DIET FAILED AGAIN - maybe this time we're 7th time lucky, all are welcome

[thenewaveragebear1983]

Roll up roll up, it's time for thread 7... everyone is welcome here on our lively supportive chat thread.

Hi all

i hope you’re doing well.

ive been sorting my freezer out, trying to eat all the older food which has been in there for far too long. Last year DD went to M&S on Christmas Eve and tons of food was half price but she didn’t have room in her freezer so we thought we’d both go this year if we have time.

there are a few roads near me that have spectacular Christmas lights so at the weekend DD, the kids and I find a route to see most of them and we finish at MacDonalds so I’m looking forward to that.u

im not doing well with the diet, completely forgot to weigh on Monday and I think I am now at my highest weight of my whole life. I’ll see for sure when I weigh in on 1 January.

In the meantime I’m still preparing for the new year health kick. I’ve started writing out the calories of my most eaten food which I said I was never doing again as I counted calories for many years and it became so tiresome. I also walked into town and bought some sugar substitute which I haven’t used before. I’m not sure I actually need it and I don’t know what I’ll use it for atm but I want to be prepared for every eventuality. The Grape Tree had a huge range of sugar free goods but I don’t think I’ll need them at the beginning of my healthier diet. Good to know they are available though.

im having a very quiet day today. Its been hectic with various appointments and shopping trips so today is my down time before the chaos starts again.

Have a great Wednesday and I hope you’re prepared for Christmas if you do celebrate it.

@TalkToTheHand123 wow if you can lose in December you are my hero 😇

@poorpaws I always hear of these amazing bargains on Christmas Eve but I never get round to it. My freezer also needs depleted, I love a batch cook but I don’t often go back and eat the dregs at the back. I bought my turkey today and just kinda wedged him in there on a shelf 🤣

long day at work. 2025 has definitely been a year of career development for me, I chaired a meeting today with important people there and felt totally out of my depth but I think I’m winging it and it’s only underneath that I feel like a fraud. I will be so glad to break up on Friday. I cannot wait to do baking and have Christmas treats with my boys (even though they are too cool pre-teen and teenagers)
dh came home tonight with a beautiful hamper from a client so I ate 2 delicious giant chocolate buttons with some sort of praline-y creamy yummy stuff inside and 2 glasses of wine

tomorrow marks 1 year ago that I was sitting there working and feeling a weird tingling in my face that within 6 hours turned to full facial paralysis that lasted 3 months! So it’s been a roller coaster since then, and still not 100% better if I ever will be. I guess it just makes me reflect on life a bit.

Hi all. I posted several months ago having started trying to lose weight, then dropped off that attempt after drinking lots of glasses of prosecco one day. However, since then, I have been trying weight loss hypnosis videos on youtube to fall asleep to, and have found them amazingly effective! I'm on my way to losing a stone. Also using an app called See How You Eat, which is a food diary but all you do is take a picture of what you eat and add it.

Have struggled with the December pressures to eat treats here there and everywhere, but not done nearly as badly as I feared. Strength to you all!

@recipientofraspberries I love my hypno recordings, I subscribe to an app called clearminds. I dip in and out of the habit but when i really need it I go back to them. The anxiety ones I listened to over the summer genuinely held me together at a time I was really spiralling out of control. I always endeavour to listen to them more. Nice to see you back, glad things are going well.

If I lose weight this month it will be from lack of opportunities to binge and drink alcohol. It seems though, I may be able to be content with having a cup of green tea to end the night instead of having a food binge.

@Wishihadanalgorithm such a lovely positive post, very well done to you and you didn’t even need our support. After reading your post I looked at weight loss hypnosis videos and there are loads of them. I’m going to try one.

it’s going exceptionally badly here, I feel I’m in sabotage mode. I just keep eating and eating all day long and all evening and I can’t seem to stop. I’m really sick of myself.

I’m not at all in the Christmas mood. Ive put the tree up and loads of lights because Christmas lights are one of my favourite things, but I just can’t get into the right mood. It’s the first time I’ve not compiled a Christmas food list near to Christmas for years. I really don’t much care what we eat. I just feel really down about the whole thing. The only thing I’m looking forward to is going to DD‘s on Boxing Day.

I hope no one else is in the doldrums like I am, it’s so horrible to be this sad and uninterested at this time of year and I’m hoping by next week I’ll be feeling much better about it all.

@poorpaws I was totally like this last year, I was going through the motions and just playing the part for the kids but what I really wanted was to ignore everyone and everything. This year I am full elf. I don’t think I even realised how crap I felt last year. All I can say is, do what you feel like. Treat yourself kindly. Indulge in the things you enjoy, a good book and a nice walk and a hot chocolate. You don’t have to do any Christmas stuff if you don’t feel like it.

