Getting fitter and trimmer

HelenDaveKids

Please can I join?

Have lost 3 stone since 1/1/14 with 1 & 1/2 to go. I use mfp, with a goal of 1200 calories but I generally eat back at least half of what I burn. I tend to go to the gym 5-6x a week (various classes and gym). Feeling very "in the zone" and have never enjoyed food as much as now. I am married, with 3 children and work full time.

dolly84

HelenDave - very well done on your efforts so far, it's great when you have the right mindset.

Have completed an 8 mile bike ride this afternoon, it was very warm and 3 miles were uphill, lovely.

Re the challenges, maybe we could do something along the lines of:

1. a combined monthly weightloss, we would need numbers of participants to be able to work out a target.
2. a set number of hours/minutes activity per week per person which can then be at any level each individual can cope with, this might help people on those days where they feel like abandoning their walk in favour of chips:rotfl:
3. A daily target of refusing 1 item of food which is not healthy to help people avoid the biscuit tin at work or the vending machine etc.

I have been shopping today and bought some exercise gear, I am especially pleased as i bought them from my grocery budget as we are doing so well with that and will not need all that I have budgeted for. I got a lovely pair of running tights from M&S and a matching vest top, a vest top from TU which is lovely and long. Also earlier in the week I got a fluorescent jacket from Debenhams and another vest top both heavily reduced. I like vest tops particularly for running.

When I have tried them out I will let you know how they fare, I have two bug bears with exercise clothing - the waistband creeps down over my muffin top and the tops rise up above it, very uncomfortable and not pretty:rotfl:

Fmess

Well done on your weight loss helen that's fantastic! Any tips to share? What works for you?

I love the challenge ideas I think I would also include specific food limits e.g. 4 chocolate bars a month (one a week) and at least 3 pieces of fruit or veg a day. It's a shake we're right in the middle of the month! I want to get started!

HelenDaveKids

Thanks Dolly and fmess.

My biggest tip would be plan ahead. That way there's less chance of being hungry and then eating off plan. I tend to batch cook and even the smallest of left overs get frozen and then become a lunch. I suspect that my not drinking alcohol in the week has had the biggest impact...

What about a challenge to try something new? For example. A new class, a new recipe, ...

I also went shopping today, saw some lovely clothes, but have decided to wait. I have lots of old smaller clothes that I have worked into so not desperate. My turning point was size 20 trousers at Christmas, I'm now size 14 and ideally like to be size 10

tori.k

Morning all

Hi HDK, wow that's dedication if you could bottle it you'd make a fortune, where do you find the hours in a day Love the idea of the something new challenge.

Ridiculous early start for me the weather is on the change after today and DH wants a morning blat down west, so we heading off to Penzance then back along the coast roads, he talked me into by mentioning breakfast, im so easily bought

Spinning & Swim this afternoon

Food
Bfast fried egg roll &coffee (need the carbs for spinning)
Lunch fruit salad
Tea carrot& courgette veggie burger (no roll) HM wedges & salad

DH has finally excepted that green stuff comes with pretty much every meal :rotfl:

Have a fantastic day everyone sadly we will most likely be sending the rain along from Tuesday

Fmess

Morning all

Loving the weather

Today I will be pottering around the house and going to an aqua aerobics class. I love aqua aerobics but never feel like it does quite enough.

Yesterday I had my treat dinner of the week (sausages, veg and cheesy mash) and had one scoop of ice cream whilst out

Today the plan is;
Breakfast - bacon sandwich
Lunch - feta salad
Dinner - bolognese mince with veg

For our challenge we could have;
1. Individual weight loss target
2. Group weight loss target
3. Eat ? many portions of fruit and veg a day
4. Eat only ? portions of your usual weakness (mine is chocolate)
5. ? many minutes/hours of exercise a week
6. Try something new each week

What do you reckon?

I'm a bit impatient and kind if want to start tomorrow!

