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!

Argh needing solidarity to not finish off the wine, i've had a few grapes as a distraction technique! Sounds like a great day @DurhamDurham

@Chubbybetty You won't have completely derailed all your progress so far - get back on track now, drink loads of water and I'm sure you'll feel better in a couple of days.

My PMT bloat has commenced - my watch strap is all tight, and the trousers that felt looser this morning are now cutting me in half. I need to stay strong and keep on track this week as it's 'fake fat'!

Oh my god, I need to join you all please! I’ll weigh myself tomorrow (have been deliberately avoiding the scales) but I’m guessing I’m around 8st10. Would like to get back to 8 stone.

My stomach and whole middle area feels bloated and massive, but I just can’t seem to get started. I decided this morning to ‘cut back’ but after my bowl of bran flakes, I then hit the biscuits mid-morning and it all went to absolute pot. I’ve (re)downloaded MFP and Zero, with the intention of calorie counting (even though I detest it) and reintroducing 16:8 as it helps me resist evening snacking. But it doesn’t seem to take much for me to decide to jack it all in and go back to my stupid endless snacking on sweet rubbish.

Some of your meals are sounding really healthy and inspiring - I need to get organised and plan my food the day before, in the hope this might stop me from getting too hungry and then just eating rubbish. I feel so much better a few lbs lighter but it seems to require so much effort!

But I’ll take inspiration from you all, I’ll weigh in tomorrow and take it a day at a time!!

Bloody hell I'm 65kg. One of the heaviest on here.

Good news, my sister has ordered the book for me so I should have it by the weekend.

A decent day today, although I've gone over on carbs because I had a big slice of toasted Jason's sourdough with my lunch of smoked trout pate and salad. Tea was salmon stir fry with miso, honey & soy sauce. Lots of veg, no rice or noodles. I got 6 chunky salmon fillets in my Olio collection last night, and 2 cooked salmon fillets too, so that's the freezer stocked!

Tomorrow I'm going off piste as I've ordered a Too Good To Go bag from a Lebanese restaurant that's right next to my gym. It's a bit of a gamble on how much meat there'll be compared to carbs but I thought it was a good way to try out the restaurant.

I hope you managed to resist the lure of the wine @GrazeConcern. I'm fortunate that I rarely drink these days. And fortunate too that I don't have PMT to worry about any more, though dealing with menopausal weight is taking some getting used to.

@MadameLeotta I've definitely found lower carbs has reduced my snacking. I genuinely don't feel bothered most of the time. Which is a very good thing since I have 20 boxes of shortbread in my hall at the moment. I've only eaten a single biscuit since they were delivered last Wednesday morning!

@GreenYodaFace you're not the heaviest. 65kg is lower than my ultimate goal weight in a few stone's time 😬

Welcome @Valkyrie3, @DurhamDurham and @MadameLeotta

@tigerbear Well done on the weights. 10kg is the heaviest that I have (I am still mainly using 4kg for upper body and sometimes 10kg for lower), so I’d be interested in seeing your progress. I see the weights that CG uses and wonder if I’m not pushing myself enough. Which CG series are you doing? How often are you doing sessions?

@GrazeConcern Did you avoid the wine?

For those of you saying you are heavier than some of us or have heavier goals - please don’t compare. We all have our own targets based on height, body frame and even just how we feel/look our best. I really hope everyone feels welcome here. It’s a lovely thread. But I think those of us who have targets of 8 stone-ish have found that this is one of the first Mumsnet threads where we have felt able to say this without being told we don’t need to lose weight. Hope that makes sense?!

I was 8st10.5 this morning. My ‘Happy Scale’ app told me this morning that at my current rate of loss, I’ll reach my target in April 2026!!! (Oh dear!)

Morning lovely losers! Felling more positive agian today as 3lbs of the weekend splurge water retention has fallen away since yesterday. Still leaves me exactly where I was this time last week (9st 1 😥) but am back to being super strict and still attempting OMAD. Last night ended up being a good old chicken salad again (made with roast chicken, and a kind of slaw of carrot, red and white cabbage, and onion with a Greek style dressing and small amount of feta cheese). Today is one of my two office days and I tend to struggle for focus in the afternoon if I am OMAD (not when working at home though, odd!) so I have got 100g of chicken breast and a tomato instant soup (approx 130 calories total) to tide me over until my meal this evening. Either chicken stir fry with more of the roast chicken, or salad and fish. Am working on mental strategies to have more willpower around alcohol this weekend and resist my husband tempting me, especially as the weather is predicted good again. Any ideas? Thanks!

