Weight loss and healthy eating for a debt free life

Less_Talk_and_More_Action

Hi @KajiKita.  Thank you. It’s very basic really.  I had a good think about what had thrown me off course in the past before I committed to a wholehearted go at it.  I am doing the following: 

- Set my weigh in for a Saturday morning.  Previously on any other self-managed attempts I would always set it to Friday morning.  When I thought about it I realised that meant I would have a three day weekend every week.  And since I wanted to be a bit more relaxed at the weekend that was too strict on the other 4 days.  I now treat Friday as the same as my other work days. 

- I use Nutra check app for calorie counting.  This also lets me keep track of other things (not in an obsessed way) so I can see fibre, salt and Saturated fats so I try to follow those.  I follow their recommended amount - you can set your own or follow various other options.  I look at what I have for the week - ie x 7 days calories) and aim for a weekly approach. 

- I do plan for the weekend but if it goes wrong (as if 😂) i deduct it all from the weekly total and stick to what’s left for the rest of the week.  

- we plan for proper scratch meals.  Mr L is the cook (I know I’m lucky) and we’re plant based with some dairy thrown in here and there.  I try and plan really good meals for the weekend (where we have most of the dairy) and am hoping this will deter me from the crisps/chocolate/cake habit I had developed.  

- I also track the 30 plants a week on my phone and find I really try to hit that number which pushes me towards more fruit normally.  

Some caveats:  

- I like calories as an approach   I know they are not everyone’s cup of tea but they work for me and give me structure which I definitely need.  I know not everyone likes having to track food but for me it feels like I’m checking in with myself.  I can be a very mindless eater and this keeps me accountable.  I’m trying to eat a healthy plant based diet (don’t do fake meat) and calories support that to be honest.  

- I have a lot of weight to lose (well over 100lb) so there is quite a bit of low hanging fruit at the moment and I will make the most of that for as long as I can.  I know that I will find it hard if I lose a pound here and there - which is not saying that isn’t worth it, more that’s it’s hard when I have so much to lose.   I hope that all the planning/struture will support me then and enable me to keep ticking along.  

Another long post - apologies.  These forums are great for support as well.  

L x 

redofromstart

Great post @Less_Talk_and_More_Action, lots to think about for me - much appreciated.

we did a short dash locally rather than break the 8 weeks x 3 walks record. 

Dish of the day: Fish! Not 'a la creme' for fellow Red Dwarf fans. Basa dipped in seasoned flour, then egg, then panko then oven roasted. Any cheap frozen white fish. Served with peas here so not busting any veg records. 

beanielou

Well I have been at a funeral tea. I will say no more other than why are we always so hungry after a funeral! 

redofromstart

And why is everything beige at a funeral meal? (Or is that just my experience?)

Hope it went ok Beanie

beanielou

redofromstart said:

And why is everything beige at a funeral meal? (Or is that just my experience?)

Hope it went ok Beanie

It was indeed very beige. 

It was ok thanks ☺️ 

CRANKY40

Don't apologise for long posts @Less_Talk_and_More_Action. You never know when something that you've posted will help someone else.

The HT and I are still plodding along. We did a tip run this morning to clear a space in the shed ready for a bit of it to be fixed on Monday. The HT has brought his exercise bike indoors (it was in the way where it was) so it will be interesting to see if he uses it. 

I was watching a youtube video yesterday and it mentioned snacks. It set me thinking.....we never had snacks when we were young. Maybe the odd biscuit here and there but we had to ask for it. Grandad sometimes bought us 2oz of jellybabies and sometimes we had 10p pocket money to buy a quarter of sweets. I'm not sure when snacks became a thing in my life. We've put all food out of arms reach for now so an effort has to be made to go and find some and if we're hungry we weigh up how close it is to the next meal time. If it's close to meal time we either wait or maybe start cooking 15 minutes earlier than planned. I realise that we're lucky to mostly have the flexibility to be able to do this. 

Take care all of you 😊

Less_Talk_and_More_Action

Hi @CRANKY40 and everyone.  

That’s an interesting thought about snacking Cranky. I agree with you and definitely feel better when I don’t snack.  

I stayed the same this week.  Very pleased with that for various reasons: 

-I vastly overate on Sunday. Double my calories on crisps and chocolate.  

- Instead of just feeling it was all pointless and carrying it on the following week I did what I said I would do - I sat down on Sunday evening and deducted all this calories from my weekly total and planned the following five days around what was left.  

- i stuck to it.  

- This has demonstrated something massively important to me- control.  If I had to pinpoint one reason why I am so overweight it is mindless eating/instant gratification of the sort that crisps and chocolate offer.  Seeing that I can do it differently and being mindless isn’t an inevitable consequence feels like a mind shift for me. 

- I have also had a look at my week back on Nutracheck.  I logged every single thing I ate and it has given me a load of data to look back on. I can see days where I ate too much salt, I can see a lot of bread etc and all these things help me tweak things.  I can also see where a slightly different choice or quantity would help the bigger picture. 

- For this weekend we have planned a better menu - more calories on nicer meals , no food shopping and other plans to swerve the mindless eating.
- Mr L has agreed to shop on Fridays for the weekend and on a Monday for the rest of the week. This enables us to plan closer to the time which helps and also keeps me away from food shopping which definitely helps at present.  I know I’m lucky to have this option but I have decided it’s reasonable to use all the tools available.  

Early days but I am starting to have something to build on. 

We’re all on our own journey but I gain a lot from reading other people’s musings on this topic - thank you all. 

L x 

KajiKita

Pretty much stayed the same this week. Not surprised. It’s even a really tough week and some of the ‘comfort stuff’ has crept back into my eating habits. But … I haven’t gained so I will take that as a win 😉

If I lose another 2lbs I will breach the next stone limit so perhaps I might manage that this week …. ? 🤔

KK

Less_Talk_and_More_Action

I think that’s brilliant @KajiKita.  Such a tough week for you and your family.  

Getting into the next stone is a good motivator and if it happens, fantastic   But if not you are doing amazingly and there will be time to lose when you’re ready.  

Bizarrely (no idea where it came from) I work totally in pounds (not even kgs).  So I go down in blocks of 10 into the next level.  

Sending warm wishes as you navigate this emotional time. 

L x 

KajiKita

Thanks @Less_Talk_and_More_Action ❤️

KK