⭐️LOSE IT! January Jumpstart 2026⭐️

[TheRealHousewife]

⭐️ Open to All ⭐️

January 2026! Following on from LOSE IT! 8 Week Christmas Countdown

Fresh Start, New Habits! To reach optimum health and vitality (as well as a trim body) we need to focus not only on our food intake; but movement, our 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 have a 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) that’s based on several sensible principles including:-

1. Eat a variety of real whole foods such as fresh vegetables, salad, berries, beans, nuts, eggs, lean meat, good fats etc.

2. Reduce sugars, simple carbs, alcohol and UPFs.

3. Plan your meals & log your intake. Also be mindful of portion control.

4. Intermittent fasting - research suggests (Zoe study) that adhering to an eating window of 10 hours can have a positive effect on health, wellbeing and weight loss. I personally have a eating window of approximately 7hrs - 12:00 - 19:00.

5. Stay hydrated! 💧

6. Move as much as able. Particularly strength based exercise. Muscle keeps you strong as well as revs up your metabolism.

7. Get the fibre in! Great for your gut biome as well as 💩

8. SLEEP! Good sleep hygiene and a regularly sleep routine can be beneficial to weight loss. I’m always more hungry following poor sleep.

9. Be mindful about your own mental wellbeing and try not to eat your feelings. We’ve all been there!

10. Be kind to yourself. One or two slip ups won’t undo all your previous efforts. Just check-in with yourself, reinforce your good intentions and carry on.

I calorie count based on a lower carb Mediterranean diet. I intermittent fast and eat twice a day. Im a long time healthy eater and overall I’ve lost over 3 stone. After having been on the wrong side of 12st Im now hovering around 9st 2lbs.

Are you in?😊 What food plan will you be following? What do you want to change and why? Any recipes/workouts that have worked for you, you’d like to share?

Thank you @TheRealHousewife

checking in for 2026.

Checking in early for the New Year. I’m
aiming to maintain my current weight but finally get round to toning up. I’ve been eating the Christmas biscuits today and had 2 heroes. Do I care? No. I had broccoli and cheddar soup for dinner so they balance each other out I think. I’m missing porridge for breakfast so will get back to that on the 2nd January.
Let’s do this!

I would like to join too. I'm the heaviest I've ever been at around 74kg which at my height makes me not far off the obese category. I'm only 3 months postpartum with my second and breastfeeding so I'll be taking it very slow and steady but there's definitely room for improvement as I've been pretty much living off sugar and fairly sedentary since he was born. For January, I plan to replace my snacks with healthy options (fruit, hard boiled eggs, yoghurt etc) and increase my step count. Need to build in changes very gradually or else nothing will stick when I'm so sleep deprived! I usually have a least one overnight oat bar to keep me awake when feeding which may have to remain but I'll try to go for drinking water first.

Hello @JuniorMint14. I also have 2. How are you and your eldest adjusting to the change? Taking things slowly seems very sensible. I remember someone saying that it should be 9 months on, 9 months off, for postpartum weight loss. First time breastfeeding I put on weight as I was under the delusion that breastfeeding helps you lose weight, and for some mums it does after a few months. For me, I noticed a massive drop in my appetite when I went from just occasional breastfeeding to stopping.

I would like to join you please. I found I had put on 3kg in 2 years at a recent routine health check. I'm not overweight, but the blood test results were a wake up call that I've stopped looking after myself properly and become more sedentary. I'll be calorie counting, consciously moving more, resuming strength training, drinking more water and cutting added sugar and upf's.

Good luck to Everyone!

Hello @Alwayslearning25 2 has been an adjustment! There's been a lot of big emotions from my 3yo but we're getting there! Breastfeeding definitely doesn't help me lose weight. What worked the first time was that she would only sleep in the pram so I was doing a couple of really long pram walks a day. Obviously that won't be possible to the same extent this time but I'll definitely aim for a few good walks on nursery days.

Yes, I found having a 2nd baby much harder than the first.

Can I join please? I lost all my post partum weight doing 5:2 many years ago (these children are in secondary school) but I just dont enjoy doing it any more and am now a good stone above what I should be, with accompanying feelings of self disgust. I am looking for a new way of eating that is more mindful of nutrition and the changing needs of my perimenopausal body, but also this year I have felt myself go back into the unhealthy mindset around binging in the evenings and I would rather be heavier and have my eating controlled than feel like that!

My plan: log my food, drink 2l of water a day, and no eating after dinner.

Would love the company!

And I've just weighed myself having been too scared to do it for ages. Too shy to post it but will say if its gone up or down on WOW (not this week though as going away).

@TheRealHousewife
Thanks so much for this new thread
I will be popping in to see everyone's updates and will post my updates.
I weigh in Saturday mornings at Slimming world
It's a bit of more maintaining for me THOUGH I would like to aim for the lower end of my reached goal as my target as been reached after a reset and 8 stone 7 pounds will be ideal .
So weigh in on Saturday then will go for the 8 stone 7 pounds by the end of January
P.s weighed in 8 stone 9 pounds last week with a gain of half a pound and still having festive treats here tho nearly finished now so will see though not gone complety overboard ☺
Good luck to everyone and a very Happy New Year to you all xx

Morning all, thanks for the welcome @TheRealHousewife
Sending positivity to all of you managing smallies and juggling your health and self image. I know it's probably cliche but do be gentle with yourself on the days when you are running on empty x

I'm going to weigh myself and take measurements tomorrow.
Would anyone be able to recommend a book/website or similar about the Mediterranean diet please? x

Good Morning Peeps

Welcome to the thread @Emmadaily @PersisFord @PoachedCloud @JuniorMint14 @LegoTherapy @Fellsbells ❤️

Congratulations on your new baby @JuniorMint14 Slowly easing into a new routine sounds sensible 👍

I don’t know about anyone else but I’m ready for some sunshine and I’m looking forward to the lighter mornings (8 weeks and counting down) It’s so grey and grungy 🌧️

Menu
Meal 1 - Home made quiche and salad.
Meal 2 - Cod, butter beans & leeks.
Drinks - Tea, black coffee, hibiscus tea (read it was good for inflammation) & water.

