Only me in my way! VLCD

[Halley]

You see, I think I've made peace with the fact that I'll probably always be in a 'weight on' 'weight off' cycle. I always have been, but gradually the arcs have got bigger as I've got older. I'd like to bring it down to smaller parameters. I'd also like this to be the last time I feel I have to do a VLCD, and switch to low carb for main way of eating, but I know I'll probably never have a 'healthy, moderate' relationship with sweet food.
There's also something a bit weird that makes dieting harder the older I get; when I was younger I would truly hate my body if I put on weight which would allow me to punish myself with extreme diets etc. Now,. although I'm the heaviest I've been, I actually quite like and appreciate myself, so it makes it harder to do things that make me uncomfortable. I don't know if that makes sense? Obviously it makes fitness easier as health is an important goal for me.
I have dodgy knees and I know they'd be so much better with a couple of stone removed from bearing down on them.
I agree with the late eating though, I've done a couple of weeks in OMAD before and j quite enjoyed it.

OMG this post really spoke to me. You’ve put it brilliantly and I really need to think about accepting that I’ll always be in a loosing or gaining cycle too but like you say I need to reduce the parameters.

Thanks for that post, it’s been a light bulb moment for me x

 

[Jess1973]

OMG this post really spoke to me. You’ve put it brilliantly and I really need to think about accepting that I’ll always be in a loosing or gaining cycle too but like you say I need to reduce the parameters.

Thanks for that post, it’s been a light bulb moment for me x

I agree, it resonated with me too!

 

[Chubby chick 2023]

Thanks, it's good that there are people who feel the same a bit
Yesterday was a good day. I mean, it was a bloody busy and quite stressful day from a work/rush round with family etc, but I managed to do over 11000 steps and a 30 minute step workout, as well as sticking to bar/shake/soup/eggs. Really hungry this morning now though, and have woken early!!

Another full on day from a work perspective so at least I won't have time to pig out. Tonight will be a challenge as I'm going to a friend's house for a bit of a meet up. There will be food and alcohol. The last won't be a problem as I'm driving and I'll take my alcohol free gin, but resisting the snacks will be hard. I'll do it though, particularly now this dress has arrived and is more sausage-casing-inspired than I had planned for it to be.
2 more days to go and I'm hopeful of a good loss on Sunday, don't want to sabotage that.

I've let the hem down on the dress (that sounds like I've done something neat and seamstressy, I've actually just taken the hem down and will probably leave the untidy bottom bit) I'm an hour glass shape and whilst I like that, it does mean I don't have good legs like an apple shaped person does. Skirts need to be on or below the knee unless thick tights or leggings are employed.
Re tights btw, how great are snag tights?! It only taken me the best part of 4 decades to find tights that fit, stay up and are comfy. They will have my business for life! I've just ordered a pair of chub rub shorts from them too, I don't get chub rub as such but I'm hoping they'll be comfortable and give a smooth line under this dress. I'm not a fan of pull you in underwear, I find it just pushes me out in other places!

 

[Jess1973]

Thanks, it's good that there are people who feel the same a bit
Yesterday was a good day. I mean, it was a bloody busy and quite stressful day from a work/rush round with family etc, but I managed to do over 11000 steps and a 30 minute step workout, as well as sticking to bar/shake/soup/eggs. Really hungry this morning now though, and have woken early!!

Another full on day from a work perspective so at least I won't have time to pig out. Tonight will be a challenge as I'm going to a friend's house for a bit of a meet up. There will be food and alcohol. The last won't be a problem as I'm driving and I'll take my alcohol free gin, but resisting the snacks will be hard. I'll do it though, particularly now this dress has arrived and is more sausage-casing-inspired than I had planned for it to be.
2 more days to go and I'm hopeful of a good loss on Sunday, don't want to sabotage that.

I've let the hem down on the dress (that sounds like I've done something neat and seamstressy, I've actually just taken the hem down and will probably leave the untidy bottom bit) I'm an hour glass shape and whilst I like that, it does mean I don't have good legs like an apple shaped person does. Skirts need to be on or below the knee unless thick tights or leggings are employed.
Re tights btw, how great are snag tights?! It only taken me the best part of 4 decades to find tights that fit, stay up and are comfy. They will have my business for life! I've just ordered a pair of chub rub shorts from them too, I don't get chub rub as such but I'm hoping they'll be comfortable and give a smooth line under this dress. I'm not a fan of pull you in underwear, I find it just pushes me out in other places!

