🎄LOSE IT! December 2022🎄Festive Edition🎄🥳🥳🥳

[TheRealHousewife]

Hello & Welcome

Carrying on from LOSE IT! November 2022 this is where people who wish to lose or maintain with accountability check in daily. People can access support and general advice around a healthy lifestyle (food/health/wellbeing) We generally have WOW - Weigh on Wednesday to track progress.

December is a tough month to navigate food wise especially if you’re wanting to lose. By making sensible choices without total deprivation you can hopefully mitigate any Christmas excess.

We all deserve to feel the best we can, be the best we can and strive to be as fit and healthy as possible. Not only will you look great in your finery, you’ll be strengthening your immune system and maintain a sense of well-being. In addition, if we eat right, get outside, move more your mental health will heap the rewards. Better mental health = better choices. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

You just need to find what works for you! Me personally? I calorie count, log via MFP app, Intermittent fast, eat-low carb Mediterranean style and try to stay well hydrated.

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. I also rarely drink alcohol and keep sugar to a minimum. I exercise by doing walking vids & strength sessions with lite 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.

There is no shaming, competition or harsh words to be found on this thread. We are in this together.

Are you in? What’s your plan? Whatever you do, Good Luck!

Nice to hear all the progress!
Hope everyone gets well soon!

I’ve picked up a cold that I’m trying to ignore, the cold-carb-hunger is very real! Whilst I’ve eaten mostly healthy food, there have been slices of hot buttered toast and stodgy baked potatoes creeping in, also fancy digging into a fancy box of chocs I’ve hidden away for Xmas. It’s so cold plus so achey unlikely to get any solid walking done for the next couple of days. May get my steps up in the house somehow, but also trying to be patient with my self so I can recover quickly. A bit annoying as I was on a good roll!

Checking in.

staying with DB and nephew so had fishfingers, chips and peas for dinner yesterday and a big bag bbq hula hoops and half a slice of orange polenta cake plus some artisan baguette and cheese.

Had oatso simple with blueberries, nectarine and blueberry Nakd bar yesterday.

Nephew has vomiting bug which I haven’t caught but had artisan baguette slices for breakfast and chicken noodle soup with bread for lunch.

@TheRealHousewife - hope your groin injury is getting better.

@ImALittlePea - glad the hangover worked to lose weight and agreed with @Cloudberries123 if your body is craving starch and fat when you’re sick then go with it and eat better when you’re better. I recall when I’ve been sick in the past salads just didn’t cut it.

I’ve been having Laughing Cow light triangles as well as Baby Bel light cheeses too for snacks. I prefer Bachelors minestrone slim a soup over the normal cup a soups.

There was a chocolate dessert (Muller?) in chiller cabinet something like 80 calories, found it once not seen it again but it helped hit the chocolate fix.

Get well wishes to everyone. At least I wasn’t my DB yesterday who had to clean out his car in a service station after DNephew vomited over his car seat a lot! I helped by supplying kitchen towel, wipes and antibacterial spray!

Afternoon!

It's SO cold today 🥶 trying not to let that translate into mindless grazing in an attempt to warm up!

Meals:
Lunch - 1/2 carton of leek and potato soup - was eyeing up DH's bread & butter to dunk in but refrained. Followed by greek yoghurt and pomegranate seeds
Dinner - loaded pasta & pesto (loaded with broccoli, peas, bacon and cherry tomatoes)

Meant to be baking some muffins to top up the youngest's snack provisions but currently feeling like I just want to to curl up under a blanket while she naps.

We started the Xmas tree last night but only got as far as lights. Baubles to come today, hopefully. I'm just not in the spirit enough yet, and I really really want to be! 🙁

Well I have not managed to avoid the cold-induced grazing LittlePea I have been experimenting with actually buying in eg a pack of biscuits and a cake with our weekly shop, to see if that would stop me buying extra sweets and treats 'in secret' when I'm out by myself. I think it might be a sort of addiction, though I don't know if it's to food shopping in general or eating extra things in secret because I know they won't be helping with my weight loss. Ah the mind...

Anyway my point is that having cake and biscuits in the house does in fact mean we're eating cake and biscuits. I'm still buying extra snacks for myself nearly every day and consequently not seeing the losses I otherwise would.

Other than my partner now coming down with the cough, life is quite good other than the food struggles. Feeling festive and

.... Feeling festive and looking forward to Christmas.

Breakfast - boiled egg, 3 ryvita thins with cheese, 2 cups tea

Snack - 2 bananas

Lunch - 2 chicken drumsticks, piece of cake, tea

Snack - ryvita thins, houmous

Dinner - salmon and cavolo nero pasta. Cheesecake and tea 🤔😬

Dh dragged me to the track where I walked about.
okay food choices AND the beginning of holiday decor.
zero motivation but poking along.

making a batch of this...i'm exhausted from all the dicing
www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/classic-minestrone/
it will need some doctoring as it's way too thick.
no pasta added and unlikely to add extra olive oil or parm cheese...

