From a Christmas Pudding to a Christmas Cracker - Weight Loss Motivation

L'prof

Jude13 wrote: »

I think 10k steps a day would be a min average, I think this as I am not a trainer and its a guess. My average was set at 12k and I sit at a desk from 7:30 am to 6:30pm so have to run to get near that. That's why my adherence % is usually 75%, meaning I hit the cals, and the supplements and training but did not hit the steps that day. Though in the 11 weeks I have not dipped below 12k steps a day as a average by running at weekends.

Ah yeah, it’s all down to the individual though. 8k will do me as a starting point. I want to give myself a target that’s achievable. If I do more great but 8k a day for a whole year would be more than I’ve done consistently for a full year in years. I know if I set the bar too high I’ll get fed up too quickly. I’m not looking for massive weekly losses. I’d be delighted if I could lose 1lb a week consistently. Food is the main aspect I need to focus on anyway. Oh and drinks. I want to limit my drinking too, I forgot to add that to my post. I think I’ll give myself a limit of 3 drinks a week. Earlier in the year I went off the drink for 12 weeks so I know I can go off it completely but I’ll set myself a max of 3 and see how I get on. The closer Christmas gets the harder that becomes

DvB

L'prof wrote: »

Ah yeah, it’s all down to the individual though. 8k will do me as a starting point. I want to give myself a target that’s achievable. If I do more great but 8k a day for a whole year would be more than I’ve done consistently for a full year in years. I know if I set the bar too high I’ll get fed up too quickly. I’m not looking for massive weekly losses. I’d be delighted if I could lose 1lb a week consistently. Food is the main aspect I need to focus on anyway. Oh and drinks. I want to limit my drinking too, I forgot to add that to my post. I think I’ll give myself a limit of 3 drinks a week. Earlier in the year I went off the drink for 12 weeks so I know I can go off it completely but I’ll set myself a max of 3 and see how I get on. The closer Christmas gets the harder that becomes

As we have discussed many times on here, it really is important you find a balance that you can maintain, otherwise as you rightly said you'll set an unrealistic bar, not hit it, get disappointed & say f**k it & go back to your old habits. I always try to allow myself a few beers now & again whatever 'mode' i'm in, life cant be hard all the time and between work & other cr*p its very easy to lose interest or sight of what you're trying to achieve. So if you can find something that fits in to your lifestyle and still gives the returns your looking for, happy days.

Btw, if you hang around you'll see theres plenty (well, me anyway) that goes out loses the extra half stone I'm carrying & then a few weeks later notice its somehow crept back on & have to do it all over again... since I gave up competitive sports its been a constant battleground that 7lbs and I suspect it'll remain that way until I'm too old enough to care so dont worry, theres no personal trainers in here, just a group happy to support one another in any way we can.

Anyway, always good to see another gooner join the christmas forum!

Loughc

L'prof wrote: »

What’s the norm for this thread? Does it usually fizzle out after Christmas or do some people keep using it? I might start logging here for the last few weeks but a far more realistic target for anything significant is next Christmas. I saw somebody posting about tracking steps and calories in a spreadsheet and liked the sound of that. I love an auld spreadsheet. Things I think I’ll track in my own will be weight, calories, water intake, steps and maybe further down the line days exercised. I looked through my phone and saw that my best average stepcount that I have saved is 7400 per day 3 years ago. I’m well below that on 6400 this year so I’m going to actively pursue 8k steps a day. I know everybody goes mad for 10k but I’d find that tough especially in this weather. Initial weighin tomorrow. If I’m down from my previous I’ll count it as a loss

I'll be honest I expect to see a good bit of activity (me included) in this thread after Christmas.

I take two weeks off at Christmas to absolutely slurge and have whatever I want, and I usually spend most of Jan and Feb paying for it (still worth it though) and the cycle continues like that all year. I have no problem admitting I struggle with my weight and if I don't constantly work hard on it I will gain weight very easily so I will be dropping in and out of this thread all next year

Hopefully I'll more in here than out. And welcome

JohnGreenFan

Weight Loss so far:
Week 1: -1.4lbs
Week 2: -3.8lbs
Week 3: +0.6lbs
Week 4: - 3.2lbs
Week 5: -0.8lbs

Walking and steps in general took a serious nosedive this week with all the rubbish weather so I wasn't too surprised at the small movement on the scales, but pleased there is movement in the right direction! I did two aerobics 'classes' this week, just following online videos but really enjoyed them, so going to try incorporate them into my routine for the next two weeks until the gyms reopen.

