⭐️LOSE IT!⭐️Optimistic October & 12 Week Countdown to Christmas⭐️

[TheRealHousewife]

Following on from ⭐️LOSE IT!⭐️ Slimmimg September 2025⭐️

⭐️OPEN TO ALL⭐️

Where did September go? There is a definite chill in the air some mornings now 🥶 I always feel when October is here it’s the start of the 12 week countdown to Christmas!

It’s never too late to make a change, to make a difference and feel confident in your body. To reach optimum health and vitality we need to focus not only on our food intake; but movement, mental health and sleep quality too!

Who doesn’t want to feel good and energetic as well looking great! Get on board to reset & refresh and become a healthier version of yourself.

These threads are for those who’d like to lose weight and those who wish to maintain whilst eating a healthy varied diet.

As no one size fits all, members need to follow their own way of eating. This thread aims to offer guidance, support and a bit of hand holding.

We generally have WOW (weigh on Wednesday) day each week. However post and share your progress as often or as little as you prefer. Do what works for you.

The important thing is not to think of it as a diet (based on deprivation and unsustainable) but more a way of life (sustainable & enjoyable).

I calorie count based on a lower carb Mediterranean diet. I intermittent fast and generally eat twice a day. Im a long time healthy eater and overall I’ve lost around 45lbs.

I’m mainly maintaining but I would like to get back into the 8’s 🤞(I briefly dipped into the 8’s last month but the scale showing 9st 1lb this morning)

Are you in😊 What food plan will you be following? What do you want to change and why?

New members … Give it a go; it’s never too late! You'll be pleased you did 😊

I had the last of some celebration meals out yesterday. Wine food and more wine!
so now I’m focusing on Xmas and being on the next stone bracket. I’ve maintained over this period so pleased my years efforts haven’t been ruined

happy Sunday everyone

Hi everyone!
I don’t know where September went-
i also couldn’t find my post with my starting weight. I think it was 10.1lb

I tried to dig really deep and create new habits last month. I am 9.10lb now so pretty encouraged by this although it wasn’t 1lb a week.

I’m hoping to lose another 2 lbs during October.

Ooh and I found something that is helping me not drink gin and tonic each evening!
My problem is dehydration- I know I don’t drink enough water most days. I used to drink hot water as find it easier if warm.
i found a recipe for a homemade rehydration drink- put 1.5 teaspoon of salt with 3 teaspoons sugar in a litre of water. I pour boiling water on the salt and sugar to dissolve and top it up with filtered water so it’s a drinkable temperature.
being properly hydrated seems to be really helping me not drink alcohol.

if I know we’re going out like we did on Friday night I made up a litre which I drank over the afternoon which helped a lot

so I have a litre every morning (not in one go) and then make up more to drink in the evening as I think I was just thirsty when necking G&TS!!

Sorry- the recipe is 0.5 teaspoons of salt not 1.5 sorry!!
I know the sugar content isnt ideal but I guess those expensive rehydration drinks and tablets must be sugary too?!

Hi all

Yesterday was definitely maintenance calories & mostly carbs, but walked about 6 miles - tired and achy by the end.

Weight up a smidge this morning but will survive similar day of eating today (weekends are so hard) but apart from cleaning the house top to bottom, I'm relaxing now!

Good luck for the week ahead.

@FjordFancier interesting recipe, thanks. I’ve been having a coconut water each day (with added coconut pulp so it actually tastes of coconut rather than bedside rug) but the cost adds up.

I always wonder why I am so bad at drinking water, I drink decaff tea all day long happily, then have water with each meal but only to set a good example to the children.

Today is lazy here, bad weather and I’m very tired - kids back to school tomorrow after nearly 3 weeks off - yoghurt/berries/almonds for breakfast, big bowl of spiced bramley apples for lunch and I’m doing haddock, new potatoes and vegetables for dinner. Might add a protein shake as a snack.

Welcome back @WhatWouldTheDoctorDo hope you enjoyed your break! I've never tried a semi permanent before, interesting that your hairdresser uses it- I might try a professional colour first!

I've had such a lazy weekend, feeling quite guilty. Normally I'd head out for a long walk about this time on a Sunday but the heavens have just opened here and I really can't face it! It has been a really hectic week at work and with illness in the house so I think I just need to relax. Maybe a bit of yoga will be manageable later.

On water, I bought a dedicated water bottle and aim to have at least one full one a day. It's not a huge bottle and I know it's probably not enough but I do drink tea & coffee as well and I figured that it's better than none at all!

My weight was down this morning, but a roast dinner and some sugary treats will probably push it back up tomorrow.

