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.

Of course @swampytiggaa. Sorry! I missed out C too 🐢🐢🐢🐢

@swampytiggaa excellent pic

Happy to be in 🐢 club

Well done to all who've had scale and nsv

To those who haven't - read the article on plateaus! It talks about gains on the way to overall weight loss too

Gains happen they aren't the end of the world they're a blip. Yes they're bloody annoying but use them to motivate rather than dishearten if you can

That sounds delicious 😋. I used to love naan but now I’m coeliac I can’t have anything with gluten.

Posted Spanish omelette & salad. A bit over cooked but still tasted nice.

Good advice @Graphista! As long as the trajectory is downwards all’s good 👍 How are you? Did you get the support you needed?

@Graphista, thank you for that last post, I'm sure I've gained after my massive kebab!! I too hope that by now you've reached the right place/person for support.

Had my mastectomies today but still managed to eat a lovely chicken friccase, yum yum, this hospital food is great. Got my son's birthday on Sunday so will be eating cake and party food, then back on diet on Monday, hoping for some loss by September!

Hard to say. It looks like I'm getting the support but I can't say definitively at this stage.

@Elle200 glad op appears to have gone well for you and hospital food ok

Does anyone else ever get in a restless and irritable mood?

When it strikes me I can't decide what to eat (even though I am hungry) or what to watch or listen to or what to do with myself.

Mostly happens at weekends, but can strike any time.

And what do you do when it hits?

@Graphista, i get restless and irritable when i know i haven't gotten in my exercise minutes and the day is ticking away.
or when i know my choices are bad choice number 1 or bad choice number 2.
but this is my personality even when not trying to loose weight if i have set plans of what i would like to accomplish in a day and my plans get sidelined (sometimes dh sometimes friends or weather) then i tend to get pissy.
now off to exercise, odd night last night. evacuation alert for the neighborhood next to us. fire closing in in this direction so we needed to prepare to leave at a moments notice. therefore slept poorly.
but needed to replenish the deep freeze so costco meat dept was a priority...then "football" the ladies won gold :)

Glad to hear you sound so upbeat @Elle200. Hope you have a lovely weekend.

Sorry to hear you having a tough time @Graphista. Could you follow your food plan if you are feeling restless etc? Sometimes I don't necessarily want to eat what is on the chart for meals but if it is chalked up then I just go along with it. I don't meal plan all the time and I should as it makes such a difference. I think with everything being all over the place with the children it is making me forget to meal plan. DS1 has come home tonight and I was expecting him tomorrow but I'm very happy about it.

Been having a little emotional wobble so had some chocolate arms tomorrow I will go running then give the dog a long walk.

@fallfallfall thanks for replying yes I think it's a lack of plans doesn't help I have nothing I HAVE to do at the weekends

Please do stay safe with those fires!

@SunshineCake yes I should meal plan more

Need to this week as a fair bit of short dated stuff arrived in delivery I need to use the following this weekend:

1/2 pack golden veg rice
Asparagus
Butternut squash and sweet potato chunks
Salad leaves
Cottage cheese
Herbs are starting to look a bit sad and limp. I have in parsley, basil, coriander and mint
Milk - urgh I keep buying it but struggle to use it. I rarely have breakfast and it hasn't really been the weather for hot drinks and I'm not really one for milky cooking sauces...

Any suggestions for any and all the above would be gratefully received

As I type this I'm thinking maybe my first tray bake with the sweet potato, squash and some of my carrot batons and a few other veggies that need using up maybe the asparagus too then have that with some halloumi I have in grilled over the top - then I'll be after ideas for using the rest of the halloumi but I would probably just have toasted in sandwiches for lunches?

As I say ideas welcome.

I also have plenty of dried herbs and spices, hendos relish, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce and lazy garlic which can all be used to flavour boost

Hungry now!

@Graphista - the scales things is interesting. I started my weight loss journey by using Noom. I'd become totally scale phobic and couldn't get on them. With Noom you weigh every day in part to overcome that.

