⭐️LOSE IT! March 2026 - Reset for Radiance⭐️

[TheRealHousewife]

⭐️Open to All⭐️

Following on from ⭐️LOSE IT! February Fitness 2026⭐️

February was gone in a flash! Sunny skies will soon be back ☀️

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 3lbs.

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?

Well done everyone wowing.

I’m 1lb down despite an ill advised scone at 9pm last night.

Well done everyone!
I was down a 1lb on Monday so I’m taking that as this weeks amount so I dont weigh so early before work ( and upset my mood 😂)

SW 13.13
CW 10.11
GW 10.5

Morning all, coming back after a bit of a rubbish February - celebrations and work travel just meant I spent the month jumping up and down by about 1.5kg. first March wow and I'm on 89.4kg. hopefully can get down consistently to 88 this month. Slow progress. On non-weight side though I have been going to the gym quite regularly and started a deep tissue massage course for my shoulders (had frozen shoulder last summer and also general computer pains) and I'm feeling much stronger/ more mobile and I think losing body fat. So that's encouraging.

What a start to march for us all!!

WOW for me was 1.8lb.

Getting closer and closer to that 9 on the scales.

I’ve woken up feeling a completely different shape. Even when i was a stone or so heavier i had prominent ribs and could suck in and basically make myself look very thin but it’s weird it’s almost like my ribs have disappeared! Google tells me they can’t change shape so god knows what’s happened.

Morning everyone 😊

SW: 15st 6.2
CW: 14st 9.8

Doing well so far even with a sneaky ice cream at the beach on Monday with my 3 year old, at least I didn't go for the fish and chips too! 😅

2lbs off
I have a new eating plan,and a stealy determination to loose this weight which is now affecting my mental health.
Feeling positive and optimistic 🤗

Well done everyone!

I'm just down a tiny bit, from 79.4kg last Weds to 79.1 today, but I'll take it as good motivation to continue getting back into all the good habits!

Well done everyone - it’s all looking like a great start to March! I’m not sure I’ll be joining you on that front as I’ve just gotten back to the UK and think the past week went “worse” than the week before in terms of staying within calories despite not being able to use NutraCheck properly. I’ll be weighing tomorrow AM instead as I’m still traveling today; I’m expecting to see a gain from last week and maybe even the week before that, but let’s see! 🙏

Good morning wowers.
I can't remember what weight I last posted but my scales show 72.2kg today. Will take this as my new starting point. I would love to be in the 60s by the end of March, even if just by 0.1kg!

Had a rubbish start to the week with a bit of a family emergency (all turned out fine and thankfully there wasn't actually an issue but it was stressful at the time). Ate next to nothing on Monday and then ate everything in sight on Tuesday. This is typical for me - in moments of acute stress, I lose my appetite but afterwards I eat all my feelings. Drawing a line and recommitting today, had protein porridge for breakfast and prepped chicken and spinach orzo for lunch (both from the filling meals book that I mentioned before). Congrats to all the losers, some great progress, and good luck to anyone still to weigh!

Good Afternoon Everyone

I was distracted with poorly doggy and forgot to WOW 🤦‍♀️. Silly pudding 🙃

Some fabulous results being shared … Congratulations 🥳👏👍

Menu
Meal 1 - Red Lentil Bagel, avocado, sauerkraut and spinach.

Meal 2 - Big fat ‘everything out of the fridge’ salad with home made dressing & peppered mackerel.
Drinks - Tea, black coffee, hibiscus tea and water.

I’ve been listening to the audio book The Hunger Code by Jason Fung, MD. It’s quite good and chapter 8 is particularly good for emotional eating; it also details some useful strategies to counteract anxiety 👍. I generally listen to audiobooks/podcasts whilst pottering about and might miss bits so I’ll listen through again to catch it all. I’ll post a summary separately 👍

GROK AI SUMMARY:- Dr. Jason Fung's work—The Hunger Code (full title: The Hunger Code: Resetting Your Body's Fat Thermostat in the Age of Ultra-Processed Food) is his more recent book (released early 2026), building on ideas from The Obesity Code and others in his series.

