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.

@twoforj0y walking is going ok, I'm finding places to squeeze it in. I've got a day in the office today so I am going to try for a lunchtime walk. It's all too easy to grab some food and carry on working, but it will be better mentally and physically I can get a few steps in (even if the scenery is not that beautiful!). It will be easier to get into an evening walk habit as the evenings get lighter, I hope.

@OMGitsnotgood that’s great, a very stable loss. It sounds like the tweaks you are making are workable long term too which is the main thing.

Thank you. I was 12 stone 2 for many years, I'd say at least a decade, before putting on over a stone, partly due to lockdown but not entirely, and was 13st 4 at my heaviest.
To lose that stone and more and now be under 12 is such a wonderful feeling. Can't imagine getting down to under 11 but it's certainly something I'd like to aim for,

1.2lbs down this week :)
v v happy with that!

@OMGitsnotgood completely get that sentiment. I have been over 11 and a half stone for a couple of years, and it was ticking upward rather than down.

for me to go from 12 and a half to exactly 12 feels huge.

any day now I’ll be in “the elevens” which I know it’s just a number but I’m secretly delighted thinking on that 🤩 I’ve been trying to aaaaaages to put my weight in reverse.

today I’ve had an oat coffee, one weetabix with skimmed milk wolfed down between calls - not had time to eat properly yet. But a month ago I would have been grabbing biscuits, a mini muffin etc and eating at my desk. (I’m trying to remind myself what I am now doing right and what I am not to do!)

😥Just did some calculations because I work mostly in Kg but for the amount I would ideally like to loose if I went for a sustainable half a pound a week weight loss it would take 43 weeks to reach my target!. So this time next year, I'll be happy. 😱

@twoforj0y 1.2 lbs in a week is excellent, well done! Sounds like you've had a mind shift which will set you well on the way to achieving your goal. I'm definitely not eating well all the time but must be eating better most of the time, which for me is preferable to being on a very restricted diet.

@Hoolahoophop that definitely sounds achievable. I have weeks where I gain, and weeks where I lose more than half a pound and that is fine for me, as long as it averages out as a loss, or at least not putting on weight when I look over a month or so.

Obviously it depends on the individual as to what spurs them on, we each have to find what works for us.

@Hoolahoophop a year flies by!

I’m most enjoying the improvement in my health… I was literally one week away from the GP putting me on bp meds when I finally found the energy and right headspace, and started losing. Now, I have great blood pressure and they have no concerns.
I ordered a pair of size 8 jeans today as my 10s are getting a little loose. Can’t get my head round needing them as when I look in the mirror I’m still definitely curvy…though an amount of that is excess skin I suppose.
Lovely food today - jacket potato with chilli and salad out for lunch with DH and children, then for dinner I had mung bean and coconut stir fry. He’ll make me my nightly hot chocolate in a bit, he always does bless him.

Yesterday's food
L. Bacon, beans, hash browns 2 poached eggs 1 sausage, better brownie
D. Chicken goujons, a handful of fries, cabbage, a banana

Wow @MadamTeapot how much have you lost overall? Size 8 jeans, I can't imagine! I woukd be delighted to ever get back to a 10, no harm in dreaming! I'm a 14 now and I am sure 12s are in my near future... it's so good to see these changes that aren't numbers on the scale changes

@MadamTeapot obviously yes the health benefits are the main thing. My vanity jumps to clothes My gp has told me in that stern voice that next time I'm in we need to have a "very serious talk about statins". I'm convinced now I am making ACTUAL changes to what I put into my mouth, that my cholesterol must come down out of the danger zone.
I've always had low BP, which caused issues in pregnancy, but about a month ago or so I was at a check up and I had high BP!!
I think my weight-creep was affecting me in many health ways.
I hope I'm turning these things around now.

@twoforj0y sometimes you need a kick up the bum, health deteriorating is scary but helpful if it pushes us. I’ve lost four and a half stones, it all piled on after last pregnancy at age 40. Does mean most of my wardrobe is too big though, and I live hours away from clothes shops 😩

Weighed in at 10 stone exactly this morning so a loss of 4 pounds since Jan- I'll take that! It's my birthday next week so inevitably cake will be consumed but I'm actually motivated to limit myself a little now that I've built some momentum! Well done @twoforj0y and @MadamTeapot , great progress!

That’s amazing. You must have a great feeling of being “in charge” or your weight now, you’ve got a good grip of it now?

I hear you, I was also pregnant at 40/41, I managed to shred that weight, but for me it was post Covid new weight came, slowly and surely, for a while I was barely noticing… strange!

