The Food Focus Appreciation Society - All wobbly bits welcome!

[LastOrders]

Ta da!!!

Here it is, Ladies. It feels safer in one little spot!!

I'm not brave enough to put my vitals up yet, will wait for a few new posters to come along and throw me words of encouragement!

kettlechip - back to you.....

Joined FF on Monday (didn't I read somewhere that you should never start a diet on a Monday?) Anyway, haven't counted calories since I was 16 (and that was a very long time ago). I'm even bigger than LastOrders, do no exercise except running after 2 small kids. I can use excuses like borderline under-active thyroid, going through the menopause and having a baby at 40 (very hard to shift baby fat at that age), but basically I'm lazy with a sweet tooth. Haven't managed to stay within my calorie limit of 1746 per day, but working on it. Not good with exercise - mere thought makes me physically ill - anybody got a wii exercise thing? Are they any good and worth investing in?

"I'm even bigger than LastOrders...."!

God, that comment has made me feel like a right heifer, AquarianMum!

Hi there

all going well at the moment. managing to stick to cals intake per day and still just about managing to get myself up to the gym. fingers crossed for the weekend

cocobear the beans and rice sound lovely.

nikkid21 thanks for the info on the amount of calories burnt while exercising. My favourite thing is the x trainer but was having to guess the cals as it's not on the ff site.

the x trainer at the gym actually says that i've burnt more than that but i've always been skeptical etc calculating like this seems more realistic.

lastorders i'm sure aquariunmum didn't mean it to come out like that iukwim - it's an unfortunate turn of phrase!

you are doing fab as you started this thread up and it's been really helpful already to me and lots of others too Helpin to keep me motivated and on the 'straight and narrow' .

AquarianMum, Can you go for walks easily enough where you are? Start walking. You can slowly build towards running.

Aquarianmum - don't know how old your chidren are but, is it possible for you to go for a good fast paced hard 15 minute walk to start with, then build up to 20mins etc?

will work even if pushing a buggy and on thiis nice summer days, not so unappealing

Nikkid- I'm impressed too - especially running at 11kph - I can manage 10 at a push.

Your resting heart rate and cardiovascular system must be superb. If you stick to the calorie allowances on ff I can't see how you'll fail to lose weight and tone up...just watch you don't overdo it!

I've just got on the scales and am now 9st 2.5lb, was 9st 6lb on Monday (but I had my period). My goal is 8st 12lb, so at this rate it'll be quicker than anticipated.

Exercise makes such a difference, doesn't it?

Acquarianmum - the Wii Fit is great - plenty of variety on there and lots of fun.

Finally, did anyone else see this?

Interesting stuff - what is everyone else's ideal bmi? Mine will be 22 if I get to goal weight, which is the point at which I feel slim and comfortable in my clothes and out of them.

Thanks for all of your kind comments about the exercise. I stated after I had my first baby as i was a sahm who couldn't stand coffee mornings & daytime telly. Putting the baby into the creche for an hour each morning saved my sanity iykwim.

Now I run a business on ebay from home so would be stuck indoors all day with work or house stuff if I didn't get to the gym each morning.

Illanfox - the xtrainer at my gym says that half an hour burns 500 cals which is well over what I think that I actually do. I think that all of the machines are calibrated high to make you feel better

Aquarianmum - Don't think of it as this huge monster called exercise. Start small with walking. Another good one is when you are home doing the ironing or tidying up. Instead of taking everything upstairs in one go - iron each item and then take it upstairs - come down and iron the next and repeat. You would be amazed at how much it works you bum and thigh muscles.

If I can shift this half stone my bmi will be 23.8 which will put me in most size 12s except for anything too fitted on the shoulders as I'm very broad.

good morning

changednam do congrats on your weight loss!I hope you don't mind me asking but what was your start weight and when did you start? I am hoping to get to 9 stone maybe even 8.12 (as this was my pre-preg weight). my start weight was 9.11 So I am just wondering how it's working for you i.e. what's your recommended cal and how much exercise you doing?

what are you guy finding that's helping to stick to the cals intake etc as it can be quite low.

i was also wondering whether anyone would be willing to share their daily food intake... just for ideas etc as I'm managing to stick to my recommended cals (1125) but i've got into a rut of eating baked beans with everything (lol) and i'm a bit scared of differentiating in case i get hungry etc as they seem to have been staving off my hunger. This maybe psychological but it's been working but i'm getting a little bored of beans. But I know from my pervious experience of losing weight on a low cal intake that I was often starving hungry in between meals and I don't want that back again!

