Spent the day pottering around the house, which was lovely as we haven't really had a weekend here & on our own since the start of February! Got a load of little jobs done which had been mounting up, and we both attacked the housework with a vengeance so now have a lovely, spring-cleaned house, which is always nice (and a bit of a rarity for us!!).
S was feeling a bit better today, was trying to get him to rest but he said he was fed up & wanted to sort the house out instead. He did finally fold early afternoon & headed back to bed, & I took some time to fiddle with some more jewellery designs for my hair & necklace for the wedding. Got a bit further this time which is good, have to have the hair bits done for my trial with the hairdresser in 2 weeks time, arg! I've only been doing it since last September but am really pleased with all my test pieces - may have to take it up as a hobby after the wedding!
Was so busy with all the bits I was doing that I quite forgot about lunch, and by the time it was finished it was almost 6, so got to have another evening feast of poppadoms, followed this time by a nut crunch (managed not to over-toast it either!) and another hot choc before heading to bed. Definitely feeling much more alive and have much more energy than in the first two weeks, and haven't had a headache either in a while, so I'm hoping the worst part is over now!
Anyway, hope everyone had a fab weekend, am off to catch up on everyone else's posts!
Monday, 26 March 2007
Day 25 - Saturday
Wow, can't believe I'm a quarter of the way through already! I'm so pleased actually, it hasn't been anywhere near the traumatic experience I thought it would be, and with the exception of those first few weeks of adjustment (and let's face it, it's only been odd days during those), the diet has been fine and I'm feeling great. It's also such a relief in a way not to feel like I'm putting crap into my body - I know the foodpacks aren't the greatest, but they are nutritionally what the body needs. I'm also not really missing anything, even the alcohol!
We'd got into a bit of a routine where if one of us came home from work after a bad day, we'd have a beer or open a bottle of wine to chill out & end up having a nice meal or takeaway with it. It's not that we'd drink loads & it wasn't all the time, but there really was no need for it, as I'm realizing now! I think it had just become a bit of a habit, and was definitely a good one to break!
Anyway, I woke up bright and early again today, looking forward to the weekend. I had an appointment for a facial at Clarins in B'ham (my first ever facial!) so we headed in around 10am after a quick Raspberry shake. I also made a bar into biscuits & took these in the car with me in case I felt hungry through the day. S was feeling a bit better this morning so decided to come with me into town as we had planned to go & look at wedding rings in the Jewellry Quarter afterwards.
The facial was fantastic actually, I'm not a particularly girly girl, so wasn't sure if I'd like it or just feel really awkward, but it was lovely & I was quite surprised how relaxing it is! Think this wedding is bringing a whole new & much more feminine side of me out which I never really knew existed! I've decided that I'm going to just enjoy the lead-up to the wedding, & not feel guilty about indulging myself a little!!
I also thought of it as my reward for losing my first stone, and have booked another for late April, hopefully in time for my 2nd stone! My skin felt so good afterwards too, am looking forward to the next one now (though can't afford to make this a regular habit!).
Left Clarins nicely relaxed & picked S up, we then headed for the famed Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. Was amazed by the number of Jewellers - there's a couple of streets just full of them! We had a look in about a dozen of them, we just wanted fairly simple bands, but easier said than done... Each shop has a slightly different take on the shape of the ring & some, where S liked the shape, didn't have them in the right size to try on, so it was very difficult to judge.
I thought mine would be much easier, I just wanted a plain band, but none of the ones I tried looked right with my engagement ring. Still, we got loads of quotes and also found out that they only take 2-3 weeks to make them, so we don't have to make a decision right away. Decided we'd pop back to the place that made my engagement ring next time we're staying in Bedford, and see if they can either give some suggestions or make a ring to complement it.
After that we headed over to John Lewis to pick things for our gift list - all very exciting! Actually, we're not putting too much on the list as we already have most things for the house, just a few bits to finish things off. Our main list is actually one we're doing ourselves as we're planning on buying a battered old boat later in the year which we will need to fix up & repair - a huge project (can't wait!!).
S was starting to feel a bit ropey in John Lewis so we headed back home (& he headed back to his duvet with some hot honey & lemon and paracetamol). Had veggie poppadoms for dinner, the rest of my biscuits, then my hot chocolate. Felt like a feast!
Oh, almost forgot, one of the best bits today was this morning when I was getting dressed, I realised my good pair of jeans are starting to look really scruffy. I've been avoiding buying anything new since Jan as I knew I was going to do the diet - I really want to avoid shopping for anything clothes-wise unless I absolutely need to, so I can save up and have a spree once I'm at my target!.
Anyway, I rooted around in my wardrobe and found a pair of jeans I've had for a few years but only wore once or twice before they got too tight for me. With a bit of trepidition, I gave them a go, and they fitted! In fact, they were gaping at the back, so I needed to add a belt too :-) It felt great, as this is the first real proof I've had that I am actually shrinking. I know that I'm seeing a loss each week on the scales, but when I look in the mirror I can't really seem to see much of a change - this was real proof that I am, & it felt absolutely fantastic!
We'd got into a bit of a routine where if one of us came home from work after a bad day, we'd have a beer or open a bottle of wine to chill out & end up having a nice meal or takeaway with it. It's not that we'd drink loads & it wasn't all the time, but there really was no need for it, as I'm realizing now! I think it had just become a bit of a habit, and was definitely a good one to break!
Anyway, I woke up bright and early again today, looking forward to the weekend. I had an appointment for a facial at Clarins in B'ham (my first ever facial!) so we headed in around 10am after a quick Raspberry shake. I also made a bar into biscuits & took these in the car with me in case I felt hungry through the day. S was feeling a bit better this morning so decided to come with me into town as we had planned to go & look at wedding rings in the Jewellry Quarter afterwards.
The facial was fantastic actually, I'm not a particularly girly girl, so wasn't sure if I'd like it or just feel really awkward, but it was lovely & I was quite surprised how relaxing it is! Think this wedding is bringing a whole new & much more feminine side of me out which I never really knew existed! I've decided that I'm going to just enjoy the lead-up to the wedding, & not feel guilty about indulging myself a little!!
I also thought of it as my reward for losing my first stone, and have booked another for late April, hopefully in time for my 2nd stone! My skin felt so good afterwards too, am looking forward to the next one now (though can't afford to make this a regular habit!).
Left Clarins nicely relaxed & picked S up, we then headed for the famed Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. Was amazed by the number of Jewellers - there's a couple of streets just full of them! We had a look in about a dozen of them, we just wanted fairly simple bands, but easier said than done... Each shop has a slightly different take on the shape of the ring & some, where S liked the shape, didn't have them in the right size to try on, so it was very difficult to judge.
I thought mine would be much easier, I just wanted a plain band, but none of the ones I tried looked right with my engagement ring. Still, we got loads of quotes and also found out that they only take 2-3 weeks to make them, so we don't have to make a decision right away. Decided we'd pop back to the place that made my engagement ring next time we're staying in Bedford, and see if they can either give some suggestions or make a ring to complement it.
After that we headed over to John Lewis to pick things for our gift list - all very exciting! Actually, we're not putting too much on the list as we already have most things for the house, just a few bits to finish things off. Our main list is actually one we're doing ourselves as we're planning on buying a battered old boat later in the year which we will need to fix up & repair - a huge project (can't wait!!).
S was starting to feel a bit ropey in John Lewis so we headed back home (& he headed back to his duvet with some hot honey & lemon and paracetamol). Had veggie poppadoms for dinner, the rest of my biscuits, then my hot chocolate. Felt like a feast!
Oh, almost forgot, one of the best bits today was this morning when I was getting dressed, I realised my good pair of jeans are starting to look really scruffy. I've been avoiding buying anything new since Jan as I knew I was going to do the diet - I really want to avoid shopping for anything clothes-wise unless I absolutely need to, so I can save up and have a spree once I'm at my target!.
Anyway, I rooted around in my wardrobe and found a pair of jeans I've had for a few years but only wore once or twice before they got too tight for me. With a bit of trepidition, I gave them a go, and they fitted! In fact, they were gaping at the back, so I needed to add a belt too :-) It felt great, as this is the first real proof I've had that I am actually shrinking. I know that I'm seeing a loss each week on the scales, but when I look in the mirror I can't really seem to see much of a change - this was real proof that I am, & it felt absolutely fantastic!
Day 24 - It's Friday!! :-)
Was manic at work today, didn't really get much time to stop till gone 6pm, which was good as it did take my mind off of everything else. Drank loads of water today through all the calls which was good, and I'm finding I'm not running to the loo every five minutes now either, so I guess I must have adjusted to all that extra water I'm consuming. It's a bit strange actually, but I feel really thirsty if I don't have any water to hand!
Think next weeks meetings are going to be interesting though, as I won't be able to follow my usual routine, and don't think I'll be drinking as much water throughout the day. I'm trying to work out a tactic to deal with the days before I get there, the Thursday in particular as it's the full day, followed by dinner :-s At least I don't have to worry about the Wednesday night now, I'm getting a later flight and won't get to the hotel till about 9pm - my colleague doesn't arrive till about midnight so I have a great excuse for not waiting up for her!!
H2B got back from work about 6pm with all the shopping, he's a saint and shooed me out of the kitchen whilst he unpacked all the goodies. He's really not feeling well (and he is never usually sick) so he spent the evening huddled in a duvet by the fire - I felt so sorry for him, it's so frustrating when there's nothing you can do to help :-(
Think next weeks meetings are going to be interesting though, as I won't be able to follow my usual routine, and don't think I'll be drinking as much water throughout the day. I'm trying to work out a tactic to deal with the days before I get there, the Thursday in particular as it's the full day, followed by dinner :-s At least I don't have to worry about the Wednesday night now, I'm getting a later flight and won't get to the hotel till about 9pm - my colleague doesn't arrive till about midnight so I have a great excuse for not waiting up for her!!
H2B got back from work about 6pm with all the shopping, he's a saint and shooed me out of the kitchen whilst he unpacked all the goodies. He's really not feeling well (and he is never usually sick) so he spent the evening huddled in a duvet by the fire - I felt so sorry for him, it's so frustrating when there's nothing you can do to help :-(
Thursday, 22 March 2007
Day 23 (77 to go...)
Woke up at 6.30 feeling pretty tired, I did try sleeping in for a bit more but couldn't, so just got up and started pottering around the house. Sorted out the car insurance when they opened at 8, and wrote to the florist to confirm the flowers for the wedding (two ticks on my to-do list before 8.30, so was feeling much better about things!). Also phoned the doctors and got an appointment for the nurse.
I put on one of my usual pairs of jeans this morning, I haven't worn them since I started on LL and they were definitely feeling a bit too big - I then tried on a top which I've avoided wearing recently as it's been a little too figure hugging, but not this time, which cheered me up no end!
I shot off to the doctor's about 10am; when I got in to see the nurse it turned out to be a different lady to last time. I explained about the diet & the check, and she was really positive about the whole thing, completely happy to sign the form and was very encouraging about the diet approach. Made such a change from the last time, and I came out of the surgery with a huge grin on my face and feeling much happier - I'll have to make sure I book my next appointment with her!
