Snootycow's 'Get back into the size 14 wardrobe' and beyond.....

A bit about me.....

From a healthy 8 1/2 stone 18 year old I now suddenly find myself a 13st 40 year old. Where did the time, and my waist go?
I'd also been a smoker since the age of about 14.
Around 6 years ago I quit smoking and didn't really gain any weight but when I fell off the wagon 2 or so years later and started smoking again I lost over 2 stones without realising it or even trying.
Then in January 2012 my hubby was told he may have cancer, we both quit again that very same day and after 2 lots of biopsies he was diagnosed with cancer of the Larynx in around May the same year. The diet and exercise routine went out of the window and my weight rocketed to the heaviest i've ever been, around 13 1/2 stones. On the bright side, neither of us has touched a cigarette since, I don't even know how we could afford to smoke anyway!
Hubby is feeling better and has been all clear for over 18 months now so we're both making an effort to get fit and healthy again and try to manage his type II diabetes more effectively.

So, here I am. Currently weighing in at around 12st13lbs on day 2 of Exante. I've decided to ease myself in so I don't feel completely starving all the time as I know that would just make me give up straight away.
Things i've discovered since starting Exante precisely 1 day ago; The Porridge is horrible. The Red Bean Chilli is also horrible. I don't mind the Chocolate and Strawberry shakes. I'm 40 years old, it's no wonder I feel like a 60 year old after a bout of exercise. I'm actually not as hungry as i'd convinced myself I would be.

Welcome to the Forum and glad to hear it's going OK so far. I know some people really struggle in the first few days, if not from hunger then headaches etc but I've always been fine with physical symptoms and it sounds like you're the same. With me it's all psychological. So pleased to hear your husband has been clear from cancer for 18 months. Good luck with everything.

Hi Cate.
Thanks for the welcome. I've definitely got a headache today but i've put up with worse in the past so i'm not overly worried about that. I'm more worried about the weekend coming and getting away from the weekend frame of mind, long lazy carb laden breakfasts :sigh:

Good luck and happy dieting to you!

I do empathise. When first did a VLCD back in 2011 I had a bad wine habit at the weekends. But getting through the first weekend and then having a really good weight loss in the first week really helped with the motivation and helped to strengthen my resolve. In the last three years I have put weight back on, for various reasons, but have never gone back to drinking as much as I used to which can only have been beneficial to my health, even more so once I'm no longer 'obese'! It was a good habit to break.

I suppose i'm lucky that booze has never been a problem for me, i'm not a big fan of that 'being drunk' feeling, mainly because I don't know when i've had enough and I tend to make myself sick and I hate being sick
I don't drink in the house and I only go out occasionally, when I do tend to binge drink, but only on the really good stuff

Anyway, diary wise I think I stuck pretty well to my intended calorie intake yesterday. Tried a vanilla shake blitzed up with ice and so far it's my least favourite. I had the pasta carbonara for lunch which was REALLY salty... worse than the chilli.
Hubby measured his blood sugar, he's lowered his carb intake fairly drastically for him and we were amazed to see it was down to 5.1 instead of 13 and upwards!
Also, we're both doing the 'Slim in 6' exercise routine. We're both in the 'Start it up' phase and feeling good, though my knees are protesting rather loudly right now. I just keep in the front of my mind that the more weight I lose, the less my knees will hurt on a daily basis.
I'm staying off the scales until next Monday, i'm scared of seeing it go the wrong way because of the time of month.
Right this moment i'm deciding if i'm brave enough to try the banana shake, because generally speaking banana flavoured things are disgusting.....

Day 3 update;
The banana shake wasn't all that bad.
Feeling happy

I'm not a fan of bananas or banana flavoured things either but the banana shake is my favourite flavour in the Exante range. You might try adding a touch more water to your meals to reduce the saltiness. I add about an extra 100mls.

Cool, thanks Cate i'll try that.

Just had lunch of Shepherds pie. Not bad and a lot less salty than the others, even so I don't think i'll be buying any of the meals again. I'll stick to chocolate and strawberry shakes and i've just ordered a box of 50 (25 of each) Choc orange and toffee, nut & raisin bars from Exante just for something to chew on. Eating sloppy meals is going to get very old very fast

Day 4
Strawberry shake this morning...... But it's times like this when I wish i had a cold or something, so I don't have to taste this awful Spaghetti Bolognese lol EDIT:- Has anyone tried adding a little bit of tomato puree or similar?

Still feeling OK.

Does anyone else experience a strange lightheadedness (not in a bad way) more like a high, after your first meal/shake of the day?

Day 5
A bit shaky this morning so I think I may have my shake earlier than usual. And it also occurred to me that I only had two of my three packs yesterday, I couldn't stomach anymore after the spaghetti bolognese which was truly the worst thing i've ever tasted.
Also, normal food is starting to taste a bit weird..... and i'm starting to struggle for meal ideas.
Anyway, I have high hopes for my Monday weigh-in, Hubby got on the scales this morning and he's now 15st7lb (started out at 15st 11)

EDIT;
I pretty much drink water constantly throughout the day, I keep a flask on my desk and just keep filling a glass. However, i still haven't managed to kick my morning cup of coffee into touch yet (with a sneaky half teaspoon of sugar) I think come Monday it's time to switch back to the myriad varieties of teas I have as i'm worried that firstly, i'm wasting calorie allowance (and carbs) on milk and doing more harm by allowing myself the half tsp of sugar???

snootycow said:

Day 4
Strawberry shake this morning...... But it's times like this when I wish i had a cold or something, so I don't have to taste this awful Spaghetti Bolognese lol EDIT:- Has anyone tried adding a little bit of tomato puree or similar?

