Hello Dear Reader,
Once I used to have fat days and thin days, now I just have fat days and I’m OK with being fat days. We endomorphs, pear shaped with the predisposition to put on weight have to be careful with what we eat. If I’m really really good then I can keep weight off but anyone who knows me knows that I can be good for quite a while and then, I don’t slip, but dive head first into the active dismissal of any dietary rules and let the belt out a notch and then another…….
I had a moment yesterday when I tried to wear size 14 jeans and struggled. It’s no good feeling cross with myself as I know what I’m like. There’s no good feeling dismissive or thinking about that dietary roller coaster but just accept the inevitable. Anyway, recent research has proved that fasting diets really don’t do us any harm and we can rein ourselves back in if we put on weight by decreasing our food intake for a while and recalibrating our weight again. Men do it quite happily. They put on weight and then just really cut back until they lose it without any of the drama that some of us women feel, they also step up the exercise and drink more water quite happily too.
So, those few extra pounds have to go. I did try Slimming World. Although the group were lovely, it worked for the majority and the focus of the weekly weigh motivated me, I didn’t like the ‘clubiness’ of it. Nor did I like the smelly feet when people took their shoes off to be weighed and standing close to people in the queue with poor hygiene really put me off too. My intolerance to humans being humans, so as the colloquialism goes….’my bad’. I should get over that but somehow I struggle so you’ll just have to forgive me on that one.The only bit I enjoyed was being weighed. I also wish that the fiver a week paid for a bollocking as celebrating half a pound off (frankly, that’s less than the weight of the average poop!) really didn’t motivate me whereas that look of disapproval along with a ‘you can do much better than this’ works better for me personally.
There we are Dear Reader, who else needs some ‘these trousers are a bit tight’ motivation? If you’ve got any then feel free to leave some. I think I’ll set up a walking diary so we can increase our movement together. I’ll immediately aim for 10,000 steps a day and maybe we can try together. I could blame this long wet winter but in truth, I’ve just used that as an excuse. I know we’ve been here before haven’t we?
Who’s up for the walking diary? May be then we can move on to the ‘how many miles?’ diary.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxx
Love the new site and I hope all stays well with it for you and us!!
It could be my words about the dieting and exercise and, indeed, the smelly feet etc. I need a kick up the proverbial after a winter of indulgence.
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That could have been me writing your today’s post. I need a kick up the proverbial after a winter of indulgence.
Love the new site!
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Oh this really did strike a chord.I was talking to my husband this morning about how we both have to struggle to keep our weight down. Some people are naturally slim, and we are not! Both of us went to Slimming World. He has kept virtually all his weight off but mine has crept on gradually. Unless we religiously follow the restrictions weight just creeps back. Slowly, surely it happens time and again. Stretch waisted trousers helped for a bit, but then came the realisation (tight jeans) oh no, I’m chubby again! I vow never to eat “rubbish” and keep to the good SW eating habits. However, it’s hard to really get thin when your body clearly wants to be a different shape! Good luck to all of us who are doing our best to keep healthy and fit.x
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It’s difficult isn’t it
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I’m with you. Aiming for 10k per day too.
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I’m doing the couch to 5k NHS app. Six weeks ago I couldn’t run up a flight of stairs but I’m slowly getting fitter. I go out three times a week for half an hour a time and I really enjoy it.
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I’m up for it I need the motivation!!!
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I have started on the 5 : 2 diet recently. Not only to lose weight, but to stay healthy. I fast on Mondays and Thursdays (up to 500 calories allowed for women and 600 for men). I never thought it would be so easy and the pounds are dropping off! It’s free, no membership fees, no powders/formula/pills and our grocery bills have gone down drastically. 😄
“The Fast Diet” - why not check it out?
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Fasting works for me, about ten days of low cal, then intermittent fasting twice a week
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To be honest, you’ve just described most of my various experiences of diet clubs. The last attended was WW. My daughter and I used to sneak in, get weighed and run! Can’t be doing with all that praise and clapping malarkey either! They did persuade me to buy an over priced pedometer, which I have to say I use on walks and that was the best thing about the experience. Of course I could have just bought one at half the cost from the start but …c’est la vie! Summer’s coming, we’ll all eat less and you’ll soon be back in your size 14’s. x
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I hope so I struggled to get my weight down, the moment I let slip back the weight comes
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Hmmmm I did wonder, as you havent posted for quite a while about any weight loss! Count me in, I so need to get my motivation back, have a date with my bikini in June,30th Anniversary Barbados trip.
