I want a different me! Do you?

[DoctorDolittle]

Accountability thread. I piled on a huge amount of weight at start of menopause, was ravenous all the time, and am really struggling to lose it. I thought an accountability thread that also focused on increasing self-care and self-worth would be good.

So - food wise I think I’ll try “no snacks”, that gives some wiggle room with meals to be what I most fancy/will fit in with kids the most.

Self-care: I bought a whole new skincare regime a month ago, just start using it woman!!! Am pampering my decades-long neglected feet each night and have booked in to salon for eyelash tint and curl as now suddenly need to wear glasses and want to feel better about eye area behind them.

Fluids!!!

Any company would be welcome 😊

@DrDolittle.
Definitely. It's happened to me at the pizza restaurant - two weeks ago. But I think I learnt from it that I'm no good with anything sugary and fatty (or even carb plus cheesy)

So that was a good thing to learn. It's helped me since the pizza outing. But I'm not depriving myself either of filling things. Last night for supper I had butter and creme fraiche on my food otherwise it wouldn't have filled me up. Some people might think that not very 'diety".

Weighed myself first thing and I was 89kg exactly. So down another kg at least from last week. Could not believe it!! Not being very methodical about this weekly weighing, admit I have been weighing most days to properly myself forward.

@DoctorDolittle you have been working very hard and doing so many energetic things I'm not surprised your body needed fuel.

Propel not properly

This morning I didn't feel hungry again but was getting the evil eye from husband who was eating bacon and eggs and wanted me to participate in 'breakfast" so I had a beautiful Spode china plate with three strawberries chopped, a dessertspoon of ground almonds, a dessert spoon of porridge oats (uncooked,)a heaped dessertspoon of whole milk yoghurt. It looked nice! And black fresh coffee.

Pouring with rain here. Cold and dreary. Dog enjoying life on sofa again.

Very hungry by 1.30....sort of faint with hunger hungry.
Lunch was:
Purple sprouting broccoli x 3 stalks
Ladle of skinny Bolognese sauce
Quarter of a leek
A plain toasted wholemeal pitta, medium (no butter)
Tomato salad - 2 slices with oil and vinegar dressing

Delicious. Wanted more pitta but then realised I wasn't actually hungry anymore, so stopped.

Son says there is a ten minute delay between food hitting your stomach and your brain telling you are full. Interesting. He said he had learnt this from ordering ginormous takeaways!!

You're all doing so well with the selection of foods on your diets, there's such a variety being listed here, I seem to stick to the old familiar. Tonight was soup with homemade brown bread, I needed warming up. I was out of my bed at 3.10am & didn't get home until after 4pm. I work in a controlled environment set at 5 degrees, some days are easier than others but today after I finished it was cool & damp outside & that didn't help me.
I had a lovely catch up with my friend over 2 cups of coffee when she collected her granddaughters Confirmation cake.
I'm going to do some self care & have a roasting hot shower later & get into PJ's & snuggle with my fur baby, aka poodle.
It's finally the weekend, & a long one at that, now we need some nicer weather because it's dismal here in Wexford tonight.

That's freezing all day! @Misshollys I'd say you would need a nourishing supper. And a hot toddy.
I have a poodle too. Very snuggly. Today he was after a third walk though. It's just pavement walk at this time of the evening

Supper was:
2 jersey royal potatoes )medium) with a bit of butter
Fried onions
Chicken breast panfried
Green salad just a bit
Water

Son and daughter have gone out to a Comedy club. Daughter arguing she wanted to eat at her house first to save money, son down from Lancaster wanted to eat out (he s being fed by us this week so obviously now has cash to spare for the bright lights)

@Misshollys you definitely need a lot of warm soup! Is it the same there as Scotland - we love soup so much 😆? The self care sounds nice too, hope it helped.

@Nettleskeins your breakfast sounded so dainty and pretty, I bet it just made you smile. I think we sometimes forget to enjoy the beauty in food - when you’re feeding the five thousand aka loads of kids anyways!

I’ve had an okay day food wise, I was determined to get back in the zone and I have. I do know I need to eat more than I have been doing. Today’s reset has been scrambled eggs with spinach and tomatoes, one slice of wholemeal toast, and a nice bow of chunky lentil soup.

