Road to Size 10

[staticrhubarb]

So after being a serial dieter (5:2, Slimming World, calorie counting, Paleo, low-carb, no-carb, and many more!) I'm giving Exante a bash.

I've actually had a month bumper pack sitting in a box at the back of my cupboards for nearly a year now so I thought now would be as good a time as any to dig in and give it a go, if only to get rid of them before I leave the country in August (I'm moving to the Caribbean so for me losing the weight is a MUST - being overweight in high heat is not going to be fun, plus I want to look good on the beach in my bikini!)

So Tuesday this week I started off the plan - I'll report what I thought of the meals and how I've felt in terms of energy/hunger each day and hopefully anyone reading might get an idea of how the plan works.

Tuesday:

6.15am exercise class to start things off! I've been told fasted exercise burns more calories, so the half hour GRIT session should have kicked my body into gear nicely.

Breakfast - Chocolate Orange bar. I enjoyed this, apart from a slight synthetic taste but I guess that's to be expected on any meal replacement plan. The bar was quite big too so satisfying enough for breakfast.

Was very very hungry and ready for my dinner by 11am, so the wait til 1pm was hard, and not all that worth it.

Dinner - Cherries and Berries Shake - YUCK. Did not like this at all. Tasted very earthy which I wasn't expecting from a fruit flavoured shake. However the texture was thick and creamy, in a pleasant way and it kept me going til teatime.

Tea - Pasta Carbonara. YES!!! Yes yes yes yes. Cheesy, creamy sauce, hot and satisfying. Unfortunately the Exante portions seem to be very small so it was all gone in just a few mouthfuls but I scraped the bowl to get every morsel I could. I liked this one very much.

Lots of water helped keep hunger cravings at bay, but I was craving chocolate a lot. Hopefully those cravings will disappear once I enter ketosis.

 

[staticrhubarb]

Wednesday:

Woke up late today so no time for gym, just got straight in the kitchen to sort out breakfast.

Breakfast - Breakfast eggs (plain) - Ick. I made this up as described on the packet like scrambled eggs. Texture wise it was similar, only again the portion was really small and disappointing. Taste wise, very salty and synthetic. The addition of black pepper improved it slightly but not much.

Dinner - Blueberry shake - Nope. A slight improvement on cherries and berries but still not convincing me as far as the shakes are concerned. Again though the texture was pleasant and filling.

Tea - Indian style curry with rice - Mmm. Tasty and just the right level of spice. Didn't need to add anything to this, liked it just as it was.

Went to bed still feeling hungry. I guess that's to be expected but I hope these feelings disappear by the weekend!

 

[womble35]

Hello and welcome! You've got through the first couple of days which is a great start so congratulations! The Cherries and Berries shake (and the blueberry one) are my favourites - funny how we all have different tastes! But I can certainly relate to scraping the bowl. I've taken to eating my hot meals with the smallest teaspoon I can find in the house as it stops me wolfing them down

 

[MrsN]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I'm sure you'll find lots of support in here.
I found reading other diaries really helpful.
I love the cherries and berries - was yours in date??
Good luck on your journey!

 

[staticrhubarb]

Thanks Womble and MrsN! Pretty sure my packs were in date, I guess I just thought they would taste different. I really liked the shake I had today though so winner!

I've had a very long day today starting with a 45 minute Body Pump class at the gym at 6.15am(!) so decided to have 4 packs instead of 3 - combining two packs (the pizza and sausage mix) to make a burger for dinner as I'd seen on another diary.

Breakfast - Raspberry and Blueberry pancakes. I was pleasantly surprised at how good these tasted! A lovely texture and a fruity, non-synthetic taste. A happy start to the day!

Dinner - Banana shake. I finally found one I liked! This reminded me a little bit of old school banana flavour Angel Delight. Like the other shakes it was thick and creamy, with a big hit of banana-y goodness. Yum!

Tea - I guess you could say I cheated a bit with this. I used the pizza base from one meal to make two halves of a "bun" for a burger - they rose up like big Yorkshire puddings in the oven so made a perfect burger bun! The pattie was made from a pack of the sausage mix.
I suppose I could have halved each of the packs but they are small as it is and I didn't think this would work very well.
I topped the burger with the pizza tomato sauce, as well as an egg fried in low cal spray and some red onion, cucumber and tomatoes as I've been craving fresh salad today. I also had a little halloumi that needed using so threw that in their too.

Totally not a proper exante meal at tea today but low carb is better than nothing - hopefully it won't stop me going into ketosis!!

