☀️LOSE IT! Motivational May 2026☀️

[TheRealHousewife]

⭐️OPEN TO ALL⭐️ Weight Loss, Wellbeing & Motivation Thread To Support Healthy Habits.

Following on from ⭐️LOSE IT! Active April 2026⭐️

I blinked and missed April 🙃. Apologies for my absence; the month passed by so quickly! I’m feeling a little bit more human and absolutely doing my best to move more and eat well.

Jumping into May LOSE IT! - 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?

I will definitely be joining you all! Thank you for the thread @TheRealHousewife and all the warm welcomes on the April thread.

I'm going to continue to increase my steps and will make a start of C25K in the next week or two. Still IF, its the only thing that works for me.

We are having a bbq tonight and I will be going heavy on the salad. I normally make a pasta and a potato salad but will only do one for tonight. I don't think anyone else really cares about the sides anyway.

I have a family get together coming up at the end of June so I'm hoping to have shifted most of the 35lbs i want to lose by then. I definitely won't be able to hit it as its just over 3lbs a week (taking the weight I've already lost into account). I think I've got a nice dress that would fit if I can manage 1-2lbs a week!

Please can I join?

Dragged myself out of a rut in April and managed to lose 2.5kg. Still a long way to go but I’m focusing on counting calories, trying to eat a more balanced diet (ideally with less sugar - I am a bit too addicted to sugary snacks). Exercise wise I’m pretty good, averaged almost 19K steps a day in April with a conscious effort to move more, do a couple of slow 5K runs a week and some home weights sessions too.

ideally I’d like to lose another 5Kg before we go away at the end of June… and then long term another 15kg but baby steps for now. I need all the motivation I can get as I’m forever starting diets and then giving up

Welcome to you both 🤗 @SeekingHappinesss @JustOneMoreMargarita

Sorry I missed you on the April thread @SeekingHappinesss . I find having a set point goal ups the motivation and helps us to remain consistent. A consistent 1-2 lbs loss per week over the long term can reap rewards 👍.

@JustOneMoreMargarita 19k steps per day is awesome 🙌! Tongue in cheek; but didn’t anyone tell you … diets don’t work in the long term. Lifelong healthy swaps, whole food foods, wide variety of vegetables & pulses, fibre rich complex carbs, protein and healthy fats 80 - 90% of the time will get you there and keep you there 👌(I know it is not as easy as it reads, especially if you have a larger household with differing preferences and tastes).

Some photos of recent meals.

@TheRealHousewife - oh I know! It is as much about making my diet better as calorie counting, I’m trying to make much better choices at the same time. I’m not eating ‘diet foods’ and my diet is generally pretty good, I cook pretty much everything from scratch and we have a lot of protein and veg, Too much pasta / bread though and my portion sizes need a bit of work which is the main reason I’m tracking calories, because then I ‘have’ to weigh stuff and it makes me think about the portions. Your meals look delicious though, I think I could easily eat like that if it wasn’t for the fussy teens.

Weight was down, now back up. Did go to the gym yesterday which can do it. Did a class this morning and honestly I am ravenous. I’ll keep ploughing on though.

Have you tried electrolytes? I thought i was hungry after being active but I tried electrolytes and it turns out I was just thirsty. I don't know how I made it into my 40s without knowing if I'm hungry or thirsty but here we are!

Does anyone else here find they are so much hungrier when they are premenstrual? I think I read somewhere that the body burns more calories in the days leading up to it which makes sense (though sadly probably not the same number of calories as I am hungry, if that makes sense), but it's like a switch has been turned on - yesterday I was starving a couple of hours after lunch!

Exercise can definitely skew things @Pasta4Dinner and OMG yes to hormones influencing hunger @PipkinOfPepper

Have a good long weekend all. We've just eaten Chinese so I know my weight will go up tomorrow, but will weigh in again on Tuesday to see what is what. Have hit -27 consistenly for 3 days even after exercising last night, drinking Creatine and eating dinner later than I normally do 💪

Signing in for May - thanks for the new thread and the lovely advice @TheRealHousewife ❤️
I've had a good April, down 2.5kg. Heading out for a Thai meal tomorrow but aiming to keep the rest of the weekend sensible!
Good luck all for May!!

Apologies @JustOneMoreMargarita I hope my post didn’t land wrong. I can get carried away 😬 x

You’re very welcome @CinnamonSweet73 Congratulations on your progress in April! I hope you enjoy your Thai😋

Thank you @TheRealHousewife I hope you have a lovely weekend!

Thanks for the welcome, @TheRealHousewife . Loving reading everyone's activities and goals.

For years, I usually would workout for 2 - 3 months then give up. I have done the C5K 3 times as a way of getting active and healthy (I am obese) but after completing week 9 i usually give up a few weeks later.
My goal is to build consistency. I would really be so proud of myself if i am still with this group in December this year.
I am currently aiming for 10K steps a day. For the month of April, i averaged about 13k steps a day. This month, i want to aim for three 20min workouts a week. I felt so scared to write that because that means I will have to try and do it.

Foodwise yesterday wasn't great. Most of my calories were from Crémant de loire brut, Ferrero roche and cake. Not good. Not good. Total calories for the day was 1497 but i was hungry come dinner time and i couldn't have anything more to eat. This morning i am supposed to be out gardening from 7am. I am still in bed with a dreadful headache. Have had minimal alcohol since February.

