This could change your life

[fraggletits]

Anyone doing Zoe Harcombe?

I would never have known about her had I not tried her diet that was serialised in the news of the world magazine 3 months ago.

It appealed to me because it was proper food, no calorie counting - but I was going away on hols so decided to do a kerry katona last blow out and then I'd start it when I got back.

I've bought the book and am so far 5lbs lighter and I am only on day 4 of the 5 day kickstart. Phase 2 looks really good and Phase 3 is a return to completely normal eating and drinking with just a couple of simple rules to follow.

It's brilliant. I can't recommend it highly enough. I thought I was a hopeless big dinner portion fan - a crisp and chocolate addict with alcoholic tendencies. But she has just blown all that apart for me. (It's more than just a diet - it's an explanation of why we crave things and why we feel helpless - phase 1 and 2 eliminate these cravings pretty painlessly so that by phase 3 you can eat all the things you used to but with a couple of simple rules and with a new found awareness and control over food, gained from phase 1 and 2)

She's got a couple of websites - one under zoe harcombe, one under thedietguru I think.

Hope this helps anyone struggling with calorie counting and exercise

Also another great quote - Nothing tastes as good and slim feels.

That's so true mammy.

fraggle can I really have 100g a day in day 3??! Can't believe I missed that!!

Yes well according to Zoe she is a self proclaimed chocoholic and says in her book and on her website that she eats a large 100g bar of lindt or G&B everyday (got to be 70-85% though) - she's maintaining her weight though not losing and that's her big treat for the day.

I'm actually slightly nervous of phase 3 because it just seems like totally normal eating. I think the point of phase 1 is to kill cravings, phase 2 is about learning discipline and phase 3 is practicing it.

learning discipline while losing weight I meant

Waaagh, I feel awful again!
Felt ok today, bit tired but not too bad but I was halfway through my tea (rice with bolognese) and I broke into a sweat, got really bad stomach cramps and had to rush to loo, I was nearly sick as well.
So what the hell caused that! Ingredients were
Mince, garlic, tomato passata and puree (just tomatoes, nowt else) courgette, leek, pepper and herbs. No stock cube, nothing.
Very weird. Still feel crap.

Franch stick with it! You know you want to be slim and healthy. It really is so hard and such a struggle but it will be worth it.

I love the deprivation quote!

Gosh Jack I have no idea what could have made you react like that. Did you suddenly have a heavy meal after having really light meals over the past few days? Maybe have a look at her website?

I did well today . I'm very pleased to be back on track. I'm sure I haven't lost any weight this week though.

porridge
butternut squash soup
chicken and spinach curry with raita
nly for later

JB really can't answer why you felt like that butstick with it and by day 5 you really won't know yourself.

I have cheate tonight and had 2 small glasses of red wine. It tastes soooooooooooooo good!!

Sounds like a bug to me Jack. Hope you are OK.

Lol at Mammyto1
Enjoy!

I did wonder what a 'butstick' was for a second or two and how one would feel like one

I did wonder what a 'butstick' was for a second or two, and wondered how someone could feel like one

Sorry, site crashed so rewrote my post but both came up!

Funnily enough I do feel a bit like a buttstick.
I still have tummy ache
But as a bonus I don't remotely feel like cheating! MIght have some NLY and see how that goes down.

I am loving all the positive stories on here though, and the fact that a little cheat is not that big a deal. All good.

Oops sorry about the butstick. You can tell i'm on the wine when I forget my spaces

Well after putting on the 4.5lb I lost it all and a extra quarter of a pound - So far I have lost 7 and a quarter pounds in 4wks - I am very happy.

Hope you all have good losses this week!!!

Well I didn't sleep well, bad stomach cramps, I am convinced it is the candida die off (dont forget I scored massively high with it,...) still tho as I haven't been sick or been on the loo all night, just stomach cramps.
So I caved this morning and weighed myself, and I've lost 5lb's.
In 2 days.