Only 2 days left of 2025 … how are you going to spend yours? I’m starting to take down Christmas decorations and have a thorough clean up. I still do house work but you can’t get stuck in when the decs & trees are up. I know it isn’t traditional but my new tradition is to pack away Christmas before midnight of the 31st as I don’t want to face all that in the New Year. I’m also having a fridge/larder clean up and setting the stage ready to prep healthy whole food meals.

New Years Day - Everything clean and tidy ready for a Fresh New Start to 2026🙂

@MabeltheAble Dr Michael Mosley’s Fast800 website is a structured program with diet plans and daily exercise videos and a lot of their meals reflect the Mediterranean diet sans the bread. It is a paid membership. I did it a couple of years ago and lost the most I ever have but down the line I did start losing hair which I think was down to the low calorie intake. I’ve upped my limit and the loss has slowed (I also have thyroid issues so it could have been that too). Nonetheless I thought it a great resource. Fast800

Are you under active or over active thyroid? Have you found anything that helps encourage weight loss with thyroid issues? X

Thanks @TheRealHousewife , will check that out 🤗x

Can I join? This thread seems perfect for me as I’m trying to follow a lot of Zoe principles.

About a year ago I bought the Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall eat 30 plants book and the Chris van tulleken book on upfs. I have gradually been adding plants, non processed foods and fermented foods to my diet. I went down a clothes size between January and October and then inspired by the xand van tulleken book started weighing myself daily and decided I had enough good habits to make a proper start on losing weight and tracking it.

I’m using mfp to track calories. I don’t really have a calorie target other than I aim to eat less than I use, hopefully by several hundred calories. I walk about 7000 steps a day and so that gives me an extra 300 or 400 calories.

starting weight 30 October 197lbs
Today 187.8 lbs

I'd like to join this thread, too. Am currently 14 stone, and am struggling to put outfits together that hide the fat. Think I've reached fat saturation point. Have a big birthday in September, and I'd like to wear a slinky dress without shapewear.

Hi, I'd love to join you all. At 5.5" I'm now weighing in at 12 stone. I would like to get down to 10.7lbs. I have a big family event in May, so would like a stone off by then, if thats feasible. I'm going to reduce carbs and only eat between 12-8pm each day. I already go to the gym twice a week and do a mix of cardio and weights, but want to incorporate some home exercise too. I'm in my late 50s and it just seems to get harder to lose the older you get. Good luck everyone!

I stuck to my calories yesterday ans went up a 1lb today 🤣. Mine always shows a few days later so I’m not panicking.
even after a year I still struggle with what activity level I actually am but I worked out yesterday, got some new home equivalent to try and need to increases this year on what I’m doing to push this last stone off.
A nsv my Zara sale goodies arrived yesterday and everything in a medium fits - this time last year nothing in Zara even went past my thing
thighs!

@moondip Im under active which is being treated with levothyroxine. It’s a bummer weight loss wise and if you add in petite in statue and unable to exercise much … 😅. Let’s just say right up to becoming disabled coupled with chronic illness I was 7.5 stones (all my adult life) which sounds too light but my BMI was within the healthy range. Dealing with all that I soon reached over 12 stones 😮 Now I swing just under and just over 9st and I’d settle for getting firmly back into the 8’s 👍. It’s tough and I need to keep mindful about what I eat.

Welcome to th3 thread @stealthninjamum @staringatthesun & @NewLimeFish 👍

@socks1107 Don't you just hate it when the scale sees fit to weigh you heavier the day after being on point. Naughty scale! 😅

There's some impressive weight loss on this thread, very inspiring!

Ive drunk 500ml water today so far which is probably 400ml more than the whole of yesterday, feeling virtuous!

Thank you so much for starting this thread.
I know I have to do something .
I haven’t dared go on the scales since October as I was on crutches and haven’t been allowed to play any sport.
I have literally sat on the sofa since then, eating a lot of rubbish and dread going on the scales on Friday but it is a must.

So I would like to check in too please and be accountable here.

My plan - start a new healthy eating habit every other day, plan the food I eat the day before and track this and my sleep, exercise & water intake.
Track this daily, my weight weekly and measurements monthly.
I have created this as a healthy eating journal template so that I can stay focused throughout 2026!
(Good to see that it is selling so hopefully what I created out of desperation will be helpful to others too).

I hope to lose weight for the summer. Not sure how much , depends what the scales say on Friday!

Thank you so much!

Morning! WoW is 71.8kg - just about on par with my Christmas eve weigh-in, despite a fair amount of indulgence. Happy with that. Started 2025 at 89kg! Goals for 2026:

Carry on with my OMAD pattern a few days a week as it seems to suit me.
Up the veg and gut-friendly food.
Gradual loss to 70kg.
Keep up the prehabilitation for now.

I need to lose 2 stone, but have lost weight over christmas- I was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 3a on 23rd Dec, which was a shock and so didn't eat any Christmas naughties, and have been healthy eating ever since. Every cloud.....