I'm so happy and grateful that this group is going from strength to strength, and us 'not really fat, but wannabe losers' can express ourselves freely as @Autumnleaves82 said upthread. @MarmiteWine well done on your 5lb loss, amazing! Let me know what you think of the Fast book when you receive it. @tigerbear yes, it's bloody tricky, as is breaking any habit. I really need to not blow it again this weekend with alcohol. @GrazeConcern thank you, appreciate that. PMT sucks and that tight trouser feeling is awful; it will pass though. 8st 10 is fab! Well done. @MadameLeotta welcome! So many of us are of a similar size with similar goals, we can do this! @GreenYodaFace we're all in it together and to support each other, no matter where we're starting from.

I forgot to say, couch to 5k fell by the wayside yesterday as I finished work much later than expected then had a coaching session, then dinner. There was no chance at 8pm! Today and tomorrow very busy so maybe will start on Thursday, my next work at home day.

@Chubbybettyhusbands are the worst for leading astray IMHO. Lock him up? I've switched from wine to vodka tonic when forced into having a drinkprobably half the calories in each drink.

@Chubbybettymy best strategy is buying nice fizzy water and not buying wine or anything to mix with gin! Husband is happy drinking beer and I don’t like it, so it’s not too difficult to just buy alcohol for him. Sometimes I buy one or two of those tiny mixer cans of coke or ginger beer so I can feel like I’ve had a special drink too. It also helps if I plan to drive somewhere or do some exercise as I can’t do that after a drink - appreciate that’s not always going to work though!

Thanks for the welcome. Weighed a couple of lbs less than I’d expected this morning, but still ideally want to lose 8lbs, but expect I might get fed up well before I manage that. I’m not planning on weighing very often though.

@MarmiteWine yes I suspect you’re right that lower carb would help me feel less hungry. I’m just having to make do with what food I’ve got in this week, but will try to get a bit more organised next week.

At least it’s easier to eat less in this lovely warm weather, and I got out for an hour’s walk after work too. Just need to get back into the habit of eating set meals and not relying on sugary snacks throughout the day - have managed that today and can hopefully get a few more good days in before the inevitable temptations of the weekend.

It seems like a few of us are trying to pro-actively plan how to avoid letting the next weekend derail us. Any more bright ideas? I may lock myself in the understairs cupboard! 😂.

Just don't stock up the cupboard before going in @Chubbybetty 😂

I'm not too concerned about the weekend. I don't have any plans to socialise, so no-one to lead me astray. I just need to avoid the biscuits and fancy nuts!

Today has gone pretty much to plan. No loss on the scales, but not really expected after such a great week last week. Lunch was mushrooms, bacon, leek and spinach fried in a little EVOO and topped with 2 eggs with a small slice of sourdough.

This evening I did my Pilates class then tea was the Too Good To Go bag. As expected, there were a lot of carbs - lots of savoury rice and some delicious fried potatoes. Then chicken nuggets, chicken wrap, and some really succulent chicken on the bone. I ate a bit of everything, but probably only a third or so of what I was given. And I've tracked everything using similar items in Nutracheck. It actually comes in at under 1350 kcal for the day and I feel like I've had a real treat.

With the exception of the rice I've put the leftovers in the fridge. I'll make a big salad with some of the chicken tomorrow and will probably use the potatoes in a hash on Thursday.

@MarmiteWine your TGTG bag sounds delicious, but as you say it's a lottery if it will be carb heavy. My husband got one from Pizza Express last Friday night and we got a lovely pizza (I did partake of a small slice) but also lucked out with a delicious tuna ceaser salad which I ate on Saturday.

Morning all. Another 1lb of weekend water has dropped off today meaning I am bang on 9st again. I was 8st 13lb last Friday morning so would like to equal that by Friday this week (and am armed with strategies for the weekend). I aim to be 8st 12 by next Monday morning. I have a special event on Sunday 25th May (Michelin starred restaurant, woohoo!) and would like to weigh in at 8st 10 by then but might be ambitious (so 4lb in 12 days)?

My weight is up 0.3kg this morning, but I’m not super worried - whenever I weigh every day it fluctuates like mad, even if I make an effort to keep it at the same time every day, so I try to look more long-term and spot a general downward trend (however jagged that may be). My first mini goal is 62.5kg, currently at 63.6. That’s just over 2lb in emotional units! Weight loss for me is always super slow, quick to go on of course but slow to come off, so I’m giving myself a three-week target for that.

Planning to cook up some chicken later for a salad at lunchtime and a risotto tonight. Risotto is one of those meals where it just feels like it needs wine, so I need to hold off on that.

17 hour fast then small bowl of veggie chicken egg noodle stir fry for lunch.

Had a cheeky leftover choc with my afternoon coffee..

