Diet for Christmas Challenge 2024

[bigdecisionstomake]

This is a continuation of the previous Diet for Christmas and Diet for Summer Challenges started by me, @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.

After working towards our summer holidays we're now turning our thoughts to fitting into Christmas party outfits or in my case putting right the damage done on my recent holiday and just making sure I've dropped a few pounds so I can over-indulge with a clear conscience over the festive season.

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.

Right, a little about me.

I have been taking part in these threads for a couple of years now and have lost just over 2 stone in total at my lightest, which was last month just before I went on holiday. As you can see I am a tortoise not a hare!

The holiday was immense but I have come back several pounds heavier and would like to lose those plus maybe a couple more before Christmas.

Traditionally I don't do well with weight management/loss at this time of year for several reasons but I really find the support and accountability that comes with these threads helps me stay on track and do the best I can even if it's not perfect - which it definitely isn't a lot of the time.

I started this week at 10st 3.2lbs and would like as a minimum to get to my target of 9st 10lbs before Christmas and in an ideal world would like to see if 9st 7lbs is possible.

Please don't be put off joining in if your start weight is higher (or lower) than mine or your target much further away, we have lots of posters with very different weights and targets on the thread and we are all about cheering each other on and celebrating successes, however small.

Hope to see all the regular faces as well as some new ones as we count down to a slimmer Christmas 🙂

Hi, just checking in from the previous thread 👋
Will update my weight etc on Friday.

Thanks for the new thread @bigdecisionstomake ⭐️

I'm 65kg and would like to get down to 60kg mainly because at 65kg I cannot get into size 12 trousers or dresses and all my work clothes are size 12 argh. Have gone out and bought one pair of size 14 trousers to tide me over but realistically I need to lose the weight!!

I'm 5'6'' and 51

Hi all!
Moving over from the summer thread! I started losing weight (thanks to a mn thread actually) I weighed 13 stone last year have lost over 3 stone (the last 8 lb took a very long time!) I hit my initial target in June. Now at 9 stone 10lb again (weighed this morning) and hoping to get down to a new target of 9stone 7lb and maintain for Christmas.

I've had success with intermittent fasting and using my fitbit to work out calorie requirement then dropping by 400 calories (about 1200 roughly).
I have 2 long term health conditions which I have been learning to manage in the last 4 years so exercise regimes are pretty much out the window but I manage gentle walks and looking after 2 young boys.
I'm 5ft 6 and 38 years old.

I'm off on holiday on Saturday so my weigh in after will be higher but not going to go insane and will try and make some good choices like wine swap for g&t 😂

Please may I join in? I am around 10 stone and would ideally like to be around 9. I’ve had horrible menopause symptoms with ridiculous bleeding (but not bleeding since I began hrt in April) and my weight has just crept up and up. I’ve managed to lose nearly a stone over the Summer since working with a pt and got down to 9 stone 7 but I’ve lost the plot lately and it’s piling back on :(
All my clothes feel tight again and my gym clothes aren’t fitting very well. I would ideally like to cut down on my constant snacking and having a drink most evenings. I try to stick to 1 gin & tonic but it often leads to snacking at night. My partner and I both eat too much chocolate. I have a really sweet tooth.
A bit scared to weigh myself at the moment but will do so and update in the next few days.

Thank you so much for tagging me. I would have been sad to lose you all. It's been a weird and rough few months. I've put on a bit of weight since I started the anti depressants, but I'm exercising lots and starting trying to get hold of my eating again so I can lose the bit extra I don't want.

I'll give you all a full update soon. Currently sitting waiting for the tube so can't concentrate!

Thank you @bigdecisionstomake for starting the new thread.

As this is new, I am going to set my intentions for this challenge, apologies if this sounds a bit twee.

