'Chasing Butterflies' - Team 7

Ok, we were posting a bit too much on the advertising board so I thought as I was online I'd just start our new team thread. Although were all not sure on the name yet...they said the mods can change it later so I just put this down so you'd all recognise it. I'll send each of you a pm with a link to here but if someone can point *butterfly* in the right direction as she can't pm yet.

Cheers, Kate

Ok, new team consists of...

caramelcherry
angelchaser
devilishandsweet
Nicki-M
*butterfly*
newmaks

WELCOME NEW TEAM!!! I think we are number 29 but I'll get confirmation of that later from Irene.

Have we had anyone offer to be team leader yet? I'm just saying as I don't particularly want to do it myself but if no-one else wants to do it then I will offer as I've done it before and know how to do the stats etc.

Maybe we should have a vote or something?

Hey newmaks, thanks for doing this thread! It's all slowly coming together

I'd love to be leader but after two months, it would be hard for me to keep up with it all to be honest. I'm currently working full time and in two
months will be studying part time also.

Are there any more offers for leader?

Hi everyone!
Thanks for setting the thread up Kate. Sorry for being so green about alll this. Never joined a forum before so all a bit new. (hence i waffle....) Have browsed others in the past but this is the first one i've ever felt compelled to join and be part of. I s'pose its partly because i am so determined to do it this time, and it is seems the people are just so supportive and friendly. No nastiness or excluding seems to go on at all like i've seen on others. (even for a newbie!) I'm an instant fan!
I work night shifts every other weekend, so although its not a burning ambition (I worry about letting you down to be honest although i know that sounds dumb) I could do team leader thing if you wanted, and promise to try my best. ( i sound like a flaming girl scout!)I would need to have all results by Fri/Sat at latest so to get sorted. I still have no pm facility so would need to use thread. It would also be useful if you could tell me is there anything else I would need to do? (I do have hols which may need someone to 'cover')
Any way, enough waffling for now, got to get back to work. Take care all and keep up the good work, -I'm sure we'll all get there in the end....xx

Hi guys!

Quickly jumped on my friends laptop while she's off getting ready

Yay we have a thread!!!!

I wish I could offer to be team leader, but my job is very chaotic and sometimes makes it difficult for me to post online for a few days, and I would hate it if our team missed out on a wi one week because I couldn't get to the web!

I know its a bit early but just have to throw this in.... Wooo Go Team!!! arty0019:

Hey team,

If no-one has any objections then I think *butterfly* should be team leader! Heres what you all need to do to help her...

* Post on here your starting weight this week
* We'll make Friday 'weigh in day' so you can either put your actual weight loss that you weighed in with your CD rep or do a home weigh in and we'll just track that instead.

While Butterfly is getting up to her 50th post which is where she can then send and receive private messages (pm's) we'll post all the results on here for now. When you can do it through pm's you can do it that way if you'd prefer not to let everyone know your weight each week. I do think we should all post it on here though as were all in the same boat and theres nothing to hide.

Each week there is a competition each Sunday where all the teams put down the 'team average weightloss' and their 'biggest loser' and Irene then will post who the winner is.

Butterfly...your job would be to collect all the data together, it'll mean you have to keep a simple record of each persons weightloss at home so it's easier for you if you get muddled up. The formula for working out the weightloss is this...

Calculations for each individual %:
number of lbs lost divided by weight last week in pounds multiplied by 100.


For eg... 8/260 x 100 = 3.08%

Then, once you have all the results you can work out the teams average weight loss.

Calculations for team %:
total number of lbs lost divided by total number of last week's weights in pounds multiplied by 100

For eg... 24/1240 x 100 = 1.94%

There is a winning team and then the team member's best weightloss based on their percentage. Oh, and also a losing team too.

Hope this isnt all too confusing! It's really not that hard but can be a bit stressful when you start. Once you've been doing it a few weeks, it is really simple. We all must give our results in to Butterfly or on the thread by Friday 10pm at least or they don't get put into that weeks competition. We must have a min of 3 results to put the team forward to Irene that week. And Butterfly must have the results in to Irene by 6pm on Sunday.

