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.

good luck to you!!

I had dinner last night for the first time in forever and was awake SO much overnight! Wondering if perhaps my digestive system is now so used to not having to work overnight that it kept me up....

Morning all

Thanks all for your kind thoughts - DP is fine now, usually is within 24 hours of an episode and often barely even remembers it's happened. When it's bad, and this one was, it sometimes takes me more time to get over it mentally than him but that doesn't take away from the fact that he has to live with the physical limitations of it day in and day out which I wouldn't wish on anyone.

Sorry to hear you've had a gain @IchGlaubMeinSchweinPfeift and your motivation has been lacking - like mine! It's 6 weeks to Christmas this week so we still have time to make a difference if we put our minds to it.

@Peae Hope your fresh start is going well and a works night out sounds like a great target to aim for.

@mellongoose hope the new job is going well! Food is 80% of the solution to losing weight so it's great that you have managed to keep consistent with your eating window.

@okayhescereal I'm not a faster but I suffer with my digestion if I eat too much in the evening so purposely try to limit my evening meal to a small portion to avoid this and obviously this helps with regulating calories too so win win!

I struggled with low mood last week, I think because of Sunday night, and I just couldn't bring myself to get back on it in the end. To add to my woes, my hip (I have osteoarthritis) is the worst it has been so I've been hobbling around for the last few days in quite a bit of pain.

As well as booking some physio I've decided I need to get back to exercise to try a bit of self help too so have worked out this morning. I've started HR 4.0 at the beginning again as I think I need to focus on strength and building muscle to help with my hip.

I'm also going to go back to tracking calories. It has been easy to ignore what I have been eating so I think I need the discipline again for a while.

I took a deep breath and weighed this morning and am 10st 4.2lb. Hopefully there is some water weight to come off initially. I've got quite a few social things booked in now before Christmas which I want to enjoy so I'm not going to go all hard core but I am going to try to focus on eating more healthily on the days I'm not socialising. I think getting back into the 9s is still just about doable so that's my target but I'm not going to put loads of pressure on myself either.

Have good days all.

I am also off to physio - I have a numb knee - it kept locking up and I think I've done something to it but goodness knows what.

I weighed myself this morning and I've got 4kg to go to be back to the weight I can fit into my work clothes but it feels like a million miles away. I had to go and buy a pair of shorts that fit me to even be able to go to physio. It's all so frustrating and I know I have around 10 weeks to go to new job to lose the weight!

I went to buy a knee support in Boots and asked if I could try them on as I wasn't sure of my size and I had to buy an XL one - I thought all the weight was sat on my stomach but it's clearly on my thighs/legs too as I couldn't even get the medium size up to my knee lol!

@bigdecisionstomake osteoarthritis is so painful. I have it in my fingers and in my big toe so you have my sympathy - I can only imagine how painful it must be in your hip.

Morning all

@FlyMeToPluto sorry to hear about your knee, hope the physio can get it sorted for you. 4kg in 10 weeks should be manageable - I work in old money but I think that's around a pound a week. You've got Christmas and New Year in the middle of that though so if I were you I'd try and have a really good 6 weeks in the run up and see if you can get the bulk of it gone before then. I have no willpower at Christmas though! Good luck with it 🙂

My hip is still really painful but being more active yesterday did seem to help a little bit. I've done HR 4.0 day two today which was glutes and hamstrings so in theory should really help although I often find it's worse for the first couple of days before I start to see the benefits - we'll see if it was wise or not soon I guess.

I've had a whoosh of water weight disappear overnight so have weighed at 10st 2.5lbs. This puts me at 2lbs over the lowest weight I got back to after the holiday I think - which seems on the one hand not too bad but is also quite shocking in terms of how much I can put on in just a few weeks.

Have good days all.

Wow well done on your weight @bigdecisionstomake - water loss or not at least it's a move in the right direction

Physio pointed out my knee was v swollen (not sure how I missed that!) which is why I couldn't get a support to fit it. It's now strapped up and I have a rehabilitation programme for it starting tomorrow after 48 hours rest.

I'm finding it v hard to lose weight without exercising - I now realise that exercising was just absorbing the extra calories I ate in snacks or meals out and without exercising I just can't afford those extra calories. So I need to change my mindset! And I am terrible around Xmas too - I LOVE Xmas food so I think you're right and a more concerted effort before Xmas is the way to go!

Morning all

@FlyMeToPluto I'm just the same in that the exercise calories I earn mostly cover the ability to have some snacks and treats daily so if I don't do it I have to be really careful about what I eat and that often makes me miserable and I end up throwing the towel in or 'having a day off' which always turns into at least a week. I do exercise for the physical benefits too although at 6am this morning it was quite hard to convince myself to get out of bed for that reason...!

