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.

Lost a pound 😊 Happy with that!
Exercised x 5 and hitting 10k steps every day (except Sunday but as it was Mothers day I'll let myself off 🙂).
Away next week Tues/Weds so Fri weigh in may be a gain, I have to try to be OK with that as I'm lighter than I expected to be right now.
Well done on all the loses everyone and working through injuries! My Dr has referred me to rheumatology due to my aches but it hasn't stopped me exercising thankfully (I ache less after exercising weirdly, it's like my body needs to move).
Happy Friday!

Good morning and happy Saturday 🥳

@Gemzee you are doing so well on the exercise and weight front and I am sorry about the pain side of things. I hope your appointment comes through quickly.

I gained slightly this morning but we had oven chips with dinner with lots of salt so I’m not surprised. I weighed in at 10st 3.3lb. After 10st 2.9 yesterday. Steps were about 18k so happy with those. Some GFWR and some outside,

Two of my dresses arrived and I tried them on last night before dinner and my stomach looked a little bloated and I’m not 100% comfortable in them yet, but I will get there!

I still really miss doing my weights. I know I can’t at the moment, but I hope when I finally have a diagnosis it won’t be too long before I can start them again.

We have no plans with food this weekend and no birthdays so food should be ok and no alcohol till we fly out so hopefully that will all help.

Morning all

I do love Saturday mornings - it feels like the whole weekend is stretching ahead of us at the minute.

Well done on your loss @Gemzee you're doing amazingly well. I really admire your level headedness too - that you know you might have a gain this coming week and actually that's ok. I hope I can channel this when I get closer to target!

You'll definitely get there with the dresses @Dashel keep swimming, it won't be long. I can imagine it's really frustrating about the weights, I've found it quite addictive and I definitely think it helps speed up weight loss but as you say, you'll have a plan to deal with your back soon. This health/fitness lark requires a great deal of patience doesn't it!

I had a really lovely night out with friends last night and I think found the right balance with food although I drank one more glass of wine than I really intended/should have and have a slightly sore head to show for it this morning. I got on the scales with trepidation this morning but was amazed to see a STS at 10st 4.6lb. I often find it takes a day or two for an over indulgence to show up though so I wonder if it might catch me out for weigh-in tomorrow. Plus the alcohol has left me feeling a little low blood sugar this morning so I've already eaten some chocolate 😳

I have DOMs all over from the CG full body workout yesterday plus the pulled muscle in my arm is still playing up so I've decided both Saturday and Sunday will be rest days this weekend. I've therefore just walked this morning but I might try and get either another walk in later or some time in the garden depending on the weather.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Morning everyone!

STS again for me this week, I was 2lbs up after Sunday and it’s taken the rest of the week to come back down.

need a change of tact I think.

Omg I'm a size 10 in jeans!!! It's been years. Wow. Happy Saturday!

Good morning!

@bigdecisionstomake i miss DOMs 😭 I hope you have taken rest days and just walked or done something like stretching/yoga/ Pilates. Sometimes you body needs a good rest. I am glad you had a good night and occasionally an extra glass and some good food is exactly what you need. Well done on the STS after the booze 🥂

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday what are you thinking about changing? I think having a good plan is key to this.

@Gemzee 🥳 that is amazing! I am really happy for you.

Monthly recap Sunday

So it’s been a very tough month for me with my back as you all know, so although im a bit disappointed to weigh in heavier than I was on last Sunday in Feb, im not that surprised at all.

26th Feb 10st 0.4lb
26th March 10st 2.3lb

I did manage to loose a pound overnight which is great and I think I’m getting things on track again.

It’s just under 5 weeks until we travel so still time ti get into the 9s and to do that I will

*Hit my 15k steps target
*Be more careful with my food
*Continue replacing my wardrobe with smaller clothes (I have needed new clothes for ages and have been putting it off until I have lost weight)
*Meal plan with DH to increase protein and decrease carbs
*Avoid alcohol completely
*Do more stretching and yoga
*Keep daily posting and weighing
*Try to spend more time walking outside for my mental health

I think focusing on my mental health and keeping positive will help the most as being tired and in pain makes me feel very down and then the comfort eating starts and the urge to hide under the duvet.

