2 Stone to lose on Diet Chef - Food Diary

[islington82]

Sooo after having read and re-read these extremely helpful threads and words of support and advice that you have all been so kind to leave for people, I have decided to take the plunge and start DietChef today. I have signed up for the 1200 pay monthly and was a little overwhelmed at all the packages that arrived. So was the cat!

So today I have begun with Luxury Muesli (sounds like something Noel Fielding would eat!) and will follow this with an apple. Rest of my food diary will follow today just so I can ensure I keep myself strictly to the plan. Words of advice or savvy tips are very welcome.

p.s. my initial goal is my hen do in Ibiza in June and after that my wedding in August so any weightloss will be fantastic for these two events.

thanks everyone.

islington82

 

[topcat7000]

Hi islington82, well you couldn't have a better incentive than getting married! If you can stick to the plan, you should have some great success with Diet Chef! I know what you mean about when the box arrives - I ordered a month's worth at a time from QVC and I thought it was ironic that the box of food weighed a tonne! I have got used to the portion sizes which has been hard as we all love our food in my family! The first time I opened a breakfast cereal (I think it was the luxury muesli also), I wondered where the rest of it was ) But I pad it out with some blueberries or a banana, with a cup of tea and it actually fills me more than I thought it would. If I've had my Diet Chef snack for the day and I'm still hungry, I reach for the fruit so I'm eating more healthily now as well as less. I also pad out my dinner with a bag of fresh veg so that's also healthy while filling me up a bit more.

People are really starting to notice now which spurs me on even more. Funny how women seem to have no problems saying "wow, you've lost a lot of weight" whereas the men seem to either say "you look really well" (can't bring themselves to mention "weight" to a woman in case they get smashed over the head perhaps!) or nothing at all but you know they've noticed! They say nothing tastes as good as slim feels and that's probably true although I've tasted some fab food in the past! But for clothes to fit easily without any pulling and actually look good, and to feel lighter and more comfortable just moving around, makes it worth it. Anyway, I don't actually feel I've sacrificed much over the last few months (with the exception of wine perhaps) as I like most of the food anyway.

I've also rewarded myself with small treats along the way - a facial perhaps or a new top .... and I remind myself of how much I've lost since January and how much better I feel now.

Good luck - you've every reason to succeed!

 

[islington82]

thanks so much Topcat - in fact I have been reading your posts with great interest - i really hope I have as much success with this diet as many of you on this site appear to have had.
I did find the muesli a small portion - but appearances are deceptive and coupled with an apple and a tea, you are completely right it really filled me up!
I am definitely feeling motivated and enthusiastic at the moment - however, I also have mine and my partner's 30th birthdays this year and a whole host of other birthdays so temptation is going to be at every turn. How do you go out and not drink!!?

 

[topcat7000]

Islington82, you don't have to go out and forego all alcohol ) You may have noticed from my previous threads that I travel fairly regularly on business and I try to plan ahead as much as possible for these trips (take Diet Chef breakfasts and snacks with me). Then when it comes to eating lunch and particularly dinner, I just try to make sensible choices. I usually find dinner the most tricky as it's in a restaurant so it depends how much choice is on the menu. I have chosen things that I might not have chosen before (or rather perhaps foregone the big steak with fried onion and chips for example!) so have had perhaps chicken or fish, have steered clear of the bread basket and maybe had a sorbet rather than the sticky toffee pudding (one of my faves!). I have always had a glass of wine with dinner if I've eaten out but just the one instead of maybe 3 or 4! I'm out to dinner on Saturday with some family so will just try to be sensible (I figure that I can always pinch a mouthful of calorific dessert from one of them instead of ordering one for myself!). But I don't believe in cutting out everything you love all the time otherwise you may crave it all the more. So just have it in moderation and then hopefully you won't feel deprived. It's worked for me so far anyway! I had my brother's birthday celebrations in February so we all went out to dinner and that's the only time I did have more than 1 glass (the waiter kept topping up my glass so I rather lost count!). That was the only week I didn't lose weight - actually I put on 0.5lb but I tried not to be too hard on myself and just got back into it the following week. As you'll see from others' threads on here, it's nearly always not a clean straight line to the goal - there are small 'setbacks' along the way but if the overall picture keeps positive, you'll reach your goal no question. That's life I guess!

