Thread: Newbie!!

Hello everyone, I am 32 years old, mother of 2, wife, teaching assistant and part time trainee teacher at Edgehill university. I am currently about 10 stone (ideal weight would be about 9 stone 3/4...) HOWEVER, I have had a hell of a journey to get to here! I started back in June 2012 with Cambridge, I quickly swapped to Slim and Save to save money and have a little variety. I got to goal weight (9 stone 13) in November 2012 and I have been maintaining (after losing another 6lbs) with Dukan. To cut a long story short, I don't think Dukan is working for me. I am looking to eat healthier (more 'proper' foods and less protein heavy meals, less sweetener, less eggs, less non fat yogurt!) - I have to change my diet plan as I am just desperate to eat a normal, sensible, healthy way and I also NEED to because of my eldest daughter. She is only 8 and very underweight - the GP has told us we need to build her up - she needs to gain up to 18kgs (!!!!!) and so to be quite honest, this was the incentive I needed to stop Dukan and find a better way of eating/living. My daughter needs proper food (not that I have put her on Dukan or anything - she eats well!) but she will needs full fat foods which quite frankly I do not have the willpower to resist at times. I have been considering that surely all that protein is not too good for me and I have recently been really poorly (with a cough that lasted 6 weeks and ended in me breaking my ribs through coughing so much!) This blasted illness also made me realise that during my recovery I was eating nowhere near enough carbs to get better - my body was running on empty - no wonder it took me so long to recover - I have been EXHAUSTED! and now..... now I'm better I have self-sabotaged my eating plan and completely binged since Thursday dinner (it's now Sat night and I still haven't stopped!) - I need to change. I have decided to try the 5:2 approach - I think it would work well for me. I know I can do it - I have done VLCD, I can do this AND the bonus is I can eat properly on my up days. I am planning fruit,veg etc which is limited on Dukan (hence the reason I'm rapidly going off it). I obviously will have the occasional treat (as I do now with Dukan) but this way I think would just be.....more....me! SO, I would really appreciate some help, advice and support? I am big into planning my meals - tracking calories and cooking from scratch (when uni work permits) - I like lists of 'go to' foods which I can stock up on in times of need.... I have a bank of them now but not sure they'd be appropriate for IF. I suppose I want a healthier lifestyle, to lose 10lbs or so and maintain that - FOREVER. I appreciate any comments, help etc... Thanks, Kellmo x oooh - could somebody also explain what % of my cals I should be having just to lose 10lbs??? then maintain?? thank you x x

Hi have you had a look at the primal/ paleo lifestyle - it includes loads veggies some fruit - meat and eggs etc - but just no grains legumes etc but places importance on good fats and healthly unprocessed carbs - sweet potatoes, pumpkin etc

Marks daily apple is a good place to start looking at it. They also include "intermittent fasting" too

Good luck with starting and hope you can get your daughter's weight up

following primal blueprint and experimenting with the 5:2 fasting diet

Thanks for that tip. - I'll have a butchers!