Got back home & decided to try something different for breakfast, so tried out a recipe Lesley mentioned for chocolate fudge, only I was a bit rushed and ended up adding double the amount of water, and was left wondering why it wasn't thickening properly! It was still looking pretty gloopy though, so I decided to bung it in the freezer and try it as ice cream for tomorrow. Tried the fudge with another pack, but managed this time to slightly overcook it - definitely not my day for experimental cooking! It turned out to be not as bad as I'd thought though, it was muffiny on the outside but still really gooey in the middle.
Rest of the day was pretty manic with work, didn't really get much of a chance to stop. Managed to grab a quick 15 mins for my lunch before the next round of calls. H2b got back around 7pm so I stopped working then, and made myself some more poppadoms while he told me about the trip away - he was staying with one of our friends in London, and they basically spent the night in the pub! Was pleased they had a good time, but actually secretly glad that I hadn't had to be there!
I seem to have tonnes of energy tonight, and not a headache in sight all day, so either my plan yesterday with having more packs after the exercise worked, or I'm just over the worst of it! I've not really had a chance to spend any time on minimins or the blogs recently as things have been so busy - it's weird but I'm really missing it! Thankfully we're home this weekend, which should give me a chance to catch up with everything...
I put on one of my usual pairs of jeans this morning, I haven't worn them since I started on LL and they were definitely feeling a bit too big - I then tried on a top which I've avoided wearing recently as it's been a little too figure hugging, but not this time, which cheered me up no end!
I shot off to the doctor's about 10am; when I got in to see the nurse it turned out to be a different lady to last time. I explained about the diet & the check, and she was really positive about the whole thing, completely happy to sign the form and was very encouraging about the diet approach. Made such a change from the last time, and I came out of the surgery with a huge grin on my face and feeling much happier - I'll have to make sure I book my next appointment with her!
Got back home & decided to try something different for breakfast, so tried out a recipe Lesley mentioned for chocolate fudge, only I was a bit rushed and ended up adding double the amount of water, and was left wondering why it wasn't thickening properly! It was still looking pretty gloopy though, so I decided to bung it in the freezer and try it as ice cream for tomorrow. Tried the fudge with another pack, but managed this time to slightly overcook it - definitely not my day for experimental cooking! It turned out to be not as bad as I'd thought though, it was muffiny on the outside but still really gooey in the middle.
Rest of the day was pretty manic with work, didn't really get much of a chance to stop. Managed to grab a quick 15 mins for my lunch before the next round of calls. H2b got back around 7pm so I stopped working then, and made myself some more poppadoms while he told me about the trip away - he was staying with one of our friends in London, and they basically spent the night in the pub! Was pleased they had a good time, but actually secretly glad that I hadn't had to be there!
I seem to have tonnes of energy tonight, and not a headache in sight all day, so either my plan yesterday with having more packs after the exercise worked, or I'm just over the worst of it! I've not really had a chance to spend any time on minimins or the blogs recently as things have been so busy - it's weird but I'm really missing it! Thankfully we're home this weekend, which should give me a chance to catch up with everything...
Wednesday, 21 March 2007
Day 22 (78 to go)...
The weigh in last night went ok, I only officially only lost 2lb which was a shame, but I'm being surprisingly upbeat about it and focusing on the cumulative amount rather than dwelling on the week loss! Think this is largely to do with some of the other blogs & comments I've been reading, which has in a way prepared me (more than I realised!) for having good weeks & bad weeks. So thanks everyone for writing the blogs & the comments as it really does help!!
This does mean that I've now lost one stone (yay!) in three weeks, which I can't quite believe (huge grin!). Also did my weekly weigh & measure at home this morning and have lost another couple of cm from my bust and waist which is all positive.
The session was a bit strange tonight, there were no new people, so it was just the four of us and I think she's closed the session now. The fifth lady (who was ill last week) was there at the start to get weighed & measured but didn't stay for the counselling session, but we weren't told why. Our LLC played us the week 4 DVD which was ok, only it did leap right into the Ego states part as if we'd come across it before - we didn't get a DVD in weeks 2 & 3 (is this normal?) so we did wonder if we'd missed something but she told us that we hadn't.
Did a group session afterwards on self-discounting (i.e. where you ignore, or discount, information when solving a problem) and we looked at situations where we may have done that in the past. To be honest I left feeling it wasn't explained particularly well, and will have to do a bit of research online about it I think. The LLC was a bit vague all evening actually - hope it was just an off-day otherwise the counselling might not be as good as it could be. Hopefully she'll be ok next week (fingers crossed).
We were also given our pedometers, active DVD and green rubber stretchy thing (no idea what they're actually called!). The session lasted about an hour again then we all headed home. Got back about 9.15 and baked a batch of toffee biscuits, was a bit gutted actually as I'd ordered lemon bars too but she was out of stock! Finished off with a hot chocolate before heading to bed. Wasn't feeling so tired thankfully!
Woke up at 7 again this morning and did my weight & measurements, sorted out my pedometer, then headed downstairs to watch some of the DVD. Wasn't bad actually, quite a gentle warm-up to the day! Will have to get one of those big pilates balls though, they look fab. Right, back to work...
Decided to try a slightly different tactic with the packs today in an effort to stop me getting such bad headaches on the days after riding. Had a raspberry shake mid-morning, then at lunch I cooked my bar into biscuits & put them in an airtight tub. Had a savoury drink for lunch instead of my usual foodpack, work was busy which helped, as I didn't really have a chance to think of anything else! Before I knew it, it was 6 o'clock and I had to leave, grabbed a couple of the 'biscuits' on the way out.
The lesson was good today, but hard work on the legs! Got home about 8.30 to an empty house (h2b was away in London overnight) and then had a veritable feast - I cooked mushroom poppadoms, then had the rest of the biscuits for pudding, then topped it all off with a hot chocolate pack before I went to bed. Had a load of water to wash it all down, the downside was I had to keep getting up to go to the loo in the night!
Took me ages to get off to sleep though, had a lot on my mind yesterday and ended up in a right tizz which wasn't good. Not much to do with the diet (thankfully) but I did manage, on top of everything else that was worrying me, to start stressing about the blood-pressure check! When I went the first time the nurse was really anti me going on the diet & I was worried about a battle this time round (and what if that they wouldn't sign it & I'd have to come off the diet, which sent me into more of a panic!). Anyway, eventually managed to talk some sense into myself and convinced myself that as I really couldn't do anything about any of it at 1 in the morning, the best option would be to tackle it all when I got up. This tack finally worked, only for me to wake up about 1/2 hour later needing the loo again!! Oh well...
This does mean that I've now lost one stone (yay!) in three weeks, which I can't quite believe (huge grin!). Also did my weekly weigh & measure at home this morning and have lost another couple of cm from my bust and waist which is all positive.
The session was a bit strange tonight, there were no new people, so it was just the four of us and I think she's closed the session now. The fifth lady (who was ill last week) was there at the start to get weighed & measured but didn't stay for the counselling session, but we weren't told why. Our LLC played us the week 4 DVD which was ok, only it did leap right into the Ego states part as if we'd come across it before - we didn't get a DVD in weeks 2 & 3 (is this normal?) so we did wonder if we'd missed something but she told us that we hadn't.
Did a group session afterwards on self-discounting (i.e. where you ignore, or discount, information when solving a problem) and we looked at situations where we may have done that in the past. To be honest I left feeling it wasn't explained particularly well, and will have to do a bit of research online about it I think. The LLC was a bit vague all evening actually - hope it was just an off-day otherwise the counselling might not be as good as it could be. Hopefully she'll be ok next week (fingers crossed).
We were also given our pedometers, active DVD and green rubber stretchy thing (no idea what they're actually called!). The session lasted about an hour again then we all headed home. Got back about 9.15 and baked a batch of toffee biscuits, was a bit gutted actually as I'd ordered lemon bars too but she was out of stock! Finished off with a hot chocolate before heading to bed. Wasn't feeling so tired thankfully!
Woke up at 7 again this morning and did my weight & measurements, sorted out my pedometer, then headed downstairs to watch some of the DVD. Wasn't bad actually, quite a gentle warm-up to the day! Will have to get one of those big pilates balls though, they look fab. Right, back to work...
Decided to try a slightly different tactic with the packs today in an effort to stop me getting such bad headaches on the days after riding. Had a raspberry shake mid-morning, then at lunch I cooked my bar into biscuits & put them in an airtight tub. Had a savoury drink for lunch instead of my usual foodpack, work was busy which helped, as I didn't really have a chance to think of anything else! Before I knew it, it was 6 o'clock and I had to leave, grabbed a couple of the 'biscuits' on the way out.
The lesson was good today, but hard work on the legs! Got home about 8.30 to an empty house (h2b was away in London overnight) and then had a veritable feast - I cooked mushroom poppadoms, then had the rest of the biscuits for pudding, then topped it all off with a hot chocolate pack before I went to bed. Had a load of water to wash it all down, the downside was I had to keep getting up to go to the loo in the night!
Took me ages to get off to sleep though, had a lot on my mind yesterday and ended up in a right tizz which wasn't good. Not much to do with the diet (thankfully) but I did manage, on top of everything else that was worrying me, to start stressing about the blood-pressure check! When I went the first time the nurse was really anti me going on the diet & I was worried about a battle this time round (and what if that they wouldn't sign it & I'd have to come off the diet, which sent me into more of a panic!). Anyway, eventually managed to talk some sense into myself and convinced myself that as I really couldn't do anything about any of it at 1 in the morning, the best option would be to tackle it all when I got up. This tack finally worked, only for me to wake up about 1/2 hour later needing the loo again!! Oh well...
Tuesday, 20 March 2007
Day 21 (weigh-in day)
Yay! Finally managed to catch up on the blogs this morning :-) Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, being away for the weekend threw me out of synch slightly I think, but back on track now…
Thanks for the posts Lesley, by the way! The wedding incidentally is on the 23rd June, which according to my minimins countdown is still 95 days away, plenty of time!! I'm hoping to get to 11st 7 by the end of the 100 days which will take me into my healthy bmi range for my height (I'm just over 5'8). I'd really like to get down to 10st 7 at some stage but being realistic I'm not going to want to be on development over my wedding & honeymoon, so will switch to maintenance instead. My 100 days are up about 2 weeks before the wedding so I will at least be able to eat some things by then!!
The honeymoon will be slightly easier as we're going sailing off the west coast of Scotland, so keeping to management should be a bit easier there than if we'd opted for an exotic holiday instead, as we'll just be catering for ourselves. Hoping with the exception of the wedding day / day after, I can be back on track with management through the honeymoon & if needs be, go back onto development when I get back.
No matter what weight I am by the end of the 100 days, it's definitely going to be considerably lighter than I was when I started the diet, so I'm not going to complain even if I'm still in the 12's!! Right, better get on with some work, post again later!
Thanks for the posts Lesley, by the way! The wedding incidentally is on the 23rd June, which according to my minimins countdown is still 95 days away, plenty of time!! I'm hoping to get to 11st 7 by the end of the 100 days which will take me into my healthy bmi range for my height (I'm just over 5'8). I'd really like to get down to 10st 7 at some stage but being realistic I'm not going to want to be on development over my wedding & honeymoon, so will switch to maintenance instead. My 100 days are up about 2 weeks before the wedding so I will at least be able to eat some things by then!!