Gonna try cocobears beans though for a variation!

Wow nikkid21, that's lots of exercise!

I am loving FF, I have never counted a calorie in my life and it is quite addictive.

I am 5lbs lighter than I was on Monday!! But weekends are a killer for me. We're going to friends tonight for dinner, so there will be boozing.

Am off to the gym in a bit for some damage limitation!

Hi can I join you?

I started FF two days ago as I decided I had to do something to stop my seemingly inexorable slow weight gain.

I'm 5'7 and 11st2 which is TWO STONE more than when I started having children but it's happened so gradually that I've not been galvanised to do anything about it

I'm fairly active although I have upped my exercise recently but I think the key for me is I've just been eating a little bit too much every day for years ..

Anyway my BMI is 24.5 at the moment and I want to get it down to closer to 22 by the end of the summer which I'm hoping is feasible

Certainly logging everything I eat is making me think twice about reaching for a biscuit!

Well I'm making sure I exercise every day. I've been for a 30 minute run today, yesterday it was only a 50 minute brisk walk but am sure it all helps.

I'm stickint to my calorie limit (just), but often if I wasn't exercising I'd go above it. Ideally I'd like to stay under my (non exercise) calorie limit and exercise on top of it.

I've found some nice looking microwave meals in Asda. They're in plastic bags rather than trays and seem to be "fresh" meals. I've got a Thai curry one and a Tandorri chicken one - they're both a bit over 300 calories. If I'm needing a snack/sweet tooth moment I'm having a pack of Walkers sunflower oil crisps, the multipack ones are smaller so only about 130 calories. Or a 3 pack of jaffa cakes.

I've swopped toast in the morning for weetabix and that knocks nearly 200 calories off my day!

Hi Lilian,

I only started on Tuesday properly - I got on the scales on Monday and was 9st 6lb which is the heaviest I've been since I was pg/bf. However, I did have my period which means I was going to be a pound or two heavier than normal.

I'm 5ft 3ins and my clothes size was creeping into a size 14, so I thought it was time to put a halt...my pre-pregnancy weight before dd2 was 8st 2lb, which was probably a bit too skinny tbh.

My portion sizes and fat intake had crept up gradually. Although I normally do exercise quite a bit, my job is quite sedentary. I think I'd fallen into a trap of thinking if I was exercising, I could eat/drink more.

So, since Monday, I have walked the dog for at least 20 mins a day, played doubles tennis twice (for about half an hour one night then a three-hour match the next) and did 30 mins on a cross-trainer last night.

You won't need to exercise as much as I have, especially if you're not sitting down at work all day like I am, but you do need to make sure the calories taken in are less than those you burn...that's why I think FF is so good because you can track easily and it adjusts to your lifestyle.

My target net calories should be 1056. The figures on my dashboard are above that, but that's because I logged Monday when I'd had pecan nuts on my muesli in the morning, and was horrified to see how many calories and fat they contain (it's "good fat" rather than saturated, but still very calorific).

I would say one secret is to vary your food - you will definitely get sick of baked beans - and bulk up with salads and veg which are low in calories but fill you up.

Try to eat low-fat protein at every meal too as this can stop the munchies - I've had poached egg on wholemeal toast for breakfast a few days and have had grilled salmon or skinless chicken, veg and carbs like potatoes, pasta or brown rice in the evening. Lunch has been salad with more protein, sometimes in a sandwich.

Snacks have been fruit and tea/coffee with skimmed milk.

And if you fancy alcohol or another treat, then you'll probably need to earn it through exercise - I'll be going to the gym later so I can have some wine this evening. HTH

I've switched from hovis seed sensatins bread at 113 cal per slice to ryvita at 31 cals per craker. That way I can have 4 which really fills me up rather than 1 slice of bread. I'm hainf it with hld a tub of low fat cottage cheese with pineapple and a handful of cherry tomatoes.

