Diet for Christmas Challenge 2023

[bigdecisionstomake]

This is a continuation of the Diet for Christmas Challenge thread started by @OhFatty in 2022 and the Diet for Summer Challenge thread started by @Dashel earlier this year. Thank you to them both.

It is open to everyone, whether you have a lot to lose, just a small amount to go or you're at target but facing the enormous challenge of maintaining your loss ongoing.

It is a thread for positivity, support, cheering each other on and the very occasional kick up the bum if and when requested.

Hopefully previous members of both threads will join us again and new members are always welcome.

Hi @bigdecisionstomake , congrats on dropping the weight. Sorry to hear your so busy, or do you prefer it that way? I got some crumpets in my last shop, but would you believe I forgot to eat them?!!! lol
Sorry you've got covid @LaBelleSauvage123 . I hope you recover soon.
Congrats on the weight loss @ilovetea14 !
Good luck with the run @Farfarfarfarfaraway .
Good luck @ItsTapasTime , for the health aspect, and getting back into your clothes.
I weighed today and very surprisingly lost 3lbs! Will be sticking to soup all week again. If I lose any more weight I will be the lowest weight I have been for at least 16 years! (I remember it will be that long as I didn't have my photo taken with my then baby niece as I thought I was too fat. )
Good luck everyone, have a great weekend.

Decided to stick to Saturday weigh ins.
This morning I’m
10st 11lb

my SW was 11st 6lb

i’m hoping I can stick to it! I’m reading Dr Michael Mosleys book fast 800. I’m not eating after 6pm Sunday - Thursday.

Morning all

Can't believe it's Sunday already...(or October come to that!)

Sorry to hear about the Covid @LaBelleSauvage123 take it easy and hopefully you'll be fighting fit in the meantime. All joking aside, I think when your body is fighting an infection you can put a little weight on initially. Usually that balances out as your body works harder (burning more calories) fighting the infection. Get well soon 🤒

Amazing result @ilovetea14 3lbs is huge - well done 👏Just goes to show you can not be perfect all the time but still have a good loss. Keep up the good work!

I totally agree @Farfarfarfarfaraway slow and steady wins the race. If you lose it slowly you'll have a better chance of keeping it off as the new habits start to get ingrained after a while. Your prawn curry sounds delicious, I'm definitely getting some new food ideas from this thread, it's easy to get stuck in a rut food wise so great to have some inspiration for new things to try.

@ItsTapasTime welcome to the thread! I can completely relate to the whole starting off with good intentions then slowly losing focus and putting the weight back on (usually just a bit more than you lost) and also the having clothes in your wardrobe you can't fit into. I used the Diet for Summer Challenge thread to get really close but am still not quite there yet and have some clothes I love that I would dearly like to be able to comfortably wear again. Hope this thread is one you can stick with - let us know how you're getting on 🙂

Thanks @Openmouthinsertfood it's good to see my weight moving in the right direction again 😊Crumpets are never forgotten about in my house - they are the food of the gods (with Marmite of course...) I will be having some more very shortly! Doing a happy dance for you for the 3lb loss - well done, that's an awesome result 🙌Incredible to be so close to breaking through into a weight you haven't been for a long time, that's hugely inspirational. I'm crossing everything for you to be there next week 🤗

@Createausernameargh another amazing result and you've broken through into the next stone bracket - whoop whoop - well done that's fabulous work! Let us know if the Fast 800 book is any good - if you're following it now it certainly seems to be working!

Great to see so many losses on the thread this week - well done to everyone, even those with a STS. STS is better than a gain in anyone's book and sometimes you can be in calorie deficit but still not have a loss - (been there, done that and got the T-Shirt) our bodies are funny things. If you had a gain then dust yourself off, put it behind you and accept that sometimes life gets in the way and that's ok. Tomorrow is a new week.

I tend to weigh in on a Sunday officially (although I am a daily weigher in the interim). I started the week at 10st 4.6lb and am now 10st 1.4lb - a loss of 3.2lb. I am under no illusion however that a good part of that was initial water weight. I'm not expecting my rate of loss to be anything like that moving forwards but if I can hit between 0.5lb and 1lb a week I'll be happy.

