Angie's Exante Adventure

[Idreamofpizza]

Well done! You are doing so well, keep it up

Keep dreaming of skinny jeans & being able to walk into a high street shop & buy whatever you like. It's a key motivator for me

 

[sybersadie]

I know what you mean about wondering what your shape will be once this diet is finally done.

Hope your day is going well Angie

 

[angie-bum]

Thanks guys,

I'm wondering if I'll ever lose the belly, my face and neck is looking quite thin, but my belly looks as large as ever. I suppose the fat will have to come off somewhere once I'm another 3 stone down. I think this time my skin isn't springing back as well it did, I'm looking a bit deflated. May have to adjust my goal to be nearer 12-12.7, if I look terribly scrawny. I want to lose the belly fat, but I am mid 40's not 20's. I have a large female frame and there's some talk that the bmi score should be adjusted for taller people as the scores make it more likely to be scored overweight by the bmi score, same for little people the bmi can say yr okay but yr overweight. Anyway, I know 12.7 looked fine on me before. But I won't use it as an excuse, I'd still like to be around 12 stone, but only if I look healthy on it.

Diet wise, I would only have 3 items and nothing else if I were by myself, but I can't not eat with my young daughter especially & hubs. I need to, a) so I don't feel horribly left out and b) little un mustn't get it into her head that missing meals and having just a shake is the normal thing to do. So far she knows I'm losing it by not having cake, bread, sugar or wine! So I eat what she and daddy are eating, but a smaller portions with a side salad (no carbs).

But I can bend this a little, if I get them something like a quiche which I don't care for & I feed missy on a day I can pick her up early ie 3ish rather than 4.45, then I feed her and she doesn't notice at all if I'm eating, then hubs comes in and makes himself something.
So I can resist evening food if I serve something I don't like and I can feed bubs early. I've got to get that 3 exante products and nothing else licked really, as I want to maintain with 5:2, 600cals for one or 2 days a week, the health benefits are supposed to be good. When can I do it? Well one day a week they are going to have a crustless quiche! Have to work out another meal they both like and I can take or leave....ah, it'll be something with pastry, not keen on it myself but they love it. They both eat healthily otherwise: lots of fruit veg and porridge and multigrain bread, a small pork pie won't hurt.

When will my stomach shrink? Will I skinny down everywhere else and have a large jelly belly forever?

 

[sybersadie]

You and I are at the opposite ends of the scale, I'm 5'0 and your 5'9, so the BMI scale is probably not right for either of us. But I am still aiming to be at the mid weight for a normal BMI. If I get to goal and look awful then I can put a little more back on, which is likely anyway.

You're doing well on the 3 packs and the additional food Angie and I agree, you don't want to pass on the idea that missing meals is a good thing to your daughter. We have to make this diet work for us and fit into our lives, if that means having 800 cals a day with an extra meal or adding a meal for a week every four weeks in order to lose the weight then that's what we need to do. Better to bend the diet and continue to lose than fall off the wagon completely

Have a good day

 

[Idreamofpizza]

I'm 5'5 and at my mid point 'healthy' BMI I look like a lollipop. My head is way too big for being that skinny! I'm aiming for the top half a stone of my BMI just so that my Doctors will shut up. I don't think that BMI is a good measure any more. People have different body types, muscle tone, etc. But at least it does given us a vague target to aim at I guess!

 

[enlightenme2]

Hi ladies, I'm glad you're having this conversation as I'm also a very tall person with a heavy musculature. Exante's little questionnaire thingy put me at 173lbs - which is 12.4 stones, where my doctor says he'll be satisfied at 190- 195lbs given my age and my frame, i was aiming for 180 as that's where I usually feel I can run the best.

 

[smidge87]

I struggle to get rid of my belly too, every time I diet. It does shrink eventually but I think for some of us it's that stubborn area that is always there in some form.

Good on you for finding a way to make the diet work for your life, rather than just throwing in the towel

 

[Darcy15]

To be even at the high end of a 'normal' BMI is 8 stone for my height

......and I can't even begin to imagine myself that slim!

 

[sybersadie]

@Darcy15 I have once in my adult life been 8 stone and that was when I was 20 and people said I looked too thin. The lowest since then has been around 8 and a half stone when looks far more healthy on my frame.

 

[Darcy15]

@Darcy15 I have once in my adult life been 8 stone and that was when I was 20 and people said I looked too thin. The lowest since then has been around 8 and a half stone when looks far more healthy on my frame.

