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.

Well done on your loss @bigdecisionstomake 👏

Just popped in to say, I felt far too tired to exercise when my alarm went off this morning...I turned the alarm off and rolled over to go back to sleep. I lay there for 5 mins then gave myself a kick up the bum to get up & have just finished my workout!
Didn't want to do it today but still got it done (this is a new Gemzee!).

Morning all

Thanks @Gemzee and congratulations to you too for getting up and working out when you didn't want to!

A STS for me at 10st 2.8lb but although my food was good during the day I did succumb to crisps and chocolate when I got back to my desk last night. Was a very active day though - my Fitbit recorded active minutes even though I didn't actually do a workout - so hopefully that kind of balanced it out.

Another mad one today (and possibly tomorrow) and then things should finally start to calm down a bit and I can hopefully get back on track a bit more.

In the meantime damage limitation is the name of the game 😂

Morning

Another brief one from me and another STS at 10st 2.8lb. I'm sad it's not a loss but given the crisp and chocolate consumption on arrival back at the office again last night I'm relieved in reality it's not a gain.

Hoping to be able to get back on it properly from the weekend although am eating out with the in-laws on Saturday night so whilst it will be nice it won't help the diet effort!

Feels like another week wasted.....just need to be less exhausted 😴

Hi all, stayed the same today which I'm OK with. Have a good weekend all!

Happy weekend all

@Gemzee a STS is better than a gain 😉

I am so pleased to see the weekend and for the first time for a couple of weeks feel like I'm not going to be working the whole time! I'm determined to get some bits done around the house and a bit of gardening too if I get time.

I have been a bit under the weather for a few days and my food has been completely off plan again. However I got in from work yesterday and instead of going into the home office to continue working I had a cup of tea and then slept on the sofa for a couple of hours. I also had an early night and didn't have wine with my meal and I think it was what my body needed. I've woken up this morning feeling so much better and more energetic than I've felt for a couple of weeks now. It may not last but for the moment I'm making the most of it.

I need to take myself in hand now as it's four weeks until Crete and my weight is 10st 3.2lbs this morning. I've done a 30 min walking workout and re-started JW 21 days of strength followed by a few minutes of abs work.

I'm out for a meal tonight but am going to try to make healthy choices and keep my food on track during the day too.

Have a good Saturday 😀

Morning

Just a quick one from me as a busy day ahead again. A STS on the scale for me at 10st 3.2lb - a bit disappointing, was hoping for a bit of a loss but hey ho. I was really good with my food choices all day and just had a main course last night when out rather than the three courses everyone else had but I did have a G&T and 2 glasses of wine so that may have adversely affected things.

I really didn't want to get up and workout this morning but like @Gemzee on Tuesday I gave myself a kick up the bum and made myself do it and now feel better for it. I have DOMS from yesterdays biceps and triceps and it was legs today so am expecting to be sore tomorrow.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone.

Morning all (although groaning a bit that it's Monday!)

Finally had a day yesterday where I managed to keep both my food and exercise on plan and have been rewarded with a small loss this morning to take me down to 10st 3lb.

Goal for this week is to lose a pound and whilst work is still really busy (busier than I would have expected by now) I am going to try my hardest not to let it derail me any longer.

28 days and counting until Greece so need to make the most of every one of them.

How are you feeling @Dashel are you still a bit under the weather? Hope you're taking care of yourself if so.

Have good days all.

I did a longer less intense workout this morning and burnt more calories than usual. It felt easier but I guess as the body was moving for longer that's why it burnt more. Going to aim for longer workouts this week. Got an off track day tomorrow as it's our 8 year wedding anniversary so booze & food aplenty 😄
Back on Friday.

Sorry I have been AWOL again, I felt so drained last week I just wasn’t up to very much. I tested negative for Covid the week before but the first week felt like mild covid and last week felt like the getting over it period.

@Gemzee congratulations on your anniversary! Eight years is a great achievement and I hope you have a wonderful day.

@bigdecisionstomake sorry to hear work is still so busy. My weight has been all over the place from 10st 1.5 to 10st 3.7 but is 10st 2.5lb today.

I started back on the weights on Saturday before that I gave up after 5 minutes as I just felt pants. I get on the ship on the 27th so am seriously running out of time. But I will be gyming every day and will take my Huel for breakfast and will try abs keep it healthy with loads of swimming and steps.

I hope everyone has a great day x

Good morning

Happy wedding anniversary @Gemzee hope you have a fabulous day and celebrate in style 🍾

Sorry you've had such a rubbish week @Dashel You must be looking forward to the cruise now it's not too far away - have you done one before? We haven't and have talked about it a couple of times but never taken the plunge - would love to hear what you think of it when you get back.

I had a really busy and active day yesterday and managed to keep within calories too and as a result the scales have had a downward shift to 10st 2.4lb. Hoping I can hang onto that now as it would make getting into the 9s before September 10th look like a more realistic prospect - 26 days to go!

Have good days all 😀

@bigdecisionstomake we have done a fair few cruises with Celebrity X, one with Princess and this will be the second withRoyal Caribbean.

