LOSE IT! September 2023🍁Autumn Edition🍁

[TheRealHousewife]

Schools are returning, most holidays are over and Autumn is fast approaching; A perfect time to re-set the mind, outline goals and affirm intentions. There is definitely a cool nip in the air!

Another new month to initiate a fresh start to become a healthier version of yourself. These threads are for those who’d like to stay healthy, lose weight as well as those who wish to maintain; to encourage a healthy & varied diet and to exercise.

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 3lb. I had a blip a couple of years ago when my thyroid went wonky but now back (mainly) on track. I Would love to wave bye to another half a stone 😬 The main thing is to never give up! Keep going!

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

PS - Positive thought:- If you were to lose on average a 1lb per week you’ll be at least a stone lighter by Christmas 🎄

For those interested in Fast800 they currently have 30% off (I’m not affiliated)

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Good morning! Happy Saturday! How frustrating is it that the summer weather seems to be finally hitting, just as the kids go back to school?!

Anyway, yesterday was ok. Had nandos for lunch (last day of hols 👀) and was so bloated by the time I needed to eat for my shift I could only manage a cup-a-soup. I did have a small plate of chips midway through the shift as I needed a boost, but I swerved the standard end-of-shift drink with the team at the end of the night.

Today is a social day, I'll hopefully be home in time to whip up a salad for lunch, but dinner is a pizza & sides buffet with friends, and some fizz. I'll be getting some steps in beforehand though as the garden needs a good tidy beforehand.

Has anyone got anything nice lined up for the last (or is it the first?! 🌞🙄) weekend of summer?

I'd love to loose a stone by Christmas, I've been managing 0.5-2lb a week so I hope its doable.

Good morning!
I also cannot believe it's going to be 27C on the first day back next week 🤦🏼‍♀️ answers my internal debate about whether to send him back in shorts or trousers at least.

We're heading away for the weekend - which will include a lovely meal out - so my plan is to thoroughly enjoy the meal, but not take piles of "hotel snacks" with us! Keep my calories for the good stuff. And also do plenty of city walking.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Steak w/ Watercress and Beef Toms for dinner last night (proud of myself for not diving into the chips or getting a Tesco Finest meal deal just for the pudding). Smoked salmon, spinach and scrambled egg for lunch.

DH works late shifts mostly he is in Wednesday/Thurs next week and is a big fan of pasta /pizza/risotto etc I'm thinking of the best way to adapt my meals without him suffering. He is quite physically so seems to thrive on carbs. I might make pasta amatraciana for one night but put my sauce on something else ...any ideas? I'm not necessarily a fan of pasta it's just convenient. Other night I thought I might do chicken w/chorizo with lentils. Its so much easier cooking for myself when I can be bothered.

Roast dinner tomorrow at MIL will have one roastie.

Hello! Please could I join too?

Not a huge amount to lose - want to go from 60kg back to my usual 54ish kg. Which is what I was for years, before having a baby.

The main thing I want to change is my horrible dependence on sugar. Constant sugary snacks through the day, and often wine/beer in the evening with crisps.

I have just started 16:8 and have cut out snacks between meals.

The first few days I had a headache from sugar withdrawal, but I'm amazed at how much better I feel now. Hadn't realised how bloated and sluggish all the sugar was making me feel.

I gave up alcohol at the start of August and will be continuing with that. This month is cutting out processed crap. Exercise from next month. I thought stacking changes more slowly would be a good idea for sustainability.

Anyway that's me 🙂 especially interested to hear about people's healthy meals and get some inspiration.

@ImALittlePea we are still away and have another week left. The weather has turned glorious after the rain last week. That said I don’t mind what the weather is when I’m at the coast although the sun is lovely.

Welcome to the thread @LivingDeadGirlUK . Depending on how much overall you have to lose I’d say a stone is very doable before Christmas 👍

Hi @LemonDrizzle23 enjoy your weekend away ☀️

Welcome to the thread @DearRose . You’ve certainly got the right idea stacking your changes. Avoiding/ eliminating added sugar foods is one of the most beneficial things you can do for you health markers, skin, energy levels as well as your weight. The sugars in fruits are balanced by their fibre content and tend to do more good than harm. I usually post my daily menus in a morning but as I’m away and generally eating out it difficult to plan ahead.

I’ve actually come back to the accommodation today as I’m under the weather and in quite a bit of pain with my back. Had some pain relief and going to try to sleep it off for an hour.

@TheRealHousewife ahh hope your back is better soon.

DP and I moved to the coast earlier this year and it's the best.

I've been dosing myself with sugar for the dopamine hit. Plus popping into the shop to get treats provides a dopamine hit in itself. I've known this for a year, but haven't stopped. Never binge eating, just a steady consumption of sugary stuff throughout the day.

I had a bit of a mental health...wobble... and decided it's time to make some changes. For my son, too.

