Thread: Back to the weekday diet after 3 years!

So before I got married I weighed 13 stone. I realised that to look good on my special day i needed to loose around 3 stone. I didnt realise what I was doing at the time, but I basically did the weekday diet - restricting to 800 cals on weekdays and going a bit mad on weekends, but aiming to stick to the recommended allowance for women of 2000 a day. I ended up loosing the 3 stone in 5 months! yay!
so after i got married, i kinda lost the effort and went back to my old ways.....its been 3 years and i put on 5 stone! NOT GOOD! so after getting pretty down about it I tried slimming world - twice, both times for just 4 weeks. I lost half a stone each time. So, down to 14st, I now need to loose 4 to get back down to my ideal 10st weight.
I originally didnt want to go back to the weekend diet as it was really quite restrictive, however, after spending a LOT of money on food on slimming world, I have resigned to the fact that I actually NEED to do the diet again because thats obviously what works for me. Im going to give myself Christmas as my target date, and by then I really want to be back to 10st.....then i might look at changing my diet permanently for maintenance.
I have also decided to not only keep a food diary, but to post it here...Its crazy how many calories you can eat if you loose a bit of control, and the best way to stay in control is not to lie to yourself. so....here are the first few days... (oh and weighing - I DO NOT WEIGH. i feel it can make you feel down and be more harsh on yourself - I will weigh ONCE A MONTH MAX!)

Day 1.
Alpen Bar - 65
Soup - 152
Weight Watchers meal - 330
Crisps - 102
Babybel light - 40
egg fried rice - 144
Alpen - 70

Total - 900 + milk (not counting milk for the first few weeks to ease myself in again, but i have around 3 cups of strong tea using skimmed milk)

Day 2.
Soup - 160
sausages x 2 -128
tomato x 2 - 70
lettuce - 5
cucumber - 5
balsamic vinegar - 10
noodle pot - 233
babybel - 40
quorn slice x 4 - 64
penguin bar - 106

Total - 831 + milk

Day 3.
cottage cheese - 90
lettuce - 5
cucumber - 5
tomato x 2 - 70
balsamic vinegar - 10
quorn slice x 4 - 64
soup - 142
weight watchers meal - 226
mash - 89
tinned apples - 150
banana muffin - 103

Total - 944 + milk

Day 4.
Muffin x 2 - 206
kids tinned meal - 190
chilli - 194
egg fried rice - 288

Total - 872 + milk

Day 5.
Pizza base - 300
wine - 600
popcorn - 500
potato fritter x 3 - 116
turkey - 58
tomato puree - 20
cheese - 256
onion - 15
--------------------------------Below this line is calories AFTER i got drunk!
crisps - 102
crisps - 167
bread x 2 - 200
butter - 50

total - 2409

Day 6.
bread x 2 - 200
butter - 50
egg x 2 - 140
burger x 2 - 440
bun x 2 - 350
salad - 40
chips - 315
chocolate tart - 515
chocolate buttons - 410
sauce - 20
crisps - 600

Total - 3080 + milk -----------this is what happens when i dont pre-plan calories!

Day 7.
salad - 10
cottage cheese - 92
sauce - 10
tuna - 130
kids tinned meal - 190
penguin bar - 106

total - 918 + milk

cups of tea are now classed as 20 cals per cup

Hey Rachael

How are you finding things?

I am a wee bit like you did calorie counting last year before our wedding sent to atkins and weight watchers and now back to calorie counting because I know it works just need to KEEP A GRIP lol

lol just read your name!

ah yeah ive had a few trip ups - i only remembered yesterday that on the massive overkill day (the 3000 cal day!) i also had a beer! ooops!
heres my diary from the last few days;

Day 8
tea x 2 - 40
alpen - 65
lettuice - 5
sauce - 10
chicken - 100
egg x 2 - 140
babybel - 40
ww meal - 226
tinned apples - 150
tea - 20
penguin - 106 SLIP UP!!!

total - 912

Day 9
tea - 20
1/2 pack mince - 313
1 egg - 75
mash - 118
ww meal - 254
babybel - 40
tea - 20
homemade biscuit - ??????!!!! SLIP UP!!!

