Sustainable and not overly ambitious weight loss: 1 stone by September- anyone care to join?

[OMGitsnotgood]

I’m 5’4 and 12 stone 8lbs.
I exercise regularly now, and am slowly losing weight ( almost a stone over a year), I now need to reduce my calorie intake to increase the weight loss. I enjoy my food and drink, so a very restrictive diet isn’t going to work for me, plus I want it to be sustainable.

I want to try to lose a stone by September. In itself that shouldn’t be too much of a challenge but that time period includes a holiday and lots of social activities which will involve food and drink.

The approach I want to take is making healthier or at least lower calorie choices.
So for example, Weetabix and fruit for breakfast instead of toast and lashings of butter; soup or salad for lunch, with the occasional sandwich rather than sandwiches every day (and always tempted to have crisps with sandwiches); evenings have a ‘normal’ meal but consider the calorie content when meal planning or when eating out. Gin & slimline tonic instead of wine etc
I don’t want to be counting calories but am aware of what foods/cooking methods are higher in calories than others.
I’m good at not making or buying cakes/biscuits/ puddings - but if on offer will eat them - and want to be able to within reason.

I don’t want to join a group such as Slimming World, but know the weekly weigh ins have helped friends stay focused and accountable, so thought I’d give it a go on here to see if there are any other reluctant dieters who would find this gentler approach in the company of others helpful.

Anyone want to join in?

Thanks @WhitegreeNcandle . I did have a few drinks last night but no crisps, and in the context of a pretty healthy week I'm not going to worry about it.

I hope you enjoyed your treat night, it's important to be able to let our hair down every now and then.

I've been absolutely awful. Need to get back on track. Going to the gym this morning

@HowIrresponsible going to the gym is a good start. Anything we can do to support you getting back on track ?

That's very kind to offer: my problem is snacking and poor meal planning. I work such long hours and eat at funny times that sometimes when I go home I just pick up a bag of sweets or chocolate and I've eaten most of it by the time I get home.

Stress eating and all that.

I just need to make better food choices and I am also a sugar junkie and always have been. Not sure how to break the cycle.

I’ve lost another lb. This thread is really helping. I bought some biscuits for the DCs yesterday and they were all I could think about when I woke up, but I weighed myself before I went downstairs and found I’d lost a bit more, which gave me the motivation to keep fasting until midday. I’ve never really enjoyed eating breakfast, so fasting stops me snacking on biscuits then not eating a proper lunch.

I’ve bought some of the fancy instant Starbucks coffees for the mornings, which give me a little sugar hit without a biscuit.

The DCs want to make cake this afternoon so we’ll see how that goes…

@HowIrresponsible I am such a stress eater. I completely feel you. And it’s always something sugary or refined carbs.

My pattern is a couple of weeks of great weight loss and healthy eating then a period of stress where I go back to eating badly and putting it all back on again. I’m hoping this thread will help with that.

Edited to say feel free to tag me on here if you need a cheerlead or rant. Hugs and solidarity!

@HowIrresponsible sounds like meal planning is key here. Are you able to meal prep on your days off? A couple of meals already made and some that take a very short time to prep might help?

Snacking is a real hard habit to break, especially when you are tired and hungry. I find chewing gum helps a bit. Obviously it's not a bar of chocolate but does distract for a while

I probably should meal prep. I'll buy some decent food today and plan some meals.

I can recommend the batch lady for meal planning. I've got her latest book and I've been trying to get ahead and have a couple of pre-prepped meals in the freezer for busy days.

How is everyone’s weekend going? Mine’s been a bit mixed so far.

Positives: did an exercise class yesterday, took the opportunity to weigh myself and I lost a kilogram last week. I had no alcohol last night, and didn’t snack all day apart from a big handful of cherries watching the telly, very sweet and juicy and a very good alternative to chocolate. Only £1 for the punnet, usually much more expensive than that I think.

Less positive:
I bought a wild garlic ciabatta which I couldn’t resist and had with some cheese for lunch. Annoyingly, having woken up far too early for a Sunday and not being able to get back to sleep, I’ve just had some with coffee when part of my plan is only to have cereal (Weetabix or porridge) for breakfast. Will do better tomorrow!

