Starting today... 2st to lose.

[owlets]

Whilst shopping with my super slim friend over the weekend I realised just how fat I feel - and getting on the scales provided proof. I've put on 2 stone - 1 stone of which has come on very recently ( think a month or two?!).
Other than looking lumpy and increasingly featureless, my legs are achy and I don't feel like I've woken up properly ever.
So, I'm going to start on the diet today. The plan is to eat lots of veg and fruits, lean meats, and limited carbs. I'm going to have 3 decent sized meals a day, and not snack unless I'm truely hungry.

I'm going to weigh myself and post on here every Tuesday. Anyone who wants to join in please do!

Starting weight; 11st 13.
(Target weight 10st so 1st 13lbs to lose)

Btw the main reason for the link was the bit at the bottom about the 4 Rs as a way to tell whether or not something should be eaten. Really helpful, and is exactly what I need to get me through a weekend of temptation.

ew. that's nasty! i was going to have a vanilla steamer at the cafe in twenty minutes! now i might not be able to!

anyway - i weighed in at 12 lbs on the dot today, which is 2 lbs off this week, as i had ended up back at 12.2. so i'm reasobaly pleased and going in the right direction again. so next week i'll have passed the 12 mark (again, lol)

we went out for dinner last night and i had a small portion of couscous paella, which was a bit weird as it was an italian restaurant, but at least i didn't have a large carbonara . dh wants steak tonight, so i'll have mine with salad whilst he devours carbs...

ds is a bit weird about food. he seems to be growing out his sensory stuff, but is becoming pickier about what he actually eats. no dx, but we're back at the paed on tuesday. i'm toying with the idea of doing the GAPS diet with him, but it's sooooo much work. he's a fruit and veg monster, but the chances of me getting him to eat anything home fermented are minimal!

right, i'm off to meet up with a lady who's going to try and attempt to persuade me to help out with the brownies and then off to school to meet up with dd2's teacher and (apparently, which was a surprise to me) the ex-deputy principal, who's now the senco equiv. it'll be fine, but it's about the fortieth time i'll be doing the 'hello! and welcome to dd2' speech. and she's not 8 yet. still, all helps to make life easier...

well done with your losses, ladies. nice and easy is good! i'm jealous about the fitness bug that's going around - i'm an ex-blooming marathon runner, not that you'd believe it to see me, lol. feeling the urge to push it a little bit though, which is encouraging. maybe a fast walk with the dogs

I'm scared to look at that link Lambskin - dh often reminds me that milk contains pus, but dairy is pretty unavoidable when you're a veggie. Same thing with eggs. Someone once told me they are effectively chicken periods - couldn't eat them for a couple of years after that.

We've been advised to treat ds1 as coeliac by his paediatrician and dietician, which is enough of a pain, but add to that that he won't eat nuts (smell and texture), pulses (texture), potato (texture again, but has started having some roasts and will eat chips), peas, sweetcorn or avocado. So basically everything that's good for him and would pad out his diet. We are back to the paed this month because he's had a massive weightloss since January (getting on for a 3/4 of a stone now) and am dreading that they are going to say we have to remove dairy as well. There's absolutely no way I could ever get him to eat meat - he's militant about being a veggie. Which is odd, because dh and I have never pushed our views onto him or even discussed vegetarian much with or around him, just not fed him meat. Ds2 is the same, all thanks to a book about meat farming they both read in year 1 at school.

Madwoman - congratulations on the weightloss this week.

I looked into GAPs, but just knew I couldn't commit to it, also had the same concerns about getting the dcs to eat home fermented stuff.

Have a go at the shred - g'wan - you know you want to! Honestly, I'd never have thought I'd be getting addicted to exercise again a couple of weeks back, but it definitely 'does' something to you that makes you want to do more. It helps that its only 20 minutes long, so just when you think you might die - its over!

I've spent the past two hours, labelling school clothes and equipment and I haven't finished yet. Aaargh! Also found out all ds1's special pencils, rulers etc and associated leads, as well as his colouring pencils, pencil sharpener and rubber never made it home at the end of last term. Its my own fault - I should have checked, but I had had it with the whole school thing by the end of July and just wanted to forget it for six weeks.

Morning all!

Absolutely exhausted! Had that fundraising night last night where I was photographer. We got the performers to sign a photo album and then auctioned it off, with the winner being able to select from my photos of the night so they had their own prints of the night.

