Constantly ill, thinking of quitting LL - advice please?

IslandBreeze

Castaway
Hi. I'm new to minimins. I've been doing LL for 4 months, I've lost 4 stone and have just one stone left to lose. However for the last month I'm just constantly getting ill and am wondering if the program has just made me too run-down now and if I ought to stop. Up until now I've really felt very healthy on the foodpacks but this month has been constant headaches, colds and stomach upsets. I know from past experience that I can't handle weightwatchers etc and am scared I'll regain weight if I quit now but I can't keep on being off work sick. I'm signed off by my GP for the whole of this week as I have gastric flu (temp of 102 and constant vomiting - seems really unfair when I'm not "eating" in the first place!) My main motivation for doing LL is that my OH and I want to try for a baby and I didn't want an unhealthy, obese pregancy but being ill and run down probably isn't that great either so maybe I should forget about the final stone and swap over to Maintenance?
Am really not sure if I need to quit or Maintain or take a couple of weeks off or whether all of these things are just my Chatterbox and I should hang on in there and lose the final stone.... would love to hear other people's thoughts/advice.:eek:
 
Why not switch to CD.. and do the Add a Meal week first.. that way you still stay in ketosis, you can monitor if you feel any better and you could even lose ur last stone through eating on one of the programme steps?
 
What about going onto Management, you will probably lose a bit there and then doing an add on module at the end to shift the extra weight.

I went onto Mgmt with a stone left of what I wanted to lose (not normal BMI as I didn't want to get to 9 1/2 stone) and have lost about half a stone and may do an extra month at the end - I'm not sure yet.

Also Management is the best bit of LL - it is extremely powerful and the thing that seems to make a real difference in learning tools to keep the weight off for good.

Good luck and welcome to MiniMins!
 
I don't really know much about CD but the idea of an Add a Meal week scares me - I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. It sounds like it needs more self-control than I think I;ve got yet but maybe I should find out more about it.
I have been considering LL Management but my BMI is still 27 - do you have to get to 25 before you can join Management?
 
hi there,
ive only been doing ll for the last month , but like you did ,i feel great, they do say that you are better nourished with ll than most people are on a regular diet, i do take an additional vitamin suppliment though , just in case :) have you discussed youre ideas with your ll councilor ?? management doesnt mean weight gain , infact reading several other threads seems to suggest that people continue to loose on management until they find the right balance of calories to maintain their goal weight, so that is certainly something worth considering , you would just need to consider whether the possible initial lb or two gain , then a slower loss is right for you or if you want to just get where you want to be asap, either way i think management is such an important tool we cant afford not to do it if we want to get control for good.
you know what ,im probably not helping at all am i ???:rolleyes: but maybey another persons imput is what you need to get your options clear in your own mind :)

but what an amazing loss well done you for getting 4 stone off , that has taken some pile of will power and drive , i just hope i have it in me too, i know where youre coming from with the baby thing though, i was lucky enough to concieve in sept 04 but i really didnt think of the repercussions of an overweight pregnancy, i had just focussed on quitting smoking and the weight piled on , so before we could blink i got pregnant and we were obviously over joyed after having tried for 3 years previously before stopping the cancer sticks ( mmm tellin he !!) but anyway i was pretty much plagued with little niggles and problems from the start which i just put down to being pregnant, but unfortunately at nearly 30 wks pregnant i started having serious complication with swelling , headaches and bp so i was quickly admitted to hospital a few days later where they annoyed me with bp readings and urine tests at regular intervals 24 hrs a day , i got much worse and when on april 11th 2005 my legs were so badly swolen i had pitting when pressed way above my knees and my bp read 105 over 190 they rushed me through and delivered my tiny daughter issabella by c section nearly 10 weeks early, as my pre eclampsia rapidly had turned into eclampsia and my liver was failing , now what followed was the most horrific time of my life as my husband flew in 2 hours later and issa got progressively sicker and when both her little lungs collapsed they ventilated her and had tubes inserted into both her chest cavities so the leaked air would stop pushing on her lungs, she then had to be parralised to be blue lighted to the rvi in newcastle. as i said ,the most horrific thing EVER!!! now nearly 20 months later issa is a bloody monster !! like all toddlers , tempers like you wouldnt believe but as sunny as the day is long, i have to rejoice in the terrible force of her personality as i truly believe this kept her alive :) .
now youre probably wondering why ive bored you to tears with all this , but my point actually is this !!!!

