Inspiring thread! Need to make changes this year; I hit 43 and I am overweight. I too worry about diabetes.

Does anyone mind if I come onboard?

I dug out the wii fit today and have put on a fair bit since summer

I have a toddler and that restricts me a bit exercise-wise. I think I'm addicted to sugar. I did GI years ago and it really worked for me. IIRC the first couple of weeks sugar-free were tough but after that it was easier.

I really need to get back into a healthier regime.

Wheat pasta with Korma sauce and lots of Kale is a fantastic meal. Plenty of carbs and good nutrients. Add in a few eggs and a bit of fish.

Thanks No special eating plan, except for less food. The weird thing is you see these super obese documentaries and people have a massive table full of the junk food they ate during the day, but I didn't used to eat as much as them. I haven't been able to eat fried food or takeaways for 7 years due to a gallbladder problem which I am too fat to have taken out, so I am quite surprised I am so heavy. I guess sweets and bread are my Achilles heel, but I would still not pig out as much as those in documentaries. However, I need to lose the weight regardless, and so I am just cutting down portion size while still eating much of the same, such as chicken breast. For snacks instead of sweets I will have to try and eat grapes or other pick-at fruit to keep me busy. I will also try and go for a walk each day even though it is very hard with my bad leg and back.

I got a real shock with my weight amount and because I feel quite ill recently I need to especially lose the weight so I can get tests done, as I think I am too heavy for the doctors examination tables and dentists and definitely for scanners unless I get taken to a zoo, yikes.

Averaging just under 2lbs a week loss at the moment and settling back into my food routine.

You should keep a food diary and have your doctor look it over if you feel you're not losing what you should be. Then they can give you weight loss medication if you need it.

I eat too many Chinese takeaways and drink too much wine...but at least I know where I'm going wrong.

I started on 4th January. I was 16st 1lb, the heaviest I've ever been and it showed. For a few months, I only had a few tops that fit me and when I see pictures of myself, I have a typical 'fat face'. I hated it so knew something had to give. Also noticed changes in my 'health' - being out of breath climbing stairs or simply walking to places, arriving with sweat on my brow at work despite it being cold outside, etc.

So, I developed my own plan that I thought I could stick with. Once or twice a week, I have a 'fat day' where I can eat whatever I want. The rest of the week, I eat healthily, with no snacking.

My healthy days look like this:

Breakfast - bowl of bran flakes with milk
Lunch - two tuna sandwiches on brown bread (just tuna) and pre-prepared fruit pots (Poundland do a pot of melon, apple and grapes so buy these at lunch)
Dinner - varies, anything from another bowl of bran flakes to a tin of soup. Even a pizza if it's within the 350 calorie mark.

I'm aiming for 350 calories per meal, except lunch which is 700. That's 1400 cals per day.

On my fat days, I'm finding that it's harder to gorge. Mon - Fri were healthy days and yesterday was my first fat day. I had bacon, eggs, beans and toast for a late breakfast then only had a piece of Christmas cake and three bags of crisps the rest of the day, despite allowing myself the opportunity to eat anything I wanted. That one big meal meant I didn't feel hungry enough for another meal all day. Perhaps it's because I'm used to only eating what I eat on healthy days.

Today is the first day back on healthy days so it's water (with a little Tropical Robinsons with extremely low sugar content) and the plan above. Same tomorrow, then another fat day is planned for Tuesday.

At the end of Week One, I'd lost 5lb, which was my target. Down to 15st 10lb. For Week Two, I'm aiming for a 4lb loss to take me down to 15st 6lb. Less of a target as Week Two contains two fat days, Tuesday and Sunday.

It's kind of like a reverse 5:2 diet, without the need to restrict calories to very low levels on the fast days. I'm finding that sleeping late at weekends is helping with not eating a lot during the day. Lunch times at work were a problem as I work in a town centre so lots of fast food about - I now just take £3 to work each day, no wallet, no cards - and buy my fruit from Poundland. My biggest weakness has always been full fat Coke - I love the stuff and miss it terribly on healthy days but know that I can get my fix on the next fat day and that helps.

My first stone goal is 26th January. I want to hit 15st by then. For all I know, I may need to make some changes to what I eat on healthy days but, for now, it seems to be working.

well weighed myself this morning and im 5lbs down from 15st 11 to 15st 6 so happy with that

going to try and knock that 6 off this week

No major changes to my diet, all exercise and i've lost 2lb in two weeks but more importantly a cm from the waistline. Even more importantly, I can feel my fitness levels improving again as yesterdays run was the best performance since 2014.

9lb/3cm left to go.

I've gone from 12 st 2 to 11 st 12 since the beginning of January. I had a Mcdonalds yesterday with ice cream but other than that have done pretty well.

I have cut back on the junk food a lot, drank plenty of water and been swimming a few times. Hope I can keep the motivation going.

