Started! And it's going...OK.

[jczelyph]

Well thank you everyone for the lovely supportive suggestions in my previous thread! I am on Day 5 now and it's going OK. I am hoping to lose 6.8 stone (95 pounds; 43kg) which I know is achievable, to get to my goal BMI of 23. I am worried this will make me look a bit too skinny (I'm big anyway - 12 lb 10 oz at birth), so as I approach it, I may well modify it.

I had a Pop-in yesterday and have lost 6 pounds in 3.5 days, so that was REALLY encouraging.

I have been finding it difficult, but not unbearable, and I know I'm nearly through the worst bits. I can honestly say I haven't been physically hungry AT ALL, which has been fantastic, so much so in fact, that I'm having to consciously take my four food packs a day. The food packs are fine. The vegetable and chicken soups are a bit bland, but mushroom and thai chilli are very good. The shakes are DELICIOUS, especially made in my blender with a whole tray of ice and a bit of hot water. I am looking forward to the bars on my meeting on Monday - I need something to chew on! However, I am finding being without food difficult in a habitual way, and all my distraction techniques I had planned previously involved simultaneous snacking (for example watching DVDs and reading books), so they're hard to do at the mo.

I am also very guilty of thinking too 'long term' and am having thoughts like 'how can I not eat between now and Christmas' which are really getting me down. These thoughts, and the habitual cravings are the worst part. I am attempting the 'every day at a time' attitude, which is really the way forward, but at the moment, it's not second nature. I feel like a drug addict!

The other thing I am worried about it Christmas and the holiday time. I am going to Thailand for 10 days before Christmas (I have a long university holiday so am making the most of it) and will be staying with a friend. How am I going to cope in Thailand on this diet? I'm worried I'm going to ruin the holiday if I can't enjoy the local food. And then it's Christmas with my family, where food=love for my Mum. I might have lost enough weight by then so will feel great seeing my relatives and friends, but how will I keep it off/continue losing over the festive time?

Argh! Long term thinking again!

Any ideas?!

John

PS: Anyone got any ideas how I can include a quote as well as a ticker in my sig?

 

[Sez]

Glad its going well for you! The first few days are the worst! I wont say its palin sialing from then on, becasue there will be days when you fell like throwing in the towel etc, but honestly, take it one day at a time and those 100 days will soon tick away!

I imagne Xmas is a the foremost in thought for all of us currently on a VLCD. This is when our counselling and our LLC's will really come into their own. I have already told me LLC I wont be on this diet at Xmas!!! (I have been doing this, both well & not so well, since late Feb.) She has said that we will talk nearer the time. I guess thre must be some sessions specifically desgined for the party season. I know that she personally, does not encourage people to join just before Xmas, as this really is one of the hardest times to SS.

Keep posting on Minis and before you know it you will be off to Thailand a much more svelte individual!!

 

[jczelyph]

Hi Sez, thanks for the encouragement. This forum is so great! It's quite remarkable that there's a forum where nobody has massive arguments and everyone is so caring and supportive.

I am doing LL4Men with a friend and we are each other's best support. I was having the worst night last night and him and his housemate told me that he had been saying EXACTLY the same things 48 hours before. It was scary! So I know that this is really like some kind of rehab/detox thing and I can get through it one day at a time.

As for Christmas...well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. There is absolutely no point worrying about something that is happening in two months, right?!

I think men lose faster than women, but I'm not sure whether we SS for 100 days or less. I wonder if anyone can help with that?