⭐️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 👍

Hello, would like to join please!
Started on Monday, just want to lose a few pounds before a wedding in March. Trying to stick to 1200 calls per day. I’m quite short! Eating more veg and fruit and planning meals instead of mindlessly grabbing food.
Mon - SW - 127lbs
Today - 125.2lbs- pleased with that, just need to keep it up!

Finding using healthy balanced ready meals are useful for dinner as I can see the calories and they are portioned out. I bump up with veg.

@TheRealHousewife how do you manage to only eat twice a day, was it hard to start with? I have every intention to start eating later but starving by 8am and never manage to hold off.

Morning all, just back from a long walk with a friend, I’m at 17,000 steps so far (11km / 1350cals) but I’m really aching from yesterdays’s gym class. Will probably not be moving again until school pick up time 😅

@orangegato I also just eat 2 meals a day, and it didn’t take long to get used to it at all. But, I don’t work, and I think I’d struggle if I did. I go to the gym first thing, then just have a coffee when I get home, so don’t eat actual food until lunchtime. It definitely doesn’t work for everyone though, some people are naturally very hungry in the mornings.

I'm going back to work soon after being on maternity leave and I want to shift this baby weight while I can. Any tips or hints would be most grateful ☺️

@midnight90 I’d say don’t be too hard on yourself for a start! You have a young baby, so try little changes at first. There’s no need to go crazy, but better to meal plan as much as you can, it’ll save you money and effort each week, and potentially stop you snacking too much if you know exactly what you’re having. I would try to have a healthy lunch to take in with you rather than relying on buying stuff, or using vending machines.

Hello All
Scales looked good this morning and I was back into the 65kgs however bit of a fail food wise today. Ended up at a very unexpectedly long work meeting, pretty far from any reasonable food so lunch was 1l of full sugar coke (the only shop had no water) and some sort of fried dough concoction. About as unhealthy as you can get.
Will go for a run later and hopefully burn some of it off.

Hello to @Shortkiwi and @orangegato and @midnight90 I've found this a super supportive group which has played a big part in the weight I've lost. Good luck to you all however you want to join in x

Bit of an odd one today, I feel like I've overeaten or am in a bingeing mode although I have just eaten as normal so far! I think it's a mindset thing. Very odd insight to notice. - that the mood change comes before the actual eating.

Breakfast - last of the lasagna, coffee

Work snacks - banana, apple, water
(Think I will continue with work snacks as I'd never eat fruit otherwise!)

Lunch - cup-a-soup, bean and cheese wrap, coffee. And a bit of grated mozzarella out the bag 😁

Dinner - courgette fritters, yoghurt dressing, salad with maybe tuna in it

Meant to say Ninja I could have written word for word what you wrote about comfort eating and your DP having stuff in the house. It's one of the hardest things - he's supportive of any changes I make, but eats whatever whenever and will have biscuits and ice cream in the house etc 🙄

@SingaporeSlinky thank you for the response, I’m glad it’s going well. I’m naturally really greedy, not as in eating large quantities at once but always having to be munching something. Hoping to go cold turkey on the snacks. Invested in some Battle Bites as it’s just over 100 cals for half so hoping that shuts me up in the morning until lunch, then wean myself off eating in the morning entirely.

And hello @Cloudberries123 , hope all is going well.

I’ve had bread bread and more bread today, I actually need to stop buying it!

I only have a couple of stone to lose but I’m 5ft tall so need to eat around 1,200 for any sort of weight loss. I could do that in one meal, life’s unfair 😀

Thank you @TheRealHousewife and also for sharing the recipe - sounds delicious! Will definitely give it a go soon. Re macros... I don't understand them really 😅 I know MFP can bang some graphs out about nutritional breakdown but that doesn't translate very cognitively into choices for me.

Woop on the NSV @Aftertheharvest!

