Long term calorie counting/exercise diet. Starting Monday 17th August. Anyone care to join me?

[surprise]

Had no luck with posting this in chat! Must be a skinny bunch in there. Seriously need to shed some weight. After lots of failed attempts over the past few years I'm determined to stick to a long-term plan, reducing calorie intake by a small amount and doing more exercise.

My plan is this - I'm reducing my calorie intake to 1600 per day (to maintain weight I should have 2100) and aim to do a 20 min brisk walk 3 times a week, plus 20-30 mins aerobic exercise 3 times a week (fitness video or Wii fit or swimming).

If anyone is interested in joining in, with maybe a weekly weigh-in then I'd be very glad of the company and support!

Bought some body fat measuring scales yesterday and my body fat percentage is almost 39% which I don't think is good somehow.

Good morning everyone -

Welcome Cece - sorry to hear about your breavements . Did the hospital give you any help/advice with the weight loss?. I too struggle with not using up too many calories for breakfast. I have a fruit salad ( melon, grapes, strawberries, kiwi) and lots of water throughout the morning keeps me going to an early lunch ( 12 noon). I am finding Food focus fab....and was impressed to find that my swimming last night put me in calorie credit ( rather than the deficit I was after supper ). So maybe the trick is to exercise like mad if you run out of calories after lunch
Sallikescoffee - well done for saying no to choc - tis hard isn't it. I'm very strong minded at the beginning of my healthy eating regimes but when real life kicks in that is when I cave in hence the piling of pounds on slowly over the last few years....
Mabs - so so glad to see another one who likes her wine . That is going to be so hard for me to resist after a tough day - it is enforced relaxation for me - Really pleased I will have some company in trying to cut down
LOL 2happy re sheep!!!Keep up the exercise and nag me!
I am working today but found out on Food focus I can log my walk up three flights of stairs......15 calories burnt. Want to go for a walk at lunch time so I'd better get on with some work or I'll be chained to my desk....

Good luck - think water, think burning calories.......

Cece - careful you don't get too hungry or you'll cave in - can you get out for a walk today?

Hi Cece, Welcome from me too! Really sorry you've had a hard time. Hopefully this will help you feel a bit more in control of your life again.

Be very careful on such a low number of calories - I'm fairly certain that dieticians etc all recommend that 1000 calories for a woman is the absolute minimum she should have in a day. So please don't beat yourself up trying to keep as low as possible.

On breakfast, I had a personal trainer for a while (it was too tiring schlepping into town to see him so I had to ditch it) but his key thing was that it's good to eat a lot of calories at breakfast. He maintained that you should have a big breakfast and lighter lunch and dinner. NOt a fry up, but cereal/porridge, fruit, nuts, seeds etc. Good calories.

It was our 3 yr anniversary (first date). We don't celebrate that much, and post wedding not at all, but we did have a slightly bigger meal than perhaps we would have had otherwise. But I didn't have any dessert or chocolate so feeling relatively virtuos!

Good luck for today ladies!

Did that final paragraph make any sense? I was trying to report back on last night in that it was the three year anniversary of when dp and I met. And we probably won't celebrate it at all after we get married.

Too eawrly in the morning. When is the good carb from my breakfast banana going to kick in!?

Morning Ladeez.

BlingLovin - are you trippin' due to wine deprivation Are you only eating a banana for breakfast??

48 lengths Sonnet!! Fantastic! How many calories is that! Unfortunately I am horrifically unfit. I thought I'd lose weight first then try to be more fit!! As SallikesCoffeee says - Baby steps.

you certainly have company from the wine point of view sonnet, carbs don't do it for me but a glass of chilled pinot does

Good morning, all. Wow BlingLovin, you went out to celebrate and didn't even have dessert? I think that's impressive, well done.

I'm going out with a friend tonight and don't really know what to do, as we would normally just share a bottle of wine and have chunky chips and olives as nibbles (a girly kind of wine and gossip night). I don't want to be a complete spoil sport, but somehow think even if I don't eat anything today (and obviously I will), it'll still put me way over my calory intake for the day... Oh, maybe I should 'fess up and just have one glass or wine and ditch the chips. As this is a long-term thing it probably won't help if I have no "cheats" at all now and then get fed-up in a week.

I had banana, toast and coffee for breakfast. With peanut butter (calories = bad but oh so tasty). Normally i have porridge in the morning but trains were broken this morning so at home for a few hours while they get better. But banana is supposed to be way more instant hit than porridge surely?

I had one glass of wine last night. it gave me a headache. I think it's psychosymatic - my body reminding me I'm trying to cut back. Sigh. So depressing. Or maybe it was bad wine and I just need to buy some better stuff?

