⭐️LOSE IT! March 2023⭐️Get Ready for Spring Edition⭐️

[TheRealHousewife]

⭐️Open to previous members as well as new members⭐️

Spring is right around the corner so it’s time to embrace a 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

@AutisticLegoLover I love a graph and I think that brilliant depicts how well you have done. I like that it's not all straight down, there are tiny bumps but essentially it's down! Well done!

Scales are still showing tiny drops. I have realised though that with the hols, I won't be getting anywhere near the steps I usually do. Hoping I still maintain. I totally recommend the 2L water bottles though, they really force me to drink!

Hi @Hellenabe I struggle to consistently get the water in. I like your water bottle tip. When I’m on the ball I have a jug of water on the counter, usually with added mint, cucumber or sliced lemon. I believe that staying hydrated really does help in losing weight (as part of other measures).

Well done @AutisticLegoLover I really want to join you down in the 8s

I’m 9st 2 again. Had a week of being all over the place with diet, too much sugar from chocolate, and that has also caused digestion (constipation) issues, as well as a skin break out. I’m annoyed with myself for doing so well, and then getting so close to holiday and sabotaging myself again. I’ve got only a few days left now, and will be worrying about my skin clearing up on top of everything else.

I might not post now until I get back, but I’ll join you on the April thread. I echo the previous thanks to you all for support!

@TheRealHousewife yes it's those giant bottles on ebay for about 8 pounds. I think they work better for me than the 1L as they just sit there in a very obvious way to show me how little I've drunk! I'm pretty easily hitting the 2L mark whereas before it was hardly 500ml

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165948336758?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=yftyaym2s7e&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=1z9fdGTOQcS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=EMAI

Morning all, it's a beautiful day here although it will feel a short day with the clicks nonsense.
@SingaporeSlinky keep going, you can do it. Sudicrem always works wonders for spots for me. The usual lots of water will help.
@Hellenabe I wish I could like water from a reuses kể bottle but even the ones that claim to have no taint taste weird to me. I have to have my water ice cold from the tap. Im much better in summer because I get extra thirsty with all that walking in the heat and do take a drink with me on the school run in the afternoon. Ds needs a drink then too. We drink a litre by the the time we are halfway home on hot days.
@TheRealHousewife I'm thinking my increased water this week is what has made the difference and got the weight shifting.
@tulipsandteacups a maintenance day, you say? Hell yeah, that's a good idea! I had a chip barm for lunch yesterday and my calories ended up just over 1700 for the day so after reading your post I too declared a maintenance day. The 2 week Easter hills starts on Friday so I'm hoping that's not too disastrous for my weight. I'll be back to eating chocolate once it's Easter Sunday too and will be making Easter treats like my mini eggs cheesecake. I can't wait for some of that.
@Ninjachicken well done on getting back down!

Yesterday I got all my dresses out of the wardrobe along with some trousers. The dresses bar one are all a 12. Mostly from fat face but one from monsoon and one from seasalt. The seasalt is a 10. The monsoon one might not accommodate my boobs with a bra but otherwise it fits. I was a 34B when I got it and now a 32 or 34C. I wish I tried the smaller band size when I went last week. Anyway, the autumn/winter dresses were the tightest but gape due to being a wrap over style bodice bit but they were like that before. The one I bought 10 summers ago fits! I loved that summer. The best summer of my life. Separated from my abusive husband, madly in love with ds's dad (a rekindled romance from my teens) and finally had money to do things. I did so much with my daughters that summer and remember it as sunny and happy. The Seasalt one I bought off vinted last year and never fitted now fits beautifully. Two pairs of fat face size 10 trousers now fit. I've extended my wardrobe massively by losing this weight and am ridiculously happy about it 😃 I wish you all to have that feeling 🥰

I've ordered a water bottle! Thanks. I try to drink at work but I'm all over the place and it's just one more thing to remember. Hopefully this will make me remember!

ALegolover it's lovely to hear how happy you are. Well done.

It's the weekend, so feeling more positive. Saw my besties yesterday and had a slice of iced gingerbread over tea and a 3 hour catch up. First cake in weeks, so was lovely. Being cautious today to compensate. I figure that I can't totally deny myself everything. I'm hardly touching sugar at all, so was justified. It was worth the calories as was delicious: you know how some things after you eat them just aren't? I hate that!

Beautiful day here. DH away mountain biking, DS1 in Amsterdam (his first time 😱), DS2 in nail-biting rugby final with ex-DH coach on the sidelines in bits 😁, leaving DH3 and me pottering at home. I have masses of marking (secondary teacher for my sins) so I'll need to get started. Least it'll distract me from eating 😅.

Have a good day all.

