Sustainable and not overly ambitious weight loss 2025: 1 stone by June - anyone care to join?

[OMGitsnotgood]

Happy New Year!
I started this thread back in June in an attempt to lose a stone by the end of September. I wanted to do this through making better food choices and exercising more, rather than following a rigid diet. (Read the old OP for more details). Posting made me feel more accountable and made me rethink my eating after a calorific day (or week! )
I didn’t lose a stone but did continue to lose weight slowly, gaining some weeks but overall a reasonable loss.

Time to refocus after the excesses of December, and it would be great to have some company.

Welcome back to those who kept me motivated on the old thread and welcome to anyone new - you don’t need to ask to join, just introduce yourself and tell us what you are trying to achieve, and hopefully the encouragement and support we can give each other will help us all.

This is my info, feel free to post whatever helps you to keep track and use this thread as you see fit.

Height: 5’4
Heaviest ever: c 13st 4
Weight June 24:: 12st 8
Lightest since June 24: 11 st 11
Current weight: 12 stone 1/2lb - which is hardly surprising, i didn’t watch what I ate or drank for most of December. I think some of that will come off easily when I refocus. Going to have a few days away visiting various friends so expect that won’t help but I don’t want to be able to enjoy those times, and be extra careful at home .

My short term goal is to get back under 12 stone by the end of January..

My dream would be a stone by June. I'm not optimistic but a reasonable goal to aim for.

I know what you mean @Patagonia21 but not sure what to suggest. Nothing quite beats something sweet when you have a craving for it. I have a yoghurt if I fancy something sweet after a meal but not the same as sticky toffee pudding or a bar of chocolate - still it works for me.

I've heard people suggest a cup of low calorie hot chocolate or a low calorie chocolate pot. Hopefully others will be along with more advice.

@Uol2022 how frustrating for you. I'm sure scales aren't always accurate. I also think that it sometimes takes a while for weight to come off. Stick with it and hopefully you'll see a difference next week.

Just to check.... are you weighing yourself at the same time of day each time?

@OMGitsnotgood thanks, will give that a go. Weekends are more difficult!

@Uol2022 perhaps water retention? Stick with it and you will get the results you want

That seems very unlikely @Uol2022 - maybe it was a different time of day or the scales are a bit broken or something, don't let it put you off track
I've had a bad couple of days foodwise but am (sort of) back on track today. I'm feeling a bit down for no reason and have a tendency to try to eat my way out of a sad feeling.

Today's food:
B. Yogurt granola berries
L. celeriac & pea soup, hummus sandwich
D. Chicken sandwich & a carrot
S. Pear, granola

Total calories 1522

Oh @Igglepigglesgrubbyblanket I'm sorry you've been feeling like that. I'd be eating my way out of it too.
My view is that we try our best most of the time, and if we have a more calorific day because we're out for a mea/on holiday/ just feel a bit shit and need chocolate - so be it. 'Tomorrow is another day' - and your meals from today look great!

@Uol2022 I am doubting the accuracy of my scales too, I weighed myself this morning and they said I had put on 2lb. I moved them across the bathroom floor and immediately lost 2lb 🤨

I changed up my very old Fitbit last week and have been wearing it since Monday. I was shocked at how little I move on a WFH day, and how few calories that burns! On the plus side,.it has encouraged me to get moving a bit more, and I've added in some extra walks this week.

@Hedonism I notice the same with my Fitbit. Only recently bought one after Christmas and it's been fascinating tracking my sleep and movement. Unless I intentionally go for a walk, I don't get anywhere near 10,000 steps a day. It's a good prompt to be more active I find.

I've been listening to a lot of health podcasts recently (Zoe, Feel better, live more, and the Doctors kitchen) and I think I've been going overboard with healthy but calorific foods like nuts, seeds, peanut butter and avocado. It's probably doing me good but it's not helping the weight to shift! Maybe need to watch my portion intake with these things a little more.

