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Dieting & exercise

I’m a Pear ? the sequel part 2 !

(1001 Posts)
NanKate Sun 01-Nov-20 20:35:42

On 08 May 2018 I started this thread for those who wanted to lose weight and have a healthier lifestyle. Many people have joined up and many pounds lost and a few gained.

However the 2 Gransnetters who have stayed the course from the beginning are Fourormore and Shirleyw who have helped to keep me on the straight and narrow, most of the time ?, and kept up our spirits.

We now have some other excellent new regulars who have joined our ranks and they have brought new ideas and support. Many thanks girls what would I do without you all.

Do join us the rules are simple.

Choose your own style of diet plan.
Check in regularly with a report of the highs and lows of the diet.

Have an occasional binge but get back on the wagon ASAP.
Pass on any useful diet tips.

So for example I started calorie counting with the NHS Diet Plan. I now eat what I like but make portion control my mantra.

You have nothing to lose, other than weight, on this thread.

Please join us at this difficult time in all our lives with the Pandemic.

So Onward and Downward girls ??

MayBee70 Thu 20-May-21 20:24:20

I’ve never been able to eat breakfast. I hate it if we stay in a hotel or B&B as I can’t not eat the wonderful breakfasts provided but I feel awful afterwards. I sometimes ask if they will just make me some bacon or sausage sandwiches to eat later in the day. I saw a programme once that said soup was more filling than ordinary food but if I don’t chew my food I don’t feel that I’ve eaten anything. And I have to go to the loo a lot because of all of the liquid. A friend and I often chuckle about the brown rice diet we both went on in the seventies. We’ve compared every diet we’ve been on since to that one!

Dorsetcupcake61 Thu 20-May-21 19:22:45

Hi Ladies,I've been avidly reading recent posts but not had time to reply as been working in office which initially tiring.!
Oh the memories that have come flooding back!
First of all welcome Jo March,and your weight loss is inspirational. Your comments about Gremlins made me laugh in recognition! Like Whiff also I have found it easier not to have certain foods in the house as I know I will eat them relentlessly! I cant remember the last time I had bread. Toast with anything on was for me a great comfort food,strangely I havent missed it but I totally sympathise Shirleyw.
Oh Ayds-yummy like fudge?. Those awful limits biscuits! I too went through a teenage spell when all I ate for a month was 2 ryvita a day with cheese on. I also tried the origional Cambridge diet?.
Indeed are metabolisms are probably in turmoil!
I saw the programme on how thin people eat and it was fascinating, apart from one when it was analysed they didnt eat as much as they were perceived to eat. There was one they just couldnt explain. I think that the problem though there are many physical/ genetic factors we are just only starting to understand add to that the fact high fat/sugar/ processed foods are available and cheaper....
I think it helps to start being comfortable with your body shape. After probably two decades of Weight watchers I realise calorie counting works for me. With very few unlimited/ free foods my portions have reduced vastly and the amount I'm satisfied with is smaller.
Breakfast for me is an interesting aspect. For as long as I can remember it's been described as vital to stop you snacking,especially foods such as porridge. Since I've been working FT I really dont want to eat early. I have coffee and an actimel drink-mainly to hopefully help immune system now mixing with more people. The urge to snack mid morning has gone! It could be just down to being very busy but previously a very short while after porridge I was eyeing up the mid morning snack!
I do wonder about diet drinks as well. Apparently they did a study which found they trick your brain into craving real sugar!
No wonder it's all such a battle! Good luck everyone ?

MayBee70 Thu 20-May-21 13:12:50

I had slender tone on my thighs but it didn’t help. But the person who did it told me that they’d found that just dancing round the living room was just as good. That was before aerobics etc became fashionable. I always walked everywhere: when I worked in Manchester I often walked home and I lived in Eccles, but it never made my legs slim.

JoMarch1962 Thu 20-May-21 12:48:31

With Shirley W , I mean!

JoMarch1962 Thu 20-May-21 12:47:25

Completely agree.

