Slimming World to Harcombe?

[FourArms]

I've been doing SW since 29/8. Initially on EE and now mainly on red days.

However although I've lost 1lb short of 2
stone I haven't lost any weight this week and I've stuck to the plan with the exception of maybe not enough syns / HEB.

Have seen the Harcombe diet and this seems to be more like what I'm doing at the moment although I'll have to swap coffee and skimmed milk for herbal tea and stop my 10 a day satsuma habit ;)

Just wondered what people's losses had been in phase 1 switching from SW? My BMI is still in the low 30s so I've got plenty to lose!

Well done FourArms

I put half a teaspoon of Dijon mustard in my mayo. I agree, it does improve the taste and HM mayo is lovely. I had some tonight with cold gammon and veg

Ashamed to say I grabbed for the 90% Chocolate as soon as I arrived home. Only two squares though !!

Congratulations re the Trousers FA. I have bought a size 10 pair of skinny jeans from Jigsaw, which are currently sitting on the font of my Wardrobe. They are my incentive to keep going !!

I dont think that Cheese is an issue on P2 as long as you eat it with a Fat meal. I have been eating it for several weeks. One of the things I learned on the 5:2 last year is that I crave things because I am told I can't have them. Knowing I can eat cheese on P2 means I am not desperate for it but just eat it occasionally.

I don't think I'm craving cheese, but it does add flavour and increase the recipes I can cook.

I've been watching Sport Relief bake off and am craving cake! Obviously I won't have any, but I could practically taste the sugar!

I had an ok day today.

B: omelette with ham, peppers and cheese
L: chicken and veg soup, salad no dressing, 5 slices salami, green olives
S: slice of meatloaf
D: cottage pie made with swede, braised leeks

I had a doctor's appointment this morning and he took my blood pressure and told me it was a bit high, 145/90. I've never had high blood pressure before, in fact in my twenties it was always quite low, so am shocked and a little scared. To be fair, I was nervous about the appointment which might have contributed. He didn't want me back urgently, just to check next time I'm there. Now I need to search online for what causes high blood pressure and how diet affects it.

I think my day wasn't too bad - have sort of gently moved onto phase 2 and introduce cheese & cream (& dark choc!) but decided to still avoid wheat, milk and sugar inc fruit for the moment..
B: NLY, bit of ham and cheese
L: salad, bacon fried with a dash of cream
S: 2 squares 80% choc
D: hm thai chicken curry with cauliflower 'rice' - snacked on raw veg while making it
1 square choc
Glass white wine

Hmm not sure how this is - but heavy on the choc? It's gone now though so won't buy any more for a while as not sure I'm ready to eat it in moderation!

Skinny jeans sound good NSHTH! As soon as my new trousers aren't tight I'll get a pair of size 12s to be my target :)

Kazza - 'white coat high blood pressure' is a known phenomenon so if you were nervous that would have a big impact. If you're worried you can get an electronic BP cuff for about £15 from pharmacies. Mine used to be so high in stressful classes (taught Applied Science so looked at healthcare hence checking BP) that I should have called an ambulance. It was always fine at home though.

Perri - I think the wine will be the problem there. The body always uses that first as an energy source. That means the other things you eat with it can be stored as fat. My other comment would be that your day is a bit light on veg - but perhaps your salad and raw veg were substantial? Ham & bacon are both processed, so ideally not everyday foods. But you'll know the truth with measurements and weight if you weigh. It might be that you can tolerate that level? Good luck!!

I had a lovely visit from the whoosh fairy (Bootcamp phrase for maintaining / losing slowly and then having a big loss) overnight so I'm 1.2lb down today! That's only 0.4lb lower than pre-gammon but does show it was probably just water retention. I'm still having my tuna too, but will buy it in oil when this batch runs out.

Have a good day everyone :)

FourArms well done

Thanks for the blood pressure info. I am really stressed at the moment. Can't really afford a blood pressure cuff right now, so will wait and see what happens. I have a gynae appt in ten days, might ask them to measure too. Would you call 145/90 slightly raised or very high? I have a tendency to anxiety anywAy, I really didn't need something else to worry about!

It all depends on what it is normally.

Lots of pharmacies will do a free check. Might set your mind at rest?

Look at this - 145/90 is only slightly above normal :)

I don't know what it normally is - in my twenties they always told me it was low.

I might get a free reading somewhere to put my mind at rest.

Terrible, day yesterday !! 6 squares of 80%, cheese, macadamia's, curry (with cauliflower rice) and two handfuls of popcorn. Couldn't believe how high the Popcorn was until DD pointed it out.

I have no idea why I was so naughty, but do find it really hard when away from home with no control over mealtimes. The macadamia's were because we were way beyond lunchtime and driving. The cheese mid afternoon because I was so hungry, the curry because I was a dinner guest and ate what was cooked, the Popcorn because the children were sat next to me eating it and the Chocolate, who knows !!!

Well done to everyone else for managing to behave themselves yesterday!!

