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.

Happy weekend everyone

Well done on the 1lb loss @Scottishskifun a loss is a loss, even if it is made up of bloat and water mainly! Sounds like you've got a busy few days, hope all goes smoothly 🙂

The slow creep has started here. I'm now 10st 1.1lb this morning. It's completely deserved so I do need to get a hold of it. I'm up and in my workout gear but unfortunately my Fitbit battery died just as I was getting changed, must have missed the low battery message, so I've been doing an hour of work while it charges and am then going to do a gentle walking workout.

Feeling a bit more positive about food today so hopefully I can keep that more on track than it has been.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend 😀

Happy Weekend @bigdecisionstomake .

I have had two weeks' of coasting/plateauing. So, I too am knuckling down again. About 8 weeks until Christmas, and I am going to aim for at least half a stone off. (I'd like to aim for a stone, but realistically there'll be a lot of social commitments to make that difficult).

Having a few days off rice/pasta/bread/potatoes, and also fasting Monday and Thursday. See where I am before a meal out on Friday.

I was doing well till today - went out for lunch with a friend and had 2 glasses of wine then came back and both dp's kids have friends here for a sleep over so we got everyone pizza and I LOVE pizza so we've decided we will both have a day off dieting and go back to it tomorrow. Definitely not weighing myself till next week now. I feel my stomach might explode which I think is a good sign as it's obviously shrunk from dieting during the week!

@bigdecisionstomake hope you feel better soon - those UTIs are so miserable and you always tend to know when you've got rid of it don't you

October has not really gone to plan for me, I don't think I've lost any weight and I've eaten badly and drunk too much. I've struggled to run because I am injured and generally I feel sluggish and unhealthy. It's my DD's 21st on Tuesday, we are going for a spa and afternoon tea, and a meal out in the evening. But as soon as that is done, I am absolutely getting back into some sort of plan. I am not feeling good at all and it is all self inflicted so it's time to get my act together

Well isn't this a nice thread!! Hello :) I joined another thread about hoping to lose 10kg by Christmas and then wandered into the general weight loss chat and found you all.

I'm mid 30's, 5ft 7, 85.7kg. Been trying to lose weight since about April when I was 92kg, so can appreciate the line about being a tortoise not a hare!

BMI is currently 29.7. Since joining the other thread in mid September I've lost 4.5kgs, and have about 16.5 left to lose till I get to my mental goal, or 17.5 to be what the NHS class as a healthy BMI (I'm not overly convinced on BMI as a rule).

I have been largely focussing on diet, practicing 18:6 IF. I have breakfast and lunch, then stop eating for the day at around 2 or 3pm, therefore skipping all the late night snacking which was definitely not good for my waistline. Once or twice a week I do a longer fast for 24-40 hours. Have also massively cut back (not cut out completely) on carbs and sugar, no alcohol etc.

Exercise could be hugely improved. As could water intake. I have two young children, who aren't great sleepers, so finding the time and energy to exercise is tough. I'm also often home alone so find it impossible to commit to a gym/class schedule. I joined an exercise class which I love back in the summer, but DH is away so often that I've only managed to go about 5x since July. I cycle a lot, but on an electric cargo bike as I often have two children and a load of bags to haul around. I try to keep it on the lower settings as much as possible though, or switch it off completely when I don't have the kids on the back. I've been enjoying a walk whenever I can (did an hour and a half yesterday with some decent hills) but really not enough to be considered regular or decent exercise. We're hosting a friend next weekend who is a PT and nutritionist so going to pick their brains about ways to sneakily include some exercise that works around the chaos.

Hoping to be in the next stone bracket by Christmas, or in the 70kg zone by 2025 would be amazing, but also very aware the season of treating is a tough time to lose weight, so trying to be realistic with my hopes and dreams!

How's everyone doing this week?

We had a big family celebration at the weekend so my fairly sensible week last week went out the window.

Back to it today. Whole foods, eating window between 10 and 6, little or no alcohol and 10k steps a day.

Welcome @okayhescereal .