• keep posting regularly (unless on holiday) regardless of how pants I have been
• daily weighing
• work on reducing my stress and work on my self care
• stop stress eating
• cut out as much as possible UPFs
• limit alcohol to enjoyment purposes rather than using it as a crutch
• work towards getting into the 9st somethings
• try to deal with the incoming lemons with food or drink crutches
• exercise regularly

Hey I'm 13 stone 10 atm , put on 2 pounds over the last few days, my goal weight is 10 stones I'm doing IF 18:6 , hopefully I lose some weight by Christmas!

I wasn't on the last thread but would like to join. I had a knee injury about a year and a half ago, and since then exercise and healthy eating has gone to pot. I've put on about 2 st, although not sure what I weigh at the moment. Am going to set some goals but hoping this thread will give me some accountability.

I'd like to join you ! I set myself the target of losing 10lbs and getting to target by Christmas. Sounds easy but I lose weight incredibly slowly and have been chasing the same few pounds around for months. Currently I'm doing fast800 as a bit of a reset, I've gained loads over the summer and September.

Weighed myself..10.1 stone

-will weigh daily going forwards to try and keep on track
-logged breakfast with fitness app- try to keep tracking with this as it really helped initially
-aim for 20,000 steps a day
-complete work outs at the gym set by pt (one strength session, one cardio/endurance circuit)
-limit UPF
-drink 2 litres water daily
-remember to take iron tablets

good luck to everyone :)

I also can't exercise due to a long term illness so I need to lose the weight using diet alone - I put the 5kg on after starting HRT and the progesterone only pill to sort out horrendous periods so I don't think it will be easy to lose!

Weighed this morning - 65kg

Morning everyone,

Welcome to lots of new people!

I have lots of injuries and can’t do different things at different times. At my worst I tend to walk, do walking workouts or gentle yoga or stretching sessions. There are also chair exercise classes on YouTube so it isn’t necessarily an idea to give up on exercise, it might be that you just need to reframe what that exercise is to you. Just doing something can be really motivating.

Im starting this thread at 10st 12.6lb with DOMs in my arms and legs. Huel for breakfast today, chickpeas on toast for lunch and bean chilli for dinner.

Hopefully a fresh challenge/ thread will be helpful for us all.

I put on loads of weight over the summer and have struggled to shift it. Like others, there are loads of clothes that I can't wear at the moment and I need to lose at least 5 pounds to get in them.

Currently 11st 12

Want to be 11st or less by Christmas

@Dashel oh definitely and there is stuff I do without thinking its exercise like tidying up after a toddler.
😂 I do yoga nidra which although has yoga in the title is done lying down but it's amazing for relaxation and working on breathing exercises.

@FlyMeToPluto it's definitely possible and it's how I have lost through diet.
For me the real clincher was getting it out of my head that my body needed 2000 calories so if I was having 1600 how come I wasn't losing weight......til I actually used my fitbit to see on average my body only needed around 1500-1600 calories. So to lose weight I needed to drop to about 1200. Accurate food logging via my fitness pal in the first month definitely helped change my habits too. I still use it if I'm hitting a blip point. It also helped me flip things so I tend to have a homemade veg based soup for lunch with quorn or other protein so I don't get hungry later then a normal dinner but more veg small carb portion.

@Scottishskifun you're right, it's definitely a mind shift. Before I got ill, I was running regularly and walking the dog so could easily eat a lot more. Now I can't exercise, I need to cut about 1000 calories a day from what I'm used to eating and it's hard. My BMR is 1278 calories and my TDEE is 1533. I think I was easily eating 2500 calories before so there's a lot to cut back!

Aw sorry you had terrible bleeding. It’s so debilitating and depressing. I felt like I had no future before I started hrt. I also needed to add the progesterone only pill to get the desired result. I’m glad you are feeling better too. It’s tough doing it with diet alone- I got some great tips and info from the Ultra Processed People book.
my weight gain is probably partly due to hrt but I am also a sugar fiend and snack a lot. I work outdoors quite a bit and it’s too easy to warm up with biscuits and a cup of tea on my breaks!