The honeymoon will be slightly easier as we're going sailing off the west coast of Scotland, so keeping to management should be a bit easier there than if we'd opted for an exotic holiday instead, as we'll just be catering for ourselves. Hoping with the exception of the wedding day / day after, I can be back on track with management through the honeymoon & if needs be, go back onto development when I get back.
No matter what weight I am by the end of the 100 days, it's definitely going to be considerably lighter than I was when I started the diet, so I'm not going to complain even if I'm still in the 12's!! Right, better get on with some work, post again later!
Day 20 - Monday (only 80 to go!!)
Wow, day 20! Can't quite believe how quickly it's gone by, and how well I seem to have settled down into the whole lighterlife routine. Am so pleased I decided to do this, and I am starting to see real changes in my body which is fantastic for such a short space of time. Can't wait for the weigh-in tomorrow, even though I know it will have settled down from the higher losses in the first two weeks. Just have to keep focusing on the bigger picture!
Was awake early again today, so got up & had another 30min session on the treadmill, also did 15 mins with my small dumbbells to try to tone up my arms a bit. Work was busy again today, grabbed a Raspberry shake for breakfast, then grabbed a quick lunch (thai chilli soup with 2 poppadoms) before my conference calls this afternoon. For some reason was feeling very hungry today, I think it may be because I'm getting bored with the packs all the time. Just keep telling myself why I'm doing this & drink some more water, which seems to work.
Had a savory drink late afternoon, which seems to be my worst time. I was also really craving something sweet today which is unlike me - managed to hold on for my hot chocolate though. Feeling really tired this evening, was going to try to catch up my blog (again) and read everyone else's but think I'm going to go to bed instead and try to do it in the morning! Night all x
Was awake early again today, so got up & had another 30min session on the treadmill, also did 15 mins with my small dumbbells to try to tone up my arms a bit. Work was busy again today, grabbed a Raspberry shake for breakfast, then grabbed a quick lunch (thai chilli soup with 2 poppadoms) before my conference calls this afternoon. For some reason was feeling very hungry today, I think it may be because I'm getting bored with the packs all the time. Just keep telling myself why I'm doing this & drink some more water, which seems to work.
Had a savory drink late afternoon, which seems to be my worst time. I was also really craving something sweet today which is unlike me - managed to hold on for my hot chocolate though. Feeling really tired this evening, was going to try to catch up my blog (again) and read everyone else's but think I'm going to go to bed instead and try to do it in the morning! Night all x
Day 19 (Sunday)
Sunday was a bit of a weird day - was almost 3am by the time I finally got off to sleep, and I was awake again at 7, so was pretty shattered all day. Watched everyone have their bacon & egg butties (and was not even remotely interested!) then had my raspberry shake. We then decided as it was a nice day we'd go for a walk along the seafront. Thought I'd also take some photo's so I could add some to the blog, only to find that my camera had run out of juice :-(
One of my friends was asking lots about the foodpacks & diet, so I was explaining all about lighterlife & why I was doing it, what it involved etc. She seemed really interested & is going to check it out - she's been on Slimming World a while back but is off of it at the moment and wants to get back into something. She's going to check it out which is good.
The walk along the seafront was great, though quite bracing! The wind was picking up considerably (so much so that walking into it was like trying to walk through sticky toffee!) so am sure we must have expended double the amount of energy we would have normally used up! Certainly cleared out all the cobwebs! Was really weird walking along the shoreline - the last couple of times we've been down that way we've been sailing, so have seen Portsmouth from the water, not the shore!
Decided to head back home about 1pm, drive back was fine, & nibbled half my biscuit ration on the way. As soon as we got off the motorway near home, we drove straight into a blizzard - it stopped by the time we got home, but then no sooner were we in the house than it started again, & snowed for about an hour, the the sun came out! Really bizarre weather!
Was hoping to catch up a bit on the computer but was so tired I ended up going to bed early instead!
One of my friends was asking lots about the foodpacks & diet, so I was explaining all about lighterlife & why I was doing it, what it involved etc. She seemed really interested & is going to check it out - she's been on Slimming World a while back but is off of it at the moment and wants to get back into something. She's going to check it out which is good.
The walk along the seafront was great, though quite bracing! The wind was picking up considerably (so much so that walking into it was like trying to walk through sticky toffee!) so am sure we must have expended double the amount of energy we would have normally used up! Certainly cleared out all the cobwebs! Was really weird walking along the shoreline - the last couple of times we've been down that way we've been sailing, so have seen Portsmouth from the water, not the shore!
Decided to head back home about 1pm, drive back was fine, & nibbled half my biscuit ration on the way. As soon as we got off the motorway near home, we drove straight into a blizzard - it stopped by the time we got home, but then no sooner were we in the house than it started again, & snowed for about an hour, the the sun came out! Really bizarre weather!
Was hoping to catch up a bit on the computer but was so tired I ended up going to bed early instead!
Day 18 (Saturday)
Saturday went really well, had a raspberry shake before we set off for Portsmouth, and took a 1.5l bottle of water in the car which I sipped all the way down. I also decided to bake my two bars (1 for each day) before I left & take them with me so I had something I could nibble throughout the day. Got to Portsmouth around 3.30 which wasn't a bad run down, and only a few of the others were already there, which made things easier!
Told them about the diet, and was asked if it was a "desperate attempt to fit into my wedding dress" by James - cheeky sod, I wouldn't mind but he knows full well my dress hasn't been made yet! Actually, I'm really lucky in that h2b's step-mother used to be a dressmaker, and we get on really well. She offered to make my dress, which is fantastic, we've mocked it up but she's not going to start the actual dress till mid-May which is perfect!
Anyway, I was starting to feel that I really needed to eat, so made up my soup & tucked in while James was making the lasagne's for the evening. The rest of the night went really well too, there were loads of people there so it was actually really easy to not make an issue about me not eating - I ended up in the kitchen eating my soup with a couple of people, which was fine (and far less tortuous than being in the dining room with all the nibbles, garlic bread and lasagne's!). The birthday cake looked divine, chocolate gooey cake, but I politely refused (there were a few incredulous looks as I did though!).
The best bit was watching everyone else get slowly plastered, I had thought that would be the hardest thing & that either I'd be tempted to join in or I'd end up heading to bed early, but it was much easier than I had imagined, and very entertaining to watch! The only time someone tried to tempt me was when someone had the bright idea to raid James' whiskey collection at about 2am, but by that point the person doing the raiding was slurring his words quite a bit, and it was amusing more than anything!. Nibbled on my biscuits throughout the evening, think it was a good plan to bring those along, and will definitely have to do that again for any trips away!
Told them about the diet, and was asked if it was a "desperate attempt to fit into my wedding dress" by James - cheeky sod, I wouldn't mind but he knows full well my dress hasn't been made yet! Actually, I'm really lucky in that h2b's step-mother used to be a dressmaker, and we get on really well. She offered to make my dress, which is fantastic, we've mocked it up but she's not going to start the actual dress till mid-May which is perfect!
Anyway, I was starting to feel that I really needed to eat, so made up my soup & tucked in while James was making the lasagne's for the evening. The rest of the night went really well too, there were loads of people there so it was actually really easy to not make an issue about me not eating - I ended up in the kitchen eating my soup with a couple of people, which was fine (and far less tortuous than being in the dining room with all the nibbles, garlic bread and lasagne's!). The birthday cake looked divine, chocolate gooey cake, but I politely refused (there were a few incredulous looks as I did though!).
The best bit was watching everyone else get slowly plastered, I had thought that would be the hardest thing & that either I'd be tempted to join in or I'd end up heading to bed early, but it was much easier than I had imagined, and very entertaining to watch! The only time someone tried to tempt me was when someone had the bright idea to raid James' whiskey collection at about 2am, but by that point the person doing the raiding was slurring his words quite a bit, and it was amusing more than anything!. Nibbled on my biscuits throughout the evening, think it was a good plan to bring those along, and will definitely have to do that again for any trips away!
Friday, 16 March 2007
Day 17 - Friday (finally!)
Awful, awful night last night - head was pounding all evening & my eyes were hurting. Really didn't feel like eating but took some more paracetamol, had my mushroom poppadoms and then took a hot chocolate to bed. Wasn't a good night, kept tossing & turning & just couldn't get comfortable. Woke up finally at 7 this morning absolutely shattered, but the headache had gone finally! No idea if it was the diet or just me being under the weather though - have had a bit of a sore throat and been very hot and cold for a few days, so who knows!
Made myself go on the running machine this morning though, and actually felt much better for it. Was half-way through the shower when the man arrived to deliver my new keyboard - answered the door dripping wet with wild wet hair and hid behind the door (god knows what he thought!!) & spent the next hour trying to get the bloomin' thing to work with my 2 pcs. Grr Grr...
Tried something different for breakfast this morning and made raspberry pancakes (so, ok, they're exactly the same as poppadoms just it sounds better if I convince myself they're pancakes!) - added a teaspoon of the fruits of the forest flavouring to the rest of the mix as the first one didn't taste too good - definitely need to buy some sweeteners!
Worked my way steadily through my water again, stopped for a late lunch at 2pm for about 20 mins (enough time to make mushroom poppadoms!). Day has really whizzed by (always a bonus on a Friday). Also feeling pleased with myself as I finally got round to sorting my hair trial for the wedding, booked a haircut for next week & tried to get in touch with the local vicar about the banns. Also realised I'd missed sorting the wedding rings off of my list (arg!) so was hastily added & we've agreed to go next weekend to the Jewellery Quarter, yay! :-)
Right, I'm off to watch some of Comic Relief and pout at h2b having his well-earned beer, and just be content with feeling morally superior by not succumbing to the temptation to drink (so, ok, it's killing me, Friday nights are by far the worst!). Looking forward to the weekend down in Portsmouth too - we're driving down tomorrow morning & I can't wait to see everyone, it's been ages since we all last got together!
Have a great weekend everyone ;-)
Made myself go on the running machine this morning though, and actually felt much better for it. Was half-way through the shower when the man arrived to deliver my new keyboard - answered the door dripping wet with wild wet hair and hid behind the door (god knows what he thought!!) & spent the next hour trying to get the bloomin' thing to work with my 2 pcs. Grr Grr...
Tried something different for breakfast this morning and made raspberry pancakes (so, ok, they're exactly the same as poppadoms just it sounds better if I convince myself they're pancakes!) - added a teaspoon of the fruits of the forest flavouring to the rest of the mix as the first one didn't taste too good - definitely need to buy some sweeteners!
Worked my way steadily through my water again, stopped for a late lunch at 2pm for about 20 mins (enough time to make mushroom poppadoms!). Day has really whizzed by (always a bonus on a Friday). Also feeling pleased with myself as I finally got round to sorting my hair trial for the wedding, booked a haircut for next week & tried to get in touch with the local vicar about the banns. Also realised I'd missed sorting the wedding rings off of my list (arg!) so was hastily added & we've agreed to go next weekend to the Jewellery Quarter, yay! :-)
Right, I'm off to watch some of Comic Relief and pout at h2b having his well-earned beer, and just be content with feeling morally superior by not succumbing to the temptation to drink (so, ok, it's killing me, Friday nights are by far the worst!). Looking forward to the weekend down in Portsmouth too - we're driving down tomorrow morning & I can't wait to see everyone, it's been ages since we all last got together!
