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.

Morning all

Great news @Yocal that you're losing 1kg a week, that's a brilliant achievement. In old money it's 2.2lbs and more than I could ever do regularly. I imagine on that low a calorie allowance you would get a bit bored though as you'd need to be quite careful so you weren't hungry. Do you exercise? I try to gain around 250 calories a day by exercising to add to my allowance which means I can have a bit more variety in my diet. You need to find something that works for you though as some things can make you more hungry which defeats the object. Running does this for me so I tend to avoid it.

Glad it was useful @Openmouthinsertfood the more tips and tricks we can share the more successful we'll all be. It's a useful tip to think about how you want to spend your time too - my FIL is quite seriously ill currently and it's making me reconsider what I want to do with my time now and making the most of it as you never know what is round the corner. Thanks for all your encouragement 😊

@Gemzee thanks for the reminder about Team Body Project, I used to do their workouts a few years ago but had forgotten about them. I'm going to look them up to see if they can help me out of my exercise rut. We're all cheering you on to get back on track - maintenance is challenging 🙂

Abstaining form the wine is what you call a small win @Createausernameargh well done. Hope the low carbing helps drop your weight back down again.

DP was away last night and I had a really bad night's sleep and have overslept this morning. This means no time for exercise so that won't be good for tomorrow's weight unless I can fit a good walk in later. I'm going to try but there are some work pressures currently that mean that might be difficult.

The problem with no exercise first thing is that my diet often goes downhill too - in fact I've already had a jaffa cake 😫. There seems to be a mental link with me that when I've worked out I'm good with food as otherwise the workout is wasted so when I don't exercise all bets are off and I can eat what I want. Not a very healthy way to be and I'm working on it but combined with work stress it's not a good combination. Going to try to be strong food wise today...

Weight wise I'm still plateauing at 10st 1.4lb, we'll see what today/tomorrow brings!

Have good days all.

Morning @bigdecisionstomake

No I can't exercise due to CFS/ME so I'm reliant on diet alone. I do get hungry throughout the night, but I take that as a sign the fat is being burned. I do have a lighter feeling each morning, which is the reward bit. My clothes are fitting better. My appetite isn't massive, but I'm definitely getting just by. I might go up to 1600 per day when I'm half way through my weightloss target (xmas).

Sorry to hear about your FIL @bigdecisionstomake . My mum is ill too, has a rare form of cancer. I'm her carer at the moment. I hope it doesn't weigh too heavily on you.
Ooh, I know all about lack of sleep! Just take it easy today, I find being tired makes me so hungry! I hope you enjoy your walk if you go for one. And don't beat yourself up if you don't!
Good luck today everyone! 💪

Hi love people.

Can I please join?

My starting weight is 13 stone 4 pounds.
Would love to be 12 stone for Christmas.

I am using Nutracheck at 1600 cals a day. Plus aiming to do daily exercise for a hour.

Lots of luck to everyone

Hi @Boujibroke . Good luck with the exercise, it's more than I could manage! lol (I'm not lazy, honest, but seriously, I am being investigated for CFS.) Welcome aboard. 😀
Is it just be but has MN been a bit quiet these past few days? Specially in the weight loss chat section. 🤔
I hope everyone is managing to stick to their plans today. I have so far! I weigh on a Saturday but woke up today thinking it was Thursday and only two more mornings to go! lol
Lets go ladies (And any gents hanging around.), we can do this! 🌟

I’ve not done too bad so far this week! No snacking after dinner and have exercised twice so far, I have a PT session tomorrow too.
Hope everyone is having a good week

Can i join
Piled on weight last two years due to binge eating
Starting 13 11
Goal 11
Any encouragement would be great and good luck everyone !

My eating has not been great again this week - the only positive I can come up with is I've done 4 workouts which is double last week (when I was feeling crap).

