I want to stop drowning

motivated

Hi debtaghh

Another one here who can relate to weight gain recently. My problem is I tend to count the calories AFTER I have eaten them . Have started my serious weight loss plan from this morning. I lost a lot of weight recently and now it's all creeping back on. I tell myself now that little pickers wear big knickers :rotfl:

Glad the food budget and meali planning is going well
M

enthusiasticsaver

debtaghh wrote: »

Calorie counting works for me too and is how I lost weight but as soon as I come off calorie counting ... the weight piles on. I just worked out that yesterday I ate about 2400 calories ... no wonder I've put on

Yep that is the only way I lose weight by counting the calories before I put the food in my mouth. That plus the fact I have a skinny DH who can eat for England and not put a pound on so he brings home croissants, cakes, wine etc when he goes shopping. Today I had a coffee and shared a blueberry muffin with a good friend so halving the treats is not so bad.

Igamogam

I dont count calories! Its low carb for us with no low fat anything together with portion size and moving more. We eat chocolate and drink alcohol but not in huge quantities and I have reduced fruit too sticking to berries mostly with oranges over winter ie when they come from Spain. Have pushed up the veg intake though. Dont miss bread or pasta or rice or potatoes but dont not have them. When we do, I weigh out the recommended portion size - if you have never done it its an eye opener! Carbs from those food groups just dont make up the bulk of our plate anymore. We stick to the Mediterranean style diet mainly and I have substituted savoury snacks ( my weakness) for nuts and seeds. I have lost 10lbs since mid January - a nice steady slow downward trend.

debtaghh

Hi all,

I haven't managed to stick to my food budget but I'm not annoyed as I have still managed £297 for a month for a family of 5, which I think is great plus I have done a little food stashing in preparation for Brexit !

Update on money front basically my signature when I update it will look like my debt has increased! Basically I've had to pay a family member back a lump sum and my signature doesn't include family debt so the family debt has gone down a bit but means my credit card debt has had to go up ( money transfer -0% deal) in one way it's a good thing as if I ever went down the dmp route it means that debt can be included. But looking at it doesn't feel great as it always feels like my debt never truly goes down!

Have a lovely weekend x

enthusiasticsaver

I wouldn't feel too bad about the debt increasing for that reason. As you said you have family debt too so has just moved from that to main debt and if you had a DMP that would be included. Budgeting is going well.

wishingthemortgaheaway

Mixed blessing really, yes your consumer debt has increased, but the decrease in family debt may actually help you feel a bit less stressed. I've always felt it's the family debt that carries the most mental burden for you.

debtaghh

Hi,

I can't believe it's been nearly a month. RL has had its ups and downs and I haven't been feeling that well, my anxiety has started to come back which isn't great.

On the money front, I feel I have lost the plot! At the minute it just feels like there is constantly something to pay out for. I need to reign it in and really watch every penny as we have a lot going on. On a positive note the good budget has been pretty good.

One of my issues is that I need to learn to say no, I always feel obliged to say yes and then am not happy about it.

enthusiasticsaver

Good to hear from you but sorry life is hard at the moment.

One tip on learning to say no is to pause and think when someone asks you to do something rather than answer an automatic yes which may be a learned response rather than considered if you generally don't like to disappoint people. I tried this out yesterday as I am normally a yes person but on joining a new club yesterday for "active retirees" I was immediately asked if I could join their committee as a secretary/treasurer etc. After a lifetime of taking on these roles I said I would think about it but could not take it on now. Try that in the future. Rather than saying yes or no, just say you will think about it and let them know and hope they either forget about it or gives you time to think up an excuse not to do it.

Silver_Queen

Well done Debtaghh. You're doing a really good job and just need to keep chipping. Well done for learning to say no sometimes, it's better for your mental health as well as your wallet.

motivated

Hi debtaghhh

Just popping in to see how you're feeling. Hope you are ok and plodding along nicely. You have come a long way.
M