LOSE IT! October 2021

[TheRealHousewife]

Hello & Welcome

September has flown by and now October is upon us! There's a definite autumnal chill in the air and this change in seasons is a natural transition that we echo in our day-to-day lives'. I for one look forward to cosy nights by the fire and prepping for the coming festive season. .

With 86 days until Christmas there's plenty of time to svelte up for the Christmas holidays. A part of my Christmas prep includes dropping a few extra lbs ‘to make room’ for a little foody extravagance… and a Baileys or two 😬

Carrying on from September Thread, 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 😊

I will add links on my next post.

Good Evening All

A warm welcome @Yetanothernamechange123, never too late/too early to jump on board. I’m a strong advocate of Fast800 even if I don’t follow the plan religiously. All their meals are nutritionally balanced and full of all the good stuff plus tasty to boot. Sleep or lack off really disrupts eating patterns as it affects the hormones ghrelin and leptin. Really places havoc. I concentrate on protein and good fats with smaller portions complex carbs. Overall I lose slowly but near goal so that’s expected.

Hello @SunshineCake1 lovely to ‘see’ you. Baby steps ❤️

Menu
Meal 1 - Veg Omelette
Meal 2 - Spicy Salmon & Cauli Rice.
Small portion ice cream. Very small glass wine, 100ml.

Enjoy your Friday evenings All ❤️

@Yetanothernamechange123 I have no clue about ADs so I can't comment on that but if you think another alarm clock would help then I say go for it.

Also why do you worry so much about the alarm clock? What is literally the worst possible thing that could happen if you slept in?

It’s gonna be a mammoth post again!

@CumbrianExile thank you glad my advice of use. I have asthma so I've been more careful than some to avoid catching but it got me eventually! Still kinda shocked me how bad it was! 3 weeks solid I was very ill then since then been slowly recovering. Fatigue is the worst part

@SunshineCake1 yea the perils of being a prolific poster so then we have to hunt for it in the weight loss section - thank goodness for ops CAPITALS so it's easy to spot!

a few cups of tea!

Watch the drinking of calories! I drink Earl grey with no milk and sweetener = zero cals, but if you're having regular tea with milk and even sugar those cals can soon add up! Takeaway coffees can be VERY calorific! I treated myself to a latte today in Starbucks grande, soy milk - still 170 cals! 2 or 3 of them a day (as some people do) it soon adds up!

Plus I'd rather have the cals for ACTUAL food

I'm a chronic insomniac - literally - late time eating is me all over! But it's still possible to plan and keep the cals down. I can have days I don't wake up until 3pm if I've had an especially bad "night" so I'm having "breakfast" or "lunch" at 5pm! (I can't eat soon as I wake up as that's when my anxiety is worst and stomach in knots)

I've tried being awake and eating earlier...doesn't work, I'm still hungry at my usual eating times so now I just eat when I normally would and keep the cals at a reasonable level.

What I DO have to watch is if I don't eat for ages and ages (can happen if anxiety or depression are bad, anxiety kills appetite depression kills motivation to cook) I can then end up ravenous and eating all the wrong things/huge portions so I TRY not let that happen too often

Here's how I would alter what you had:

Get back and have a poached egg on wholemeal toast, no butter - too strict...meaning you'll be hungrier later and eat more calorifically, instead have 2 slices toast, 2 eggs - eggs are great as they're low cal high protein and there's some thing in them that triggers the "full" reaction in the body forget the name of the thingy.

2 x cheese toasties, and a couple of spoonfuls of apple crumble - one toastie would suffice especially after more toast and egg earlier. Was this bought out? Harder to control the cals there. If the place you ate did a soup I'd have had a veg soup, toastie (maybe halved with someone else I was with) and maybe a non pastry heavy pud. But it's hard to navigate when you're out and about I find it hard.

Sweets - some are fewer cals than others. Have a browse on a supermarket site/app as the nutritional info is listed there and look at the info there so you're informed and can choose the lower cal options. Eg Generally speaking wafer choc items are the lower cal end of choc

Got back 5pm and had avocado and poached egg were you actually hungry or were you eating because it was dinner time?