Bit of background.....I'm right in the thick of maintenance after losing 1 stone 10lbs between Jan - May this year. My usual story is exercise & diet for a few weeks, lose weight .. stop exercise, put the weight back on and repeat (from early 20s till now age 40). I didn't want to do that again, I turned 40 in March and in May (I think) this year I was the lightest I'd been for 6 years! I was toned & building muscle from the exercise too (looking & feeling the best I've felt in years!)
I've managed to maintain and continue exercise until a couple of weeks ago (dark mornings & a cold have derailed me).

I did all that with the support of the diet for summer thread and honestly it helped keep me accountable! That's why I'm here, no diet as such but I NEED to keep up the workouts and cut back the carbs in order to maintain! I can feel the motivation slipping, the carb heavy meals coming back and the pounds going back on.

Sorry for rambling! Just wanted to explain why I'm here while maintaining.

@bigdecisionstomake Just do what you need to do to get by, tough times in life sometimes mean diet/exercise go amiss, trying to learn myself that that's OK! Don't beat yourself up.

Morning all

Sorry to hear about the CFS/ME @Yocal I can see therefore why exercise would be off the cards. It sounds like a great plan to increase your calorie allowance a little when you're half way to target - at least that will allow you to have a more varied diet which should help you stick to it longer.

@Openmouthinsertfood thanks for your kind words. It has come as a bit of a shock to be honest as he's always been so healthy but we'll get through it if we all pull together. Sorry to hear about your mum too, that must be hard. It certainly makes you look at life a little differently I've found...

Welcome to the thread @Boujibroke I haven't used Nutracheck but have heard good things about it - hope it works well for you. Your plan sounds like a good one, keep us posted on your progress and good luck with your workouts 😊

Good progress so far @LBB2020 no snacking after dinner and exercising are 2 really good habits to get into and if they stick long term should really help you when you get to maintenance - well done 😀

@Danielle8 You are very welcome to join. I am a fellow binge eater when I am stressed and/or upset etc.... One of the things that works for me is exercise - if I don't do this I am much more likely to binge eat so I really do try to find time to exercise daily if I can - it doesn't always work out that way though - see below for more details unfortunately 😖I'm sure others on the thread will have more suggestions. I had a cycle of almost 2 years of bingeing and dieting resulting in a gain of almost 2 stone. The Diet for Summer Challenge really helped me change that and move into consistent weight loss and part of that for me was the daily posting for accountability. Whatever you find works for you we will all be here to cheer you on - good luck!

@Gemzee I could literally have written your post myself (except I'm not quite at maintenance yet 🙁) but after such success in the earlier part of this year and feeling the best I had done in years I am now really struggling with motivation again. I know the dark and cold really do affect me and I'm having some stress both work wise and personally with FILs sudden illness that means I'm finding it really hard at the moment. We can do this though - we've done it before and we can get back there if we really focus - and as you say, don't beat ourselves up in the meantime 😉

So.....yesterday was a write off for me....I was spectacularly off plan. I won't go into too much detail but suffice to say there were crisps and chocolate aplenty and the day ended with a takeaway pizza, garlic bread, two thirds of a bottle of wine and half a sharing box of maltesers 😵

Amazingly, despite all of the above, I have had another STS this morning at 10st 1.4lb. I think however that I would probably have been due a loss this morning had I not binged yesterday and I'm fairly sure there will be a gain to come in the next day or so. I had another rubbish nights sleep and was up and down a lot as my stomach was uncomfortable due to being overfull plus my hip (osteoarthritis) was really painful and I just couldn't find a comfortable position to lie in.

That has resulted in me not exercising again this morning which I know is a big danger sign for me in terms of going off plan with my eating. Going to try to do better though and get an early night so I can exercise again tomorrow and pull myself back on track. All part of the rollercoaster journey that is weight loss....

Have good days all.

Hi Everyone

Hope you've all had a great week

Week one down for me.
5lb off for my first week.
I know this will be water weight etc but pleased the first week is down and I'm heading in the right direction.