Jude13

Spot on, all about what fits you. I need a strict schedule as I am weak, there is no one biscuit/pint with me (Im no alcoholic!). Though when I get to a goal weight I hope to maintain. I just needed a big loss as I am getting older and if I dont do it now I won't be able to train my way out of it later.

Loughc, 2 weeks off, I am looking at a month!

DvB

Jude13 wrote: »

Though when I get to a goal weight I hope to maintain. I just needed a big loss as I am getting older and if I dont do it now I won't be able to train my way out of it later.

That was me back in 2016, saw a photo of myself at a family w/e away in January & nearly died i'd let myself go so much. Went out & by July had lost 50lbs. Since then its been the 7lb battleground I mentioned earlier. And as big a battle it is, its better fighting it out between 11.5 & 12 stone than 14.5 & 15 stone, especially as I'm really noticing the training getting harder & harder to maintain as I get older. I just don't have the stamina or strength I did even a few years ago.

Loughc

DvB wrote: »

That was me back in 2016, saw a photo of myself at a family w/e away in January & nearly died i'd let myself go so much. Went out & by July had lost 50lbs. Since then its been the 7lb battleground I mentioned earlier. And as big a battle it is, its better fighting it out between 11.5 & 12 stone than 14.5 & 15 stone, especially as I'm really noticing the training getting harder & harder to maintain as I get older. I just don't have the stamina or strength I did even a few years ago.

I think with the gyms being closed this year so much due to lockdowns I've learned not to rely on exercise too much to get the weight down, I'm focusing primarily on diet. I get my steps in for me, not for a calorie burn but for headspeace and it's something I enjoy doing.

I've cracked the diet piece, I've elimnated alot of carbs from my lunches/main meals. I would have a carb heavy meal twice a week, Wed/Sat to break up the week, the rest dinners are mostly meat and veg.

Enough Veg and you still get that full feeling from carbs. 3 weeks in and don't feel like slipping or caving. Is that because I know I have a 4 day blow out coming up next weekend... most likely :P

JohnGreenFan

Loughc wrote: »

I think with the gyms being closed this year so much due to lockdowns I've learned not to rely on exercise too much to get the weight down, I'm focusing primarily on diet. I get my steps in for me, not for a calorie burn but for headspeace and it's something I enjoy doing.

I've cracked the diet piece, I've elimnated alot of carbs from my lunches/main meals. I would have a carb heavy meal twice a week, Wed/Sat to break up the week, the rest dinners are mostly meat and veg.

Enough Veg and you still get that full feeling from carbs. 3 weeks in and don't feel like slipping or caving. Is that because I know I have a 4 day blow out coming up next weekend... most likely :P

Having something to look forward to is a great motivator!

Loughc

JohnGreenFan wrote: »

Having something to look forward to is a great motivator!

It must be cause I've never felt so good about my diet.

I think it helps it's not labelled other than calorie counting so there's so much more freedom, the thing with Slimming worlds and the likes is you get fixated with how to "cheat the system".

There's no hiding from the cals in vs cals out system.

Jude13

I have not had fun carbs in 11 weeks, by fun carbs I mean any potato products or rice etc. All through salad. As much as I hate cals in vrs cals out it is so true.

Jude13

Jesus the M&S food order thing just landed in my inbox, thank god I cant get this stuff here.

Tauriel

Hi everyone, I hope you don't mind me jumping in and introducing myself. I have been keeping an eye on this thread after Eskie mentioned it to me elsewhere.

So I am trying to lose weight after going mad on the comfort eating for over 5 years after the death of my mother. I would of always of been extremely skinny growing up, to the point that I would of regularly been accused of being anorexic. I would of been a very active child but I suppose that stopped once I got into secondary school as I struggled with the workload. I have a office job so sit on my back side most of the day.

