Sugar Begone! low-carb eating for the incredible shrinking women!

[Ormirian]

Let's start afresh!

Fantastic Sal!

OMG Sal, that's a huge amount of weight lost.

I bet the running is really helping - have you got buns of steel yet?

sal thats is a huge amount of weight to lose you should be very proud its very inspiring :)

Hi sal .

Hi MarianH - you bare brave ... Jillian Michael's is very scary ... she frightens me .

Might try that new Wii training thingy (technical term, there) - Person Trainer Club ... might be good???

Btw ... meant to say ...well done sal - excellent weightloss. Keep up the good work and that final 13lb will be gone.

Wow Sal that is just brilliant! Well done, especially on all the running too! Very proud and please do feel you can come back and share any time - even if you're not lc at the moment, you're still part of our gang!

And selfishly that's just the inspiration I need to get my couch to 5k/30 day shred up and running so double thanks for sharing!

Oh girls. I lost control tonight. :(

Didn't eat anything bad- Salad with pineapple and fish- But the quantities. I just kept stuffing my face, could not stop. Made me realize that I really do have eating issues (hate that word, but you know what I mean.) There are a few reasons why today- Dad is coming tonight, and though he's lovely, I always knew he disapproved of my weight (the last time I saw him I was nearly 2st heavier). So I'm sort of nervous about that. Also, doctor called wanting to see me tomorrow after some routine wee tests- Know it won't be anything too bad but it's scratching in my mind all the same.

Possibly also to do with the fact that I have felt fat today- My stomach has been bloated all day- And even though one of the lovely school mums stopped the car just to say that I looked skinny :) I still felt a bit bleeeeeugh.

So. Tomorrow is another day. I can't go back to the way I was girls, I just can't. It's not the weight, it's the control I need to have over myself. May do a bit of Derren Brown self-hypno tomorrow morning to pep me up for a weekend away.

(Sorry about the essay. It's so good to have somewhere to vent! And I do feel better now. I have nice bread, lovely flapjacks and a packet of m and ms, opened, in the pantry, and I haven't touched them, so I can't be that out of control, can I?)

Ham salad
Banana and a few dried apple rings
Coffee
Peppermint tea
Haddock and prawns with a pineapple salad/salsa (binge)

(doesn't look that bad written down!)

Belle I'm sorry you've felt a bit out of control but it sounds like you've got a bit on your mind. Be kind to yourself. Plus, it could have been far worse. When I'm feeling stressed, it usually involves a whole takeaway pizza and garlic bread with coke. Think how much you have changed your eating for the better. 2st is a great loss. And how lovely to have someone stop the car to tell you you are looking good!

Sal I hope to be following in your footsteps. Congratulations .

Timba Jillian has hurt me. Badly. I'm actually afraid I won't be able to get downstairs in the morning without help. My thighs, bum, upper arms and waist have all seized up. I don't even have a waist, so it's pretty impressive that she's managed to hurt it.

Sorry about last night's dramatic outburst, ladies...

Feel much better now. Dad walked in and stopped mid-stride to stare at me. He said I look like a different person. :) Also I've noticed more of a pattern on when I'm overeating... Always when I'm prepering food at tea time, never before then. So I reckon I need a small bowl of salad or something then to combat that hunger.

Thanks for being nice, Marian :)

Belle definitely have a snack then. I worked out that's when I used to loose it too; now I prepare something for myself first and eat it as prepping and it makes all the difference.

Not that I can talk. Ended up having pasta last night, as we had egg yolks left over from cake sale bake and dh said it would be nice to make fresh pasta and hey you know it's his birthday week....ah well. I only had one v small taste of the cake.

And yes belle don't be so hard on yourself. You've done brilliantly and you wouldn't be human if you didn't had the odd slip here and there.

Fresh pasta... hmmm...

Belle I'm pleased that you feel better, and you have taken control back. That is one of the big hurdles. If I lose control, I never seem to get it back. It hasn't happened yet, but if it does, I'll probably need lots of encouraging words! I find this forum so helpful in that respect, because you do get proper support from other people. It is great .

I've been okay with food, just so much hungrier as I've upped my exercise. I wasn't having any 'proper' carbs on an evening, but I've read a bit about how you are supposed to have a little after you workout. This is where my problems always start - lots of conflicting advice. Anyway, I had rye toast with unsweetened peanut butter last night as I was really hungry. That seemed to do the trick.

I do not know what I've lost so far, but I am definitely smaller. I'd put on 1 1/2st from last year (and was still overweight then) and today I managed to get into, zip up and look okay in a dress I wore last year. It's been 20 days so far, and I have shrunk a fair bit.