SW: 14.11
1st weigh in: 14:6

Good going @LBB2020! Sounds like your smashing it.
Hi @Danielle8 , welcome. :)
Hi @Gemzee, congrats on getting to maintenance, well done you! I have heard maintenance is tougher than the actual diet. Keep posting though, we can all help each other through the tough bits. (Remember too, that's 80% on plan, 20% off, so gives you a bit of leeway hopefully.)
Aww @bigdecisionstomake , sounds like you are having a really tough time of it. I'm sorry to hear you've got so much going on at the moment. I'm sorry you are struggling. I wouldn't go to hard on yourself, you've got a lot on your plate. The odd few days off plan won't hurt, you can always catch up when your feeling a bit better.
I hope you manage an early night tonight, sleep is so important. Do you take anything for your osteoarthritis? I had a really bad couple of weeks with it in the new year. I felt it in both hips but when I was sent for an x-ray I was told my hips were fine but I had osteoarthritis in my spine! I found for over the counter ordinary paracetamol was the best. Nurofen did nothing. I was prescribed a pain killer but had a allergic reaction to it, so got prescribed something else. Thankfully I haven't had any more pain or flare ups since then. I think HRT has helped too.
I really hope you have a good day today and accomplish all you want to.
Good luck everyone, have a fantastic day!

@Houseoflove Wow, well done! 5lbs is awesome! Do you weigh daily, or weekly? Good luck for this week. :)

Thanks so much.
I have been weighing daily, I am using the free trial of Noom at the moment and it requires daily weighs.

Thanks for the welcome @Openmouthinsertfood we will see how the daily exercise pans out. Determined to stick with it though. Hope you are feeling ok and taking care of yourself.

Thank you @bigdecisionstomake this is my second week on the healthy eating and daily exercise. I am absolutely loving the exercise at the moment. I done pilates on YouTube yesterday. Oh my days it was tough going. Then I went out for a hours walk.

Had a few gins and tonic last night. No crisps with it. I made a snack plate for me and dh with pickles, fruit, celery sticks etc. We both enjoyed it. Dinner yesterday was homemade venison casserole with veg. Lunch yesterday was scrambled eggs with toast. For snacks I had a packet of mini cheeders the Aldi version and a mini chocolate bar.

Hopefully the rain will go off and I can get out for a walk today. If not will do the NHS YouTube exercise video.

Lots of good wishes for you all

How are you finding noom @Houseoflove ? I had it for a few weeks a while back. I found I would either read that days messages and want to do more, or get bored of it and not check for a few days! lol I cancelled in the end but it was good. I would recommend it if asked. I hope you are finding it OK?
@Boujibroke Thanks, I am. :) Do you have any YouTube recommendations? I like fabulous50s. It's a lady that usually makes videos for the over 50s on things such as hair, clothes, wellness and fitness videos. The fitness videos are actually for all ages, which is good as I'm not officially 50 until December. I'm currently doing her 10 minute seated ab routine 3 times a week. I can feel it when doing the exercises so hopefully they are working!

Currently battling insomnia again and just want chocolate! Really, really trying not to give in. Hope everyone else is having a good night. See you in the morning where I'll be so happy I didn't give in.

Same here @Openmouthinsertfood my sleep is terrible just now. The YouTube person you mentioned sounds good. Will check her out.

What about a cup of tea rather than chocolate?

If you can feel the exercises then they are definitely working.

Sorry forgot to say, will look out the names of the YouTube videos I watch for you tomorrow.

Sorry to hear you can't sleep either. I'm tired but have quite a bit on tomorrow so stressing rather than sleeping!
Thank you for the suggestion of the tea. I'm going to log off in a mo and try and get some shut eye again.
Do you know why you can't sleep either?

Morning.

Quick update. The scales say I’ve lost 3lbs in 5 days. Not sure how accurate this is as I feel quite dehydrated, despite drinking gallons of tea.

Failed miserably on my two 5:2 days, but I have upped my exercise and limited (ish) the snacking. I still need to cut out the wine, as wine gives me the munchies and that is my downfall.

The goal over the weekend is keep the exercise up (gardening) and increase my fruit and veg intake.

Have a great weekend!

I had a STS this week so I'm singing
Better than a gain
Better than a gain
Better than a gain!

Smalls wins this week: done a workout everyday day (Mon-Fri), really enjoyed my workout this morning (resistance) and I'm finally starting to feel better 😊!

