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.

@bigdecisionstomake I will check out the video. TOTM not due for a few weeks yet. I had white carb bread yesterday, first time this year. I'm carrying on though, desperate to get into the gym. I've got a very difficult week this week in terms of socialising. I'm out for 2 meals out with new clients this week and another night out with friends drinking. I don't want to eat or drink the calories. will be picking the lowest cal meals possible and drinking very slowly to not have as much.

@bigdecisionstomake I hope that you have a loss today. It sounds like you are as busy as I am. Hopefully things will quieten down a bit at work for you.

I like how you put weight loss a sustained and consistent effort, that is so true but I would add to get non linear results on the end.

@encoreunfoisnumber2 have you gained water weight due to salt or extra carbs from the bread, or is your body just winding you up? I am pretty sure mine does this occasionally. can you pick restaurants with good options? It is hard to eat out, but some restaurants have better options than others.

If you can’t get to the gym can you do something at home? I do more at home now than I did when I had gm membership and it was 20 minutes from my house. I get fed up too, as I’m sure we all do but you just have to find some inner strength and keep going.

@summer2023 thank you. Hopefully once you get on plan it won’t be too bad to stay there.

DH was working late last night and I was so tired that I had cereal for dinner. So I was expecting to be back in the 2s from the carbs but I actually had a small loss taking me to 10st 1.5lb!

I did 15k steps and 30 minutes yoga with Adriene for tired legs which I needed. I am feeling pretty tired at the moment. I have told DH that we need a lazy weekend for once. There is always so much to do, work is busy, the house always has so much to do with DIY and cleaning and food prep and then there is the exercise and we don’t even have kids!

I hope everyone has a great day

Morning all

@encoreunfoisnumber2 hope you're feeling a little more positive this morning? It sounds like you have a good plan to manage your meals out. Life happens and we just have to do our best to fit it into plan. I was out twice at the weekend and did extra exercise to bank some additional calories to minimise damage but I appreciate that's only possible if you have time to do that. Enjoy your nights out.

@summer2023 great to hear you're slowly moving back to plan. I thought I would really struggle after the excesses of Christmas to move back into eating sensible portions and less treats but after the initial adjustment I seem to have fallen back into it without too many problems - perhaps that's one of the bonuses of work being so busy - I haven't really had a chance to think about it. Keep going - you can do this.

@Dashel ha ha, yes agree about the non-linear results - definitely applies to both of us! Well done on another small loss - good to see your efforts are finally being reflected on the scales and I think a lazy weekend is definitely in order 😴

I've had a little whoosh on the scale this morning and have bypassed the 10s to head straight down to the 9s at 10st 9.6lb. I am fully aware that I'm likely to bounce back up again tomorrow if previous experience is anything to go by but for today at least I'm taking it as a win! I'm also hoping it means the 12s are now firmly behind me....!

I've done an Eleni Fit 5000 step walking dance workout this morning (only gave me 3.6K steps according to fitbit!) followed by Day 14 of CGs Christmas series which was Upper Body Circuits. I'm out at client meetings this morning but should be back WFH by lunchtime so hoping to get a walk in if I can too. Hit just over 10K steps yesterday so a minimum of 8K should be doable today I think.

Have good days all.

Just checking in 😊
Did a 6am walk Mon & Tues, was too cold today so did a Team Body Project 30min strength/weights workout instead which was good. Is anyone else really really hungry? Since upping my exercise I've really noticed this.
Think I'll do a cardio workout tomorrow morning.
Hope everyone is having a good week.

I just did another 30min Team Body Project workout but did not enjoy it, it was full of planks and I can't do them (my form is all wrong). Plus I ache so much this week so was not able to give 100% 😔 However, apparently I burnt over 200cals so I'm happy with that.
I've been really good this week but my tummy looks bigger so unsure if I'll lose weight this week - obviously the Sat night out won't have helped.
I don't know how some of you do so much exercise! I feel awful (my thyroid is underactive though so may affect it).
Will weigh in tomorrow.

Good morning!

@bigdecisionstomake thats a great result and it’s nice to see a new figure even if you bounce around a tad. Sounds like you are really working hard as usual. Maybe you need a lazy weekend too?

@Gemzee Yes definitely been quite hungry and tired recently and I have been finding it harder. I don’t know if is in my head or not. I’m going to try and up my protein to see if that helps as all I want at the moment is chocolate and sugary stuff.

I had a small gain this morning and gone up 0.4lb to 10st 1.9lb I did 16.5k steps yesterday including some GFWR but no weights or anything as I was tired.