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Hi Froogs,
I have failed on diets, but the one I return to and which works for me is Weightwatchers (as long as I stick to it!). There are no ‘banned’ foods, so if I want a slice of cake, some chocolate or a glass of wine I can have them. I use the online service; like you, I can’t stand ‘groups’ of any kind so going for a weigh-in does not appeal (I didn’t like mums and tots when my children were young either!). I think I am truly antisocial! I weigh myself weekly and record it online. It also suits my busy life as it is so convenient - I too work in education and term time is always full on. So far I’ve lost 1st 3 since the middle of January. I think home cooked food, even if that means cake, is better than shop bought. I have also tried Slimming World, and whilst it worked for a while, I don’t think the route to being slim for a greedy person (which I am!) is a diet which says you can eat as much as you like! After a while, it just wasn’t shifting the weight so, after a dabble with the Pig to Twig diet, I returned to Weightwatchers to lose weight for a family wedding. Sadly, I put it all back on (see former comment about greedy) so I am on that road again.
Love the blog! Stephanie
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I need to get back to weighing myself, it’s what keeps me in check
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I joined slimming world 5 weeks ago and have so far have lost 1 stone and 5 pounds. I too really don,t like the class so I just jump on the scales and leave but if I didn’t go I would probably not do this. I have a lot of weight to lose and have very little willpower and to be honest i don’t follow the plan but do my own thing which seems to be working. I know some people enjoy the meeting afterwards but I feel very uncomfortable and don’t get anything from it and there’s always food there ! I am doing this with a friend which helps and I am saving 2 pound coins so that I can get some new clothes when i feel comfortable, no target weight or size, I will just know ,but it is not easy and if I want a piece of cake I have it and then have a plain salad or veggie soup for dinner.
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I am doing SW and thankfully there are no smelly people there!! LOL. I have started Badminton on a Monday night, bought a skipping rope and got myself an allotment. I am hoping it will come off pound by pound. Am back in 14s again. Good luck Froogs. Bev.
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Your words could have been written by me. My weight is a constant battle of depriving myself and then feeling ” eat and enjoy it” I put weight on in he winter and try to loose it in the summer.
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Are we twins?
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I joined Slimming World and did relatively well, but travel a lot and find it difficult to get to meetings. However I do have all the resources to hand now, and should be able to continue the weight loss. My son is getting married in September and I’m vain enough not to want to look like Miss Piggy in the photos (as well as the obvious health benefits to weight loss)!
I know what you mean about falling off the wagon, I can demolish a Poundland bag of toffee in the 15 minutes it takes to get home from the shops!
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I can out do that bloke in man versus food when I get going!
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Will try again …. Count me in. Am marching round the house to get to 10k today
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Ilona over on meanqueen has been doing this on her blog. Hers is walk 1000 miles in 2016, lots of her followers have signed up. I suppose everybody does it for different reasons- health, fitness, weight loss. Go for it!
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I could have written this post myself,though not so eloquently! I have lost all motivation to diet , was thinking of moving more too but I need to get off my bottom and actually do it!
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Hello, it’s good to see you again & nice site! I hope you are well. I am a diabetic and I am supposed to be on a diet all the time. After 42 years it does get a bit much. I like walking to and from work though so I think this is a good idea.
Stay strong. I think this is a good idea. hugs, kitxxxx
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Congrats on the move Froogs!
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Link working fine, Froogs. Good to see you back.
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Testing
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Have tried to leave a comment twice but it doesn’t seem to be getting through
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It worked ;-)
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Test Test Test
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Yep, can see it xxx
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The comment stream is working for me, from an iPad. Good luck with the walking diary. x
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I’m up for that, my weight has crept up in last 6 months, in my opinion due to IUD ( sorry if that’s too much info 😯)
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That is me in also, I get in from school and curl up in a ball with my marking and planning, then it is time to make tea, a little bit of tidying and then bed, really need to move a little more.
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Enjoying your blog.
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Good luck with your weight loss quest. Weight watchers is not for everyone. All the best.
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I am not quite sure what my excuse is other than I love food since Summer has just ended here… BUT….I joined weight watchers and need to drive 45km each way to step on those scales… I thought that the cost involved in weighing in would surely keep me motivated? I guess not as after the first weeks loss of 3.9kg I gained 1kg :(
I am thinking it would be cheaper in the long run to just purchase the next size up in clothing and be happy? As at the moment I am miserable….
Happy to join in your step challenge - I have a fitbit and am looking for friends to help motivate me in the daily challenges on there. My average daily steps are 15000 :) A lot of that is done at work so in the reality of it - don’t count :(
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If you are on Facebook join ELMM community - Eat Less Move More - They are born from the Katie Hopkins My Fat Story and they are a great inspiration of posts and information - it also is not about fad diets - just a lifestyle change - I think it’s great!
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I have stumbled on something that is finally working for me. I don’t eat gluten at all, as I have celiac.
