🍁 LOSE IT! November 2022 🍁 🎄8 WEEK COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS 🎄

[TheRealHousewife]

Hello and Welcome

Following on from the LOSE IT! October’s Thread here’s Novembers Thread.

🎄8 Week Count Down to Christmas 🎄😬 There is still time (for those who want to) for a body/mind/fitness overhaul before the festivities and family get together commence 🥳 Plus, who doesn’t want to start 2023 feeling more energised, fitter and svelte!

Jump right in! Reset & refresh to become a healthier version of yourself! Being mindful, planning ahead with a few tweaks here and there and it’s not impossible!

As no one size fits all, members need to follow their own way of eating to LOSE or MAINTAIN. This thread aims to offer guidance, support and a bit of hand holding. We generally have a WOW (Weigh On Wednesday) day each week. However post and share your progress as often or as little as you prefer. Do what works for you.

The important thing is not to think of it as a diet (based on deprivation and unsustainable) but more a way of life (sustainable & enjoyable). It’s a journey, not a destination.

I calorie count based on a lower carb Mediterranean diet. I intermittent fast and generally eat twice a day. I try not to drink calories and have very little processed food or sugar. I meal plan, set my intentions daily and exercise most days.

Are you in?😊 What food plan will you be following? What do you want to change and why? You can do it, if you really want too!

Thanks @fallfallfall I've got a burger press, used to home-make them a lot (and loved experimenting with flavour combos!) so I'm definitely going to dig that out and get back into the habit.

Yes he probably would like pulses in the right recipes @CrimsonAlligator he doesn't like spice much either though, and isn't keen on rich tomato sauces, so it's just finding those recipes. It really is limiting; it's not been a major problem while we've pootled along with a core pool of recipes that we thought were healthy enough for the last 15ish years... now I'm not sure they are healthy enough, those limitations are feeling bigger again. He will try things, but he won't push through and eat it if he's not keen, so I'd be left cooking extra meals. Might be worth it in the short term to test some new ingredients and flavours out though.

Tonight we had a pea, pepper and pesto risotto. Added a lot less salt than I normally would, and made enough for lunch tomorrow. We did have a slice of garlic bread each with it, and I followed mine with a bowl of Greek yoghurt and pomegranate seeds.
Lunch for me was a cup-a-soup, veggies, dairylea triangle and three cheddar biscuits.
I've had a bit of a sweet tooth today as well so had a mini bag of sweets from the Halloween pot and a small chocolate coin.

Dental and sinus surgery done! Purée diet for four weeks and no exercise for four days. My face is frozen, pain free, no bleeding of any sort.
first meal after 24 hr fast: scrambled egg and mashed potato.
9 pm before bed applesauce

@fallfallfall yay the surgery's done! Glad you came through it ok. Good luck with the puréed diet. I was trying to come up with recipes for you but all I can think of is blending a risotto and that's probably not ideal!
Hopefully a better brain than mine will come along

@milkfromthesleepycow i'm looking forward to my morning oatmeal...not quite puree but certainly not crunchy or seedy. i have a few soups in the freezer but not 4 weeks worth.

Glad the surgery went ahead ok @fallfallfall I hope you're not in too much pain today. Wishing you a swift recovery ❤️

Glad your surgery is done @fallfallfall - can I recommend the oat so simplr sachets as they are my go to if I only have 5 mins for lunch.
Day 52
SW:143.2
CW:135.8
GW:126
7.4lbs
Tiny bit more gone this morning!

Wishing you a speedy recovery @fallfallfall

How about full fat yogurt? Fruit smoothies?You'll need the calories.

Good Morning You Lovely Lot

I need to reply to @ImALittlePea first as I’m rushing about and need to go out. I’ll be back later.

