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.

*van

was too excited to proof read

@bigdecisionstomake I relate so much!! Just move on 😊

This week has been ok, not great but not bad (only worked out on Mon & Tues).
I lost 2 & ¾ lbs so almost back to what I was before my crazy birthday blow out 😁
I am finding it harder to make good choices as I'm sort of on target (past my 1st target and close to 2nd) - this is when I ALWAYS sabotage myself.

Had no wine since Sunday and I'm aiming for a dry weekend but not feeling confident - bit all over the place this week (felt a bit off/aching/tired/exhausted).

Just keep swimming!

Happy Friday all 😊

Morning all

So pleased to see Friday arrive.

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday the rotisserie chicken was indeed epic - if they decide to come back to the village regularly we will definitely make it a monthly treat. It wasn't cheap but the chicken was so moist and tasty and he said there was absolutely no added fat involved in the cooking so I should imagine quite healthy too. Can't say the same about the chips, creamy coleslaw or dip though...

Sorry the scales aren't moving for you. I sometimes have a couple of weeks where even though I know I'm doing all the right things the scales just don't move. That is usually followed by a bit of a whoosh. You might just need to be patient therefore and wait for the plateau to end. If you're fairly sure you just aren't losing anything full stop then it would suggest you're eating calories at a maintenance level rather than a weight loss level. It's a very personal thing but I have to count calories if I'm serious about losing as I find I tend to wildly underestimate calories in odd bits here and there which all add up to wiping out any deficit. I also over estimate portion sizes if I don't measure. It might be worth giving it a go for a week or two and seeing if it makes any difference. The other thing for me is exercise - I find I'm less likely to give in to temptation if I've exercised in the morning as it feels like I've wasted the effort then!

@Gemzee well done on losing all but a tiny bit of the birthday blow out weight! I know what you mean about losing a bit of focus once you get close to target. I'm not even that close yet but I can feel myself starting to waiver more and more about being strict as I'm getting closer. Hope you're feeling a bit more yourself soon!

The scales have been kind this morning and I've had another small loss to take me down to 10st 6lb. I've been here once already last Saturday so hopefully it sticks this time - although it's the weekend coming up so who knows what might happen!

I've done a 12 minute GFWR 80s Classics this morning followed by Day 3 of CGs Iron Series which was lower body with a Glutes focus. I think it might make my hip a bit painful in the short term but strengthening the glute muscles is what my physio says should be my focus, so I'm hoping longer term improvement will be worth the short term discomfort.

Happy Friday everyone 😊

Morning all. Ive been a bit off-grid the last week or so (mentally and diet wise). I've had a rubbish few weeks. Weigh in today and I am 12.1.08. Sigh. Last Friday was 12.1.06, the one before that was 12.0.06 (soooo close the the 11's). I need to have a seriously hard week to hopefully see 12.0.0 or less next Friday. I'm out tomorrow night and drinking (not by choice though), could also be a hefty meal out too. No gym till Monday now due to time constraints today/this weekend. I just hope I can have a good week and stay 110% on track. Hit the gym hard as much as possible.

I'll catch up with the rest of the thread when I can today.

Have a good Friday !

Happy Saturday everyone

The sun is shining brightly here this morning which I find really mood lifting.

Sorry you've had a rubbish few weeks @encoreunfoisnumber2 You're so close to being in the 11s now, I'm sure if you really focus you'll get there very soon. Enjoy your night out tonight.

I've had a STS on the scales this morning at 10st 6lb. Happy with that for now and would love to hang onto it for weigh in tomorrow but traditionally I seem to always have a bit of a rebound on Sunday morning so we'll see.

We've got quite a bit of snow here but I have been managing an afternoon walk everyday despite that. Not sure if I'm going to be able to fit one in today though so I've gone all out this morning and done a 45 minute cardio HIIT with Olivia Lawson which was almost all high impact and had me gasping for breath by the end and then a 10 minute CG twisted abs to finish off. Overall I burned 561 calories in around an hour which is a record for me and should hopefully mean I've got enough calories for a glass of wine tonight even if I can't fit an extra walk in.

Have good weekends all.

