🥳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 🎄🥳

Morning everyone. Weigh in for me:

SW: 70kg
CW: 62kg
GW: 50kg

No loss this week. Boo hoo. Looks like I'm in another plateau. At least still going with good eating habits.

Good Morning All

Poorly household here again. Bugs and viruses galore 🤧 We seem to be catching stuff back to back.

To be honest this past weekend and yesterday have been my most off plan eating in a long time. It is what it is 😬

Totally agree with the contents/ethos of the podcast @PatienceOfEngels posted about. 👍. It kinda mirrors what we advocate on these threads too. Loving your menus too Patience 😋 Well done on your 4kg loss! Awesome amount!

@GonnaGetGoingReturns Great loss! Well done 👏 I’ll look for the recipe online and post. I made a few adaptations due to what I had in but happy to share 👍

@JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots Sorry to read you’re in pain! Hope you find some relief!

@Spudlover Welcome to the thread. Congratulation on your loss to date! You’ve done so well already, obviously noom is working for you.

@wiltingflower Nice to have you back with you. Well done on still losing even though your plan was disrupted 👍

@witnessprotection73 Welcome to the thread! How did it go yesterday? Did your plan come together?

@secondtimemumma 5 Weeks to Christmas 😮 … please stop the clock! Seriously we are just not ready for it this year.

Trigger warning, bereavement ‼️ In recent years I’ve seen my Christmas table settings go from 8/9 to 2 due to a tsunami of bereavements; with my mum dying on December 22nd last year. On a more positive note; for the first time in many years we are not hosting or cooking on Christmas Day, we are going to the local pub. We’ll also be making our annual donation to the Salvation Army a bit bigger.

Menu
Meal 1 - Soup from the freezer. GF bread.
Meal 2 - Roast chicken dinner (should have had Sunday but we were too ill to prepare)
Tea, black coffee and water.

Come on ladies … like @PatienceOfEngels has reminded us it’s only 5 weeks until 🎄Christmas 🎄😮😮😮

Burnt Basque Cheesecake

@GonnaGetGoingReturns I shared a basic recipe from BBC site. However for mine I used 600grams of low fat cottage cheese in stead of any cream cheese. I wizzed it in my Nutri bullet to make it smooth (I added a couple of eggs at this stage to help emulsify it). Decanted this into my food mixer. I then added only 100 grams sugar. I added the lemon zest from 2 lemons. Fresh cream was about 150 ml (used what I had in the fridge) I used gluten free flour. I used another 5 eggs (so 7 in total as they were on the small side) To line my tin I scrunch up, wet and ring out a piece of greaseproof paper then mould it to the inside of the tin. The photos are of the one I made.

Great results, keep going!

How long have you been on this journey?

@witnessprotection73 I started mid August, but got really consistent with it about October.
How is it going for you?
@TheRealHousewife that cake looks delicious 🤤

@TheRealHousewife that cake looks divine!

NSV - just measured myself for the first time since September. 3cm off my waits and 4cm under my bust 🎉

Have also realised that I haven't had any hot flushes for the last month. Cleaner living agrees with me.

Fantastic update @PatienceOfEngels 👏👏👏👌

@witnessprotection73 Ive replied on your own thread ❤️

Thank you @DomesticElf . I’ll admit it’s moreish! When I’ve had it in the past I’ve actually had as a ‘meal’ so as not to bust my calorie intake 😅

I saw the attached photo on X and thought I’d share it here 😂

I've not had a good week food wise, another works lunch, wine and too much food at the weekend. "D" H keeps buying chocolate and biscuits, I've told him to hide them. In fact I think I'll hide them and see if he notices!.
Not looking forward to weigh in tomorrow.

I've also not been looking at the thread as burying my head in the sand!
Had the flu jab yesterday's so have been feeling sorry for myself.

Thanks to everyone who posted last week with encouragement and suggestions for how to improve my food and drink. I’ve already sorted out my supermarket orders, and deleted all off-plan food from the Favourites list.

re snacks - No need to have treat-type snacks in the house, anyone wanting them can pay themselves in their lunchtime canteen. Discovered that I like pnb on rice cakes, and salad leaves rolled up in a wrap. Also crackers and cheese. Redbush tea for drinking.

Meals are straightforward, lean meat or eggs with veg and/or salad.

Will post weight tomorrow.

Little late but weighed 13st 8 at the 8 week mark. Hoping to get rid of 6lb before Christmas! Will be allowing myself Christmas day and Boxing day free from slimming world

Great looking cheesecake @TheRealHousewife! I’m not sure I could be restrained enough to have that in the house.

Not too bad a day here today although I have sat at my desk all.day. I haven’t even done 3k steps which is really poor. I will try and get out for a bit of a walk tomorrow although I am still in recovery from a back injury.

Today’s food: Boiled eggs and tomatoes, chicken egg fried cauliflower rice, cottage pie with carrot and swede instead of mash. Probably have a Babybel later.

Last official week of reduced carb this week, I set myself a 6 week challenge. It’s working well for me though so may continue a bit longer. DD is currently sending me lists of meals she wants when she gets home from uni so might continue until then at least!