Normally we would avoid school holidays but we had a load of Tesco points expiring and only four days annual leave so decided to do it then.

Cruises are great but pick your cruise line and itinerary carefully.

Cruises are best in my opinion when you get off the ship and can explore on foot so like the Caribbean or Fyords some ports are hours away from where you want to go like La Havre is the port for Paris but hours away on a coach and all cruise excursions are expensive

Morning

@Dashel Thanks for that info about the cruises, that's really interesting. I'd been looking at either Italy or the Caribbean so I wonder if the Caribbean is a better bet given what you were saying about Paris/LeHavre? My parents did a Norway cruise and really loved it but I have to admit I do love the sunnier weather.

I had a quick look on Royal Caribbean and the initial prices don't look too bad but I'm guessing once you start to upgrade your cabin etc... that's where the costs start to spiral if you're not careful. I'm assuming it's worth paying the extra for at least a window if not a balcony though? I hadn't thought about excursions being an extra cost so that's something to think about too.

Currently DP's refrain is...let's just enjoy the holiday we've already got booked before we start thinking about the next one....We're really unalike in this respect 😂

I have had a STS on the scale this morning at 10st 2.4lb. Whilst that is only to be expected given the half a pound drop yesterday I can feel frustration creeping in too...patience was never my strong point! DS is out tonight so I've got a really light evening meal planned so if I can keep my food on plan during the day hopefully there will be a move in the right direction tomorrow.

Have good days all.

I had a gain back into the 3s and at 20k steps too - I am blaming the fruit salad for pudding 😤

@bigdecisionstomake Italy cruises are great but very excursion intensive if you want to go to the sights. You can arrange things yourself, like we had an overnight in Rome but the port was a few hours away. We got the train and stayed overnight in Rome and came back with a few hours to spare. If we had been late and got back after the set time the ship would have gone without us. If you do a ship tour they will wait. If you do Florence it is strongly recommended you do a ship tour as apparently there is something like the aM25 around it and traffic can be horrendous. We did it and saw David and the sights and it was great.

To get on a ship tour, you need to be at the theatre to wait until your group is called and then all get off the ship and onto the coach together. This is usually about 30 minutes and can add to a long day.

We also did a trip to do Pompeii and Herculaneum on that cruise which was amazing so it was a fantastic trip but not cheap and very tiring.

For browsing cruise deals I use

https://www.iglucruise.com/ but I book through the cruise line. Sign up for the loyalty scheme if you book as the points last for a lifetime. Royal Caribbean is great for kids but we preferred Celebrity as no kids. As well as the excursions, you also need to factor in tips and drinks and Wi-Fi if you want it, sometimes you can get packages but if not you won’t have Wi-Fi and only water and tea and coffees and I think it’s like squash or something.

Its obviously easier to cruise from the UK as to do the Caribbean you usually fly to Miami, stay overnight and then get into a coach and go to the cruise terminal and through security as well so it’s a bit of a faff.

I enjoy cruises and so am not trying to put you off. We will probably try Azmara for the next one.

Morning everyone

Same old half a pound down and very achy this morning as we did some work on the driveway last night so no gym but lots of moving soil and grave and feeling it this morning 😩also starving which tells me I worked super hard. Got my 15k in easily so will probably leave the weights today as yesterday was really a long full body workout

Happy early Friday

Morning

Thanks for all the extra cruising information @Dashel spent a lovely half an hour browsing the Iglu website last night...The Italy cruise you did sounds amazing and I think I would love something like that, DP on the other hand thought it sounded like 'hard work'...we are just so unalike when it comes to holidays! May have to talk a friend into coming with me...

Sounds like you had a full on day yesterday and probably best not to do a strength workout if you're really sore. I'm the same, I've done the first 5 days of JWs back to back and am sore all over now so have opted just to do some light cardio this morning and give the weights a miss today. Will see how I feel tomorrow.

I had a really physically active day again yesterday and kept my food on plan and have been rewarded with a further drop on the scales to 10st 1.8lb. Very happy with that. Just need to hold onto it now. Today is likely to be the last very active day and I should be back in the office a lot more from Friday onwards so that might stall things a little. Also, I'm meeting some old friends for afternoon tea tomorrow so that is likely to throw a little spanner in the works. I'm going to enjoy myself but also try to make the best choices I can in the circumstances...not sure how that will go!

Have good days all.

If you ever want to talk about any holidays or travel then I’m always happy to help if I can. If travel agents didn’t work weekends it would be my dream job.

Sounds like you need a day off! I am glad you enjoyed the JW workouts enough to redo them. I add extras at the end and an extra rep or two or increase my weight to make them a bit more challenging. I hope you enjoyed your afternoon tea.

I had a big drop to 10st 1.8lb but everything aches today. Wednesday night was two hours of shovelling type 1 and wet top soil and wheel barrowing it so I’m not surprised. Yesterday we got some free turf which was very heavy so collected that and moving it about was hard work. DH would do it all but if I’m giving up gym time to DIY I need to get an exercise benefit from it.