Hi everyone, I am joining this thread if that's OK although my goal is to lose half a stone by June. I am feeling depressed as I've been calorie counting (sticking to 1,500 a day), I've cut right down on alcohol (barely drinking) and I've been forcing myself to go to the gym but nothing seems to be happening. I'm about to turn 50 and I've put on a stone - not sure when it crept on as didn't weigh myself for years but noticed everything was getting tighter and now I am 69kgs. I know that's not loads for a lot of people but last time I weighed myself (about 3 years ago admittedly), I was 60 kgs! I was a bit shocked to see my current weight, had to check the scales were correct! Anyway, I guess some of it is just menopausal weight gain as my boobs (which weren't small to start off with) have ballooned (sort of out sideways, and not in a remotely sexy way, urgh) and I've put on weight round my middle, which never used to be an issue. But I can't get rid of it! I've always been a healthy eater and I'm not a big snacker, I thought the weight gain might be wine but cutting it out doesn't seem to be making much difference. What is the secret to weight loss apart from starving myself, which I really REALLY don't want to do?! Help!

Hi @AnonymousBleep. Losing weight is definitely harder as you get older. How long have you been on 1500 calories & going to the gym?

I've been on 1500 calories since Xmas and going to the gym for years - my minimum has always been three times a week for 45 mins a time, I do a mix of spinning and weights classes. I should probably do more weights but prefer cardio. I also walk the dogs for at least half an hour every day. I used to have a horse and suspect the weight has gone on since I stopped riding (as the timings match!).

@jill5676 that’s great, well done. Enjoy next week 😊
@twoforj0y I hope I’ve a handle on it, I’m definitely starting to relax in to the habits now they’re not as new…not snacking is pretty second nature now.
Hi @AnonymousBleep it’s all definitely harder with age isn’t it. Could you do something like a swim/sauna once a week too? Maybe look at how processed your food is?

Beef stew and vegetables tonight, yum.

I was reflecting the other day on how sad it is that we feel so ashamed of putting on weight as part of the normal aging / menopause process. It doesn’t affect everyone like that, but it seems common enough. Teen girls often hate their changing bodies and some try to starve their way out of puberty’s changes. But those changes are normal and it’s society’s perversions that make girls think the weight gain and curves of puberty are a problem. Isn’t it the same with menopausal weight gain? If your body has decided to grow in a particular way then only extreme diets will stop that, and at what cost? And to whose benefit? This feels like a totally different thing to me, compared to the emotional eating and terrible lifestyle that led to my own weight gain.

I think you're right. I haven't changed my diet or lifestyle but my body has changed anyway. I'm not an emotional eater or anything like that (I stop eating when stressed) and my weight has stayed fairly consistent throughout my adult life, apart from a few months in my 20s when I drank too much and put on weight, and another few months in my 20s when I stopped eating and lost loads of weight. But both were just blips in an otherwise pretty steady line. It clearly is just a menopause/hormonal thing, and maybe I should just accept it instead of getting upset about it. I think I am struggling with the whole concept of ageing tbh! But that's the thing about fat/weight, isn't it? If society didn't put pressure on women to be young and slim and beautiful then we probably wouldn't care about any of this stuff or be discussing this right now!

I've already taken a look at my (and my teens') diet and decided to cut out processed food. I'm even baking our own bread now! TBH though we didn't have a massively processed diet anyway as both me and my daughter - and even my son actually - love cooking and make most meals from scratch.

We're having home made spaghetti bolognaise for dinner. I'm having 'courgetti' instead of spaghetti (sigh!).

I’m not sure I agree but the sentiment is similar. See I’ve always had a really shit diet, and been very slim! - age allowed me to sail through it and not out on weight. That changed - or else my eating got even worse, I am not sure - in my late forties. I am not “getting away with it” anymore but I wasn’t eating healthily. I was codding myself that I was eating ok and it was my age. Now I’m cleaning up my eating, it’s coming off, contrary to what I expected.

so I’m really not sure. All I know is I wasn’t honest with myself and my eating habits. I speak only of my own experience!

… my point being I don’t think my weight gain is natural from age or a natural destination with getting older, I think it’s natural from eating shite!

I do agree that we shouldn't be ashamed about body changes due to things outside our control such as the hormonal and metabolic rate changes associated with menopause. But we also have to be honest with ourselves as to why we are gaining weight and not just blame everything on our stage of life.

For example, running around after children burns calories without our realising. If we don't replace that as they get older, it will contribute to weight gain.

Children becomingIndependent adults often also means more disposable income and time for things like meals out/ wine etc.
whereas I used to meet up with friends for a coffee, more often now it's for a meal & drinks. All adds up.

Absolutely - it’s not about making excuses, I just think if you’re honestly eating well every day and exercising often and still not losing weight… maybe you’re just fine as you are (assuming no underlying illness)? Agree it’s also easy for things to slip. Like @twoforj0y I’ve been hit by forming bad habits when I was young and I could get away with it, paying the price now I’m a bit older. I’m under no illusions that in my case the lifestyle is the real issue, ageing just highlights that. I’m also not kidding myself that a better diet will get me back to the 7.5st I was at 21.