VLCD Sequel: Electric Boogaloo

Oh my god, no, you don't sound like a bore at all! I really appreciate your insight. And will definitely avoid the wine, steak and chocolate ;)

I guess what was giving me pause about Exante was that it suggests you have every 4th week off, whereas most VLCDs (CWP most notably I think) suggest the 13th.

I'd really rather not take a food week quite this early. Maybe I could compromise on 8?
 
I actually had a positive food adventure tonight.

My lunch bar was supposed to a slim 'n' save one. Praline apparently, praline my arse. I've come to the conclusion that slim 'n' save are pretty much the worst of the VLCD product makers. They're not cheaper than Exante and everything legitimately tastes dire. I pity whoever goes looking for a VLCD and stumbles on them.

Anyway, I couldn't eat this allegedly-praline bar, it was that awful. And my tolerance of bars is much higher than my tolerance for shakes. So I had a few bites and stuffed it in my bag in case hunger caught up with me and I got tempted to cheat.

I'd speculatively ordered a few of the ready meals from Shake That Weight (I am such a VLCD dilettante, I'm going to get thrown off the Exante forum, but my primary loyalty is Exante!) to see what they were like. The Mexican Chicken is 230 calories putting it slightly above average compared to the rest of the products but given the fact I'd only really eaten one product today (the strawberry and yogurt I had for breakfast) I thought it would be okay.

And, err, shockingly it was real food. Like actual chicken. In a sauce that tasted almost actually of tomatoes, with a few legitimate pieces of sweetcorn splooshing happily in it. It was mainly sauce though, so I guess it was sort a mexican-chicken tomato themed broth? Anyway, I was so shocked and impressed by it, I actually took a picture.

Here it is:
20180510_172307.jpg


Anyway, I scarfed it down with glee. It was salty as hell (I think I drank two pints of water with it) but it felt like an actual meal. And the chewing of actual (slightly dry) chicken was incredibly satisfying.

It was so close to being real food that on finishing, I actually felt over-full and had to have a lie down. I

I'm slightly worried about it's effect on the diet / ketosis but I checked the site and it's definitely a permissible product on a VLCD. I even checked the carb count in case there was danger lurking and ran it through MyFitnessPal (in my case better called MyFatnessPal) and there's only 9g of carbs in there.

It all seems a bit too good to be true, to be honest. I mean, I wouldn't want it every day. But I could see this making an amazing treat 'meal'.

(Now I'm worried I sound like I'm advertising Shake That Weight: not affiliated with anybody. Just ate some nice-ish chicken).
 
More expensive as Exante but less expensive than CWP or LighterLife. The meals are £3.99 which, y'know, considering you can get most Exante products for between 80p and 1.50 is significant. They've got an offer at the moment for three ready meals for a tenner which, while still a bit pricey, is what tempted me to give them a go.

So I'm treating the ready meals as kind of ... a special occasion thing. Obviously tonight wasn't a special occasion, I just wanted to see if they were edible. But I'm going to save my other 2 and maybe have 1 a week or something. Again, looking at the calorie information and the carb counts, I don't *think* they can bad for the diet. But I'm really not an expert so I have no idea.

The shakes and soups are more reasonably priced (I think the shakes are about 1.25 and the bars are 1.60 - but I haven't tried them so I don't know how they compare to Exante.
 
I have to the conclusion that I will neither be sliming nor saving on slim 'n' save because most of the products are, to me, inedible. I mean, this is a VLCD I'm not expecting a gourmet feast. But we are talking weird textures, horrible aftertastes, horrible actually-happening-right-now tastes. Urgh. I got my current products on a deal and I bought very conservatively (since I think it's never worth investing in VLCD products until you know what you're getting) so tossing some of them away feels inherently wasteful but not like I'll need to take out a second mortgage to support my VLCD habit.

So I ditched the spare praline bar (having experienced its horrors yesterday) and the chocolate bar (having nibbled a corner and regretted it immediately). But I did manage to eat the yogurt coated muesli bar, which was ... bearable. Lightly sweetened sawdust: yep, I am here for that.

Yay for Friday though - although I always get nervy at weekends in case having more freedom/more people around makes me randomly cheat. Despite my having no intention of doing so.

Basically I don't trust me. Perhaps unfairly. But I don't.
 
Oh, I love the strawberry jam bars! I do find that if you try to suck off the 'white paint' bit it is vaguely reminiscent of white chocolate. They aren't quite as filling as the protein style bars though (like the peanut butter one).

I'm having an almond milk latte every morning now. It's always been part of my routine and I was missing it, and then I realised it added 26 calories and no carbs to my day, and I figured that was definitely worth it.

2 miles is awesome. I've got to get into the exercise thing at some point.
 
I wouldn't say I'm "into" the exercise thing so much as mandated to do it on account of it being my only way to get into work ;)

I am definitely buying almond milk tonight! It's just too good to ignore.

I've never got on with the peanut butter bar because, while it's totally fine, I actually love peanut butter. So my tastebuds or my brain want/expect the bar to taste *more* of peanut butter, which of course it doesn't.
 
