once a week maximum.
My biggest motivation is when I see the amount of effort it takes to burn say 150 KCals then it just seems stupid to stuff in a biscuit/packet of crisps and put it back in again. Sometimes I decide to eat it but I really think about it beforehand.
Saturday night, glass of wine and some crisps - so worth it
Tuesday 3.54pm and a bit bored - not so much!

@ShakerMakerGirl, I do calorie count while doing intermittent fasting, but that’s mainly because I want to make sure I eat enough!

I found that as long as I eat reasonably healthy and don’t use my eating window to stuff my face with calorific treats, it’s almost impossible to eat too many calories in 8 hours. When I just got started, I soon realised I was getting less than 1000 calories most days. I’m tall and reasonably active, so that was way too few calories for me. So now I count calories to keep things healthy!

Good luck with your Fitbit. I got a new one a few weeks ago and have found it a really useful tool. It took me a while to get my head round it all though and have yet to activate the free trial of FitBit premium it came with. If I’d had to make sense of all the stats and premium at the same time, I think my head would have fried.

One thing to be aware off is that it is known to overestimate calories burnt on some types of exercise. Last week, it estimated I’d burnt 900 calories in a 90 minute walk. If only! 😅

I calorie count whilst doing 16:8. If I didn't I wouldn't lose. I have a slow and stubborn metabolism.

Thank you all for your comments about 16:8 that's really helpful. I will try that this week and see how it goes! Got my 10,000 steps in today. Took the kids to a farm and it had a deer walk that said 1 hour. It was mainly uphill with a very steep downhill at the end and was quite an effort pushing the pram up over the Yorkshire Dales lol. Certainly burned some calories today. My legs are already aching! I briefly went on the bouncy castle and very quickly realised that wasn't the best idea 6 weeks after giving birth 😅

1.75lbs up after the weekend so back on it again today.
DD1 back at Uni, DD2 back at school. Focus, focus, focus.

Well done on those steps @ShakerMakerGirl. I’ve been hitting 10k every day since I got my FitBit a few weeks ago and feel a lot better for it!

After finally weighing myself last week, I found out this morning that I’ve lost more than 4 lbs in a single week. Based on what I’m eating (1600-1700 calories a day), I don’t really understand how that’s possible.

Obviously I’m happy with this as a one off, but I think I’ll keep an eye on it to make sure I’m not unintentionally crash dieting. It’s so odd. I lost 3 stone a couple of years back, but never had a loss this big in a single week. I was eating much less then, but I guess I must also have been less active? 🤔 Weightloss is so illogical!

Really inspiring reading everyone's loss stories, even after a weekend of drinking and eating (BECAUSE WE CAN WOOOOOO!). Enjoying seeing friends etc again but it has reminded me that it is easier to control eating when we are all at home, but I also need to be able to do it in the real world. Not daring to get on the scales after a lot of curry last night but kids back at school this week should help a bit with routines.

I once lost 5lb in a week @Crazzzycat. It really is annoying as some weeks I think I've done great and go up but then I get times where I think I've done awfully and lose. I have the same with running. Think I've been speedy and my stats are awful and other times think I've been slow and I've not.

I think I've been doing okay since I decided Saturday was my last day for being less strict with treats. However, dh just announced we are having Dominoes for our dinner as it is his birthday. I will enjoy a small pizza and then run tomorrow.

Happy birthday to your DH Sunshine it's only once a year, so enjoy.

First day back at work after Easter hols for me: was sooo good all day (busy) but felt the need to scoff some Easter egg and crisps when I came in. Nothing outrageous, just small portions, but it really does prove that this is my danger time!!!! I vow to be good all week and do healthy me.