Thank you @buzzofthebumblebee and well done on the self restraint last night! One reason why I don't drink in the week is that I struggle to find my off switch when I start (I think I lost it in my early 20s?!). So I either do, or I don't. But I don't drink at least 4/7 days a week.

Thank you @ginsparkles your menu sounds super healthy today!

@orangegato I know you didn't ask me, but when I started 16:8, I didn't give up my morning brew. So I'm technically not 'fasting' as I have milk and sugar, but a couple of cuppas more than keeps me going for the morning, and I quickly found that I didn't need a morning snack once I'd cut out breakfast.

Excellent step count @SingaporeSlinky and I echo what you said to @midnight90 - small changes and meal plan as much as is reasonable.

Glad to see the cup-a-soup back on the lunch menu today @Cloudberries123 😁

Big wave to everyone else who has posted today, I want to tag everyone but DD has just stirred and I need to get galvanized for the school run 🥴 had a super productive nap time though - cleaned, mopped, dusted, prepped dinner, and got ready for guests. Hi to newbies - this thread is a wonderful thing. So supportive, so empowering, so lacking in judgement. Jump right in!

@ImALittlePea thank you I’ll try that. It’s hard undoing years of ingrained behaviour but humans are built to survive more than a few hours without eating. What time do you start eating?

Changed my mind about sitting around getting more and more seized up, so went out shopping instead. Since picking the kids up from school, I’m now over 22,000 steps and Fitbit tells me I’ve used over 1900 cals.

Lunch today was usual yoghurt, strawberries, granola and seeds.
Dinner will be sausage, mash and peas.

It’s interesting to see lots of us on this thread are fairly short - I’m 5’4” myself. It definitely makes it harder because we need fewer calories to begin with.

Hello @orangegato what are battle bites? Névér heard of them! They sound exciting 😂 I too am short and greedy. It really is not fair, I agree.
done a decent walk and joe wicks video today.
now about to undo everything with pizza and wine 🤦not eaten much today though so got nearly 1000 calories left according to MFP
well done on seeing 65 on the scale @Allthegoodnamestakken i am determined to get there for wow

@Cloudberries123 reading about your lasagne must have got to me as that’s what I ordered at Italian tonight 😂 Was delicious!

@orangegato I too am a shorty and consistently intermittent fast - usually two meals but working in some OMAD too. I find it really easy but (1) I love black coffee and (2) never was keen on breakfast first thing. The advice is usually to start with a long eating window then shorten it e.g. start with 12 hours and work down to what is best for you. It has taught me the difference between hunger and habit and your body will adjust pretty quickly. I might still snack in my eating window but not outside it. It has taught me a discipline I never had before and now my habit is that I don’t eat anything after I’ve finished dinner. If you are interested I’d look up Gin Stephens (books and podcasts).

@Ninjachicken dh is a nibbler and a cooker and sometimes it's really difficult mid day when he decides to bake cookies, cheese biscuits or simply eat all the mixed nuts in the pantry (that i absolutely love and crave) but no kids at home (they are 38,39 and 40). he's on board with the IF as he too would like to drop a tiny bit of weight and be in the mid range of healthy BMI (we're talking 5lbs at most and very easily done if he so wished). so he familiar with the concept that after supper zero snacking till 0930 breakfast for me. he gets up about 6am and eats a bit.
@TheRealHousewife yes the routine really is my saving grace as even if i have a bad meal/stretch etc. it's easier to get back on track.
5'3" over here...not sure it's harder to loose but i certainly look more pudgy than a 6'2" male with 10lbs to loose.

@Ninjachicken I often look at y’all people with envy at how much they can eat. And reach for that matter! Battle Bites are protein bars which come in two pieces. So delicious, I’ve just done another order. I don’t replace meals as I’m greedy, but would if I could.

@Aftertheharvest thank you for the advice and inspiration. I need to just bite the bullet. I don’t mind black coffee so will try that. Starting at 10am today which is very good for me, but won’t lie I’m daydreaming about my brekkie!

