Hi everyone - good to see you posting here. I post on here and minimins as I couldn't find much on Alizonne before I started, and would have been grateful to read how it had wored for others. The case studies on the AZ website are for real. I've seen the befores of fellow Alizonners and many of us with lots to loose dont look like the same person afterwards. i've lost 10 years as well as 8 stone.
Bigmissus:
Welcome. I have lost 8 stone. I thought it would be impossible - and found that it wasn't.
I did Alizonne because my DH was happier to have me do something that was medically supervised. The biggest revelation has been the ultrasound - fat does literally melt from the fat cells.It was extraordinary seeing my huge tummy go down so fast. I didn't feel much different until I lost nearly 5 stone. Strange as if you'd made me haul around a suitcase with 3 or 4 stone in it, I would not have been happy - but in a fat suit upholstering me, I was so used it. Then at around 5 stone, I realised I didn't have snoozes in the afternoon at the weekend, and was much more energetic. It's not a starightline loss - someweeks more than others and sometimes a week when the scales shifted a bit, my actual face and body really changed. Measure yourself as the inch loss is amazing too.
The fat cells are still there so you need to live sensibly and develop a new way of eating and living when you get to target. I weigh daily and have changed my habits. I still have Alizonne style salads at lunchtime and much smaller portions of meat etc than I would have had before I started Alizonne. A piece of meat the size of a pack of cards seems ample now.
My plan was to loose nearly 10 stone but I don't want a tummy tuck so have phased off after 8 instead of nearly 10 stone. The skin contraction seems great to 5 or 6 stone - but after that got much looser. I am already tightening up and continue with the endermologie monthly. It is a brutal fact that if you become very overweight, you have to live with the consequences afterwards. So I don't have a fairy tale tight body - but I do have an amazing figure (size 14/16) and look glowing. I tend to waft aroudn the house in a dressing gown and have a good cleavage still - but definitely need a bra for a good shape. I feel fine about swimming in the local pool and am generally happy with life.
I do recommend that you start now getting ready for the transformation. You aren't Bigmissus - you are someone who happens to be big and won't be very very soon. So get yourslef a new name! I have done a lot of work visualising accepting compliments and managing them. It may sound strange but I reinforce that it's me when I see myself in a store mirror or reflected in a window. It's essential that your mind catches up with your body. Your transformation will be so significant that you need stratgies to handle it. I didnt tell people I was doing AZ - I just said I was having protein 5 times a day, salads at lunchtime and veggies in the evening. That avoided prurient interest. I shared what I needed with friends and family if I was going to stay with them or eat at their houses so they could support me. I'd ask to make my special omlette and they'd cook veggies or make a salad that I could share with them. Even now, I smile and say I ate protein 5 times a day, saads at lunchtime and veggies in the evening.
I simply didn't believe I'd successfully shed the weight so I acted as if I would loose it. I just did what i was told, posted on the AZ and minimins forums and kept 100%. The concept of cheating is irrevelant - my mindset was to do it 100% - sometimes it was just one day or even one sachet at a time. I looked for hints and tips on managing life from other Alizonners. I got rid of 'clown' clothes I'd shrunk out of and bought interim clothes from supermarkets and charity shops so I always had a limited amount of reasonable fitting clothes. I think I had three bra fittings on the way down and had nice bras from ASDA. It really helps. Don't slop around in baggy stuff. Look after yourself now and act as if you are gorgeous.
I can't belive I have shed 6 clothes sizes in 8months. Now I'm at my revised target, it takes just as much application to continue the good habits of 5 meals a day, high protein and lots of veg as it does to shed the weight. I'm enjoying the freedoms of a more varied diet - however I have some major changes.
I like the Dukan approach that you are on a sort of week's probation for each lb you've lost. If I had done Dukan, my consolidation or probation period would be nearly 2 years. So I believe I need vigilance for the next couple of years (and forever probably) to establish my new way of living and eating.
So I rarely drink and rarely eat puddings. I'm low on carb, high on veggies and salad, high on protein and reduce the fat I use in cooking. Although I eat meat fat paleo style, I am sparse with olive oil and cook the lower fat way. i dont use butter or spread if I have a slice of bread and ham for my continental breakfast. I often eat low fat yogurt - which tastes very creamy to me now and is high in protein.
Good luck everyone and see you on the AZ forum where you can read my journey.
Ali