Must stay away from scales...

Thought I'd pop in to share a couple of things about my lob carb journey this time round.

17 days in and I feel like a different person already. Am not weighing myself since I tend to become a bit obsessive with that. BUT, the extender I had on most of my bras came off this morning, trousers and tops are much looser and my face is def looking thinner so things are going in the right direction.

Appetite has decreased markedly, still get hungry of course but not the kind where I constantly think about food or can't stop eating once I start.

Skin is clearer, energy levels are up and even my mood seems to have changed since I feel a lot more positive all of a sudden.

Really glad that I gave this way of eating another go :)

I see from the other posts that the rest of the participants on this thread are doing well too - congratulations :)

Oh, also, I went into waitrose last night (always fatal :)) and they had a Charlie bigham Breton chicken meal on offer.

It's fresh pieces of chicken with bacon and leeks and then once that's cooked you pour this gorgeous white sauce over it, simmer for two mins and serve.

It was really tasty and has only 0.6 grams of carbs per 100 gr (600gr) pack so really low.

Really lovely option if you're looking for a quick and tasty option occasionally.

Served mine with asparagus cooked in the griddle pan - delicious :)

Low carb not lob

MarianH - you'll always get conflicting advice; the trick is finding out what works for you. For example, some people have given up caffeine - I couldn't contemplate that, but still lost weight with no problem. I also eat fruit, which others avoid. The important thing is to choose an eating plan that you can stick to and enjoy.

I have now had a whole year of low-carbing, and honestly I rarely miss the stodge. I do cheat, though (lunch today was a chicken caesar wrap at Burger King and a few of DD1's chips), but only now and then, so it doesn't really have an effect, but it does make life a bit easier!

Belle - one of my snack-attack moments is when I get in from the school run in the afternoon, and the DCs are rifling though the biscuit tin - I make myself a big coffee instead, or cut a piece of cheddar, and it just kills the cake craving.

I am back from my night away, and I behaved impeccably! Party food yesterday and I managed to dodge it all- Had a salad in the car beforehand, and it was a buffet so no-one noticed I was being antisocial! You should have seen the cakes...
Had a look in Tesco and Primark for clothes that actually fit me, and actually felt tears pricking in Primark when I tried a denim s12 skirt that actually fit me. Can't remember the last time I was a 12. Must be when I was about 15. I don't think I am a 12 yet- Primark sizing must be big, because the Tesco 14s fit me nicely- But it was a big moment for me and helped me not to cheat! I am realizing that, as far as food and weight are concerned, I am a proper drama queen, it's all about emotion and mania for me, and I am so calm and level headed usually.

Yesterday
ham salad for lunch and dinner
Coffee
orange juice
about a dozen grapes

Hope all is going well with you ladies!

Well done Belle - it's so good when you get that positive reinforcement. Well done on avoiding the nasties at the buffet. You are right in that, for so many of us, food is emotion. I know it is for me. I became used to seeing food as a comfort and a reward. If I was down, I would eat. If I was up, I would eat. If I did something well/passed an exam etc I would reward myself with food. It was always about satisfying or pacifying the inner child! I am now seeing that food is fuel - not a form of reward or punishment - and that I am an adult and therefore in control of what I put in my mouth. Yes, I miss bread at times (especially when a lovely fresh loaf comes out of the breadmaker) and sometimes that ice cream looks too delicious but much as I may love them they do not love me and I will only pay the price later - aches/pains/stomach upsets and...weight gain!

Thanks for your post - it really made me think.

Ham salad
An apple
A little quorn bolognaise with salad
a few grapes
coffee

Managed to make chocolate cornflake cakes and a raspberry rice pudding without indulging.

Timba, I am well impressed with the home made bread resistance! I used to make it but I buy it in now...

(What d'you think of that as a name for us low carbers? The Bread Resistance?) :o

I caved in and weighed myself. I'd got in a flap over too much information in about exercise and calories, and panicked I wouldn't be losing anything. Plus I've been feeling very bloated (suspect effing tofu is to blame, which is not good as it's supposed to be a new staple of my diet).

Anyway, 9.5lbs off in 3 weeks. That's not bad. I won't fib, I'm one of those who'd love to step on and find I'd lost a stone, but I know how unrealistic that is (can't help myself ).

Cointreau thanks for your advice; I think I'm going to judge how I feel each time I exercise, and if I am hungry I will eat a healthy snack. I'm feeling pretty confident that I have adapted my eating, it's just getting the quantities better balanced with the exercise that I am doing.