WOW gained that lb I lost. It's not been a fantastic week food wise which I suppose is par for the course this time of year

I am feeling cold all the time! Maybe my body is resenting the loss of insulation! More likely it's the sugar intake 😂

Im going to just keep my head down as much as possible, concentrate on organising Xmas and hope I'll find my focus next year

Good luck to anyone weighing today

WOW 62.3kg/9st 10lb this morning so a stop if 0.7kg since last Thursday.

Have a great day!

I'm up again, 98.1kg which is not what I wanted but kind of what I expected.

Will write more later. Well done to everybody else weighing in!

Well done to everyone WoWing today! It's a tough time of year to stay on track as we all well know so whether you're seeing a loss, STS or gain - keep going!

I always find Jamie recipes need adapting @fallfallfall so I just tend not to use them any more. I hope your soup turned out well though!

That's interesting about the secret snacking @Cloudberries123, do you think you've always done it? Would logging on MFP of a similar app help do you think - being accountable on there if you feel the need to hide these extras in real life may help you stay more on track? Do you know why you do it this way - are you worried about being judged by anyone?

I've just been eyeballing an open box of mince pies but walked away. I'm out for lunch today though so feeling more motivated to not stray otherwise.

Meals:
Lunch - something at the cafe, probably a bacon or bacon & egg sandwich. Going to try REALLY hard not to order chips as well, especially as planned dinner is also quite hefty on the calorie front
Dinner - pie, new pots, veggies and gravy

Sending plenty of well wishes and warmth to everyone!

My WoW
SW 11st 4lbs
CW 10st 9lb (loss of 1lb)
GW 9.5st (suddenly seems a long way off!)

Im happy with 1lb. Aiming for between 1-2lbs per week. Toying with the idea of a fast day to balance out a heavyish (2500 calories per day) weekend plus evening chocolate bar. So just having very low cal veggie soup on Mondays. But then I’ll be starving on Tuesday… I don’t know. I’m still losing steadily so maybe carry on until I plateau!
Im finding it tough to exercise (apart from walking) over the festive period! Will aim to run tomorrow and Saturday!

Well done everyone for loses. No mean feat over Xmas!

Hello Everyone

Sorry I’ve not been around. Groin still very painful made all the worse due to a necessary car journey today. Add in the mix I’ve got another virus. I feel totally washed out and currently my brain has gone on strike 😵‍💫 Enough moaning; I just wanted to drop by and say ‘Hi’. Hopefully normal service will resume in a day or two. Peace & love ❤️

I forgot to congratulate the WOW results. Absolutely well done if you’re managing to lose during this early festive period. A well deserved well done to those who are disappointed with their results but are carrying on 👏👏👏. Not an easy time of year to lose, never mind maintain. 🤞

I know that in 2.5 weeks all of us will be biting at the bit to get back into the swing of healthy eating. January will see the start of renewal and recharging in readiness for coming year 👍

You're so right RealHousewife it's just this lead-up to Christmas where the energy and zeal to resist the onslaught of festive food just vanishes. Come January I will be the most cheerleader of us all, I guarantee 😆

I'm not sure LittlePea I think I probably have always done secret eating/snacking as I've clearly been eating enough to put on a lot of weight in the past few years. I think it's definitely tied to not wanting to be judged for how much I want to eat. How much I actually need to feel full and satisfied. Tricky, as I've always had physically demanding jobs so would naturally need to eat a bit more than most. But it's got into a bit of a bad spiral of supplementing our (pretty wholesome) family food with my own food.

Also something to do with not getting the breaks I need, especially with the little one. Buying a snack or treat feels like getting a little break.

Today:

Breakfast - yoghurt and muesli, Graze snack bar, tea

Snack - pear, banana

Lunch - half a box of cheese twists, couple of ryvita thins, small blob of pate. Tea

Snack - cheesy roll with ham and salad (should have been lunch!)

Dinner - lamb, chips, broccoli.

Working on getting some hydration in before bed.

Well done all x

Oh no, not another virus! That sucks but I hope it means you'll be free of bugs by Christmas and be done with them all for the year.

Today has been a family celebration.
Breakfast: 2 cups of tea because we were up early. Toast with butter.

Mid-morning: toast with Nutella. Cup of tea.

Lunch: 8 ritz crackers with Wensleydale and cranberries. 6 after 8 mints

Snack: 2 jam and cream biscuits

Dinner: 3 roast potatoes, 3 stuffing balls, honey roasted carrots and parsnips, 2 Yorkshire puddings, cranberry sauce, mushy peas. Iced Madeira cake (smallish slice).

Talking secret snacking reminds me that I have a big bag of pickled onion space raiders waiting for me and a quiet hour. I might watch some tv and enjoy them. It's been a busy few days. Just short of 30 miles walked this week so far and I got the bus home today.

I'm trying to remember what my start weight and goal weight was. Progress is slow anyway and todays dinner will not have helped but it was a special day and really not very extravagant on the food front.