I have found the on past weight loss attempts I started to dodge the scales and then the whole thing fell apart. I really believe that my success this time has been that accountability although in reality it's probably that my husband is dieting with me.

I've tried to adjust my mindset over the last 24 hours and after reading the plateau articles I'm going to view any loss or no gain as celebratory. I do need to let my body and my metabolism catch up. I will switch my focus for a while. More greens, more nutrients and maybe an an workout to see if I can tone my post child bearing stomach.

I find this group completely invaluable. Thanks everyone

I meal plan 2/3 days ahead at least. I have 4 children at home for the holidays so I have to be organised. Which means I never hit the not knowing what to have for dinner problem. Lunch on the other hand is a different story.

I get irritable if I'm struggling to get time to do some exercise but luckily they are old enough to leave me be for an hour. I just need to be careful with time - the days can get away from me if they all need dropping off somewhere.

Yesterday was difficult with lots of plates being spun and I'd expected it to be easier as I didn't have to go to work so that caused me to be a bit grumpy too but today is a new day and the sun is shining. I'm meeting a friend shortly for a dog walk and a catch up and I'm plan to blow the cobwebs out.

I am really enjoying the photos of meals. Inspirational.

I’m glad you found the article helpful @toppocket. It certainly changed how I feel about little blips on the scales

@Graphista, I’m a meal planner too. I plan my meals for the week and rarely go off plan. I keep a list of the meals & snacks I like which I use for planning it all out.

My biggest problem is always wanting change and variation. The weekly shop should be easy with all the systems I have in place, but I find myself losing huge chunks of time going through cookbooks and the BBC Good Food website trying to find new things. I drive the rest of the family crazy! They would happily eat the same thing over and over again (especially if it’s pizza!). I can’t think of anything worse 😂

Speaking of new things, I made vanilla cashew nut butter yesterday. OMG it so reminds me of ice cream! It’s not just the vanilla, it’s the creaminess of the cashews too. Not sure what I’m going to do with it yet apart from hide it from the rest of the family😂

@toppocket I'm 100% the same with the scales. Nowadays I use a weight app like Libra that smooths the weight for trends so I can see the overall downward trend rather than focus on a one day blip (I think happy scales does a similar job for ios?). Food wise I do a weekly shop and do all my dinner planning that way. Lunches are more flexible.

Managed to hit the gym twice this week ladies! It's been since March last year so I'm happy with that achievement :)

Current stats (although official weigh in is on Monday) :
SW: 75.5kg
CW: 72.9kg

So that's me 2.6kg down in less than two weeks! Long may it continue.

Doing well so far today - I've been using the "Try:Dry" app and the thought of ruining my pretty yellow streak meant I resisted a glass of wine last night, despite me now being on holiday from work until the 18th. So by not drinking I kept in my calorie zone, had a good night sleep and even managed a home dance workout at 9am this morning!! If you're at all competitive (like me!) the I'd recommend the app as I really like the challenge it gives me not to have alcohol.

Picture of my Try:Dry calendar so far for inspiration! I want to keep it going as long as I can

Well done on your loss @Juno231 and @toppocket to you on your healthy mindset.

I am another who likes to go through cook books and pick stuff and I'd love to make every recipe but no one else is that bothered. DS1 did say the other day because I gave them such a varied diet when they were little he wasn't phased when presented with a spicy vegetarian curry type meal. I was proud.

Dh and I have just defrosted the freezer for the second time in less than two months as one of the horrors haven't shut the door. Consequently lunch is now a ridiculous meal but I Do Not Care. It's hot, it's good and they didn't have to cook it.

I will get back into meal planning but it is hard as I never know if dd wants to eat as she's sleeping odd times. The rest of us need to eat so I'll just crack on and plate hers up. She a quite fussy too which doesn't help but she can cook a few things now.

Had a good run then a very wet walk with the dog. Planning a restful afternoon!

