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 missed your post as I have been typing away slowly and drinking tea.

I too was picturing something huge and old but it really wasn’t. I was surprised. I am swimming super hard with fins thrashing about!

I am glad you are taking today as a rest day it sounds like you need it and congratulations on your loss! You are smashing it!

Good morning!

12st 2.7lbs today - I’m counting the decimal places now 🤣 so .75lbs lost which I’m thrilled about.

however, got a family meal out later today so expecting it’ll just shoot back up tomorrow. I don’t seem to have any wiggle room at all.

meals out really seem to be my downfall.

Hope you all have a lovely relaxing Sunday 💐

Morning all!

Loving the positive updates - great work. You’re definitely smashing it.

My only goals this week were to eat less junk and get a bit more exercise again, which were mostly achieved actually. I totally forgot to weigh in, but between everything I’m going to take the win.

The new gym opens this week, so looking forward to going to check it out.

Thank you all for the kind words and encouragement. Enjoy your Sundays 🙂

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday I have been counting the decimals for ages😂 If you are eating out a lot I would plan in advance what you are having and don’t be afraid to ask to swap things like dressing on the side or vegetables instead of chips. It isn’t much fun but if you are eating out enough that it’s stopping you getting results it might be the only way.

@TheBatwoman congratulations on getting the exercise in and eating better. I have new gym envy😁 Hope every thing else is going well for you.

Yesterday went ok, I managed 18k steps from an outside walk and GFWR and I did a 20 YWA before bed. I ate 1500 calories and woke up to a small loss of 0.3lb so 10st 1.5lb.

We have been invited to a friends for dinner on Tuesday and a meal out on Thursday and DH wants to invite some other friends around over the weekend and we have a friend coming to stay the weekend after Easter 😵‍💫 We are going to have to do some careful planning with food. DH also loves nibbles so he will struggle not to eat nibbles we put out. I like to be a good host so feel like I need to serve nibbles and puddings and a good meal and it’s definitely more noticeable if you miss pudding. Unfortunately I think we are the only ones on a diet

Morning all

Very happy for a 4 day week this week!

Well done on inching your numbers down @Dashel, you're doing an awesome job. It sounds like you've got a busy week coming up socially. I know what you mean about the conundrum between being a good host but not sabotaging all your efforts diet wise too. I think you just have to ignore the nibbles and pudding wise I often do something with fruit on the side so that I can just eat the fruity bit and not the rest.

The decimals are very important @Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday well done on the loss! Loads of places have their menus on line these days so you can always take a look in advance to consider options. I know it's controversial but I'm a big fan of calories on menus too so that I can make good choices - it's sometimes surprising which are the lower calorie options.

Well done on meeting your targets @TheBatwoman great job. Hope the new gym meets expectations - we've just had a new one open near us which a lot of my friends are raving about.

The weekend carbs have caught up with me today with a small re-bound to 10st 4.6lb. Altogether not too bad although as it works out we've got pasta for tea again today so crossing my fingers it won't get any worse tomorrow.

My hip is a bit painful this morning but I've done 20 minutes of an Olivia Lawson Tabata workout followed by day 13 of CGs Iron Series which was posterior chain. The only thing that caused pain was the sumo squats at the end but there is growing research now showing that you should persevere with the painful movements with osteoarthritis rather than avoid them so I pushed on, albeit with much smaller weights than CG. We'll see whether that has disastrous consequences tomorrow I guess!

Have good days all.

2lbs on!

yesterdays food:
grilled bacon (fat removed) & tomatoes on wholemeal toast

half a hot cross bun & an apple

spaghetti bolognese & 1 large red wine

2 spoons of DC2s chocolate icecream

i mean not ideal by any means but…😩 everyone else had 3 courses so it was hard enough, even resisted my favourite garlic bread.

eating out wed, Thursday & Saturday this week. It’s a minefield!

@bigdecisionstomake I am also very happy about a four day week and one of those days is gone 🥳

Hopefully the rebound will be temporary and you will drop soon maybe not the day after pasta though. DH said he misses pasta so he gets the ready made diet lasagne as I have refused to have pasta for dinner. I think the last one was 350 calories veggie one from Sainsburys.

