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.

That sounds so good!

It was from an old Gousto recipe card, but the recipe is online too. I added a bit of coriander we had left in the fridge!

www.gousto.co.uk/cookbook/recipes/creamy-chickpea-curry-loaded-sweet-potato

Can I join too please?

I'm I think 12/13 stones and would love to be 10 stones by summer. I need to get rid of my mum tummy that seems to just grow bigger after every pregnancy. I'm useless at sticking to anything so it would be lovely to have people motivate me to stick to something! Only thing is I have no idea where to start regarding diet!

Thanks for that @ALittleBitAhAh I found lots of inspiration on there for some different dinners as well.

Hi and welcome to @sidesplittinglol. There are so many diets/lifestyle plans out there so the main thing is to find what works for you and don’t give up if something isn’t working, just try something else. Personally I would use My Fitness Pal to see how many calories you are eating normally, a step tracker to log your activity normally and then calculate what your calories should be using something like

tdeecalculator.net

My fitness pal is a brilliant app if calorie counting is your thing, even if it isn’t it is worth persevering with it to get used to the calories in your favourite foods and meals. You can put your target weight into it and it will recommend calories for you to get there. Personally if I go too low with calories then I get hungry and eat too much and give up so I can’t stick to something like 1200 to 1400 calories in the long term so I don’t try to.

I have higher calories and walk 15k steps a day to get the deficit. But other people have great success on the fast 800 calorie diet or one meal a day as it works for them.

Whatever you do, try to think of it as a permanent change, there is not much point loosing 3 stone to put 4 back on after you stop.

The big things that have helped me are:

No alcohol apart from holidays and special occasions

No meals out or takeaway apart from holidays and special occasions

Being very careful about puddings and other calorie dense foods

Not buying family sized treats

Moving what few treats we have to a box in the wardrobe upstairs (out of sight is out of mind)

Batch cooking and meal planning- having frozen meals that I can grab quickly means I’m less likely to eat crap

Finding exercise I enjoy that I can do with DH as well as things I do on my own

There is a program on Chanel 4 where they try out different diets, most of them are quite odd but each episode has a short term crash diet, one they do for something like a month and one for three months. It might be worth a watch?

Morning weigh in was the same as yesterday 10st 7.8lb, a little disappointing but never mind. I managed 16k steps but was so tired I didn’t do my weights.

The plan for today is to get my steps in, restart the 21 days of strength, food is chocolate protein overnight oats, a Katsu curry Bol pot I picked up for 84p then a vegan chicken salad for dinner followed by chia seed pudding (not as good as the word pudding indicates it should be, but very good nutritionally so I eat it)

I hope that everyone has a really great day!

How do you fit your 15k steps in @Dashel ? I used to hit 10-15k as my job was on my feet along with a decent length dog walk in the morning. Now I'm at a desk job and do the short evening walk I'm struggling. I did 3k on the treadmill yesterday (small incline, medium walking pace) which I'm going to try and do 2/3 times a week, and we try to do a 5k+ walk with the dog on the weekend, but hitting 10k steps daily is proving harder than I thought!
I don't have a Fitbit and my phone isn't that accurate so I've bought an old school clip on pedometer, will see if that helps to motivate me.

Weighed myself this morning and I'm 173.2lbs, down from 175.4lbs when I started, so I'm very happy. I have a habit of losing 4lbs in my first week (bloat/water) and then reducing to 1-2lbs a week. Reminding myself it's slow and steady not a race when it slows down. Any progress is good progress!

@Maraudingmarauders

I am the same with steps and not getting them in during the working day. Need to do something about this. I guess a walk/run in the evening is the most likely option.

May I join? In December 21 I decided to lose 2 stone by July. I increased exercise, calorie counted and introduced the 16:8. Long story short, by autumn I'd lost 1 stone. I was disappointed throughout the year about how hard it was, but I could see I was at risk of giving up, so I put my scales away and decided these changes had to just become permanent lifestyle changes. I take a medication that leads to weight gain and I'm older. So I entered the holiday period without giving in and just eating and drinking everything in sight. I'm pleased with myself, i enjoyed stone things without going absolutely overboard, and I hope dry/healthy Jan can counterbalance my indulgences as i work to get my portions back in line.

I still want to lose that extra stone but I'm not putting a deadline to it, and it would be nice to dip into a thread where people are also grappling with healthy choices. So I'll offer my recent better decision for the New Year. Our local curry houses are hit and miss re quality, so even though we are not great chefs we've decided to start making our own.

Morning all

@Dashel Thanks for the lovely welcome. Giving up alcohol entirely for a while is something I've considered before but struggled with. Christmas and holidays aside I used to only drink Friday/Saturday/Sunday and average half a bottle of wine a night (the very upper end of the recommended weekly units) - this was when I was paying regular attention to nutrition, health and fitness and I could fit that into my calories without it being a problem.