Have a great weekend everyone ;-)
Thursday, 15 March 2007
Day 16 (84 to go)
Woke up just before 8am this morning, and had slept really well, the first time in ages!! Was logged on at my desk by 8.20 and catching up on emails. Grabbed a raspberry shake for breakfast when the postman came, had 2 more replies for the wedding, it's soo exciting!!
Am really thirsty today - I had 5 & 1/2 litres yesterday but made an effort not to really drink after 4.30 yesterday so I wouldn't need the loo whilst riding. Maybe I was a little too restrictive with it, can't seem to get enough of it today!
Found out mid-morning that I'm having to go off to Paris for a big meeting in a couple of weeks. Normally I quite enjoy going away with work but this time I'm a little worried about the whole not eating thing - the plan is to go over the night before (it's an early meeting the next morning and the morning flights don't get in in time) but I'm worried that we'll have to go out to dinner with the clients, which may cause a few problems with me on the diet. Hmm, well, I'll have to think on that nearer the time, I'm hoping I will be able to catch a later flight in & miss dinner, which would work out quite well, but I'll just have to wait & see what the plan is!
Had Thai Chilli for lunch then back to work. Got really cold shortly after that, & started to feel really rough. By about 4pm it had developed into a blinding headache - took some paracetamol & had to have a lie down for 10 mins which is most unusual, but the second time since I've started LL. It always seems to happen on a Thursday and I'm wondering if it's something to do with the riding on the Wednesday night as it is quite an intensive work-out. This diary is really helping as I can track things like this, whatever it is, I'll just have to push through it & hope it gets better over time!
Tried a savory drink again today & they're really rather nice, which is good. Headache's still there and my eyes are hurting so as it's way past six I'm gonna turn my pc off now...
Am really thirsty today - I had 5 & 1/2 litres yesterday but made an effort not to really drink after 4.30 yesterday so I wouldn't need the loo whilst riding. Maybe I was a little too restrictive with it, can't seem to get enough of it today!
Found out mid-morning that I'm having to go off to Paris for a big meeting in a couple of weeks. Normally I quite enjoy going away with work but this time I'm a little worried about the whole not eating thing - the plan is to go over the night before (it's an early meeting the next morning and the morning flights don't get in in time) but I'm worried that we'll have to go out to dinner with the clients, which may cause a few problems with me on the diet. Hmm, well, I'll have to think on that nearer the time, I'm hoping I will be able to catch a later flight in & miss dinner, which would work out quite well, but I'll just have to wait & see what the plan is!
Had Thai Chilli for lunch then back to work. Got really cold shortly after that, & started to feel really rough. By about 4pm it had developed into a blinding headache - took some paracetamol & had to have a lie down for 10 mins which is most unusual, but the second time since I've started LL. It always seems to happen on a Thursday and I'm wondering if it's something to do with the riding on the Wednesday night as it is quite an intensive work-out. This diary is really helping as I can track things like this, whatever it is, I'll just have to push through it & hope it gets better over time!
Tried a savory drink again today & they're really rather nice, which is good. Headache's still there and my eyes are hurting so as it's way past six I'm gonna turn my pc off now...
Day 15 (85 to go)
Still feeling really positive after last night's weigh-in :-) Did my weekly weigh-in & measure at home and have lost another 3cm off my waist, which does seem to track with the 1cm lost = 1kg of weight lost they advise in the booklet. Haven't lost so many cm in other areas but then they do say that some weeks you lose weight rather than cm, and vice-versa, so I'm not at all worried about that.
Am really looking forward to the week ahead, and can't wait for the next session - somehow wishing I could fast-forward to it! I'm also really looking forward to the weekend now, we're off to our friends housewarming / birthday party in Portsmouth & I can't wait. I am a little apprehensive about the whole big social environment, but to be honest everyone I know there will be fine about it, it's just there are one or two jokers there who may think it funny to tempt me. Am just going to have to tell them to sod off if they try it!! Am already planning what I'm going to eat & when, and wondering if they've got a coloured glass there so no one has to know I'm just drinking water! What am I like?!?
Decided to try my hand at a chocolate muffin for breakfast this morning - was a bit pants to be honest, really didn't like the taste. May have to get some sweetener tablets and try it again once more before I rule it out totally, but as it was, the flavour was pretty grim and I had trouble finishing it.
Was up bright and early again this morning so have been getting my blog back up to date & having a read of everyone else's - they really are good and help me realise that none of us are going through this alone!.Right, must get back to work...
Had vegetable soup for lunch - again made 3/4 as a soup & 1/4 as a 'poppadom' which seems to work really well. Work was busy this afternoon, finished at 6 & had just enough time to change & have a quick bowl of soup before heading out to go riding. Jumping again this week and was much better than the last attempt. Had one refusal early on but by the end we were going really well. The horse does need constant leg-on to each jump though, he's a real scaredy-cat!! Was a great workout for me though, and was on such a high when I got home, feeling full of energy. Had my lemon bar (biscuits) when I got back, & managed to stay up much longer than I have been!
Am really looking forward to the week ahead, and can't wait for the next session - somehow wishing I could fast-forward to it! I'm also really looking forward to the weekend now, we're off to our friends housewarming / birthday party in Portsmouth & I can't wait. I am a little apprehensive about the whole big social environment, but to be honest everyone I know there will be fine about it, it's just there are one or two jokers there who may think it funny to tempt me. Am just going to have to tell them to sod off if they try it!! Am already planning what I'm going to eat & when, and wondering if they've got a coloured glass there so no one has to know I'm just drinking water! What am I like?!?
Decided to try my hand at a chocolate muffin for breakfast this morning - was a bit pants to be honest, really didn't like the taste. May have to get some sweetener tablets and try it again once more before I rule it out totally, but as it was, the flavour was pretty grim and I had trouble finishing it.
Was up bright and early again this morning so have been getting my blog back up to date & having a read of everyone else's - they really are good and help me realise that none of us are going through this alone!.Right, must get back to work...
Had vegetable soup for lunch - again made 3/4 as a soup & 1/4 as a 'poppadom' which seems to work really well. Work was busy this afternoon, finished at 6 & had just enough time to change & have a quick bowl of soup before heading out to go riding. Jumping again this week and was much better than the last attempt. Had one refusal early on but by the end we were going really well. The horse does need constant leg-on to each jump though, he's a real scaredy-cat!! Was a great workout for me though, and was on such a high when I got home, feeling full of energy. Had my lemon bar (biscuits) when I got back, & managed to stay up much longer than I have been!
Tuesday, 13 March 2007
Day 14 (weigh in later)... 86 to go
Woke up early again this morning and actually got round to tidying some of my paperwork up before I started work :-) Had a vanilla latte for breakfast using just 1/2 a pack, then ended up having a late lunch as the man arrived to replace my car windscreen - got hit by a stone on the way to the inlaws last weekend and ended up with a massive crack in it, wasn't best pleased!
Grabbed a quick mushroom soup for lunch, then late afternoon decided to have a coffee break & made a mini muffin with the 2nd half of my vanilla pack. I added a spoonful of the Fruits of the Forest flavouring in too which worked surprisingly well. Read a recipe somewhere where they had done that with the chocolate pack & made a black forest gateaux flavoured one, might have to try that at some point too!!
Works been busy today so not had much time on the internet (probably a good thing!!) - will try to catch up later but have my end of week 2 weigh-in session tonight. I'm looking forward to it actually :-) Will report back later...
Well, back from the session, and can't quite believe it but I've lost another 6lb since last week's weigh-in, which brings my total to 12lb in 2 weeks (huge grin). Am sooo pleased, and it's made me more determined than ever to keep on with this. The others in the group all had similar losses (4lb, 5lb & 6lb) - the lady who started last week with us has flu so didn't stay for the session, but she'd lost around 8lb I think, so well done all round.
There were no new people in the group too which was actually quite nice - we asked the councellor whether the group was now closed as she'd said it would be open for 3 sessions and this was the third, but she wasn't sure & said there may be new people next week too. We'll just have to wait & see, but our group seems to be working well already which is good.
The session was quite quick today - we were weighed at the start, then had to do a group session on our chatter box which was quite enlightening actually - made me much more aware of what is going on in my head! To finish off we had to write down 5 things that we should do when we're at the end of the 100 days, then tried changing the wording to make a much more positive emphasis, again I found this quite useful. Doesn't seem to be rocket science, but it is really good to sit, think & talk through these things - I have to say that although I was aware of my inner chatterbox before, I've never really sat back & thought about it & why it happens / what triggers it. Hmm, food for thought (sorry!) for this week I think!!
I also had a chance to look at the comments Lesley had made on my blog when I got back. Thanks Lesley, you're a star - the comments really helped me put things in perspective, and made me even more determined to do this! Finished the day off with a hot chocolate & a nut bar (toasted - again thanks for the tip!) which was really rather good, better than having it cold. That's the first time I've had two packs at the same time and felt quite full afterwards, which just goes to show ;-)
Grabbed a quick mushroom soup for lunch, then late afternoon decided to have a coffee break & made a mini muffin with the 2nd half of my vanilla pack. I added a spoonful of the Fruits of the Forest flavouring in too which worked surprisingly well. Read a recipe somewhere where they had done that with the chocolate pack & made a black forest gateaux flavoured one, might have to try that at some point too!!
Works been busy today so not had much time on the internet (probably a good thing!!) - will try to catch up later but have my end of week 2 weigh-in session tonight. I'm looking forward to it actually :-) Will report back later...
Well, back from the session, and can't quite believe it but I've lost another 6lb since last week's weigh-in, which brings my total to 12lb in 2 weeks (huge grin). Am sooo pleased, and it's made me more determined than ever to keep on with this. The others in the group all had similar losses (4lb, 5lb & 6lb) - the lady who started last week with us has flu so didn't stay for the session, but she'd lost around 8lb I think, so well done all round.
There were no new people in the group too which was actually quite nice - we asked the councellor whether the group was now closed as she'd said it would be open for 3 sessions and this was the third, but she wasn't sure & said there may be new people next week too. We'll just have to wait & see, but our group seems to be working well already which is good.
The session was quite quick today - we were weighed at the start, then had to do a group session on our chatter box which was quite enlightening actually - made me much more aware of what is going on in my head! To finish off we had to write down 5 things that we should do when we're at the end of the 100 days, then tried changing the wording to make a much more positive emphasis, again I found this quite useful. Doesn't seem to be rocket science, but it is really good to sit, think & talk through these things - I have to say that although I was aware of my inner chatterbox before, I've never really sat back & thought about it & why it happens / what triggers it. Hmm, food for thought (sorry!) for this week I think!!
