Diet For Summer Challenge

[Dashel]

This is a continuation of the diet for Christmas challenge that was undertaken in 2022. Thank you to @OhFatty for starting that.

It is a group of us wanting a supportive environment to loose weight in the long term. Hopefully the posters from the Christmas challenge will sign up again and new members are welcome.

We each have our own way of doing this and there are no rules other than being encouraging to everyone and cheering on successes.

Morning all

A bit mizzly here this morning but hoping it will brighten up later so I can get a walk in.

I can sympathise @Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday, after a great start weight loss wise I seem to have hit a massive go slow in the last 10 days. Just got to remember we're going in the right direction even if it's slow progress - I'm channelling the hare from the tortoise and the hare 🐇

I know what you mean about feeling self conscious if people mention weight loss but think of the lovely new clothes and remember it's something to celebrate because you've put in the work to get there.

@Dashel that's great about the thicker hair. I'm going to make a real effort to try to remember my multivitamin and iron every day as I know low iron levels can cause hair loss. Adding it to my February goals.

Squats are my nemesis @Gemzee so whilst I applaud your dedication (and your amazing chart!) I will be cheering you along firmly from the sidelines!

Peak frustration for me this morning when the scales read 10st 12.2lbs again. It's now nearly 10 days since I started the dance up and down between the 12s and the 11s and I was really hoping to finally start moving permanently into the 11s. Just going to have to focus on the fact I know I'm doing the right things so there should be some progress soon.

I've done an Olivia Lawson 30 minute cardio aerobic workout this morning which was a mixture of low and high impact. I did all the high impact options this time and apart from a small twinge in my knee with some of the jumping it seemed to be fine. Followed it with 10 minutes of abs and glutes. My calorie burn was a bit higher than usual (the high impact bit I suspect) but my step count was only 3880 so not quite as high as I'd hoped. I'm WFH today so hoping to fit a walk in later to sort that. I came in at 9230 steps yesterday so first day was on target.

Have good days all and let's see January out with one last push 💪

Obviously meant tortoise not hare @Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday 🐢Brain is on a go slow day today.... 😭

@Gemzee thanks for that I will join in. I did 90 weighted ones yesterday as part of my workout and did today’s earlier.

@bigdecisionstomake Progress is progress and slow is better than an increase. It sounds like your exercise is great. Are you calorie counting? Just wondering if it’s worth tweaking the food part slightly. I do feel your pain, I am so desperate to get into the 9s, I’m working so hard to get there and to go from 10st 2s to 10st 3s is frustrating to be polite.

I did 17k steps yesterday, 30 minute Joe Wicks legs and 1400 calories and weighed in at at 10st 3lb so lost 0.5lb from yesterday. So edging back to the 10st 2s. Hopefully by the end of February I will be firmly in the 9s and moaning about going between two different numbers.

@Dashel I think you'd need a more challenging one, mine is very much a beginners one 😊

Morning all and hello February

Can't believe we're into month 2 of the Diet for Summer Challenge!

@Dashel I am counting calories, I use a website called 'Weight Loss Resources (WLR)' that I've used successfully for the last 20 years to manage my weight so I know it works. However after you mentioned it yesterday I got my calculator out (the nerd in me again) and started analysing my calorie expenditure stats from my fitbit against my calorie intake on WLR and lo and behold it appears that WLR is slightly overestimating my daily calorie burn by around 100 calories a day. This is because I've always had it set at moderately sedentary as my activity level but it transpires that now I'm actually about halfway between moderately sedentary and sedentary. Possibly job related I suspect - I do spend a lot more time deskbound now than I have historically done and work longer hours. I add my exercise in separately.

Ultimately this means that rather than eating in a deficit of 3500 calories per week I'm actually running at around 2800 deficit per week. I should still theoretically be losing, but not as fast. I don't think this explains the plateau entirely but it will contribute so I'm going to aim to not eat 100 of my exercise calories each day from now on to balance it out.

On a totally separate note, I think you asked a couple of posts back about people to look at for make up tips/tutorials? I follow a couple of accounts on Instagram that are good for that sort of thing, 'hannahmartinmakeup' and 'makeupbygeorgiax' I'm a real beginner with make up but they're interesting to watch to get a few tips about what products you use where and how etc...

For me the plateau continues with a STS at 10st 12.2 again this morning..... I'm beginning to think the scales must be broken 😂

I now know I'm not eating in quite enough of a deficit for a 1lb a week loss so I'm going to correct that moving forwards. I've been eating Hello Fresh recipes for most of last week and this week so far too and trusting their calorie count so I think I might input the ingredients into my calorie app and check that they are actually correct as well. Other than that I suspect it's just my post menopausal body not wanting to give up its fat reserves easily.

