Louise Parker Method

[ElvenDreamer]

Hi, anyone following the Louise Parker Lean for Life method? I'm just starting (using her books) and could do with a group to swap thoughts with!

Hi @ElvenDreamer

i am from Germany and currently doing the Louise Parker Method. I have lost 5 kg last year but stepped so much out of the inner circle due to too many reasons. Now i am back on track and i think i will do the 6 weeks transform again.
I began week 3 on Monday.

I would love to have someone to swap thoughts and i am so glad to find you.

maybe we can exchange what we ate today? For me it was...
half a banane w peanut butter
carrot and lentil soup
joghurt with pineapple and a few roasted hazelnuts
pear with mixed nuts
(skipped one meal because i wasnt hungry, thats why i had 3 snacks)

Sports today done
very few steps due to the rain

Hi @GloryLory ,
Hooray, someone else following it! Ok so I did the initial 6 weeks, not always totally perfectly so am still attempting to stay in the inner circle as much as I can.
Today I had:
Yoghurt with bran and berries.
Salad for lunch.
Handful of nuts and raisins
Piece of cheese on an oatcake
Pancetta wrapped cod with lentils and spinach.
Steps were initially fairly low as I work sitting down all day on a Tuesday but I did a HIT/clubbercise workout class on Zoom this evening for my exercise which brought me up to 12k steps.

Hello again @ElvenDreamer

great, you did 6 weeks already. may i ask how much you want to lose?
Which oatcakes do you use? And where do you love? I cant find the right ones, they all contain sugar, maybe thats a german problem.

Ok, I posted a reply earlier but for some reason it's not showing, will try again and hope that suddenly 3 identical messages don't appear!

I'm in the UK @GloryLory , the oat cakes I've got are Nairns, they seem to only have naturally occurring sugar and it's low. My issue with oat cakes is that Louise Parker always talks about mini oatcakes in the books, I've never seen any, yet given that oatcakes all seem to be made in Scotland there's a fair selection to be had here! ...guessing I don't shop in a posh enough supermarket...🤣. I'n presuming therefore that perhaps 1 or 2 normal size depending on how hungry I am should be fine...!

I'm looking to probably lose another half a stone I think and just clean up my diet a bit generally, I struggle with binge eating in the evenings and really working hard to find ways of stopping this.

Hi there,

seems like you got it right - only one message :)
Thank you for the oatcake hint, seems like german supermarkets have these too sometimes, i will look out for them.
Do you follow her on Instagram or do you have all three books? Because i googled your oatcakes and to me they look like the ones she uses all the time. Anyway she often says that we have to figure out what works best and i get the feeling you are already doing this quite well.

I am often in the mood of what she calls "all or nothing mentality", after my last transform phase i struggled to keep it up while my life got busy like never before. I'm studying and get so hungry from learning for example.
What do you mean with binge eating in the evenings, sweet and savory snack compilation?

I'm not on Instagram at all, often wonder if I should be, I have all 3 of her books now and am gradually getting used to adapting recipes from other books I like to use to suit the method too. I know what you mean about the all or nothing mentality, I think there's quite a lot of forward planning needed and doing that all the time gets a bit relentless, I can see if you have a lot of studying going on etc how easy it would be to have not planned ahead. I'm hoping the more I do it the more it will become sort of effortless, I can hope anyway!
Yes I'm bad for evening snacking, I just sort of lose control and graze out of the fridge or whatever as I go past. It's sometimes sweet stuff, often too much cheese, if there's stuff been baked then that, to be honest it's anything that's there, I sometimes try and just go to bed stupidly early to stop myself but that's not practical on a daily basis!
What are your things you find good or hard about it all?

Hi, I'm so excited to have found this thread that I signed up for Mumsnet even though I'm American! (I lived in London for 5 years and in Brussels for 2 years before that so I do have some Euro-credentials!) And please excuse all the exclamation points :)

@GloryLory I also started week 3 on Monday. Started after reading a comment about the method on Instagram that intrigued me. So far I have "Lean for Life" from the library and bought the 6-week programme and the cookbook. I just felt a bit chunky and I put on maybe 3-4 kilos over the past year with COVID stress and "Mommy wine time". Gave up drinking for Lent and have not seen the scale budge very much which is disheartening! I am following the method quite closely with a toe outside the circle here and there (e.g. leftover pizza last night for dinner). It's helpful that the food is all really delicious, takes some prep work for sure but worth it if I get results.

