Starting the no 'S' eating regime today to lose weight, anyone want to join in?

[standclear]

Hi, have got decidedly porky over the past few years.
I feel tired and lethargic, and none of my clothes look good anymore.
I also need to lose weight for health reasons and increase my (currently woeful) level of exercise.

I want to follow a simple and 'do-able' eating plan that is fairly simple and that I will be able to sustain ie hoping to lose 0.5 kg each week.

I'm planning to follow the no 'S' "diet":

book here

A summary of the basic rules is:

no snacks
no sweets (it's an American book so that covers puddings as well as biscuits and confectionary)
no seconds

except on days that start with 's' ie the weekend, and 'special' days ie birthdays and big holidays such as Christmas.

I've got the book so can answer further questions but that is basically it!

I'm going to be using MFP to log calories and I have also found the free NHS weight loss plan (includes exercise) helpful too

see here

I am planning to post my weight here every Sunday too (but that is not obligatory of course).

The other reason for posting on here is that I don't want to bore my family and friends to death about it in rl!! But it would be nice to have some companions along the way .

Anyone want to join in?

Morning everyone,

I wanted firstly to thank everyone for their kind words about the problems I'm having at the moment. The support and kindness from you all means a lot. And the rabbit and guinea-pig pics were very cute too

And I actually managed to have quite a nice weekend. Put any thinking on hold and concentrated on my lovely children. And on not eating too much..!

Up 0.3kg this week but that's not nearly as bad as I'd feared, and still below 10 stone (randomly switching between metric and imperial; you get twice as many milestones to celebrate that way ).

Best of luck with the new week everyone. May we all find some of that determination and vigour of SC's ! x

Really glad to hear you had a nice weekend Julie.

SC - could I borrow some of that determination please?! Yesterday was all fine until after dinner when I went back for seconds - classic, standing in the kitchen munching leftovers while feeling rubbish (stupidly allowed myself to bring work stress home, plus dp was ill and rather grumpy). Put it away in tupperware to try to stop myself but then went back for even more .

Of course need to forgive myself & move on, but also need a kick up the arse & a reminder that pointless eating will not solve my problems.

Yesterday's menu
B - protein bar
L - salad (egg/grains/anchovies/veg), salted cashews, cuppa soup
D - pizza, cauliflower couscous & chickpea concoction, pear
All the leftovers I could find in the fridge

Julie great to hear that you had a reasonably good weekend and top marks for grub self restraint!

Helen hope your dp is feeling better - think illness in the family is always stressful.

I would happily lend both of you some determination and vigour but unfortunately mine went out of the window yesterday lunch-time! [Yes, I lasted a whole morning!! ]

DD is ill again at home - she has suspected appendicitis now - and I am feeling a bit stressed. Not helped by the fact that coincidentally, we were given two separate chunks of birthday cake from two different sources over the weekend! That combination proved my undoing again I'm afraid.

Should not be using this as an excuse though because stuff like this always happens doesn't it?!

Have been much better today (so far!) though.

Keep going everyone, even when we don't do it perfectly, it is better than not doing it at all (or so I keep telling myself)

Big waves to all!

Oh dear, that sounds bad
Do you know when it might be a diagnosis rather than a suspicion? Is she in a lot of pain? How old is she?

She's 12. Doc pushed on her abdomen etc - she has been feeling very bloated, nauseous, with intermittent pain around tummy button. Occasionally hurts when she walks. Has temp. Very fatigued. (Complicated by the fact that she has separate ear/throat virus thing.) We are being sent for ultrasound this afternoon, so I am hoping we will know more after that.

[trying not to eat pointlessly while waiting for hosp phone call]

Hope it goes well, or is at least conclusive and leads to treatment. (Hope they don't write it off as 'growing pains' or something equally rubbish.) And hope your DD starts to feel a bit better soon.

I think stress counts as an S day, right? So eating cake is allowed under the circumstances :)

Oh goodness SC, I hope you've managed to find out some more by now. Your poor DD I still remember seeing DSis suffer as a child with appendicitis, although the doctors refused to believe it was anything bad so it all went a bit horribly wrong. Glad yours are taking it seriously and DD's getting tests done.

Dealing with family illnesses (especially your children's) is hard and I think you just have to do what gets you through.

Helen, hope your work stress isn't as bad today and that your DH is feeling better. Other than the fridge snacking, you had a wonderfully healthy day's food yesterday!

I was doing well today until I snaffled a sneaky bag of crisps, but it was one of those smaller ones from a multipack so just need to make sure I don't use it as an excuse to give up for the day and do a fridge raid...

