I’m a pear !

Well done Jane, too early for me to tell (started on Tuesday) but I am sticking to no alcohol which must be a help.

NanKate, when I lost 4 stone a few years ago, all my family kept on about was how big my head looked in relationship to my body. I was totally demoralised at the time but would relish those comments now!

Panche
Thank you for updating us. Fast weight-loss without any diet restrictions is always a worry and although I was fairly sure you were aware of possible concerns, I just had to mention it,

I have a friend who has had rapid weight-loss, too - without any input from herself! She has had every test under the sun and continues to be monitored but 'they' are, as yet, unable to find any cause.

As rapid weight-loss can be a symptom of nasty conditions, I am pleased that you didn't mind 'interference' from GN-ers!

Keep well!!

Candelle,actually I am more than a little touched that you and several others should be so concern ed about a newcomer,that is so kind of you all.

There are a whole range of issues here,some have been investigated,others are on going but as yet no real answers ............and although the weight loss has slowed down,I am still losing mainly a pound a day.

I am due to undergo very complicated Surgery in under 3 weeks,this failed previously so we can but hope for success this time,and it may then in due course,give us some pointers.

It has meant a complete new wardrobe but the problem left.......as I am sure your friend will confirm...........are the rolls of empty unsightly flesh all over!!!

Whilst Please ladies,your "interference" is pure joy to my ears............and if I can help others on the way, then indeed I shall truly be happy.

Hi NanKate,
You asked for a few tips. Well, I do think the Slimming World diet is an easy one to follow. I did it two years ago, and lost one and a half stone, but it gradually started to creep back on. (All my own fault, as I just went back to my old ways!) |With SW there is no need to ever actually be hungry. I do find when I go to the group though, that there are a lot of excuses - "It's my birthday/my husband's birthday/ the dog's birthday" etc. I've tried to avoid going out for meals while I've been dieting. Going to friends for dinner is the worst because there isn't a choice and you don't want to offend. In restaurants, I order a steak and salad, a couple of times we've had fish and chips but I've just had fish and mushy peas and taken off (most of!) the batter. I snack on fruit and veg (raw carrots are a good standby if you feel the need for something to chew on!) I allow myself a small glass of wine a day for my treat. Usually I have porridge with frozen fruits of the forest for breakfast. All lean meats and all veg including potatoes are allowed. If I want something sweet I'll have a fat free yoghurt with extra fresh fruit. I have definitely found that the longer I have been on the diet the less I feel like eating sweets and chocolate. I tell myself that I have eaten plenty of sweet things in the past and I'm not going to deny myself forever, but I'm not eating them at the moment. There is a good Facebook page with loads of recipes: www.facebook.com/pinchofnom/
Good luck everyone - you CAN do it! x

sheilasue I’d be most interested in learning name of that blog. I’m also an Apple, and getting more apple-ish as I age. Weight remains the same, but waist increasing as bum and thighs diminish. Which is most annoying. So any tis would be handy.

Thanks GrandmaKT this is just the sort of info we need.

I thought that yesterday I said I would join NanKate but perhaps I forgot to post my message. The weight lost with OldMeg in February and March has crept back on. Are we keeping in touch with each other?

Hello there Grandmama how I envisaged this thread running is that we say the type of diet we are going to follow and report back once a week the results.

Also we would give tips to others on what works well or recommend low calorie food.

I reported yesterday that disappointingly after one week of serious food reduction I hadn’t lost an ounce. I have been thinking hard how I could change things so reluctantly I think I must COUNT my calories not just select low calorie foods.

We all have different metabolic rates so we can’t compare ourselves with others as it could be disheartening if our own weight loss is slower than others.

So my job for today is to set up a chart of food I regularly eat and estimate the calories and then put them in a calorie diary.

As I said before for me cutting out certain foods does not work I just crave them all the more, but I know for others the Low Carbs, or the 5.2 etc diets work.

So onward and downward fellow dieters.

Have we set a particular day of the week to clock in?
Monday for example?
BTW I have found in the past that weight loss can often be delayed which is disheartening at the time.
Weight gain on the other hand tends to be instantaneous
I automatically weigh myself every morning when I get up and think I may be detecting a teeny weeny downward turn but am curbing my excitement

Hi Nankate - please can I join in your weekly check in!
My system is that I record my daily calorie intake on My Fitness Pal - this keeps me focused and also highlights any excesses such as sugar!
We were in contact with the 'getting out of the chair and walking thread' which has now fizzled out I think? On the whole I am walking 'something' each day - probably nowhere near enough but every little amount is better than nothing.
I always weigh myself on Sunday mornings and record it on a chart on my laptop - this also highlights when there is a drop but also if there is a rise!
Sadly the key to all of this is will-power and that is in short supply. However, if we all encourage each other I am sure we can get results. I go on my holiday at the end of June so I do have a target.
Thank you for all your efforts to motivate us

I am a little disappointed to have found that I have put on 1/2 a pound but sometimes I know that happens before I have a bigger loss next week so I am trying to be philosophical.

Yes Fourormore you are most welcome. I have just downloaded My Fitness Pal at the recommendation of Teetime and now yourself. I must admit I am a bit daunted by it as it is not as User friendly as I would like but at least I can ask you two how to navigate around easily. I was a bit disappointed I couldn't find a Calorie Checker but there is one on the NHS Diet website which they say you can download like an app so I will try that later. Thank you for the flowers to be honest I need you all to motivate me as much as you need me, so flowers all round.

I suggest MawBroon that we check in on the day that suits us best, so it will be a Thursday for me. However if I saw someone else check in on a Monday it would keep me motivated to keep going.

I am not the fount of all knowledge on things dietary so we must try and pick up tips from each other which will help us move Onward and Downward.