Last night I made quorn bolognase with a jar of the Jamie Oliver tomato & basil sauce & a whole bag of quorn mince.. Half of the whole lot was 236 cals. the big surprise ws when I weighed my normal pasta protion before I cooked it. It was the same as 600 odd cals so I halved it and didn't feel hungry anyway.

As changednam said I find that I'm less hungry if I go for low fat protein of some sort with each meal.

Hooray, another pound off today, last night's run obviously did me good. I'm now 10st 11 and bmi of 23.7. My ideal BMI is 22, I know I look best at that (about 10st at 5ft 7) Target date now 15th June. Hols start on 17th June so that'd be good timing!

I'm now eating wholemeal bread rather than white (tastes so much nicer) with a scraping of light mayo rather than butter. I grate cheese on the fine setting on the grater and find it goes much further.

Am now finding I don't actually want to eat fatty foods . I think my body has adjusted to eating less, my appetite has dropped and I'm not feeling hungry on 1315 calories a day.

Halfway to target now, might change my name in celebration!

that's better!

well done

hello.

Have weighed this morning and have lost 2 lb so far this week. Started at 10 st 7 and now 10 st 5, but want to get down to at least 9 7 but more if poss (am only 5 ft 2).

Have been out on the crosstrainer and the treadmill this morning (I am fortunate to have said machines in my garage) and have burned 204 cals to add to my 1100 daily allowance.

But we've been invited to my parents for a bbq (not exactly the weather but who cares) so will have to be ultra careful.

Yesterday I had a wabbly moment and ate a couple of starburst, and was then horrified to discover that one starburst sweet contains 38 calories!

Ooh I'd love a cross trainer or treadmill. Can anyone recommend a good one which won't break the bank?

I'm going to join you!

Kettlechip - I'd suggest you don't buy a new cross-trainer - there are loads available second hand because people buy them and they end up as a clothes horse.

We got ours on eBay for £80 and it would've been around £300 new - it's in the garage with a little tv to relieve the boredom.

It's an older model of this one and I'd recommend it, but I'm sure there are plenty of similar ones by different manufacturers.

Hi all, I've lost 4lb so far this week - partly due to time of month, but still am feeling very proud of myself!

I have nearly used all my calories up today, and might actually have to do some exercies to earn some more!

This site is very useful for me to see how many calories I was consuming before. I thought I was eating quite healthily, but no wonder I wasn't losing weight.

everyone seems to be doing really well, which is great to hear and encourages me to stick to it.

Had my night out last night and whilst I was good on the food and even resisted the desserts, I drank far too much wine which is not great and haven't even filled in the food diary yet!

Had a kids party this morning and avoided the sausages, pizza, crisps and cakes which is a first .. even took my own healthy packed lunch along for when I got hungry. Cous cous with roasted mix veg which was yummy.

Need to get some form of exercise in today to work off last nights alcohol intake so cycling to park with the kids in a mo.

Lordy - one tablespoon of butter has over 100 calories? That'll be cottage cheese on the baked potato then.

I cannot wait to get to the goal weight, and have 2300 whole calories to spend every day. I am finding only 1300 a day challenging, even after adding 400 or so through exercise. I went out last night and couldn't have a drink because I was so hungry I needed to spend my calories on food, not booze.

Lilianfox - hope you enjoy the beans. You can vary the colour of beans and it's almost like a whole new meal... except that it still tastes exactly the same.

Hi, well as it's Saturday Im finding it a bit of struggle not to indulge in weekend treats!

I'm finding that 1300 calories aren't going very far really. I'm managing to get out for a walk most days but think I need to up my exercise. I normally do a 1-hour Step class on a Saturday but missed it today as was napping and didn't wake up in time

I'm very impressed with all your exercising. I really want to get into running but find it so hard. Would people with Nintendo Wii Fits recommend them? I love the idea of it and i could fit it in whilst DS is napping in the day, but it seems a lot of money to spend if it won't be that effective - what do people think? Worth the money or not?

As it's Saturday I'll definitely be indulging in a glass of wine tonight, but will stop at one. My weigh-in day is currently Monday but I'm thinking of changing it to Friday so that I can be a bit more relaxed on a Saturday and have the rest of the week to be ultra strict before getting weighed. Hope I've lost something by Monday or I'll cry...