The stone starts shifting, today!

[Chubbybetty]

I am 45 and 5ft 2". I have been a size 6/8 for most of my adult life. I put on about a stone in lockdown. Managed to lose it (largely through stress) for my wedding a couple of years ago, and have since piled it back on, mainly through too much cheese and wine and a love of cooking/feeding other people. I eat mostly low carb and Mediterranean style but have become a bit more lax, I don't really snack and do a fair amount of exercise (including strength training) I'm now more a size 10 with a small spare tyre and a large chest. I detest my body like this. On a short, small frame, 1 stone is a lot and really shows. Yesterday I didn't even want to leave the house with my husband to go for a drink in the sun as I thought I looked hideous. Today it all changes. I have started working with an online wellness/fitness coach recently and she said something this morning that made me stop and think - how sad it is that people literally don't want to be in photo's with their families because of their weight. This is me. I hate that I am so hard on myself because of my size and speak to myself in a way I'd never speak to anyone else. I hate that for the last few years every nice thing we've done, has always had the niggling thought that I'd enjoy it more if I were a stone lighter. I know I have lots of 'mind work' to do aorund my relationship with my weight (hence the coach) but on the physical front today is re-set. Binning the alcohol, more strict with the carbs and cheese. I aim to lose 7lbs in the next 4/5 weeks. Posting here for accountability really. Anyone else having a 're-set' today? Good luck!

Can I join in too please? I'm 5' 4", and almost 5 stone heavier than I should be to reach a "healthy" BMI. A stone off before the end of July would be a great start though!

I plan to follow the principles of the Fast 800 Keto diet. I have the main book, but not the recipe book yet. There are plenty of appealing recipes in my book though and I also have some non-keto Fast 800 recipe books that have suitable recipes.

I made a "soft start" yesterday as I need to use up some food I already had in. I'm tracking with Nutracheck. Yesterday I had 1000 kcal, with 54g protein and only 38g cards. Today was just under 1000 kcal, 60g protein and 60g carbs.

Welcome @DrEllie, @jumpintheline and @MarmiteWine

Welcome all newcomers. Good luck on your journeys. Feels like we're gathering quite a community now and I'm grateful to all of you 😊. I'm feeling pretty rubbish today. Still no movement whatsoever on the scale this morning, although I guess it's still the effect of the bank holiday wine. I like to weigh every day as I genuinely feel that it keeps me on track, but I hate how a stagnation or a gain can upset me and spoil my day before it's even started. I almost cried this morning. I know this is first world problems, and I really do have bigger more serious things going on, but am so fed up of how everything is dominated by hating my body and wanting to be smaller. It's tempting to do something more drastic eg very low calorie, or weight loss shakes, but I know that is my old 'disordered eating' voice piping up. I will do one decent protein based meal today, probably tuna and salad or veg. Pity party over!

Oh @Chubbybetty I completely relate to what you are saying. So sorry you are feeling like this. Remember what you said yesterday, that your stomach felt flatter. Do you track your weight anywhere? I use the Happy Scale app (just the free version) to log my weight every day. This can be helpful in showing the gradual changes (although at the moment for me, it’s actually a bit discouraging due to my Easter gain).

Hi all, thank you for the welcome. It does feel nice to be part of the community.

I used to have a bit of an eating disorder in my 20's. At one point I was under 7 stone. I'd love to be around 8'9 ish again but doubt I'd ever get there. For now, 9'2 is my goal.

I completely understand where you're coming from @Chubbybetty - even down to not having PB in the house! Was that you who said that? I bought a jar recently and it's so delicious. I eat it out of the jar with a spoon.

My plan now is to hide the PB for a few weeks (I know that sounds silly but I have a bit of a warped relationship with food), track everything on MFP and weigh daily. Also drink more water. I am looking into peri menopause stuff and know my protein intake is very low. I only really eat chicken and eggs when it comes to protein. I need to address that.

I don't have the answers but I think checking in here, tracking and recognising the small wins will help.

I currently feel guilty for not exercising. I used to go running a lot but have really tapered off doing that over the past few years. I'm aiming for 12k steps a day and standing at my desk as much as I can. I work FT in an office so hard to fit stuff in.