I wonder if diet fatigue is setting in? I think this weekend I need to stay on plan but find something to focus on that isn’t dieting, exercising, working or DIYing

Morning all

Well done on all the exercise @Gemzee I think it's natural to get a bit of fatigue and it's really important to build in some rest days. If you keep practising the planks you will get better - if you search on YouTube there are some good tutorials on what good form looks like. If you can gradually build some more muscle you will burn calories quicker eventually which obviously helps when you reach maintenance.

Thanks @Dashel and I agree a lazy and non diet focussed weekend may be in order for both of us.

I'm not sure what's going on but I've had another loss this morning and am now down to 10st 9lb exactly. Whilst I'm really happy about that I'm also countering it with a serious dose of reality that the loss doesn't equate to calorie deficit therefore may not last. The last couple of weeks I didn't lose quite as much as I think I should have so possibly there was a hormonal glitch going on that meant I was hanging onto a bit of water/bloat which has now released but even so, I'm expecting a bit of a rebound at some point.

On a less happy note, yesterday afternoon when I set off for my walk I started to get quite a lot of pain in my hip and the muscles surrounding it. I think I must have pulled something in my groin as anything that involves lifting that leg/knee up is really painful. It's a bit annoying as pretty much all of the walking workouts I do (GFWR, Olivia Lawson, Jenny Ford etc...) have quite a lot of moves in them that involve knee ups so they are all out for the moment. Not sure if Lunge Day was the culprit or the Dance workout I did yesterday morning, think it may have been the latter.

I wasn't sure this morning if exercise would be possible or not but found that gentle walking all on the flat was ok but that anything side to side or involving lifting that leg more than a few inches from the floor was out so I've literally just walked on the flat for 45 minutes this morning. I'm going to see how it goes but if that hasn't aggravated it further I may carry on just walking for a few days. Obviously if it's made it worse I will need to lay off the exercise altogether for a while to let it recover. Either way it's really frustrating as I was starting to feel like I was getting some of my fitness and muscle tone back....!

Have good days all.

@Gemzee i saw a really quite shocking video from a female trainer on Facebook about how her stomach went from flat to a bit bloated to ver bloated to looking pregnant over three weeks. Now your stomach is small yYou might notice your hormonal bloating more than you did.

@bigdecisionstomake congratulations on another loss! I would take it as positive as at least if you go back up, you will be bouncing around to a lower value.

I am sorry to hear about your hip. A rest day or two sounds like a plan but after that what about some seated dumbbell exercises? Or upper body only but slowly and gently and if it hurts stop. Would a physio be able to help?

I STS at 10st 1.9lb I think the 1s are going to be as hard as the 2s. I reminded DH that we are having a lazy weekend and I think that he is feeling run down too. I managed by 15k steps yesterday but it was a really effort. Work was very busy and it was tempting not to bother but I am glad I did.

Keep swimming everyone! The days are getting lighter and Summer is getting closer and if we can all keep going it will be worth it in the end.

Have a great Friday x

O M G I lost 2 & 3quarter lbs!! Was not expecting that. I really worked hard Mon - Thurs but my weekend was bad so I was convinced I'd put on weight.
I have now lost over a stone! and passed (just) my 1st target, which is great however maintaining is the main issue I struggle with.
I have set a new target just over 3lbs lighter than I am now but realistically I need to learn to maintain.
I also need to keep up with the exercise because wow, it's clearly helping!
A very Happy Friday 😀

@Gemzee that is fantastic congratulations on a huge loss and meeting your first target!

Morning all and happy Friyay!

Woo hoo, congratulations on your loss @Gemzee that's fabulous. Great that you are doing so well! Will that extra 3 pounds take you to your final target or are you pretty much there now and just giving yourself a bit extra to do so you've got some wriggle room when you're maintaining?

Definitely take it easy this weekend @Dashel and then you can go into next week with some newfound vim and vigour. I'm going to be doing the same. Thanks for the reminder about the lighter days and summer being on its way - I need to hear that occasionally to keep me focussed on my target. With just under a stone still to go I need to keep my eye on the ball but for this weekend am going to relax a little with the exercise at least anyway.

This morning saw the expected re-bound on the scale although not as bad as anticipated. I'm currently 10st 9.4lb which I'm still very happy with. Will be interesting to see if I can hold at that or if there will be a further re-bound. Reducing my exercise at this point is not ideal but I guess that's life!

The hip is still very sore today so I have walked again for 50 minutes this morning and will try to get another walk later today if it's not too bad. It should have been a weights session today but CG was Leg Day which absolutely wasn't going to happen so I took your advice @Dashel and did some upper body work that could be done standing still. Not sure whether continuing the walking is good - the advice generally is to keep the joint moving - or whether it would be better to have a couple of days of complete rest as I suspect this may be muscular rather than directly joint related. I may need to see the physio if it hasn't cleared up in the next few days.

