Back in the room...again!

[tickettyboo]

Right...I've already introduced myself on here as "I'm Nicky, I'm a foodaholic. It's a bit sad that's what defines me I suppose but I'm making a promise to me that this year things will change and I will get my life back. Sounds dramatic but it really is true. I've been yo yo dieting for over forty years, usually I confess more for vanity than health reasons, and usually for a holiday or event. I'm usually quite successful up until the event is over when I revert to bad habits and put it all back on. However now I have hit 60 my health is suffering, especially as I have really bad osteoarthritis in both knees and am waiting to see an orthopaedic consultant. My GP says the latest x rays are so bad I definitely need replacement joints. The pain is so severe I can't walk more than about 50 yards without crutches, and stairs are a nightmare. I know carrying so much weight is both the cause and effect. I have two gorgeous little grandsons aged 4 and 3, who want me to get down on the floor and play with them, or run round the park with them, and I can't. There are two more little ones due in February and May, and I really want to be Fun Nanna, not Boring Nanna. So time to get my head out of the sand and get a grip.

I've done every diet under the sun, slimming world suits me but I lack the discipline to not add a whole new level to the term "flexible syns". The best results I've had are with VLCD's, initially with CWP and later with Exante or SNS, depending on who's got the best offer on price! So as of yesterday I'm doing Exante, a mixture of Total Solution and total plus depending on how I feel, but definitely staying under 800 calories. The first day went well, apart from a really bad headache last night. Day two ok so far, I weighed myself this morning and have alreaady lost 3.5lb which I know will be mainly water but still a nice sight to see on the scales and definitely helps with the motivation! I'm hoping that by keeping a diary I can keep the motivation going this time, I'd like to (need to!) lose about 5 stone.

Good luck to everyone else on their journeys, and hoping 2016 is the year we all succeed. xx

 

[Mini]

Hi Nicky,

Good result and even though it is mostly water weight it is nice to see the scales going down.

I want to lose over 8 stone...if I get six stone off this year I would be happy.

Wishing you success in 2016!

 

[tickettyboo]

Thanks Mini, wishing you success in 2016 too! xx

 

[Mini]

Thanks Nicky...hopefully we both will be planning to buy the little black dress come November

 

[NatashaAnne]

Good luck Nicky, well done on your loss so far! I used to love slim n save when I was doing VLCD, unfortunatly I just dont have the will power these days! xx

 

[tickettyboo]

Thanks Natasha, in a weird way I seem to have more will power doing a VLCD, it's all or nothing with me! Good luck to you too for 2016 xx

 

[NatashaAnne]

Hey Nicky how did you get on yesterday xx

 

[tickettyboo]

Hi Natasha,

Thanks for your reply!

Had a good day yesterday thanks, had Exante porridge for breakfast, a bar for lunch and a chicken breast with steamed white cabbage and broccoli for tea. I struggle around 10pm and had a minibabybel light, as I had some leftover in the fridge, but that was only 43 calories with no carbs so figured it wouldn't do much damage! I'm down another lb this morning (know you shouldn't but can't help jumping on the scales every day in the early stages as the initial losses are so good!) The only thing I'm having a problem with is really bad headaches in the evenings, I'm hoping it's carb withdrawal and will settle down soon. Plus the constant need to wee!!

How was your day? xx

 

[NatashaAnne]

That sounds great, I still get offer emails from exante and ive got to give it to them the selection of food they have now is amazing isnt it! make your own burgers and sausages ect! Im with you on the morning weighing I cant help myself another lb down this morning for me too!

My day yesterday was fine all good healthy food and a great workout, like you I found myself struggling in the evening last night I grabbed my 4 year old and got her in my bed and we watched home alone much better than raiding the cupboards xxx

 

[tickettyboo]

Well done, another lb! How much do you want to lose altogether?

I actually prefer more of the S&S flavours (especially their bars)but Exante sometimes have great offers on (like 70 for £60 at the mo) which I couldn't pass up. I haven't tried the sausages or burgers (my hubby's a butcher and makes his own very low fat ones, great when I did SW!!) but I really like the apple and cinnamon porridge and most of the shakes.

