⭐️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?

Bit disappointed with a week 1 loss of 0.3kg but I am just starting my period so hopefully the pounds will fall off once AF fucks off! It’s shite being nearly 50 - before peri if I abstained from wine and sugary shite for a week I’d have lost at least a couple of kilos in week 1. I have run 5k twice, done a weights and cardio class and done a minimum of 10k steps every day. Sigh. Here for the long haul….

Hi @Patchworksack A loss is a loss although I know you’re dissatisfied with it. Another way of looking at it is that it is better than a gain. Age wise, you’re a pup at the side of me 😬. Wait until the 60s strike 😮

I've got 4 weeks until I go on holiday and really hope to reign myself in in those 4 weeks. Today so far:
Porridge, chia, golden syrup, tea
Yogurt, chia, honey, fruit compote
No idea about dinner yet but something light.
I'm going to move the Christmas chocolate to somewhere else where they aren't next to me although I can't say I actually want any now. I've not had my morning Tunnocks today because I wasn't hungry so might have it for pudding. I've also reduced my oats from a half cup to a third cup because I was wasting the last few mouthfuls.

Everyone seems to be doing great! Keep going!

To anyone feeling bad because they feel they haven't lost enough - you're in this for the long haul! When I adjusted my expectations and realised that this is a long term lifestyle change and goal and not a quick fix things got easier for me. It's easy to compare with others, but only you are walking in your shoes.

So many things affect my weigh in - time of day, time of month, whether I had a takeaway or a special occasion this week - so I try to weigh in more than once a week so I can see averages per week and then 4 weeks. My DB is also losing weight in tandem with me (he and his partner are doing SW) and he's lost twice as much as me BUT he's got more to lose, his diet and drinking habits were atrocious so he's made a huge shift in lifestyle (mine isn't so much), his weight is not impacted by a hormonal cycle, we have very different stresses in our lives.

I am overweight, and shifting to a whole food, minimally processed diet has meant I've lost at a rate of about 2kg a month. I am fully prepared for that to slow down once I end up in the healthy BMI category. There were also weeks where I didn't shift anything and it would have been really easy to throw in the towel. Realising what makes me feel good in the long term has helped (if I eat bread at lunchtime/sugary cappuccinos in the morning I WILL be falling asleep at around 3pm. If I snack after dinner I WILL wake up feeling absolutely exhausted, brain fog and dry mouth. If I drink alcohol I WILL feel shocking the next morning and have disrupted sleep).

Keep going. Stay strong. Don't beat yourself up. Don't make it too hard on yourself. Decide what your hard limits are (for me no booze, I refuse to give up coffee completely so still have it with breakfast, no UPF treats apart from special occasions, always have vegetables with lunch and dinner, no bread for lunch, no calories in drinks). I can stick with these things for 90% of the time and I'm okay with that. And make it as easy as possible for you to stick to your hard limits - don't have junk in the house, prep meals, batch cook, plan, have alternatives in mind if going out.

It's taken my body 48 hours to recover from a takeaway! A bit of a shock but makes me realise why looking at the average helps (and taught me not to eat a takeaway before a weekly weigh in!).

Back to work for me today and several colleagues told me I was looking great which was lovely to hear.

I feel your pain. I’m nearly 39 and noticing some signs of peri (mainly previously long cycles shorter by nearly a week) and it’s SO MUCH HARDER to lose weight now! 😏 honestly though @TheRealHousewife is right - a loss is a loss and getting anything off is such an achievement at this stage. Well done!

Interesting observations and I agree with you on all of them. It is frustrating that men seem to lose weight easier than us (generalising now I know!) but we have hormones and less muscle mass working against us etc… you’re doing so well and I admire/envy your attitude 👏

@PatienceOfEngels you are absolutely right, it is the bigger picture, the long term that needs a focus on. We need to keep making mindful choices

So, inspired by a thread where somebody has been given seriously vast amounts of shelf stable food from a relative downsizing, I decided to use up a bag of US style grits purchased on a whim, and cook up a bag of rather out of date black soy beans to see if they were ok. They are!

B: cocoa prune porridge, spot of almond butter (just realised I left off my tracker)
L: grits, peppers, rosemary veggie sausage, onions, few soy beans
D: lentil bolognaise, broccoli, cheese.

We went out for a walk (and scooters) early, the sun was just rising. The sky was beautiful candy floss colours.

It's back to school tomorrow, got everything ready and my family are back to their sports this evening as well. I'm planning a walk into town ALONE tomorrow to hopefully exchange a book I got for Christmas and spend a waterstones voucher in peace!

Well done everyone who has weighed in today!
I’m enjoying reading through this thread even if I don’t post much!
Weighing in on Wednesday and I’m hoping to see a good number lost on the scale! However I have a heavy weekend coming up for my birthday so I hope that doesn’t negate any losses I’ve made. I’m just thinking that it’s one day and I will have been good the rest of the time

Agree with @PatienceOfEngels post

My hard limits are: no alcohol (easy for me) and no soft drinks (again easy for me). If having coffee out specify semi skimmed, no chocolate on top

No ultra processed treats at all. BUT I am allowed homemade treats so can bake the odd cake. I’m also allowed to buy a cake on a long bike ride (keen cyclist).

