A 30 day experiment

[Pompbear]

to see how much weight I can actually shift if I really go at it. I'll post properly tomorrow but I wanted to at least start tonight.

Jan 1st: 15.3
Today: 14.9
30 days from now....

I'm vLCD and I can vow to weigh and post every day.

[Pompbear]

14.8

[RubySlippers77]

Hi Pompbear

Didn't want to read and run, I also need to lose a good chunk of weight quickly, just haven't worked out how yet!! Are you following a particular diet/ exercise plan or just cutting back on the naughty foods?!

[Pompbear]

Here's the background


I’m going to check in every day and update my progress. I’m following a vLCD (Cambridge) so I should see movement every few days, hopefully. This is my own little experiment/dairy/blog of my progress. I CAN NOT keep getting fatter, yo-yo-ing and getting even fatter.

I'll be continuing beyond 30 days but I just want to give myself a short burst of motivation. I went to a spinning class last night and stuck to the plan, even though I was pretty hungry. Can't wait for ketosis to kick in and help my hunger.

I’ve been faffing around all year and I can’t face sitting down with my family at Easter (we’re having a big family lunch) the same size as I was a start of the year when I promised that this time would be it.

So, I will be consuming nothing but shakes, water and black tea and coffee. I’ll also be taking additional iron, vit D3, fish oils, fibre and a good bacteria supplement.

I will be going to spinning and body pump as and when I can, and doing a brisk 40 minute walk most days. I don’t have a huge amount of energy for exercise when eating like this so I’ll just do what and when I can. I really want to make a big dent in my weight in this 30 day period.

I have 2 before pics but I don’t want to post them until the end of the 30 days. My goal is to be 10.2, eventually, which I think will still give me a high BMI, but I’ll see how I feel when I get there. I will be curvy but not chubby at that weight I think. I’d love to be 9.2 but I’m not sure I could maintain it, so I’m going to run before I can walk, and aim for a less daunting goal, initially at least.

I’m doing this because....
I want to be fit
I want to feel ok (not cringe) when I catch sight of my reflection
I want to be able to wear the lovely clothes I have in my wardrobe
I want my family to be proud of me
I want to be proud of me!
I’m bored of dieting/searching for clothes that actually fit/starting tomorrow/wishing my life away

It’s a cliché but absolutely NOTHING I eat makes me feel anywhere near as good as I feel when I’m fit, healthy and slim. No food is worth making me feel like I do right now. And how i feel right now is:
Embarrassed, ashamed, a failure, a frump, unhealthy, unfit, like a huge big bloody elephant in the room every time someone mentions food/diets/menus/clothes/size/fitness/exercise. Like I’m letting my kids down, like I have no control, like an idiot, uncomfortable all the time, fed up, annoyed, frustrated, annoyed, did I say FRUSTRATED already? I’m worth more than this. My happiness is more important than my appetite.


I’ve been following the Easter Revamp S&B posts and I'm feeling quite good as I’ve already:

had a hygienist visit and started flossing/using whitening toothpaste (Crest 3d from the US, i think my teeth are a bit whiter)
I have crest white strips ready to try
started taking vitamins/medication regularly and properly (no missed days!)
cut down on caffeine
cut down on alcohol and had a dry February
Going to bed much earlier (a revelation, I feel so much better, why haven't I done this before??!) [idiot icon]
started exercising (riding my bike, walking, swimming, body pump and spinning)
had eyebrows threaded and tinted
tinted eyelashes, using rapid lash
Had hair cut and coloured - love it
started wearing contacts
keeping my nails short and manicured
revamped my cleansing routine – my skin has never looked so good (regular home facials/sonic cleansing/salicylic acid peels)
Updated my make-up so I have a simple routine that makes me look fresh and awake (even if I’m knackered).
Decluttered my house (ongoing with kids toys etc!)
Got a lot more organised (stopped losing keys (have A Place etc)

Joined NT to get out as a family more
More story times with the kids – bought a roald dhal box set to read with them which they are loving
Removed the Kids Tablets...
Stopped watching cr@p TV in favour of good series/movies

Stop checking FB – check it weekly on Friday lunch times
Stop reading the news. It’s depressing and unbalanced. I don’t need it/am not wasting my time.


So I have made some really good progress, but I still need to:

1. Get up earlier
   
2. Get to work earlier/be more organised
   
3. LOSE BL00DY WEIGHT!
   

3 is my absolute focus until I’ve lost some effing weight. Fingers crossed I can lose a big chunk in the next 30 29 days

Wish me luck!

[Pompbear]

Hi Ruby

Thanks! I'm on the Cambridge diet. I've been on and off forever. It works. If you stick at it. I haven't been (obviously). But I am now!

Do you have a goal in mind?

[RubySlippers77]

Well, I've just been to the doctors and (depressingly) been told that I'm 11st 5lb; I'm 5ft 5in so would like to lose at least a stone! I'm being referred for infertility testing, and I imagine they'll mention my weight then :-(

I'll probably go for the Harcombe diet but it does take some organising as I'm vegetarian and there's not many options! How are you finding the Cambridge diet?

[RufusTheReindeer]

Hi pombear

Just wanted to offer my support

"You go girl!"

Also interested in your revamp!

[BitOutOfPractice]

Also wanted to wish you luck

I know some people will flame me for this and I know it's great for quick weight loss but I'm not convinced that the Cambridge is the best plan for people who yo yo or struggle to maintain.

[Pompbear]

oh Ruby, you can shift a stone no probs if you out your mind to it.

