Smashing through the psychological barrier

DaisyG

Full Member
Hi All

I have been inspired by so many of the weight loss diaries on here, so thought I'd start one of my own to keep me focused. I haven't told anyone that I'm doing CD, so this feels like a great outlet for getting stuff off my chest!

I did CD about 7 years ago, and had great success, but didn't actually take myself through to maintenance - big mistake.

I seem to have some kind of weird psychological barrier - every time, on any kind of diet, I hit 10st 10, I give up. It's almost like part of my brain doesn't *want* me to successfully lose weight - after all, if I'm fat, it gives me all kind of excuses about why I'm not totally happy.

So 2 step approach for me: sort my head out and get the weight off.

Should be pretty simple......eek!

My goal is 10st 6 which gets me to healthy BMI, but the real goal is 10st 9 - can I blast my way through my own barrier?
 
So progress so far:

I started SS on Thursday - Thursday was 100% and fairly straightforward.

Friday I felt hungry, but knew that was me getting into ketosis. I had my 2 packs, but then I was due to meet some friends after work. I'd planned to alternate vodka and slimline with just tonic (cunning way of avoiding alcohol!) but when I got there, my friend had ordered champagne - bless her. I feel pretty good though, as I just had one glass and just sipped it very slowly.

Saturday was 100% until the evening, where I was due out again at a new restaurant/club - it was very fabulous. I ate, but it was all protein, and again, stuck just to vodka and slimline. Oh and danced. A lot.

Can now start to work my way through social life a bit better 'oh I'm not hungy, I ate earlier' etc. So this week I'm going for 100% SS.

I love a good gadget, so have got myself the FitBit Ultra and the FitBit scales (I'm proper geeky so love charts and stuff). So on that note, off to try and do my 10,000 steps for the day!
 
Good luck with your new start. Your positive attitude will help enormously. The good thing is that yo don't have heaps to lose (like me) so your journey will (hopefully) be a short but intense one.

I identify with the self-sabotage thing - I did Cambridge successfully in 2006, losing 10st but a series of catastrophic family events meant I didn't do the maintenance part and I regained 5st pretty quickly. I've held it at that for 4 years but decided last week that I need to do something to shift it as I'm not getting any younger and the body becomes less forgiving.

Best of luck with the SS-ing ... we all know the CWP works if you dig in and stick with it :)
 
Thanks Russian Doll - you had a great loss in your first week!

I think mine will be smaller - I'm hoping for 4lbs as I had those 2 nights 'off'. Have smashed 13000 steps today though! (though about 4000 were from dancing last night!)

And wow - you lost 10 STONE?! :eek: That's seriously impressive - and you know you can do it. Good luck for this week :)
 
I know - I was totally focussed and felt great having lost that much. I could kick myself form here to Sunday for regaining half of it! It's never quite the same second, third, fourth etc etc time around though - they say the first time is the 'golden time'. But I know I have to do something PDQ or my health will really start to suffer (the early signs are already there).

Wishing us both the best of luck
 
Hope it's going well today RD

So I stayed 100% SS yesterday, and the same so far today. Have had a very *frustrating* work day today, and was highly tempted to smash the red velvet cake in our office Costa, but I resisted.

Hmmm it appears that frustration = stuff face. Note to self....

Have dug out my copies of Gillian Riley/Geneen Roth and Beyond Chocolate for some inspirational reading, as well as a new one I have about mindful eating.

So much of this stuff is in the head.

I've also worked out that when I go back to 'normal' life, I should be eating a maximum of 1582 calories a day. I have a pretty shot metabolism I think, so suspect I'll actually either need to stick to around 1450 or up my exercise.

I like the concept of JUDDD - but it's basically taking 2 days calories and splitting them unevenly. It's calorie counting with flexibility. I wonder if the concept would work on a weekly basis - e.g. 1200 calories Monday to Friday, 1900 calories on a Saturday and Sunday.

Hmmm these numbers are actually quite low. No wonder the weight has crept on year after year - I'm sure I eat 1800-2000 a day as standard
 
OK so based on my calcs I think:

I will hit my danger zone on 26th November, and should smash through the psychological barrier on the 29th November.

Then I will hit healthy BMI on 6th December!