pre eclampsia is not a direct result of obesity at all but being obese means you are at a much higher risk of this and other pregnancy related illnesses, i am doing this because like you i do not want another pregnancy like my last ,i couldnt go through that hell ever again so what you need to remember when making youre decision is that you have done soooo amazingly well and will continue to do so for the best reason in the world, the best possible start for you and youre unborn baby! if you keep that as your uppermost thought in your head i think you will have all the strength you need to reach you goals whichever way you choose to go.

i really hope you feel better soon, life sucks when you feel crap , and i hope that maybey this might help quieten youre chaterbox to a dull roar so you can think straight:)

sorry for the whole rambling sermon (im not actually a nutter !!!) but i do get carried away allot !!!
wishing you welcome to a FANTASTIC site and all the luck in the world .
sue
 
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Hi
I did LL for 7 1/2 months and you can start management when you feel at a comfortable stage bmi 22-27. It is possible to still lose on management, plus it also educates on portion sizes, trigger foods etc - Why not talk to your LLC to see what they think and give it a try - you can always go back onto pkts for a month if it doesn't suit you yet, or you don't feel comfortable. Also, don't forget that at this time of year, there are loads of bugs around and even the strongest of people get ill at some point or another. Please don't give up - you have done so well so far - the last stone is always the toughest. but you can and will do it.
 
I was just going to echo what's been said already about moving over to management. :)

It might help to be eating a small amount each day.

Kitty xx
 
Thanks Sukie Sue, I found your post really inspirational. I started on this because my family planning clinic had warned me against pregnancy - in fairly stark terms, they told me I'd be too fat to do scans on - that they wouldn't be able to see the baby through my blubber! Hearing a story like yours has reminded me how important this is. I think I'll talk to my LL counsellor and I'll also go back to the family planning people and get them to have a look at me now and see what they think. I'm really pleased you and your daughter are both healthy now and it's great to hear you're getting in shape to have another. Maybe we can support each other in this, it's nice to share the same goal? thanks for the help and advice.
x
 
Thanks Sukie Sue, I found your post really inspirational. I started on this because my family planning clinic had warned me against pregnancy - in fairly stark terms, they told me I'd be too fat to do scans on - that they wouldn't be able to see the baby through my blubber! Hearing a story like yours has reminded me how important this is. I think I'll talk to my LL counsellor and I'll also go back to the family planning people and get them to have a look at me now and see what they think. I'm really pleased you and your daughter are both healthy now and it's great to hear you're getting in shape to have another. Maybe we can support each other in this, it's nice to share the same goal? thanks for the help and advice.
x
that is really sweet ,
thankyou .
im glad you got the point of my rambling :0)
i was hoping it would hit home , i just wish id have found this programme years ago then i would never have had to go through this , but you know what i did stay off the cigs ( nearly 3 yers ago ) and now i will conquer my dieting demons!
i would love to chat and keep eachother posted as theres no shpoulder stronger than one carrying the same burden as you XX
( god i am way to phylisophical tonight must be coming down with summit ) :D !!! cant spell tho !
keep me updated and take good care of yourself
sue x
 
Ahh Suki
what a happy ending :D

Fallen angel, as the others have already said, have a chat with your counsellor - Mangament sounds like a good option. It may be just coincidence that you have been ill a few times - this time of year there's loads of nasty stuff about!

YOU decide when you go into management - no one else - so if you want to go in now then it's your choice luvvie. You'll still be having 3 packs to begin with - replacing the 4th with a bit of protein on the first 3 days.....

Hope you feel better soon
 
I agree with most of what has been said already and you have done a phenomenal job so far! If you were to get pregnant now there is no doubt at all that you and your baby will be at far less risk than you would have been.

Another possible complication of an over weight pregnancy is gestational diabetes....which I had, yes I'm another one that wished I was slim before pregnancy! However I was lucky and my complications were fairly minor, but I'd rather have not had them!

Just one last point to make.... I don't think its the diet thats making you ill or run down, I just think you have been unlucky enough to catch a few bugs/colds/virus in a row. Its well documented that on LL we are better nourished than most people we meet so I really think its just one of those things. However I can understand why the 'grind' of feeling unwell may make you want to eat however I suspect that is our chatterbox trying out 'nurturing parent' on us!

mags
 
Everyone is so helpful - thank you. I think i will hang on in there on Development for another couple of weeks and if i don't improve, then I'll go to management rather than falling off the wagon entirely and undoing all my good work. And the extra vits are a good idea too - I've been taking additional folic acid anyway. My LLC is very against extra vits but the RDAs are only guidelines anyway and maybe I need more right now. It is a very germ-y time of year and maybe my chatterbox is trying to blame the program in order to get out of losing that last stone. Well, it's not going to get away with that!!!:)
 