However, over the past year I've 'rewarded' myself with a glass of wine more and more frequently to the point where since the summer if I have one or two alcohol free nights a week then I consider I've done well. This has certainly contributed to the weight gain and is well over the recommended 14 units a week from a health perspective. I think a 're-set' period of no alcohol is a really good idea but not sure if I have the willpower to stick to it - any tips to avoid reaching for the bottle on Friday night after work gladly received!

So, for accountability, I've weighed this morning. Not quite as bad as I expected at 11st 5lbs but still half a stone heavier than I've ever been (apart from pregnancy). My target is 9st 11lbs as suggested by my GP as my ideal weight for my height. This gives me 22 pounds to lose. I prefer a slow and steady approach so usually aim for 1lb a week and know that realistically life (and menopause) is what it is and I will maybe only lose 3 out of every 4 weeks.

If I consistently lost 1lb a week I should be at target by mid June. I tend to have my main holiday in September so I think it is more realistic to aim to be at target by then, allowing for the inevitable blips along the way.

This morning I have done a 30 minute walk and 15 minutes of abs and glutes (easing myself in gently on the exercise front!). I have around 8 hours driving ahead (taking eldest back to uni town) so need to try to avoid mindless snacking, particularly on the return journey when I'll be alone in the car.

May update daily as I think it will help with accountability but happy with a Sunday weigh-in so see you all there!

I fit my steps in by getting up early and doing around a 30 to 40 minute walk before I start work at 8am. If I’m in the office this means an early start and I stop near there before I walk, if I’m wfh it’s a bit easier. It does mean walking in the dark but I’m with DH usually. If it’s heavily raining then I do a walking workout. I usually do one on the free FitOn app but there are loads on YouTube. This morning I did it twice and that’s about 38 minutes and 4000 steps.

I get a brisk 30 minute lunchtime walk or do something like Shabam (a Les Mills dance type class that I can do at home and not get too sweaty) and then another 30 minute walk after work. On the weekends we go for one really long walk 3 hours plus on a Sunday morning and Saturday we usually do DIY and then go for a walk when we are done if we need steps. We also have a elliptical machine but that won’t be used until we are fully recovered.

I also have it as a habit that if I’m downstairs I will use the upstairs toilet. I try and be more house proud to burn more calories, as does DH. It can be tiring but I sleep better and am I bed by 9 and when we are dieting, the house is spotless 🤣 I have Spotify to listen to music or podcasts when I’m on my own and if I’m doing a walking workout on my iPad I keep the sound off so I can watch tv.

If anyone is interested, you can get a Fitbit using Tesco Clubcard points. It’s the typical 3 x the value of the voucher and it’s really easy to do. DH and I both upgraded ours doing this, we also have their scales and it works so well.

@Maraudingmarauders congrats on the loss, any loss is good and motivating!

@dudsville welcome! Have you thought about looking at Pinch of Nom recipes ? They are well known for their amazing fakeaways. Getting through Christmas is always a challenge so we’ll done on showing restraint!

So weighing myself in p.j's, after a wee and before drinking anything made a major difference ha. So I'm using this as my official starting weight. I'm 5' 6" and this gives a BMI of 29.9 (overweight- top end).It's good to hear about everybody's different approaches. My plan is to cut the crap down (still have a piece of choc daily!) and slowly increase my activity levels. Post Covid fatigue hit me really hard and reduced how active I have been for sure. I may start calorie counting again at some point but for now just making better choices. Will weigh each Sunday 👍

Wow @Dashel that's really impressive. It's motivated me to do a lunch time walk around the outside of my building - it's also good to see the sunlight!

Welcome to @summer2023 great to have another with us.

@bigdecisionstomake I can just give alcohol up easily and have a Coke Zero instead. My DH has alcohol free beer and alcohol free gin and slimline tonic. Is there anything you can swap it for to create a habit? Instead of pouring wine, make a hot chocolate (I know that sounds a little daft) or have a small treat or do something like a quick yoga routine or a read?

I hope the drive went well and snacking was avoided. Well done on getting on the scales and the exercise.

@ALittleBitAhAh I have found consistency with weighing really important, it’s hard enough with normal bodily fluctuations and hormones etc I totally get how you feel about post Covid. I thought I would have been back to normal now.

@Maraudingmarauders I am really pleased that I inspired you to do a lunchtime walk. In my last job a group of us used to go together and it was really nice. It’s a really good habit if you can get into it and it’s not like you are getting paid and it has helped my back pain a lot.

This morning I saw some progress on the scales 🥳

Tuesday and Wednesday I was 10st 7.8lb and today I’m 10st 5.4lb 😊 So happy with that but the loss will be mostly water as my diet has had the processed and carb heavy foods cut out.