I'm surprised my weight held at 10st 1.4lb to be honest as I went off plan a fair bit yesterday culminating in two glasses of wine with my evening meal which I didn't have the calories for. There was also a crisp related snackcident in the afternoon which was not calorie counted either. Today is a new day however so hopefully I can be a bit more restrained.....

Have a good Sunday everyone.

Can I join please I need a kick up the the bum!

Im 5’9
CW: 95kg
Christmas Goal W: 90kg
Overall goal W: 80-85kg

Well done for all the losses everyone! I’m feeling a bit disheartened today as it seems to be very slow for me here. I feel like I’ve cut out so many treats and it’s frustrating that I’m not making as much progress as I hoped! I’ve also had constant colds for the last couple of weeks which doesn’t help. I’m determined to stick with it though. When I started, my weight had got to 11 stone 10 and probably still gaining which looks very heavy on me so the fact that I’m down 6 pounds from that and maintaining is still a win! Good luck everyone. I’m aiming to try and make some better lunches/dinners next week to try and make me feel more satisfied rather than anything easy and processed! X

Can I join you all, please?

I’m 53 and have been slowly getting heavier. In my 20s I was 8 stone. In my 30s 9 stone. In my 40s 10 stone and you’ve guessed it, I am now 11stone in my 50s.

I’m a shorty and fed up of my clothes not fitting and feeling tired all the time.

I would love to be 10st by Christmas, but happy with 10st 7.

My plan for this week is to:
meal plan
No alcohol
Fast for 19 hours and eat in a 5 hour window
smaller portions than usual

Hopefully I’ll feel less sluggish even if my weight doesn’t change!

Morning, can I join please?
I'm early 40’s and the heaviest I’ve been (other than when pregnant!)

Height 5’6
CW 11st
GW 10st

If I could get to 10.5st by Christmas I’d be happy in all honesty! I’ve been losing and gaining the same few lbs since the start of the year. My metabolism has definitely slowed down over the past couple of years (I was 9.5st in my thirties) and it’s starting to get me down

I’m going for a stone

Cograts on the 3.2lb off @bigdecisionstomake ! 😀Good luck for this week. I have snackcidents too. lol Mind you, I was having another hypo yesterday and grabbed a couple of chocolate bars out the kitchen cupboard for it. Then I went back for more..a couple of times because it was like, 'I've f**ked it up now...' However, I did manage stop myself going back again. I told myself along the lines of damage limitation. I can't remember the last time 'voluntary' gave up a binge. I usually just stuff and stuff till I'm satisfied and full, so I'm taking that as a big win.
Hi Boredatwork1234, welcome.
Hi Tiredbarbie I'm sorry it's going so slow for you, but it sounds like you've got this! Well done on your weight loss so far, and good luck with the UPF withdrawl.
Hi Bloodylovetelly and good luck to you too.
Hi LBB2020, we're aiming for the same weight. I'm 5' 6.5 (Gotta remember the half! ) too. I'm hopefully going to see 10st something in a few weeks, can't wait. That'll be my lowest weight for over 20 years!
Hi Secretboringsister, good luck with your goal.
I've been watching Revenge Body with Khloe Kardashian, it's been repeated on E! I've seen them all before but love watching them! (Also available on Amazon Prime.) I also watch I Used To Be Fat (MTV) and My 600lb Life. I love watching diet/weight loss shows. I've watched all the 1000lb Sisters, 1000lb Friends, etc. Spurs me on, apart from the beginning of My 600lb Life when they are eating all that lovely food. Makes me want to eat too! lol

Wow well done everyone there’s some great losses on here. This weekend was all about damage limitation😁. It was my MIL birthday yesterday, so it involved a pub roast and dessert, but I did so a Pilates YouTube on Saturday - and tried to make good choices the rest of the time. No weigh in today, will do one tomorrow!