Still plateau-ed at 12st 11 here. 22 hours in to a 40hr fast.

I will be back on it tomorrow as all the dc have left and it's just my ds here with me this week which is easy as he will eat what he's given. I'm WFH 4 days this week (dog needs to go to the vet and various other things!) which is unusual for me and it's also bad for me as I tend to eat far more when I'm at home than I do when I'm at the office. Today I already polished off the end of a chocolate bar and then had roast leftovers but tomorrow, I'll be back into the soup making as all the leftovers will be gone.

I started a new medication this weekend and I felt loads better so I cleaned the floors downstairs and made a huge pile of stuff for dp to take to the garden from the shed/passageway so I hope that burned a load of calories!

I try and skip breakfast as I'm never hungry in the morning anyway - so I eat at lunch time and then tea and do my fast from then.

@peae do you have anything in your fasting period or is it just water/black coffeee/tea?

How is everyone getting on? I did well this week apart from last night when my son bought me some reversy Percy pigs. Haven't weighed myself as I suspect no weight loss this week but will try again on Monday!

Hope you are all well

I tried fat fasting, but it didn’t agree with me, and then I ended up overdoing the carbs and sugar. (Which, btw, is exactly what the research shows will happen when you try to restrict a food group). The scales are still recovering and I’m feeling a bit fed up about being old and fat.

Had a bad week due to periods will be bck on track on Tuesday

Morning all

Sorry for my long absence. I've had a bit of a week of it with work and been under the weather again - I seem to have been ill pretty consistently since coming back from holiday, I'm not sure what's happened as I'm usually really healthy! To cap it all I managed to miss a step on the stairs midweek and have jarred my knee quite badly so have been trying to rest that up.

To say I've fallen off the wagon is a bit of an understatement. I have been eating and drinking at will, not working out and not weighing.

Both DP and I have been the same and have pledged to each other that we will get back on it on Monday.

So, I'm posting for accountability today and will be back to daily weighing and posting tomorrow.

Well done to all of you who have made progress and commiserations to all who, like me, have been struggling.

7 weeks to Christmas next week so still time to make a difference 🙂

Not the best weekend in terms of food choices, but plenty of exercise. Feeling a bit bleurgh. Going to reset this week with some TMADs and good food choices.

7 weeks to Christmas next week so still time to make a difference

Yep, still possible for me to be half a stone lighter and a comfortable size 14 by the end of the year.

Put on 2lbs this week due to being off work 😭 I'm really struggling this year to shift the weight. Still, 7 weeks to go so hopefully ill be about 11st 5 by then

Also checking in with a gain 😬 I'm getting quite close to going back up into the 10's now so I really need to get a handle on things.

I know what I'm doing wrong, I just haven't the motivation to change. Like many, there's so much going on and food has dropped down the priority list, favouring convenience and ease. The chocolate monster has me firmly in its grips! DP has taken over a bit of cooking/food prep too and makes such nice food, it's just not so good for my waistline. I'm away at the weekend and it feels all too easy to think "ah I'll start again after".

I haven't had the energy for exercise as my cycle has gone haywire and health condition flaring has completely drained me. It's tempting to push on anyway and see if it helps my aches but for once I feel like I physically can't.

So there you have my Tuesday moaning and excuses! Apologies it's not a more positive post-

I too am checking in from a bad place. Nearing the 13st bracket again. Everything feels so cold and dark and difficult that junky food feels like a rare comfort.
The last couple of days I’ve meant to work out after work, but it’s just too bloody cold.

Morning all

Sorry to hear so many of us are struggling. I think the darker mornings and evenings don't help in terms of exercise and the cooler weather makes comfort food so much more appealing.

DP and I were ready to re-set from Monday morning, however, best laid plans and all that! DP has a lifelong medical condition that flares 2 or 3 times a year, always at night and it happened on Sunday night. I don't want to go into details as it's his issue to talk about not mine but it ended up with him not sleeping until 3.40am and me on high alert nervously watching over him and not sleeping until just after 5am. We had to be up for work at 7am so needless to say there wasn't any time for exercise (nor the motivation) and much comfort food was eaten.