I thought they'd struggle to get a fiver for it. It sold for £27! So I'm now editing the photos like a mad thing and waiting for an email from the winner.

I got asked for my business card a few times, and even got mistaken as a photographer from the local paper!

All in all a good night. I was a bit naughty and had 2 slices of pizza for lunch but seeing as I then didn't eat anything else, I'm letting myself off!

oh, well done on the fundraiser, lollipop. sounds like great pr for you!

Yes, well done Lollipop. Its sounds like a great night and also fantastic promotion for your skills.

I am here to report that level 2 of the shred is actually killing me. I have just done day 3. On day 2 I almost quit and dh had to come and pace me to get me through to the end and today I actually sobbed all over him that I couldn't face doing it. He wasn't sympathetic and told me to pull myself together and get on with it. Mainly because he'd already half died doing it himself before I got up! In my defence, I have raging pmt and haven't slept properly in ages.

Still, I did it and it was very tough, but I think very slightly easier than yesterday. That's not to say I won't sob again tomorrow morning before I have to get started, but I'm going to stick at it because I discovered yesterday that my old size 14 jeans are now loose! When I started all this diet and fitness lark back in June, I was wearing a size 16 that was too tight and really should have been in an 18.

Measured myself yesterday (day 2 level 2) against my measurements from day 2 of level 1 (12 days before) and found I've lost 2.5" off my chest, 2.5" off my waist, 2" off each thigh, an inch off my hips just a smidge under 1" off each knee!

So despite feeling like its killing me, there's plenty of motivation to keep going.

The only thing is, my weightloss has completely stalled, however, I'm finally learning that the numbers on the scales aren't the most important thing on this journey. Which is good, because I have been far too obsessed with them up until now, weighing myself too frequently and obsessing about every tiny fluctuation.

Moose - that is fabulous news! Not that the shred is killing you obviously, but that your 14s are baggy!! Completely agree about not getting caught up in the scales watching.

Well done madwoman on your 2lbs! Marathon runner? Very impressed. Makes me think of the cross country running at school, I always got a stitch as I was leaving the school grounds and staggered around the rest of the course in misery and pain. So if I can catch the exercise bug you certainly can.

Good news about the fundraiser Lollipop, sounds like you're well on your way to making this a successful career, well done

Been for a gentle family walk through the forest trail near us this morning which was lovely despite ds2 complaining about the noise and freaking out about bears (thanks dh). So not much exercise wise but a very good food day.

we had a 6yo girl attacked by a cougar here last month . and i freak out about bears in the forest as well lol, so he's in great company.

if i'm on my own, i walk the dogs in town/ on the trails around town, or at the off-leash area (where we did in fact bump into a cougar, but i had fil with me and it ran into the bushes. they destroyed it 2 days later in the same place, because it attacked a dog. eek.)

walked up the sledging hill with the dogs this morning. dh thinks i am crazy, as did fat dog, who kept trying to pull me back down again. thin dog found a stick half way up, and was leaping around trying to get me to throw it for him, and kept nearly taking us all back down the slope. we must have looked ridiculous.

i'm adding sunday roast back into our routine - am toying with GAPS diet for ds1, so it's going to be a bit of a juggle. will try to avoid roasties and top up on veg lol. good thing is it's low on carbs and gluten, so that should be ok.

i loved cross country. i was on the uni team as well. i went back to running after dd1 and ds1, but not after dd2 properly. and haven't run at all in three years. and sat on my butt either at work or in the car driving. i've moved to the fittest place on the planet (it's chock-full of olympians) so i feel like a fish out of water lol. neeeeeed to get back into it. hosp appt is on 15th, so as long as that is ok, can push myself a bit more.

moose, those numbers are amazing! i'm slightly horrified by the sobbing (!) but omg - what fantastic results!

Well, my life got about 10 x more complicated this evening. There's a guy I work with who, I like as a friend but if it went further I'd be happy.

Myself, him and our manager went to the cinema to see a film, he paid for me, off his own back. When dropping me off, my manager says she's noticed he's been making more of an effort with his appearance, coming into work on his days off and generally seems to have taken a shine to me.

Eek!

On topic, after the popcorn we shared, I seriously need to go to the gym tomorrow and work very, very hard!

Thanks folks, I was gobsmacked, but it did kinda make the sobbing worth it - almost!

Lambskin, sounds like a lovely day. Ds1 is a different child out in the open air. He always kicks off about going, but always has a great time and comes home a million times more relaxed.

