🥳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 all!

I can’t say my weekend was amazing food wise. It it wasn’t awful either, but I avoided the scales today!

Friday night I ended up having wine because friend had smuggled some cans in! Got quite drunk as I’ve not had any alcohol for a a couple of weeks. Ate DH leftover chips when I got home (yuk)..

Saturday was starving due to alcohol so had a cinnamon bagel & then went out for lunch and had a ham/cheese omelette with salad. Later had the tandoori chicken I planned for Friday. No alcohol so not too bad.

Sunday- kippers, scrambled egg & grilled tomatoes, 3 mile walk to local pub, had 2 wines. Then home for shepherds pie which I made with celeriac topping. Plus Brussels & carrots on the side. I don’t think this was unhealthy but ate a big portion… And that is the issue. Then I had a Baileys 🙄.. BUT I said no to apple pie!

Gym today, had poached eggs, tomato and a slice of ham.

left over shepherd pie later, (smaller serving) with lots of broccoli.

I've branched out and had Red Leicester on Jacob's Mediterranean crackers with salted hummus chips for lunch with a big glass of ice cold water. That's one good thing about winter is that the water out of the tap is ice cold and delicious. Dinner will be homemade soup. I'm determined not to eat after dinner tonight and keep going with it. I plan to bounce on my gym ball whilst watching Shetland on Wednesday then I won't want to eat. Hopefully.
I've walked 7 miles walked today so far.
I just can't get on top of things with so much going on with dc. It's my younger dd's birthday next week and we are having a Chinese takeaway at her request. I'm all about the noodles and seaweed but will have either bean curd or battered mushrooms. I wish they did smaller portions of things because no one else will eat the bean curd or mushrooms and it's never as good reheated the next day.
We are off into the big grubby city one day this week and a McDonald's is in order although I can't say I fancy it. Not sure what I'd have instead.

How is the Christmas prep going? I'm almost done with presents-just a final two for my mum. I'm spoiling her this year because she's lovely and deserves all the nice things 🥰 Christmas is not always a good time for people and I'm cons ious there's a couple of regulars here that might find it tough so I hope you're both feeling ok

Weighing this morning because we are having dinner out and tomorrow might not be good. 56.35kg this morning. I've been hovering around here for weeks now but to be fair u haven't really been trying very hard. Yesterday made me realise how little I got used to eating to lose that original 12kg. Around 56-57kg seems to be the weight I settle at if I'm eating normally but don't go mad on snacks. Hopefully by upping my game I'll see a drop in time for Christmas and then as long as I'm
Around 54kg by the start of February for our holiday I don't care.

Morning All,

I braved the scales today and it wasn't as bad as I though especially considering its that time of the month and i'm always bloated.
Weighed at 66.3kg which mean in my couple of months off the wagon i've only gained 1kg.
First goal is to now loose that Kg and then start working my way towards my ultimate goal of 62kg.
@JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots it gets harder as the weight comes off doesn't it! I seem to sit at 66kg without much effort but feel like I have to really curb myself to get lower. Its partly why I fell of the wagon because no matter what I did I was just gaining and loosing the same kg everytime. Hoping attempt 2 goes better.

Good Morning

@Allthegoodnamestakken Great news! No damage at all being off the wagon! 👍

@JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots Ive got everything crossed for you for February. OAN do you just use a regular exercise ball to bounce on? As my balance isn’t great I wished I still had my space hopper as it had ‘ears’ to hold on too. In my younger days I was dared to bounce down stairs on it … the Space Hopper won 🤪😅 Christmas prep? All our boxes of decs are out but we haven’t had the energy to display yet 🤷‍♀️ Trying to make a start today!

I was off piste again yesterday as we made GF mince pies and I caved and had 2 with brandy cream 😳 Memo to self, don’t bake GF. They were very nice though 😋 Today I’m going to be on absolute point, controlled portions and plenty of water/hot drinks. I know I’ve gained as I’ve eaten more this past few weeks due to having pain meds and needing to take with food. It is what it is.