It's a bit disheartening and tempting to throw the towel in but I guess if I wasn't following the food and exercise plan I am I would actually be putting weight on now so there's a reason to keep carrying on just on that basis alone.

This morning I've done 2 GFWR workouts followed by Day 11 of CGs Christmas Series which was a targeted glute workout. It was only 15 minutes and I had to dip out on a couple of the exercises as I couldn't manage them but I did a good 80% so I'm pleased with that. Think I'll be sore tomorrow though!

I managed a walk yesterday so my steps came in at a respectable 9398 in the end so I exceeded my target. Will need another walk today though as I'm only at 4620 despite 2 x GFWRs.

Sorry if I waffle on a lot on these posts but I find it really helpful to get my thoughts down.

Have good days all.

Keep going @bigdecisionstomake , you've totally got this.

I weighed in at 12.04lbs today. Only 4lbs to go until I hit the 11 stone marker. I have not seen 11 stone since July 2021. I was 13.7lbs at my heaviest ever last year. I will never get to that again. I'm aiming for a very strict Feb (work & food wise. I've got a really busy month with a hell of a lot of hours to work). I'm totally in the right mind set for food and exercise. I'm barely drinking (and not missing it one bit, but p*ssed off from friends who for some reason want me to drink on nights out. What's it got to do with them what I drink) and doing exercise as much as I can. I'm calorie counting with nutracheck but struggling to use this when I have home made dinners sometimes. How on earth do I calorie count the low fat ceaser salad DH made me the other night?! he certainly didn't weigh anything. When I can, I try to stick to the rule that if you cant quantify it, then don't eat it. I've got my first holiday in May half term this year and I want to be as close to 10 stone 7lbs as I can be.

Good luck with Feb everyone !

@Gemzee i think this will be perfect as a little extra

@bigdecisionstomake it never hurts to recheck things. One diet we did DH had been drinking lots of flavoured water and not loosing and morning and when I had some I noticed the calories and it had quite a lot and he thought he was being so good drinking water.

Thanks for the suggestions I will have a look and research 🧐 I think we are both in a bit of a funk, I found the half a pound I lost yesterday unfortunately. Don’t worry about long and frequent posts as it helps me to see what others are doing and that the cope with unwanted scale results. We are all in the same boat and sometimes it’s easier than other times.

@encoreunfoisnumber2 that is great news and I’m sure you will shed those 4lbs! I guesstimate anything like lettuce, spinach or cucumber anyway but you could ask him to weigh the calorific stuff maybe? You sound really on it and I’m sure you will see results!

I managed 16k steps yesterday including some GFWR and a Joe Wicks back and shoulder day. I know I have some DOMs from leg day on Monday so maybe that will be my 0.5lb gain. Hope so!

I think I have to go away for work for a few days on the 20th of February so I’m going to have to be super good as that’s straight after our weekend away for our anniversary. I want to look my best for both things so need to keep going with the diet and exercise and work on the next makeover steps, I might need to speed that up a bit somehow.

Good morning and hope every Is having a good weekend.

The last two days I have been so hungry, my body feels like it is shouting for food. Today will probably be the same as I had nearly done my steps when DH came home and wanted to do a GFWR to get his steps in so I joined in and ended up at 20.5k so lots of Rick yesterday.

I finished on 1600 calories and weighed in this morning at 10st 2.5lb so lost a pound overnight. My average weight this week is so far the same as last week so I am finding this week quite hard. Bouncing around the 10st 2s and 3s and wanting desperately to skip down to the 9stones. Very hungry with no progress sucks!

I know that I just need to keep at it, plateaus are mentally really hard and DH is having a plateau as well so we are both a little 😤

Good week even … wishful thinking for weekend!

Weighed in at 12st 7.5 this morning! We have holiday next week and my target for that was 12.7, it’s within reaching distance!! I have 2 meals out over the weekend though so need to think about balance and not stress too much.

I’m also old school on the numbers but realised this morning on my tracker that means since this time last year I’m 20kgs & 20% lighter, love round numbers so that little stat really pleases me

Morning all

Glad to see us moving nearer to the weekend again, work has been really busy this week so can't wait for it to get here although I will have to work for some of it I suspect.

Thanks for the encouragement @encoreunfoisnumber2 I really needed it! Sounds like you've got a really positive mindset going on which is great and I'm sure you'll be down into the 11 stone bracket really soon.