 

[Rod the Bass]

good luck, sounds great!

 

[RachyRoo]

It'll be fine! I also have cut back on alcohol a lot, but still drink once or twice a week. I'm just trying to drink less, by alternating with sparkling water. It's a bit dull, but amazing how quickly you get used to it. And shifting 27lbs helps keep motivation high - one more pound by Saturday and that's 2 stone!!! I am away over Easter, so realistically I think I will put ON a couple! Oh well.
I find the porridge really filling now, and can't always finish the bowl.... Lunches I am a bit peckish. But after a couple of weeks you'll definitely stop wanting to top up the food as much. Good luck!

 

[islington82]

Thanks so much for these words of advice so far.

Thought I would put the last three days of food diary up to check that i'm supplementing properly. I have been using MyFitnessPal to count calories and exercise but I was doing that anyway.

Day 1
Breakfast
Luxury Muesli + milk + 1 apple
Lunch
Minestrone soup + 2 ryvita + yoghurt
Snacks
Popcorn + satsuma + 2 white wine spritzers at pub birthday drinks
Dinner
Beef in Ale + granary bread slice + steamed courgettes and carrots

Day 1 was hard because i'd just spent the weekend in Bath pigging out and drinking. So i definitely felt the hunger.

Day 2
Breakfast
Crunchy bran muesli + milk + satsuma
Lunch
Pea and Ham Soup + wheat free sunflower bread
Snacks
Maple popcorn + cup a soup + piece of Easter egg
Dinner
Chicken in Mushroom Sauce + steamed rice + stir fry chard, red peppers

Day 2 was easier as I knew that the food would be tasty and quick to prepare. I am finding my mealtimes much more regimented - lunch used to be quite late in the day but now I am ravenous by 12.30pm!
Dinner was nice too and my boyfriend tried one of the meals with the accompaniments I had made. He seemed pleasantly surprised.

Overall hunger is starting to reduce - i am very glad of the snacks!!!

 

[islington82]

Day 3
Breakfast
Original Granola + Activia Lemon Yoghurt
Lunch
Thai Chicken Soup + Ryvita
Dinner
Chilli Con Carne + Warm Veg Salad + Rice

Today has been very easy - only felt hungry once and the breakfast has been my fave so far.

Really fancied a drink tonight but I was off camping and hiking for the weekend so needed an early start.

Day 4
Breakfast
2 eggs scrambled with low fat spray on Ryvita
Lunch
Chicken CousCous Salad + raw carrot + apple
Dinner
Fish and chips and white wine spritzer

Today we spent 3 hours hiking so I made sure to have a light brekkie with OH, Dietchef lunch and then a treat for dinner.

Day 5
Breakfast
Sausage Baguette + coffee
Lunch
Ploughmans + cider
Dinner
Steak, new potatoes and white wine spritzer

So another 4 hour hike and the diet went slightly off the rails! Hope i've cancelled it out!! it was soooo cold last night I needed a hot breakfast.

Visiting friends for the rest of the weekend so need to get back on track. Luckily i've bought some Dietchef meals with me.

 

[islington82]

So days 6 and 7 haven't gone exactly to plan - no dietchef and definitely some alcohol :break_diet:

Anyway - weighed myself this morning and had lost 1.5lbs - which in the scheme of things is not bad!!

I am back on track today - putting my diary in now so I can't deviate.

Breakfast
Luxury Muesli + milk
Lunch
Chunky vegetable soup + Ryvita
Snack
Sweet and salty popcorn + piece of fruit
Dinner
Cottage Pie with steamed veg

Planning on walking home from work twice and two morning gym visits with OH this week to get fitness up. Will let you know how this goes!!

 

[islington82]

OOOOH this morning all I have wanted to eat is SAUSAGE rolls from Greggs. Luckily I don't pass one on the way to work or there would have been trouble this morning.

