⭐️LOSE IT! January 2024 Reset & Renew⭐️

[TheRealHousewife]

⭐️Open to All⭐️

January 2024! Fresh start & develop new habits. Join-in to reset & refresh and become a healthier version of yourself. These threads are for those who’d like to lose and those who wish to maintain whilst eating a healthy varied diet.

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 9st. I had a blip a couple of years ago when my thyroid went wonky but now back on track.

Are you in😊 What food plan will you be following? What do you want to change and why?

Today's menu

B - boiled egg and toast
L - Cajun bean soup, with a small side portion of chicken
D - chickpea and cauliflower curry with a mini nan bread. Was going to have an alcohol free beer, but I haven't done any exercise yet, so skipped it.

Trying to get my mojo together to a strength class, when I'd really, really, like to slump on the sofa and drink wine. We're not doing dry January, but trying to really cut back on the wine this month to help with the weight loss. Going to treat myself to some tomorrow though.

Now, where are those weights...

Picking myself.uo after not losing any weight this week. I wonder what I'm doing wrong?! I've been calorie counting and have adopted quite a low fat diet so I'm so disappointed.

B- lean bacon medallions, scrambled egg, one slice of wholemeal toast
S- Apple &grapes
L-Lean turkey wholemeal tortilla with salad and cheese
S- 2 ryvita with philly and tomatoes
D- roast chicken salad and baked sweet potato

I'm going toy first slimming world tomorrow so we will see what it's all about and if they can help me!

Whenever I have a plateau the first things I look at are:

• where am I in my cycle, week before period I gain or stay the same due to water retention
• have I been drinking enough, you need around 2 lts of water/clear fluids to help your body break down fat and heal muscles being used for exercise
• have I been getting decent sleep, lack of sleep produces more cortisol and that slows down metabolism
• have I been honest about everything I've eaten and drank and logged it

Yes, I've religiously logged everything down to cups of tea and even dressings like light mayo etc and I use my fitness pal and ot says I've been in quite a large deficit all week. I did weigh myself before Christmas though and then again today so Im not sure how much I even put on but I'm ,3lb heavier than the 13 dec.
Yes, I drink loads of water. I've got a big 600 ml water bottle and I refill it, I normally have around 5-6 of those a day, I don't drink anything else other than tea in the mornings.
My weight has always been up and down but now I'm at my heaviest and I'm desperate to get the weight off.

2.5lb off when I weighed this morning. I’m on my period which always causes me to retain water so I’m very pleased. DH has lost 6, the jerk.

B - Arla protein yoghurt, 5 dried apricots
L - Lentil and bacon soup, gluten free toast
D - Bolognese with no pasta, sprinkle of cheese, Lindahl’s yoghurt, mini Green and Black’s bar.

Calories a bit low today as I forgot to have my snack so I might have something else or just make up for it tomorrow

Exercise I did two dog walks, a yoga session and hoofed a load of boxes up into my mum’s loft!

I'm definitely going to get some orzo pasta to try I reckon my kids will like it. They normally just have fusili penne and spaghetti. I find hiding veg in bolognese works well or tuna pasta bake.
Tray bakes of roasted meat and veg is a great idea! Sometimes my brain just gets so caught up with my daughters allergies and constantly reading labels I just forget to keep it simple.

Meatballs is a good shout. I always just do bolognese as most ready made meatballs from supermarkets have my daughters allergens in them.

Would you mind sharing your pizza base recipe?

I've done 25-30mins of HIIT and Abs this week and feeling it a lot so hoping it helps. Definitely more mindful of what I'm eating as well.

@FootballFanGirl it's disheartening isn't it? I sometimes find I get a whoosh after a couple of weeks of healthy eating without any losses. Is your calorie goal set right for your planned goals? I didn't always find MFP very accurate for logging some things as there's a lot of user generated content, and find nutracheck more accurate for logging items from uk supermarkets, it is a paid for app though so doesn't suit everyone.

Hope the kids like the orzo @abbs1. Jamie Oliver has a good sausage, pasta, broccoli dish that is fairly low calorie and he uses a pasta that's shaped a bit like a bow tie (we've run out and can't remember what it's called). Chicken or turkey sausages might be a good alternative for you too?

Happy Friday!

Agree this thread is very motivating @buzzofthebumblebee. I like seeing what people are eating and hints and tips.

