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)

Excellent news Lollipop! Yes indeed, there's nothing like lust love for losing weight

News about ME ME ME now I was a bit iffy about my weight loss (whether or not it's real) and couldn't wait until Friday so measured my waist - 29.5" I haven't been in the twenties for nearly 8 years! I've also noticed that I don't suck my tummy in anymore because it's flat! Very happy

We're having a Chinese on Saturday as ds1's last supper before we drive him up to Uni so good job I have some inches and pounds to play with!

That's fantastic Lambskin, well done!

I can't imagine having a 29" waist! Mine is 31.5" at the moment, but am still really pleased with that considering it was 34.5" when I started shredding. It is however anything but flat and I have to avoid looking in the mirror when I work out because I can't stand the sight of it jiggling!

Yesterday's 2lb loss has stayed off so far, so keeping everything crossed it stays that way and is a genuine loss.

Thank you moose

I never look in the mirror when I'm working out. I caught myself once or twice by accident and was quite traumatised, I looked like and my upper arms looked like cold blancmange.

That's a massive loss in a relatively short space of time, wow! That must really motivate you to carry on with the shred, it certainly works! I've read other people on other weight loss threads saying that they lost inches but no weight but you've done both!

Morning - I know I shouldn't but I weighed in again this morning (I felt lighter, if that makes any sense at all ) and sure enough, I've lost another lb since the other day!

I've read a few times that people don't start dropping weight until level 3 of the shred and in terms of timescales, I would/should be on level 3 by now, but am sticking with level 2 until I'm better/stronger at it. I guess my form is improving from doing it for longer, so possibly that means I'm getting a better workout from it?

Anyway, I'm not going to argue. I feel stronger and fitter, my clothes are dropping off me and I've finally hit 2st off - so I'm a happy bunny today.

Well, I would be if dh and I didn't have an appointment with the bank manager at lunchtime.

Going to do my stats now, in case it goes back up tomorrow!

Starting weight 16/6: 14st 2lb
Weight 24/6: 13st 8lb
Weight 1/7: 13st 7lbs
Weight 2/7: 13st 5lbs
Weight 13/7: 13st 4lbs
Weight 14/7: 13st 1lb
Weight 21/7: 12st 13lbs
Weight 29/7: 12st 11lbs (and 6oz)
Weight 16/8: 12st 9lbs (weighed in Tues not Fri due to holidays)
Weight 19/8: 12st 8lbs
Weight 20/8: 12 st 7lbs
Weight 26/8: 12st 8lbs 4oz
Weight 2/9: 12st 6lbs
Weight 9/9: 12st 5lbs
Weight 15/9: 12st 2lbs - 2 stone off!

Last week's goal - 12st 4lbs - SMASHED!

Next week's goal: 12st 0lb

Getting excited at the prospect of crossing another stone barrier soon.

Well done moose!!

I must admit I weighed myself this morning too and have lost another 1lb, so I'm 10 stone 2lbs! I can't believe it, I thought that massive 4 lb plummet was a fluke but apparently not!

I'm sat on my bed eating my 2 squares of Green & Black's that I allow myself everyday and drinking my green tea, very relieved after a 'visit' from the Education Officers of our local LA. Very nice they were too, so that's one less thing to stress about. They're very happy with what I'm doing and fully support my reasons for HEing bit scary though, shaking now it's over!

I'm looking forward to crossing another barrier too moose, aren't we doing well?

Another 1lb! Lambskin you are literally melting it off at the moment - all that working out and muscle building is paying of,f as you are obviously burning calories really efficiently now.

Good to hear the LEA visit went well - I totally understand your nerves though. Sounds like you needed the G&B's to steady your nerves afterwards.

I was much the same about our bank appointment, but it was fine and dh and I can finally relax a bit.

We are discussing me setting up a little online business to try and bring some extra money in. If it happens, I will be selling some of dh's design work and some of my crafts. The idea is to start now and build it up ready for when dd starts school nursery next September. Am very nervous about it, but excited and pleased to have something other than SNs, LEAs and weightloss to focus on.

