UK group anyone?

Hiya,

I'm from the UK too, Scotland. A wee UK group would be good. My aim is to look better in my bikini for when I go on holiday in September! :glasses:

Amy x

Thought I'd tell you all a little bit about me...get the ball rolling a bit more as it were!

I am 27 and live in Surrey with my husband (we've been married for 6 years), and I commute up to London for work. For me, the scale has done nothing but go up all my life. I kind of assumed that I was just meant to be a bit bigger, but now I've realised I'm probably not supposed to be this big!! I have two naturally skinny sisters, a skinny, yet very fit brother and a skinny mum and dad. The only one who watches what they eat and does any proper exercise is my brother. He is currently training to be a firefighter (I am so proud!).

Earlier this year it kind of clicked with me that I should stop moaning about having skinny family. So what if they can eat/drink whatever they like and not exercise....I obviously can't! For whatever reason, I'm different and I have to be more careful about what I eat and how much exercise I do!

Fortunately, we already ate quite well as both my husband and I love cooking and we always cook from scratch, so really for me, it's just been making this even better by actually weighing stuff instead of eyeballing it, measuring oil, cutting down a bit on cheese...making my choices as good as they can be! This hasn't been too difficult, although I have seriously had to gut down on the wine consumption!!! I still have the odd glass or two, but I measure it out, and really enjoy it instead of just drinking for drinking sake.

Getting myself to exercise has been a little bit harder
I already walked from home to the rail station (about 15 minutes) and from the other rail station to work (another 15 minutes) and of course the return journeys, so that was a start, but I obviously needed to do more! I started going swimming. I really enjoy swimming, but have not properly gone for years. Fortunately for me, there is a pool round the corner of my home, and it is open till 10pm in the week, so excuses for not going could be found! I started going about twice a week, but I'm not trying to go three times a week, when I can. I've really improved my breast stroke, and I still find it hard sometimes, but it is getting easier.

I've been doing this for just over a month now, and I've lost about 13lbs...although two of those keep coming and going. I lost nothing for about the first week and 1/2, and then lost more than I was expecting, and I suspect that it has now slowed down now that my body has settled in to the new routine! I'm hoping by the end of next week to be under 200lbs...

So that is a little bit about me...

Erika x

Hey again everyone, we do seem to have a few from the uk on here! which is fab!!

Well done Erika, you seem to be making some good changes there, its very hard to get going with the excercise, but every little step we take amounts to a big one! Keep up the good work. And swimming is a fab allround way of improving fitness and stamina, whilst burning a collosal amount of cals in the process which is awesome!

I have also started swimming again, its a bit hard for me, as i have two little boys and some free time is limited, but i have been 3x this week. so thats a good start.
I used to swim a mile (which is 64 lenghts here) every day in my lunch hour, but i have not done this for so long, i would like to get back to that level of fitness. I try to focus on my stroke and the breathing element to divert my attention from the actual motion itself, i find i loose myself in it and i can swim further. Currently i am doing about 30lenghts and 8mins fast treading water in 30mins, so i guess its a start!:happy:

I have slacked off a little on the strictness of my eating this week, and i have to say im annoyed at myself, i only lost 1/2lb this week, but as my scale only measures in full pounds i have not noted it, altho my BMI is lowering! Im disapointed but im going to try my hardest to maintain my current weight for the next 3weeks as im off n holiday on wednesday, and i wont have access to scales till i come home!:ohwell: But with all the extra walking - swimming and chasing my boys about i hope it happens!:laugh:

Everyone has different goals on MFP, but i think the one we all strive for is to be fitter and healthier to enabe us to live longer and illness free as possiable, its hard work but im sure with this determination we will make it there together!!

Good luck everyone and keep up the hard work!

:flowerforyou:

Hi everyone

Im from the UK tooo (east anglia) im hoping to lose 26lbs

I got pregnant in Jan 2006 and lost our daughter in April 2006 then i got pregnant in september 2006 and had a successful pregnancy and a gorgeous daughter in June 2007 but i thought i was eating for two and put on 46lbs!!! well before i could lose much of that weight i got pregnant again in September 2007 and had another successful pregnancy and gave birth to another gorgeous girl in June 2008, she is now 11months old and i am stuck at 11 stone 4 (trying to get to 9.5stone) i need to work harder to get this weight coming off.

Hope to get to know you all better

What a great idea! :happy: Hi everyone :flowerforyou:

Weaklink thanks for the advice, I gained a pound today :grumble: I'm off to Spain in a few months - still considering if I have the nerve to drive on the wrong side of the road :noway:

:bigsmile: YAY way2 go lady! 2lb loss is fab!

Yeah its great seein other uk users, i cant beleive its taken me so long to find a free site like this, i used Nutracheck before, but i never stuck with it, and it was a paid site so l guess i did loose some pounds.. lol:laugh:

Hope everyone is all gud n stayin true to the plan!

:bigsmile:

:laugh: if only it was as easy as pounds for lbs! Shed loads for me too and some company along the way will help. I live in Nottingham.

I've been doing this for just over a month now, and I've lost about 13lbs...although two of those keep coming and going. I lost nothing for about the first week and 1/2, and then lost more than I was expecting, and I suspect that it has now slowed down now that my body has settled in to the new routine! I'm hoping by the end of next week to be under 200lbs...

So that is a little bit about me...

Erika x

I am not from the UK, but I just happened to view the postings here and wanted to mention something that might help w/ the slowdown you describe. Do an internet search on zig zag calories to learn more about what I am telling you. It is simply eating MORE on some days than others. It keeps your body guessing about how many calories it will receive in any given day and as a result, your metabolism won't slow down and result in you not losing.

I know it is counter intuitive to what we believe about dieting, but I personally have found it does work.:happy:

Good luck to you and all on the post.:drinker: :drinker:

I was lucky enough to visit the UK over 30 years ago. I spent time in Wales and Scotland and then in Birmingham. Driving was a real adventure for someone who is used to driving on the "other side" at home. My first day driving back in the States found me driving down the wrong side of the street for about a block :noway: until I remembered I was home!!!

Thanks for the link, I shall take a look at it, although I think I kind of naturally zig zag a little bit as I tend to exercise heavily every other day (lightly on others) so calorie intake can vary quite a lot...but I shall take a closer look. About to go swimming after quite a lazy day yesterday (and a hen night on Friday )...its a lovely sunny day so I think I shall plant out some of my veggie seedlings in the garden later.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend, its great to hear from everyone! :happy:

My dissertation is due in June as well! I am in Medieval Studies and my topic is on the English cycle plays and the perception of the Devil in the public sphere!

And in some ways, there's a little bit of the 'Brit' in all Americans, right? :laugh: I'd probably get stoned for that in Texas. :happy: