Confessions of an Indecisive Dieter: Slim & Save Edition

[ilikepencils]

Hi everyone. I have a diary over in the general section (link in my sig) but I thought I'd have a more specific one over here. I'm a typical yo-yo dieter, but I've been consistently losing or maintaining since some time in July. I've lost 18lbs in total - which doesn't sound like much, but I see it as a huge achievement! Because up until July I was unable to stick to anything for longer than half a day :/. I was on Exante at first but had to finish because of side effects, I've since been calorie counting with two days off. Which was working fine before the past week! Since my OH has been here I've had alcohol and junk food daily and needless to say, I gained 5lbs.

Today is the first day of having meal packs because I had a 200 cal meal on day one and two. I also won't be having SS shakes for a while because I've got a few Exante ones to use up. I'm an obsessive daily scale hopper and can't get through any diet without checking! Only down 2lbs in 2 days =( I'm used to losing more in the first couple of days (especially after a recent gain) but fingers crossed I'll have a decent full week loss.

A normal day for me will be;

Breakfast: half Exante shake
Lunch: half bar and small coke zero
Dinner: spag bol or cottage pie with veg allowance
Dessert: half bar
Snack: half Exante shake warm/cold or mixed with psyllium husks (only 2-3 times per week) to make a porridge.

Hope everyone is doing well

 

[BordersGirl]

Good luck ilikepencils. I'm a daily weigher too. Can't help myself. Don't stress too much on a day to day basis though as things just seem to happen, the loss is never predictable. How do you make porridge from a shake?

 

[Punkmilitia]

Hi everyone. I have a diary over in the general section (link in my sig) but I thought I'd have a more specific one over here. I'm a typical yo-yo dieter, but I've been consistently losing or maintaining since some time in July. I've lost 18lbs in total - which doesn't sound like much, but I see it as a huge achievement! Because up until July I was unable to stick to anything for longer than half a day :/. I was on Exante at first but had to finish because of side effects, I've since been calorie counting with two days off. Which was working fine before the past week! Since my OH has been here I've had alcohol and junk food daily and needless to say, I gained 5lbs.

Today is the first day of having meal packs because I had a 200 cal meal on day one and two. I also won't be having SS shakes for a while because I've got a few Exante ones to use up. I'm an obsessive daily scale hopper and can't get through any diet without checking! Only down 2lbs in 2 days =( I'm used to losing more in the first couple of days (especially after a recent gain) but fingers crossed I'll have a decent full week loss.

A normal day for me will be;

Breakfast: half Exante shake
Lunch: half bar and small coke zero
Dinner: spag bol or cottage pie with veg allowance
Dessert: half bar
Snack: half Exante shake warm/cold or mixed with psyllium husks (only 2-3 times per week) to make a porridge.

Hope everyone is doing well

I'm a scales hopper too, and I check daily.
I lost 16lb's on my first week with S&S.

also, doesn't coke zero taste aweful and really.... fizzy yet to you? I can't drink it any more because it now tastes aweful to me even though it used to be one of my faves, but it's a good thing really because then I can go to healthier drinks such as orange and black-current squash.

if you want an idea of what some of the S&S stuff tastes like, why not quickly glance through my diary's in my sig, I explain what stuff's like after the first try ROFL!

Good luck and if you don't see a huge loss every single day, don't worry I didn't either but then boom it just cleared off and is still coming off quite fast IMO!!

 

[BordersGirl]

What side effects did you have on Exante and won't they be the same on S&S?

 

[ilikepencils]

Good luck ilikepencils. I'm a daily weigher too. Can't help myself. Don't stress too much on a day to day basis though as things just seem to happen, the loss is never predictable. How do you make porridge from a shake?

Thanks I'll try to take that advice, cos the scales really drive me crazy at times!

