Back at target, still thinking...

Scrumbles

Dancing Queen
I really wish I wasn't back on this forum making this thread. :(

My diet history goes like this:

I was fat from early childhood, became a fat adult and have yo-yo dieted my way up to 17st 5lbs at my biggest 4 years ago. Through the back end of 2011, all of 2012, and the first 4 months of 2013 I worked hard to get down to a modest target of 10st 10lbs and thought that I pretty much had it cracked this time: I knew exactly how many calories a day I needed to maintain me at that weight, so what could go wrong?

A lot, so it seems.

Apart from anything else, I think I basically burnt out. I was so controlled for so long that I no longer had it in me to keep monitoring everything I ate and drank, plus I managed to convince myself that by now I must have sufficiently engrained my good habits that I could relax a bit, right? Wrong. Over the next few months some of those lost pounds gradually started finding me again, and the worst part about it was that even though I was no longer weighing myself regularly, I knew I was gaining weight but couldn't find it in me to do anything about it. So frustrating.

Thankfully, by October I was sufficiently annoyed with myself to take action, and during that winter managed to knuckle down and lose the stone or so I'd regained. Hurrah! Slate wiped clean.

So this time I was going to be alright, yeah? Surely I must have learned that pretending I can eat like a normal-weight person doesn't fly for me, and that I can never, EVER, slacken the reigns, but no :rolleyes: Over the summer and autumn of 2014 I totally took my eye off the ball again - worse than in 2013 - and come January this year had done much more damage than the year before. And once again, I knew it was happening but was emotionally completely incapable of facing it and dealing with it. How ridiculous is that?!

I suppose if there's a positive to be found in this, at least I've twice managed to arrest the self-sabotage before I put back all the weight, but it isn't much to be happy about. If this pattern keeps repeating, I'll probably just end up spending longer and longer periods off-plan and less and less time repairing the damage until I'm all the way back to where I started, or likely even heavier! Not a pleasant outlook :(

So where does that leave me?

Well, I'm still pondering the maintenance conundrum, but my first job is obviously to remove the excess pounds, so at the moment I'm fully focused and locked into a calorie-counting regime that I know will slowly but surely take off the weight. I typically lose 3-4lbs per month eating about 1400-1500 calories a day, and that level of deficit is tolerable as long as I make relatively smart choices about food - if I'm daft enough to eat it all in cake, I can expect to be hungry! :p

I did consider going low carb again (I lost the bulk of my weight on Atkins combined with calorie-counting) but I decided against it because there are too many things in my daily diet that I would miss, principally potatoes, rice and oats - they are just too useful in the meals I like making and eating to give them up. I am however avoiding bread because I know that for me it's a MAJOR trigger food for bingeing and therefore not worth the risk.

Other than that, there are no particular rules, except that I have to eat my main meal of the day slowly, and I mean s-l-o-w-l-y. I've even started setting a timer and aiming for no less than 20 minutes so that my meal has a proper chance to "land" and my stomach can tell my brain that I am in fact full. I have to say that the food gets a bit cold towards the end of the time, but that's what microwaves are for :D and in any case, I think it would be worth it because I've found myself far less prone to evening munching since I started doing this.

So to the hard bit...the numbers :sigh:

I'll say now that I'm not going to make these the main focus of this diary. In 2012/13 I was scale-hopping every day, which served a valuable purpose at the time because it allowed me to see the precise nature of my losses (they're governed by my monthly cycle, so the 4 week pattern goes: big loss - small gain - no change - small loss) but is effectively redundant now since I know from experience that this calorie deficit WILL work, and weighing once a month for reassurance is all I really need.


*deep breath*


Start weight (as of this morning): 177lbs :rolleyes:

Target weight: 150lbs

So that's 2 stone to shift. At my usual loss rate it'll take about 7 months, though it may take longer if I have a break at some point (I find I can take a week off now and again without too much damage as long as I'm in the right mind set to start with).

In the meantime I can address the yo-yo problem - I guess I've got a nice long time to think about it...

ETA:


Today's grub:-


Breakfast: slice of cake, 431 cals (leftover from Valentine's...I don't normally eat cake for breakfast...honest:p)


Lunch: half tin of Heinz Minestrone soup, 63 cals


Dinner: Whopping plate of chicken risotto with leeks, red pepper, garlic and celery, sprinkled with crushed crispy bacon and grated mature cheddar, 697 cals (I waited all day for that pile of yumminess, and it was worth every hunger pang, lol)


Dessert: pot of Sainsbury's chocolate mousse, 116 cals


Milk (SS) in teas and coffees, 130 cals


Grand total - 1436 cals


I feel absolutely stuffed since dinner and the chances of me raiding the kitchen tonight are less than zero. Result! :D
 
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Goodness me, that dinner last night was sooo big I'm still not hungry!

