⭐️LOSE IT! January 2023. Reset Edition⭐️

[TheRealHousewife]

⭐️Open to previous members as well as new members⭐️

Fresh new year, fresh new start, fresh new habits. Jump right in to reset & refresh to become a healthier version of yourself. These threads are for those who’d like to lose and those who wish to maintain whilst eating a healthy varied diet.

As no one size fits all, members need to follow their own way of eating. 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. 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).

I calorie count based on a lower carb Mediterranean diet. I intermittent fast and eat twice a day. Im a long time healthy eater and overall I’ve lost over 3 stone. After having been on the wrong side of 12st Im now hovering around 9st. I had a blip a couple of years ago when my thyroid went wonky but now back on track.

Are you in😊 What food plan will you be following? What do you want to change and why?

PS - In the coming days I’ll post some links which some members might find useful. Feel free to share your own links, recipes and photos too 😊

@Cloudberries123 don't worry about it, life does that to plans, just consider it a blip and restart. In the great Achebe if things it's a mere bagatelle.

Dinner tonight was porridge with chia seeds and syrup. It's what I really fancied even though I had porridge for breakfast.

I'm in need of an early night with a book and as soon as ds is in bed that's where I'm going.

Tomorrow I will eat some vegetables. Hopefully.

Hey everyone. Just checking in!

Had a 1lb gain at weigh in on Friday so went a bit off the rails over the weekend. But Monday new start for me. Meals and snacks have been counted and swam 40 lengths again at lunch time. This has spurred me on to do the diabetes swim 22 miles challenge from March. I must be mad 😂

Hope you manage that early night @AutisticLegoLover sounds a lovely way to spend an evening!

LittlePea, Slinky, RealHousewife and AutisticLegoLover thank you so much for the kindness and reassurance that things just feel like this sometimes and it's not the end of the world (or the healthy lifestyle). I just feel so addicted!

I took your suggestion LittlePea and had a lower-carb version of our dinner tonight. Just a couple of spoons of rice with a delicious creamy curry made with leftover pulled pork, black beans and kale.

Thinking a lot about which direction to go in... I am torn between trying to be 'everything in moderation' and wanting to make more stringent changes. But then I get lost in which changes to make. What I've been doing since September has been good enough to lose me 5 kilos, but I'm also hovering at this weight which suggests to me that I should change things more.

I am overweight enough to really need to make changes for the sake of my health, it's not just wanting to look better.

good old fashioned for you @Cloudberries123

I know I keep saying it, but January is so tough. Cold, dark, and worst month to grab any self-motivation. Just being here and accountable is a good start. As for swimming @CumbrianExile - hats off to you !!!! Hope it was a very warm pool. Presume 22 miles is over the course of the month? That sounds like quite a challenge. Good on you. Think of how toned you'll be after it all? And surely extra weight lost in the shrivel-factor !!!!

Keep up good work everyone. My turn for a carby-day. Hungry all day after long run yesterday or could be old fashioned greed. My carbs took form of all bran and wholewheat pasta. (Wishful thinking it might help drop a bit for WOW .... but could all possibly backfire too !!!!!!!)

And some for you too @TheRealHousewife .

i certainly did not bother to step on the scale, soy sauce no matter how low sodium will have me retaining fluids for 2 days maximum.
@Ninjachicken one of the nice things about menopause is the lack of water weight/hormonal retention and breast swelling. just in case you thought there was nothing to look forward to. you also mentioned salt and a long walk on the day before both of which can lead to water retention.
positive thoughts @Cloudberries123 , we've all had the occasional though day/week or stretch. the good news is that you can refocus at any point, next meal or next am.
so far so good over here. 1L down, fiber and multivits taken and a simple low can breakfast. oh and my first 30 minutes of fitness walking done.
i took a majority of the dessert snacks next door, they have 3 teens and pack lunches to school. better their home than mine.