I like Cambridge. its OK once you get into it and the best part is the no bloating/feeling full of energy. you cannot cheat though so you do have to be focused.

i've done harcombe but struggled. do you eat fish? I lost well on veggie low carb when I started eating fish (loads of eggs and cheese!)

[Pompbear]

Hi Rufus

Thanks!! I need all the encouragement I can get

[Pompbear]

Bit, you obviously have a point (otherwise I wouldn't be posting here) BUT this is phase one of a multi-stage plan of attack!

Maintenance is a way off but will be low ish carb and lots of exercise. trying to establish the exercise habits now so its all part of normal by the time I'm
in maintenance.

[Jesuisunepapillon]

My heart absolutely sinks when I read these threads. I don't want to be a downer and lots of luck to you (I did a Whole 30 and had a dramatic transformation in a month so it can be done), but just please re-think?

I know several people who have done this diet. They have all, without exception lost lots of weight, been really committed and then put a ton back more on. You think you feel bad now? Imagine how much of a failure that makes you feel. These are people with will power and who thought they changed their eating habits.

I know it's miserable being obese, I've lost 5 stones, I've been there. And yes some people keep their weight off with these meal replacement plans, but those people are exceptions. The Cambridge diet can trigger binge eating disorders like nothing else.

Would you please, please have a look at the Whole 30? It is still a diet, it's still restrictive, but you are eating real food, and very healthy food at that and you will still get a transformation (just look at before and after photos online). I'm now on a low carb diet and losing weight slowly but steadily, because the Whole 30 restrictions aren't sustainable for me beyond 30 days (Cambridge diet would be ten times worse) but you can do several Whole 30's if you're desperate.

Lots of luck with your weight loss, I'm sure you can do it.

[Jesuisunepapillon]

Oh and with Whole 30 you are full, no hunger, so no yo yoing or being provoked into binging. And the food is delicious. Cambridge food is disgusting.

[BitOutOfPractice]

I agree with Jesuis. I know loads of people who have lost loads of weight on Cambridge and then put it all back on and more.
I know you say you'll "only" do 30 days but I think you'll end up more miserablethan when you started

[Pompbear]

Honestly, I don't believe how you lose weight matters. It's what you do next that counts. I've seen people lose loads on all sorts of diets, me included, only to pile it all back on again. The diet I did had no bearing on my weight gain, on each occasion it was my CBA anymore attitude.

There is an odd fascination with certain diets being "worse" for post diet weight gain. Bizarre. and Incorrect. There are as many yo-yo dieters in WW/SW/low carb/low GI etc etc as there are on vLCD.

Perhaps its more noticeable on vLCD because the weight loss tends to be fast and substantial?

Anyway, I could debate this for hours. But not here please. I am determined but I need encouragement not negativity (and frankly just about every man and his dog has those opinions. They're not exactly ground breaking)

[BitOutOfPractice]

I purposely tried not to be negative. Just expressed an opinion. Sorry if it bored you with its lack of originality.

Good luck anyway. I hope you succeed

[RubySlippers77]

Hey Pompbear :)

It sounds like what's more important, for now at least, is that you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how to get there - and I don't just mean the weight loss but the looking after yourself more, exercising more etc - in general increasing your wellbeing!! If following the Cambridge diet is your way of taking care of the weight loss side of things whilst you get everything else sorted, then good luck to you :) it takes away the 'what shall I eat?!' menu panic for a start, and you can think about how to sustain the weight loss at a later date, when your other routines are in place.

I am in envy of the eyebrow threading - used to live in an area where there were loads of places that did it very cheaply and very well - now there's nowhere for miles around, eeeek!

[Pompbear]

Bit, "I think you'll end up more miserable than when you started"... that's not exactly positive.

[Pompbear]

thanks Ruby!

I used to go to a great place that closed so haven't had it done in years, then stumbled across a place on the way to a meeting so quickly had it done and turned up to meeting with red brows worth it though!

[Pompbear]

14.7

[TheGirlFromIpanema]

Well done!

[RubySlippers77]

LOL - I've done the red brows look too - fetching, isn't it?!

Forgot to say, the good part for me about following restricted diets for a certain time is that less cooking is required; I don't enjoy cooking much and at the moment we have no kitchen (OH demolished it last year in anticipation of building an extension that never happened!), so by knowing what I need to buy every week and how to prepare it, it makes life a lot easier :-)

Well done on the weight loss so far by the way!! It's a nice day here, hopefully it will inspire me to go for a run later!

[Pompbear]

Crafty, thanks. I've read that book. I've done all sorts of plans, read heaps and am a trained CBT counsellor so I know how it all works. I just want a kick start. I know the pitfalls. I have a plan for maintenance which will be a healthy low carb, low sugar lots of protein, healthy fats and veg. plus exercise. so I'm good, thanks.

I appreciate all your comments and advice, but I haven't been strong armed, I'm not ill informed, I've done it before and I'm doing it again. So please, encouragement only ladies from now on. if I fail, I will personally come back and tell you all you were right. but at least give me a bleedin' chance to succeed (or fail!) I'm only on day 3!

That, or create your own vLCD bashing thread![wi

I'm off to slurp a yummy starvation shake

[Sparklysilversequins]

Your post of 18.51 yesterday is bang on pompbear. I reduced calories drastically to lose my baby weight quickly and I have never put it back on, in fact I am lighter than I was pre babies. If you lose weight quickly and then continue eating sensibly you'll be fine.