Ok so I thought I would turn this into a diary and give a bit more background.
I have never been skinny. But I wasn't nearly as big as I am now. Then uni happened! In undergraduate it was the drink and crap food that we'd eat all the time, and then I did a masters and currently a PhD. Stress and eating badly because it was the easiest thing to do has just piled the weight on.
It is my own fault, but after a 20 hour stint in the lab I just can't face cooking. This is why I am really positive about trying the VLCD - the lack of preparation needed means I can't make excuses. I am going to try 100% TFR for a few weeks and see how I fare. If it is too much then I will consider having 2 packs and a high protein meal.
I think my fiance is not the best person to try and be healthy round either. He eats all the junk of the day and stays slim and toned (he doesn't exercise either, he's just one of the lucky ones)! So he has been well warned to keep away from me when he is eating!!!
I'm really excited about starting this journey. I am the worst person for being 'all talk' about a diet and then not actually doing anything about it, but I have been really scared by the weight I have put on recently (an extra 20lb in less than a year) and the thought of looking at my wedding photos and not going 'oh that was such a magical day', but going 'oh look how fat I look in that one'. I feel much more like I will do it this time.
My friend put it well the other day - she's giving up smoking. It wasn't until she really wanted to do it for herself that she could actually do it. I always kind of knew it would be nice to lose weight and that all the papers say I should, but I had a lovely boyfriend, doing research I love, and it was always a 'yeah someday...'. Now I really want to do this for myself, it feels different this time, that I want to do it for ME, and because of this switch in my brain I am a lot more confident that I will succeed.
Anyway thanks for reading anyone who has, I hope to find some support here and hope that also I can offer some help to others (even if it is just to debate whether it would be mean not to eat that chocolate biscuit that's begging for it or not...)
I was really hoping to start tomorrow but my packs will not be delivered until Saturday. Assuming they arrive on time I will start on Monday. I'll let you know how it goes!
Lxx