I have a pizza base recipe that I use if it’s any use to anyone, it’s not a proper dough but it’s surprisingly good and high protein. I mix 150g fat free Greek yoghurt with 70g plain flour and a bit of salt. Roll out onto a floured surface, transfer to a baking tray. Bake for 10 mins, flip it, top it and bake for another 10.

Todays food:
Porridge and blueberries
Chicken and vegetable soup
Cottage cheese
Courgetti bolognese with protein cheese

And an alcohol free gin. Wish it was real gin as my boiler has packed in!

Trying to catch up,

FiveShelties yeah nutracheck is a great tracking app, so user friendly, well worth the year subscription cost

WeirdPookah that's 2 people on this thread who've said they don't like tempeh, was planning on trying it this weekend.

Wow 11lb in 4 days, are you weighing daily to have a day 4 weight?

I made the receipe you posted today (minus the tomato puree, I've run out) it was really nice, thank you

FootballFanGirl I had that, popped on the scales for motivation yesterday morning and instead it said 2lb up on start weight, its very boring advice but just keep going.
I've just seen your later post that you're up on a pre Christmas weigh in, you're most likely just seeing the Christmas weight but even if it not, just keep going.

LemonDrizzle23 unfortunately im doing nothing exciting this weekend, clearing out my wardrobe and dressing table, a work out and trying not to eat everything in the house, I struggle at weekends, better when I'm busy.

I'd be interested in the pizza base receipe too

@abbs1 my pizza recipe is from the Usbourne My First Cookbook that I got when I was in primary school 😂I usually times it by 1.5 for the 4 of us or x2 if we're starving.

Thankyou. Most Sausages contain rice powder or soya which my daughter can't have. So far the only safe ones I can find are the pork and honey chipolatas from tesco and the pork and apple ones from aldi. If anyone knows of others I'd love to know!
I will have a look up of Jamie Olivers recipe. Thankyou.

Oh amazing! Thankyou

I use the Hairy Dieter's recipe for swedish meatballs (book 3) from scratch and adapt to what I have.

So I use:
1 onion, chopped and 1 crushed garlic clove, sauteed
1kg mince I use beef but they use half and half)
100g breadcrumbs
50ml milk
1/2 tsp allspice (I cobble together from cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
ground black pepper.

(they also have anchovy paste on their list but I never bother)

Mix together and form into balls. Mine are slightly smaller than golf balls. Bake in the oven on a baking paper lined baking tray at 200C for 12-15 minutes (complete game changer for me cooking meatballs in the oven!! Saves having to turn them and they cook evenly).

You can open freeze them then transfer to a container/freezer bag once they're frozen. I usually split into 3 batches.

I either have them in a tomato/veg sauce and pasta or I make red wine gravy (also a Hairy biker recipe). I usually end up with left over gravy for freezing.

sauté one sliced onion and crushed garlic clove in olive oil.
add one tablespoon of flour and stir for a minute
add 1 tbsp tomato puree, 300ml beef stock made with 1 stock cube and 150ml red wine, slowly and stirring constantly. Bring to boil.
Add meatballs, cover and reduce to a simmer for 15 - 30 minutes.

Remove lid and increase heat if necessary to thicken.

For a quick and easy dinner, I make gravy, chuck in meatballs from freezer, cook rice and peas/broccoli.

This thread moves too fast for me to keep up with! Hope everyone is doing okay.

So end of day 5 on plan for me and all good. Also in what I think is a record for me I’ve gone 5 whole days with no Diet Coke or other diet drinks (have had a couple of cans of the Dash fizzy water) and I feel so much better. It was a serious addiction!!

I’ve also managed no chocolate/added sugar, a couple of things have had a bit of sugar in eg baked beans and pickle, but generally my diet has been really good and very minimal UPF and I do already feel better. Doing WW has been good for keeping portions in check and see how you eat app has been great too.

Now to get through the weekend and hope my weigh in on Monday is good…

I've been doing lots of thinking about when / why I snack. No answers apart from the usual - stressed, comfort, boredom, sad - but what is always the case for me is that once I start, I can't stop. I don't think that is ever going to change. So what I need to do is not start on crisps, sugar, cake, chocolate, wine etc in the 1st place

This is also me buzz! 🙈 If I can resist it's much better, if I have one or two chocolates/ crisps/ small piece of cake I just want more. It's so annoying as I see others just have a little & be satisfied.

