Back For The Long Haul

Hi all,

I have just over 6 stones to lose, having already lost around half a stone since the beginning of January. I have previously been on the Cambridge Weight Plan and lost nearly 3 stones on it but due to my own fault I put it all back on so here I am again, ready to shift this extra weight for good!

I am doing a combination of things:
1) I started off substituting my breakfast and lunch with Juice Plus Shakes but now just have 2 Fuel porridge pots for breakfast at around midday as this helps me feel fuller for longer.
2) I am taking the Juice Plus capsules daily (when I remember to!) but am no longer on the shakes.
3) Eating around 1,200 calories a day in order to aim to lose 1-2lbs a week
4) Using an activity tracker

I initially started on the full Juice Plus plan but found it was too restrictive for me and it was getting me down. It was during then I started watching the Hairy Dieters (whom I love!) and realised that for my healthy tea, it would do no harm to cook one of their recipes and not restrict myself to no potatoes, and "no this or that", as long I stuck to my calorie count.
Now Juice Plus tell you not to calorie count but it helps me to control my portions and because I like stats and like to ensure I have a deficit of 1000 calories each day. So if my activity tracker tells me that I have burned extra calories that particular day, I will indulge in a little treat (as long as the deficit stays the same) so my mind and my body are happy!

My target date is this Christmas which is when I also turn 30 and I'll keep a weekly/monthly diary on here. I've taken some horrendous before pictures and will take some after each stone loss and post them at the end!

Interestingly I was watching the Horizon programme last night about what the best diet for you is and I found out after taking the test that I am an emotional eater (no surprise there!). The best way to combat this is to go on a low-calorie programme and to join a support group - both of which I have already done so am feeling super positive this time!

Has anyone else tailored a few methods to suit them and have you found that it is working?

Welcome hun! You are definitely in the right place and not just for the Hairy Dieters love either - we find them incredibly useful and relatable (and lovely!) Asda carries Hairy Dieters pouches of ready made sauce (ie the curries etc) for days where you're short of time or if you want to try new ones without having to make it yourself.

I have the diet programme recorded to watch later, glad it sounds good

To start with when I began last year I used Slim Fast alongside calorie counting (I had undiagnosed acid reflux and food and I were not friends) and it worked brilliantly for me. I've lost my mojo a little (not overeating, but not feeling inspiration about eating) post Christmas so I'm using Slim Fast again as of today (or rather the Asda version of it) and keeping Calorie Counting up again. It's all working so far

Welcome again - and good luck! which Activity Tracker are you using? I'm using a fitbit one x

Hi Cranberrie and welcome

After trying virtually every weight loss plan there is, I started Slimming World last week and have lost 9lbs so far, so am really happy with it - like you say, it's about eating so we can sustain the loss

hi cranberrie welcome to the forum

PrincessSparklePants said:

Welcome hun! You are definitely in the right place and not just for the Hairy Dieters love either - we find them incredibly useful and relatable (and lovely!) Asda carries Hairy Dieters pouches of ready made sauce (ie the curries etc) for days where you're short of time or if you want to try new ones without having to make it yourself.

I have the diet programme recorded to watch later, glad it sounds good

To start with when I began last year I used Slim Fast alongside calorie counting (I had undiagnosed acid reflux and food and I were not friends) and it worked brilliantly for me. I've lost my mojo a little (not overeating, but not feeling inspiration about eating) post Christmas so I'm using Slim Fast again as of today (or rather the Asda version of it) and keeping Calorie Counting up again. It's all working so far

Welcome again - and good luck! which Activity Tracker are you using? I'm using a fitbit one x

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Hi PrincessSparklePants,

Thanks so much for the heads up on the Hairy Dieters sauces, I did an online shop last night and order all 3 varieties available! Lamb saag for tea tonight!

Love the shakes and calorie counting combination, means you can have a guilt-free tea that you enjoy! I just discovered 9 bars too - I had one this morning as I was so hungry and it kept me going for a good 3 hours, I didn't have my first shake until 1pm!

I know all about acid reflux, have you found that weight loss has helped with yours? Mine's playing up at the moment as it usually does when I am on low calories as my stomach is wondering why the hell I'm not eating much when it's producing the same amount of acid! :-(

I also have the Fitbit One (3rd one after the first two accidentally went into the washing machine!), isn't it great!

Best of luck with your journey, you've done amazingly well so far! xx

Hi Susie,

Thanks for the lovely welcome and well done on your loss so far! I love Slimming World - my only downfall is that I am too lazy to get organised for the week! Best of luck on it - their bars are lovely! xx

Thanks Chezz! xx

Cranberrie said:

Hi PrincessSparklePants,

Thanks so much for the heads up on the Hairy Dieters sauces, I did an online shop last night and order all 3 varieties available! Lamb saag for tea tonight!

Love the shakes and calorie counting combination, means you can have a guilt-free tea that you enjoy! I just discovered 9 bars too - I had one this morning as I was so hungry and it kept me going for a good 3 hours, I didn't have my first shake until 1pm!

I know all about acid reflux, have you found that weight loss has helped with yours? Mine's playing up at the moment as it usually does when I am on low calories as my stomach is wondering why the hell I'm not eating much when it's producing the same amount of acid! :-(

I also have the Fitbit One (3rd one after the first two accidentally went into the washing machine!), isn't it great!