Homemade dinners are difficult when you're calorie counting if you're not the one doing the cooking. Luckily I don't have this problem as DP never cooks - apart from a steak once in a blue moon, so just the manly sort of cooking 😂

@Dashel sorry to hear you're going through the same frustration as me with your results - it really does sound like you're putting the work in. Be careful not to end up too hungry though as I think that can make your body hang onto fat reserves if you go too extreme. I really empathise with the demoralising bobbing up and down between the same two weights for ages though. I'm sending you lots of positive vibes and crossing my fingers that you'll get your whoosh really soon!

It sounds like you've got two nice events coming up to look forward to though. How many years is your anniversary? I've just been invited out on Saturday night as well as the night out I've already got booked in on Friday and my initial thought was oh no I can't go as that will be two nights in a row with alcohol and food that's out of my control but ultimately, life is for living, so I've accepted the invite and the diet will have to be on hold for a couple of days. I will try to be moderate in my approach though and manage wine consumption and portion size where I can and get a decent exercise calorie burn in earlier in the day.

My son was out last night so I only had me to cater for so I just had a fishcake and some green veg. It meant I came in well under calories for the day which is no bad thing as I may need some in hand for the weekend. As a result of this the scales have moved in a downward direction this morning to 10st 11.2lb. I can't get too excited at this point however as I've been back and forwards between the 11s and 12s for so long that I'm fully expecting I may be back up in the 12s again tomorrow so for now I'm channelling Dory too and singing 'Just keep swimming'.

I've done a 30 minute March Across America with Jenny Ford this morning followed by a 15 minute ab routine by someone called Rebecca-Louise on YouTube that someone on the calorie counting site I use recommended. She's American and a bit shouty but the content was good so I may try some more of her stuff at some point.

I got a good walk yesterday so my step count was good at just over 10K and I'm already at 5K this morning but will try to get another walk in again both for the calories and for sanity's sake while work is a bit mad.

Have good days all.

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday whoop whoop, that's awesome - really well done! How amazing to be so close to your holiday target!

Thank you! It’s been such a slog and I’d been stuck bouncing around 12st 10 for pretty much a month so really started to think I wouldn’t get there.

really feel you on the frustration of these plateaus where it feels like there’s no progress at all. I’ve definitely found over the last year that I need to just go with it and my body gives in eventually. Every time it happens I still convince myself the scales are never going to move again though 🤣

I would love a chocolate/junk scoff right now. Someone please stop me/tell me why I shouldn't do it. I have worked so hard to get to my current loss (almost a stone), I don't want to undo my work but the temptation is there so badly. I am all or nothing, so I cannot just have 1 square of chocolate. If I have 1, then the whole lot is going, plus anything in sight as I will have a taste for it.

@encoreunfoisnumber2 please don't do it, you've worked so hard and you'll really kick yourself tomorrow if you do. Plus you'll have to come on here and tell all of us...😯

If you can't do a small piece and then stop then I think your best bet is to find a distraction as quick as you can. When I felt like this over giving up the wine on weekend nights I had to find something to keep me busy and take my mind off it. If you let yourself think about it too much you'll find a reason why it's ok to do it. My wardrobe has never been so well organised...

Keep strong - you can do it. Why are you losing weight? Think about the reasons why you wanted to do it and how proud you are of yourself that you've stayed strong this long.

Sending willpower vibes and positive thoughts💪

@encoreunfoisnumber2 stay strong and think of how you will feel tomorrow. Could you get a diet hot chocolate powder or something like that rather then actual chocolate?

Or some fruit or failing that can you brush your teeth? Tooth brushing is associated with bed time and not eating so should hopefully help you psychologically speaking

Morning all! Friday is weigh day and I stayed exactly the same as last Friday, I'm ok with that 😊 I'd have loved a loss but I lost a lot in January and getting closer to goal so not too bad to stay the same.
I tried on some jeans last night & they fit nicely and dare I say it ... look good on me 😃 So thats my win this week.
I just wanted to say you're all very inspiring with your steps and workouts! Well done.
Happy Friday all

Morning all

Happy Friday everyone!

@Gemzee what a lovely update and how brilliant to be able to put those jeans on and feel good - that's a great reward for your hard work. One of my aims of doing this is to be able to comfortably get back into a couple of pairs of jeans I really like that I haven't been able to do up since last summer (and even then they were tight). I'd love to put them on and not have a muffin top rolling over!

@encoreunfoisnumber2 did you manage to avoid the junk - or at least do damage limitation? Whatever happened yesterday, today is a new day and you've got this.

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday I think that's the really brilliant thing about this thread - we all get plateaus sometimes and when we're feeling a bit down about it there's always someone else who has either gone through it before or is going through it now who can offer words of support and encouragement - or a kick up the backside if needed 😂

@Dashel how are you getting on? Fingers crossed you're starting to get some movement in the right direction on the scales again!

