Um ok so my sister got engaged - I'm bridesmaid... I have 2 years to lose 11 stone... Bloody Hell.

[Alambil]

I can't do it!

Only you can do this LF.

I was 13st 9lb when I started WW. I am now 12st 3ish. I have been struggling with the boys off school but for the first time in my dieting history I can say 'OK, fine, Ive put on weight again, but I can move on and look at the week ahead and not worry about it.'

It is about what is in your head. Think about your goals.

My goal is to be 10st by next April as we are going to Egypt and my parents are having a 40th WA do.

Write down what you eat and how you feel.

DO NOT LOOK AT THE 11STONE you have to lose - just take it a stone at a time.

Buy in low fat healthy foods. Dont buy chocolate as you will eat it! Drink water and try and wean yourself off the diet coke.

We will help you.

You can do it!

I need to lose 6 stone. I am starting tomorrow. My plan is low GI/low fat/healthy. And my plan is to PLAN. If I plan my meals I know I will find it easier to stick to. I am also going to plan treats. A massage after each stone off.

I think you need to sit down with your Mum and sis and say "look guys I know you are trying to help but I also know myself and the more you go on at me the more likely I am to get frustrated and give up. I have a plan and I will stick to it and in that plan I have room for treats so please trust that if you see me eating something you think I shouldn't, I have planned for it'. I know exactly how you feel as I am exactly the same. I had to have a huge row with my Dad once as he kept commenting on what I was eating which made me want to eat twice as much!

You need to ditch the diet coke I am afraid. Don't go cold turkey though. Just try and replace every second one with a glass of water. I find that keeping a jug of water with sliced lemon in the fridge is good. It tastes nice and refreshing and I find it thirst quenching.

Do you think something like Weight Watchers or Slimming World would help you? There is also lots of online stuff - Tesco Diets has lots of different plans. I used to use that before it was Tesco and I found it great for support. Some people on here use Food Focus which I think is free and helps you track your calorie intake etc.

You seem to know your weak times so can you plan around that? Plan to do something in the evenings so that you are not bored. Build in an evening treat though as well. Take it a day at a time and don't beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon. Just start again.

i am on atkins

the thing about atkins is - you can't cheat or you wont lose weight

so i cant have 'just one square of chocolate' or just o'one bag of crisp'

i have to literally think about what i am putting in my mouth EVERYTHING.

suger in coffee - erm no - sweetner - erm well one sweetner = one carb....do i really want to waste that carb on a sweetner?

its a protien diet. it can be as healhy or unhealthy as you want it to be.

may i also recommend www.fitday.com it helps you record your weight, what you eat. your carb and calorie intake.

it lets you look at you weight loss graphs and your nutrition graphs.

its easy to sign up to and i fill mine in at the end of each day.

i am going on holiday in may with rhubarb. she is v. thin and i am not looking like the fat girl!

so far i have lost 20lbs in 8 weeks.

i have digital scales. every half a pound counts and is encouraging.

i look forward to being in another new stone bracket in two weeks

Well done custy! I did atkins a few years ago and lost over 2 stone. The only thing I found with it was that it made me an 'all or nothing' dieter. You do really need to come off it properly - follow the book and gradually increase your carbs till you find the amount that you can consume without starting to gain. I didn't do that and just started eating normally again and piled it all back on plus a whole lot more. I have tried to do it again a few times but can never get really back into it.

By the 'all or nothing' comment I mean that with other diets/plans I tended to make the right choices most of the time but with Atkins, as you say you cannot cheat so you are either on it or not. It seems to have messed with my head anyway! DH would like me to do it again as he finds it great. He loves the food and the weight drops off him and he finds it easy when eating out on business etc.

yes that is exactly true - your either on it or your not - theres no pissing about in the middle

i find it dificult to eat out though.

I found the eating out ok actually. I love goat's cheese so if that was on menu I would have that for starter with salad and then steak or salmon for main with grilled veg or salad.

Custardo, how does the fitday website record Atkins? Do you put in the carbs you've eaten, or does the website work it out from the foods you put in?

How would you record an Atkins Day Break bar from Boots (3.5g). Would it have a branded item like that in the website?

in my vast experience of losing weight (and sadly gaining it) you have to be in the zone. only you can motivate yourself. if you have 11 stone to lose the first 5 stone or so should come of relatively fast on a good regime. so yes you can do it but try not to focus on the wedding.

do you do any exercise? i find exercising boost my motivation (and obviously burns off a few calories)

good luck!

you put the foods in - it has a food log that will work it out for you

but for instance - sausages are all different - and the site is american - so you can create a food - or just put something in you know adds up to the carbs you have eaten iykwim

I can recommend Rosemary Conley classes if you feel you need someone to keep you on the straight and narrow - you pay yes BUT you get a 45 minute exercise class too. I found it helped and everyone was really friendly.

Then you can say to people you are going to keep fit rather than going to get weighed. Pschologically it helps to focus less on the diet but more the exercise/fitness aspect.

And I know I can't spell psyco/physco/sycologically LOL

oooh, thanks for the link to fitday.
I've entered my details for the first day of my new diet and exercise programme and am going out on my bike now to see what happens to my pie chart.

pmsl - its great isn't it

definitely tailored for my inner geek

well mum told me she's not going to comment because it'll make me dig my heels in (oh how well she knows me!). She's decided that if I want to be bridesmaid, I'll get myself sorted in time...

LewisFan

1. Don't do it for your sister. do this diet for yourself.

1. Start thinking positively about yourself. I agree witht the use of the Paul Mckenna CD.

I've just been bridesmaid for my sister and once she asked me I went completely to pot with regards to my diet. All I could visualise was a great big fat heifer walking down the aisle after my sis. Please, please get in the right frame of mind. I have started on my diet and full exercise a full 30 days after my sister wed. How silly was I?

Good luck, if you do what I say rather than what I do you'll look fantastic!

What's the "if I want to be bridesmaid" thing about? Are you not allowed if you don't lose weight?!? Or is it just that you won't "look nice".

The latter really really annoys me. Like unless people look a certain way they're ugly, worthless slobs. So then as an overweight person you end up soaking up all these negative thoughts and feeling shit all the time. It's like if you're not punishing yourself mentally all the time it's wrong and a bad thing. But that doesn't lead anywhere.

Personally, every time I've had a weightloss deadline I've failed miserably. Extra stress for a stress eater was not good, and the rollercoaster of can I love myself this week for losing weight, or am I required to hate myself was not good. I only get weighed now whenever I feel like it. I get dh to keep the scales at work so I don't succumb and then when I feel my clothing smaller I take a look at the weight.

It's been slow going, but along the journey I've learnt to eat well and of properly proportioned sizes, which also meant doing away with those massive dinner plates you get these days! I didn't grow up with dinner plates that size! And "pasta bowls" are immense!

I don't even know if any of this is any help! But you are not alone!

common, I don't actually know what she quite meant by that..!

My mum says some weird things, but if she starts nagging me, I'll nag her about her nicotine habit, so I've got some leverage in my bag!

I think I've already lost a few lbs this summer, so perhaps if I just kick the cola on the head for a while, I'll see some rewards....

but then what will I drink?! I hate plain water, hate squash... don't drink tea or coffee... hmmmm