Total Solution This has to be it!

Hi, I'm Cate and I'm gutted to be back posting on Minimins, in the nicest possible way!

In February 2011 I started Lipotrim and lost 3st5lbs in 3 months getting down to 12st10lbs, the lightest I'd been since falling pregnant with my son in 2003 when I weighted 13st2lbs, still a good 2st too heavy for my height. Having lost that, I kept the bulk of it off for a year as I was trying to get down to 11st but never really got focused again and didn't lose anymore. Then I went through a difficult time personally and my weight shot back up to where I'd started. A year ago, weighing 16st4lbs, I decided to give Exante a try (weirdly, it was a year ago to the day, today!) but I never really got started properly although I've consistently had a supply of shakes and bars in the house and have always ordered another supply when my stocks ran out but I've used them for convenience and not as part of a disciplined diet. So, here I am, another year on, and I'm up to 16st12lbs. Aaarrrgghh!!

I am soooooo fed up with myself and this excess weight is really impacting on every area of my life. I don't want to go out and socialise; I feel like a frump as I wear the same boring clothes all the time as I won't buy an extensive size 18 wardrobe when I have so many size 16s and 14s from when I lost weight the last time - and I really don't want to be a size 18! I have a new business venture that I want to pursue but as it's in the health, wellness and anti-ageing sector I don't feel that I am a credible role model at the moment and feel that people won't listen to me. I'm lucky in that my face is holding up OK as I age so the anti-ageing bit in relation to wrinkles I can carry off but the rest of me just doesn't match up. I did something to the ligaments in my left knee a few weeks ago and it's taking forever to get better which I'm sure is not helped by carrying all this excess weight. I hate being so physically debilitated as it makes me feel like an old woman and, having had some experience of this now, I can't bear the thought of, as I get older, being someone who always has something physically wrong with them that makes it painful for them to move around. I'm single and although I really don't want a relationship at the moment if I decided that I did then there's no way I'd have the confidence to get onto the dating scene at my current weight.

So, enough is enough and I'm finally back and feeling in a more positive frame of mind to tackle this seriously, again, and this time I want to get to goal. I've been wanting to start since September but just couldn't get going. However, I am taking my son to Centreparcs in February next year, along with about eight other families from his primary school, and I'm going to be mortified to be in a swimming costume in front of the other mums and dads at this weight so I have to take drastic action NOW to hopefully lose AT LEAST 2.5 stone but hopefully more. Today, to get me into the right mindset, I've been reading my posts on here from my Lipotrim journey and it has taken me right back to the difficulties of the early days but then the euphoria of the first weigh in and then how it did get so much easier and time really began to fly. I know I can do this; I just have to want it enough, and right now I really feel like I do.

So, day one under my belt and it's been fine. Here we go again. Wish me luck.

Hey Cate good luck, I'm from Cardiff too, and my better half lives in Thornhill . I've been on exante over a month now and until this week (been really ill and off plan) I've consistently lost weight each week really easily. I did Cambridge last year and after stopping I put the weight back on too so i know how you feel to be back here a second time, but we're all here to support each other...even when I get to maintaining stage I have decided I'm going to stay on here for as long as I need to, to give me the motivation to keep the weight off for good

Thanks Lani. I might bump into you in Sainsbury's - shopping for food for my son of course! Congrats on your one stone loss so far.

Thanks, funnily enough the better half works Sainsburys, started in Thornhill, now is in Cwmbran (there are better places lol). You'll be up to the stone mark in no time . I'm back on it today, even though I'm really sick, and about to head into work....:-(

hope me you have a good day

Going to post my hour by hour schedule for a few days to record how I'm feeling. This will hopefully help me focus.

Day One

7.45am - large glass of water
9.00am – back from school run, had my first shake and feeling fine
11.00am – water and black coffee
12.00pm – feeling hungry. Really wanted to make myself a cheese and onion toastie but resisted the temptation. I mean, I can’t cave on day one for God’s sake. I did this for weeks and weeks before. (With hindsight, should have drunk some water.)
1pm – water, bar and coffee. Hunger gone and feeling fine. Toastie cravings gone. Remember that for the future. Once you’ve had your Exante product hunger goes and so do the cravings.
4pm – more water and black coffee
7pm – made meatballs in gravy for James with potato croquettes and broccoli. Smelt wonderful and admit to eating one. Then had a shake. Sipped water throughout the evening.
11pm – large glass of water
12am – bed

Reflection: all fine; try to drink more water tomorrow.

