Any Lardy fatties in their 50's want to join me in weight loss

[5NOV]

Morning, I'm looking for some company in my quest to lose the lard.

I'm useless at dieting, I have managed to shift one stone since Christmas but I keep losing and gaining, rinse and repeat.

Anyone up for joining me.

@Babymamamama I'm wondering if the scales aren't really the be-all and end-all. I will continue to weigh myself regularly but I was down 3 on Sunday and up 2 this morning. However the mirror and my clothes tell a different story. Even lying in the bed this morning I could feel my ribs and hips a bit closer to the surface...

Keep going! Bought a nice fresh cauliflower to have as a side with dinner tonight.
Have a great Monday everyone

@putthehamsterbackinitscage interesting how you talk about grabbing your 'share' of the food ... I would question that. What if there is no such thing as 'your share' and there is just 'food'? What if it's only your brain telling you you need to grab your share (because your brain is wired for survival and sees eating food as required for survival or you will die).

You don't have to believe all the stories your brain tells you.

What if the food is just there as a neutral resource that you don't have to react to or resist. It's just food. Inanimate. What if it's only your thoughts about the food that create the bad habits. What would that change for you?

@AnnaCharles888 yes - good point.

I had got into a mindset that I wanted "my share" of perceived treats... mostly unhealthy carbs and sugar and the only way to get it was to eat it before my DH and DS just ate everything - usually within a day or 2 of the shopping delivery.

I'm trying to get back to viewing food as fuel and only eating what I need plus trying to make good choices. Not viewing it as a reward or eating because it's there.

If I can step back from the snacks and unhealthy carbs (think hot cross buns, Chios, pancakes, cake, etc) and just eat healthy meals when I need them then I won't end up in a cycle of weight gain and then dieting - but it's hard so I have started by removing most of it from my regular shops to remove temptation.

I also need to get a grip on mid week drinking - lockdown has meant a slippery slope of a beer as it's sunny, share a bottle of wine after as we're not going out...

@putthehamsterbackinitscage you sound very dedicated which is great and yes agree about the sunny weather and beer!

I think it makes total sense to not buy stuff like hot cross buns if you don't want to eat them because that would be a waste of money, but be wary of trying to resist them. Because when you resist you use willpower and eventually that will run out. You are giving power to the food. That's when feelings of deprivation surface, which leads to yoyo dieting.

Compare that to how you would feel if you thought instead 'of course I could eat a hot cross bun if I wanted, but I have decided I won't.'

@RickOShay ... crying with laughter at the bin dress !!!... I look weird in dresses from Cos ... or any shapeless things .. DD says I look like Windy Miller in them !

This weekend has been something of a disaster, lard-wise, but great fun.

Met friends for lunch on Saturday and had fish and chips. Tho not many of the chips. And two gins. And a rosé. And then an Aperol spritz. And some cheese and biscuits.

Sunday we had a Father's Day veggie full English, then nothing until dinner which was some GF pasta. Then today some Pret Porridge and then lunch at Dishoom, which was bloody delicious and I bet not on My Fitness Pal. For, indeed, I've been logging food on MFP, which handily knows the calories I've expended via the witchcraft that is my new abs fantastic Apple Watch.

I had a huge flood in my flat on Friday - so lots of exercise mopping up gallons of water and shifting stuff around and down to the basement - but rather a lot of emotional eating too, including pizza at one point.
It didn't help that my cat kept being sick too, but she's been fine since it was fixed and mostly cleared up too, so I think she was just stressed out too.
Back on track today; I probably should have drunk more water, but fairly healthy yogurt and berries for breakfast, butternut squash salad for lunch, and prawn curry with heaps of cauliflower and broccoli just now.
I KNOW I should be making stuff from scratch, but when I'm in a hurry I really like Holy Cow curry sauce pouches - I had the Goan one this evening, No sugar or weird chemicals I've never heard of in the ingredients list.

Still holding the three pounds I regained at the weekend. It’s so depressing. I now know that in my menopausal fifties this weight loss thing is no walk in the park. It’s made me realise that I’m going to have to be much more serious about staying on track. I wonder if it was the rose wine, the nibbles and dips, the steak sandwich or the ice cream this weekend that was my undoing or maybe just all of it.
Made me think of my beloved granny who always ate like a bird in her latter years and lived well and healthily to a grand old age. I need to take a leaf out of her book now.

I think that our bodies naturally shed and gain about 5 pounds just day by day.

So when we weigh ourselves everyday it can be a bit of a roller coaster.

It is (I think) a mixture of hormones, water retention, bowel function and all sorts.

I have been known to gain 7lbs over night, and then lose it within 3 days. (usually after travelling)

So, my view is, I do weigh everyday, but I am looking for a general downward trend over the week (two weeks) So that the higher numbers gradually get lower and the lower number also gradually get lower, but not stress about the fluctuations in the middle too much!

I’m aiming to weigh myself once a week. I don’t have scales, so I go to my sister’s. I’m still doing 16:8 and seem to be eating a lot of eggs and beetroot.

