What steps are you taking today/tomorrow (and how did it go)?

[Peae]

An accountability/planning/thinking-out-loud thread. State what you'll be doing today or tomorrow towards your weight-loss and health goals. Then check-in afterwards and let us know how you did.

Please say hello and tell us a bit about yourself...

I didn’t manage a deficit yesterday, in fact all week I’ve struggled really. My food choices haven’t been brilliant, too many extras and snacks and my means not filling enough with not enough protein. For me, combined with being tired and busy and hormonal means chocolate cravings and carb cravings. Back to basics for me from today

my plan-
fast until early lunch if I can
lunch- salad and tuna, try to get some veg and protein in
dinner- teriyaki chicken drumsticks and veg

we have another busy weekend planned, so many jobs to do. I’m really smashing through it at the moment and seeing the fruits of my labours, house is looking lovely. Tonight and tomorrow are forecast to be lovely so I plan to do garden jobs, with house jobs Sunday and Monday (day off)

Had a very productive day, cleared a big weedy section of my overgrown garden. Went to the gym, sorted out some pots on the patio. I’m tired now!

my food has been good, ending up on 1400 cals - had a banana before the gym and protein shake afterwards, a couple of chicken drumsticks, and then for dinner we had the colmans doner kebab kit with lamb mince and flatbreads, and Jamie Oliver’s new frozen roast potatoes (from Sainsbury’s) - all was super tasty, felt like a real treat meal. Dh bought me a bottle of wine earlier, I’ve not drunk yet this year, I have decided I don’t want it yet. It’s a lot harder to resist with it in the house to be honest. But I am not quite ready to break my run yet.

tomorrow- I have to finish my decorating, it’s been dragging on forever. I want to paint, then put my curtain tracks up and get everything looking finished. Food will be similar to today, a protein shake mid morning and then a main evening meal which will be roast chicken and veg.

Hi Everyone, I have had a rather worrying week, including a stint in hospital, with a suspected stroke. I am now back at home and ct and mir scans confirm my brain looks fine.
So, it was a week of hardly eating anything, hardly walking anywhere (like, fewer than 500 steps a day) and I managed a 36 hour fast (hollow laughter). Also, zero sugar all week and zero Diet Cokes. Lost about 8lb.

Funny how your perspective can change in a matter of days, if not hours. I am so grateful to be well and back at home (even if I'm looking at about two weeks' recovery).
I must say, being in hospital (not something I've done before) has really renewed my 'belief' in our making small daily steps towards being healthy. There were so many vulnerable people in A&E, incapacitated by alcohol or dementia, and with no one to advocate for them. I really have seen first hand the importance of healthy living and taking to steps to mitigate any conditions we may be living with. Also, the importance of groups like this .
I am already a big fan of Dr C mentioned above, and Zoe nutrition. Can anyone recommend any 40+ female influencers in the healthy eating/moving sphere? (Anyone follow Gail McNeil aka fiftysister?? I find her fascinating).

So, today I will be:

• drinking plenty of water.
• doing two breathing meditations.
• doing some eye exercises (got double vision).
• walking to the back garden and sitting in the sun.
• eating plenty of plants.
• no sugar, no coke, restricting screens.
• resting, resting, resting, sitting very still, resting.

@Peaegosh I hope you are ok? I had a suspected stroke 5 days before Christmas (turned out to be Bell’s palsy) but it is horribly worrying. And it definitely makes you think about the choices you make/have made and how to keep yourself healthy. I also realise that I am a terrible patient, and if I ever had anything ‘big’ I would be utterly dreadful to live with - so that also motivates me to keep healthy. I hate being ill.

there’s a podcast called Jessica Cooke - I like her stuff but she’s not everyone’s cup of tea I guess, a real advocate of women over 40 ditching the dirt culture and focussing on wellbeing and health.
the davina McCall podcast is also good. And dr C has one as well. I like to dip into all these and listen to the ones that resonate with me

I’d like to join this thread.
I need to lose 2.5 stone and need some accountability. I’m going to calorie count and be low carb ish as well as with a bit of intermittent fasting.
Ive done it before and it’s what works for me.
Exercise will be walking as I love it and some home exercise with weights.
Im taking fish oil capsules daily which I swear helps with my thinking.
Im sick of wasting my time on my phone too so that needs to change.

