u/loveyouronions

At a time where everything else seems to less good and more expensive, I have been so pleasantly surprised by M&S. When I actually sat down and did the maths on how much more expensive it would be for me to shop in M&S versus my usual Tesco, the difference is minuscule for significantly better quality (granted, I barely buy branded products so its most fresh fruit, veg, meats and cheeses). I know it’s more a case of Tesco getting more expensive, but still - surprising. I got some sizzler steaks for Sunday lunch that were £5 and so delicious. Rainbow chard, interesting and good quality veg and fruit.

Not just cost, it’s just a great place to be. It feels clean, looked after and the staff are always helpful. The product selection is great and the packaging is up to date, clear and nice/calming compared to a lot of places. It feels like 10 years ago M&S was out of kilter with the public, being expensive and catering for the elderly. Particularly in the clothes department. Now it is young, trendy and interesting without alienating the older generations. And (perhaps I am sad) a fun day out, especially on a hot day like we’ve been having!

Starting Weight: 205lbs
Current Weight: 201lbs
Goal Weight: 150lbs

Hello dear Loseit community. Back again. Again.

In 2020, I lost 40lbs, reaching 160lbs. Then lockdown lifted and it turned out my new lifestyle required extreme and precise control over my food intake, to the gram. I couldn’t cope well with the grey area of eating at friends, work, etc again and just let nature take its course - I was back to 200lbs within six months.

In 2023 I lost 40lbs, reaching 160lbs, again with strict calorie control, this time incorporating exercise with C25K. This time it really transformed my life. I started running, kept the weight off for a year, ran 2 marathons, and felt incredible. I was like this whole new healthy, outdoorsy person.

Then I got labyrinthitis, for over a month. Everything just went back to old ways.

I stopped running, and just started eating (I didn’t cope with the not running very well mentally!). It turned out that running, not eating well, was how the weight was staying off. Eight months, a stressful (but very happy) wedding and moving cities later, I’m back to 200lbs and I haven’t run properly in a while, because its so much harder with all this extra weight on me and I just can’t face how slow and out of shape I must be.

I’ve been really down about it for the past month as I’ve slowly realised that I am cycling through about four outfits that still fit me. Then, last week I just had this epiphany: I can just do it again, and do it slowly. Time will pass either way and I may as well get moving in the right direction.

I don’t need to crash diet, eat 1200cals a day, lock in and refuse social invitations for months like I did last time. I can just eat well, mindfully, try to move more again, and keep a good handle on my TDEE and calorie intake. I just need to be going in the right direction.

So for the last week, I have just been eating 2 meals a day (intermittent fasting has always worked well for me to manage my appetite), I haven’t started logging anything again yet, because as I said - I think the watertight grip I had on exact calories was part of the reason I couldn’t keep it stable afterwards - I just got tired of it after a while.

I think the aim now is to lose it again over the course of a year, estimating daily calories and adjusting accordingly, and really focus on re-forming my relationship with food. I want to be to running again (safely), less for weight loss; more because it just fantastic for my mental health. I have tried to limit ultra-processed hyper palatable foods and I’ve already lost 4lbs in a week (admittedly likely mostly water weight).

It’s really hard, being back at the starting line. But I already feel so much more full of energy and pep (hello, no afternoon sugar crashes), and am enjoying the fun of creative cooking again - it’s always exciting to me to cook tasty, healthy meals as its like a challenge! I know I can do this, and each set back is a chance to learn. This is the time where it sticks.

I’ll see how it goes. If you’re in the same boat as me, have faith - we can do this!

King Oswald’s Heirs: Meditations on the Catechism of the Church of England

I recently read this interesting new book which follows the catechism of the Church of England and has some really beautiful and interesting meditations on it, as well as some salient observations about the church today. It really helped me to understand it more deeply, this faith which I professed at my Confirmation and yet was never given much formal instruction on!

If you’d like to read my full review, I have written it here on Substack:

I thought some of you may be interested as I had some really lovely feedback on my last post, but feel free to delete if not allowed. I have no affiliation or relationship with Fr. Plant, and indeed I expect we disagree on a lot, but I found this book to be really beautiful and helpful.

Please feel free to delete if this isn’t allowed, but I thought some people here might be interested in this essay I wrote about my experience with the BCP, which this sub has helped me with a lot over the months of my ‘conversion’ to Anglicanism.

God bless!

I loved the early voting option at the guildhall this year. I hope lots of us used it so as to indicate a demand for it in the future. It felt a lot more ‘real’ than postal voting and i hope as a consequence encouraged people to go out and vote - less faff and no requirement to apply or anything. Long may it continue!