I would of gained about 2 and half stone in the past 5 years and unfortunately the majority of it has gone straight to my stomach. Although, I started to get horrible stretch marks all over my thighs during lockdown as my weight ballooned by half a stone in a matter of weeks. My start weight on my weight loss journey was just over 10 and a half stone.

I joined a gym during the summer but only braved their spinning classes as I am embarrassed to admit I had never been in a gym up to this point and the equipment is alien to me. I do also carry some injuries which impact what exercises I can do. I do have a Wonder Core to help me with sit ups but I haven't really used it in a few weeks so must get back to that.

I have been restricting my calorie intake by targeting no more than 900 calories a day and the only real exercise I am getting is walking the dog. My steps have ranged from 1,000 to over 20,000 per day, so I am not consistent at all.

In the past two months from just restricting my calories and walking, I have come down just over half a stone to my pre-lockdown weight of 10 stone. Nothing has come off my stomach but I have noticed that the stretch marks on my thighs have reduced somewhat, so that is something.

My current target is to try to lose one stone (I would hope to lose two in total but will half my target for now).

Sorry for the long winded post!

Jude13

Not long winded at all. Welcome to the thread!!

I get the gym equipment being alien to you, it is to most people. Never be afraid to ask someone how to use something. In relation to sit ups I avoid them as they hurt my back (Im full of injuries and bolts and rods). If you are doing exercises that activate your core I would cut the sit ups out or do leg raises.

I have/had stretch marks all over my thighs and I also have a couple of large scars (10+ inch) and I have found bio oil to work wonders on them. One of my worst scares is not visible now unless I point it out.

Great to see new posts.

Loughc

Welcome along Shelly.

The best advice I can give you is to get the App MyFitnessPal. It will give you a calorie goal based off your weight target, activity levels, etc.

Track everything you eat and drink and away you go. Stay below your goal and you should lose, it's as easy as that. Regarding stomach fat, that's the hardest fat to lose and is usually the last to go. So it won't be until you get in reach of your target weight will you see that disappear.

Measure yourself at least once a month, it's not all about the scales the inches you lose will tell alot. Best of luck with it and welcome along

JohnGreenFan

mustang shelly wrote: »

Hi everyone, I hope you don't mind me jumping in and introducing myself. I have been keeping an eye on this thread after Eskie mentioned it to me elsewhere.

So I am trying to lose weight after going mad on the comfort eating for over 5 years after the death of my mother. I would of always of been extremely skinny growing up, to the point that I would of regularly been accused of being anorexic. I would of been a very active child but I suppose that stopped once I got into secondary school as I struggled with the workload. I have a office job so sit on my back side most of the day.

I would of gained about 2 and half stone in the past 5 years and unfortunately the majority of it has gone straight to my stomach. Although, I started to get horrible stretch marks all over my thighs during lockdown as my weight ballooned by half a stone in a matter of weeks. My start weight on my weight loss journey was just over 10 and a half stone.

I joined a gym during the summer but only braved their spinning classes as I am embarrassed to admit I had never been in a gym up to this point and the equipment is alien to me. I do also carry some injuries which impact what exercises I can do. I do have a Wonder Core to help me with sit ups but I haven't really used it in a few weeks so must get back to that.

I have been restricting my calorie intake by targeting no more than 900 calories a day and the only real exercise I am getting is walking the dog. My steps have ranged from 1,000 to over 20,000 per day, so I am not consistent at all.

In the past two months from just restricting my calories and walking, I have come down just over half a stone to my pre-lockdown weight of 10 stone. Nothing has come off my stomach but I have noticed that the stretch marks on my thighs have reduced somewhat, so that is something.

My current target is to try to lose one stone (I would hope to lose two in total but will half my target for now).

Sorry for the long winded post!

I wouldn't worry about the gym side of it - I had never set foot in a gym until this year and found the personal trainers to be great, really helpful. Better to go in and ask for help rather than attempt it on your own and end up injuring yourself because you don't know what you're doing!

Measuring is a great idea too - you'd be surprised with the changes in each week, some of which aren't always noticeable just looking at yourself in the mirror.

TRS30

Welcome along Shelly.

