⭐️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?

Morning everyone
Lovely to hear everyone’s progress so far. I’ve been doing 16:8 but just started properly on Monday when DH went back to work. Have a loss of 2lbs this week which I’m happy with.
SW 13 stone 5
CW 13 stone 3
GW 12 stone initially

Today's meals:

B - coffee and an apple
L - omelette with feta and tomatoes
D - butterbean casserole, broccoli and two slices of sourdough

@WhatWouldTheDoctorDo honestly, it is so interesting. I just had a homemade muffin after lunch and have no inclination to have another. If I’d had a Kit Kat I’d be trying stop myself binging on them.

@TheRealHousewife I hope you feel better soon.

Well done everyone for WOW, to those who gained, remember that if your body is still catching up from Christmas keep going. Hopefully next week will be better.

My weigh in day is Monday but I did sneak a little peak today and seem on be on track for another good loss on Monday.

Today is day 10 for me, the big one is no diet coke, honestly I was SO addicted so I am glad I’ve managed to quit cold turkey. Still having minimal UPF and no chocolate etc. I may make some homemade brownies at the weekend though. And having the occasional homemade blueberry and banana muffin which are much lower sugar than ones you’d buy- also use spelt flour instead of white.

Afternoon all. I’m currently feeling a bit rubbish with a cold/flu bug, but the plus is I’m sitting by the fire with my lovely dog to keep me company. And occasionally bark. The scales also finally started moving down this morning, so hopefully that is the Christmas bloat + gain beginning to go at last, and the effects of Dry January starting to make an appearance.

I’ve had my standard breakfast today (a hard boiled egg and a slice of rye bread toasted and topped with half an avocado and a chopped tomato), and then lunch was homemade mushroom soup, a few Fine Cheese Co crackers, a small bit of cheddar and small bunch of grapes.

I think dinner tonight will be a homemade stew / soup of fish, chorizo and haricot beans, maybe with some sourdough bread if I can pick some up later.

@maybein2022 I have a real Diet Coke addiction too. I probably drink 5 cans a week as it's my go-to in order to not snack if I'm feeling peckish in the evening. As it's sort of sweet and zero calories it's become a bit of a crutch for me. The podcast on UPFs really opened my eyes to it so I know I need to find a non-UPF alternative.

I'm not aiming for a total ban on consuming UPFs (I'm not sure how I'd ever eat food outside the house again if I did) but I seriously want to reduce my consumption where I can.

The thing that resonated with me most on the podcast (other than the fact you're far less likely to binge on homemade cakes etc as you mentioned) was that you need to shift your mindset re: preparing food. E.g. If you're eating more whole foods you are going to be spending more time preparing and cooking meals and to view that as an enjoyable part of your day rather than yet another task to tick off your list. I'm going to try to implement that by doing more cooking with DDs and listening to the radio when I'm in the kitchen.

Thank you @HighlandCowRose, sorry to hear that you have experienced Sciatica too, it's so horrid! How long have you been pain free for and have you had any treatment for it?

Re UPFs, I’m struggling with bread.

can’t make my own as literally no space for a bread maker.

Even the fresh bread in the bakery section of the supermarket lists Emulsifier and E-numbers in the ingredients!!

For bread I use the Jason's brand. They do a few varieties of sliced sourdough loaves that don't have any emulsifiers or E numbers. It's sold in Sainsbury's and Tesco's near me.

E.g the ingredients of their sliced white is Wheat Flour, Water, Salt, Fermented Wheat Flour.

Crosta & Mollica also do wraps that are UPF free. Ingredients are wheat flour, water, extra virgin olive oil, salt. That's it.

EndlessGuineaPigCycle its been a little over a year now since my last flare up. I've had 3 episodes of it, I took myself off to a physio on the last one, I was in so much pain, the exercises didn't help me, I found I was in more pain afterwards. After this the Dr gave me Amytriptiline, it can work as a nerve blocker and it did the job for me.

Have you had treatment?

Completely separate, how many guinea pigs do you have, we're in the cycle too 😁

Evening everyone. Another day almost done.

B - Protein yoghurt, banana
L - Leek and potato soup, gluten free toast, two clementines
D - Bunless cheeseburger with salad, protein yoghurt, mini chocolate bar

Snack: Hot chocolate made with skimmed milk and Choc Shot.

Exercise: 2 x dog walks, yoga, weights workout in the gym.

Hoping to see a loss on Friday. Mega well done to those who’ve seen a loss today and commiserations to those who didn’t get the result they were hoping for.

@TheRealHousewife Thankyou 😊 re the dill cream sauce, that sounds so nice. I will definitely be giving that a try. Also hope you're feeling better.

@PatienceOfEngels That NSV must feel amazing.

@ImALittlePea glad your daughter is feeling better

@LumionaMoonsplash Happy birthday for yesterday ☺️

@DomesticatedPickle awful for you hope you're alright.

I have had a relatively good week this week. I have seriously reduced snacking, I have said No more times than not and I have moved my body every day. Just gentle exercises really. I went to pizza hut on Sunday had pizza (of course) and fudge cake and ice cream. Also saw Wonka and had sweet popcorn. On top of the fact it was time of the month. I stepped on the scales (this was on Sunday evening) and I was 4 lbs up. You know how with fluctuations it usually goes down by the next morning. Well it didn't I was still up by 4! I was furious. I thought that there was no reason to stay mad because if I did I would not be getting where I want and in six months time I'll be likely be on the same place. So I continued with eating healthy and moving my body. It paid of and by weigh in I lost 1 lbs. 😁

So basically TL;DR😅 I lost 1lbs this week .

