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.

It's Saturday night. I'm at home with DH. No alcohol, no nice treats, no takeaway. Bloody hell I'm bored. Gym is not open tonight. Too dark to go for a walk. Struggling tonight and finding this really hard. Someone send me some positive vibes for a dull Saturday night. I'm not going to reach for crap. I'm totally in the mindset and not breaking it.

@LBB2020 fantastic start to the year!

@foxfoxohmyfox can you get in a couple of treats such as some from the Skinny Food Co for when you are feeling this way?
https://theskinnyfoodco.com/en-us
I have some frozen yogurt bars covered in chocolate that are 70 calories each, although to be fair they are are laughably tiny (😅) but they do taste good.

These ones https://cliosnacks.com/

Thank you @Charliewasfired
Stay strong @foxfoxohmyfox can you start a new book or put a film on to take your mind off of snacks?! Or go have a lovely bath and get an early night

What about An Alternative Treat List for ways we can treat ourselves which don't involve extra calories??? I could do with some ideas! I can't lie in baths for ages the way I used to when young. 10 minutes tops and I get bored and hot!

@Charliewasfired I have tried to think of alternative treats too. I have worked hard over the last 6 months not turning to food and there are so many occasions now that I don't (I still allow it sometimes 😁 it's all about balance). But not for every little feeling anymore.
I'm the same with baths..not really my thing. I hate being too hot. a coffee and a book, or a walk with music have been my recent go-tos but they are difficult when I have the kids around so tend to be only really weekends I can do that.
Would also be open to more ideas 😁

How's everyone doing?

We had the baby group birthday party this weekend (all babies were 1 around the same time so we celebrated together). This meant more cake and a buffet day. Thus, I didn't track on Saturday but managed way more steps than usual this week.
I have unfortunately picked up dh's tummy bug which made itself known yesterday. So we'll see how I get on with food this week😬 I'll need to avoid too much fibre.

Have a good start in the week everyone!

Oh also I wanted to suggest Joe and Seph's gourmet popcorn if you like popcorn. I got some for Christmas and they come in little bags so you don't end up eating an entire bag, tastes great and calories arent too bad at all.
I have to allow myself some treats, as long as they fit in my calories it's fine, or else I won't stick to things long term!

@IchGlaubMeinSchweinPfeift sorry to hear you are sick and I hope you feel better asap.

Well, although I am weighing every Monday I officially began watching my weight on Saturday 13th Jan (24 days ago) and am down 8lb since then. I am weighing in at 159lb but keep hovering around that weight and not really losing much. I haven't been as active as I would like however, so I'll try and focus on more walks and steps this week. I also haven't been eating piles of leafy greens which always help me lose quicker, as they take so much energy for your body to break them down.

My Good News is my back is feeling a lot better and I am not waking up in pain any more (I was in a car accident where a driver entered a roundabout and hit me from the side - he accepted full responsibility). So that's brilliant and really encouraging. So I am hoping to get some swimming and more general (low intensity) activity now. I have to wait until March for physical therapy and I have been warned to stay away from weight training until I get the all clear from them.

I am generally feeling a lot better, clear headed and more energetic which I put down to not eating a lot of crap or extra calories that I just don't need and end up stupifying me 😂 ! My clothes are also fitting much better, so I shall keep or keeping on.

Good luck this week everyone, keep to the basics of eating healthy and moving and we should all see a difference in the long run ❤️

Managed to miss weighing today completely after being shouted awake by the kids in the early hours. Will try again tomorrow.

Has a good weekend with a serious blip on saturday. Tesco's had a stack of reduced price fresh sushi and we all LOVE sushi so bought about £30 worth then everyone else hardy ate any of it. It needed to be eaten that day and I absolutely can't bring myself to chuck it so had rather a lot. So not so much as fell off the wagon but swan dived off.

Sunday was pork stir-fry for dinner, can't remember what I had for lunch but keto friendly too.

Today I had panfried pork with gravy and green veg and might skip dinner entirely as karma from Saturday (and hope of getting a lower number tomorrow morning)

I ordered what I thought was a copy of my current size 12 jeans but they were so tight I couldn't even get them over my thighs 😔so there's my new goal. Get into those jeans by May bank holiday.

Evening all

Haven't had a chance to catch up with the thread yet but will read through everyone's posts later.

