@Red_B1rd I hate November because of the turkeys 🦃. I will avoid the grocery store at times…They’re such glorious birds and what is being done to them is just horrible. I have a tradition to “adopt” a rescued turkey through Farm Sanctuary every year.

@Maya440 well done with the spin class! I nearly passed out the first time I did it, my legs were like jelly! Enjoy your weekend socials!

@Red_B1rd such cool turkey facts! Thanks for sharing, I learnt something new today 😀

@henridw2095 such a sweet idea. Bless you.

I've just spent 6 hours solidly deep cleaning the house, missed breakfast completely and feel like that counts as today's workout as I'm now shattered! 🙃 nothing nicer than sitting down afterwards and enjoying your clean space. No idea what's for dinner tonight though, I'm going to scour Insta for some inspiration 😋 gave a great weekend all!

@Marilynsretired how do you make a smaller picture?

Lovely length Maya & nice to see you!

How many of you are in a mixed dietary family?

My family are not vegan and I continue to make their regular meals alongside my own. I've been vegan for 285 days today 🙂

I thought I'd struggle with this because I still like the scent of the meals I make them, but have surprised myself by not wanting to even taste to see if the balance of flavours is right. Anyone else in this boat?

This weekend I had my first 'temptation' if you can call it that. They had gammon and it's something I only usually cooked at Christmas, therefore it used to feel like a treat. I told them to eat & not make any comment/mmm noises 😄 I held my resolve and reminded myself of the reasons I've changed my eating habits and even though there's leftovers in the fridge, I feel like I've passed a milestone. It wasn't a temptation at all, I just expected it to be.

@Curvykinkycurls

My husband is not vegetarian and doesn't go near anything I cook, since he really struggles eating vegetables. When we first started going out (many years ago now), we used to converge on carbs and beer. But eventually, I decided it's time to do get back into shape. He completely fends for himself food wise, we have a date night about once a week where we go somewhere we can both enjoy. We might eat different foods together, but often don't even eat together or at the same times, although the other person is often around. We're just really different food wise (I have to eat like clockwork or get grumpy and he eats when he's hungry and goes long times without eating). It's weird but works for us .

I am generally not tempted by meat, I have been almost completely vegetarian since I was a child, although I grew up in a meat eating household. It's just something I gravitated towards. My mom claims it's due to seeing a goat being slaughtered one summer. I remember the event well, so it's possible she's right. I've been vegan on and off for more than 17 years. There were a handful of times over the decades I tried eating meat or fish (probably less than 20 times in 35+ years), but it's not appealing anymore, since I've built up too much of a reasoning around it to go back. I don't dislike the smell of meat, but really don't like chewing it (thinking oh, this is an animal). Really good cheese would still tempt me and I may have a piece on a rare occasion. I normally say I follow a near-vegan diet, to allow myself to eat a piece of cheese or an egg in principle. I was more restrictive about this in the past and felt that being too rigid can lead to disordered eating due to a desire for perfectionism.

With age, I've also stopped "preaching" or trying to convert others. When asked, I'll explain my reasons. And yeah, lots of stupid comments over the many years, but I'm very low key and matter of fact about it now, so it's generally not an issue.

Such interesting responses! I loved reading such varied experiences. My eating choices all started as health related.

I'd been dairy free for almost 9 years because of digestive issues after my gallbladder was removed. Sometimes I still had butter but I almost instantly went off the taste of milk completely.

Then my mum was diagnosed with alzheimers (it's now on both sides of my family) and I started looking at research and listening to podcasts and made the link between plant based diets and less inflammation in the brain. That gave me my 'why'. I had the willpower to switch to vegan eating overnight. To cement my (selfish-vegan!) choice I then looked at the Cowspiracy/Fork over Knives, etc type of documentaries and that helped give me an extra 'why' layer.

I'm not a preachy vegan though and thankfully don't mind preparing meat dishes for the family & dog. Funnily enough it's everyone else who questions me, but I don't debate it, just give them a 2word brain-health response.

