The last stone mission......ROLL UP!!!!

[clairejen]

I can see why you want to reintroduce the carbs slowly, they are dodgy things. My current diet is low on fat and only really has carbs every other day. Not ideal, but hopefully over soon. I'll have to be careful increasing calories though, it will be easy to get carried away and no way do I intend regaining.

Your slim trousers will fit again, if not in time for this summer then there is always next year. I agree that the Unit Diet food logs don't appeal, mine are much nicer IMHO. Yesterday's was like this:
Breakfast: various fruit, one slice of toasted brioche with jam
Lunch: salad with the "extras", cold meat, homemade bread roll with a scrape of butter
5.00: tiny slice of homemade chocolate cake
Dinner: small pork steak with orange sauce, baked potato, green beans
Snacks, various fruit and a couple of biscuits
I was a bit naughty on the cake and biscuit front, but I am trying to keep up to 10 units as I want to keep a big difference between UDs and DDs.

Have a fun weekend, don't spend all the time tidying.

 

[clairejen]

Official weigh in today, 9st9.5lbs. Now only 2.5lbs from my target, although looking in the mirror I am not sure if I got this right, I still seem to have unpleasant bulges. Hopefully dance classes will put that right when I get back to them in a couple of weeks.

Despite heavy lifting last night my back seems fine this morning which is a relief. I really need to tackle the housework now, ugh, hate it.

 

[dreaming.of.a.slimmer.me]

Glad to see a new poster on the thread, hello Dreaming! What's your diet story? Lost much? VLCD?

Hiya. My story is...I lost 5 stone with WW about 5 years ago. In the following 5 yrs I put back on 1 stone. I always wanted to lose 6 stone in total but was happy with the 5 stone for a long time. I then decided I wanted to lose the 1 stone I'd put back on plus the other 1 stone I originally wanted to lose to take me to a size 8-10. I have now lost the 1 stone, and am looking forward to losing the final stone.

Not sure what VLCD means lol

 

[clairejen]

You have done well Dreaming, only putting back a stone over 5 years is good going, especially now that that has already gone. I'm so confused with sizes now that I'm not even sure what an 8-10 really is! I'm currently what used to be a 12 but now seems to be more like a 10, so it I'm guessing you are about the same size as me currently. VLCD=very low calorie diet, like CD or LL.

How is the diet going?

 

[dreaming.of.a.slimmer.me]

Oh, I'm doing WW. I am a size 10-12 now so want to drop one dress size.

 

[clairejen]

Dreaming, I think we are the same size then, I'm 5'4.5" and I'm aiming for 9st7lbs final weight. When I get there I will decide if it was the right choice, it's a fairly arbitrary figure which I chose because it was in the middle of healthy BMI range. Last time I dieted (12 years ago) I went down to 8st12lbs and stabilised at 9st3lbs - then slowly crept up, which is NOT going to happen again. The weight I finally get to will depend on things like how soon my thighs get smaller, they are the bane of my life.

Do you enjoy WW? I have never fancied the meetings and public weighing and stuff. The points system sounds a bit like the units which I am using for UDs.

My weight is stable this morning after the first UD of the weekend, which is good. It is depressingly grey and damp this morning, doesn't seem like we have had a summer at all. I have a big pile of sewing alterations to do, I'm happy enough doing them I just hate all the fitting. Might be tempted to have a run round the shops, see if anything catches my eye.

 

[Maintainer]

Good morning to the pair of you, and a rainy dull dark November-like day here today (again!),

I had a nice weekend, mainly trying to teach kittens the delights of a litterbox and failing miserably for the most part(!), but they certainly are cute at this age. 3 have homes to go to, one (the little runt) will have to stay until he's three months old as he's still far behind the others in development, so 2 still to find homes for. The cutest two in my opinion, funnily enough!

Foodwise, not bad, not good. I planned a chocolate treat last night, and even calculated the calories, but then didn't know when to stop and ate far far too much of it. Feeling strong again this morning, and feeling queazy at the mere THOUGHT of chocolate, so hopefully that blip will help me stay well away from it for a while! I wisely stayed off the scales this morning and got dressed quickly before tempted to see a nasty red light flashing on my scales!

Today will be strict in an attempt to compensate!

 

[clairejen]

Hi Joanne, playing with kittens sounds more fun than trying to clear out the garage which was what I ended up doing yesterday. I didn't get very far either, should do better today because we got rid of a sailboard on Freecycle so there is more room to move now. It is cold and miserable here too, I've given up hoping for summer.

Chocolate sounds good, like you I think I'd be tempted to overindulge. I ate rather too much yesterday too, not evil stuff but a lot of fruit and vegetables. Today the scales are back up 2 lbs, I trust it is just temporary blip. I shall be really good for my DD today, not that there is much chance of being bad on 470 cals!