So, thats it really. Lets all make sure we support Butterfly by making sure we can post every few days at least and get our results here in time. Whether it's to have a whinge about how bad we're doing or to say how great we're doing....this is here to support all of us and lets hope we get to be a winning team each week! :talk017:

And maybe we should start off by introducing ourselves and why were doing this etc etc...

I'll start it off. My name is Kate, I'm 29 and live on the west coast of Ireland with my husband Mike and 3 kids. One 3 year old girl and 11 month old twin boy and girl to which I'm a full-time mum to.

I've been overweight for bloody ages now and you know the story...every year I say I'm going to do it and I reach for the junk food instead! In Jan this year I started getting a few health problems and reached my all time biggest weight...19 stone 4lbs. I felt so ill that I knew I had to do the CD as I'd done lighterlife before and had lost 2 stone quite easily. Fast forward 6 weeks and I'd lost 2 and a half stone again, was thrilled but due to loads fo stress and family problems I stopped and reached for the fridge again . Now I'm back up to 18stone 8 and am vowing to do it again. I do think I'll do it this time as my husband Mike is joining me this time and it's so much easier if there someone to suffer with!

So thats it from me...not much else to say..I'm stuck in the house most of the time due to the kids as I dont drive so I'm online on and off during the day.

Anyone else want to share....?

If you get stuck just let me know

Good luck team

Irene xx

Thanks Kate for all your advice, and the vote of confidence! Will be happy to do team leader if everyone ok with that.

As for me, I'm 34, settled with OH for 12 yrs in Shropshire. We have a nearly 3yr old daughter, whos main aim in life is to press any button on the laptop when i dare to try and have 5 mins to post! Not yet in nursery, i so need to consider getting this sorted but can't get my head round it! Me and OH are both psychiatric nurses, but i luckily only have to work 2 nights a week in my local hospital so have a reasonable amount of free time. Which, I have to confess i used to fill with a lot of snacking.

Have always been overweight, smallest adult size i ever remember being is about a size 14 when i was in my teens. Did hit size 14 jeans briefly about 20mths ago with slimming world, lost the plot whilst we built a house extension and got back up to size 18/20 and 15st5lb. I am sooooo determined to make this happen, and i can be a stubborn headed mule, so hoping for a new me by the end of the year. Intend then to plan to get married at last, then its major saving so we can have another baby, when i can look pregnant instead of just extra fat this time! I have to confess an amzing amount of admiration for anyone running around after 3 under3's, you'll certainly be burning that fat off!

I will apologise in advance, I can ramble and write heaps of waffle.....at work people have to prepare with a cuppa before they sit down to read my epilogue entries in casefiles! Be nice to get to know you all. When's everyones WI day? - mines wednesday. Off to try the porridge again, i found it so revolting i had to chuck it last time, here goes..... xx

Hi all my fellow team members,

I think chasing butterflies is a lovely name and I would be delighted to go with that name.
I think if butterfly wants to be the team leader that would be great. I am probably not the best person for that job as I work nights from Friday to Sunday most weekends and spend most of Monday asleep!!! Having said that if butterfly wants help or needs a week off or goes on holiday I don't mind helping out if need be.

I go for my WI's on a Thursday, so I promise to be a good cocoon and post my results on a Thursday.

I will come back on later and post some information about myself....as I agree with newmaks that we should all maybe know a bit about each other seeing as we are gonna be team buddies.
I shall however, leave you with a snippet of personal information.........It's my Birthday today and I am feeling a bit depressed at being another year older...usually I would be having a meal out with the family, but this year it has to be different...I might celebrate with a chocomint mousse instead.
Anyway speak to you all soon

Happy birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Nicki,
Happy Birthday to you!

:birthday:

Sorry to hear you feel a bit rubbish, I'm generally not too keen on birthdays. On a positive note though, fairplay for sticking at it, when it would be easy to use it as a reason to fall off the wagon. Just think, this could be your last 'big' birthday! Next year can be so different, and you've started the journey!

Now,....getting to the chocomint mousse....I just love the shake, hot at night. How do you make the mousses exactly? Do they slow your loss down at all? Off to cdc on wednesday and thinking of getting some.

