⭐️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?

Sorry to hear you're both in pain FlabMonsterIsDietingAgain & Stripyunicorn

Is the pool one depth or can you postion yourself in a deeper part next time.

I was up in the deep end but it's the teaching pool and I'm 5ft 9 so far exceed the expected height of the average kiddo it's designed for 😂

FlabMonsterIsDietingAgain

Oh dear, bonus leg work out though

Wish I was 5' 9"

Just a quick update from me - day has flown by as DD finally better so been out and about with her for the first time since Saturday! Hallelujah!

L: wrap with chicken, grated cheddar, lots of salad and sweet chilli sauce
D: macaroni cheese loaded with bacon, broccoli and peas. Slice of garlic bread (bad mood because of a big unexpected car bill so 🤷‍♀️)

Having one final (decaf) tea, later than I normally have one but see above re: bad mood.

Hope everyone is ok - see you in the morning for official WoF ☕

Oh - remember your water!!

Hi everyone. Still sticking to my plan here.

B - Protein yoghurt, banana
L - Smoked mackerel, peppers
D - Salmon fishcake, spinach

Snack: skinny hot chocolate

Exercise: 2 x dog walk, yoga, step class at the gym. I was nervous about it and I was probably the biggest/slowest there but I was not the least coordinated nor the least flexible! I enjoyed it and have signed up again for next week.

WOF tomorrow!

Really starting to feel the benefit of eating a more healthy diet now, I have more energy, a clear head and have improved mood

Food today;

B seeded toast with hummus x1
S oat milk vanilla latte
L butternut, tomato and basil roll
D 'beef' new potatoes, leeks broccoli, carrots
S crisps & glass of wine

Sorry to hear about the aches and pains @FlabMonsterIsDietingAgain and @Stripyunicorn
Who says exercise is good for you?!!

Staying on track here with walking and intermittent fasting. I'm looking forward to seeing if further changes come next Wednesday.

I didn't manage to post yesterday but for WoW I'm 1.5kg off my target now which is lovely but it was such hard work and effort to get here. I don't see a change in my body from around 5kg ago really. It's so interesting, I'm not overweight anymore which is fantastic, the goal now is trying to get leaner, focus on bone and muscle health but being quite short and with insufficient muscle I look skinny fat. A very long time ago I was convinced at my target weight I'd have slim legs and be a size 10 but that's not the case for me and I'm ok with this, I'm trying to be as healthy as I can instead and looking at preserving my health for the future.

Finding time to do exercise and lift weights at home since returning back to work from the holidays has been tricky, I'm getting at least 15 minutes in though but it's a step down from my daily yoga and walking extravaganza from the Christmas holidays and I feel like I've lost some level of flexibility and strength. I know being healthy is all about consistency and doing your best long term but with work and family and friends and housework and getting sleep in it doesn't feel like there's enough hours in the day! I've had to drop exercise and communication with my friends to manage work and family commitments this week and fit extra sleep in as I've been so tired lately. I'm hoping once I get into the swing of things at work I'll be able to get on with non work like usual.

WoF today, and I'm a happy little pea 🫛

Another loss of just under 1lb since Wednesday, which takes my overall loss this week to -2lb 🎉 I'm now under my pre Christmas weight by a smidge too, and back in the 9s

Did not expect it to come off in the first week, especially as I angry-ate some bread yesterday 😆

(Which, btw, I know is not the devil - as we've been discussing, we all have our rules according what works for us and for me, generally, bread really bloats me and increases my appetite, a double whammy of the things I don't need, so I put it on my 'avoid during the week' list and save it for weekends only)

Today's plan isn't quite set yet, I have a meeting if sorts over lunch so will need an early brunch/lunch but won't be at home. Dinner, if I can find them today, is lamb kebabs with sides. Not planning on drinking, although we do have a small social engagement early evening and if a glass is offered, I may or may not say yes 😅

I'll update properly later when I've been shopping.

@wiltingflower I dream of having slim legs! Never going to happen though, mine are short and stumpy (although I'm fairly average height) and it makes me weep. I have huge calves which really pisses me off.

After last weeks successes, I'm struggling with food this week - after my fish and chips the other day, I had a work lunch out yesterday, have a meal out tonight and also a Sunday lunch out at the weekend. All of which it will be impossible to find low calorie options!

However, I did steadfastly ignore the focaccia bread yesterday, didn't have wine, and have offered to drive on Sunday so I'm not tempted to have wine.

