A couple of totally unrelated questions!

[Luci-De-Milo]

Hey guys, a mixture of questions probably for CDc's and also some advice from fellow minimins

Firstly, what is the average loss on the 810 plan? And something else I was wondering, as people over a certain height have to have an extra pack on SS, ie a higher calorie intake, why is everyone allowed to go on the 810 plan, both tall and short? Do taller people get better losses on 810, because they are having less calories than they may need?

Questions out the way, need some advice. I get weighed on Mondays, but on the 8th June and 15th June, which are both Mondays, I have exams and can't make the weigh ins (at all, cos my exams are in London). Should I wait til 22nd June, the week after my last exam, for a weigh in? This would mean I wouldn't get weighed between June 1st until 22nd June, which would be three whole weeks. I feel I perhaps should do this as I REALLY need to concentrate on my exams those weeks and revise, and perhaps without having to think about the WI's a little stress will be taken off.

However, on the other hand, 22nd June is my birthday, so I don't want to ruin it by having a lower loss than I expected over the three week period. Plus without weekly weigh ins telling me how I'm doing, I'm scared I might lose motivation.

Biggest of all though is this, and bare with me because this may get complicated!

I hope to manage a weight loss of a stone a month on SS (which is the average loss on this plan). I am 11.4 stone now, and presuming I have.. for example.. a 2lb loss on my weigh in this Monday too, I would be 11.2 stone. Now, the 22nd June is five weeks exactly away from this coming Monday, therefore if I were 11.2 stone, between now and five weeks away I may well end up hitting 10.1 stone. This will most likely be during the later part of the "no weigh in" period when I don't see my CDc between 1st June - 22nd June.
10.1 stone would give me a healthy BMI, and I would obviously have to switch from SS to 810. Now because of this possibly happening during the period I won't see my CDc, not only would I not know how many shakes to buy for the three weeks, but also if I am not being weighed I won't know when I have to move up to 810 either?

I don't want to move up to the 810 plan prematurely on the 1st June to "be safe" for the three weeks either, as I only would have been on SS for 5 weeks then!

I really hope that last bit makes sense cos I can see it is a bit confusing.

Hoping people can answer my questions and also help solve my predicament!

Thank you xxxxxxxx (and yes I should be in bed atm lol!)

 

[mumto4]

Hi hun. Can you not get weighed the day before of day after so your not leaving it 3 weeks?

 

[Watergirl]

Hey Luci, you have so much to think about at the moment with exams, that it will be quite stressful.
Can you weigh yourself at Boots or something or would you prefer to just not think about it until after the exams?

Can you talk to your CDC about what is the best thing to do? If you did want to get weighed could they come to you in the evenings? I know that's not feasible, but after my accident when I couldn't walk my CDC came to me (but she only lives 5 mins away)

Alternatively you could just keep going with the SS and play it by ear. x

 

[Enough]

Hiya..

My CDC's on holiday at the moment, so I've been having to WI in Boots... It's fab cause I can celebrate a good loss, but blame the inconsistent weighing methods if it 'appears' the loss isn't the same!! Haha!!

I've also once WI the day before I usually do - also works well, cause, again, a lower loss is simply cause its only 6 days since the last, not 7.. and the following week I can simply be very pleased with the loss, totally ignoring the fact that it's actually 8 days worth!! Hahahaha

either of those solutions any good?

..personally I still like to have a weekly WI cause I can't loose sight of what I'm doing and fall from 100%


All the very very best with you exams x

Vx

 

[Enough]

ooh.. a few other thoughts:

- before my CD's three week holiday I had to choose that many CD packs too...

I arranged to buy an extra week's worth (four weeks in total) so that I had far more choice.. but split the payment for them cause I didn't want 4 week's worth all at once.. she was happy with that..

On the subject of hitting your healthy BMI and going up from SS.. my instinct on that on is:

- I'm guessing that the CDC supports you in making up your own mind.. so long as it fits with the CDC guidelines on best practice... There are Plenty of people on here (eg KD, CDC etc) who really do know what they're talking about and know the guidelines inside out.. so you can come here for advice and support

- Is your CDC not available for a short telephone meeting? - it would probably be handy for her, and valuable for you..