Meals I’m just eating normal foods not really making drastic reductions to calories intake but trying to cook from scratch, avoid ultra processed 90% of the time

I wasn't very hungry until dinner and then ate 4 rounds of cheese and HP sauce on toast! I ate breakfast and lunch but was surprised that I wasn't hungry mid morning or mid afternoon. I'm only just over my calories for the day and have walked over 11 miles today so I'm happy with that. I've drink plenty of water today too. A good start to the week although lacking in vegetables. I'll do better on that tomorrow.

Well done to everyone who's lost weight this week.
Had a busy day which for me equally less temptation.

SW 15st 4.6lb
CW 15st 1.8 lb
Loss 2.8 lb
GW 12st this still puts me in the overweight category but I'll see how I feel/look when I get there.

First goal is to get to the next stone bracket then mini goals of 7lbs at a time, someone suggested this earlier in the thread and it seems such a good idea for each target to not be to far away.

B seeded toast, hummus
L tofu sandwich
D 'chicken', potatoes and steamed vegetables
S wine, think I'm going to have yogurt and fruit cause I haven't reached my minimum fruit/veg portions

Calorie count for the day is coming in at 1,140... Which feels a bit low, but I'm pretty certain I've logged everything 🤷‍♀️ DH is out for a walk and is picking up a chocolate bar (which we don't need, as we're still heavy on Christmas chocolate, but it's a particular one that I bought at the weekend and he finished last night without knowing I was hankering for it... He has been told 😆), so I'll have a bit of that when he's back. Should remain within limit though.

Unfortunately DD is still under the weather, her temp keeps going up, anticipating another bad night tonight and trip to the docs again tomorrow 😔🥱

Excellent post @PatienceOfEngels ❤️ it definitely helps to accept this is sometimes a snail's game, we all want a long term sustainable result. As much as we love a whoosh, we have to remember that small losses, maintains and even the gains are part of the longer term path. We just keep going.

This is why I love these threads and keep coming back (2 years in now!); we all have the common goal, but our strategies, needs, beliefs and tools are all so unique, yet we all continue to cheer for each other every day/week/month with open arms and zero judgement, ever. The most supportive and inclusive place.

Evening all, hope everyone had great weekends.

@PatienceOfEngels you are so right. I have a tendency to give myself a goal then get angry if I don’t reach it. But it really doesn’t matter. Better to take it slow and steady and get there when I get there, than give up and not get there at all.

@WeirdPookah I love grits! Do you make them?

@ImALittlePea Ive only been with these threads a short while but find them fab.

Ok weekend for me. Went to brunch with friends and stayed dry when everyone around me was bottomless. Could have made slightly better food choices but not awful.

Food today a bit carby for me, and I’ve been feeling hungry all day as a consequence. Im
generally ok if I don’t eat bread.
Porridge with blueberries
Ham salad wrap, celery, carrots
Apple
Salmon with lentils and broccoli.

30 mins treadmill.

Hi everyone, a new week. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Food today much the same as yesterday!

B - Banana, Arla protein yoghurt.
L - Beans on gluten free toast, two clementines.
D - Chicken and chickpea tamarind curry with sugar snap peas, Lindahl yoghurt.

Snack: 3 babybel lights, hula hoops.

Exercise: 2 x dog walk, yoga.

Went through my wardrobe and took out everything that doesn’t fit. Another day this week I’ll sort it into sizes. Kept a couple of things in the next size down to try on every fortnight or so.

The no UPF (or minimal) is such a good shout. The podcast on listened to with Dr Chatterjee and Dr Chris said something so interesting, which was that when you make a homemade cake or whatever that’s not UPF, you aren’t likely to binge on it. So true. I’ve made some healthier muffins and have definitely found that to be true.

My food today: (not having breakfast)

Lunch:
Roasted chickpeas, tomatoes and garlic with Greek yogurt and sourdough toast
Homemade healthy mini muffin

Dinner:
Sea bream
Stir fried onions, garlic, spinach, courgettes, sugar snap peas and broccoli.
frozen pineapple and a homemade healthy mini muffin

After dinner: A few plain Peter’s Yard crackers

Coffees with skimmed milk and a couple of tsps of coconut sugar

Great losses today - well done. Some delicious sounding food too.

I'm weighing on Weds, but ticking-off 1st week of Dry Jan with zero alcohol and no added sugar. Given I was drinking daily, I'm really pleased. Feeling better for it too.

Hope your DD gets better @ImALittlePea & you get better sleep. Thanks for article link OP - I'll read it now.