Welcome @lisaloveshearts and @Preposterious! How was/is your Sunday?

@thenewaveragebear1983 Yes! I have vowed that if anyone goes in to A&E, they don’t go alone. You really need someone there advocating for you. I’ve downloaded a Jesica Cook to try this evening. I follow Davina on insta, but she’s a bit too high energy for me a lot of the time.

How are you getting on @Whyherewego?

Today’s progress,

• drinking plenty of water. ✅
• doing two breathing meditations. ✖️
• doing some eye exercises (got double vision).✅
• walking to the back garden and sitting in the sun.✖️ Bit too cold, but I tried walking to the nearest telegraph pole, so ✅
• eating plenty of plants. ✅ About 15, but v small amounts.
• no sugar, no coke, restricting screens. ✅
• resting, resting, resting, sitting very still, resting. ✅

Tomorrow will probably be more of the same.

Hi @Peae I haven’t really started yet. I managed to get a long walk in but I’m committing to starting tomorrow, seeing as it’s Monday and everyone knows you start a diet on Monday, right?
Your day sounds very positive.

i need to get my head back in gear this week, it’s school holidays which does bring its problems but also a lot of the hassles of my life are term time only (eg no clubs, no school runs, only a 3 day week this week etc etc)

steps this week:
get some miles in (was hoping to run today but didn’t)
get a home workout done as I am not able to get to the gym on Saturday
stick to calories- aiming for 1000, max 1400.
water-drink more
Focus on protein and veg for each meal, and stop the mindless snacking

@Peae so sorry to hear about your health situation I hope you are doing OK now. It all sounds very scary.
But you're doing great now with rest and no sugar.
I am doing rather less well on the food front. I've not posted for a while as I've nothing positive to say. I really need to get my head into gear too @thenewaveragebear1983 but for some reason it's insanely hard

So how did your Monday start go @Preposterious ? Have you run or walked @thenewaveragebear1983 ?

((( @Whyherewego ))). It's tough, but you only need one positive thing a day to get back on track.

Today’s progress,

• drinking plenty of water. ✅
• doing some eye exercises.✅ Double vision actually disappeared for a bit last night.
• sunshine ✅. I've sat outside and I've walked to the second telegraph pole. Might try to do it again this afternoon if I can get DP to take me.
• eating plenty of plants. ✅ Not as good today, also ate some crap.
• no sugar, no coke. ✅Yes!! 7-day straight. Unheard of achievement. It must be over two decades since I managed this. I can't actually believe it. It is almost worth last week's worry and ordeal to have managed this.
• resting, resting, resting, sitting very still, resting. ✅. I'm soooooooo bored.

Ooh 7 day streak @Peae that's fantastic.
! You must be happy

I started the day well with a walk. But then ate 2 bagels and chocolate. So that was less good. I'm just so tired, not sleeping well. I find it hard to stay away from sugar and carbs.

Starting the day with a walk is great though. It's good sleep hygiene, and good sleep helps with the sugar cravings. I'm sorry though, it is rotten to be stuck in on the sugar rollercoaster :(

Well done @Peae. Do I remember correctly that you have started WL injections? Do you think the coke (or no coke) is linked to that? I’ve heard lots of people say they managed to kick other addictions (eg alcohol, cigarettes) when starting the jabs.

I’ve had a pretty rubbish day, just one of those days where everything goes wrong. I had a gp appointment I was worried about, and once it was done it was like I needed an emotional release. I was trying to put a curtain track up and made an (expensive) cock up of it. I’m feeling really burned out and overwhelmed, too many weekends doing too many jobs and the list is getting longer. Then to top it all off, my dog stole half a gammon joint and a chicken drumstick (with bone) when I answered the door so now I’m really worried that she’s going to get ill. FFS 🤦‍♀️ I ended up eating loads of mini eggs I’d bought for Easter baking, way over calories.