Will have some breakfast soon, though...not cake this time :cool: I'll be making some chocolate porridge, which consists of 40g oats, 100ml SS milk mixed with 90ml water, 13g brown sugar, 20g raisins and 6g cocoa powder all stirred together and blitzed in the micro for 2 minutes. Comes to 324 cals and really hits the spot if I need a sweet fix first thing.

I was thinking last night about how lopsided my food was yesterday, having such a big feed so late on, and it occurs to me that I do this a lot. It seems like I need to feel almost uncomfortably full at some point in the day for my body to register that I've eaten: I can have exactly the same number of calories in a day, but if I space them out evenly I'll get a nagging,unsatisfied feeling that won't go away and is especially bothersome on these long winter evenings - I seem to cope with feelings of hunger much better during the day than I do at night.

Having said that, I will be spacing them out a bit better today, which looks like this:

Breakfast: chocolate porridge, 324 cals

Lunch: half tin Branston baked beans, 175 cals

Dinner: oven baked ratatouille (aubergine, courgette, onion, red pepper, tinned tomatoes, garlic and olive oil) with smoked gammon and small jacket potato, 675 cals

Milk in tea and coffee, ​130 cals

Grand Total:- 1304 cals

There are no snacks included because another thing I'm trying this time round - along with the s-l-o-w eating - is eliminating eating between meals, that being one of the most obvious ways I get into trouble when maintaining. I reckon if I could just stick to eating my 3 meals a day, I wouldn't have as much of an issue, but we'll see.

Hope everyone has a great dieting day!:D
 
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Hi I love your organisation :D I hope I am too lol

good luck x
 
Hi Honey-J, thanks for popping in :D


I'm all about being organised - I have to be or I'd probably blow my whole calorie allowance before midday :p Plan, plan, plan...that's the only way I can do this.


Good luck with your weight loss - are you keeping a diary on here?
 
I can relate to the evening eating! I've always saves points/syns/kcals for 'after dinner' - it is almost nothing to do with hunger but, well, not sure what it is! I used to be a lot worse when I was younger with it though - I still have to keep something back for 'supper' though.

Your chocolate porridge sounds interesting! Haven't heard of that before. That's the kind of thing I like to reserve for supper...I may be trying that soon!
 
Hi zeke!

I've tried keeping cals for evening snacks in the past, but I seem to cope better having a really big evening meal and then nothing thereafter except water/tea/coffee. I know that some people thrive on smaller meals with decent-sized snacks in between, but if I do that I never seem to feel I've eaten "properly". It's hard to explain :confused:

Not that snacking is always to do with hunger, as you say. When I'm going through a bad phase with food I can easily eat half a dozen or more chocolate digestives just because I want them, nothing to do with needing anything to eat. It's almost like I want to get big again :(


I was inspired to do some stats today regarding my weight gain since last year, though having done them I'm not so sure that I wanted to know this(!):

My last recorded weight was 154lbs back on March 20th 2014, so I've gained 23lbs in the last 11 months, which is basically 2lbs a month.

To gain 2lbs of fat in a month I would need to eat 7000 cals in excess of my needs (1lb of fat = 3500 cals). That means that my daily average over-eat would have been just 250 cals, which is, say, 3 chocolate digestives, or a couple of slices of bread with a scraping of butter, or an average chocolate bar, or a couple of tiddly bags of crisps, any of which I could easily scarf down and barely notice them!

I find it quite scary that those are the margins I'm playing with, to be honest. Really brings it home that I can never relax my vigilance because it's a slippery, slippery slope...
 
Hi Honey-J, thanks for popping in :D


I'm all about being organised - I have to be or I'd probably blow my whole calorie allowance before midday :p Plan, plan, plan...that's the only way I can do this.


Good luck with your weight loss - are you keeping a diary on here?

Absolutely agree with you there - if I don't plan what I am going to eat for the next couple of days I would eat total rubbish all the time.
 
Hi Honey-J, thanks for popping in :D


I'm all about being organised - I have to be or I'd probably blow my whole calorie allowance before midday :p Plan, plan, plan...that's the only way I can do this.


Good luck with your weight loss - are you keeping a diary on here?

i hope to follow you in your foot steps then lol. Yes I have started a diary now for my rambles. X
 
Absolutely agree with you there - if I don't plan what I am going to eat for the next couple of days I would eat total rubbish all the time.

Hi systema!

