9 months on 9 months off?

[uptime]

I finally got back into double figures on the weighing scales this morning after working really hard to keep to my daily points over the past two weeks. First time since pregnancy. I'm so pleased with myself, I think I'll celebrate by having an ice cream!! Going to the gym today to make up in advance for a slap up lunch at J Sheekeys tomorrow. Hope the rest of you ladies are doing well.

[Pickle]

Well done! I'm sure points for ice cream don't count if it's hot outside.

I did well again this week with a 2lb loss, just 4 pounds to go now. I went for a run Tues evening in the heat and am planning to do the same this evening (followed by a takeaway!).

[Grotty]

Pickle thats amazing well done - it must feel wonderful to be so close to your target. I reckon we should all meet up and celebrate our achievements so far!!!

Nabz - I was reading your post about wishing weight loss could be done without exercise - i have to say that deep down I know exercise would speed things along but my first four months on WW I did literally no exercise but by sticking to the plan lost close to 2 stone - now of course i'm left with a strange shaped body and lots of loose flabby skin so exercise is essential, but I just wanted to say that you really can shift some initially without pushing yourself too far! I'm now doing an intense park-based fat blast class once a week which i don't think helps with weight loss but definitely is helping tone everything like mima08 said.

I weighed this morning and lost 1 pound this week which is a huge relief as i've had a pretty slow couple of months due to weaning/tailoring off breastfeeding. From today I am not breastfeeding anymore so drop to 26 points so hopefully will now be properly aligned with correct daily allowance and may start seeing results again.

Saying that I pored through my online stats just now (love the stats!!) - average of 1.4lb a week so very happy with that. 8lbs to go - hoping to achieve that by the time I go back to work on 1st August!

Hope everyone has been doing ok. My current aims to get through the week are 1) stop thinking about ice cream and 2) drink copious amounts of water, which i keep forgetting to do!!!

[Grotty]

Have just set an alert on my phone every morning to remind me to drink lots of water - hopefully that will work!!!

[hellosailor]

does drinking water help because it keeps you full so you are less peckish or does it actually help weight loss in another way? have always been a bit confused by this!

[Pickle]

Grotty that's a great average - think of those standard packs of sausages you can get and visualise that every week you've lost nearly 1.5 of them... that's 9 sausages a week :) You are well on track to shift those last few pounds.

I've set myself a target with my running to increase the miles of my weekly long run every month to correspond with how many months old my baby is (within reason, up to around 10 miles, obviously when she's 3 I won't be out running 36 miles every Sunday :)) ). She's coming up to 4.5 months and I ran 5 miles on Sunday morning - hard work but I felt amazing afterwards.

Hellosailor, I'm not sure on the science behind water, but it really does work. I've been drinking gallons in this hot weather.

Regarding exercise, it's absolutely possible to start losing weight without exercising, and certainly when I lost my initial weight years ago I did the first few months without exercising. I've always found that once I start losing weight and seeing the results it motivates me to exercise, as once you've lost a chunk of weight you gain a lot more energy.

I'm not sure how I'll do this week, am expecting things to slow down so will be happy to stay the same. However on a more superficial note, I ordered some clothes online from Next and had to send them back and get a smaller size :)

[nunheadmum]

Not meaning to show my alcoholic tendencies but can anyone clarify for me why a Coors light 330ml has 3 points, a standard pint of lager has 6, while a massive 500ml Cooperative Harvest ale at 4.8% alcohol has only 2?? It just sounds too good to be true!!!

I'm presuming it's something to do with how ale is made over lager but don't know enough about brewing to work out if it's true or a points error.

[Pickle]

Must be an error - they happen on the online database sometimes. Drop WW customer services an email to raise it with them.

[nunheadmum]

Darn - not the answer I was hoping for! Guess it's better to know though rather than guzzle and find out the hard way!

[nabz]

.

[Pickle]

Nabz, WW caters for people wanting to lose anything from 5lbs upwards. To be completely honest with you, only you will know when the right time to do something about your weight is, it has to be something you want to do, not something you do for others :)

In my years as a WW leader I saw many many people who paid their money and came every week but didn't really lose much weight as they weren't committed to it. It's not a magic solution, it takes dedication, and there comes a moment for most people where you decide you ARE going to do it, and nothing gets in your way. That's the day when you stop making excuses, realise it is possible to fit exercise into your life, and that cooking healthy meals isn't too difficult.

Anyway... I'm very very pleased, lost 1.5lbs this week. I also took my measurements last night, for the first time since March, and have lost 11cm off my waist, 7cm from my hips and 3cm off each arm. I can honestly say that for the first time in a long time I am truly happy with how I look :)

My skin is good, I have oodles of energy, I've bought some new clothes. Losing weight and getting fit is definitely worth it!

[amydown]

3 pounds off for me(over two weeks). Pickle, your stats are fantastic!!!!

[pebbles]

So I stayed the same this week. A but gutted as have been running a lot as well as swimming but I've come to realise that now I'm 3 stone down its going to get a bit harder. I have been using my weeklies for alcohol and I think that's now biting me on the bottom so I will continue my eating plan (and counting) but slow down on the booze and replace it with healthy food points. Fingers crossed for a good result next week.

Amydown - that's amazing well done.

Pickle - I weigh in with her every week as well as that she's my sounding board and running partner - I'm jealous of her stats :) but as we discussed today she measures her glasses of wine in a measuring jug whereas I have been measuring by the bottle!!! It's about time 2 glasses will have tO do me :)

How's everyone else?