I did buy another size 10 dress off Vinted yesterday, but so far I haven’t tried on smaller jeans. I know I need to do this as my jeans are all a bit big and are a mixture of 12s and 14s. I have stopped wearing the 14s so they need to be donated or binned and the 12s are a little big but probably a while to go to 10s in the same brand, but Im going to try and find some tighter 12s.

Have a great day and enjoy the rest of your weekends x

Morning all

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday sorry to hear you've stalled a bit. I think a change of tack is a really good idea. How are you thinking of mixing things up?

So pleased for you @Gemzee that's amazing - I shall be happy to get back in my 12s but daren't try them on just yet. I want to get another couple of pounds off first.

@Dashel I think under the circumstances you've done an amazing job and you are starting to move in the right direction again now. Losing 2.3lbs in the next 5 weeks is eminently doable and just think how great it will be to get on the plane knowing your weight is in the 9s 😎I know exactly what you mean about DOMs, I love the feeling as it makes me think I'm getting stronger - we're just gluttons for punishment!

I've had a disappointing weigh-in this morning but not unexpected. I'm back up to 10st 5.6lb so the same as last Sunday. I think Friday night's over indulgence has caught up with me. My scores on the doors are therefore:

Week 12
Initial start weight 11st 5lb
Final target weight 9st 11lb
Last week's weight 10st 5.6lb
This week's weight 10st 5.6lb
Loss this week 0lb
Total loss so far 13.4lb

I think I need a bit of a re-focus as I've had a few days in the last week or two where I haven't bothered recording my food intake in my food diary and I'm allowing little treats to creep in here and there too plus alcohol at home becoming more regular. If I was trying to maintain and not lose that would all be fine but I've still got 9-10lbs to lose at this point.

I seem to have hit the wall a bit and I know how this goes - I'll mess around for another few weeks, barely lose anything, get frustrated and then give up. I need to get a bit more strict with myself again if I'm going to avoid that as seeing the number dropping on the scale is my main motivator.

To get back on track my targets for the next month are as follows:

*log my food intake every day in my diary and eat within calories
*not drink alcohol at home - only on nights out
*keep exercising as I have been
*keep weighing and posting daily
*aim as a minimum to be at or past my next mini-target of 10st 3lb by the end of April.

I'm still sore today so have had my usual rest day and just walked this morning. I was planning wine with tea but am going to start my new targets from today so that is out of the window - need to get serious again 😇

Have good days all.

That’s a very good question, I have a tendency to decide I need to ‘make changes’ but not really define them then get frustrated when I get nowhere… 🫣

on one hand I’m trying to bear in mind that if someone had told me in Jan 2022 that I’d be 3.5st lighter by now I’d have bitten their hand off. There’s no urgency as long as I’m not gaining then it’s all good. I feel so much better than I did and I’ve it takes me a year to lose the last 10mins then so be it.

on the other hand I know I’d like to get there so I’m going to focus on small manageable tweaks to try to kick start losses again:

1. swap some daytime teas for water, it’s been so cold my hot drink count has increased and while in themselves no issue as I only have a splash of skimmed milk the temptation to add a biscuit is definitely there
2. move a bit more, committing to one 30min walk a day outside as a minimum, I’ve also signed up for a couple of Pilates classes again which I used to enjoy
3. double my veg at dinner to try to minimise evening snack temptation

three seems like a good number ♥️

Good morning,

@bigdecisionstomake your figures are great! Very inspiring. I think we are in the danger zone of having a good loss behind us and that almost giving us permission to indulge a bit more, plus diet fatigue means we might be more tempted to eat more than we should.

I think we both need to be a little stricter with ourselves tbh.