Your evening sounds lovely, my eldest grandson is 4 on Tuesday it's a cute age! I love the home alone films, no matter how many times I watch them they're still funny! xxx

 

[NatashaAnne]

Morning Nicky how are you this morning??

I would like to lose 30 lbs altogether how about you?

Wow I bet the BBQs at yours are amazing in the summer!!!

xxx

 

[tickettyboo]

Hi Natasha, I'm OK thanks, glad it's Friday and nearly the end of the first week back in work after the long break! Another lb down this morning,yey! That's 5.5lb so far this week. The only thing that's really bothering me are the really bad headaches I'm getting each evening, hopefully they'll soon pass.

How are you? Hope you're still doing well, havent had a chance to check your diary yet. Any plans for the weekend? This one will be a real test for me, out for a meal with some friends tomorrow night that was arranged before Christmas, plus on Sunday it's George my little grandson's 4th birthday party so I've got to resist all the party food! I've said I'll drive tomorrow night to avoid the temptation of drinking wine, which is my downfall-a couple of glasses and any willpower goes out the window!

Yes being married to a butcher comes in handy, he does do amazing barbecue food! I help him out at Christmas, the week before I made 1100 pigs in blankets in two days! It must be love as I'd taken 2 days leave from work as well!!

Have a good day and a lovely weekend,

Nicky xx

 

[tickettyboo]

Right...start of week 2 today and a good 6.5lb loss last week which I'm pleased about as I had a bit of a blip over the weekend. I do feel a lot better already, my trousers are a bit less tight and I feel more positive and in control. Apart from having a headache in the evening I've not really struggled so far, so hopefully with no distractions next weekend I should have another good loss I hope.

 

[NatashaAnne]

Well done Nicky!!! great loss im so pleased for you xxx

 

[tickettyboo]

Right....rather a bad blip over the last three weeks,not complete disaster but bad enough. I've got into the pattern of doing well through the day,and then losing the plot in the evenings. Too much of the "I've had a rough day so I deserve a glass of wine" and other excuses. I found out yesterday that I'm to see the orthopaedic consultant within the next month with regard to a probable knee replacement, so the pressure is on now to get a decent chunk of weight off before then as I know that's the first thing I'll be told off about. Been good today, haven't weighed myself but will do tomorrow.

 

[tickettyboo]

Here again...it was all going so well. Then a couple of days after my last post I suddenly suffered a horrible problem in my arthritic knee called a ruptured baker's cyst...to cut a long story short I've been in terrible pain, on crutches and unable to drive and largely confined to the house for seven weeks. For the first few weeks the diet went out the window, all I wanted was comfort food, washed down with a couple of glasses of wine. However I finally saw an orthopaedic consultant two weeks ago and was weighed during my appointment...I was horrified to find I'd put back all the weight I'd lost. I've now been scheduled for knee replacement surgery as soon as possible but in the meantime I have to lose as much weight as possible. I restarted on Exante 0n 21st March and in ten days have lost 10.5 lb, which I am thrilled about, especially as I'm not mobile and able to exercise. Fortunately I've been able to work from home so my days still have some structure and it's stopped me climbing the walls with boredom. I've stuck to the total replacement plan except for two evenings when I've had a chicken breast and veg. I'm actually finding it quite easy this time and have had no side effects apart from the horrible dog breath . I've done VLCD's before including Cambridge and done well, usually losing about a stone a month, the problem is that when I've lost the weight I go back to my old ways and put it back on. I've been yo yo dieting for 40 years and have done every diet under the sun, but this type of dieting really suits me, I just have to learn how to re educate myself when I've finished! This time though I really have no option to do this, it's not about vanity, or self esteem, the risks from the surgery are worse and the probability of the op working well are drastically reduced if I don't get a grip.