Best of luck with your journey, you've done amazingly well so far! xx

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I have a fitbit one too! I had a jawbone 24up originally from my brother/sil for Christmas but I was allergic to the metal on the clasp (which is ridiculous as it's a tiny amount!) and so I avoided the flex as that has nickle too. I've had it about 2 1/2 weeks - I love it!

Hope you enjoy the packets! It's a great way of trying the dish incase you might not like it - or a time saver too! I've only tried the tikka so far but it was gorgeous!

I'm hoping the weight loss has helped, I don't seem to be as windy up top (ahem!) or have the pain but I'm not sure how much is WL or meds. IT sucks doesn't it

I always enjoy leaving the most of my cals for the last meal of the day too as I perfer it to be my largest meal so it's another reason why the shakes work for me too! x

How are you getting on, love?

The lamb saag was better than any takeaway I can remember having - just a shame that lamb is so calorific and I am having a real hard time finding lean lamb mince in Asda!

Weight loss will definitely help with the acid reflux although it's a pain for me because I have excess stomach acid which means it is all coming up because I'm eating less and therefore it has a lot less to absorb! :-( Acupuncture is good for reflux too, just a shame it's so pricey!

How are you getting on? xx

ladyfelsham said:

How are you getting on, love?

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I'm getting ok thanks Lost 2lbs last week and am hoping for a 1-2lb loss tomorrow as I have not been as strict with my calories but still not consumed over 1,500 so happy with that! How are you doing? xx

Oh well done on the loss hun!!!!

I'm doing good, lost 4lbs on Monday, just 1lb short of my first stone - but that's in my sights for next Monday Really loving cooking everything from scratch and man am I saving money because I'm not buying breakfast and lunch anymore!

Have a great evening!

ladyfelsham said:

Oh well done on the loss hun!!!!

I'm doing good, lost 4lbs on Monday, just 1lb short of my first stone - but that's in my sights for next Monday Really loving cooking everything from scratch and man am I saving money because I'm not buying breakfast and lunch anymore!

Have a great evening!

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That's fantastic! Well done! You'll get to your first stone in no time! That's one thing I love about being healthier is that you can still make healthier choices without compromising on taste - and it forces you to cook from scratch more which is another great thing. I made a weird but amazing lasagne last night using lean turkey mince and WeightWatchers Tortilla wraps in place of lasagne sheets. Hubby loved it too!

Another 2lbs gone today so happy with that

Blimey that weight is just falling off you

And I like the inventiveness of the tortilla sheets!

Welcome, and well done on your losses so far!

How do you find the ww tortillas? I've not tried them. I hate the Sainsburys be good to yourself ones as they stick together and rip when I try to take them apart!

I use the mini deli ones, they're about 95 cals a piece and are v filling I think they're made by mission? (they are much smaller than usual tho)

The food doctor seeded pittas are lovely if anyone fancies a pitta too. 130cals each for quite a sizeable pitta.

Glad your fakeaway went well! And nice trick with the sheets in lasagne, sounds interesting (and i bet it'd soak the sauce up lovely too!)

Well done on your loss!

Grumpy Space Princess said:

Welcome, and well done on your losses so far!

How do you find the ww tortillas? I've not tried them. I hate the Sainsburys be good to yourself ones as they stick together and rip when I try to take them apart!

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Thank you! I've only used the WW tortillas in my lasagne so not had them on their own - however hubby has been using them for wraps and has had no complaint. At 107 calories a pop they certainly aren't bad! I was worried that they would not be sturdy like the Sainsburys ones but they definitely didn't let me down in that department!

PrincessSparklePants said:

I use the mini deli ones, they're about 95 cals a piece and are v filling I think they're made by mission? (they are much smaller than usual tho)

The food doctor seeded pittas are lovely if anyone fancies a pitta too. 130cals each for quite a sizeable pitta.

Glad your fakeaway went well! And nice trick with the sheets in lasagne, sounds interesting (and i bet it'd soak the sauce up lovely too!)

Well done on your loss!

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Ooh that's a few less calories than the WW ones...every little counts!! Will have to search them out

Are the pittas quite filling? I can imagine they would be if seeded and full of all sorts of good stuff, not bad for 130 cals!

How are you getting on with your Fitbit?

Yeah the tortillas turned all crunchy with the cheese on top so I used it to try and scoop up the lasagne meat! Had it again on Saturday and enjoyed it just as much.

This week I'm going to be making the Hairy Dieters Lamb Saag Fakeaway and their Taco Bowls with turkey which are also nice and why I bought the WW tortillas in the first place!

The pittas are v filling, I expected not to be too keen on them because of the bits in them but I really enjoyed them They were easy to open too and toast, just gently slid a knfe through the middle and they popped right open.

The little mission deli wraps aren't as big as usual wraps but they're still lovely and filling Not great if you want quite a few fillings though I guess but then I don't put salad in the middle ones (other than lettuce) as I don't like cucumber/tomato and my mums happy to just eat it fromt he plate alongside it so it is workable.

The fitbit is great I don't lose as many cals allegedly as I used to when just remembering the times I started/what I did/time I finished and logged it on MFP but any movement is a loss

Cranberrie said:

the tortillas turned all crunchy with the cheese on top so I used it to try and scoop up the lasagne meat! Had it again on Saturday and enjoyed it just as much. This week I'm going to be making the Hairy Dieters Lamb Saag Fakeaway and their Taco Bowls with turkey which are also nice and why I bought the WW tortillas in the first place!

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Yum to cheesy tortillas! . And the HB lamb saag sounds scrummy too, do let us know how you get on.