2026 the final push! Anyone at the tail end of their weight loss journey and want to lose that last stone (and a bit) with me starting in January?

[happysnail12]

Setting this thread up now in preparation for the New Year.

Over the last couple of years I have managed to lose 4.5 stone going from 15st 9 to 11 stone 2. My final goal is 10 stone.

I am 5"3 and I am 41. Weight loss has definitely slowed down, but I am determined to keep going and hope that 2026 will be the year I finally reach my target!

I losely follow intermittent fasting and am going to try and be more consistent with my exercise next year.

Anyone is welcome to join me 😊

Happy Weekend and I hope everyone is doing well.

I have been hovering between 59.5kg and 60kg so am maintaining as planned. I have stopped tracking calories now to see how that goes.

I am snacking a fair amount though as I’m really tired at the moment. As I’m still cooking the same lower calorie meals I can without putting weight on, but need to sort that.

Next step is then to move to “normal calorie” meals, I guess I’ll start to gradually introduce them on one or two days a week. Even though I’m enjoying what I’m making, 500kcal meals for lunch / dinner (each) aren’t enough to maintain once I sort the snacking out.

My victory today was that, for the first time, my scales showed a higher muscle mass than body fat percentage! Not accurate of course but I’ll take it!

Second victory was a PB at parkrun, 44 seconds faster than the previous one and closer to 26 than to 27 minutes! I’m in awe of what my body can do and wonder what could have been - I was always the kid at school nobody wanted on their team, and then bullied so much during PE lessons (“boing, boing, watch her that trampoline is going to tear…”) that I never even tried anymore.

I now also have three half marathons booked alongside some shorter races, and have just registered for a marathon for April 2027 🙈 so hopefully that will keep me on track!

Sorry, that was a bit long - I’m hoping you’ve had a good week and @happysnail12 you are happy with how the week went.

Well done @Silverblue1985, and solidarity with your school experience, mine was identical, last to be picked in team sports etc. if I was a child today, I would probably be diagnosed as dyspraxic, I can’t ride a bike, swim, run or catch a ball.

however, I’ve discovered Pilates and Yoga and am now happily clocking up 6-8 classes per week, and discovered that it not only improves my mental state and body shape, but also what I’ve learned is called proprioception (the ability to know where your body is in space) and interoception (ability to perceive bodily signals).

weight-wise, I started with a target of 10st 7 ( from 13.4 but nearer 14 at my highest ), with a wishful thinking aim of anything starting with a 9 for the psychological boost of a weight in single figures. Currently sitting at 9 4 and can’t believe how much that last 7-10 lbs has changed my body - kitchen roll theory is real!

now titrating down and trying to eat a bit more frequently, I never wanted to get down to a really low BMI as I’m very solid and looked ok at higher bmi’s, more importantly the longevity stats for older women are better at mid bmi than low ones, so focusing on muscle strength (have added some weights to my classes, and walk very fast and far these days)

Hi @Silverblue1985 and @whataeffingnightmare thank you for your updates and well done on your amazing successes 🥳 I'm sorry you both had such a tough time at school. I was always a really sporty kid and spent most playtimes playing football with the boys. However, once at secondary school, I was no longer given the opportunity to play football as a girl and I just gave up. I am so pleased that young girls these days have the opportunity to continue and play for proper girls teams.

Anyway, I've had a pretty good week food wise. My weight has plateauxed at the top end of my bmi (I was 9st 13.4lbs this morning). It's a bit frustrating, but I am aware of feeling very bloated, so I think I'm in that annoying part of my cycle where I'm not on my period yet, but I feel shitty and heavy!

I really need to get going with a strengthening routine. I've been saying it for months but just can't get myself motivated or in a proper routine. I've continued with my walking but haven't been going to the gym as much.

@whataeffingnightmare I’m sorry you had the same experience at school. Are you doing mats Pilates or reformer? I’ve looked at it, but all classes nearby seem to be during the day ☹️

I had to look up the kitchen roll theory, and it makes total sense. I’ve noticed my body change much more during the last 5kg - so much that I had to go and replace my super-expensive sports bras and my even more expensive hydration vest 🙄

@happysnail12 that is such a shame re the football, and, indeed, luckily times have changed in that respect.
Well done on your good week 🎉 and fingers crossed that the numbers on the scales will drop once your period has been and gone.
Also sending you some motivation for the strength training, it’s still something I haven’t really got into either.

@Silverblue1985, both! Started with mat Pilates and now mostly mat with 1-2 reformer classes per week. Yoga is mostly vinyasa or strength based Hatha.

People think reformer is the harder kind (and it can be very hard) but was invented to get hospital patients strong enough to do mat Pilates. Mat with a good teacher who pays attention to form will work wonders. I do like reformer for ironing out my unevenness (stronger on one leg than the other, is harder to “cheat” and rely on your stronger leg in reformer)

@whataeffingnightmare That is interesting, thank you - had not thought about the aspect of sorting evenness with the reformer.