Everyone is so helpful - thank you. I think i will hang on in there on Development for another couple of weeks and if i don't improve, then I'll go to management rather than falling off the wagon entirely and undoing all my good work. And the extra vits are a good idea too - I've been taking additional folic acid anyway. My LLC is very against extra vits but the RDAs are only guidelines anyway and maybe I need more right now. It is a very germ-y time of year and maybe my chatterbox is trying to blame the program in order to get out of losing that last stone. Well, it's not going to get away with that!!!:)

well done you !!!:)
keep strong and good luck !!
off to have my foodpack now as ive waffled my way past t time :);)
 
Hi Fallen Angel

I have been reading about your dilema. I am too doing LL and lost 4 1/2 stone. My BMI is about 27 at the moment and dont really want to get down too the 25 mark but want to be in the 11's which is at least 7 lbs away(more if I want a buffer)

I have two children 1 at 8(nearly 9) and the other 3. I learned the hard way and thought that in the 1st pregnancy I could eat what I wanted. I then mistakingly thought that the weight would drop off during breatfeeding. This didn't happen & was gutted when I gave birth and came home and weighed myself and even though I had given birth to an 8lb 7 oz baby I was only 6 lbs lighter :eek:. This left me with a couple of stone to loose and during Mat leave I probably gained another stone due to boredom eating.

For years I tried to lose the baby weight & joined club after club, tried medication(zenical) from docs & was reffered to a dietician. Eventually when my daughter was about 5 I broke down in docs surgery and explained that I felt the age gap between my daughter & a future pregancy was getting further & further away as the weight was just not shifting. I was given comfort with my docs comments that even though I was just over 16 stone I didnt drink, smoke & did some swimming there was no saying that I would have any worse pregancy than someone who was SLIM!!! The doctor said that I would probably be more closely monitored & if I ate healthly I could be slimmer afterwards than when I started.

The month after I was pregnant (I only need to look at a willy!!!). I was wiser with my food choices and didnt use pregancy as an excuse. I gave birth at 19 stone 6 lbs to a healthy boy weighing 9 lbs 13oz with no complications. When I joined WW after my 6 week check I was 17 stone 6 so was carrying only about 1 stone of 2nd baby weight. At no time during the pregnacy did they ever have any problems with scans or anything. I wish I had not left it all those years beating myself up that I was too fat to be pregnant.

I have had my first weigh in tonight on management and have lost 1.3 lbs this week & have just had an email off someone who is from my class who is on week 6 and is still loosing on management. Talk it through with your LLC it was her who said it was maybe a good idea to give me something to play with over xmas & I was starting to get fed up. I have become refocused and can cope with 1 - 1 1/2 lb weight losses each week

Good luck whatever your decision. Keep us posted whatever you decide
 
Thanks Lena. it's encouraging to know that things can be Ok even when you're not the perfect BMI. I am going to talk it over with my counsellor and my GP. I've talked it over with my hubby quite a lot but (very luckily for me!!) he's pretty blind to my weight and so he doesn't really understand the health implications. But then he's not the one who'd be carrying the weight - lucky thing!!
 
Oh my god!!! Went to see my GP today to get my monthly LL form signed off and although he did sign the form he said that he'd recommend that I stop LL now. Although my BMI is still overweight at 27 he reckons I'd have no weight-related pregnancy problems and that his personal opinion was I should start trying to conceive and eat healthily and exercise. he reckoned that improving my fitness was more important now than losing the final pounds. He even said I could now afford to gain weight during pregnancy!!
So a lot for me to think about over this weekend.... very excited and also a bit surprised and confused - I was so convinced I had to get my BMI to 25 that I didn't expect to get the green light at this stage.:D
 
Oh my god!!! Went to see my GP today to get my monthly LL form signed off and although he did sign the form he said that he'd recommend that I stop LL now. Although my BMI is still overweight at 27 he reckons I'd have no weight-related pregnancy problems and that his personal opinion was I should start trying to conceive and eat healthily and exercise. he reckoned that improving my fitness was more important now than losing the final pounds. He even said I could now afford to gain weight during pregnancy!!
So a lot for me to think about over this weekend.... very excited and also a bit surprised and confused - I was so convinced I had to get my BMI to 25 that I didn't expect to get the green light at this stage.:D


fantastic !!!!!
well done you , how amazing is that he !!! im so pleased for you, see 27 is not a partcularly high bmi and if your gp who knows you thinks youll have no problem , go for it !!
all the best wishes in the world are winging their way to you
xxxxx
 
well thought that didnt go through before so totaly repeated myself , just wiped it off , !!! plonka :)
 
I think you should go for it, but I wouldn't skip management if I were you, its the most important bit and will ensure you don't put loads on when you are pregnant!

Well done and good luck!

mags
xxx
 
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