Foodwise - I am having porridge for breakfast, lidl chicken salad for lunch and omelette for dinner. I love snacks and grazing so I have some healthy snacks (well, strawberries and nakd cereal bar) to hopefully curb any cravings. I'm trying not to have crisps or savoury as I can't control portions.

We have friends over at the weekend for dinner too. I find that hard where you are good in the week but when it comes to the weekend and socialising it's mush harder to track.

Good luck for today everyone x

Morning all. As I'm always hungry I'm thinking of 4 or 5 smaller 'meals' today, heavy on the protein and salad. I know fasting is the holy grail but I find it so difficult.

Thank you for the welcome!

I weigh daily and I'm very pleased to see I'm now over 3lb down since Monday morning. I know this is water, not fat, but it's still good to see those slightly smaller numbers.

Foolishly, before making the decision on Monday to properly focus on my eating, I ordered a bulk buy of very nice biscuits. I'm hoping I can restrict myself to eating one as an occasional treat, but do plan to give some away! Ì also have a box of chocolate bars at work. I keep them there on the basis that I'm only in the office 2 days a week so they're away from temptation most of the time.

I did a shop last night so have a fridge full of "good" options for the next few days. I've also opted to meet my friend for a cuppa and a walk instead of going out for lunch. I'll be handing over some of the nice biscuits, of course 😁

Download the yuka app if you want to avoid UPF. It grades food by their amount of rubbish in them and gives a score !

Good morning, everyone. How did everyone get on yesterday?

@Chubbybetty How are you this morning?

Morning @Autumnleaves82 how are you?

Yesterday was good bad and ugly for me -
bad - let work stress get the better of me and grazed all morning using 2/3 of my calorie allowance before midday
ugly - a lot of this ‘panic snacking’ was shit, poor nutrition - 2kit kats and a bag of crisps
but - the good, I had a massive bowl of bean and brocolli soup and managed to stop my overall consumption for the day at 1500 cals, AND did 11,000 steps. So I see it as a day rescued ☺️

Also feeling slimmer this morning which is pretty motivating - 16 days until my holiday now, so it’s nice to know that if I keep this up I’ll be going on holiday feeling much better about myself even if I’m not at ‘goal’.

Morning all, I weigh .2 of a pound more than yesterday. Feel pretty crappy and just massive at the moment. Work trousers that fit nicely last year are really tight. I'm busting out of size 10's which is not somewhere I want to be. Hope that doesn't offend anyone, I know I'm not even overweight by BMI standards but honestly, I look and feel really fat. My digital scales say my body fat is over 30%. Eurgh.

That's a really good idea @GrazeConcern about soup. I have a great soup maker so may look up some recipes for lunches. Well done on clawing it all back. I have a holiday end of May too and would love to drop a few pounds before then but it's really hard. I feel like my body just holds on to fat now.

Morning fellow losers! How is everyone getting on? @Autumnleaves82, am ok thanks. I had a hugely stressful day yesterday and drank a very large vodka when I got home. Stuck to one meal in the evening though, chicken and mixed salad with Greek yoghurt/light mayo dressing. Didn't feel hungry during the day but a little brain-foggy in the afternoon, but will persevere with OMAD for a day or two and ee how it goes. Finally the scales have moved today, down 2lbs to 8st 13" and stomach definitely still flatter. It doesn't exactly feel like stellar progress (3lb loss in 10 days), but definitely feeling more cheerful seeing a downward figure this morning (re my point yesterday of the morning weigh-in dictating my mood, sad but true). @chainsinnalice sending empathy and positivity. The feeling of putting on tight clothes that you used to feel good in can be soul destroying. Keep going though; 0.2 of a lb is nothing (go to the loo and that will probably be gone!). Soup is a great idea, especially if you can make yourself and know exactly what is in it.

@tooearlyortoolate have you given OMAD a go this week? I'veonly done a couple of days but it seems to suit me OK.

That's brilliant @Chubbybetty! You must feel so pleased!! The scales dictate my mood, so I know the feeling.

OMAD intrigued me but I've never been one for IF. I am definitely a breakfast person!

Good luck today all x

Thanks @chainsinnalice . I've been meaning to say thank you for bravely mentioning you have had an eating disorder in the past. I wasn't going to mention it on here initally in case it was hard for anyone else to read, but I did too in my teens and early 20's and was around 7 stone at one point. I don't think the mindset ever recovers, even if physically you do. I definitely still struggle with disorered thoughts about size and body image and my relationship with food is very tricky in many ways.

