Weight Watchers

[asamaic]

Still sticking to the plan, hope you all are too.

Is anyone doing any kind of exercise to tighten their stomach muscles as they lose weight? Looking for some inspiration really!

[Preston1990]

Returned from my superb trip to Scotland yesterday ready to once again pick up the weight-watchers baton.

At my weigh-in today I was alarmed to find that my weight has increased by 2 pounds over the week. This despite swimming 5 lengths of the hotel pool on Monday night and walking a fair distance to the local Chinese restaurant to partake of our 4 course banquet from the Peebles riverside car park on the Tuesday night.

Mrs Preston was both conciliatory and sympathetic, suggesting that the only sensible thing to do was to sit down and discuss a strategy for the way forward. We therefore repaired to our local John Lewis this morning and whilst I partook of their excellent large luxury hot chocolate accompanied by a portion of chocolate cake, Mrs Preston had a latte and a fine cream scone.

During the ensuing discussion, we concluded that we both need to once again get to grips with our respective healthy eating plans and we will each be redoubling our efforts in this direction over the coming weeks.

I have supreme faith in the outcome of my dieting - not least because of the contents of my fortune cookie from the Tuesday night meal.

"You will soon achieve perfection"

Be good everyone!

[stone_monkey]

Ello, ello, ello........

I hope everyone is great and doing well

I got great news today - I am no longer diabetic Got taken of insulin in December and put on type II meds and today I've been taken off that also. I have to go for an appointment in October and if everything stays as it is - preferably with a bit more weight loss - I shall be fully discharged.....

But everything has a twist - I'm now showing as anaemic - so they are testing for Coeliac disease - which can be brought on by Type I - after researching on-line I do have a few of the bizarre symptoms. But thats no biggy i just have to change my diet again - no pasta, rice, bread, crackers - well basically a gluten free diet. I have to get more Iron in my diet I take iron supplements and eat my green leafy things - so Thats a puzzle but never mind better than diabetes

Cheers to preston re: cycling - been out a few times over the last week - all good. Peebles is nice especially the river walks. If you go there again check out Glentress which is nearby - a mountain bikers paradise - if you like mountain bikes - a forrested hill full of wide fairly flat tracks for walking/ mountain biking - there is a outdoor centre at the base of the hill where you can hire bikes and I think there maybe nice restaurant also You can take your own bike. If your OH likes being pampered there is a place called Stobo Castle nearby also - supposedly a great spa - so I've been told - my sister in law worked there for a while and near there is a botanical garden - a few miles passed - Dawyck Botanical Gardens.

Diane and Baty - well done on the gardening - i have an allotment to get on with some work on - I can't see me doing an 8 hour shift there though - that is impressive - i usually give up after around a 12-16 sq metre patch weeding and breaking down the soil ready for planting....... I do have loads of Mare's tail which is a b*gg*r....excuse the French.

Asamaic - Try getting a swiss ball (you can get a reasonable one of amazon for around £15 - I have a mad pro ball which is extra strong. I use one at home instead of the couch. Its said that just sitting on one helps tighten those core muscles as your core is in constant use continually adjusting to maintain . I got a few dvd's for £5 each of amazon which give exercises to do on the ball which again tighten those core muscles and a lot more. One warning though - when starting it takes between 4 days to 1 week for your bum to adjust to sitting on a ball - you get sore bum cheeks, no bruising but it goes after walking around for a couple of minutes. I hurt my lower back and the ball stops it hurting after sitting I started using it a couple of months ago and my core feels stronger and I have no lower back twinges - very happy

So, again I have new targets - I have 1 stone to lose - target 13 stone - target 10-12 week. Also a new diet I have to design so no more cakes I had increased my fat intake to help with vitamin and mineral transfer internally but scrapping that going from butter to marg - semi-skimmed milk to skimmed and hopefully I'll reduce my cholesterol down to perfect levels.

Oh and I am doing a running test tomorrow. I stopped after my 10k on 2/3/14 and tried to rest my foot for a 10 mile 27/4/14. I shall see tomorrow afternoon - it maybe an end of my running until xmas but the blossoming of a cycling hobby instead - I shall see how it goes

Well, I'm gonna shut up now - have a great weekend everyone. i look forward to hearing your stories

Bysie bye for now........ M

[Diane65]

Well done asamaic on keeping to the plan Are you after the 6 pack look or purely toned?
I love doing these http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOZDN1UnZ9U and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_J8btnIEKQ plus Tracy Anderson mat DVD and they all work wonders for your stomach (they would do in my case if I actually did do them - due to laziness and can't be bothered attitude ). These are for toning but not sure re how to get the 6 pack look but I'm sure that someone else will know.

