For those who lost a lot on CD before...

[rachele]

I just think that when a person is use to eating a certain way or certain portion sizes it becomes the norm to them even if it isn’t “normal”. If you lose weight on this diet it is due to deficit in calorie intake against the output of energy and no other miracle reason. So the proof is in the results if you like.

I’m not trying to make you feel bad but sometimes you need to look at things differently to make a realistic change to your life.

 

[B2B25/8]

I would agree - I use to say to my finance how come he was so thin and I was not! when in my view we ate the same meals. in fact it wasn't the case! In reality it is the little additions and add ons that can go unnoticed and forgotten - the little snack here and there which do add up. I think a food diary Is a really good tool once you finish CD to truly monitor what you eat.

I remember a programme on tele a while back when a lady was convinced she ate healthy and could not understand why she was gaining weight, when looking at what she ate properly it was shown that despite making health choices it was her portion sizes and the little extras that add up and are easily overlooked!

 

[Felix]

I would agree - I use to say to my finance how come he was so thin and I was not! when in my view we ate the same meals. in fact it wasn't the case! In reality it is the little additions and add ons that can go unnoticed and forgotten - the little snack here and there which do add up. I think a food diary Is a really good tool once you finish CD to truly monitor what you eat.

I remember a programme on tele a while back when a lady was convinced she ate healthy and could not understand why she was gaining weight, when looking at what she ate properly it was shown that despite making health choices it was her portion sizes and the little extras that add up and are easily overlooked!

Ooh I remember watching that! She was eating big fruit salads (full of sugar) for breakfast and lots of fruit juice thinking she was being very healthy when actually she was consuming a lot of extra calories!

 

[B2B25/8]

Ooh I remember watching that! She was eating big fruit salads (full of sugar) for breakfast and lots of fruit juice thinking she was being very healthy when actually she was consuming a lot of extra calories!

That's the one Felix, was quite eye opening really !

 

[Lily]

can i ask for those who regained it. what was the reason you regained your weight? and did you finish all the steps?

Did I finish all the steps? No... :sigh: I made the classic mistake of coming off the diet when I went on holiday without having a proper plan in place. It's depressingly common to see people do Cambridge 100% for months on end who then come off for one occasion or another and then struggle like crazy to get back aboard the Cambridge wagon.

The trouble with Cambridge is that it lulls you into a false sense of security. Because you don't feel as hungry while you're doing it, largely because of ketosis, you kid yourself that you'll never want to eat the same quantities of food you used to be able to eat before you lost weight. You tell yourself that your stomach's shrunk, that you just couldn't cram that stuff in anymore. You tell yourself that you've worked out the head stuff and that you've learned your lesson - that abstaining from food was a drastic measure, but you'll never have to do it again because you're certain that from here on in, you won't eat as much.

Except... you'll have had all those thoughts while abstaining from those addicting little things called carbs. And I use that word 'addicting' on purpose - I swear that many of us are addicted to the bl**dy things. Because the moment you reintroduce them, if you're not incredibly careful, you'll be straight back on the slippery slope to regaining weight. That's why it really is important to leave the diet by going up the steps, to reintroduce carbs into your diet in a controlled manner.

I don't know about other people here, but I didn't regain the weight really quickly. Well, okay, I regained about a stone pretty quickly during that holiday in Cornwall - no surprise really, because around six pounds of that is due to refilling of glycogen stores in the liver (maybe a pound and a bit's worth of carb bound to four times its own weight in water), plus another few of pounds of water retention because of the reintroduction of salt - plus maybe four pounds' worth of genuine weight gain.

But then after that, it was a slow but steady increase over the months that followed, maybe at a rate of a couple of pounds a month, which in calorie terms only equates to 7,000 extra calories a month - 230 extra calories a day - an average intake of maybe 2100 calories a day. Doesn't sound like loads, does it? A couple of extra biscuits a day. But that's enough to make you gain a couple of pounds a month. Nearly 2 stones in a year...

So... when I get there this time - and I will, no matter how long it takes me, no matter how many times I screw up - I will work my way up the steps like you're supposed to. And then I'll settle down to living with the fact that I will never be able to eat whatever I want, whenever I want if I want to stay slim. That a couple of hundred extra calories a day will make me gain weight. But actually, naturally slim people already know that. So I've just got to learn to think like a naturally slim person.

 

[rachele]

I agree Lily that's how the weight crept up with me. After the initial glycogen + water went on it was steady after that. Each time I saw a couple of lbs go on I thought a couple of lbs is fine. But the pounds add up to stones.


