Yellow Watermelon's Exante Journey

I cold-turkeyed out of caffeine about half a week before I started the diet. This was mainly for my own benefit because I love coke (err, the beverage, not the drug - sugar and caffeine ARE my drugs) but I can't really control my intake of it very well. One glass for a treat becomes half a bottle in no time. And, actually, I'm a fundamentally anxious jittery person - why the HELL am I taking something that makes me even more anxious and jittery? At the point I stopped, I was also having trouble sleeping.

I think the generally recommended thing when caffeine is affecting your sleeping is to not have it too late in the day (before 3pm I think?) but obviously that's not so helpful if it's plugging a different craving.

I hope you find a good substitute. And things get less stressful for you.

I'm excited by your adventures of fajizzas. I haven't tried either the fajitas or the pizzas yet - I was dubious about the pizza because it had quite bad reviews (and I'm not mad keen on even non-diet pizza, weirdly) and dubious about the fajitas because it looked like too much effort. But you've definitely encouraged me to branch out. I mean, when I've finished my 16 pots of dhal. :rolleyes:
 
Thanks both of you -
FF - Can you believe that we literally have every other supermarket nearby except a Sainsburys!? No doubt worth the drive if I can sleep again and not feel quite so crazy - or perhaps I'll sign up for online shopping as it does exist and you're right, it's malic acid. Hurrah!

CN (My mum always used to joke about casting nasturtiums, btw, awesome name): I drink my can at about 10am - when I used to have a snack. I can tell I'm not hungry any more, but I think about food, and the drink helps. I don't have anything even after lunch and I still get jittery (I too am a fundamentally anxious jittery person!) I seem to have a sensitivity to caffeine. Apparently it's good for the metabolism, but it's not good for my mental health - or my marriage...!

I've just realised something weird. The multipack boxes from Exante are no cheaper than buying individually. Take sweet and sour noodles: one page is £1.59. 7 packs is £11.13 (11.13/7 = £1.59), and the 50 packs are £79.50 (divided by 50 is...£1.59).

So what's the incentive of bulk buying? Very odd.
 
.... uhhhh ... I never noticed that. And you're right. That's bizarre.
 
To be honest, I usually just cruise the deals page - I mean the 45% May offer is awesome, but they usually have have something like "buy a million products for 80p" and I enjoy those too.
 
I've just ordered some more exante stuff as I was running out of meals, and I've also realised that their deal of 42 meals for £35 (83p) is a better one than 100 meals for £85 (85p). Very strange pricing,

Feeling a good push this morning. I'm 600g off being in the 60s, and I haven't seen a 6 start my weight on the scale for more than 8 years. Possibly 10. I cannot wait until I stand on it and see that 6 staring back at me. Bring it on!!
 
I was also eyeing up that 42 meals deal, but I think I'm set for stuff (dhal) at the moment.

Also congratulations - that is so exciting. I am a long looooooooong way from the 60s (as in 40 kg away OUCH) but at least I know you can get there if you keep at it!
 
castingnasturtiums said:
I was also eyeing up that 42 meals deal, but I think I'm set for stuff (dhal) at the moment.

Also congratulations - that is so exciting. I am a long looooooooong way from the 60s (as in 40 kg away OUCH) but at least I know you can get there if you keep at it!
Click to expand...
Absolutely! This is my last in a series of efforts, which properly began (this time) in March 2016 with slimming world, so it's the home stretch of a long journey. I used Slimming World to get to this point, but I wasn't getting any further, and I plan to go back onto Slimming World when I get to goal so that I can maintain. I think these things are a lifetime challenge now - I will never be one of those people who can just pick up some takeaway when I'm tired and not expect my weight to react. Ah well, there are worse things in life than having to worry about food! :)
 
Hi guys! I’m on day 2 of TS and I’m feeling really physically tired, it feels like even a lot of effort to bend down and pick something up and I get very lightheaded.
I’ve also felt quite sick this morning.
Did any of you experience this and do you know if it passes?

It’s been lovely reading this thread,
I hope you don’t mind if I join in
 
Sorry to jump into YW's thread (hope you're doing okay, Watermelon, and had a successful weekend on plan!) ... but well ... I guess I have too much time on my hands and basically like talking to people :p

So, hi Lena and welcome to the forum! I'm going to ask you a bunch of slightly personal, body related questions so feel free to ignore me: Is this your first time on a VLCD? What weight category are you (I mean, do need to lose a lot or is this just a 'oops, put on a stone' type situation). And did you binge / what kind of diet did you have before you started TS? What kind of activity level are you doing?