Just wanted to pop on and say apologies for being AWOL since Thursday, I've been really under the weather for a few days but just getting back on my feet now.

I've done my first exercise since Thursday this morning, just a gentle walk, but have to admit to being completely off plan and comfort eating massively Friday/Saturday/Sunday while I've been unwell. Have tried to get back on track today but didn't dare weigh in in case it derailed me.

Hopefully I will be back in the game properly tomorrow but don't want to count my chickens just yet.....🤒

I just wrote out a big message and it got eaten up by the Mumsnet refresh 😫

I'll try again

@Charliewasfired that all sounds very positive and that's great you're feeling better with your back and can do light exercise again!

@Luckydog7 I had the same issue with jeans recently. Same brand, same size, same type, different colour..yet they didn't fit! Very odd. Especially as the others still fit me.

@bigdecisionstomake sorry to hear you've been unwell, i think it's very normal to want comfort food when we're feeling under the weather. Hopefully getting back on track runs smoothly! I find it always makes me a few days to get my head back in it.

Weigh in day for me today. Bit of a weird week for me. I did 20,000 more steps than usual which made me more hungry on the big stepping days. When I feel proper hunger (and don't just want food😅), I eat as I'm breastfeeding and feel it must just be my body telling me I need it. This led me to eat more than my cals on a few days so I was a bit apprehensive about the weigh in but happy to report, I'm 1lb down.

SW Jan 1: 15st 10lbs
Today : 15st 4.4lbs

Another one gone 😁

Sorry to hear you’ve been under the weather @bigdecisionstomake, hope you are feeling better
Well done @IchGlaubMeinSchweinPfeift!
Monday wasn’t the best day, work very busy and stressful so I ended up comfort eating my way through the day!
Yesterday was better, did a spin class at the gym and stuck to 3 meals and no snacks. Have a great Wednesday everyone 😊

Well done to all the losers who have lost. @bigdecisionstomake I hope you are feeling better soon.

I'm struggling. I just want to eat - anything, something. Obviously I am eating but I am used to being a grazer. I will graze all day given the opportunity, especially as I WAH every day. I'm not craving chocolate/sweet things, just that hand-to-mouth action and the grazing takes away the boredom when working. I also eat when stressed and I have been very stressed the last week or so. I don't want to reach for carrot sticks or other crudities. I want bread and lots of it, but bread is my downfall and I cannot just stop at 1 slice, so I am not touching bread at all.
Everything I like is full of sugar and calories 😥

I have been dipping in & out reading the thread but I have been too busy to update. I did slightly fall off the wagon last week so not much movement on the scales. I am 7lbs down since the new year. I am however losing inches.
if I can lose another 3lbs (hopefully more) in Feb I will be happy. That would make me at the weight of 160lbs by Feb 29th.
10lbs every 2 months I think is do-able. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself as long as I continue to see progress.
I start a new job next week. 3 days at the office and 2 days at home so I am going to prepare 3 lunches on Sunday ready to take into work with me.
Hopefully I will be able to update my progress more frequently.

Weight loss so far in 2024 - 7lbs

Thanks for all your good wishes everyone. I'm feeling much better now which is a good job as we're puppy sitting for the in-laws from yesterday and he is very boisterous and energetic so lots of activity required to keep him amused and from destroying the house.

Hurrah for seeing the back of another pound @IchGlaubMeinSchweinPfeift that's awesome and well done on the big stepping days.

I'm feeling you with the comfort eating @LBB2020 when work is stressful, that's one of my triggers too. Great job for turning it around yesterday though 😃

My comfort eating tends to be carbs too @foxfoxohmyfox I don't know if it will help you but the thing I try to do to alleviate the craving for the constant hand to mouth action is to have a drink to hand constantly. I switch between low cal tonic water, tomato juice and homemade veg/berry based juices made with almond milk or water. It allows me to have that 'action' but without too many calories.

@Susienoz well done on the 7lbs so far this year - that's really great, especially with a slip off the wagon last week. Hope the new job goes well and that your plan for homemade lunches helps you stick with healthy choices.

I have been back on plan firmly for the last couple of days and have been more active than usual because of the dog sitting. I still haven't weighed in yet but am hoping that by the end of this week I will have pretty much dealt with my over indulgence over the weekend.