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[Cerulean]

Did I follow all the steps? yes I did, as far as I could for about 8 weeks but my LLC went on a very long holiday with no locum for several weeks and the management group I was with all looked like skeletons - these were the days where you could do abstinence down to a BMI of 20 (I weighed 15lbs more than most of them and felt like a heffalump at a BMI of 23) and I suddenly freaked out. I maintained pretty well for the first 6 months, but then I hit massive boy trouble and had nothing to turn to but food. I then lost my job, had a breast cancer scare and major financial difficulties. Which sounds like a heap of excuses, and it is, but I think being thin frightened me - I also despised people for finding me attractive all of a sudden - one guy I dated very briefly said 'I've seen the pictures, I wouldn't have found you attractive then' - referring to me when I was 18st' I had an awful lot of resentment to get out of my system.

I had a heap of issues the LL book did not cover and that I did not want to discuss with a group of strangers. I know what they are now, I know how frightening it is when I don't have weight to throw around (when I was under 10st I could barely shift the revolving doors at work - I always wondered why skinny girls used the side door!)

So now I'm on the other side - losing more than 100lbs taught me that with guts and determination you can do anything, in 2007 I weighed 18st in 2009 I ran a half marathon...so I put that energy into fixing what was wrong with my life, and now I feel mentally strong enough to do it all over again. I know I will eat out of fear as long as I allow myself to be frightened. So, here we go again. The important thing is that I'm not going to give up.

 

[rachele]

Oh Cerulean you've come through so much and are still so positive! Your truely a strong woman - very inspirational. xx

 

[Nelliduff]

I couldn't agree more with Lily - in fact she could have been writing about ME!

Losing is easy peasy - maintaining for me is a nightmare !!!

 

[trisha]

[

QUOTE=B2B25/8;3506810]I would agree - I use to say to my finance how come he was so thin and I was not! when in my view we ate the same meals. in fact it wasn't the case! In reality it is the little additions and add ons that can go unnoticed and forgotten - the little snack here and there which do add up. I think a food diary Is a really good tool once you finish CD to truly monitor what you eat.

I say exactly the same to my husband and daughter who are both really slim (daughter a size 6/8) and seem to eat what they want in large quantities but my daughter says "mum I only eat when I am hungry, I stop when I've had enough, I don't eat between meals or snack and I don't eat chocolate!! enough said!

 

[trisha]

So... when I get there this time - and I will, no matter how long it takes me, no matter how many times I screw up - I will work my way up the steps like you're supposed to. And then I'll settle down to living with the fact that I will never be able to eat whatever I want, whenever I want if I want to stay slim. That a couple of hundred extra calories a day will make me gain weight. But actually, naturally slim people already know that. So I've just got to learn to think like a naturally slim person.

I agree with everything Lily had said in fact I could have written the same almost word for word, I didn't work up the plans, the weight crept back on a couple of lbs a month, that you don't notice at first, but before you know it you are 2 stones overweight again, but the part about never being able to eat what she wants whenever and stay slim and especially the bit about naturally slim people, and living like them -that is the answer to staying slim.

 

[lshafik]

I also despised people for finding me attractive all of a sudden - one guy I dated very briefly said 'I've seen the pictures, I wouldn't have found you attractive then' - referring to me when I was 18st' I had an awful lot of resentment to get out of my system.

This scares me more than anything!

This is one of the reasons in my life where I have lost a few stone and come off a diet as I am soooo frightened of 'fake friends' literally...I am scared of meeting someone 'thin' and knowing I am fat really so when I do put on weight it will end.

This is a huge issue for me...should I see someone about this?

 

[rachele]

I can see maintenance is a problem but I didn't put my weight on by eating too much - I have always been big so I think once I get down to my natural weight I can go back to how I maintained my weight before.

I literally have a healthy diet - just never lost or put anything on before...!

We'll see.

This scares me more than anything!

This is one of the reasons in my life where I have lost a few stone and come off a diet as I am soooo frightened of 'fake friends' literally...I am scared of meeting someone 'thin' and knowing I am fat really so when I do put on weight it will end.

This is a huge issue for me...should I see someone about this?

I don't understand Thant's a total contradiction

I am trying to be honest with myself and face up to my problems with food and life in fact. Some times I kid myself that I've been 100% when I have not.. denial is a dangerous thing as it sabotages our efforts.

To be truthful Ishafik perhaps you should talk things through with someone if you think it'll help you build your confidence and help you move forward. x

 

[lshafik]

I don't understand Thant's a total contradiction

I am trying to be honest with myself and face up to my problems with food and life in fact. Some times I kid myself that I've been 100% when I have not.. denial is a dangerous thing as it sabotages our efforts.

To be truthful Ishafik perhaps you should talk things through with someone if you think it'll help you build your confidence and help you move forward. x

Have you been thin in your life?

Well you know how it feels if you have.

I HAVE NEVER BEEN THIN!

Therefore I am losing my identity...it scares me so much to be someone different but I know - health wise not losing wieght is worse than the fear of losing weight.

Rachele, I know you're trying to be helpful but there are certain people in life that defy what science says....I'm not saying that I haven't overeaten in my life as I have (and possibly towards the last years of my twenties I did)

But I was always the same size anyway - it will take 3 stone to even move down a size so I have fluctuated and reduced within that and never had to change my clothes.