How do you control cravings? I don't have a sweet tooth so eating a piece of fruit doesn't work and there is only so much popcorn you can eat!

Overall yesterday went exactly to plan but I didn't have my piece of fruit which was silly as I was ravenous when I got home. Must remember to eat regularly.

Today looks like this .... (if I can keep away from the sausage rollssss!)

Breakfast
Cocoa nib porridge + milk + apple
Lunch
Tomato and Veg pasta (would be a dinner normally but I won't be home until laaate)
Snack
Oat bite bar
Dinner
Sausage casserole + steamed veg (sausage on the brain!!)

 

[islington82]

Hello all!

So yesterday was a very busy evening and my OH was also working late. I wanted to cook him dinner and eat with him rather than eating alone so I decided to ditch the dietchef meal I had planned but keep the principles.
I made a huge ratatouille-style stew with peppers, mushrooms, aubergine and lots of tomatoes with some spices and herbs thrown in.

We had this soup style with a large spoon (yes just 1) of long grain rice. I put the stew in a small bowl to control the portion size and I was nicely full at the end! I do believe that Dietchef is retraining my portion sizes and I am making progress with this!

Today has gone a little bit awry but I am in control and I needed to have a little bit of what I fancied as I was literally fantasizing about it.

Breakfast
2 veggie sausage rolls ( i know!!)
Lunch
Ham and sweetcorn chowder soup + 1 ryvita
Dinner
Thai Tom Yam Soup and som tam salad + possibly some edamame and dumplings.

I am going out for dinner this evening but I have chosen the location as I know I will be able to eat thai soup and salad which is very low in calories but high in taste.

Do you always plan ahead when eating out?

 

[Helcatt]

You seem to be doing really well

We changed plans and didn't eat out this week, in the end. We had a child free night and were going to make the most of it, but decided it was too early in to the diet. I think I will plan in advance when I do go out, or I will just go mad once there and order everything.

I too have decided to "cut down" on the alcohol, rather than cut it out completely. Instead of a beer or two, or glass of wine with dinner every day, I have decided that I will cut out the "school night" drinks and only have alcohol on friday and saturday - I know a lot of my dead calories are in the drinks!

Hx

 

[islington82]

Hi everyone - hope you all had great weekends. Mine started badly on Friday but I actually managed to exercise after work on Friday for 90 mins and also do an 8 mile walk on Saturday which I hope combatted some of the naughtiness. The rest of the weekend went well - i didn't Dietchef on Sunday but calorie counted instead as OH wanted to cook with me and we had a nice lazy day doing a bit of housework here and there. Here are my weekend diaries.

Friday
Breakfast - Toastie from EAT (oh dear...)
Lunch - Baguette fron Pret (today is not going well)
Dinner - Dietchef chicken korma and long grain rice
Snacks - none today due to stupid choices earlier.

Today I also went to the gym after work for 90 mins (maybe i was punishing myself!)

Saturday
Breakfast - Dietchef original granola and lemon yoghurt (so yummy!) + coffee
Lunch - Homemade tuna and spring onion sandwich with Hellman's light mayo
Dinner - spit roast chicken and salad + some fries from OH + glass of wine

Today OH and I went on an 8 mile walk through some of London's parks as it was a beautiful day - had a sandwich lunch on the way and then walked some more. Ended up having a pub dinner and a glass of wine as a treat.

Sunday
Breakfast - mini frittata and salad
Lunch - Avocado spread on toast + grilled halloumi slice + radishes
Dinner - Braised lamb shank with ratatouille + one large spoon rice (took 3 hours to cook but was AMAZING)

today was a lazy day but we ate all freshly cooked food and did a bit of housework. Was nice to eat the same as OH today.

Monday
Breakfast - none due to business meeting
Lunch - Ham and cheese from Pret (lunch bought for office)
Dinner - will be Salmon and Veg bake + steamed broccoli and carrots.
Snack - popcorn and satsumas

Do you find it hard to refuse food at work or do you find missing breakfast due to work commitments plays havoc with your day?

speak to you all soon!

i82

 

[Lots2lose36]

I82 looks like you are doing good hope it shows on scales. I'm new to this and so far so good on my first day

Do you eat all of the 1200 calories?

