Can I do this?

[hellybelly1]

I started my packs today and already I feel a bit wobbly about the whole thing. It seems such a long time to go. I have had one choc and one chicken soup so far today and stacks of water. Feel light headed and already have a headache. My problem is I'm at home during the day with two young babies so have plenty of time to think about food etc! Anyway, I feel determined to get through the first day and then the first week and then hopefully the first month. Any tips from you experienced LLifers?!

 

[Sean(JSF)]

One day at a time, or even better, one hour at a time in the early days.

Rest assured any negative feeling/headaches will pass (and very quickly). Unfortunately some people have to go through Carb Withdrawal which can take 3-5 days, but once through this & into Ketosis you will fee energised and fantastic.

Re time, best advice I can give is to find ways of taking your mind off f##d, distraction tactics at least initially worked well for me. But I'm sure the Ladies will have bags of advice for you.

Focus on the goal, and your reasons for starting LL for more inspiration.

Good luck, you Can do this, and you Will feel & see the benefits

 

[PurpleButterfly]

You already ARE doing it! You just have to keep going and get through these first crappy days of LL. They really are rubbish and you feel awful in them as Sean said, but once you're in ketosis you'll be alright because you lose all of that. You're then just left with emotional hunger.

You'll get through it, don't worry about tomorrow just worry about getting through what is happening today. Tomorrow will take care of yourself. Also, it might help to affirm to yourself that what you are doing is a CHOICE you are making, to have a healthy body. So you have a choice to stick with it and get that body you want, or to fall off it and most likely pile the weight on again. It's only such a short time in the scheme of things anyway.

Stick with it! it's well worth it and you CAN do it.

 

[KayGillx]

Hello, i havent started yet but may i suggest maybe going for walks with the babies (they will fall asleep), you will get a nice buzz and fresh air, also uses up time so the day will go fast, when at home, busy yourself with activites when possible. Always remember why your doing this, like i tell myself this IS the last time in going to diet and for this one small part of my life i can do it. Good Luck. x

 

[hellybelly1]

What great advise ffrom everyone. I feel better already. I am hungry but just keep telling myself it will pass. And I know I never want to be 16 stone again so its driving me forward. What can I take for the headaches? Are we allowed paracetemol? Also, sounds daft but can you have the shakes hot? Also is there anyway of making the soups taste less powdery?

 

[pete10141748]

Great advice here already which I could only repeat

re: the time thing, remember that tomorrow will come and go whether or not you do the diet, tomorrow will come and go whether or not you lose 1lb on LL or gain 1lb snacking, and tomorrow will come and be gone before you know it.

The choice is, do you want to look back at all your "tomorrows" and see an overweight, unhappy person in your memories, or do you want to look back at all the "tomorrows" and see a slim, healthy, happy person making better memories for his/herself?

hope that helps

 

[hellybelly1]

Pete, that really has helped a lot. I'm just being an emotional woman. I resent myself for getting like this. And I resent everyone else for eating nice f..d at home now. Lol. I'll get over myself soon I promise

 

[Lumpy]

Hey Helen,

I know how you feel. I have a 10 month old baby, a child with special needs, and a teenager. Phew! The trick that worked best for me in the first few days is just to keep busy to take your mind off food. If you get spare time, do some ironing, just work through this time, and before you know it I guarantee you will be buzzing and feel like you can conquer the world!

Yes, I took paracetamol and nurofen in the first couple of days. Anything that will make it easier for you. Then you wont have to worry.

Imagine that wall they describe, you are climbing up it. This time in 48 hours you will have jumped over the top and be cruising down the other side.

Big hugs

x

 

[EmVeg]

Simply put...yes you can.

Think about why you are doing this, and what you want at the end of the journey...and just think that every day, every pack, every hour, EVERY MINUTE is a step towards it.

You ARE doing it, and you have everything you need to do this the whole ten yards, and you keep going.

Keep going, you WILL get the results, and they are SO SO SO worth it.

And we are all here for you when/if you have those wobbles - on here or PM. Everyone has them - but just keep your goal in mind and you'll do this.

 

[hellybelly1]

thanks Emveg, hope in a few months I'm in a position to give amazing advice like you. At the moment I just worry I'll keep feeling hungry. I'm sure once that goes it will be a lot easier. x

 

[EmVeg]

The physical hunger does go.....and it goes far quicker than I thought it would! The emotional hunger DOES stay but just remember that thats all it is...its not going to hurt you, and its an amazing opportunity to work through those issues around your emotional/comfort eating or whatever got you on LL in the first place.

I was on this board for months before I started, looking at people like BlondeLogice, SlendaBrenda, LastStraw to name only a few, being completely in awe of them, saying that I can never see myself giving the advise they were....and never seeing that I could ever achieve the smallest part of what they did.... but I AM doing it, and you will too.

In a few months you'll be writing something like this to a newbie then and smiling to yourself at how far you really have come.

Keep going, you're already doing well.