I broke up from work today, I had a really nice chat with my boss and I left feeling like I have accomplished good things this year and that people have noticed my work and clocked it. After a lot of years of being completely invisible, that’s a good thing for me, if a little alien and a bit ‘big’ for me.
annoyingly my food has gone absolutely to shit, all I ate today was half a bag of chocolate Brazil’s. Omg, they are a million calories and I actually had a little hypoglycaemia I think once I crashed!

the next four days I am going to really try to not completely go off the rails. I need to eat some veg and not drink too much and not just mindlessly eat sugary crap. I have ordered proper food for this week, my Christmas shop is coming on 23rd, so zero excuse. Plus I’ve got a few walks with friends and I really want to get a few runs in as I have barely moved all December!

@thenewaveragebear1983 thank you so much for your kind words and understanding. I think my sadness is all dog related. Molly died on 8 January and I miss her so much and I keep thinking last Christmas she was here and I had no idea that our time together would end so abruptly. I’ve got through nearly a whole year without her and now I feel totally bereft.

i will try to improve my mood before Christmas Day.

youve done magnificently at work and you should be so proud of yourself. You’ve got from invisibility to a shining star, you are amazing.

Did I mention that my appointment with the hand fracture consultant has been brought forward to Christmas Eve? I’m very interested to hear what he has to say and what they can do and how soon they can do it. I’m very impressed by how speedy my appointment is.

Oh yes that is so speedy, great news. I hope everything can be sorted for you as soon as possible. Chronic pain is so depressive and will undoubtedly be contributing to your feeling not very Christmassy I’m sure.

I totally understand about your dog. I look
at my dear dog and cannot fathom a life without her. We have walked over 1000 miles together this year. She doesn’t adore me, she loves dh and my youngest son, dotes on them, but me it’s almost like she is the one who tolerates my doting on her. She knows her role in this world. I started the year with her, in a very dark place, and I am determined that I will end it with her too, just quietly there and being my friend. So I totally understand how much you miss your dog. It’s ok to grieve her like you would a person. Why not donate some goodies to a dog rescue in her memory or something similar?

I’m actually considering having a paw plaque made and screwed into some wood on a path we used to walk together. Molly was totally my dog and didn’t bother with anyone else (DP used to get jealous that she wasn’t so bothered about him). She was super intelligent (clever collie) and hated to upset me in any way. If she did anything wrong she would jump up and down at my feet trying to say sorry. It’s so so hard, and the 13 years we were inseparable just flew by. I just feel so sad.

Love to all. Feel like a hippo tonight. I think this must be where I go wrong, late night pigathon, so going to try plan evenings with limited food.
I was shopping today and bought 2 turkeys. Made myself an Xmas dinner for today as I couldn't wait any more days😋

Morning all. I love that you made Xmas dinner @TalkToTheHand123! I also have 2 turkeys this year, well I bought a smaller whole bird and then bought a small crown as well. I am not sure if I’ll cook both on the day, I will have to look at the size. I have 15 here on Xmas day but 4 are vegan and 1 is fussy so really that’s just 9 for meat. Plus 3 dogs who I am sure will be all about the scraps.

I feel hungover today because we drank wine last night, I didn’t eat loads but mostly because there wasn’t really anything gluten free that I fancied. I am really trying to come in at maintenance calories maximum which is actually enough to be able to eat plus have a treat or wine. Hopefully this will mean at least I don’t gain. I feel really delicate today though, like my belly is sloshy and I need solid carbs and pork products 🤣

going to wrap some presents today so I don’t end up with the usual Christmas Eve chore of wrapping. Do a few a day. I have some really nice things for dh this year and will do a couple of hampers for our parents. I stopped buying ‘things’ and now buy edible or useful things for everyone, so much better.

food wise, I would really like a bacon sandwich this morning, I have some nice GF bread and I also have a couple of ripe avocados so I’ll probably do some hipster smash avocado/ poached egg/bavon combo mid morning. Then tonight we are having sausages mash and gravy 😋

Let me tell you all about my sandwich
lightly toasted gluten free sourdough (it’s lovely but it costs about 4 million pounds a loaf, can only have it when it’s on yellow sticky at the supermarket!)
crispy bacon
avocado (gently forked)
Brie
cranberry chutney

oh my. It was delicious 😋

Had a good day today, I haven’t really eaten enough tbh. Had a banana, walked Maggie, ran 9km, walked maggie again, iced my Christmas cake,went to church for the carols, all I have eaten was a piece of gf toast and Stilton and a small portion of bolognese and gf pasta. And wine. And a small taste of royal icing while icing the cake. Not particularly healthy really.

tomorrow I am having a quiet day, a walk with my friend and wrapping presents and a bit of housework. Food will hopefully be better than today’s and no alcohol!

