⭐️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?

I love how January doesn’t really start for everyone until the Christmas food runs out and everyone is back at work. It’s very much the same in our household 😂

After a monumentally crappy 2025, I am rebuilding myself in 2026. So far I have waxed, done my nails, and a bit of a home pedicure. Hair cut booked for next week. Physically, all I did last year was walk, so every muscle other than my legs and bum has turned to mush, so I have just started a 30 day yoga with Adrienne challenge and also hope to get back into Aquafit when DS goes back to school.

Does anyone make any New Year’s resolutions? Other than to drop the lbs!

(Day one of yoga has virtually finished me off, so day 2 will be interesting 😂)

Thanks @TheRealHousewife 💜 my supermarket delivery arrived this morning and I have plenty of easy, tasty balanced meal options - so hopefully keeping my protein up that way will stave off some evening munchies!

@LemonDrizzle23 I’ve made a resolution to try cooking one new recipe each week which I’m looking forward to! I love cooking but it’s so easy to get into a rut so hopefully this will lead to some fun new meals to add into the regular rotation.

@TheRealHousewife thankyou for the hug it’s appreciated 😊💜 and for keeping this thread going, it’s a great support 🙌🏻🙌🏻 I’ve calorie counted today and already have made better choices for lunch because of it and no sneaky cheese and crackers snacks! 😂👍🏻

I think I’ve put on about half a kilo over Christmas. We had a big day out yesterday of cake and meal out. Trying to be good today. Back to the gym after being off as I’ve been unwell too.

Oh and @LemonDrizzle23I’m a fan of Adrienne, I will be getting back into daily practice with her though I may not do a 30 day challenge I’m still aiming to do a practice every day so I’m there with you on the yoga train! My other NY resolution is to do something creative for myself every day ideally - whether that is writing, drawing or practising guitar/piano just a little bit a day! Also obviously my NY resolution is also to continue calorie counting and lose the last half stone I need to go to get to my goal weight of 9st - I hope it’s half a stone and not more anyway after Christmas!

Good grief … I’m ready for a lay down! I’ve practically emptied the fridge and have been chopping veg all morning. Ive used it to make my spicy soup using the chicken bone broth I made yesterday. Luckily I am able to take 5 but I’m utterly bushed. I’m such a lightweight 😅.

@biscuitcat i like your idea of cooking something new every week 👍

@LemonDrizzle23 At least you got some yoga done 👏😅 … it was the veg that finished me off 🍆 🥕 🧅 🫑 🌶️ 😂. My resolution is to keep breathing 😬

@PatienceOfEngels Sorry to read your husband has lost his job … that must be a bit of a worry. Well done on getting your walk in!

Welcome back @LBB2020 x

You’re very welcome @HappyLittleTreeFriend . Well done on swerving the cheese & crackers. 👏👏👏 Have a nibble is all well and good but salty snacks can open the flood gates and before you know it you’ve munched your way through cheese platter. 😬

@BlackCatFanClub Not to shabby then considering the gain was over Christmas. You’ll soon be back on it 👍. Hope you’re fully recovered now x

Evening snacking is my mega downfall. It’s a habit I need to break, but I end up snacking whilst marking/planning (I’m a teacher) once my own child is in bed. It’s almost a “treat”.

Does anybody have any recommendation for quick home work outs? Maybe on YouTube. Thinking something with dumbbells.

@TheRealHousewife thankyou very much I had missed out few days. Sorry for not seeing the link. Good to see you here.
Ive struggled big time in 2025. I need a big supporting hand so I dont slip. Need to carry on and loose these heavy pounds. Thankyou for your support all year round.

You’re welcome and we’ve got you @TealSloth, you’re in safe hands. Fabulous ladies on these threads who are so genuine & generous with their support x

I’m in Hertfordshire. I managed to get a bit of tennis in this morning despite the snow! So much fun after 3 months of no play .

Hi all, lots of new faces... will take me ages to figure out who is who, sorry.

Nice to see all the regulars. Hope you're all OK

I'm really hoping that the food shop tomorrow, a roast for dinner and then routine starting back on Monday will get me back on track. Still too many snacks lying around!

@biscuitcat that’s a good one, we definitely get into a rut too - I follow the annual meal planning thread on Mumsnet for inspiration.

@TheRealHousewife to be fair, that is a lot of veg!

@HappyLittleTreeFriend I swear to god, even just sitting up straight on the floor instead of slumping on the sofa felt like hard work 😂 hopefully at the end of 30 days I will feel less like a sack of spuds.

I have just been up to swill some mouth wash, as I could feel myself about to munch my way through the cupboards. I’d got very good at not snacking in the evening, and Christmas has broken all the good habits! Mouthwash has definitely killed the urge tonight though.

It’s been a very carb heavy day. Not ideal, but it could have been a lot worse. I’ve got a run tomorrow so I might class it as carb loading!

Good idea @Fellsbells! Your muscles will be thankful for the bit of carb loading 👍

Carb heavy today. On a more positive note I managed to drink about 1.5 litres of water/tea without much effort. GP wants me drinking two litres daily minimum.

