Diet for Christmas challenge

[OhFatty]

I know it’s boiling hot and far too early but does anyone want to start a Christmas diet?

I’ve got a LOT to lose and in June I set myself a target of 4 stone by Christmas. So far I’ve lost 1 stone 3, so starting today my new target is going to be 40lbs by Christmas (although more would be very welcome 😀) My weigh day is Monday. I’ll update here every week, and hopefully some others will join me?

Sorry about your small gain @Transformatio Fluctuations are annoying, especially due to your cycle. That's a great overall loss!

I've just eaten some freshly made bread and was then desperately scrolling back through my posts to see if I had pledged to avoid carbs. Luckily, I haven't. So, at 4pm on the first day of the pledges, I'm still sticking to them!

I'm glad you're sticking to it @isthatwhatyoureallywanted !

Well done @SnowyMouse that’s a great result!

@Transformatio that’s so annoying but you’re doing so well. I’ve read that women should only weigh themselves once a month for exactly this reason, but it’s too hard!

I lost 3lbs this week which I’m happy with. I retain fluid when it’s hot (have really swollen feet and ankles), but it doesn’t seem to have affected things.

I love the pledges. These are mine

•Drink 3 big glasses of water a day
•Go for two outside walks (doesn’t sound much but is a massive deal for me)
•log everything on MFP

freshly made bread sounds amazing @isthatwhatyoureallywanted

Well I wasn't feeling too positive this morning but I've had my last food for the day with 32 calories to spare so a good start to the week afterall. Off to brush my teeth as that always prevents any evening nibbling for me.

Sounds like a great start to the week @WutheringShites86.

Well done @OhFatty - that’s great!

Loving the pledges and the positivity, thanks everyone.

Oh dear, 300 calories over today. I couldn't resist pudding after dinner. Should have just had a coffee.

Done well on the water today though and tracked all the calories even though I went over.

Congratulations to all my new friends with losses!
I am actually.on the naughty step.
FGS Reckless, what's the point of eating healthy salads for lunch and dinner and then ruining it with a large Pimms and lemonade, peanut butter sandwich, 2 jammies dodgers, a digestive and 4 of DH's jellies from the jar on his desk?
What on earth am I doing to myself?
New start tomorrow. Tying myself on the wagon with a big thick rope.
Resolutions;

1. NO bread. [ I already have a great big bread baby so don't need any help with that!]


2. Drink water. Lots of water. I have put a 2 litre bottle in the fridge door ready.


3. Do Joe Wicks for seniors when DH takes Ludo out for his walk so I don't feel self conscious with DH watching me. [He can eat anything he likes and at least twice as much as me without gaining an ounce.]


4. Will report back tomorrow and hope to have redeemed myself.


5. What is wrong with my computer? It keeps putting the numbers in and won't let me delete the 4 or 5?

Oh @recklessgran that’s not tooooo bad. I bet if you added up the calories it’s not horrendous. Tomorrows another day.

My daughter lives abroad and we only see her twice a year. She was over a few weeks ago (before this group but I was already dieting). The day after she left I ate almost 600 calories worth of chocolate on top of my normal meals. The worst thing is, I planned it all day. I’m definitely my own worst enemy, so I know exactly how you feel.

No change for me. Not sure why, maybe the heat, the excessive water consumption or exercising everyday...or all of the above. But rather than giving up I'll stick with it, I'm sick to death of starting again! It's going to be this time...

Morning everyone. Thank you @Julesni77 for the encouragement. Hope you had a good day yesterday. I’m feeling thankful to have got through day 1, I always find that day the most difficult somehow. I had ham and cheese salad for lunch and chicken salad for dinner with different bits and pieces, oh and a couple of Ryvita lateish afternoon. I did a big shop and stocked up on all the right things hopefully.
@Transformatio how did moving the bulk of your calories/eating window work ? I managed to not have anything after 7pm apart from a large glass of water and a decaf coffee.
I tend to be a daily weigher. I find it helps me to stay focused and each time the number drops it spurs me on. I think I would struggle with waiting a week, worrying that my efforts were in vain. There are pros and cons to this of course. I will record my loss weekly with everyone else though.
We’ve got this ! 💪🏻

@Fiftysixthnamechange first week and a loss of 0.2lbs FFS!