Here's a clear summary of the main points based on the book's core framework:

Core Thesis
Weight gain and difficulty losing/maintaining weight aren't primarily about lack of willpower, eating too much, or simple calories in vs. calories out. Instead, the real driver is excessive hunger (overeating happens because we're overly hungry). Modern ultra-processed foods (UPFs), hormonal signals, and behavioral factors disrupt our natural regulation of hunger and body fat.

The Body's "Fat Thermostat" (Set Point)

• Your body has a biological *"fat thermostat"* — an internal set point that regulates how much fat it tries to maintain.
• Hormones and metabolism guide this system, controlling hunger, satiety (fullness), and energy use/storage.
• Ultra-processed foods, frequent eating, stress, and other modern factors push this thermostat upward → your body defends a higher fat level and ramps up hunger to protect it.
• Lasting weight loss requires lowering/resetting this set point, not just fighting hunger through sheer discipline.

Three Types of Hunger
Fung breaks hunger into three distinct categories that drive overeating:

1. Homeostatic (Physical/True) Hunger

• The body's genuine signal for energy/nutrients.
• Regulated by *hormones* (e.g., insulin drives hunger and fat storage; GLP-1 promotes satiety/fullness).
• Foods matter: refined carbs/sugars spike insulin → more hunger sooner; nutrient-dense foods (e.g., eggs, high-fiber/protein) boost satiety hormones and keep hunger down longer.

1. Hedonic Hunger (Pleasure/Comfort-Driven)

• Eating for reward, pleasure, stress relief, or emotional comfort ("comfort eating").
• Ultra-processed foods are engineered to be hyper-palatable/addictive (combo of sugar, fat, salt, flavorings) → they hijack the brain's reward system, creating cravings independent of physical need.

1. Conditioned/Social Hunger (Habit/Contextual)

• Eating out of routine, habit, social cues, time of day, or environment (e.g., snacking while watching TV, eating because others are, or because "it's lunchtime").
• Not tied to physical need or even pleasure—it's learned/conditioned behavior.

Why Conventional Approaches Often Fail

• Calorie restriction alone increases hunger (especially hedonic/conditioned types) → unsustainable.
• Ultra-processed foods disrupt all three hunger types and the fat thermostat.
• Weight-loss drugs (GLP-1 agonists like semaglutide) can help but work best when combined with addressing root hunger drivers for long-term maintenance.

Key Solutions / Practical Takeaways

• Three Golden Rules (Fung's main guiding principles for resetting the system—exact wording varies slightly by source but center on):-

1. Eliminate or drastically reduce ultra-processed foods.

2. Prioritize real, whole foods that promote satiety and stable hormones (high protein/fiber, natural fats, strategic carb timing).

3. Use intermittent fasting/time-restricted eating to lower insulin, allow fat-burning, and reset the thermostat.

50 actionable tips throughout the book cover things like:-

• Slowing digestion (e.g., high-fiber foods, meal order).
• Breaking emotional eating cycles.
• Managing social/food environment pressures.
• Strategies that work whether starting fresh, after fasting, or coming off weight-loss medications.

In essence, Fung reframes the problem:- Stop fighting hunger—understand and tame it by addressing its physical, emotional, and conditioned roots in our modern food environment. The goal is sustainable weight management with less hunger, not more restriction.

Enjoy the rest of the audiobook—it's a natural extension of his earlier work but zooms in on the "why do we even want to eat so much?" question. Let me know if you'd like more detail on any part! 😊

Really hoped for a weight loss but holding steady at 80.8kg for last 3 days. Bit disappointed.

@TheRealHousewife this is really interesting, I fast 14/15 hours a day and I enjoy the feeling of bent hungry in a morning. It’s like I ca control my self not to eat so I feel good!

I agree @socks1107 … I try to hold off for my first meal until 12-1:00 if I can. If I have the knawing hunger I eat but while ever it’s comfortable hunger I wait. Like Mr Fung says , you can only burn fat if you’re not eating 👍

Decent day today. Stayed roughly around my calories and managed a gym bike ride and a yoga session. The yoga with Adrienne lady is so flexible and bendy and I am so not 😂 But it still feels good.