I also had a chance to look at the comments Lesley had made on my blog when I got back. Thanks Lesley, you're a star - the comments really helped me put things in perspective, and made me even more determined to do this! Finished the day off with a hot chocolate & a nut bar (toasted - again thanks for the tip!) which was really rather good, better than having it cold. That's the first time I've had two packs at the same time and felt quite full afterwards, which just goes to show ;-)
Monday, 12 March 2007
Day 13 - Monday (87 to go...)
Woke up at 6.30 feeling fine - lay in bed for a short while then got up & weighed myself. Have dropped another .2 of a lb which is definitely encouraging as I'd expected to put on some after Saturday. This means according to my scales I've lost 3lb since last Tuesday morning, so I might be alright for the weigh-in tomorrow. Mind you, I'll weigh myself at 7.45 this evening with my clothes on to see if I'm below the 14st13 (fingers crossed!).
Went on the treadmill this morning for 30 mins & split it between a fast walk & a run - managed it no problem and felt great afterwards. Also drank 1 litre of water before going up to my office. Thinking about things I didn't drink anywhere near enough water on Sat & not huge amounts yesterday, so I'm hoping if I up my water intake today & get back to the 6 to 7 litre range, it'll help...
Raspberry for breakfast again, but didn't get to it till 10.30... Couldn't decide between soup & crisps with my veg pack at lunch so made 1/4 into crisps and made up the rest to 300ml of soup, which actually worked really well :-)
Forgot to say in my last post that everyone at the weekend was really supportive of me doing this diet - I'm not sure why I was so nervous telling everyone about it, I think it's because I'm having to admit I really am that overweight I suppose! It was actually quite relieving in a way, being able to just come out & say it, I was even telling them my start weight which I never thought I'd admit to! The best bit though was on Sunday morning, h2b's mum told me she could tell I'd lost weight since the previous weekend and that she could already see it in my face, which was lovely and cheered me up!
Am doing really well with the water, it's almost 4pm and I've already had 5l today, just seem to be thirsty! Am feeling a little hungry but think it's more in my head than anywhere else - thinking back to the weekend! It's getting quite hard work but I've just had a cup of coffee in an attempt to convince myself I'm not hungry. I may have to get some savory drinks from the counsellor when I go tomorrow, just so that I do have something to hand if this happens again, as it's making me feel pretty miserable at the moment!
Went on the treadmill this morning for 30 mins & split it between a fast walk & a run - managed it no problem and felt great afterwards. Also drank 1 litre of water before going up to my office. Thinking about things I didn't drink anywhere near enough water on Sat & not huge amounts yesterday, so I'm hoping if I up my water intake today & get back to the 6 to 7 litre range, it'll help...
Raspberry for breakfast again, but didn't get to it till 10.30... Couldn't decide between soup & crisps with my veg pack at lunch so made 1/4 into crisps and made up the rest to 300ml of soup, which actually worked really well :-)
Forgot to say in my last post that everyone at the weekend was really supportive of me doing this diet - I'm not sure why I was so nervous telling everyone about it, I think it's because I'm having to admit I really am that overweight I suppose! It was actually quite relieving in a way, being able to just come out & say it, I was even telling them my start weight which I never thought I'd admit to! The best bit though was on Sunday morning, h2b's mum told me she could tell I'd lost weight since the previous weekend and that she could already see it in my face, which was lovely and cheered me up!
Am doing really well with the water, it's almost 4pm and I've already had 5l today, just seem to be thirsty! Am feeling a little hungry but think it's more in my head than anywhere else - thinking back to the weekend! It's getting quite hard work but I've just had a cup of coffee in an attempt to convince myself I'm not hungry. I may have to get some savory drinks from the counsellor when I go tomorrow, just so that I do have something to hand if this happens again, as it's making me feel pretty miserable at the moment!
Day 12 - The day after...
Yesterday went well actually. I did some research online yesterday morning to find out how many carbs I'd need to keep below to stay in ketosis - results varied between 20g & 50g limits. Looked at the LL packs and it turns out we're taking in approx 44g carbs per day & we're in ketosis so if I stay below 30g today I should be fine. Decided not to have any packs at all to not risk the carb content. Found chicken breasts have 0 carbs in, and a small glass of wine has 3g in so that' would make a lot of wine (and I'm not intending to drink anywhere near as much!!).
Cooked a chicken breast for lunch & only managed half! Picked at the rest throughout the afternoon - particularly when everyone had arrived & were eating the nibbles! Think I did really well - had a chicken breast for dinner & was good timing as my friend phoned from the US just as they were dishing out the lasagne, so I had a very legitimate excuse to disappear upstairs & not see everyone eating!! It also really filled me up, I'm amazed how quickly my stomach must have shrunk. Didn't feel hungry all day actually which was great.
Carried on with the wine tasting & had tiny amounts of each - also managed to stay up till 2.30am - can't believe I lasted that long!! I did fold at one point though & nibbled about 4 bits of crisp which I wasn't impressed at myself for. I'm hoping that wasn't enough carbs to fall out of ketosis, but we'll just have to wait & see.
Woke up this morning feeling a bit groggy but no major hangover - bonus!! Weighed myself and I've lost 0.2lb from yesterday - not a huge loss, but a loss none the less and heading in the right direction!! We all went & sat in the motor home the inlaws had driven up in for breakfast, which was a laugh & I rather enjoyed my Raspberry shake actually!! Some of the others had some of the leftover desserts for breakfast (I was really proud of myself for avoiding them yesterday) but I really wasn't bothered by it.
A few people stayed for lunch, including the inlaws who'd brought a casserole with them so I didn't have to cook!! Anyway, had my mushroom soup & they had their casserole & dessert, we all ate together at the table which was fine. They all left after lunch so tidied up a bit & had a quick nap as was feeling shattered. Was feeling really peckish this afternoon (hope this doesn't mean I'm out of ketosis, but I suspect it does :-s ) made myself drink lots of water & had a coffee instead, then as soon as it got to 6pm I made my 'crisps' again. Took ages eating them though - was filling up! Had my hot choc about 9pm then went to bed, not feeling hungry at all now, maybe it was just a blip this afternoon from the alcohol.
Was feeling incredibly guilty though this afternoon, and although I'd sort of planned yesterday I couldn't believe how much it affected me. I suppose it's a good thing in a way as it's drummed in to me just how important ll is to me, and has left me completely determined not to be tempted off of it again for whatever reason. An important lesson learned I think, I'm just going to focus on moving on from this now & try not to dwell on it any more.
Cooked a chicken breast for lunch & only managed half! Picked at the rest throughout the afternoon - particularly when everyone had arrived & were eating the nibbles! Think I did really well - had a chicken breast for dinner & was good timing as my friend phoned from the US just as they were dishing out the lasagne, so I had a very legitimate excuse to disappear upstairs & not see everyone eating!! It also really filled me up, I'm amazed how quickly my stomach must have shrunk. Didn't feel hungry all day actually which was great.
Carried on with the wine tasting & had tiny amounts of each - also managed to stay up till 2.30am - can't believe I lasted that long!! I did fold at one point though & nibbled about 4 bits of crisp which I wasn't impressed at myself for. I'm hoping that wasn't enough carbs to fall out of ketosis, but we'll just have to wait & see.
Woke up this morning feeling a bit groggy but no major hangover - bonus!! Weighed myself and I've lost 0.2lb from yesterday - not a huge loss, but a loss none the less and heading in the right direction!! We all went & sat in the motor home the inlaws had driven up in for breakfast, which was a laugh & I rather enjoyed my Raspberry shake actually!! Some of the others had some of the leftover desserts for breakfast (I was really proud of myself for avoiding them yesterday) but I really wasn't bothered by it.
A few people stayed for lunch, including the inlaws who'd brought a casserole with them so I didn't have to cook!! Anyway, had my mushroom soup & they had their casserole & dessert, we all ate together at the table which was fine. They all left after lunch so tidied up a bit & had a quick nap as was feeling shattered. Was feeling really peckish this afternoon (hope this doesn't mean I'm out of ketosis, but I suspect it does :-s ) made myself drink lots of water & had a coffee instead, then as soon as it got to 6pm I made my 'crisps' again. Took ages eating them though - was filling up! Had my hot choc about 9pm then went to bed, not feeling hungry at all now, maybe it was just a blip this afternoon from the alcohol.
Was feeling incredibly guilty though this afternoon, and although I'd sort of planned yesterday I couldn't believe how much it affected me. I suppose it's a good thing in a way as it's drummed in to me just how important ll is to me, and has left me completely determined not to be tempted off of it again for whatever reason. An important lesson learned I think, I'm just going to focus on moving on from this now & try not to dwell on it any more.
Day 11 (Saturday)
Hmm, am a bit nervous still about today - we're having everyone round for a winetasting to decide on the wines for the wedding. The thing is, we've been planning this for so long, and all our family are going to be here. They will all be supportive of the diet, but I still have to help make the decision about the wines and it's an important part of the wedding, so I'm not going to miss out on such a key event. It really isn't like a party / someone else's wedding where it doesn't matter, this one is important to us. So it's one night in 100, I'm not going to go silly and eat & drink loads, just have a sip of each of the wines and that's all.
Decided I really ought not to drink (no matter how little!) on a completely empty stomach so I have a little chicken ready on standby so I'm not tempted by any of the lasagne / garlic bread / nibbles that will inevitably be lying around. Think that is as prepared as I can be!! Now I'm just going to enjoy the day, and not beat myself up over it any more. And if I come out of ketosis, then it happens, it's not as if I'll throw in the towel over this, I'll just be back on the packs tomorrow (even with a hangover, as my tolerances will be way down apparently!) and carry on from there...
Well, here goes...
Decided I really ought not to drink (no matter how little!) on a completely empty stomach so I have a little chicken ready on standby so I'm not tempted by any of the lasagne / garlic bread / nibbles that will inevitably be lying around. Think that is as prepared as I can be!! Now I'm just going to enjoy the day, and not beat myself up over it any more. And if I come out of ketosis, then it happens, it's not as if I'll throw in the towel over this, I'll just be back on the packs tomorrow (even with a hangover, as my tolerances will be way down apparently!) and carry on from there...
Well, here goes...
Friday, 9 March 2007
Day 10 (woo-hoo double figures!) Friday / 90 to go...
Felt fine this morning, just a little tired, but have lost 1.8lb since yesterday morning which may answer the eurgh feeling I had yesterday. Also drank loads more water yesterday so maybe that helped. Have to keep that up! Managed to power walk for 30 mins on the treadmill this morning without feeling light-headed (which was what I was worried about) - will try running half of it next week & build myself back to running the whole lot.
Right, think I'm gonna grab a coffee & water before I start work!! Raspberry for brekkie again - decided I'd better have a pack after the exercise (mmm, I do like that one! Wonder if I can still have it after I've finished!!) ...
... Had mushroom soup for lunch again which was cool, ate it then added some more to this blog before getting back to work. Finished my water by 3pm again which is cool, and only had one glass with flavouring in today.
Didn't feel completely knackered this afternoon which was a relief! We had a power cut about 3.30 which lasted well over an hour so decided to clean the house - maybe that helped... Had drunk my 4l by about 3pm again but just kept going - think it ended up around the 7l mark in the end.