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday I hope your tweaks work. You have also done incredibly well and I am glad that you feel better for it. I tend to find I’m less likely to want a snack with herbal tea than normal black tea. So if you still want a hot drink it might be worth trying herbal? The Pilates classes sound really good!

A very disappointing weigh in this morning. I gained 0.6lb from yesterday and I was hoping for a loss after the number of toilet trips in the night and 17.5k steps and being good with food yesterday.

Oh well, just keep swimming! I just need to keep going regardless of what ever the scales read. I will see how this week goes and might do a 24 hour fast towards the end of the week.

Hopefully we can all enjoy the lighter evenings - when we get used to them anyway 😴

Morning all

Those tweaks all sound good @Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday You've done amazingly well to get to where you are now - 3.5st loss last year is epic. It is always the last few pounds that are the most difficult so hopefully shaking it up a little bit will help you get there.

Thanks @Dashel I think you've hit the nail on the head - I've definitely had a couple of weeks now where I've relaxed as I'm heading closer to more familiar territory with my weight and am at risk of going off track altogether if I'm not careful. I completely agree we both need to be stricter.

Soooooo....I went into yesterday with all good intentions and last night had work anxiety come down on me like a ton of bricks and also a slightly difficult and emotionally charged situation with DS2 who still lives at home with me. I ended up drinking half a bottle of wine and eating a whole box of matchmakers I found in the cupboard that were left over from Christmas. The most positive thing to say I suppose is that it could have been worse 😂

Today is a new day and I am going to be stricter - otherwise I'm going to end up in the horrible cycle of losing and gaining the same pound or two over and over again.

I've paid the price on the scales this morning and am back up to 10st 6.8lb, a gain of over a pound overnight. Indulgent as I was I didn't eat 3500 calories over maintenance yesterday so I know this can't be all fat gain. Hopefully a few days of clean eating will see it off again.

My arm is still playing up a little but I decided to try a gentle workout this morning so I've a 20 mins Yana official one armed followed by Day 10 of CGs Iron Series which was back and biceps. We'll see whether or not that aggravates it although none of the moves she did put it in the position that is the most painful - funnily enough it was ironing yesterday that caused the most discomfort so perhaps I should stop doing that for a bit!

Have good days all - let's get Monday done.

Good morning!

@bigdecisionstomake we can be team strict! I get the stress eating thing and it was only half the bottle not the whole thing. Stress makes me eat too and I wish I had some great advice on how to stop it, but I struggle at times.

I am sure your weight will come back down again over the next few days. Please be careful with your exercise with injuries as you don’t want to end up making them worse.

l had a bit of a loss this morning at 10st 2.6 but still not back to my Sunday weight of 10st 2.3lb. I managed 17k steps and food wise was ok too. I had a nice evening walk after work as it was so sunny. It’s nice to go after work as no rush to get back or to keep an eye on the time.

Im going to do some more GFWR this morning and plan on good food choices and to get outside later if it’s nice.

Morning all

@Dashel Team strict sounds good - I'm in. DP says the answer to being stressed is "Don't let things stress you" - if only it were that easy 🤔

Back on plan again yesterday here so feeling more positive moving forwards. I too had a walk after I got back from the office, it was chilly but sunny and was so great to have the lighter evenings back.

I have lost a little of the weekend gain but not as much as hoped. I'm down to 10st 6.4lb. Hoping for a bit more to come back off over the next few days as I'm still nearly 2lb heavier than I was on Saturday and it would be gutting to think that was fat I'd got to lose again.

I feel so much better/fitter in myself being that bit lighter that I'm trying to remind myself of that every time I have a craving for chocolate/crisps/wine.

I've done a 30 minute Olivia Lawson Cardio Aerobic workout this morning (some of it one armed still) followed by a FitByMik 10 minute abs then one of her 15 minute stretching routines.

Does everyone find stretching/yoga really uncomfortable? I can't really sit cross legged for long as it's painful for my hip and even after I move out of the cross legged position I find most stretches uncomfortable. I am supremely inflexible though so perhaps if I made it a regular habit it would get better?

