I have never joined a forum before and am a bit nervous about it, so thought I would say a bit about myself. I am 24 year old graduate living and working in Nottinghamshire. During my time at university, I put on a lot of weight and have found it increasingly difficult to shed the pounds since. Anyway, after trying and failing to stick to various low-carb, detox and crash diets, I decided to try the NHS 12 week weight loss plan, starting today!
I would be really grateful for any tips or advice to get me through the first week.
Have a great week everyone!
Written by
joanne_lulu
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I think for me the thing that has worked the best is that this isn't a diet, I'm changing the way I eat and feel about food. I don't just want to loose weight but to be healthy as well. I think the NHS plan is the best way for me to go about doing that.
So I think my advice would be to see this as a way to start living your life the way you want it to be in the future. Don't look at it as something that you will fail or come off of at some point in the future. You may well have wobbles or slip ups, we all do. But it's not the end of the world as wobbles are only small blips on the road and what matters is the overall trend. You might not get it all right in the first week so don't be discouraged. You can use these to learn and move forward toward your ultimate goal. If it was easy, none of us would be here!
'Living your life the way you want it to be in the future' - that's really great. I've created a kind of mood board with inspirational pics and quotes and I'm definitely adding this to it! Thank you!
Welcome to the Weight loss NHS forum. Have you seen our Welcome Newbie post - it's in the Pinned posts area (top right-hand-side of the homepage) and there are other posts there that are worth a read too. If you would like to join in the Monday group weigh-in, then it is going on today - see the Events section (below the Pinned posts) for the link to the weigh-in thread. You'd be very welcome to join us, if you like the idea of a weekly weigh-in, as a motivation for your weight-loss journey.
Also, have a look at the Re-boot Challenge, as there are some Reflections from members who have been doing the NHS 12 week plan, and you might find it helpful. If you want to join it, then please do. Again, look at the Pinned posts and click on 'view more' to see the post.
Good luck with the NHS 12 week plan, and wishing you success with all your goals.
Hello Joanne_lulu and welcome to this very friendly forum.
I too have never joined a forum before (not even on Facebook lol) but have found everyone one here so friendly, motivating and informative. Post your feelings, problems, triumphs etc and someone will always reply.
I'm on week 14 but rebooted the plan so I make sure it's embedded in my head. I have gone from 12st9lb down to 11st1lb (this morning) so chuffed and you will succeed too. I see this as a change for life not a diet.
I use myfitnesspal to log calories. Make good food choices as much as possible but have a treat once in a while (other wise what's the point😀) move more (starting c25k today) and have a little willpower and motivation.
Join in with some of the challenges it really does motivate you to succeed.
Hi Joanne_lulu. Just wanted to confirm everything that VickyDLM has said. It's definitely not a diet but if you are someone who puts weight on easily (like me) then you need to change your habits as much as possible to keep your weight under control. It will be difficult for the first couple of weeks but once you get into the swing of things you will soon find it easier to eat less calories and when you see the weight you have lost you will be encouraged to keep going. This forum is fantastic for help and support. If you feel like you are struggling then come on here and have a chat or read a few posts and I hope it will motivate you. Make a note of all you eat, don't guess calorie amounts or portion sizes. It's amazing how wrong you can be and that can all add up over the week. Best of luck 😊
Hi Joanne lulu. I am only on week 2 of the 12 week plan but finding it easy to work with also I have noticed how picky I am getting like wanting to find out what is actually in the foods we buy it's weird never done anything like that before. I to have never been involved with a forum but it is one of the best things there is always a post on here giving or asking for advice and always someone to help. I don't know if you are into any sport/walking pursuits but I too live in Nottinghamshire and there are quite a few groups you can join walking/badminton etc especially for the younger person some just social get together soon something to think about. Good Luck Bev
Hi joanne_lulu I am also starting today....I'm counting my calories on my fitness pal app but using the weekly food and activity chart too. I'm excited about getting started, I'm 11st 2lb and have a holiday in 10 weeks, hoping to lose a stone by then. I work shifts so I'm going to have to be organised with plenty of snacks to hand. Good luck xx
Hi Debjono, I am using the weekly food and activity chart too - I put it up on my wall so I don't avoid or forget it hehe. I'm exited too! Its great that you have a goal to work towards. To be honest, I don't really have a goal in mind at the moment but I do have a target weight to aim for. I am 13st 3lb at the moment and hope to loose 3 stone and ultimately maintain a healthy lifestyle. I made a meal menu/plan to stick to for the week so that I'm not tempted to buy unplanned of unhealthy food! Good luck! xx
The first few days are by far the hardest - once you have week 1 out of the way, hopefully all cravings will have subsided. It will get easier as you go along, honest.
I printed out the sheets and put them on the fridge where I could see them as motivation and I found that really helpful. Coming on here is also good because everyone is really kind and supportive.
Maybe think ahead about what you are going to eat and never go shopping hungry. When I'm cooking dinner, if I'm really hungry I'll have a couple of breadsticks and low fat humous to tide me over. Also, apples are surprisingly filling!
Hi, I am new too. I really want to lose weight. I struggle with mind set so I know it is going to be hard from the off. Hopefully this forum will help.
Hi minnietheminks, I suppose the mind set is half the battle. I have always struggled with my mindset. In the past, if I had a blip I would write the rest of the week off as a bad week and try to start again the following week. It'll be difficult to change, but yeah, hope this forum helps
Hiya joanne-lulu, for me I put it off until this is done or this is organised. I need to just start. Today I tracked my calories, and I over ate by 965 calories.
My diet is wonderful of yiu just look at my dinner... salads etc it is the snacks that are not good. I think it is because I am a comfort eater.
Well tomorrow I am going to keep in my calorie allowance. Yikes.
Hi minnietheminks, I am definitely a comfort eater too. Snacks are a problem for me too - I would finish work, buy snacks on the way home and binge. Sometimes I would leave what I had planned for dinner and just get a takeaway! I have been trying to swap my usual snacks with fruit and rice cakes over the last two days - I don't get the same 'binging high' but I am feeling better for it!
We'll start afresh and keep our calorie allowances together!
I have been putting topping my rice cakes with Tesco's Healthy Living Cottage Cheese and fresh chives, or natural almond butter - its actually quite yummy - definitely trying to make it my go to snack
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