Hi ladies, can I join in please with this thread, I know I’m very late to the weight loss party I’m 44 5 ft 7 and 16 stone before I fell pregnant nearly 10 years ago I was a fit 10 stone 10 pounds prison officer who was extremely fit, I got pregnant and found food then left the service after my maternity leave to be a sahm, I never lost the baby weight and just stayed huge. I’ve tried on and off over the years I managed to get to 14 stone at one point but then put on 2 stone. I’m going to try mfp, I can’t drive so walk 15k a day school runs and going to and from work, my downfall is eating rubbish chocolate, crisps and sweets. I need the support and motivation that I hope this thread will bring.

Morning all

How is everyone doing? Hope you've all had good weeks. I had a really lazy afternoon yesterday (long bath, book, film) which I rarely do, and it has done me the world of good.

I've had a STS on the scale this morning so I'm still at 10st 6lb. Happy with that overall and it gives me a one pound loss this week which is a little better than I was expecting given the blowout on Wednesday.

My scores on the doors for this week are:

Week 10
Initial start weight 11st 5lb
Final target weight 9st 11lb
Last week's weight 10st 7.0lb
This week's weight 10st 6.0lb
Loss this week 1.0lb
Total loss so far 13lb

I'm now just a pound off my first stone lost. It has seemed to take an age to get here and even when I get to that mini-target, it still seems like a long way to go to get to my goal weight but I'm focussing on being able to wear my summer dresses/shorts/linen trousers comfortably in France in 14 weeks. Just got to keep on swimming to get there.

I hope you all don't mind me filling up the thread everyday with daily updates but it is the main thing that is keeping me on track. Last year I was in a vicious cycle of being strict for a week or two then falling off the wagon for a month and bingeing and rinse and repeat until I ended the year significantly heavier than I started. This year the accountability of this thread has made me consistent and measured - and I hope will mean the weight loss is sustainable.

Keep swimming everyone and enjoy your Sundays.

@Dhdvl sorry I missed your post earlier - I think I was probably typing when it posted. Welcome to the thread. Everyone here is very supportive and we've shared our successes and our problems and obstacles.

I've heard MFP is a good tool for counting calories. I use a different one myself but it's only habit really, I've used it for years now. I find counting calories works for me although it's a personal thing really. If I try and 'freestyle' it I usually find my loss stalls after a while as I don't always remember everything I've eaten if it isn't recorded in my diary.

I wasn't sure if you meant you were doing 15K steps or actually walking 15km per day - either way that's a fantastic way of burning some extra calories. If you like a sweet hit (don't we all) I buy sugar free butterscotch sweets. The brand I buy is Sula but there are other ones too. These are only 9 cals each and give you a really intense sweet hit if you're craving something sweet without the damage that a chocolate bar would do. Just don't eat too many in one day or they can give you an upset stomach!

Have you got a target or interim target in mind that you're working to? I have a final target but have also broken the end goal up into smaller targets so it feels like I am succeeding along the way.

Good luck with it all and keep checking in and letting us know how you're getting on.

Thank you @bigdecisionstomake i walk over 15 thousand steps Mon to fri weekends 3 thousand if I’m lucky, I would like to lose a stone and a few pounds by my sons 9th birthday in May and have another stone and a half gone by august, Im hoping by Christmas to be 12 and a half stone at least, I’m hoping to hit 1500 a day calories wise, oh thanks for the tip for the sweets will look into that. I’m not sure if my goals are too much or not and I can always readjust if needed as I don’t want to be discouraged by not meeting them as long as I have a loss a week I will go for that. Thank you again for replying x

I want to get down to 11 stone i was happy at 10 stone 10 all them years ago but feel now as I’m a little older the extra weight on my face will look better so 11 stone would be amazing

Hi all,

Sorry for the silence over the last few days, March is my busiest work month and this one is proving to be a doozy, well above the normal level of craziness.

My nutrition and exercise is still going well though, hooray. The scales are continuing to edge down gently, which is all I’m after.

@Dashel sorry to hear the physio isn’t helping. I hope the forthcoming tests can work out what’s going on and get you on the path to wellness again. At least the drop on the scales is something nice to focus on.