@Autumnleaves82 how are you getting on? I'm going to investigate the happyscale app today, thanks for the tip.

@GrazeConcern well done on pulling it back yesterday. That takes effort not to push the 'sod it' button (That's what my fitness coach calls it).

@Chubbybetty - you definitely don't recover mentally. I think about what the 23 year me would think of my weight today, she would be absolutely horrified!! It's a strange way of living, knowing the calories of a single sachet of tomatoe ketchup. I remember looking up calories in toothpaste and if you could smell calories!? Bonkers.

It was a long time ago now, but some of the other habits do come to light now and again. I concentrated on getting stronger. Strong not skinny and that did help. Now I would be so happy for a weight that began with 8.

I'm back to tracking and aiming for 1500 today with high protein stuff!

Hi everyone, can I please join you? I was doing really well and had managed to get under 10 stone at last, but it all went to pot over Easter and I’m struggling to get my mojo back.

I'm 40, 5’2”, and prefer to weigh myself in kg because it doesn’t have an emotional attachment for me in the same way that stones do. I was down to about 62.5kg but now back up to 63.9, which puts me back over the 10 stone barrier.

I know exactly what the problem is - I’ve been snacking more, drinking more alcohol, and exercising less. I need to get back to better eating habits and do more running and yoga. My yoga teacher has been away a lot recently and I keep saying I’ll do YouTube yoga instead, but I rarely do and when I do manage it, it’s not nearly as tough. I usually run 3-4 times a week, but with increased office days and summer sports for the kids taking up more time, I haven’t been managing that either.

I feel tired and achey and desperate to feel as strong and fit as I did a couple of months ago.

Welcome @Swearwolf . You've found some supportive people here. You can do it! Have you thought about adding some strength training in?

@ChubbybettyI have, but honestly I know I wouldn’t motivate myself to do it. The yoga class I take is very difficult and the bodyweight does all the strength training stuff for me, so as long as I can go often enough it works well.

Hi all. Still at 65kg. Under investigation for gastro issues so not been as active recently which is showing. I'd love to be 60kg. I do have mild pcos but since hitting mid 30s I feel like I can barely eat anything!

Have stuck with OMAD again today, just preparing another (different flavour!) chicken salad. It's a good job I love chicken as I seem to live on it 😂.

Evening all!

Thanks for the welcome @Chubbybetty , yes, lots of similarities between us, with similar goals. Ideally, I want to get back to 8 stone, which is what I was 7 years, before I met DH, but would be happy getting to 8.5 stone by the time I go on holiday on the 18th July.
I can really relate to what you said in your first post, that so many of us don't want to be in family photos, which is really sad. I hardly have any photos of DD and I together, so going to make an effort to stop this way of thinking.

@Autumnleaves82 thanks re the Caroline Girvan info - I did a session today, and one on Tuesday. Legs was hard going today, and had to really push myself to finish it. I only use 6kg weights, when she uses 10-15kg :-(
How often do you do a session?

@GreenYodaFace my DH isn't even tall, and he can eat anything and not put on weight (been the same weight since he was 18, and is now 55 - soooo annoying!). It doesn't help that he loves to cook and invent new recipes to tempt me with.

Like many on this thread, my main goal is to get in shape and lose weight for holiday and for summer in general - I HATE summer clothing when I'm overweight and hate myself when on holiday, being the archetypal white, blobby Brit feeling self conscious in swimwear. Even if Europeans are overweight, they seem to have more confidence on the beach, probably as they're used to spending more time on the beach or at the pool with the better weather, and also many have the tan, which always makes someone look better.

I work in an industry where everyone scrutinises what you're wearing, so I always absolutely dread work meetings when the weather is hot - would love to be one of those effortless summer dressers, but don't think I ever will be!

Anyone else also have mountains of clothes in multiple sizes? Over the last 10 years, I've been everything from a size zero, up to a 12, resulting in having way too much stuff. I find it exhausting sifting through it all, and rotating summer and winter clothes.

PS - @Chubbybetty I think a 3lb loss is AMAZING! Well done!!