Have just tried the porridge again, i know some people love it but i absolutely detest it! After that i tried the broccoli cheese, same response. Never, ever again will i have those concoctions in my house..I bought 4 of them together this week too! (bloody fool) xx

Happy Birthday Nicki - although I'm now about an hour too late!!
:553::birthday:

So tired but am hooked on the internet as my little girl has tonsillitis AGAIN and wouldnt sleep so she ended up watching Big Brother with me...it's ok, she's only 11 months old...doesnt get tv yet!

My husband is finding this diet so hard...comes home every day in a right mood and just sulks his evening away. I did tell him that the 3rd day would be the hardest so heres to hoping that tomorrow he'll be in a better mood!

Talk tomorrow, off to bed now x

btw...mint choc mousse? broccoli cheese? What the hell? My CD rep doesnt have these!! Not fair! and yes, the porridge is VILE! :sign0137:

Good morning everyone!

Right my introductiony bit:

Hi all I'm Lori (or Loz, Lozza, oi you over there) and I'm 21. I've pretty much been overweight all my life except when I was 16/17 something changed, the weight all dropped off, I became confident, felt sexy and started to enjoy life a lot more. Then I went to uni and did all the fast food and drinking. While I was there it wasn't an issue as I walked miles everyday from my flat to the uni and attended atleast one dance class everyday if not more! I dropped out for various reasons after 3 months and the bad boozing and takeaways habits stayed with me and the dancing didn't! Pretty soon I was up tp 14st7lbs. :-( After 3 years of unsuccessfully trying loads of traditional diets I finally found LighterLife and gave it a bash - I lasted 2 weeks but lost 14lbs. The flavours weren't great and I just didn't have the determination. After keeping the weight off for a month, I've had my big holiday which is just ending today, and decided that I still want to lose my weight this year so I'm giving CD a go with better understandings of VLCD and weight loss than when i started LL.

Right there's more to this but I'm starting to be running late for my bus to the airport so I better get a push on and I'll finish this later!

Have a really good day everyone!

Lozza xxx

Hi newmaks, butterfly and any other fellow team members,
The chocmint mousse is made using the mix-a-mousse powder (available from your CDC) basically I think it is just a tub of powdered gelatine...but what you do is you get 150ml of very cold water (the colder the better) then take a sachet of any of the flavours of milkshake, open the sachet and add a level scoop of the M-A-M and shake and mix in the sachet...then add the sachet to the water and mix as quickly as you can before it starts to thicken too quickly.....I find it best to mix using one of those electric hand blender things....a must have on the CD for anyone!!! Then just pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes (although I find it sets nicer if you pop it in the freezer for 10 minutes). Please be aware though girls that if you add the m-a-m straight to the water on top of the sachet without mixing it as I advised you will just end up with a gloopy mess....or in other words someting that resembles (pardon the expression) SNOT!
Butterfly, I don't think it slows down your weight loss as it isn't carbs...gelatine doesn't really contain anything..and you only use a small amount..its not like eating a bar.
Good luck with the mousses if you are going to try them, they make a pleasant change from shake-shake-shake-soup-shake-shake-shake......you know what I mean!!!

Thank you girls for my kind birthday wishes..that was lovely from ladies that I hardly know...hopefully we all will get to know each other a whole lot better now we are part of this team..I am looking forward to it! I decided that as it is a BIG birthday next year...I didn't want to be fat and forty...I want to be fit and forty!!!!
I joined the gym last week with my son who has about 2-3 stone to lose (he tried CD for 2 days and couldn't cope, so now just follwing a healthy C/C diet...mostly portion control with him as he eats like a horse usually). We have been to the gym everyday for the last week and a half, although I have spent most of the time swimming as I love it and I am already upto 40 lengths a day. The weight loss I hope will now start to speed up a bit.

Newmaks, I am sorry to hear that your baby daughter has tonsilitis that must be awful...touch wood none of us have ever had tonsilitis...I haven't since I haven't got any tonsils...and my son who is now 16 has never had it either!
Tell your husband to stick with it...although it is really hard going to work on the diet for the first week or so as your body goes into ketosis.....but, so worth it when you get there, it took me a week to get into ketosis..my body is so stubborn. I must have slept my way into ketosis as I felt complete rubbish for the first 2 weeks. I actually feel great now...I can honestly say I am not hungry at all and am having regular bouts of energy and actually managing to get things done indoors that I have been putting of for years!!!