@bigdecisionstomake sounds like you had a horror of a day but huge congrats for not letting that one day derail you and that first stone is almost in your hands.

Welcome @Dhdvl . I’m fairly recent to this thread too and they are such a lovely bunch. I gained a lot of weight with my first too, and she’s now 12! I’ve never fully lost it but feel I’m finally on the right track at last, after many many years of trying every diet going.

Well done @Gemzee for getting pretty much back to where you were, that hasn’t taken long at all.

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday and @encoreunfoisnumber2 I’m sure you’ll start seeing some scale results again soon. Are you looking at a range of factors to assess your progress, like measurements, progress photos, fitness levels, sleep quality, mood etc? It might be there is progress happening in other areas, just not the scale itself. I’m trying to retrain a truckload of years of scale obsession to seeing it instead as just another data point, to assess over a longer term period rather than day to day or week to week, and viewing it in amongst a range of progress indicators rather than the be all and end all (one ring to rule them all 😂)

I’ve been on this rodeo circuit for so long that this time I am trying so hard to do this in a better way, with more focus on the long term than creating short term targets for myself that then lead to a feeling of failure if my body is just a bit slow on showing the progress.

Anyway, have a great Sunday evening all. Monday beckons and I’m sure it will be a good one for all of us.

Morning all

15 thousand steps a day is a really great achievement @Dhdvl Maybe try to up your step count at weekends a bit too. You could do it in increments so start aiming for 4K a day and then increase a bit each week/month. A lot of us on here do walking workouts at home with Get Fit with Rick on YouTube which is a good way of getting an extra couple of thousand steps in quickly. It only takes around 15 minutes so not too much of a time investment and your kids can join in with you if need be.

Your weight loss goals seem realistic to me. I am set to lose 1lb a week and that's the most I want to do as otherwise I feel I have to make special food to keep the calories low enough. At a 500 calorie deficit a day (which would give a 1lb a week loss) I can eat pretty much my usual diet but just reduce portion sizes a bit and keep snacking down to an absolute minimum. Broadly speaking though healthy & sustainable weight loss is usually said to be anything up to 2lbs a week. Good luck with it all.

@imustbepatient really great to hear your weight is still coming down slowly but surely - it's easier to keep on swimming when you're consistently seeing the results on the scales I think. Sorry to hear work is mad for you but extra kudos for not caving in and going off plan due to that.

How are you doing @Dashel ? Was thinking about you this morning when I did the new GFWR 3000 steps speed walk and wondered if you were doing it too!

Sad scale day for me today, I've had a rebound to 10st 7.2lb. I think this is my usual Sunday rebound but a day late. A fairly carb heavy weekend, including wine and a cheeky bag of crips yesterday so I'm hoping it's just bloat that will start to wash away from tomorrow. I was within my weight loss calories Friday and Saturday and ate at maintenance yesterday so it shouldn't be fat gain. I do think however I'm allowing a few little extra treats to creep in here and there so I need to be mindful not to let that get out of hand.

This morning I've done the new 20 minute GFWR followed by Day 4 of CGs Iron Series which was full body circuits. Dare I say it, I think I need to buy some heavier weights - the heaviest I've got is 6KG currently and I felt today I could have lifted heavier for some of the sets.

Have good Mondays all - let's get this new week started.

Epic fail for the weekend 😔
New week though, aiming for 5 workouts this week and 10k steps per day - thats all. Achievable targets hopefully.
Have a good week all!

Morning all

What a Monday! Bins had blown over and the rain was so bad I was drenched sorting that out.

Sorry again for going AWOL. I am still struggling with the pain and getting wobblier from the loss of activity.

I hit a recent high of 10st 3.5 lb on Sunday morning and it has been a bit of a wake up call.

I did some prep and planning yesterday and ate better. I also did the 10k GFWT as it was too cold and windy to go outside so I got to 16.5k which was good.

This morning showed a little loss at 10st 2.9lb and I did a 5k GFWR before I left for work. I had a good chat with DH and he is going to do the arse kicking for a bit which is unusual. This morning he said that he was doing a GFWR with me or without me so that is a good start.

