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.

Ah yes it was Olivia Lawson thank you! Thanks for the link I'll have a go x

Good morning,

No change on the scales today and 10st 4.9 again with 15.5k steps.

Physio went well and she said that catching covid was great for my back as it got lost of rest. I have been told to keep the weights light and do any weight training slowly and carefully and not to push it. With the covid recovery, avoid cardio sessions, but walk very briskly for a minute or two then recover and repeat and keep going with the walking. I can go swimming and do yoga it’s just the effort of driving 30 minutes to the pool and going out in the cold and wet and coming home with wet hair isn’t so appealing at the moment.

I hope that everyone has a great day today. DH are just about to do our morning walk 😩

Good morning! So today is my kind of off plan day ... but I do have a plan for it 😁 Going to an event tonight with a Carvery & Dessert (pre-ordered & paid for before xmas) and drinks, I'm going eat what I like (unless full) - mainly because it's all paid for and was not cheap 😂 however, I am going to avoid wine and go for either spiced rum or vodka & diet coke. I am going to get straight back on the wagon on Thursday.
I am proud of myself for doing 8 days alcohol free and do not want to throw it all away over one night, so it's important I get back on track 😊
I am not exercising at the moment and my steps are awful! The most I'm doing is 8500 because where I live is not a great area to walk in the dark and I have an office job. My steps over/before Christmas were only about 1000 though 🤦‍♀️ so I have upped it, I was only wfh but decided to start working from the office now as that gives me roughly 50-55 mins walking a day (inc short lunchtime walk) which is at least a start!. I also snack less at work so it was a good plan diet wise too.
You are all bossing the steps/exercise/weight loss!

@Gemzee great effort increasing your steps, every bit extra counts and you are making great choices. Enjoy your evening out!

@Dashel at least there was one positive out of having Covid then! I agree about the swimming - I hate being outside in the cold and dark with wet hair, it's really never appealed to me as exercise but I have a friend who loves it and goes 5 times a week so it takes all sorts. Enjoy your walk.

Genius suggestion about the slow cooker @Isyesterdaytomorrowtoday I'd forgotten about mine so I'm going to dig it out and look up some good recipes for days when I'm likely to be working late.

My weight remains at 11st 0.8lb this morning as expected - was just pleased not to see a gain. I've done a 30 minute Up To The Beat walking workout this morning plus Day 2 of CGs Christmas series which was Abs and Core. I really struggled with this which shows how out of shape I am - at least I've started to do something about it now!

Have good days all.

Morning All.

How did you hold up for your night alone @Dashel?

Had a bit of a panic this morning when I realised I needed to jig my meal panning around due to the dates on ingredients but it's all worked out OK.

Very tired again but trying to stay focused.

Great to see lots of non-scale wins and positive updates! Well done everyone - please do keep them coming. You’re all a real inspiration and motivation, thank you

It’s been a really difficult few days here honestly, but managed to get a 25min cardio workout in today and the diet/nutrition side seems to be back on track, so focusing on the positives!

Ah so sorry but don't give up!
Glad physio went well and hope you're feeling better x

So I've done better today. Managed to almost stick to my target according to MyFitnessPal.

Didn't get to do any exercise today, just a bit of walking on the school run.

@Gemzee I hope you have a wonderful time tonight. Life is happening all around us and I think it’s important to know when to enjoy good food. DH and I tend yo think “are the calories worth it?” A lovely meal out with great company yes, a Mc Donald’s not so much (for us) It sounds like you are making really great progress

@bigdecisionstomake yes it seems weird to think of Covid in a good way! Weather is dire here 😩 I am sure you will build up your strength and stamina quickly

@WutheringShites86 i did really well on my own, stuck to plan except a before bed Graze bar, which I can live with. I did my steps and a biceps and triceps workout too 🤓 He will be staying away one night most weeks so I need to make sure I stay on track. In the past there may have been a yum yum incident or two. I had to swap as I didn’t realise how much salad we had….. mmmmm more salad 😫

@TheBatwoman i would definitely count that as win! Studying is hard and with DC is even harder.

@sidesplittinglol I will keep going and focusing on what I can do rather than what I can’t do. I need those scales to keep moving so I need to keep plodding on. I would see if you can up the steps a bit. Even if it is terrible outside there are some walking workouts on YouTube. It will really speed up your weight loss and you can increase your steps slowly. Congratulations on sticking to your calories!

