I feel like giving up

[Annabel_Loves]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here but I've been doing SW for a while now and am really struggling to lose weight. This and last week I tried really hard all week and was not only on plan but did lots of exercise. And I still maintained. I came away feeling very upset and frustrated, and feel like giving up. Does anyone have any words of wisdom, inspiration, tips?

This is what I eat in a typical day, so if anyone thinks I'm doing it wrong/need to change things, then please do say:

Breakfast - Overnight oats (made with Muller light, oats, fruit and cinnamon) or porridge with almond milk, fruit, honey (2 syns) and cinnamon (I like cinnamon)

Lunch - Homemade veg soup, slice of ham or turkey, reduced fat cheddar

Dinner - Spag bol with salad or veg (always cook dinners from scratch either using SW recipe or just my own and make it SW friendly) and usually a Muller light yog and fruit for dessert. I sometimes add a teaspoon of choc shot with this (0.5 syns)

Snacks - Fruit, Snack a jacks (5.5 syns) OR sweet treat like curly wurly (6 syns) or nakd bar (7 syns)

I also drinks loads of water every day and it's pretty much the only thing I drink unless I meet a friend out for coffee (this is not very often though).

And I have also been going to the gym about 3 times a week and walking lots.

Please help as I'm really down about this. My weight is completely linked to my self confidence, of which I have none at the moment

 

[Torn_Tranquility]

Hey Annabel - it can be really frustrating, I was in exactly the same position a while ago and I know how horrible it is. I found it really helpful to take my measurements; especially as you're doing a lot of exercise - it could be that you're building muscle, so it will show in inches, as opposed to on the scales.

Do you go to group? It may also be worth doing an SAS log - I found that I wasn't always being totally honest with myself. And if those both fail, I have also had success having a blow out day, then getting back on it. Sometimes it seems to kick start the metabolism again.

I don't eat Mullers, because of gelatine, but I know people in group have found they lose more if they cut them out, and have natural yogurt instead.

Hope that helps! Please don't give up - it does work. If you can, it might be worth "blind weighing" for a month - it stops you getting hung up on the numbers and means you can look at the bigger picture.

But mostly, be kind to yourself x

 

[Timeforchange6]

Hi Annabel hang in there I so understand how you are feeling massive hugs

a few things that I can think of that may or may not be relevant!
But are you measuring your healthy extras and keeping a food diary & keeping track of your syns ( I have to do this to keep me on track)
also are you getting enough speed at each meal
are you cutting all the fat off your meat and making sure it is the 5% mince when cooking
are you eating enough you should feel satisfied and not hungry!

All so :
sometimes we need to shake it up a little and change what we are eating to jump start our body again!
so change it up try new meal at breakfast and lunch
for breakfast, I like eggs, tomato, mushrooms and some bacon I sometimes have my HEB using it for my bread
snack would be fruit ( apple and a yogurt)
Lunch we have cous cous, salad with loads of speed veg , chicken, and fat-free dressing
Dinner I would be similar to you make it from scratch mostly use no syns
I tend to use my syns for tomato ketchup, or for my Hifi bars or other low syn treat!
I love making up quark with highlight hot chocolate 2syns a tiny bit of sweetener ( syned if needed) mix it up and have it as a treat in the evening it make a lovely cheesecake if you crush a low syn biscuit into a fancy glass and layer it up on top with a little choc shot yummy

You also mention exercise and that can also fool you into thinking your not losing weight as depending on intensity, you could be retaining fluid but burning fat and gaining muscle! happened to me when I started running I stalled on the scales and even seen the odd gain! totally frustrated me! but I had taken my measurements before I started and seen a huge difference there. So if you have not taken them start now and keep a note of them every week or two weeks.
This explains what happens when we exercise and do not see a loss on the scales.http://www.slimmingworldsurvival.com/blog/exercising-and-not-losing-weight-here-is-why

lastly but time of the month ( star week) can sometimes cause havoc

Sorry for the long reply but hope it helps!