I think I have pmt, definitely hungrier anyways! I had a slice of wholemeal toast with blackcurrant curd, half a banana, handful of nuts and raisins, a protein yoghurt and fish cakes with loads of butter beans and haricot beans. Tomorrow I’m going to purposely up my calories/protein to avoid food I’d rather not eat (there’s a packet of Tunnock’s Tea Cakes in the cupboard practically shouting my name lol).

That sounds like a very good tactic @MadamTeapot
I've decided to simplify while I make an effort to up my mood and just aim for one goal diet wise - to cut out snacks which were creeping in. I'm in this for the long haul and a month or so of plateau is fine in the scheme of things.

Yesterday's food:
B. Beans & marmite on toast
L. Jacket potato, tuna & coleslaw
D. Pasta with pesto, chicken & sweetheart cabbage, apple & pear crumble for afters

Slight cheating on the snack thing as I had seconds of the crumble about an hour later.

I had a very relaxed weekend, went out out for a dinner with prosecco! and breakfast and then at family's house. I had a wonderful weekend! I feel not at all guilty that I may have overeaten because it was a normal, social weekend and they dont happen all the time.

Today I am going to try to start to build in some exercise. Small steps, I will try the Garmin master core control workout. Which is 10 minutes of exercises targeting your core muscles. If I can do that every day this week I will be happy, and then try to add something else in a couple of weeks.

Today I will eat.

B: Porridge
L: Home made bacon and lentil soup (delicious even if I do say so myself)
D: Thinking about something baked in the oven with orzo, tomatoes, maybe some chorizo and the leftover chicken from Sundays roast.
S: To be decided, have some dried fruit and nuts in my draw at work for snacks, and bought some Kiwi for the fruit bowl for a change so may eat one of those for a snack in the evening.

I'm falling back into enjoying cooking and enjoying eating good food. Need to get more heart healthy stuff in there though, ahead of the dreaded cholesterol re-test.

I'm going to start off not by calorie counting (for fear of triggering my teenage ED) but just by doing the No S diet and walking properly, briskly, outside for an hour each day. Alongside losing weight, I really want to get fit enough to be able to join a rambling group, those are my twin goals. Oh, and to wear a size 12 comfortably.

Hello! May I join you please?

I have battled with weight issues all my adult life, thanks partly to parents who fed me a diet of sweets! (Just ask my dentist!) However, over the past two years, with the help of the app 'Lose it!' (no, I don't work for them!) which is essentially calorie-counting), I managed to go from 13st 10lb to 11st 10lb (a weight I'm entirely happy with - at 66 I start to look lined and scrawny if I go any lower).

I've been delighted with this weight loss, particularly due to my increase in energy (my reason for weight loss is always health, rather than appearance - I have been delightedly single for many years). Recently though, I've failed to keep my chocolate habit under control, so have gained half a stone. I have an addictive personality (parents again!) and gave up alcohol many years ago, so think I may have to do the same with chocolate (a small amount is NEVER enough - it's worse than not having any at all).

Any advice welcome from other chocoholics, particularly if you've managed to moderate your intake (something I absolutely couldn't do with alcohol, hence stopping completely).

Thanks so much for reading.

@whyhere well done on the massive weight loss. I hear you on the chocolate.

I no longer have cheap or bar chocolates in the house. We only have very nice boxes.

I can eat an entire family bar of chocolate easily having decided to have just a square. Same with those bags of giant buttons etc. (used to buy them for 'emergency stress relief' at work then would eat the whole lot in 10 minutes).

But if i have posh chocolates I am too tight to gobble them, so will just eat one or two chocolates in an evening to make the box last.

My psychology makes me share as well, so if chocolates are nice i have to share with dh, or favorites share with the kids. Stopping me from binging.

Is there anything that would push you to not want to eat ALL the chocolate?

Divert your usual funds from quantity to quality (a subscription box maybe) Then if you do eat them all in one go, you would have to wait until the next delivery, where as if you have just the one they will last?

Oooh.... some really interesting ideas there: thank you.