Progress is slow this year but I'm ok with that - just have to be mindful I don't slip back into old habits.

Well done to everyone who posted while I was absent with losses and holding their resolve in the face of temptation - you are all awesome. For all those struggling - stick with it, we'll get there together, no matter how slowly 🐢

Finally got around to weighing myself, im still down 2lb from when i started so i have set myself back by a week or more but actually quite impressed by myself and how fast i got back on the wagon. Being very strict with myself for a few days to try and make up for it. I have a writing workshop at the end of next week so I'm using that motivation for sticking with it. They have just changed to every two weeks from every 4 weeks which makes squeezing in a sneaky cheat day harder if i want to feel/look good for them. I was very self conscious last time.

Oh i should really start posting actual numbers

starting weight 13st 6
current weight 13st 4
Goal weight for easter 12st
Goal weight for may half term 11.5stone
Goal weight for summer holiday 11st-10st 10

Gah! forgot my food diary for the day

Chicken, bacon and coleslaw salad for lunch
Creamy garlic baked salmon for dinner with browned broccoli and courgette
2 squares of dark chocolate
about 20 raspberries

1 tea with whole milk
I green tea
I coffee with double cream

Hope you’re all having a lovely day.
I don’t like to complain too much but boy am I tired. According to my Garmin watch I slept 1 hour last night. (Probably thinking about starting the new job on Monday) Think I’m going to have to fuel up on strong black coffee today. I’m meeting a group of friends for breakfast this morning for a catch up. This is going to be my cheat meal of the week. I have been doing really well this week and this has paid off by so far losing another 1lb. It’s going in the right direction. I hope to be able to do a HIIT session at home later this afternoon to work some of the breakfast off.

Weight loss for 2024 so far - 8lbs (now 162lbs)

Morning all

Well done on the progress so far @Luckydog7 and great motivation having the writers' workshop to keep you accountable for the next week. Keep it up, you're doing great.

Awesome that you've lost another pound @Susienoz and hope you enjoy your cheat meal today. I can appreciate it might be difficult sleeping with your first day at a new job on the horizon and all the whirlwind of emotions that must bring. Good luck - I hope it goes well.

Hope your week's been good @Gemzee and you've managed to maintain last week's whoosh - you've done an amazing job to shift half a stone in a month, especially when it's the last few pounds to target - super job 🙂

I've finally weighed in this morning after a few days back on plan again. I'm down to 10st 5.8lb which I'm really happy with. Unfortunately it's now the weekend so I'm likely to lose a little of that progress if I'm not careful, plus we're taking the pup back today and I shall be slumping on the sofa for a well deserved rest over the weekend!

Happy Friday everyone.

Hi @bigdecisionstomake 👋 I stayed the same this week which I'm more than happy with 😊 Enjoy your restful weekend! I just finished some painting & organising so I'm looking forward to a restful weekend as well.

Happy Friday. Have a great weekend all!

@bigdecisionstomake Congrats on the loss x

Still awake as I've got this horrific cough. I'm so unbelievably tired but even propped up I'm still coughing so hard I'm worried I'll give myself a hernia.

On the plus side I'm sticking to my calorie control and have finally got well and truly under that 70. Today I weighed in at 69.1kg. Yay. Am optimistic I'll be 68 something by after half term. As long as this cough goes away or I'll be so tired I'll just be suckling on a squeezy bottle of golden syrup in order to keep going....

@bigdecisionstomake congrats on the loss!

@Backinthedress hope you feel better soon. Nothing worse than a cough keeping you awake.

I stuck to calories this week except yesterday, where I went a bit over unnecessarily. Thursday I managed to stay within the cal limit even with a dominos, so I'm seeing that as a victory :)
Mil is here this weekend so I need to resist the urge to scoff an entire box of peppermint creams with her 🙈
Have a good weekend everyone

Morning all, well done to you all on the loses and staying on plan!
My week has been ok. I’ve done 3 exercise sessions and have a yoga class booked for tomorrow, I had a bit of an off day yesterday and did have a bar of chocolate and bag of crisps in the evening. I watched an instagram video about adjusting your calorie intake depending on where in your cycle you are when trying to lose weight. It made a lot of sense so I might have a bit more of a look into that!
Have a great weekend everyone