Have good days all.

@bigdecisionstomake that comment by your DH would have made by stress levels rise!

I used to be super chilled out in my 20s and I seem to have swung the other way now and I think I need to find some way of reprogramming my body to stop being on high alert.

Before I hurt my back I was making good progress with my flexibility - by my standards and with a very bad starting point. Have you tried putting a rolled up towel/blanket under the back half of your bottom when you sit crossed legged?

I found regularly doing some form of stretching did help me to improve but I wasn’t fighting a hip injury. So might be worth getting specialist advice.

At the moment I am more inflexible than ever 😢 I might try and do a yoga with Adrienne workout a day, even if it’s just a 5 minute one to see if that helps either my stress head or my inflexible body. I will be careful and not to anything too challenging or that hurts

I feel bloated and horrible this morning. Really achy, head is throbbing and nauseous 🥺Not a great start to the day and then I weighed in at 10st 3.3lb which seems really unfair but I think it’s bloating as my stomach has been bloating on and off since lunchtime yesterday.

I got 20k steps in and was ok food wise yesterday and I did two of the under ten minute yoga with Adriene practices for flexibility and relaxation.

One of my new dresses arrived and it’s lovely and fitted well so very pleased with that. The hard work is worth it.

I am hoping for a woosh soon as this is frustrating!

Morning all

Thanks for the feedback about the yoga/stretching @Dashel that's really helpful. I'm going to try the towel under my bottom when sitting cross legged next time I do some stretching - I can see how that might help alleviate the hip discomfort. Really useful to know that when you persevered you did start to notice an increase in your flexibility. I really should start to incorporate it more and must make an effort at a weekend when I have a bit more time.

Sorry to hear you're feeling unwell and you've got the dreaded bloat. There's a theme as I'm the same. Not sure if mine is hormonal. I'm on HRT so don't get PMT in the same way I used to but there are definitely still occasional hormonal fluctuations and I've been achy and bloated since Sunday which I had put down to the sugar and wine but I still have it so I suspect it might actually be hormonal. If you have herbal tea to hand, either peppermint or ginger are meant to help with bloating.

Lovely that your new dress arrived and fitted - you've worked really hard to get here so you deserve to be able to see the results in a tangible way. Just keep swimming, you'll see some more downward movement on the scales soon I'm sure.

I had to sing Just Keep Swimming very loudly this morning as I'm still 10st 6.4lb. I had thought after two full days of clean eating, drinking lots of water, workouts and walks I would have lost a bit more of the weekend gain. No going to let it derail me though, even though it's a bit disappointing.

I've done 25 minutes of a Yana Official walking workout this morning followed by Day 11 of CGs Iron Series which was a leg day. Basically loads of lunge and squat variations so I'll be sore tomorrow.

Crossing my fingers today is a de-bloat day for us both @Dashel 🤗

Morning all

Lovely bright sunshine here this morning but have got a really busy day ahead and can already feel a bit of stress/anxiety creeping in. Current phase at work is constantly having more to do than time available and having to frequently prioritise between urgent and important and hoping I'm making the right decisions on the hoof. I am naturally a planner and methodical by nature so this frantic ever changing set of demands doesn't play to my strengths and means I'm out of my comfort zone a lot. I'm having to really focus to not let it keep derailing my food choices and send me running for the chocolate.

In much better news however, I've finally lost the bloat this morning and have had a whoosh to take me back down to a smidge below where I was at the weekend so I'm now 10st 4.4lb. I am over the moon with that and pleased that last weekend's over indulgences are now behind me. I really need to focus this coming weekend though as I don't want to undo it all again.

I'm still feeling a little sore all over so stuck to some fairly easy workouts this morning. 30 mins of 80s music with the seniors channel, followed by 10 minutes of standing abs with CG and finished with a 15 minutes 80s workout with GFWR. 80s music is my era and lifts my mood!