Hello! I was on track for two weeks then caught another really horrible bug, which sent me to bed for a week 😷 Ate lots of unhealthy comfort food, feeling the effects now!
Feeling a lot better, finally! Today managed 10k steps, leftover roast chicken sandwich for lunch, and pear porridge with raspberries and cream and nuts for dinner. Going forward will be aiming for the fast 800 plan, but will be lenient with carbs for a week or so whilst I get used to it all again. Going to pull out all the stops for the next 4 weeks. Hope everyone else is well

Thanks @buzzofthebumblebee, it's actually over 3 months. Works out at an average of 119 lengths (of a 25m pool) every week and until recently I was just managing 64 over 2 days. Recently upped it to 40 each session so if I manage 3 sessions a week I should be ok. Just got to keep up the motivation!

i don't mind swimming once i'm in the water @CumbrianExile enjoy the challenge. sounds like a good plan of attack.

@TheRealHousewife I LOVE happy valley. I rewatched previous series before this one started 😁
thanks @Allthegoodnamestakken for the tips/info re salt. Hopefully it is down to that and I will see a loss on wow. Even a small one I will take!
@greenspaces4peace always a silver lining 😂
sending positive thoughts @Cloudberries123 . Your dinner sounds delicious. Tomorrow is a new day
@AutisticLegoLover who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner!!

i ended up finishing my stir fry tonight as it was mainly aubergine left and would have ended up in the bin. My hatred of waste is clearly stronger than my desire to avoid salt.
done around 14000 steps. Not sure how many calories but I had a bit of a snack attack late afternoon. I seem to be at my weakest re willpower and hungriest around 4pm-6pm.
good night all

@Cloudberries123 Pleased to read you are feeling a bit better about things. Lifestyle changes can be tough to stick too if you try to do too much too soon. Slow and steady will see you through. As long as the trajectory is downwards a blip here and there won’t undo all your good efforts.

Hi @buzzofthebumblebee Thank you ❤️

Pleased to read you’re feeling better @Smugsmaug There are so many viruses around at the moment they are hard to avoid.

@CumbrianExile Impressive swim! 😮 Well done!

Hi @Ninjachicken Im pleased someone else from the thread is enjoyIng HV! I thought I was on my own for the minute 😬 I’m getting anxious about it ending for a couple of reasons 1) Just don’t want it to end. 2) Don’t want a crap ending like LOD was. It has been awesome so far. Just fantastic! Excellent step count btw! 👍👏

Can’t sleep hence posting … wish sleep would come 💤

Oooh 61kg this morning. I want to lose 3kg before our holiday and that needs revising because it's not going to happen realistically although I think I've shifting 2kg this month so maybe it is. I'll add an hour of bouncing each day to help things along.
My porridge oats and chia seeds are soaking whist I sit with a cup of tea and quiet before dc wake up I'm hoping the chia seeds will help sort my poor guts out. I'm sure if I could poop I'd lose another kg! Sorry for tmi.

Hope everyone has a good day and don't forget to drink plenty of water.

Morning @AutisticLegoLover Well done on your loss! Keep bouncing and drinking the water 👍👏 They will both help with … tmi … productive loo time 😬

1.8kg lost since January 9th. I've just looked back through the thread. That's nearly 4lbs in 2 weeks and a day so instead of beating myself up thinking I'm doing rubbish I'm actually quite proud of that. I know I should probably stick to one unit of measurement but due to issues in the past I prefer to weigh in kg then translate to pounds then stones and pounds. Weird I know. I don't know the equivalent from kg so I don't feel anxiety at the reading on the scales. Silly I know. My phone always tries to correct scales to scares which amuses me 😁

I put my old not-quite-skinny-jeans on on Sunday and I remember when I got them just before lockdown that I struggled to do up the button. When I do them up I automatically pull the waist away from my body to try and do it up but I don't need to because there's a nice gap of about 2/3 inches when I pull them away. My thighs at the top still feel swollen with period water retention. I've always had chunky thighs and muscly calves. Thanks genes. My mum has lovely slim legs but I inherited my paternal grandmother's legs. Solid. Although I should maybe say strong because they are. They walk many miles each week and have never let me down.