I hope you aren’t too sore from your workout, please be careful as you don’t want to make it worse.

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday that is so much eating out, can you pick more diet restaurants? Pizza Express is our diet restaurant of choice and whilst I know it’s not amazing, the low calorie options aren’t too bad. Can you avoid the alcohol on the midweek meals? I am hoping we can get out of tonight as we didn’t get much sleep.

I wanted to post this separately as it’s very epic for me and I need to prefix this with a few things, firstly the last two weigh ins, I have unusually been wearing a long sleeved pyjama top and normally I have short sleeves, DH also moved the scales yesterday- which nearly resulted in a divorce threat.

However today the scales said 9st 13.9lb, I weighed three times and it had the same result. I am sure that if I’m not super careful I will be back in the 10s and even if I am careful and extra spoonful of carbs and I will be in the 10s or a touch of bloating etc, but ignoring all that, I have finally seen a 9 there for the first time! I am taking that result as a huge win!

I did stick to 1500 calories and 16.5k steps and also did a YWA 20 minutes on the lymphatic system. I couldn’t do triangle but swapped for a warrior and didn’t even try the rocking bit but I did the rest and it felt good.

I am genuinely so pleased even if it is by the tiniest bit into the 9s it’s there and much as I want to go out for food and cocktails to celebrate that is not going to help so to celebrate I will be buying a new bikini at some point before we travel and of course some more clothes. I might treat myself some proper Coke Zero on the weekend rather than the Lidl variety as well 🥳

@Dashel wooooo hooooo!!! That’s amazing 🤩 congratulations! Well done you, and loving the Elmo gif. Fantastic news!

Morning all

Whoop, whoop - huge congratulations @Dashel that is just amazing news 😍👏🥳🙌I understand your reticence about the potential for a rebound but for today have a super (low calorie!) celebration. It must be amazing to see a 9 on the scale - it's well over a year now since I've seen one and I'm so looking forward to being there again. Well done, you've done brilliantly well and it's taken a massive consistent effort - I'm so happy for you 😀🤗

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday so sorry you've had a gain but it must be really hard to stay on track when you're eating out a lot. Our local pub does great food but large portions so I quite often order a starter instead of a main and just ask for a small salad on the side and it's still plenty for a main meal with quite a lot less calories - could you try that do you think?

I had a very small portion of mushroom pasta last night and ended the day with calories to spare but alas the scales haven't shifted so I am a STS this morning at 10st 4.6lb. I was a bit down about that this morning but am now really motivated again by @Dashel getting to the 9s today. It seems ages since I crossed the line from the 11s to the 10s and the 9s seem still a long way off at my current rate of loss but now someone else has done it it feels like a realistic target again 😁I'm going to keep swimming with even more determination!

In other news we've just booked our September holiday which is when DP and I go away on our own and chill after a really hectic summer (one of our busiest times at work) and is pretty much just 10 days lazing by the pool/on the beach so that is another motivator to keep on track with the weight loss.

My hip is still uncomfortable this morning so I've taken it easy with all low impact cardio today so I've done a 5000 steps Yana Official workout followed by a 15 minute Leslie Sansome Walk at Home. Calorie burn not great but step count is at nearly 7K already.

Have good days all.

@Dashel Congratulations that's awesome! Hard work paying off 😊

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday thank you that was me dancing around my bedroom before I jarred my back, then I did a more gentle happy dance.

@bigdecisionstomake thank you, I am so excited about it but I can’t imagine that there won’t be a huge amount of fluctuating. I dread to think of the last time I was in that stone, probably about 21.

Where are you going in September? 10 days by the pool sounds like DHs dream holiday. I like to explore and see ruins, DH likes to see the beach. Thankfully Cyprus has a historical rock on the beach so we will both get what we want 😁

Take care of yourself and that hip!

@Gemzee thank you. The last few days I have been super strict and it is paying off.

We are going to a friends tonight so I missed lunch to save calories, I know it’s likely to be a 10 tomorrow but I’m so hoping it isn’t

Good morning,
My dinner at our friends was super nice and a healthy curry and rice and help yourself so apart from being hard to calorie count accurately, I think it was pretty healthy.