Total - 840 + biscuit

day 10
tea x 3 - 60
ww meal - 215
to be continued!....

takemedrunkimhome....please feel free to post your diary here too - its lways good to see what other people are eating as i find what i eat quite samey after a while - although not half as samey as slimming world! Im actually going to make quaseodillas (dunno if thats how you spell it!) tonight - so excited as its not a day off! the wraps are around 125 each, going to use some babybel lights, onions and chicken and will have with a massive salad and mustard (im now addicted to frenches american mustard!) i also discovered ww chocolate eclairs - 80something cals each! prefer to have one over a penguin bar with my late night tea as it feels more naughty!
Do you have any guilty pleasures or amazing low cal finds!?

Hellooo,

I don't know about you but coming from slimming world I hate having to count eggs and beans but I know what you mean about slimming world being samey god it can get to the point your losing the will to live!!!!

I find I forget what I have eaten and only log on my fitness pal is that something you have ever used, I find it imperative and so so useful.

I was just noticing that we have started at around the same weight from New Year and have the same goal weight

Highlights food wise are fredos under 100 calories and are much better than a chocolate biscuit IMO at least. Also frylight but then you have come from SW so you will be on to that one already lol
Because I am so very lazy I buy weight watchers meals and add veg to bulk it out at tea time nearly every night works for me though.

yay! well hopefully we can both stick to the counting this time and help each other through!

ah yeah i know - i ate eggs, beans and mash almost every day on slimming world - but i think thats probably why i didnt loose much weight after the first week! hmmm, i totally forgot to look at freddos - i used to get those small thin dairy milk animal kids bars - just a small amount of dairy milk - i cant remember the cals, will have to check now though! i get the ww meals a lot too - actually i think they may well be cheaper than cooking from scratch - and that way you dont have to weigh stuff out! i also discovered tilda egg fried rice which was on offer in asda for a quid, smells horrible but tastes lush - and is low! i also got a load of the good for you kids tinned meals - they actually taste really nice, but am always left wanting more as they arent really 'low calorie' just a really small portion!
god, im soooo stuffed! i think i have stumbled accross my new all time fav low cal meal! i just ate a massive bowl of salad which was lettuce, 1 and a half tomatoes, 1/3 of a cucumber, 1/4 of an onion, 1 babybel, 1/3 of a pack of tesco sandwich chicken and a drizzle of balsamic - but the main event was the quesadilla (even though i did set the fire alarm off!) one wrap filled with 1/4 onion, 2 babybels (melted AMAZINGLY!) 1/2 a tomato and 1/3 pack of sandwich chicken, fold it over and hold in place with cocktail sticks, grill on one side then the other - BLISS!!!
and not stupid slimming world 'bliss' where chocolate pudding just tasted and felt like chocolate flavored egg! OMG. im having this every day!!!
oh plus, its my day off tomorrow yay!
i find this diet so much better than others, but its nice to look forward to a day off where i can eat stuff i just took for granted - like toast or greggs chicken mango sarnies!

Day 10
tea x 2 - 40
meal - 215
tea - 20
wrap - 128
babybel x 3 - 120
onion - 15
salad - 10
tomato x 2 - 70
chicken - 176

total - 814

Yum, the wrap sounds lovely- will give that a whirl!! You def hit the nail on the head with the key to calorie counting: home prepared/fresh ingredients gets you so much more for your calories and fills you up- for example, the lunch you described versus the kids canned meals- plus think in that little portion probably half or more of it is rubbish that your body doesn't even want/need. Enjoy the day off

Good morning,

How are you?

Just wondering what your weigh in day is?

I am a Saturday, and going to the Chinese buffet on Sunday #CANNOTWAIT!!!!!!!! lol

hi peeps! oh yeah, the wrap was amazing - did another twist on it tonight - used one of the kids canned meals - brown rice and chicken curry, sliced a babybel on top and melted in the oven rather than on the grill - was lush.....except im kinda regretting it now - im hungry! BerryBerry, I do like to homemake stuff - especially since coming from slimming world, but i find it so expensive....salad is fine, but its the raw meats that steal my moneys! i was actually worried on sw cos i ate so much red meat (normally im just a chicken or turkey girl!) and i thought there was something about eating a lot can contribute to bowl cancer or something....