@Cloudberries123 I have been feeling very similar to you. I sont have the energy at the mo to make big sweeping changes so am just going back to basic principles and tracking food, making the best choices I can when I can. We can do it, it may be slow but it will be progress

Todays plan for me:
Breakfast: GF cornflakes
Lunch: the second half of my soup with ryvita and followed by fruit and yoghurt
Dinner: out with DSD so will opt for a healthy plate, something salad bowl ish.

Thank you gin it's so good to know I'm not alone in feeling like this. Just sort of overwhelmed with it all, and a bit stuck and feeling like I REALLY don't want to spend the rest of my life not eating and drinking whatever I want, when I want.

But I'm clearly not a teenager any more, though I do (like many of us I think) live with a man who still eats like a teenager and is naturally slim and trim.

I think I just needed to have a self-pitying day and get back on the horse. I'm not deprived of anything, I'm choosing not to stuff myself with things that will make me ill, either now or in the future. At first I wanted to lose weight to look better and be more confident, but nowadays the bigger driving force is wanting to be an active mum who enjoys playing and going on adventures with her children.

I've seen first hand how MY mum is faring on the 'eat anything' diet and it's very sobering and shocking. She's a young grandma but on her last visit was unable to walk up hills with us and chose to take a longer way round. Really sobering. I don't want that at all - for myself or my daughter.

A bit stream of consciousness and rambling this morning as I've got more time than usual. But thanks to you all, I've started to get my head back in the right mindset. We're amazing together 💪🏻 have a good day all x

Hi there @SingaporeSlinky lovely to hear from you 🙂

I started again in earnest in Nov as my pesky half stone had crept on again during the summer, so that was quite a focused month. I was actually quite down in Dec & oddly didn't turn to food. I think I was pleased with the quarter stone loss in Nov & didn't want to lose the victory.

The biggest two things for me without question have been cutting out the sugar & taking far more exercise. I definitely have a sugar addiction, once I go cold turkey for a while I can add a bit back in (like my morning hot chocolate) & I don't find myself thinking about it or craving it. But if I let it get any bigger than that I'm doomed. The exercise has definitely helped with the maintenance. I think if I wasn't moving so much the weight might start to creep back, it would probably be so slow I wouldn't notice it until next summer but I'd be back to square one, so I'm being mindful now!

All the very best to you, & everyone else 🙂 👋🏻

How are you after losing your Mum @TheRealHousewife ? You have popped into my head in recent weeks. Hope you are doing as ok as you can be x

@Cloudberries123 We haven't met as it were but I just wanted to say I've read what you've written most recently & wanted to give you a boost - you are absolutely right to focus on your diet of healthy future you want for you & your children. We none of us manage this with aplomb all the time but having the mindset you've got is the most important thing.

An wonderful old friend of mine who was very obese used to eat whatever she wanted & always said that you shouldn't limit yourself on food you enjoy, because "life is short." One day I quietly said, with love, that her life was going to short if she maintained her lifestyle, because she was basically killing herself with food. She still says to this day that she's glad I was brave enough to say it. She worked hard to lose a ton & although she's still on the bigger side she's healthy. But mainly she's mindful about it, so whilst in an ideal world she still might have a bit more to lose, she's never let her weight increase up again. And she's so much happier & more confident, & much less sedentary, which means she can have a good day out round a museum with my kids & not be out of breath just getting there & spend the whole visit just sat somewhere recovering whilst we go round.

Well done & good luck 🙂

@Cloudberries123 that should say "focus on" the sort of healthy future, not "your diet" - my phone is obviously obsessed with weight loss 😀

@Cloudberries123

Argh - it should say "focus on the sort of healthy future..."