As long as I look better by the summer holidays, I will feel happier. I'm due to, hopefully, restart work in September so I need to at least drop the 1 1/2st I've put on since January. I can't bear the thought of having to buy yet another wardrobe of fat work clothes (I am a yo-yoer, this happens A LOT). I suppose I keep people on their toes, they never know what size I'm going to be next time they see me...

Viva la (Bread) Resistance!!

last week was terrible. However, after a final Friday night blow out and Saturday morning hangover recovery operation, I have been back on the wagon.

Yesterday

B poached egg, 3 slices bacon, 3 cherry tomatoes and some hollandaise
L tapas - chorizo, squid, pork cheek (yum!), and mozz salad plus glass of rose wine
D lamb chops with griddled asparagus and garlic spinach.
cheats - one chocolate eclair sweet and 2 glasses of bitter lemon.

Today
B - plain natural yoghurt
I have managed to resist the Krispy Kreme donuts that a colleague has brought in but off to get a big lunch otherwise I won't resist much longer!

Weight today was a disappointing but unsurprising 10 7.5 - back over the magic 10 and a half stone mark. Gutted. I need to do a big shop and get in lots of cold meat and cheese and veg. Cupboard is a bit bare which isn't helping.

Belle - The Bread Resistance we are! Officially our new name, I think? And seriously well done on resisting the choc cornflake cakes and rapsberry pudding ... that's hardcore.

Well done Marian - that is excellent weightloss for 3 weeks in. Keep it up.

Hi FBB - good to see you again. Re weight gain ... look at it - it's on 0.5 over the half - that's a good long wee .

Hi all ... So after 4 months of Carb Addicts Diet I was feeling great BUT my weight loss had stalled completely and all of a sudden just before Easter I got into a big sulk and went completely off plan, putting all the weight I'd lost (well it was only 5 lbs) back on in the space of 3 weeks. Panicked completely as this was the only diet that had ever worked for me, but obviously after 2 kids and 10 years my metabolism is a bit different (and I was, to be fair, bingeing at every reward meal which isn't going to work).

So, having seen so much faster weight loss on here with Atkins etc I have been trying low-carbing completely - ie no reward meal - following India and Neris - for about 3 weeks and have lost all that weight again. Hooray! It is slow though - compared to those of you who lose 14 lbs in the first few weeks - I am jealous ...

I have to say though, I don't feel as good eating this way as I did with carbs once a day. I'm not sleepy, no carb fog, but no energy spike either, I'm at times struggling physically to do things like climb stairs etc and this is getting worse over time not better. I need to find a way to tweak what I'm doing so as not to stop losing weight, but to get a bit more energy. Without going back to secretly bingeing daily.

I am thinking of introducing just one of their 'phase 2' foods (porridge, yoghurt, dark chocolate, higher carb veggies) but not every day - maybe every other day or something? Do you think this would be a good idea?

Timba - LOL, I have been pooing like an elephant today (TMI) so hoping I've lost a lb that way by tomorrow.

Lunch: buritto salad from new place. Their portions are a bit stingey and the meat is not as nice so will have to go back to the old place which is a bit further away. Had to have M&S dinky cheese and half package of piri piri chicken (0.2g carb per 100g!) in order to ram myself full in order to avoid the donuts. So far so good. Do have a bit of a head ache but need to drink more water I think.

Dinner will be bacon and avocado salad. Should be lovely.

SA- I had that heavy leg thing for about a fortnight when I started this WoE. It does go with time.

I eat yoghurt - full fat plain youghurt or full fat greek stuff, with berries if I need something sweet but no sugar and no artificial sweetener (cos I hate the stuff). I also have 70% dark choc and am pretty free with the veg. I don't eat potatoes or sweet potatoes but eat tomatoes, butternut squash, carrots (but only in salads shredded, rather than boiled as a side dish). Also have lentils and berries. Yog (small pot) and dark choc (up to 6 squares of say G&B) is every day. Berries twice a week or so, lentils once a week/10 days, other veg - I really can't get excited about restricting them so as and when I fancy them. Porridge - I would try it if it makes a big difference but aim to keep it low in fat and don't use as an excuse to load it up with dried fruit/sugar etc!

I have realised that I need you guys so I am going to try to post at least 2 a day from now on. Prepare to be bored by the sound of my posts!

FBB that's defo a lb ... [blush)

bacon and avocado ... mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Sounds lovely.

SA - I'm a bit of a purist so I'm not the best one to advise to advocate not following the plan. However, I would say that if you function better on a few carbs then have some ... I would say though, have them earlier rather than later in the day.

Yesssssss freebuttonbee and your promise of posts- Feel like I am boring everyone on here, especially as my food lists are almost exactly the same every day! Salad anyone? :o