Sounds like everyone is getting on alright on the whole?! I started a new job on Monday and am knackered. I forgot how tiring new learning is 😄

Managing to eat well though - ordering a gousto box meant I was organised with dinners. I made a big pot of 'lamb' stew for a work 'cook off' (and won, despite only 2 of us being vegan woop). This made lunch for a few days which was handy.

I am having my leaving do from previous post sat night which will involve food and a few drinks but I'm not going to worry about it - it won't throw me off course. Feel in a good place right now in terms of my relationship with food 😌

@ALittleBitAhAh I hope that you are settling in well to the new job and I’m glad that you feel you are in a good place with your food.

I got my 15.5k steps in yesterday and also did a Joe Wicks strength workout on my legs. They are the first squats and lunges I have done since I hurt my back two months ago, so I am hoping that is the reason that I put on a pound and a half overnight 😫 My legs are a little sore but I stuck with 3kg weights as to not risk hurting anything or getting horrendous DOMs.

Weight today is 10st 6.4lb. I will try and keep my salt levels down and flush this out with some extra herbal tea.

I hope everyone has a great day!

Morning all 👋
I had a good night out last night although I'm really tired now (didn't get to bed until gone midnight and I'm normally in bed by 10 😄).
I had 5 alcoholic drinks which is roughly what I planned, only spirits and no wine so fairly low calorie. I ate all my roast lamb dinner which was delicious and worth the calories! Only had half the cheesecake dessert as although nice, it wasn't worth the calories so thats a small win!
Going to try to drink more water today and hoping for a lb loss on my weigh day tomorrow.
Have a great day all.

Morning all

@Gemzee glad you enjoyed your night out and good idea about drinking a lot of water today

@Dashel I think muscles carry extra water while they are repairing and it's not uncommon to put on a bit of extra weight due to that after a challenging workout. For me legs are the worst - I rarely do a leg workout and don't have DOMS quite badly even when I'm consistent with it.

@ALittleBitAhAh Lovely to hear you are in a good place with your relationship with food - it makes making good choices easier. Enjoy your leaving do on Saturday and congratulations on your new job.

@TheBatwoman well done on the workout and keep focussing on the positives, it sounds like you're back on track.

Another STS on the scale for me this morning, not surprising after such a big loss on Tuesday morning. I've done a 30 minute Jenny Ford Walking Across America workout this morning and then dashed around the house doing energetic tidying for another 15 minutes to get me up to my workout target of 300 calories. In the office today so probably won't fit a walk in later so will have to count calories carefully.

Have good days all.

I've done really well today. Got in a 20 min full body work out, stuck to my calorie intake, as well as a low carb day as I did yesterday. Drank plenty of water.

Sunday weighed in at 12st 3 and today? 12st 5!!! How on earth have I managed to GAIN 2lbs when I've gone a diet? Oh and I've followed an intermittent fasting too of 14:10.

Where am I going wrong???

Could it be muscle gain from the exercise @sidesplittinglol? Or hormonal? I gain about 5lbs when I'm premenstrual

Ooh I don't know. It was a full body work out by Olivia Lawson. I'm still waiting to get my period back after having DD so not sure.

Good morning on another wet and windy day

@Gemzee i am glad you had a good time. Leaving calorie dense but not good food is a real win and it does become a habit to be more conscious with what you are eating.

@bigdecisionstomake I wish we could all loose a small amount every day, it would be so motivating. I will make an effort to look up that workout later (assuming it’s on YouTube) I don’t know why but when I plateau and I see the same number on the scales, I sing Funding Nemo style “just keep swimming” in my head. The scale will budge soon!

@sidesplittinglol I agree withb@WutheringShites86 and it’s probably DOMs or hormones, but the body does fluctuate with water weight by quite a bit. DOMs always nudges the scales up for a few days for me and when I hurt my back I gained 3lb for a while.

I had a small loss of .3lb this morning. I have DOMs in my legs and bottom so hopefully when that goes my weight will go down to pre workout numbers. Morning weight was 10st 6.1lb. Food was good and I managed 15.5k steps. I had to do a walking workout when I got home to get the last 2k.

The plan for today is walking workouts to get steps and hopefully an upper body weight workout too.

I really wanted to be under 10st by the end of the month so might have to do some thinking.

Morning 😊
It's my weekly weigh day today & I lost a pound (my target is a pound a week) so I'm very happy with that (especially after the off plan roast dinner on Weds night!).
I'm hitting over 8000 steps on my works days, but hoping to do more soon.