I haven't drunk any alcohol though and was good with food yesterday although I didn't calorie count. I haven't weighed, although to be honest it's just that I've got out of the habit rather than a conscious decision not to do so.

I'm still absolutely exhausted despite two good nights sleep since - I think as I've got older it takes my body/brain longer to deal with lack of sleep and also the intense stress of those few hours - DP isn't able to make the decision about whether an ambulance is needed so that is down to me which is a massive concern in case I get it wrong. I'm definitely feeling ready to be back in a healthier place with food so I'm going to continue making good food choices and hopefully will be feeling up to exercise again in another day or two.

Hope everyone is doing better and can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Have good days all x

Morning everyone,

Gosh I've been away for a really long time.
I need to learn how to stay on track when life is chucking a bunch of things at me. Instead, I just stop tracking which always leads me to a gain.

I'm just back from two weeks back home and I always have such a mental boost when I've been back with friends and family so I'm back and determined to get off the weight I've put on the last few months before the year is out.

Sorry to read that so many are struggling just now. I always feel more of an urge to just curl up on the sofa under a blanket in the cold, dark evenings. Here in Germany, the weather has suddenly stopped and it's so cold, even colder than back home in Scotland! On the plus side, I tend to cook a lot of slow cooker soups which are healthy.

I've been avoiding the scales for ages now, finally stepped on this morning and very disappointed to see 15st 6.8lbs. especially as I had gotten all the way down to 14st 13lbs earlier this year.
7 weeks (?) until the year end and I'm putting my all in it to try see that 14st bracket before 2025 rings in. Or at least as close as possible.
I've had 3 period cycles again now and I'm really hoping my hormones will all regulate soon and the cycles will become regular again as right now they are all over the place and it's affecting cravings and my eating.

Hoping you all have a good second half to the week😃

Hope your DH is feeling better soon, it must be difficult knowing that pressure is all on you to decide whether to make that call or not

@IchGlaubMeinSchweinPfeift dein Name ist sehr lustig! Ich lerne Deutsch (weil mein Mann ist Deutsch) und und habe 'pfeif' nicht verstanden, danke dass du mir etwas beigebracht hast!

Translation for the non German speakers :D - I'm learning German and found this username both funny and educational as I didn't understand the word for 'whistle' before, or know of this phrase! It means 'I think my pig is whistling' - a bit like 'i saw a flying pig' idiom in English.

Sorry to hear about your husband too OP, made me count my blessings.

I'm going to tune in to a fresh 28 Fast Start after a bit of an unhealthy/unhinged binge-y kind of day. 28 days gets me to the work night out. If that doesn't motivate me, I don't know what will. Stepping on the scales tomorrow for a starting weight and will hopefully be brave enough to post here for accountability.

I'm blaming the weather/foggy days/dark nights but need to lean into the lovely soups and slow cooker healthy food attitude of @IchGlaubMeinSchweinPfeift! (There's a good thread running in Food & Recipes about a soup competition with some great inspiration if anyone needs it). Also been meaning to Google translate your username for ages, thanks for saving me a job @okayhescereal 😅
I've managed a very small amount of very gentle pilates and reminded myself that I do actually like it and if I do it in the morning it seems to guide me on the right path for the day. Going to make a proper effort to keep at least that up. Also trying to be a bit more mindful with my carb intake but I still haven't replaced my kitchen scales!
Hope DH is feeling better @bigdecisionstomake? Understandable that you'd both be stressed after that- an awful lot of pressure on you.

I’m getting back on track now with TMAD / 18:6. My step count has been high, I enjoyed a weightlifting workout this evening (finally did another one) and have been inspired to try a morning stretch routine.
Despite my fall off the wagon I have not gone over the 13st boundary again.

Planning some healthy meals for the weekend.

I started a new job this week so exercise has been out of the window but I have been better with food.

Will do another week and then think about the scales!!

When I say 'better', I mean a shorter eating window. Nothing before lunch and stopping at 7pm ish.