Planning to have a small early tea (half bagel, humous, salad prob) before yoga this evening and start my next fast early.

This is what is passing for a takeaway in our house! As we live on chicken salad in it's various forms on weeknights during the warmer months I'm always looking for ways to excite it. I occasionally go to our local kebab van and buy a giant box of delicious shredded salad for £2 (they often try to charge more and I remind it was £2 last time and they laugh and say 'okay'). I don't know what they do to the shredded cabbages, onions, lettuce etc because they're all just undressed etc but it is so delicious. I have become addicted to these spicy 'Turkish' peppers. Tonight I'm home alone, I have salad and chicken in but walked round and got a box of red cabbage and peppers. Obsessed!

Hi everyone, I'm still here buit have been so so busy, and PMT has hit with a vengence - stomach currently like a massive balloon but I've managed to not go too mad on food and I've averaged 12000 steps a day this week so hopefully I'll feel better soon!

Well done @Chubbybetty on reversing the weekend, and to everyone with their progress. I should be able to have a positive weekend as no socialising planned, and not planning on drinking at all as I have so much to do!

@Chubbybetty well done for getting back on track. I love kebab shop salads and even better with those peppers! Many years ago when I worked as a barmaid I'd call at the kebab shop at the end of each night for a salad and pitta to take home for supper 😋 My family thought I was weird...

@Swearwolf you're right that when weighing every day you need to expect some fluctuations and focus on the trends rather than the snapshot. But that's why I prefer daily weighing. If weighing weekly and you get a disappointing result its a long week until the next one.

I bought myself some new Renpho scales today. Of course when I weighed myself on my existing scales, and then these ones, the new ones have added a couple of pounds. Never mind, as long as the numbers keep going down! I'll weigh on both again in the morning so I can get a new baseline but keep counting the existing 5¾lb I've lost.

I almost talked myself out of the gym this afternoon, but bought the scales from Argos which is only a few hundred yards from the gym. I'm up to 4 minutes on the cross-trainer. Still hate it, but beginning to feel it's achievable now.

Food has been great today. Scrambled eggs with spinach on a slice of sourdough toast for lunch, then a chicken stir fry with masses of veg for tea.

@GrazeConcern well done for staying positive despite the PMT and bloating, great job. @MarmiteWine, my goodness yes, kebab shop salad and those peppers are literally an obsession (expensive way to buy salad though so don't do it very often)! I asked them where they get the peppers from and they said 'London'! He did suggest that when Lidl have a Greek week they may be available; I'll keep me eyes peeled. Nice work re not swerving the gym.

Unbelievable! One meal yesterday, protein and salad with a low carb wrap, and a G&T, and the scales are up 1lb this morning so back to bloody 9st 1. So demoralising seeing the number go up, and am so sick of this dictating my mood. I almost swerved my workout because what's the point, but I made myself get it done and was glad I did. Am struggling at the moment with very ingrained/old unhealthy thoughts re 'if I just don't eat, I'll lose weight'. Maybe you can relate @chainsinnalice ? You must all think I'm an emotional rollercoaster - because I am due to so many things - weight/body, perimenopause, work, life in general. Who'd be a middle-aged woman hey?!

Hi, I put in some key words and your thread came up - I am so pleased to have found it and would really really like to keep up with you all.

I want to lose a small amount of weight, Half a stone, which will make such a difference. My stats are 5 ft 6, around 63 kgs (just shy of 10 stone). I am 45. I feel uncomfortable in my skin, tummy etc. I am off on a big holiday in summer and really wish for body confidence so that I can enjoy it and be proud of the work i put into being healthy.

I seem to be doing a bit of many things, but without results.

1. I try not to have too much unhealthy foods in house. Try limit UPFs and put good food on my family's table.
2. I exercise, a mix of gym weights (once week), Caroline Girvin (3 times a week), spin (1-2 times a week) and walking (10k to 20k a day).
3. I am considering doing 75 days hard. I got to day 5 before i failed a couple of weeks ago! I am considering adding in some yoga to my week, if i can.
4. I am trying not to drink alcohol often, about once a week.
5. I manage for a week , the fall off. Then back on it I try.

I have not really ever dieted. I do not want to count calories! I am keen to hear your journeys and progress for inspiration (I need to read through all the posts when I get more time!)

Thanks!

Welcome @Mummy321 ! Sounds like you have lots of good habits in place already. I'd be interested to hear more about 75 days hard? (or I could just google it!).

@ChubbybettyThis first week I've lost 1.5lbs which is fine. However at one point in the week the scales said I lost 3lbs so that psychologically doesn't feel quite so good. I think I'm going to have just one weigh-in point - Friday morning for positive vibes or Monday morning for reality?