@BrumCahoots I wish I’d taken a photo for you
I just have very few clothes that fit so getting desperate. I’ve got the grand total of two wearable summer dress, both acceptable bag shaped, 2 pairs of short hush harems and a lardy pair of mango mum jeans. I am sporting the four boob look as I refuse to spend £50 on a bigger bra. 34ff. Or I was.
Hope everybody is on track. Bloody hard this.

@Babymamamama
It’s so unfair isn’t it? Just remember that when you reach your target weight you CAN splurge a bit. There is hope

@RickOShay .. I bloody love Hush .. their things just seem to expand with me !!!

@BrumCahoots
That photo is uncanny
Oh god poor us

@BrumCahoots
Oh yes. Very WIDE waistbands. But then I think maybe I should wear my old Jamie jeans just to remind me of the old tumtums. Slight snag is I can’t truthfully do them up

@RickOShay .. I have put my smaller bras and AllSaints jeans in a "thin bag" in my wardrobe ... have a "fat bag" ready for my threadbare leggings soon !!!! .. bras are soooo expensive.. I've gone to a 32g !!!

I have a thin bag. I had a thinner bag, but that got consigned to the charity shop a couple of years ago. I don't want to have to do the same to the thin bag!

There's a fine line between self-acceptance and ending up in size 40 tents and being removed from the house on a whale stretcher.

Though my weekend of indulgence appears to have had no bad effect on the scales. Go figure.

I bought an amazing seasalt raincoat this afternoon, £7 in a charity shop, looks like new. A size down; it fits, but would be hard to fit a thick top underneath at the moment.
Stopped for a cup of tea, looked at all the cakes, but had a tiny pastry with halloumi in instead.

I’m admiring both your purchase and your restraint @ThinWomansBrain.
I’ve failed a bit this evening, as it was my nephews birthday.

Onwards and upwards though.

@herbaceous .... I know the feeling .. my thinner bags went to the charity shop last summer ! ....

I don't have thinner bags. I have a storage unit full of boxes of "thin" clothes.
And quite a few boxes in the flat

[quote AnnaCharles888]@putthehamsterbackinitscage you sound very dedicated which is great and yes agree about the sunny weather and beer!

I think it makes total sense to not buy stuff like hot cross buns if you don't want to eat them because that would be a waste of money, but be wary of trying to resist them. Because when you resist you use willpower and eventually that will run out. You are giving power to the food. That's when feelings of deprivation surface, which leads to yoyo dieting.

Compare that to how you would feel if you thought instead 'of course I could eat a hot cross bun if I wanted, but I have decided I won't.'[/quote]
@AnnaCharles888 yes you're right it would be a waste but DH/DS eat them mostly... I've decided not buying much of carbs stuff is the answer and they'll just have to lump it...

Thing is I can go with the mind set of I don't want it but it's so easy to slip back when it's in the house, or to choose the bad option on the menu when out at a pub etc

I find it best to commit solidly to my plan whilst trying to lose - I need to find a long term mindset that works once I get to the end of the plan... short of kicking out the rest of the family

I also have a whole load of "thin clothes" and done "fat" clothes ... it would be really nice to get to a place where I don't feel the need to keep the fat ones ....

Had my first proper lunch out at a lovely restaurant with some pals yesterday. Well we went at it. Three courses, oodles of wine, g&ts and of course I washed it all down with a few glasses of wine when I got home. (in for a penny....)

My head did not thank me this morning. Solpedinis for breakfast. Today wasn't great either foodwise but back at it again tomorrow.
Twas but a blip...

I have hardly any clothes that fit properly at the moment. I'm holding out on buying more.

I refuse to buy bigger clothes. Except if they're from a charity shop, as that doesn't count.

Still won't buy a size 16 trouser tho.

I’m just about back to where I was weight wise before I fell off the wagon last weekend. Phew! I’m also avoiding buying any bigger clothes and I’ve started donating some bigger items from my wardrobe so I have no excuse to wear them ever again. I feel like the total weight I want to lose is such a far off goal currently and it’s scary to think how quickly I could regain it. I’ve got a wedding to go to in September so that’s now my milestone. Don’t want to look lardy in a dress.

@putthehamsterbackinitscage kicking out the rest of the family ... hehe, now that approach could work for several situations that come to mind!

I would like to (and this is meant with the utmost kindness) challenge you to something: the next time you're at the pub and feel yourself wanting to choose the bad option off the menu, stop and ask why? Right in that moment. Why? Be fully conscious of what's driving your decision making.

Perhaps also ask if the version of you who's already lost the weight and is living her life without really thinking about weight would choose that menu option? Ask what would that version of you eat and consider if you're willing to choose that instead. (Which doesn't mean, by the way you would necessarily choose salad or something diet-y. Just be really curious with how you're evaluating the choices.)

You can still go ahead and choose the 'bad' option - totally up to you - but do it consciously. Do it liking your reasons. Because then you won't beat yourself up afterwards for making what you might in retrospect consider to be a bad choice. It was a conscious choice.