Dieting

A bit of competition might help is anybody prepared to log progress,  on a casual basis,  to keep those of in need to slim down motivated?  Or is a gardening forum, not quite the right place? 

Sounds like not a bad idea JJB. Logging progress either privately or in public is often helpful. Maybe consider recording measurements (chest, waist, hips, thighs) as well as weight. Remember that as we become more active and do more exercise in an effort to become more healthy (not necessarily lose weight) that our body composition changes. Fat is a lot less dense than muscle. If you lose fat and replace it with a similar weight in new muscle you will not notice a weight loss but your trousers may not fit any more.

Myself, Mrs B, and No.2 son are doing fortnightly weigh-ins.

The scales supposedly measure weight, fat, water, muscle, and bone percentages.

Son is more in it to build muscle, me and Mrs B to lose weight but a bit of muscle for me wouldn't go a miss

I don't mind joining in a logging process.

Here's a handy acronym I learned from an online dieting community: NSV (Non-Scale Victory).

So, for example "I needed to tighten my jeans belt a notch today" or "I can now fit into my favourite dress" - a great way to celebrate your progress without posting anything too personal. Not everyone wants to post their vital statistics on a public forum!

Many years ago, when I was showing a bit more flesh in public (on holidays before you get the wrong idea) I had a favourite bikini - made of something like purple velvet!! Every holiday, it would be packed in my case and put away again when I came back. Suddenly (or so it seemed) it was too small. So I took photos of myself wearing it, complete with bulges, in the privacy of my bedroom and stuck them to the mirror so that I'd see how awful it looked every day. Whenever I felt like overindulging, I'd look at the photos.
My aim was to shame myself and to be able to wear my favourite bikini again.

I'd like to say it worked................but it would be a lie. Eventually, I threw away the bikini....................but I still have the photos - don't ask because I won't.

(Also I just remembered that I'm actually the same age as Broadway atm, though that will change next month

I do that at times as well, when my birthday comes round, I take a year off what it should be

A bit of competition might help is anybody prepared to log progress,  on a casual basis,  to keep those of in need to slim down motivated?  Or is a gardening forum, not quite the right place? 

Sounds like not a bad idea JJB. Logging progress either privately or in public is often helpful. Maybe consider recording measurements (chest, waist, hips, thighs) as well as weight. Remember that as we become more active and do more exercise in an effort to become more healthy (not necessarily lose weight) that our body composition changes. Fat is a lot less dense than muscle. If you lose fat and replace it with a similar weight in new muscle you will not notice a weight loss but your trousers may not fit any more.

Before I retired I worked in the office of a care home riddled with overweight women ( myself included). It really helped me to have a hillarious girly weekly weigh in on the scales in my office and have a spreadsheet/graph showing everyone's  progress - or not.  I might record measurements privately but then again I know myself well enough that I can become obsessive, and let's face it, at my age the flab is unlikely to become muscle unless I go hardcore exercising and that's not going to happen. Knowing there is the potential for public scrutiny for the lack of progress might keep me on the straight and narrow.  The motivation used to be the annual holiday abroad, not this year sadly, or ever perhaps.

Many years ago, when I was showing a bit more flesh in public (on holidays before you get the wrong idea) I had a favourite bikini - made of something like purple velvet!! Every holiday, it would be packed in my case and  put away again when I came back. Suddenly (or so it seemed) it was too small. So I took photos of myself wearing it, complete with bulges, in the privacy of my bedroom and stuck them to the mirror so that I'd see how awful it looked every day. Whenever I felt like overindulging, I'd look at the photos.
My aim was to shame myself and to be able to wear my favourite bikini again.

I'd like to say it worked................but it would be a lie. Eventually, I threw away the bikini....................but I still have the photos - don't ask because I won't.

I know what you mean!  I have some moles on my back in various places so in order to monitor whether they grew at all I had Paul take a picture of me from the back starkers.  What an absolutely horrible sight it was too.  We're used to seeing our front but its nigh impossible to see your own back (thank goodness). I did try to use that as motivation but it disgusted me so much I mentally deleted it.

Maybe the answer is to have a picture of when we were svelte as encouragement but then that was so long ago in my case it's just depressing to be reminded just how I've changed and how old I am.
It's being so cheerful that keeps me going you know 

In a similar vein, I have a selection of clothes, jeans mostly, that I used to wear but no longer fit. They're in my "small" wardrobe.
At the beginning of last year I decided that I wouldn't buy any new clothes but would wear out whatever I had first.
Having a collection of clothes in a smaller size was the incentive, because, once I can fit into them, it'll be like having lots of "new" clothes. I'm now 14 months down the line and can wear one pair of jeans that I couldn't squeeze into 15 months ago. Only another 10 or so pairs to go !!

Many years ago, when I was showing a bit more flesh in public (on holidays before you get the wrong idea) I had a favourite bikini - made of something like purple velvet!! Every holiday, it would be packed in my case and put away again when I came back. Suddenly (or so it seemed) it was too small. So I took photos of myself wearing it, complete with bulges, in the privacy of my bedroom and stuck them to the mirror so that I'd see how awful it looked every day. Whenever I felt like overindulging, I'd look at the photos.
My aim was to shame myself and to be able to wear my favourite bikini again.

I'd like to say it worked................but it would be a lie. Eventually, I threw away the bikini....................but I still have the photos - don't ask because I won't.

Veggie would it be possible to get a copy of that photo as I need something to place over the mantelpiece to keep the kids away from the fire

In a similar vein, I have a selection of clothes, jeans mostly, that I used to wear but no longer fit. They're in my "small" wardrobe

Personally I think there are a number of wardrobes with the built-in ability to shrink clothes and I seem to have an extra strong one of them

Many years ago, when I was showing a bit more flesh in public (on holidays before you get the wrong idea) I had a favourite bikini - made of something like purple velvet!! Every holiday, it would be packed in my case and  put away again when I came back. Suddenly (or so it seemed) it was too small. So I took photos of myself wearing it, complete with bulges, in the privacy of my bedroom and stuck them to the mirror so that I'd see how awful it looked every day. Whenever I felt like overindulging, I'd look at the photos.
My aim was to shame myself and to be able to wear my favourite bikini again.

I'd like to say it worked................but it would be a lie. Eventually, I threw away the bikini....................but I still have the photos - don't ask because I won't.

Spoilsport!