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

Woke up about 4am with a burning fever from my COVID jab. Felt awful, fever cleared but still feel shattered and headache from hell... like a bad hangover, so craved carbs all day. Didn’t go mad but took the day off from watching my food intake as been craving buttery toast, mash potato etc. Hoping I feel better tomorrow as had my jab on Tuesday. I think most people seem to only get Side effects for the first couple of days. Then I have 3 days to fully focus and then we go away for a few days... April is proving a bit tricky so far but these things happen so I’m not going to stress. Hope everyone else is doing ok. Sorry I’ve not read the latest posts, will catch up tomorrow. Off to bed now and hoping for a better nights sleep

Good luck for swift recovery and successful trip away EssexLionness
I'm going for a run in the morning, forecast says it will be dry so that'll be a nice way to start the day.

Thank you @RealisticSketch, hope you enjoy your run. Woke up feeling ok so that’s a promising start

Hello,

I'd love to join. I really want a bit of community and accountability but not keen to splash out on WW or similar to get it.

I have been a healthy weight my whole adult life....until now.

In the last 18 months I have put on about 2 and a half stone. I now have a BMI of 26, an increased risk of T2 Diabetes (due to BMI, waist measurement and that it runs in my family).

I just can't stop putting weight on! I weigh 203lbs today, I am 6ft 2. I put 3lbs on in the last week.

I don't know why. But I have been reflecting on it a lot. I think my perception of how much I am eating is skewed, I am getting older, I have been taking Fluoxetine for 10 months, I never really work out from a strength point of view so have v little muscle mass for burning calories, I could be peri menopausal, my joint hypermobility is getting worse, I have been diagnosed with very low iron and Vitamin D (again), lockdowns have also necessitated periods of lower daily activity for me. I am a teacher who doesn't normally sit down in the classroom but teaching from home and home schooling my own children has meant plenty more time spent on my bum. And if I am honest.....I think a lot of emotional eating.

So my goal is to get to 12 stone which is a 2 and a half stone loss. I normally get 10,000 steps a day. I can't run due to my Joint Hypermobility Syndrome but the walking is quite brisk, I tend to walk 4 miles in 80 minutes.

I am restarting Pilates for 2 hours a week starting 19th April, I've had a break since December, just because I have been homeschooling and WFH and all exercise (apart from walking) went to the wayside.

My physio says I need to accept my joint hypermobility means I need to take two or three times as long as the average person in building my strength so I am going to do a couple of you tube beginner workouts a week and focus on my form.

I know what to do, I know what a healthy diet and lifestyle look like....and I really do want it. But I think eating to solve an emotional issue might be stopping me. So I hope that with some regular Journaling, an online support group, I'll get there.

What do you reckon I should do? Calorie counting with a focus on the.most nutrient dense foods I can manage?! X

Also have had to relegate all my size 12 stuff to back of wardrobe and am now a very tight size 14! It's pretty depressing. I can't get over the huge tummy roll bulge I have over my waistband when I sit down.

Welcome @PianoplayingCockerSpaniel

I use MyFitnessPal to calorie count, it works out how many calories you should eat based on height, weight, activity level and how much you want to lose per week. I recommend setting to no activity and 1lb per week loss, then if you have a lazy day you know you're not over eating and you can manually add in any exercise you do or use a tracker watch thing.

In terms of food I recommend switching things like white bread, sweets, chocolate, potatoes, rice for complex carbs like whole grain, seeded and lots of green veg grown above ground.

You get more food for your calorie allowance and it fills you up for longer. Don't exclude fats, they fill you up and give you lots of good stuff, just keep them healthy like olive oil, avocado, eggs, nut butters.

Thank you for the MFP tip @halfshrunkmoretogo

I do love avocados and eggs. I make a 'Second Nature' recipe called savory slice which is like a fritatta and try to eat that for breakfast most days. It's so yummy!

Hope you feel better soon @EssexLioness. I felt awful for nearly four days after my jab and it was immediate. Dh was ok but felt off that night for about a day.

Hope you has a good run @RealisticSketch.

Welcome @PianoplayingCockerSpaniel. I am doing intermittent fasting and running 4-5 times a week. I have lost a stone and a half since I started running. I'm also peri menopausal and have started on new vitamins to try and help with symptoms. One of my favourite lunches used to be crackers with mashed avocado and chilli sauce. Apparently chilli helps with metabolism.

I walked the dog then took ds shopping but today I'll be watching tv, eating chocolate and feeling devastated for the Queen.

Hi @sunshinecake. Your day sounds much like mine!

Wow-running 4-5 times a week is amazing. I am in awe! I did a running club for a while and a few park runs but I just never clicked with it. Now have been told running is not good for hyper mobile joints so I stick to walking, pilates and cannot wait to throw myself back into a pool.

Random question for you guys but how often do you reckon you could have a chocolate bar as a treat? Once a week?

I barely drink these days and probably have only one drink a month so that's another reason I feel a bit bemused at my weight gain.

