New - a long way to go

[a toll of the Belle]

Hi All,

I dabbled with exante many years ago but student life got the better of me and I never really stuck to it. Over the last 6 months I have been watching what I eat and following slimming world principles, losing a grand total of 10 lbs. I feel like most of that has come back on over winter.
Now, I am back, starting exante total solution again tomorrow and hoping that it will work for me. I have 2 weeks worth of shakes etc. ready to go, there are a lot more options than when I first attempted this!

My scale is broken at the moment (new one is coming tomorrow) but I think I am at around 14 1/2 stone at the moment. My target weight is around 10 stone at the moment, so 4 1/2 to lose as it goes right now.
I have 20 weeks until I go on holiday. Is that too long to be doing exante for? What is the usual amount of time people do exante for? Do you think it is possible to lose a big portion of the amount of weight I want to lose in that time?

Would love any support/buddies during this, we can make this journey together. Any tips people might have will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Darcy15]

Hello and welcome

Average weight loss is about 14 lbs a month.......so if you stick rigidly to TS, losing 4.5 stone in 20 weeks should be possible

 

[a toll of the Belle]

Thanks - hoping being part of this group will give me support and stop me falling off the wagon. Plus, I always like to read peoples success stories!!

Got on the new scales this morning. Official start weigh = 14st10! EEK! Not my highest weight ever, but close to.

 

[Darcy15]

You can do this! The first few days are the hardest.....then it really does get much easier

Write down a list of why you’re doing this, and perhaps find something visually motivational that will work for you.......I have 2 bowls of glass nuggets and transfer them across as I lose weight. I find it very motivating to see the ‘still to lose’ bowl nuggets diminishing

 

[a toll of the Belle]

Thanks for the advice. I've just put up a second calendar. I'm going to cross off every 100% day and put my weekly losses on there so I can really visualise it!

 

[a toll of the Belle]

Eaten all 3 of my packs for day one already! Its going to be a long evening!

Anyway:
Chocolate shake: blended until smooth and tasted really good
Chocolate orange bar because I was out with friends (booking a holiday which gives me extra motivation): A bit sickly and took about half an hour to eat the whole thing - this will be good when stretching it out over the work day!
Chocolate delight: My favourite so far!! it was so good. Blended until smooth, poured it into a bowl and whisked with a fork for 30 seconds - just like angel delight!

Almost finished my 2nd litre of water. I'm constantly peeing today!

 

[Helen Ex]

Well done that sounds like you're doing really well. I find a Bovril cube split over two drinks helps in the evenings after all the water. It just makes a change and feels more filling than water later in the evening.

 

[a toll of the Belle]

Thanks. Would a bovril cube be the same as an oxo cube in water?

Just woke up 2.8lbs down (I know I shouldn’t weigh daily and I won’t normally, but I just couldn’t resist this morning) so feeling good about myself. Had Sunday brunch of maple syrup pancakes which were delicious - I’m going to be buying a load more of them.

Here’s to a relaxing Sunday before work starts again tomorrow!

 

[Helen Ex]

I tried Oxo in water but wasn't that keen, Bovril was much nicer. Good to feel it's starting to work, keep going and more will come off.

 

[a toll of the Belle]

Yeah, I had a vegetable stock cube in hot water yesterday- it was grim. But the salt stopped my headache so I’ll keep doing it!

Survived the rest of yesterday with a cookies and cream shake (okay) and another chocolate delight for tea (still delicious).

This morning I made up the caramel latte frappe with cold coffee instead of water. Delish- just what I needed on the first day back at work!

The trouble with starting work at 7.30 is that it’s not even 10 and I want my bar that I brought for lunch

Hope everyone else’s day is great!

 

[Helen Ex]

Well done. Another option to veg stock cube is Marigold bouillon powder and a friend told me the Asda own version is even nicer. I find the salt hit useful and have just the one cube a day, so I don't overdo the salt intake.

 

[a toll of the Belle]

Yeah, it says on the Exante website that you can have one stock cube per day only. I’m going to try a teaspoon of marmite tonight.

Survived the day (just about). I’m hoping this tiredness goes away soon. Not particularly headachy but completely lacking in energy. Luckily this is an easy week at work. Hopefully when things get mad next week I’ll be feeling more myself.

 

[Helen Ex]

OMG, how things have changed. It's got to nearly 9pm and I just remembered I have only had two packs today. A couple of weeks ago I was counting down the minutes to the next pack.

 

[a toll of the Belle]

Haha, at least you remembered to eat your final pack!
Can’t wait until I stop counting down the minutes! How long have you been on Exante for?

 

[Helen Ex]

Haha, at least you remembered to eat your final pack!
Can’t wait until I stop counting down the minutes! How long have you been on Exante for?

I just started after New Year and have been a bit on and off, as I've had a few trips away. I have a long journey to do, so I decided early on that if I am at home I will stick to TS and if away as low carb as possible. Life has to continue, as this is going to take at least a year for me. for me I find it easier to do bitable packs, rather than shakes and soups. I do the meal packs, delights and cookies. I think eating with a teaspoon, which makes the packs take longer to eat psychologically helps with the feeling that I have eaten and has reduced the hunger aspect. I also drink water with each pack to make drinking the amount of fluid required more tolerable.

 

[a toll of the Belle]

That sounds like a good plan. I don’t think I could do this for a year without going mad!
Exactly! Life continues and you can’t let this get in the way too much. I have a friends birthday outing to the pub tomorrow which will be the first time out since starting Exante. Luckily I’m driving so I have an excuse to drink Diet Coke all night.

I currently want to stick to TS as much as possible for 20 weeks, with a couple of planned days off, at which point I’ll go on holiday. Then I think I’ll move onto WS or flexi.

 

[a toll of the Belle]

I survived today. Not nearly as hungry and managed to wait until 10 to eat breakfast.
First time drinking the chocolate orange shake today. Nice, but a bit sweet for me.
A few days until weigh day and I’m getting impatient to jump on the scales!

 

[Helen Ex]

Well done Belle, getting through the first few weeks is tough and if you can do it, it gets easier to stick to.

 

[a toll of the Belle]

So... week one is complete! A loss of 5.4lbs... I would have liked a bit more but definitely happy with that loss. Went to a party last night - managed to stay away from alcohol and stick to Coke Zero but did have a couple of mini spring rolls and breadsticks!

Got a new order of stuff with some of the hot meals - really liked the pasta carbonara but did NOT like the sweet and sour noodles. Only got 4 left to get through.

Bring on week 2!

 

[Darcy15]

Well done, that’s a great loss!!