I don't know what possessed me but I went into the staff loos today and took a picture of myself in the full length mirror. I mean, I knew it was going to be grim: worst possible lighting, glamorous setting of public toilet etc. But, jesus, I looked horrific. I feel better for my 7lb loss but apparently that is not manifesting anywhere on my body. Which, y'know, fine. I'm in this for the long haul.

But it still did not make me feel great about myself. *slumps*

I thought it was worth recording so I could ... track the journey I guess? And serve as a reminder to never let myself get this way again.

And for the record, I don't mean to fat shame. What society deems an acceptable shape for bodies (especially female bodies) is impossibly narrow. I think it's perfectly possible to be fat, healthy and happy. Unfortunately I'm literally obese, unhappy and unhealthy. And it SHOWS.

Yuck.

In happier news: this hazlenut shake from Shake That Weight is actually rather nice. Tastes like watery nutella. Thumbs up.
 
Have a great weekend. Don’t be disheartened your efforts will start to show soon. Your doing great and your positivity is inspiring.
 
Oh no - I guess the photo thing is less dangerous now we have mobiles and the cloud. Unless I accidentally Tweet or something or email it to my boss. I suppose the big advantages of strangers finding is that *they will never know who you are*. But I can see not wanting a 'weird' photo of yourself floating around in the world.

Also thank you for the kind thoughts. I really appreciate them <3 I'm feeling a bit more bucked up today. And I weight myself on a Sunday so I'm hoping for a couple of lb of progress!
 
I am much cheered this morning. I mean, I still look horrendous but I feel better about for some reason. Or rather I know if I keep at the diet and don't give up or cheat, I will look better, feel better, get better.

Also, as part of my VLCD dilettante journey I had chocolate caramel crunch muesli from The New Young Plan, and I had with 100ml of unsweetened almond milk. And wow, it was so good. I think it came in, with almond milk, at about 215 calories. WORTH IT. Tasted like proper breakfast.
 
I had another almond milk breakfast treat today - this time with the Exante cocopuffs. Luxury. I now dream of almond milk. (do fat androids dream of electric almond milk?)

But I also weighed myself - and I am 15st3lb!!!!!!!

That's 9lb in two weeks. And I know you always lose more at the beginning, yada yada, but this still really happy-making.

I am super hoping to hit 15st by the end of week 3.
 
I’ve been enjoying reading your diary - congrats on the loss so far in such a short time.

I now have almond milk on my mind and may try it in a few weeks. You e also shown me that I’ve not read much about exante and probably should as I new nothing of the refers break. So that’s after three weeks, then week five is TFR again. Scary but okay, I can get down with that.

I’d better go and read up on the diet I have already launched myself into to be really sure I’m doing it right! Also going to google The New Young Plan :D

Have a great start to the week! :)
 
#GymBunny said:
I now have almond milk on my mind and may try it in a few weeks. You e also shown me that I’ve not read much about exante and probably should as I new nothing of the refers break. So that’s after three weeks, then week five is TFR again. Scary but okay, I can get down with that.
Click to expand...

Sorry #GB, I can't spell. New You plan. Not New Young. Blah!

The Exante stuff is here: https://www.exantediet.com/low-calorie-week.list

It's not super obvious but here's what it says:

For those following our Total Solution Plan, we recommend you follow the Low Calorie Week after 21 days of starting.

If you are following our Total Solution Plan, you should follow each of the 7 days of the Low Calorie Week and then return to Total Solution if you wish to continue losing weight effectively with Exante.

If you are following our Flexi Solution, you can simply continue following the plan until you reach your goal.

Part of the way I survive on VLCDs is just ... getting super interested in everything to an obnoxious degree. As in, read everything, try everything. I just know how boring it can get so I try to keep myself engaged as best I can. I'm still hesitating over whether to stick to the Cambridge routine of food break in Week 13 or do what Exante says and have it in Week 4. I'm tempted to adjust it to week 12, tbh, but if my weight loss slows (as Olliepop thought it might) without one, I'll food break around 4 or 5.

PS - thank you for kind words about my rambling. I'm enjoying your thoughts too!
 
Very bouncy this morning due to successful weigh in yesterday.

Also contemplating my walking. Basically, it's 2 miles each way. In the morning, I get a bus halfway and walk the rest, but in the evening I walk the full way. There's also a slightly longer route I can take which adds an extra half mile.

I would really like to build up to doing 5 miles a day - but I'm not sure when or how. After all, I don't want to put undue stress on my morbidly obese body and crush my knees pulp. I'm thinking I will keep doing my 2.5 until I hit 15st. At 15 I will stop getting the bus in the morning, so I'll be doing 4 miles a day.

And maybe at ... 14st? Depending on how I feel. I could go the long way home (making it 4.5 miles in total).
 
Sounds to me like you are already doing quite a bit of daily walking, so I reckon you'll know best later down the line if you need to change it up/down. Personally I reckon an undercurrent of basic exercise is not only good for weight loss, it's good mentally. When I have crap days, or hungry days, or whatever, it's nice that I can think "at least I had a good walk today". Also, at this time of year, it's nice out!
 
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