My day was ok
got my walk in and fasted but need to eat less.
It’s hard on working days and kids are off school.

@thenewaveragebear1983 I'm so sorry to hear about your rotten day. How did the dog fare overnight?
(I hadn't thought that about the jab, but I've heard the same thing. (I haven't taken any more than the one dose a fortnight ago). I find when I have been really sick (e.g. with Noro) my body really rejects the DC).

Well done @Preposterious, from reading MN it sounds as though the holidays and being out of routine makes keeping to habits much harder.

When I write my goal I always leave out my foundational habits like low UPF, doing time-restricted eating and generally eating lots of plants, fibre and protein. I think that these are the best starting points.

It's hard to set goals at the moment as I'm supposed to be on bed rest. I'm getting bored and lonely and feeling guilty about the impact of my illness on DP.
I have no access to Diet Coke or sugar and zero temptation as I'm hardly leaving the house and certainly nowhere near a shop.
12k steps or the gym are not on the horizon yet. And it's chucking down today so not sure when I'll get outside.

That sounds more sad then I feel though. I'm still relieved to be back at home and slowly recovering.

How's everyone else?

@Peaethanks, she seems ok for now. I don’t know what I’m looking out for really, I suppose bones can get stuck or broken pieces can cause problems.

I had another dreadful day of (not) dieting. I just ate so much chocolate and rubbish after work. I’m so tired. Eating crap food doesn’t help either does it?

steps tomorrow:
fast as long as possible to reset my appetite a bit
go for a run
try and stick to a good fast800 day (ideally will do this a couple of days)
Drink some water
no chocolate, sugar or flour products

small steps, but I need to get back in the zone and have a couple of good days under my belt before the long weekend. I was trying on jeans to wear to work this morning and I literally have no jeans that fit comfortably now. My nice spring summer things just do not fit 😢

It can be really shit @thenewaveragebear1983 . Be kind to yourself too.

I’ve had a good start. Been reading about CFS (which is what seems left after last week ruled out brain problems). Feeling positive.

So far, 16hr TRE and a salmon salad with nuts and seeds for dinner. Lots of water. Aiming not to start on the crisis which was yesterday’s downfall.

Checking in with a good day. Two very sensible meals, plant-based, low UPF etc. protein and fibre (still not hitting goals though). Lots of water.

Did a short visit to work where I gave my Diet Coke stash to my colleague to lock up somewhere and dodged the cream buns and creme egg I was offered. I think that's 9 days straight with no pop or sugar.

Closed my eating window at 4pm and am quite bored. Really missing the gym, or just going for an evening walk. Three weeks until a hot tub break and I would love to lose 3lb by then. (Full disclosure, I've taken a second jab this evening).

I had a better day today, ended up on 1400 calories. Would have been 1100 but dh bought back some salted caramel cookies and I never expected them to be a whopping 300 cals!

I am very tempted to do a bit of a reset/detox after Easter. Previously I have done things like whole 30 and have felt really good on it. I can’t remember the last time I felt that energy and that zest- it’s a big undertaking because it’s very strict and requires a lot of planning. However, I am now enduring yet another ache, this time in my ribs (I suffer with flare ups of something called Tietze which is where the bones in my ribs flare up where they meet), I also have this cyst in my breast and I still have lingering numbness in my face from when I had Bell’s palsy - these are all inflammation related and the one thing W30 is brilliant for is reducing inflammation. 🤔

I’m sorry you’re living with all of these problems .
An Easter weekend reset sounds good - you good make it flexible to something manageable on short notice? Some homemade smoothies and zero junk?

@Peaei could do a short juice fast or something like that, however I think I’m more inclined to do more of a total overhaul over a month or so. I feel like I need a total reset. Sugar is the big thing for me, I’m totally addicted and I eat it multiple times a day. I also always feel great when i give up dairy (another thing I eat a lot of these days). Definitely food for thought. I might dig out my books and make some plans, I’d have to start after next weekend anyway as dh and I have a weekend away next week.

anyway, in the short term- today my steps are:
drink lots of water,
walk doggo
run at lunchtime
Stick to my calories (aim for 1000)