I will catch up with posts tonight but I wanted to check in and apologise, I’m normally super positive and motivated so this is very hard. But I must do better or my weight will just keep creeping up and I really don’t want to have to keep loosing the same stone.

Morning!

I’m back up to 12st 6. I’ve no idea what’s going on. The only thing I can think of is I’ve hurt my neck/shoulder and maybe I’m eating a bit more and moving a bit less as that’s making me a bit miserable.

I need to get back in gear though. Setting a new target to get to 12st 1lb by Easter.

like you @Dashel i feel that I’m in danger of just slowly creeping back up when I was so close to my target.

will start weighing and checking in daily again as I’ve definitely been letting things drift.

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday It’s so hard when you are in pain. I am definitely in your boat. I think not sleeping well and comfort eating also play a part. I hope you feel better soon. I think setting intentions is a good idea. As well as the weighing and posting we will walk every morning either outside or GFWR. My heaviest is 11st 7 and I don’t want to get back to that. We need to nip it in the bud!

@Gemzee I hope you have a great and productive week. Congratulations on loosing the birthday excess and hopefully it won’t take long to recover from the weekend!

@bigdecisionstomake Sorry you have bounced up again. Hopefully we can all find some motivation this week. I have done the new 3k steps one and the dance party one but I didn’t really like the music on the dance one and I’m way too stiff to dance much so there was a lot of substitutions.

New weights are fantastic! I got my hex set off Facebook market place. I decluttered my old ones as these went from 1kg to 15kg. I miss them so much 😢

@encoreunfoisnumber2 joining the new AWOL club with me? Hopefully you had a good weekend and you will be smashing it on the scales to the new stone!

@Dhdvl welcome aboard! Hopefully some new blood will help us keep on track. Looks like I have some competition on the steps front as I like to do at least 15k a day. Hopefully we can help you to reach your targets and get you on the YouTube exercise wagon 🤓 I like MFP and find it a great tool and it can be shocking how quickly everything adds up.

Good morning and on this freezing cold day!

Some how I managed to get 21.5k steps in yesterday so very pleased with that.

I have reset my alarm back to 6am to help get my morning steps in although today they will be done outside 🥶

I am feeling a bit more positive this morning as the scales said 10st 1.8 so nearly lost a pound in 25 hours- mainly due to eating low carb and low salt but still my stomach is looking a lot less bloated now which is good. Food is all planned for today. Overnight oats with protein powder, left over roast dinner for lunch and then vegan chilli or the last two bits of my homemade pizza with salad. It’s not got any cheese so not too bad I hope. We made it when our friends came round on the weekend and had it with wine 😵

Have a great day!

Morning all!

it truly is freezing here today, we normally have some daffodils out by Mother’s Day but no chance of that this year!

glad to read that you’ve seen some progress @Dashel 😀 I have too, down to 12st 5.5 so just over half a pound. I’m hopeful we might start to move on the right direction.

could I ask what might be a rude question so please we free not to answer- would any of you mind sharing how tall you are please? I’m 5ft 9 so my weight always seems pretty high but I need to remember everyone is very different heights and shapes.

Morning all

Dry here this morning after a very wet and windy day yesterday so hopefully it stays that way for a walk later.

Love your positive attitude @Gemzee - forget the weekend, it's gone, but I'm sure you'll smash it this week 👊

Glad you too are feeling more positive this week @Dashel Completely understandable why you needed to lick your wounds for a while but it sounds like you're back on it in style with a couple of losses to show for it already - well done.

Sorry you've got an injury @Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday I think a lot of us can sympathise. Try to keep focussed, even if you can't move as much you can keep on top of your food until your neck and shoulder are feeling better. Sounds like a new target is just what you need. Keep swimming - you've got this.

Just seen your post this morning and I'm happy to share - I'm 5 foot 7. Depending on what calculation you use (there are several different ones) each extra inch should add around 5 pounds in a woman over 5 foot tall. Obviously that's just an average though and build impacts this too, hence why the BMI scale has such a large range for each height.