Ah your poor dd, SC, that sounds miserable. Hope it gets resolved soon.

If I could have a super-power I think it would be the ability to cure illness simply by eating crap whilst simultaneously worrying hard about said ill person. Reckon I'd be pretty good at it by now too .

Don't give up Julie! Those little bags are only about 100 cals anyhow. I'll stay away from the fridge if you do!

Thanks for the kind thoughts re: dd everyone!

Thankfully, they've ruled out appendicitis. [Phew] So feeling a lot more relaxed abut things now!

Pain is too high up, it was her liver that was tender so, (translating from the French) they have diagnosed 'gastro-intestinal fever' which I think is stomach flu more or less. She's been ill since last Wed though and is still so tired. Was hoping she would have improved a bit more by now but apparently it can take 10 ten days to clear up properly. We're going back for an appt on Friday for a blood test if she's not better by then.

Helen Reckon I would be pretty good at that particular super-power too Hope your dp is feeling better now. And agree with Julie that the healthiness of your menus should definitely diminish/ameliorate any ill effects from any evening snacks!

Julie Sorry to hear your sister went through that! We are fortunate that health care is very good/thorough over here. Hope you have been able to avoid the fridge tonight and I always find there are hardly any contents in those small bags of crisps, it's all air isn't it?

Thank you Grumpy that's very kind of you, but please don't tell me cake eating is allowed in the circs!! If you give me an inch, I'll take an even larger piece a mile

Really hoping I can finally get out to the shops to do a proper, healthy, food shop tomorrow as doc has said dd can go back to school tomorrow morning for 2.5 hrs to see how she gets on. (Half days on Wed and she has a med certificate to avoid sport.) We'll see ... .

Big waves to Rivier Eltsiht Uphill and anyone else I have missed!

[And sorry for waffling on about dd's health/thread hi-jack, but it's good to be able to vent on here as dh is off on his travels again!] Thanks again!

SC - sounds like good news regarding your dd. Hope she starts feeling better soon.

Better day yesterday (as long as I'm not counting drinks at the pub )
B - 2 poached eggs on 1 toast
L - chilli non carne soup, seeds & dried fruit
D - bean soup with grated cheese, bread roll, fruit & yoghurt
1 cup of mulled wine & 2 small whiskies

Thank you Helen!

Another very healthy menu on your part with beans and seeds (and whisky is only fermented grain after all!! )

Have a good day everyone!

Oh deary me.. I have just indulged in some spectacular self-sabotage. Ate a perfectly good breakfast earlier but have just now munched my way through a tangerine (OK, not awful) plus a massive scone with butter and jam! Bloody hell! What is wrong with me?!

helen if it makes you feel any better, I have managed to eat 150g of salted nuts while finishing up at work - which is 6 portions according to the packet! Not sweet, but a massively calorific snack . Feel a bit sick now too.

Glad your daughter didn't have appendicitis SC.

Why on earth do I have a jar of sweets in my office? I'm a doctor, for goodness sake, I really shouldn't be encouraging the sweets! and they are really really unhelpful

I need to decide on my thesis research question this week and make a Prezi presentation for work, which is doing my head in.

Evening all,

Having a bad day today as feeling queasy and eating to combat it. I discovered that although I have throughly decluttered the snack cupboard, I am yet to declutter the baking cupboard which is filled with various lovely bars of chocolate.

Today's menu was
B- toast and butter
L- frittata
D- chicken and pea risotto.
But I also had toast when the boys were eating and 50g of 70%coco chocolate and 6 pieces of Galaxy.

SC hope your daughter starts to feel better soon. waves at everyone

Oh bum, just lost a long post I'd typed. Anyway, probably just as well. I was just bemoaning all the rubbish food I've eaten over the last couple of days (mainly chocolate cake. As in, really not much else).

Also, I've become far too used to indulging myself then thinking I'm doing ok, just because I'm being aware of what and how much crap I'm eating. Self-awareness isn't a bad first step but obviously it means nothing without then making a change to healthier eating.

Will you all roll your eyes horribly if I say I'm really determined today to eat better???

Definitely no eye rolling here, Julie!

Rivier - what's a Prezi presentation?