The scales have been kind again this morning with another drop to 10st 1.5lb - I must have been really bloated from the alcohol/sugar/salt of the last few weeks. As always though now is where the work actually starts to try to lose some fat rather than just water.

I'm going to try to make the most of this week as I have a night out next week and a weekend away at the end of November so I need to make up some ground now while I have more control over my food and ability to exercise.

Have good days all.

Morning all

Yesterday was a good day food wise except for chocolate. I made the mistake of leaving a 90g bar on my desk after having a couple of squares after lunch and by the time I finished work it was half gone - whoops! It meant instead of a 500 calorie deficit I ended up with a 200 calorie deficit so not disastrous but also not ideal. Must try to do better today!

I only managed half of the HR 4.0 day 3 workout yesterday so I did 20 minutes of a walking workout as warm up and then finished it off this morning. Food is logged for the day so assuming no more snackidents I should be back to a 500 calorie deficit today.

Not sure if it was the sugar or just an artificial drop yesterday but the scales have bounced back up to 10st 2.4lbs this morning. Not great but the fluctuations are one of the downsides of daily weighing so I can't get too worked up about it.

Really happy it's Thursday and it's a downhill trek to the weekend now. Have good days all.

Morning all

Very happy to see Friday!

The 'too much chocolate' theme continued yesterday and I ended up finishing the bar I started on Wednesday 😳Other than that though food was good and I got some exercise too. My hip is feeling vastly better than it did at the beginning of the week which just goes to show the whole 'use it or lose it' thing really is quite accurate.

Despite the chocolate over indulgence the scales have dropped a smidge this morning to 10st 2.2lbs. Still shooting for a number in the 9s before Christmas which should be doable without putting too much pressure on myself I think.

Going to try hard not to self sabotage over the weekend. Have good days all.

I’ve enjoyed your updates OP (and I am still really enjoying the HR video recommendation).

My plateau/coasting continued but things are shifting again. I never entered the 13st bracket and have now fallen to 12st 10lb. Have four meals out planned between now and Wednesday. They’ll be nice, and I’m grateful but feel the scales will take a hit.

Happy weekend everyone.

@Peae glad you're enjoying the HR videos. She and Caroline Girvan are my two top picks for strength work. I think they can seem a bit intimidating when you first look at them but as long as you vary the weights/reps to suit you I think they are really manageable for most people. I particularly like HR as she often offers low impact options during cardio moves. Joe Wicks also has a really good 21 days of strength playlist that I have repeated a few times.

So pleased that you've seen a drop again, that's great work. I think at this time of year it's hard to avoid social things, I have quite a bit booked in between now and Christmas hence not setting too challenging a target for myself. Hope you enjoy all the meals out and have planned a way to navigate them without blowing things completely 🙂

I have another UTI uurrrghh 😫so am back on the antibiotics. Or maybe I never got rid of the first one properly. So annoying! Have kept it fairly gentle this morning therefore with a walking workout and Day 4 of HR 4.0 which was an abs and mobility workout so not too much exertion.

DP and I have the house to ourselves tonight and he is keen to get a takeaway from a new restaurant that has opened in the nearest small town to us. It is Italian and to be fair the food looks amazing so we're going to give it a try but obviously the calories won't be great. I feel I've had a good week though so am going to enjoy the food without going completely mad.

The scales have seen a drop this morning to 10st 1.8lbs and whilst I'm sure I won't hang on to that after the takeaway tonight at least I'm moving in the right direction for the moment.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Morning all

Really enjoyed my takeaway last night - I plumped for a wood fired pizza and garlic bread and it was delicious. I wasn't drinking due to the UTI so was quite reserved with the amount I ate and the scales have rewarded me with a drop to 10st 1.2lbs this morning.

But, and it's a big one, I did a longer than usual exercise session yesterday to give me a few more calories to play with which will have depleted my glycogen store and today I am having a rest day as I'm feeling a bit pants so it will build up again today which will add water weight. Plus I ate the leftover pizza and garlic bread for breakfast followed by some chocolate so....I am fully expecting a gain tomorrow 😬

Have good days all.

Hey, how are you feeling this evening?

After a couple of days of hotel food I actually only put on about a pound. I was pleased with that, knowing it would soon drop off again.

Then I completely self-sabotaged today and ate two packets of biscuits. It was Sunday night blues comfort eating (and actually the Sunday night blues started on Saturday night). After a binge like that I feel a bit panicky and catastrophise-y, so this evening I've had a relaxing bath, watched some calming things on YouTube and generally tried to soothe my body without food or judgement.