What are health markers? 🙂

My new accurate scales arrived and I'm 2kg heavier than I thought. Crap.

@JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots its plant foods, so grains, pulses, nuts/seeds etc count, as well as fruit and veg. Even a few things like cocoa, miso, real coffee (not instant) and tea count as 1 each.
I add myself a bonus 1 for my homemade kimchi since it's so good for your guts being live.

Not dairy/meat/salt/oils etc.

I have hit my 50 different foods for the week, so pleased with that!

Feeling horribly strung out, softplay party, means terrible noise and socialising. Then cross at the stupid parking outside my house and ended up parked miles away. Ended up not eating great for dinner, but within calories for the day.

B: Miso mushrooms, fried eggs, 1 slice wholemeal toast
L: Canned salmon (rice free) poke bowl
D: 2 slices wholemeal toast with 100% peanuts butter and little bit jam

I need to drink more water today!

I've got jacket potatoes with bean chilli planned for dinner today. Was supposed to be batch cooking for the week but shopping not coming till tomorrow.

Half a pound off this week which is fine as I am ill and lost 4 lb in last 2 weeks and was expecting to put a little back on.

Morning all. 2 days of not eating after dinner in the evening. I've really wanted too especially as I made 2 loaves of bread yesterday and some bedtime toast would have been lovely. I've got poppy seed bread toast for breakfast this morning instead. Sadly no jam because we've run out. I've got loads of damsons and need to do something with them but not jam because the shooing is coming later and I've ordered my favourite damson jam.

We are going to the beach tomorrow and I'll be having a big ice cream cone on the beach. It will be our only beach visit if the dummer holidays due to the crap weather and train strikes so I'm going to enjoy it as much as possible and that means ice cream on the beach.

I'm just having a think about where I am and how I want ti do things from now on. My water intake has been better. It always is when it's warm. It's just so typical that the weather has gone lovely and sunny and warm ready for the first week back 🙄 I'm looking forward to the minimum 5/6 miles a day walking Monday-Friday. I wish Fitbit bingo was still a thing. I barely look at my Fitbit these days.

I am very bloated after all the lack of conforming to my usual eating plan summer. I'm hoping it will be gone by next weekend. I need to cut down on salt which will happen naturally with porridge for breakfast and yogurt for lunch. We had Mexican food last night so lots of salt compared to what I'd normally eat. There's been lots of popcorn and sweets this past week too. I'm really clamping down once the dc are back at school so we've been enjoying holiday mode as much as possible.

I've kept up with the nighttime skincare regime and am happy with that.

I've got several portions of homemade soup in the freezer and lots of vegetables in the fridge. I might make some damson and cherry crumble as well as apple crumble but fo it in individual portions so no option for seconds. Dd only likes apple crumble and ds doesn't like it at all but I'll keep trying as he used to like it. I need to be more organised for weekday meals. I don't like meals to be frozen apart from soup, pasta/pizza sauce and pizza dough. I used to freeze lasagne but it was never as nice once reheated. How does everyone manage healthy meals when time poor if you don't like frozen meals or leftovers?

Hope everyone has a great day and remembers plenty of 🍾 I've sliced limes and put them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. I'll do the same with lemons and then they can be added to water although I prefer mine plain and ice cold.

Morning! Happy Monday! This is me hitting the big reset button 🔘🤛

Back to a bit of normality and routine over here - youngest is at nursery and eldest back at school today. As of next week, I'll be working Monday lunchtimes but I marked myself as "unavailable" today 👀 as I just need one day of total peace and rest.

I'm just waiting to go into my exercise class, then it'll be home for shower and a long overdue lazy day on the sofa with a book and some TV to catch up on... ON MY OWN 🤪

I'm trying to work out some easy, hassle free and time friendly dinners as well @JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots... our new routine now means - on the busiest days - work 11-3, straight to school pick up at 3.15, home by 3.30, then nursery pick up at 4, and leave for work at 4.45. So we have to be sitting down to eat by around 4.20, but I won't be home until 4.10. It's really tricky!

Suggestions welcome for that one!!

Today:
Lunch - soft pitta with sweet chilli houmous, cheddar and salad
Dinner - not sure 🥴

Have a good one all 😄

I've been out today on my big walk. I have been building up to this walk for a few weeks. I wanted to walk 18km and get to and from the walk via public transport. I wanted to walk somewhere new. Anyway I made it! It was great. My legs are tired now and I'm sure they'll be tired tomorrow as well. It was lovely and sunny but not too hot.

Just done a circuit class not desperately trying to not eat until 12!!!! Way too much bread over the weekend so back on track this week 💪

Children back to school today! Now we have a mini-heatwave and I can't risk my sun allergy, that I just tamed down after getting a horrid reaction on holiday, coming back.