Ok. Start of the week and starting day for me.
I went a bit overboard over the weekend, (pub lunch, puddings, etc), so probably over 11.7.
Today I’m starting 5:2. It worked many years ago. It will be interesting to see if it works on post menopausal me.

Morning all

Not sure if I'm happy to see Monday, the weekend has flown by again....

Welcome to the thread @Boredatwork1234 happy to supply kicks up the bum whenever required! Your targets both sound achievable and realistic, have you got a plan you're going to follow to get there?

Sorry you're a bit disheartened @Tiredbarbie but great that you can balance that by realising how far you've come to get to this point. Small changes often help kickstart weightloss again so tweaking your lunch/dinner menu should help. Plateaus happen sometimes, often in my case for no discernable reason. The only thing you can do is not drown your sorrows in chocolate hobnobs and just keep at it - we're all here cheering you on 🤗

@Bloodylovetelly welcome to the thread. I'm a similar age to you (54 about to be 55) and it definitely gets harder the older you are - but it's not impossible. Your plan sounds great, portion size is so important. I generally don't eat 'diet' foods but just try to eat a little less of my normal diet and cut out the unhealthy snacks. It makes for slow but steady progress which I think is the best kind. Best of luck with it all and keep us posted on your progress.

Glad to have you join us @LBB2020 one of the joys of aging is the slowing of the metabolism - it's great fun getting old isn't it! You'll find however that you don't need to eat as much to stay satiated though - but sometimes that message gets lost in translation when you're used to eating bigger portions.

Welcome @Secretboringsister what's your plan for losing a stone? Let us know a bit more about yourself and what changes you're going to make 🙂

Aaah, thanks @Openmouthinsertfood I need to not get carried away with that number though - it sounds like a big loss but it really isn't in terms of fat, which is what counts 🙄Glad I'm not the only one who has snackcidents....but yes, a great win that you didn't go back to the cupboard again - well done. Small wins all add up.

Good luck with your weigh in today @Farfarfarfarfaraway sounds like you've had a challenging weekend diet wise!

@ItsTapasTime Good luck with the 5:2. I struggle with intermittent fasting, I find the hunger really distracting. My friend had amazing results with it though and lost a couple of stone quite quickly so I think it really does work if you can stick to it. Let us know how you get on.

I had a good day food and activity wise yesterday but the scales have resolutely stuck at 10st 1.4lb this morning. I would dearly love to be back in the 9s by the end of the month and hopefully that's achievable if I can stay focused.

Have good days all.

Is it possible for weight to fluctuate 2lb? Feeling really stressed with work and I’m upset that this morning I’m 10st 13lb when I was 10st 11lb on Saturday… :( I’m feeling a bit fed up today and I desperately want to eat a bit dinner tonight and drink wine… how to not?!

@Createausernameargh sorry to hear you're really stressed and that you've had a gain.

It is very possible to put on 2lbs in 2 days but it won't be actual fat it will be due to water. You would need to eat an excess of 7000 calories for it to be fat gain and that would be no mean feat in 2 days.

Eating carbs is one thing that does it for me. If I remember correctly each 1g of carbs needs 5g of water to store it in so if you've eaten fairly low carb for a few days then have a higher than usual carb intake your body will hold on to a lot of additional fluid to store the excess carbs. This can easily account for a 2-3 pound gain and explains why we sometimes feel a bit bloated after pasta or pizza etc... It will go again as quickly as it came if you reduce your carb intake a little.

The other thing that does it for me is glycogen (which I think is broadly the same process as above). Glycogen is where your body stores it's energy resources for when you run out of immediately available energy from the food you've recently eaten. This is stored in water. If I work out for several days on the trot and weigh in, then have a couple of days with no exercise at all then even if I eat at maintenance calories I will put on a couple of pounds, sometimes even 3 or 4 as my body takes the opportunity to build up my glycogen stores again. Once I start exercising again those 2/3/4 pounds will drop off again in a few days as the energy store depletes with regular exercise.