Madwoman - cougars! I don't think I'd ever leave the house if there were cougars in my neighbourhood. Come to think of it, there are a few round here, but of the human rather than feline variety, iykwim!

I am fascinated by GAPs but know there's no way in hell we could stick to it and it doesn't work well for vegetarians, so I reckon we could only manage about 50% at best. Ds1 is already gluten free and its looking like he may have to drop dairy as well though, so I guess we'd be on our way then. Amazingly I got him to eat a nut today for the first time ever without freaking out. I was eating almonds for a snack and offered him one. He said no with all the usual protestations and disgusting nuts etc, but then I told him that they are what give bakewell tarts their distinctive flavour and I what I use in all the gf home baking I do, so he chanced it ... and liked it! Wahey! Now at least I can get some good old fashioned veggie goodness into him occasionally. He said it wasn't disgusting and he wouldn't mind a couple occasionally - so its a start at least.

Lollipop how exciting, a new fella on the horizon. Great motivator for weight loss and exercise. Oh - and popcorn is a great snack, as long as its salted rather than slathered in butter or toffee.

i had some of ds1's cheese popcorn. ah well. but woo hoo, lollipop, what motivation!

moose, well done with the almonds - fab! and great thinking about the bakewell tart link! ds1 here is getting worse. he used to eat fish, but we were at a local restaurant and he found a bone in it (a teeny tiny one) so won't eat fish any more. and today he was picking (nice) ham apart because he said it was gristly (well, he said grizzly, but i know what he meant) and so didn't eat it. and tonight's sunday roast nearly came a cropper as he was picking bits out of the chicken breast and leaving them on the side of his plate. so at this rate, he's going to be vege as well. i'm going to try and forget today tbh, as he's been a bit of a nightmare. still, new paed on tuesday.

my friend (who is about ten years older than me) has a really tight black skinny t-shirt which says 'once a fox, now a cougar' in huge letters over the front.

she wore it TO WORK on dress down friday. our manager nearly had a coronary. but the customers loved it. mine would say 'once a marathon runner, now a marathon eater' yours? (a little more upbeat, pretty please?!)

Madwoman, I was just like that about meat as a child. I refused to eat meat and fish point blank when weaning and once I was old enough to explain why, any bones, gristle etc would totally freak me out. I begged to be a vegetarian from almost as soon as I was old enough to understand what one was.

Mum let me give up meat at 12, but I had to still eat fish, which was terrible, because I'm almost phobic about fish bones. I became a full veggie at 13 in the end. She did however force feed me 80's 'wholefoods', brown lentils and kidney beans etc from then on and believe me, cooking was never her strong point.

oh, i love the t-shirt. i have a girlfriend who proudly sports a family planner diary with 'you say i'm a bitch like it's a bad thing' on the cover. she keeps it face down at work.

i'm out for dinner tonight and we have friends coming over afterwards. i suspect i might have a couple of vinos, but won't go overboard. she has a baby that isn't sleeping and is driving her crazy, so she needs to let off steam a bit. will not be having dessert and will avoid the bread on the table though. and might take the dogs for an extra long penance hike in the morning. ds2 has his paed appt in the afternoon, so i know that'll keep me out of the fridge.

bank hol here today. it is beautiful! about 28 degrees. we had a picnic lunch in the park by the river and the kids ran around and rolled down the grass banks. and the dogs swam. this time next year i might be wearing less clothes lol.

Well I'm craving chocolate for the first time since I started all this. Terrible night with ds1, lots of sobbing, 1001 worries about going back to school today, then again this morning.

Took him there and he was just about coping, holding it together waiting for his friend to arrive, when they suddenly opened the doors and told all the children to go straight in because it was raining. Well, he's going in a new door this year and bless him he panicked and just ran off towards the door (at the other end of the playground) without saying goodbye - something he would have been realy upset about as soon as he realised. Called him back and managed to get a peck on the cheek then he was off again. Leaving his pump bag with me!

He looked so tiny amongst all the other juniors. As usual all his peers have shot up over the holidays, leaving him a little dot by comparison, worse this year, because he's suffering from malabsorption and hasn't grown since January. Fortunately the teacher that has him 2 days a week and also has a son on the spectrum herself was there and she said she'd take him in and ran after him, god bless her. We also bumped into his best friend and gave him his pump bag to take in, so at least that was sorted.