 

[hellybelly1]

thanks. i find the evenings the hardest. I would normally be having a nice dinner now. but i really want to lose this weight. The only thing i think i need to work on is the reason I over eat. Part of me thinks I'll be able to lose this weight and then go back to having a little of what I fancy all the time, but will i be like any kind of addict and have a little which will lead to a lot? I know I'm thinking too far ahead but i'm one of those people who does'nt like surprises and I don't want to lose it all and then find i can't maintain it. Sorry I've done such a ramble there! hope it makes sense

 

[EmVeg]

It makes PERFECT sence. I know I thought this at the beginning...and I'm sure other people did.

Hell...My dad just commented on me putting the weight back on...and I DO still worry about it... but once the weight is if it really is all down to us. Its down to us to work on our outlook, and the way we use food.

Really recommend Gillian Riley's "Eat Less: Say Goodbye to Overeating"...its really helped me to look at things from a different way and I know it will help A LOT when I am back in the swing of real food.

 

[hellybelly1]

ok i'll do that. its hard to say good bye to food you love and I worry i won't ever have it again. what stage are you at and what do plan to do to maintain your weight? do you go to the one in biggleswade? I was gonna start there but found one closer

 

[EmVeg]

Yeah, I'm at the biggleswade one - but live just outside Stotfold/Letchworth!!

I am starting RTM on Monday 20th...so only an extra week and a half of packs after week 14 - I've been lucky with my losses as they've been pretty consistent and I'm possible going to have lost a stone more that I thought I would by this point.

I'm definately doing RTM the LL way, and then I plan to follow a low GL diet (or possibly low GI..looking into the both)..but I'm not going to deprive myself. I am going to use weightlossresources to track my nutrition and calories, and make sure I'm getting enough of all I need. But...I know there will be time when I overeat slightly but it won't be the end of the world.

I have also decided to give myself a "buffer" of 6lb...if I put that much on, I will cut back straight away and get it off...otherwise I could let it get the better of me...

I've thought a lot about me..and I know that 4 months ago, I would have looked at the above and thought I would fail at all of this. Now I don't. Now I know I can do this, and I am good enough to achieve it.

Gosh, sorry...have overrun your thread now...whoops.

 

[hellybelly1]

dont apologise its so nice to hear someone who believes in the programme and sounds like they were in the same spot as me when I started. The other problem I have is I don't like healthy food (salad, veg). What are you like? I like the idea of the buffer. That is perfect, then you don't slip. Will have to look more into diets nearer the time. Hopefully I'll get to it like you. I go abroad in 9 weeks so hoping that won't sway me. Eating out is a big thing for our family and the will be going different restaurants every night. hoping I'll be in a better mental and physical stage by then. Thanks emveg for helping.

 

[EmVeg]

Always here, hell, you could probably shout from your garden and I'll hear

 

[pete10141748]

When it comes to RTM and beyond, don't worry about it for now - by the time you reach it, you will be a very different person! The voice that says things like "will I be able to keep it off, I worry about maintaining, I don't like healthy food" etc is just your inner "fat" voice that doesn't want to let go and tells you these things. You can and will like healthy foods, you just have to learn to like them along the journey

Stick to the diet, and that voice will get quieter each week.
I never thought I would be a fan of "healthy" food, Uni was great for me as it was an excuse to eat all the crap I loved! BUT, 24 weeks later, and now I look at a lot of the things I used to eat and feel sick; looking at healthier foods is great, they look more appealing, smell great and knowing that they are good for you is a bonus too!

Your tastes will change while you do LL; think of it as "resetting" them after all the mass-sygar-and-fat warping they have been through. Once you are fully underway with Ketosis, and not feeling the hunger, you will learn to really *listen* to your body and what it tells you it wants instead of your head dictating all the time; and I tell you, your body will never EVER tell you it wants crap like we all used to eat, that is 100% in your head.

I think the start of LL is the hardest for many reasons, not least because we are (on some level or other) afraid of the changes ahead of us, and as much as we want to change and lose the weight, the reasons we gained the weight in the first place are still present, and give you all these doubts.

It sounds strange to say it, but really, while in the abstinance stage, you have to ignore your own thoughts and just *get on* with it. Only you can decide to put something in your mouth, and no matter what the voices might say, you don't need to do that.

Yes, a bit hypocritical of me to say that after my lapses last week, but it's true, WE are in control of ourselves, no-one else! And life wil continue, fat or thin, with or without doing LL; the difference is all up to you

 

[hellybelly1]

thanks Em and Pete, I know. I'm just a control freak which is why its always a great mystery to me that I have never been able to control my weight. I want to know this is going to work and have set answers but life isn't like that so as you say, I just need to get on with it and get through today. Tomorrow will take care of itself. I really want to believe that I will feel like you say, but I do still doubt myself. After all, I have failed at every other diet in my life. But it is starting to seep through that I am the one that controls whether this works and no one else! Feel truely inspired listening to the both of you. Thanks again. H x

 

[pete10141748]

and don't forget, that the difference between LL and other diets is that LL identifies and correct *why* you are overweight - other diets are just glorified versions of "eat less, do more" which we all know we should do, and don't for whatever reasons - LL makes you *understand* those reasons, and correct them

And as for being a control freak, well, I can give you one definitive answer; if you stick to the plan 100%, you WILL be slim