A combination of the above is why even though I've only eaten a deficit that should have resulted in a 0.5lb to 1lb loss last week I've actually lost 3.5lb - because almost everything I've lost is water rather than fat as I've eaten less carbs and exercised more.

Lastly I think there is also some evidence that raised cortisol levels from stress can make your body hold onto weight/energy, based on the old fight or flight principle, both of which require immediately available energy.

To add a disclaimer - I'm not a scientist nor qualified in any way but I've been interested in health and fitness for 30 years now and have gradually worked out a bit about why my body works the way it does.

Hope that helps you to decide whether you can afford the glass of wine and a big dinner tonight!

Either way, we're all here to give you a cheer if you abstain or help you get back on the wagon tomorrow if you give in tonight 🤗

thank you so much for taking the time to reply @bigdecisionstomake I just ate a fairly healthy root vegetable stew. I’m abstaining from that wine so far… I still have to get my dd to bed. I think to see the gain after being in a calorie deficit plus no bread/pasta/rice for 3 weeks felt a bit rubbish! Hopefully as you say it’s water gain..

I'd like to join please. I intended to lose some weight this summer but, um, well, I didn't. My back and knees really hurt these days and I'm holding off going to the doctor because the first thing they'll say is 'lose some weight'. I'd also like to fit comfortably into last year's winter clothes and not have massive flabby arms in my pictures with my little nephew this Christmas. I have such a crappy immune system too, I feel like eating more healthily can only do it good.

So, I'm 5'6''
Current weight: 12.9
Goal weight: 11.6

I intend to just spend this week 'detoxing' by not eating crap, and trying to cut back on my usual portion sizes. I won't start counting calories til next week. At the moment I'm walking for about an hour a day 4 times a week, but I'd like to start doing some workouts too. Watch this space!

Hello everyone,

I gained 1lb as I’ve been on holiday🫣 - but I had a fantastic time and now that I’m back I’m ready for this! 💪

Current weight 14.5st
First Goal 13.4st
UltimateGoal 10st-9.7st

At the moment I’m following a few basic rules that I will tweak as I go - with a goal of feeling great and weight loss.

1. I calorie count everything on the nhs weight loss app.
2. I am sticking with 1400cals a day at the most, but averaging it out over the week so that if I have a bad day, I can balance it out with a couple of good days - if that makes sense.
3. I try to swap out bad things for better, less processed things. So popcorn instead of crisps. Fruit instead of cereal etc.

Also, due to work commitments I weigh in once every eight days, I hope that’s ok.

wishing everyone luck with their goals 🎊

Dunno if it's this cold I've got (dragging on now!) or if it's the dark mornings but I'm really struggling to wake up!
I have done standing pirates this morning which was good (slightly harder than I expected).
I need the motivation of summer back 😁🤦‍♀️

Morning all

You're very welcome @Createausernameargh your root vegetable stew sounds nourishing and healthy (very autumnal too!) Hope you continued to manage to abstain from the wine but if not then try and re-set today. Hopefully your weight will level out a bit - I totally get that the fluctuations can be really de-motivating on a daily basis though.

Welcome to the thread @SnuggleBuggleBoo a week of cutting out the rubbish before starting counting calories next week sounds like a great idea. I am a big fan of easing yourself in gently rather than rushing in with a strict regime all of a sudden. I really focus on portion control too as I find by serving a bit less (particularly in the evening) I don't miss the extra and am still full. Hope all goes to plan for you 🙂

Welcome back @LostNoMore hope you had a great holiday and a 1lb gain is really good if you've been away. I love your plan, it sounds like a really sensible and healthy approach. Tweaking as you go is really important - if something isn't working then change it. Good luck with it and keep us posted on your progress 🙂

Morning @Gemzee the dark mornings are doing it to me too - I was hoping to have started some weights again by now but can't find the motivation. For me it's partly work stresses again rather than a cold but the dark mornings definitely aren't helping. Not sure what the answer is but for the moment I'm giving myself a bit of a break on the workout front and sticking with gentle cardio. We need @Dashel for some workout motivation! Hope you find your workout mojo again soon and if mine is with it please can I have it back 😂

I have had (another) STS this morning at 10st 1.4lb. A bit frustrating but not unexpected after the big loss last week and to be honest I'm happy with slow steady progress while work is pretty stressful.