@ImALittlePea Health anxiety is not nice. I hope that doesn’t get any worse for you! Once OH was on the right combo of meds it was more or less immediate. He has a OMRON blood pressure monitor at home (bought via The British Heart Foundation, so endorsed) and tests morning/night. In the early stages of getting his meds right the gp accepted these readings and prescribed virtually. Quite impressive really. We both test regularly. In regards to how important it is to get one’s stress levels down I have a story to share. Recently I attended a group activity where I knew that someone who has been vindictive and malicious towards me in the past (still is given half the chance) would be there and I tested prior to going and my bp was sky high in the hyper tension bracket. Tested once back home, even higher. Rather than avoid the group as it’s an activity I enjoy and the majority there are great I took active steps to reduce my own stress levels by flipping any negative thoughts I had about it. Over 3 or 4 weeks my blood pressure readings came down and now remain in the optimal/ normal range (I’m not medicated) before and after contact with said person. This blood pressure spike was a once a week event but goes to show how unmitigated continual stress can be so detrimental to one’s health. In a nutshell ‘don’t let the b grind you down 😬 Hope your dear husband gets sorted sooner rather than later!

Hi @fallfallfall Ive just seen someone’s elses posts about ‘surgery’ but I can’t see your original post so not grasped what it’s referring. I might have got it totally wrong in my speed reading endeavours but wanted to say I hope your ok!

Thank you so much for sharing @TheRealHousewife that really does show how much external factors can play a part in your overall health. Well done for digging deep and not letting a nasty person have a negative influence on your enjoyment of your activity, and your health! Inspiring ❤️ I think I may have said before, but my instinct is that his BP reading is down in part, at least, to the month we've had. In all honesty, I've felt stressed to the hilt myself (although my BP upon discharge last week was in fact very low), but on top of what life has thrown at us, DH has been working full time throughout, barring a few days where he had no option but to take A/L - and those days were spent looking after us all. He's had far less respite than I have, and his job is quite stressful. The funny thing is, he is SO laid back on a day to day basis, he's very pragmatic and compartmentalizes everything, finds and applies solutions and doesn't dwell on anything. But he is a bit worried about this.

The weird/worrying thing is that the GP seemed to really brush over how high it was. DH said it was also noted that it was high at a routine hospital appointment a few months ago, but again just brushed over. So we're taking the steps ourselves as things are, and will get the GP to follow up and discuss a bit more directly one his blood test has been analysed.

We're reluctant to start monitoring at home at this stage, but our local GP does walk in BP monitoring and I think he's going to go down once a week to see if the numbers are moving. In the meantime, it's influencing what we can in terms of diet, movement and stress/anxiety management 😬

Youre very welcome @ImALittlePea I think it is important for your dh to establish if his bp is down to lifestyle/stress/diet or the type that is hereditary. There is also a type that is known as ‘white coat syndrome’, where people feel stressed when seeing medical people. That isn’t anything to worry about. Tip … when going to walk in for bp check, take a couple of minutes to deep breathe, rest and settle ones self as being exerted can raise bp too; many things can cause it to fluctuate.

@TheRealHousewife that is a very inspiring post, it’s amazing what the mind can do; both raising the bp and lowering it. Changing your mindset is huge, well done!
the dental work was a bone graft to reinforce my upper jaw bone in preparation for an implant. The missing tooth has been gone 40+ years but my dentist feels it would help my overall dental health going forward. It’s a 9 month process believe. so far I’m pain free, and sleeping like a log between a variety of tablets. One ends today.
I’m looking forward to my oatmeal.

@fallfallfall I remember now you wrote about dentist work. Pleased to read it's going well! Thank you for your kind comments ... it's been a tough few years and as I've mentioned before I'm addressing issues of complex pdsd. As part of that I can have paralysing social anxiety. I'm determined to manage these conditions so they have less and less impact on my life. ❤️

I didn't post menu earlier. For lunch I've made a smoothie as follows :-

• Collagen
• Protein Powder
• Greek Yoghurt
• Honey
• Turmeric
• Almond Milk - unsweetened.

All wizzed up in nutri bullet = 370 Calories.

I’m suppose to have smoothies…I might need to research as getting in protein, on a puréed diet that will be tough.

@fallfallfall could you get some protein powder and add it to smoothies? Or get some protein yoghurt and add that to a smoothie, or eat by itself? I hope you have a quick and smooth recovery ❤️

That is so odd @ImALittlePea,as well as a little disconcerting, that the doctors are just glancing over high blood pressure reading like that. Good thing you’re taking control and if it’s stress related it will hopefully come down fast after your month from hell.