Plenty of coffee, a mixture of caffeine and decaf will fix the hunger. That was probably all the steps you did, good job! Snacks are hard to resist, for me, I can resist them when I don't drink alcohol. If I drink alcohol I eat everything in sight, and sometimes forget the next day unless I am reminded!. I fell in love with M&S tights (for work) when I lived in the UK, it also took me 4 decades to discover them. I am hoping one day I can where stockings and they don't roll down my fat thighs, although not for work! Enjoy your evening, and focus on weigh day and your social occasions you can have with your friend later at your goal weight wearing the things you want!

 

[Chubby chick 2023]

Kapow wedding is Sunday 6th June, so 9ish days away. We're going to a dinner party the evening before which I'm not happy about. I mean, it's lovely to be invited (friends of my husband's, I haven't met them yet) but I want to be in full on control freak mode and I won't be able to.
For me, the control thing isn't just about what I'm eating/being served, it's when. I hate having to wait for someone else's timetable, I have a real intolerance about it.
I always overeat/binge at my mum's for example as we travel down there (hour and a half away) for lunch, and then she starts cooking when we get there so it's normally another hour and a half til we eat, and I find waiting around for food really stressful, so I snack in the meantime. I can make myself wait for food as long as I know I can eat the moment I decide to, but waiting for someone else to decide drives me mad! I know I sound weird, but I think we're probably all a bit weird around food in our own different ways, hence why we're on this forum

 

[Kapow]

I totally understand, you sound so much like me, right down to the dodgy knees.
9 days is still time to make a difference.
The dinner party situation sounds like an added extra stress to the weekend, could you maybe just meet for drinks after you have eaten?
I'm wishing I started exante on Monday instead of mid week. Just getting into the swing of it but weekends at home seem to revolve around food, takeaways, big breakfasts, Sunday lunch. I've asked the family to support me but I know it will take a lot of will power to get through.

 

[Chubby chick 2023]

I totally understand, you sound so much like me, right down to the dodgy knees.
9 days is still time to make a difference.
The dinner party situation sounds like an added extra stress to the weekend, could you maybe just meet for drinks after you have eaten?
I'm wishing I started exante on Monday instead of mid week. Just getting into the swing of it but weekends at home seem to revolve around food, takeaways, big breakfasts, Sunday lunch. I've asked the family to support me but I know it will take a lot of will power to get through.

Re the knees thing - I get so frustrated. There's a big running/jogging community around here, and my husband has got massively into it. I can't run, because quite quickly my knees start to hurt. If one more person says "you just need proper trainers" I think I might throttle them. Good quality trainers might prevent knee problems starting, but once someone has bad/painful/clicky joints then repeated impact, even in good trainers will make it worse. Ligaments and muscles can heal themselves, joints don't and I can do without the knee replacement at 45 thanks! (bit of a rant, but I get so annoyed at this view that running is the exercise everyone can do if they'd only download couch to 5k and have a go!)

Today is going well so far, mainly because I'm so manic. I didn't go back to sleep this morning, instead I went out for a walk at 6am, so I'm on 8.5k steps at the moment. Have just scoffed down my first meal (porridge) so hoping that if I have a shake at 5 I can take a bar with me tonight and then finish up with eggs after I get home. Right, I have a plan!!

 

[Kapow]

I did the couch to 5k app thing last year but wouldn't call it running, just the Japanese slow Jogging technique. I have very weak ankles too.
My knees can't handle cycling or anything like squats or lunges.
I'm guessing if I wasn't carrying 4 stone of extra weight I might find exercising easier. Would also give me the confidence to go swimming which is probably the idea activity for those of us with dodgy joints.
Better day on exante today, haven't felt as dizzy as first 2 days.

 

[Chubby chick 2023]

Yay! I stuck to plan yesterday.
Porridge/carbonara/bar/eggs.
Traffic was a nightmare going south on M5 (who could have predicted that on a bank holiday weekend) so I was late to see my friends but it was still good to catch up, and just get out of the house really. I wasn't even tempted by alcohol or nibbles. Finished on about 11.5k steps.
Today I have a couple of hours work this morning then this afternoon taking a friend into the nearest big city to look at wedding dresses, which will either be really fun or super stressful. Need to avoid Krispy Kreme donut shop!

 

[Chubby chick 2023]

Another day on plan yesterday. Porridge/bar/eggs/porridge. Only about 9k steps but it felt like more as I drove my friend into the city centre and we tried on dresses (well she did). It's weird being out in busy places, but lovely to see it so busy. She found a dress she liked, so it was time well spent. This is the wedding which is in early July!
Woke early this morning and made my husband way me since we were both up.. drum roll.....first week loss of 4.9kg or 10 and a half pounds!

Really motivating, as now I'm no longer 'the heaviest I've ever been', which is psychologically important for me. I'm still not ready to learn my starting weight (weird I know); but feeling good and positive about starting another week on Exante.