Today I did a 45 minute Pilates session and ate:
1 cup of French press coffee and 1 small cappuccino
Porridge with cinnamon and half an apple
Other half of apple with cocoa nut butter for snack
Small plate of corned beef and colcannon potatoes for St Paddy's of course
Granola bar for snack
The chocolate con carne pressies for dinner

Plus plenty of water. I find the 10k steps a day is the most challenging part, especially in the cold weather we are having right now.

I'm looking forward to talk about this with others and measuring our progress!

@AmericanMom1776 welcome to the thread 🙂 It was the lockdown that did for me too, too much gin and chocolate here 🤦‍♀️ So I lost fair bit of weight in the first 3 weeks of my 6 then it plateaued, I wasnt really managing to stay in that inner circle properly I think if I'm honest with myself so jumping right back in with you guys.
Yesterday I had, an egg and rocket on whole grain for breakfast, corgetti bolognese for lunch then for evening meal half a baked sweet potato with a cauliflower, pea, mint mix as a filling. Snacks, a handful of nuts and sultanas (ok I know that's off method lol) and a banana on ryvita. Went for a walk even in the rain and did a short toning app.

So glad to find other people doing it, welcome @AmericanMom1776! You dont need to excuse yourself, i dont have kids and write here because i cant find such threads in german forums. Louise Parker isnt quite common here, maybe because her books aren't available in german?!
For me its also the 10 k steps that challenge me.... Nice that you're in week 3, too!

@ElvenDreamer"I'm not on Instagram at all, often wonder if I should be"
I dont think so, she started a new website and all her post are about "a new start/ change now/ feel better" which tu be true, doesnt turn me on.
Your cravings in the evening sound to me a bit like emotional eating or are you raging hungry?
For the emotional part you maybe need to have more pleasure pops through the day (i struggle to find some in these days, any suggestions welcome!). Or maybe you can think of any activities you start before the fridge surfing hours start? For me it's much easier not to eat when i'm busy with somethign fun.
if you're really hungry, you maybe can prepare an extra snack or simply eat a bit more through the day?
What i really like about her method is the nice approach to living and habits, its not just food, its all. I've never felt better than last year while doing it constantly. She seems so kind and her books really comfort me instead of punishing myself with something i just dont want to do forever, sad salads and amounts of discipline i dont have.

I'm on a plateau as well and i know thats because i stepped a bit too much out of the circle on the weekend. Motivation was low and chocolate intake was high :D
So this week i really try to stay in the inner circle.

Yesterday i had:

• secretly fit chocolate cake (1/8), i can give you the recipe, its nice, but not in her books
• 1 pear with hazelnuts
• 1 protein pudding
• courgette noodles with leftover lentil soup/ sauce
• lovely lentil bake
• little pizza margherita for snack

Wish you all a nice day!

and i nearly forgot: breakfast was banana porridge with 1/2 tablespoon of peanut butter - loved it!

Hi guys, yesterday was a long and tpugh day but despite of 2 cookies i managed quite well i think...

• banana porridge with 1/2 tablespoon of peanut butter
• little pizza margherita
• 1 pear with nuts
• 1 wholemeal toast with salmon and a bit of cream cheese
• lentil tomato soup
• noodles made from wholemeal flour and regular quark (actually a vergy nice noodle replacement)

• 30 mins of sports
• nearly 10 k steps

Hope you're doing good, too.

Anyone else think this is one person

You trying to promote your book love?

??? i dont know why you guys think that... i have only this one account and im really not interested in discussing with myself online

Wow, how unbelievably rude to gate crash this thread @Temporary2016 and @DavidsSchitt . I started it as I wanted to talk with some like minded people, who I'm delighted to have found. I'm now really uncomfortable with the fact that others are apparently reading the thread soley to take the piss apparently and feeling quite upset which is massively unhelpful to me trying to sort my life out. If you're not interested, scroll on by. If you think we sound similar it's probably because we are all DISCUSSING THE SAME THING.

Ewww @DavidsSchitt! I wish I had that kind of time on my hands!

Good luck for the weekend everybody, I find that's one of hardest times to stay straight.
This morning I skipped breakfast and had 2 cappuccinos instead
Lentil & halloumi salad for lunch - it was not that great (fun fact, halloumi is not common in the U.S., it's hard to find and expensive)
30 minute Bodyfit by Amy youtube video - if you haven't seen these I really recommend them. I do her videos several times a week.
We are having pizza for dinner because of Lent + Friday night, but I will try to be a good girl and have a salad instead. Halo on!
Woefully lacking in steps so far but the sun is out and I'm going to try to walk!

