General Chat

Poor you. I think that some of the weight will go back on as soon as you are better and start to eat properly again. 3 kilos is 6.6 pounds and quite a lot of that will be water and muscle, not fat. If you can stop it all going back on by eating sensibly you will be off to a good start.

Today, my day 6, was the hardest yet. Not because I was hungry but because I went to a lunchtime buffet style barbecue where there was just SO much food including lots of cakes.

My stomach was soon full but my eyes wanted to eat more. I guessed this would happen so I didn't eat before I went. I loved the cake!!

Today was one of my eat normally days.

Tomorrow is the last day of my first week.

Still got this awful cold.

Haven't started The Diet yet.

Got on the scales this morning. I lost 3Kg last week!

I haven't been eating much at all except loads of soft fruit and drinking bucketfulls.

I don't even want chocolate, which is NOT like me.

I don't recommend the "Flu Diet" to anyone!

Well done Wendy-you sound like you've got the right idea when you're out.Motivation is a wonderful thing,isn't it??

Hope you're feeling better soon,Scozz.

As for my own progress-so far,so good.Walked 40 minutes this morning,came back home and did 45 minutes weeding-I'm paying for it now-and housework for the rest of the day.I'm not usually that active,but it was for a good cause.

I have felt in control of my appetite and food intake all day,which is a rarity.Usually I'm at the mercy of my appetite,and search the cupboards or freezer looking for something sweet or savoury,usually fattening! Tea was delayed 2 hours tonight-son offered to buy tea,then disappeared for 2 hours.I was hungry,but felt in control-normally I'd head straight for the biscuit tin, and despite my good intentions,eat more bickies than I should.

I'm still keeping a food diary-writing down everything that passes my lips.It does seem to help,keeps me on the straight and narrow.

Good luck to everyone,

Margot.

Friday 5th October ..Day 5

I will just keep adding to this thread every day until I have completed my first week on Monday unless anyone else joins me and wants to keep it going. After that I will add the occasional progress report before you all become bored to tears with my blow by blow dietry habits!

Off for lunch today and I am looking forward to comparing notes with Jo who introduced me to this diet. I will eat normally but sensibly as there is no fun in being out with others and not enjoying the food.

I know that Scozz is really poorly at the moment but hope that everyone else is fit and active. Enjoy your day however you are spending it.

Wendy

Wendy, I feel awful!

My glands are swollen - one in my neck feels like an egg!

I'm seeing a doc on Tuesday (for something else), so maybe he can prescribe something. This cold has hung about for over two weeks.

Got sore ribs from coughing.

Hope you feel better soon Scozz, it's not much fun being ill. I feel good on this diet and I don't feel hungry. Look after yourself

Wendy

I've still got this awful cold! So I don't think I'll be starting the D plan next week.

Woke up this morning, felt like I'd been hit in the face with a cricket bat.

When I start coughing, the dogs howl.

Batch cooking is a great way to go and low fat batch cooking is even better. Now you will always have something handy for dinner. I used to cook like this a lot because although I quite like to cook I don't particularly want to do it every day and needless to say my husband wanted to eat every day! To be fair he loved to cook and would often cook for me. He made wonderful lemon meringue pie and bake well tart, not the best food for dieters but wonderful all the same. He measured and weighed everything and always had great results. I am more a throw everything in to the mixer at once cake maker, and occasionally it does go wrong but usually it turns out okay. I haven't made a cake since he died last November as I would end up eating it all. I could freeze it in portions but two minutes in the microwave and it is ready to go!

Well I survived the birthday brunch today and yes I did eat a croissant with butter and jam because I just couldn't sit and watch everybody else tucking in and singing their praises. I deliberately ate slower than I normally do and other people were on to a second bread selection before I had finished my croissant. It is definitely easier to diet alone. I stopped eating as soon as I felt full where as I used to keep eating until all the food had gone. I had only had a banana in the morning to help cancel out some of the lunch which was at 12 o'clock. Luckily having a sweet wasn't an option as nobody else wanted one but even if they had I would have said no as I really did feel full.

Tomorrow I am out to lunch again, Friday lunch with the " girls" is normally my one meal out a week and where I will get to compare notes with Jo, the girl I mentioned at the beginning of this thread who lost a stone on this diet.

Wendy

3.95 sounds reasonable for the small jar of standard Spike. It lasts ages though it tends to "cake" a bit so needs stirring up. It doesn't go off if kept carefully.

I have small boxes to top up the shaker. There is also a spicey version which is good for white fish and lean pork, and a salt-free for low sodium diets.

Cooper, your recipes sound marvellous. Eat healthy you guys and feel Fit for Life!

Hallo everyone, that sandwich sounds nice Malcolm :-)

Today I had a slice of burgeon bread toasted with marmite. I have been batch cooking with 2kilos of lean cubed beef from the butchers. For dinner tonight will be either beef and mushroom goulash, beef jalfrezi or beef bourguignon. And green veg. They have all been made in a low fat way with no added baddies. Once frozen there will be 20 portions of the above dinners to put in the now defrosted and empty freezer. I haven't been too hungry, all the cooking has stopped me thinking about eating :-)

Teresa
:-D

Hi Malcolm.. I found Spike on Amazon for £3.95.
I used to buy a similar product in the supermarket in the UK but I can't remember the name.

RE - Fit For Life....SPIKE is a dry mix of about 30 herbs and spices. I keep mine in a sprinkle shaker It enlivens any sort of dish....stews and soups but most of all a fresh crisp veggie sandwich.