We thought we might eat out last night but with the footie overrunning, we had tempura fish from in the freezer, with oven chips and mushy peas & tomatoes. I had fewer chips than I’d normally have and no bread so actually probably wasn’t that bad. Certainly better than takeaway fish and chips which was DH’s suggestion.

Was hoping to weed the garden today - long overdue and a bit of exercise but unfortunately it looks like we’re in for rain today. Maybe deep clean the bathroom instead although I’m tired so there’s a chance that much of the day will be spend on the sofa!

I've got in the habit of extra treats after a completely satisfying evening meal. Yes, as you say, it's very hard to break the habit but I've told myself not to do it this evening. I need a mantra to stop my brain from thinking ooh, I fancy...

I do all that I don't know why. I also that motivations as I only have a stone or so to lose. I am over weight but only just. I can cover up the bits that look bad. But the reality is my clothes are getting tight and it's uncomfortable. I don't want to have to buy new clothes if a stone would put me back in the fitting comfortable with clothes.

Lack motivation that should say

I sit at night and add my food the next day, I find that helps.
when I am focused I can be good and just eat like 2 chocolate buttons after dinner, as long as I get the taste I can cope.

unfortunately I’m sick, DH had it all week. So much for my exercise/step plan. Since Wednesday I’ve lost half a kilo though.

I know I’ve said it before but honestly try the turtle method app. I’m 2 weeks in, 5lb down and not starved myself, eaten delicious food (no food is bad or off limits) and feel in control of my eating for the first time in forever ! My fitness pal is soooo restrictive I never stuck to it, I was constantly starving

@Noshowlomo whTs the turtle method?
@OMGitsnotgood you did better than me last night, we fell into the fish and chip trap as late back from a family activity.

Have been for a run this morning so good start to the day. Did then have egg and bacon at church breakfast so not so good!

@WhitegreeNcandle I knew about it as I followed Louise from made in Chelsea and she’s a CEO but I suppose she’s the face of it as the other CEOs are health and fitness experts. It isn’t selling anything (apart from the app itself) but it’s all about sustainability, no extremes, no guilt, enjoying food and drink and life and just moving on if you eat too much. No bad or good food. It’s really good. If you’re on instagram, follow Scott Flear, he’s a CEO.
I have YEARS of slimming world shit to undo, like syns and good food and bad food, and I’ve always wanted big losses but it’s never worked as I wouldn’t be as big as I am! This is about small losses and complete lifestyle change. It’s exactly what I needed and I feel great. Drinking 2 lt of water as day as well, walking loads, picking foods I love as opposed to boring salads because they have just 400 calories etc

@WhitegreeNcandle I want to live in a world where you can enjoy fish and chips occasionally or the odd bacon and egg buttie. Hence this thread!

Welcome to a new week, how is everyone feeling?

We had a roast dinner last night and DH and I shared a bottle of wine. I enjoyed it all the more not having had any the night before.

This week I've got a couple of meals out which will involve a few drinks, so am determined to make better choices for my other meals and make sure I get some exercise.

I did really well with exercise but slipped with chocolate 🍫 😔

Weigh in day for me.

1st July 10st 9.2lbs
8th July 10st 7.8lbs

Target 9.12 by 27th August, 7 weeks to go and 9.8lbs to go.

A loss of 1.4 pounds so not amazing, but it will do nicely. I did really well Monday to Friday and then out Saturday and Sunday and forgot the diet!

Have a great week everyone.

So I tend to weigh myself most days and today I lost another 0.1kg.

Finally did the weigh in. So much worse than I thought.

Then went a bit ‘overly ambitious’ today and caught myself at it.

Now planning sensible meals for the week like a good girl on a sensible people thread! Thank you @OMGitsnotgood

Another weekend I’ve slipped up! Had a movie night with my girls and although I didn’t have any pizza I did have maltesers and sweets. Then we went to a cafe yesterday and had a hot chocolate with cream and finished off my daughters chocolate cake.

Congratulations to those losing weight, slowly and surely is the way to healthier eating for life.
Chocolate, wine, cheese etc - i don't want to go without those things, I am just trying to make sure that the majority of the time I am making better decisions.
That starts with not buying them of course, which I'm quite good at, but can't resist if they are there.