Good to see you again. How are you doing?
Weekend is okay for me, did sport today and over 10 k steps both days despite the unfriendly weather.

@AmericanMom1776 the Lentil & halloumi salad isnt one of my favourites too... i stuck to the recipe a few days ago but i didnt taste especially good. Halloumi is quite common in Germany, but you can also replace it with some fish oer feta.
In one of her books is a lentil salad with curried cod which tastes so much better! Maybe you can give it a try.
Thanks for recommendating 30 minute Bodyfit by Amy youtube videos, she seems quite nice and i can use a bit of variety to my regular Jilian Michaels videos.

i had...
3 little wholemeal pancakes with joghurt and strawberries and a bit of peanutbutter
1 apple with 2 tblspoons roasted hazelnuts
1 egg
1 choco-coconut pudding (made of silken tofu and sugar free)
goulash and very few little pieces of potato bc there wasnt anything else.

Starting in week 4 tomorrow and i'm about to seeing a change. This week was much easier for me, felt better and start to look better, too.

How did you spend the weekend?

Weekend went ok for me, my husband cooks on the weekends but he's getting the hang of just leaving odd bits off my plate when he dishes up so for example I had a nice homemade curry without the basmati rice on one day and we had skate wings with asparagus the other and he ceremoniously played me a single potato wedge with that 🤣
I love the lentil type salads too and they are nice and filling, my only issue is that puy lentils and beluga lentils are so expensive! Actually quite a lot of the ingredients she suggests are so I definitely need to get a bit more inventive. It's a bit easier in the summer when I have a garden bursting with fresh fruit and veg.

@ElvenDreamer :DDD i laughed when i read about your husband diplaying a single potato wedge to you!
I dont always use the lentils she is mentioning, sometimes because i dont want to buy another pack, sometimes because they are sold out. Do you have any oriental shop near by? They do sell bigger and cheaper packages sometimes.
The expensive stuff is a good point for me, too... i dont eat so much meat and fish, but when i do i want it to be caught/held sutainably. The loads of veggies cost, too... I try to stick to simple snacks like an apple and nuts to balance this out.

Today i had...

• porridge with strawberries and cinnamon
• joghurt with almonds and cinnamon
• salad with tomatoes, leftover lentils and courgette, dressing was a tbl.spoon of olive oil and one tbl spoon of blood orange juice
• ruby red tartine for snack
• choco-coconut pudding.

+10 k steps and will do sports later.
Gonna do the spring chicken soup for dinner with leftovers for tomorrow.

Tomorrow i will step on my scale again and i'm excited. I hope my 3 snack per day doesnt ruin it all, but im too hungry to stick to the method if i leave it out.
How do you manage hunger? did you get used to smaller portion sizes already?

Hi everyone, hope you're having a great start to your week. Did pretty good this weekend, with the exception of pizza for dinner last night, but I was eating with my in-laws and didn't have to cook, so I will chalk that one up to "balance". Skipped a workout yesterday but I had done 6 days in a row so I figured it was time to rest.

@GloryLory smaller portion sizes aren't a big deal to me, but if I start feeling like I have the nibbles I try to make a cup of tea or eat something really small to ward it off. You might also try eating a tiny piece of good chocolate after you finish lunch/dinner as that sometimes gives my brain the signal "ok, you've had your dessert and you are done eating for now."

I also found that this weekend I felt "lighter" - haven't weighed myself in awhile but tummy is feeling a little less poochy. It's definitely getting easier to make "healthy choices" for food and my sugar cravings are down significantly. I am trying to stay positive, whenever I start getting the stinkin' thinkin' Louise talks about in her book I tell those thoughts to get the F* out of here because there is only success!!!

Yesterday afternoon I did a meal plan and went grocery shopping, here's what I've got on deck for the week (breakfast/lunch/dinner):
Monday: grilled ricotta/baked sweet potato w goat cheese & bacon + small green salad/chili con carne pressies
Tuesday: chocolate & raspberry porridge/steak soup (leftover from last week)/salmon parcel
Wednesday: grilled ricotta/antipasti salad/picking up dinner from a local restaurant
Thursday: skinny benedict/Millie's turkey appley meatballs (made these 2 weeks ago and put in freezer). The skinny benny is quite filling so I usually eat that a little later in the morning, have a snack mid-afternoon and then wait until dinner to eat a meal again.
Friday: grilled ricotta/beluga lentil salad/dinner TBC (we usually treat ourselves to cheese pizza Fridays during Lent)

@ElvenDreamer totally agree on the expensive ingredients, it almost put me off doing the method! I had to special order vanilla bean paste and it was $22! but considering you only use a tiny bit at a time I figured I could amortize the cost over several months.