I might have been 8 stone as a teenager - a long time ago!

I think if I could be around 8.5 to 9 stone I would be ecstatic

....and never mind the BMI

 

[angie-bum]

Good lord, I would be a skeleton at 8 stone....the last time I was 8 stone I was probably 10yrs.

The lightest I've been as an adult is 10.7lb and I was way too skinny, all bone.

 

[chazzafrazz]

I really don't agree with the BMI scale...for me a healthy BMI goes down under 9 stone at the lower end, there's no way that would be healthy on me. I mostly ignore it.

 

[Darcy15]

Good lord, I would be a skeleton at 8 stone....the last time I was 8 stone I was probably 10yrs.

The lightest I've been as an adult is 10.7lb and I was way too skinny, all bone.

Oh, the difference an extra 9 inches of height makes

I've decided I'm not overweight, just undertall

Have a good day Angie

 

[sybersadie]

I've decided I'm not overweight, just undertall

Exactly!

It is amazing though what a difference height means to what is a healthy weight

 

[angie-bum]

Hi guys I've had to alter my plans at the moment, had a health scare low heart beat and bp secondary to massive gallbladder flare ups/blockage. Had a trip to A&e midnight Satuday and into early Sunday. Have to have repeat bloods as liver function off.
Since then .....Have still been eating the products, but eating more like 1000cals a day, as having infrequent meals exacerbates it.

Not worried by eating exante as it is well balanced with carbs and protein. So in my mind I'm not concentrating on weight loss, rather just staying in ketosis and not putting on.

Yes I know vlcd can cause stones, I first got my first attack after being on cd for 6 months.
I will always be grateful that the weightloss enabled me to have my little treasure, my gorgeous girl.

I am well suited to low carb, vlcd. This diet may have brought on a gallbladder attack, but it will also allow me to be safer When getting the offending gallbladder out and undergo surgery, I was offered it last year but being very obese I didn't want to risk it. I am almost 3 stone lighter than then so feel more confident in going under the knife. If I have to wait a month or 2 b4 the op, I can lose a bit more before then

Anyway, hoping to maintain for the time being.

 

[Darcy15]

Oh Angie, feel better soon xx

Been there, done that ........gallstones are serious agony

Had cholecystectomy some years ago now, and haven't looked back

.....nobody wants surgery, I know, but you'll feel so much better for it - and being lighter certainly reduces your risks and recovery time

Take good care

 

[angie-bum]

Oh Angie, feel better soon xx

Been there, done that ........gallstones are serious agony

Had cholecystectomy some years ago now, and haven't looked back

.....nobody wants surgery, I know, but you'll feel so much better for it - and being lighter certainly reduces your risks and recovery time

Take good care

Thank you, I've had gall stones for 6 years, first attack when pregnant with my daughter, then not a peep for 4 years then another out of the blue. Each year they've got more frequent. I had 2 major attacks a year ago then nothing really til last autumn, but I had a large 1 on New Year's Eve and several small ones with a big one again this week. So it's gone from having 1 in 4 yrs to having one every month. Need to sort it now. Not keen.

I don't really know what to do, so while I work out what I'm doing diet wise I think I'm going to work through eating 800-1000 this week using bars and shakes, protein and salad. I should be able to maintain on that or lose slowly.

The good news is that I haven't been tempted to eat badly. In my mind I am still eating the exante way, but just more calories.
I don't want to risk having another major attack as it could lead to further complications. I'd like to have maintained by next weigh in.
I can't fast all day like I was, so my main woe is stopped, but I can form a new pattern. Will keep on posting. I am not going anywhere

 

[enlightenme2]

Angie, I hope you feel better! I've heard it is very painful. What brings gallstones on exactly? and what does it feel like? are certain people more susceptible to it than others? Sorry if I'm bombarding you with questions but this seems so scary

 

[sybersadie]

Hope this gets sorted soon for you Angie.

Upping your calories to 800-1000 and not fasting through the day is a good move. As you are still in the Exante zone eating wise, if your plan for this week of Exante products with the extra cals from protein and salad works maybe stick with it a while longer? You should still lose weight on 1000 cals, just more slowly. As you say the Exante products are well balanced for carbs and protein, and contain needed vitamins.

Take good care of yourself

 

[smidge87]

Sorry you are unwell. Hope it is better soon