Have a good weekend all

Morning all

Great work with the 5lb loss @Houseoflove that's a fantastic result and really motivating to carry on now - well done 😃It won't all be water, there will be some fat loss in there too for sure.

Thanks for the support @Openmouthinsertfood I really appreciate it. I did manage an early night and a good sleep last night thanks - you're right, it makes all the difference. At the moment I don't regularly take anything for my osteoarthritis, I usually find walking and exercise the best pain relief for it. If I can keep it mobile the pain isn't too bad but if I have a few days without and it stiffens up then I do have to rely on either some ibuleve gel or paracetamol/ibuprofen tablets. Sorry to hear you've got it in your spine, that must be a worry. The insomnia is a pain for you too, hope you managed to avoid the chocolate 🙂

Your snack plate sounds lovely @Boujibroke I'm partial to a G&T myself occasionally and it is hard to avoid a few crisps with it 🙄Glad you're getting on with the exercise, it will get easier if you do it consistently - keep it up, you're doing a great job 😍

That's a fantastic result @ItsTapasTime super job, well done. I wouldn't worry about failing at the 5:2 as you've got the results anyway so whatever you are doing is working. Aiming for small changes each week, like the gardening and increasing your fruit and veg intake is a really good way to make this a lifestyle change rather than just a 'diet'.

A STS is definitely better than a gain @Gemzee and I'm so glad to hear you're feeling better now. You'll smash it next week I'm sure and get that pound off that you wanted 😀

I had another day off plan yesterday, although not as bad as the day before. The over-indulgence has caught up with me this morning on the scales with a gain of 1lb to take me to 10st 2.4lb. Like @Gemzee though I'm feeling much better this morning and ready to get back at it. I think a combination of a good night's sleep and the fact it's Friday maybe? 😅

I've already done a 45 cardio workout with Olivia Lawson on YouTube and am going to start logging my calories again to make me accountable. Feeling much more like myself again today 😁

Have great days all.

Well done on the loses!
@Openmouthinsertfood if you’re craving chocolate maybe try an Options hot chocolate sachet (low calories and gives you a chocolate fix!).
I’ve managed not to snack after dinner at all this week which is a small win for me! PT session yesterday was so hard I’m very achy today but planning a gym class this evening to keep me moving. I really need to up my water intake as it’s terrible!
Will weigh in over the weekend

Good evening ladies. I didn't give in to the cravings last night in the end, and got to sleep after 2am. Typically got woken up early by the nurse come to take my blood! lol (Diabetic review.) Hopefully I'll sleep better tonight but I don't historically the night before being weighed. One night a couple of months ago I hadn't slept and weighed myself in the morning and I was a bit disappointed in a small loss. Managed to get a nap afterwards and weighed myself again and I had gone down another pound! So in my head the night before it's, 'Must get some sleep or I won't get the correct weight,' which inevitably means I get no sleep. lol
Oh yeah, is anybody looking forward to the new season of Ghosts tonight? (BBC 1, 8.30pm)
A loss is a loss @ItsTapasTime ! Congrats, and take it as a win, I would!
Glad to hear you are starting to feel better @Gemzee . Your right, the scale not budging can be a downer, but it is better than a gain!
Hi @bigdecisionstomake the spine is OK, I just get a bit worried when I'm doing twists (As part of my ten minute abs routine.) and my spine is making crunching sounds! 😮I'm glad you are feeling better today. Do you work at the weekend? If not hopefully you can relax a bit and put work stress to the back of your mind for a couple of days. Well done on the exercise. 👋You must have done that early!
That's a good idea about the Options hot chocolate @LBB2020, thank you. I'll have to add some to my next shop. I have a Velvetiser so could make one in there. Well done on the not snacking! 👏My danger time is the evening/night too. I'm usually fine in the day.
Good luck for the weekend all, I hope it turns out how you planned. I'm weighing in the morning. I'm so sick of soup so this week had better have been worth it! If it's worked I don't mind soup for another week to get me down to 10st something. If not, goodbye soup! lol