Have good days all.

Just chipping in to say eating 1400 calories per day is working. I'm losing 1kg per week, which is awesome. I'll admit to being a little bored, but trying to focus on the small goals in front of me and relish the weightloss more than temptation.

Aww @bigdecisionstomake , that was really nice of you explaining that to @Createausernameargh . I found it useful too, as I'm sure any others reading will. (I hope the work situation resolves itself. Cardio will help blast some of that stress away I hope?)

Good luck @Createausernameargh ! Keep posting while the urge to eat is there, hopefully we can distract you. I hope yesterday went how you wanted it to?

I think we all need to find that one quote/bit of advice/etc to help us out. I remember reading, and it's stuck with me, that time is going to pass anyway so how do you want to use that time? (Ie, diet and end up with good results, or fall off the wagon and be disappointed.) I did that in actuality at the end of August/early September, I read all this rubbish on these boards about diet fatigue, weight set points, etc and took it all in. Really messed up my dieting efforts and mind and went off the rails for a couple of weeks. Got my head back together in September and lost a pound in the week following. At the end of September, I was only a pound under what I was in mid August! All that work and termoil and I hadn't really got anywhere! Mind you, I looked on it as a teaching lesson and going back to 'How do you want to use this time?' I have mostly stuck to my diet since (I'm not perfect! lol Have the odd hiccup but the majority of time I'm doing good.) so I am not disappointed. Hope I've managed to explain that properly, and hope it helps someone too.

Hi @SnuggleBuggleBoo , I hope your pictures with your nephew come out lovely. Good luck this week, sounds like a good plan.

@LostNoMore Only 1lb weight gain after a holiday is amazing! well done you! I stick to roughly 1400 cals a day too.

Hi @Gemzee Standing pirates?! lol Do you mean pilates? I've never tried that but it looks really tough! Looks like it would work though. I have the opposite problem with sleep, I find it really hard to nod off. Sunday/Monday night I had 20 mins sleep all night! Slept well last night because of it though. Good luck with your cold clearing up too.
Hi @Yocal I'm on 1400 cals a day too. I mange to sneak in a cheeky protein bar on that daily too, can you save some cals for a treat so it's not so boring? Good luck but it sounds like you are doing A OK anyway.

@Openmouthinsertfood LOL yes pilates!! Omg didn't spot that!! I do Team Body Project workouts, it was one of theirs that I thought looked quite tame but it certainly activated my muscles.

I'm just really struggling with maintaining, I'm fully into self sabotage mode! (As well as having no energy/feeling so tired).
This is the longest I've maintained my weight & I was bound to have a wobble at some point - hoping I can get back on track & lose a pound this week.

Aww, standing pirates sounds like more fun! lol
ooh, I seem to always self sabotage the night/day before I weigh. I don't know why?! (Maybe managing expectations as if it's a high reading I won't be so disappointed?) Do you know your triggers, or is it just random? I'm not surprised you want high energy food if you're feeling rubbish. Hopefully you'll get a good nights sleep and feel better in the morning. Good luck with the 1lb, I'm sure you'll do it!

Aw thank you for the messages! I did abstain from wine last night 🎉 very proud of myself!

and today as I’m mostly very low carb / Keto I swapped cows milk for pea protein milk in my latte.. I hadn’t realised that cows milk isn’t a keto food. It was actually quite nice. Just ate lunch today (not the most healthy - artisan sausage roll and some cashew nuts). Really craving wine though - it’s been a very long work day…

@Createausernameargh Well done on swerving the wine last night! 👋I hope you managed tonight too. I always get my worst cravings at night, anybody else?
I've been drinking soya milk since the 90's. Was so expensive then, Almost £3.00 for a carton! I've never tried pea protein milk. I know you said it tastes nice, but I can't help thinking it would taste of peas! lol Imagine that with your cornflakes, lol.