After much thought, and working through the excuses - decision made!

[noodles1609]

I've been giving this a great deal of thought and weighed up all the pro's and con's, had several chats in my head with Dr Beck and have come to a decision finally today driving up the M6 (I'm not sure that's relevant but it adds to the drama). On day 193 it's time for a break, not just a week of planned off plan, it's time for me to restart eating regular food at regular times and stepping up an exercising and toning routine. It's taken me some time as I have been trying hard to make this a successful decision, rather than seeing it as a failure to get to 200 days as I'd planned to.

I've decided, for the first time ever in my life, that what the scales say isn't all that important. It doesn't really matter so much if I'm a few pounds under or over my goal before I go on holiday. What's important to me is how I look and mostly - how I feel. I know I won't go back to eating huge amounts of carbs cause I don't like how I feel when I do, and I know I won't be gaining as I've sold all my clothes!! It's important to me to stay around the size that I am at the moment for a while, at least to see me through the summer - from a financial perspective I'm trying to buy clothes on special offers in sales, only to find a couple of weeks later they are too big for me before I've even got to wear them, and I'm so totally fed up of ebaying! It's like another full time job . I need my new holiday clothes to fit me for this and the next one, can't afford any more!

So, I am officially calling a pause to my VLCD journey. I'm going to defect for the summer over to my old pal Rosemary Conley to keep me on track with a weekly weigh in and at least one formal exercise class. I still plan on being around, and I have something stirring in the background with S&S that means I'll be definitely back for autumn I expect. But for now, job done, it's time to firm up the loose bits

 

[MrsJ708]

Well done noodles, you've done so well! This will be my last month of vlcd and then I'm off to rosemary Conley too. I will still have weight to lose but need and want to be able to live my life in as normal a fashion as possible! I wish you every success for the future x

 

[lass321]

Well done both of you. This seems to be the time to move on from VLCDs. I'm moving on to SW in 2 weeks once my packs are finished. I still have a lot to lose but I am not losing quickly enough to make the hunger and restrictions worth it. It's a new and exciting stage of our journeys

 

[Lexie_dog]

Good luck Noodles!

You doing the re-feed first?

I'm still at stage one in Beck - am prepping - staying on plan until July the9th and then it's time for the 13 week break.

It's all very exciting for you - I look forward to reading how you're getting on. Please keep us posted!

 

[MrsJ708]

Thanks lass, I am mildly terrified but I need to learn how to eat and stay slim! If I lose the last 11lbs this month them I'll be three stone and numerous clothes sizes down with about another stone to go. But like noodles I'm going to stop focusing on a number on the scales and let my body guide me a bit! Good luck with SW I love their eating plan but need to reign in my portion sizes and carbs in the long term so hoping RC can help me with that x

 

[lass321]

Good luck with SW I love their eating plan but need to reign in my portion sizes and carbs in the long term so hoping RC can help me with that x

Thanks - I am going to keep a close eye on my calories and carbs so hopefully I won't get carried away with the concept of 'free food' I still have about 4 stone to lose, I can always come back to VLCDland if I have too long a plateau, but am feeling hopeful.

I'll be interested to see how well you do on RC - I'm sure you'll both kill it

 

[Mo-Jo]

well done Noodles and good luck on the rest of your journey
Jo x

 

[Lulu1964]

Congrats noodles! For what it's worth I think you are doing the right thing. So many times I have struggled massively towards the end of a journey, not having my head in the right place, cheating and desperately struggling to get that last couple of pounds down. By the end my head is usually in such a bad place that i come off the diet and eat myself silly!

Really, as you say, it's all about the way you look and feel and being happy with yourself. Even if you stop for the moment and decide to consolidate your current position, then start again later when you feel ready for it I think that is a very wise and sensible thing and dr beck would be proud of you!

very much hope that we will still see you on the forum, and your thing stirring with s&s sounds very mysterious and exciting xx

 

[Caz]

I think that's a very healthy attitude. You've done pretty much all that you need to do now, you can finish off that last little bit with healthy eating and exercise I'm sure. You're a real inspiration to people on here so I hope you still pop by! Are you looking to become a S&S consultant?

