⭐️LOSE IT! February 2023 Edition⭐️

[TheRealHousewife]

⭐️Open to previous members as well as new members⭐️

Fresh new month, fresh new start, fresh new habits. Jump right in to reset & refresh to become a healthier version of yourself. These threads are for those who’d like to lose and those who wish to maintain whilst eating a healthy varied diet.

As no one size fits all, members need to follow their own way of eating. This thread aims to offer guidance, support and a bit of hand holding.

We generally have WOW (weigh on Wednesday) day each week. However post and share your progress as often or as little as you prefer. Do what works for you.

The important thing is not to think of it as a diet (based on deprivation and unsustainable) but more a way of life (sustainable & enjoyable).

I calorie count based on a lower carb Mediterranean diet. I intermittent fast and eat twice a day. Im a long time healthy eater and overall I’ve lost over 3 stone. After having been on the wrong side of 12st Im now hovering around 9st. I had a blip a couple of years ago when my thyroid went wonky but now back on track.

Are you in😊 What food plan will you be following? What do you want to change and why?

Feel free to share your own links, tips & recipes 👍

@Cloudberries123 A cup of tea with a biscuit is a habit. You could try changing the habit. What about a different drink such as a fruit tea or a sparkling water. Something that doesn’t lend itself to go with a biscuit. No … not wine 😬. @SingaporeSlinkys tip about brushing your teeth is a good idea!

Just planning my meals for tomorrow (also need to do the weekly food shop). Pancake Day!

Will have leftover minestrone soup for lunch to fill up on veg before hitting the pancakes hard for dinner 😆 What’s everyone’s favourite toppings? I stick to lemon juice and sugar. Will be doing banana, strawberries and nutella for the kids.

@SingaporeSlinkyI do GF pancakes 🥞 We like them with treacle 👍. Occasionally I’ll do a savoury pancake with beef mince and onion gravy, they’re tasty too. Only having a sweet one this year though as his nibs wants bangers and mash 😋

I slow cooked the beef today in readiness for Ash Wednesday too.

I’m afraid I don’t know much about lent, just pancakes for Shrove Tuesday. Is beef a traditional meal to begin lent?

@SingaporeSlinky during the 40 days of lent, the idea is to restrict something in homage to the 40 days of jesus's fasting. so with lent starting on wednesday, the idea leading up to it is using up excess in your stored goods. pancake made with sugar and fat was seen as a bit of a luxury hence using up those goods prior to lent (shrove tuesday).
people that i know have given up cell phones for 40 days, or sugar, or coffee. some choose to attend mass daily or take up a bible led course.

Hello All, happy Shrove Tuesday!
Menu today is fruit salad followed by pancakes for dinner! I am very much a lemon and sugar lover but impartial to a bit of melted chocolate on them also. As a very lapsed catholic I had forgotten ash Wednesday followed pancake day and planned beef for dinner tomorrow so now I am going to have to think of something else. I am not at all religious but for some reason do still find myself following certain little rules of my childhood.

Thank you @greenspaces4peace I vaguely knew about giving up something for the 40 days, which ends with Easter. I still don’t understand the beef part. Is that like a Sunday roast to celebrate the start of lent then, like the big Easter Sunday lunch?

Not a great pancake fan, so won't be making. DC made last night, so not deprived.

Your photos of your chopped veg and delicious soup has rubbed-off TheRealHousewife and I'm going to be making chicken stock and then big pot soup later today. I must admit it's one of those things that takes forever, and I wonder if it is worth it for just a few bowls of soup, hence I usually just chuck carcas away. But yes, nutritionally it is very much worth it.

Same as you here Allthegoodnamestaken - but I've managed to quash most of the guilt, although now you've brought it to my attention will probably be eating fish tomorrow too ; )

SingaporeSlinky actually yes, the brushing teeth trick does work when I do it. Thank you for reminding me about it.

RealHousewife you are so right that tea and biscuits is a habit - but I'm a creature of habit! Your suggestion of switching to a different evening drink is good although fills me with a bit of trepidation. I love my dinner + cuppa after the baby is down!

We don't keep alcohol in the house so that's not an option thankfully. I definitely could work on hydration as I don't tend to overeat snacks when I feel full. Or maybe one of those low-calorie hot chocolates would feel like a treat while not leading me by the nose into the biscuit tin? 😛

Also Singapore I can answer any and all Lent questions! 😂 Traditionally you'd use up all your dairy and meat by Shrove Tuesday (aka Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday) ready for Lent starting on Ash Wednesday and you'd just eat fish throughout the Lenten period as a form of abstinence to prepare for Easter.

Off to a good start today -

Breakfast - sourdough toast x2, coffee, water

Good Morning Everyone 😋 Shrove Tuesday!

I for one am going to have a thin crepe with a drizzle of treacle later. I want to remain within calorie count so will limit to 2👍. Are you having any? Are you a crepe or a fluffy type of person?

@buzzofthebumblebee I usually have a bag in the freezer and save carcasses then make stock when I have 3 or 4. Makes a very large pot of stock 👍

@Cloudberries123 I understand that once baby is down a nice cuppa is your relaxation cue. It’s a tough one. Me personally I keep the cuppa and bin the sweet stuff👍 I’d never give up my cuppa either 😬

Menu
Meal 1 - Vegetable soup. Apple.
Meal 2 - Sausage & Mash. Carrots, peas, kale. Onion gravy. Pancakes & treacle 😋
Tea, black coffee & water.