Jeez....what a load of waffle...you will be glad to hear that I am going now...but will be back on again later with my introduction story, just to let you know a little bit more about myself.
Speak soon

Just a little bit of information about myself!!!!!

Hi all my fellow butterfly chasers,
I thought I would introduce myself properly, as all I seem to have done so far is waffle on about random stuff.
Here goes. My name is Nicki (you may have guessed that already), I am as of yesterday 39 (boo..hoo!!). I am married to George and have been for 16 years in September, although we have been together for over 21 years. We have a 16 year old son Sam. I live in Chigwell in Essex and I work part-time at the weekend as a Site Access Controller for a Railway renewal company, it is a very interesting job and as the only woman in a male dominated environment..being overweight is not the best confidence booster! Having said that I get on great with my colleagues and we have a mutual respect for each other. A lot of the labour staff are young boys and I quite often find myself putting them in their place if they get a bit cheeky..as you get the odd sexual inuendo from them..I respond with button it..I've got shoes older than you indoors!!!!
As a child I was slim, but as I reached adolescence the weight started to creep on once I started my P's. It became clear early on that something wasn't right in the downstairs dept when I had my appendix removed at 13 as they discovered my fallopian tubes were swollen and inflamed, shortly after this I experienced irregular P's and I was diagnosed at 13 as having PCOS. At the time not alot of information was known about this condition and the only thing I was told was that it could cause fertility problems later on and I might need help conceiving. They did not tell me that weight gain was inevitable and that I needed to be really careful with what I ate. They also didn't tell me I was gonna get a hairy chin and neck....which needs to be plucked on a continual daily basis to keep it under control. I get really peaved at this as in some respects I am quite lucky as I am not very hairy anywhere else. Some poor women get hairy breasts and backs basically male pattern hairiness due to the fact PCOS gives you raised levels of the male hormone Testosterone. I am very self conscious about my neck and chin although no-one but me can see it...just paranoid I guess! One good thing though is I did manage to conceive naturally...although due to the lack of P's I did not know I was pregnant until I was 10 weeks asI had no symptoms whatsoever and sailed through my pregnancy until the end at least. I have only had 1 child and have never managed to get pregnant since..not through lack of trying..but it just hasn't happened! I am still waiting for another miracle baby!!! My philosophy is if it happens it happens...if not then it is just meant to be!
I have been yo-yo dieting for years now and managed to lose 4.5 stone with weight watchers back in 2004, which stayed off for about a year or so..then crept in old habits and before I knew it I was bigger than I had ever been. I tried LL 3 years ago, but got ill and had to quit after 3 weeks. I rejoined WW last August and due to work commitments at the time found it impossible. It took me until June this year to get my head in the right place and decided that enough was enough and drastic action needs to be taken. I do not want to waste another year putting on yet more weight, I decided that I will be 40 next year and I do not want to be fat and 40, I want to be 40, fit and sexier than ever. I find dieting through the summer easier than the winter as I don't get that hungry due to the hot weather and abstinence for me was probably going to be the best option. I picked up the phone and made what I think was the best call I have ever made..my CDC is very nice and she has got me started on what I see is the right road. I have been SSing for the past 5 weeks and I feel great..I was a bit disappointed at my first WI as my CDC said I should expect to lose between 7 and 11lb the first week and I ony lost 5 3/4 lb. But this has been consistent and I have managed between 4 and 5 3/4 lb each week and I have lost 20 3/4 lb to date..my nect WI is Thursday. I started my weight loss journey at a shocking 22 st 10 lb and I would like to be in the 20's after this weeks WI. I would like to get down to 13 stone by Christmas and see how I feel when I get there, if I think I need to lose more once I get to 13 then I will SS again after Christmas, but, I think as long as I am between a 14 or 16 I will be happy...I don't think I was ever meant to look like Twiggy afterall!!:giggle: I want to continue SSing for as long as I can, but I know you are meant to have a weeks break after 12 weeks ..is this gospel or do some continue SSing, I feel if I reintroduce food after 12 weeks that I will crumble and cave:break_diet:. I will just have to cross that bridge when I come to it I guess.
Anyway that's about covered it all I think....sorry for boring you all to death..you can all wake up again now..I've finished waffling, but, I promise to come back later on and chat some more TTFN

Hey Nicki, thanks for being so honest in your post. It's really refreshing when people open up on here as a lot of them don't and you kind of feel like you're on your own in it all. Your job sounds very interesting, better than mine just at home all day long! I've had a bad day today with the kids...wouldnt eat their tea so I'm just grumpy now! I'm not sure about ss'ing for 2 weeks...I've never got that far before! It all depends on your CDC and if they'll let you carry on after that I guess.

