Diet for Summer Challenge 2024

[bigdecisionstomake]

This is a continuation of the previous Diet for Christmas and Diet for Summer Challenges started by myself, @OhFatty and @Dashel

It is open to everyone, whether you have a lot to lose, just a small amount to go or you're at target but facing the enormous challenge of maintaining your loss ongoing.

Your target doesn't need to be summer - you can set if for as soon or as late as you like. There are no rules other than being supportive and cheering each other on. Occasional kicks up the bum are available as and when requested.

Hopefully previous members of these threads will join us again and new members are always welcome.

I will update shortly with my start point for this challenge.

Morning all

Good to hear from you @Yocal and glad you're feeling better. Well done on staying off the alcohol - I managed it last year for January but failed spectacularly this year.

Glad you've enjoyed all your birthday celebrations @IchGlaubMeinSchweinPfeift and awesome that you're getting some time to yourself for a change, that's a really thoughtful present from your DH. Great that you've managed to have a couple of celebratory days but then get back on it and well done on all the activity, I remember it being a challenge to stay active with a BF baby.

Whoop whoop, amazing progress @ElliesMum16 5kg down is no mean feat 😃Super that you can actually see the changes now too. Keep it up for your next target - you've got this!

I was very good with food yesterday but fell off the alcohol wagon completely with two large glasses of wine last night - whoops. I got on the scales with trepidation this morning but so far have held at 10st 6.2lb. It sometimes takes a couple of days for indiscretions to show on the scales however so I don't think I'm in the clear yet - it will be interesting to see where I am tomorrow.

DP and I usually have our main holiday in late September/early October as our summer is very busy at work. We haven't yet booked that but we have now booked a 5 day break in a holiday cottage in the UK for late April so that gives me an initial target to aim for. I would dearly love to be below 10 stone by the time we go - this means that I should have pretty much free reign from my wardrobe whereas at my current weight there are some things I still can't fit comfortably into. It should in theory be an easily achievable target but I am prone to self sabotaging as I get close to goal - also, last year all the bank holiday weekends did me no favours as I seemed to find it hard to avoid going a bit mad - must try harder this year 😅

Happy Sunday everyone.

Fingers crossed those glasses of wine stay off @bigdecisionstomake and having a holiday as motivation is always a nice bonus!

I didn't have a great day today and went over my calories. There was leftover cake and it had to be eaten so I ate two slices 😁 obviously with a heavy chocolate cake and lots of buttercream icing, it put me over (especially as i need to estimate so cant get exact). The sugar just made me crave more food, and I ended up eating an unplanned snack before my slow cooker soup I'd prepared.
It's also now the toddler's turn to be ill 😅 he's got a nasty cold affecting his sinuses too and feeling sorry for his wee self, so we've been home all day, and I didn't get the walk in. Luckily I went on a 40 minute unplanned walk last night.

Getting right back on it tomorrow, tracking everything again and will do my best to fit in steps even with toddler at home.

Morning all

Sorry to hear your little one is under the weather @IchGlaubMeinSchweinPfeift hope he's feeling better soon. Did you enjoy the cake? I think if you're going to go off plan it needs to be for something you enjoy 😂Kudos to you for putting it behind you and getting straight back on it today.

Unfortunately Saturday's wine caught up with me this morning (as did the 2 glasses on Sunday night plus the mid afternoon crisps 😳) I've bounced up a pound to 10st 7.2lb however there are two positives - firstly that means I'm 0.8lb down this week which I'm very happy with, and also, as I definitely haven't over eaten by 3500 calories some of that should be water and come off in the next couple of days.

I've got some friends coming over for dinner on Thursday so there will be eating and drinking aplenty that night so I'm going to have to be extra careful for the next few days to put some calories aside to help out with that a bit.

Have good days all.

Just to add - I faced the dreaded leg day full on this morning so will be avoiding going up and down stairs for the next few days 😂. Seriously though, it's never as bad as I think it's going to be - I'm not sure why I get the fear so badly.

Hi, I'm drinking 3 cups of green tea a day, apparently it's great for getting your metabolism up

Happy Monday all! So glad to see everyone is hanging in there. I appreciate being able to join this thread as it's good be be pulling in the same direction.

Well after throughly enjoying myself on DH's bday last Monday I put on 2.5lb which I spent the rest of the week hacking off again, so no movement on the dial this week. I did start using my fitbit again so happy with that. Only managed 10k on one day so far due to dealing with back issues.

I am hoping to add in weight training and some physical therapy after I see the Dr this morning and get her go ahead.

A lot of my clothes are fitting better tho, no muffin-top or bloated belly that I had at Christmas 😄

@IchGlaubMeinSchweinPfeift I'm impressed you are watching your health in the dead of winter with a sick toddler, we've all been there and I'm glad you are looking after your well
being.