The reason I'm asking is because it's really hard to judge someone else's reaction to going from normal food to a VLCD: basically it *is* a shock to the system and the body does freak out a bit when you first start, especially if you're overweight or obese (I'm obese, yay). Also if you're used to very hard carb / caffeine heavy type lifestyle and you suddenly drop one or both, you can actually get serious withdrawal: caffeine withdrawal is well documented, but you can also get carb flu which I've been through (not this time, thankfully) and it was horrible.

I'd say (though I'm not a doctor or an expert!) that very tired and a bit light-headed is pretty normal for days 2-5. I actually timed my start to the weekend so I could lie on the sofa, just to get through it. So ... I'd probably lean on the side of "probably normal" and try to stick through it until at least day 4 or 5. But if things get worse or you actually feel faint I would start to be concerned.

The feeling sick also worries me a little. Sometimes the strong mineral content of the products can make some people feel nauseous--I would try adding more water to your shakes or only using half a packet a time (making sure you're still taking the right number of product per day, of course, just more spread out).

Finally: water water water. Are you drinking enough? I think they recommend 2l a day but, honestly, I drink a minimum of 4l across the day. It really helps with a lot of the side effects, as well as general feelings of well-being.
 
I’m just under 15 stone and I want to get down to at least 10 stone. It is my first time on this kind of diet but previously I would say I ate fairly healthy meals for lunch and dinner, However I just snacked a lot. Crisps are my weakness haha!

I’m actually not doing any proper hardcore exercise as a friend of mine who did Cambridge said to not because of the low calorie intake.. I do walk about an hour per day because of going to and from work.

I used to eat a lot of carbs so that might be it and also lots of sugar in coffee. I’m drinking 3l of water a day and have for a while.
To be honest as the day is progressing I feel a lot better and I haven’t had that sickly feeling again.

Thanks so much for the advice I love having someone to chat to about this stuff! I’m definitely holding this out and getting my goal. I have done before through different diets, I just find it hard to keep it off!
 
Yes, I totally get the crisps weakness.... *stares at 16st self* And I also love having people to chat about - since being on a VLCD especially gives you a very narrow range of things to be boringly obsessed about it. You should make your own diary thread (if you fancy it) so we can all cheer you on on your journey. And I personally think helps with accountability.

I'm so glad you're feeling better - it sounds like you're doing everything right so maybe you're just detoxifying from carbs and sugar? And, from my not-an-expert place of understanding, your friend is definitely right that you shouldn't do heavy exercise on a VLCD: I just know sometimes people want to do everything at once, so they like cut their calories to nothing and then join a gym ... and then either eat a horse or fall over.

So just be gentle with yourself--and push through the lethargy and woozy feelings. They should be gone by day 5 at the absolute latest.
 
Yeah thanks! I might actually start my own. I’ve had 3 shakes a day, nothing else but I think I’ll struggle just having sweet, so I was thinking of buying some of the meals and just have one in the evening instead of a shake. But do you have any recommendations of which ones are actually tastier?
 
Watermelon recommends the fajitas (see above) but I haven't tried them yet. I find the sweet and sour noodles (not the rice, the noodles - the rice is grim) and the daal pot most tasty and like food. I accidentally ordered 16 pots of daal so I haven't had much chance to try the others yet but I find the on-site reviews a pretty good indicator of whether something is rank or not.

If you want a change for breakfast, I've found the cocopuffs fairly decent and there's a granola thing that isn't bad either.

The bars tend to be quite sweet, but I also find them a nice contrast to the shakes if you want something to ... err ... close your teeth around. I definitely could not do three shakes a day, though - I realise appreciate the variety you can get with Exante.
 
I’m going to order some of the noodles they look good! So does everything have the same calories and everything you need, whether I have a shake or a replacement meal?
 
Yes, every product contains 1/3 of your RDA of vitamins and stuff, and you can have whichever products you want, interchangeably. I mean, I guess technically you could have 3 noodles a day if you wanted to, but it's usually advised to mix it up a bit. I tend to have a savoury meal of some kind in the evening, and then shakes or bars in the day depending on my mood. Once I was out and about all day, so I took three bars (since I didn't think I'd be able to faff around making up shakes) and it was basically fine and didn't seem to impact either weight loss or leave me ravenous.
 