Let's see how accurate the maths is :)
 
I like the concept of JUDDD - but it's basically taking 2 days calories and splitting them unevenly. It's calorie counting with flexibility. I wonder if the concept would work on a weekly basis - e.g. 1200 calories Monday to Friday, 1900 calories on a Saturday and Sunday.

It's slightly more than calorie counting. Research shows that it has some other unexpected benefits. See Dr Johnson's website here: Alternate-Day Calorie Restriction – The Johnson UpDayDownDay Diet™ (though ignore the stuff about reservatrol - you don't need that. :rolleyes:)

When I was doing JUDDD I maintained brilliantly (which would've been fine if I'd wanted to maintain at 14st, LOL). I did Monday, Wednesday and Friday as 'down days' - having no more that 500 calories on those days. Having Cambridge products on those days worked well. Then on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday I had around 2000 calories. Well, no. Actually I didn't. :eek:I went a bit nuts on 'up days' sometimes (had 3,000 calories sometimes), which was why I didn't lose weight. But importantly, I didn't gain weight either.

JUDDD devotees say you need to have the swing between very low calories and high calories - the difference between 1200 and 1900 wouldn't really be enough. That's not to say that that might not work for you because it probably would! But it wouldn't be JUDDD-ing.
 
Will have a read of the website Lily - thanks :)

another 100% day today - hurrah! I felt quite hungry though and SO thirsty. My skin is really dry too which is usually a sign of dehydration, but I've had a good 3 litres today.

TOTM though, so could be that.

4.5 lb loss so far - official weigh in tomorrow.

Am out and about loads next week, so I need to think about how I'm going to manage that. Particularly as I've got to go to South Africa (for 2 whole days!)

I'm going to have to eat at points during the week, so low carb it has to be. And no S African wine.....

9000 steps today. Right. early night with a little read of one of my inspirational books I think
 
Going to put these musings here too:

Today my body fat % was 38.2% - meaning that of my current 167lbs, 64lbs are fat, and 103lbs are lean muscle.

My goal weight is 146lbs. So if I keep my lean muscle of 103lbs, that would mean I had 43lbs of fat (29% body fat)

The acceptable body fat range is 25-31%, so I'd still be at the top end. 10st would be 26%. Will add body fat to my mini goals list. At this rate, I'll have a mini goal a week!
 
I'm jealous that you have an office costa!!
 
Hi

Sounds like your doing well and your head is in the right place.

Good Luck Le x
 
Nikie - it's great! No idea how we'd survive without it!

Thanks Le - nice of you to say hi :)

Hope you're both well :)

Official weigh in today - 5lbs off in week 1. Slower than many, but I had 2 nights off, and it's TOTM.

Also, when I weighed myself the morning after my 'official' start weight I was 12st 1lb and this morning I was 11st 9, so that's 6lb.

I know the weight will come off - am working towards mid-December for my goal weight, and mathematically, that will happen if I stick to the plan. If I don't stick to the plan, it'll just take longer.

Have decided that this weekend I need to plan my week as I'm all over the place next week. The right and sensible thing to do is to acknowledge that I'm going to eat and to plan accordingly. Keep in ketosis, watch for triggers and avoid alcohol! I feel good and in control.
 
Official weigh in today - 5lbs off in week 1. Slower than many, but I had 2 nights off, and it's TOTM.

Also, when I weighed myself the morning after my 'official' start weight I was 12st 1lb and this morning I was 11st 9, so that's 6lb.

I know the weight will come off - am working towards mid-December for my goal weight, and mathematically, that will happen if I stick to the plan. If I don't stick to the plan, it'll just take longer.

Have decided that this weekend I need to plan my week as I'm all over the place next week. The right and sensible thing to do is to acknowledge that I'm going to eat and to plan accordingly. Keep in ketosis, watch for triggers and avoid alcohol! I feel good and in control.

Wow your so positive and orginised, your head is defo in the right place for this :)

well done on your first week WI

xx
 
Thanks Yummymummy :)

Well another lb of today, which makes it 6.5lb so far and nearly my first 1/2 stone which is pretty much 25% of the way there!

Tough day today - sick of working 12 hours a day, and I have a sore throat. Very very tired. But on the plus side, I managed to pass on the vast array of cake that was just SAT on the desk in front of me.