Lots of positivity and encouragement around here

Mutleyboo

Week 1 finished with a -2lbs down.. it was tough I will admit, tougher than it has been when I did it before. I knew I had a feeder of an OH but JEZUZ! Is it selfish to wish for a fatty OH? Just sometimes.... I mean every night he comes back from the shops with at least two chocolate bars and puts them beside me for me! Last night it was two ice creams and chocolate! Its torture!
No matter what I say he thinks hes doing a nice thing after the kids are in bed. He has an irish mammy syndrome where feeding means being nice and making people happy.. what makes it worse is he can eat anything and any amount and never puts a lb on.. in fact he would struggle to put weight on!
Rant over... sorry!

TRS30

Mutleyboo wrote: »

Week 1 finished with a -2lbs down.. it was tough I will admit, tougher than it has been when I did it before. I knew I had a feeder of an OH but JEZUZ! Is it selfish to wish for a fatty OH? Just sometimes.... I mean every night he comes back from the shops with at least two chocolate bars and puts them beside me for me! Last night it was two ice creams and chocolate! Its torture!
No matter what I say he thinks hes doing a nice thing after the kids are in bed. He has an irish mammy syndrome where feeding means being nice and making people happy.. what makes it worse is he can eat anything and any amount and never puts a lb on.. in fact he would struggle to put weight on!
Rant over... sorry!

Firstly well done on loss, keep it up.

Had you had a proper conversation with them about it or just casually mentioned it?

Sometimes us men need to be told a few times for things to sink in

Oh wow the thread is so busy! hello everyone!

I've not been in with an update in so long.. My food is still good, thankfully! I'm not getting to do my work outs as frequently, hard to make the time with long working hours, and lacking energy. My steps could be so much better, I'm finding it a struggle to get up early and go for my morning walk in the dark, so when the weather is bad I'm struggling even more to face into the wind and rain.

Mutleyboo, my OH is the same. He is training nearly every day of the week so his metabolism is so much better than mine. I had a little chat with him about all the "treats" he was bringing home for me. I asked him to help me reach my goal by not rewarding me with junk food, sweets etc. He's fully on board with my healthy eating for a while, and knows how determined I am to get my fitness up. I do find it amusing that he's a feeder, he now goes around peeling mandarins for me :pac:

Mutleyboo

Well it was probably an inbetween along the lines of no more sh1t in the house, if you want it you buy it kinda way.. plus I make different dinners, I inject his with lard

Mutleyboo

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Oh wow the thread is so busy! hello everyone!

I've not been in with an update in so long.. My food is still good, thankfully! I'm not getting to do my work outs as frequently, hard to make the time with long working hours, and lacking energy. My steps could be so much better, I'm finding it a struggle to get up early and go for my morning walk in the dark, so when the weather is bad I'm struggling even more to face into the wind and rain.

Mutleyboo, my OH is the same. He is training nearly every day of the week so his metabolism is so much better than mine. I had a little chat with him about all the "treats" he was bringing home for me. I asked him to help me reach my goal by not rewarding me with junk food, sweets etc. He's fully on board with my healthy eating for a while, and knows how determined I am to get my fitness up. I do find it amusing that he's a feeder, he now goes around peeling mandarins for me :pac:

Fair play staying on track with the food! It's tough but I do like the way you have him trained to peel your mandarins! That's brilliant! The motivation and stubbornness is hard this time around, I just cant find it. I think sleep deprivation is driving me towards carbs and sugar!

Mutleyboo

Mutleyboo wrote: »

Well it was probably an inbetween along the lines of no more sh1t in the house, if you want it you buy it kinda way.. plus I make different dinners, I inject his with lard

I said the same, nothing for me, but he can have his own stash
We did a big overhaul of our cooking habits years ago so dinners are very tasty and healthy, we take it in turns cooking.
It's the snacking that ruins me, and it's a very hard habit to break. I've fallen off the wagon so many times since I started this journey back in May of this year, but am glad to say I've picked myself up each time and started again.