Because I was worried I had 520 calories apart from dinner so I think I was probably at 1300 to 1500 calories yesterday. Probably at the lower end so I was hungry last night. I also went for my first walk of the year without a coat at lunchtime 🥳 and got 20k steps in.

This morning I looked at the scale through my fingers and nearly feel off the scale when it said 9st 12.6lb.

I think a lot of it has to be water weight from cutting down on the carbs but I am pretty happy and will continue to be careful.

have a great day x

That’s amazing Dashel! You must be so pleased 😊

I’m back at 12st 2.7 this morning so that blip must’ve just been salt & carb induced.

tomorrow will be my last weigh in til Tues as we’re away for Easter. I had hoped to be at 12st 1 but pretty close so not too disheartened

Morning all

Glad you had a good evening @Dashel and congratulations on losing some more overnight - it must be good to see some distance appearing between you and the 10s! I joined you on a coatless lunchtime walk - it's so good to see some sunshine finally although rain forecast here again today and tomorrow... Easter weekend better though apparently.

Our September holiday is to Crete, we've found a small adults only hotel which sounds lovely and peaceful - just what the doctor ordered!

So pleased that the gain came off again for you @Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday from what you posted you'd eaten it didn't sound like it could be fat gain and restaurant food is notoriously salty and carby generally. Have a lovely Easter away.

I've also seen a small loss this morning so down to 10st 4.2lb. Not quite where I was at Sunday's weigh in but not too far off. Usually Wednesday is a really light evening meal for me as my DS is out so I don't have to cook a meal suitable for a strapping 21 year old too but instead I'm out for dinner with friends tonight so who knows what tomorrow will bring. The pub we're going to has a menu on the website but it's from January so not sure if it will still be current. On the plus side it does have calories on it, which is unusual given it's not part of a chain. Hopefully I can make good choices and I'm driving so won't have a drink.

I've done a 15 minute GFWR this morning followed by Day 14 of CGs Iron Series which was full body unilateral which was hard work and sweaty but gave a good calorie burn which is a plus for tonight. Going to try to get a walk later too.

Have good days all.

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday thank you. I am glad you are having an Easter break. I hope you have a wonderful time!

@bigdecisionstomake An adults only hotel in Crete sounds fantastic and a lovely carrot to have. I hope whatever you had last night, you had a great time with your friends. Fingers crossed the scales are ok today.

DH moved the scales again 🤦‍♀️ He was moving something behind it but even so I was internally 🤬😤😵‍💫 I weighed in at 10st 0 this morning and I don’t know if that is because my back was super painful and inflammation, the scales were moved or because I had a ready meal for lunch and a vegan Kit Kat. I did do 15k steps and 1650 calories.

We are eating out tonight so need to be careful and with Easter and a four day weekend, it would normally be a good excuse for plenty of chocolate and hot cross buns and wine.

Hope everyone has a great fake Friday!

2lbs back on after eating out last night 😩

Morning all

Very wet and miserable here today - fingers crossed for a better bank holiday weekend. Love it being 'Fake Friday' though!

@Dashel If you need a hand building a patio to bury DH under for moving the scales just let me know - it will be a good calorie burn for both of us 😂

Sorry about the re-bound - it's only a small one though and you'll soon see the back of it if you keep swimming.

I had a really lovely meal last night thanks, a good catch up with two old school friends who I don't see very often. I just had a main course and although it said on the menu it was just under 800 calories I don't think that was very accurate as it was a massive portion with a mountain of creamy mashed potato and veg in a cream sauce. I did only eat around three quarters of it though as there was so much and I've really not missed the feeling of going to bed completely stuffed. I'd left myself 1000 calories to play with so hopefully I came in about right at the end of the day.

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday just keep thinking it can't be fat gain as you won't have over eaten by 7000 calories - hopefully anyway 😂It should wash away again once you get back to eating 'normally'.

I ended up with a STS on the scale this morning at 10st 4.2lb - really happy with that after the meal last night but also a bit frustrated that it's now Thursday and I'm still slightly heavier than I was on Sunday. I'd like to say I'm going to be super strict again now for a few days but I'm not sure this is the best weekend for that. We've got a family get together on Sunday and mum and my aunty are already baking in preparation for that so it will be impossible to avoid cake altogether and my cries of 'just a really small slice for me' are usually ignored!