Hoping the 2 teaspoons of honey I had in my ginger tea haven't whacked me out of ketosis. Should be ok though.
 
DaisyG said:
Thanks Yummymummy :)

Well another lb of today, which makes it 6.5lb so far and nearly my first 1/2 stone which is pretty much 25% of the way there!

Tough day today - sick of working 12 hours a day, and I have a sore throat. Very very tired. But on the plus side, I managed to pass on the vast array of cake that was just SAT on the desk in front of me.

Hoping the 2 teaspoons of honey I had in my ginger tea haven't whacked me out of ketosis. Should be ok though.

Well done on wi, almost a quarter of the way to your goal, that's fab!

Don't think the honey would have had too much of an effect.

Have a good day.

Xx
 
Just been reading your diary, I find these really interesting and helpful :).

Congrats on your first week, you definitely seem really positive about it which is great. I haven't faulted yet but I'm not feeling very enthusiastic about it all, thinks it's probably because I'm cold and tired lol.

Good luck on your journey. I'm hoping to meet my goal the same time as yours. Lets see if we can get there :) xx
 
Hi Lyndsay - let's keep each other going :)

YM - I've just noticed you've lost 20lbs! That's fabulous!!

So today I've felt cold and very stressed. Combined to make it v difficult to resist the birthday cake going around. Had dinner out tonight - weird to eat again. I ate very slowly and had rocket salad with lentils and butternut squash. Left most of the squash due to the carbs. Didn't have wine or any alcohol. Rock n roll.

Hopefully still in ketosis. No social stuff tomorrow, there is on Sunday, but combined with a longish walk, so if I make healthy choices, it won't be so bad. I think it's important to be kind to myself with this. If I have a little freedom, it's about controlling it - if I have to eat out (which I'm likely to havee to do with my job) I will just have to be smart.

I won't lose weight as quickly as others, but I know that if I stick to it, the maths will work out.
 
Hi Daisy. Congrats on your first weigh-in loss! It's always so motivating...

I travel a lot - both for work and for fun - and also tend to have quite a few social engagements. On my first phase of CD (end Feb-late Jul) I was on a mission to lose 56lbs before heading to the US to see my family. That kept me pretty focused and despite trips for skiing, visiting friends in Ireland and France, as well as several social events, I managed to get off 49lbs.

Started the second phase beg Sept as I decided that CD worked so well a lower weight goal was achievable. It was a struggle to get my head back in the game, but it's there. And this time, because I have not set a date, I'm a little kinder & gentler about it. When I'm working in France, I eat a lot of salad with protein, but also indulge in a glass of wine every now and then. When I'm home, I do go out with friends and just make sure that I eat healthy (protein, veg, salad) while avoiding the carbs.

The weight loss is slower -both because I've less to lose and because (I think) I'm not ss all the time. But I'm losing, it gives my body time to adjust and I'm learning the impact of what I eat on my body and on the scales. I've also been aware of the desire to just 'let go' and stuff my face. Have had this in the back of my head for 2-3 weeks now and haven't given in. Can't tell you why I haven't...maybe I'm learning to control that part of me that gets a little crazy sometimes.

I like your comments about the math. I have spreadsheets and graphs of my loss and forecasts for projected loss. What I've discovered is that my body doesn't follow the math. :sigh: But I like looking at the graph - love that downward slope!!!

Enjoy the weekend!
 
Tizzy, you sound just like me! I love a good spreadsheet. I'm just not the greatest at sticking to things. They say it takes 3 weeks to make a habit, so I need to make sure I stick with it during a crazily busy week next week.

My scales tell me that I've lost 8 lbs so far, of which 3.5lbs is fat. I'm please with that, it makes sense.

So my plan for the week:

Today - ss
tomorrow - long walk, lunch out: hopefully chicken & salad
Monday - Newcastle - ss, take soup for lunch.
Tues - in office, take all 3 packs in case of long day!
Weds - fly to s Africa - ss during day, tetra before check in. Say noooo to the champagne! Omelette on plane for breakfast.
Thurs - will have lunch, not of my own choice. Deal with it. Ss breakfast and dinner.
Fri - ss breakfast, no choice with lunch, light dinner in airline lounge. Noooo champagne
Sat - omelette on plane.

Quite specific, but good to spell it out!
 
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