Losing for Lent - No specific target, just drop some weight. Anyone in?

[MCGrindah]

I want to shed a few pounds over lent. Today I'm 53.8kg (8st, 6.9lbs) though some of this might be period bloat.

I don't have a set amount I want to lose because when I've set goals in the past, I end up getting all anti-authority, resenting my own target and giving up 🙄

My approach this time is just to lose, that the scales should read less each time I weigh myself.

I'll be doing this through:

• Giving up alcohol:
• I don't drink that much (only Friday and Saturday nights) but drinking always means snacks, a take away, big breakfast the next day etc.
• Being under my calories every day:
• Not by a set amount, just definitely under. So some days I might be 200 under, others I'll be 800 under. As long as I am under.
• Exercising once or twice a week:
• I do kickboxing once a week anyway which is a crazy hard workout. I've got my eye on a HIIT/weights class that I used to attend which has restarted but I'm struggling to make it work with my schedule. If I don't get to that HIIT/weights class then I'll try and make do with a kitchen workout where I can.
• Not eating meat:
• I'm mostly vegetarian anyway so this won't be too challenging. I feel so much better not eating meat and its much easier to reduce calories by not having meat in meals.

Does anyone want to join me? I thought we might use this thread for moral support, cheering each other on, and sharing ideas.

Hello. @MCGrindah I'd like to join you. I always look forward to Lent, then real life intervenes and plans are abandoned.

Cutting back on meat
This will be quite a challenge. I eat very little processed meat, and can cut that out completely. But red meat next, which will also mean fewer sandwiches. I expect to struggle even more giving up chicken and other poultry.

Exercise
This would be gardening and getting the house nice.

Hey @FatLadyTriesAgain Let's do it!

You could start to slowly cut down meat. So rather than cut out all at once, you could see how many lunches you have that involve meat and look to replace just one of them with a non-meat alternative. Then next week try two. Then next week move on to dinners, replacing one meat-dinner with non-meat, then two the next week.

Housework and gardening can be absolutely brutal workouts

I’m giving up laziness for LENT 😂 The plan is to do some form of exercise every day. I did a YouTube Zumba video yesterday (my Fitbit says I burned 157 calories in 22 minutes) and today I walked to the park and back so my little one could play (my Fitbit says I burned 151 calories on the way there and 194 on the way back)

@MCGrindah Good idea to concentrate on replacing one type of meat each week. Last week I had home-made pizza with extra mushrooms and onions and no ham. It was great, and a similar texture.

Yesterday I had tuna at tea-time instead of any of the roast beef slices that are in the fridge. There's a lot of meat in the freezer. Between now and summer, I'll change the balance of meat vs veg in meals for the rest of the family. See if they even notice. And it would probably be healthier for them.

That's brilliant news, well done!

I find its getting much easier to exercise now that the sun's back and the evenings are lighter.

Do you have any other plans for exercise to try? Would you consider some kind of combat sport? I love boxing and kickboxing.

That's a great start, good job

have a look at Bosch vegan recipes - really easy and absolutely delicious. Me and DP always cook something from the Bosch books for our meat-addicted parents when they visit and they absolutely love it.

I looked at the Bosh! Website today. The recipes look lovely. Thanks 😀

Today was my first in a long time without red meat or processed meat. I added some cooked shredded chicken from the freezer to my soup, and didn't miss the red meat at all.

How's everyone else getting on? @MCGrindah @StopGrowingPlease How's your exercise? The only combat sport I've had this weekend has been tackling the laundry.

@FatLadyTriesAgain I'm glad you've not found it too hard to pull away from red/processed meat so far. How are you feeling about the week ahead? Any lovely meal plans?

Things are going well, thank you. I wasn't too careful about calories over the weekend but not drinking alcohol gave some space for having extra food and being a bit more extravagant with food. That made the weekend feel a bit more 'weekend-y' without the need for booze. We made a cake which didn't rise at all but tasted amazing 😂

Not drinking over the weekend has been incredible. While I don't really drink that much anyway (couple of wines and a couple of spirits on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights), I still always go into Monday feeling sluggish. But today I feel properly rested and ready for the week ahead.