 

[iwillbethinagain]

I have been following your weigh ins and diaries religeously, you are such an inspiration. I think you have made exactly the right choice for you, and I wish you all the best for this next leg of your journey. Keep popping in to say hi and lt us know how you are doing, and of course offering advice to all the newbies. Take care.xx

 

[noodles1609]

Thank you everyone, you are very kind. I still very much intend on hanging round the forums, I'm far too nosey not to! And I want to see how everyone elses lifes are transformed just like mine has been. I've decided this week is very much about toning for the beach (lastminute.com, every little helps and other applicable advertising slogans!) and actually went running yesterday - this is entirely amazing as I was definitely not built for running. Today I'm feeling it, not least of which is a rib muscle strain I'd forgotten about from a few weeks ago - ouch! Today is a brisk walk, back to running tomorrow.

Lexie - I've kind of been doing the refeed for a while to be honest. Before Christmas I was absolutely terrified of eating "food", I think it's a natural reaction, but once Christmas was over and done with and I didn't automatically balloon again it felt more relaxed, I accept I'll gain a few pounds from glycogen refill, but it's no big deal, it's not fat. I also know that I will eat too many carbs on some days, probably because I can, and because old habits die hard, but I also know that I feel shocking when I do, so that one day will just be one day every now and again when I need to remind myself that me and carbs really don't get on. I'm looking forward to restarting Rosemary, for the exercise, she also has a lower carb version of her plan which I intend to follow in the main - but this summer for me is mainly about developing an exercise habit and getting toned. I've not got a massive amount of fat to lose, so it's important to me to do what I can for a while to tighten up the saggy bits before they end up trailing on the floor behind me - can you imagine having that flat stomach but it sticks out of the bottom of your skirt!! If all else fails then I'll invest in some cast iron magic knickers instead.

Caz - the answer is yes, I'm looking at the details and the feasibility for me to do that alongside my full time job, I'm taking my time in considering all the points as I have a tendency to rush into things I'm really keen on and then losing momentum (a bit like the diet plans I've followed all my life!). I really want to do this, and I want it to be successful, so I'm putting together a proper business plan for myself and hope to get the ball rolling soon. Poor Rob, I nattered him for weeks to send me the details, and now I've got them I'm taking my time in getting back to him with my questions! I would absolutely love for my future career to be helping others lose weight, I can't imagine anything more personally satisfying than seeing that transformation - but being realistic, I have to recognise that not everyone who joins up will get to that point, so I'm planning personal strategies to deal with that too, otherwise I'll think it's all my fault and I'm a failure! So, I think a little longer in the planning will ensure future success (fingers crossed!).

It's all so exciting!

 

[battybelle]

Well done noodles and good luck for main. 198 days it amazing and inspiring indeed help me please?? Haha

 

[Caz]

Haha I was exactly the same. I decided not to go with it just because of the start up costs but also I wondered how feasible it would be at the moment alongside my full time job. When I weighed it up, I didn't think it would be at the moment. Maybe once I move and have finished this year, I'm not sure. You'd be great at it though I think!

 

[noodles1609]

Well, a spanner in the works to my get fit plan. Actually it feels like a spanner in my knee. I've had knee trouble for as long as I can remember, of course it's always been because it's straining carrying too much weight (so all the docs say) but last year I really thought I'd cracked it. Went to a physio who diagnosed that my kneecap was sitting too high, because my quads were too tight. He gave me stretching exercises to do that sorted everything out. Until I started exercising. It may well be thats all it was, and my knee is now a little too loose cause I've stretched the bottom ligaments over the years or it may be something else. Whatever it is, I can't exercise, it's too painful!

And that's kind of scared me. There is NO WAY I'm putting this weight back on again, no way. I've been quite surprised this week how little I've eaten and it's felt like I've been very very naughty - I nearly went to KFC earlier on, just cause someone's status on facebook was that they were there so it got me a fancy. I got my shoes on and got to the door before I asked why, what was I doing. Shoes came off, had a coffee instead and felt a bit smug! So, I think I'm going to have my holiday, try to do some swimming to see if I can strengthen this knee up a bit, and then take stock when I come back. If I can't tone as I planned to, then I don't think I'm quite ready for the big wide carb filled world!