(The Sunday night blues are something I've suffered with for years. I think it was bad this weekend because my little hotel jaunt was the last treat or time off work until Christmas).

Morning all

Not too bad thanks @Peae a bit fed up that it seems to have been one thing after another health wise since I've come back from holiday though. Not sure if it's to be expected with aging or whether I need to make some lifestyle tweaks.

Sorry to hear about the Sunday night blues and biscuits but it does sound like you did a very sensible thing to deal with it. Is it your particular job that makes you feel like this or is it just something about starting a new week?

As expected, I've bounced up on the scale this morning and am now 10st 2.2lbs again. I suspect I may be in this cycle of losing and finding the same pound over and over for a while now but I suppose ultimately that's better than gaining which is what I would be doing if I didn't make any effort at all.

Have good days all.

@bigdecisionstomake have you tried D-Mannose? My (adult) dd went through a stretch of having UTI after UTI. She saw a specialist who put her on longer term ABs but once she stopped those, she started taking D Mannose and fingers crossed, she hasn't had any more UTIs yet...

I had a terrible weekend - I must be pre menstrual as I monstered my way through a load of chocolate and I'm not a big chocolate fan. As a result, my weight was back up again (64.40kg). A few weeks ago I was under 64kg but I just can't seem to get there (entirely my own fault).

I've been really tired lately and I know that just leads to me making terrible food choices. I've got a week off work next week which I really need so I'm going to hopefully catch up on some sleep and start eating better!

I have had two more meals out this week and have readjusted my goal to another half stone off by Christmas (this is about 3 - 5lb more due to me losing and gaining the same 2lb recently).

Apologies for going awol, I'm currently maintaining my weight roughly 2/3 pounds off where I'd like to be. I'm trying not to beat myself up because technically I don't "need" to lose weight, I'd just like to! It's so hard in the dark cold days though!
Anyway I might drop off and come back after Xmas (no doubt with weight to lose!), so do tag me please if there's a new thread!
Have a good weekend all 🙂

Morning all

Monday and I'm back on it after having a mad busy week last week and being off the wagon entirely due to work stress and a couple of nights out.

Thanks for the tip about the D-Mannose @FlyMeToPluto I've ordered some and will see if it helps. I too was really tired last week whilst working long hours and I think that definitely contributed to my lack of self control with food so I know exactly what you mean.

@Peae I can sympathise with you losing and gaining the same 2lbs - I seem to be stuck in the same cycle currently. Hope your new goal helps you to refocus.

@Gemzee I know what you mean about the cold dark mornings/evenings and also about your goal. For me I'm also hoping to do some damage control pre-Christmas. Well done on maintaining - that takes effort in itself. I wish I could manage that rather than be in an all or nothing mindset as I seem to be currently! See you in the new year 😊

So, after a week completely off plan I have weighed in this morning with a 2lb+ gain at 10st 4.4lbs 😲 Totally my own fault. I am away this weekend spending 3 days with family who live abroad but always come over at this time of year for present exchange and early Christmas celebrations. We will be eating/drinking/making merry just as we would at Christmas so I'm going to try to focus between now and Thursday.

Hopefully there will be some water weight to come off again to give me a start. As it's nearly Christmas I've switched my workouts to Caroline Girvan's Advent Series on YouTube. I'm starting a few days early but I'm sure there will be some days in December I won't be able to workout - definitely won't be able to on December 1st as I'll be in a hotel without my weights so that one is ticked off this morning.

The struggle is going to be food. Christmas brings so many temptations and I try to buy a few bits each week on my shopping to spread the cost/when there are offers on so I already have things like a bottle of Baileys and tubs of Quality Street that I wouldn't usually have in the house. Must keep strong!

Have good days all.

Apologies for my AWOL status too- good job on maintaining @Gemzee and see you on the other side!
@bigdecisionstomake I'm sure it will be majority water weight. I know just what you mean about the Xmas treats though- I seem to be buying more and earlier than usual too! I'm usually quite good about ignoring/resisting but my willpower has deserted me. The CG advent series sounds good though- I've got some weights heading my way but realistically won't be able to start anything just yet.

Sadly I can't say the same re water for my gain! Work is going to be crazy busy until Christmas now so I'm going with the damage limitation approach too. My main aim is not to go into the 10s but I'm getting closer and closer 😬. I've spent the last fortnight basically sitting down either in a car or a meeting room surrounded by biscuits which definitely hasn't helped.
This week is well within my control so if I can just carve out an hour to get to a supermarket I should be alright.