Okay yeah I might order some meals rather than shakes if that’s the case. I don’t struggle with shake for breakfast as I never really had breakfast before so I like to think of it as a drink in the morning
 
Hello peeps! I've been offline for a few days with a crazy work schedule, so I'm sorry I didn't welcome you, Lena!

I have an uber sweet tooth and I desperately need to have the savoury meals once a day to keep me sane. They are really salty, and you need to drink loads of water with all of them, but it really helps to have something not sweet.

A lot of people seem to recommend the shakes only, but I can't get by with that - I need to chew! I usually have a shake for breakfast, a bar for lunch, some kind of snack in the afternoon (bar / shake / bit of chicken, etc) and then a meal in the evening. I try to keep a bit of one of my bars to have as a mini 'pudding' after the meal, so that I feel like I'm ending the day with a bit of sweet. I'm on the man plan (I'm not a man btw, but apparently it's intended for people with a BMI over 25 and under 30, which is where I sit), hence the four meals rather than three.

I agree that the sweet and sour noodles are the tastiest, but the fajitas and pizzas are good for when you are having bread / real food cravings. I usually put a couple of slices of cucumber or lettuce into my fajita, so it has some crunch without adding to the calories too much. The bars are brilliant for travelling - I work away a lot and it's so much easier to head off with three bars in my bag than have to worry about breakfast, lunch, snacks, etc.

Nasturtiums - I thought of you twice yesterday...The first was when I sat down in a stinking hot train on my way home, and started eating a strawberry yogurt bar, and remembered your (not so flattering) description of it. It was slightly melty, and omigod, it was delicious. The yoghurty / white chocolate thing was all melting off, and the strawberry jam was soft, and it was all so good. Then, I had dahl for dinner, with a squirt of hot chilli sauce in it.

I am feeling myself waver on this programme at the moment - it's been six weeks, and the weight loss is stalling. I am only half way, and feeling a little frustrated that nothing has moved in a week. I have had the odd meal here and there with pre-booked guests, etc, but I'm always careful with what I cook and serve, and it's my stupid body that seems to slow the metabolism to suit the diet. So, I'm thinking I might move to the 1200 plan, which was my original intention. I'll see how this week goes and decide from there.

In other, terribly exciting news, I decided to try the non-low-sugar shakes. I'm having the first one - choc mint - for breakfast this morning, and I have to say I'm a bit unimpressed. I thought the extra sugar would make it way tastier than the chocolate low sugar one, but nope. Definitely not hugely impressed yet.
 
Hiiii - welcome back. The problem with doing a VLCD is that time get super compressed because of food being so controlled and so I was all like "omg, where is Watermelon" and then "calm down, it's only been two days." I'm glad you're well and hope things have calmed down for you at work.

Also, for all my disparagement of the strawberry yogurt bar, it's definitely my favourite - I do love me some strange tasting goop over sawdust.

To be honest, I don't have much insight into using a VLCD for using small-ish amounts of weight. I think they're generally most effective for helping disastrously obese people like me - because then there's a motivating balance between regular sizeable losses and the psychological downer of eating powder 3-4 times a day. But obviously weight loss is going to be much less marked at the lower end of the scale. And so (from a position of total ignorance) I'm inclined to agree with you that probably the 1200 might suit you better for where you are.

To me, at least, it would feel much easier to be patient with smaller weekly losses if I was also eating food ... if that makes sense. Living on powdered nonsense is only "worth it" in terms of time, health and emotional energy if you're actually seeing a strong return from it. My own plan, for what it's worth, is to stick to three products until I get down to about, well, about your current weight. Which I think should take ... as long as it takes. But I assume maybe 6 months? And then spend the next 6 months (or however long it takes) building up to 1200 calories a day, with some exercise, and hopefully some further gentle weight loss until I'm comfortably in the healthy range. Point is, I'm prepared to take the last couple of stone / 15kg or so more slowly because I'll be healthier all round. But right now I just need an intervention before I die of being too fat.

Err: in short. I am cheering for you whatever you decide. And you are already really close to your healthy BMI which is awesome.

My favourite Exante shake at the moment is the coconut. I had a chocolate mint a few days ago and while I wouldn't say "unimpressed" I was indifferent. Which made me a bit sad because choc mint was my favourite on CWP.
 
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