Delighted to here your good news stone_monkey but sorry to hear re the anaemia.

Preston1990 I'm with you re the enjoying myself and a John Lewis coffee and cake could help me focus

Baty France sounds just wonderful

Well as I have 4 days off work with no particular plans apart from a bit of work on Saturday morning I am free to get my act together. Just done my Tracy Anderson DVD and my goodness that was hard work as it is ages since I have done it - not quite as bad as when I did it for the very first time but I did feel half dead by the time I finished it hence having a coffee before I shower as I haven't the energy to walk upstairs. I really need to get into the mindset of 2012 when I lost the weight initially as I felt so much healthier when I wasn't carrying this weight around - I have now the weight of my 2 cats to get rid off It hits home with me when I visualise the excess weight and imagine fitting 2 cats and myself into my clothes and wonder why they are snug Plus my arms aren't as toned as they should be or toned at all if it comes to it and as the warmer weather is here I don't want to have to wear long sleeved tops forever.

[asamaic]

Six pack? You're so funny, Diane65. No, I just want to make sure that my stomach doesn't end up a flabby mess as I keep losing weight. Skin only has so much elasticity, and I figure tightening the muscles as I go is important. Thanks for the youtube links.

I need to go to the shops soon - decided yesterday not to b*y stuff in so it would force me to go for a walk today. Both annoyed at and high fiving yesterday me for realising how much I can't be bothered to go out!

Thanks stone_monkey for the swiss ball suggestion too.

I have very limited space so when I do my Easter clean out, I'm going to see if I can rejig the furniture at all.

Preston, if you both stick to the same plan, I'm sure you'll do well. The thinnest couple I know used to very overweight, but they shifted the pounds together and have been skinny ever since.

Stone_monkey, fantastic news about the diabetes. Or rather, the lack thereof. Brill news to kick off the long weekend!

Diane65, I know what you mean about long-sleeved tops. Until you feel more confident, you can b*y some lovely chiffon-y type shrugs. Covers up a bit, but because they're so thin and floaty, you still feel cool in the sunshine. All that gardening is bound to strengthen your arms though, so hopefully you'll feel able to go completely sleeveless when the sunshine does finally visit.

[asamaic]

So... I b*ght a pair of workout trousers today. I never wear trousers, so this shows how committed I am to the WW cause.

Had a gloriously unhealthy English breakfast sandwich, but I did enough walking this afternoon to make sure it wouldn't damage my daily calorie count. I am totally in awe of my walking/food apps, I'm making better choices because of them and it feels a lot like I'm re-learning how to be a normal human being. Pretty much boils down to eat less, move more, mind.

[rapunzel]

Hello all,

I'm new to this thread and thought its a great idea for help and support whilst losing weight.
I've managed to lose around 11 kg last year. I tried numerous weight loss methods including weight watchers, cabbage soup diet, juice dieting and the Dukan diet but these did not work for me. I finally lost some weight by using the My Fitness App on my phone. I recorded everything I ate and realised that I was eating far in excess of the daily requirement. I still need to lose around 4 kg to get down to a normal BMI and would like to lose a further 5 kg after that.

[asamaic]

Hi rapunzel!

That is a fantastic weight loss, well done on your progress so far. I also swear by myfitnesspal, do you link it to any of the other apps too?

It's important to change your mindset rather than just make a temporary fix, and I think myfitnesspal is really useful for that. When you see everything written down, you really do start to realise where you've been going wrong! I've kept a food diary in the past, but this is so much better because it adds everything up for you.

[rapunzel]

Hi asamaic

Thanks for the encouragement! Yes I agree, having seen everything written down and added up made me realise that my daily calorie intake was too high. Snacks and extra portions can really increase the total. What are the other apps that myfitness pal can be linked to? Are they exercise ones?

[asamaic]

Absolutely loads! Take a look here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps

I link mine to RunKeeper. You have to update your weight in both apps, but RunKeeper calculates calories burned from walking (doesn't have to be used for running, despite the name) and deducts these from your calories in myfitnesspal. If you want a treat, you can walk/jog/run it off.