Oh my word, I just typed it into food focus. I absolutely HAVE to stop buying food at cafetteria at office. The peanut butter ALONE makes a huge difference - we have organic, no added sugar at home vs the regular cheap stuff at the office. Halved my calories right there. Ditto with coffee - coffee with milk at home, MUCH less than cappuccino at office. Feel slightly ill having discovered this.

Morning all.

I guess at the moment we are all trying to establish changes and get used to thinking about our food and exercise. It will take us all a while to work out what works for us individually.

I was out at the cineam last night but ate a bigger dinner before I went and wasn't bothered about popcorn or choccies even though my friends kept offering me.

Last night I had a quorn burger on Ciabatta roll and it was delicious and far fewer cals than the Jacket and 2oz cheese salad I had the previous evening.

Tonight we are going out for a meal for our anniversary so I shall not worry about cals. Today I am going to take my severe ASD ds out for a trip to town and maybe even risk the shoe shop (depending how busy it is!) so will be burning cals big style! We will also visit toy shop and fruit shop and have some fun. McDonalds for ds lunch but being veggie there is nothing really I like there so no denial there!

Out of interest - how many calories has the FoodFocus thing allocated everyone?

I am 5'5 and 10st 12 (bit of a guess) and want to lose 2lbs a week and want to be 10st 4.

I'm on 1123 a day!!! Yesterday I had 1600 odd.

I haven't actually changed the way I eat - I'm just knocking the booze and choc on the head.

Although - we're going to my parents this weekend AND it's our wedding anniversary.

Weekends are my downfall....

morning! 2happy, i'd be laughing at how stiff you are from davina if my intercostals could take it - i am sooooooo stiff this morning i can't help but laugh. there are all sorts of muscles shouting at me that i had completely forgotten existed!
maybe i should have done '30 minute workout' instead of 'power of 3' for an hour?!
still, dog walked yesterday for an hour to try and ease it (obv didn't work) so hoping that i can wave myself through a '30 min' tonight. will probably swim tomorrow (but maybe not 40 lengths - eek)
everyone seems to be doing ok - i agree it is still that bit where you have to readjust your lifestyle and think about your choices... (and my choices will occasionally involve a large glass of vino - just hopefully not toooo often)
busy today though - so hoping i can fit in 'meals' and not grabbing junk on the way past...
bumdiddley - i had to change from the 2lbs thing as my allocation dropped below 1000, and i do still actually want to be able to eat without doing 5 hours exercise a day!
not doing very well with the drinking water though - seem to be reaching for the kettle and then having to faff about adding milk into the plot... i think i am going to ease off the counting for a week or two and see what happens with exercise and reduced portions. back to the original plan for me!!! will still use food focus to track exercise and weight loss but hopefully i'm not going to throw the whole thing into chaos by not entering cals...
oo. bank holiday weekend too. and dh is flying back from canada, and he always brings a huge box of doughnuts... for the dcs of course help!

Food focus allocated me 1020 a day if I want to lose 2lb a week!!! Surely not??? I'll leave those details as my requirements for the moment, but I seriously doubt it's doable for me... If it's obviously crazy by next week, I'll resubmit.

Romy, those doughnuts sound great! Maybe if you start running now??

Morning,

I've had sultana bran with grapes for breakfast and I'm starving now. Just had a big glass of water but think I may succumb and have an early lunch. Particularly because I'm working until half six tonight and won't get to eat til gone 7. I've been exercising though - cleaned DD's bedroom from top to bottom so I must have burnt something off. I'll also include walking up my two flights of stairs at work, and will walk the dog later. I think it's going ok - Monday will tell.

Food focus has given me 1650 calories (after exercise). So I'm presuming this means I have to do 10 mins (my exercise target) per day and eat that many cals to lose weight? Mine is so high because I'm only aiming for lb a week as I'm in no rush.

Welcome cece - has your doc offered any help for reaching your goal, I'm thinking free gym membership etc?

Congrats on resiting cinema treats tibni, I couldn't have been so strong.

Right, tummy rumbling now. Have a good day everyone.

i don't think davina will let me run lol. i can barely get down the stairs, and i've got to stand on an exhibition stand all afternoon... maybe staying upright will burn cals though??!!

maybe no heels today...

I'm allowed 1616 - to lose just 1lb a week! I think that's about as realistic as I can be. exercise is hard - 10 hour days at the office etc etc, and also eating at work is difficult. So I think I'm going with more slow and steady. I am planning to get to bed early enough tonight though that I can fit in a quick gym session tomorrow morning before work. 40 minutes of cardio will make a HUGE difference. With the silly season, I should be able to get out of the office early enough to still feel I've had a good evening and get an early night.

2Happy and Romy I'm now feeling equally excited and scared witless by Davina dvd which amazon emailed me this morning to gell me is on it's way...!