Day Two

7.30am – large glass of water
9am – first shake of the day - vanilla. I made it up with 600mls instead of 400mls to try and boost my water intake. Was worried it might be too watered down but it tasted fine and because there was more of it, it took me longer to drink.
11am – Black coffee
1.30am – Only just feeling hungry now so having a black coffee and a bar. No wobbles so far today. I think making up the shake with extra water helps to stave off the hunger pangs for longer.
4pm – Stomach rumbling. Time for more liquid. Glass of water and another black coffee. Bar hasn’t filled me up as much as the shake did this morning.
6.30pm – starting to feel hungry. Glass of water. Want to leave it to 7pm to have shake.
6.40pm - water has done the trick and not feeling hungry. Water really is your friend on this diet. Will still have my shake at 7pm though I think.
7.15pm – Shake made with 600mls water. Easier tonight as my mum gets James from school for me on Tuesday and Thursday and feeds him so I don’t have to cook!
Evening - sipping water

Reflection: as I was leaving the house to go and pick James up tonight I realised it was bin night. I was subconsciously thinking to myself ‘bin night, again’ in the way you do when you can’t quite believe a whole week has gone by. It’s made me remember how quickly the weeks do pass once you get going. The first few days are tough and do seem to go slowly but it soon becomes habit and the time starts to fly. Just got to hang in there and get through the early days. I remember day three was my toughest on Lipotrim last time so forewarned is forearmed. So, day two down, been 100% and feeling absolutely fine. But I didn’t have any problems with physical symptoms last time either. I’m one of the lucky ones. Thank God for small mercies!

So here we go with Day Three which was my worst day when I was doing Lipotrim for feeling hungry so I'm prepared. To give myself a bit of a psychological boost and keep me strong today I decided to weigh this morning and I'm 4.4lbs down in two days! Now I remember why I love VLCDs!

Day Three

I'm posting this on the morning of day 4 as I didn't write up my diary yesterday. Most of the day went pretty much as the previous two days until it got to the evening. I had anticipated James getting a lift to and from football training by the dad of his mate who takes both boys 90% of the time. When I rang to confirm I was informed it was assessment night which meant I really had to go. So, I drove him across the city, struggling in the Cardiff rush-hour traffic, only to be told on arrival that assessments had been cancelled due to a few of the coaches being ill. Grrrr. Gary offered to bring James home so I left pretty much straight away and decided to stop at Lidl's to do my weekend shop on the way home. I was hungry and stupidly bought stuff that I know James won't eat i.e. parma ham and dolcelatte cheese. Looking back I KNOW I did this as I intended to eat it. Psychologically I was already planning on eating. And I did, but it was no carbs and I didn't have my last shake to try and mitigate some of the calorie damage. Anyway, it's done and I've got to put it behind me and move one. Because I wanted to know how much the cheat had affected my weight I weighed this morning and was another 0.8lbs down so am now 230.8lbs, 5.2lbs in three days. Looking forward to getting back under 230lbs. Hopefully I'm in ketosis too now.

Reflection: I must not buy food that tempts me to eat. By having supplies of no carb snacks I am making it too easy for myself to cheat and because it's no carb I tend to feel like it doesn't really matter. It's like by buying it and having it in the house, just in case, I'm sub-consciously saying to myself that I will cheat and that I'm just planning for damage limitation for those occasions when I do. But it does matter because I want to lose this weight QUICKLY. If I'm doing this and only losing 2lbs a week because of all my cheats I might as well be on SW or WW. I WILL be 100% tomorrow. No excuses. I have to get right into the zone with a 100% mentality. Also, don't go the supermarket when hungry or if I have to, write a list and buy ONLY what is on that list. I'm cross with myself because I know that if I hadn't bought the stuff, hung on until I'd got home and had my shake, the hunger would have gone and I'd have been fine, like on day one. I don't think that I'm feeling as 'now or never' about it this time as I did when I started LT but that leaves me more vulnerable to temptation than before. I have to feel as determined to lose the weight as I did then. I think that when I start seeing the benefits in terms of getting into smaller clothes etc. it will strengthen my resolve. Just got to keep on going.

Hi Cate. I've just read through your diary. You won't have done any damage yesterday if you didn't have carbs - unless you ate a whole chicken of course! I enjoyed reading your record of how you felt during the day and could certainly identify with it! If you stick to exante you'll lose weight fast. I'll probably have a 100% TS stint in the new year but for the moment and trying to do 4:3.

lynneonextante said:

Hi Cate. I've just read through your diary. You won't have done any damage yesterday if you didn't have carbs - unless you ate a whole chicken of course! I enjoyed reading your record of how you felt during the day and could certainly identify with it! If you stick to exante you'll lose weight fast. I'll probably have a 100% TS stint in the new year but for the moment and trying to do 4:3.

