⭐️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 @woodlanddragon
I agree it's worth paying attention to your cycle. The week before I'm due I am hungrier and even if I stick to the calories religiously the scale doesn't move but does then woosh generally so knowing that helps with rationalising the stall.
I also have my best energy at week 1.
Water drinking is going well so far and breakfast has been just two boiled eggs.

Hello everyone, I joined the thread and then never posted anything 🙄This time of year I find hard to lose weight, it's easier when it is not so cold outside. But the good thing is that I didn't gain any weight, still 72 kg. Goal weight is 65 kg and I want to reach it by the summer. Happy with my meals today:

B: Protein bread with 3 fried eggs
L: Red beets, carrots, avocado, sunflower seeds salad
D: Protein pasta with pesto

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend!

Nothing exciting to report but checking in nonetheless. I’ve so far been doing well sticking to my calories, DH goes away tomorrow for a few days which is always when I find evenings harder, so we’ll see how that goes.

Evening all, checking in. Had a reasonable day food wise, a few chocolates this evening but otherwise made healthy choices. Did my first workout with weights for about 6 months and did a load of walking with the pram so feeling good! Also managed two consecutive nights now with no night feed snacks so hoping to keep that up while the wee man treats me to decent sleep stretches (still in shock that he's doing a 5 hour stint already, my first woke every 2 hours for about 18 months). Sure it'll all go to pot at some stage but riding the momentum for now (chocolate aside 🤭). Going to try for two good days Mon and Tue and hopefully see a small loss on Wed. Hope everyone has had a good weekend!

Also checking in despite food being terrible - well not the food, the snacking!!! Walked 5 miles today and same planned for tomorrow. Have a good week all and check in on WoW

Not sure how the weekend will reflect on the scales. Too many carbs, too much salt, but my calories have about balanced out.

I’ve adjusted my calorie allowance on Nutrafit to give me an extra 200 a day. Hoping this will be easier to stick to and discourage overeating days as I won’t be as hungry. I’ve been hanging around the same weight for weeks so hopefully this will help.

Another one checking in. i had a horrendous (in terms of diet) Friday. Dd1 had a friend over for a sleepover so i went overboard on snack foods and takeaway pizza and didn’t get round to making the healthy, veggie curry I’d planned for myself. I ate huge quantities of salty crisps and other junk. I’m can’t believe how much I ate and would never tell anyone in real life.

i had a better day yesterday although still too many crisps and went on a long walk. I weighed myself today to my great delight I have lost a couple of hundred grams when I honestly thought I’d be up two pounds.

Ive just made a huge veggie curry that will last a few days. I need to swerve horrid processed, salty crisps as they really are my weakness.

Morning! Checking in. Not sure it’ll be OMAD today but I’m home from hospital, up and about, and generally eating fine rather than to excess - lots of smoked salmon and green veg, some healthy ready meals.

Just saying hi! I had a great weekend calorie wise and the scales were kind to me. Really enjoying be back in control after my month off!

Morning all. I was away for the weekend at a big birthday celebration and probably ate and drank my body weight. But it was good fun. The scales were horrific this morning, but I know a lot of that will be salt and water, so will just see how it goes on Wednesday once I have a few healthier days under my belt.

Glad to hear you’re home @TheWayTheLightFalls hope you have a smooth recovery now.

Back to where I was on Friday weight wise, but I feel thicker round the waist at the moment. I’m a belt hole bigger.

Good Afternoon You Lovely Lot

Sending a gentle hug to @TheWayTheLightFalls . Great to read you’re back home ❤️

I can see I’ve got a bit of catching up to do 😮

Anyways my back remains painful although accessing rehab now. The rehab won’t get rid of the back pain per sa but hopefully by strengthening my core and leg muscles it will diminish and I’ll be more mobile than I have been.

Menu
Meal 1 - Kimchi, olive, goats cheese. Carrot, pecan & ginger muffin. Kefir.
Meal 2 - Home made minestrone with gf seeded bread. Greek yoghurt.
Drinks - Tea, black coffee, hibiscus tea and water.

Ive a busy afternoon but hopefully will catch up with the thread later tonight x

Glad you’re home, @TheWayTheLightFalls - look after yourself 💜

I’m feeling very grumpy today - all kids were supposed to be in school/nursery tomorrow but littlest DS has a runny tummy so for tomorrow at the very least he’s home with me and ruining my child free plans! Luckily he’s absolutely fine in himself so I’m hoping it was just a quick bug and he’ll have been clear long enough by Wednesday to go in.

Today’s menu:

L - yoghurt and almonds with a cappuccino, half a chicken goujon pinched from middle DS
D - chicken with a white wine sauce, croquettes, spinach

Pleased you’re home @TheWayTheLightFalls wishing you a smooth recovery.

