It's been a stressful few months. Split with my husband, in the middle of sorting a house move. I did pretty well for a while, but I abandoned the gym and recently have been comfort eating a bit again. I have undone some of last years hard work.

Still, I lost the weight once, I can do it again.

i need to offload 14lbs at least, by the summer.
i'm dusting off the treadmill as we speak, and scouring spotify for some suitable accompaniment.
well done for re-introducing, now where's those headphones...

I'll be 50 in July, which has come as something of a surprise. Not the July part; it tends to be the same date every year. It's the general feeling that someone, somewhere must have mis-counted.

Anyhoo, I would very much like to get back to the weight I was when I was 40, which I guess will entail losing a stone or two.

After losing 3 stone 2 years ago, I've basically stopped. 3 more this year, I think.

The Crouts are in,We were last year tbh but this is our year. It's half Nine and I'm Hank Marvin.Gonna be a long day.
Thanks for doing this,Drakeygirl.

Weighed in yesterday. Stopped crying this morning.

But not until tomorrow. One last binge today then I need to get 20 lbs off. Similar story to the rest ref stress. I lost my mum last year and took solace in booze and food. Got to the point on holiday in September that I had to buy "emergency" bigger trousers. Emergency has become the norm and that cannot continue. Let's twist again!

so how does it actually work?

started already
Gave up cheese
Gave up wine
Gave up beer
Gave up chocolate
.....sob !
Shoot me now!

Count me in.

AFTER I've eaten my boxes of mince pies, biscuits, crisps, nuts and stollen and polished off that fridge rammed with Christmas beer? There's no way I can lose weight until that pile has gone. Oh and after the Liverpool mingle too. It coincides with the National Winter Ales Festival in Manchester and I NEED to sample some of their wares. Thank you.

Your timing is excellent DG and thank you so much for leading us back into the fray.

Last year was a real success for me, but there has been backsliding - oh yes there has! So I need to get myself organised and join the Charge of the Chubby Checkers.

The Target: Lose 14 lbs by June 30.

The Strategy: Eat less: Do more

The Plans:

Eat Less


No snacking
Regular meals
Fresh foods
Less booze
More water


Do More

Don’t overdo it
Get into the habit
Get into the fresh air
Build in some variety
Force yourself

The Measurement

“What gets measured, gets done”

Use a website - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ - and be honest about what you record.

So, that all sounds simple enough. We’ve thrown away the remnants of the Christmas goodies; the wine cellar has been locked; the soup maker has been dusted down; the headphones have been polished. My only problem is what form of exercise to take. I don’t do the gym - too many painful memories; I can’t jog - dodgy knees; Cycling can be messy in winter; So I reckon I will be walking a lot.

At a brisk pace, you can do 4 miles in an hour. If I walk for an hour a day, 5 days a week, I will cover 20 miles a week; so in six months I will have done...

I've put on *half a stone* over Xmas, and need weight counselling and that. Half a stone in a week. Jesus Christ.

This last week has been a long wait for all the fatty Christmas and New Years food to leave my fridge.
Some, unfortunately, left it via my mouth, some were kicked out directly to the garbage bin.
My body is craving vegetables by now, so that should make for an easy beginning at least (though I have no doubt that the sweet soul music of the evil temptations of fat and sugar will sound rather alluring in three weeks time).
I was supposed to weigh myself this morning to get a starting point but I forgot (my scales have been conveniantly hidden away for the last month), so I'll do that tomorrow.
Ate a salad for lunch. Everything fatty apart from the last piece of Christmas cake has left the building (I'll eat that tonight, best not to shock my body too much with all that salad and veggies...)
Good luck to all of us (we'll need it)!

I haven't had the courage to weigh myself, but I can see by looking in the mirror that this Christmas has not been good news for my weight-loss programme. When I've summoned up the necessary strength of will, I'll check the damage & get back to you with a plan to lose this damned tummy.

I haven't weighed myself either but, judging by my girth, I've put loads on.

I've had Jan 9th (next Monday) penciled in as a start date for some weeks now. Rather counter productively, I'm intending to clear the backlog of booze and biscuits that has been accumulated over the silly season. Anything that remains next Sunday will be either tipped down the sink or given to some worthy cause. (There is also the small matter of a London mingle to navigate on Friday too!)

I really benefited from the chubby checker last year and lost a couple of stone. At least half of that has returned but it feels mendable under this programme. Anyone who feels hesitant about joining should jump in!

I like to think of this years' programme as training for the Olympics. By the day of the opening ceremony I want to be a stone and a half lighter.

I'll be doing the long walks, an initial booze ban and some sensible healthy eating.

I'll weigh in next Sunday.

Will medals be available?

Yes, I'm in.