Well, back in the gym today, which wasn't as awful as I thought. 3.88km on the bike in 25 minutes - not bad!

Still giving into sweet things, but I'm working on that. Haven't weighed in yet, will do it next week :)

Well done at the gym Lollipop.

What sweet things are tempting you? I found having a small bowl of sorbet after my evening meal sated any sugar cravings and now I'm this far in, I can honestly say I don't crave sugar or chocolate at all - which is a huge turnaround for me. A good alternative is one of the cheapy tesco 'Sweetshop Ice Lollies' as the they're sweet but only have between 38 and 45 kcals.

I'm having apple and cinnamon porridge, made with water for breakfast at the moment and it tastes soooo sweet to me now its amazing.

Weighed in the same this morning as yesterday, so I'm not going to bother copying out my stats again, but I measured again this morning as well and these are my results since starting the shred:

Waist - Starting: 34.5" - Current: 31" - Loss: 3.5"
Chest - Starting: 40.5" - Current: 38" - Loss: 2.5"
Right Bicep - Starting: 11.7" - Current: 11.2" - Loss: 0.5"
Left Bicep - Starting: 11.5" - Current: - 11.0 - Loss: 0.5"
Hips - Starting: 42.7 - Current: 41.5 - Loss: 1.2"
Left thigh - Starting: 24.2" - Current: 21.9" - Loss: 2.3"
Right thigh - Starting: 24.7 - Current: 22.0" - Loss: 2.7"
Left knee - Starting: 17.0" - Current: 16.1" - Loss: 0.9"
Right knee - Starting: 17.0" - Current: 16.1 - Loss: 0.9"
Left calf - Starting: 15.7" - Current 15.5" - Loss: 0.2"
right calf - Starting: 16.0" - Current 15.4" - Loss: 0.6"

Total loss in inches across whole body: 15.8"

The majority of the changes were after my second measure-up at 12 days into the shred, but my hips, waist and thighs have gone down again since then.

Get you measuring your knees moose! still bloody impressive though! Did you take any before pictures to compare? Surely everyone must be noticing now?

Didn't weigh-in today because I did that yesterday, and I'm having a day off exercise. So tired, was up with ds2 late last night and of course with him all today again! I think I need a holiday ALONE!

I know! I have a 'thing' about my knees, have always hated them. They are really odd looking, not helped by being hypermobile either.

Yes, you must make sure you take care of yourself. HE is such a huge load for one person to bear - being with any child 24/7 is exhausting, but I think that's magnified greatly when the child has SNs. Can you book the odd Saturday with your dh for him to have him while you eg go and wander round the shops, grab a coffee, read a rubbish magazine, get your hair/nails done?

I am feeling very proud of myself this evening, because I felt so energised by doing level 2 this morning, that I went on to do level 1 this afternoon while dd was napping.

Am now planning low cal fajitas (quorn, salsa, fat free natural yoghurt, onions, mushrooms, pepper and 30 g cheddar in Weightwatchers wraps) for tea, seeing as I've burned up plenty of calories today. Mind you, everyone else is having pizza.

Missed your question about photos.

No, I didn't take any. I hate having my picture taken, but the comparison between the ones taken of me mid-May this year at a music festival and me on holiday at the beginning of August was really good and that was before I started shredding. So I reckon I must look massively different now.

Dh came in while I was weighing myself this morning and said I look completely different. He also reckons my abs are starting to become defined and my Mum nearly fell over when she saw me wearing something fitted (rather than joggers and a big sweatshirt) yesterday.

Not really seen anyone else though, only people on the school run and I've had my big raincoat on every time, so they couldn't really see anything, iyswim.

It's cakes mainly, and ONLY when I'm out and about! I'm trying though, really. Might buy some weightwatchers cakes or somesuch to take out and about with me :)

I've got a thing about my knees and calves so love autumn/winter when I can hide them in trousers, thick tights, and boots, not looking as bad these days though.