Late check in from me but first WOW was a 1lb loss 🥳

SW: 10 st 6.0
CW: 10 st 5.0
GW: 9 st 7.0

That book sounds very interesting @TheRealHousewife

Morning guys. I weighed this morning as I finally got home from my trip last night. I’ve - somehow! - had a small loss since last week, so I’ll take that happily as I was really expecting a gain - especially after eating so much at the airport/airport hotel/train home/etc. I think carrying all my luggage around has helped burn some extra cals - and the fact DC is at the stage where I’m only “allowed” to walk around holding her (kicks off as soon as I try to lower my bum into a seat 🤣). We had a 3-hour train ride to home from the airport yesterday, and I was on my feet wandering around with her for 90% of that time!

SW: 102.1kg
CW: 93.5kg
1st GW: 90kg

Morning all, still holding at -24lbs even if a day late. I do wonder about figuring out my scales to tell me body fat because I'm sure from starting that will have changed too even if the scales aren't going down much.

More walking today.

I watched some stuff from Dr Fung back in 2019 @TheRealHousewife when I first lost the weight but of course the emotional/stress eating and UPFs got me again

Good Morning Everyone 🙃

Misty as anything here … like a November dark cold morning. The weather is very changeable at the moment. BRING BACK THE SUN ☀️

@LemonDrizzle23 Yes I agree, Adrienne is very bendy … and very good!

@10kstepsaday I read or listened to all Jason Fungs books and the one theme/school of thought that links them all is that keeping sugar levels balance is key 👍

Sounds like you’ve been very active @moondip ! Well done on your drop 👏

Enjoy your walk @FridayNighFeeling 👍

Still have a poorly doggy so our planned few days away is looking doubtful. Reassess tomorrow.

Menu
Meal 1 - Broccoli & Stilton soup. Seed crackers. Pecans.
Meal 2 - Halloumi & butter bean stir fry. Greek yogurt with Cacao nibs.

Drinks - Tea, black coffee, green tea, water.

Thanks for the thread, I have gone off the rails a bit and put on two pounds. I’m 184 - so not in the bloody 12s. I got down 182.1

im struggling with life and organising myself. My kids have autism and adhd, and have quite restricted diets and I home school one of them. I’ve been too busy to do much cooking from scratch and have been eating too many of dcs’ snacks.

Thanks for this group. I feel I can do a reset and be accountable.

@stealthninjamum Sounds like you've had a tough time of it and having children with additional needs there can’t be much respite. Try not to be hard on yourself. You'll get there x

On reading through the thread there are a few of us ladies struggling with one thing or another (me included) so heres a picture of a basket for everyone to dump their frustrations of the day …. It’s bottomless too. ❤️

0.1kg off, which I know is tiny but it’s such a relief to lose something!

A good day today - roughly hit calorie goal and a lovely yoga session. Also hit 10,000 steps, but ankle / calf is aching, so probably overdid it a bit. Definitely feeling better forgetting back into routine a bit.

Staying on track calorie wise, walking 5km every day. The sun is shining and I'm feeling positive. Sticking to 2 meals a day.

@stealthninjamum I really relate to how tiredness and lack of time can just bugger up diet plans and good intentions 💜 DH has been away all week and usually I’m incredibly hot on meal planning, having the supermarket delivery sorted, etc, which is enormously helpful in eating mindfully, but I’ve been so tired managing all the kids and the house myself that it’s slipped and I’ve definitely not been eating so well. Delivery arrived this morning so I’m hoping that I’ll be more back on track.

Thanks @TheRealHousewife 🥰 I’m dumping my tiredness and the resultant bad mood which has made me snappy with the kids in the basket, as well as my frustration that I’ve been eating within calories but not really dropping weight.

Today’s menu is:

L - croque monsieur
D - halloumi flatbread with all sorts of nice salady bits plus hummus and tzatziki (and coffee ice cream with chocolate sauce for dessert, which will be heaven)