Bonjour @TheRealHousewife yes I renewed my walk at home subscription :).
I really enjoy the app and watching it on my big tv (well big enough).
no advertisements.
the website is easy to navigate and reaching the account page to unsubscribe is easy should you change your mind but for me the best $69CAD spent (the USD is strong against our currency :( ).
i’m sure they have a free month trial.
all’s well over here, I plan to get on the scale tomorrow am.

@TheRealHousewife they have a series called easy start: 24 minute 1 mile and two two mile 35 minute videos which I’ve done on low energy days.
Leslie has retired and the young group that have taken over do okay most of the Leslie videos are available.
some nice features; brows workout by time, or by leader.
you can save favorite workouts. With so many to choose from this helps.
if you have any questions feel free to ask.
how “new” is your tv?

i took our two dogs (tibetian spaniel and airedale) on their first “hike” of the year.
they ran and looked so happy! But the airedale barely moved the rest of the day, I checked to ensure I didn’t kill him 3 times. Dh gave him two baby asa before bed, he was really really struggling. The walk I chose was flat grassland :(

Afternoon (evening?) all!

I'm very much burying my head in the sand about calories consumed this weekend 😬 DH and I had our night away, went to a local city and visited a few bars and Italian restaurant. We ended up dancing the night away in quite a grimy pub, it was so much fun!! Given we were really not in a good place just five or six weeks ago, it was very much needed and has really helped our relationship. I clocked up about 12000 steps before we went out (and I took my Garmin off when we got ready at the hotel) so that plus the dancing will have limited the damage a tiny bit. I ended up borrowing some clothes from my sister, fitting v.comfortably into the small or size 10s now!

Well done to those trying on old or target clothes. It's nice to see the progress isn't it! I'm going to try and have a proper trying on session this week. Have downloaded Vinted today to try and find some new pieces for the wardrobe, I never spend loads on clothes anyway (very much a supermarket/high street shopper) but if I'm in the business of properly sizing down now I've got to stretch my funds as far as possible.

I've had some lovely compliments over the last few days, people beginning to see a difference. The exercise class and being on my feet back at work are clearly making a big difference to my shape, even if the scales aren't moving as much!

Well done on clearing into a new stone bracket @AutisticLegoLover I don't think I'd ever get close to the 8s, but the 9s suit me just fine 🤩 and well done on maintaining while enjoying your holiday @TheRealHousewife that's certainly no mean feat and stands you in good stead moving forward! I feel like there are more high fives to go around but I can't remember who 🤦‍♀️ sorry!

This week I'm going to try and be as focused as possible. Tomorrow is super busy, class, routine hospital appointment for one of the kids, and lunch with a friend - will avoid bread if I can - followed by a theatre trip. Hopefully I won't be sick all night this time 🤞😅 I need to seriously up the water if I'm going to undo the excesses of the weekend!!

Anyway, that's my Sunday night ramblings. Have a lovely evening everyone, bring on the last week of March!! WE'VE GOT THIS 💪🫶

Ahh, lovely to catch up on everyone's fun and shrinkages! And dancing Pea ? Sounds as though you are oozing happiness too - hurray.

I matched you on cake today Puff and delicious it was. Other than that I've been pretty good this weekend, although the scales did say slightly otherwise. But my average is now about 11 1 so going down slowly. Will be even slower after the cake. But it was post-run and then long walk treat with my friend. 23k steps for the day. Stark contrast to yesterday - 5k.

B - yoghurt & blueberries, and cold sweet potato (not a great combo but starving after my run & needed something more solid)
S - cake
Late Lunch - chicken kiev, cabbage, carrots, baked sweet potato
D - not much. Hope my not much doesn't involve picking . Maybe hummus & some oat cakes & crudités.

Looking forward to an early night. This clock business throws me every year. But at least the clock in the car is right now!

Morning all. I am so tired this morning after being totally out of sync with the clocks. It was so cold this morning too. I didn't have the heating on at all yesterday and I woke up with a cold arm and a cold nose.
This week my mission is to sort out my constipation. I am going to go back to having raspberries and strawberries at lunch but not in my Greek yogurt. I'll have them in a separate bowl. Lactulose and lots of water isn't doing the trick so I'll have to resort to dynamite 😬
I can't remember if anyone weighs on a Monday but if you do then fingers crossed for a loss.
Have a great start to the week and don't forget to keep your water bottle intake up. Is this🧂 supposed to be a water bottle? My screen is too small to tell and my glasses upstairs.

I think it's a salt cellar

Good Morning Everyone

Thank you for the link @Hellenabe 👍That’s thoughtful of you.