I managed 15.5k steps yesterday but no weights, I stuck to the food plan but had a snack of 61 calorie popcorn and some strawberries and blueberries.

Today I really must do my weights and get my steps in. Food will be chocolate protein overnight oats, another Bol pot, a stir fry with vegan beef and extra pak Choi. I have made some chia seed pudding ( chia seeds plus soya milk) which I will have as a snack with some blueberries and possibly an apple or popcorn if I am hungry mid afternoon.

I hope that everyone has a good day and is sticking to whatever their plan is.

Morning all

@Dashel Thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to try a glass of tomato juice or a flavoured tonic water I think. My danger point is when I start cooking - it's become a habit to pour a glass of wine while I cook and then another while I eat, so you're right, I need a substitute to hand. I'll pick up tomato juice and cucumber or rhubarb tonic today.

Drive went well yesterday and I took some Sula sugar free sweets with me and had a couple of those as well as sipping on tea and water and managed to avoid snacking completely - so counting that as a small win.

Weight this morning is 11st 3lb exactly so have miraculously lost 2lbs overnight but I know this isn't real weight loss, just my body purging water/bloat due to lack of sugary carbs and no alcohol yesterday. Good motivation to continue though!

Have done a 30 minute 'Walk Across America' walking workout with Jenny Ford this morning - they are my go to for easing into exercise slowly - and then a 10 minute stretch as I'm a bit stiff this morning from being in the car pretty much all day yesterday.

Have good days all 😊

This thread has already had a positive impact on me by helping shift my focus back.

I started dry january early, on the 28th, and at just over a week in that feels good - I still want a drink every night but my risky times are when I'm alone and my OH is out tomorrow night for the first time since DJ started so I shall have to go to bed early to manage, and will be reminding myself repeatedly how proud I'll feel if I manage that evening without having that glass of wine.

Last year I had periods of enjoying set menus during the working week, I don't need a lot of variety, and it makes it very easy to calorie count, so I'm going to have a go at starting that today.

Reading about all of your goal dates, having said that it's probably best for me not to have a goal date in mind (having failed that twice last year), there is an event this summer, by which time it would be nice to feel slimmer... fingers crossed for us all!

Great work @Dashel and @bigdecisionstomake even if it is water weight, its still your body doing the right thing and a sign what you are doing is working!
I'm annoyed as the scales went up yesterday- 1lb on meaning my total loss so far is 1lb. It's my own fault as I know I over ate at dinner (too carb heavy) but a good reminder early on that I really do need to follow MFP and not just go gung-ho at this stage.
I'm off to the gym tonight for more walking and I've got my pedometer in my pocket to track my steps at work - I'll do a couple of laps of the building again at lunch time if I get the chance. Unfortunately working lunches are a bit of a thing (given we don't get paid as you say) so I need to weasel out some time.

I had a look at Pinch of Nom recipes, thanks @Dashel. I had saved a few recipes but, and I wanted to share this, I then did my online sainsburys shop and noticed that several of the Spice Tailor packet sauces are on sale, so I had a look at their calorie count and, before whatever veg or other that you might add, they come in at around 181 to 270 calories per half packet. I think this is going to scratch my wish for a takeaway just fine!

Hi 🖐 Can I join please? Started on 3nd Jan and would like to lose a stone (or more) by July. I realise this might seem like not much weight to lose or an easy target but it isn't for me!
I overeat eat & drink way too much wine and so does my husband. I'd like to cut down on alcohol & snacks and eat more sensibly.
Not had a drink since 2nd and have been under calories so far. Not much exercise yet but I have aching muscles most of the time (its either my underactive thyroid or lack of vitamin d - I'm sorting both at the moment).
I'd like to not drink alcohol except for dedicated occasions, one of which is next Weds 11th (going for an event) and another on 4th Feb. If I can not drink between these I'll be happy as I normally drink 5 nights a week!

@bigdecisionstomake I hope one of your alternatives works. I would definitely count your drive as a success. It’s so easy to stop at service stations and pick up crap and long drives always make me hungry anyway. We do tend to go prepared with food. But it’s still hard! I will have a look at that video for walking as I’m getting a bit bored of my ones now. Even loosing the water weight will help with motivation and hopefully a small bit will be fat.

@dudsville I am glad that you feel this thread is helping, the last challenge really helped keep me focused and I am hoping this does too. I hope you manage to find an alternative to the wine for when your DH is away. I am the same and he is going to be away for a night most weeks so I can’t afford to comfort eat every time. I normally make Joe Wicks protein pancakes for dinner have a Coke Zero and a bath and read in bed if I’m staying on track. It does require a lot of willpower though. I have the same breakfast every day. It’s one less thing to worry about and I know the calories and it works.