It does annoy me that people think the ONLY way you can be fat is by overeating - this is not true. Mine is possibly a lack of exercise...and genetically having a 'curvy' figure I suppose...even if i got down to a size 8 waist I will still have a size 14 bottom i expect - look at Kim Kardashian or J-lo - that will be me!

 

[lshafik]

oh and it's L shafik...sorry - it's lower case so people think it's I - thought I might correct it.
Leah
x

 

[rachele]

Sorry Leah! What was I was trying to highlight is that you've said your wight has never gone up or down and then you say when you have lost a few stone before you've come off the diet. You must see where I'm coming from?

And ... Yes I've been slimish before up until my late 20's although I'm 42 now so have been over weight a long time. Probably nearly 15 years. I also have a medical back ground which means I do have insight into reasons for weight gain. Some medical conditions do make you gain weight easily or make it difficult to lose weight.

I'm trying to say is you have said you've lost weight on previous diets you're are doing really well on CD having a fab loss at your first weigh in. This weightloss is down to calorie intake which is obviously different to what you were consuming its not magic!! If you have never over eaten and it was down to another reason surely this would not be the case that you have lost stones before and a stone so quickly this time surely?

I'm not trying to knock you down you're obviously an intelligent woman. I just want you to see you can do this and are doing this but you will need to make changes afterwards and I know that difficult because I've been there and failed as here I am again LOL

In my slim and fat experiences genuine people and the only people worth knowing don't care whether you're fat or slim! xxx

 

[cherylxx]

i also have never been slim ( well i was until i was 4 years old ) and im now nearly 39.
i do worry about how people will see me when im slim. will i be thought of differently and if so.. is that actually a bad thing.
im tired of being the nice , bubbly fat one.
to be honest if i make new friends from being slim then great. do i worry about whether those friendships will be real and whether they will stick around if i gain weight, well, no. for 2 reasons, firstly if they are true friends and worth valueing they wont abandon me if i have a weightgain, secondly, i am not planning on gaining weight once i complete this monstrous journey.
as for the topic of how you, i and everyone here gained weight in the first place, as much as i agree that it may not be the case that u have always been a compulsive overeater, somewhere, somehow u went wrong in ur diet.
u could have small meals but if they consisted of high calorific foods it would still add up, combined with a sedentary lifestyle (my biggest problem) there would be definate steady gain.
either way, if any of us return to the way we lived our lives before we will join the ranks of cd returners every few years for the rest of our lives just to get off the stones will continually gain.
i am reading the beck book at the moment.
i honestly thought it was just another gimmicky fad but in just a matter of days im starting to rethink about my future with food and as hard as the future may be, i see a happy slim me.
i have a long way to go but this just gives me extra time to prepare and get my head where it needs to be.

 

[trisha]

I totally agree with what everyone is saying, I didn't overeat to a large extent, I did't pile the plate high etc but I DID eat the wrong things, I would skip meals, thinking I would lose weight but then be constantly picking at food (usually fattening foods) saying a bit of this and a bit of that doesn't make a difference, but it does all the little bits of this and that add up, and probably more than a proper meal! I know thats where I went wrong with my diet, I lost weight on CD and then slowly returned to my old eating habits, and the weight crept back on, albeit slowly. Naturally slim people only eat when they are hungry, they might like chocolate or big fry ups but don't eat them often because they know if they did it would make them fat and they would rather be slim than have the chocolate (or whatever) and be overweight.

A few years ago I read a book called "Only fat people skip breakfast"by Lee Janogly (a bit like beck but out before) and what she said rang true, she says you can only be fat if you overeat on a regular basis and says many peole say they hardly eat anything, and maybe they don't at meal times but then they seem to "forget" about all the extra bits of food, the broken biscuit the left overs from childs plate etc, and for me its all the extra bits that add up. She says to be a slim person you have to live like a slim person, do what slim people do and aviod fattening foods - and we all know what they are.

When I get to goal this time (and I will) I am going to live like a slim person

 

[rachele]

I agree with what you've said. I think lifelong slim people might have a blow out now and again but either consciously or unconsciously cut down elsewhere. It’s like everyone puts on over Christmas but a lifelong slim person will slowly return to their normal weight within a few weeks by just be a bit careful perhaps. Whereas someone like me would still be trying to lose those extra pounds unsucessfuly when the next Christmas came round!

I really wish food wasn't so important to me. I have in the past been sat in a slimming class thinking if I'm going to have to eat like that I may as well kill myself now! I must admit though when I lost a lot of weight before I felt so fantastic that to start with I thought maybe food isn't worth me obsessing about. I think I'm really going to have to get this Beck book... ? xxx

 

[lshafik]

I think I'm really going to have to get this Beck book... ? xxx

You know what...me too!