- I suspect that you'll know when your body feels right to stop.. a healthy BMI is quite a wide range (for me there's a two stone difference between the bottom of my 'healthy BMI' and the top).. and people often say their weight loss seems to slow down when they're approaching their target, even if they're still 100%...

so, if you're feeling healthy and looking healthy, and you're not going too far towards the bottom of a BMI - which sounds unlikely if you're only just going into it any.. then it's not going to hurt.. (I wouldn't have thought)..

..altimately, it'll be your choice, and going onto ss+ or higher up the plans at this stage isn't going to harm anyway, cause there's still healthy losses involved..

so, all in all, to my mind, it actually sounds like what you most need right now is some support and love.. if you're anything like me.. exams are stressful, being on CD without your CDC for support can feel stressful, and all you really need it to feel clear, free, calm, relaxed, confident, comfortable with what you're doing, and able to walk tall, smile, and breathe easy

come here for a good rant/hug/chuckle/cuppa...

and, whatever else, know that we're all here for you

XXX

 

[scojos]

Luci, i just think you are worrying about this as something you can control, rather than worrying about your exams, (something you cant control).
bearing this in mind, do whatever stresses you the least.
as a teacher i would say go up to 810 before your exmas, which will allow you to eat before the exam starts and avoids blood sugar levels dropping, as a fellow dieter i would say do what stresses you the least...
i send you hugs and good luck vibes, your weight is a 2ndry issue, concentrate on your exams, and your weight will have time to do what it will do in june when they are all over.
I admire you for doing all this togtether, it must be hard hug
tx

 

[Luci-De-Milo]

Hey, thankful for your thoughtful replies everyone, as ever

Mumto4 - I could do this, but on the day before my exams I'll really want to be spending every second cramming revision in, and as a trip to my CDc usually takes (including walking to the station, getting the train, her driving me to her house, having the WI, measurements, buying SS stuff, having a long chat, and then back again!) about 2/ 2 and a half hours, I'd feel like I'd missed quite a bit of time.

Watergirl - I actually didn't know you could get weighed at boots! Do the people there see what your scales say?
That's the thing, I think I should just be concentrating on my exams and not have any WI's, but on the flip side of that, what if not being weighed causes me to think about it even more?! Arghhh lol.
My CDc lives about a 45 minute drive away, so it isn't ideal for her to come to me, I usually go to her by train and she picks me up at the station.
What I didn't mention was that whilst I have exams on the 8th June and 15th June, I also have one on the 11th June, so it's basically just full on exam week for me so I definitely can't do between 8th-15th. I could perhaps get weighed on Tuesday 16th of June instead? But then my birthday weigh-in the next Monday would only show a 6 day loss and I might be disappointed!

Enough - Haha I like your WI style! That does sound a good idea, I may go to Boots. Is there a reason Boots are more accurate than your scales at home? We have a new set of electronic scales, could I not use them instead (without going mad about it)?
I'm the same as you, I like weekly weigh ins to know where I am at and if I need to make changes or push harder, and get movitation etc. Three weeks just seems such a long time, I haven't even been doing CD three weeks yet and it feels like a LIFETIME! lol!

Buying some extra packs does sound like a good idea, I'll probably need to as I'm not hugely settled into what I like/don't like yet. Although paying for three weeks plus of packs is going to be like £120+, not sure if I can afford that in one go...

My CDc is great and we email each other all the time, sometimes have phone conversations, I'm sure she wouldn't mind a telephone meeting, that might help actually.
That's a really good point, hadn't thought of that, I'll probably know myself when to come off SS... But then again, if my losses start slowing during my no weigh-in period, how will I know that if I'm not being weighed? I'm probably just going to have to keep on weighing myself to check how my losses are and where my BMI is at, but then that might demotivate me and make me become scale obsessive.

As for my goal weight, sorry I knew I'd end up confusing someone lol, my goal BMI is 21 (what I was before), so quite a bit into healthy BMI range, which is why I don't want to stop SS'ing prematurely, as once I've hit 25 I've still got another 21lbs to go (although really anything between 14-21 is good for me), and this is going to take me AGES obviously lol.

I've been thinking about moving onto SS+, as it is only an lb or two in difference a month - however, because I've got a deadline for this weightloss, as 1st October, whilst not trying to put to much pressure on myself, I really need to lose as much as possible on SS as quickly as possible, so I have time to lose the rest on 810 and move up the plans.