@toppocket yea avoiding the scales no good either really, or at least ignoring gain that is noticeable so I get why daily weighing was a counteraction for you. I find if I weigh daily I quickly get disheartened

@Crazzzycat I can find myself falling into ordering exactly the same each week and making the same few meals on repeat if I'm not careful. Then I get bored and my body gets bored and I seek u out quick and easy and lazy ways to have different tastes. I've a stash off certain sweets in my treat drawer from when I've gone through phases of liking a particular sweet and then getting bored of it but I've built up a stash

I need to meal plan more to be trying new recipes and having variety and also to avoid food waste

Is there an app you guys would recommend JUST for charting weight loss? Be good to see a graph I think

@Juno231 well done on your loss!

@Graphista MyFitnessPal you can use and just add your weights and not all your food or exercise. I've also just downloaded happy scale to give that a try. I'm still using Noom but have stopped paying for the subscription so o don't get the psychology lessons but still have my weight chart that I can keep adding to. I like the format. Will add some photos ...

@Graphista I log mine in mfp and libra but if I had an iPhone I'd be using happy scales I think.

@20FlowerPower I love try dry when I do dry Jan! I'm not willing to give up alcohol otherwise though 😂

I feel overwhelmed. I am so tired. All my children are home, though the eldest goes back tomorrow, dd is being helpful and lovely to have around albeit briefly due to her sleep pattern, youngest is back from in-laws and came to say hello and is happy to be home. This is a lovely thing. Not complaining at all, just an example of a good thing so shouldn't feel like I do.

I am so worried about dh, I just have such a bad feeling. I am really really tired emotionally and physically. All my long term friends live hundreds of miles away and are much busier than me so I don't get as much texts as I would like and tbh I need them right now but they have been really supportive and I can't ask for more plus one has had two bereavements this last three months and don't want to be needy.

I feel it is all too much and maybe I'm running out of steam.

@SunshineCake sending support your way. Things are really tough right now and you may well need to prioritise before you break. It's ok to step away from weight loss, cleaning the house... whatever makes daily life easier. My husband has a precancerous condition that requires biopsy's every 2 years. We've just been through the cycle again and I was a wreck whilst we waited for the results. Thankfully negative for the third time since diagnosed.

Please take care of yourself and we are here for whatever you need.

Sending love and support @SunshineCake - we’re here if you need to vent. I’m glad your dd is being supportive.

Not much to report here. Went out for dinner last night. I had sushi but have had to guess the calories for my tracker. It’s the wrong time of my cycle for an aggressive deficit of calories so I’m just focusing on staying under maintenance levels (no mean feat in itself - usually I’m mainlining biscuits and chocolate by now!) and keeping my steps up. Am also managing to refrain from weighing too regularly - am going to keep to every Wednesday and once extra on the first and last days of each month.

Hope everyone has a good Sunday.

@SunshineCake, I find that when I don’t feel well having any kind of change, like having more people around than usual, is totally exhausting. It doesn’t really matter if they’re my favourite people in the entire world. It’s just more than I can cope with sometimes. It’s lovely that they’re all there for you though, but you already know that! I really hope that you get answers about your DH’s situation soon.

I finally had a reasonable night’s sleep last night and am feeling a little hyperactive now 😂 I’m planning to go on the cross trainer later for a mammoth session. Hopefully that will burn off some energy

Well done on resisting the alcohol @20FlowerPower. I rarely drink, but whenever I do, I feel the impact for days afterwards. I’m sure introducing some alcohol free days will do your body a lot of good!

Question for the veggies here, do any of you take an iron supplement? Or any other supplements? I’ve been veggie for years, but often wonder if I am actually getting enough iron. I’ve tried tablets before, but they make me feel really sick, so if anyone has any tips for how to up the iron in other ways, I’m all ears.

Hello, hope you don’t mind me joining? My weight is creeping up and I want to do something about it before it becomes too much of a mountain to climb. I am currently 9st11 and want to get down to 9st. (I am 5ft3.)

I am planning to do this with healthy eating and some exercise. I am on some hardcore medication and classed as ECV so I am limited on what I can do. The school holidays aren’t helping and I find myself reaching for sugary snacks more often than not to get me through.

I am planning to use this thread as an outlet to vent on, rather than reaching for the treats! Also to gain tips and info and support others. 😁