Have a fabulous holiday @SingaporeSlinky ! See you in April 😮

@AutisticLegoLover Im sure the water did! Keep glugging 💧 Well done on sizing down; getting all svelte and the clothes feeling swishy around us (rather than snug) is the best feeling. 🥳 Re:- Being constipated; have you tried probiotics? Sometimes our internal bacteria gets out of whack and getting some harmony in there (as well as some fibre/liquid that you’re already doing) might smooth things out. 👍

@Puffalicious Sounds like an idyllic day (apart from the marking! Teachers are hero’s!)

@greenspaces4peace Waving I think I’m going to invest in the app/subscription as I need to mix it up a bit. The YouTube vids are getting a bit stale. So sorry to hear one of your beloved pets was struggling. It’s so difficult, especially when they can’t tell us what’s wrong/what hurts etc. Hope he soon recovers! PS the photo you posted is stunning!

@ImALittlePea You night away with your dh sounds so romantic and exciting! Well deserved too! Pleased to read you’re moving forward and things have improved. Congrats on getting into your 10s 🥳

@buzzofthebumblebee 23k steps is awesome! Well done!

Menu
Meal 1 - Minestrone Soup. Cashew nuts.
Meal 2 - Spicy chilli and cauli rice. Sugar free jelly, strawberries and a spoon of fresh cream.
Tea, black coffee and water.

Exercise
Session 1 - Stretching/yoga
Session 2 - Walk.

@AutisticLegoLover 🧂< Yes it’s salt but we know what you mean 😬

When I searched water bottle in the emoji bar I got this >🐬🐬🐬😅

🍶🍼 These are my two options for bottle emojis, neither of which were what AutisticLegoLover meant, I think! 😁

The baby and I have been absolutely wrecked by the clocks changing! It was a tough night but she's off at nursery now and I'm catching up with housework after being away with family this weekend.

As I get older, I really notice the difference when I don't drink enough water. It affects everything from digestion to mood to sleep. One thing that helps is if I fancy a tea or coffee, I have a glass of water first. Sometimes I then don't want the tea any more, but if I do, I've staved off the diuretic properties of the caffeine a bit.

Breakfast - coffee, tuna sandwich, protein ball

Snack - dying for a doughnut with another coffee. Might have one just to avoid obsessing later in the day

Lunch - ryvita x2, chopped carrots, houmous, banana, apple (need more fibre today!)

Snack - tea and maybe some tortilla chips or more fruit. Very active few days and I'm hungry!

Dinner - sausage and veg pasta

Happy Monday all!

@Cloudberries123 The clocks moving wreck havoc with our Circadian rhythms. The shift really does put us all into a degree of jet lag. Hopefully the little one will soon settle. I like your tip of drinking water prior to reaching for a cuppa👍

Thanks RealHousewife

An update - I didn't go and buy a doughnut 😆 I stayed at home doing more cleaning and am now having tea and early lunch. Boring but effective!

Hello All,
Just checking in, have not been doing great health wise so fell off the dieting wagon. I seem to have gained 2kg in the last 10 days which has really got me down.
Hoping to have the final test results in a few weeks, the doctor is pretty sure it is nothing at all serious but we won't know for sure until the labs are returned. I have very much been eating my anxiety.
Anyway I hope everyone is doing well! I am really going to try and be back with you all fully and actually loosing weight in April!
I gave away a lot of my now to big clothes last week and also looked back at pictures of myself from 12 months ago to try and engrain into myself that I 100% do not want to go back to that weight.

@TheRealHousewife the airedale did fine on Sunday’s walk and today as well. So I presume just stiffness vs arthritis.
I’m pleased with this am’s weigh in and hoping the downward trend continues.

I am shattered tonight. 14 miles walked and 200 calories over my goal but AF has arrived 6 days early which explains the need for sugar the last few days and extra hunger. I got less than 5 hours sleep last night and have a sore throat again so I'm off to bed. Sending strength to those who need it, we will be here when you're ready. I'm not stressing those extra 200 calories, not after 14 miles of walking. A maintenance day again I think 😁

Feeling ready to do a 'what I've eaten today' post.
Breakfast: grapes, Greek yogurt, 3
walnuts
Lunch: fish stew (includes small amount of rice) leftover from last night, apple
Dinner: beef burger on brown roll with a few chips, guacamole & salad
Snacks: satsuma, 6 mini eggs
Drinks: 1 coffee, water, black tea, fruit tea.

In awe of you @Bikechic - 6 mini eggs. 6? only 6? Self restraint of a saint. Rest of food good too.

OMG - and I missed your 14 miles too @AutisticLegoLover. You were literally on your feet all day. Hope you sleep well and wake up feeling a bit better tomorrow.

Yesterday's menu:
1 boiled egg + matcha latte for breakfast
Courgette omelette for lunch
Chicken soup with cold meat for dinner

No snacks as I lose weight when I stop snacking between meals.