It's the final countdown! Losing it - Phase 2!

What a year! I started CD at the end of Feb 2012 and, by July when I went to the US 22 weeks later, I had lost 49lbs of my 56lb goal. My family and friends in the US were really surprised, pleased and happy for the weight loss - it took them a few days to get used to the new "silhouette", they kept saying how good I looked and my dad was particularly pleased as there is no doubt I'm also healthier. We worked out together a few times a week which was some nice father/daughter time.

However, while in the US I also gained 3kg (6.6lbs), as I went completely off CD from one day to the next. The first few days I was very mindful of what I was eating, but I also wanted to enjoy myself and not worry about dieting. My goal was to keep the gain to about 5lbs, but there was a bit of a blowout the last 3-4 days due to celebrating various family events, plus my dad's wife going a bit wild preparing what she was convinced were my favourite foods and pies. Never mind - a good time was had by all - especially me!

My plan after getting back home was to, without going back on CD, lose the weight gained in the US. However, it was also time for me to catch up with friends without the severe restrictions of being on CD and to go on a business trip to France and be able to enjoy some French food. So the best I've been able to do so far is to keep the same mostly. My starting point today is 7.5lbs higher than my ending point of Phase 1.

Today I start Phase 2, so my CDC and I have set a new goal weight of 136lbs (62kg; 9st10lb). Soooo, I'll be doing ss 100% for quite some time to come, before “stepping” out of CD. I hope to be entirely done and fully maintaining on my own by the end of 2012.

As ever, I will be leaning heavily on the inspiration, encouragement and support in this forum! While we are all struggling with the challenges and losing the weight ourselves, we aren't alone and I seriously could not do this without all of you on minimins. Go us!!!!

Day 1, Phase 2: 1 porridge and 0.5ltr water so far. Got a ways to go!

Found you you have done so well so far and will continue doing well, gd luck hunni and i am one of the struggling ones but we are bith back and on a mission, we can and will do this!!!

Oooh Tizzy, What a fab idea to start a phase 2 diary.

I hope to join you on phase 2 after Vegas ( once I get back to pre Vegas weight that is ) Fingers crossed I do as well as you.

I will be very happy if my gain is less than 10lb from our honeymoon But I want to be at my new goal of 10.3 by xmas. Cant wait to read your updates.

Good luck on this the next part of your journey x x x

Thanks ladies!

Day 1 is over and I'm halfway through Day 2. So far, not as bad as I feared. Did well yesterday tho' didn't manage to drink all the water and did have a carrot along with my tomato soup for dinner. Today I'm also struggling with the water, but will keep sipping!

I'm keeping busy with work to distract me. And tomorrow night I have friend coming over who wants to see my new clothes, so that will both distract and incent me.

Hope you ladies are doing well this week. At least the sun is shining!

Pound by pound, inch by inch - it's all gotta go!!!

Ah Tizzy i found you =D Good to see you are getting back into cd rather smoothly. Im trying to keep myself busy with books and im literally going through a book a day now nearly ha ha

Wow Yolande! Don't know if you like fantasy, but I've been reading the Game of Thrones books (apparently they've made a TV series out of them as well). I thought there were only 3, but it appears there are more and the author is still writing. Love that!

Made it through Day 2, tho' I resorted to a 4th product late in the day. However, I calculated that I'm 128cal over the 500cal/day and I did what was necessary to stay on CD, so I'm ok with that. I'm starting to feel the signs of ketosis, which is encouraging, and I've got some distraction later tonight with showing my clothes off to my friend, so things are going well.

Oh i will have a look into those books thanks =D That was a good choice to have an extra product when you felt you needed it.