This week has been thrown by ds being ill and then Dd having an accident so meals are all over the place and there's been no Greek yogurt since Friday 😱 thank goodness there's still porridge. I dread the scales tomorrow thanks to AF bloat and next to no walking especially after those steady incremental losses last week that were so great to see. Ah well, nothing I can do about it except keep plodding on and hope there's yogurt tomorrow. I have t even tracked since Friday I don't think. Nothing exciting eaten though.
Hope you're all duly rewarded in the morning 😃

Morning, everyone. Hope you’re all doing ok.

today’s weigh in:

SW (19/9/23) 12 st 2
CW 11st 1.5
GW 10 st 9

Another pound off this week. I seem to have settled into 1 lb losses so I’ll be happy if this continues :)

Tantalisingly close to getting into to tens. A place I haven’t been for 9 years! :)

Also, my bra size has dropped again and I’ve lost two inches from the band. Shopping time again!

Sounds like a tough week @JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots 💐

Well done @MarzipanKnees !

Happy WOW!

SW 77kg (beginning October 2023)
CW 72.7kg
GW 68kg

0.5kg off this week. Heading closer to target (though next week is the last in my cycle - preparing for cravings and exhaustion).

Today:

-boiled egg and rye toast
-pumpkin pancakes with greek yoghurt and honey
-spaghetti bolognese

Have a good day everyone.🌈

SW- 11st 6lbs
CW- 11st 2lbs

I've put on 3 pounds since last Wednesday. Not surprised really as taken my eye off the ball, eating too much rubbish. Was wanting to stay under 11 stone.
I usually start the day well, occasionally fasting but end up eating rubbish at night.
Need to keep reading the thread for inspiration!
Well done everyone.

Hi everyone

well done for the losses, commiserations for the gains- it happens!

@JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots sorry you’ve been poorly. Hope you’re starting to feel better.

My first weigh in:
CW - 11stone 2 (so more than I thought 😭😭)
first goal weight - 9 stone 7
I say first because ideally I’d like to be 9 stone but I’m not sure that’s sustainable. Either way I have work to do!

Food today:
berries with yoghurt
salmon quiche (again)
sausage casserole (made with heck chicken sausages)

Have a good day everyone x

Happy WOW Day!

WOW - 8st 12.5lbs. Up a smidge but generally maintaining at the moment. Content with where I am.

@ThriceInALifetime Try to not be hard on yourself. You seem to know you’ve gained a little and mentioned the wheels generally fall off at night. I’d up water and protein earlier in the day to help keep you satiated. If possible avoid processed or sugary foods and drink which will in turn help to keep blood sugar balanced and the consequent snacking at bay 👍

Well done on your losses @PatienceOfEngels @MarzipanKnees

Thank you @Spudlover .

@JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots Heres hoping the coming week is more settled for you and your family. How’s your dd after the accident? Is your ds recovered? Hope so!

Menu
Meal 1 - Butternut squash and butter bean soup.
Meal 2 - Roast Chicken dinner (we didn't have the energy to do it yesterday).
Tea, black coffee and water.

I totally fell off the wagon last week! Had Chinese, Coke, lots of spiced cookies and sandwiches.
And it shows.
SW 61.2 kg
CW 57.3 kg
Gained 0.6 kg or 1.5 lb.

Hope your DC are feeling better soon @JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots (and that there is yoghurt!)

My intention was to maintain at 119 lbs (my initial target weight) for a few weeks, or until after Christmas maybe, before setting a stretch target, but I have lost again so apparently I’m not much good at maintenance!

I expect some ups and downs over the next month or so as Christmas gets closer and I get stuck in the mince pies - I made some last week with homemade mincemeat and pastry which are now in the freezer. They would be UPF free if DH wasn’t lactose intolerant, but I’ve had to use margarine instead of butter in the pastry.

SW 128 lbs
CW 118.2 lbs
TW [115 lbs in future]

SW 70kg
WOW - 62.8kg - that's 0.5kg loss

I seem to be keeping steady on 0.5 loss per week (or 1lb in old money)

Keeping to fast days on Monday and Wednesday. Normal eating for the rest of the week ie 3 meals a day but no snacking.
I would really like to make the no snacking a way of life. I cant remember who wrote that 'snacks were invented by the food industry to make money' but it is very true. We dont need to snack.

Lets see if I keep that philosophy going over Christmas 😂

Weigh day!!

Starting weight: 75kg
Current weight: 67.0kg
Target weight: 65kg

Really happy with the loss of a 1.1 kg this week! This coming week is going to be difficult and a real test because the diary is pretty busy for example I’ve got play dates for the toddler which seems to always involve biscuits or cake and I feel rude not having them especially when they say they got them in or baked them for us? Then the weekend we are seeing family for a meal so again lots of food and alcohol! I find it really difficult to maintain the balance with food. I tend to go overboard and really overeat so I’ve got to stay mindful. I’m wondering wether it’s worth doing OMAD a few days this week or if that seems too much? So tricky. Any advice I’m all ears.

I’m hoping to use this thread a lot this coming week as I’d really like to have the last weigh in Wednesday of November as a loss even if it is only slight I just don’t want a gain! This thread has been so helpful to me so thank you all.

I will try and catch up with the posts from the last day or so properly at some point today.
Well done for the weigh ins so far!

SW 8/9/23 70kg
WOW 22/11 65.3 kg
TW 60kg

Loss of 0.6kg this week, happy with the slow steady downward trajectory.
I’ve been in holiday from work this last week, plus under the weather, so my steps are way down. On the plus side I’ve been able to make soup etc for lunch 👍
Continuing IF, no alcohol Mon-Thurs, max of one fancy coffee a week, and sticking to approx 1500 cal per day.

Can someone post an abbreviation guide please!

@secondtimemumma what is OMAD? x