Hugs to you @TheRealHousewife . Dealing with any kind of anxiety is so tough. Good for you for facing it head on. It’s not easy.

My week so far has been a total write off. I’ve been waiting for an assessment to see if I qualify for special funding to help me cope better with ADHD at work. I’ve been getting myself into such a state about it, as I never think of myself as disabled so felt like a total fraud for even applying for this funding. The good news is that I got approved almost straight away!. I’m now going to get help from a work coach, plus my incredibly well meaning, but badly informed manager will be sent on a training course on how to actually support me. This is such a massive relief after years of feeling like I’m hanging on by my fingernails. Think I’ll get myself a bottle of wine tonight and have a good (happy!) cry

1kg down this week, current 77.4kg another 12kg to go :-) wishing everyone well with their weight loss journey!

Thank you @TheRealHousewife I will pass that tip onto DH for when he gets checked again. Hugs from me too - I don't suffer with social anxiety specifically but I do understand how crippling anxiety is (I've also suffered complex PTSD as well) - to not let it take control shows incredible strength. Something that none of us will be surprised you have ❤️

Disconcerting is the word @CrimsonAlligator I think both times it's been put down to elevated stress levels (he was very stressed for the hospital appointment but all down to the journey - he hates this particular drive and the traffic was awful so he was very late, which is also hates). But it does worry us that they're brushing over a warning sign with no real advice. As you say, we're trying to take control of it in the absence of medical help - for now.

That's a wonderful outcome re your funding! Well done! Enjoy your wine 🍷

I'm glad your pain is being well managed @fallfallfall 💪

Today's meals:
Lunch - same as yesterday - cup-a-soup and accompaniments.
Dinner - tried a new recipe, slow cooked chicken casserole, with mashed potato and piles of greens. [I thought it was bloody delicious, but annoyingly DH wasn't keen (although, surprisingly, DS ate it! Which is a MAJOR win). Just very disheartening to try new recipes in the midst of the positive changes we're trying to make and be met with food being pushed around the plate!]
Followed by greek yogurt and fruit.

Oh well. More leftovers for me (and DS now 🤩) I guess!

Oh, and a nice little NSV for me - took DD to our normal playgroup today, haven't been for a few weeks for the obvious reasons 😂 two of the ladies that run it commented (in a nice way) on my weight loss. Feels nice for others to notice! And my size 12s are also getting rather baggy. Woo!

Checking in after another crazy day, very very ready for this time next week when I'll be off work for a whole 7 days.
Weighed in at 65.9kg yesterday and I'm amazed can't believe I can finally see the number 65 on the scale! All down to this lovely thread
@fallfallfall glad the surgery is as well as it could be, do you like hummus? If you make it yourself it's pretty high protein and soft!
@CrimsonAlligator glad the funding worked out, I hope it makes work a lot less stressful a manager that is informed should make such a difference

I'm travelling for work for the next 5 nights so hoping I can at least maintain. Currently sat in a boiling airport waiting fir a flight that seems like it may never happen

Hello all, it's been more than a few days since I checked in here. Life is somewhat returned to normal after family visit, but I'm finding it all quite intense and tiring at the moment, between baby and planning to go back to work part-time, and I'm struggling not to get 'fake energy' from carbs, caffeine and sugar. (Well, it's real energy, but not nutritious!)

So I've not actually weighed in yet this week. I'm being a bit chicken because I know I've been eating too much for the past few days, and not so nutritious. I might weigh in tomorrow morning depending how I'm feeling, watch this space.

fallfallfall glad you've come through the surgery OK. I had to have a liquid/soft diet after dental surgery years ago, and my parents got very creative with soups and stews. Also jelly/jello is lovely and easy on the mouth! And I second the recommendation of Greek yoghurt for fat and protein, which you will be needing.

Crimson so interesting about the ADHD support at work. Really glad you'll be getting more help. My partner has ADHD and zero official support - he manages OK in life but his career has definitely been hampered by it.

Vikki well done on that loss!

Allthegoodnames hope your flight is on time and you can find yummy, healthy food while you're away!

Sorry for not tagging any more people but MN is being a bit glitchy for me tonight and skipping up and down the page. Better post before this all gets deleted!