I am having a couple of hours off next week to have my hair done, which I'm really looking forward to - head massage, OK magazine the lot! , and dh is tending to his majesty's every need now until bedtime so I can't complain. Have a bottle of red wine with my name on it and carb-free stuffed peppers and salad for tea so feeling a bit more relaxed.

Do you know it's not the weight that I'm most chuffed with, it's my shape and general toned appearance, which I really wasn't expecting. When I saw my family last week they were all gobsmacked as well. Mu mum actually told me I looked beautiful (never has before), my nan thought I looked 10 years younger and my super slim and fit sister wanted some tips! Unbelievable!

Enjoy your tea and well done for not caving and having a pizza! I'm very proud of you

Lollipop, choosing a less calorific alternative is probably a good starting point, but in the long run, if you can find something that's naturally sweet, but healthy - such as fruit it would probably help you get over the cravings. Alteratively could you try having a handful of nuts instead, the protein will fill you up and hopefully sate you rather than feeding the craving - they are choc full of goodness as well.

I am snacking on brazil nuts, cashews and almonds at the moment and they always stop my hunger in its tracks - even just a 10g handful does it.

Lambskin, good to hear your dh is doing his bit to give you some breaks.

I enjoyed my fajitas, but am completely overstuffed now!

ah, found you! last week got a bit crazy so i went underground. forgot to weigh on friday (it was at the height of craziness) so weighed this morning and another 2 lbs off, so that's me below 12 stone again - yay! it's only a pound a week, but it's getting there. i had all my med tests last week, so waiting for results now . as long as everything is ok, i'm kind of getting excited about ramping up the exercise. can't promise to shred, lol, but i need to do something other than food as it's soul-destroying! (and you ladies are having some impressive results to motivate me!)

very pleased to see al your good news, though and moosemama and lambskin are firing on all cylinders!

Well done madwoman - you beat me to it. I have 2lbs to go to get under 12 stone - can't wait!

Hope all your tests come back ok.

I had a bad day yesterday and didn't shred. Lots of stress to do with ds1 resulted in me having my first real neuro episode since May. I was also totally wiped out and aching all over, which had me scared another ME crisis could be imminent.

Woke up this morning with excruciating stomach pains, a pounding head and horrible bad stomach (all acid - yuk and ow!) and was sure I wouldn't be able to shred today either, but took a double dose of zantac, ate a bowl of plain porridge made with water and rested this morning and managed to fit in a level 2 while dd was napping this afternoon.

Have to say, I wasn't able to do it anywhere near as intensively as I have been, it was really hard going and I wasn't sure I was going to get all the way through it, but I did. Just did reduced reps and used lower weights for some of the tougher exercises.

Hoping I'll feel a bit better tomorrow, now the ds1/school related stress has been dealt with, but he has a paed appointment at lunch time which is likely to be yet another battle, so I'm not holiding my breath.

Roll on the weekend - I've had enough of this week already!

Hi everyone!

Well done madwoman, that's fantastic news! A pound a week is how you want to go so carry on doing what your doing! Good luck with your test results

Oh moose, poor you don't push yourself to hard if you're feeling poorly, i'm having a couple of days off and it's only for TOM. Hope the Paed appointment went ok?

Been AWOL for a few days. Dropped ds1 off at Uni on Sunday so was a bit tearful and had to KEEP BUSY doing lots of practical stuff. Luckily my sister is coming to stay (in ds1's room) this weekend knowing I'd be a mess so I've cleaned ds1's bedroom from top to bottom and re-arranged the furniture (I know, I know, but he knew I was going to do it and didn't mind) and it looks all girly now with lamps and flowers . At least it's stopped me turning it into a shrine!

I'm not really thinking about food or doing any exercise so god knows what Friday will bring.