Have good days all.

Good morning sorry for not posting yesterday I was feeling sick and dizzy and generally pants and still am not feeling great. I tested negative for Covid.

I am sorry that your work is like that. Mine is too and there is always so much to do and not enough time to get it all done, then you throw in a holiday or training or something it’s just stress inducing and frustrating.

I hope that you have a further loss today. DH loves 80s music, I’m more indie rock but I do like the Wham and Queen GFWR.

I think I must have done about 4k yesterday and ate lots of carbs as I felt sick and somehow I’m 10st 1.9lb confused is an understatement, but I will take it with both hands and a smile. I weighed twice to check.

DH had a chat last night saying he also wants to get back on track so hopefully I will feel better soon and get to the 9s. I think he is about 1.5lb to his next stone too so it’s almost a race but it won’t be as he looses weight more quickly that I do when we are equally on it.

TFI Friday I really need the weekend!

Morning 😊
I gained ¾ of a pound - was expected & deserved. Hate seeing a gain though! Will try harder next week.
Happy Friday all!

Morning all

Sorry you're still feeling pants @Dashel but hope you're on the mend soon. Is it your scan today? If so fingers crossed all goes ok and you get the results without too much delay.

Well done on the loss I should take it as a win and not ask any questions - perhaps the bloat shifted itself finally - it can make a massive difference.

Nice that you're in it together with your DH, you'll be able to keep each other motivated as you count down to your holiday. Imagine how lovely it would be if you were both in the next stone bracket down as you got on the plane...😎

Sorry about the gain @Gemzee I know it's rubbish seeing a gain but you're pretty much at target so I think you have to be a bit relaxed about it as there will always be fluctuations.

I've had a STS at 10st 4.4lb but am very happy with that. I peered at the number through my fingers in case I'd had a rebound. The big challenge now is to hang onto it (or as close as possible to it) over the weekend. I'm not going to drink and have already planned my food pretty much although as always it is a little carb heavier than my usual mid week choices.

I've done a 20 minute Yana Official walking workout followed by Day 12 of CGs Iron Series. This was chest and triceps and whilst the chest stuff was all fine I started to get some pain in my arm where I've had that pulled muscle when she moved onto triceps so in the end I substituted some bicep work and had to miss out the final sets of push ups altogether. I ended up doing a 10 minute GFWR instead. A bit disappointing but I don't want to aggravate it any further so probably for the best.

In a non scale win my two new size 10 dresses arrived and fit me perfectly so am really happy about that 😍

Have good Fridays all!

@Gemzee sorry that you had a gain but small gains are always going to happen it’s just dealing with it before it’s a series of gains.

@bigdecisionstomake I am glad you maintained today. I also was nervous today. Yay to new dresses fitting! It does feel worth it when that happens and it sounds like you are on the ball with everything for the weekend. Definitely best to be careful of injuries.

I am waiting to go in for the MRI now. Feeling really nervous even though I am sure it will be a while before I get results. It just feels a bit like a test that I haven’t prepared for.

We need to plan food for the weekend. DH wants to get the new gym painted but I suppose I have lost interest as I have no idea when I will be able to use it.

Happy Friday!

Still the same here… I’ve walked more, done a Pilates class (still sore!) tried to eat more consciously, increased water & veg. Scales won’t budge.

I’m concerned I need to actually start calorie counting which I’ve really been trying to avoid as it makes me spend too much time thinking about food and feels so restrictive.

Hope everyone else is doing better!

Morning all and happy Saturday!

Hope the scan went ok yesterday @Dashel - did they give you any indication of when you would receive the results? Fingers crossed you won't have to wait too long. What was it like? I always think they look a bit scary when you see people having them on TV.

Sorry to hear your progress has stalled @Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday Has it just been a week since you've changed things up a bit? If so you might need to be patient a little longer to see the results. For me calorie counting is really the only way to ensure I lose but I do appreciate it really isn't for everyone.