I would't stress about the BP reading Kazz. You should make another appointment, ask the Doctor to check it again and if it is still high ask him to explain why and what you can do about it. It is your health and you need to take control of anything that impacts it !!

NotSure, sorry you had a bad day yesterday . You're right, the times away from home where we have no control are the most difficult.

It's not easy to find snacks to carry around with you for those moments when you can't eat on time. Sainsburys do little packs of prawns, I tend to grab those, if I need a snack, and I don't have the seafood sauce, as it's laden with sugar. They do need to be kept in the fridge though. I take cherry tomatoes in my handbag too. And little packs of olives in olive oil.

I have managed without chocolate for the last couple of days, because my 90% has all gone, but I probably will have a small glass of red wine tonight.

For me this is the best time of the month, next week my hormones start to change and I struggle and use chocolate to comfort

NSHTH - :( but it's only one day. Getting back on track is the important thing.

And they were generally good choices - only the popcorn really stands out.

Will that be a regular thing? If so planning snacks to take ahead of time is probably the way to avoid a repeat. And maybe have a massive breakfast to keep you fuller for longer.

Am trying to get back on track FA but really struggling with sugar cravings.

I have no idea why or how to kill them.

Porridge and Blueberries for bfast and Meatloaf for lunch, so relatively low today.

My big issue now is that I have been invited to a neigbours house tonight for drinks. I have already refused on several occasions so felt obliged today. Unfortunately he is one of those people who will force alcohol on me all evening, commenting if I don't drink fast enough.

I am planning to drink very slowly and leave a lot !!

Notsure, I know what you mean, the sugar cravings are awful. The only way I can even begin to cope is to not have anything sweet at all for as long as possible.

Another reasonable day.

B: omelette with a little ham, shallot, red pepper and cheese
L: scrambled egg with Mediterranean veg
D: chicken thigh fillets in cream and mushroom and cheese sauce (a lot of cream!) with spinach wilted in butter and some slices of cucumber
S: 4 slices of salami, 4 cherry tomatoes, some olives in oil

Very heavy on the dairy I'll have to see if it means I don't lose anything.

NotSure, could you say you have a headache and take some soda/fizzy water to dilute your wine with?

Hope the drinks party went ok,
My wine on Friday was the first in two weeks and I really regretted it this morning and had a headache all day! I too am struggling with having emergency snacks on me, today I had a crimbles coconut thing and a mini flapjack because I was at a meeting and it was past lunchtime. I think I'll have a small pot of nuts in my bag - not sure they're strictly allowed (are they on phase 2?) but would be better in an emergency than sugar surely.

Also struggling to drink enough. Today I think I only had 2 cups of fruit tea and 2 glasses of water. Any tips to help? I know carrying water out with me would help.

Perri, I struggle with drinking enough too. I drink a lot of decaff black coffee and hope that contributes to my total drink intake.

Managed to restrict myself to two glasses of Prosecco. I reckon that in total I have had 55 carbsfor the day, so hopefully not too much damage.

I think th emergency snack issue deserves some focus. I knw I am going to have a problem on Monday as well. I have signed up to the Harcombe site for three months so will do some research tomorrow. How many carbs were in the Crimbles cake Perri ? I have always found them very sweet, so assumed they must be very high in carbs.

As far as liquid goes, I drink a seection of decaff coffee, decaff tea, apple & cinammon tea, camomile & orange tea and water. At least eight cups a day. I found it hard to drink so much to start with, but have really worked on making myself drink at least once an hour.

Well done

I think I drink about 8 cups too, but mainly decaff coffee or decaff tea, no milk. I have a glass of water every morning to take my supplements.

I find I can drink more bottled water than any other drink - I can easily drink a pint at a time, especially if it's chilled. I prefer tap water if it has a slice of lemon and ice in.

Hope you're not feeling too bad after the prosecco - I felt really ill on NYD after a couple of small glasses of sparkly stuff.

A small amount of nuts would be a good emergency snack - I think macadamia nuts are meant to be particularly low carb. I'm going to keep some pork scratchings in my drawer at work.

0.4lb off today so I've hit my 3 stone target! :) That's since 29/8. :)

I do feel pretty rough this morning FA and have put on 1.6lb, but hope that is just fluid retention.

Have had my porridge & blueberries but am sugar craving again.

I do think the porridge encourages weight retention and the blueberries are causing sugar cravings. I would really like to find an alternative (more research needed).

Hope you are all having a good day !!

Yes, if you can find pork scratchings without additives (posh, bought online, from amazon - posh is the company name) they are a good snack, no carbs.

I don't buy bottled water anymore, it's a luxury I can't afford at the moment, but I do add a squeeze of lemon juice to my tap water.

Congratulations FA. That is a very impressive weight loss in a very short space of time.

I bet you are feeling chuffed to bits today. You certainly deserve to !!

Really struggling today with sugar cravings Rest of the family eating cookie dough ice cream, I really want some I licked the spoon and it was incredibly sweet

Trying to get over it by having 3 squares of 90% dark chocolate.

Think I'll go and cook something for tomorrow.