Click to expand...

I am with you on the spag bol. Totally disgusting and the only meal I wouldn't eat again of those I've tried so far (carbonara, chilli, risotto). Having said that, I only got a few meals just to try and only have a few left and once these are gone I won't be buying any more. Will stick to the shakes and bars. If you've still got some that you want to manage to eat then some people are adding garlic and fresh herbs which might help or you could try the Exante FB swap site to get rid of them. I offloaded my red berry bars on there.

Hope your lightheadedness passes soon. I have had one incidence of this but it soon went after I'd had a sit down and some water.

I've got quite a few, plus soups but I'm with you there, won't be buying any more.
Day 5, I'd gone to Aldi yesterday for most of my groceries but needed more stuff from Asda. Went straight from work at 12.30 without first eating lunch. My saving grace was the SINGLE double chocolate meal bar that I'd ordered to try had gotten slung into my handbag before leaving work so I nommed it down in the car, and it WAS nommy. Slightly salty which gives you that lovely salt/sweet flavour, I think I'll be buying more

Day 6, my first Saturday on exante has not been easy. Watching hubby with his omelette this morning, knowing if I had a real food breakfast I couldn't have real food for tea.
Had a strawberry shake bulked out with ice and a small handful of frozen raspberries. Lunch was thai chicken soup, which wasn't too bad, except when I was watching hubby eating his tuna salad!
And it's driving me crazy knowing that the bars I ordered have been delivered..... at work, where I can't get at them until Monday!
Made some of the porridge biscuits last night too, they were just as awful as the porridge, baking it seems to worsen the artificial sweetener taste

Day 8.
I skipped entering into my diary yesterday, I veered a bit off course at the weekend. Not in a bad way, as I stayed low carb and low calorie but I had a small lunch yesterday as well as tea and only one meal pack.
I weighed in this morning and was pretty disappointed, however when hubby weighed himself too we decided that our scales are unreliable. The scales said 12st10lb but I know that can't be right that i've only lost 3lb, I know how I feel. I think i'll lay off the home scales and take some measurements/take a trip to Boots chemist and use the scales there.
I wish I hadn't bothered getting on them now, even though I know it can't be right those numbers are in my head now and this is going to go one on two ways.... i'll either fall off the wagon completey or go extreme, and hubby's already worried that i'm starving myself!


EDIT; Also, the Exante website is getting right on my wazz. It has a penny sale section, yet products that aren't in that section have the PENNYSALE info below them (bars etc) yet you can't have bars in the penny sale. AAAAARRRGGHH!
At least topcashback works!

Don't fall off the wagon and don't go extreme. Just stick to the plan and go and get weighed in Boots and take your measurements.

Thanks for the words of encouragement Cate I'm trying my hardest to stick to the plan, and I managed yesterday without my morning cup of coffee, though I needed one after tea to take away the taste of cauliflower! Though I made sure it was a small one.

I ate 3 of the bars yesterday, (I'm in love with the Choc Orange ones) and I made Cauliflower Chicken 'fried rice' for tea. All in all I think I was under 500 cals yesterday. And my 'Harry Potter' inspired Adagio tea taster set is becoming my saviour, I'm trying a blend each day to keep things interesting so I get the very little caffeine hit i need each day without the milky sugary coffee!

Day 9, I just had an ice enhanced choc shake for breakfast, accompanied by a large cup of Polyjuice tea, black of course. I'm feeling a bit bloated today so also down the hatch with a Fybogel. I'll have a toffee nut raisin bar for dinner, I can't face any of the awful meals at all today.

You could try a heaped teaspoon of the vanilla shake as a coffee whitener. This is what I do now after reading how lots of people do this. TBH, I didn't like the sound of it as I'm not one for all these flavoured coffees and I wasn't sure how sweet it would be as I don't have sugar in coffee usually but in fact I like it. It's not too sweet but it might help you knock the sugar in your coffee on the head. I only have a couple a day because I don't tend to drink coffee after lunch time. Also, I'm not including these teaspoons in my pack count. I have these as extras. You might also like to try a hot bouillon drink which again, I didn't like the sound of but find that it tastes like chicken noodle soup but without the noodles. It's nice and savoury and comforting and makes a nice change from coffee or tea.

Hi Snooty, just here to subscribe.


Start weight: 18.7
Prep week: 17.13 (-8lbs)
Week 1.1: STS, ill, off plan
Week 1.2: 17.9 (-4lbs) only on plan for 3 days
Week 2:

Hmm. I think i'll try that later Cate if I start to crave a coffee!
Welcome Ella!

OK, What day is it? Day 10 I think. I've just wolfed down a choc orange bar because I was starving! I'm not certain they're as filling as the other packs, maybe it's my mind playing tricks on me?

EDIT: i did write most of this post at 9am, but forgot to publish it *rolls eyes* I blame the lack of food
Anyway, toffee/nut bar for lunch..... i'm just waiting for exante to put the double choc bars on sale!

Hi SC. Try drinking quite a bit of water with the bars & that should make you feel a bit fuller. My favourite is the Choc Orange it actually feels like I am having a treat .

Its good that you & your husband are trying healthy eating. That blood sugar level is a great indicator that its already showing a benefit regarding controlling the diabetes.

A little bit of milk won't do any harm if it helps you stay on track with the diet. I only have the flavoured Beenie coffee as I can drink that without milk much more easily than with plain blaCk coffee.

Well done on reaching day 10, if you find yourself going off track still come on here for some words of encouragement. It does help most times. The main thing is to get straight back on track as you did .

Have a good day xx