🥳LOSE IT! 🥳Christmas 2023 Countdown Thread 🥳

[TheRealHousewife]

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN EDITION.

8 week countdown to Christmas. November brings a fresh new month to become a healthier version of yourself. If you’re up for being your best self in time for the festivities you’ve come to the right place.

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 8st 12lbs. 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 few lbs 😬 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 of a 1lb - 2lbs per week you could be a half a stone to a stone lighter by Christmas 🎄🥳

Update:-

did 30 minutes Body Project low impact standing workout
lunch:- Chinese chicken slim a soup cup soup plus 3 Ryvita with no fat cottage cheese and cucumber batons and 4 cherry tomatoes

@fedupofbuilders maintaining when nice food around from WW, either save it for weekends or have deficits from other meals. The more active you are the more you burn. Someone may have better ideas than me!

Some amazing results-well done everyone!

I felt really hungry over lunch. Maybe the past 2 days vastly reduced intake and not eating after dinner has hit. I've had a cup of tea and my usual Greek yogurt with honey and frozen raspberries. The raspberries I masked up (note to self-mash up before adding to yogurt) and they made the yogurt ice cold and extra delicious. It's hit the spot. Halloumi, beetroot, tzatziki and salad leaves wraps for dinner tonight. I really wanted it last night but thought the salt content might spoil WOW. I've extra walking to do tonight thanks to parents evening.

@Ninjachicken nice to see you and I hope things are more settled for you lately.

I was heading for a 23/24 hours fast today but absent mindedly broke it by eating glacé cherries out of the Christmas Cake mixture I was making for my Dad 😂. Never mind, I wasn't even hungry, and I was thinking of now over the rainbow DDog who LOVED glacé cherries and would sit and cry for them when I did the Christmas cakes!

Evening All

Apologies I’m late to the Party today, I’ve been a bit under the weather plus back is struggling to be honest. 🤧 Thank you @ImALittlePea @secondtimemumma ❤️

WOW - 8st 12.4lbs. Time to knuckle down and stop the creep. I want to remain under 9st for my health and well being.

Congratulations on your losses @RedPony1 @Newname2308 @ILikeItHere @secondtimemumma @wheresmyshoe @fedupofbuilders @JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots @MarzipanKnees @PatienceOfEngels So many positive posts! Well done and each and everyone one of you 👍👏👌🥳

Menu
Meal 1 - Raw salad/vegetables/sprouted lentils with avocado and cream cheese dressing.

Meal 2 - Mediterranean Omelette
Tea, black coffee and water.

Welcome back @Ninjachicken ❤️ Lovely to have you join us all again.

Super busy day - no time to read through so will do tomorrow but quick update for me on food.

Lunch - normal cup-a-soup special
Dinner - 3 x hash browns, cheese omelette and beans
No snacks other than hot drinks, lots of water

Calories - 1,300. About right on a work day I think.

Catch up tomorrow team!

Great results everyone both on and off the scales 🙂

I lost 1.5 this week which I am really pleased with. However, I restarted slimming world about 4 weeks ago and lost the first week and gained the second and third week after been away so I am actually at my starting point 😄

From now

S 13 stone 10
My overall goal is 9 stone but first one I am thinking of is to be under 13 stone by Christmas 🤞

@PieonaBarm that sounds like a happy memory 😊 I hope it made you smile

I am 3lb down on last week, thanks to 16:8 fasting and 2 800 calorie days. I'm being strict to restart my weight loss and regain some motivation.

I like the meal 1 and meal 2 idea, @TheRealHousewife, it fits with fasting. And I am very impressed with all those who avoid snacks all together. I find it hard, even on a fast day- yesterday i had a few nuts and a warm oat milk with cinnamon in the afternoon.

Morning!

Dinner last night, bean stew with small potato and small bit reduced fat cheese.
snacks:- 2 x tangerines, 1 large plum

Breakfast:- usual porridge with blueberries and water and small amount skimmed milk

@ImALittlePea and @HunterBidensLaptop well done for avoiding snacks and yes I’m impressed with those who avoid snacks altogether.

I did see someone on another thread who has cottage cheese on toasted sourdough with cucumber which might be an alternative breakfast for me.

Pushing through here today. 13 miles walked yesterday and 7 so far today. I am tired and feeling hungrier. I'm sure it's just the first week back to it adjustments.

How is everyone's Christmas shopping going? I'm hoping the Black Friday deals will be good although I've almost done all my shopping now.

