ALIZONNE!

[Beccie77]

Hello all Alizonners out there, starting a new thread as the old one is full to bursting, and I still want to know how everyone is doing and any tips.

Whoa..well done @Brigidwasp- you'll be there in quicksticks- which clinic do you go to?

Just realised ,I've brought my trial sachet of 'chicken nuggets' home and there's no cooking instructions anywhere, or have I missed it in the recipe book? Anyone got a good recipe for it- do you bake them or fry them? Have been phoning supermarkets today about rhubarb and no-one has any and I've completely worked through my frozen supplies!! Can't manage without it.

Hey! just posted a message but it disappeared, sorry if you get this twice.

@Pollyanna I go to Edinburgh clinic : )

About the chicken nuggets, it's 50ml of water, and I mix it manually, and add a bit of salt and pepper, and a generous amount of mild chicken curry (it makes such a difference), let it sit for 5 mins so it's thicker and easier to form the little balls, and then cook it in the oven for 10-15 minutes (200C)

And the rhubarb, have you tried online?, I just ordered a bunch of it in Sainsburys online.

@HillyK I also hated the praline sachet, such a strange flavour..!

Yesterday I had a special dinner that I had booked months ago, even before I even knew I would be doing Alizonne. So I asked them what to do with it, and they recommended me to go on with it but just ask them to adapt to my diet requirements (but for phase 2 for one night, since I'm so close to it). I'm glad the restaurant was happy to help with this. It was a bit hard to go through a big selection of Scottish best dishes and whisky tasting..., not to mention the dessert, meanwhile eating a green salad (without dressing) and a small chicken breast with oven baked courgette. It was quite nice though, first time eating chicken since June 10th and I wouldn't be full with that before the diet, but I ended up feeling very full which was a nice surprise.
I checked this morning and I was still in ketosis, so it's all good!

Well done Brigidwasp, bet that chicken tasted SO good! Btw how do you know you were still in ketosis? I'm intrigued.

Like you Brigidwasp I ordered a huge batch of rhubarb from Asda online. Am stocking up for the winter!! Maybe it's because we're in Scotland that we can still get it and due to its abundance up here?

Day 12 and feeling pretty normal so am hugely relieved as back to school on Thursday Jumped on scales... bit sneaky... but that's nearly 11bs off so am amazed. It could get quite addictive as you see the pounds falling off but I'm sure after this week things must start to slow down as my body realises what I'm up to

Am loving my vanilla as a drink... with 400ml water now... mushroom soup, my aubergine & spinach currry and veggie chilli. Made the chilli and feta fritters the other night which were great with my chilli. Still prefer a bowl of rhubarb and custard afterwards though. I actually felt like I'd been naughty last night having my chilli then my rhubarb and custard for dessert so you really don't have to deprive yourself on this.

Pollyanna7... hope you njoyed your nuggets I did mine with garam masala and some cumin seeds and had them with my curry. They were ok I suppose but maybe where I went wrong was making them into 2 giant ones?

Ketosis... I was under the impression this was not a ketosis based diet? Brigidwasp... I'd be really interested to hear what you've been told.

Thanks everyone again for being out there! Onwards and downwards!

@Brigid, congratulations as you move closer to phase 2, I forgot to answer your question about the portion of chicken allowed, its 120g of chicken/steak, 140g of fish (list will be provided) or 2 eggs

@HillyK,Pollyanna,Munchkinbug and Thingirlinfatbody, good to know you are alldoing well

@Pollyanna7 I use ketostix to check that I'm still in ketosis

@Hillyk Glad you're feeling well now!
Alizonne puts you in Ketosis constantly from start to finish. You're told to strictly not deviate from the diet because you would break the ketosis mode, and you would need a few days to get back into it. (wasting time and money).
Yes maybe in Scotland rhubarb is easier to find? not sure, but I'm glad I bought a big batch this time.

@jafojo Thanks for the info! that sounds like a small meat portion, will check, thanks!

Mmmm Hilly k, think I'll try the aubergine and spinach curry too. I am loving the aubergine. I do it as a starter by slicing into rings, quick spray of 1 cal spray then a sprinkle of salt and black pepper and further sprinkle with paprika. Cook till brown and crispy on the outside. They're also nice sitting on top of a blini with a little blob of mustard mixed with yogurt and a sprinkle of canderel in it- I also use the yogurt/mustard mix as a dip for my asparagus spears. Mada a complete hash of the nuggets btw! Added too much water and ended up with a mushy type of masked potato pancake but it actually tasted ok strangely enough. I suppose that's how new recipes are discovered!