B - kefir yoghurt and blueberries
E - gym
L - salmon salad
S - celery sticks & dollop of hummus
D - left over roast chicken + mushroom & spinach risotto

Terrific post @PatienceOfEngels. I am going to re-read that every time I get in my own head about slow progress. To be honest I'm usually ok when there is some progress, however infinitesimal, it's when I have a long plateau or lose and regain the same kg over several weeks months that I start panicking and either give up for a while or switch diets to something super restrictive, neither of which works in the long term and I just end up at the same starting weight again. Or worse.

Sigh. I know this in my brain somewhere. It just gets lost from time to time.

Anyway, today has been a good day, with a decent bit of walking from my commute into the office (I work from home the other days of the week) and I actually took my lunch in with me for the first time in quite a while. I had some of my homemade roast pepper, tomato and garlic soup, with a (properly weighed) piece of cheese, a few Peters Yard crackers and some grapes.

I had some protein yogurt too in an attempt to avert the usual danger zone hunger when I get in the door at night, and that seemed to do the trick. Must remember that.

This is such a wonderful thread, you lot are all brilliant.

I'm looking forward to getting back on the WL meds next week, I cannot resist the snacks in the same way. I have had a rest day from the gym today but managed over 15k in steps so should help against the chocolate biscuits.

It's my birthday tomorrow, I have planned a lovely ribeye steak with garlicky buttered broccoli, I'd usually have a big glass of red wine but I'm sticking with DJ. I did buy some bottles of AF wine, they were horrible, absolutely no way could I drink those.

@PatienceOfEngels great post, thank you. I'm not getting anywhere the last few days but as you w says it's harder when you've got less to lose. I've got about 4lb to shift and it's taking its time. My habits are good and ingrained over the past year and a quarter and there's not a lot of room for improvement without getting super restrictive which isn't healthy. I'm conscious of modelling a healthy balance to my children and there's no talk of diets. I walked almost 12 miles yesterday and am active for a good portion of the day. Anything salty plays havoc with my weight and it takes days to shift that water weight. The end of my period sees me gain weight too and that takes a week to shift. Today will be a 10 mile walk or so and food very much the same as usual.

Morning all.

DDs back to school today and I'm feeling motivated.

Plan for today is:

B - coffee and a banana
L - mushroom soup and an apple
D - lentil kofta and orzo
E - 3 mile walk and a gym weights session

Stuck to my food rules yesterday and did a weights session at gym, 5k run and walked school run both times. Also walked to gym.

Today goal is walking everywhere, another 5k run & Pilates class. Food wise porridge with berries / eggs on toast / jacket potato with tuna, cheese & salad. Snacks will be natural yoghurt with honey, berries & nuts and a banana.

@maybein2022 I should definitely make some muffins and freeze for putting in lunchboxes! Our oven has been on the blink so baking has taken a back seat here the last few months.

@LegoTherapy ditto on salty food. I knew this before but know I KNOW it and am trying to act on it. Agree about being careful about the language I use around food and my kids. Have talked to mine about making healthier choices (milk or water instead of squash, trying different breakfasts like eggs, greek yoghurt, banana pancakes instead of bread all the time) and about how this can make us feel better and have more energy.

@imustbepatient I agree that I know in theory what I need to do to be healthier but in practice don't always do it! It's definitely in my brain. Your soup sounds lovely.

@LumionaMoonsplash happy birthday for tomorrow and enjoy your steak. I agree AF wine is vile. I've found AF lager is okay or AF gin with tonic, ice in a fancy glass with all the trimmings as an occasional treat (it's basically sugar!).

@buzzofthebumblebee well done on a week AF!

@afaloren I really need to go through my wardrobe too. It's fit to bursting with 3 sizes of jeans, dresses that I don't wear anymore, jumpers and t-shirts which have seen better days.

@ImALittlePea agree - the threads are really helping me! Hope your DD is better soon.

Another birthday in the house here so some treats heading my way.

B-boiled egg, rye toast and butter, coffee
L-harissa chicken and orzo
D - hot dogs, onions, mustard, paprika wedges, cucumber and peppers (Birthday boy's choice!)
S-piece of birthday cake, apple, unsalted nuts

Stuck to my food rules yesterday and did a weights session at gym, 5k run and walked school run both times. Also walked to gym.

Today goal is walking everywhere, another 5k run & Pilates class. Food wise porridge with berries / eggs on toast / jacket potato with tuna, cheese & salad. Snacks will be natural yoghurt with honey, berries & nuts and a banana.

Finally weighed myself - have gained 3lbs from my lightest on 28th November, not too bad.

CW 12st 6lbs (9th Jan 2024)
SW 13 st 6lb (4th September 2023)
GW 11 st 0lbs
Height - 5' 7"
Age - 48

I do yoga twice a week, gym 3 x a week (1 x cardio only session (40 minutes) , 2 x mixture of 40 minutes weights with 20 minutes cardio). Have been doing the exercise regime since November 2022. Eating - Nutracheck, based on about 1700 cals a day but I eat them variably, 2000 one day, 1200 another, which seems to help. 90g protein, 30g fibre <150g carbs. <8 units a week of alcohol. Weight loss goal is 1lb a week. 1st June FTW!

First goal is to get rid of December gain by the end of this month.