I think therefore whilst I'm not going to go too mad I'm also going to be a bit relaxed this weekend about things and get back on it properly next week. The bonus of the long weekend though is a bit more time for being active so hopefully it will balance out a bit.

On which note I've done a 30 minute Olivia Lawson walking for fat loss workout this morning followed by a 10 min GFWR and a 10 min CG abs workout.

Have good days all.

Based on menu calories and the wine 🫣 dinner was about 1200cals, and I’d had around 800 beforehand so… it absolutely can’t be 2lbs of fat I just had that I’m so affected by salt I think as wasn’t particularly carb heavy this time.

Morning all 😊
Not sure what I weigh today as my scales are saying different each time I get on them 🤦‍♀️ (they are at least 12 years old so to be expected I guess!). I am off into town to buy some more so will let you know later.
I have lost 2 inches from my belly since Jan though ☺️
Be back later.

Morning all and happy bank holiday weekend!

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday sounds as if it's likely water retention from the salt - the meal I had out on Wednesday was quite salty, much more so than I would have at home. I wish restaurants would use a bit less salt and allow those that want more to add their own. Hopefully you have a fantastic weekend away and the water weight vanishes at the same time.

@Gemzee Wow, that's amazing to have lost 2 inches from your belly - well done! I really wish I'd done measurements now but I didn't think about it in January (think I was probably in denial 😂)

I was a bit frustrated yesterday with lack of progress so had both an afternoon walk outside plus did a further 20 minutes in front of the TV last night. I was comfortably within calories too and as a result I've had a bit of a whoosh on the scale this morning to go down to 10st 3lb 😍. This was my next mini-target as it's the top end of my happy place weight wise. I have just tried on a pair of my size 12 jeans and they fit - yaaaay! I carry all my weight around my belly so need a 12 in jeans although I wear 10s in dresses and tops.

I am very happy this morning! Next target is a bigger one - to get to the 9s. I think it is likely to be a tough one as it's getting harder as time goes on but I'm determined to keep swimming.

I've done a 30 minute Yana Official walking workout this morning followed by Day 15 of CGs Iron Series which was shoulders. Have got some work to do this morning but hoping to get into the garden later which should burn a few more calories.

Enjoy the bank holiday everyone 😊

@bigdecisionstomake Congrats on the whoosh! And yay for the jeans! Feels great doesn't it!

So...my new scales are weighing me 5lbs lighter than last week, I'll take that with a pinch of salt as no way I've lost 5lbs!!

It's weighing me in at 8st 10lbs but I don't believe it (although it said the same 3 times) and will wait till next Friday to see if its real! If it is real then it's the Lightest I've been since 2017 😳

I do plan to enjoy food and drink this long weekend anyway.

Have a good one everyone!

Hi everyone, sorry I’ve been absent for a while. Thanks very much @bigdecisionstomake for your tag to me at the beginning of the month, it really helped, even though I still wasn’t quite ready / able to come back to the thread then.

My crazy work month of March was every bit as crazy as feared, if not more so, and spilled into April too.

But I’m now on holiday for a week, hooray! I’m feeling shattered though and have had a day of sorting admin, but tomorrow I’m hoping to feel all energised and ready to enjoy the holiday.

We are going away for a few days with my husband’s family to celebrate FIL’s 80th that he had at the end of last year, then after that just having a couple of days locally to potter around, and the DDs are having friends round for a sleepover too, so the week will whizz by I’m sure.

Well done everyone on all your fantastic losses! Such brilliant results and well deserved after all your hard efforts.

My weight is frustratingly up a bit again and staying there. I know I’m not being as on point as I was with the eating and tracking, but I’ve still been keeping to pretty similar meals and trying to keep up the walking. I guess stress could be a factor. Or the two crème eggs and several chocolate truffles I’ve had over the course of the week…

My plan is to enjoy this week but eat and drink mindfully, sticking to high vege and protein options wherever possible, but being away with the wider family means I can’t control the cooking / eating out venues as much as usual. On the plus side I should get lots of walking in.