@Dashel What walking workouts do you do please?

@sidesplittinglol I was also going to suggest DOMS /hormonal or was any of your food a bit salty? That puts me a couple pounds up.

I have Fridays off work to get housework done (means lots of steps hopefully). My plan today is keep within calories & no alcohol (had none yesterday, I'm back on the wagon after Weds). I have fish and chips tonight....Frozen fish and skinny fries (all weighed out & within plan).
Have a good day all!

Morning All.

Yes salty food is another thing that causes mystery pounds!

Well done @Gemzee for not letting your treat night derail you!

I've got a meeting in a coffee shop mid morning today so need to swerve all the treats on offer and just stick to a cup of tea.

Morning all

Can't believe we're rolling into another weekend, where has the week gone?

@sidesplittinglol well done for sticking to your plan and making good food choices and getting some exercise in. I'm sorry that didn't reflect on the scales but it will eventually. As others have pointed out hormones and DOMS can both affect your weight temporarily but it's just water so will drop off again at some point without much effort. Try to drink lots of water today as that will help, whatever the cause, and try to stay on plan and not let it derail you - it's easy to get demotivated when a gain happens (*speaks from bitter experience 😂) but remember we're all here cheering you on.

@Dashel Gosh, very wet and windy here too, horrendous storm in the night. Will now think of the Finding Nemo song every time I stand on the scales to get a STS 😁You are really inspiring me with your consistency with steps every day. Jenny Ford used to be on Amazon Prime a while back and I bought her Walk Across America series of 50 walking workouts which are now saved on my Prime account but I'm not sure if they're still available. Prime used to have lots of free exercise content but removed most of it a few years ago. Her YouTube channel is called FreedomFit but she has a paid for app now where most of her content is. I don't pay the subscription though, I just use the ones I bought a few years ago - 50 is a lot to go at!

@Gemzee Congratulations on your weight loss - that's great - and hitting your steps consistently. Well done on getting back on the alcohol free wagon too. I'm worried about the fact it's Friday night and I may give in - going to try to stick with it though.

@WutheringShites86 Stay strong and enjoy your lovely cup of tea!

A loss for me this morning of 0.8lb so I'm now exactly 11stone - the 10s are tantalisingly close. I am using this as my motivation to stay off the wine tonight as I don't think I would be here if I had still been drinking alcohol, even if it was only at weekends - credit to @Dashel for suggesting this.

I've done a 15 minute Get Fit With Rick walking walkout this morning plus Day 3 of CGs Christmas Series which was full body complexes - expecting to be sore over the weekend! Have got the Dentist this morning so may not find time for a walk today as will need to make up the time at lunchtime. I have pizza for my tea tonight so am going to have to watch calories really carefully too - will have a smaller portion than normal and pad with lots of salad.

Have good days all.

Just posting again to say I really fancy a wine tonight (had a stressful day trying to get a quote for some works in my house) however...I'm determained to stay strong.
No booze for me tonight!

@Gemzee I can feel the Friday night wobbles hitting me too - stay strong, we can do this together!

@bigdecisionstomake Absolutely! Thank you, we've got this 😊

Well I managed to show restraint in the coffee shop and only had a tea but Friday night wobbles is a good name for how I'm feeling too!

We'd often have a Friday night takeaway and I'm on my way home from work with a growling tummy right now. Tea is already planned and logged on mfp though so just need to watch out for snacking until its ready.

Stay strong!

I am also in the Friday night craving club… wine, crisps and chocolate mmmm….. I am combating this with a Coke Zero now and will have an Options hot chocolate later. I know how to party 🎉🤦‍♀️

@Gemzee there are two on the free version of the FitOn app that I do and also on YouTube get fit with Rick. We did a 5k one this morning. We have tried others not listed on here but so far those ones are the only ones we have found we like. Congratulations on the loss and keep strong with the wine. Think of your next weigh in!

@WutheringShites86 that is great in the coffee shop. They don’t exactly tend to have many if any diet friendly options for food. Stay strong too! Or get some carrot sticks as a substitute for cake 🤣

@bigdecisionstomake congrats on your loss so close to the tens! Hopefully it won’t take too long to get there. Sometimes I look at my Fitbit app when temptation is strong and I see my weight and how much I have lost, then I go with my watered down version. I hope the dentist went well.

I have already hit my steps so can relax properly now.