Menu
Meal 1 - Minestrone Soup
Meal 2 - Chicken, halloumi, red pepper, red onion, kale & butter bean stir fry.
Tea, black coffee and water.

@JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots I have started my Christmas shopping today 😂

In my defence I live in a country where they don't do Father Christmas but have another festive visitor who's leaving today so that's where I go big for the kids. For Christmas we do stockings and presents to/from family but not big presents from Santa. And my youngest has his birthday 2 weeks after Christmas 😱

Weighing a day early due to work schedule being busy this week…

SD 70kg
5/12 64.3kg
TW 60kg

I haven’t checked exact numbers, but I’ve lost approx 1.5kg over the last week/10 days 👍 Very pleased. Clothes are looser, and I’m fitting very comfortably into a dress and a jumpsuit that I was bursting out of before September 🤣
Going to concentrate on boosting protein now, like some others on this thread. I’m vegan so I’ll be upping my beans, lentils and tofu which I love anyway so not a chore. Think I’ll make some lentil and veg soup for lunch 😋

My weigh in today:

SW: 70kg
CW: 61kg
GW: 50kg

That's 1kg loss over past week. Fingers crossed I will break into 50s by 2024.
My 4 months old DS is probably allergic to cow milk protein, so I am now on (cow) dairy free diet. This is really helping with the diet, as I can't cheat with cheesy pizza or an ice cream.

Afternoon all.

Rescue salad look great @TheRealHousewife! I do like salad but get so bloody sick of it a lot of the time. I might give that dressing a whirl. I do a lot of Buddha bowls.

Tricky week for me this week. Work trip Sunday to today, managed to stick to mainly chicken and salad (or a variation of) for meals out. DC’s birthday today and has requested an Indian takeaway. Not sure I can face chicken and salad again so will have some lamb tikka pieces and a cauliflower bhaji I think.

Thursday I have a night out with friends which includes a 3 course meal. I will try and avoid the super high cal bits but in reality it will be a write off! Will be happy with a maintain this week, or not too bad of a gain.

I had the mcplant and fries at McDonald's and a bubble tea at our favourite bubble tea place but walked 15 miles today so I don't care about the indulgence. I am shattered after all that walking and carrying Christmas shopping too.
Good luck to those weighing in the morning, hope your hard work pays off.

Sorry I'm not keeping up much with everyone. My intention is to but life is blocking my mental space. I feel like marriage is heading dangerously close to the rocks at the moment. Again. I'm hoping (I think??) we can salvage it (again), but tbh right now, I'm a bit exhausted by it all. We only have so much fight in us, right? Anyway, I've had wine tonight. Today was good other than that. Cup-a-soup special for lunch, spag bol, cheese and some of the kids pizza crusts for dinner.

I WANT to stay accountable on here and keep up with you all - my group of anonymous but constant rocks/friends that I've been a part of now for so long - but who knows what is coming in for each of us. I know you'll accept my dipping in and out.

I'll try and make good choices in the meantime 😬❤️

@JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots I hope things are ok with your DC.

And love to EVERYONE else too ❤️

@ImALittlePea hang on in there and look after yourself. Wine is fine, don't worry. I'm eyeing up my knock off baileys regularly. Ds is all better, dd2 is happy because we've had a nice time in the big, dirty city and I've bought her things. Dd1 is an unknown at the moment. Time will tell with her but she's intrinsically a good person, just very lost and vulnerable.

I bought myself a Christmas present today from
Dd2. Well I took it off the shelf and gave her my bank card and said there you go, go and pay for it and on Christmas Day I'll act all surprised and say it's just what I've always wanted 🤣 I hate surprises so this is what I've done for as long as I can remember. Ds has got me something that I don't know what it is that's causing me some anxiety. I've been like this since I was a little girl (autism) but I love giving presents and get great joy from plotting and buying and wrapping them. I got my lovely friend something and a load of Lindt balls for my white lit twig tree. Someone on a Christmas thread said they'd made them into baubles and hung them from the tree. I think I'll take it to mum's so that the temptation is not in my own house. Like the attached but with chocolates instead of baubles. I love Christmas decorations and trees are my all-time favourite. Ours is arriving on Saturday 🎄

@ImALittlePea im so sorry to hear you’re having marriage troubles, i do hope you manage to sort it out. In the meantime be kind to yourself, being heathy & eating well is important but your mental health is equally important. Sending virtual hugs xx

@JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots LOVE your tree!

