New to Lighterlife

[Tess Matthes]

Hi Everyone,

I have recently joined lighter life and am now on day 13. So far so good! Overall I have found the diet pretty OK although have had a few days where I have felt I couldn't do it. Each of those times I just drank more water and reminded myself of what my goal is. I have felt very unhappy with my weight for the last 2/3 years and have ballooned to 16 stone 4. I have already lost 6 pounds in my first week and am looking forward to my second weigh in on Monday.

I just wanted some opinions from anyone who has done the diet before/currently on the diet about a few things:

1. As I said before my start weight was 16 stone 4 and I really want to get down to between 9 - 10 stone by around September time. Is this realistic?

2. I only like 4 of the shakes and cannot stomach any of the other packs. Has anyone else had similar experiences as I am worried that I will get bored of the shakes?

For the first time in a long time I am so determined to lose the weight and I have a wardrobe full of size 8-10 clothes that I cannot wait to wear again.

Would be great to hear other people's experiences and chat with people who are currently on the diet too.

Look forward to hearing from any fellow Lighter-lifers!

Tess

[Tash0088]

Hi Tess, good luck with your LL journey, and congratulations on your loss so far. I've only started today so I'm not much help I'm afraid but it's always nice to hear from people who are in the same boat!

[Tess Matthes]

Hi Tash,


Thanks for the reply. How did you find your first day?

It is always good to hear from others doing the plan as makes you feel better. Sometimes I think what am I doing on this diet as it is so extreme but I suppose it helps you to lose the wright quickly and then the hard part is keeping it off which I so want to achieve!

Will be great to hear your updates on your progress.

Tess

[Tash0088]

The first day was fine, today has been a bit more difficult, I've come out with a cold and have a headache! Other than that, the diet part has been fine today, not felt exceptionally hungry so that's been manageable.

I think the quick weight loss is really motivating, that's why I chose LL over a different diet. I agree that maintaining the weight loss seems difficult, it's been my downfall on other diets. It certainly doesn't help when people seem to relish tell you how quickly you will regain the weight once you stop the diet. Let's prove them all wrong!

[Minerva]

The re-gaining is down to the person, not the diet. It's NEVER down to the diet even!!

There are plenty of success stories of people maintaining weight after a VLCD; it usually comes down to people knowing and recognizing behaviours and habits which led them to gain the weight in the first place and changing them for good.

Sounds easy, but it's not really. Re-gaining happens with ANY diet, be it VLCD or something like Weight Watchers/Slimming World or just plain old calorie counting and exercise! It's all about making a change which is going to stay with you for LIFE. That's all it is.

x

[Gemma79]

Hi tess, I lost 6 stone when I did LL first time round, started September, ended early feb, so just over 5 months. You can expect a stone a month.

i too only liked A few packs and so stuck to those pretty much the whole time. I did find my taste buds changed so did try different ones on the odd occasions.

as for putting weight on, totally agree with min, unfortunately most people who lose weight do put it back on, it's a sad statistic but keeping if too can be done, but needs a chagr in habits and thinking.

good luck and well done so far, I will be joining you next Saturday!

[Tash0088]

I completely agree guys. We will keep it off this time, I swear!

[Minerva]

I hope so...!!! BUT, I read this earlier (I do NOT ready the Daily Fail, but it was randomly surfed upon)
How losing weight can change your personality... and it may not be for the better | Mail Online

I do remember my personality changing when I became thinner last time and I HATED myself for it. I became a horrible, bitter, over-controlling, snappy and judgmental person to be around. Never had enough energy for anything because I was so scared to lose what I had achieved. My poor OH put up with it

So heed the warning, don't let yourself become a scarecrow with all this!! Sometimes people regain because they're still their old 'fun' selves without knowing what moderation is...

So this time around I'm aware that it can happen... let's hope I don't turn into the wicked witch again

[Tess Matthes]

Thanks for the replies it great to have some support away from the group!

Great to hear that others only had limited packs I thought I was the only one as all the ladies in my group seem to love all of the packs.

I hear what you guys are saying about keeping it off, we will all have a battle at the end of it but it will be worth it!