How are things with you @imustbepatient ? I know you said March was a really busy month for you, hope you're coping ok!

Have you had any progress @encoreunfoisnumber2 ? You were so close to the 11s last time you posted but had hit a bit of a plateau.

I've had a STS on the scale at 10st 4.4lb and I'm happy with that. I would really like to maintain it for tomorrow's weigh-in but I think I may well not as although I've got my food all planned for today to keep at a 500 cal deficit it is very carb heavy - crumpets for breakfast, feta salad and couscous for lunch and pasta for tea. I could of course swap some of those out for higher protein lower carb options but I do like to have some treats on a weekend otherwise I get fed up with the whole dieting thing and as long as I stay within calories I know any gain will only be water weight that should flush away again. We'll see....

I've stuck to cardio this morning so have done a 40 minute Olivia Lawson walking workout followed by a 3000 steps Yana Official workout. I'm already at nearly 8K steps therefore so a good start to the day.

Enjoy the weekend everyone.

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday I am also thinking I need to restart calorie counting. It is a pain but can be really useful.

@bigdecisionstomake Congratulations on STS doing that on the weekend is much harder. I also like weekend treats but I think I need to cut them out. I was also doing walking work outs this morning.

The scan went as well as it good. They said results should be in within 7 to 10 days. So will have to wait until then. The MRI was noisy but was quite Star Trek line it was smaller then I thought but was very modern and was about 20 minutes.

I managed 17.5k steps yesterday and was very careful with food but put on weight and back to 2s 😢10st 2.6 so big sigh but straight back on it and I am being super careful all weekend so hopefully it will go down and stay down soon.

I am going to be as active as I can be and I think calorie counting too

Morning all

Thanks @Dashel and glad to hear the scan went well. In the scheme of things 7-10 days doesn't sound too long for the results but I should imagine it must seem like an age when you just want to find out what's going on and get a treatment plan in place. Interesting to hear the scanner was smaller than you thought - I picture them like great big tunnels but I know they're not always like that.

Sorry to hear you've had a small gain but it sounds like you have a plan to deal with it. Just keep swimming - you can do this 😀

I've had a small unexpected loss on the scale this morning. I was expecting a gain and hoping at best for a STS but I've actually gone down to 10st 4lb exactly. Super happy with that and not sure why the carbs yesterday haven't caused the usual bloat. Expecting I may pay the price tomorrow but for today it's a win.

My scores on the doors for this week therefore are:

Week 13
Initial start weight 11st 5lb
Final target weight 9st 11lb
Last week's weight 10st 5.6lb
This week's weight 10st 4lb
Loss this week 1.6lb
Total loss so far 1st 1lb

I've still got some minor discomfort in my arm (only in certain positions) and have woken this morning with some pain in my hip again (not sure what caused it) so I've kept today as a rest day and have just done some gentle walking this morning.

Enjoy Sunday everyone.

Good morning and I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Yesterday I did two GFWR 3k workouts and did the first coat of paint for the gym. So managed to get 16k steps in, also on 1500 calories which I was pleased with. We went to visit friends and they are feeders and I avoided snacking and just had Diet Coke. We have repeatedly told them no snacks for us as we our on diets, but DH crumbled and had some cheese and biscuits.

I weighed in this morning and back to the 1s at 10st 1.8lb. My lowest before my back got worse the last time was 10st 0.2lb on 28th Feb so I’m still fighting to get back there but I will! I don’t want to do Slimfast or anything like that but if I’m desperate I will. Just for a week or two.

Four weeks today will we fly out (I think) so still time to get to the 9s as long as I can keep my head in a good place and not comfort or stress eat. So I will try and get more yoga in and spend more time outside when it gets a bit warmer.

And with Easter coming up, there is so much temptation about. I love hot cross buns with lots of butter and so I’m going to have to avoid temptation. We are also going out on Thursday for a birthday meal with a friend and will have to pick carefully. I need tips on strengthening my willpower in the sight and smell of favourite foods 😵‍💫