No time to post this morning due to a ridiculously early start. Feeling pretty down about the diet if I'm honest. I weighed myself last week and had dipped below 10st (to 9st 12.5lb) for the first time in 18 months (back story: until around 18 months ago I had hovered around 9st 3lb for years and years.. a healthy weight for me, I think, but my eating patterns were really not healthy (mix of strict dieting and binging), then went through a really stressful phase, ditched the dieting but kept up the binging and put on a stone to about 10st 3lb.. Not huge but definitely too big for my frame.. Spare tyre waist and thigh rub. Ugh.). I felt this diet was going so well but then this week I've weighed again and I'm back to 10st 2lb! Gutted! Feeling very tempted to give up, or to go on a hardcore diet which I know will shift the weight.. But my eating patterns have improved so much in the past few weeks and I don't want to mess that up. Arg!

Anyhow, I'm trying to be strong and stick with it but also think of ways to improve and have come up with these:

• end my skinny latte habit. Black coffee only except first thing in the morning or with meals
• no artificial sweeteners on no s days
• 2 drink limit at the pub

Any other suggestions would be gratefully received..

Waves to everyone and hopes you're all successfully keeping away from the nuts/sweets/chocolate.

I have two suggestions, helen. Firstly, to stick with your healthy eating. I have been in awe of your menus which sound delicious as well as really nourishing.

And also not to panic about a weight gain. I fluctuate a lot, particularly round my period, but know I'm heading in the right direction generally whenever I see a new (lower!) number on the scales. I might not stay there for long, but once you've seen it, you know it's achievable again soon.

I dieted hard over the summer and sometimes felt like I was getting nowhere. But the difference was that instead of feeling "yay, I've reached e.g. 10st 2lbs", you'd be thinking "oh no, I've gone up to 10st 2lbs". You're redefining your 'normal' and the parameters you fluctuate between.

Don't be disheartened!!

Thanks Julie. Your support is really appreciated.

Tbh I wish I'd never weighed myself. I was really happy with the loss last week and got ahead of myself with thoughts of "if I keep this up I can be x weight by Christmas and fit onto y dress" etc which is foolish and just setting myself up for a fall.

Anyway, yesterday's menu:
B - 2 poached eggs on 1 toast
L - huge sweetcorn chowder soup & roll
D - dinner out: okra stew, rice & potatoes (double carbs )
2 glasses of wine

I agree I had a massive spike in my weight, almost putting all my weight lose back on, the week before my period (also coinciding with a binge) I really lost heart but I am back on track and I am doing the yeah 10st 2lb dance too. I would love to get below 10st before Christmas

For me I have never had to watch my weight before I had kids I was just always 9 and a half stone. Since I stopped breastfeeding ds2 the weight has crept on and it's finally starting to go down.

I have some jeans I keep trying on that used to fit, and that is disheartening as I can see the difference in my tummy, breast, but apparently my bum is yet to recognise we are loosing weight.

Yesterday's menu:
B: chocolate cake (the last slice )
L: hummous, tomato and pitta
D: goulash, rice and roast butternut

No snacking, no seconds. I don't know if cake counts as dessert when it's all you have for breakfast?! Anyway, from my 'post of determination' onwards, I was quite proud of myself. I even started the 30 day shred again.

eltsihT, I have similar 'shape' issues in that I still have massive hips and thighs even though I weigh what I used to aim for as my ultimate target weight!

I don't know how old the rest of you are, but I suspect I have slightly unrealistic expectations of my 40+yr old body that's had three DC. Trouble is, I was seriously very overweight all my life until about 10 years ago so never had that young slim healthy body. I'd love to be able to achieve that now, but think I've probably left it too late

Hope you're feeling better today helen, and SC, I hope your DD is starting to recover?

Waves to everyone else too, and let's enjoy the countdown to the weekend!

Hi everyone,

The age thing is significant I think! I need to lose another stone to get to my pre-baby weight (just over 10 stone), which I have been at various points since the DC, so it is achievable, but I do realise that I won't be the same shape........ I am very squishy (for want of a better word).

I am 46 and also have 3 DC (14, 12 and 9). But mentally I am about 28.

Am I the oldest?

Julie what is the 30 day shred? It sounds vaguely familiar....

It's an exercise DVD (it's on youtube too) done by Gillian Michaels which combines strength, cardio and abs work. Each workout is less than 30 mins but because you rotate the muscles you use, it's more intensive than it sounds!

The idea is to do it every day for 30 days, working up through level 1 to 3.

I started it in late summer and did about 16 sessions over a few weeks, but eventually gave up. There's quite a lot of work where you support your weight on your hands in level 2 and I have a weak wrist so was having to try to think up replacement exercises. Too hard! But level 1 is really good so I'll see how I get on this time.

I really ache today though. It'll take some willpower to get myself back on it tonight. But I am very squishy too. And strangely lumpy. So I need to do something!!