Hi Lambskin, am feeling a lot better today thanks - Mum and dh both came down with similar symptoms, so I think it must have been a virus, which is good in one way - as I was really scared I was going down the CFS path again, but bad in another, as if I get post-viral it can take me weeks, or worst case scenario, months to recover properly.

I think I've been lucky this time though - fingers crossed.

Weight hasn't moved so far this week, so it'll be a pound at best for me on Friday.

Paed appointment went well in as far as they are finally running tests to find out what's wrong with his digestive sytem. What's not so good is that they discovered on examination that he is in quite a lot of pain in his abdomen, but hadn't said anything to anyone. He occasionally tells me his tummy feels odd or uncomfortable and puts his hands over his lower/mid abdomen, but just having his abdomen palpated was painful for him yesterday. At least they are finally looking into it though. Had to produce two stool samples before we left the hospital - oh they joy of being a parent!

Can totally understand you being tearful, I know I would/will be a wreck in similar circumstances. Hope he's settling in ok and you're getting used to the idea now. Just keep thinking about all the lovely dirty washing you'll be getting back in the holidays! Has he gone far?

Hope you have a good weekend with your sister.

moose, are you on the GAPS thread? (have lost track a bit) i know a few lads who have only 'realised' that they have been living with tummy ache/ pain forever when they try gf/cf or similar and it stops. my good friend's ds is 13 with AS and hadn't mentioned it to anyone. they tried the diet for the second time (the first time was much younger and he was a refuser, it got too tricky) and he said 'and my tummy aches have gone again' so at some level he had linked the two but could never articulate it. he just mentioned it out of the blue at a paed appt and my friend was horrified that he'd been living in pain and never mentioned it. (they had re-started the diet for AS, rather than digestive issues)... i feel like i might be repeating myself though, so apols if so!

oh lamb - am loling at the bedroom, but that must be a huge change for you. lovely that your sis will take your mind off it for a bit. when is he home next?

well, optometrist couldn't find the alleged hole in my retina with the dilation etc, which i guess is a good thing, but as it came up on the photo images, i've got a recall for january. and my appointment for the kidney/ bladder results is friday. i'm faintly alarmed that i've got an appointment, rather than a quick 'nothing showed up' phone call, but trying not to panic outright!

it's dd2's birthday today, so that will keep me busy. and ds1 is being a total pita. we popped to the shops to get a couple of last minute birthday bits last night before dinner and he went into full on whine and beg mode. the poor shop assistant didn't know where to look, and in the end i walked off down the road with him still whining and begging in the store, clutching the ridiculous dinosaur egg thing he wanted. he did put it back on the shelf and follow me at a 50 yard distance, trying to hide behind lamp-posts. then after he'd gone to bed i was sorting out the lunch boxes and realised that at that point he'd eaten virtually nothing all day, except for two choc biscuits. no wonder he was starving at dinner, and no wonder he was such a pita. so now i'm going to have to have a plate of veggies and dips and stuff on the table when he gets in from school. i can't make him eat at school, but i need to make sure he gets something as soon as he gets in. grr.

right, apologies for rant. need to go and buy salad stuff today as i'm edging closer to the bread...

No I'm not on the thread Madwoman. I've considered trying GAPs, but ds is an ardent/militant veggie and has a list of things he won't eat due to textures and smells, which means I think we'd struggle to do it well enough to make a big enough difference. I can't imagine him ever agreeing to eat or drink anything fermented.

On top of that he's going through a phase of hating being different and is already really angry about being gluten free at the moment, so I daren't rock the boat.

All your medical stuff sounds pretty scary. Hope it all turns out ok. Will keep everything crossed for your results on Friday.

I have to feed ds1 the minute he gets in from school as well. He does eat all his packed lunch, but I can't get enough quantity of food into him to maintain his weight and when he's hungry he's a nightmare. He eats more than anyone else in the hosue, including his dad!