@PianoplayingCockerSpaniel for me that answer is none lol
If I had one I'd go back and sweep the shelf , but without I'm ok
For now anyway , feeling positive and optimistic losing weight for last time in my life
When maintaining I might try one nice treat weekly and see what it does to me

I have a treat every day. Ranging from a whole double decker to two or three mini chocolates or squares of a chocolate bar. Sometimes I will have a kids size pack of milk bottles. Alcohol doesn't happen often. The calories aren't worth it for me.

I’m a “treat every day”- kind of person too.

I’m not a fan of chocolate bars myself, but won’t say no to a couple of squares of dark chocolate, or a few crisps.

As long as I’m calorie counting I find it quite easy to be disciplined with snacks. I know exactly how many calories I have left at the end of each day and what I can and can’t have a treat.

When I’m not calorie counting, that discipline is completely non-existent and I will happily hoover up a bar of chocolate, or a bag of crisps without giving it any further thought. That’s probably the reason I’m here...😂

Had a wobble today - prepped up delicious, healthy veg soup & put soup maker on - 10 mins later, funny smell - soup maker had packed up! I only bought it at the start of the year. I was really tempted to delve into my (skinny) husband's wealth of junk food ... but I gritted my teeth and set to with the stick blender and pan to finish the soup off.

Hoping I can get a replacement for the soup-maker as it's really helped my healthy eating. After the first week of soup every day I was using it about twice a week so it really shouldn't have broken so quickly.

@Arbadacarba. Save your money. All you need is a sharp knife, a chopping board, water and a pan. Honestly. I make a lot of soup and would never buy a soup maker. I can't trust something that says it can do all that as I've learnt from using various equipment it is risky to leave something running more than a few moments.

Well, I'll have to see if the shop will give me a refund or whether they'll replace it or whether they send me to the manufacturer ...

Get well soon @EssexLioness
Today was really quite rubbish for eating. I think there is a weetabix diet that I seem to be following at the moment . I have had weetabix this morning with blueberries and the same for tea , with two slices of toast. I am trying to give up carbs honest! I had a tin of veg soup for lunch with yes you’ve guessed it a slice of bread. I just could not face making a salad today. That’s my excuse anyway. Tomorrow is big shop day so plan on buying some salmon and making chips out of carrots , parsnips and another veg but can’t recall the name. Reserved the fast800 recipie book from the library to give me more ideas other than soup and salad. 0 exercise today but hope to do some tomorrow

Oh I love a good soup. Good luck with fixing the soup maker/getting a refund.

I was thinking eggs for breakfast, soup (with a protein-like added chickpeas or canellini beans) for lunch and healthy balanced dinners could get me on track for a few weeks.

I made this yesterday:

www.delicious.com.au/recipes/super-greens-soup-truffle-oil/247dbe38-eaff-4374-b9cc-139ee4296943

I'm also starting a few mindful eating meditations and meditations geared to calming down binge eating. I hope they help me.....a lot of my eating is definitely emotional so I think that addressing those emotional and mental issues might help me.

That soup looks good @PianoplayingCockerSpaniel! I do like truffle oil.

Training myself to eat mindfully is a big part of my long-term maintenance plan. I am a classic yo-yo dieter. In the past, my diets have been very much based on how much I eat, not what I eat. This time I am not counting anything (carbs, calories, fat) but making sure that what I eat is naturally healthy, and addressing my delayed satiety/boredom eating with my 'rule of 30'. I am hoping there won't be a moment when I 'come off the diet' but that my weight will eventually settle at a healthy level if I continue this way of eating.

I'm the soup queen! Have used all my mega stock of various flavours from the freezer so made a huge pot of minestrone last night (light on the tiny pasta and plenty cannelli beans for protein). Fed us all last night (5 of us- boys and DH had delicious sour dough and apple pie - my lot love a soup and a pudding dinner) 2 of us for lunch, me for dinner again tonight and I've frozen 4 large portions for me. Soup is marvellous. I'll do a greens based one tomorrow (that recipe looks great piano) and mushroom the next day. It means I'm never without a filling, low cal option for lunch or dinner.

Go soup!

1 lb loss on my weekly weigh-in. Happy with that!

Well done @Arbadacarba!

Help! Talk me through this emergency! DH and DS3 have fish and chips from the chippy as a treat. My mouth is literally watering. I have removed myself from the table and am hiding in the front room- but I KNOW there'll be leftovers! Help!

@Puffalicious I had this problem half an hour ago ... I poured washing up liquid over it all really quickly

They've got to dump those leftovers in your food waste bin as soon as they've finished so they're not lingering around to tempt you!

Have you had your own healthy evening meal yet? If you don't feel hungry you'll be less tempted by the chippy remains.

To get yourself away from the smell could you have a relaxing bath or shower? Lighting a scented candle, if you have one, is another option.

No help as we had fish and chips yesterday and I've kept the leftovers to warm up. Then no one ate them so they might be kept til tomorrow

Failing today with fasting. Given myself the night off.