It has been a mad week and I'm very glad it's Friday!

Have good days all.

Morning everyone, well done on all your fantastic losses! What a great start to that weekend feeling. I always find it helps keep me mindful of my targets over the weekend if I’ve had a loss on the Friday, as it makes me determined not to lose that progress! Stark contract to my younger days when I would take it as a green light to eat and drink merrily 😂

I’m really getting into the swing of tracking on Nutracheck now. I’ve set it for the higher calorie limit that I got by using Jordan Syatt’s calculation (that YouTube link I posted a few days ago) and set the target for the much higher protein target that I come up with on his system too.

Before doing that, I’d had a spike up on my weigh ins, but I’ve always found what I eat lags about a week behind on the scales, whether that’s a change for the good or when I’m not eating so well, so it makes sense to me that I kept going up for a further week after starting to count calories again.

Anyway, I’ve started going down again now. From the highest it spiked up to earlier in the week I’m now down 1.5kg. Clearly a lot of water weight in that, but also the start of some fat loss, fingers crossed.

My mantra just needs to be ‘trust the process’ and not to get panicked into feeling I have to ‘change things up’! Spikes and plateaus are part of the process and not a sign I need to drop my calories. I’m in this for the long haul this time, so it needs to be mangeable for me, in perpetuity.

Anyway, sympathies to @bigdecisionstomake on the injury front. I’m similar, having done something very not fun to my back. It’s in agony and I can feel it hurting no matter what position I’m in, including disrupting my sleep. I’m currently wearing one of those sticky heat patches on it and fervently hoping it goes away. I haven’t been able to do any weights for two days now so I did some yoga instead (one literally called ‘for inflexible people’ 😂) but today I couldn’t even manage that. Even walking and doing household stuff is triggering it. Very annoyed and may have to sort out a physio. I’ve never had this before so I’m a bit mystified as to what’s caused it.

But hey ho, onwards we go. I’m feeling good apart from that, and with a bit of luck my back will start feeling better soon. Quiet weekends for all of us, it seems!

Have a good Friday all!

Stark contrast not contract! 🙄

@bigdecisionstomake Well I'm not sure if it is my final target, I haven't been 9st (which is just over 3lbs lighter than I am now) since August 2020 and I can't remember what I felt like! I may even like to lose more, before I had my son in 2018 I was 8st 12lbs which seems amazing to me now but also unattainable.
9st - 9st 4lbs is realistic for me to hopefully maintain I think 😊 Also learning (trying to!) my clothes matter more than the scales.

Morning all

Thank goodness for the weekend!

I'll be really interested to see how you get on with the new calorie and protein targets @imustbepatient I've seen it advised before to eat 1g of protein for each 1lb of bodyweight (mostly relating to body recomp rather than dieting to be fair) but that would mean I'd need to eat 149g per day which I would find really difficult. Looking at my food diary I seem to average between 80g and 100g a day and that's already making the effort to reduce carbs in favour of protein a little.

Fantastic news that the scales are starting to drop too, 1.5kg is great and I'm sure some of that will be fat. 'Trust the process' is my mantra too - I know if I'm genuinely in calorie deficit and I haven't cheated and am happy my activity parameters are correct then the weight loss will come - even if it keeps us waiting a bit - and that is where your excellent user name comes in 😅

Sorry to hear about your back, between you, me and @Dashel we can be injury buddies together! Keep it rested and hope it's feeling less painful soon.

@Gemzee I think you're right to focus on how clothes fit rather than what the scales say per se. My body shape definitely changed post childbirth and has changed again now post menopause.

I've had a STS on the scale this morning at 10st 9.4lb. Happy with that, I think it's usual for me to have a plateau period after a drop that was bigger than expected. I'm just grateful I haven't had a further re-bound and crossing my fingers that doesn't happen for weigh in day tomorrow. As I now (fingers crossed) seem to be reliably at 10st and something in single figures, my next mini-target is to get to 10 and a half stone.

Tentatively I'm going to say my hip feels a little better this morning. I've just walked for 45 minutes again and am definitely not going to do anything more intense than walking for the rest of the weekend. As a by-product of not being able to do more in the way of exercise I decided yesterday to stay off the alcohol this weekend as that's just more calories plus potential bloat on the scales. A positive of just walking is that I've hit my steps target each day with ease for the last few days.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Good morning,

@bigdecisionstomake i hope that your hip is feeling better and you take it a bit easy today. I’m glad you are STS yesterday but I wonder if the injury would mean you would gain water weight through inflammation? When I hurt my back I retained a lot of water. We are injury buddies but hopefully they will not get in our way and we will continue to work around them and not use them as excuses.