Nice to have such a positive bunch of dieters to work with.

Now can anyone tell me what a Fitbit is, which I think looks like a watch ? Is it worth having and what does it do please ?

I have been standing awaiting patiently in the wings before taking over my position as umpire.... as your groups dieters take their places Nankate.

I will leave the Fitbit query for others to answer .......whilst I will quietly stand back........clapping the ones who do well.......and coming down hard on those that are not taking their diets seriously!!
It matters not which method you each choose,what matters is your dedication and the scales will ultimately speak out at the end of this exercise............I don`t think that this has yet been mentioned?
May I say mid June initially??............and then perhaps reassessing the situation if needs be?

Flowers restricted until that person sheds the weight that reaches their targate.

Perhaps all 4? of you would like to state your target weight, so we can set in stone before you all get down to the serious business of denying yourselves I mean getting yourselves all trim again!

May I also add........Good luck to you all.

Thanks NanKate for your welcome.
Once you start on MFP it becomes clearer but to be honest I only use it as a focus - I'm not bothered about profiles etc.
It is useful to be able to record 'tonight's fish and chips' or whatever earlier in the day because you then know what you have left for the rest of the day.
As for the suggestion of setting a target I am happy to go along with that but fear it could make it easier for those who only lose a bit at a time to feel hopeless and give up? Best to lose a bit at a time and reach your target eventually that put pressure of achieving the target by a certain date?
Obviously any individual can set their own target date.
At the moment I want to lose some weight before my holiday at the end of June but as (ideally) I want to lose a couple of stone in total eventually I do realise I won't lose that amount in my limited time.
I started my latest weight chart on 8th April when I weighed 188.8lbs (nearly 13st 7lbs)
Last Sunday morning, four weeks later, I weighed 182.4 so have lost nearly half a stone so I'm ok with that.
I am happy to log in my result every Sunday or Monday.
Go for it folks! Nag me if I go astray!

I feel a bit left out - I am not a pear, or even an apple, more sort of straight up and down and a bit on the scrawny side. I guess I could be a banana but don't have the bend, maybe a cucumber, or a carrot would describe me better.

Anyway, good luck to all who are trying to shrivel your apple or pears.

Excellent Fourormore good half stone weight loss. Isn’t lovely when you put on an item of clothing and it swivels round on you ?

Hello Panache good to see you are keeping an eye on us all. Yes I am happy to give my weight too, but I do realise others would prefer to keep it to themselves and that is fine. Thank you Panache for your PM which I will reply to this weekend. I have been rather absorbed in things dietary today, making a food journal, downloading the NHS Calorie Counter and the My Fitness App.

So I am 10stone 13lbs. If I followed the advice which tells me I am overweight and need to get down to the low 9 stone mark, I would say to them No Thanks I would be more than happy to get down to 10 stone which is what I was when I got married in 1971. I am 5 foot 2 and a half inches.

WildSwan16 just be grateful you are what my mum would have described as a streak of pump water, no offence meant, because you do not have to battle big time like some of us to shift a few pounds/stones.

So I am signing off for the night but will be checking up tomorrow on all those who said they wanted to join the Onward and Downward Club.

Lols to wildswan16 I’m a bit like that, but a sort of puffy banana. sheilasue have tried looking for that blog on apples and fashion, no luck. Please update!

I wear a Fitbit every day. My kids bought it for me as a birthday present a couple of years ago. I have found it definitely makes me walk more. I have set myself the target of at least 10,000 steps a day this year. So far I am averaging over 11,000 a day. It makes me go out for a walk everyday and I feel much better for it. I will park the car further away from the shops, use the stairs and get up and move to make sure I hit the 10,000. My husband thinks I'm crazy!!!

Sunlover...... your husband will be the one filled with envy when he finds you, his wife, getting trimmer and fitter by the day!!!

How much betting he will also want in on the action!!

Keep up the good work.

Well hello folks how are things going for those of you who signed up, metaphorically, to the Onward and Downward Club ? Things have gone a bit quiet.

Well to update you with my progress or otherwise there is just one word NUTS. I was flummoxed last week that I had not lost weight when I had tried to so hard. I decided counting calories was the way for me. So I checked how much the occasional half handful of nuts were that I have a few times a day when feeling peckish. I was horrified to see I could easily be adding 400 calories to my daily intake. So that could easily be the answer to my lack of progress.

What could be your downfall if you don't keep an eye on things ?

Hidden calories, eh? Pesky little buggers!
I think I may have lost 3 maybe even 4 lb since last weekend. My only reason for hesitating was that I did feel especially porky and it could have been fluid retention because of the heat.
So I’ll say 3.
I am doing Slimfast for 2 meals a day and trying to stick to around 500 calories for supper. Gradually I will replace one Slimfast with “real” food with the same calories (250)
Then just see how it goes.
My goal is to lose 2 stone which would still put my BMI at over 25, but frankly the NHS ideal max weight for my height (9st11) is ridiculous,

One feeling rather proud of a real loss of the "flab" ....good on you MawBroon......the incentive for you to shape up too NanKate.
Dieting is a painful business and it can make you quite dispirited,but then all of a sudden those Scales go your way........and there is room for some rejoicing.

As you say.......Ladies its Onward and downward!!

NanKate Myfitness pal remembers your usual foods so once you have searched for something and put it in say Breakfast e.g. boiled egg its there for next time so you don't keep searching so it gradually builds up your favourites and then its just a few clicks at a time.

I went out for dinner last night and had some crispy duck which wasn't, a grilled steak and salad - boring as hell but lovely because DD2 came and I don't often get her to myself.
Home cooked paella and then strawberries for Sunday dinner.
Have a lovely Sunday xxx