Tomorrow I’m planning a relaxing day - it’s been an incredibly stressful and busy week…among other things needed to speak with Education Manager re second complaint I’ve had upheld in six months (I hate all conflict but my disabled DD has been failed and I’ll do anything to help any other child not go through the same), and we found out my other DD is moving to the house that is…attached to us!!! Very happy but lots to do.

This is my baby, loves the heat like her mammy lol.

@Misshollys she is adorable!!!! What a sweetheart.

Here are my two reprobates…

I have drunk more water this week, I’m convinced my skin is looking a bit better. Did tai chi and also a dance exercise class and some little strength weight train with hand weights, smallest size. I’m off out for a six mile walk with my fab women’s hiking group in about 30 mins. They are very good for the soul.

Hi! Can I jump on please?
I had my baby 2 years ago, managed to lose some of the baby weight but it's slowly creeping back on!

I'm day 3 of my new healthy eating plan, it's going well and I feel positive but I want to see a result. This has got to be the hardest bit, waiting to see a result - any kind of result! It's so much easier when the results are visible.

How is everyone else doing?

Hello@willsandnoodle ! I remember losing baby weight entirely by running around after toddler and pushing increasingly heavy pushchair back and forth to park and pre school. I'm 58 now, and they are all grown up! Various challenges these last two years have upped my eating and lowered my exercise.

I'm enjoying the healthy eating plan of the last 16 days! Tbh I think my previous meals had become token experiences, and I was eating a lot of bread and butter, cereal, apples nuts and salami between meals rather than balanced portions and certainly not nearly enough green veg. Then I was fatigued by all the carbs and didn't take enough exercise. Family life was stressful, decisions etc, and I was subconsciously avoiding mealtimes. Much better now I sit down with family and eat something balanced.

5ft 10in
STarting weight two weeks ago: 93kg
Current weight: 89kg
Target weight : 80kg (but 76 would be better)

Lunch was: steamed quarter of red cabbage roughly sliced, with boiled egg, Tabasco, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and a whole avocado in chunks. The other three had tortellini and homemade tomato sauce with parmesan. I gave it a miss. And the fruit and ice-cream. Didn't feel need.
Exercise today so far: I cut hedge with hand clippers and took dog for a short walk to park.

Hi @willsandnoodle I think the toddler weight is even more of a thing than the baby weight! Toddlers and pre-schoolers are such hard (yes, yes, also wonderful) work and sugar fixes or a glass of wine can seem like the only thing that gets you through. I once had three under the age of three, and pizza, banoffi pie and a glass of white wine at 7pm felt like my lifesavers. You’re doing well already!!

@Nettleskeins living how much brighter you sound than what was going on before. The carb fatigue cycle can be so hard to combat.

@ViciousCurrentBun oh, your hiking group sounds fabulous! Do you meet regularly? It sounds like a lovely day.

I’m fine today, no urge to overeat. Had an unexpected (small) piece of a friend’s birthday cake at lunchtime but the niceness of our get together was well worth it and I won’t be silly. Tonight it’s jacket potato and bean chilli.

I think it took me 5 years to lose the baby/toddler weight, then I went on to lose a lot of weight & then proceeded to put it all and more back on. I'm a yo yo dieter I think but this time round it's so much harder to lose.
Just made chocolate biscuit cake after doing some cleaning this morning, I'm going to bake a ham for dinner & do baked potatoes and veg. Exercise today is just being busy but I'm hopeing to get out tomorrow morning for my 10k loop again. There's a definite improvement in the weather here thankfully.

Forgot to say @DoctorDolittle your 2 are very cute 🥰🥰 do they get on? We take care of a cat, actually she's coming on her holidays in a couple of weeks, I have to keep them apart, it makes for fun & games, & she's an indoor cat so my nerves do be shot making sure doors are closed.

I tried to send a picture of my cat and dog together but Mumsnet is registering it as "sensitive".
Mine get on very well. Occasionally a bit of barking if dog thinks cat shouldn't be on the sofa or table or upstairs!
My other cat is a bit more wary.
I think it's important that cats have somewhere to escape to. They have their own area with a door that can be closed!

I sit on the sofa with a cat on one side and dog on the other and woebetide the cat sits where the dog thinks is HIS spot. But they do sleep together too, in the day.

Getting through the afternoon without snacks is always a bit dull! Milk in my coffee keeps me going and glasses of water. And another walk.