And then when I get back, I’m going to get straight back into the calorie counting, focusing on unprocessed foods, protein and vege and cutting back on sugar and wine (just not eliminating them completely - been there, done that, not sustainable for (my) general life).

I am trying not to press the panic button and go onto some kind of intense elimination diet. Summer is feeling closer and I really don’t want to still be this size when it arrives. But equally, I don’t want to lose half to two thirds of the weight by following something unsustainable and then find myself back here again this time next year. I’ve been there twice already. I’m determined that this will be third time lucky.

I think though that when I’m back from holiday I will reduce my calorie limit by just one or two hundred, rather than anything drastic, and hopefully that will be enough of a boost so the scales start going down. I’m fine with them going down slowly and in a staggered, overall downward pattern etc, but they actually need to move!!

I’ve lost an inch from my waist, which is great, but I need to lose a lot more inches yet and I still really dislike the way my stomach looks and am getting pretty sick of needing to choose outfits that disguise it. I want to just be able to wear the lovely clothes in my wardrobe and feel confident in them.

So I’m writing all of this down to remind myself what I want to achieve, and why, for me to re-read when I get back next weekend.

Wish me luck!!

Happy Easter to you all.

Good morning everyone.
Sorry I missed posting yesterday, DH wanted to nip to B and Q before it got busy and it’s nearly an hour away.

@Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday sorry about the weight gain from eating out. I am sure it’s mostly salt but still not nice as I have had this too.

@bigdecisionstomake thank you for your very kind offer which I will take you up on as soon as my back is better 😊 I am so happy for you and so impressed that you hit your target 10st 3 is fantastic! I think we must be pretty similar as I am usually a size bigger in trousers than anything else. It does get harder and harder but we will keep going and get there eventually! Yay to th jeans fitting 🥳

@imustbepatient I hope you enjoy your holiday as it sounds like it’s needed. Good luck with following your plan and you are right crash diets don’t really work. Lots of walking whilst away does help offset some of the extra calories and I find trying to avoid snacking helps. Good to see you posting again x

@Gemzee sounds like you are doing amazingly so no reason not to enjoy the Easter weekend.

Well this week my weight seems to be all over the place 10st 1.4lb yesterday and 10st 2.5lb today. The meal out was nice and I picked the healthiest guesstimated vegan options and missed pudding. But it was still full of salt.

Yesterday I had a hot cross bun for breakfast and some M&S plant kitchen cheesecake (we have friends coming over tomorrow night so we picked up puddings)

I need to be better today as my weight seems to be going up and up again. 🤦‍♀️

I did do some shopping on Vinted and bought two pairs of trousers in size 12. I haven’t tried on any of the trousers from this brand so I am Hoping that they fit ok. Two pairs for about £18 including posting one is brand new so if they don’t fit I will resell them.

Have a wonderful day everyone x

Morning all

I love the sound of your new scales @Gemzee I would like some just like them! If that weight is correct you've done fantastically well 😃

Lovely to read your post @imustbepatient and glad you made it through the awful month and are now on holiday. I always think I'm far more active when I'm away which counteracts the additional calories somewhat 😊 Your plan sounds great for when you're back - very sustainable which is the important thing. I've found I'm thinking about food/snacking far less as time has gone on which I hope means I should be able to maintain without too much problem once I'm at target. Enjoy your holiday and spending time with your family and hope you find some time to relax too.

Your new trousers sound like a bargain @Dashel I've never tried Vinted before. I don't buy loads of clothes but have had the occasional bargain off Ebay (also one or two disasters 😆) Sorry your weight is bouncing around again - I think it does get harder the lower you get. We'll both get there though if we keep swimming.

I've had a STS on the scales at 10st 3lb this morning which I'm happy about. Wondering if I can hang onto it now for weigh in tomorrow...

Saturdays are a cardio day for me so I've done a 30 minute Eleni fit walking workout followed by 2 GFWR workouts. In a bid to try something different I also embarked on a Beginners Pilates workout with Eleni Fit but stopped after 15 minutes as I was getting some twinges in my hip and lower back.

Hoping it's going to be another nice day and I can get some time in the garden this afternoon to burn a few more calories.

Have good days all.