LOSE IT! August 2021

[TheRealHousewife]

Good grief, I’m sure the year is speeding up! July has passed so quickly!

This is a space 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 reap the rewards. Better mental health = better choices. It becomes a healthy cycle.

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. Personally, I rarely drink alcohol and keep sugar to a minimum. I try to not overload on carbs etc, include a protein source with most meals and aim to glug enough water. 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. We generally have WOW (weigh on Wednesday) day each week. However post and share your progress as often or as little as you prefer. I’ve weighed daily at times and weekly at other times. Do what works for you.

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

LOSE IT July 2021 Thread

NHS 12 Week Weight Loss Plan

Fast 800 Diet & Fitness Plan

Water Intake & Weight Loss

MFP

26 Evidence Based Weight Loss Tips

The Psychology of Weight Loss

😬. Better than reaching for the snacks.

Good Morning All

Menu
Meal 1 - Boiled Egg & Goat Cheese Salad
Meal 2 - Beef & Green Pepper stir fry.
Pecans, hazelnuts & small apple.

Have a good day!

@Graphista I appreciated you saying about the vitamin D as I might not have known and others will be helped. I was a bit short as wasn't feeling great and was exhausted so apologies for that.

I weighed this morning as felt I looked slimmer but the scales said I was heavier. Probably the toast and salted caramel peanut butter I had around eight o'clock last night. I am making sure I eat more in my eating window so I don't get peckish at 8pm ish again. It's the only way I will lose weight.

Didn't go running today as for some reason the app says I'm doing too much. I will go tomorrow though, it's vital for my mental health.

Still very worried about dh as I feel helpless.

DC got her A level results. Couldn't have done better. Very proud. I feel someone I know knows this is me so I'd rather not say what she got. If you are a friend on here and not in real life and want to know PM me. I know I'm being ridiculous but I'm going with my gut for everything at the moment.

@fallfallfall please do explain re "certain salts" might be helpful to me too

@joysmoy66 great attitude good luck to you

@SunshineCake wasn't meaning anything by my reply at all I didn't think you'd been short please do not worry!

Congratulations and well done to your dd for her results. My dd also did very well inc a surprising result with a different qualification which she barely studied for! (Jammy git she is! ) so proud of her.

Is your dd headed into work life or uni?

Mines off to uni which she is stressing about the money over. I need advice on that as I've no idea how it works now. Off to see if higher ed board can help

@Graphista, the course salt seasoning salts that North Americans use abundantly Joe Beef, The Keg. Available for fish, chicken or beef.
I’ve not seen anything similar when I visit my dd.
I add it directly into beef patties, on top of chicken breast (or in marinade).
Also one particular tomato sauce no fail gives me water retention x2 days.
Down a bit today. I’ll continue to increase my fluids.
Do you have these in the UK? My son in law makes his own spice blends.

@Graphista. Thank you. She is off to uni and it is her first choice so she is very happy. Congrats to your dd too. DH has sorted all the finance for dd. I can ask him anything if you can't find help on here.

Hoping to run tomorrow. Stupidly i weighed this morning as thought I looked smaller and I was up.

Evening All

After several days feeling life is getting back to normal and a visit from friends yesterday I’m back down to earth with an almighty bang.

One of my friends has tested positive today :( So I’m needing to self isolate and self test for the next 10 days. I’ve been so very careful for the past 18 months and the first time I socialise with friends properly I’ve inadvertently exposed myself to the virus.

Stay Safe!

@Graphista, @SunshineCake :) it's exciting to hear about the young ones getting ready for the next stage of their lives!
exciting times if i remember well.
OH NO @TheRealHousewife, okay stay calm and test away. now's the time to stay on top of a good source of vitamins and minerals.
dh and i have never yet had to test for any reason what so ever.

@TheRealHousewife I’m sorry to hear about you needing to self isolate etc, hope you stay well.

I’d like to join you all if I may, I recently was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and now have a very strict low fat diet I have to follow, I also have to be honest with myself and actually long-term work on shifting 5 stone…though the pancreatitis is doing that as well tbh!!
I have never eaten low fat so it’s very new to me but today’s food was:
B - warm mixed berries with F/F natural yoghurt
L - new potatoes, cucumber, F/F cottage cheese
D - mixed whole grains, red lentils, broccoli
Snack of a wholewheat tortilla with thin spread of chocolate honey. (New from Rowse, nice, and possible for me to eat unlike any real choc!). I’ll read the full thread tomorrow.