JoMarch1962 Thu 20-May-21 12:45:31

That’s really interesting MayBee. My mum was advised to put me on a diet when I was 9- I remember Slimcea bread and a type of bread roll that was mostly air- don’t remember getting much thinner tho’- and when I was 16 I lost 2 stone eating Limits biscuits for every meal ( and nothing else- got a little intense about it- I don’t think anyone would encourage that approach in a teenager these days!) I too feel my metabolism is totally confused- I seem to need very few cals to maintain, even tho I normally do Leslie Sansome’s 2 mile Sweats 3 to 4 times a week. It’s a hard row to hoe! ( That would be good exercise!)

Shirleyw Thu 20-May-21 05:08:20

Oh yes maybee I remember ayds , they were tasty!....and ‘limits’ biscuits, they were meal replacements, also nice ... as a snack...lol.
I also write everything down and calorie count and put it on nhs better health app. But when I go off the rails i go the ‘whole hog’. I say to myself might as well finish the evening off with , for eg,,,a couple slices of toast with slabs of butter and jam after eating a good meal . I think with me too if I have a couple glasses of wine it makes me peckish so at weekends I have measured out bacardis and Diet Coke, I don’t scoff so much then.
Have lost about 4 stone, trying to maintain isn’t easy, like I’ve said before, my old habits are just waiting round the corner, can’t see them ever leaving so it’s having to be in control all the time. Like a mind game for me.

MayBee70 Wed 19-May-21 18:58:16

In my late teens no matter how much weight I lost, I always had fat legs. And the more weight I lost the more out of proportion I became. When I was 18 I had a year when my weight went from 8 stone to 11 stone and down to 7 stone in the space of a few months. After that my metabolism had gone to pieces. If there had been more information about diet ie healthy eating and exercise it might not have happened. As it was I ate Slimcea bead (by the loaf) diet biscuits by the packet and, worst of all Ayds that were fudge type things that you ate before a meal and were supposed to stop you feeling hungry. Did I eat just one? Of course not. Did they stop me feeling hungry? Not at all. My daughter has maintained the same weight throughout her adult life. I’m so envious of her.

JoMarch1962 Wed 19-May-21 17:02:10

MayBee70

It’s like I’m two people. One that eats healthily and exercises and another one that has no control over my appetite whatsoever. Having said that I never actually eat because I’m hungry. I rarely feel hungry. But when I do eat there’s no off switch that says ‘you’re full, stop eating now’. I can just carry on and on eating. I’ve always been the same. I feel much better, mentally and physically when I eat less though. Especially when I cut out bread.

This exactly describes me! It’s like giving water to a Gremlin- if I eat porridge or bread for breakfast I might as well write the whole day off. Seems I can do strict control and complete lack of control, but I just can’t do moderation. Sigh.
Would also like to thank you ladies( Maybee, ShirleyW, Whiff and NanKate) for your kind congratulations on my weight loss, and support. What a great forum!

MayBee70 Wed 19-May-21 13:52:23

I saw a programme the other day where someone was very thin even though he ate a lot. They put it down to the fact that he ate at exactly the same time every day so his body didn’t go into ‘fast’ mode ie hanging onto calories in case there isn’t any more food on the way. Wonder if that could help Jo lose that last 7 lbs.

Shirleyw Wed 19-May-21 04:02:32

Fabulous achievement jomarch.....

NanKate Tue 18-May-21 21:15:22

Welcome Jo 10 stone that’s totally brilliant.

You will get lots of encouragement on this thread. ?

Whiff Tue 18-May-21 18:53:47

Must

Whiff Tue 18-May-21 18:53:33

JoMarch fantastic weight loss. Brilliant achievement. You feel fabulous.?

MayBee70 Tue 18-May-21 18:29:38

Well done!

JoMarch1962 Tue 18-May-21 17:44:07

I’d love to join you ladies- I have lost 10 stone since 2017, and am currently fairly happy with my shape, but the last 7lbs eludes me- well- keeps slowly coming off and very quickly going back on again after any celebration. Of which there have been several in the last few weeks - due to arrival of Number One Grandson- also coincidentally 7lbs!
I basically count calories and note everything down, sticking to low carbs, lots of low carb veg and lean protein, but I do need motivation for the long term- I’m not going back to being the fatty I was- not this time!!