Exercise has been alright. I went kickboxing on Wednesday which was a good work-out but I just didn't find the time at the weekend for a home work-out. I need an extra class each week, I really struggle to be motivated to work-out at home. Last year, I did an absolutely fantastic boxing class for a while which was genuinely life-changing. But those classes stopped, I'm trying to pin the instructor down for personal training 😅

I weighed in today... 52.9kg (just under 8st 5lbs). That's 900g off since last Wednesday though some of that will be down to my period ending so I can't take all the credit. Still, heading in the right direction.

I’d like to join you. My goal this year is to lose 23lbs (1lb a week until my holiday at whitsun). I do the right things- calorie counting, I exercise every day (running, hiit classes, walk, yoga), trying to limit alcohol. But unless i cut carbs drastically I lose very slowly. I’ve had weeks of a plateau following an initial 9lb loss in January. I started at 169lbs and weighed in on Saturday at 160- determined to get below 160 this week!

i find running makes me so hungry, I have to be very careful not to eat way more than i burn. I have a very sweet tooth, but also successfully give up sugar periodically, and I’m currently trying to only drink on alternate weekends. I also find I do a lot better when I eat dairy free and cut out gluten- but again, this is hard to maintain.

Hello @thenewaveragebear1983 Welcome!

Massive congratulations on your initial 9lb loss over January, that's fantastic news!

And its great that you've been able to give up sugar for periods of time in the past.

A pound per week sounds really feasible - not a ridiculous amount but it'll get you to where you need to be.

I hear you about dairy and gluten being hard to cut out completely. I wonder if you could challenge yourself to two or three days a week without dairy and/or gluten? I mean rather than completely cut them out altogether which is hard to maintain.

@MCGrindah yes, cutting back definitely helps. I find the more dairy I eat, the more rubbish I eat overall. But I love cheese! Such dilemmas!

@MCGrindah sounds good about the alcohol-free weekend. Do you think you might do this regularly? I rarely drink, but often look forward to a small bottle of kopperberg cider. Had one bottle a few weeks ago, and it knocked me for six. I think it's my age!

Hello @thenewaveragebear1983 ahh cheese. I love my home-made pizza, but I have gallstones, and recently had an attack. Googled for diet help and discovered my favourites are all on the "avoid" list 😟Also ghee, cooking oils, olive oil, coconut etc.

Never mind. I'm much more comfortable after meals without red meat. Minimal pieces of shredded chicken in soup, etc, and quite a lot of fish.

And I'm down one pound, with looser jeans 😀

@FatLadyTriesAgain That's amazing that you're down a pound. Congratulations!

Yes, I would really like to do alcohol-free weekends regularly in the long-term. I'd really like to have alcohol-free weekends as the default setting and then weekends with a few bevvies as a treat every few weeks. I think this period of Lent will really help because it's showing me that I can have a great weekend without it being punctuated by a boozy Saturday night.

@MCGrindah I do a few alcohol free months a year, and I always feel so good - but eventually end up back where I started. Doing alternate weeks off is working for me quite well at the moment and certainly helps me keep to my calorie allowance better at the weekend, not adding 500-600 calories of wine! It’s hard though as I have no intention of being teetotal. But I definitely aspire to your suggestion of generally being alcohol free and occasionally drinking.

How’s everyone getting on?

it’s been a bit up/down here this week, but I have stuck to my calories every day (either loss calories or tdee calories on a couple of days)

what’s everyone planning to keep on track over the weekend? For me it’s tracking everything, planning my meals, getting lots of water in and trying not to drink, or at least only drinking one night not both.

Beat me to it @thenewaveragebear1983 I was just logging on to ask the same thing 😅😅

I think I've been quite good this week.

I've been under my calories every day by different amounts.

I went kickboxing on Wednesday and worked hard as hell because it was belt assessments so I had to impress the assessor 😇
But I haven't done any other exercise. Ooops. I am walking to the hairdressers later today though (about a mile total). So, that's something, right?!?!

For the weekend, I plan to stick to eating under 2K calories, not drinking and no meat. I'd like to fit in a home work-out but my arms are dead from Wednesday night so that's not likely to happen.

