Has anyone lost weight themselves--not paying out to go to a slimming club?

lightatendoftunnel?

smokybabe wrote:

HI Tyllwyd, thanks for that I had never even thought about my blood sugar and what you say makes sense. I'm going to research that one, also I'm working tonight so I'm going to take some nuts and fruit in with me and see how I get on tommorrow.
I also think that over time it has become a habit with me too so I've just been out and stocked on fruit and veggies and baked potato stuff for tommorrow and will definately make a meal rather than just snacking on the usual rubbish.
I am also over the weekend going to look at our shopping bills and plan some menus and get back to cooking from scratch as I had a quick workout of what we spent last week and with us barely keeping our heads above water there is the potential for a huge saving there.

I am a nurse and use to work nights. I had the same problem my diet was all out and i just want to pick all the time. I use to buy a melon, pineapple and some strawberrries. I would chop them all and take a bowl every night just to pick through the night and drank loads of water and i managed to lose over a stone. I now work days but i still take the fruit as its refreshing and it stops me munching. I also snack whilst cooking, i keep a large jar of gherkins in fridge and i pick on these if i need to eat while cooking, but think i might try the tip of chewing gum!

poppy_f1

can i join in this as well, i got a few stone that i need to lose and this thread has given me some really good ideas

sarymclary

Hello all fellow dieters,

I see my Diet Buddy 'Triker' has already put in her twopenneth, so not to be outdone, I will too!

Triker and I have been doing the diet buddy thing for 4 weeks now, after I offered to be her buddy to help us both lose weight. We email each other daily, confess to what we've eaten that day, and our weigh in day is every Monday. She follows her Slimming World plan, and I'm just eating healthily/calorie counting. So far I've lost about 7lb.

Our initial aim is achievable; 1 stone by Christmas, which gave us more than 12 weeks to do it by.

We're both trying to do exercise when we can, even if it's a bit of gardening, a walk or bike ride with the kids - anything physical helps. I'm trying to walk do a couple of hour long walks a week, a bike ride (weather permitting), and I'm hoping to start swimming soon too. My previous idea of exercise was to get up to make a cuppa while Phil & Fern do their thing each morning!

Seeing what we both eat helps us guage how much we're each eating, and we discuss where we think we can improve, or how we know we've gone wrong (the chinese meal this weekend certainly hasn't helped)! We've not lost some weeks and have been a bit non-plussed, but with each other's encouragement we feel motivated to keep going.

I find it difficult to drink 4 litres of water a day - it just sounds so daunting, but I keep a 'Vitel' bottle I bought weeks ago refilled with fresh water in the fridge, and keep it beside me at the PC, or beside the bed to guzzle on. I also heard a dietician recently recommend drinking tea as a healthy alternative to water, if you find drinking water difficult to do, as most of us are dehydrated most of the time. Tea contains excellent antioxidants to boost our systems, and if you can switch to caffeine free tea, even better, although it is already much less than coffee.

I drink a hot tea or coffee while I cook the dinner, to stave off hunger cravings, and it helps me fill up before a meal. Failing that, 3 big spoonsful of yoghurt help too.

I've done Weight Watchers, the Cabbage Soup diet, the lose weight before your heart operation diet (I didn't need an op!), Atkins, GI, Slimming World, and many more. I lost 5 stone in my early 20's, getting down to a healthy 9st. 5lb by just cutting out all snacks & sweets, low fat, no alcohol and smaller portions, and it all went in less than a year. However, after having 4 children, my weight yo-yo'd back up by an average of 2-3 stone over the years. I've read the 'You Are what You Eat' books, but the diet is a huge step away from what I'm used to (granola, sweet potato, and much more), but it is a form of detox, and her TV show does insist on a big change to exercise, which will always see big results.

I'd be happy to join in with the group here to boost numbers. I can thoroughly recommend anyone post on here if they're having a bad day, want to let everyone know what their food diary each day is, or if they've had a great idea. It really does help Triker and me.

The changes I've made are:
1) porridge (sweetener/half milk&water) or yoghurt/muesli for breakfast instead of 3 rounds of toast with butter!
2) wholemeal bread for sandwiches - with healthier fillings like tuna, chicken etc., and I use lowfat dressings instead of butter so they aren't dry.
3) no alcohol, and limit fruit juices as they're hidden calories
4) doubled my intake of fluids - mainly tea, decaf coffee, or water/squash
5) include veg or pulses (baked beans) in at least 1 meal a day
6) limit or avoid snacks altogether
7) try to have at least 3 very good days, to give myself a 'credit' of calories incase I have pmt or need a bit extra some days
8) bought myself a new set of scales, with body fat, water the whole lot measured - it was depressing to begin with because they are VERY accurate, but I can't fool myself into making them lie either. It also confirmed my thoughts that my body water was too low. My body fat is also much too high, but I knew that even without the scales!
9) I use a smaller plate
10) Use leaner cuts of meat, and reduce cheese intake
11) READ LABELS: the 'healthy option' items in the supermarkets often contain more calories, or a negligible amount less than your ordinary brands, ie. WW beans only 3 cals less per 100g than Heinz. 'Healthy Option' soups actually more calories per 100g than ordinary Sainsburys/Heinz ones. Be careful! Soups are fabulous for filling you up - a can is less than 200cals, and with a piece of wholemeal sunflower bread is really filling.
12) Set achievable targets. You may actually want to lose 10 stone, but break it down into smaller chunks like 7lb in a month. Meeting targets will keep you on the straight and narrow.:A