Was just printing out some more directions for the wedding to give to my mum tomorrow, when our friend Laurie turned up. To be honest I was a bit nervous about how everyone's going to take me doing this diet and apart from the inlaws who we saw last weekend, I haven't really told anyone. Anyway, we chatted for a bit & he had the one beer in the house until h2b arrived back. I unpacked the shopping, which was quite hard actually, as he'd bought lots of really nice things and I was putting them in the fridge thinking I can't have any of it!
Laurie then sorted the beers out & offered me one so I told him I wasn't drinking. Think he had a moment of panic (one of our friends had just announced she's having a baby!) - I had to laugh & explained that no, I was just on a bit of a diet, and a bit of an extreme diet actually. Anyway, he was really cool about it, wanted to know how much I wanted to lose, then said that I'd do it no problem in the 3 months, which really cheered me up :-) I made my veg 'crisps' while they cooked their pizza, then we all sat & ate together which was great.
I had about 1/2 hour just when we first sat down & they were having a beer, when I felt a little deprived and wishing I could join in, but I was surprised at myself, because at no point did I actually consider doing it! Once they were settled & eating their pizza, and I was eating my 'crisps', everything settled down and felt back to normal which was great.
Made 'biscuits' from my lemon bar this evening - tried a bit first without doing anything to it and it was a bit nasty but once cooked they were fab! This time I did some in cubes, and some just in slices, the slices work really well as they expand a lot and actually make proper biscuity sized pieces. They were fab and I think the boys might even have been a bit jealous as I had pudding and they didn't!!
Day 9
Was really disappointed this morning, don't seem to have lost anything today. Trying to cheer myself up by saying that it's just my body adjusting / settling into the VLCD and that I should be on the 3lb per week cycle now, which will mean it slows down. On the bright side I can definitely see a change already to my body, so it's working, I just need to stay focused on it.
Had a Raspberry shake this morning, and have almost drunk 2l before lunch, going to have another in a mo... Ok so had Thai Chilli soup for lunch, but wasn't till later on as something came up with work. I also managed to drink the rest of my 4l by about 3pm but then started to feel really ropey - very tired and not able to concentrate. Had a quick lie down for 5 mins & felt a bit better, also had a coffee which perked me up slightly but otherwise still pretty awful.
Still drinking water, was starting to get a headache too. Finished work at 6.45ish & went downstairs. H2B in a foul mood too - he'd had a really bad day but we snapped at each other which is not normal. He went to his study & stayed there for the rest of the night updating his cv, his day was so bad!
Had chicken 'crisps' for dinner (yum) then tried cutting up & microwaving the fruit bars - actually worked surprisingly well. Cut them into smallish cubes & microwaved for about 40-50secs, they expand & when you take them out, they go crispy like biscuits. Cool. Went up to treat myself to a relaxing bubble bath at about 9, read my book till 10, when I was sooo tired I turned my light out (wow!).
Had a Raspberry shake this morning, and have almost drunk 2l before lunch, going to have another in a mo... Ok so had Thai Chilli soup for lunch, but wasn't till later on as something came up with work. I also managed to drink the rest of my 4l by about 3pm but then started to feel really ropey - very tired and not able to concentrate. Had a quick lie down for 5 mins & felt a bit better, also had a coffee which perked me up slightly but otherwise still pretty awful.
Still drinking water, was starting to get a headache too. Finished work at 6.45ish & went downstairs. H2B in a foul mood too - he'd had a really bad day but we snapped at each other which is not normal. He went to his study & stayed there for the rest of the night updating his cv, his day was so bad!
Had chicken 'crisps' for dinner (yum) then tried cutting up & microwaving the fruit bars - actually worked surprisingly well. Cut them into smallish cubes & microwaved for about 40-50secs, they expand & when you take them out, they go crispy like biscuits. Cool. Went up to treat myself to a relaxing bubble bath at about 9, read my book till 10, when I was sooo tired I turned my light out (wow!).
Day 8 (92 to go)
Feeling fine again today so maybe the worst has passed. Weighed & measured myself this morning - down to 14st 7.6 by my scales (that’s 8.8 since last week) & have lost a few cm everywhere (including 3cm off my waist & bust) so am really pleased :-)
Weight = 14st 7.6lb (8.8 lost)
Body Water = 40.8% (up 0.8%)
Body Fat = 43.3% (down 1.5%)
(Am a bit skeptical about the body %'s but will continue to track them for now!)
Tried to make choc blended with ice this morning - was almost there then as I went to lift it off of the base the bottom fell out so I lost the lot. Not a happy bunny I can tell you. Made another choc up just with water this time & 250ml and actually it was very nice. Made Thai Chilli 'crisps' for lunch with a little more water, which seemed to make them more crispy, though you have to spread them slightly thicker.
Also tried the Fruits of the Forest flavouring and it's actually really lovely. Thought I'd have one or 2 a day as a treat but think I may be getting addicted to it as I've now had 4. Mind you - this also means I'm onto my 8th pint already and it's not even 3pm yet - bonus!! Weird thing though, can't stop grinning & feel really happy since I've had all the drinks - hope it's not sending me hyper, always assumed it was the sugar - will have to check the additives list!!
Have posted a few times on minimins today too but will check back later - again don't want to become addicted to that, need to get my work done! Ok , I've started feeling a little spaced out - may have to watch how much flavouring I have.
Had a coffee & more water, was ok. Also stopped drinking water at 5pm and made it through till I got back from riding without needing the bathroom. Had soup before I went out, then a toffee bar when I got back. Was ok, see what everyone means about the playdoh though. Wasn't as nice as the soups or shakes but ok & a nice change to chew something. Riding was good, flatwork this week which went really well. Lots (& lots) of trotting today, but felt fab afterwards. Bed early again tonight as feeling really tired, was 9.30 when I went up & turned my light off about 10.30. This diet is really helping with my whole mission to get to bed slightly earlier, but this is getting a little bit too early!!
Weight = 14st 7.6lb (8.8 lost)
Body Water = 40.8% (up 0.8%)
Body Fat = 43.3% (down 1.5%)
(Am a bit skeptical about the body %'s but will continue to track them for now!)
Tried to make choc blended with ice this morning - was almost there then as I went to lift it off of the base the bottom fell out so I lost the lot. Not a happy bunny I can tell you. Made another choc up just with water this time & 250ml and actually it was very nice. Made Thai Chilli 'crisps' for lunch with a little more water, which seemed to make them more crispy, though you have to spread them slightly thicker.
Also tried the Fruits of the Forest flavouring and it's actually really lovely. Thought I'd have one or 2 a day as a treat but think I may be getting addicted to it as I've now had 4. Mind you - this also means I'm onto my 8th pint already and it's not even 3pm yet - bonus!! Weird thing though, can't stop grinning & feel really happy since I've had all the drinks - hope it's not sending me hyper, always assumed it was the sugar - will have to check the additives list!!
Have posted a few times on minimins today too but will check back later - again don't want to become addicted to that, need to get my work done! Ok , I've started feeling a little spaced out - may have to watch how much flavouring I have.
Had a coffee & more water, was ok. Also stopped drinking water at 5pm and made it through till I got back from riding without needing the bathroom. Had soup before I went out, then a toffee bar when I got back. Was ok, see what everyone means about the playdoh though. Wasn't as nice as the soups or shakes but ok & a nice change to chew something. Riding was good, flatwork this week which went really well. Lots (& lots) of trotting today, but felt fab afterwards. Bed early again tonight as feeling really tired, was 9.30 when I went up & turned my light off about 10.30. This diet is really helping with my whole mission to get to bed slightly earlier, but this is getting a little bit too early!!
Day 7 (Tues) - first weigh-in
Woke up at 7.00 feeling much clearer in the head, got up & was at my desk by 7.45 & worked well all day. Definitely feeling miles better, maybe my body's adjusting more? Anyway, found a tip on the internet yesterday about putting only 1/2 a pack into a latte, so tried it with the vanilla and was much better! Can cope with it much better that way (though the muffin is still the best option I've found for the vanilla!).
Also made vegetable crisps for lunch, getting much better at it, spread as thinly as you can and not too big, then they go really crispy. Takes a bit of time to do but worth it. Had my 2nd latte (with the 2nd half of my morning pack) mid afternoon. Starting to feel a little tired now (6pm) but will have another pack soon. Definitely lasting longer & longer each day before I feel tired.
Is weigh in tonight, a little nervous and wondering how much I've actually lost (I try weighing myself with my clothes on & it's always saying 14'13 even though without clothes this morning I was down to 14'8.4!) Well, we'll see I guess :-s Will have my mushroom (soup or crisps? haven't decided yet!) before I go, but no more water till I get back otherwise I'll keep having to run to the loo!! Oh, the metallic taste in my mouth (from the ketosis) is still there in the background but hardly noticeable which is good.
Back from weigh-in, went ok, officially lost 6lb, bit disappointed but never mind. There was one new member of the group who's starting this week. The other 3 who started with me all did really well last week (they lost 8lb, 11lb & 12lb) which is why I felt a bit disappointed I think as I was comparing my weightloss to theirs - big mistake!!
No dvd this week, a group exercise about what things will be like in 12 months time & how we will feel about ourselves / how other people will respond to us when we've finished but she kept getting interrupted by the phone which made it feel a bit disjointed. We also had to set 3 goals & were set some homework to fill in how we would achieve them!
Anyway, they seem a nice bunch. The session lasted an hour. Got some bars this week and some Fruits of the Forest flavoring too so will try that in some of my water. Had a Nut bar when I got home. Not bad, peanuty, although seemed to be over-baked & a bit dry! Only managed 4 litres of water today as well :-(
Also made vegetable crisps for lunch, getting much better at it, spread as thinly as you can and not too big, then they go really crispy. Takes a bit of time to do but worth it. Had my 2nd latte (with the 2nd half of my morning pack) mid afternoon. Starting to feel a little tired now (6pm) but will have another pack soon. Definitely lasting longer & longer each day before I feel tired.
Is weigh in tonight, a little nervous and wondering how much I've actually lost (I try weighing myself with my clothes on & it's always saying 14'13 even though without clothes this morning I was down to 14'8.4!) Well, we'll see I guess :-s Will have my mushroom (soup or crisps? haven't decided yet!) before I go, but no more water till I get back otherwise I'll keep having to run to the loo!! Oh, the metallic taste in my mouth (from the ketosis) is still there in the background but hardly noticeable which is good.
Back from weigh-in, went ok, officially lost 6lb, bit disappointed but never mind. There was one new member of the group who's starting this week. The other 3 who started with me all did really well last week (they lost 8lb, 11lb & 12lb) which is why I felt a bit disappointed I think as I was comparing my weightloss to theirs - big mistake!!
No dvd this week, a group exercise about what things will be like in 12 months time & how we will feel about ourselves / how other people will respond to us when we've finished but she kept getting interrupted by the phone which made it feel a bit disjointed. We also had to set 3 goals & were set some homework to fill in how we would achieve them!
Anyway, they seem a nice bunch. The session lasted an hour. Got some bars this week and some Fruits of the Forest flavoring too so will try that in some of my water. Had a Nut bar when I got home. Not bad, peanuty, although seemed to be over-baked & a bit dry! Only managed 4 litres of water today as well :-(
Day 6 (Monday) / 94 to go...