@bigdecisionstomake sounds like you are going to have fun this week! We all need it, especially at this time of year.

@flutterby1 Green Tea is also excellent for skin. You can make a cold jug of Green Tea and stick it in the fridge and then soak a face towel with it and compress your face if you have redness or inflmmation. Also great to soak two cotton eyepads and lie down with green tea eyepads over your eyelids, as it will reduce inflammation and sooth skin. One of those ingredients that seems to do no wrong.

Morning all

The green tea is a good shout @flutterby1 I have some mint and matcha tea bags which I really enjoy and try to have at least one a day for the health benefits.

Hope all went well with the doctor yesterday @Charliewasfired and awesome that you have some visible results of your loss, that's almost better than a scale result. Well done for dealing with the birthday gain so promptly too 🙂

A little of the weekend bloat has dropped off for me today to take me down to 10st 6.8lb. If I can stay in the 6s now for the remainder of the week I shall be happy. Just cardio for me this morning so a walking workout with Olivia Lawson. My quads are nowhere near as bad as I imagined after leg day yesterday, although I can certainly feel them walking up and down stairs. Will be interesting to see how they are tomorrow as I'm usually stiffer on the 2nd day.

Have great days all.

Well done for keeping with it everyone! And thanks for keeping the thread going @bigdecisionstomake. I'm pushing on with everything. Weighed this morning and am 3kg down which is over 3 weeks ish so not quite as dramatic as when I'm on a diet diet but pleased that directionally it's going the right way. I need to keep reminding myself that this is supposed to be a lifestyle change and about creating healthy habits rather than a crash diet which previously hasn't worked long term for me. I had a lunch out on Saturday, another one yesterday and lots of booze on Friday night but am trying not to look at these as 'cheats' or 'blips' and reframe it as just living a normal life. Easier said than done but am trying to just enjoy meals out and then continue to make healthier choices at home and know that this will result in a healthier (and hopefully smaller!) me. Still doing low impact exercise, have decided to wait until 6-8 months postpartum to do any significant strength training or anything intensive. I also know that weight is 90% diet which I want to get on top of first.

Have been trying to make some of my favourite treats to enjoy a homemade version instead of something highly processed with varying results. If anyone has any good frozen yoghurt recipes let me know, none of the ones I've tried so far have hit the spot.

Well. Failed to stick to my plan for the family week of birthdays, are way too much over 3 days but I'm refusing to feel bad about it as I thoroughly enjoyed it all and everything apart from last night's curry was homemade so extra delicious and not even particularly unhealthy just not keto friendly.

I've drawn a line under it today and only had a chicken salad and will have soup for dinner. I don't be weighing until next Monday for motivation purposes so hope to be roughly were I was by then.

I have a very skinny family member and new partner visiting for Easter which is now 2 months away and I'd like to be 10lb lighter by then as a mini goal. Should be simple enough if I can keep up my planned eating.

Hey all. January is finally nearly over. Hurrah.

My weight is holding steady at 70kgish, which I'm happy about considering i was away with work, then I was ill with a lurgy. Still a bit phlegmy, but managed to get back to my running today so am confident. Want to be down to 65kg by June.

Keep bouncing around 69.5-71kg. Fed up of the plateau, but hoping for a whoosh now I'm recovering and back on the wagon. Would be nice to get properly into the 60s. If I could be 68kg by my bday at end of March I'd be contented.

@bigdecisionstomake that's great the scales have moved again and hopefully your legs are back to fully functioning 😁
The cake was indeed worth it!
My toddler ended up with a 48 hour cold. He's had a couple of these over winter...I'll take it over the 3 week ones we had last winter😅
I however now have whatever he had in my chest. So I'm skipping my midweek Zumba and resting.

@Charliewasfired thank you. It's taken me a long time to realise I need to prioritise my health. After having my second last year, I was 223lbs, second heaviest I've ever been. I got down to 215.2lbs in September, before then putting 5 back on again because between Sept - Dec, I put my health last during the winter bugs etc. over Christmas, it was like the penny had dropped and I realised unless I want to be this overweight forever, I have to prioritise health (within reason of course), which is also important for my kids. Small changes and a lot of being kinder to myself. I used to beat myself up about eating too much/ not moving, which led to saying F it, and reaching for more food. I don't best myself up anymore, I let those days go.
When the kids are sick, I no longer reach for an entire pack of biscuits or nonstop eat, but allow myself to eat whatever I want within my calories that day etc.

My weigh-in this morning! I was expecting to sts or put on due to the birthdays, so not going to dwell on it! It's a new week.