Hi Tizzy - found you!
I have to say that I am surprised you only put on 7.5lbs - most people would have put on twice that much after such a long time off plan. You must have shown quite a bit of control. I've been convinced that I would put on that much eating carbs on step 3 but you have give me hope. Well done for setting a new goal - I am 3lbs off mine but still feel I am carrying a lot of fat. I think that is due to the fact that I have very little muscle!
I love trying on clothes - I seem to try on my entire wardrobe at least once a week and can be upstairs for hours - does take your mind off food. I've never had much interest in clothes before for obvious reasons.
I used to read a book a week but since I started CD I have had difficulty concentrating - hopefully it will come back in a a week or so when I start eating carbs.
Well done for getting back on cd - would have been very easy to let it slip.

Hi Daisy and welcome! Glad you found me!

Yes, I did exercise some restraint, but I also ate all the things I wanted to and some of them to excess, hence the gain. It turns out that while I thought all these years I was a "sweet" girl loving biscuits and chocolate and the like, it turns out I'm more of a "salt" girl - just love crisps and corn chips and nachos...and of course some of the dips that go so well with them, not to mention the lovely drinks. So, being a salt girl is like a triple whammy - salt (w/ fat), dip and alchohol!! I know when I come off CD I will probably still eat these items, and what I need to learn is control portion sizes and then be in control enough to stick to those sizes. Oh - and only eat them occassionally as opposed to daily. Ah, what fun learnings are in store for me!

Given all the carbs I ate, I too was surprised I didn't gain more. I think it was a combination of things: I tried not to eat much carb after 6-7pm, I did a lot of walking & swimming and worked out 3x per week. And I had bought a scale on which I weighed myself several times a week. I expected to gain, but when the scales shifted up too fast/too much, I ate more veg/fruit and less other stuff. Still gained, but it slowed the rate. Like you said, it gives me hope that we can learn to control and maintain our weight!

Sorry for not being able to remember but have you started a fitness program yet? While I still have wobbly bits (obviously else I wouldn't have set a new goal that is 20lbs+ from where I am), the muscles underneath are firm and in good shape. I do stationary bike (easy on joints and good for calorie burning), cross-trainer (same) and small free weights. Have taken up Pilates this week because I've watched a couple of my friends do it and in a period of several weeks their bodies changed - they became somehow taller, firmer, better defined and they carried themselves differently, all without losing much weight at all! Pilates focuses on strengthening your core muscles and also makes sure you get in a good stretch. If you're not already do something, you definitely should start - now that you're practically at goal weight, it's time! And without the fat to hide it, I think you'll be thrilled with the results as your muscles and body take on some awesome firm definition! Not to mention the more muscle you have, the more your body burns calories, so maintaining becomes easier. OK - I'll get off my pulpit now.

And OMG you're nearly at goal weight - one more weigh-in maybe, or two? Wow, wow, wow! That is soooo cool!

On Wed I did a fashion show for a friend, showing her all the things I'd bought in the US. I love doing it cause the clothes are fab and it encourages me to stick with it as some of them I bought a little snug as I knew I was going back on CD. Today I have to put them all back on hangers and in the closet. I have 3 60ltr bags full of clothes that no longer fit and am working on the 4th. And a pile of clothes I'm waivering on. They are too big, but they are things like sweaters and tunics - easy to wear around the house and supposed to be a bit flowy and somehow I'm having difficulty letting them go. Silly, isn't it?

I've been wearing the new clothes to work - have some dresses which feel strange as I never used to wear dresses, as well as some really nice tops, trousers, etc. I feel conspicuous but also good. And it's still a shock to see my reflection somewhere - I'm normal looking, small, nice legs - who is that woman?!?! Other people get used to it faster as they look at us all the time, while we are not sat in front of a mirror all day.

Ok - I just realized I'm rambling away. Time to have another coffee and plunge into the weekend! Have a good one !!!!

OK! End of week 1 and had a total loss of 5lbs. Could have been better, but last night I caught up with a friend who is in town for a conference - the only downside to that was we went out to dinner and while I was relatively wise, I wasn't completely so - had a mojito to drink and chose steak over fish. But still - am pleased with the 5lbs; that's 1/6 of the weight off.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Weather here was fantastic - had a lovely long walk with dog on Sat and then spent 2+ hours in the garden weeding, cutting back ivy, etc. Sunday the dog and I spent several hours in the city park, catching some rays and wandering around. :chores016:Lovely!