Have searchewd thread for butternut squash soup recipe as they are 49p in aldi and am going to make a batch of tht int a bit!

Well done JB thats fantastic. Just to let you know we have picked Friday as weigh day so everyone will report how they are doing.

We have just had an aldi open near us and I can't believe how cheap the fruit and veg is. It's great because you go through so much on this diet.

Hope you feel better soon

Hey great news on the losses Mto1 and JB! Congrats

For me it's (drumroll please).....a quarter of a pound loss!!!!

I was convinced I'd lost earlier in the week, but then just had that telltale feeling of slight bloatedness when I woke up this morning.

I suppose at the end of the day I am pretty much a stone lighter since starting all this 5 weeks ago (with a week long blow out), and I can't hope to be losing 5lbs a week every week, but still it is a little gutting when I've been really good of late.

It's got to be a bit of exercise I think this week. I said that last week and never bothered, but I think I will dust off my dvd's at the weekend and give one a go!

Hope everyone else does well

Fraggle its still a loss and a stone in 5wks is amazing - if you were doing a different diet would you still feel a little disappointed with the same weight loss. If you average it out its nearly 3lb a week which is excellent. Wish it was me with the stone off

Wow! good losses everyone

Definitely stick with it Jack, it will be worth it. When I was reading your post I thought you'd 'caved in' and started eating rubbish or something . So pleased to here it was a weigh in with fantastic results!

I have lost 2lbs. Hooray.

Its dh's birthday today so I'll have a piece of cake and I have dinnr out on Sundays so apart from that, I'm carrying on with phase 1.

Wahay, well done mammy, Jack, fraggle and squid! Bet you'll find there's been a bit of a delay fraggle and you'll see a bigger loss next week.

My good news is that despite my silly behaviour this week, I haven't put anything on - I'm exactly (to the decimal point) the same as I was a week ago which is pretty amazing considering the self-sabotage that's been going on.

I have been feeling slim but had a very real fear I'd put myself back to square one.

Very, very happy.

This has given me the motivation to keep on with phase 2 and enjoy it.

Yesterday I had (very carby, I know):
porridge and blueberries
kallo & soy milk then nearly half a big bar of G&B's 85%
Lemon Magnolia's gorgeous hearty Italian bean soup; brown rice; kallo; then a load of milk chocolate truffles left over from DD2's birthday

I would throw the chocs away but we've just started using them as rewards for DD2 sleeping through (not something I'd do normally but we're desperate - long story!) so I'll just have to be strong. It hasn't been a problem till now - I just need to kill the cravings and have my food all planned out today so am confident I'll be ok.

Today I will have
porridge with blueberries
leftover soup; rye bread; NLY and berries
a 'fat' tea out with DD2 (probably chicken wings and veggies)

It's been an unusually stressful and exhausting week so I'm not going to beat myself up - I've been lucky with the weight on this occasion and am not going to tempt fate by staying on the downward spiral.

Wish me luck

That's great news squid! congrats - and good news too Franch you can start again not having gained. That soup looks gorgeous by the way, thanks for sharing

Feel a bit better now - 1/4 of a pound is a still a loss I guess

Having a big bowl of jacket potato chips with a yoghurt dip for lunch to cheer me up!

Salmon and courgette for dinner.

Wonder whether too much salt can bloat you?

Thanks fraggle Enjoy your lunch! Yes salt does cause water retention - make sure you're drinking loads of water to flush it out

Well done squid and franch!!!

Totay I have had:
NLY
Chicken thai green curry
Not decided on dinner yet

Well I had a custard doughnut. And I can report it was not pleasant experience. Never thought I'd say that!! Sat like a rock in my stomach.

So I thought I'd report it and save you all from making the same mistake

Isn't 1/4 of a pound a block of butter (or half a block of butter)? Think of it in terms of actual lard and its real progress. Well done!