#WLC W2 I kept a food diary and lost weight.

[knithead]

Despite having notions that my health issues would make losing weight nigh on impossible I lost 3lbs and I am now under 16st. I did not know how much I was eating until I wrote it down. Has anyone any ideas on how to stay focused for the next 11 weeks?

[Natty2013]

Brilliant! It is great when you see that you can lose weight.

I am on wk4 and things that have helped me is logging/planning my meals and snacks on My Fitness Pal app which is free. Using this forum. Talking about what I am trying to do with my husband so he is able to help me when I crave things. Spacing out meals and snacks so I am never hungry. Swapping to healthier snacks. Starting to do regular exercise. Understanding what portions actually look like by weighing food.

I think it is the combination of things that helps like fighting on all fronts!

Good luck

[Hidden]

Well done Once you keep a food diary it really does help you to focus more. I use Nutracheck to log food and exercise. Don't deny yourself the things you like just watch portion control. I still have take out curry once a week but share it with hubby. I also have a daily chocolate treat as I find if you deny yourself something you just crave it more! Good luck.

[Whippit in reply to Hidden]

Someone suggested to me that it's best to eat a light evening meal and to help with this they suggested putting the food on my plate, and then taking some off to re-heat for lunch the next day. It really works!!!! xxx

[Zest Healthy BMI]

Hi Knithead,

Well done on your weight loss. You've done really well.

I try to choose healthy foods as much as I can, and I try to watch my portions. I still enjoy the occasional take-away and meal out, and like Vonnyliz I like to have a chocolate treat on a daily basis (which I get in terms of having a chocolate mousse (M&S mousses are made with Belgian chocolate and are only 99 calories), and I also have a chunk of Lindt chocolate with a cup of coffee in the evening. I look forward to that, and find it satisfies my desire for chocolate perfectly!

I also go the gym about 3 to 4 times a week for an hour of cardiovascular type exercise, and also weight train about once a week. I also go for a daily walk of about 45 minutes most days - and for a 2 hour walk most weekends.

Unfortunately I've not lost any weight this week - infact I gained 2.4 pounds, but I had eaten a Chinese takeaway on the night before my weigh-in, and I had basically eaten quite a lot that night, so I'm hoping that I can lose that fairly quickly again. I've been more healthy in my choices for the remainder of the week!

Good luck with your goals for this week.

Lowcal

[Hidden]

Hi knithead,

Well, I found having a target and a set of milestones / mini-targets to tick off as I went, helped me with the motivation.

But also, to be truthful, I found the changes in my body and the way I moved and the reduced effort it took to do things (as my body weight dropped) to be things that helped me persevere. I realised that I WAS really making a difference to my body fat percentage and my weight.

Odd things made me aware of just how much I was actually changing. I remember needing to get links taken out of my watch strap because it was revolving right around my wrist.

Good luck with your weight loss journey.

[lyndie123]

Well done Knithead, good to see the weight drop isn't it? Think that you have to be strong enough to keep to whatever plan suits you despite the best efforts of the 'enablers' around us all but acknowledge your weaknesses and like Vonnyliz and Lowcal don't deny the thing you really love completely. My weakness is nuts and I have 8 a day. Really seems to help cut the craving down. Good luck and stay on here.

[TheEditor in reply to lyndie123]

There's good evidence to suggest nuts are not fattening. Apparently, our bodies don't absorb the fat in nuts.

[lyndie123 in reply to TheEditor]

that's good news, thanks very much for the input. I always think nuts have so much nutritional goodness in them for their size that they shouldn't be cast as 'baddies' Bit like avocados, the goodness in them outweighs the calorific value and as long as you keep to small amounts they do more good than harm.