Wasn’t able to weigh myself over the weekend so managed to wait till this morning - have lost almost 4lb over the weekend! Fab :-) Guess it's also helped by the exercise I did - wasn't too much, just a bit of walking and then the riding, but good to know it can have an effect. Left my decaf coffee & tea at the inlaws though, so walked to the shops to get some more this morning. It was nice to get outside actually.
I also want to get my bike sorted out so I can pop out at lunchtimes too, which will help. Anyway, for breakfast I tried the caramel hot in coffee this time, still eurgh! Thai Chilli soup for lunch, fine. Decided I was getting bored with soup though so for the evening option I tried my hand at making crisps instead out of the chicken soup (from a recipe I found on the minimins website!). Made a paste & spread thinly on greaseproof paper, then microwaved for 60-90 secs (watch it!). Actually were surprisingly nice, was good to chew something finally!
Finished off the evening by trying to make a 'muffin' out of the vanilla - again worked very well, best way I've tried the vanilla so far! Was feeling incredibly tired today though, plus achy from the riding, and completely spaced out. Couldn't concentrate & found afternoon really hard to cope with. Tried a 15 min walk on the treadmill to perk me up which helped a little, but hope this feeling goes away soon, else I'll be in real trouble with work!
I also want to get my bike sorted out so I can pop out at lunchtimes too, which will help. Anyway, for breakfast I tried the caramel hot in coffee this time, still eurgh! Thai Chilli soup for lunch, fine. Decided I was getting bored with soup though so for the evening option I tried my hand at making crisps instead out of the chicken soup (from a recipe I found on the minimins website!). Made a paste & spread thinly on greaseproof paper, then microwaved for 60-90 secs (watch it!). Actually were surprisingly nice, was good to chew something finally!
Finished off the evening by trying to make a 'muffin' out of the vanilla - again worked very well, best way I've tried the vanilla so far! Was feeling incredibly tired today though, plus achy from the riding, and completely spaced out. Couldn't concentrate & found afternoon really hard to cope with. Tried a 15 min walk on the treadmill to perk me up which helped a little, but hope this feeling goes away soon, else I'll be in real trouble with work!
Day 5 / 95 to go
Today was the hardest day so far. Felt fine when I woke up (early again!). Had Raspberry shake for brekkie, then went riding for 1 1/2 hours. Was a good hack out, very wet & muddy (and it rained!) but we managed to get a good few canters in and it was fab being out in the countryside. The horse I was on (borrowed from a friend up the road) is lovely but gets very strong as he gets excited (but not stupid). He's a lovely horse to ride & will stop when you ask him!There were a few xc jumps but I chickened out after last Wednesday's fiasco - just as well apparently as he has a huge jump that tends to unseat riders first time round!!
Lunch was a bad time as more family where there, & it was easier for me to eat afterwards as there wasn't enough room round the table! Was very tired after riding anyway, and was feeling very sorry for myself. I was also a little frustrated as there were a load of jobs to do, then they cooked roast lamb for dinner so we stayed. Some of the family had left by then, so I was able to eat with everyone at the table, and actually it wasn't too bad, although I did walk in just as the lamb was being carved, it looked lovely!
Was a little envious of everyone tucking into their roast potatoes & lamb & veg, but was ok! Am finding the chicken soup a little tasteless now & am adding more & more pepper to it to taste!! Very tired all day & not feeling hungry, just subdued, and my brain is definitely not firing on all 4 cylinders. Weird but I'm feeling very slow thinking things and recall is appalling, which is not like me at all. I'm hoping it's just whilst my body adjusts to the low cal levels and will sort itself out soon, otherwise I'm in real trouble!
Day 4 (Saturday) / 96 to go...
Today was much harder. Started off fine, then we had the "marriage preparation day", which actually went much better than I thought it would (diet wise at least - don't get me started on the subject matter!!). Had black coffee when we got there & politely refused a biscuit. For lunch we were encouraged to sit with our partners for the first course, so I took a plate & sat at the back of the room with h2b & he had my lunch too, as I wasn't up for lots of questions about the diet quite yet.
Didn't feel hungry, but there was no way really to eat a pack - roll on next week when I can have bars as this would have been much easier!! Was not feeling hungry when we got back about 4pm but definitely feeling a bit tired & lethargic, had a soup then & felt better. However at dinner I was given the choice of eating my soup with the family, or later, so I chose later & sat in the living room on my own whilst they ate, which I think was a mistake as I then started to feel pretty miserable!
Had my soup afterwards which was fine, then hot choc before I went to bed. His family are being great about the whole ll thing as they did the Cambridge diet some years ago & know what it's like & what I'm going through. Are being fab & encouraging!
Oh, the furry tongue & metallic taste in my mouth was a lot less pronounced today which was a relief! Also I didn't have any trouble with popping to the loo in the meetings - there were actually plenty of break-out sessions and I made sure I didn't drink so much during the day. Had lots of water when I got back at 4 & for the rest of the day though to make up!!
Didn't feel hungry, but there was no way really to eat a pack - roll on next week when I can have bars as this would have been much easier!! Was not feeling hungry when we got back about 4pm but definitely feeling a bit tired & lethargic, had a soup then & felt better. However at dinner I was given the choice of eating my soup with the family, or later, so I chose later & sat in the living room on my own whilst they ate, which I think was a mistake as I then started to feel pretty miserable!
Had my soup afterwards which was fine, then hot choc before I went to bed. His family are being great about the whole ll thing as they did the Cambridge diet some years ago & know what it's like & what I'm going through. Are being fab & encouraging!
Oh, the furry tongue & metallic taste in my mouth was a lot less pronounced today which was a relief! Also I didn't have any trouble with popping to the loo in the meetings - there were actually plenty of break-out sessions and I made sure I didn't drink so much during the day. Had lots of water when I got back at 4 & for the rest of the day though to make up!!
Day 3 (Friday) / 97 to go
Trying the Caramel blended with coffee & ice for breakfast… still pretty yucky but at least drinkable this way. Note not to order any more Caramel packs!! Thai Chilli good again for lunch.
Feeling a little under the weather today - woke up with a slight headache (paracetamol took care of that), this afternoon feeling a little spaced out and lethargic. Also think Ketosis may have kicked in, my tongue feels horrid and I've got a metallic taste in my mouth I can't get rid of now! Used my breath freshener for a bit and the Dentyl mouthwash but not lasting very long.
Also a little worried about tomorrow & running to the loo every five minutes, want to not disturb the meeting! We're going over to his parents' tonight as we have to meet the vicar (gulp) as we're having a church wedding - we're also supposed to attend a "marriage preparation day" tomorrow put on by an outside organisation, which I'm really skeptical about but trying to keep an open mind. The vicar was fab actually, and really reassuring (& was also slightly skeptical about the marriage preparation day which made us feel much better!).
The foodpacks / not eating issue is fine though, to be honest it hasn't yet bothered me, but I haven't really been around people eating since I started, so this weekend could be a challenge! Tonight was fine, ate my Mushroom soup whilst the others had dinner. Wasn't a problem!!
Feeling a little under the weather today - woke up with a slight headache (paracetamol took care of that), this afternoon feeling a little spaced out and lethargic. Also think Ketosis may have kicked in, my tongue feels horrid and I've got a metallic taste in my mouth I can't get rid of now! Used my breath freshener for a bit and the Dentyl mouthwash but not lasting very long.
Also a little worried about tomorrow & running to the loo every five minutes, want to not disturb the meeting! We're going over to his parents' tonight as we have to meet the vicar (gulp) as we're having a church wedding - we're also supposed to attend a "marriage preparation day" tomorrow put on by an outside organisation, which I'm really skeptical about but trying to keep an open mind. The vicar was fab actually, and really reassuring (& was also slightly skeptical about the marriage preparation day which made us feel much better!).
The foodpacks / not eating issue is fine though, to be honest it hasn't yet bothered me, but I haven't really been around people eating since I started, so this weekend could be a challenge! Tonight was fine, ate my Mushroom soup whilst the others had dinner. Wasn't a problem!!
Day 2 (98 to go)
Feeling fine this morning & not hungry yet. Waiting for the hunger pangs to kick in!! Started the day with another black coffee, and a pint of water. Tried the Raspberry for breakfast, is really nice! Doesn't taste powdery at all and I could even see myself drinking this one if I wasn't on the programme!
Still drinking loads of water & going to the loo, but hoping it will settle down soon as my body gets used to the extra. Opted for the Mushroom soup for lunch, was really good too! Phew, that's 6 flavours I've tried now, and only dislike one so far.
Don't feel hungry (didn't yesterday either), but it's now almost 5pm & I've been feeling really tired most of the afternoon. May be the riding last night though, as was a hard session. Vegetable soup was good, had the Vanilla hot with coffee & loads of water (600ml) before bed - was a little sweet but otherwise ok.
Managed 4 1/2 litres of water today.
Still drinking loads of water & going to the loo, but hoping it will settle down soon as my body gets used to the extra. Opted for the Mushroom soup for lunch, was really good too! Phew, that's 6 flavours I've tried now, and only dislike one so far.
Don't feel hungry (didn't yesterday either), but it's now almost 5pm & I've been feeling really tired most of the afternoon. May be the riding last night though, as was a hard session. Vegetable soup was good, had the Vanilla hot with coffee & loads of water (600ml) before bed - was a little sweet but otherwise ok.
Managed 4 1/2 litres of water today.
Day One (99 to go!)
Woke up on the first day feeling really excited! I'm actually really positive about ll - I think finally I'm in the right place in my head to do this. I also think the speed of the weightloss will be very motivational.
However, I'm also trying to remain objective and not get too emotionally caught up in the drive to succeed at this - I don't want my health to suffer and if I'm feeling I'm putting myself at risk at all I'll stop the packs. That said, all the research I've done seems to indicate that for anyone with a BMI over 30 this approach is safe, healthy and actually works. There are people who object, but that's the same with anything in life, and the fact that the medical community are split shows that there are plenty who support VCLD's as well.
Decided I ought to weigh & measure myself & keep a track each week, so here goes:
However, I'm also trying to remain objective and not get too emotionally caught up in the drive to succeed at this - I don't want my health to suffer and if I'm feeling I'm putting myself at risk at all I'll stop the packs. That said, all the research I've done seems to indicate that for anyone with a BMI over 30 this approach is safe, healthy and actually works. There are people who object, but that's the same with anything in life, and the fact that the medical community are split shows that there are plenty who support VCLD's as well.
Decided I ought to weigh & measure myself & keep a track each week, so here goes:
Weight: 15st 2.4lb
(Height: 5'8.5")
My scales do some fancy things where they measure body fat % & body water % as well, so I'll track this too:
Body Water % = 40.0 Body Fat % = 44.8 (Apparently the ideal range is 45-60% for Body Water % and 33-39% for Body Fat)
I started the day with a cup of black coffee instead of my usual cup of tea. Thought I'd feel deprived but was fine. Decided to start with a caramel shake for 'breakfast', & tried using the shaker the counsellor provided, figuring if it worked at least I could take it with me if away from home. Anyway, was a complete disaster - I really didn't like
the caramel - tasted too sweet yet horribly powdery, even blended. Turned my stomach when I first tried it but managed to get it down ok, washed down with plenty of water!