Something fairly bland like cucumber, tomato and lettuce (Full of natural waters) is made very special with a wee sprinkle of Spike. A rare steak or Salmon served with some lightly boiled carrots and some butternut squash is flavour enhanced by just a small amount and is completely combined.

The makers of SPIKE are MODERN PRODUCTS INC. MEQUON, Wisconsin, USA. I managed to order mine online but had to get my sister in Canada to pay in USD as they don't know there's another continent over here. LOL.

Quick hint from the book about Veggie sandwiches...if you're using tomatoes, put the lettuce on the bread first as a "liner"to stop the tomatos making it soggy!

I repeat...Fit For LIfe is more about feeling great than about losing weight, but in my, and the writers experience they go hand in hand.

Margot, I am so sorry for the typo it is a problem with my iPad. It seems to guess the word as soon as I put in the first couple of letters and more often than not it guesses wrong. If I knew how to cancel this wonderfully helpful facility I would but I don't know how to do it :-(

Thank you for all your good wishes and handy hints.

Dear Wendy,

I hope "Maggot " was a typo?? LOL...

I forgot to say "Well done" for your efforts so far-I hope that you get a lovely surprise when you face those scales on Monday.

Best wishes,

Margot :-)

Hi Wendy,

Just missed your post-good luck for the coming week,stay strong in the face of all that temptation!!If you have to,you can choose to have small amounts of what you fancy,whereas before,if it was me it would have been open slather!! Then feeling guilty afterwards..

My Group Leader Margaret has a good tip-she said that when she knows that she will be eating out,she reduces the amount of foods that she has, has smaller portions the day before the outing and the day after- and eats what she likes when she's out,without going overboard,so that she doesn't feel deprived.My sister uses the same strategy,to keep herself looking slim.(Wish I had her willpower!) I know it's a bit hard for you next week,with so many meals out,but it's something to consider in the future.

I live in Melbourne,Victoria, Australia-you may have heard about that dreadful murder of the ABC journalist in Brunswick,Jill Meagher,it was in all the papers apparently,particularly the Irish ones.We are all still reeling from the shock of that lovely,vibrant young woman being raped and murdered on a busy street in the early hours of the morning. :-0 :-0

Our weather is supposed to be horrible over the week-end,so that will be an interesting test for me.-walking wise.

Good luck everyone,

Margot.
:-) :-D

Margot I have this CD and nearly always fall asleep whilst listening to it but I do wake up when he say, one two three you're wide awake and like you I always remember some of what he has said. The book that goes with it is good too

Hi guys,

I just Googled Paul McKenna and found that his weight loss CD is on his website.I read all the reviews and agree with nearly everyone who made a comment.If you're having a struggle getting motivated losing weight I would recommend it .I can still hear his voice saying-"Avoid sugar!!",and that's one of the first things that I want to do without after I have listened to his CD.

Best wishes,

Margot.

Day 3 Thursday 4th October

Whoohooo the scales are going down and I can't wait for the final result for the first week next Monday. As you can tell it doesn't take much to make me happy. I have now had my 2 x 500 cal days so I have nothing to fall back on if I over eat so I will need a little will power. ( do you know him born 1805 in Newcastle, I can't find him on the 1851 census?) Lol.

Normally I only go out to eat once a week, sometimes not at all, but this week I am out for 5 possibly 6 meals!! Mostly due to birthday celebrations. I am going to a champagne brunch today which I know involves a lot of different home made breads. Next week I have visitors so I will be buying food that I would not usually buy ie. chocolate biscuits and there will be more eating out.

Now the easiest thing to have done would have been to say that I would start the diet after the birthdays and the visitors, BUT this would have been the worse thing I could have done as I would have eaten everything going and had a sort of last eating spree. The result would have been another half a stone on before the diet even started. As it is I can see the weight is going down, my stomach is full on less food and I do not want to undo the good I have done so far.

So if you are serious about losing weight don't make excuses for not starting today/tomorrow because tomorrow you will find another excuse, and another, or receive another invitation to go out etc.

REMEMBER.. If you cheat you are only cheating yourself. To be honest usually nobody else will care very much if you cheat or not so you need to be doing this for yourself and doing it now.

Have a good day everyone and I look forward to those who said that they will be joining me next week to be actually doing that..no excuses.

Margot, so pleased you went for the walk I think that you always feel better for it. Where are you not in the UK I guess as you said it was 30 degrees yesterday. :-D

Wendy

Hello everyone,

It's great to participate on a thread with so much support and encouragement!

Many thanks Wendy for starting it-for the first time in a long while I feel really motivated to stop putting fattening things in my mouth,and it feels good!

I went for a 30 minute walk first thing this morning at 7am with my 2 little dogs,so that was a good start.I haven't walked for about 3-4 months, so I was happy.I also spent 3 hours in the garden,as the weather was beautiful today-30 degrees!

Thank you for jogging my memory Malcolm-I had forgotten about those AWESOME sandwiches, with everything salady that you like in them-very satisfying, and very good for you.I lost 7kilos after reading that book,juiced everything,and to this day still don't put margarine or butter on my sandwiches.
I have a copy of that book somewhere-I had better dust it off and put the principles into practice again.!

One thing that I found really helped me was listening to a weight loss CD by Paul McKenna.He's a motivational speaker-and writer-my CD was inside the back cover of his book.I listen to him a few times,and I'm motivated again.His ideas are basic,but sensible.If anyone feels that they need inspiration, or motivation, he will get you on the right track.

Good luck, everyone,

Margot.

What is Spike is it something similar to Marmite. When I was teaching weight management I suggested using low fat mayo, pickle mustard etc instead of butter you just need something to stop the sandwich falling apart.