Checking in! Thanks for the new thread @bigdecisionstomake the Summer one was really motivating. Glad you had a good holiday and the gain wasn't too catastrophic!

I weighed this morning at 9.9 and have been aiming for 9.7. I'm sticking around to make sure I don't put it all back on 😅 I lost weight through calorie counting mainly, and sort of intermittent fasting (this isn't much effort as I don't like to eat early anyway). I think they call what I did "calorie cycling"- essentially having 1200 cals a day but mixed up through the week e.g. some days I'd have 1100, some days 1300, 900/1500 etc. It worked really well for me.

@FlyMeToPluto has terrified me a bit as I'm due to start the progesterone only pill and am worried about weight gain. I can't take the combined anymore (migraines) so thought I'd try this before a coil..

@Dashel You're right about the exercising. I do different things now - strength training and a bit of yoga that don't burn as many calories but make you feel good. I've had a revelation recently that when I feel good about myself I eat more healthily and exercise helps with that even though it doesn't directly burn calories. I'm thinking about what other things put me in a positive frame of mind as I think helps to feel like I deserve to be healthy.

@NahThen I went over to the mini pill a few years ago due to migraines and it didn't affect my weight, so you might be alright!

@FjordFancier you're the first person I have met who is also on the progesterone only pill and HRT together!

@NahThen I think it was the HRT rather than the pill tbh. But when I was younger, and I was on the combined pill, I was always a stone heavier on it and a stone lighter off it! I suspect it is less to do with that and more to do with eating too much :).

@FlyMeToPluto really!? Me too :)
I had to research it myself as neither worked on its own. At the start of the year we had to call an ambulance one night as I was bleeding so much. I almost had a panic attack it was so heavy. I then got told in a fb group you can take both so just did it out of desperation! Best thing ever!!

Did your gp prescribe both for you? My surgery doesn’t really seem to know much about menopause. I had some horrible bleeding related problems end of last year to when I began both things this Spring.

Maybe start with a smaller drop say to 1600 calories get used to that then drop again to around 1200 calories and see how you do? That way it doesn't feel like such a mountain.

It's got to be sustainable longterm that's the key (and Ive had a lot of failed attempts trying different things!) For me I've found a combo which works of IF of 18 hours (this also helps my long term condition by boosting immune response) and then reduced calories of 1200ish. I weigh every week (sometimes every 5 days) and avoiding weigh ins at key cycle points as I know I retain water and it would be easy for me to become disheartened. Others find daily weigh ins more helpful.
I eat well I just make sure I'm conscious of what I'm eating lots of veg, lots of good protein and even on the go making different choices etc.
I don't feel starved, I do have a drink and I occasionally have a small dark chocolate bar or a mug of hot chocolate etc.

Start small and don't get discouraged its never going to drop off overnight but slowly you do notice changes with how clothes fit etc.

@FjordFancier no I had to pay to see a specialist menopause clinic and then I paid to see a specialist pelvic pain person because I was having days when the pain was worse than childbirth! This is my first month on both. No killing pain so far fingers crossed. I had no idea I could take both. I'm still getting both privately prescribed but if it works, I will get them to write to the GP and ask them to take it over!

@Scottishskifun thanks, that's very good advice. I think intermittent fasting will work well for me as I don't like eating breakfast anyway. I lost a load of weight in 2018 (but I could exercise then) mainly by stopping snacking which is a big issue.

@FlyMeToPluto well at least you’ve found the thing that works for you now! My next step was going to be the Menopause Clinic. So sorry you were in that much pain. It’s awful when you can’t sleep or rest because of pain.
Your gp should definteiy agree to prescribing both. I think I managed to get my doctor to agree to hrt on a telephone consultation after I had to call NHS direct. I’d already been prescribed the progesterone only pill so I just took both.

I bought the hrt prescription for the year which saved so much money- plus birth control is provided free of charge. Good luck! Isn’t it great feeling you have some kind of a life back!