Had a huge day out - city adventure then panto. DC3 is obsessed by fish & chips, so eating in a nice place in town was part of the treat. I removed my batter & just ate the fish, but did have a portion of chips- it just wasn't possible to be there smelling them & not have some. Sometimes in life you need to embrace the pleasure. Had no sweets/ ice-cream at theatre, though.

Will be extra careful Sat/ Sun. Last hurrah out with cousins tomorrow, but I don't drink & am purposefully going a little later so I don't join them for the calorific 'nibbles' they've mentioned for lunch!

I think the main reason I snack is simply habit. So I'm trying to break the habit!

I snack when I'm sat still, so I've been trying to keep my hands and mind occupied by doing things like puzzles or knitting in the evening. Seems to be working so far because I don't really feel hungry and if I'm occupied then I don't think about hitting up the fridge.

Feeling quite pleased I didn't have any wine last night, and I'm up and out for a hilly walk this morning. Good luck fending off the weekend temptations everyone (that's usually my downfall).

I didn't eat much yesterday in the end, I just wasn't hungry!
I had leftovers for lunch, which was a small amount of mash veg and chicken, then I had a chicken tikka wrap for dinner which was chicken tikka, lettuce and a yoghurt and mint sauce.

Plan for today is a walk around the local nature trail, it's cold but dry and bright so going out soon.

So annoying, I went from 83kg to 77kg from March to September but then managed to put on three kg from October to December! Does anyone feel you have to work so hard to lose it but it seems so easy to put it back on again (taking foot off the gas with exercise plus chocolate habit re-emerging!)?

I'm back on track again, trying to walk/exercise more and going back to better diet. I find eating more protein/fat and cutting out sugar and simple carbs works best for me. I like the idea of zigzagging calory intake rather than daily low calories - I once had a friend who did a very low calorie diet and she could barely get off the bed, it didn't seem sustainable and her body went into shut down a bit. I'd like to get down to 75kg as my next goal and see how I feel then. I'd still be marginally in the overweight category but only just.

Does anyone use their waist measurement as an indicator? I'm quite large-framed but do have a defined waist, although would like to get it down to below 30 inches if possible but it's quite a challenge. I did go down from 35 inches to 33 inches though, with diet and exercise, so it's doable. It seems strange that a larger framed woman who is 5 foot 10 inches would have the same waist target as someone small framed who is 5 foot????

@PatienceOfEngels it's so hard, isn't it 😫 I always come across with good intentions but it seems like whenever we see family and friends, it's focused around eating and there is a bunch of food we like to eat that we can't get in Germany 😅I hope you've been able to get back into a good routine being home. I know I'll be doing much better from Wednesday.

I've been reading through the thread and finding it very supportive and motivational reading about your days. I'll be checking in more often from Wednesday when I'm home and can properly get back into a routine but I did pop on the scales this morning and 3lbs have shifted since Monday, despite my bacon roll yesterday and my New Years dinner on Thursday 😅 Ive upped my walking this week and have been eating much less chocolate so it's likely the Christmas bloat that's now gone.

Soup for lunch today, then homemade chicken curry for dinner.

SW: 15st 10
CW: 15st 7
Interim GW: 13st 10

Will start to do WOW from Wednesday:)

Hope everyone has a good weekend ahead!

Remember there are lots of Non-Scale victories to look out for too.

Measurements and photos are good to show changes in posture and size. If you have a smart watch you'll likely see changes there too. Mine is showing a reduction in respiration rate and resting heart rate which means overall my body is functioning better.

We tend to have a nice meal on Fridays too. Could you make your own pizza? We buy a base then just fill it with veg and some chicken. It's lovely and much better calorie / salt wise!

(Sorry I replied to this before I realised you had already been having this discussion! Will make sure to catch up completely before I reply)

Pelham678

Does anyone feel you have to work so hard to lose it but it seems so easy to put it back on again

Absolutely, I was thinking the other day how it feels I have to reduce calories by more to lose than I ate in the first place to put it on but its probably just that when we're not managing our weight and tracking, we're just less conscious of what we're consuming

I need to do my measurements, keep forgetting.

I had a bite on my wrist last year and couldn't wear my fitbit cause it rubbed, when I've charged it to wear again it won't keep its charge, its really annoying cause I can't afford a new one atm and it does really help me to keep active