Oh no therealhousewife ☹️welcome unlundun. This is a lovely supportive group. Your food sounds lovely and healthy

Thanks @joysmoy66 the dinner was hard as I was cooking burgers for everyone else but they are obviously a huge no for me now. I think I remember the cook Jack Monroe has a recipe for carrot & kidney bean burgers, suppose I could give those a wee shot.

@joysmoy66 @fallfallfall Thank you. I agree about vitamin intake. I’ve had extra sprays of my VitD and B vitamins and in bed early but wide awake 😬

A warm welcome @UnLunDun, you’ve come to the right place! Lovely supportive ladies who ‘get it’ in regards to the difficulties around consistently losing. Sorry to hear about your diagnosis!

I realise it’s totally psychosomatic but my Covid jab site has started to ache, I’ve a headache developing and feel blaaaaa. All in my head as people don’t develop symptoms in the first 24/36 hours … or do they …

@fallfallfall we don't really have that kinda thing in Uk. I use garlic flavoured salt that comes in a grinder with black peppercorns is probably closest to that?

Yes the young uns heading to uni is exciting...and terrifying! Mine thinks she knows all about life already and won't listen to me! Maddening!

@SunshineCake ah that's great! My dd going to first choice too. I'm getting lots of advice from the thread I started but yes if I have any questions I'll come back to you/your dh - why is it soooo complicated?!

@TheRealHousewife eurgh that sucks! I've been in self imposed "self isolation" for 4 years though so I'm used to it! Trying to get out of it though, have you plenty to occupy you? Symptoms could be psychosomatic or you could be a fast reactor I can be like that at times. Have you anything that will help manage symptoms? I'm afraid I don't know if "normal" meds work well in treating COVID/vaccination symptoms

@UnLunDun welcome I'm familiar with acute pancreatitis somewhat but it's been a looooong time since I dealt with it on a detailed basis (a patient of mine had it) are you being given good support and guidance to manage the change? Would veggie alternatives be of any help? They tend to be low fat. Also the British heart foundation used to have a fab low fat cookbook - off to check the site for you see if it might be helpful

Welcome @UnLunDun. So sorry to hear your news @TheRealHousewife - I had a similar situation a few weeks ago with DH "pinged" and DS starting with a random cough and tiredness. Thankfully they both tested negative, have stayed well, and our isolation period is over with now. It does bring you back to earth with a bump though. Fingers crossed that you stay well and have enough to keep you occupied meantime!

I'm celebrating doing 25k steps today for the first time in a loooong time. DS has a tendency to want to climb a local hill whenever he is on school holidays, so today that's what we did. Unfortunately it was followed by a celebratory ice cream but everything in moderately

welcome @UnLunDun
B-chocolate oatmeal with blueberries
L-toasted tomato sandwich with bean sprouts and carrots (from the garden) hey if anyone needs support on growing their own bean sprouts it's crazy easy and only takes 3-4 days max.
S- a greek meatloaf muffin, probably with grilled zucchini
www.besthealthmag.ca/recipes/greek-meatloaf-muffins/?_cmp=stf&fbclid=iwar3thczwfmrjd_3ww3ewzvunapx82echb1ddgrftbiikiu81vfy228la0ka

Bhf still do cookbooks there's a quick and easy one that might suit @UnLunDun ?

There's also recipes on the website inc diabetes friendly ones which might very well work for you.

Diabetes Uk also have online recipes

Be guided by your supporting hcps but these might be very useful for you.

Pancreatitis is a tricky wee beast! You'll very quickly learn which foods you can manage and which you can't.

I keep forgetting to post meals!

Meal 1 - sandwiches with v low fat Mayo (though I'm not sure it actually qualifies as Mayo as only 2% egg!!) Quorn spinach and red pepper slices and a little reduced fat grated cheddar and slices of cucumber, wholemeal bread I'm on too. Carrots and humous, cherries and milk slice

Meal 2 - tagliatelle with tomato and herb sauce, tomatoes and mushrooms, topped with basil and parsley instead of my usual large handful of cheese! Was lovely actually. A meringue nest with vanilla yoghurt over it for dessert. An Apple

Thinking of reducing my calorie limit to 1550 or 1400 but I think 1400 I might find quite tricky - thoughts?

sounds really lovely @Graphista :)
i bet the family loved it as well.