@WhatWouldTheDoctorDo I'm tall with slim legs, no hips and a great big middle. Look like an apple on legs. Unfortunately experience tells me I'll end up with slimmer legs, arms, face and everything else before I start seeing much improvement in the middle bit so trying to come to terms with that 😀

I’ve been pretty good this week, no unnecessary treats or snacks and lots of water.
I’m going out this evening for food and drinks. I think I’m going to pick a sensible food option and then have whatever I fancy drink wise.
I don’t drink often (handful of times a year) so I’m going to allow this without feeling guilty or as if I’ve undone everything.
I just have to remember to stay on track the next day when I’m feeling very fragile!!

Happy Friday everyone!!

Happy Friday!

I'm pleased that I've managed to stay on plan all week. I had a really tough day at work yesterday and normally would have had chocolate and wine when I got home but had ginger and lemon kombucha in a wine glass instead......it was actually really nice and felt like a "grown up" drink. I've bought it to try and kick my diet coke habit.

Another tough day expected today with a meeting I'm dreading. I'm allowing myself two alcoholic drinks per week and think I'll have them both tonight. DDs requested chicken nuggets and chips for dinner so I'm experimenting and going to try making my own homemade nuggets, sweet potato chips and homemade mayo. If it's a disaster it'll be beans on toast! 😂

Happy Friday all!

Well done to everyone seeing losses on the scales, and sending positivity ‘keep at it’ vibes to anyone getting frustrated by STS / small gains. Wouldn’t it be nice if weight loss happened as a perfectly straight, downward line?!

I tend to weigh in either Friday or Saturday (generally depending on which is lowest 😂) so today’s weight puts me at a loss of 3.6lbs, but I only started on Monday so I’m hoping to shave a little more off for tomorrow’s weigh in. Even if not, I’m still really happy to get that 3.6lbs of bloat off.

Good luck to everyone for navigating any challenges the weekend may bring.

👋Happy Friday everyone!

Having a bit of a challenging week with back to work, cold, knackered, feeling bloated, stressed. Trying to get back to my good habits/routine and clear my work backlog so I can switch off properly at the weekend.

B - boiled egg, rye toast with butter, coffee
L - vegetarian scotch broth
D - mashed potato and kale, bacon and smoked sausage, mustard
S - cherry tomatoes, apple, satsuma

Managing to keep up with YWA 30 days of yoga in January. Doing it every night before or between kids bedtimes (helping to keep it at the same time every day - mornings are too chaotic on my working days). Day 10 done last night.

Getting my kids on board with healthier swaps/more protein/veg. Friday is now omelette breakfast day for them, Tuesday Greek yoghurt with fruit and honey (may think about some homemade granola or muesli). DC1 will take a thermos with milk to school (he is not a fan of squash) and going to work on DC2 (he LOVES everything sweet). They already eat really well at dinner time as they eat what we eat and we usually have at least 2 types of veg, so looking at reducing bread to once a day (here in NL people eat so much bread! sandwiches for breakfast and lunch) and adding in a bit more fruit/veg for fibre (they only have fruit snacks for school but going to add some veg or put fruit/veg in for lunchtime alongside sandwich).

Plans for the weekend:

• make a big batch of bolognese for lasagne and then put the rest not eh freezer.
• get a big batch of chicken thighs for freezer (have curries sauces in there that are crying out for some meat) and make a chicken casserole
• use up the rest of the harissa chicken orzo (does not freeze well!) so I can batch cook something else yummy for the freezer.
• Go for a long walk Saturday by myself and then a family walk Sunday - haven't been moving as much the last 3 weeks and I can feel it.
• Get my yoga in.

@ThreeRingCircus homemade nuggets sound great! I always make our own wedges with regular potato cut into wedges and then tossed in oil, salt and sweet paprika powder. My DC are addicted to mayo (Samuel L Jackson was right - they really do drown their fries in it here in NL). I was wondering about trying some kind of cream cheese/chive or yoghurt dip alternative. Will put that idea on the back burner for next week!

Well done @ImALittlePea !

Too much to catch up on and have to get back to work!

@imustbepatient I used to weigh mid week but realised that I was using it as an excuse to slip on the weekends because I had a few days to shift any gain, so now I class my official weekly weigh in as Monday morning, although I do weigh daily to see trends and keep myself accountable. Haven't tried this approach before so will see how it works in the long term.

