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

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How drinking more water helps you lose weight

Hi everyone. Had a busy morning. Had a 6.88km run then after a lovely hot shower I met dh who was walking our dog. I had seen them and she had given me a few tail wags then wanted to go on her walk . Been tidying, walked to the post box and now having houmous and crackers along with left over peas, corn and carrots for lunch. It is cold so planning on staying in the rest of the day. Oh yes, nearly forgot. I was good and didn't weigh after my run as I weighed yesterday .

Well done on your 2lb loss @Puffalicious. Mine was all of 0.6lb down yesterday in a week but a loss is a loss!

Sure is Sunshine. It's bitterly cold here too- we've had flurries of snow. As soon as holidays are over it'll be a balmy 20 degrees i bet!

Always the way. Not that the kids can go anywhere .

I want to ask maybe a stupid question , asking here as it's one of the few posts I've found without judgement , abuse , mega opinions and vile behaviour ... digress
Been very very good for few weeks with healthy eating etc
This week lost nothing ... have never gone over 1000 cals and more than 10,000 daily steps
Son has suggested not eating enough ? That's the question - how can that be ? Surely less cals more weight gain ? I can't see how consuming more will help me weigh less ? What am I missing ? I'm not starving believe me but been very veg salad protein based meals all week ? Can someone explain this not eating enough to me ? Thank you

No question is stupid, @jannyapple. If you don't know you don't know and is sensible to ask. I think your son has a point. I went through a stage of losing next to nothing and I think now it really was a case of not eating enough. I eat less than I did before October 2018 but more than last year and I'm losing. Only small amounts but I'm not giving up my daily treat and my body won't cope with more running .

Years ago I was doing diet chef and one week I'd had enough and just ate normal food and what I wanted. I lost 5lbs. Maybe you need more than salad and protein twice a day ?

@jannyapple the theory is that if your body realises its being short changed on calories it starts to hold fat in reserve to make up for what you're not putting in.

Now obviously long term you'll lose weight, otherwise malnourished people wouldn't be skinny, but it could cause a plateau over the short term.

The better option is to eat a little more so your body doesn't do the whole reserve thing.

If you work out your TDEE, that willl tell you roughly how much you can eat and maintain your weight, then deduct 500 from that to get your target calories for 1lb loss a week, which should be about where you try to be.

@SunshineCake thank you
I have porridge or poached egg at breakfast, chicken or salmon with salad or veg ( depending on weather) occasional jacket spud beans tuna cheese etc .. no snacking, loads of water or squash
Maybe need to add a few more carbs .. really disappointed

Or a little fat, healthy fats are brilliant, they add calories and also fill you up.

So some avocado in your salad or olive oil dressing, peanut/almond/cashew butter on toast or apple slices, a 30g serving of nuts, a 20g serving of cheddar cubes in the salad or just as a snack.

It will only add 100-200 calories a day but it's good quality foods that give you essential oils, calcium and so on.

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo thank you , TDEE says 1600 so that's about an apple of a difference I should add ?
Hoping it's just one of those annoying things
Can't blame bowels or hormones unfortunately lol

Oh yes , that's my treat
Apple slices with a bit of peanut butter
I've always counted it in my cals
Love it !

@SunshineCake

Hi *@RealisticSketch* and welcome. I'm not sure I've seen you before and it is nice to have you in our group.

It took me years but I realised I was not hurting myself when I was eating more than I needed. I went without a lot as a kid so in the evenings I would panic if dh said he didn't want a snack or supper and if would become this huge up yours to the people who didn't look after me. It took years and years for me to realise they neither used or cared whether I ate or not. I also was shocked when my BIL said no when I asked him if he ever ate when not hungry. I like to eat sometimes for the enjoyment of the food ! Everything has changed in the last eleven months for me and it can change for you to once you find what works. I'm very much that food is fuel and needs no more power than that. We've just had our dinner and with me feeling anxious and tearful I was going to have the treacle pudding I bought at the weekend. I got it out, looked at it and thought I don't really want it, certainly don't need it and had two pieces of chocolate Easter egg instead. I'm fasting now and won't eat now until lunch time.