Tonight we have vegetable pizza and salad
Tomorrow is sea bass, salsa verde, roasted garlic and fresh bread
Sunday is vegetarian sausages, mash and vegetables

Next week is going to be a bit of a killer. I'm out for a work dinner on Monday night, then I'm staying in a hotel with breakfast included, then I have a work lunch on Tuesday. I'll be as good as possible. I definitely won't drink but calories will be slightly harder to control.

I plan to weight myself on Monday and hope for a few grams lost.

I was down another pound this morning, probably due to stress and not eating properly yesterday. I need to resist the temptation to think this loss means I can overeat this weekend.

I would love to join you all if I may....appreciate I'm a bit late to the lent party! Needing to lose quite a bit now following some surgery at the back end of last year. I'm 175lbs and keen to make a bit of a dent in it as part of lent commitment to give up lying on the sofa so much and giving up treating my self like I should always come last!

I'm planning on walking a lot, exercising at least 4 times a week and focussing on including a lot more veg!

Hope everyone is ready for a fab weekend 😀

Hello and welcome, @Valhalla17

@MCGrindah your food and exercise sound brilliant. Do your best this coming week.

All-in-all, it hasn't been a bad weekend. It's strange that cutting out red meat and processed meat has made such a difference. I feel lighter, less foggy, and don't crave sugar in the same way. I've noticed in the past that meat and sugar go hand-in-hand for me, although I've never known why.

I added some chicken to my soup this lunchtime, then wondered why, as it was just as good with only veg. I've been looking at food plans for gallstones, and scrolling through some lovely veggie and vegan recipe websites. I hope to combine the two goals and increase salad and veg this week.

I had a good day Saturday but yesterday I totally lost the plot and ate far, far too much. I did count my calories but it was way above my tdee. I had a tooth out on Friday and all weekend I have been in a lot of pain, and feeling very very sorry for myself, I think this just came to a head somewhat combined with a bit of anxiety about starting my new job today. So I dealt with it the only way we know how….

anyway, a new week. I weighed on Saturday and I had stayed the same, so I am really focussed on a loss, any loss, this week. My strategy is always the same, get the basics in first (exercise, water, vitamins, sleep) and plan my meals carefully. Shopping order coming tonight.

my food today will be porridge this morning, then lunch is provided on my induction day (I’m guessing it will be sandwich, crisps, cake, fruit…), then dinner for the family is lasagne but for me I have a homemade rustic chicken lemon and tarragon soup (a la Nigella) so assuming I actually stick to this I can have a decent day. I would like to exercise tonight but realistically, my mouth is still bleeding and is very tender, I don’t think a run is a good idea. I may stick a podcast on and go for a walk this evening.

@FatLadyTriesAgain that’s really interesting about your link between meat and cravings. It’s not uncommon to be affected by preservatives and especially processed meat (even good quality) will be treated with nitrates and other things because meat doesn’t keep well. I have in the past done paleo reset type diets like whole30 and while they don’t cut out meat, the biggest thing I notice when I cut out dairy and food preservatives is the brain fog lifts and I get this real clarity and energy.
I am gearing myself up for another go at it to be honest, I feel very sluggish and foggy at the moment!

I like the idea of weight loss buddies but OP why do you need to lose weight when you weigh 8:5, that doesn’t sound a lot to start with?

Welcome @Valhalla17

@thenewaveragebear1983 I hope your new job goes well today. And sorry you've had a rough time with your tooth out. Do your best.

@FatLadyTriesAgain I'm really pleased that you're enjoying not eating meat. I think we're far to wedded to the idea that we have to eat meat every day, that a meal isn't a meal without meat. It's strange. I'm not an anthropologist but I'm also not convinced that its natural for humans to eat meat every day of their lives. My FIL eats meat three meals a day. I'm just not convinced humans have evolved to eat meat that regularly in those quantities. But this is an entirely lay opinion 😅

The weekend went okay for me. I was under my calories each day. No meat. No alcohol. But then I forgot to weigh myself this morning because the dog's not well so my brain was elsewhere.

I might avoid a weigh-in this week because I've got two lunches and a dinner out. Even if I don't put any weight on, that amount of food will lie heavy for a few days.

@Temporaryname158 I don't usually tend to go by weight because the same weight can mean different things on different people. But I'm chubby and I want to lose some of that chub. And weight is a good way to see progress, its a tangible way to measure it.

How tall are you?