I’m getting mad at myself! Wake up in the morning, lie in bed planning meals and day’s activities, busy till 10am, then the madness sets in with massive lattes, nonstop crackers, just constant grazing. Not eating after teatime, sticking with IF window, but that’s all I’m managing to stick to. Meanwhile the bagged salad in the fridge is turning to a soupy mess.

But we did spend an hour in the garden wrestling with a rogue tree branch. And I felt better after that, but got a bit too tired and hungry.

Trying again tomorrow with a better mindset.

Evening All

Well done on your losses @LeftyLou & @HunterBidensLaptop 👍👏

Great distances walked this week @JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots 👍👌

@2Early4Breakfast Not eating in the evening will really help you reach your goals. If you’re wanting success earlier in the day you could try swapping the lattes out; Lattes early in the day will start you grazing as they are simple carb heavy that will raise blood sugars quickly. Is there anything else you can you drink? Protein earlier in the day (and in your last meal of the day) will help keep you satiated and diminish cravings 👍

@GonnaGetGoingReturns Talking of cottage cheese. I’ve made a bask type baked cheesecake with low fat cc rather than cream cheese and I was told it was superb (not bragging) The cc made it far lower in fat and calories without compromising the taste or texture.

Well done everyone who weighed in yesterday!
I am back on it after a couple of weeks of illness. Went back to the pool today. Back on nutricheck. Hoping to see a loss by next Wednesday...

@LemonDrizzle23 Sorry to read you’ve been poorly. Welcome back ❤️

@2Early4Breakfast don't beat yourself up. It's hard. I've only just got a handle on things this week and it's taking some effort in the evenings not to eat. I've eaten more the last couple of days but I've walked a lot and was genuinely hungry. Can you pinpoint why you graze? Is there a trigger that starts you off? Could you busy yourself away from food after each meal? Or allow yourself a set snack time?

Oooh Friday weigh in of 56.4kg today which is a surprise after a carb and salt heavy dinner last night. Happy scale shows a downward trend for November and I'm happy with that. I've actually dropped 2kg in the last month and had forgotten I'd put on 4kg not 2kg since July 🥴 It's cheered me up quite considerably to realise I've lost more than I though.

I hope anyone weighing today gets a good result 😊

The home-made lattes are probably because it's sooo cold and dark and damp. Damp as in the garden paths and walls are turning green! It seems to have happened very suddenly this year. Changed a cpuple of rooms to much brighter lightbulbs yesterday, and I'm hoping that it'll perk me up a bit.

I missed Wednesday this week, so am joining in with the Friday peeps. Good luck to everyone else who is weighing in today.

I have managed a slight loss this week, which I am pleased with because I love autumnal food and find it hard not to overindulge in stew and dumplings, crumble and custard. I also did some Christmas prep in the kitchen and a couple of mince pies made it into my tummy rather than into the freezer 😬

I am near as dammit at target. I want to maintain over the next few weeks before I try for a stretch target. I think ultimately I would like to try for 8 stone which is slap bang in the middle of my BMI healthy weight range, but I may need to be flexible with this as I’m older than I was last time I weighed that little and I am keen not to look haggard! I reckon my intermediate target will be 115lbs and then see how I look/feel.

SW 128 lbs
CW 119.2 lbs
TW 119 lbs

I've managed to skim read everyone's updates but not really retaining who posted what I'm afraid. Exhausted over here! Well done on all the results and continued accountability team!!

Good to see you back @GonnaGetGoingReturns hope everything is ok with you ❤️

Tiny bit up today, just a couple of oz, so mentally I'm taking that as a maintain. My toilet movements have been a bit slower than normal this week (sorry, tmi I know, but relevant) with nothing at all happening yesterday, so that on top of Monday's hospital day gives me confidence that a quieter weekend and normal week next week will see a loss. I also didn't manage either of my classes this week and missed my double shift on Monday, which also won't have helped.

Yesterday I had
Lunch - BLT sandwich with brown sauce
Dinner - cheese & onion crispbread, homemade wedges, lots of veggies
Snacks - just hot drinks, water, and two celebration chocs
Calories came in at 1320

Today I'm heading to a local shopping centre in the hunt for some new winter boots, and I'm going to stop at a cafe there. Probs M&S as they used to do a delicious salad pot there, so hopefully I'll have that. We're having fajitas tomorrow, I'm going to limit myself to two though (normally have at least three) and I'll have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Happy Friday!

Trying to reboot after site few food choices whihc were put of my control this week (mainly because f DH's shopping and cooking choices!).