Thanks @Vapeaddict Yeah, with it being semi permanent it looks more natural and has a bit of shine to it. He says there will come a point that it won’t be enough to cover the greys, but I haven’t got there yet! The only thing is that sometimes how well it takes can be affected by whether I have been away or in the sun a lot but that’s not often. Though actually, I had my roots done just before my holiday and the dye hasn’t taken brilliantly. Hopefully that’s not the ‘no more semi permanent stage’ though!!

I am spending the day catching up with jobs - mountain of laundry and I have a pile of things to list for sale so starting to work through that.

Thank you for sharing your water tips! I found the same with coconut water being quite pricy. I love it though
Having a water bottle to gauge intake is great. Mine started leaking so had to chuck it out and when I went to buy another this week they only had child sized ones. I got a 330ml leakproof bottle anyway so I’ve always got it to hand at work and in the car etc.

Happy Sunday Everyone … hope you're having a good one!

Thank you @WearyAuldWumman . I’ve got a bit of a thing of all things with minced chicken at the moment. Low fat, moderate protein and you can add really good flavours to it. Well done on svelting into your dress trousers 👏

How did your evenings go @Fellsbells @biscuitcat I hope you both had a fab night!

@Emmadaily Well done on your progress to date! 20lb loss is fantastic! 👍

@Determinedloser Falling off the wagon has happened to all of us at some stage; the important thing is to keep at it! ❤️ Well done on posting!

@Poisonwood Yoga, meditation and weights is awesome, well done 👏

@LemonDrizzle23 Im pleased to read you’re getting back into a routine after your illness x

@WhatWouldTheDoctorDo Welcome back from your holiday! Upkeeping hair, especially highlights or to cover grey is expensive not to say time consuming. I’m sure you and your hairdresser will come up with a solution.

@Workingmammabear Congratulations on your baby & welcome to the thread 👍

@Alwayslearning25 Sounds like it’s a bit tough for you at the moment. I hope you soon feel better in your self soon! ❤️

@FjordFancier Welcome back and well done on your loss to date! Great tip re:- hydration!

6 miles is awesome @FridayNighFeeling 👍👌

You ladies doing the weights are awesome. Your body/bones/muscles/strength will be very grateful 👏

Menu
Meal 1 - Roast pork, crackling, mash, roast parsnip, cavolo nero, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower & leeks, sausage gf stuffing, home made apple sauce & pork gravy = 650 calories.
Meal 2 - Seed crackers & cheese. Sugar free jelly desert & cream = 350 calories

Hello - can I join late?! I’ve been on the lose a stone by Christmas thread but need to double up to keep motivation up!

stats

SW 13st 12 (16.9.25)

CW 13st 6
next goal:to get to 12’s for my birthday end of Nov

TW tbc but under 11st to be healthy BMI and some wriggle room

Using chronometer to track calories. Lots of steps and a chaotic exercise regime.

hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Welcome to our thread @AreYouBrandNew With 6lbs gone already, you’re
practically half way to losing your stone for Christmas! Well done 👍

Hi all, Sunday Check in!

Yesterday we ended up having a chicken, ham and leek pie for dinner from a local farm shop, and made mash from the potatoes, was delicious!!

Today has been:
Breakfast: GF sourdough, avocado, eggs and side of berries, Matcha tea.
Lunch went a bit pear shaped - we had family visiting and so everyone had tea and cake, meaning I skipped lunch and had a slice of Victoria sponge (from aforementioned farm shop 🤌🏻) and small slice of coffee and walnut.
Dinner is green Thai curry
Have done 20 mins of Cat Meffan Yoga.

Have done some meal planning for the next couple of weeks ahead so feeling a bit more organized

Thank you! I'm not bf anymore, it didn't really help me loose weight with my first because I was so hungry (and bored of being stuck in the same place for hours of the day) that I lived on chocolate biscuits and crisps!

Had a really good day today with a healthy salad for lunch but think my downfall might be Costa coffee!

So my starting weight is 12st 0.2lb. not sure what my target for Xmas should be, but my "happy weight" is around 10st to 10st 6lb - I fluctuate massively depending on time of the day and time of the month as I'm sure a lot of people do.

Looking forward to lots of inspiration on here :)

Hello. I'm rejoining the thread again. Enough of thinking I'll start tomorrow, and then another week/month goes by. Weighed in at 81kg this morning. Plan to get 10k steps a day, eat a mediterranean diet and stop buying crisps! My sister came to visit last month, she has been a size 16 for the last 20 years, but is now a 12. She has just changed how she eats, 2 meals a day, never snacked and has massively cut down on alcohol. Being around her made me realise that I'm constantly snacking, even though I would have said I wasn't. Good luck everyone.

Morning! Welcome new joiners / returners. It’s my OMAD day today, likely steak and a salad mid-morning before I go to work. DH and the kids are away which will make it more of a struggle as my routine is out the window, but will have a good go and a lot of liquids.