[nunheadmum]

Pebbles - I feel you pain on the wine front!! I realised a couple of months before I started doing WW that alcohol was probably my undoing in trying to lose weight (or stop putting it on, at that point!). I didn't feel like I drank that much but even with eating better the weight still crept on. I found that the best compromise I found was getting really nice wine so I could tell myself that even though I was drinking less, I was enjoying each glass more. (After all, we all drink for the taste, not the effect, don't we??!!;-))

[supergolden88]

Anyone else find the first place to lose weight is their boobs? I have lost at least one cup size if not more.

The first place to gain it is the saddlebags on my hips. Completely hateful. If anyone has any ideas to tackle that area with exercise let me know!

[hellosailor]

you still have boobs? jealous..

[pebbles]

You can have my boobs. Last place it goes From and I hate them.

[Pickle]

Pebbles I'm totally jealous of your boobs, don't wish them away!

Supergolden, it's hard to target a specific area, and I think running is a no no for you? How about those leg lifts where you lie on your side? Use a stretchy resistance band if you have one.

[Grotty]

I'm also happy to share out the boob. I've got plenty to spare having gone from 34D pre-babies to 38HH at the end of last pregnancy. yuk. Post breastfeeding they are now starting to resemble "old socks with a tennis ball hanging at the end" But I also have terrible muffin tops too which seem to become more and more accentuated with weight loss, so it looks like the weight is going to come off there last too. I've been doing an exercise class in Ruskin Park every saturday morning and when I voiced concern that muffin tops are never going to go/resigned to the fact body shape has changed forever, the instructor assured me from her experience weight can definitely go - you just need to do the right exercise. Her advice:

1) to get rid of middle bit you need to do exercise that work the "whole body core" - eg. sit-ups aren't going to do it. She makes us do different things each week that involve a lot of movements going from standing to squatting and sideways and back up again (in running form/jumping form/squatting form/bending etc etc...

2) make sure you do different exercise each time you work out - whether different types of exercise or working different muscle groups each time as muscles get bored/used to it so its less effective

3) you need to be doing exercise almost every other day for it to really work (I NEED TO WORK ON THIS ONE!)

[supergolden88]

I went from 32D to insane sizes while pregnant and breastfeeding back to 34D after stopping and now a 32C - if that. My boobs look awful it's like they have lost their 'stuffing'! If I were braver and not terrified of surgery (and had money to spare) I would seriously consider a breast lift.

I have not been doing any exercise lately (too busy, kids have been sick, freelance work, you name it). A couple of weeks ago I went power walking every day for 30-40m but now it's back to nothing. I miss running terribly and have cheated a couple of times by speeding up my walk to a kind of running shuffle with ankle weights on to keep me even more grounded. Plus even worse I have not been doing my pelvic floor exercises given by physio.

I know they muffin top can go - managed to get rid of mine in the end. But the skin over the tummy area looks rather crepey and horrible and there's loose skin. YUck. I 'm depressing myself now. And I have been BANNED from doing ab crunches. Sheesh

[Grotty]

I made a pact with husband that once we were 100% certain we weren't going to have more I would "do" my boobs - just to get rid of the lengths of sag i'm left with. Sadly finances will never allow that, but a nice dream...

I've been very rubbish at pelvic floor too - amusing class in the park the other week when we had to do star jumps and all the women there (recent mums) pee'd themselves. Ho hum...

[nabz]

soooo its not just me with the horrible boobs then??? after breast feeding do they ever go back to what they use to be?? mine are urm all saggy and ew...sorry to be descriptive lol! is there any form of exercise that perks them back up? im using boob tube mama mio atm il let you know if it works...the get waisted cream really does work as i was using this before i got pregnant to lose a bit of belly (a couple months later fell pregnant not fair!) i really so a difference with the cream however i was going to the gym everyday and applying it to my stomach after showing

iv started eating earlier now so have time to digest cause i think i was eating quite heavy meals late at night, anyone know of any good healthy snacks that keep you full for a while? my only issue is im now hungry a couple hours after dinner but i dont want to snack!

[Grotty]

my standard snack if i'm starving now is a crumpet with peanut butter - healthy and filling according to WW - 3 points but does seem to keep me going. That with a massive glass of water and i'm ok for at least another hour ;-)

[Pickle]

For the first time since I began WW I ate all of my weekly points this week (mainly over the space of two days) and also dipped into my exercise bonus points. Needless to say I wasn't really feeling confident...

2.5lbs off! A whopping 25 in total now and only one more pound to go and I'll be at my goal weight.

So looking back over the last week I can see a few things that obviously helped - the main one being my exercise, I ran Fri, Sun and Mon clocking up around 12 miles in total. But also, despite drinking quite a lot and eating naughty things, I continued to track. There was a lot of temptation on Monday to just say "sod it" and stop counting but I did it, and went for an unscheduled run mid afternoon as I knew it would help clear my head and get me back on the straight and narrow.

Now to try and get that last pound off so I can start my maintenance plan!

[amydown]

Didn't make it to WW this morning but got weighed by my trainer (he also weighs me every week) and have lost 2 pounds over two weeks so it seems to be around 1 pound a week for me on average.

I ate a bit more than normal as we went for a short break. Also, my milk supply seemed to be reducing. Am going to try some herbal tea to help with supply as I'm not sure I can keep using it as an excuse to bump up my food intake!