Not going to lie, I'm a bit disappointed this morning. I expected yesterday's gain to be water weight due to the weekend and to have at least in part washed away today but it hasn't, I've had a STS at 10st 7.2lb. I didn't manage to get an afternoon walk in on Sunday or yesterday so I'm aiming to get one today to see if that makes a difference on the scales tomorrow. Ho hum - weight loss is never the straight line you expect it to be.

It was a cardio day today so I've done a 30min Olivia Lawson Standing Cardio followed by a 20 minute 70s music Low Impact Steady State workout by a channel I've not come across before called 'Improved Health'. It came up on my 'recommended for you' section on YouTube and I enjoyed doing it as the music was really good - all well known 70s hits. It was fairly gentle so good for a cool down or warm up rather than a main workout but when I clicked through to the channel at the end to see what else they might have it is apparently a channel for 'seniors' - YouTube clearly thinks I'm old...😆I like workouts with good music though so may do a few more when I need something gentler!

Have good days all!

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday I am 5 ft 3 tall. Thank you for your encouragement, hopefully we will stay focused! Congratulations on your loss.

@bigdecisionstomake Thank you I need to refocus properly and do as much as I can, even if it means that wouldn’t be what I would want to do. Love the idea of senior workouts 😂 sorry about no losses but at least it wasn’t a gain. Hopefully the weather will improve soon and we will actually want to go outside for walks. Sounds like a productive morning so hopefully tomorrow will be a good result!

Good morning!

Yesterday wasn’t great. I only managed 11k steps and was tired and in pain so snacked more that I should have, so I found the pound that I lost yesterday. I tried to get the extra steps in but it hurt too much.

Just keep swimming and doing my best. Physio is tonight so hopefully will feel a bit better tomorrow.

I managed two 1500 step GFWR workouts this morning, which isn’t great but better than nothing and will try and get more steps in through the day

I hope that everyone has a good day today xxx

@Dashel I think you're being hard on yourself, you're doing loads!!!!!

Morning! I agree, don’t be too hard on yourself @Dashel, this is a long term thing, life will always get in the way. It’s only a blip in the bigger picture. You’re doing brilliantly- I hope the physio helps you feel a bit better.

I weighed in at 12st 5 this morning so half a pound down. Still higher than I was 3 weeks ago so feels like wasted time but at least I’m heading in the right direction again. I was surprised to see it if I’m honest as yesterday I was busy and at an event in the evening so my food was all over the shop… fruit n fibre, some fruit & crisps, a slice of chocolate cake, Thai stir fry & rice (in restaurant so not a low cal version) and 2 glasses of red wine - I’m not sure I deserved the loss. Will see if it catches up with me tomorrow…

Have a great day everyone!

Morning all

Happy to see the middle of the week arrive.

Sorry the pain was bad yesterday @Dashel you're doing amazingly well given everything and I really admire you persevering with the steps. Hope the physio can provide a little relief tonight. Hard though I know it is I wouldn't worry too much about the pound - I should imagine you have all sorts of inflammation going on right now which will influence your weight beyond your control.

I've joined you in the club this morning as I've inexplicably woken up with some sciatic nerve pain in my hip. Something I did yesterday has obviously aggravated the nerve although nothing obvious springs to mind.

This morning therefore I sought out the 'seniors' channel again and did a 20 minute 80s hits workouts which was fairly gentle and didn't cause too much discomfort - I just gave the knee lifts a miss. Thankfully today's CG Iron workout was upper body and abs, focussing on biceps and triceps so nothing in there caused any problem. I think it will be legs on Friday though so hopefully the sciatic pain will have gone by then.

My weigh in was slightly more positive this morning - a drop to 10st 6.6lb but tinged with disappointment that I'm not back to the 10st 6lb I was for most of last week. Might have to look at weekends as I think I'm allowing myself to go off plan a little too freely now and it's pointless to be good Monday to Thursday just to undo all the good work over the weekend.

Hoping to get out for a walk later to try to ease the hip a little but we've got freezing fog here currently and rain/sleet forecast later so not sure if that might be over optimistic.

Have good days all.

Congratulations on the half pound loss @Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday - hope it sticks!