Feeling positive and determined to do this. The ideas here are helping.

B - porridge with Greek yogurt
L - homemade parsnip soup
D - homemade butternut squash, lentil and chicken curry

Snacks, 6 squares of dark chocolate, a handful of almonds & 2 tangerines

Today’s food has been delicious and I have no bread available, which is my weakness. The variety of delicious breads available is great but impossible to stop with one slice.

Estimating the overall calories to be pretty low, which they need to be according to my Fitbit.

I'm not sure how I'm doing. I will weigh myself tomorrow.

I was delusional I now think, up until recently. I kept thinking, I only need to lose maybe half or three quarters of a stone. That was my first questionable statement. Secondly, I thought I was doing a bit too much snacking. So I needed to stop that just a little and things would go in reverse.

The reality is I've gained about 2.5 stone since Covid times. It snuck up, a pound here and another one ...
and my eating habits, snacking and grabbing had entirely replaced any structure around eating. Nothing I ate was healthy.

It's been a fair few eureka moments in my head lately.

I think I'm eating properly now. I think about what I'll eat. I'm actually liking food again - I think I'd shut down my tastebuds. And I'm enjoying cooking.
But I'm keeping everything simple.
Banana pancakes, healthy soups, falafel, raw veg salads and balsamic, who knew they were delicious!! I didn't!

No baked frozen fridge stuff... I feel like I'm paying attention and it's been a massive eye opener.

I was honestly going around amazed I was gaining weight and I couldn't see what I was doing.

But I still snack at night. I still have crackers ... can't seem to give it up but it's the habit that needs to go. Better than the chocolate or whatever I could find! But I'm not there yet breaking that association. It feels like when I smoked, decades ago. I couldn't have a drink without a cigarette. I can't sit with tea and not have a treat in the evenings.

I'd no idea I was so off my game with my health.

@LindorDoubleChoc your plan is similar to mine. I had good results on no-s a few years ago (lost 3 stone), and the habits stuck for a while, but like @twoforj0y I think I have been kidding myself recently re how much I am eating - well, I know I am because my weight has crept up, and I've regained one of those stones. So I'm going to go back to basics and follow no-s properly, plus adding in some more walking. Even 20 minutes around the block after tea will help.

I lost half a pound this week. Pleased it’s a loss as felt it might have been a gain. I’ve got half a stone to go and I am accepting it might be slow. Today is a very busy day, I’ve had a handful of nuts and raisins to keep going but won’t be eating anything else till dinner so am doing a calorie dense homemade chicken and vegetable curry made with coconut milk, and quinoa.

@MadamTeapot well done, a loss is a loss! Celebrate the wins!

your curry sounds delicious :)

@Hedonism how is the walking going? I’m making myself go out now. I am getting to enjoy it, I HATED it to start with (a few weeks ago), but once I’ve a podcast or some music on my headphones, I get really into it now, thank god! Now to force myself out the door…

Hi all,
Well done @MadamTeapot ! A loss is a loss 😁
I'm still just sticking to no snacks and will try to get back on it properly in a week or so.
B. Slice of toast with peanut butter & sliced banana, cappuccino
L. Spinach and sweetcorn fritters with rice & salad
D. Halloumi & squash salad & a banana
All nice stuff and my mood is a bit better today.

I finally got round to weighing myself today (I use the scales at the gym but tend to walk out of my classes chatting so don't get round to it).

I've lost 3lbs since the beginning of January. I know that’s not a lot but equates to half a pound a week, which I am pleasantly surprised about as we had a week away, have been out for a few meals, and I couldn't resist the leftover Christmas goodies. Am hoping the scales weren't faulty! I do know I have increased my activity levels; have reduced my alcohol intake (most of the time anyway!) and for the most part am eating better so that all helps.

That’s perfect @OMGitsnotgood - if you lose about 3lbs a money you’ll hit your goal of a stone by June, and do so nicely. Good going!

@OMGitsnotgood that sounds spot on for sustainable weight loss, well done! 👏🏼