*mashed
potato pancake

Hi,
Have read this thread with interest as have booked an initial appointment with the Brighton centre for late in August. I need to lose around 3 - 31/2 st. I did Lighter Life in 2008 and successfully lost 4+ stone, getting down to 10 st. I kept my weight to between 11 to just under 12 stone, but in 2013 my 24 yr marriage broke down and I went through a nasty divorce. All my little strategies for keeping my weight under control went out the window, and while I did not put all the original weight back on, I am as heavy now as I have been since 2008.

Alizonne seems to use a similar strategy to LL in foodpacks etc, but there are some differences, like lots of vegetables and more food packs. I was always hungry on LL (their packs are not particularly high protein and I think the sugar content stimulated my appetite.) I think where LL falls down is in maintenance, which I think hadn't been well designed. An awful lot of people put at least some of the weight back on fairly soon, including my counsellor, who eventually dropped out of the programme.

So I am thinking of giving it a go - it is painfully expensive, but I am used to the food pack routine, am pretty disciplined. I reckon it would be in the range of 15-16 weeks.

Can anyone explain how maintenance works?

Just realised I've probably made a massive booboo! Only really started to use the yellow sachets this week and, of course, read that only 3 a week are allowed. I thought this meant you could have 3 breads in a week and 3 clafoutis, 3 nuggets- whatever else, instead of what I now realise must mean ONLY 3 yellow sachets (whatever flavour)in total per week. I am correct aren't I? Anyway, the upshot is I've had 6 this week so not expecting a good result!! Oops!

@Pollyanna7 Oops! that's correct, only 3 yellow sachets a week in total. I wish it was 3 of each though! these are the best ones! Let us know how it goes!

I've done 6 weeks now, and I've lost 11.5kg (25lbs)!! Woo hoo!!! Very pleased with that. Only another 21.5kg to go (feels like a mountain still to climb). 1/3 of the way there already, can't be bad really.

I have no idea how everyone manages to drink their quota of water each day. Before this diet, I was MAYBE getting about 1/2 litre of fluid a day, including the water in my morning cuppa. 2-3ltrs is killing me. I never manage it, ever.

I only made it to the gym once last week - was ill and then too busy, and will struggle going this week because of OH working late shift, and me looking after our LO. I'm going to nip out at lunch-time today to do the cross-trainer for 30 mins, but it's not the same as a class. I love the Les Mills classes - obviously I don't do the Body Pump class as that will keep the weight up (even though inches will still come off), but I don't want to be on phase 1 longer than necessary! I think I will wait for phase 3 before doing Body Pump again.

Is anybody else doing exercise as well? If so, what are you doing, and are you finding it's helping with weight-loss?

Hello there,
Hello JAFAJO well done, it's very impressive.

I am new to this site, and would like to know how people are doing on this diet.
Does the weight come back once you finish the diet?
How are you getting on now, how difficult is it to keep the weight off ?
Any info will be great full from anybody .

Thanks
Sam

Phew! seem to have got away with my 'yellow sachet mistake' thank goodness. Just been to the clinic and have lost another 3lbs so that's just over a stone and a half in 4 weeks. My immediate goal is to lose the full 2 stones before school starts again in 2 weeks- will any of my colleagues notice I wonder? Anyway, whether they do or don't I am more than overjoyed and do really feel remarkably better in every respect. If I see something tempting, I just think 'Nothing tastes as good as thinner feels', although I think when you're on Alizonne you don't feel tempted, because you're full and you see such incredibly quick results. Got my ketosticks today too Brigidwasp so will start monitoring ketosis- how often do you do it? Btw, hi to Moanranger and Satellite905 and welcome aboard. Moanranger I know several people who did LL and it worked so well, but then they did pit it all back on, so maybe maintenance is the issue. Also, Satellite905, with regard to regaining weight on Alizonne, if you saw my earlier post, I did exactly that last time I did it, but it was ABSOLUTELY my own fault. I lost 4 stones and then thought I could go it alone and not work through the maintenance phases. How wrong was I. This time I'm in it for the long haul and intend NEVER to put the weight back on again. Good luck to both of you and to all the others on here who are doing great

@Pollyanna7 I used them twice a day the first couple of weeks as I wanted to make sure I was doing it right, but now I only use them from time to time, or when I do something out of order like that dinner out.