Went to Sainsbury's to get the cans of KTC spinach to make curry and discovered they don't stock it any more, nor do they do their own brand fruit pots any more for desserts I'm happy letting the girls eat daily. Everywhere is stopping them, Aldi did a while back, now Sainsbury. Even Cow and Gate stopped just fruit pots. Pouches are more expensive, not recyclable, and I don't like not seeing the fruit, had a bad one once and, urgh, never again.

Going to go for a short walk at pick up time, food is planned.
B: Black bean burrito
L: green beans, peppers, tomatoes, eggs
D: Spicy bean burger in sandwich thin, salad

@DownUdderer 18km is quite the stomp! Glad you managed to get it in before it got too hot.

Lots of sitting around in the garden with friends today - last days of freedom before school starts - so not many steps here. But food has been pretty good. Looking forward to chicken and peanut noodles tonight.

This weeks intentions are:

• Focus on protein
• Go for a swim after drop off at least once
• Indoor cycling session on Saturday
• Not eat well all day and then consume 500 cal of chocolate...

I’m massively overweight, so aiming to lose one pound weekly, maybe two, for the foreseeable future. It has to be a complete lifestyle change.

exercise is a wee bit limited. Mostly gardening.

Intermittent fasting, focussing on lots of salad and veg.

We’ve all just had covid, went down one after the other like dominoes. I succeeded in not eating any junk.

Well done on the big walk @DownUdderer and the circuits @Whereisthewine

Pretty good first day back 'on it' yesterday... Mostly. Dropped kids off, did my class, had lunch followed by a 50 minute walk with DH. Managed a chill for an hour before the pace picked up again, had dinner and went to work for a 4.5 hour shift. Was SO tired by the end of the day. Drank lots and lots of water. Meals:

Lunch - soft pitta, sweet chilli houmous, lots of veg, cheddar, followed by an apple
Dinner - mini roast potatoes, 2 x sausages, baked beans
Snack - handful of chips at work 🤦‍♀️ and a couple of fruitella sweets

So didn't quite stick to my "not eating the leftover goodies at work" rule but I didn't eat all of them for a change, and I did a huge amount of steps, so hopefully counterbalanced itself.

Today:
Lunch (well, brunch as at work at 11.30) - scrambled eggs and beans, followed by some fruit
Dinner - jacket potato with something (about to do a food shop 🤦‍♀️) and veggies

No shift tonight so once clubs are done I'll be settling down with one final cuppa for the night. Very much looking forward to that!

It's terribly hot, but I needed the emotional boost of a walk today. Went out by myself, with my music, walked at my speed, the distance I wanted!!

Done a bit of cleaning as the house is also a mess after the holidays, but making myself feel sick in the heat doing it, so just did the necessity of the toilet and sinks etc. A deep clean can wait for the cooler weather again.

B: Black Bean burrito
L: Peach Haricot bean curry
D: Pumpkin/almond/nutritionalyeast sauce on cauliflower (family has pasta too)(from What's Cooking Omari? my version of his Cosy Mac)

Hi, another newbie 👋 will weigh tomorrow but I'm about 86 and have at least 6kg to lose.
I've lost a couple already but need to be stricter with MFP. I also need to add more veg into my diet!

@OrangeSpicedBun I have pasta sauces over broccoli quite often. I steam it over the pasta, everybody gets a bit of broccoli as well as pasta and I just have most of it. Tonight I am doing cauliflower as I am making a pumpkin, almond and nutritional yeast sauce, so more like cauliflower cheese!

Hello! Just checking in after a fairly hectic couple of days including a job interview this afternoon (went fine but it's always hard to tell isn't it?). Had to leave in a rush after being on hold to the Dr for ages for DSs mystery nap so have actually only had a banana today 😬 but having a alcohol free beer and some crisps as a post-interview treat in a bit. As well as a veggie stew DP is making.

I'm thinking I might not drink ever again actually... I just think wine isn't the best for my MH. So it ought to be an easy decision! But it sometime feels like a big one. Anyone here given up alcohol for good?

Good work on all the healthy eating everyone 👍

Urgh, today got a little bit derailed by having to stay at work late, so not getting home in time to get planned dinner on 🤦‍♀️ all of a sudden we have such little time of an evening during the week to get things done. So we ended up having half a roasted veg pizza each and some frozen potato wedges.

The walk sounds lovely @WeirdPookah as does leaving the deep clean 😜

Welcome @Kazziek and other newbies - hopefully you find these threads as helpful and motivational as many of us have!

@DearRose everything crossed for the job interview! I do contemplate totally giving up alcohol occasionally, but honestly I doubt it'll happen. The majority of the year I don't drink at all during the week, and I'm much happier without it four or five nights a week, but being able to have some at weekends.

Actually just decided to check calories on the dinner we had... 1/2 pizza is 326 calories apparently, and the wedges about 200. So including dip, dinner would have been less than 600cals - so not too detailed after all. Have had a lot of water today as well, and will have another couple of glasses today at least. Feeling less 'urgh' now! 😁