I want to lose 2 stone by Xmas - Can I do it?

[nikki1978]

I am currently 10st 7 and would like to be 8st 7 by xmas. I am 5ft 3 so that would be a good weight for me. I actually went from 13st 11 to 9 st 9 last year then put nearly a stone on after my wedding. I am going to Australia for a holiday on 2nd Jan so would love to be trim and slim by then. Can I do this? And would anyone like to join me?

i was enjoying the running but i do need to take some drastic action for a while i think, to get rid of my gut. don't get me wrong, i'm not filled with self-loathing (don't believe in it iykwim?) but i need to make a change soon so i can get it sorted.

TutTutter that doesn't sound too bad

more detail, tutter. what muesli, and more lunch ideas.

and what did you do with your dh and children re eating? that's my downfall, i don't want to eat different stuff from them...

oh, and i too LOVE FOOD. losing weight was hard, especially the first couple of weeks. but then i noticed the difference and enjoyed seeing the scales changing

but it is bloody marvellous to be the size i feel i should be. i love fitting size 27 jeans (i was a 31). and i can run faster and for longer

Oh, fingers crossed for you expat.

Tutter, how tall are you? (Prepared fruit good tip, as is no booze mon-thu )

You have great willpower, Tutter.

I think I'll see how I get on exercising more.

But I can't do what you did. Just like food too much and don't care about being a larger size, tbh.

For one, I hate breakfast.

yeah, i hate breakfast too, expat. but i should try to eat it. (although when i do i genuinely feel MORE hungry rather than less).

thanks, sassy!

yy aitch - that's it exactly, i just wanted to make the change. i was pretty good at covering my bad bits and probably looked half a stone lighter than i was, but it just felt like the right time to reverse the creep

ok, i choose dorset cereals muesli (blue box) but it's £££. i buy a LOT when it's on offer (often, in tesco)

innocent veg pots are £££ too, but it would be v easy to copy the recipe and cook in bulk

there were a lot of other things i did/changed but i wanted to keep it simple for my list . i switched white rice for brown. to begin with i had weak lime cordial with fizzy water and ice, in a wine glass (TM enid). i bought a tub of mini meringues for emergency sugar cravings (TM piffle) = 15 cals each

dh wanted to lose a bit of weight too, so he joined me in healthier evening meals. i gave him bigger portions, that was all

it didn't really affect the boys much. ds1 in nursery tues-fri, and they eat earlier than us in the evening in the week. we still had a sunday roast but i had no roast potatoes and used a smaller plate (i did this quite a lot)

Aitch - yeah, me too - if I don't eat breakfast I eat a lot less through the day; give me a breakfast and I turn into a deathwatch beetle munching everything in sight.

i'm 5'8" sassy

the big breakfast thing is important for me as, without it, i'd be ravenous by mid-morning. 10:00 biscuits used to loom large in my thoughts but i don't feel hungry til nearly noon now

also, i just love breakfast

i choke down a homemade muffin or slice of fruit loaf or malt loaf i make to try to provide a good example to the girls about breakfast.

but the thought of eating a big breakfast gives me the boak.

i like that blue box, it's nice but like you say, pretty costly. i wonder if i should just go egg-crazy, like charles saatchi.

what does charles saatchi do?!

spill.

nine boiled eggs per day. didn't do a shit for three months but lost loads.

kerrist he looks rough

3 months wasn't that long. it didn't feel too awful

and i changed my eating habits in the process. i am no longer dieting but i have stayed the same weight (more or less) for two months, and that's because i wouldn't consider eating the way i used to. i have treats now, but only one or two a day. i used to have handsful of biscuits. pudding after every meal, and then would raid the boys' treat tin every evening. and wine every night

i am off now though to have some dark choc (my New Love)

bless him and his grapes. he should treat himself to a new shirt to celebrate

Hmm. I don't really care for biscuits and puds.

But FOOD, well, food. What's not to like?

on balance, i think getting a bread machine has been a mistake. god i LOVE bread.

so did you cut out potatoes and bread completely?

i'm not too bad about bread. but for me breakfast is always about muffins or something i bake.

DH and the girls eat loads of bread, though, and i use it all the time to make doughs, particularly pizza dough.

yes, i do an excellent pizza dough if i say so myself.

Tutter, thanks! Perhaps I could get my bread fix at breakfast.

Like Aitch I love bread, I've just bought 16kg of organic granary flour for my breadmaker and it's not all getting wasted on DH and the kids.

at handfuls of biscuits - you weren't alone.

and we've got a lovely, large pizza stone.

mmm.

my other weakness is good quality olive oil. and pestos made with it.