This will help :

http://wordmagazine.co.uk/content/not-drinking-january

I also gave up red meat a couple of months ago, intend to keep that up.

than I do. And no one likes chocolate more than I do.
Fortunately no one likes to strip away fat and get fit more than me.
I have about 8 pounds of fat to get rid of and ten pounds of muscle to put on.
Watch this space.

My downfall is, like Jimmy, cheese and biscuits. And chocolate. And a bottle of red every evening.
As I now longer regulate my appetite with a steady intake of Marlboro reds I've gone from about 12 and a half stone up to 15.
13 stone would be nice so no booze until 28th Jan (big gig, throat will need lager), no chocolate and little to no cheese. I should probably also stop eating chicken skin and the fat on steaks and lamb chops.
Maybe some fruit now and again.
Daunting.
Good luck everyone.

the last time I saw 40 was when I measured my waist.

I've never been heavier, and never felt more like losing it. However, the siren calls of the marzipan fruits in the kitchen are proving too much to bear right now ...

Count me in - a weekly threat of shame (in the nicest possible way) is probably just what I need!

I'm in.

Lost a stone last year but then just allowed myself to trundle along and get no further. Possibly because my enthusiasm was affected by the fact that I dislike my job and have done since last summertime. Frustration and dissatisfaction lead to swearing and lack of focus.

Will be determinedly hunting down a new one from this month and will need to look Daniel Craig-like in a new whistle for the multiple interviews that will follow.

The only bug in the rug is that I have recently discovered how to make chocolate gnache so may have to devise some sort of aversion therapy. I've already come up with one; each time I think of gnache I visualise the 3 foot long fly on Cyril Smith's spherical trousers.

Yes, last year's efforts did me the world of good.
Unfortunately I fell off the wagon mid-year and it is all back, and possibly then some. Oh well, dust down those scales....

This.

http://www.drbriffa.com/books/waist-disposal/

What to eat, and when. And how to exercise.

John Briffa is no quack. His ideas are derived from absolute, solid, nailed-on evidence. He is not a quack dietician who has banged together a few ideas on the back of a whim but a very intelligent physician who understands physiology, endocrine function and evidence.

If you want it rubber-stamped, I asked one of my patients, a very eminent professor of endocrinology and a World authority on diabetes and insulin function, for his opinions on Briffa's ideas. He endorsed them 100%. In his words, as I remember, "Insulin is a growth hormone. The more you can control it, the better."

Been 16 and a half stone for far too long. Got some old jeans I need to get into again too. Sadly I know it's only gonna happen if booze is knocked on the head, at least for a couple of months. Still, it'll be worth it.

Lost me 2 stone in 18 months. Time for round 2.

I am just over a stone lighter than I was this time last year but would like to shift another 14lb to get me nicely into the healthy BMI range (I am just on the edge of overweight).

The FPO and I did the Lighter Life programme in 2011 and have plenty of packs left to kick start the weight loss from tomorrow.

Went to the gym for the first time in many moons this morning. When I got on the scales, they started laughing at me.

It's stonkingly hot in these parts right now (the miminum temp last night was 24 degrees) so it's lots of fruit and salads. And cycling either before or after daylight. I'm out to lose about twenty of those kilogram things this year, so I welcome the positive guilt that might follow.

Another joining in once we have cleared the backlog of sweets and biscuits acquired for Christmas, but give me a week or two and then it will be no puddings, sweets, crisps or chocolate until several stones have disappeared.

was told in the summer my cholesterol was on a par with blood made of creme fraiche ... decided to 'do something'
gave up booze, wheat and dairy for 100 days (ie no beer, whisky, wine, pizza, pasta, cheese, bread, butter, toast, couscous, eggs, yoghurt etc)
also (see elsewhere on this site) had a temp job on the backshift in a bookshop Nov-Dec which meant being on my feet for 6 hours a night
cholesterol score dropped by a third, trouser size dropped by a waist measurement (back to a comfortable 34)
back to boozing over christmas, but won't be going back to the previous diet of pre-autumn (fresh pasta with cheese sauce and shiraz on the side)
i think i can stick to the 'diet' although am not thinking of it in trad 'diet' terms ... staying active may be a bugger tho' ... don't want to go back to a sedentary job ...
lifestyle is the crucial part ... stressjob and wine-hoovering not good

Usually I see the Word board as somewhere where I can go to and natter about box sets or declare my new-found enthusiasm for anything to do with Jeff Lynne - I tend to avoid the more interpersonal aspects of the board. However I can see the benefits of the Chubby Checker.

In my early college days in 1994, I lost about 50lbs over 8 months to emerge from my chrysalis to feel... not much different about things, really. The weight gradually drifted back on over the next decade. In the 12 months before I got married in 2006, guess what? I lost 50lbs. Felt great, and... Well I have managed to put the weight back on a second time. Oh well. Thank god I'm devastatingly handsome either way.