Looks like 2lbs is a bit too much like dieting

Hmmm...just changed mine to 1.5lbs a week!!

Romy - Standing up burns more cals than sitting down, have a good fidget too and pratise standing crrectly (tummy in, bum in shoulders back - think Dirty Dancing ) Every little helps.

medogsarebarking - I never feel full when I have cereal for breakfast and always end up hungry by 11. I had half a tin of spaghetti and a wholemeal pitta for brekky. I'm sooo trying not to be on a diety diet IYSWIM

Hi everyone - Food focus has allocated me 1141 a day and I have indicated I will do 30 mins exercsie a day - unfortuantly work was so busy today I didn't get o ut for a "Brisk" walk at lunchtime - i ahev been toed to my desk all day!!!
Looks like I will have to swim tonight - feeling tired though - I only have 260 calories left without exercise!!!

I am becoming obsessed with food focus - had a chocolate cuip cake this afternoon and solomly filled in all the details before I eat it! I just wish I'd taken note of the calorie count!!!!

Have to dash now - will be back to chat later

Am really enjoying food focus at the mo, as I said before I've never really done the counting calories thing and it's good (as well as a bit of a ) to find out what exactly is in everything. I'm hoping it will help me think a bit more about what I'm eating rather than just shovelling it in as I have of late.

My allowed intake is around 1600 and I ticked that I'd like to lose 1.5lbs a week.

Have put in everything I've eaten today and I am 92 calories over!! But that does include two bacon sarnies and sausage and mash for tea (having a bit of comfort day). Actually for some reason I could have easily just eaten more and not filled it in on food focus but I stuck to it and religiously put everything down.

Had a 20 min walk earlier but I'm going to go on my strider for at least 15 mins before I have a bath and an early night with a new book.

LOL at you girls who are stiff after doing davina - at least that shows you've been working your muscles! Good for you!

My legs and knee were a bit sore yesterday and think I overdid the walking thing a bit (have arthritic knee on and off).

I have just been emailed about a gym opening soon just down the road from work. Am going to have a look on their open day and may actually be tempted into joining but only when I've started to shift a bit of weight. I hate to think people would be looking at me and thinking 'yeah she def needs to be here!' but realisticly I know they are too busy sweating and wheezing.

Hi MH - glad you are getting on with Food focus - I love it too - I was telling sopmeone at work about it today ( lol at the "recently converted") and I can't believe how dumb I sounded - I actually said " It really makes you focus on food" DUH!!!
Great for walking - am mad that work kept me too busy! - am at home tomorrow but have the annual uniform shop and haircut to look forward too!! - will try to exercise

I am so impressedBlinglovin that you managed to go out for a celebratory supper and gave the dessert a miss - you have better will power than I!

Romy7 - I am sorry but I keep laughing when I think of you unable to move, but not in a nasty way , just in the "Been there done that".... -
Hope standing at the exhibition goes well!

I belong to a gym MH but to tell tyou the truth I don't go - I hate the gym ( althoigh use to run regularly pre DD2 and post DD1). I do go there to swim though - just working up the enthusiasm fopr later

Medogs arebarking - have you registered for foodfocus - you can input your exercise - (cleaning DD's room) and it burns those calories....I was messing around earlier and input in 3 hrs of general cleaning - 400 plus calories!!!!! go for it girl!( when the girls go back to school that will be my exercise for a Tuesday!!)

Sonnet - I have registered but can't see where to input my own exercise. I looked on the list for housework and the like but couldn't find anything. I suppose I should read it properly

I've just been round the supermarket - surely that must be worth a few calories? I've sent DH out with the dog as I'm shattered. I'm not hungry but might have a highlights hot choc as a little treat before going to bed.

Romy - ouch, I feel for you - hope the standing wasn't too excruciating. I'm having second thoughts about Davina now...

LOL after two days of feeling hungry I have changed my target weight and the amount to lose per week so that I can have about 1500 calories per day! I should still lower my BMI enough to keep the doc happy with that.

But she didn't offer any help. Just come back in Dec when you have lost some weight... Hospital doc not a GP so to be expected I suppose! I might phone my surgery up though to see if they would do a weekly weigh in for me though..

medogs - just don't get cocky and go for the full hour at max pelt - when that lovely jacky says you can walk through here if you want, just do it. don't think, oh, well, davina's doing it, so i will too.

dog walking was fun this evening. it was a bit like a cheap dr who rip-off - me in my skirt and trainers doing a badly oiled zombie stomp through the forest, occasionally lunging at a passing labrador.

anyway, have been good with food. was desperate for a chinese but cooked my own stir fry instead. not checked cals but it will be less than take-out, so that's good enough!

who's convinced they are going to be a teensy bit lighter on monday then?

I can't get into food focus, is anyone else having problems?