SW Jan 1: 15st 10lbs
CW: 15st 5.4lbs

+0.2lbs

Really focusing on seeing that 214lb mark next week😁 I haven't seen it since my pregnancy in 2022.

Have a good Wednesday everyone

Hi all, well done to everyone with losses and other victories, and well done too to everyone pushing on through frustrating plateaus and blips.

I ended the month 4.6lb down (starting from the 7th) which is pretty decent but not quite as much as I guess I’d been hoping for. My scales did an unexpected (and frankly undeserved 😂) blip up on Friday and then have resolutely stuck there ever since. I’ve been 100% on plan so I know it’s just one of those random fluctuations, but I’d hoped it would have whooshed away by today to give a better total for the month. Hey ho, it will just fall into next month’s loss when it finally decides to sod off!

I’m just going to be happy with the loss I did achieve, the fact I’m back on track with a healthy way of eating, have my head fully back in the game and that I managed Dry Jan (again, from the 7th) without it feeling like a struggle.

Now to continue that feeling (and drinking only at weekends from now) for the rest of the year.

Feel free to point me back to this post and its positivity if I come back on here down the line sulking about non-moving scales or some such!

Evening all. Second day back on keto and the headache I always get above my right eye has been and gone. Hopefully that means the hard part is over. Incidentally does anyone find keto flu is easier the more you go through it?

I had chicken salad with home made coleslaw for lunch, 3 egg cheesy omelette for dinner, two cups of tea and 2 squares of dark chocolate with a spoon of peanut butter.

Politely avoided my client's biscuits and the kilo of (frankly amazing) homemade caramel cake in the freezer. Dh requested homemade chewy cookies after his latest job interview and wasn't even tempted, usually means I'm in ketosis but two days seems to early. Might test tomorrow to see but still no weighing until monday.

Ugh. Dying of cough/cold. Feel rotten. Not even tempted to eat. Still got about 500 calories left before I hit my limit but just don't fancy eating so at least the bug might help with weight loss, even if it tanks my fitness. Have had to sack off pilates for a night on the sofa feeling sorry for myself. Bah.

Well done everyone for keeping with it. It's so hard right now, but spring is coming, the days will brighten.

Late one from me today

You're very welcome @Jigglemonster it helps to keep me accountable and I do much better when I feel like we're all 'in this together'. You've made excellent progress so far - well done - 1kg a week is a really good result. Great way of thinking about things too, reframing them as 'healthy lifestyle' rather than diet. One of the joys of threads like this for me is the narrative from other posters who give me food for thought or new ideas - thank you.

Glad you've really enjoyed all the celebrations @Luckydog7 and brilliant that you've got no guilt and can now draw a line under it and move forwards again. Good luck with your Easter mini-goal, definitely achievable - you've got this 🙂
I've got no experience of Keto I'm afraid so can't advise but hats off to you for your self restraint in the face of cake and biscuits!

Ha ha, was just thinking the same thing about January @Backinthedress I will be very glad to see the back of it although DP says February is going to bring snow apparently - not sure how reliable that information is though! I hate that bouncing around feeling when you're nearly at a mini-target but keep bobbing in and out. I had it last year when I got down to half a pound under 11 stone but then couldn't seem to put any distance between myself and the 11s for ages and kept bouncing back and forth. Be patient - if you're consistent it will happen. Sorry to hear you're under the weather though - hope that clears up soon 🤗

My legs have bucked the worse on 2nd day trend and are actually much better today thanks @IchGlaubMeinSchweinPfeift - I'm wondering now if I should have gone heavier on the weights. Sorry you're feeling under the weather, take it easy until you're feeling better.

Well done on your loss @imustbepatient you've done a great job but I understand how you feel about an undeserved jump up that hangs around. You're right though, it will get you off to a flying start next month when it does eventually go. For now celebrate your success and that you've moved in the right direction - I'm really pleased to hear you're going into February with a positive mindset 🙂

I've had this morning off work cooking up a storm ready for friends coming for dinner tomorrow. I was really good and pretty much avoided nibbling/picking at the things I was cooking so am happy with my restraint today as I'm intending to eat and make merry tomorrow without feeling guilty instead.

The scales have STS at 10st 6.8lb which is a little disappointing as I'd hoped more of the weekend gain would have dropped off by now but hey ho - it will right itself eventually. I've done Day 6 of HR 4.0 this morning which was back and triceps and was actually harder than I was expecting. I can already feel some DOMS setting in now. The bad news is that the Day 7 is Booty & Thighs so another leg day....groan - I should do this on Friday but I think it will largely depend on whether or not I am hungover from tomorrow night 😉

I think it's fair to say we've all made excellent efforts in January and I love the positive vibes I'm getting from all of your posts - let's keep that going and channel it into encouraging each other onwards and downwards in February.

