lol , am needing to lose a stone and just stumbled on this .
im thinking of low GI as it seems to get good results .
anyway hiya everybody

Welcome Janice, I think you'll find a lot of support on here in your quest and a lot of success stories to encourage you.

People on here have followed a wide range of diets with equal success. The important thing is to find one that suits you - you will never succeed on a grapefruit diet if you can't stand grapefruits! - and stick to it. You'll find plenty of information and tips on here to help with the first and lots of encouragement with the latter.

Have a look at and join up to some of the groups that interest you as a first step and have a flick through the forum topics.

Hi Janice, i'm new too! I can't even figure out how to put my photo up. I need to lose about one and half stones . More important I need to tone up and lose the flab around my middle oh yes and my legs, arms, bum thighs
I think my calves are okay

oh if you go on your profile page there is a green face to upload your photo to.
the one i have is the one i want to get back to !! i did have some fat ones but the pic is too big , lol not me

hi and welcome to the site

good luck with whichever diet you decide to do, we are all here for the same reason.

if you have done or wish to do weightwatchers then i will be very pleased to help you, i run the weightwatchers group.

best of luck
looby

hello there, new to this health club stuff as well, have been goin to ww for bout 2 and 1/2 mths now, have been goin really well, lost 3st 2 but still have loads more weight to shred and the last 2/3 weeks i cant get motivated to do any excercise. any advice

Hi,
I'm brand new here today too, and just think the right kind of motivation is really important. I liked the idea of having 'friends' on line who would support me and whom I could offer support to. I don't belong to Weight Watchers, Slimming World or such like. i would be interested to know if there are other similar groups out there and what the differences are!
Regards,
Elaine

I've done probably every diet there has ever been including pills and shakes and yes I lost weight and but it never stayed off. I believe diets don't work - well they don't for me. I've lost 2 stone since Jan 1 (admittedly I started 7+ stone overweight so it's going to be easier to lose at the beginning) but not weighing foods, not counting points or calories have been liberating and more recently trying to stick to Paul Mckenna's rules: eat what you want, when you want, when your hungry and stop when full. I think the reason why it's working well for me now is down to this website. The support is brilliant and I've realised that I'm not alone.

Good luck to us all on our quest to find our healthier selves.

BTW Rory you need to change your photo to ManU winning the European Champions League - what a finish.

I have to echo Emm's sentiments - it really is a great support to be able to chat to people who are on the same journey and understand what it's like to have the odd "failure". And, as we keep commenting on other threads, when you're chatting on the internet, you're not raiding the fridge!

Welcome all you new folks, Ive try lots of different diets and weight loss solutions but like Emm said they work, but once you come off them the weight comes back,some are boring foods or food you've never eaten and probably wouldn't eat again,I think It is just looking around and finding the plan that suits your taste and lifestyle.
Like Fiona says you will get plenty of support and motivation from people that are in the same boat.

I think I've said it somewhere else, but what has also helped me (as well as this great group of people) has been holding onto the principle of small steps. Each day at a time. I set myself daily goals, and I am hugely motivated when I achieve them (I post them on my own page). By and large I do...

And when I don't, it's then not the end of the world, because tomorrow is just another step, with another goal or two (or three).

Oh. And very importantly for me. I am not on a 'diet', I am engaging in a more healthy lifestyle. This is something I want to stick to for life. It's an investment in me.... If that makes sense?

Anyway. Welcome, and the best of luck.

Hi Janice
I have also tried many diets over the years, Weight watchers worked after having 2 children but I wanted to eat more healthily so I am low carbing. So no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes etc but lots of meat, fish, veg, cheese and loads of water ie 12 glasses a day. Try small goals as Julia says so add in the water first and then make a meal plan, cut down on alcohol at the beginnng will help the weight come off

Good luck

I really agree with Julia - small steps are important & of-course the motivation not to mention the support you'll receive from others here is marvellous Janice. I'm a relative newbie myself and I have to come clean at this stage, I'm not exactly au faix on the old laptop I don't know how to post my photo, sending messages etc. - but apart from that this website is excellent I've been to all the slimming clubs - worked out for a while but then weight crept back on whereas here you're encouraged to see it as a tiny blimp and get on with things. Janice I'm glad you've joined and believe me you'll be glad yourself!
Anne

oohh loads more replies , i got a GI book and have been following that with a few tweaks and already have lost 2lbs

Well done Janice! You must feel really encouraged by that!

excellent Janice! what a great start!