I haven’t weighed in today, forgot and I’m not on the commute. I don’t think this has been good week for me. I’ll weigh in Friday.

WOW -0.3kg this week.

SW 77kg (beginning October 2023)
CW 71.6kg
GW 68kg

-5.4kg in 9 weeks

Well done, you're over half way!

WOW - 61.8kg
0.3kg loss this week
We've had 2 indulgent Christmas meals which Ive thoroughly enjoyed!
Kept 2 fast days and saved my calories for food - no alcohol.
Why am I so influenced by others? I rarely eat desserts (more of a savoury person) but couldn't let the others choose a pudding without joining them.
I think Ive slipped into maintenance mode - trying to limit the damage. Will definitely need a restart in January thread (please)

Thank you @OhpoorMe ! I'm really hoping for another kilo before Christmas. Having minor surgery tomorrow so will be fasting for most of tomorrow.

@fedupofbuilders I usually have a mint tea if others are having a dessert or I make a deal with myself that I can have starter or dessert but not both. When I was drinking I might swap a dessert for a Bailey's (a Christmas Day Bailey's is the only thing I think I'm going to struggle with now I'm alcohol free - 11 months and counting).

@ImALittlePea sorry to hear your troubles are ongoing, sometimes a nice glass of wine is needed regardless of the calories!

@JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots 15 miles will have cancelled any mcdonalds out! I am always amazed by how much you manage to walk.

@PatienceOfEngels well done on the loss!

I have been good so far today, fasted until 11am when I had a naked bar, lunch was fruit salad with some nuts, oats and yogurt. Dinner is chicken of some sort, probably grilled with rice noodles and perhaps a veggie salad will be figuring it out based on what looks the least tragic in the fridge.

WoW 52.6kg
It's been a stressful time as work and I'm struggling to keep eating healthily, especially on my period last/this week. I'm caught between do I try to maintain my weight now that my period is over or do I try to diet some more. I don't have long to go now either to my goal weight and I'd rather lose weight before Christmas so during the holidays I can eat freely and if I put a little bit back on, I won't feel so bad.

The green lentils have been sprouting nicely for a couple of days now, and were ready to eat today. Lovely raw, with a dash of EVOO.

Tried some 80% dark chocolate, and it was revolting! But I've read up on the health benefits and will persevere.

Jeans are slightly looser again. Forgot today was WoW, will try to remember tomorrow.

Late WOW here, 1st weigh in of December for me too.

SW: 97.5
CW: 95.1
5% : 92.5

Don't really have many Christmas plans that involve food, until the big day. So hoping to keep it fairly sensible throughout December and focus on the long term picture. No self sabotage because "Christmas is only 3 weeks away and it's not worth it"!!

I maintained this week. I am okay with that but really would like a loss for the last couple of weeks before 25th. Even half lbs would do me grandly.

Hi Everyone 😊👋

I'm weighing in late too. Lost about a kilo this week (although weighing in a day late so a bit longer than a week). Very happy with that but not feeling like I'm really seeing the difference much in my body and generally feeling a bit bleugh about my appearance. Not helped by some chronic pain issues rearing their head. Trying to focus on the positive though and very much enjoying the festive season :) Just enjoyed a nice warm hot chocolate whilst feeding DS, listening to the rain falling on the conservatory roof with the TV on in the background and the heating going, so it ain't all bad that's for sure 🎄😊 Enchiladas for dinner later (probably not much later because I'm feeling veeeeery hungry today!)

@ImALittlePea sending lots of support and well wishes - hope you can find the time and energy to be kind and patient with yourself while things are rough as pps have said and crossing my fingers for you that everything works out 💕