As for me, I'm finding this shockingly easy so far. I havent found it this ok before when I've done it and I'm just waiting for the crash when I just order a takeaway. Fingers and everything crossed that it will never happen but I'm realistic that it may at some point. I'm on day 4 now and havent had any cravings so far so I'm doing ok. Husband is still whinging he's starving but he'll get better soon I'm sure.

Has anyone heard from devilishandsweet as she's not posted on here yet I dont think.

Kate x

Happy Belated Birthday Nicki!arty0019:

I hope you had a good one!

Everyone's story is really interesting and we all seemed quite a varied bunch!

Well this is my story.... I'm 24 years old and I currently work to assist sponsored students at an oil company. I put on a huge amount of weight during my college/uni years quite suddenly. I always said that once I finished uni i would lose the weight. Well here I am trying to achieve that. I was on LighterLife previously and lost 3stone so now switched to CD mostly due to the huge difference in cost. I want to lose another 3/4 stone and determined to get there!

Hi all,

Sorry i'm so late today, been out for day with family. My folks have got family staying with them for a week,(they're from N.Ireland - not sure if you'd know of the place Kate - Comber nr.Newtownards.?) Anyways, took them to West Mids Safari Park, had a fab day, got drenched on the log flume, my DD was impecably behaved for a change, and i managed to stay on track with the diet so all good...I'm flaming knackered now though! Even fell asleep watching big brother! (-i too find myself addicted to it, even though most of the housemates get on my wick.)

Great to get to know you all. Hat off to you Nicki for coping with all you have and yet you still seem so positive. I'm so impressed with your exercise regime, i would surely die if i tried to do 40 lengths in a pool. (if i hadn't already died doing the walk of shame from the changing rooms..lol!) I have to confess that i am not only fat but very unfit. Which is one of the things i want to be able to tackle and hope that losing weight will make it easier to start. Just have never had any habit of regular execise in my life, used to walk a fair bit but that slacked off since learning to drive, bitterly regret not having developed this into my life before, because i just find it so hard to do now, hardly know where to start, or when to fit it in. Going to start by trying to use the gym at work in my break, quite enjoy the eliptical stepper and treadmill if i get going. (i only work 2 nights a week but hey, its a start..!)

You've done this diet before Kate? I'm sure you can do it - I agree though, i find it hard to believe that i won't cheat or fail somehow, as its just the norm after so many years of dieting - its hard to change that mindset sometimes, no matter how determined we would like to be. Here for you if you need support when naughty food is calling you, or to get back on track if you blip! Fair play for getting hubby on it - hope he feels better soon. ( broccoli cheese soup is not even worth missing, but your cdc should stock all the range, the chocolate mint is just lovely...get on to her!!)

Back on home turf yet Lori? Hope you had a great holiday. (Where did you go?) Have you started cd yet?

Caramelcherry, i have to confess i have no idea what you're job is exactly but it sounds fascinating!! I've read of so many people who say that they switched from LL, and they're wasn't enough choice. Bizarre when you think it cost twice as much, is the counselling really worth it? I'm not a major fan of CBT.

Been wondering how devilishandsweet is...Are you about hon? I noticed you were struggling a bit the other day, hope you feel better now.

I'm rambling, did warn you.... off to bed.xx

(WI tomorrow 9.30am...fingers crossed!)

Good morning all,

Had 2nd WI this morning and another 5lb off, yipeee...!! Cannot believe I've lost 15lb in just 2 weeks. This diet is absolutely amazing, I,m so buzzed that I'm feeling inspired to do loads of housework/cooking/washing. (when i can get my backside off minimins!) Hope you all have a great day. Catch you later xx
(Forgot to mention, i am really not a butterfly, my name is Lorna!)