There's a few posts over in the Cambridge and Exante sections about psyllium husks porridge. Some people use psyllium husks to help them go to the loo, so you shouldn't have it daily and should check the directions in case you have too much. I use half a shake, dissolve 4 sweeteners (Exante shakes are very bland, S&S may be different) add a bit of hot, not boiling water to the shake in a bowl, mix with fork and then add about 1.5-2 tablespoons of husks and more water depending on how its looking. You have to make sure you drink much more water if you use husks too. And as far as I know the VLCD companies don't recommend husks, just heard about it from a few people on this forum.

I also used to make crisps from the soups, but that's not recommended either because you lose some of the nutritional value.

As for side effects, I had constant leg cramps/throbs and problems with digestion. I don't think my body liked having 3 liquid meals, so hoping it will be different on S&S. I also did Cambridge a couple of years ago and had no side effects.

I'm a scales hopper too, and I check daily.
I lost 16lb's on my first week with S&S.

also, doesn't coke zero taste aweful and really.... fizzy yet to you? I can't drink it any more because it now tastes aweful to me even though it used to be one of my faves, but it's a good thing really because then I can go to healthier drinks such as orange and black-current squash.

if you want an idea of what some of the S&S stuff tastes like, why not quickly glance through my diary's in my sig, I explain what stuff's like after the first try ROFL!

Good luck and if you don't see a huge loss every single day, don't worry I didn't either but then boom it just cleared off and is still coming off quite fast IMO!!

Just had a look at your diary. I definitely relate to your first post about feeling full yet hungry, all the shakes do that to me in the beginning. Rob sent me some samples and I paid for the 6 pack bar selection just to try them (cut a tiny bit off each one). I really dislike every bar other than the chocolate truffa, Banana and the maple fruits and almonds. I couldn't stand the honey and nougat which was strange because I thought it would be my favourite! Spag bol and cottage pie was nice, I had to add salt (not too much) and pepper though. I prefer the cottage pie atm, which seems to be the opposite of most people

I'm amazed by your 16lb loss! how amazing must that feel..

When I did Exante I loved coke zero in the beginning, but then in the end I couldn't stomach it - I'm guessing it might go the same way this time. I also had to add sweeteners to every shake in the beginning, then could have them without. Looking forward to trying the S&S shakes in a few weeks

 

[BordersGirl]

Some people use psyllium husks to help them go to the loo, so you shouldn't have it daily and should check the directions in case you have too much.

I do use psyllium husks in my shakes once a day as it means I can use more water and the shakes are still pretty thick so they're more filling . Did use them initially to help with the loo but haven't noticed them working much in that department! (TMI!).

I use half a shake, dissolve 4 sweeteners (Exante shakes are very bland, S&S may be different)

The S&S premium shakes are pretty sweet (economy ones are to be avoided! :yuk, can't imagine anyone wanting them sweeter. Not sure about the shake porridge, we have a real porridge in S&S (that everyone seems to hate but me!) that I have once a week as it's a few more calories and as it's a faff to make it's reserved for weekends when I've got more time.

As for side effects, I had constant leg cramps/throbs and problems with digestion. I don't think my body liked having 3 liquid meals, so hoping it will be different on S&S.

The leg cramps are unusual I think, digestion problems not so. 'Going' once a week is not unusual on a VLCD. Maybe your body won't think you are on a liquid diet if you have the spag bol / cottage pie and some veg?

Main thing is to avoid carbs like the plague if you are going to add a meal at any stage as getting back into ketosis is not much fun. Plain chicken or fish and allowed veg should be fine, or maybe a prawn salad with allowed salad.

Good luck!

 

[ilikepencils]

I do use psyllium husks in my shakes once a day as it means I can use more water and the shakes are still pretty thick so they're more filling . Did use them initially to help with the loo but haven't noticed them working much in that department! (TMI!).

I haven't either. I mainly use it because it fills me up!

The S&S premium shakes are pretty sweet (economy ones are to be avoided! :yuk, can't imagine anyone wanting them sweeter. Not sure about the shake porridge, we have a real porridge in S&S (that everyone seems to hate but me!) that I have once a week as it's a few more calories and as it's a faff to make it's reserved for weekends when I've got more time.

