🥳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 🎄🥳

Sorry to hear you're having such a hard time @ImALittlePea and @JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots .

We are a ND household too @JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots and trying to navigate life can sometimes be exhausting and overwhelming for us all(DS1 has ASD/ADHD and is in special ed and we're pretty sure that he has inherited it from DH who's not diagnosed atm. I just went through the ASD diagnostic process which was negative but have come out a social anxiety disorder diagnosis which make so much sense). And the Christmas/NY season is the worse - my kids just go nuts (especially with our other festival here just before). Hang in there.

@ImALittlePea my marriage has definitely been through rocky patches on and off over the last few years - the pandemic really didn't help us. I want to give it more attention but I'm very guilty of not looking after myself and focusing on others. Right now I really have to focus on myself so I can be healthy and happy for myself, not just running around after the kids and my DH. Big hugs and wishing you strength to make good choices for yourself.

I had minor surgery today. Was petrified of the general anaesthetic (watching a medical drama this morning with a character who was being read all the possible dangers of a GA was not helpful!) and was worried about recovery time. However, pleasantly surprised. After going through childbirth/episiotomy/stitches twice, this is a walk in the park.

And after not eating for 7.5 hours today I MUST have lost some extra weight for this week 😂

Today
-slice of toast and cheese
-brown ham roll
-chicken fornello (portuguese rice/eggs oven dish)

Tomorrow
-egg and rye toast
-lots of fruit for snacks, lots of water and herbal tea.
-yellow lentil and coconut soup
-split pea soup and homemade bread

I know I said this the other day but I'm feeling so much better about myself physically and have way more energy compared to 2 months ago. 5.4kg down, 3.6kg to go to a healthy BMI. I'll be happy losing 1 more kilo before Christmas.

A day late with the weigh-in this week. Roughly where I was last week; at 118lbs I’m still under my pre-Christmas maintenance weight of 119lbs before I have another push in the new year.

I’m still struggling with the weather. It’s so easy to eat salads, etc. in summer but not so easy for me in winter. I find myself wanting to hibernate with All The Carbs.

Good Morning All

Great result @Newname2308 👍

@NothingTraLaLa Youre in a good position weight wise. It’s good to have a buffer zone to navigate the festivities 🥳

@PatienceOfEngels Pleased to read you’re on the other side of your surgery ❤️Your weight loss has been consistent and solid! Well done 👏

@Newbornmum Sorry to read you’re in pain again. I know how draining and debilitating that can be ❤️Well done on your loss 👏

@LeftyLou Ive everything crossed for you 🤞

@LemonDrizzle23 @wiltingflower I totally agree about the self sabotage and Christmas only being a couple of weeks away. In 4 weeks we will all be reset and refresh for 2024 🥳😬

@JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots Loving your tree 🎄👏 So pretty 🤩

@2Early4Breakfast I love a sprouted lentil. I agree, very tasty! I have weight balsamic on mine 😋

@fedupofbuilders Well done on your loss 👏 Yes there will be a new thread; 2024 will be our 7th year (started in 2017👍)

@ImALittlePea Sorry to read your update. Sending a huge hug. I’m a big believer in taking each day as it comes and staying true to yourself. You will have the strength to navigate any bumps in the road that comes your way. You’re Super Pea and I’m proud f all you achieve! ❤️

@DomesticElf A good loss, well done 👍

@Spudlover It was delish if I’m honest and am planning on having one today for lunch 😋

Menu
Meal 1 - Salad bowl & roast pepper dressing.
Meal 2 - Lamb steak, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes and onion gravy.
Tea, black coffee and water.

I said I wasn’t doing wow as I knew I’d gained. I did weight and it confirmed I had. Not worrying but I will eat to calorie allowance and measure portions. I’d like a bit of wiggle room for the festivities to come 🥳🥳🥳

SW- 11st 6ibs
CW- 11st 1lb

I knew I'd gained this week, was just under 11 stone last week.
Have had a Christmas night out, meet up with old colleagues for coffee, lunch with friend. Have lunch today with another friend and mum's birthday this weekend. Not normally this busy socially!
Will try and do some exercise this weekend as not been walking as much lately.

Well done everyone, this thread definitely helps me to at least try!

Thank you everyone so much for the messages of support. I really , really appreciate it ❤️ it's been a long and tense week, we're wading through things, but I've decided to (try, anyway) put this on the back burner now until after Christmas. There's too much else to focus on and the things we've discussed that we need from each other need time to be bedded in.

Anyway, I've definitely not been in the headspace for good choices and am 2lb up today 🙄 I've also been feeling exhausted from longer/later shifts at work (home at 11.30pm rather than 9.30/10 as normal), and I'm under the weather too, so I'm dosed up and feeling munchy all the time! I'd normally have some wine on a Thursday night but didn't last night and not going to again tonight - I'm home alone (well, with kids) so going to have a cuppa, hot water bottle, do some online Christmas shopping under a fluffy blanket and have another early night. Which sounds quite nice!