I've just reread the thread from the beginning and realised I've reached my adjusted goal. I said on Monday I was aiming for 9st 10lb by Christmas Eve as a more realistic goal but I've reached that today. I've got 9 more days of being very active and will see if I can drop any more by Christmas Eve. My period is due on Christmas Day (lucky me. Just what I always wanted🙄) and that corresponds with a pound or two up or staying the same. Ah well, keep on plodding on, it's just nice not to be in the overweight category. BMI 24.1 and my jeans no longer require effort to button them. I've noticed my wrists look thinner. I'm obviously thrilled the weight has come off my wrists instead of my thighs 🤣

We'll done on teaching your goal already @AutisticLegoLover! The space raiders as a treat? And delicate wrists can be quite the attractive feature!

Sorry you're poorly @TheRealHousewife

@AutisticLegoLover well done on reaching your goal!
I did WOW but forgot to post, still sat at 65.4kg that last 400g just doesn't want to budge. I have now gone from an overweight BMI to right in the middle of healthy weight though so thats a win for this year and all thats to this wonderful thread @TheRealHousewife thankyou so much for starting these.

Goal for now is to maintain over the festive period and then get back on the healthy eating wagon in January. I think I would like to adjust my goal from 65kg down to 62kg purely for vanity reasons as I am still pretty chubby of thigh and i'd quite like to be a reliable size 12 rather than a 12/14

Good Morning Everyone 😊

Thank you @milkfromthesleepycow Im feeling someone better virus wise. Sadly same can’t be said for injury that’s been aggravated with sneezing/coughing. Feel generally brighter which is great!

@AutisticLegoLover What a fabulous result to get into the healthy BMI bracket. Congratulations 🥳👏👍 TBH I’m still not in that bracket! I blame being vertically challenged as well as very ‘busty’ 😬 I’m with you on the jeans thing. There is nothing like buttoning/zipping up with plenty of wiggle room which unlike a healthy bmi I do have. Same with wrists/fingers. My Apple Watch is now fastened up an extra notch and I’ve been contemplating resizing my rings which continually swizzle around and move about. Wensleydale & cranberries … stop it now 😋😋😋😬

@Cloudberries123 I can feel it … my psychi and headspace are gearing up for a fabulous 2023 😊👍

@TofuonToast @wannadisc0 Well done on your losses! Nice and steady progress!

@fallfallfall I made a minestrone this week to cover my lunches. I agree the chopping is intense but in my opinion totally worth it! I add a chilli and some chopped up chorizo to mine. I like the xtra heat and flavour. 😋 I don’t know which bit of my groin I hurt. It affects being able to lift leg, or bend down. When I cough or sneeze it hurts more. I’m getting sciatica like pain down back of leg too. Turning a tap on and off affects it too.

Generally shout out to @ImALittlePea @GonnaGetGoingReturns @Smugsmaug … I noticed you posted but don’t want to lose this post scrolling further back and forth. ❤️

Menu
Meal 1 - Minestrone soup & GF bread.
Meal 2 - Spanish omelette. Large 😬 Satsuma x2. Pecans.
Tea, black coffee and water.

@TofuonToast the 5:2 style of fasting doesn't appeal to me, but my sister does it and it has helped her with her weight management. I do go lower calorie during the week, but not to fasting levels. This year I have cut out bread, crisps, other more processed/refined food during the week and it's really worked for me. But we're all so different - it sounds like what you're doing is currently working, and at a steady pace which is what you want in the longer term (even if it feels too slow in the now). Keep going!

Sending hugs @TheRealHousewife we know you're in the background even if you're not as active as normal. Take care of yourself ❤️

That's a tricky one @Cloudberries123 and I totally get about the not getting/needing a break.

Well done @AutisticLegoLover!

I'm taking my DD to a Christmas party this morning, going to try my utmost to not graze and all the food that'll be there 😬 other than that, plan is:

Lunch - spiced butternut squash soup
Dinner - chicken curry (from a jar this time) and rice

Weighing in tomorrow and I'm going to use this as my "last" weigh in of the year. I will actually still weigh weekly still, but I know things are going to go out of the window as soon as my son finishes school, so I want to cling onto what I hope will be my lowest point of the year as much as possible 😂 and I'm going to use that as motivation when faced with a festive spread this morning!!

Have a good day everyone!

Congratulations on reaching a healthy BMI @Allthegoodnamestakken … I think we cross posted (I take ages to write posts 😬) That’s such a milestone👍👏 … and you are very welcome! I really enjoy running these threads ❤️

Cross posted with @ImALittlePea Thank you! I’m better than I was but not fit for any exercise yet. House jobs piled up so going to make a start on those. Your spicy squash soup is right up my street 😋

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas… 🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄

Hello you lovely lot, glad some of you are on the mend, and hopefully everyone will be feeling a lot better in time for Xmas 🎄🎄🎄🎄
Confession time, I ended up off piste today, started with a pre-Xmas meal, was so good to begin with, ended up with a couple more drinks than I had intended, and the usual associated snacking once I’d gotten home 😅 oh well! Just over a week left, and one day off is ok in my book 👍🏼 plan is to be ultra super healthy for the next week, especially as I have a blood test just before Xmas (one of the wake up calls I needed to get back on the healthy track) so hoping those will have generally improved health wise!