It's the key, isn't it? Just wish I didn't contrive to forget this every time I get to target, aaargh!

i hope to follow you in your foot steps then lol. Yes I have started a diary now for my rambles. X

Cool! Whereabouts is it? I'll look in :D

ETA: Ha! found it! Perhaps I should try reading the index properly next time #needtogotospecsavers :D

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Afternoon!

Did you know that there are 447 calories in a Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Salted Caramel Muffin? I did :cool:

Bit bonkers to start the day with something like that, I know, but it's a once-a-week treat that I allow myself on the day my shopping comes, and I make very sure to plan everything so that the rest of the day is healthy and low calorie - salads all the way, lol!

Today's grub:

Breakfast: Sainsbury's Salted Caramel Muffin, 447 cals

Lunch: hard boiled egg and ham salad, 262 cals

Dinner: salmon salad (lettuce, carrot, tomatoes, peppers) with 1 tbspn french dressing and small jacket spud, 590 cals

Dessert: Sainsbury's creme caramel, 110 cals

Milk in tea and coffee, 130 cals


Grand Total: 1539 cals

A tad more than I would normally aim for, but I didn't have my dessert yesterday (didn't need it!) so I'm owed it today.

I think days like today exemplify why I do best on calorie-counting: can't think of too many diets that would allow me to have a mahoosive muffin and remain firmly on plan (it's about eleventy-billion syns on SW I would guess :eek:).

I do try to eat somewhat healthily most of the time, though. My main meal of the day is, almost without exception, homemade and consisting of a good protein with lots of veggies; lunch is very often soup, sometimes tinned, sometimes homemade, or baked beans, and breakfast is mostly porridge or eggs, so I don't do too badly on the nutrition front. What you won't see much of in my menus is fruit - not a big fruit eater, and as long as you eat your veggies, you don't actually need to eat fruit for health reasons :)

Mind you, I do love strawberries, so roll on summer...
 
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Great that you can have a muffin like that for breakfast and still be on plan! I guess they are good!

This is how I have observed my consistently slim friends eating all the time, almost subconsciously - they have a treat but cut down elsewhere/know when to stop! If they are going out for a meal in the evening they eat light during the day. I've just been a bit slow to catch on!
 
Great that you can have a muffin like that for breakfast and still be on plan! I guess they are good!

This is how I have observed my consistently slim friends eating all the time, almost subconsciously - they have a treat but cut down elsewhere/know when to stop! If they are going out for a meal in the evening they eat light during the day. I've just been a bit slow to catch on!

Aye, that's certainly one of the things that helps a naturally slim person. Sadly, if you're genetically pre-disposed to gain weight, your body will never help you in this regard. I'm finally recognising that I will always have to be conscious of exactly where I'm at calorie-wise if I'm going to indulge in the odd treat so that I can compensate appropriately. It will never be an instinctive thing for me.

Really interesting to read what you said about eating slowly - it is something I saw mentioned on that recent-ish diet programme on BBC - they did an experiment with people eating quickly, slowly, standing up and sitting down and it did make a significant impact.

I expect it was that very programme that put me in mind to do it. I think most people have heard that advice at some point - I certainly had - but as I never thought I was a particularly quick eater anyway, I didn't see much point in trying it.


But then I actually timed myself eating my dinner one evening, and was shocked to realise that it took me less than 7 minutes to dispatch a big plate of food, and to be honest, I barely noticed it :eek: I could have easily shovelled in half as much again!


The first time I made my dinner last 20 minutes it seemed to drag on forever - I got quite bored of eating by the end - but I've grown used to it now and almost see it as a challenge to beat my previous time! Last night I managed to make a salmon salad last over 28 minutes - give it a few more months and I'll still be eating it at breakfast next day :D


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No special treats for today, but yummy food nonetheless:


Breakfast: chocolate porridge, 324 cals


Lunch: ham with 2 scrambled eggs, 294 cals


Dinner: fish florentine (pollock, spinach, tomatoes, cheese sauce) with small jacket potato, 581 cals


Dessert: Sainsbury's chocolate mousse, 116 cals


Milk in tea and coffee, 130 cals


Grand Total: 1445 cals

The fish florentine is done in the slow cooker and is one of my faves on miserable, rainy winter days like today - can't wait! :D
 
Ugh...totm with a vengeance :(

Feel like death warmed-up, which doesn't excuse but probably explains why I reached for the last slice of my Valentine's day cake this morning instead of the healthy eggs I'd planned for breakfast :rolleyes:

Oh well. No biggie - I'll just have to work around it.