Just as a matter of interest, has anyone cooked a batch of omelettes or pancakes and taken them away for a few days and if so, did they last/taste ok? May be going away for 3/4 days where I won't have access to oven/hob or microwave!

Official weigh in today - 2 stone exactly in 7 weeks!!! Absolutely thrilled. Just about to tick into my Friday-night chicken nuggets :)

Well done Munchkinbug- those nuggets will taste even better now!

Not quite as good this week :(. 1.3kg. Kind of disappointed as I really busted my pan in at the gym. Been to four classes this week, so was hoping for a little more than that. Oh well, onwards and upwards. At least I've now lost 14kg in total in 8 weeks. We'll see what this next week brings...

Pollyana, Munchkin,Brigid sounds like you are doing well. Munchkin maybe the gym is the problem -I think workouts can cause water retention IME.
I have my first appt next Tues - will be asking lots of questions

Hey everyone! I've been quite a while without posting. I've had a bad week! So I was only 0,5kg from Phase 2 and at the clinic they told me I could start phase 2 already. So I started and I was very careful checking the exact weights of everything, buying only lean meat and good quality tuna in water. And only 4 days later I was 1kg heavier! and also worth mentioning that during 3 of the 4 days I was in Phase 2 I felt very nauseous and dizzy the whole day. Bit disappointed and worried that my body is not adapting to the change. Tomorrow I have the doctor review again so hopefully she will know what to do next. 2 days ago I decided to go back to phase 1, and I managed to undo part of the damage. So it will be one full week without any weight loss whatsoever. Expensive week!!! :(

Now I'm kind of scared to get into phase 2 again.

Mmmmm...that does sound a bit scary Brigidwasp- I'll be interested to hear what the doctor says about it as that's what we're all aiming for, phase 2. Takes the edge off a bit doesn't it if you start to put on again!!! Interesting that you felt dizzy too-wonder why? I've just come back from Edinburgh so my thursday weigh in will be after 2 weeks away from Alizonne. Took all my powders and potions with me and stuck to it really well except for 2 evenings when it was really cold and I NEEDED hot cooked food (had nowhere to do blinis, pancakes anything, so it was all shakes and salads)great in hot weather but Edinburgh was freezing.So on those 2 nights I had a veg curry- asked them to use only spinach,green pepper, cauli and mushrooms and it was great. I know there were probably lots of extra fats and spices in the sauce, but when I got back I had still lost weight, although the old ketostix were very pale! They seem to be darkening now so that's a good sign, but I feel as if my weight loss has slowed down (only weigh myself once a week ). However the proof of the pudding will be on the Alizonne scales on Thurs.......more to follow . Still feeling very positive though, helped along by all on this forum, although HOW I resisited a glass of wine on holiday, I will never know. I am missing a drink of something other than water/tea/coffee more than food, just for the element of relaxation I think. Has anyone devised an exciting drink? Even my iced lemon tea and fizzy water 'prosecco' is wearing a bit thin now!

Hi, all, glad to see some activity on this thread. I went today to meet doc & have bloods taken. We agreed 16-17 kilos as my goal & doc reckons that will be 6-8 weeks in Phase 1. Very matter of fact & no hocus-pocus, which I like.
Bloods will be analysed & all being well, I go back on Fri for sachets & first treatment (as well as eye-watering bill!) They are very up-front about the cost.
I discussed issue of business conference about 10 days in, doc said have a Phase 2 meal on the one or two nights where I have a sit down dinner.
As I have done Lighter Life I can probably cope ok with this. While I do drink, I often undertake long abstinances - this year I was dry from late Jan to 1 April. Looking forward to starting, not the regime so much as shifting this weight!

Hey Pollyanna7, yes it is scary. But also in Phase 2 I was losing weight slower than I expected so maybe they will need to adjust it a bit with me for phase 2 and let me have just a certain type of meat or fish, we'll see. Will let you know how it goes.
I also struggles a bit going through summer holidays without a pub or restaurant meal, a glass of wine, a cocktail etc.. it was hard!

@Moanranger welcome! well it's not a 100% fact that you reach phase 2 on a certain date. Mine delayed 1 week from the latest date she told me (she said 8-10 weeks) For me it was 11 weeks, plus an extra week for the kg I strangely gained during the 4 days in Phase 2. (total of 12 weeks) So make sure you save a little extra money just in case, as Phase 1 is the most expensive one.