Sending love and strength to everyone here as we approach Christmas ❤️

Weighed in this morning and I gained half a pound 😩.. I haven’t had a brilliant week, too many meal containing potatoes but I’ve also had no junk, no snacks except satsumas.

SW 11 stone 2
CW 11stone (0.7)

FFS.. Anyway onwards and upwards. Don’t have a car today so will be walking everywhere. Had scrambled eggs & tinned tomatoes earlier. Not sure about later, fancy a prawn stir fry perhaps.

Happy Friday everyone xx

@ImALittlePea ❤️

I think there are a few of us who’ve gained a bit this week. Starting afresh and reaffirming our intentions will get us back on track 👍

Todays lunch Rescue Salad👇

Meal 1 - Rescue Salad = 430 calories
Meal 2 - Lamb steak dinner = 554 calories
Tea, black coffee & Milk for hot drinks = 100 calories

Swerved the quality Street that were given out earlier … talking of which where are the Sparkly wrappers? It’s a travesty 😡 I have in my head that each QS chocolate is about 50 calories give or take. They can be moorish and I’d probably have more than 1 😬 That would be enough to sabotage all my efforts.

Forgot to post on Wednesday!

SW 12 st 2
WOW 10 st 12.5
GW 10 st 9

another pound off. Slow and steady. Off for a rainy walk now. Feeling a bit grumpy so going to stomp my blues away.

Morning all. I can't seem to shift anything and an unexpected period has really bloated me and I'm 4lbs above where I want to be. I don't see much hope of me shifting that in time for Christmas 😩 I'll do my best over the next 2 weeks though. It's DD's birthday this week and we are having a take away at her request. We are having a chippy tea tonight too. Luckily I'll be walking about 12 miles today and I'll see if ds will share a chip barn with me instead of having one each. We don't have butter on the barn so that saves about 200 calories. Take away I'll just have noodles and spring rolls instead of the battered mushrooms or bean curd I was planning. If I get into the 55s I'll be ok with that.
Hope everyone had a great weekend and has an equally great week ahead.
Here's a 🍾reminder for us all but especially for myself as I've not been drinking much water at all and it does make a huge difference.

Happy Monday everyone, no time for individual replies but checking in to keep myself of track. Lunch today is fruit, cheese and salad and dinner is beef stew with bread for DH but I will be restricting myself to one slice and enjoying it slowly.

Afternoon all!

Really struggling post-surgery 😥Pain meds they gave me have made me nauseous and blocked up. Off them now so stomach slowly returning to normal but only on paracetamol so in pain. Wisely decided not to go to work today. My weight has been yo-yoing up and down. Have been eating well (lots of fruit and veg) and drinking lots of water so who knows where I'll be when I get to WOW.

@PatienceOfEngels sorry to hear you’re in pain, I hope you feel better soon.

@JustACountryMusicGirlInCowboyBoots Happy birthday to your DD and you do a seriously impressive amount of walking! My step count today is 3901 so far 😖

Another gain here too, but only half a pound so was lucky. I ate and drank loads, luckily all my Christmas nights out were last week so I might be able to claw some back before Christmas. Would be lovely be lovely to lose another 3lbs before Christmas. Slowly adding more carbs back in as otherwise I’ll go nuts on them.

Todays menu:
Porridge with blueberries
Home made chicken and veg soup
Cottage cheese
Swedish meatballs, sauce, cauliflower rice and kale.

Hello Everyone 😊👋

Hope you're feeling better @PatienceOfEngels Wishing you a very speedy recovery!

I foolishly weighed yesterday after a veeeeery carby weekend! Weighed 50.3 on Saturday morning and 50.9 first thing Monday, so hopefully almost all water weight because I definitely didn't eat enough to put on over a pound in 24hrs! Back on track yesterday but still feeling bloated and eugh. Definitely in need of a better plan for the weekends and more meal prepping. Have started on some yesterday so will finish that off and pop it in the freezer today. Need to squeeze it in there alongside the early Christmas food shopping! 🎄🎅

Feel like I'm on the cusp of feeling more me, fitting into old clothes etc but not quite there. Was feeling more confident before the weekend so a bit peeved at myself now but trying to use that as motivation! Here's to another day on track 😊 Aiming to be under 50 or even 49 by Christmas (I'm veeery short! Lol)

Thanks all for the space to vent x

I've been lurking a bit on this thread but wondered @Newbornmum if I could ask you what you eat on an average day to lose weight? I'm a similar weight to you (also short) and really struggling to lose. My recommended daily calories are already quite low due to height and weight, but I know that I need to lose around 7-10 pounds to feel my best.

Hello Everyone

It’s getting busy busy busy!

@PatienceOfEngels ❤️Hope you soon feel more comfortable.