-too much UPF (breaded chicken which needed using up and tinned tomato soup when we have perfectly good homemade soup in the freezer!)
-fatty pork cuts twice this week (shoarma and ribs). Both delicious but I usually wouldn't choose to have them both in the same week.
-really unappealing lunch provided by work yesterday (a wrap with undressed salad and seasoned mince - cold! bizarre and not tasty at all. Would rather have had my normal hot veggie based soup).

Just picked up a couple of kilos of chicken to make some different curries and fajitas this weekend. Have asked DH to go easy on pork and UPF stuff (he does the food shopping at the moment).

Also listened to a really interesting podcast today on decision making/clear thinking. He talked about how we can live our life in easy mode of hard mode (like video games!). By having lots of junk in the house or going to bed too late to get enough sleep/keep your phone in the bedroom we're choosing to live your life in hard mode - we're less likely to succeed at our goals of being healthy, less stressed, more balanced when we're in hard mode. make it easier for yourself! If you want to eat whole foods, take the time to plan and prepare fresh food and don't have the junk in the house (also prepare for those circumstances when you're out of the house - take a thermos instead of a Starbucks with loads of calories, pack some fruit and unsalted nuts for a snack rather than grabbing a pastry for convenience). If you feel stressed an jittery in the evening, find it hard to fall asleep, then make sure your phone is out of reach and sight during the evening and leave it downstairs. It really made sense to me. I think this is also linked to why I stopped drinking. I like drinking but I don't like how it disturbs my sleep and makes me feel the next morning (I'm not talking about a 'proper' hangover - haven't been drunk drunk for 15 years!). I want to feel good, healthy, energetic, have time for myself and my kids, and alcohol (even one glass) disrupts that. I've noticed I have reduced peri menopause symptoms since I stopped drinking alcohol as well. Easy mode = no booze (we only have shit mini bottles of wine for cooking in the house so there is zero temptation!).

Feeling motivated as we head into the weekend!

@JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots love the sound of frozen raspberries. I often make smoothies with bananas, greek yoghurt, milk, honey cinnamon and then either frozen blueberries or mango pieces. Makes it taste like a milkshake with ice cream! Well done on loss this week.

@2Early4Breakfast sounds like a rough day. My advice is to
-pre-choose your snacks for the day (for me it's always fruit, veg, or greek yoghurt) and a hot drink for the morning (preferably something which you can have as much of as you want!). I will sometimes layout my tea bag/mug in the kitchen after dinner so that's what I'm confronted with post-dinner when I crawl to the kitchen thinking about a snack.
-I try not to have calories in drinks except for 2 cups of coffee with milk with breakfast so I would ditch the lattes or anything milk based apart from a weekend treat. There are some lovely autumnal herbal teas like caramelised pear or a cinnamon blend (I also like teas like darjeeling without milk but only in the morning as I avoid caffeine after lunch).
-Also, plan out that bagged salad in your meal plan (a good way to keep bagged salad fresh for longer once opening is to put a piece of kitchen roll in the bag - it absorbs excess moisture and the salad lasts longer) and if it's not going to be used then don't buy it!
Sounds like you're doing great in sticking to your IF window - well done!

@NothingTraLaLa I love autumnal food as well!

@PatienceOfEngels that sounds like an interesting podcast. It’s so true that having certain foods in the house and prepping etc makes it easier to stick to plan. I find listening to podcasts on healthy lifestyle helps my motivation.

@NothingTraLaLa I also love autumnal/winter foods too they are very comforting and delicious!

Feeling very tired and unmotivated the last few days and this is usually when I turn to chocolate or crisps but so far I’ve held out. I am determined to stay on plan as we don’t have long left of November and Id really like to feel that I’m starting the xmas season on the right track. I will feel really proud of myself if I can do this.

I might try and do either a jog or a YouTube exercise workout later as that normally gives me energy and stops me snacking. But if my energy levels are too low I will do some gentle stretching and walking instead..let’s see how the day pans out!

It was this one @secondtimemumma Love Dr Chatterjee! https://drchatterjee.com/how-to-create-healthy-habits-think-clearly-effortlessly-achieve-your-goals-with-shane-parrish/

Friday weigh day for me. Second week and 1.5lb loss gives me 6lb in two weeks. Pleased with that! Just keep going now!

SW 13st 3lb
CW 12st 11lb
TL. 6lb

DH wants a takeaway tomorrow so I might do a 24 hour fast and have a chicken in pitta as that will give me enough calories!