Have been having too many gin oclocks where by I have one or 2 but needs to be knocked on the head

Also falling short of my 15k a day steps so will try to improve there too - I will also blame the heat!

SO weigh in this week at 18 stone 9 and hope for better next week - peri menopausal and grumpy I am!

A loss is still a loss @Julesni77

@WutheringShites86 thanks I need to remember that ! And I didn't get to be this size overnight so am in this for the long haul!

Me too @Julesni77, slow and steady long haul because I love food too much to cut calories too drastically and I know it doesn't work for me from experience

Definitely stick with it. Weight loss fluctuates so much over the course of a month. I weight in daily, count my Monday weight as my weekly but really the other one that is significant is the monthly weight.

I had a gain this week - doing exactly the same as I was doing the week before (and lost 2.6 lbs). I've previously lost 5 st (doing a VLCD) and even when just eating 800-1000 kcals a day very consistently I still have the mid cycle sts/gain - lasting around 10 days. It sucks but it is what it is...I just look forward to the whoosh afterwards (although always still worry slightly it won't come!).

Sorry I meant only one that is significant!

@Stepcount - moving my eating window earlier (from 5-9 pm to 4-8 pm) is still a work in progress...Last night I ended up going out with DH after eating my 'starter' of avocado on thin rice cakes but was out so long I had to eat after 8 pm. The smaller starter meal consisting mainly of avocado is working remarkably well though. Definitely still working this out! I guess yesterday was fine - I need to go with the flow a bit each day but have a standard day to go back to.
Another example of going with the flow (I'm trying adopt more to break my all or nothing approach) is next week I'm meeting up with a friend midway between our houses for the day (1.5 hr drive for both of us). I'm not going to make my eating a 'thing' - so I plan to have lunch (hopefully on the later side) with her and not mention I'm trying to lose weight at all.

@Transformatio thanks my head totally knows it but it's that disappointment when the scales dont budge

Anyhoo onwards and upwards we have a way to go yet and its a marathon not a sprint :)

It has now been 9 days since I saw a new lower weight on the scales (so even a 0.2 lb loss) and I'm currently sitting 1.6 lbs higher than that. I've got that disappointment today @Julesni77 😟!
I'm putting it all in a spreadsheet to track it so, hopefully, I can go to that for reassurance next month...if the whoosh ever comes. Starting to get twitchy and wondering if I've been upping the calories without realising...might track today for my own sanity.

Morning. So I have managed 2 days without any hiccups and I’m 1lb down according to the scales. I’d like to see at least one or two more gone by Sunday to keep my motivation going. We have a family party on the Bank holiday weekend and my initial target is to be 8lbs down by then. The rest I will tackle in 7lb chunks.
@Transformatio how much weight have you lost in the lead up to this plateau? Do you think pushing all of calories into the evening is not allowing any time to burn some off ? Plateaus are incredibly frustrating but ultimately you should come through it and start to see results.

You must be so frustrated @Transformatio I’ sure it’s not to do with your calories, but definitely worth tracking to make sure. You’ll have the whoosh soon I’m sure.

well done @Stepcount no hiccups is good, and you’ll be so happy at the family party. I haven’t seen my extended family for so long because of my weight and I hate myself for it

@OhFatty I can totally understand! I didn't want to see any colleagues after lock down as I didn't want to be talked about because of my massive weight gain!

@Transformatio I can totally relate to the disappointment - I am blaming the heat and fluid retention!

Onwards we go - baby steps and all that!

No much yet @stepcount - I've lost 8.2 lbs in 5 weeks (2.2,1.2, 2.6,2.6,-0.4). This is a normal weight loss pattern for me - to stick at midcycle for c. 10 days. First time on this round of dieting though and I always find it unnerving despite technically being used to it! I was just sharing my midcycle frustration, if I'm not showing a loss on Monday (for weekly WI) that will be unusual though and I will definitely need to re-think things!
I'm happy with doing 20:4 for now - part of the idea is that towards the end of the fasting time you are more likely to be burning fat stored glycogen. I mainly like it because I find it way easier to eat less calories this way.
Thank you for the support and well done on your weight loss so far!
Thank you @OhFatty ! I was the same after lock down @Julesni77 , and yes I don't think the heat is helping!

sorry that should say burning fat rather than glycogen!