 

[Minerva]

Well done for coming back! You have so many good reasons to get the weight off, for your mobility, for your grandchildren, and of course for self esteem.
You are right, VLCD's are such a straight forward no fuss way of doing things... No extras, no room to "cheat", but they're by no means easy... My first proper diet was LL and somehow I stuck with it for a year and a half! Re-adjusting to food was hard, but strict calorie counting (requiring a lot of self control) helped to put portion size into perspective and snacking to a minimum. Snacking is STILL something that hasn't come back into my life and I did this diet between 2008-2009! Binges happen, but they're one-off occasions rather than a full blown all day mindless grazing thing. It's all about mindful eating. When I have a binge I know the food I have - it's too much on purpose, but I meant it that way. It's a weird thing to say, but it helps. It would be worse if I suddenly "woke up" and felt guilt and shame thinking back over everything. Bad days happen, we will still turn to food - that's a reality we have to accept sometimes. But to have control over those instances is where the power lies. It's what's helped me never to regain all my weight back, the way I see it - I'm still 5 stone down from my heaviest! So I'm happy. It's all about learning along the way after all.

 

[tickettyboo]

Thanks Minerva. I totally understand the "mindful bingeing" thing, I have done it myself. Like you, I remind myself that I'm still a good way off what I was at my heaviest, 19 stone. I too got the most significant chunk off in 2008 doing Cambridge, and had almost got to where I wanted to be when my husband was tragically killed in a motorbike accident and I was injured as I was riding pillion at the time. Ironically my main motivation had been to be slim enough to look good in leathers which now seems very shallow. Not surprisingly I put a lot of the weight back on after he died, and have spent the years since yo-yoing the same couple of stone on and off, usually being motivated by an upcoming event. I was lucky enough to meet somebody else and got married a couple of years ago, and I did well losing two stone before the wedding, but have managed to put most of that back on. But now, as I said, my main motivation has to be to lose weight for the surgery, any other benefits are a bonus. The daft thing is that I've a degree in biochemistry and know lots about the science of food and weight loss, I know all the theory and what I should be doing but never actually do it. I think a lot of it is psychological; I was brought up where food was a comfort and also a reward, I was the nerdy timid bullied kid who would much rather be in the library than playing out, I'd do anything to get out of the ritual humiliation of PE at school and have never really exercised. But that's no excuse really, the chickens have come home to roost and I am 60, fat, with no muscle tone and looking at a total knee replacement. But I am looking forward to getting a decent chunk of weight off and hopefully getting to some level of fitness once I've had the op, and a new lease of life. Bring it on.

 

[tickettyboo]

Well yesterday we got invited to dinner by my oldest friends and despite my good intentions the diet got a bit derailed...could have been a lot worse, as my friend is currently doing slimming world so her Sunday roast was pretty healthy but even so I succumbed to roast pork, a couple of roasties, two glasses of wine and some fresh fruit salad. Back on track this morning though with Exante apple & cinnamon porridge which I really like. I've just had my appointment for my pre op assessment on 27th April when decisions will be made about the type of anaesthesia I will be having etc. I know my weight is going to be an issue-the consultant was fine, he said to him a knee is a knee but that the physios and anesthetist will be the ones reading the riot act. Apparently my BMI needs to be under 35 to have the surgery. Mine is hovering about that depending on my height-I've always thought I was 5'8" but at my last visit the nurse measured me at 5'6" which makes a big difference to your BMI. I did explain that I can't actually stand up straight at the mo as my knee is bent at a weird angle, so not sure what she actually wrote down. Well I've got just over 3 weeks till my appointment, no excuses now, got to keep on keeping on.

 

[Minerva]

A night out now and then is absolutely fine - I can't say I could ever repeat my experience on LL again, 100% for over a year (with one small holiday in the middle), it was dreadful in all honesty. I hope your operation assessments go well, but it's probably not so easy at the moment wondering if it will all be ok and whether you will be able to have the surgery.
3 weeks isn't a long time, time will just fly by, I hope you keep the motivation up - it will be worth it!