We always had chocolate biscuit cake as a birthday cake as children, a recipe taken from The Pooh Bear cookbook (1970??), although I'm sure it existed in many cookbooks. A lot of digestive biscuits in ours, hot chocolate powder and golden syrup.

Recipes by Katie Stewart...I just looked it up..1971. No wonder it worked every time.

The promised storm hasn't arrived...still sunny but I darent hang out the sheets. Dug up the tulip and hyacinth bulbs from window boxes and stuck in a few cornflower seedlings, but of course now I've run out of potting compost.

I managed to get through to 7.15pm for supper with a combination of reading, laundry, food prep and drinking yet another glass of water. I always feel v hungry by this point. Thank goodness for light in the evenings, it distracts me!

Supper was Beef Stroganoff for two of us with 3;mushrooms and quarter onion per portion and a good dessertspoon of creme fraiche plus oil for frying per portion, 2 incredibly delicious Jersey Royal medium potatoes for me (butter free)and some spinach (tiny bit of butter) and some leftover steamed red cabbage (butter free) No pudding or fruit.
Water to drink.

@Nettleskeins that sounds very tasty. I’ve never heard of chocolate biscuit cake, clearly my childhood was deprived 😆. Must look up recipe and bake!

@Misshollys yes, my two get on wonderfully…if it’s cold in the winter they snuggle up with each other and you can’t see where one ends and another begins.

What a lovely thread! Can I please join?

Currently at 89 kg, wanting to get to 75kg. I tend to binge if dont have enough protein during the day. I'm also wanting to increase my strength and stamina. I used to be reasonably fit until an injury a few years ago.

I am in the southern hemisphere and it's getting properly into autumn. I pulled out our slow cooker last night for the first time in months last night and made chicken, leek and lentil soup. I'll have some of that for dinner. Breakfast will be greek yoghurt, All Bran and a sprinkle of LSA. I've defrosted salmon and will have that for lunch, with some sorrel and chickweed from the garden.

Welcome @Pukekopalace it is a lovely group, lots of support & good chat.
My Chocolate biscuit cake is made with melted chocolate, butter, golden syrup, digestive biscuits, maltesers & marshmallows. I'm always getting asked to bring it places, sometimes I think I get invited because I bake🤣

It's strange, my love of cooking has returned with this 'diet". I'm looking through my magimix cake cookbook and thinking yes I COULD make a cake (for the happiness of others 😁) and not eat all/half of it. Ds is quite lanky...he could do with some lovely cake in a tin waiting for him, not to speak of my other friends. So many interesting cakes to make.

Breakfast:

one banana, instant coffee with milk, a slice of toasted sourdough with peanut butter (no butter)

Lunch:

Shredded raw red cabbage (one fifth of a cabbage?) medium baked sweet potato, slice of Parma ham and tahini dressing (I heaped teaspoon of tahini, chilli flakes, salt, warm water, lemon juice)

Very filling but I wonder if the lack of protein is going to get me through to supper...

Exercise: short dog walk to park, running up and down stairs, a bit of cleaning

@Pukekopalace hello! Your soup sounds a perfect pick you up, I think I need to make chicken soup after the next roast.

@Misshollys I admire your restraint so much, I don’t think I could be anywhere near your biscuit cake right now lol.

@Nettleskeins did you manage with the lack of protein?

I’m weighing tomorrow morning but, whatever it shows, am not going to get disheartened, it’s realistically going to take a fair while to lose what I’d like to.

Today has been busy - spring cleaning, family swimming and took the kids to the ice cream parlour with the friends we went swimming with. It was a really nice afternoon, and I just had a cup of tea quite happily.

Yes, I did manage. Phew. Didn't feel that hungry (although slightly bored!)Supper ready now.

Swimming sounds great fun and meeting friends.
@Pukekopalace I looked up ways to make chicken leek and lentil soup. I'm realising that having things ready prepared (like filling soups) really helps beat food noise.

Supper will be: wholemeal pasta with goats cheese and walnuts and parsley; beetroot, apple and lettuce salad on separate plate, no dressing except cider vinegar.
DH is having Ramen noodle soup instead, his speciality ATM but all those noodles are a bit "white carb" for me, and I haven't any buckwheat ones....will have to see about getting some.

It's been a dull day, couldnt get started with anything and hadnt made any plans, also kept expecting a thunderstorm! Tomorrow will be more adventurous.