I have also cut way back on corn and oats and cut rice out completely. I cut way back on sugar, too. I eat meat, chicken, fish, fat (mostly cheese, good butter and coconut oil), almost no dairy except cheese, green veg, very little root veggies, and two pieces of fruit per day. A glass of wine is much more rare as well. I drink, water, unsweetened tea, or water with lemon.
I briskly walk two miles at lunch and 3 miles in the evening. With my regular life, I am sometimes at 18,000 steps! Easy for me, I live in sunny California.
I am losing weight very slowly.
Good luck, friend.
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Dear Froogs, I totally understand the journey you are on as I’m on it myself. Last year at 59 I weighed 95kg. In the last five years I’ve had thyroid cancer and high blood pressure as well as atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) diagnosed. In a very senior and hugely stressful job in education, I thought there is no point me pouring money into superannuation I’m not going to live to spend it. I went to my doctor and demanded a health plan and referral to a dietician and a sports physiologist. Here in Australia that gave me 5 free consultations and thereafter I paid. I see it as an investment in myself. I bought a Fitbit HR and have become addicted to the statistics! I made lots of very very small changes but each one I committed to. The eating regime the dietician put me on saw me eating far more than before and kick started my metabolism. As did exercising every day. I committed to walking for 30 minutes a day. Once I did that I included a 30 metre jog in the downhill part and progressively increased that so that now I run 5km 4 days each week and 10km each Friday! I can barely believe it as I have never been a runner and never ever enjoyed running. But I committed to keep to the programme ‘just for today’. I no longer see the dietician and catch up with my sports physiologist once every month or so. It helps to keep me accountable as does the Fitbit statistics. At this point I’ve lost nearly 20 kg which is over 20% of my body weight. My blood pressure medication has been halved. I hope to get to 30% weight loss and get off the blood pressure tablets totally. I’m now training to run in a half marathon to keep me on track. I never thought any of this was possible and I think it’s about finding what works for you. Don’t give up! You and your health are worth it. Whenever you don’t feel like exercising, commit to do it ‘just for today’! Best wishes. Lois
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Well done Froogs, keep strong! I try to do a little everyday but sometimes I just don’t do it 😬 After wallowing in a grump about weight for a few weeks, I have given myself a good talking to, watched a few positive vids on utube and am going to do a power walk for 15 mins each day to start with. Once that has become a habit I might increase it! I also work in education so totally get the term time fatigue 😀 Good luck with your goal, all the best
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Hi Froogs, you might be interested in Michael Mosley’s latest book. I went to a talk he did all the way over here in Brisbane Australia and it was very convincing. I’m halfway through the book and reconsidering my carb and sugar intake… its pretty much the opposite of the conventional “food pyramid” advice, but its backed up with plenty of scientific evidence. Cheers, Liz
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Definitely up for the walking diary and the miles.
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Count me in for the walking club.
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Love the new blog and yes I’m in the same boat. When will I learn that one less tablespoon of peas should not be the difference between the over six foot blokes I live with and my portion. I’d be keen to join in walking. I really don’t think I could do a 10k walk though. Some of you must be fitter than me. I think I’ll start at a 3k walk before work and build up from there. Cheering us all on.
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It seems we are cut from the same cloth, as my seamstress Great Aunt would have said. I seem to start out on a new eating regime with great enthusiasm and then it either fizzles out or something crops up that makes continuing a complete impossibility, as has just happened 6 days into my Whole30.
I think eating sensibly, when you’re hungry, eating good food and not junk and doing a reasonable amount of natural exercise, walking, gardening, housework etc is the way forward. I don’t however, subscribe to the ‘eat less, move more’ way of thinking …. would you really put less petrol in your car and expect it to go further!!
Love the new blog layout, now that it’s accessible, I hope you get on okay with it. I originally blogged many years ago on WordPress and it really didn’t suit me so I switched. Hope it works out for you, they must have made some improvements.
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I have spent most of my life sees awing with both weight and finances. After following yourself and Elaine in Morgage free in three I am now debt free but noticed that if I am in control of my finances I am less stressed and don’t binge eat. I them bought a Fitbit and have lost 6kg and kept it off. It works for me! Off this week to spend some precious money on decent running shoes! Keep up the good work, love your posts
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I’m up for the walking diary, I would love to lose a bit of weight. I’ve started going to the gym twice a week, which is foolish not too as it only costs me £9.00 a month as a member of staff, so use it, as I still pay whether I go or not.
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Finally found what works for me at 56 years of age! I have tried every diet under the sun.
I have cut out potatoes, bread and pasta and eat lots of protein and leafy veg. I have lost nearly a stone since Christmas and no longer have cravings between meals.
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