Glad to hear the shakes are sweet, I missed that about Cambridge when I was on Exante. I've ordered one porridge just to try, hopefully I'll be one of the few who like it! I LOVED the Cambridge porridge. Variety always helps

The leg cramps are unusual I think, digestion problems not so. 'Going' once a week is not unusual on a VLCD. Maybe your body won't think you are on a liquid diet if you have the spag bol / cottage pie and some veg?

Main thing is to avoid carbs like the plague if you are going to add a meal at any stage as getting back into ketosis is not much fun. Plain chicken or fish and allowed veg should be fine, or maybe a prawn salad with allowed salad.

Good luck!

Apparently a lot of people on VLCD's experience leg cramps, mine were constantly aching and throbbing though and I don't think that's normal. Yeah I'm hoping the meal packs will help with digestion. The main reason I ended Exante was because of the chest pains I got after eating, probably bad indigestion, but it got too much in the end. I'm really hoping it doesn't happen again this time! So far so good though

Thanks for the ketosis tip!

 

[ilikepencils]

End of day 3 and I'm feeling okay . Bit annoyed about eating pickled mushrooms (yes I like some weird things ) because I just found out they have sugar in them, doh!

Today I had;

B: chocolate shake (half)
L: cottage pie, small veg followed by half a choc truffa bar
S: frozen coke zero, felt like I was cheating!
D: Spag bol and small portion veg
Also managed more water today.

No pickled mushrooms tomorrow

I probably won't have two meal packs again because I need to use up my Exante shakes.

I've changed my sig to include some Christmas motivators . I love Christmas and all the cheesiness that comes with it

 

[BordersGirl]

Don't suppose the pickled mushrooms did too much harm to be honest, not that I've ever seen / heard of them! A good day, and you're very disciplined only having half a bar. I'm rubbish at dividing things like that up and only eating 1 portion!

A food diary on here is good as it helps you keep on track knowing we'll all be watching over you

 

[ilikepencils]

I'm really rubbish at dividing things up usually too, I didn't have much choice though because I ran out of bars today (fingers crossed for delivery tomorrow!)

Day 4

Another 2lbs down, but still 1lb over what I was a week or so ago. Maybe tmi but my totm is here. So strange because I'm really irregular, but the 3 times I've been on a vlcd, it's resulted in totm on day 3 or 4. Cambridge, Exante and now S&S.. not sure why this happens, I'll have to look into it. Anyway, OH kind of guessed last night because I was beyond ratty! I put it down to the diet though

Might go for a walk along the beach soon. I'm so lazy and need to move more!

 

[babypat]

Hi welcome and good luck.

 

[vj]

Wow. You are an expert on vlcds. You have got to find what works for you. Splitting packs is a good idea for regular portions but, like borders girl, I just tend to have them at once. Trouble is, I then feel I should be ( not that I'm hungry) having a snack in-between. Probably because I see my children grazing on food.
Good luck.

 

[ilikepencils]

Thanks vj. I started splitting packs when I was on exante so I'd get 6 'meals' instead of 3. I also double the water otherwise they're too thick and creamy.

Down another 2lbs making 6 total since starting, but only 1lb less than I was before the weeks binge - so annoyed with myself for that! I was planning on doing S&S before the binge and I might have been out of the 14's if it wasn't for that week of gluttony =(

Oh well, mrs pessimistic today =p

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[ilikepencils]

Yesterday I had;

B: half choc shake
L: cottage pie, small veg
S: half bar
D: banana 'porridge' (half shake)
S: half choc shake

Got my delivery today

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[ilikepencils]

I feel pretty low today. Annoyed that food and alcohol are such a huge part of my life.

Sore throat + PMS + no food = :cry:

 

[BordersGirl]

Alcohol and food [STRIKE]are[/STRIKE] were a big part of my life too. Sorry you feel down but on the bright side you are lighter

 

[vj]

...and skinnier too.