As I'm perimenopausal I feel convinced it's actually been better for my health to have made this change now. I'm sure my weight would have rocketed and a diet with more phytoestrogens can hopefully lessen the side effects of estrogen dropping off.

congrats for reaching your month goal @Marilynsretired

Except for the binge on Monday (and I had burned almost 1000kcal on the bike so it was not such a disaster) I have done 5 excellent days (around 1600-1800kcal and exercising) since I am back from the trip I made with friends and the scale goes up and up and up.
Hugh
I guess my body needs time to readapt but that's disappointing.
Of course I was happy I had taken so little weight in October with all I ate so I understand my body shows results with delay.

Enfin, let's have a great day today as well and trust my body to go back into my maintenance range at its pace.

And how is it going for you ?

Hi Maya, it can be so frustrating waiting to see the number on the scale go down! I am so impatient for it too!!

You are really active though, so keep it up + maybe focus on some NSVs as well? Do you measure yourself & take progress photos? I try to do this every Monday morning and keeping a log of it is really good to look back on. Especially if you logged your foods during times you were happy with your weight. I've kept a pair of jeans on my shelf that I want to feel good in. I try them on now & then, but still got a way to go.

I completely understand your earlier comment, sometimes it takes a couple of weeks for your body to catch up on the good/bad choices we make! So true!

To answer your question, to make a deficit possible everyday, I would take it back to basics.

1. Reduce snacking, or keep it to just fruit/veggie snacks
2. Replace high calorie drinks with water or herbal tea
3. Cut out processed food where possible
4. Avoid alcohol
5. Weigh + log foods before consuming if possible

I don't buy snacks that are vegan, which helps. My kids love chocolate and crisps but I buy stuff I know I can't/won't eat to avoid having temptation in the cupboards!

@Maya440 sorry you're struggling - from where I stand you're still at a great weight and very athletic 💐, although I understand wanting to be at your ideal weight.

I currently can't sustain a 500 Kcal deficit myself , at least not for weeks at a time. This month, I'm trying a 250 kcal NET daily deficit and so far so good. I still have 12.5 pounds to lose and am ok if it takes 6-8 months, since I'll be working out and getting fitter at the same time. I almost view this as training myself in new habits that will last for the rest of my life (similarly how you would systematically train in the gym or running). Accepting the slow pace and where I'm currently at also helps. I do try to enjoy the process and like seeing the results, even if they're small. If you only have a few pounds to lose, even a small deficit will get you there pretty quickly.

Today is my big monthly PMS day and I'm eating at maintenance. PMS is what derailed me last month (I think I ate about 3000-4000 calories that day last month). It appears I get this 1-3 days a month now, perhaps due to thyroid meds being too high after weight loss, since I've never had PMS before. Personally, I do believe in discipline and planning, but also in honoring what the body and mind need at a given time and allowing the space to find out what that might be (often a complete mystery to me what I need until I happen to find it).

To be honest, I don't know what changed from having endless snacks every night to being able to not snack now. I think my other symptoms from the thyroidectomy (tingling and numbness, especially at night) were scary enough to make me understand getting back in shape was urgent. I do worry about slipping back once I'm at my goal weight and fitter, so it will be important to develop a good set of "whys" to continue. I've always struggled finding whys - maybe that life is just a lot more enjoyable when you're in good shape. I used food to numb my feelings before and working a bit less has given me a better capacity to deal with negative emotions and I also find some joy in exercise and eating healthier.

I agree with what @Curvykinkycurls said. Although I can now miraculously keep nuts and dried fruit around (I used to binge on "healthy" foods and had no problems eating 600-1000 kcal of peanuts or dried fruits after dinner), I still don't keep chocolate around. I now sometimes just dissolve a tablespoon of cacao powder in hot water for sipping (surprisingly tasty) or eat a single fig. If there are foods you really struggle with - maybe try to not have them in the house (hard with kids, I know).

Hello here,

Back from 2 days partying.
Gosh that was fun but exhausting. I have lost my voice.

My weight had dropped to last month's last day this morning.
Not sure if I am dehydrated or it is all the dancing but I'll take it and will see what happens next week.
I am dedicated to eating adequately and having my weight going back into maintenance range slooooowly. Better than fast and crash.

Wishing you a nice Sunday !