I want to learn to cook some more simple meals for one though, I can batch cook spaghetti and chilli sauces, meatballs etc but I get bored of having the same thing every few days.

I've lost another 4 pounds which is great. Thought I might have a post xmas slump given my lack of wanting to do anything so I am pleasantly surprised.

I went swimming for the first time in forever last night and forgot how much I actually enjoyed it much more enjoyable than forcing myself to do an hours gym workout.

Congrats to everyone who's lost weight.

I'm thinking about trying to lose some weight this year too.

I've no goals, but am more interested in making changes, so I will stick to it for a while.

Hi everyone

I've lost 5lbs since the 1st of January. I have about 3 stone to lose to get back to my 'healthy' weight but my main goal is looking slimmer for my friends wedding in April as I'm a bridesmaid and my graduation in the summer.

I'm using Myfitnesspal to log my food, I love it. Had loads of success before with it and only fell off the wagon last year because I stopped using it.

That app was a god send when I started losing weight ...it became a religious thing for me every time I ate something I logged it and its strange the things you eat and don't realise at the end of the day when you look back at it in the evening (especially snacks and stuff) really helps you cut down on the bad snacking and eating

I don't use it now as im "clean" eating and prep every meal for the day the night before

I'm aiming to be down to a 'dress wearing' size by April too. And I have about 2 and a half stone to go till I'm happy (I think. I keep increasing the amount I want to lose).

I haven't used MyFitnessPal. I'm going to have a look! Debating investing in a Fitbit too.

Weigh in tonight. Gained a pound and a half. I've just had a nightmare of a day. Rang to get the results from my recent MRI, and was told the receptionist can't tell me "but there's a note saying the MRI people have asked for an emergency referral to a neurologist".
An hour later my nanna was told she has secondary lung cancer.

The gain tipped me over the edge, so I drowned my sorrows with two pints of beer. But tomorrow is a new day. It's also blood transfusion day. Thursday will be the start of my exercising journey. I need a distraction, so I'm gunna chuck myself into walking and go from there.

Just seen this that's apparently available on the app store for iOS and Android

http://www.pactapp.com/

What you do apparently is commit to either a healthy eating plan, an exercise plan or a fruit and veg plan (or all three) and set an amount of real money that you'll pay other members if you fail to meet those targets.

Then, if you hit those targets you've set, you earn money from members who haven't.

This part talks about the rewards ..


It's in dollars as it's a US based app, but looking at their map, the UK is quite a large user base for them as well so it must work fine here.

I have zero connection to this app or company, just in case anyone was wondering. Thought it might be useful

Hello all. I weighed myself today, shifted 2lbs in a week which I'm happy with. I've been eating well, plenty of fresh ingredients and lots of exercise. I have been allowing myself the odd treat though but within reason.

I started slimming world and got myself a exercise bike and have lost over 3kg in 10 days, very pleased but still have 24kg to go before i get a nice flat stomach fingers crossed.

Lost 4.4lb at weight in on Monday night. Been really good this week so far so hoping for my first half stone Monday coming.

Well done.
I've lost 5.5lb sine the start of the year.
I find that thinking in terms of milestones is good.
That first half stone will start you realising that if you can do that you can do it again then you'll have lost a stone.

I am hoping to lose about 2 stone to get back to my ideal weight (from 70 kg to 55). Drinking less, eating more sensibly, unfortunately so far not moving more because work has been exhausting, but I intend to improve that as well.

I want to buy a fitness tracker to keep me motivated - any advice which model to choose?

lost 10lbs since the 4th jan when i weighed myself yesterday.
not going to weigh myself now til 4th feb.
target 100lbs in 50 weeks.

Well done.
2lb a week is a sensible target. You may even find that you'll lose more which will up your motivation and it'll go quicker.

As of this morning I'm on 7lbs loss so just over 2lb a week and going well.

I've so far stuck to my 'every other day' gym routine and have seen some quick improvements in my fitness. Well I can now run for 10 minutes at least!

I've improved my diet in that I've managed to swerve away from the awful habits i'd gone back into over christmas (takeaways, eating chocolates all day at work and then buying more to eat in the evening) and i've increased the amount of fruit and veg. Also I haven't had an alcoholic drink since september and don't drink any (full fat) fizzy drinks. However i'm still eating too much, haven't completely cut out the rubbish and could do with eating lower fat meals.

As such, due to my awful metabolism I haven't lost any weight in the last 2 weeks, but I stil feel a lot better. I'm planning to gradually move to the 'monk' lifestyle I have to live to lose weight but I probably won't get there completely until February. I prefer it this way though as all my previous new year weight loss programmes have proved unsustainable in the past.

Cheers.That is what i thought
Already 2lb under my target of feb 4th anyway so hopefully will lose few more lbs by then.