Yey 5lb is great hun well done you! Sounds like you had a great weekend!!

Thanks I did! How 'bout you?

tizzy51 said:

Thanks I did! How 'bout you?

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Was a gd weekend not get up to much apart from cleaning and ironing and went to see my nephew but all gd on the cd front! Looking into swimming as loved it so much on holiday i want to get back into it here!

Hi tizzy - 5lbs is most of the weight you put on in the US - by next week you'll probably be lower than you were at the end of Phase 1. Well done!
I am using my crosstrainer for 30mins per day and go for long walks at the weekend. A lot of people have recommended Pilates so I'm going to investigate classes in the area but it's quite difficult to fit in a class as I don't get home until quite late in the evening. My business partner goes to a class on Saturday morning but I hate the thought of having to get up early on a Saturday! I guess I may have to make sacrifices...
I do need to tone up as my tummy is awful - floppy and wrinkly - not very sexy!

Yes I'm lucky in that my Pilates is at my place (for now) at 8am. However, the days I do it I am then late for work, so I'm not sure how long we can continue on this schedule. Will keep it up as long as possible to get a good grounding of the moves, and then I have a DVD at home, plus a book, so should be able to carry on. Just need to get started and "pushed" past my comfort zone.

Aysha - it's turning cool here. The thought of sun, bathing suit, swimming...very tempting right now! Have visions of you cavorting in the water like a mermaid.

How's it going Tizzy? Are you back in ketosis on SS? My CDC just suggested a Zumba class but I think it may be a bit too much for old me the Couch Potato!
Only lost a 1lb this week but I think that's how it will go as I was only losing 2lb a week on SS. Probably got at least another 2 weeks to my goal...

Hi Daisy, I'm good - thanks! And congrats on the lb! Everyone always seems very concerned about moving up the steps, but you're still losing so that's great!

Yes, I'm in ketosis - have all the lovely signs. Including bad constipation which, after several days, has finally been resolved. But I was getting quite worred (not to mention uncomfortable), as it was so long and nothing I took seemed to help. :sigh:

At any rate, I'm in France for work and trying desparately to stick to CD and salad at lunch (not really wanting to put the diet out in front of everyone here and, as I'm here to meet people, not eating with them isn't an option). Hopefully I remain on the straight and narrow and get back safely still in ketosis. Good news is that I'm working out here, so that should help as well.

Hope your week is going well. Two or so weeks before you reach goal - eeeek! How fabulous is that?!? I've got a couple of months I figure before I get near my new goal. Hope I don't go nuts and decide on a Phase 3 - this diet is addictive - I think it's the idea of having control over your eating and weight after years of not having it.

Tizzy - I took psyllium husks every day during sole source which kept things running smoothly if you know what I mean! Now I am eating fruit and veg I've stopped taking them.
I had salad lunches on a few occasions during SS without ill effects - mainly because I would look silly sitting in a restaurant with a shake. Must be hard in France - French cuisine is fantastic - though not great for veggies like me.
I am struggling with food - much hungrier and feel really huge and bloated but as I've only just started on step 3 I am hoping I will get used to it in the next few days.

Thanks for reminding me about the husks Daisy - I have them at home, but hadn't started taking them again. Clearly they are necessary!!!

I'm sorry to hear you're struggling on step 3. And that you're hungry! That must be really hard to deal with!!! Have you enough protein in your diet - that does tend to stave off hunger (I find) for longer periods of time.
Hopefully your body will adjust soon - meanwhile you know the drill - drink loads of water and hang in there! I feel for you! And my tummy just growled, so it does too!

Hi tizzy - starving today - could chew my own hand off! Hope you're getting back in the swing of things - phase 2 well underway.
Just been on my crosstrainer and watching a baking programme - key lime pie, apple pie, pecan pie - don't know why I'm torturing myself!