The prepped veg for my soup … got all the chopping out the way yesterday 👍

I didn't know that about Ash Wednesday/beef etc either! Safe to say I won't be following it - especially as I don't eat fish. Interesting to learn though 😊

I totally understand the habit/signal that it's time to relax at the end of the day @Cloudberries123 @TheRealHousewife for me it used to be a glass of wine, but I switched that to tea - which I would never give up either. I don't have anything with it, but I don't tend to snack much around meals anyway.

Panicked a little this morning as didn't have any eggs in the fridge, but thankfully our local Aldi wasn't totally out when I went shopping this morning. We're a crepe family, got bananas and sauce for the kids and DH, and sugar and lemon for me!

Meals today -
Lunch: cup-a-soup, veggies and a dairylea triangle (163 cals)
Dinner: veg pie, mash and lots of veggies (757 cals). Followed by one, maybe two, pancakes with lemon and sugar (calorie count??)

I'm off to guzzle a bit more water as not had enough yet today 💦

@ImALittlePea ... after reading your update I'm off to guzzle some water too 💧. I'm low on intake today too! Thank you for the reminder 👍

Anyone worked out how many calories in a crepe style pancake? I’m getting about 90 cals from what I can find, which is an 8 inch one. Sounds about right, although you need to add the knob of butter you cook each one in, presumably.

We’ve always done it FOR dinner, rather than as well as, although I’ll make sure the kids have a decent snack after school to make up for it. I had a massive bowl of minestrone soup for lunch, so with 2 or 3 pancakes I’ll still end up under calories.

Burn It gym class for 45 mins this morning, mostly barbell weights, so I expect my arms to be very tired tomorrow. Did 25 mins uphill walking on treadmill afterwards. My plan to download something on Netflix and then watch on the gym wifi worked well as the time seemed to go much faster. Done my supermarket shop too so I’m at 12,000 steps so far.

Thanks for explaining about the Ash Wednesday traditions.

No problem. Looking forward to our pancake dinner tonight too!

I think what I need to do is actually ask my DP if we can avoid having junk snacks in the cupboards for the time being. If he wants them he can keep them at work. I'm just not able to be moderate with them (at least not at the moment).

Lent is a good opportunity to start this 💪🏻

Weigh on Wednesday tomorrow and I've had a cheeky look already today and I'm up on two weeks ago... Hey ho, might be different by tomorrow!

Pancakes will be happening after school here. I have a selection of lemons and limes and sugar to go on them. I think DS is eyeing up the Nutella jar, but that's never what I fancy on a pancake!

BBC Good Food pancake recipe saying 61 calories per pancake, but it depends on the size and toppings I suppose.

@Cloudberries123 I'm using lent as a challenge to give up evening snacking. Although it's something I hope not to go back to after 40 days. Just need to break to get out of the bad habit.

Glad to be of service @TheRealHousewife 💧

Ending the day just under my daily calories! Just had one final tea and heading for an early night. Goodnight gang!

Evening all. Weigh day tomorrow. I'll start counting calories again tomorrow. I've been pretty much on track anyway but tomorrow I'll be logging everything strictly again.
Despite taking lots of treats with us I barely ate any. Two meals out. I didn't finish either. One shared pudding. Two Starbucks Frappuccinos. Two doughnuts. Some sweets. Lots of pushing a heavy wheelchair round up and down short hills. My mum weighs the same as me but with the weight of the wheelchair I was pushing far more than my body weight. Good exercise! Lots of swimming.
I'll catch up later but hope everyone is doing well.

Welcome back @AutisticLegoLover , hope you had a lovely break.

Really enjoyed my 3 pancakes with lemon and sugar, and a lick of the Nutella spoon while I cleared up 🙂

Good luck for weigh in tomorrow everyone

@SingaporeSlinky well i guess it depends on the ingredients. dh's come out to 765 for 4 crepes (8 inches): 3/4 flour, 1tbsp sugar, 3 eggs, 1 3/4c of milk, 2 tbsp melted butter. so 191 each in my household. i'm still liking cronometer for the ease with which recipes can be entered.
i made waffles for breakfast served with my fruit stew/compote. stuck to only 1
lunch was straight up veggie sticks with a cup of chicken broth.
dh is planning baked beans and toast for supper. i'll portion that carefully.

That's a great challenge to set yourself Fara I'm right there with you

AutisticLegoLover welcome back, sounds like a lovely time with goodies enjoyed but not gone overboard. Did you get some r&r or have you come back needing another holiday? 😉

We had a lovely pancake dinner with both savoury and sweet. Told DP about giving up sugar for Lent and he's taking the remaining biscuits to work tomorrow. I'll see how nuts I get during the sugar withdrawal - might have to chuck/give away honey and jam etc too.

Fully prepared for a gain tomorrow but ok with it. Night all x

Wednesday already! Weigh in
SW 88.8kg
TW 79.9g. Finally a number that doesn't start with 8:) Yesterday was 76 but Happy Scales tells me I'm averaging just over 1kg a week and im 71% to Target 76kg

Typo!! 79.6 😅 even with my dodgy scales I don't change by 3kg in a day

lovely new number @Weatherwax13 ! well done :)
just finished supper and the kitchen is "closed", still 1l of water to drink back but a good day (or so i believe).