MayBee70 Mon 17-May-21 18:06:56

It’s like I’m two people. One that eats healthily and exercises and another one that has no control over my appetite whatsoever. Having said that I never actually eat because I’m hungry. I rarely feel hungry. But when I do eat there’s no off switch that says ‘you’re full, stop eating now’. I can just carry on and on eating. I’ve always been the same. I feel much better, mentally and physically when I eat less though. Especially when I cut out bread.

Whiff Mon 17-May-21 17:10:37

MayBee70 well done. I love baking but I give it away . I can't resist cake. Perhaps you can make your husband a cake and put it into a tin and get him to put it somewhere you can't reach it. Then he can just cut himself a slice and put it back.

MayBee70 Mon 17-May-21 14:59:52

I’m down to my previous weight (well, one of them). Sticking with no bread cake or biscuits. Two meals and no snacking other than an orange in the afternoon and a banana for supper. DH wants me to bake a cake though. I don’t know if I can resist eating some.

Whiff Mon 17-May-21 06:53:10

Shirley well done staying the same . Hope your granddaughter can stay it will be lovely for you. She will keep you on your toes. Lots of joy and laughter will be had. ?

Shirleyw Mon 17-May-21 03:28:51

Well done on the weigh losses......yes fourormore, always good to get to a lesser number. I maintained again this week which I’m pleased about. The next fortnight I aim to be very strict and alcohol free over the coming weekend so I can knock off a final half a stone.
We have one of our granddaughters staying next weekend (unless Boris says otherwise),,,,been a looooong time since we had sleepovers (as it has been for 99% of us)....so she will keep us active....hope weather is dry....
Have a good week ....

Dorsetcupcake61 Sun 16-May-21 15:50:03

Sending you ?and? Whiff
I hope the weather stayed dry,had a little sun but some really heavy showers here.
Well done Sarah and Fourormore. Must admit I will be very gradually decreasing my calories as have a way to go yet and dont want to end up with a lettuce leaf every other day?.
Hitting that stone mark is always a great sense of achievement. I must admit I'm always very wary as always seems a sense that wouldnt take much for things to hop back over!
I must admit I tried the 5:2 a few years ago and found I didnt notice a difference in energy levels and didnt feel hungry. I've always thought it would be a good way of maintaining.
I always find work lunches tricky. In ordinary office environment it wasnt to bad as always had time,care was another story though.
I'm only in office 1 or 2 days a week at the moment. I tend to take in a pre made slimfast drink and a high protein bar. At the moment we have strict covid rules so quite tricky,so find these fill the gap and dont need refrigeration! Of course can leave office but been raining and to many bakeries ?.
Have a great week everyone ??

Whiff Sun 16-May-21 13:36:26

Well done four and Sarah on your losses.

It's always a boost when you get into the next stone bracket doesn't matter by how much it's the getting there that counts. ?

Sarahmob Sun 16-May-21 12:14:06

Well done Fourormore on your loss, those days when numbers change are the best!
I’m pleased to report a 3/4 lb loss this week, which considering cake was consumed on Wednesday is ok. This last ‘bit’ is slow, (very slow!) but I’m not putting a real time scale on it. It’ll come off eventually and I’m not inclined to cut my calories any further than I have done.
Hope you all have a good week.

fourormore Sun 16-May-21 10:50:43

I am delighted to report a 2lb loss this week which takes me below the dreaded 13stone line on my chart! OK only a pound below but it's below!!! Still have loads to lose but it is a milestone.
I am hoping that it will stay below the line next week as I took drastic action this week.
I know some people swear by the 5:2 diet where you eat five days and basically starve for two. Normally I wouldn't even consider trying this as I love my food too much but I made myself do a slightly different version.
There is no way that I could not eat through a whole day so I had two slimfast shakes and then just fresh fruit for three days this week. On the other four days I ate normally but carefully with smaller portions. I haven't felt hungry either.
No way would I recommend this as a regular regime - shakes and things are not a proper diet, but it got me below that line and has given me the incentive to stay below it hopefully. If I can do that, it will have been worth this week's very strict discipline.
Having this incentive I intend to be disciplined again this week but sensible.
Good luck everyone - losses or gains we will stick together !!!
flowersflowersflowers

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