I’ve had a very lazy day today and now I feel guilty. I think I needed it, a day without people to recharge my batteries.

Last night we did the Christmas light run ending in McDonald’s so not really healthy but we found some amazing lights and one whole street was just full of house and garden lights, it was truly beautiful.

I’m still not in the mood for Christmas. I can’t wait for it to be over.

Hi all. Went for a cuppa at the weekend at a cafe and saw the most delicious looking cake. I was swaded to avoid. Quite glad I did as it would no doubt mean another couple of lbs. I suppose this is what it is all about. I made a big batch of chicken and fish veg curry as I bought too much freezer food the other day.
As I'm not losing weight amymore, I'm planning on the calorie counting way which I really couldn't be bothered with, but seems like I have no option.

@TalkToTheHand123 I actually think it requires less effort to calorie count than to not. I have a big appetite, a sweet tooth and that means if I try to freestyle I very quickly overeat, whereas if I calorie count I know if I do have something I can fit it in and still be in deficit. It also means that, like this week, I can eat my maintenance calories of around 2000-2100 a day which feels like loads and not gain although I realise it does take a week or so to balance out any water retention. It can’t hurt to do a few weeks of portion tracking and calorie counting as a bit of a reset.

I’ve eaten loads of crap today. I’m really tired. I woke up at 3am and remembered I hadn’t taken my frozen turkey out and then mithered on and off all night about getting up and getting it out. I did a lovely walk with my friend and then have cleaned and tidied. But my food has been dreadful- bread, cheese, gf sponge cake. 4 after eights. Some white chocolate while my boys made a gingerbread monstrosity beautiful house. All good festive fun but not a vegetable in sight. Tonight we are having curry, rice, and I am going to do loads of roasted veg just to get some fibre into me!

tomorrow we are going to a winter wonderland thing and I have already checked out the food options, they have a Yorkshire pudding wrap stall and a crumble stall. Both with gluten free options. I am doomed…..

going to take a leaf out of your book @poorpawsand go round the roads to see some Christmas lights tonight, I love them too and they are so pretty.

Ah I had such a fun day today. We went to a winter wonderland, went ice skating and played uv mini golf. It was so nice, no one sulked or argued and they all just played nicely and were just nice to each other. Feeling very Christmassy now! My big shop comes tonight, nipped to Tesco for the random substitutions- it was like the end of the world and I am glad I didn’t do the full shop there! Turkey nicely brining in his bucket now, Maggie got the heart on her dinner. all good here.

Hope you are enjoying your Christmas Eve Eve. I’m going upstairs with a glass of wine and a podcast to wrap the presents 🎁

Fun day today, a brisk canal walk in the suddenly cold weather. Carols. We are having party food and cheesey chips for tea at the dc request. A few glasses of wine and a few board games.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas however you celebrate and whoever you are with.

Just popped on here on Christmas Day to wish you a very happy Christmas.

My day has been okay, a bit uneventful but not terrible as I imagined. It’s very very cold here today and we were frozen on the dog walk.

DDs tomorrow and that should be quite fun.

so when are we stopping all this festive eating and knuckling down to the no sugar for three months? I know this won’t last, but at the moment I’m quite looking forward to being more positive with my diet.

Have a great what’s left of Christmas Day.

Can I join? Need to lose a stone or 2. Tried to be good today.

@Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain just saw you’d posted and popped back to welcome you. Lovely to have a new member, there are so few of us now.

I need to lose at least 2 stones in the new year and a couple of us are going no or low sugar in January. If sugar is your problem (it definitely is mine) do join us. If you have different weight problems there is plenty of help and support here,

Thank you. I mostly have Rich Tea light biscuits and chocolate but been trying to cut down on those and replaced with fruit. Fruit I eat daily are nectarines, dates, blueberries with porridge and an orange. So my sugar intake isn’t terrible. Had a homemade puff pastry pie for dinner tonight.

@poorpaws merry Christmas, I hope you had a lovely day.

@TalkToTheHand123 I hope you have had a lovely day too.

@Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain welcome to the group. We are very friendly and supportive, do check in when you need to.

enjoy your few days. To answer your question @poorpaws I will be having a few relaxed days. I go back to work on 29th so I will be back on the plan, but I’m not officially starting my sugar free until 1st Jan