To cap it all, his little brother started juniors today, so was in the same playground, but he's terrified of his new teacher - very strict male teacher who's also head of juniors and it was him that opened the door, so ds just went straight in, no goodbye, no kiss, no looking back - called him to say goodbye, but he had his hood up so didn't hear me. Then I realised his pump bag was still on the puschair and had to take it to his teacher - who I've never met before - making me look instantly like Disorganised and Hapless Mum of the Year. Its the first time ever that he hasn't wanted to go back to school by the middle of the summer holidays and he really didn't want to go today.

Honestly, I had planned everything so carefully for this morning and been so organised. I wanted it to be really calm and stress free for them - instead it was horrible, stressful and took place in gale force winds and driving rain.

Came home and sobbed myself and now I don't want to do my workout - or anything in fact, except sit and eat chocolate. Just goes to show how my chocolate consumption was definitely emotional eating.

I'm not going to give in to the chocolate, but I am seriously struggling to get motivated to do my workout.

Am starting toilet training dd today, so hopefully that will keep me busy and distracted until pick up time.

Just popped back to apologise for my whiney, me-me-me post earlier. Have pulled myself together, done my workout and got on with it now.

Toilet training having mixed success - apparently my daughter has the bladder of a camel!

No need to apologise moose, sounded very traumatic think I'd have felt a bit wobbly myself. Ds2 would be starting Y2 tomorrow if I hadn't de-registered him at the end of last term. So relieved not to be facing the horrors of school anymore, though my PIL keep telling me and dh about a free school that started near us like his problems would be different there

I'm finding it hard to galvanise myself at the moment because I'm quite happy at this size. The sense of urgency just isn't there anymore. Plus the fact I'm staying at my mum's from Thursday until Monday so won't be in control of food or get an opportunity to exercise. Maybe I'll feel like it when I get back!

Thanks Lambskin. Its great that there are people on this thread that understand about ds1 and school. I would love to home school - but he won't be parted from his best friend. I'm thinking I will have to for secondary though - can't see him coping with that level of transition at all.

Do you really need to carry on if you are happy where you are? Can you not just work out what you need to do for maintenance and do that?

It's fantastic your ds has such a good friendship moose, that's something I'd love for my ds. He becomes obsessed with a person and inevitably frightens them off

If your ds is going to school knowing that HE is an option then he must be quite happy there? It all depends on the teacher doesn't it? Sounds very positive though that one of his teachers has a child on the spectrum, and she sounds lovely. As long as he knows it's his choice and that school isn't somewhere you have to go he may cope better than you think.

I seem to be maintaining anyway which is why trying to lose the last stone is seeming like such an effort. If I lose I lose and I'll be very happy, my main concern is not putting on, I'll see how this week goes.

That was always the way for ds1 Lambskin, until he met this lovely boy in year 1. We are so lucky ds found him, he's such a lovely boy and obviously really tolerant and patient with ds. I honestly believe that they will be friends for life - even if I do end up HE-ing for secondary.

When things were at their worst, I offered to HE him, but he couldn't bear to be parted from his friend. I was in a real mess, wondering if I should just override his view and pull him out anyway, because he was essentially having a breakdown. Fortunately I was lucky, I called the EP crisis line and got allocated a fantastic EP and trainee who really helped pull him round over the next few months and then the inclusion team took over from there. He's a different child now than he was even this time last year.

He's gradually become more aware of how different he is than his peers though and this is a big source of anxiety for him. Lots of his worries from last night were about not being able to keep up socially and not wanting to appear different.

My sister HE's her 10 year old, as they've moved house a lot and he struggled with constantly moving school. She's adamant I should pull him out now, but as you said, if he wants to go and knows the HE option is there if he ever changes his mind, then I have to honour his feelings.

ds1 asks periodically to be HEd but so far there isn't really a need. fingers crossed... new paed today who seems very on the ball. she's saying inattentive adhd/ generalised anxiety/ poss phobias and the continence stuff (we've had various in the past - odd, as/asd, adhd etc) but we're sort of sticking with quirky currently

i've got a joyous month coming up now though, as she wants him to do three days of three enemas and a month on lansoyl so he can't withold. deep joy. i suppose the up side is that it's unlikely i'll fancy eating much... and then hopefully we can steam ahead with the gaps diet for him and see what happens...

lamb, what would motivate you then? (obv lollipop has a new man on the horizon ) christmas party? slinky new outfit for christmas day?/ new year? being able to get to jan 1st knowing you don't have any weight to lose? (i bagsy that motivator, right now. not sure i've got time though!)

moose, don't fret about venting. some days are just like that. well done for getting it together and pulling yourself out of it though. some things just can't be changed, and it's pointless fretting about them. (and anyway, i always win 'hapless mother of the year' so you've nay chance!