I've a weightless goal in mind, but if I even reach a particular clothes size I'll be very happy as I'm finding my clothes are more of an indication of how I'm doing than the scales.
My main goal is getting fit. I can't run at all, not even a few metres, so when I get my fitness up to a certain point I'm hoping to start jogging/running

Mutleyboo

Mutleyboo wrote: »

Fair play staying on track with the food! It's tough but I do like the way you have him trained to peel your mandarins! That's brilliant! The motivation and stubbornness is hard this time around, I just cant find it. I think sleep deprivation is driving me towards carbs and sugar!

Lol he just started doing that himself, no training needed I don't really like mandarins but it keeps him happy

I'm an awful sleeper so I understand totally. If you go to a health food shop they can give you some advice/suggestions.

Jude13

I think we all have similar issues. I had my OH eating magnums basically in my ear and then describing the flavor. I think it was pay back for the years when I was playing sport eating whatever I liked and not putting on a kg. She is really supportive now and it makes all the difference.

I am struggling with sleep also. I have dates for deliverables in mid December which are set by courts so will not move so I am am cramming between then and now. Sleep is suffering.

L'prof

Week 1: -2.4lbs

Happy days. Not a full week of tracking cals but they’ve been good the last couple of days and my steps have been very good the last 4 days. I generally find the first weeks or so the easiest, especially when it comes to tracking cals. I used to be very good for using MFP years ago and it kept me very honest but anytime I’ve tried lately I lose interest. Hoping that logging here might give me that bit of a push I need

mirrorwall14

With everything going on I’ve been focusing on breaking bad habits. Breakfast is now healthy. Lunch is sorted if I’m not going out. Dinners were already good but I was inconsistent about both making them and eating them. That’s now changed, 6/7 dinners last week made and eaten. And my husband is finally helping a bit with cooking (he cooked one dinner from March-sept). Im doing a short walk with him every morning and I got myself the ring for the switch and I’m aiming to do 20 mins a day.

This week however I’m desperately trying to break my worst habit from lockdown, the post bedtime treat in front of the tv. I actually blame this habit for all the on/off bandwagons I’ve been doing for the last few months because I fail at it. All. The. Time. And then I throw my hands up and just snack on a mountain of things

I’ve mostly managed to cut it down to smaller quantities. The goal over the next two weeks is to cut it out. Fingers crossed

Loughc

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

With everything going on I’ve been focusing on breaking bad habits. Breakfast is now healthy. Lunch is sorted if I’m not going out. Dinners were already good but I was inconsistent about both making them and eating them. That’s now changed, 6/7 dinners last week made and eaten. And my husband is finally helping a bit with cooking (he cooked one dinner from March-sept). Im doing a short walk with him every morning and I got myself the ring for the switch and I’m aiming to do 20 mins a day.

This week however I’m desperately trying to break my worst habit from lockdown, the post bedtime treat in front of the tv. I actually blame this habit for all the on/off bandwagons I’ve been doing for the last few months because I fail at it. All. The. Time. And then I throw my hands up and just snack on a mountain of things

I’ve mostly managed to cut it down to smaller quantities. The goal over the next two weeks is to cut it out. Fingers crossed

I'm the same as you mirrorwall, my meals are usually spot on, it's the treats/snacking that kills me.

My advice is buy mutlipacks, multipacks of crisps, freddos, mini m&ms, whatever you fancy, the multipacks are smaller and less calories.

I allow myself 2 treats in the evening time and you'd find the cals of 2 mutipack items would be less than one regular item.

JohnGreenFan

Loughc wrote: »

I'm the same as you mirrorwall, my meals are usually spot on, it's the treats/snacking that kills me.

My advice is buy mutlipacks, multipacks of crisps, freddos, mini m&ms, whatever you fancy, the multipacks are smaller and less calories.

I allow myself 2 treats in the evening time and you'd find the cals of 2 mutipack items would be less than one regular item.

I would agree, there's plenty of little treat size bars you can buy, and that way you still have something to look forward to in the evening and that motivation will help keep you on track! We all still need a little treat in our lives

mirrorwall14

That would work if I could currently stop... unfortunately I can’t! I’m at the stage where I might just go buy a single curly wurly every evening lol. I’ll get there. Just have to keep trying

Jude13

I am the same, zero chance of me having one square of chocolate.