Decided to try the Thai Chilli for lunch & made it with 400ml water by accident (thought I'd try 300ml but couldn't see the line markers as they had paste all over them!). I used my trusty hand-held blender this time which was much better! As it turned out, it was really nice & didn't seem too watery, bonus! I usually have soup for lunch so this wasn't too different for me, though did miss the bread & butter a little!
Still not feeling hungry at all, which is good, and drinking my way through the 4l water. Usually I have 2l a day but the extra is making me go to the loo what seems like every five minutes - luckily I'm working from home so no one's noticing!!
I go riding every Wednesday night from 7-8 which means I have to leave the house at 6.30 - so was debating whether to eat before or after but decided I'd need it when I got back. Riding was a bit of a disaster (we were jumping a course & the horse I was on was in a particularly foul mood & decided to refuse everything in sight). Felt completely drained afterwards :-s
Got back & tried the Chicken soup, was actually quite nice. Left it an hour then had the chocolate (this time with 350ml hot water) before bed - found it wasn't a particularly chocolatey taste but still quite nice. none the less. Didn't feel hungry all day, and managed to drink the water ok too.
Intro & First sessions
Monday 26th February:
The intro session was probably the biggest hurdle for me, in terms of committing to do this - I've never been a big fan of counselling sessions, think I'm a little self-conscious, coupled with being a bit cynical is not a good combination! However, being determined to do this, I put all that to one side. Actually, the intro session was really good - there were 5 of us there plus the counsellor. She talked a little about the programme, then we watched a DVD which went over what to expect, as well as a number of interviews with people who'd been through it and were now maintaining their weights happily.
She talked us through the cost, which is expensive at £66 per week, but that does include all the foodpacks, the counselling & support. I'm still a little grumbly about the cost (the Cambridge Diet is considerably cheaper) but it does include the counselling, which I think will be one of the key things for me. So I'll keep an open mind for now!!
She also weighed us & worked out our BMI's, then gave us a form for the Doctor / Practice nurse to fill in & sign before you can start the programme. You also have to have further blood pressure / health checks after each month.
We were then told that our sessions would be on a Tuesday and would be starting for the next 3 Tuesdays in succession before she closed the group. If we could get our forms back tomorrow, therefore, we could come & start ll then, otherwise we could come the following week.
The counsellor was nice enough, she just seemed to be a little unfocused and quiet, which made me worry slightly. However, the others in the group seemed really nice and positive, and that made me think that they'd be a nice bunch of people to go through this with over the coming months!
Tuesday 27th February
Phoned the surgery this morning - would have to wait till Friday for a doctor's appointment, but the practice nurse could fit me in today! Cool :-)
Things were not so peachy when I actually got there though - she was really skeptical about the whole VLCD approach, saying she knew people who'd been on it, lost a load of weight & put it all and more back on again. She also said she didn't think I needed to lose all that weight and it was unhealthy (this was right after she weighed me in at just over 15st!). After practically reducing me to tears (and believe me, that doesn't happen very often!!) she signed my form but made me promise to think about what I was doing.
So I was on a downer all afternoon, however I did what she asked and really thought about what I was doing. This for me isn't a quick fix to lose a bit of weight so I look alright for my wedding, this is a start-again point in my life. This is where I turn round to myself and say "Stop", and change something that's plagued my thoughts for so long. I know I can do this, and I needed something drastic like a break from conventional food, for me to do so. It's so easy with the other diets I've tried to make excuses ('it's so & so's party / wedding / event at the weekend, so I'll wait till Monday'... 'let's wait till the holiday / Christmas is over'... etc) and I end up getting nowhere, or at least I'll lose a bit of weight then put it back on over the next month that has a lot of events in!
Anyway, duly thoughtful & motivated, I went to the first session that night. There were 4 of us in total (two from the intro session the night before). She weighed us again (how did I put 1lb on overnight?!?) played us the Week One DVD and gave us our foodpacks (a mixture of each flavour so we can try them all!) and our groovy lighterlife bag. There's an optional drop-in on Saturday if we want to change any packs, but as I'm away I won't be able to go. She didn't seem worried though & said we only needed to come if we wanted to change the packs.
Anyway, left feeling really excited actually :-) Got takeout on the way home (partly as we had no food in the house & partly as a last meal!) - we don't have it too often any more so was a real treat. Also had a gin&tonic, don't know how long it'll be before I can have one of those again!
The intro session was probably the biggest hurdle for me, in terms of committing to do this - I've never been a big fan of counselling sessions, think I'm a little self-conscious, coupled with being a bit cynical is not a good combination! However, being determined to do this, I put all that to one side. Actually, the intro session was really good - there were 5 of us there plus the counsellor. She talked a little about the programme, then we watched a DVD which went over what to expect, as well as a number of interviews with people who'd been through it and were now maintaining their weights happily.
She talked us through the cost, which is expensive at £66 per week, but that does include all the foodpacks, the counselling & support. I'm still a little grumbly about the cost (the Cambridge Diet is considerably cheaper) but it does include the counselling, which I think will be one of the key things for me. So I'll keep an open mind for now!!
She also weighed us & worked out our BMI's, then gave us a form for the Doctor / Practice nurse to fill in & sign before you can start the programme. You also have to have further blood pressure / health checks after each month.
We were then told that our sessions would be on a Tuesday and would be starting for the next 3 Tuesdays in succession before she closed the group. If we could get our forms back tomorrow, therefore, we could come & start ll then, otherwise we could come the following week.
The counsellor was nice enough, she just seemed to be a little unfocused and quiet, which made me worry slightly. However, the others in the group seemed really nice and positive, and that made me think that they'd be a nice bunch of people to go through this with over the coming months!
Tuesday 27th February
Phoned the surgery this morning - would have to wait till Friday for a doctor's appointment, but the practice nurse could fit me in today! Cool :-)
Things were not so peachy when I actually got there though - she was really skeptical about the whole VLCD approach, saying she knew people who'd been on it, lost a load of weight & put it all and more back on again. She also said she didn't think I needed to lose all that weight and it was unhealthy (this was right after she weighed me in at just over 15st!). After practically reducing me to tears (and believe me, that doesn't happen very often!!) she signed my form but made me promise to think about what I was doing.
So I was on a downer all afternoon, however I did what she asked and really thought about what I was doing. This for me isn't a quick fix to lose a bit of weight so I look alright for my wedding, this is a start-again point in my life. This is where I turn round to myself and say "Stop", and change something that's plagued my thoughts for so long. I know I can do this, and I needed something drastic like a break from conventional food, for me to do so. It's so easy with the other diets I've tried to make excuses ('it's so & so's party / wedding / event at the weekend, so I'll wait till Monday'... 'let's wait till the holiday / Christmas is over'... etc) and I end up getting nowhere, or at least I'll lose a bit of weight then put it back on over the next month that has a lot of events in!
Anyway, duly thoughtful & motivated, I went to the first session that night. There were 4 of us in total (two from the intro session the night before). She weighed us again (how did I put 1lb on overnight?!?) played us the Week One DVD and gave us our foodpacks (a mixture of each flavour so we can try them all!) and our groovy lighterlife bag. There's an optional drop-in on Saturday if we want to change any packs, but as I'm away I won't be able to go. She didn't seem worried though & said we only needed to come if we wanted to change the packs.
Anyway, left feeling really excited actually :-) Got takeout on the way home (partly as we had no food in the house & partly as a last meal!) - we don't have it too often any more so was a real treat. Also had a gin&tonic, don't know how long it'll be before I can have one of those again!
Why I'm doing lighterlife
I first read about lighterlife in a horsey magazine in January, where a woman had lost something like 8 stone in a year, and another over 3 stone in 3 months following the lighterlife programme. As a rider I've always been conscious of my weight, particularly over the last 3 years or so when I've crept up from a more-than-I should-have-been 12 1/2 stone to a much more significant 15st.
Luckily my local riding school has a number of larger, weight-carrying horses so I can still ride, but I've been to places where they wouldn't let me because of my weight. The icing on the cake for me was that having just recently changed jobs, I had to have a medical for health cover. I'm healthy, relatively active & have no illness / history of illness in the family, but was charged a whopping 75% premium. The reason? My weight. How bad did I feel after that?!
So I decided enough was enough! Those two reasons, coupled with the fact I'm getting married later in the year, were really the motivation I needed to do something positive about it! I'd tried a few diets (WW online & the cabbage soup diet) which had some success but over Christmas the weight crept back on again and now I'm ashamed to say, I'm the heaviest I've ever been.
When I read the article about the rider losing so much weight in 3 months, it was the kick up the backside I needed. I researched LL online & came across a load of forums & blogs with people on the diet, and decided that the approach was the best option for me. So when I got back from my holiday in February, I made an appointment for an intro session...
Luckily my local riding school has a number of larger, weight-carrying horses so I can still ride, but I've been to places where they wouldn't let me because of my weight. The icing on the cake for me was that having just recently changed jobs, I had to have a medical for health cover. I'm healthy, relatively active & have no illness / history of illness in the family, but was charged a whopping 75% premium. The reason? My weight. How bad did I feel after that?!
So I decided enough was enough! Those two reasons, coupled with the fact I'm getting married later in the year, were really the motivation I needed to do something positive about it! I'd tried a few diets (WW online & the cabbage soup diet) which had some success but over Christmas the weight crept back on again and now I'm ashamed to say, I'm the heaviest I've ever been.
When I read the article about the rider losing so much weight in 3 months, it was the kick up the backside I needed. I researched LL online & came across a load of forums & blogs with people on the diet, and decided that the approach was the best option for me. So when I got back from my holiday in February, I made an appointment for an intro session...
The beginning...
Hello! So, this is a little weird, having vowed I'd never do a blog, now finding myself trying to write, well, a blog...
Anyway, I've just started on the lighterlife diet (a very low-calorie diet) and have been really encouraged & amazed by the blogs I've come across so far. So I thought that if I'm getting something out of reading about other people's journey's on ll, maybe it would be an idea to post too - a) to help keep myself on track and have a record of the journey, and b) to maybe encourage anybody else who may be going through the same things.
I'm not promising anything witty or full of meaning however, just a blog of how the lighterlife programme is working for me. If nobody reads it but me, cool, (part of me hopes so as I'm a little bit self-conscious now!), but if you do, hope you find it useful! ;-)
Ois xx
Anyway, I've just started on the lighterlife diet (a very low-calorie diet) and have been really encouraged & amazed by the blogs I've come across so far. So I thought that if I'm getting something out of reading about other people's journey's on ll, maybe it would be an idea to post too - a) to help keep myself on track and have a record of the journey, and b) to maybe encourage anybody else who may be going through the same things.
I'm not promising anything witty or full of meaning however, just a blog of how the lighterlife programme is working for me. If nobody reads it but me, cool, (part of me hopes so as I'm a little bit self-conscious now!), but if you do, hope you find it useful! ;-)
Ois xx
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