 

[Helcatt]

Do you eat all of the 1200 calories?

I aim for about that, some days a little over, some a little under. Its just the way the meals work out and sometimes an extra apple if I'm really struggling.

I intend to get to the stage where I don't calorie count, I just add the extras like the plan says, but at the moment this keeps me focused.

I was tempted with a beer on Saturday and then I realised I was already a little bit over and that would make it much worse, so didn't. If I hadn't been checking, I would have just gone for it anywayand then regretted it an wondered why there was no weight loss.

I've got to see results or I find it hard to keep the resolve up

Am not even a week in but doing well so far,.the food is better than expected, which is really helping.

And because the portions are done for you, I can't just add an extra portion, I have to accept that that really is it.

I've been on plans before and not got this far, so this really is progress for me. Hx

 

[islington82]

Hi Lots to lose

According to my dietchef profile I should be eating 1400 a day. I think 1200 is fine for me - but yes I eat them all. I think anything under that and my body goes into starvation mode. I am trying to exercise also so that I can tone up so I need to make sure I keep my calories at the correct level.

I see from your other posts that you have been doing a VLCD so you're used to eating a lot fewer calories but I think once you have less to lose (in my case i have about a stone and a half) the weight doesn't come off as easily and exercise really helps.

how are you finding a) going up in calories and b) eating real food?

 

[Lots2lose36]

I aim for about that, some days a little over, some a little under. Its just the way the meals work out and sometimes an extra apple if I'm really struggling.

I intend to get to the stage where I don't calorie count, I just add the extras like the plan says, but at the moment this keeps me focused.

I was tempted with a beer on Saturday and then I realised I was already a little bit over and that would make it much worse, so didn't. If I hadn't been checking, I would have just gone for it anywayand then regretted it an wondered why there was no weight loss.

I've got to see results or I find it hard to keep the resolve up

Am not even a week in but doing well so far,.the food is better than expected, which is really helping.

And because the portions are done for you, I can't just add an extra portion, I have to accept that that really is it.

I've been on plans before and not got this far, so this really is progress for me. Hx

I'm finding I've loads of calories left n full up but my stomachs shrank too

So far so good trying the lasagne tonight

 

[Lots2lose36]

Hi Lots to lose

According to my dietchef profile I should be eating 1400 a day. I think 1200 is fine for me - but yes I eat them all. I think anything under that and my body goes into starvation mode. I am trying to exercise also so that I can tone up so I need to make sure I keep my calories at the correct level.

I see from your other posts that you have been doing a VLCD so you're used to eating a lot fewer calories but I think once you have less to lose (in my case i have about a stone and a half) the weight doesn't come off as easily and exercise really helps.

how are you finding a) going up in calories and b) eating real food?

Well yesterday i was sick hardly ate much maybe a bug or my body not too keen on eating I've about a stone to lose now. I can give or take food really so having these meals are great as I can't be bothered to do it myself lol I'm lazy lol

I've exercised today been out for a run and it's Zumba tonight

Hope the weight comes off tho

 

[islington82]

I've got to see results or I find it hard to keep the resolve up

Am not even a week in but doing well so far,.the food is better than expected, which is really helping.

This is so true - if I don't see immediate results i get disillusioned - however this time it doesn't feel like a diet and most of the temptations have been removed. Also I have 2 big events to lose the weight for and if that doesn't keep me on the straight and narrow I don't know what will!

i82

 

[Lots2lose36]

This is so true - if I don't see immediate results i get disillusioned - however this time it doesn't feel like a diet and most of the temptations have been removed. Also I have 2 big events to lose the weight for and if that doesn't keep me on the straight and narrow I don't know what will!

i82

Yes I like results to that's why I did the vlcd. But had bf on my case worried that I'm slim enough and not eating and exercising so this way I'm eating and losing weight I hope lol

As long as I see results I'll be fine. I've only had 820 calories so far may have to have some more stuff. Maybe a cracker and a plum and a jelly