I used to use all sorts of excuses for eating when not hungry. I'm already fat, I've ruined the diet this week, I'm sad, I'm bored, more up yours-ing, the kids have driven me mad, I'm shattered etc etc etc. Now it's, you've lost so much, you've been running, you've had enough. It is more in the mind than the tummy! Good luck.

Thank you for your welcome Sunshinecake and being so generous with your advice, it's great to hear that perspective and I'm very glad you have (with what must have taken great personal fortitude) arrived at the point where you are able to take good care of yourself despite having had no example to do so, or how to, when young - that is a huge achievement. You're right you hadn't seen me on this thread before, I've been bumbling along in rl without tremendous success in regaining my lost figure, until I happily stumbled on this thread the other day. Sorry for my slow reply to your post, it was that evening when MN was very slow and glitchy and I tried to reply about 4 times until I gave up, just tried to come back to it. 😆 Since I came on I've tried a few swaps as crazzzycat suggested and also took your point about it being in the mind so asking myself if I really need the thing I want. The former was less successful than the latter thus far. Think I need to exercise my mind muscle in this department more 🤭 whereas the swaps felt easier. I'm hoping by being frank here I can make myself more accountable as I can talk myself into it but mattering etc and clearly self discipline is not something I'm good at having not really ever needed it before, so I'm hoping this will help start the babysteps of finding my feet with that. I hope I can give back to the group though my mn use is erratic around my life demands so I might fade in and out, but I'm sure I'm not alone in that.

I have a stupid question of my own jannyapple
I'm a complete and utter novice to the use of calories, feel free to laugh heartily...
I looked at a bar of chocolate and it said it was 386 kcal (kilo calories presumably). So kilo is a mathematical term so a kilogramme is 1000x grams.... So, what is a kilo calorie? Surely a chocolate bar can't be 386000 calories!? But if not what is the k bit, is a kcal the same thing as a calorie? 🙈😬

"The former was less successful than the latter thus far." Other way round sorry.

Hi @RealisticSketch I'm very confused now lol I don't have any chocolate to look at wrappers but currently examining a tin of sweet corn like Sherlock Holmes !

😆 it's confusing. I did Google but didn't come away wiser. 🙉

Hello,
New here so would like to join
I am 44 and finding it hard to shift the pounds. Am trying to have more veg, fruit and less carbs. Not been running for a while but started up again last week and have now done two runs, yoga session and a low impact workout. When I write it down like that I am quite chuffed with myself for doing it. Just need to make sure I have the same motivation when back working next week after Easter holidays. Glad the kids Easter eggs are nearly gone as that has been my downfall nibbling them throughout the day.
Could not help myself and bought a juicer but seriously felt so bloated that I don’t think I should drink all in one go
Today I have had two weetabix with blueberries semi skimmed milk
Tin of vegetable soup and slice of bread
Chicken packet noodles and slice of bread which was yak but a belly filler. Not the best day for food today although I have started having hot/warm water with a squeeze of half a lemon juice so tick in the box for having that today

@RealisticSketch

I have a stupid question of my own jannyapple I'm a complete and utter novice to the use of calories, feel free to laugh heartily... I looked at a bar of chocolate and it said it was 386 kcal (kilo calories presumably). So kilo is a mathematical term so a kilogramme is 1000x grams.... So, what is a kilo calorie? Surely a chocolate bar can't be 386000 calories!? But if not what is the k bit, is a kcal the same thing as a calorie? 🙈😬

I'd assume the bar was 386 calories but don't know. @RealisticSketch and lovely to see you, and whenever you can.

Welcome @Midnightstar76. I started running in May and love it. On my second pair of trainers !

Second pair of trainers! Wow you must run a lot

I usually do 5km (kilo metres - see there it is again! But for calories kcal and cal seem interchangeable ) twice a week, though my running buddy had been less available lately so my routine is thrown off temporarily. Lack of self discipline again. 🙄

midnightstar it is as bit of a shock to find that the extra pounds stick around a lot more stubbornly than they used to isn't it! It shouldn't be, after all it's not new. And yet it is. 😳

@RealisticSketch A 'kilocalorie' is the official scientific term for what we call a 'calorie' in real life. So 386 kcal is simply 386 calories.

Thanks!

Phew. Glad I was right.

👟