Good luck to everyone. Weigh in is first thing Monday morning - naked, after the loo. Also take measurements of hips, waist, bust; I lost 1" off my waist in the first week. If anyone is daunted at declaring their weight, why not declare the amount you want to lose, then declare the loss achieved each week instead.

Hope any of the above was helpful to someone

Lois_Lane

There's a Lose Weight thread already, if any of you want to join in. Plenty of help and advice, whatever plan you're following. Click here for more information.

LL

safesound

May I join in? I've been dieting on my own for the last few weeks by counting calories and have lost 12lbs, although last week I hadnt lost anything (darned birthday cake). I usually weigh on a Friday but I'm sure I can change that to a Monday.
I originally weighed 18st1lbs, I currently weigh 17st3lbs, and my temp target weight is 15st.
In total I actually need to lose another 5st (to make me roughly 12st) but to make it more mentally achiveable I'm aiming for 15st.

At the moment my key aims are:

Eat muesli for breakfast
Drink at least 4 litres of water a day
Cut out Caffeine laden Diet soft drinks
Eat at least one piece of fruit a day
Try to incorperate more exercise into routine
DONT guess on calories, *KNOW* how many I'm eating

smokybabe

:hello: Welcome onboard poppy-f1, safesound and sarymclary.
Loads of good advice allready from you guys:T :T Thank you lightatendoftunnel? I took fruit and some nuts on Friday night and it did help, it also didn't make me feel sleepy - great.
I started my healthy eating on Friday but will use my weight tommorrow morning/today as my start weight.
GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY

xx-Tina-xx

I wouldn't mind joining in with you guys if thats OK!? I managed to lose about 4 stone in 6 months last year, but about 20lbs has slipped back on again, and i'm desperate to drop at least some of it before we go away in December. To be honest, the word 'diet' scares the heck out of me!! I'm an 'all or nothing' kind of person, and I find if I 'diet' then basically, I starve!! I become obsessed, so its the little lifestyle changes that work for me better! I managed to lose the 4 stone eating the same as everyone else in the house... Just cooking it differently, and upping the fruit and veg intake considerably! Oh..... and PLENTY of water (ice-cold... cold water makes your metabolism work much faster... not only do you burn calories by the 'swallowing' action, but also you burn them whilst your brain tries to heat up your body because of the temperature of the water!!... Am I a geek for even KNOWING that???)

*Goes and tries on the bikini that fitted fantastically in April to check how ridiculous i'm going to look on the beach* :rotfl:

smokybabe

:hello: Morning all, I hope you are all feeling well on this beautiful, if not cold morning.
I hopped on the scales this morning and have worked out that as from todayI have 90 lbs to loose:eek: to get me back down to a respectable weight and the full use of half of my wardrobe!!!:j . So here is to the first 14 alongside you guys:beer:
Hi xxx-Tina-xxx, Welcome on behalf of Gilly - I love the one about the ice cold water and that's exactly what I am sipping away at at the moment.Well done on your weight loss so far!
I've tried to eat some breakfast this morning but just can't face it - I don't know why I can't eat in the mornings, I've never been able to and I should as it kick starts the system. Anyway off to clean up after the terrible threesome have wreaked havoc and then off to find some curtain lining for my door curtains. xxx
Just a thought:- we have all saved ourselves the cost of registration and first meeting at one of those dieting clubs.

xx-Tina-xx

Hiya Smokybabe... and thanks for the congrats!!

I'm much the same as you... The thought of actually EATING breakfast is pretty daunting! Yeah, I KNOW it kickstarts your metabolism, but it also kickstarts my gag reflex :rolleyes: I need to be awake a good three hours before I can face anything other than liquid sloshing around in my system!! I bought a (damn expensive) juicer a few months back (Can't actually remember WHICH card it went on :rolleyes: ), so this morning i've pulled it out, dusted it down, and am just slurping my way through a large glass of apple and carrot juice!! Might as well get some use out of the bloody thing!!

MissMoneypenny

May I join you too please? I was a skinny mutt but I've put on 4 stone while I have been studying. I managed to take off just over a stone (and keep it off) earlier in the year, but I can't seem to study without some tasty food to munch (ususally avocardos and blocks of cheese with onion). Since losing that stone I have gone right off chocolate for some strange reason - but I am really happy about that.

I have exams 2 weeks today, so I doubt I will be able to lose weight before that, but I don't want to pile it on over the next two weeks either!

BTW, I walk about 9 miles a day (thankfully).