So I went for my 2nd week weigh in this morning slightly early as I was meant to go in tomorrow. I only lost one pound on my second week. Feel abit gutted as I have stuck to the plan 100% and have been drinking 3-4 litres of water each day. I suppose it could be water retention. For some reason also my ketosix stick reads a dark colour rather than the light colour which is what it should be. Again I am confused as to why as I'm drinking lots of water!

I'm going to keep going and hopefully will see a bigger loss next week!

Tess x

[Minerva]

Hi Tess, well done on 2nd week Wi! Don't worry that it's a bit slow, second weeks are apparently notorious for it! It's all going in the right direction and there will be weeks where we either lose nothing on the scales or we "only" lose 1 lb.
Though remember, this is what 1lb of fat looks like: http://www.bodytransformationlab.com...lb-fat-mug.jpg ... so I'd still say that's a fabulous loss!!

Get a tape measure out and measure yourself all around. A lady on SnS lost only 6lb in 6 weeks - but has gone down TWO dress sizes. TWO! So your body WILL be changing shape, even though the scales don't seem to be reflecting this at all.

Don't look at ketostix too much - they are only an indicator of ketones in urine which are excreted (as an excess). What matters are the ketone levels in your blood stream which you can't measure so easily. Personally for me, my ketostix were always showing as 'not-in-ketosis'.. lol. Pretty poor. Just go with how you feel. And at the end of the day, you're losing weight (and you WILL be with such a calorie deficit), so don't worry about the magic of pee. Those LLC's really love to push their clients do it - I just plain refused after a while! What kind of sick exercise is that, making your clients pee on demand... HAHAH

Stay strong! I do believe you can lose the weight by September (or be close to goal), because I'm betting you'll be losing faster than me. Some people do lose on average around 10-14 lb per month, while I'm a steady 7-8 lb per month. It really does vary from person to person.

x

[Tash0088]

I haven't had a WI meeting yet so I don't know exactly what's involved, I'm popping in tomorrow to be weighed and wee on aforementioned sticks, but do you have to do that at EVERY meeting? I'm worried about the pressure of weeing on demand! Although, at the moment, with the amount of water I've been drinking I can go about every 15minutes if need be!

[Minerva]

Depends on your individual LLC Tash. Some LLC's will try to force you (almost!!) and INSPECT it ... and some let you choose and don't even mention them.

Either way, don't worry too much about the whole 'ketosis' thing. If you're following the plan you WILL be in ketosis, stick or no stick!

[Tess Matthes]

Thanks for the support your message really did help. I think I have to focus on the fact that I've lost half a stone in 2 weeks and it is going down so that's where I need to be focussing on! Suppose it dosent help when your LLC looked really suprised that id only lost a pound and I could see in her expression that she thought I had cheated! Least I know I haven't and am continuing strong and hopefully will have bigger losses in weeks to come.

7-8 pounds a month is great too and you sound like your doing really well! How long have you been doing the plan for?

Tash, from experience of all the weigh ins I have had I have to so the ketosix stick everytime and a lady in my group who has been doing the plan for 8 weeks is still doing it too! I felt the same about not being able to do it when asked but it's fine as your drinking so much water. I tend to not go to the loo before my meeting so I need to go when I get there. How has it been going, must be day 3 for you now?

Tess x

[Minerva]

Don't worry about your LLC - she can look all she likes, at the end of the day, you're doing the diet for you, not for her!

I did LL back in 2008, my original weight was 18st 7 - took me 11 months to lose 8 stone - yes I'm a very slow loser!! I've been up and down since then.

The main thing is to stick to it, some days will be much harder than others, but have faith... it will work.

x

[Tash0088]

If you know you're following the plan properly, that's all that matters, half a stone in two weeks is amazing, I don't think you'd get that result on many other diet plans!

Day 3 it is indeed! I haven't felt the hunger today but I could eat out of boredom. I only have Sundays off work so I usually spend the day being extremely lazy and eating rubbish. I watched everyone have a roast today which sucked but its totally not worth the cheat. Looking forward to the WI tomorrow, even though its less than a week.