Lily_rose_2

Just caught up with this thread & am impressed!! Can I join in? This fits in really nicely with where I am at the moment.....starting to try to get fit & wanting to eat better! I don't really need to lose weight as I'm at a healthy weight of 9st 8 and 5ft 5 tall (although I would ideally like to lose 8lbs....to be at my pre-marriage & children weight) but I am 41, feel constantly shattered & think I just need to start looking after myself:o

Yesterday was a bad day due to a cinema trip with DD (popcorn & chocolate) and a Chinese takeaway last night. Today is another day though.....have done 5 minutes skipping (need to get a skipping rope that's suitable for adults....it's hard to do it with DD's rope:rotfl:) and a Davina 15 minute 'core' workout, plus I'm doing the plank challenge that's around Facebook at the moment....did day 2 today (doing plank for 20 seconds)

For breakfast I've had branflakes with skimmed milk & 2 large glasses of water.

HelenDaveKids....am really impressed with you going to the gym 5-6 times a week, whilst working full time & having 3 kids....just one question - how on earth do you do it?:T

HelenDaveKids

It's been matter of slotting it in around the girls, so Wednesday night whilst their swimming, Tuesday and Saturday when they are at music, I go whilst everyone is sleeping on Sundays, so just a matter of shaking self after tea on Monday and Thursday. I don't bother on Friday as I like to work late in order to finish early on music and swimming nights. I work my hours over 4 days, so in for 7am everyday and home by teatime. I will probably reduce to less once I hit target but I enjoy it and feels like me time.

Did 60 mins on cross trainer then 20 mins weights which have just added in this week, as have read a lot about exercise on mfp and think I need to add strength.

Just finished my sunday chores and having leftover sw chicken chow mein for lunch. Thinking strawberries, meringue and lf yogurt for pudding...

Sneaky weigh mid week and another 1lb gone.

dolly84

Fmess - maybe we should do a weekly challenge starting Monday's and then do a monthly weight loss from 1st of the month. Do you want to start something for tomorrow?

I have been for a run for 20 minutes this afternoon and have done 700 skips.

Food today

B/F - HM porridge with blackberries, slice of white bread, flora & marmalade, 2 coffees
Lunch, 2 w/m pitta breads, ham salad with teeny bit of mayo, yoghurt.
Tea - HM lamb curry (done in slow cooker so no oil used), rice.

Snacks - fruit (melon and mango), squash.

I gave quite a bit of thought to the gym membership last week and have decided to join for 1 year only. I am going tomorrow straight after the school run to sign forms and do a cardio session. I am feeling a bit :eek: about spending the money but when the year is up I will definitely cancel it and just do 2 runs and 2 bike rides per week, I will be at my target weight by then and this will keep my fitness up.

HelenDave- your journey sounds a lot like mine, I have lost 2.5 stones since mid January and have gone from a size 18 to a 14/16 and am working my way back through all the clothes that haven't fitted for ages.

When I ran today I wore my new running tights from M&S and they were very comfy. The waistband jiggled down slightly then didn't move again, I also wore an XPG running vest, this is a range designed by Jenni Falconer for Debenhams and that stayed put around my hips too.

Fmess

Evening all

Not my greatest day today but did do my aqua aerobics, although it wasn't as good as other classes I have been too.

Breakfast - bacon sandwich
Lunch - cheese, yoghurt, mcflurry and cris cuts!
Dinner - chicken, sausage, veg and potatoes, magnum, cheese and crackers!

I also went on the scales as the gym today. They say 10st 1lb and 33.3% body fat. I'm going to continue using my scales at home on a weekly basis but double check every month by using the scales at the gym.

I am going to set myself a challenge this week, as you suggested dolly, thank you Anyone else want to join?

In the next 7 days, I am going to:
1. Lose at least 1lb (that means be 9st 10lbs or less on the home scales)
2. Eat at least 3 pieces of fruit and veg a day
3. Do 5 hours exercise
4. Only eat one item of chocolate
5. Try one new type of fruit or veg (any suggestions?)

HelenDave I'm in awe of you doing all that exercise, with kids and a full time job. Well done you!