Welcome to the thread @Cherryblossom81 😊

Tonight’s meal was prawn, bacon, chilli and pea carbonara. Rather tasty 😋

This morning WOW - 61.7kg, a loss of 0.1kg for the week (at least it's a loss!)
I think today will be my final fast day of the year.
I will try to minimise the damage next week but am finding it so difficult to refuse lovely food when the host. has gone to so much trouble.
My key target is to 'get back on the waggon' immediately after the New Year.
Keep going everyone.

I hope you're feeling better soon @PatienceOfEngels . Pain meds can really block you up.

WOW today. A very small loss, but hit my first Happy Scale goal. Also have a fixed car now, so can get back to the gym for the first time in a while.

SW: 97.5
CW: 95
5% : 92.5 (also my next happy scale goal).

2 weeks to go - hoping to get some more off before Santa visits!

Thanks for the good wishes. Have called in sick from work for the rest of the week which is helping me to stop stressing about not being there/letting people down. Still feel nauseous but main problem is pain in sitting/walking. Every time I move I start bleeding again which bloody hurts! Going to spend the day lying down on the sofa. Keeping up good eating and drinking (challenge will be to resist the urge to reach for the biscuits out of boredom).

WOW -0.6kg this week!!!!! Very happy with that, especially with the week I've had. My DB is definitely winning our bet though (he hasn't been going as long as I have but has lost almost 2 stone! Tbf he has much more than me to lose and his diet was atrocious so not surprising that he's lost so much on SW).

SW 77kg (beginning October 2023)
CW 71kg
GW 68kg

-6kg in 10 weeks. Smack on 26 for BMI (down from 28.2 at beginning of October). 3 more kilos and I'll have met my target and got down to a healthy BMI of 24.9.

My realistic aim is to get there by February half term, but it might be sooner. Pretty sure Christmas week in the UK will set me back a bit. Christmas aside I always find it harder to eat well when we're away and out of routine. I've already written a shopping list of the food things I want to take with me like bread!

Yesterday:
-lots of water
-boiled egg and rye toast, coffee
-leek and potato soup
-chipolatas and macaroni cheese with peas
-snacks: satsumas, apple, unsalted nuts, cheese, herbal tea and 😳a family sized bag of Walkers in front of Game of Thrones

Today:
--lots of water
-boiled egg and rye toast, coffee
-leftover macaroni cheese and peas
-steak and veg noodle stir fry
-snacks - satsumas, banana, nuts. Let's try not to eat and family sized bag of walkers again 😂

@TheRealHousewife Thank you for the welcome.

@PatienceOfEngels Hope you are able to rest and start to feel better soon.

Hello all

I hope everyone is having a good week.

I’ve been unwell and I’m on v strong pain meds. So I haven’t done any exercise and haven’t given a lot of thought to what I’ve been eating either. I’ll weigh in on Friday still, but my objective is to not go mad over Christmas, walk 10000 steps every day & go the gym as much as possible - finish work on Monday for the holidays 👏. And then OH and I will do dry Jan from Jan 2nd to our holiday on Jan 26th!

xx

Good Morning

WOW - 9st. Up! Ideally would like to secure a solid weight in the 8s before year end. I’m not going to obsess over that or the possibility of a little more gain considering the time of year. It is what it is.

@fedupofbuilders well done! 👍

@LemonDrizzle23 I love a Happy Scale goal! 👏 Very motivating!

@PatienceOfEngels Happy to read you’re taking the rest of the week off! Self care order of the day! Well done on your loss 👏

@witnessprotection73 Hope you soon feel better!

Menu
Meal 1 - Minestrone Soup.
Meal 2 - Poached salmon omelette & side salad.
Tea, black coffee and hot water and lemon.

Afternoon all! Keep meaning to stay up to date/check in but I'm lost in the throes of festivetide now 😬 plus on antibiotics, now definitely been eating my way through illness.

Diet has been so-so (more bad than good, though), my willpower has all but vanished, I'm unsure whether I'm even going to weigh now before Xmas. I think my decision on that front depends on whether I make any more sensible choices this week.

Thankfully my marriage is a bit happier than it was last week, but we've got a long way to go. But we're in a happier place.

My head is telling me to stick with my cup-a-soup special for lunch today. My stomach is telling me to have sandwiches and crisps. I'll update in a bit on that front 😂

Dinner is going to be baked potato, sausages and beans. Long shift tonight, looking forward to it though as we have a festive special night at work so should be good fun!

Sending big love to you all, sorry I can't tag though ❤️

Feels very much like a last ditch attempt but any good choice is worth making, I guess! Cup-a-soup special (minus the houmous, unfortunately) for the win 😇

WOW
SW 70kg
CW 60kg
GW 50 kg

That's -1kg loss from last week 🥳
If I keep up this momentum, I will be in 50s by new year. We are mid moving house, so it's all mayhem, meal planning is not happening, but my whole enforced dairy free is keeping me on track with calories.