Day 11
Mcdonalds - 4 nuggets and 3 mozzarella sticks and sauce - 470
tea - 20
bottle of beer - 122
american fried chicken - 130
onion - 5
bbq sauce - 25
mustard - 20
lettuce - 10
wrap x 2 - 248
babybel x 3 - 120
tomato - 35
other - 8
bottle of beer - 122
crisps - 167
cracker x 5 - 90
bread x 2 - 200
butter - 50
penguin - 106

total - 1938 - i actually didnt even need the crisps, crackers or toast - just habit eating after alcohol

day 12
tea - 20
porridge - 112
kids tinned meal - 226
wrap - 128
1/2 pack of american fried chicken - 65
tomato - 35
salad - 15
babybel - 40
tuna - 120
tea - 20
eclair - 83
tea - 20

total - 903

omg, those weight watchers eclairs are good - gotta use up all my restraint not to go eat the whole lot!

takemedrunkimhome - i dont actually have a weigh day....i get addicted to it and i find it really puts me down and more likely to binge if i have a bad or no loss week! I have decided to only weigh once a month - at the end of the day, i know i must be loosing weight because i worked out that i need 1530 cals a day to maintain, and im not eating that! so seeing as i started on 11th march, im gunna weigh on or around 11th april!
ah i have been having cravings for chinese! so had my day off yesterday and its actually quite hard not to go nuts again today . . . not sure when im gunna have my next day off - my weeks go monday-sunday so i can choose tomorrow or sun.....ooohhh the choices! lol!

Hey my eyes lit up when I saw the weekend diet lol tell me more xxx

hey stef

ummm the weekDAY diet did you mean!? Would LOVE a weekEND diet, but i dont think i would loose much weight! Basically its something that i kinda created myself but then found out already existed! Its easy - you keep a strict food diet - no cheating! you have 800 cals a day for 5 days of the week and no more than 2000 cals for the other 2 days. Its good because once you get your head round it, its quite easy. the science bit is that you have a dramatic lowering of cals for several days, then an 'off' day which tricks your body...the result is loosing weight without your body plateauing. its not meant to be a lifestyle change though - once you loose the weight, you need to change to a plan which helps you to maintain. the best way of doing this (what i DIDNT do and therefore put weight on again) is to find out on an online calculator what your maintenance cals are once you reach your target weight. keep the food diary up as it will help you to keep an eye on things. once at your goal weight its also important to strike off a 'bad' day. a lot of dieters think if they have a bad day to just chuck it all in and go nuts. not a good idea! take a leaf out of slimming worlds book - draw a line under it and move on!
you may notice that my daily cals are more around the 900 cal mark - this is because im not being as strict on myself as i should be, and because my goal weight date isnt for a while - i also find that rather than completely denying myself, if i just have 100 cals over it means i can feel a bit naughty without going nuts!
so if you want to give it a go, please feel free to post your diary here - the more ideas for low cal day the better! have a look at mine - i have a few tricks like the wraps and eclairs!

let us know how it goes!

Oh yes weekday diet LOL silly me!!! I'm really stuck at the moment to lose my last 1.5 stone so think I may give this a try!! I seem to be a pro at maintaining so hopefully can carry on maintaining after it sound like a good plan to me!! Thank you xxx

stef2009 off topic but what web site did you use for making your avatar?

takemedrunkimhome - wow! well done on your loss! you know, i decided to have a peek at the scales today as its now exactly 2 weeks - knew i shouldnt, only lost 1lb! how is that even possible!? i feel super down now and am considering eating a whole multi-pack of crisps and half a loaf of bread! i guess i need to be more strict on myself and only do 800 cals a day. perhaps as ive gone and eaten about 400 cals already today i will start on 800 tomorrow.....ahhhhhh - so frustrated!