The scales have gone down a little more for me today to 10st 10.8lb. Really happy with that - finally in the 10s - but realistic enough to appreciate that with alcohol tonight and tomorrow and food that I'm going to have to guestimate calories for two evenings in a row I'm likely to have a jump back up again by Sunday.

I've tried to take some precautionary action so I've done 2 GFWR workouts this morning plus day 12 of CGs Christmas series which was cardio with weights. I did have to modify some of the exercises but got through it all which was a win. Altogether I ended up with a good calorie burn - higher than I would usually aim for. I'm also determined to get a walk in today to give me a few more calories to play with, despite work being off the scale busy. I'm prioritising myself for a change, I don't do that often enough.

My plans for tonight and tomorrow night are to sip wine slowly and make sure I also have a big glass of water to go with it. I'm also going to try to avoid any crisps/nuts/nibbles entirely and just eat the meal then have a very small portion of dessert if that's possible. Hoping my good intentions don't get derailed by the wine!

So pleased I managed a month without alcohol and towards the end I really didn't miss it at all. I think I'm not going to drink on Sunday and not during the week but will see how I feel next weekend depending on how my progress is going. I don't want to get back in the cycle of being good all week but sabotaging it with alcohol and the resultant bad food choices at the weekend.

Have good days all.

Hello everyone! Is it too late for me to join this lovely thread?

I've been reading it over the last couple of days and have found it so motivating to get my head in the right place to tackle things once and for all.

I've also posted on the Nutra Check thread as that's what I'm using to track what I'm eating - apologies to anyone on that thread too for the following, which is a partial duplication!

In terms of weight loss goals, I want to lose 15kg / 2.5 stone and then see how I go from there. The main aim being to learn how to maintain the loss! I feel like I've been dieting all my adult life (because I more or less have...) and twice in more recent years I've managed to lose about 10-12 kg but then lose the focus for being the super strict me that I need to be to lose, and then the weight just comes back again.

At the moment I'm still 4kg under my very highest weight, but I'm still much too high for my 5'5" height and build.

This time I'm determined to find that sweet spot of being focused and disciplined enough to lose gradually, but not by being so extreme that I can't maintain it ever after. Which frankly is what I need to do to keep it off, of course!

It's my birthday today, so it feels like a great time to start, as a present to myself. I even got up early to do a home work out, whereas usually I would see my birthday as an excuse not to have to do any exercise!

My first goal is to lose 4kg which will get me to a new number that my weight begins with. Then take it in chunks of 3kg from there.

I am feeling in the zone again and need to grab this opportunity to do this in a permanent way this time.

Welcome @imustbepatient it really is a lovely supportive little thread! I don’t always get the chance to read everything and post a lot but this and its predecessor before Christmas have been a real motivation for me to have some accountability and share progress.

your goals sound very realistic so I’m sure you’ll be heading towards them in no time!

I last weighed in on the 3rd Jan, sorry. I was 11 stone 5.75, I'm now 10 stone 12.75, so 7 lbs in a month.

Thanks @Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday ! I love the encouragement this thread is clearly giving everyone. You are all having such fab results.

Wow well done @SnowyMouse , that’s a brilliant loss.

Thanks @imustbepatient ! I'll try and keep an eye on here.

Sorry I was out last night and struggled this morning to get up.

@Gemzee that is great about the jeans and who doesn’t love a NSV!

@bigdecisionstomake sticking to plan but another small gain 😤 I think your plan sounds sensible. I’m still sticking to alcohol for special occasions and holidays only, but if you monitor closely you can see how you get on and adjust as needed. Hopefully you will continue making great progress and I hope you enjoy your meal! Congratulations on the 10s.

@imustbepatient welcome and I really should steal your username! Happy birthday and that sounds like a great present to yourself. Which workouts do you do? I think it’s really hard to accept that we can’t eat want we want and that our little bits of things and takeaway treats add up 😭

@SnowyMouse 🥳that is amazing congratulations! You must have worked really hard

Yesterday I went shopping after work. Why are new clothes all so bright? I didn’t even find anything I wanted to try on.

I managed 15.8k steps and 1650 calories with a 5k GFWR session at 6am 😭 but had a gain of 0.4lbs this morning which is so unfair. I am plodding onwards and hopefully downwards and trying to keep perky about it. DH wants to go for a meal so I suggested Pizza Express as it’s quiet diet friendly… it’s a bit of a trek from where we live but diet options are rare in local places. I don’t know if he will want ti bother but I’m not fussed either way.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Well done on your steps and calories @Dashel ! Everyone gets fluctuations, hugs.