 

[jay_ne]

Fab reply Timeforchange thank you I too feel like you Annabel been trying since April and feel like a yo-yo it really is so disheartening. I run an average of 20 miles a week and can't shift it people say I look ok and don't need to lose weight but I have gained and feel like I do so that is really unhelpful! Going to measure tomorrow and double check all portion sizes xx

 

[Annabel_Loves]

Thank you all for being so kind, supportive and helpful!

I think I will start taking my measurements as my jeans do feel looser, so maybe I have lost in inches but not in weight. I must admit I don't go to group much, but I do keep a food diary (is that what you mean when you say SAS log?) and keep track of all my syns, healthy extras (which I do measure) etc. I do sometimes have natural yoghurt instead of muller lights but the problem with that is then I have to sweeten it (I use honey usually) as I don't like the taste of it on its own, it's too sour! And then that adds to the syns so I'd rather have a muller light that's syn free and save my syns for treats. Are muller lights bad then?

I always use lean meat, I buy bacon without the fat, 5% mince etc. I've tried hot choc with quark and didn't really like it, but I could try again as taste buds do change! I do think I need to switch it up a bit though, so I'm going to try and have different things.

Can I just ask...with the healthy extra a's. I usually split mine as I have either almond milk or skimmed milk in my porridge (and there is no way I'd ever use the full amount in this as you're allowed nearly a litre of almond milk!) and then the rest for cheese, I always buy reduced fat cheddar, and have some of it either for lunch or if it calls for it in a recipe for dinner. Is this ok?? And another thing...water. I drink the daily recommended intake, if not more, as I love water, it's pretty much the only thing I drink as I don't drink tea or coffee (very occasionally have a coffee out with friends but then I syn it as I only like mochas!) and if I don't drink enough water I get headaches. But I've heard that water retention can affect weight loss? But I can't stop drinking as much water so how can I fix this?!

Lol sorry for the long msg again, I really appreciate everyone's help. Thank you again so much

 

[Torn_Tranquility]

SAS log is a bit different - but if you're keeping a food diary, that should really help. I wouldn't say Muller Lights are bad, as such - there are all sorts of thoughts on sweeteners, and I don't know enough about it to go into here!

What you're doing with healthy extra A sounds absolutely fine - as long as you work out the correct amounts (ie half) - which it sounds like you are doing! I don't think water retention would be an issue here - I drink loads because of kidney problems, as long as you are always drinking that same amount, it will flush through your system anyway.

 

[Timeforchange6]

yes once you use half of your milk allowance you can use half on cheese to make up your HEA.

I like muller lights some do not because of the sweeteners in them but I think as long as you are not eating loads in a day or week your ok! but some new ones out that are also free are lovely and I like they are Danone Light And Free Strawberry Greek Style they are free https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=292612152
also a new one and really nice my new favouriteSuperfruitti Raspberry Cranberry Pomegranate 4X100g and better yet they are free yay! https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=293848770 they do a mixed berry and blueberry strawberry and goji berry flavor

these are syned but are very low and nice if you fancy a change
Arla Skyr Nordic Mixed Berry 150G yogurts are nice and low syn at 1 syn per pot the bigger ones have 3.5 syns https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=287960299
Glenisk Rasberry, Strawberry, blueberry greek style 0% fat free 150G pot 0.5syns https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=288137737

I agree with Torn_Tranquility regarding water

 

[Annabel_Loves]

Yes I am quite anti sweetener too and hardly ever have it as a) I don't agree with them b) I don't like the aftertaste and they give me a headache. If I ever need to use a small amount of sweetener in a recipe, I use natural stuff like Truvia. But for some reason, the sweeteners in muller lights don't affect me. But thanks so much for the other options of syn free yogs, I'm definitely going to give them a go. Variety is the spice of life, I'm hoping this will help!

Also, thanks for confirming about the healthy extra a's and water retention. Everyone has been so nice, what a lovely community

 

[Torn_Tranquility]

Glad to help - these boards are absolutely amazing. It's lovely to have people coming together and helping each other. It's super cheesy, but sharing really is caring! Keep with it, though! When I was teaching English as a foreign language, my students used to ask me "why" about lots of grammar 'rules' - quite often my answer was "it's just stupid English": I feel the same way about SW sometimes - I don't know why things happen, and there are times when you we've stuck 100% to plan, and our bodies just don't seem to be on the same page.