I need to book a hairdresser's appointment, I've been putting it off for ages and the situation is getting desparate. In fact I have loads of things I should have done but for some reason haven't - this must be a week of catching up.

 

[Maintainer]

Today there seems a slight improvement in the weather, so I got in a 20 minute FAST walk on the way to work, but I hear the rain will be back with us mid-morning (shucks!).

Glad to see the scales moving very slightly downwards this morning, after my silly CHOCFEST Sunday evening. It was well worth it though, because I enjoyed the chocolate at the time, but now feel rather sickened (still!) so memories of this should help me keep well away for a few weeks.

Kittens adorable - still not quite focussing properly, so they tend to STARE which is rather disconcerting when six of them fixate on you at the same time! It's very relaxing lying by the basket, tickling tubby tummies, after a day's work (not that there's work as such, but I'm trapped here nonetheless!).

Are you going to try something different at the hairdresser's? I did when I got to target, as I'd been having the same style for years, and I gave her free rein (with a few provisos!). It really did help me to finally realise what I'd achieved seeing a slightly different head on the very different body. Worth thinking about?

Hope your scales are your friend again this morning

 

[clairejen]

Hi, we still have continuous rain here, and the same is promised for tomorrow so my garage door will stay half painted for a while longer. Well done for getting your morning walk in, my activity level this morning amounts to going up and down stairs a few times to put the washing away - hardly aerobic exercise. I'm sure cuddling kittens is very therapeutic. Do they climb up your legs too? I stayed in a house with four kittens which used to run up your legs when you went into the kitchen, it's quite hard to walk with two kittens clinging on each side!

Good to hear your scales are moving, mine went down a pound and a half so I'm now 9st10lbs, still slightly above the low of Saturday. It's the way this diet works so I'm not too worried, I expect it to be at least a week and a half before I touch target and another week or so until the scales stop jumping above it again. I'm glad you enjoyed your chocolate, it is one of life's pleasures. It would be sad to be like a friend of mine who had to have her chocolate addiction treated by hypnosis, so now she finds even the smell quite nauseating.

I haven't made any hairstyle decisions, a cut and colour is as far as I have got. My hair is very fine so has to be kept short, and I don't have it done nearly as often as I should. I usually have the colour a bit warmer and lighter than my natural one which can be very dark, and the sun lifts it a fair bit - when we have any sun that is.

We booked a short holiday yesterday, the flights anyway. Three days in Carcassonne, chosen because Ryanair fly there and the airport is very close to the town. We really wanted to go at the end of September, our wedding anniversary is the 29th, but were swayed by the special offer of £20 returns from 1st October, after 28 years the actual day loses some significance. Now I have to sort out accommodation, the tourist office website is not very good but in the end I found a combination of Cityvox and Pages Jaunes gave me the information I needed. I'm hoping the local accent doesn't make phonecalls incomprehensible.

 

[Maintainer]

I can't say that the kittens have ever taken to climbing up my legs, thankfully, but there is a general stampede at meal times when the six kittens plus Mum plus their four month old sister CHARGE for the front door when we arrive! That's frightening enough!

One thing I have noticed about my chocolate addiction is that I now *almost* prefer dark chocolate after years (a lifetime actually) of preferring the cheap Cadbury's milk chocolate. Perhaps the switch would help to cure me completely of overeating as you just don't need much dark to be full... as Cadbury's isn't readily available here, I stock up when in the UK so perhaps I'll cross that off my next shopping list (wimper...).

Wow re Carcassonne - amazingly enough but a friend in London is currently looking for a gite there for a holiday next year. I hadn't realised Ryanair flew there. It certainly looks a beautiful area from the pictures she sent me (which of course I deleted after looking at, not realising they might come in handy!)

 

[clairejen]

I'm in a similar position re chocolate, a small nibble of dark chocolate is somehow more satisfying than a full bar of milk chocolate. I wouldn't buy a bar of dark to eat, not sure why, but there is always some in the cupboard for cooking (& nibbling). I don't think I could have a cupboard full of milk chocolate for long, it would call me too loudly.

Carcassonne was a spur of the moment choice, it looks very interesting and is a place we are unlikely to visit by car because it is so far south. The old cite is amazing, I can't decide whether it is best to find accommodation there or down the the lower town. I'm almost persuaded that the lower town is best, you get a view of the citadel but don't have so much climbing up and down to get anywhere. We have had several short breaks flying with Ryanair, we pick places where the airport is near the town and just have a few days there. It is cheap and quick and easy, we've had some great holidays that way.

Has your friend been looking on the gites de france website, that's where we usually find places.
Gites de France

I think I've been eating rather too much today, it must be the weather. I can't believe how cold I've been feeling.