It's my weigh day today aaaand... bit of a gain. Last week seemed like an anomaly and I'm still 1kg down from the start of the month which means on plan but still - noone wants to go up, do they 😀:

SW: 104.7kg
CW: 68.6kg
November GW: 67kg

Glad to hear your surgery went well, fallfall. That's a long time you need to be on purees so hope you're able to discover some new, tasty meal ideas. I know not a puree but when DD has her brace adjusted, she has lots of noodles - just the packet noodle types which come in a broth. Not the healthiest but she loves them and they slip down (sorry for the mental image!)

And agree with LittlePea - you're inspiring, RealHousewife and I'm really impressed you managed your BP with such mindfulness! I'm sorry to hear you're DH is unwell at the moment, LittlePea - sounds like the doctors aren't worried but think you're so right to get a hold of it now. Frustrating he can be so fussy but, to quote a MN cliche, surely he could do some of the cooking and research instead of you working hard on something new only to have it not eaten? Might instill some healthier habits as well?

Hope you're able to have a nice time abroad, Allthegoodnames - I know it's work but time away can really help reset!

You're so determined, CrimsonAlligator - you'll get right back on it. And I'm sure you'll have been rowing which will have definitely made a difference!

I'm away to tonight seeing my best friend who I haven't seen since the summer. Going to be pretty indulgent with dinner and drinks out but it's a real treat to see her so I'm going to throw caution to the wind and likely to be the last blowout for a while (as I really need to start packing!!)

Have a wonderful start to your weekend everyone!

Weigh in morning (can I call it WoF?! 😂) and 1lb down here. Super pleased! Feel like I'm getting close to my 'target' although I haven't actually set one; do I just keep doing what I doing and see where my weight settles, or pick a goal weight and try and switch to maintenance when I get there?

I hope you weren't waiting too long on your flight @Allthegoodnamestakken and you have a good trip!

Well done on your weigh in @Vikki7

@SanFranBear enjoy your weekend away! You can refocus when you're back ☺️

Yes it can be frustrating that he doesn't ever step up/into the kitchen. I might gently suggest it, although in reality I doubt it will change. I generally don't mind doing all the food prep, but it'd be nice to have a bit more input given the current situation.

Meals today:
Lunch - I'm having the DELICIOUS chicken casserole leftovers for my lunch 😁😂
Dinner - fajitas

Wishing everyone a happy Friday to kick start the weekend!

LittlePea What would happen if you just... didn't do the planning and cooking? I had a similar situation with my DP where I was doing more than my share of the housework because I'm a do it now person, whereas he's a last minute person. I let the laundry basket fill up and overflow for a few days, and lo, he did notice and take action. It's been better since.

SanFranBear Enjoy your meal with your friend! Life is for living and you are honestly sooo close to goal weight that I'm more than a little green-eyed 😛

I've done a 'WoF' this morning and unbelievably only a negligible gain, despite travel and family visit. The rest of November will be knuckling down to make some real progress, instead of fannying around in the same couple of kilos.

SW: 100.4kg (September)
CW: 98.7kg
Mini goal: 95kg

Well done @Cloudberries123 it's not easy to step on when you've had a stint of time not focussed, happy that you had a better result than expected!

DH does a huge amount around the house, just not the cooking and meal planning (although he can and does step up occasionally, when needed). 99% of the time I genuinely enjoy doing it, but it can be tiresome and disheartening when we need to make changes and I'm up against the dietary fussiness. On the flip side, there's plenty he would eat but I don't enjoy (I'm not a massive fan of 'gravy dinners', which he would happily have every day), so finding the middle ground is the challenge.

He's actually just said he liked the flavour of the casserole, but the chicken was shredded - so I will try it again but oven rather slow cook and won't shred it at the end. There is hope!

Have fallen off the wagon - been buying and therefore eating too many sweets. Weight has gone up a bit - not a lot but is not what I want to be happening. Have also realised that eating too many sweets makes me feel more tired and that isn't good either. And when I feel rubbish that I've eaten sweets I then find I want to eat more.

Running still going well though:)

Armistice Day 2022 ❤️