I'll give up now 🤦🏼‍♀️😆

@TheRealHousewife Also loved lod. And yes the ending was disappointing. We will see with hv!!! I was awake until nearly 2am this morning as well. Weirdly don’t feel tired today. Hope you got the sleep you need !

@Cloudberries123 you definitely have the right mindset. I have a fit active mum and a mother-in-law who is overweight and has had to have two knee ops. The difference is sobering. You are doing the right things now for the right reasons. My other half stuffs his face, drinks most nights etc. It is frustrating! But we will feel better in ourselves by making healthier choices.
@AutisticLegoLover welll done!!! Great loss!
@8stone13 🙌 you are my inspiration

Todays plan:
L: eggs I think
D: curry without the rice
snacks: ryvita with leerdaamer light, satsumas, herbal tea
walk this afternoon and joe wicks YouTube later
really hoping for a loss tomorrow 🤞🤞🤞

@8stone13 i know what you mean, once you’ve lost a bit, it’s much easier to not let the whole of December be an excuse to pig out. By then I’d already had a few weeks off the gym, and had been buying (too much) food ready for hosting Christmas, and I did let everything slip. In my head, I thought well, I managed to lose nearly 1.5 stone last year, so I can do it again, starting in January. And although I am starting from a lower weight this time, I haven’t quite got fully into ‘the zone’ yet. Hoping the scales will show at least a tiny bit of progress tomorrow, as that really helps motivate me.

I’m also the same with sugar. I find it much easier to go cold turkey on snacks, because once I give in, it opens the flood gates. I’m not someone who can eat one chocolate or one biscuit, I’ll get the taste for it, and end up having 4 or 5. So better to embrace the hunger and resist in the first place, for me.

Well done @Cloudberries123 are you feeling any better/different this morning?

I totally, TOTALLY hear what you're saying about not being thrilled at the prospect of life being restricted in terms of what we eat and drink. I do, though, honestly think that there is a balance that we can all strike; everyone's is different, of course, but we can find enjoyment in a lifestyle that keeps us healthy/healthier. You will find your balance - and that's not to say you won't have days/weeks where it feels like everything goes out of the window - but once you've found that balance that works for you, you'll find it to return to it after those off-days or blowouts.

And yes - we are indeed AMAZING together! ❤

To the others who have posted - @8stone13 @Ninjachicken @AutisticLegoLover @TheRealHousewife @SingaporeSlinky @ginsparkles @greenspaces4peace @CumbrianExile - sorry, I haven't managed to read all posts in depth (thanks, toddler) but I think you're all heroes. I know I (and others) have said it before, but the accountability, honestly and determination is inspiring.

I hope things are as ok as they can be for you, @TheRealHousewife 💐

Over here - standard day really. Toddler group, constantly doing the same chores on repeat, wishing for rest but not really getting any.

Lunch - the usual
Dinner - leftover frozen pasta bake (loaded with lots of veggies) from last week. With a big side salad.
Snacks - just tea and water over here so far (I'm not counting the odd crisp pilfered from DD's dinner 😝)

Great positive post - thanks @ImALittlePea - and totally get where you're coming from @SingaporeSlinky .

I'm trying to eat light on account of WOW tomorrow, and carb fest yesterday.
B - 5 km run
L - lentil & tomato soup (M&S treat) + 1 slice rye & sunflower bread
D - cannelleni bean & butternut squash stew, tiny bit chorizo.

Also really hoping for a loss tomorrow. Feel my "restrictions" have been really good generally - as well as no alcohol, and very little white sugar. Plus running over 15km a week.

Now to keep busy to not think of food this afternoon (should be easy - loads of work to do, plus housework)

Excellent breakfast @buzzofthebumblebee 😁

@TheRealHousewife can I ask a GF question please? Can you recommend a decent gravy - either recipe or granules?