 

[Kapow]

That is a fantastic first week. We'll done

 

[Chubby chick 2023]

That is a fantastic first week. We'll done

Thank you very much. I think the key really is for me not eating before midday, so I'm going to keep that up. I also think I'm going to commit to weighing myself (or getting husband to weigh me) once a week. I'm a great one for avoiding the scales when I think they're going to say something I dislike, but of course avoidance is not a helpful approach. Neither is obsession, so once a week seems like a useful balance.
This means there are (I think) 30 more weigh days between now and my goal date.

 

[Chubby chick 2023]

Pressed post too soon.... I don't have to be perfectly on plan, as I have special events and holidays between now and then, and I intend to enjoy them, but if I can just stay accountable to my goal of 11st 7 by end of December then I should stay on track. I'm able to keep a track of KPIs etc for work, so this will be similar.
also, dress I need to wear next Sunday is fitting better so that's good. Am waiting for a chiffon bolero thing to come in the post, and some Snag shorts and I'm all set.

 

[Chubby chick 2023]

Hmmm..spent today thinking that because I have lost ten pounds I am now a skinny legend and bidding for lots of things on eBay that I can't really afford and probably won't fit I'm so predictable..... I have a pair of floral cullottes coming. Cullottes!! I haven't worn cullottes since I was 10!

 

[Chubby chick 2023]

Finished a very lazy, chilled out day on around 11000 steps. Food was porridge/soup/shake/eggs.
Not much to say except that I'm pleased with my progress and onwards.... Going to cinema tomorrow with family. Pick and mix are my nemesis!!! I will be strong and have a bar instead.

 

[Chubby chick 2023]

Back from the cinema and at 16:00 I'm 2 bars down. Want to go out for a walk but it's really hot out so I think I'll wait for this evening. Went to Asda for the kids' sweets (I'm not paying cinema prices!) And picked up some of the flavoured Yorkshire teas, currently trying the tea and biscuit brew. It's not bad.
I think this week I'm going to challenge myself to wear a different outfit every day. Not only do I get bored with the same jeggings and jumper combo, but if I'm wearing clothes I like but are which slightly too tight or uncomfortable it will remind me of why I want to lose this weight.
Fancy a nap now though! Tired from all this doing very little

 

[Kapow]

The tight clothes are a good idea. I blame wearing leggings and jeggings for my weight gain, you just don't notice that you are gradually going up a dress size at a time do you?!

 

[Chubby chick 2023]

Exactly. Also, I'm not sure how many of the million clothes I'm keeping in my wardrobe because I really like them, or because I feel I haven't worn them enough yet. So I'm going to get back in to wearing them!

Yesterday finished on 11,300 steps and food was bar/bar/ 3 eggs (soft boiled) with asparagus spears/porridge.

I'm feeling really hungry this morning, but only 4 hours to go til my first meal...... Think I'll order some more Exante today, and get lots of the pots and meals. Also just the shakes I like. Currently have a load of mango and straciatella ones left that I can't stand. Also they sent me some juice samples in the last box and I had one. It was absolutely disgusting. Think I might sort them out today and sell the ones I don't want cheap on the Facebook site.

 

[Kapow]

My wardrobe is full of clothes that don't fit.
I'm not enjoying Exante, tried the caramel frappe shake yesterday but couldn't finish it, don't like any of the fruity flavours either. Have loads to sell.
I have ordered some more but just shakes and a few bars. I take multi vitamins everyday so I'm thinking normal porridge will be ok for breakfast and Glorious skinnylicious soup for lunch. Might not be exactly to the plan but it's a lot less calories than I would normally be munching through

 

[Chubby chick 2023]

My wardrobe is full of clothes that don't fit.
I'm not enjoying Exante, tried the caramel frappe shake yesterday but couldn't finish it, don't like any of the fruity flavours either. Have loads to sell.
I have ordered some more but just shakes and a few bars. I take multi vitamins everyday so I'm thinking normal porridge will be ok for breakfast and Glorious skinnylicious soup for lunch. Might not be exactly to the plan but it's a lot less calories than I would normally be munching through

Have you tried any of the other vlcds? I haven't but some people really rate the Cambridge products over Exante. I couldn't afford to do Cambridge. The longer/more I do Exante the more I'm tolerating their stuff. Things that at first I nearly spat out I'm quite enjoying. I guess you get to a place where you're so hungry your taste buds really settle for any old rubbish and tell you it's nice to encourage you to eat. Maybe Exante is promoting another evolutionary adaption!!!
I quite like the caramel (bloody fake sweet tasting though), but the other day I tried the white chocolate and raspberry vegan shake. I love the normal one but the vegan one was rank! Poor old vegans