 

[Maintainer]

oooh I'm with you where the cold is concerned. We went to bed to read at 9.30pm cos I was freezing! And half an hour later, I got up to dig out my bed socks!!

My friend has rented here many times, although not before in Carcassonne, so am sure she has tried GdeF but this time is coming with a dog, so driving, and so will have a car and won't necessarily want to be in the main part of town. When I email her shortly, I'll see what her thoughts are re best place to be!

1/2lb up on the scales this morning after a higher carb day yesterday. Will this always be our fate, I wonder? Two days from weigh in and currently weigh exactly the same as last Friday which does NOT bode well as I leave on holiday two weeks Friday and am still 3K up on July 11 start of last holiday (when my white jeans looked so awful in photos grrr!).

This morning, hurrying from the tube under an umbrella, I had to REALLY fight with my chatterbox not to stop off and buy croissants... it could well be the weather. We're supposed to be so hot in the summer that we prefer eating celery sticks and carrots for treats!

 

[clairejen]

Hi, it is totally freezing here too. We have to sleep with the window open because our very furry dog gets too hot, so I am wearing in pyjamas, dressing gown and socks just so that she doesn't end up panting all night.

Your friend has a long drive down to Carcassonne, not so bad on the motorways but a lot of travelling. There are some pretty villages along the river and canal which would make a good base, driving in the city looks a bit manic.

Congratulations on resisting the croissants, that must have been a hard struggle. Are you getting as fed up with self-denial as I am? I so want to be able to have something I fancy without saying "no, think of the calories" all the time. JUDDD is supposed to allow you that, but since the plateau I haven't dared be so lenient. My scales are unchanged this morning, so I hope today's DD will get rid of the extra half pound if not more. Although I haven't measured I do feel a tiny bit thinner, and there are two DDs until I weigh on Saturday so some chance for a small loss.

How to deal with slow weight loss has been my bugbear for a few years now. It isn't something that ever worried me when I was younger because the weight came off easily, but now it is a major struggle. I wish I knew the answer - and so does everyone else on this forum, we are certainly not alone. My DH is always saying diets don't work, my reply is that not dieting isn't going to work either. He has changed his eating habits since giving up smoking, stopped having butter on bread and given up biscuits, and keeps his weight pretty stable. I'd rather still have things I like so my only option is to have less, and quantities are so difficult to do precisely.

 

[Maintainer]

Poor you with the window open. At least when we get to the country place Friday evening we'll be able to light a fire! Ridiculous, isn't it?! I think the warmth is supposed to return, here at least, by the weekend (which is a shame as I LOVE huddling beside the log burner!).

Last September, my friend and her man drove from London to Provence, stopping off at mine midway for an overnight stop each way (exactly midway, funnily enough). Carcassonne though is a different route, so my place wouldn't help them, so they're doing an overnight stop somewhere else en route. With two drivers and an overnighter, and of course French motorways are so comparatively peaceful and empty to travel on, it's not like driving half the distance on UK roads! We always choose to arrive in the UK at about 11pm/midnight so as not to go round the M25 at the wrong time (which is about 22 hours of the day, I believe!).

I regularly do have spells of being fed up with self-denial, and now that I can't just smoke myself out of those feelings, I have been acting on them unfortunately! One thing which I do find peculiar is that, after a good weigh in, I'm raring to go and want to lose more so wouldn't break the diet for anything in the world. After a slight gain this morning, which I know is just a water / carb blip, I want to EAT!

My DH is fed up with my self-deprivation and wishes I could just eat "normally"... gosh so do I... and I WILL one day, just not when almost a stone over my summer wardrobe weight! My DH is overweight, but is fine with it and doesn't binge eat, just eats too much of the wrong thing too often...

 

[clairejen]

The psychology of diets is strange, I'm the same when the weight is going down - it creates its own enthusiasm. That may be why people stick to VLCDs so well, the encouragement of it working, plus the ketosis of course, carries you along. And afterwards you find your stomach has shrunk to the extent you can only eat quite small amounts - doesn't last, sadly.

Driving in England is a misery, and gets worse all the time. We don't have any options though, trains are outrageously expensive and unreliable and buses slow beyond belief. I don't know what the answer is, reducing the number of people seems like a good idea.

Today it is simply too cold for salad, I am going to have soup instead. I'm baking myself some very tiny bread rolls so I can at least have a little bread - not baking specifically for me but taking some of the dough from the bread I was making anyway. I'll keep saying "just one" so I don't get carried away.

 

[Maintainer]

and I know we all find, as we near target, that perhaps because the same desperation or urgency isn't there, and the compliments flood in, it all becomes so much harder to motivate oneself.

