I'm new here

[weightlossdream]

Hi everyone, this is day one of my weight loss journey. After years of saying I'll go on a diet, I've finally taken the plunge. I hope we can support each other with our challenges, whatever they are. looking forward to connecting with like-minded people!

[Lytham 3 stone]

Oh if its a challenge youre looking for, would you like to join our summer challenge? Here is the link to tell you all about it, hope to see you there!

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[Busybeelady in reply to Lytham]

Oh i missed my weigh in yesterday, but i will check my weight on fri for the start of the summer challenge!

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

Hello, weightlossdream, and welcome to the forum 😊

You'll find many of us have lost faith in diets and are looking instead to find a healthy eating plan that we can enjoy for life. Diets are time limited, so best to avoid that route

This welcome pack explains how the forum works and how to find your way around healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... Please take your time reading it so you get the best out of your time here.

You'll find a list of all our activities on the daily chat thread here healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... I recommend joining a weekly weigh in on the day of your choice.

We also ask that you read this information about internet privacy and security healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

, especially as you have left your post unlocked.

Wishing you all the best and I hope you become an active member of this community 😊

[Cosmo501 Restart May 2024]

Hi! Hope you have a great start to your weight loss journey. I threw myself headlong into it about 2 months ago. Still feeling cautiously positive about it... so far so good... it’s a long haul trip for me!

Have you decided on any particular strategy or approach? There’s a wealth of information and support on these forums that I find keep me focused and positive.

Good luck!

[weightlossdream in reply to Cosmo501]

Hi Cosmo501, it's a long haul for me too. My strategy is to eat more healthily, give up alcohol and walk more. I think it will be really good to have support from the group for motivation and connectedness!

Good luck with your continuing journey too and well done so far!

[Sparkles_1]

Hiii I’m new too I’m doing the nhs 12 week challenge x

[weightlossdream in reply to Sparkles_1]

Me too. Hopefully, it won't be too difficult! x

[Zofitmogelijk]

does that mysterious owl live in your barn?

[weightlossdream in reply to Zofitmogelijk]

I wish! I just love owls.

[dawnz 3st 7lbs]

That definitely will happen here! Look forward to the journey, it stays in the real world on this forum!!

[weightlossdream in reply to dawnz]

Thanks for the support! It means so much...

[Pineapple27]

Hi there weightlossdream and welcome.

I was a lifelong yo-yo dieter (age of 9 to age 49!)

If you want this to work for the longer term, you need to think about it as a lifestyle change rather than a diet. That lifestyle change will need to happen a bit at a time and will involve many things : changing your behaviour around food, portion control, emotional eating triggers, increasing your activity levels, trying new foods, making healthy food swaps, etc.

Commitment to diet/lifestyle change and resistance to temptation doesn't just happen! It has to be worked at.

The only way I have succeeded this time is to change how I approach food and eating it. I have learned to resist temptation! BUT please believe that this has taken a LOT of hard work and practice.

It's about "normalising" or "modifying" behaviour around food... and I think that with enough "practice" it becomes more and more easy until you get to the point where a behaviour is modified to the point of it becoming the only way.

I am sure that even some people who are not over weight do sometimes over indulge - but the fact is they don't do it very often...

Those of us who are over weight have been used to "treating" ourselves, eating portions that are too large, eating the things that we know are calorific because we can!

It's been a combination of changing all of those aspects of how I behave around food that has meant I have been successful this time.

I have developed a respect for the food I eat. Not everyone has the ability to eat as well as we in the western world eat. We should not abuse the privilege.

I rarely eat "on the hoof" any more, I rarely eat between meals. I take time to sit at a table and present my meals nicely. I take a moment or two to really look at my plate of food before I pick up my knife and fork.

Almost daily I say to hubbie "Aren't we lucky to be able to enjoy such lovely food". I really mean that too, I am not saying it for anyones benefit but his and mine. We should never take for granted having easy access to delicious food stuffs and our ability and love of cooking!

If you log your food - keep track of how many calories some of those "treats" contain, after a while they kind of stay in your head (medium egg = 70 cals, slice of white bread 100 cals, meringue nest 57 cals, 30g (matchbox size) of cheddar, 122 cals)

I do have sweet treats, but I buy my own choice, so things like 2 finger Kitkat, single finger Twix, Club biscuit... these are all around 100 calories. I keep them in a tin and I can have one whenever I want to, but I limit it to no more than one a day and usually with my afternoon cup of tea. That's not to say I eat one on a daily basis (usually about 2-3 times a week). They are always logged into my diary.

If you don't keep a log of what you are eating and the calories foods contain, then it's a bit like trying to travel from one place to another without a map! You might get there eventually BUT it's likely to take you much longer than if you planned the route and used a map PLUS you might take a few wrong turnings and end up going back on yourself!

I have also learned not to plan each trip out of the house to include food. Once upon a time, I'd have included lunch with a trip into town, coffee and cake with a visit to the garden centre.

I now plan or even prepare a meal BEFORE I go out (usually a salad) so that I know exactly what I can eat as soon as I walk into the door... and don't turn to "what I fancy" (usually high calorie carbs that don't keep you full for very long...)

Make a list of the reasons WHY you want to lose weight. Keep it somewhere safe (stuck to the inside of a kitchen cupboard door?) and look at it from time to time, especially when you are raiding the kitchen for treats!

I always ask myself before eating something really calorific "Do I really want to eat this thing more than I want to lose weight this week?". It's called "mindful eating" - being aware of why you are considering eating - real hunger? Boredom? Temptation? Feeling fed up?

Have a glass of water, wait 5 minutes and consider whether you still want the food. Once it's been snaffled down, it's too late and you may end up feeling cross and angry with yourself....

....and that feeling (guilt, failure) lasts for a long time, much longer than the temporary enjoyment of whatever treat you ate....

Oh, and I always remind myself how good the feeling is of seeing a loss on the scales at my weekly weigh in! That wonderful feeling lasts for days! Don't forget how that feels - you need to remind yourself of that feeling next time temptation strikes!

I’m healthier and fitter now at the age of 56 than I was 20 years ago…..

I am writing this as someone who had struggled all of my life (since the age of 9) to lose weight. I have a significant disability that affects my mobility - use a wheelchair outside of the house. I am also very short (4ft 8”). It wasn't until the age of 49 when I started to log everything and kept track of the calories I was consuming that the truth hit me between the eyes. I was eating FAR TOO MUCH for a short sedentary person. I changed my whole approach to food and eating it that everything else clicked into place

Just wished I’d found what worked for me years ago.

[MsHankMarvin]

Hi, I'm a newbie today too - just started the NHS 12 week challenge! Good luck with your journey. x

[CitrusDelights]

Hi Weightlossdream, I’m new too, and looking forward to starting the 10 week challenge that Lytham sent you the link for. It starts on Friday and think it will be a real motivation for all of us who are going through the same journey😊 it’s all about lifestyle change, and I’m watching my calories and recording them and will see if it has made a difference next week. Good luck with your journey 💪💪