I wouldn't have eaten that "early" cos I know what I'm like and I know I'll be hungry at 9-11pm

I "reserve" calories for that late night snack. That way I can have it guilt free.

@Youdoyoutoday if you can teach me to meal plan all power to you! I keep meaning to but I have it arse backwards as I buy more or less the same food each week and THEN meal plan according to use by dates! Recently I've noticed I'm back to bad habits of ordering too much without checking what I already have in, then struggling to get through it all and more food waste than I'm happy with! (I don't think I'll ever have zero due to pack sizes being no bloody good for people who live alone). I'm wanting to get a handle on it to save on money, calories AND food waste.

If you can sort the 20 years of insomnia frankly you're a miracle worker! Not even psychiatrists have fixed that one for me!

But I agree anyone who is STARTING to have sleep issues if you possibly can resolve it ASAP I wish I had

Admittedly part of it for me was I used to work nights and it's really hard to reset after that

1200 cals a day may I ask is that min requirement for you to maintain your current weight/bmi? Seems quite low but if you're already a lot lighter than me I'm sure it's correct

I'm currently trying to stick to 1550 - most days I'm under by 100-200 cals but I figure that gives me a LITTLE leeway for higher cal days like today where I've gone over a bit

I know the picking at food later in the day comes because I am exhausted.

I can relate to that. What are you picking AT?

Prior to getting on LOSE IT for me it was -

Crisps, biscuits, fruitella (I'm not really, cakes (I enjoy baking but there's only me here now! But I could quite easily polish off 24 fairy buns in 3-4 days!)

Full sugar pop, milk shake (I bought a blender last summer and instead of healthy Ish smoothies I was making frothy milkshakes

), big mugs of hot choc with marshmallows AND cream...

You get the idea!

I knew I wouldn't be able to cut out my "midnight feast" altogether so instead I've got in things that are healthier/lower cal alternatives

Instead of crisps - my trademark

seasoned carrot sticks, small packs from multipacks instead of share sizes and lower cal options - twiglets, frazzles, mini pretzels, cheese thins with cottage cheese or veggie pate or veggie deli slices on

Biscuits - low cal cereal bars, tunnocks teacakes (look and taste VERY indulgent) 106 cals a go and v satisfying, at a push lower cal biscuits eg malted milks

Fruitella - actual fruit - during the summer frozen grapes were especially refreshing

Cakes - mini soreen loaves, teacakes again, slice of toast with a scrape of jam

Diet pop, milk plain on occasion, haven't dared a hot choc yet but when I do it'll be an options without cream and marshmallows!

I set 4 alarms! The first one is a gentle sounding one and the 3 after are the old buzzer sounding ones, I always worry I won't wake to it...and then I always wake on the 1st one and end up turning off the others

Ads can have various effects with withdrawal. Depends on the exact meds, it may be your sleep worsens because they were helping your sleep or it may be an actual withdrawal effect have you discussed with gp/psychiatrist?

I'm about to start new meds which will mean I am on 2 ads at the same time (complicated) but from a weight loss perspective the one I'm on - increased appetite, slows metabolism so harder to lose weight, can affect pancreas too. New med - decreases appetite, can increase metabolism (rare though) so maybe they'll balance each other out on that score

But I am also on the mini pill continuous for treatment of endo and severe pmt, steroids for the asthma and pain meds for the physical disability which all also increase appetite, slow metabolism, increase water retention etc

Now all these meds are important either for quality of life or even keeping me alive! So I wouldn't want to stop taking them but they do have an effect on weight.

Quick check in to say hello - before I go away on holiday tomorrow. Can't quite believe it. Determined not to undo all my hard work I will be as restrained as I can, but not too strict so as not enjoy my holiday. Keep going everyone, and catch up in a week.