 

[staticrhubarb]

It might not have been 100% exante but if you're doing hardcore workouts then you might need that extra little bit of fuel.
4 packs isn't really a problem as that's the man plan norm anyway and the egg and veg is totally in line with a ketosis plan
Well done you on your first couple of days.
Be sure to double check each of your pack dates though if the box has been sitting in your cupboard for so long, just to be sure!

Also, your move sounds super exciting!

Yeah Body Pump was pretty grueling yesterday so think I needed the extra calories, hopefully it won't have done any harm.

The move is exciting, I can't wait but so much to do in the meantime - weight loss being just one of those things

 

[twinmum07]

Welcome and well done on a great start.
Moving to the Caribbean- wow - what a great motivator.

 

[sybersadie]

Hi and welcome!

You've made a great start. As Womble says, eating hot food with a tea spoon is the way forward to making your meal last. You could add a little salad as well to make more of a meal for dinner. Would still be diet friendly.

 

[staticrhubarb]

When does the feeling of hunger all the time start to disappear? I'm on day 4 now and having just eaten my evening meal(s) (I had a 4th pack for a pudding! ) I'm still really hungry!

So today's meals - another early start with a 6.15am spin class followed by first pack of the day -

Breakfast: Gooey chocolate pudding. Not something I would imagine most would want for breakfast but it was super tasty and gooey (only cooked it on medium for 1 min instead of high for 1.5 to keep it nice and soft in the middle) and put me in a good mood for the rest of the morning.

Dinner: Strawberry shake. I loved this! Tasted like strawberry mousse. No aftertaste and the same thick creamy texture I've enjoyed so far with all the shakes. Still felt very hungry afterwards, which led to me caving when some of my music students offered me some LoveHeart sweeties in their afternoon lessons. I had 3 of the small packs so about 15 sweeties! Hopefully this won't do too much damage :/

Tea: Sweet and sour noodles. Yummy - I can't quite put my finger on what this tasted of but I liked it all the same. It had an almost meaty texture in amongst the noodles, and as suggested by Sadie and Womble ate it with a teaspoon so I could savour every bite. Unfortunately I was still starving afterwards so decided to have another pack for dessert - ending the day the way I started it with a gooey chocolate pudding. I'm still hungry though

 

[MrsN]

The hunger passes once you get into ketosis. I'm firmly in ketosis but do have little waves of hunger every now and again but I just have to ignore it. Keep going!

 

[Darcy15]

You're doing great - well done!

 

[staticrhubarb]

Day 5, and I'm still getting these huge hunger pangs. I wish my body would hurry up and get into ketosis already!

Breakfast - Raspberry and white chocolate cereal bar - I don't think Exante have quite gotten the hang of berry flavours, as everything with raspberries or similar in tastes very acidic and unpleasant, almost sherbet like? I don't know. This bar wasn't altogether unpleasant (the white chocolate helped) but not my favourite.

Dinner - White chocolate and raspberry shake - Carrying on with the raspberry and white chocolate theme, I had today's shake and it was honestly the worst one I've had so far. Somehow both tangy and chalky tasting at the same time. Eww.

Tea - Moussaka - I was totally prepared to hate this as in real life I hate moussaka, but actually this was pretty tasty. There was a big hit of garlic all the way through the meal but this didn't put me off, actually I rather enjoyed it.

I'm pretty sure I'm not in ketosis yet because of the constant feeling of hunger, but I have started feeling really cold and apparently this is one of the side affects? No noticeable dog breath though, or headaches or a metallic taste in my mouth. Hmm.

 

[staticrhubarb]

I'm starting to really lose motivation now. Day 6 and I'm still starving literally all the time, even straight after eating one of the packs. I'm miserable and thinking of packing it in - the only thing that's kept me going is the thought of being on that beach in 5 months time in my bikini with the body I want, but it's seeming more and more impossible. Why am I still so hungry?

 

[Darcy15]

You are probably not in ketosis yet.....took me about 8 days I think

Stick with it, the results are so worth it and it honestly does get easier

 

[twinmum07]

This stage isn't easy, there is nothing you can do but either get through it and give it time or just give up. Only one of those options will let you reach your goal.
One day you will just wake up energised and no longer hungry.
I am on week 4 and I find it strange that 3 weeks ago I was a ravenous beast, counting down the minutes until my next 'meal' and now I have to remind myself to have my shakes.

 

[staticrhubarb]

Thanks Darcy and Twinmum, I'll keep trying to power through for now!! Drinking water like it's going out of fashion. Have to say, having a soup for lunch today instead of a shake was a big help as it was hot rather than cold, much more satisfying.