Hope dd2 has a lovely birthday.

oh yy, i remember now. i bought kefir the other day. i figured i might as well see if he would eat the shop bought (organic etc) stuff before i attempted to make my own and ended up chucking it all away.

right, i did weigh this morning and have apparently lost 1/4 of a pound but as i only weighed on monday and it's been birthday/ stressy week i'm not too concerned about. i was pretty much terrified i'd have put some on!

the good news is, all the results of my scans came back normal (yay!) although he is going to refer me to nephrology/ urology consultant just to rule everything out. that'll take months though, so i have no excuses left re massively upping the exercise!

oooo, i'm quite excited! i always put on weight for the first week of any massive exercise push though, so DON'T LET ME PANIC next week if i'm up a pound or two - remind me!!!! i'm going to start a jog/ walk instead of just walking with the dogs, and start off with my trusty davina dvds (i might decide to go for the shred yet, but i'm going to see how brave i feel after a couple of weeks on this). i'd really like to get back to running properly!

but i'm still below 12 stone - yay!

so, i think it's time for a proper target. if i keep losing a pound a week, i should be just below 11 stone for christmas. but that's without the exercise, just food choices (and not unrealistic, i think?). do you think it's unrealistic to expect an additional pound a week once i start losing with upping the exercise? the idea of being 10 stone by christmas/ new year seems to be just about within reach? (10.5? conservative?) i'm just looking at your results and thinking it might be possible if i really go for it? the ils and sil are out for christmas and it would be a real motivator!

Hi

Madwoman - fantastic news about your scan results.

I started the shred when really unfit, having only done walking up to that point and it was ridiculously hard the first 3-4 days, but its amazing how quickly you get fit with it. I'm moving up to level 3 tomorrow. Stayed on level 2 for 20 days rather than 10, because I didn't feel ready to move up a level, but am doing all the advanced stuff on level 2 now, so I think I'm ready.

1/4 of a pound is still a loss and great considering the week you've had.

I would dearly love to hit my main goal of 10 stone 4 lbs by Christmas, but my weighloss seems to have slowed down, so I'm not sure its possible. If I lost 1lb a week from now until the Friday before Christmas I would be 11 stone 2 lb - taking into account the odd week where I seem to drop an extra pound or two, I reckon under 11 stone would be the best goal for me.

I only lost a pound this week, so am not on target, as I'd hoped for two. Frustratingly, that means I am still not under 12 stone. Under 12 stone is such a huge milestone for me. I always feel so much more motivated to stick with it and also much better about myself in general once I reach that point.

Stats:

Starting weight 16/6: 14st 2lb
Weight 24/6: 13st 8lb
Weight 1/7: 13st 7lbs
Weight 2/7: 13st 5lbs
Weight 13/7: 13st 4lbs
Weight 14/7: 13st 1lb
Weight 21/7: 12st 13lbs
Weight 29/7: 12st 11lbs (and 6oz)
Weight 16/8: 12st 9lbs (weighed in Tues not Fri due to holidays)
Weight 19/8: 12st 8lbs
Weight 20/8: 12 st 7lbs
Weight 26/8: 12st 8lbs 4oz
Weight 2/9: 12st 6lbs
Weight 9/9: 12st 5lbs
Weight 15/9: 12st 2lbs - 2 stone off!
Weight 23/9: 12st 1lb

Last week's goal - 12st 0lbs not achieved

Next week's goal: 12st 0lb - again!

Realistically though, having watched dh doing level 3, I'm thinking I might be in for some more temporary weight gain due to my muscles grabbing water for recovery like they did at the start of level 1. Am also edging into what seems to be my new standard two weeks of PMT, so who knows what next week's weigh-in will bring for me.

Oh - and I have sinned this evening. Dd was desperate to do baking with me and made her first every fairy cakes - chocolate ones! She really wanted me to have one, so I did. In my defence, this is the first time my bum has hit a chair since school assembly this morning (both dses were star of the week! ). I have been extremely active all day, in addition to doing the shred, so if there is ever going to be a good day to sin, today is probably it - and - I had salad for tea!

Oh - and the fairy cakes had chocolate buttercream on top!