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Hi Lynne,

I've seen a lot about the JUDDD diet and The Fast Diet. A friend of mine has lost quite a bit on The Fast Diet, when she reduces her calories to 500 for just two days and then eats sensibly on the other five, but I want quicker results right now. Am planning on using it when I reach goal to maintain. Want to be as faithful to TS as I can manage until I reach 12st7lbs and then go onto WS to lose the last 1st7lbs and then get onto The Fast Diet. That's the plan at the moment but if I'm doing OK on TS I might stick it out for longer. However, if I'm really struggling on TS I might stop at 13st as I know that when I did LT I started feeling really good about myself from about 13st2lbs as I was able to wear a pair of skinny black jeans, albeit a size 16 but I think they were on the small side for a 16, and I really felt 'normal' sized rather than big. That's the plan anyway.

You should stick to TS while you're in the zone. I would be doing TS if I was in the right frame of mind which I know I will be in the new year!

Day Four

9.45am - glass of water. Had a lie in this morning as didn't have to get James up for football until 9.45am. It was bliss as haven't had one for ages.
10.30am - shake made up with 600mls water.
3.30pm - have spent a few hours cleaning and getting all the washing done and have had nothing and have just realised I'm feeling no pain. No hunger pangs, nothing. Hello ketosis!!!!! Not even feeling hungry now but thought I'd better have something so have opted for a second shake, again made up with 600mls of water.
4.30pm - my friend April popped in for a couple of hours. Had a large black coffee.
6.30pm - made fajitas for James' tea. Of course I would have liked to be tucking into them with him but as I'm not feeling hungry it's so much easier to resist them. Have to keep my eye on the main prize! Fajitas will still be here in a few months!
8pm - coffee and bar. Sip water throughout the rest of the evening.

Reflection: remembering how your hunger disappears once ketosis kicks in and how good you start feeling generally with increased energy levels etc. In all honesty, you feel so good it makes one wonder why you would ever want to eat carbs again! But you do. My God, life without an occasional spag bol wouldn't be worth living. This is the point where the diet becomes, most of the time anyway, not so much a matter of hunger but more a psychological battle against the desire to eat coupled with boredom the longer you continue. On LT I was only on soups and shakes as their bars were disgusting. At least with Exante the bars are edible so you do get the chewing sensation once a day. Also, last Saturday I took a bunch of kids to the cinema to see The Hunger Games for James' 10th birthday. That time has gone by so quickly. I keep looking for ways to remind myself how quickly a week does go by so that when I'm feeling weak I can comfort myself with this fact until my resolve returns. Must start exercising. I have so many exercise DVDs there is no excuse. Have to find something that won't put my knee recovery back so no jumping around. Might have to go back to the doctor's next week if my mobility is still compromised and I'm still in pain when I move in specific ways. I might need to see a physio. Must also remember to keep drinking water. If I'm not feeling like I need to drink to stop hunger pangs then I often forget to drink. Must keep up the water consumption as it's so important for good weight losses. Feeling very positive tonight.

lynneonextante said:

You should stick to TS while you're in the zone. I would be doing TS if I was in the right frame of mind which I know I will be in the new year!

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Feeling very much 'in the zone' today. Ketosis is a wonderful thing!

You're doing so well!

Whoop whoop!

you are doing so well...keep up the great work

Thanks for the good wishes, ladies.

Hi Cate. Hope you're having a good day.

Had another lie in this morning, well until 9.45am when I was pestered to get up and make James a cheese toastie for his breakfast. Had a glass of water and then my shake at 10.30am. Two hours later and not feeling hungry. Have to take my mum to Curry's this afternoon so due there in about an hour then might see a friend later. Her husband left the marital home yesterday (she's so relieved he's gone) so I said I'd pop round. James said he'd like us to go to a carvery for something to eat later but I've said no. I've asked him lots of times in the past few weeks if he fancies going out for a roast dinner but he's never wanted to. Typical that he decides he wants to go the week I start my diet. Anyway, I've got a fridge full of food so I'd rather cook something for him.

Sounds like a busy day. Mine will be housework, shopping and walking the dog I think.

Hi Cate. How are you doing?