Good morning

@RosetimeThat was such a heart felt post and I understand where you are coming from. There is such a thing as’FRESH START EFFECT’, whereby the initial surge of dopamine you get with any ‘new’ diet and fitness regime wears off. Could this be you? If someone is being too restrictive with food and ambitious with fitness goals I could see this happening. Everything slows down after a couple of months. The weight loss stalls, the ‘boring’ diet doesn’t satisfy etc (not saying this is you) With food (and alcohol) life long change would be the goal so making realistic change would be more achievable. Perhaps aim for 80/20 and loosen the reins for weekends and special occasions. You could pledge to yourself that you’ll post daily (the good, the bad and the ugly) and allow the lovely supportive members of these threads support you. That way you’ll remain aware of what your long term goals are without totally falling of the wagon … imagine how proud you’ll feel come December and you’re still posting, still losing and still enjoying exercise (my first reply was imo better but our beloved dog jumped on my knee and it got accidentally deleted) This was written with kindness x

No, not at all! I absolutely get it and it didn’t land wrong, it’s more me talking to myself about the fact I know what I should do but I get distracted from it so easily.

Actually what you’ve written above to @Rosetime is absolutely me. Short term dopamine hit, then I get bored and the old habits sneak in. Which is why it needs to be a longer term lifestyle change in eating habits not a super-restrictive diet.

Anyway, today is a new day. It’s sunny, I’ve had a lie in and am about to get myself out of bed and go for a run in the sunshine,

Yesterday wasn’t bad… 24K steps as we went out for a longish walk after dinner and ended up having a drink in the beer garden on our way home. Dinner was rotisserie chicken and salads. There were also a couple of gins in front of the TV but that’s standard for a Friday here.

@Rosetime - I hear you on the C25K. I completed it (again) in February and then got sick for nearly a month. And I can’t face doing it again so although I am running there are still walking intervals instead of continuous running, Which, considering I did a half marathon back in 2019, annoys me.

A positive start to May for me, I’m down to 13 st 10.8, which means 2lbs away from two stone off. Getting there!

No big plans this weekend, so will aim for some movement and staying on top of calories.

Have a nice bank holiday everyone!

Nice to read everyone’s experiences and advice.

I’m a solid 4lbs up now. I own them unfortunately. Looking on the positives I know I can lose them, I’m so much healthier and happier than I was 12 months ago.

Looking to lose them slowly and consistently without making myself tired and grumpy. Not easy when maintenance calories are already quite low.

Today has started well with some cleaning, a healthy breakfast and now I’m heading out on a 5km run.

I noticed a couple of people saying they’d given up after doing C25K. Sign up for a local 5km race or Race for Life. The fear of having an event will keep you running.

@SeekingHappinesssi think I was just hungry. I had a light dinner on Thursday.
weight is back down to 80.1kg today though. It’s my gym rest day but I am going to make myself go for a walk. Favourite class isn’t on Monday because of the bank holiday which is disappointing.

I really relate to @TheRealHousewifes reply to @Rosetime. I have tried and failed so many times to lose weight and I always thought it was due to a lack of motivation. But I read something recently about how motivation is temporary. And for me as soon as I would have a bad week a would now only stop dieting but have a massive binge and end up heavier than I started!.

This time I have promised myself it will be different and I'm trying to build longterm habits. I think they say it takes 30 habits to build a new habit? And like TheRealHousewife suggests I'm making the changes sustainable. I know I can't live without chocolate but that doesn't mean I need to scoff an entire bar in one sitting. My husband has helped massively here because he will weigh me a portion and bring it in to the living room with a cup of tea whilst I get our toddler to sleep.

Everyone has been so lovely and supportive here Rosetime. I hope this time works out for you and you get the results you want.

Signing in!! Missed WOW due to being at chessington, but we’re back now. I stayed the same so really hoping for a loss this week

SW 16st 7
CW 15st 6
GW 10st

That's such a wise post @TheRealHousewife , that's been me so many times. Just this past month I've done really well, big burst of enthusiasm working with a coach and getting feedback every week. But I know being too strict will result in me throwing in the towel so this weekend trying to ease off without going completely over the top!

Hi You Lovely Lot ❤️

@JustOneMoreMargarita Thats good to know, thank you. 24k steps is very impressive 👏👏👏

@LemonDrizzle23 You'll soon be at the 2stone milestone! We are the same, no big plans other than spending time pottering in the garden and generally having a breather. You have a good one too x

@Fellsbells Great post! You’re facing where you’re at whilst reflecting on how healthy eating benefits your wellbeing and general health 👌You’ll soon be back in the groove.

@SeekingHappinesss Great post you shared! In regards to chocolate 🍫 I don’t know if you like the darker varieties. By chance I came across Willies which comes in small bars, 100% natural, vegan, no palm oil, no gluten, soya free and it’s absolutely delicious 😋. Less than 75 calories for 1/4 bar of 12.5g.

Hi @TheGirlWhoLived , pleased to see you join us again.

@CinnamonSweet73 Thats really nice of you to say, thank you 🙏 x

Menu
Meal 1 - Green salad, seeded bread & goats cheese (see photo)
Meal 2 - Chicken and mixed bean salad. Greek yoghurt with strawberries & cacao nibs, drizzle of kefir.
Drinks - Tea, black coffee, hibiscus tea and water.

A Zoe nutrient comparison of Willies & Cadbury. Scores out of 100. Higher score correlates with higher nutritional content. Only relevant if you enjoy darker chocolate.

Thank you, I will check this out. I do enjoy dark chocolate and find it more difficult to overeat.

I spent the morning clearing out the garage and doing a few tip runs. I feel quite shaky this afternoon despite being over on my calories yesterday. So I either calculated wrong or I may need to increase slightly. We now have a treadmill and little home gym in the garage so I will start C25K tomorrow. I have no idea about weightlifting but I will also have a look for a few beginner routines on YouTube. Does anyone have any recommendations?