We are trying to clear jobs off our to do lists

Morning!
Wow @Dashel sounds like you've worked hard! Well done.

I lost a pound this week which I'm happy with. I did longer workouts and more steps each day so a loss deserved 😊 Might have been 2lbs if I'd not been on track on Tuesday but not to worry.

Need to lose another pound next week then I'll be back where I was before I starred sabotaging!

Have a great weekend all.

Not been off track on Tuesday that should say

Morning and Happy Friday!

@Dashel I don't think I could be a travel agent - I would suffer from holiday envy constantly I think! I'll be back for more advice when we start to think about next year's break(s). DP is already countering my cruise suggestions with staying in the UK next year - which to be fair I do enjoy too, but those holidays usually end up quite active with lots of exploring and days out and I do like at least one bout of lazing around in the sunshine each year. I think that's why a cruise sounded like a good halfway house. I'm not averse to solo travelling though so may have to have a peaceful week somewhere warm alone.

Well done on your loss, it sounds like you've been working really hard and great to be combining weight loss with home improvement!

@Gemzee Congratulations on your pound lost too and hope you enjoyed your anniversary.

I had another really active day yesterday and have had another drop this morning to 10st 1.4lb which is surprising but obviously I'm more than happy with. We didn't quite get everything finished yesterday so I'm out and about and active this morning but then should be pretty much office bound until we go away after today. I also have afternoon tea today to contend with so will have to see how that goes...

Thank goodness the weekend is nearly here 😎

Morning all

So pleased for the weekend and the sunny weather.

Had a great day yesterday, a busy and active morning followed by a lovely meet up with old friends in the afternoon. I took the decision in the end that being in the 9s for my holiday was more important to me than eating cake so I just had a cup of tea whilst everyone else ate scones and cream and jam etc...

The scales have rewarded my restraint with a gain of nearly a pound to 10st 2.2lb 😡

I am trying to be pragmatic about this - as long as there's no more gain and I can stay at that weight for tomorrow's weigh in then I will have lost a pound which was my goal for this week so it's a win right? It just doesn't feel like it today!

Nevertheless I've done 45 minutes cardio followed by Back and Biceps with JWs. I'm going to try to stay on track today and not let the gain derail me. Hopefully I'll be able to get some time in the garden and the house could do with a good tidy too so that should keep me quite active.

Just got to keep swimming 🐠

@bigdecisionstomake Sorry to hear about your gain, it goes like that sometimes doesn't it. The body's natural fluctuations I guess. Yeah, just keep swimming!

Morning all

Thanks @Gemzee it's really frustrating but I guess just part of life when losing weight!

I've had a STS at 10st 2.2lb this morning but am really bloated. Not sure what has happened, it must have been something I ate yesterday although I can't work out what. I had a fairly active day but also had two glasses of wine in the evening and had homemade burger and chips for tea - my son was cooking and it was his choice. I had the burger without a bun though and had a very small portion of chips and lots of salad to try to make it as healthy as possible.

I had a dreadful night's sleep due to discomfort with the bloating and my hip so have just walked this morning rather than do any more energetic exercising.

I think I'm going to stay off the wine this evening - I finished the bottle last night so silly to open another if I'm not going to be drinking again then until Friday.

We leave for Crete 3 weeks today so the 9s are still just about possible. I met my goal of losing a pound this week (just) and am setting myself a target of losing another pound this coming week.

Enjoy Sunday 😎

Morning

A big groan for Monday...

I was at my parents for most of the day yesterday and whilst it was great to see them and have a chilled time it meant I didn't get much done at home and the house/washing/ironing/garden etc... is now starting to feel like it's going out of control. I mention this as it is a danger sign for me. When I start to feel like life is going out of control I eat (and drink). That is how I ended up at the weight I was just after Christmas.

I need to really focus on my goal now and not let this get in the way. If anyone could lend me a few extra hours in the day that would be really appreciated!

I stuck to plan yesterday and kept my eating on track, worked out, dog walked and didn't drink wine. The scales have resolutely stuck at 10st 2.2lb however. A good chorus of just keep swimming was sung.

I really want another pound gone this week so there's nothing for it but to keep on keeping on!

Have good days all.

Morning

A quick early one from me as a busy day ahead.

The scales have finally shifted back down into the 1s so I'm 10st 1.6lb this morning. Very happy with that, just need to hang in there now and not bounce back into the 2s again.

When do you leave for your cruise @Dashel - can't be long now, you must be really excited!

Eldest DS is back home for a few days tonight so I'm really excited about that 😀

Have great days all x

We leave after work to visit the in-laws on Friday and then go from there to the cruise on Sunday morning. Am I just frustrated as I can’t seem to get out of the 2s 🤦‍♀️

How is the hip? I hope you enjoy having your DS at home for a bit. I understand the frazzled out of control feeling. I have been feeling like that for a few weeks and I know I need to address that. Like you say it’s a warning and I haven’t been sleeping well either so that hasn’t helped.