Interesting take on emotional eating upthread. Atm I’m stuck with inflexible people and circumstances, and a brain that uses every excuse under the sun to persuade me that the corner shop holds all the answers. I think some of this will get easier with getting back to the term-time routine on Monday and arranging some appts.

My lovely mum had a nasty fall last night and is back in hospital with some fractures to her vertebrae. She’d been home less than a week after her surgery. So today involved no lunch, last night involved no dinner, so a McDonald’s on the way home was much appreciated and hit the spot. I even had a McFlurry! I’ve been saying I’ll get one for the last year or so but always too full to get one. Today I was really hungry so I did. Sadly they didn’t have the Malteser ones and I had to slum it with smarties instead.
I’ve done an online food shop and ordered lots of fresh and frozen veg and fruit and a kilo of Greek yogurt. I’m hoping to get Ds to eat some Greek yogurt if I make mango puree for it. Tomorrow is going to be spent making at least two different soups and the lasagne I have fancied for a while. Hopefully I will have time to build some Lego too.

@LegoTherapy
HI I hope your lovely mum recovers well
Sorry to hear she as had a nasty accident
It's going be a busy time for you with hospital visits etc.
Hope all goes well
Also here to report in my weight from this morning at Slimming world
I have put 1 pound on so with last weeks half a pound I'm glad and relieved it's not too much of a gain.
Tomorrow I start to try to get it off so can go to maintenance which I intend to do do by the end of January as didn't want put pressure on myself .
So will be reporting back next Saturday
In the meantime I will be checking this thread out
Good luck everyone
We can definitely do this ☺ xx

It was a bit nippy, colder today though, but I got caught up with some life admin and ran out of time to go for a walk. Currently doing some sofa boxing to close my Apple Watch rings while watching some telly!

Planning to finish the last of the Christmas food tomorrow, then back on healthy eating Monday. I’m in Scotland, so the 2nd was a bank holiday for us so January doesn’t properly start until the first working day after the 2nd. It’s the law… 😂

@LemonDrizzle23 I love Adriene! I will start another 30 day programme in a week or so. (Met her once when she did a live class here).

Thanks @TheRealHousewife We knew it was coming and financially we'll be okay for a bit while he finds something else. It's more him being home the whole time so I don't get the house to myself at all. He had a burnout a few years ago which was a horrendous period for us all and I just don't want to go back to that time again.

@LegoTherapy sorry to hear about your mum.

@Franks55 I hear you on evening snacking and "treats". It's the story of my life! I've told DH to help me stop snacking in the evening.

@HappyLittleTreeFriend creativity is a great daily resolution. I had an amazing book a few years ago that I started to fill in during the pandemic with 365 craft/art activities. Must dig it out again! Also want to get back into writing this year and pick up the guitar/ukulele again.

Still a fair bit of snow here (not in the UK) and kids and I are back to school tomorrow (kind of, inset for one and staff day for me).
Will get outside for a little snow walk in the neighborhood, then need to get us all set for school/work tomorrow;
-wash away (and sort the next lot!)
-get the kids to tidy their rooms
-hoover
-do some marking (yes, I have left it till the last day of the holidays!)
-make sure DC1 does homework/revises for tests this week

Food/health wise today
-3 square meals and only fruit for snacking
-boiled egg/rye toast w butter/coffee w milk for breakfast
-probably a terribly unhealthy lunch of hot dogs in white rolls (unless I get my shit together and make the coleslaw I've been meaning to...then it'll be a jacket potato)
-pasta bake - bacon, leek, mushroom, pepper, cheese
-no eating in the evening! no UPF snacks, herbal tea to drink.
-walk
-yoga

Hope the carb loading fuels your run today @Fellsbells

Sorry about your mum @LegoTherapy I hope she’s on the mend soon. You don’t want to come to mine to sort lego pit do you? DS has boxes and boxes of dismantled sets to sort out, I’ve tasked him with getting it done before going to Uni in September!

I get that sack of spuds feeling @LemonDrizzle23 I feel very sluggish just now and I am hoping that tomorrow I wake up with fresh enthusiasm for stretch and exercising. I want to improve my fitness and flexibility, and I know that I will feel much better for exercising, but getting up and doing it…

Hope your DH gets another contract soon @PatienceOfEngels January is a funny month here too - lots of birthdays (including my own) when everyone is in healthy start / dry January mode!

Thank you for the well wishes for mum.
I love sorting out Lego! If your son is missing the instruction booklets that list all the parts for the sets, he can access them on the Lego builder app to help sort them. I recommend he sort initially by type of piece and then get the instructions to get the right pieces together. Ziplock bags are what I use for loose lego.

Welcome to all the new posters. You’ll love it here and do well.

Morning ladies hope you all are well. Today my aim is no snacking. Stick to my calorie count. Make sure I dont over eat. Need to get my work out in. Need to do the lot.
Good luck ladies for today.