You're totally right about minimins though The first few weeks of June are going to be a stressful time for me, and I know people on here will be able to help me get through it! xxxxxxx

 

[Luci-De-Milo]

Luci, i just think you are worrying about this as something you can control, rather than worrying about your exams, (something you cant control).
bearing this in mind, do whatever stresses you the least.
as a teacher i would say go up to 810 before your exmas, which will allow you to eat before the exam starts and avoids blood sugar levels dropping, as a fellow dieter i would say do what stresses you the least...
i send you hugs and good luck vibes, your weight is a 2ndry issue, concentrate on your exams, and your weight will have time to do what it will do in june when they are all over.
I admire you for doing all this togtether, it must be hard hug
tx

I hadn't even thought of that... you're actually probably right, I haven't stopped obsessing over this problem the last few days, I think I'm avoiding thinking about exams. And you're right about the control thing too because I'm trying to plan out every detail of this period... that's very psychological of you lol!

That's what I've been thinking, I should be on 810 for my exams, but I don't want to slow my losses down and get more stressed. I think I'll definitely be on SS+ for those weeks because that just seems sensible, and will keep my losses low whilst giving me a bit more energy.

Thank you so much for your support I really do need to put my exams first, I'm trying hard to do so with not having weigh ins etc, I just hope it doesn't backfire and I end up obsessing over what the scales might say in three weeks time!

 

[Watergirl]

Hey Luci, yes you can weigh in at Boots - don't think they do it for you, think you put money in and weigh yourself, but someone else might know more.

You are completely motivated and I'm sure that you'll have successful losses anyway. Others are right about the importance of exams. Just think though, nothing's stopped you losing weight so far has it? You'll be fine. By 4th July there'll be nothing left of you

 

[Enough]

..I forgot to mention...

..I did think to tell you that I'm not seeing my CDC at the mo cause she's on holiday... I forgot to mention that I've just completed a run of essays and exams too.. last one on thurs just gone (although still more over next couple of weeks)...

Personally... The thought of all the stress did fill me with thoughts of not wanting to stick with SS, as though SS is extra stress.. but actually, what I've found is that I've had more control and less chaos BECAUSE I've been on SS.. so not peaks and troughs in my blood sugar, no thinking about preparaing food or getting any in, and no contant nibbling in the kitchen instead of doing my work (like I normally do!)... and the funny thing is, before I started the essays and exams, I thought it'd be relly hard and horrible, and that I might actually explode HAHAHA!! ...

in reality (for me last two weeks):

- the essay/exam stress was not made any worse by being on SS... if anything, it actually felt easier, cause I wasn't all over the place with eating..

- essay/exam stress is sooo much clearer to recognise when it's not getting muddled up with other types of emotions like sadness and guilt.. so sticking to SS made it easier to see that when I was getting up to do other things, it was purely about the work I was struggling with, and not about anything else...

Some of my favourite new tips:

-I treated myself to particularly lovely bottles of drinking water, and to particularly lovely body baths etc.. even an occasional massage.. an hour's massage might seem like a waste of time when you're revising, but actually, I found it really helpful, cause I couldn't help but carry on planning essay structures etc in my mind!.. and the biggest hindrance in exams is the stress, so it's worth tackling..

-I've gone through loads of interesting hand creams whilst revising.. it gave me something to fiddle with, and faff about with when trying to get down to the work

visualising the work complete and in, the exam written in front of you.. imagining the essay structures or sample answers.. writing really simple outlines of answers.. then going and lying in a big warm bath and semi-drifting off, imagining how you would most like it to be, and thinking how pleased you'll be when it's done..

------------------------------------

..well.. that's what I did anyway.. give it a try!

(I stuck to boot scales not home scales cause I don't have scales in the house - I'd end up checking them too often.. so I've stuck to my regular CDC evening for a weekly WI.. no more, no less.. it's not been helpful checking at other times)

that IS a lot of cash all at once, which is why we arranged to split the cost.. we did it slightly more before she went, and it'll be slightly more when she gets back.. but I suppose there's no reason to line up a bunch of cheques for her so that you pay the same as usual each week, but just happen to have them before then.. she sounds like she'd understand...

Good Luck!

Vx

 

[Shopaholic]

I'd say if you have electronic scales at home use them! Just weigh yourself at the usual time of your CDC meeting after you've got dressed and you should see an accurate loss. That way you can get on with the important work of revising for your exams.

Good luck for the exams Luci. The diet will still be here for you no matter what you decide on. Maybe keep going with SS, that way you don't have to faff around with cooking while you are going through the exam revision. Plus it's what you know, so no extra stress.