EP crisis line? Blimey what's that? Seriously, I must have phoned having a crisis several times a month and it was pot luck if there was anyone there. EP and CAMHS both. We have been talking about moving so maybe a different LA would help us more. What area are you in moose if that's not to personal a question? (Don't answer if you don't want to)

Your ds should know, we're all a bit different and a bit odd in our own little ways so in that respect he's exactly the same as his peers (they're just better at pretending)

madwoman - that is very good question you ask. I think a new man may stretch dh's understanding nature a tad I was bang on 10 stone when I got pregnant with ds2 so I should really get back to that, but because I've been exercising so much, as well as dieting, I look better than I did then! Maybe I need an event. My birthday is the beginning of December so maybe that could do it.

That all sound pretty full on for your ds! What did the Paed say about the GAPS diet? I've got a friend who really struggles with her ds's toileting 'issues' so I sympathise. At least it should hopefully rid him of the anxiety surrounding pooing (or create new anxieties - sorry! )

That's exactly what I told him, we all have our own fears and oddities, its just that some people are better at hiding them than others. I did make him laugh when I said "I bet fifty pounds there's at least one child in your class who's frightened of the toilet flushing - they'd never tell you - or admit it to anyone though". He said he's not frightened of it - but it hurts his ears!

Have pm'd you.

Madwoman, glad new paed was good. Sounds like a tough month for you and your ds though.

good point about creating new anxieties, lamb. talked dh through the plan last night and he thinks ds might stop eating altogether, because he knows if there's nothing going in, nothing will come out... we're discussing diet at the next appointment. she wants to do the clearing thing first... ds is obviously actually thinking about it now though - last night he asked if we could get cranberry juice as he remembered a previous doc in the uk suggesting it. so, well, at least his pondering possible solutions/ help in his head. (just worried he will think too deeply as dh suggested now...) anyway, got to go out and get the supplies today. the paed asked ds if he wanted me to give him the enemas or if he would rather go to the emergency room every night to get it done. he looked horrified at the thought of the er. . i think she was joking, but it got his attention, anyway.

moose, dd2 is petrified of the toilet flush when we are out and about, particularly the automatic variety. and it's only been in the last year that she can stop her moro reflex kicking in if a hand dryer starts up. for years there were public washrooms she couldn't go in because they were just too noisy and the shock would make her fall over . we're training her out of it slowly, but i still have to make sure i grab her if it happens with no warning and supermarket shopping used to be a nightmare - she would scream, but because her speech was so delayed, we didn't know what was wrong - eventually we worked out it was the lighting (!) it hurt her eyes so much - as soon as we put sunglasses on her to do the weekly shop she was fine. flippin' kids, eh? thankfully dd1 is alarmingly nt. she's bound to be pg at 14, just to make my day.

right. weight. (apols for turning this into an sn thread ) i'm going to the shops today to buy healthy food, as i'm scraping the barrel in the fridge and can feel my motivation slipping in the face of unappetising dried up carrot sticks. and dh chucked out the salad for some random reason. i found it in the bin. hey ho.

Thank you, I've replied

Yes to toilets flushing here as well! Used to be terrified of the seat falling down when he was having a wee too. Supermarket screaming, ah yes!

I don't know about you two but ds's SN has definitely effected my weight. I mean, I have to be honest I had put on a stone before I had him, but the extra weight I put on on top from pregnancy I just compounded with comfort and binge eating, and drinking (rather a lot of) wine which I did very rarely before.
Apparently, stress makes you fat too

Madwoman, we have the hand-dryer thing as well. Ds1 refused to go in washrooms where there was one until very recently. He'll go in now, but only with his hands over his ears and a look of sheer terror on his face - not helpful when he needs his hands to wee!

I had the problem with supermarket lighting myself as a child, they would make me feel all weird, my skin would start to itch painfully, then I'd get an excruciating headache and if I wasn't taken outside, everything would go all silvery and I'd just hit the deck. Asda was the worst iirc. I don't have the same problem now unless its a really old building with ancient fluorescent lighting. I'm still sensitive to electricity though and can't sleep if there's a plug socket switched on in my room.

I think this thread has pretty much become a SN weightloss thread now, you, me Lamb and Lollipop all have one foot in each topic, as it were.