Today's food:

Breakfast: cake, 431 cals

Lunch: half tin of Heinz Lentil and Bacon soup, 117 cals

Dinner: 2x chorizo-style sausages with cabbage, carrots and potato, 557 cals

Dessert: Sainsbury's Chocolate mousse, 116 cals

Milk in tea and coffee, 130 cals

Grand Total: 1351 cals


This will be subject to change depending on how I feel. Not a good food day, but probably better than I'd manage under non-diet conditions - that would be chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, and some chocolate just for good measure! :rolleyes:
 
Yummy cake for brekkie....oh yes :D I like your style lol x
 
Yummy cake for brekkie....oh yes :D I like your style lol x

It hit the spot...not gonna lie :p



I ended up eating a teensy bit more food than stated, but I still came in around target for my calories, so it was fine.

Oddly enough, today has been healthier food-wise, but I've been more bothered by hunger - dunno how that works?!


Today's food:


Breakfast: porridge with nutmeg, cinnamon and raisins, 304 cals


Lunch: 1 leftover sausage with hard boiled egg and salad, 310 cals


Dinner: slow cooker goulash with broccoli and potato, 573 cals


Dessert: creme caramel, 110 cals


Milk in tea and coffee, 130 cals


Grand Total: 1427 cals


Cannot WAIT for that big ol' plate of goulash - gonna be quite an effort not to scoff it down in seconds, but I'll do my best...
 
Didn't record my food here yesterday because it was more or less a carbon copy of the day before, coming in at 1401 calories.


Moving on, following a chat in Tracy's diary, I think I'm changing my strategy a little as of this week.


I don't think for one moment that I can do full-on fasting days, but I'm pretty sure I can reduce my eating "window" to just lunch and dinner, thereby allowing myself a) a more substantial lunch, or b) a snack somewhere in between lunch and dinner, or possibly both!:D


I know dieticians throw up their hands in horror at the idea of skipping breakfast, but mornings are definitely my least hungry time of day, so why waste calories then when I can feel so much more in need of them later?


Anyway, I'll see how it goes.


Today's food:


Lunch: 2 eggs scrambled, half tin of baked beans, 30g of mature cheddar, 498 cals


Dinner: chicken breast with leeks, carrots and potato, 547 cals


Dessert: creme caramel, 110 cals


Biscuit, 81 cals


Milk in tea and coffee, 130 cals

Grand Total: 1366 cals


Have to say, I like the look of that: much bigger lunch, a biscuit, and I'll be coming in at about 100 cals less than I'm averaging at the moment. Cool!


Now to see if it works...
 
When I get up early I really can't wait for my breakfast when my OH gets up about one and half hours later - could not get up and wait until lunchtime, that for me would be worse than trying to not eat chocolate in the evening. I have about 3 fruit teas and an Highlights drink whilst trying not to think about toast.:)

It does sound ok for you though if you can manage it - nice lunch and dinner.
 
Well, it went ok yesterday. I was pretty hungry by late morning, but managed to hold off having lunch until 1.30pm, and after that I wasn't bothered by hunger much, if at all.

It certainly isn't a strategy that would suit everyone, but it probably makes more sense for me because I'm not a particularly early riser - especially at weekends - and I'm often up pretty late at night, so a few hungry hours in the morning before my system is properly awake seem doable. We shall see! I definitely need to change the game somehow because I've twice failed at maintaining in the last two years, and I really can't keep letting that happen.

Today's nosh:

Lunch: half tin Heinz minestrone soup, tuna and tomato salad with mayonnaise, 363 cals

Dinner: chilli con carne with pasta and broad beans, 679 cals

Dessert: chocolate mousse, 116 cals

Biscuit, 81 cals

Milk in tea and coffee, 130 cals

Grand Total: 1369 cals

That's a whopper dinner to look forward to, I must say :D Hopefully my protein-heavy lunch will keep me going until then, though I have some calories to play with just in case it doesn't.
 
I get up anywhere between 5.30 and 6 am (and I have nowhere to go and nothing to do :) ) and my OH gets up after 8am so I have quite a time trying not to eat - any later than this for breakfast then I would eat on my own.
I always have a pud, usually the same S.F. Jelly, fruit and yogurt and my lunch would not feel the same without it.

Glad it is working for you.
 
Hi Scrumbles,

I'm the same as you in terms of morning hunger- I can usually get to 1pm without much hunger/bother and when I'm busy doing things I can forget to eat until 2 or 3pm, although I've been eating breakfast recently as binge-prevention. It's good that you can stop at one biscuit though- if I open a packet I eat at least 3!

Well done for sticking to a nice low number of cals!
 
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