Tall not y’all 😀

I've been wanting lasagne for weeks. Making the cheese sauce with mozzarella makes its fluffy and extra amazing. I like a quorn mince lasagne. Homemade not the abominations they sell in the supermarket. I like it best with chips and salad. No-one rise here likes it so it would be down to me to eat it. I've got some small dishes I could use to portion control it. If I make a big one then I'll keep having more slices of it. I'll work out the calories involved and see if it's something I could do.

I've now had 2 days of eating a bit too much but actually within a normal amount if not dieting. I had a chip barm for dinner last night and will therefore be extra careful today. Holiday in 13 days and I'm hoping to make it to 69kg. The challenge will be not eating lots of sweets and chocolate on holiday. The menus look rubbish for all our good issues so we will mainly be eating in our lodge. The dc want pancakes for breakfast whilst there but I'll stick to porridge. Mum will eat cereal or toast probably. Dinner one night is a pool picnic. Lunch might be a bagel with spicy cheese.

I've been looking through this topic and can't believe how many threads there are about ozempic. It's really worrying how posters are not finding it suppresses their appetite enough so they are upping the dose early or taking the next dose early. There's a real reliance on the drug lowering appetite instead of having a better diet and healthier lifestyle. The cost is huge too. A fool and their money perhaps. There's a lot to be said for the support and healthier focus on this thread.

Morning all! I am trying to keep up with this thread, I find your suggestions and stories all so interesting!

realhousewife - your spinach daal with boiled eggs that you posted last week looks like just the sort of meal I would love. I make sometimes a meal vaguely along those lines with broad/fava beans, dill and turmeric and eggs (if you want a good recipe, try googling: baghali ghatogh + persian mama, which should get you to a good recipe).
And the salmon with vegetables and tarragon sauce - love love love the sound of that, tarragon is underappreciated in my opinion

I have been avoiding the scales for the past two weeks as I did not think things were going well, but then I had an unexpectedly happy reconciliation with them this morning, -3lbs down over the past two weeks.
I have been trying to avoid carbs and the GI/GL principles as much as possible, so maybe something did work. I think part of it is just the fact that I have been back at work full-time since the new year (I was off on extended sick leave following an injury and surgery last year) and have a fairly active job (at least, I am on my feet most of the time).

So happy days. Next goals are trying to do more proper exercise (in particular, want to get back into running).

Have a good weekend everybody.

SW 11 st 6 lbs
CW 11 st 1 lbs
GW 10 st 6 lbs

Hello everyone, please can I join?
I am going flying home to visit family in less than two months and trying to lose a bit of weight beforehand (hopefully!).

I will post my weight tomorrow morning. I have a feeling I'm about 67kg.

My long term goal is to get down to about 60kg. But in two months hopefully shed 2-3kg.

I've read a lot of the thread and you are all doing awesome straight after Xmas!! I really struggle after overeating during the holidays!

Put half a pound back on this morning after I’ve been strict with my diet. Maybe I shouldn’t be weighing myself every day?Maybe my weight will go up and down - as long as it goes generally down in the next few weeks!!

Hi @Shortkiwi , i like to weigh myself every day because I’m happy with the idea of fluctuations and don’t want to miss a new low, but others find that more stressful and just weigh once a week. I use happy scale but only put in new lows.

@orangegato generally I don't eat before midday. I have a tea when I get up, and then another at some point in the morning. Dinner times vary, either 5pm with the kids or 7.30pm, so my eating window is either 6 or 8 hours. I was definitely eating breakfast out of conditioning/habit/belief in the 'its the most important meal of the day' Kellogg's line. I don't miss it one bit now.

@Shortkiwi I only weigh weekly as I suspect the natural fluctuations that I'd see day-to-day would become demotivating.

Lunch today was soooooo bad but also SO good 😆 we had baguette with bacon, hash browns, cheese and ketchup. I also had two cold leftover sausages while it was cooking 🤦‍♀️
Dinner - not sure yet. Possibly pizza from the freezer.