Morning all! I have a very rare Saturday off and was excitedly planning on going to parkrun. Instead my cold is at full on snot stage so I’m going to stay at home with my tissues and feel very sorry for myself 😭😭

Will brave the scales later. Exercise has been right down. Food has been crap. Gah.

@SunshineCake1 you are having such a rough deal 😢 sending slightly snotty hugs your way 💕

Welcome to the newbies 🤗

I’m off to blow my nose again

Almost time to head home, maintaining under 150 and can’t wait for my foods and routines.
My low carb family loaded up on carbs for our arrival, tiramasu nightly. Now here in the uk bread products almost non stop. On the plus side it’s super easy to get in 20,000 steps a day and stairs!

I made it out of hospital. Have new medicine for an illness I don't think I have but I will take it anyway. More days in bed. All but one doctor were lovely. Shame it was the higher up doctor who wasn't very nice to me.

Morning all

@TheRealHousewife - I love your food photos - they have inspired me to cook a proper meal - I think I am eating too much toast, albeit with healthy foods on top!

@Graphista - well yes, I ate a bit early and then dug into the Halloween treats again, thinking the diet is starting tomorrow. Chocolate is my downfall!

I normally have avocado with the egg in the morning, but had run out - hence the craving when I got back from doing the shopping later. Maybe having 2 eggs will kill the later cravings.
'A few cups of tea' - yes I reckon I make at least 8 in the day, but rarely seem to finish one - I usually reckon 20 calories for the milk, so maybe I am way out on this.

@SunshineCake1 - hope the medicine works - are you in a lot of pain. I hope not

@Youdoyoutoday - I am so impressed with the bootcamp. I did one about 5 years ago. It was very intensive - I think 3/4 times a week plus some strict diet regime. However, my whole body shape actually changed in 3 weeks - the weight loss was less noticeable than the inches lost, as the muscle was toned so much.

Anyway - I am a short - 5 foot, and 64kilos. I am aiming for 55 kilos - I have been trying to lose weight since January, but it has been half a kilo off, half a kilo on all year, and I seem to have gone up from 61 to 64 in the process I have had a pretty awful couple of years, but things are looking up now and I am feeling positive. I started exercising again in May, but only restarted the swimming last week and now have an earache.

I have a wardrobe of nice clothes that don't fit

@SunshineCake1, I hope you begin to feel better soon.

@Graphista
Meal planning is a chore but it takes away the daily indecision away, that used to be my downfall, not knowing what to have then picking at crap til I was full and then still having to make a lunch or dinner for my family and eating that too.

I have 2 lists on the fridge of what I have I the cupboards and freezer. Any leftovers that go into the freezer are added to list, anything that comes out is crossed out. Also check the fridge for open jars of pesto or whatever.
I have a shopping list on the go all week divided in to sections as I would buy them in the supermarket so I'm not wondering around aimlessly. Things can be added throughout the week so I'm not forever thinking what did I want the other day but can't remember now.

Then to meal plan I ask my DP, DS and my dad who is over 3 times a week for dinner if they fancy anything in particular. I take on board what they ask for then go from there. I flick through the 3 main recipe books I use, attached a picture, we also have a Gousto recipe folder so i see if there is anything I fancy. Plan more difficult meals for when I have more time like the weekend or when I get DS from school early rather than at 6pm from afterschool club. Use left overs for Mondays as that's a faff day with picking the kids up in 2 different directions!
Then I write it out on the meal planner on the fridge and then just double check what I might need from the supermarket.
It sounds super long typing it out but it takes about 10 to 15 minutes now because I have my lists to refer to.

I would suggest that you double up when cooking to freeze a portion or 2. That would use up what you buy and help you in the future when you just can't be arsed to cook. Also doing a stocktake of your cupboards, fridge/freezer.

As for sleep, I'm no expert, I still struggle to get a decent night's sleep. I did buy some melatonin from Piping Rock. I saw a post on MN where one poster said it worked for her so I got it. I did take it once but then laid awake all night as I was worried about sleeping too deeply incase the kids need me so it sits in the cupboard, yet another waste of money in my weight loss quest!