Thanks for the warm welcome! And @Graphista thank you for the support, I see you’ve not had an easy time recently it’s very kind of you to look up information for me; I lurrrrve all info 😆. I’ve been lucky as my GP is also a nutritionist and he went in to detail immediately so I didn’t have to wait for dietician referral…but tbh I feel quite alone with the illness. The pain with a severe attack I now know is truly awful, and I have a high pain threshold usually, but does mean I’m following low-fat very religiously to minimise that reoccurring. I’ll look out the BHF and Diabetes recipes, brilliant idea, the GutsUk website have some but I need more. Thanks again.

@UnLunDun welcome! Pancreatitis sounds rough - is this now a chronic thing or will you be able to go back to a normal diet one day?

@SunshineCake thinking of you and OH

@Graphista glad you're liking happy scales!

I've exercised 3 times in the past week which is a big mental shift for me and something I'm really happy I've managed to do. I'm definitely not being as good with food as I was last week though so need to step up my efforts. I'm meeting an old school friend tonight for dinner so I'll try and cut back big time during the day and maybe also squeeze a run in at lunch.

Morning all!

@Graphista and @SunshineCake - congratulations on your dcs getting their first choice of Uni places. It’s been such an awful time for the exam year children.

@TheRealHousewife - what a shame about the self-isolation. Make sure you get yourself into an at-home routine to keep you busy! 🤞🏻 you continue to test negative.

Welcome @UnLunDun. This is a lovely thread and you’ll get lots of support here. Your pancreatitis sounds horrible - with regards to the new diet restrictions, try to keep the focus on what you can eat rather than on what’s now forbidden to help keep a positive mindset. There are all kinds of really yummy foods that are low fat.

Well done on the weekly exercise @Juno231.

It’s weigh in Wednesday for me - and another loss! I’m aware that some of it is likely to be muscle as I can’t exercise at the moment. I do have a physio appointment for next Tuesday though so hopefully my back issues can be sorted fairly quickly.

SW: 10st 1.8lb (1/8)
CW: 9st 10.2lb (11/8)
GW: 9st 4lb

Hope everyone has a good day.

@Juno231 if I can’t control the acute attacks it can easily become chronic although chronic seems to be often connected to alcohol consumption and I’m lucky that I’ve not ever drunk much…even with acute you get advised to avoid alcohol, that’s not a big deal for me really. I’m lucky that acute can be positively managed with strict adherence to low fat way of eating and actively reducing stress.

@QueenMabby you’re right, positive thinking is key especially when it’s a lifelong change.

Oh, @fallfallfall I’d love some advice on beansprouts!

Welcome @unlundun, I have swiftly added chocolate honey into my weekly shop 🤤😋

Hope you're ok @therealhousewife ☹️

Well done on loss @queenmabby 🥳

Welcome to the thread @UnLunDun!

Well done on that loss @QueenMabby. I’m sorry you are having to isolate @TheRealHousewife. That really is a massive setback, just when it started to feel like things were getting back to normal. Fingers crossed you keep testing negative.

@Graphista, how many calories are you aiming for at the moment? I believe 1400 calories is what’s suggested in the NHS weightplan. It’s high enough to get all the nutrients you need, and low enough for (most) people to lose weight on. Having said that though, when I tried it a few years ago it really wasn’t enough for me. But I’m tall and very active, so that probably had something to do with that!

Good Morning Ladies

I’m pleased to report my LF test this morning is showing negative.

@Graphista your menu looks very tasty again 😋

Thank you @20FlowerPower yes it does bring you down with a bump. I’m pleased to read you and your family are fine!

@fallfallfall I’ve just got mince out of freezer to make your recipe. I’ve been right off meat really but that looks totally appetising. TY for sharing.

@Juno231 well done on the mental shift and the exercise 👍👏🥇Keep at it! Enjoy your meal.

@QueenMabby TY. I’m usually home anyway. I’m disabled and clinically vulnerable and not fit for much anyway. That’s what’s been annoying as I’ve basically self isolated for the past 18 months and first time I meet a friend (at home inside) for lunch I’ve inadvertently exposed myself. Well done on your loss! 👍👏🌟

@CescaCesca chocolate honey you say. Tell me more 😬

Weigh in today I’m 2lbs down from last week. Now I need to rinse and repeat ….

Menu
Meal 1 - Big salad with goats cheese pearls & boiled eggs.
Meal 2 - Beefy muffins (thanks @fallfallfall) with stir fried peppers, courgette and red onion.

@CescaCesca I hope you like it! It took me a bit to get my head around chocolate honey but it truly is just fat reduced cocoa and honey so I bought some and so glad I did.

Today’s meals:
B - Berries, f/f yoghurt & barley
L - Sweet potato Rosti (a BHF recipe, thanks @Graphista)
D - Quorn & Veg curry & brown rice