@Maraudingmarauders thank you, I can tell my tum has shrunk and my jeans are looser. I hope the temporary gain hasn’t gotten you down. It’s the down side of daily weighing but for me, it helps keep me on track. Sounds like you getting the steps in! I used to feel really guilty for taking a lunch break which is daft. I also work for a company that doesn’t encourage getting away from your desk.

@dudsville I am happy that you have found something that you are pleased about. We have a lot of curries, chillies and stir fry kits although I use peanut butter for the sauce rather than the premade ones.

@Gemzee welcome! Cutting down on the alcohol will hopefully make a big difference and hopefully you won’t struggle too much and hopefully you will feel better when you do go out. I hope that you manage to get to the bottom of your health issues. Have you had blood tests?

@Dashel Hi. Yeah diagnosed with underactive thyroid a couple months ago so in the process of getting levels of levothyroxine right. Haven't had vitamin D tested but I have the symptoms of being deficient so have changed to a higher vitamin now so we'll see 😊
Really hoping I can stay on track this time .. I'm a yoyo dieter! Always have been 😒

@Gemzee until fairly recently I have never stuck with a diet for longer than a few weeks. I am now really focusing on why I want to loose it. I would definitely speak to a doctor just in case it’s something else if you don’t feel better soon.

Good morning,

Yesterday I managed 18.5k steps I stuck to my food apart from a small 99 cal graze bar. I was so hungry in the night that I didn’t sleep well. DH had a midnight snack.

I weighed in at 10st 5.1lb so a 0.3lb loss from yesterday. The weather here is dire this morning 😩 I can’t wait for the lighter mornings and better weather, it’s so much more motivating to get out of bed and get outside.

Food wise it’s chocolate protein overnight oats, chickpea curry with a tiny wrap and vegan kebabs in a whole meal pitta with lots of salad followed by chia seed pudding and blueberries plus a snack of 61 calorie popcorn.

I hope that you all have great days. I know motivation is hard on wet and windy days (it is for me anyway) but remember why you want to do this and avoid too much weekend temptation as it will undo all your good work.

Morning all, I'd love to join please! I was really happy with my weight this time last year but have turned to sugar and comfort eating. I'd like to lose a stone as my first goal. Sleep deprivation and the challenge of SEN children makes things difficult for me so looking for some moral support to keep me going!

My plan is to eat healthier (the occasional treat is ok, I want to be realistic and still enjoy food!) and exercise as I do no exercise at all at the moment and don't enjoy it. Have started doing long brisk walks which is enjoyable (might not burn a lot of calories but every little bit right!) and last night did a 10min YouTube workout with the body coach as that's all I had time for and it's a good starting place 😀

Morning 🙂 So I started my diet on Tuesday at 10st 4lbs & 3quarters, today I am 9st 13lbs and 3quarters so a 4lb loss 😃 However, I know this is all water weight - I had a Chinese takeaway on Sunday and a massive homemade curry on Monday so was massively bloated on Tuesday!
Happy with that starting point, will weigh weekly on a Friday from now on.
Hope you're all doing well.

My happy weight is 9st 4lbs and my dream weight is 9st 2lb or under 😊 (I'm under 5ft 2in).

Morning all

@Dashel amazing step count yesterday - well done. I too can't wait for lighter mornings - it's a struggle to haul myself out of bed and exercise when it's dark and cold. I'm going to bear in mind your words about not letting the weekend derail us - this is a problem for me definitely so will try to focus on making good choices - small steps.

@dudsville well done on your alcohol free week, that's a huge achievement! I have done two days so far but facing my biggest challenge so far tonight as Friday after work wine is a fairly automatic thing for me. Let's try to stay strong together.

@Maraudingmarauders don't let the 1lb gain yesterday de-rail you. We'll all have weeks where we gain and it sounds as if you know what has caused it. If it was a carb heavy meal it's likely just water and will come off again just as quickly fingers crossed.

@Gemzee you're in good company trying to cut down on the alcohol. There are several of us who have identified this as a problem so we can all support each other.

@Matilda142 I find exercise really helpful in giving me additional calories so that I can have a treat here or there. If you can't always get outside then check out YouTube, there are lots of free walking workouts on there. I frequently walk inside if the weather is rubbish or it's too early/late and dark.

Weight this morning was 11st 2.6lb so a 0.4lb loss. I suspect this is a little more water as I'm only two days in but hoping that from here on in there will start to be some fat loss😁

I managed a walk yesterday at lunchtime and am hoping to get one today if possible too - am back at work but WFH yesterday and today so it is easier to fit a walk in. Will be back in the office some days next week and likely to be full on so that makes fitting a walk in harder.

This morning I've done three short 'Get Fit with Rick' walking workouts to give me around 35 mins of cardio and have my meals planned to stay within calories. Big challenge will be no alcohol tonight!

Have good days all.