Morning all

Glad it's not just me who can't resist the Christmas treats @NahThen 😫I hate it when I'm dieting and you go to a meeting where someone helpfully produces biscuits or even worse there is a beige buffet at lunchtime. I find it really difficult to resist. I keep a packet of Sula sugar free butterscotch sweets with me and have one of those instead of a biscuit if I can as it gives me the sweet hit without the calories but they're obviously full of artificial sweeteners so you're swapping one evil for another really.

If you're looking for a way into weights then the Caroline Girvan Christmas series on YouTube is a good one, the workouts are only around 20 minutes long each so easier to fit in but it is full effort for those 20 minutes so you still feel like you're getting a good workout. She doesn't include a warm up though so I usually do a bit of cardio first and a few dynamic stretches to get my joints oiled.

The scales have dropped to 10st 3.5lb this morning. Not as much as I was hoping but dinner last night was quite salty so I don't think that helped. Hoping for a bit more water tomorrow but we'll see.

Have good days all.

Morning all

A disappointing weigh in this morning - I was within calories yesterday, exercised and was expecting a loss but have ended up with a STS.

However, I went to the physio yesterday and she worked hard to release the tight glute muscles around my hip. It was quite uncomfortable at the time and she did say I would be tender today and it is actually a bit swollen as well as tender so I'm guessing there's some additional water weight in the area currently.

Hopefully I'm banking a bit of loss for when the swelling goes down 😬

Have good days all.

Morning all

I was pretty good yesterday but still managed to come in a bit over my target deficit calories. I was still about 200 under maintenance though so was expecting at least a STS again. Annoyingly I'm up to 10st 3.9lbs today though.

My hip is still quite swollen so I'm hoping it's just water weight that will go as the area heals.

No exercise for me this morning as I had an early appointment and DP and I have the house to ourselves tonight so will probably have a takeaway. Tomorrow I go away for three days for my mini early Christmas celebration so all bets are off for a few days. Hoping to be back on it on Monday though when there will only be 3 weeks to go and my goal to have a number starting with a 9 is starting to look less achievable.

I think my outlook at this point is to maintain my fitness and keep consistent with the strength workouts and in terms of weight, just damage limitation. Every calorie saved now is one less to lose in the new year!

Have good days all.

Your poor hip - it sounds so painful. Do you think it might need further attention if it's swollen? Sounds really nasty!

I am back where I started and gave way and bought a pair of jeans in a size 14 and feel a lot more comfortable 😂. Today I actually packed away all the work clothes that are too small for me which is basically all of them. New job is towards the end of January but ive been pretty useless to date! Dp is still on Mounjaro and starting to lose a fair bit now. I'm also wondering if I will start to feel more enthusiastic as he gets towards his target weight but he's got a few more months to get there I think .

I'm finding it v hard regularly keeping my calories low argh and we are about to enter Xmas meal/party territory!

Morning all

Have had a fabulous long weekend away with extended family having a mini pre-Christmas celebration as they live abroad and we won't see them again until the summer now.

I've eaten far too much (and drunk lots of wine and Baileys) but have also been quite active.

The scales are showing a reasonable 10st 4lb exactly although I suspect the gain was probably a bit more than that but it's been balanced out by the swelling in my hip resolving.

@NahThen The swelling happens because the physio has to pummel me quite hard to get the glute muscle to relax a bit - I always end up a bit bruised and swollen although this time it was a bit worse than usual, probably because I haven't seen her for a while. It's just soft tissue injury though and the benefit to the joint is worth it! Sorry to hear you're struggling a bit. I think this time of year is the worst to be trying to control calories. The festive food around, social things and just the cold weather and dark mornings/evenings all combine to make everything really challenging. I try to take the view that even if I'm not losing, any effort I've put in is a day that I haven't gained anything (or at worst the gain isn't as big as it could have been!)

I've got a reasonably quiet week ahead now, no social engagements and work is starting to level out a bit. On the flip side I've still got a lot of Christmas prep to do so it's a bit of a balancing act. I'm going to make a real effort this week as I feel like I've been letting things slip a bit and I'd really like to be a few pounds down before Christmas so that there isn't a mountain to climb afterwards.

Have good days all.

Morning all

Managed to stay on plan yesterday food wise and the scales have rewarded me with a drop to 10st 3.5lbs this morning. Very happy with that although there is a feeling of dejavu as I've been here before several times.

Yesterday I did a 30 minute Olivia Lawson walking workout followed by Day 4 of CGs Advent series which was glutes - very good for me. Today was her HIIT training day and it's too high impact for me so I gave it a swerve and did another Olivia Lawson walking workout, this time a metabolic one that was 45 minutes. It's given me around 350 additional calories to play with so just got to try not to eat them all!

Have good days all.