Thankyou to everyone who has posted some lovely looking meals.

@HighlandCowRose A year since your last flare up sounds promising then, fingers crossed you don't get it again🤞I have had a couple of steroid injections, which didn't do much. I have another tomorrow in a different place in my spine. I've also been having regular physio and have been trying to improve my core strength (something that I've always struggled with!) as well as walking/occasional light jogging on the treadmill.

We have two guinea pigs, when one has died we've immediately got another as they get lonely easily, hence the never ending cycle! 🙂 How about you?

I've been terrible at updating but have been shamelessly reading all of yours!

Interesting to see the discussion around upf - I'm listening to ultra processed people right now - quite eye opening!

On a positive note, I've been to the gym twice this week and remembered how much I enjoy it

On a (slightly) negative note, ate 2 triangles of toblerone last night and my son gave my 5 segments of his chocolate orange today and you can't say no to a child, right?

EndlessGuineaPigCycle bless you, you've had more treatment than me, hope you get out of pain soon.

The guinea pigs are my eldest daughters who's now at uni so I'm now looking after them, don't really mind, they're such sweet little animals. We have 2, started with brothers from a rescue centre, then when one died got the surviving one a girlfriend, again from rescue centre.

@rumhamm you definitely cannot say no to a child 😄

Those guinea pigs are sooo cute! 😊

Bit naughty tonight - I've been out in the pub and had wine plus fish and chips. BUT I chose the small fish and chips and had less wine than that I would normally have, so have come in under my calorie goal for the day (I used the easier days function on nutracheck to give me more calories today).

Today has been cheesy. The whole week has been cheesy. A thread somewhere mentioned cheese on toast last Sunday and I wanted some but the bread was mouldy and ds ill so I couldn't go and buy any. I've made up for it since and had it the last 3 days! With HP sauce. Ds wants takeaway pizza for his birthday tomorrow. Not great but I'm starting the day with my usual porridge. At least I always have that. Another 10 miles clocked up. Will be similar tomorrow so a good week this week for mileage.
I've got ds's cake baked and decorated and will try and give some to family and friends to take home otherwise I'll eat it for every meal for the next couple of days. Homemade cake it so much nicer than shop bought especially with a cup of tea. Very civilised I always think, a cup of tea and a slice of cake. My dad was in hospital in Italy and they were given cake for breakfast. He wasn't impressed but I like their style. Cake is excellent breakfast food in my book. I used to regularly make nigella's chocolate fudge cake. I kept it in the fridge and would have a big slice with a homemade caramel latte in the morning say outside in the garden. It was heaven. I've not made one for years now. I'll try to taste the memories. Sorry if I'm making anyone hungry! I like talking about and thinking about food and living vicariously 😬

I didn't post weigh in yesterday, I was annoyed because I'd gone up a lb from the day before. Completely understandable as I have been eating trash for 2 days, birthday excuse but I'm back on it today.

SW: 15.0 Oct 30th Size 20
CW: 13.10 today size 16/18

1st GW: 12.6 (lowest ever recorded in my adult life)
2nd GW: 10.7, I think this would be my ideal, keep my hourglass curves but be a size 10/12?
3rd GW: 9.7 (interested to see how I'd look at this weight, would I even have any boobs?)

I've still kept off the alcohol since Dec, I very nearly cracked on my birthday. I've found that eating bacon for breakfast makes me snackier in the afternoon, I don't know what it is? Salt perhaps?
I'll stick to my poached egg wholemeal barm which fills me up enough. Back to the gym tonight for a big session, I've missed it.

Nothing much going on, cleaned this morning, planning on a walk at school pick up time instead of sitting in the car, that makes me feel slightly better about the enormous waste of time the school run is!

B: kidney bean burrito with pumpkin chili paste
L: bagel thin, smoked salmon, cucumber
D: baked potato, cottage cheese, salad

Good Morning Everyone

Thank you for the well wishes ❤️ I’ve had disturbed sleep and although my chest feels somewhat better I’m absolutely shattered which always sounds lame 😬

Menu
Meal 1 - Omelette. Side salad.
Meal 2 - Home made burger, chips & side salad.
Tea, black coffee & water with cranberry juice.

Going to try to catch up on the thread later x

Yesterdays Menu.

Meal 1 - Chickpeas in spicy tomato sauce on a float of 0% Greek Yoghurt.
Meal 2 - Home made soup & crème fraiche

I forgot to weigh myself yesterday before I left for work, so I'm weighing in a day late:
SW 15st 4lb
CW 14st 13lb
GW 11st 11lb

Really pleased with a 5lb loss I know the first week is the easiest though!

Well done @MrsPepperpotty !
@TheRealHousewife those chickpeas on greek yoghurt look delicious! I'm definitely going to try making that.

Today's plan:

B - coffee and blueberries
L - reheated portion of fish pie
D - eggs and tomatoes on toast
E - I'll use my weighted hula hoop

Meal plans are looking good everyone!

I am in pain! Just finished my 2nd Aqua aerobics class this week, I am taller than everyone else and the exercises today required chest in water so I was basically squatting for the whole 45 mins. My thighs, my poor poor thighs.

I've had to have a couple of days off yoga. I've rolled my ankle and it's been really painful so not risked it. I might try tonight to see how I get on.