@imustbepatient I am sure that you will see results soon and I agree that this is a long term lifestyle change. Please sort out a physio. The heat pads are great but sometimes heat isn’t good for certain things and a physio should be able to sort you quickly and save you a lot of time in pain.

@Gemzee Learning to maintain will be very hard as the danger is that we get to target and go back to our old ways and eventually our old weights. My cunning plan when I get to 9st 7lb is to see how I look, maybe loose a bit more if I think I need too but start focusing on physical improvements so possibly lifting more or hill walking a particular route quicker. Something to give me some focus. I think the daily weighing will stay for a while too.

So I have had a a couple of small gains yesterday and today and am now 10st 2.6lb but I had half a bottle of Prosecco with a vegan burger in a bun and chips last night, possibly not a grown up valentines dinner but it was a real treat. Normally burgers are served with salad so all those carbs were heaven followed by some chocolate. I do not regret anything! I managed to do 18k steps and a bicep workout and then when car shopping so it wasn’t the day off really as I was super tired but it was nice to be different.

I will be back on plan on Monday but I bought some heart shaped crumpets for breakfast so going to enjoy those.

There is some good news is that my average weekly weight has gone from 10st 3lb and about 34% body fat to 10st 2lb and 33.6% body fat so pleased with that.

Morning all

That sounds like a lovely Valentine's treat @Dashel hope you enjoyed it and the crumpets this morning. It sounds like your weight loss is bang on target too with a downward trend of another pound off and some fat loss - you're doing an amazing job 😀

I've had another STS this morning at 10st 9.4lb. Still happy with that but ready to see some downward movement again now so hopefully that will happen next week. Not sure if the hip issue means I'm carrying some water weight @Dashel it might do possibly. The higher carb weekend foods won't help with that either...😂

My scores on the doors this week are:

Week 6
Initial start weight 11st 5lb
Final target weight 9st 11lb
Last week's weight 10st 10.8lb
This week's weight 10st 9.4lb
Loss this week 1.4lb
Total loss so far 9.6lb

As my hip was feeling a bit better yesterday I decided to do some gentle hip flexibility movements that the physio taught me yesterday afternoon thinking that might help. Unfortunately I've woken up to it quite sore again this morning so it obviously wasn't the best idea. I've therefore just walked again this morning and done just over an hour.

Would love to say it's going to be a lovely relaxing Sunday but I have a to do list a mile long so I'm off to crack on.

Have good days all.

I had the most delicious sparkling rose last night (Freixenet Premium Cava) with my mum. Had over a bottle so obviously way over calories but my food choices were good.
I just want to put some aims down for this week, it's half term & I'm off work with my 4yr old. My steps are going to be way down so:

1. I want to do a home workout Mon-Thurs morning before my son gets up
2. No alcohol until Saturday (the once a week drinking is working for me at the moment)
3. I want to stay the same weight on the scale on Friday.

Well done on your weekly losses 😊
Happy Sunday all!

thanks very much @Dashel, you are so right, I should definitely see a physio. Luckily my back is finally feeling more or less right, but I will still sort out an appointment as I clearly have something going on there, plus my dodgy knee that I was already vaguely thinking I should see someone about. Just need to work out how to actually book on through my health insurance. I’ve never used it before so have to find out how it all works!

It sounds like a really lovely day that you had and I’m sure will have down you a power of good in terms of well being.

It sounds like everyone is making really good progress, well done!

I had a joint birthday celebration yesterday for my mother in law and me, with that side of the family. It was lovely. Too much wine was consumed but I was pretty good on the food front, didn’t go overboard with the crisps and chocolates, but had a few of each and felt I’d really enjoyed myself.

I felt a little worse for wear this morning after the wine, as I’m a bit more of a light weight on that front now! But I’ve kept tracking and making good choices to feel nourished. Not diving into the carbs as I would have done previously.

All good progress from a ‘making this work for real life’ perspective. I’ll swerve the scales until Wed, just to let the temporary bloat flush itself out, then will go back to daily weighing.

Have a good Sunday evening, all.

Morning all

Sounds like you had a lovely Saturday night with your mum @Gemzee - you've obviously found a good balance between losing/maintaining but still enjoying yourself and having some treats. Have a brilliant half term week with your son.

Same for you too @imustbepatient and I think it's a fab idea to stay off the scales until the post alcohol bloat has washed itself away!