Pippa

Well done Janice, I might join you in the Low GI diet it looks like it works. I've tried to fit in excercise everyday I'm hope that will work as well. Good luck everybody.

yes i am pleased , its been quite easy , today i had beef cassereole with tendersteam brocili and blueberries and yogurt for afters

Hi Janice!

I absolutely love blueberries and they seem to be in abudance at the moment! I love them on my porridge (some put them in it) and with Total 0% yoghurt (we all rave about this stuff) and you don't feel guilty having seconds!

£1 off in Sainsbury's today, but I already have some from M&S that were on offer at the weekend!


I wondered who would be first to mention it. I noticed stocks were getting low in Sainsbury's today - word is getting out !!!

Have no blueberries in house at mo and am getting cravings for them! No local shops sell them and it's not very green to drive to Tesco/Sainsburys/M&S for them! They were £1 a punnet in Tesco last weekend so I bought 4, all gone by yesterday morning. Only the Tesco Extra sell the big tubs of 0% so I have to stock up each time - still have a tub and a bit in the fridge.

... it's really good as it seems to have a long fridge-life. Suits me as I often go away and leave food in the fridge for a week!

I have been known to eat yogurt that was 3 months past it's sell-by date - smelled and tasted Ok but my gut told me it wasn't!

lol at your comment on out of date yoghurt , fiona ,
sometimes i get a few boxes of frozen summer fruit in and often have a portion of that with yoghurt .
just had half a banana with some grapes , bluberries and yoghurt , drizzeled with a little honey

Likewise! I keep thinking about planting some blueberry bushes - a maix of varieties that will spread the season out a bit. But as ever, the grow your own season always coincides with the period when said items are really cheap and abundant in the shops. Except that your own ones are always fresher and nicer.

Naughty girl Janice! Did you really need the honey??? Bet you enjoyed it

Managed to get 2 punnets of blueberries today and ate one of them! They are just so moreish! I'm the same with yoghurts, Fiona, eating them well past sell by date and I let the kids do as well as long as there is no mould on it, does them no harm! My last tub of Total has 22nd May on it but I'm ignoring that! It tastes as delicious as ever - had blueberries, plum, pear and sprinkling of sunflower seeds with a big dollop on the top.

Eating something past their sell by date is OK,

Use by dates on foods- you must not use after this date as it will not be guaranteed safe. It is also illegal to sell a product after its USE by date.

Best before are used to a date up to which the product is at its best quality. Although it may not be good practice to sell the product after this date it is not illegal.

On another note cooked rice if it isn't stored correctly can be one of the biggest causes of food poisoning.

Thanks Jackie. When I microwave rice I do it for ages just to ensure it's piping hot. One question, if I make a risotto and use frozen prawns, when the risotto has cooled down, can I freeze it?

I only reheat rice in the microwave, from the cooler. To cook it I use the hob, 3 measures of water to 1 of rice, and keep it on a rolling boil till cooked, even if I have to take it off the heat for the last 5 mins or so and leave it covered. As for freezing the risotto I think that I would say NO, the prawns previously cooked have been frozen, before you get them. Shellfish/seafood can be another baddie.

I once opened a bag of prawns and amongst them was a head of a dead sprat or something similar. Needless to say I took it back to the shop.

Yuck!!

I always boil rice in the pan, it was misleading what I wrote. My hubby is fed up of risotto so I end up boxing it up, putting it in the fridge and then microwaving it on each of the next 2 days. I've never had any problems touch wood!

When I get a bag of cockles from the market I have to be careful as sometimes there's a tiny dead crab in with them!