As for 1200 calories a day, that was what Noom suggested so I've just stuck with that because of all the crappy diets I've tried in the past, this is having the most success overall. I can make it work especially if I'm not hungry enough to eat breakfast. Plus it makes me more mindful of what I'm eating and planning. If I go over sometimes, I'm not bothered as overall I'm eating far better than I used to.

I obviously don't have the answers as the scales went up 3lbs this morning so I'm back up to 14 stones 3lbs.

Reminding myself that I have still lost a total of 35lbs this year having started at 16 stones 10lbs and I've kept that off. Part of me still wants to throw my toys out of the pram though but I guess with 1 swimming session and 2 bootcamps this week, my body is shock and doesn't know what is happening.

All I know is that I have to keep trying, I want to change, be healthier and have exercise as a part of my life. Yes, my wedding has given me the kick up the arse to start this but honestly, I want to be around for my kids and be a good example to them.
Do I wish this journey was easier? Yes of course I do but I can't let myself go back up, I just can't.

I've looked back at photos over the past year or so and I've literally edited myself out of everything and the rare photos I have found, I look awful, bloated, pregnant looking belly, bad skin, huge double chin, just awful and I honestly don't want to look at version of myself in my wedding photos for the rest of my life!

So onwards and downwards on the scales!!

Toodles x

Is this an advertisement?

I don't like smoothies

Sorry my comment wasn't to you @graphista!
I love Michael Mosley's ideas and his wife's recipes. I have the books, must dig them out!!

I'm in a bit of pain @Yetanothernamechange123 but I'm just going to take painkillers all the time.

Thank you @fallfallfall.

Re meal plans years ago I made several weeks worth and just picked one. It doesn't have to be a different week each time. These days I have a list of a few meals and just pick out seven so it doesn't feel like the same few on repeat. When I say these days I mean ore glandular fever!

[quote TrynaLoseWeight123]@Yetanothernamechange123
Really? I love smoothies! It's just something I've seen that works, so I am trying to share it around for others who want to lose weight in a more fun way than a gym! :)[/quote]
Gym won’t make you lose weight. Might help you tone up and lose inches but food is what makes you gain or lose weight.

A diet of smoothies isn’t going to be sustainable long term which will lead to yo-yo dieting leading to increased weight.

Better to accept that it’s better to be a 🐢 than a 🐇 when it comes to losing and keeping off weight

@TrynaLoseWeight123 please sell your juice elsewhere!

I've just discovered Myfitnesspal what a fabulous site!x

Dear god I’m so hungry 😭😭 this cold is going to put back all the weight I’ve lost! I’ve just eaten half a malt loaf after putting tea in the oven. Not sure I’m going to last the next 10 minutes before it’s cooked 😂😂

Husband has gone to buy more tissues hopefully he’ll bring snacks back to see me through to bedtime 🙊

@swampytiggaa
How are you? I have come down with an awful earache after the swimming (I think). So much for a decent night's sleep....will try not to comfort eat too much today. About to hunt for a hot water bottle!

Still have the plague hunger 😭😭 managed work this morning but inhaled 4 out of date mince pies on my 15 minute break. That’s after cereal before work 😭😭

Good Morning All

@Graphista hoping your new meds don’t mess up your appetite too much. We have so many more variables to navigate as we get older. You’re doing fantastic considering your illnesses/meds etc 👍

@swampytiggaa your body might be craving more as you’ve done a lot of physical activity over the past few months 🤷‍♀️ I hope you find your equilibrium soon. May I ask what cereal you had? (I’m not the feral police, honest 😬) Was it whole grain or sugary. If sugary that would imbalance your blood sugars, hence the cravings. I’m just trying to think what could be going on with your appetite 🤔 Whatever, today’s a brand new day at the start of a new week, all’s not lost 😊.

Menu
Meal 1 - Egg Fried Cauli Rice
Meal 2 - Chicken, carrots, peas, broccoli & bits gravy.

Spell check fail not feral police … should read cereal police 😬