I have been dreading Monday all weekend as I have another awful week coming up but it got off to a rubbish start when I weighed and found that I have inexplicably put a pound on overnight so I'm now 10st 10.4lb again. Realistically I know I've been within calories so it can't be an actual fat gain but I find it hard to avoid trying to analyse what it is that's caused it, even though I know ultimately it's just the way weight loss goes. I avoided alcohol completely but weekends are always a bit more carby for me so hoping it's just that and it will wash away in the next few days.

On the exercise front my hip is feeling a little better again so I have walked for 45 minutes and then done Day 16 of CGs Christmas series which was a lower abs circuit. May try to throw in some more energetic cardio tomorrow if it continues to feel better.

We have a meal out tonight for DPs brother's birthday so will have to channel @Gemzee and @imustbepatient and find a healthy balance between enjoying myself but being measured in my eating/drinking.

Have good days all.

That’s frustrating about your unexpected pound increase @bigdecisionstomake but it will definitely just be something from the ‘random weight loss fluctuations’ bag of tricks. I’m sure it will disappear again as quickly as it arrived.

Sorry you’ve got a horror of week ahead. I hope it goes better than expected and that you enjoy your family meal out tonight. Finding that happy place of enjoying yourself but not going over the top is such a good thing to work out, even if it takes a bit of trial and error along the way.

I’m planning to hop back in with the exercise again tomorrow, with an upper body weights work out on the cards. As long as my back feels up to it anyway! That plus a walk with the dog and I’ll be feeling not too bad - given it’s half term week when my routines all go up the pole.

I’ve just finished a really lovely meal of pan fried salmon, oven baked kale and asparagus and some steamed cauliflower rice with a small blob of my favourite avocado-oil mayo. I love that meal and it’s always satisfying at how quick it is to make as well.

I hope everyone’s week has got off to a decent start. With Monday more or less out of the way it always feels better from here on in anyway!

@bigdecisionstomake thank you. The crumpets went into the freezer for our anniversary which is this weekend. I am like you and analyse fluctuations and it bugs me too much. Hopefully this week won’t be too bad for you and your gain will be gone soon and your meal out was good.

@Gemzee i hope you have a good half term week off. Could you have a dance party with your soon and get some exercise in with him as well?

@imustbepatient i hope you enjoy your workout today and your back is ok.

I weighed in at 10st 2.9lb on Monday and 10st 2.6lb this morning. I am hoping to get back into the 1s soon. I went to buy bananas at lunchtime yesterday and another eye watering pain in my back that felt like an electric shock and it’s really sore and I have pins and needles in my legs still. They were quite wobbly yesterday 😤 I have a physio appointment tomorrow which I will see if I can bring forward to today.

Morning all

Pleased to see Tuesday arrive!

@imustbepatient I love that phrase 'random weight loss fluctuations bag of tricks' - that's certainly what it feels like! Good luck with the exercise, hope your back holds up - I think it's tricky finding the sweet spot between resting enough and getting back on it to help strengthen the muscles for recovery and keep things moving. Your salmon meal sounds lovely, I'm going to try it next time I'm cooking just for myself - no-one else in the house eats salmon so I only get to have it really rarely.

@Dashel crumpets to look forward to is a very good thing! So sorry to hear your back is causing problems again. Injuries like that that won't settle easily are really frustrating - try not to let it demotivate you, although I know that's easier said than done. The pins and needles sound a bit worrying - hope the physio can help sort it for you soon.

Meal out last night went well. It turned into a full on 3 course meal but I didn't have a starter or a dessert, just a main course 😇. I did have a G&T and a medium size glass of red wine but I think overall I probably just about stayed in calories, or if I did go over it was only by a little bit.

And so the bouncing around begins...I am back down to 10st 9.4lb this morning. The extra weight must have been either the weekend carbs or inflammation in my hip. The alcohol last night probably means I'll be up again tomorrow but hey ho, I'm just going to keep on swimming.

My hip felt a little better this morning so I did a 30 minute no jumping hit cardio with Eleni Fit. There were quite a few kicking moves and knee up moves, neither of which is good for my hip so I did have to modify some bits but it will be interesting to see how it is later today/tomorrow. I followed with a 15 minute arm workout with Mad Fit.

Have good days all.

HI all. I've been off radar a bit as work has been manic. I'm currently ill with a cold, shivers and chills. As a result, I scoffed half a large chocolate bar last night, Seriously regret it and didn't even enjoy it. Have not been able to get to the gym for 4 days due to being ill. Dreading the consequences of no gym, the chocolate and about 10 slices of toast with butter over the last 4 days. Back on it today and off to the gym tonight. No more toast either.
I'll catch up on the thread a bit later.
Keep going everyone !