Starting the week in a good place weight wise despite the Chinese takeaway that I ate last night.

Lessons learnt from last weeks yo-yoing are I need to stick to calories and track every day. Don’t blow my allowance on high calorie snacking. Sugary dairy foods makes my skin awful. Exercise is good for me in every way. I need to focus getting more protein into my meals.

Morning and happy Monday everyone. I'm feeling inspired reading everyone's posts from the weekend. I have had a good weekend, I've made lots of good choices, like having grilled salmon and salad when my family had fish and chips and being really mindful of my portion sizes.

yesterday
Breakfast - none, woke up late and decided to wait as I wasn't hungry
Lunch - grilled salmon, Greek salad
dinner - roast chicken, roast potatoes, boiled veg, cauliflower cheese and gravy. totally delicious
snack - 2 small (and were actually small) glasses of white wine while I watched the new Downton film

I really need to get going on my strength training but overslept this morning, didn't wake up until 8.30! luckily I am working from home so just had to get to my desk by 9am. I'm having my hair cut this evening, so no exercise then either. Oh well, tomorrow is another day!

Have a good day everyone, and a good week.

Happy Monday!

@Fellsbells I think tracking really helps to keep you on track coupled with meal planning. I preload my Nutri Check app each day/week and it really helps me to remain mindful of my daily micronutrients & calories 👍

Welcome back @LemonTravels I’m the same as your sister in that I eat twice a day, very rarely snack and I’ve kicked alcohol/sugar to the kerb 👍. That said I’d have found the no alcohol thing much harder when I was in my 30/40s. Now in my 60’s it’s much easier as my body really doesn’t metabolise alcohol very well.

@TheWayTheLightFalls Good look for your routine keeping today! 🤞

Menu
Meal 1 - Mediterranean omelette and side salad.
Meal 2 - 2 Heck sausages, cabbage, carrots, peas, sweetcorn & gravy.

Drinks - Tea, black coffee and water with acv.

Exercise
Session 1 - Hand weights.
Session 2 - Yoga.

Welcome to new joiners! 👋

Weather is terrible here today, so I started the day with a Body Project work out instead of a walk. I haven’t done one in ages - I think it got too hot over summer to work out without aircon! Really enjoyed it, so might try and get a few in a week.

Weight is all over the place at the moment, think it’s around time of the month (although on the pill it’s hard to tell!) So I’m trying to not pay too much attention to the scales and concentrate on whole foods and movement.

Love that picture @TheRealHousewifeespecially on a gloomy soggy Monday like today!!

I am feeling so sluggish. My period is late - again. Not pregnant. Starting to think I have PCOS. Embarrassing to admit but I have always had the hirutism, but previously batted off any idea of PCOS due to regular periods and thankfully fell pregnant relatively quickly both times. Have been reading up though and it seems can still have PCOS without the irregular cycles. But now my cycle is becoming increasingly erratic!! And have spots along my jawline.

Anyway
Breakfast: 2 eggs on GF sourdough, berries, matcha tea
Snack: banana and coffee
Lunch: wholemeal pitta and chicken
Dinner: TBC

Was planning a workout but today is my day off and next week is half term so might take today to listen to my body and rest.

I find sticking to the plan much harder when DH is away too, @TheWayTheLightFalls - for me I think some of it is just mindlessly boredom snacking after dinner once the kids are in bed, I do it so much more when I’m on my own!

Menu today:

B - toast with preserved watermelon
L - probably Itsu dumplings with rice and a slaw
D - chicken and bacon gnocchi soup (proper winter comfort food!)

My weigh in this morning has me 1.1kg from my ambitious October goal, so I’m feeling quite motivated to get there now rather than accepting my initial ‘would be happy with this’ target, which is just over 1lb away.

Morning all, Monday again! It's pouring down here and I've been chained to my desk all morning- I'm actually looking forward to the school run!

Your roast dinners are making me really fancy one- we bought some lovely sausages at the weekend for tonight and that's about as close as I'll get. Not sure how to track them as they're butchers ones. I suppose weigh them and go from there. Although MFP is down with the Amazon outage so I can't actually track anything!

I'm not usually a daily weigher but I thought it'd be interesting to see how it fluctuated over the weekend when I had a few (tracked!) drinks- I was down 1.5lbs Saturday and Sunday, but this morning I'm up half a lb! So who knows what will happen when I WOW. I hate how it dictates my mood 🥴 so I won't do it again.

@Vapeaddict pouring here too and it’s not helping! Planning for a good calorie deficit today as have team sport match this eve which should burn 500+

I’m finding a daily weigh in helpful at the moment but agree can be a distraction and I’ll skip if I feel a bit bloated