In the last two years I have found a new enthusiasm for "running" which I do infrequently but should try and attempt more often as a health and fitness thing. I have also realised that the things that pile on the pounds in my life: White bread and SWEETS IN THE CAR!!! no longer bring me joy. I need to recall how the joy of a good run trumps food. Or at least if I am going to put on pounds with food, then the food should be something I've put the effort into creating from scratch, not processed, passive eating.

In short: I'm in. Bring it.

Count me and my wife in. We are starting walking tomorrow night but still have a few boxes of biscuits and sweets to get rid of.
Can we join in next week?

put me in.

The mince pies
have stuck to my thighs.
The truffles with rum
have gone to my bum.
The trifle and jelly
are swelling my belly.
The crisps and dips
have increased my hips.
Got trouble with zips!

Time for action and laying off the goodies. Just one more truffle to eat and I'm ready to go...

but i had a mince pie today -
back on track tomorrow, promise

I have been putting off the fact I must loose weight for far too long, so count me in. I've ordered the John Briffa book as recomended further up the blog, so soon as that arrives, will have a read, also have a look around for ideas of menu's. Will speak to my wife, see if she wants to join in and will put up some goals/targets/whatever shortly.

First target, to be able to waer my Alice Cooper Killer t-shirt without people thinking the snake is a hologram and slithering towards them!

and read the Briffa book yesterday and can add my endorsement. Not from a scientifically eduacted point of view but from someone that has been basically following the advice for the past two years.
The only things I hadn't been doing were avoiding grains which I will do from now on and watching the calories rather than eating in abundance that which is good for me. This will keep me feeling full as well as losing weight at the same time.
All I would recommend is that you be honest to yourself and have realistic expectations.

but I really don't want to go near a weighing scale! A combination of a month long cold, lots of gigs and eating late at night has left me searching for more 'comfortable' jumpers and shirts! The other ones must have shrank in the wash, there can be no other explanation!

I have mentioned before about weight loss / stress etc.

Without going into detail, my weight / appearance (real & imagined) has caused me more grief than anything else in my life.

I seem to have lost about a stone since last May, & I am convinced that it is a direct result of getting a dog.

The exercise / walking needs of a lively, energetic Boxer pup, mean I am walking 25+ miles a week, &, as I say, that seems to be helping me enormously.

Long may it continue, 20 pounds this year is my target & I am reasonably optimistic, however, I am terrified of it all turning to a ball of chalk & the sense of failure / unworthiness that will go with that (which will bring on the Black dog), is such, that I wont be blogging on my progress (or lack of).

Good luck one & all, my thoughts, support & encouragement are with you all.

Les.

Hiya all

Subscriber to Word for a number of years now and I`ve been following the blog off and on. Feeling that I`m getting to know some of you by now. First posting though.

I will be reaching 46 years on this wonderfull planet in may and like a different thread have realised that I am now nearer 50 than 40. Not sure I like that!

Due to ongoing middle age, increasing waistline, lack of commitment to self improvement and the ever present lack of willpower when it comes to food and wine I welcome the opportunity to have your support in attempting to lose` ahem, 2 stone within a sensible timescale.

I look forward to sharing my progress, hopefully, with you all and hopefully we can support each other.

There is the alternative of course of just sitting back, continue to enjoy food and wine and attempt to forget the probable health issues which inevitably will result. Hmm, decisions of life.

I would like to lose at least two stone this year, thank you.
That was easy.

*Opens crisps*

My idea of a balanced diet is a chip sandwich in each hand...

My resolution last year was to lose 2 stone and I ended up slightly heavier at the end of the year than at the start! That just won't do, so anything that keeps me focused on the process of losing weight will be much welcomed.

I don't feel I have to lose 2 stone, but it is a good ambition to have and I know I'll feel better for it.

I need to watch the snacking, chocolate, biscuits and comfort eating in particular.

I was more successful and consistent in 2011 with getting regular exercise, but it goes to show that whilst I may not be unfit, it is the diet that has the greatest effect on me being overweight.

I also think that The Word should post alerts if they are going to show any gratuitous shots of Fraser's cakes!

And I've modified the plan. Instead of a month on the wagon I'm only drinking at weekends and not going crazy. Cheese in moderation, no chocolate. Avoiding meat fat.
Lost 5lbs so far.
Quite chuffed!

Hi folks

My resolution is to lose 2 stone by May.

So far my cunning strategy of behaving in exactly the same way as normal , has resulted in a stunning loss of 1/4 pound. Unlike Mr Osborne, I believe it is time to implement Plan B - and no, I don't mean as a sound track to eating a packet of kettle crisps.

BTW, congratulations Jez