I often suggest to people in the UK that the motorways should be tolled, like over here, and then people on short journeys would keep off and use *other* roads, but I'm told that the other roads aren't properly maintained/up to much most often. Shame because here there really is the choice of paying the tolls on motorways OR taking the more scenic route!

I know exactly what you mean about eating salad in this weather... awful. Still cold and rainy here, yet somehow the meteorologists expect us to believe it'll be HOT this weekend? I can't get my head round that yet!

The scales dropped this morning so looking better... what are yours up to? (Your rolls sound heavenly!)

 

[clairejen]

Hi, still grey and wet here too, I was very glad it wasn't my turn to take the dog out. Well done on the loss, looks like things are moving properly for you. Scales are down for me too, in a rather glitchy and grudging manner implying they will gleefully rise a bit tomorrow. Now at 9st8.75lbs so I might see a pound or more loss over the week come Saturday.

I think one of the target problems is that we impose it by weight, we select a figure based on what we weighed a few years ago or something that sounds "about right" - when maybe we should be saying "when I look good in these trousers". There is no really good reason for my choice of 9st7lbs, just that it is well under 10st which I never want to see again, and about the middle of my healthy bmi range. I think I would look better at 9st3lbs, I have short legs and so tend to look dumpy, but don't want to aim there - not yet at least.

The roll was lovely, and only about 65 calories. I proved them longer than usual so they rose more and looked bigger. It actually worked out a fairly low calorie meal because I made the soup with packet bouillon (lazy I know but the values are on the pack) and added steamed julienne carrot and a bit of chicken, so with the roll it was quite satisfying and warm. The rest of the rolls are in the freezer so I can have them one at a time.

The big problem with English motorways is that they were built to replace other roads. They have a large number of exits and entrances, making toll barriers difficult. Really our road system is a mess because roads are not built to any future plan, just to ease areas af appalling congestion. But we do not have the space here, the geography of the country and the domination of London makes it nearly impossible to sort out. I do have some theories but won't bore you with them.

 

[Maintainer]

at least your scales don't wave a red flag at you when they fluctuate upwards as my new ones now do! The one good thing about this flashing red light for any gain is that it's put me right off weighing myself morning and evening, cos I'm guaranteed to see that darn red light in the evening!

You're right there. My initial target weight when I lost my 11 stone was 11 stone. A nice round number, would signify that I'd lost half my body weight and my BMI would be "normal" (albeit 25) for the first time since I was a child!

As I neared 11 stone, I lowered my target to 10 stone 7lbs and, once there, lowered it to 10 stone at which time my DH intervened and made me promise not to keep going on and on... it's true, back in 2003, there was the risk that I could potentially go *the other way* with the eating disorder as I just couldn't see myself as I was and probably wouldn't have irrespective of the number on the scales. It was a good idea to maintain at or around 10 stone 7lbs, and have 11 stone as my "never go above that" weight. And I did manage that, even at Christmas and after holidays... UNTIL I QUIT SMOKING! DARN!

Bread, pasta and rice really aren't the devil's work at all, are they? And calorie for calorie they do make sense provided you don't liberally apply butter (as I tend to!). I had fresh pasta with my dinner on Sunday, and thoroughly enjoyed it, but couldn't resist putting a generous knob of butter on the top!

I smiled at your last sentence!

 

[clairejen]

I would hate to have my scales admonish me, mine have a facility to remember each user's weight separately but I won't even do that. And I never weigh in the evening, I want to see as little as possible showing!

You must have had a major mental reorganisation to fit your self-image to your physical one when you lost weight. How do you relate to your "before" self now? It is so different being on the inside and trying to imagine how others view us. I hate having my photo taken anyway so any pics are a shock, but my fat ones truly disgust me. I suppose I will have to have an "at goal" pic done when I get there, hmmm - hadn't considered that one.

Carbs are not so evil, it is just the addictive effect they can have. On DDs I try to keep to the principle that they can only be eaten with proteins so they don't cause too much hunger. Good idea - but examine the flaws. Chocolate coated nuts qualify, so does trifle and most cakes because of the egg content. Fortunately they are so calorific that I can't have them on DDs no matter what. I don't do butter on pasta, but since I often add pesto or creamy sauces it is just as bad. Tomato is the only safe option, and it gets boring.

The funny thing about the unit diet is that it is primarily low fat, which leads to having more carbs and less proteins, which I am not so happy about. But it does mean my body is used to the carbs so I'm not too worried about reintroduction. In a couple of weeks I shall have to ease into what will be normal eating from then on, this could be tricky too.

Not smoking is becoming the norm here, and smokers are often viewed with some distaste. I think it is still more common in France, which must make it harder to quit. Unless you are like a friend of mine who gave up many years ago but still enjoys passive smoking!