I had an unexpected Non Scale Victory today as I took some clothes back to one of my favourite stores here in the States. I got them online and as they were Pj's/loungewear I assumed they seemed a bit shapeless due to the design/fashion.

I tried on a few things from the new Spring lines and I was shocked to find I have gone down an entire size in trousers/skirts. I even asked the staff if the sizing had changed to more vanity sizing, but no. So I guess I really am lacking that muffin-top! 😅

So I'm back in a US 8 (UK 12) luckily I have plenty of clothes that size stashed in the attic. I could even put on a size 6 (10) and zip it up and get away with it but it's a bit too snug on my hips and gives me an attractive saddle-bag look 😂 but the fact I could even get them over my hips and do them up was such a shock.

This is a store aimed at mature women and not those in their 20s so I very much doubt I would have the same outcome in Zara, but it was still a win 🏆 knowing I am going in the right direction. I have lost 20lb since last year when a size 14 was tight.

So I will keep to my very conservative/unexciting current routine of calorie/macro counting on My Fitness Pal and walking.

Keep going gang we can do it, slow and steady will get us there.

Woo. 69.4kg - I dropped below my lowest for the first time in ages so I plotted it on MFP and had to laugh at this graph - who can spot Christmas/post christmas?!

Hi!
So, the workouts I do range in difficulty from 1-5 (5 being the hardest) and I normally do 3 and 4s. I thought I'd do a level 5 no rest 25 minute cardio today! It was HARD! I had to modify some moves and take a few 3 second rests.
I did it! It gave me a headache though so I think I'm a while off level 5s 😊
Back tomorrow for weigh in.

@Backinthedress

My graphs tend to be very...er...mountainous too, hopefully in the foothills by summer though.

Good day generally. burger patty's with coleslaw, cheese, salsa and fried onion and mushrooms for lunch. Coffee with cream, Dinner was a 3rd of a butter chicken curry with homemade aloo gobi paneer and yoghurt. Just had my nightly square of dark chocolate with peanut butter.

I've had a ridiculous influx of work (freelancer) so that's been a nice distraction but could do without four clients breathing down my neck constantly. Hopefully can break the back of it tomorrow so I can chill a bit at the weekend.

It's ds birthday tomorrow and I've just filled a box with freados and chocolate buttons and has only just occurred to me that I could have eaten some but didn't.

Woo two pieces of great news @Backinthedress and @Charliewasfired well done to you both!

Quick accountability post from me, I have gone over my cals on the last two days, argh! Bit frustrated with myself but we seem to be getting a flurry of illnesses through the house, the latest is DH with a tummy bug today. Hopefully all the extra running around burned off those extra calories 😅
Hoping the tummy bug stays away from me and the kids, and if so, then I'm determined to stay within my calories tomorrow.

I've had a lovely whoosh on the scales, 3lbs gone 👏 So officially back to pre Christmas weight. Half a stone gone in under month!
My aim is to maintain for a couple weeks now before I aim to lose 2-3lbs by Summer.
Keep pushing through all!
Happy Friday!

Hello! I fell off the thread after getting ill again last week. I’ve still got a lingering ear infection but am feeling a lot better.
Food has been ok, too many carbs but back to no snacking in the evening. I didn’t exercise for a week as the ear infection affected my balance and I felt like I just needed to give myself a proper break and get better (I always try to keep going rather than resting). I had a PT session yesterday which felt so hard but I felt great afterwards. Feeling pretty motivated for February! Hope everyone is well and well done on all the amazing progress!

Still going ok here, survived the first week back at work, which consisted of 2 morning teas and a team lunch. Let myself enjoy the food but was sensible and it hasn't impacted the scales - still slowly creeping down. My clothes are definitely fitting better which is a good feeling!

Hi. Another good day but we all also have colds. Left over curry with spinach and paneer for lunch and burger patties with fresh spinach, salsa and fried mushrooms with cheddar.

I've decided that when dh goes back to work (waiting on an offer currently) and I get my first day alone in the house, I'm going to order an assorted box from my favourite local bakery. I've been planning to get one for a year or two but was always dieting or something. This will likely be in a week or two.

This is a technique of delay don't deny. By promising myself this I can hold on for those two or three weeks because I'm waiting for that one treat I don't need anything now.

I'm also allowing myself time off over Easter. So that works out at probably a day off once a month which seems reasonable and balanced.

I don't know if this will work or I'm just asking for trouble but tbh the thought of not ever eating bangers and mash or cake just makes me sad.

Weighed myself this morning and starting February at 10st9.5lbs so that means I lost 2lbs in January. I’m happy with that!
Have a great weekend everyone