Weighed in this morning, nearly 4lbs down! 🎉

Total down in 2024 = 14.7lbs
Total down from Jan '23 = 56.6lbs

Been for a walk and carried heavy shopping back up a hill, including different cat food for my ungrateful nearly 21 year old cat, who after sampling a box of food and liking it, I got a big box, then she refused to eat it!

Just having a coffee and sit down, then going to go re-inventory the chest freezer before the weather turns really cold next week.

B: kidney bean burrito with pumpkin seed paste
L: vegetarian stovies, cauliflower
D: German style lentils, honey rye bread, sauerkraut

@FlabMonsterIsDietingAgain yes I find the timing of when I count my ‘official weigh in’ day really makes a difference to me too. I find that on Mondays I can still be carrying a bit of bloat / water retention from a few drinks (outside of Dry Jan) plus maybe a meal out or takeaway at the weekend, which would often make me feel frustrated and mask any weight I’d actually lost. Hence I changed it from Monday to the end of the week, which seems to work better for me, as a good result can give me resolve to keep at it and make wiser choices over the weekend, so i don’t undo the good work.

But ideally I would weigh Monday too, as I think there can be a danger of what you say about using a Friday weigh in as an excuse to go a bit wild over the weekends. Weekends and holidays are absolutely what scupper me with weight loss, otherwise I’d be a slender gazelle 😂. Well, some form of woodland creature anyway.

My key goal for 2024 is to find a sustainable but successful way to lose / maintain during weekends and to maintain during / get immediately back on the wagon after holidays. If I can just crack that, I know I’ll be able to get to the weight I want and stay there.

Amazing losses @WeirdPookah well done! I have one of those fussy cats too, although he’s only 14, so may get even more set in his ways as he gets older!

Happy Friday everyone!

So decent week for me so far, managed to exercise everyday & avoid all the sugary processed snacks which were my nemesis!

I weigh in on Mondays but already feeling anxious.

SW at 1 Jan 2024 - 11 stone
Cw - as at Monday - 10 stone 10.5
Target weight - don’t have a figure just when I feel good about myself again
Height - 5”7
Age - 41

As I don’t have loads of weight to lose my focus is more on reducing UPFs, eating more healthily rather than drastically cutting back.

As well as losing 3lbs so far this year I just feel so so much better - more energetic, less moody, that kind of thing.

Although I don’t have large amounts of weight to lose, over the last few years I’ve just felt rubbish and not myself. Up until about age 37 I was always really slim, and I just don’t suit being even slightly overweight - I look puffy and odd, it really doesn’t suit me. So my goal is just to feel happy and like me again.

I’ve always been completely addicted to sugar and junk food, so for the benefit of my overall health (not just weight loss) I knew I needed to make big changes. I’ve tried on various occasions (eg when I turned 40, then when I turned 41) but never managed to stick to it.

I actually started HRT about 4 months ago and think it’s finally kicking in, so I’m wondering if that’s helping me with the motivation as my overall mindset / mental health has improved.

Oh and I’m meant to be doing to a party this weekend but might stay at home, as don’t want to be tempted by alcohol / buffet food. Also if I’m tired or hungover the next day I am a million times more likely to go in search of chocolate/ biscuits/cake!!

• going to a party , not doing a party

Gone back on the WL meds today, a couple of days earlier as the late night snacking was really terrible. Just had my first meal at 2pm and feel really full now, I'm at the hairdressers now and then on to the gym for a BIG session then a pamper/spa night this evening, it'll make the peppermint tea replacement for a big glass of wine easier to deal with.

Clanging few days for me as lots of social things in the diary I can't avoid, and I'm out for dinner tonight 🙄. Trying to make sensible choices when I can, avoiding the bread 😂 but it's amazing how quickly the scales have shown a couple of extra pounds since Wednesday! I've been keeping up the exercise though, will try and drink lots of water over the next few days, and have committed to driving at a meal out on Sunday so I don't drink any wine!

@imustbepatient I decided to weigh in on a Wednesday, as I found Monday mornings a bit demotivating because of that Monday bloat you mention - especially if I'd had a very social weekend. I just track midweek now, as it gives my body time to settle down, and encourages me to go low cal earlier in the week if I've overspent my 'weekly allowance'. If I get a good WOW it encourages me to keep going, and if not stops me easing into weekend treats too early!