I hope the rehab is good for your mobility @TheRealHousewife these things are never easy or quick fixes are they!

We had a nice day out yesterday, and ended it with a biiig takeaway burger as we got home late, so avoiding the scales for a couple of days! Have done my daily yoga challenge today - the sessions go so quickly! I’m really enjoying it still, although still crap at it 😂

Up 1lb but appetite seems more under control. Today's walk felt hard going which I guess is good, it's meant to be exercise.

Glad you're home @TheWayTheLightFalls take it as easy as you can and fingers crossed you feel improvement too @TheRealHousewife

Kitchen is closed for today and I feel like I’ve eaten well today. Hoping the extra 200 cals is going to turn my bad habits around.

Today's meals..

L - chicken Caesar wrap at a cafe, and a shared small bowl of chips
D - S/F chicken steak, new potatoes and beans

Calories - 1285 - so enough left for one more brew. Nutracheck stats all green other than fat being a little over.

No snacks today, but my sweet tooth is trying to draw me back to the kitchen soooooo badly 😬 might get myself a small bowl of fruit, it'll put me over on cals but also up my 5-a-day count so might be a sensible move.

Tomorrow's lunch is already planned and prepped - feeling good about this!

Morning everyone. My aim for the week is to control my night eating. As i work late tell night. Plus on weekend try and control my eating. Since ive started to do over time ive loss track of what am eating and the amount I have. It all needs to stop. Am hoping I have better week this week.

Morning All,
I think this is where I leave you all (for a while anyway) I don't think I'm going to get down to 9. I seem to be fluctuating between 9.6 and 9.7 but I'm happy with how I feel and look weight wise.

Thank you so much for everything! I wish you all the best with your journeys and just make sure that you have fun, because life is short! You've all been amazing. I might pop in and say hello occasionally throughout the year and I'll probably be back in the winter 🙈 until then I plan to just keep walking as much as possible!

@TheWayTheLightFalls glad you're home and it sounds like you have a healthy plan in place. I wish you all the best and I'll always be thinking of you!

Thanks again everybody and good luck 🥰

@Marshmellowbunny well done on reaching a point where you are comfortable, it’s a healthy weight.

I am struggling with horrible constipation since new year. Popping to Holland and Barrett later to see what they have but any suggestions welcome!

@Marshmellowbunnywell done on getting to a happy weight place 😊🙌🏻💜

The dreaded norovirus has hit our household hard over the last few days, it’s been awful but I suppose it helped meet my calorie goals the last two days 🙈 still feeling weak but pretty much recovered now, not really feeling like eating much!

L - rice pudding
D - maybe some sausages and sweet potato, depending on how I feel!

Congratulations, @Marshmellowbunny! We’ll miss you here, but great job.

@socks1107 my only suggestion at the moment is acquiring a small child with a runny tummy - it’s worked for me 😬

My best laid plans yesterday went awry as I was so stressed and tired so I ended up having cheese and crackers for dinner then snacked everything in the cupboards… but thanks to the aforementioned small child my weight is currently down! Every cloud etc.

So today’s menu:

B - Greek yoghurt with berries and seeds
L - goats cheese omelette
D - chicken with a white wine sauce with croquettes and spinach

I'm still behind on the thread as only found it recently. Up to page 16 now.
Pleased to report I have reached my first target which was BMI below 25. And am down to 24.9 this morning, hopefully no wavering up and down.

I'm giving myself lots of mini milestones to keep the motivation high.
Food yesterday was
2 x weetabix and milk
2 x fish fingers and mini panini plain
Roast chicken with brocoli and sautéed chickpeas

Today
Sautéed chickpeas on seeded toast
2 chipolatas
Lamb hotpot with cabbage

@socks1107 Vit C chewables or Magnesium oxide - not to be taken together!

@Marshmellowbunny well done for getting to a maintenance level. You are of course very welcome to hang around if it would help keep on track or just to chat.

Sending will power to all of you. Things have calmed on the craving front for me (at the moment) so yesterday and today has been OK touch wood

Good luck for WOW tomorrow, I'll come update once I've hopped on the scales.

Meals today:

L - beef chilli with 20g cheddar, banana
D - pasta with tomato and pepper stir in sauce, with a side of wither veg or salad. Greek yoghurt and fruit.

That gives me a deficit of over 250 calories I'd I don't have anything else.

I didn't have any sweets yesterday! DH thought I was hiding in the kitchen secret-eating some 😂 but I was folding laundry. I had a bowl of fruit instead. I'm going to freeze some grapes shortly to try later on as a sweet alternative... Does anyone else do this?