Good morning :)

@AmericanMom1776 vanilla bean paste for 22 dollars?! I think i would have used aroma instead or just let it out :D
I was in the US a few years ago and almost any food seemed so expensive to me....

To be true i am a bit disappointed today and cant be really happy about what i accomplished so far (even tough i know any move in the right direction is great)
I started on march 1st with 63,2 kg.
March 8th: 62,0 kg
March 15th: i didnt weigh myself bc of stepping too much of the circle
March 23th: 61.2 kg :( I thought I would get under 61 at least...

I know where i'm not consistent enough, made my steps out the circle, and speaking of steps, i didndt always get them. I worked a lot, met friends which i havnt seen for a long time but always tried to make the right choices.
I did sport quite consistantly. I brought in a 3 third snack when i was too hungry which seems quite often these days. It's not that my sweet tooth, its real hunger, i feel dizzy, cant lift the weights and feel that lack of energy.
This week i thought i digged deep... Last year it was so much easier for me, i dont know why, i was quite hungry there too, but i managed without extra snack for example. But i started with 1-2 kg less when i'm remembering right...

"I am trying to stay positive, whenever I start getting the stinkin' thinkin' Louise talks about in her book I tell those thoughts to get the F* out of here because there is only success!!!"
You're so right.... stinking thinking kicking back in here and i need to stop. I start to see results this week and feeling so much better, healthy food choices are much easier.

@ElvenDreamer
how was your start in the new week?

Hi folks, ok start to the week so far, had a hurried breakfast of a cinnamon roll (ok so that's slightly off plan 🤣) and a banana, salad for lunch with some chorizo in, planning cod en papillotte for dinner tonight. No snack this morning as working in a school so no chance, will have a snack this evening as I have my HIT/ clubbercise workout class and I need the energy!

Hunger I struggle with on some days, not others, I think some of those meals are a lot more filling than others, plus if I'm doing alot of exercise I will have a little more. I read in one of the books that you do need to listen to your own body as obviously we're all different heights, different levels of exercise etc and frankly if I get too hungry I snack like crazy and all bets are off!
@AmericanMom1776 I like the tiny piece of good chocolate tip, I may try that! Sometimes I find I'm really craving something sweet but I know if I start I'll just eat a whole load of crap so in those moments I make a hot chocolate with cocoa powder, stevia and just a tiny bit of milk, the rest hot water and it gives me that sweet hit without turning in to full blown self sabotage!
@GloryLory my scales haven't budged much either, I am trying to remind myself I'm being much more active and muscle weighs more than fat so trying not to get hung up on the numbers.

@ElvenDreamer yes, you are so right about the scales... i dont know why i'm hanging up on these while i'm beginning to see the changes...
Cinnamon roll..mhmhm, nice! I hope your HIIT class was nice, too.

Today went quite well, i had a "click" on a walk. The weather was so much nicer, i felt light-feeded (is that a word?), managed to eat nice and good and have done over 10k steps.

How's everyone doing? It's been a couple of weeks so I am weighing myself this weekend. I felt a little blah today and was very busy at work so I did not even manage 4k steps but I did get a 35 minute workout in and stuck to my meal plan! Tomorrow is a Pilates class and hopefully more walking.

I'm finding myself having a more positive relationship with food - today I told myself, "you can have a pain au chocolat tomorrow as a reward for getting through today." Then I thought, why are you rewarding yourself with food? And why does it have to be a "reward" instead of just something you eat? Do you really even want that pain au chocolat? (answer: yes, duh) so we'll see tomorrow :)

It is hard sometimes not to think of a particular food as a reward or whatever isn't it?! I think we are so conditioned to it, even as children (eat up your food and you can have pudding etc.)
I too have been trying to eat really mindfully and ask myself questions when I want something, trying to ask myself am I really hungry, then have a glass of water and do something for 10 minutes first, if I get distracted then I obviously didn't need it, if I'm still hungry then I have something because I do clearly need it.
I've got a bit lazy on my water intake, think I need to up that a bit. If I remember in the morning I fill a 3 litre jug and leave it on the table, that reminds me to frequently fill my glass then. My steps have been really good but I've been a bit lazy on other forms of exercise, I've done stuff, just not daily.
How are you both getting on with the other pillars? The sort of general lifestyle bits of sleep, creating a calm environment, pleasure pops etc?