LJ's Journey to be Slim by Sixty

I am LJ and I am 57 years old. I have been yoyo dieting for over 40 years. OMG!! You name it, I've tried it over the years. Every diet in the book. But this time feels different. This time I just know it's going to work.

I joined Slimming World six weeks ago and tonight, 1st January 2014 I received my 1 stone award. The Slimming World plan just seems so easy to me. I am not dieting. This is an enjoyable way to eat. At last I have learned the way to feed my body the nutrients it needs and it is appreciating that and I feel more alive than I have for a very long time. I no longer crave sugary, carby, high fat foods. The fact that, when I go to WI, I am losing weight, seems just amazing to me. I don't understand how this works, but I am very happy that it does.

i decided to start this diary to record the journey my mind and body take to get to my ideal weight. When better than the first day of a new year. I am putting no time goal on my weight loss. After all, what is a year or two after 40 years of trying and failing. I still have over 5 stone to lose so I am here for the long haul. If anyone wants to join me, your input will be much appreciated. So, here goes!

Congratulations on getting your stone award!! You must be so proud of yourself and feeling the difference.

Thank you MrsMcGregor, yes I am thrilled with my progress and amazed at how easy it has been. The SW plan does seem to be the answer for me.

Had a good day today.

Breakfast: a few grapes, chopped melon, Muller Light
Lunch: left over pasta with a teeny amount of homemade bolognaise sauce, sprinkled with grated cheese
Dinner: low fat oven chips, peas, mushroom and red pepper omelet with onion, garlic, herbs, cheese.
Glass of white wine and some grapes as an evening snack

Did a fair bit of walking and housework so it was an active day.

For the last 4 weeks I have been staying with my 80 year old mother to help out after she had an operation on her shoulder. I will be returning home on Sunday but am concerned for her wellbeing. I've lived 200 miles away from her and the rest of my close family for the last ten years. It's now time for me to get myself sorted and come back here to take care of my mother and be part of the lives of my daughters, my brother and the rest of my extended family again. I moved away after I got divorced to have a fresh start.

These last four weeks have given me a taste of what caring for an elderly relative is like. Hard work but very satisfying. As soon as my current rental agreement ends on my flat, later this year, I will be back here for good. I have been making SW friendly meals for us both. It's healthy, home cooked food, perfect for Mum's convalescence and good for me too. I've been kept so busy with housework and errands that I have continued to lose weight every week over the Christmas hols.

When I get home and back to work there will be greater challenges regarding eating on the run. I am going to have to be very organised, not just with evening meals, which I already plan ahead, but also for lunches too. I can do this though....

Congrats on ur stone loss - amazing at this time of year! My initials are LJ and I'm 5' 2" and have been yo yo dieting all my adult life (I'm 60) so I'll be following ur progress with interest - good luck with the rest of ur journey x

Thank you, upndown, and welcome to Minimins. This is our year you know, the year we stop the yoyo-ing and lose weight for good! I hope you experience the changes that I have. No longer does my body tolerate those high carb, high sugar, high fat junk foods without severely complaining. My cravings for them are miraculously gone and my relationship with food is changing. Perhaps these few weeks away from home have taken my focus away from food. Next week will be a test of that. Watch this space as I try to understand what goes on in my head as the fat comes off!

Gosh you have got a lot going on - sounds like a new start for a new you! As you say planning is key I'm off food shopping today - I'm looking forward to eating a wider variety of food and dropping the junk and continual grazing. I'll follow your progress with interest.

Saturday went well.

Breakfast: Muller Light with a banana and a few halved grapes

Lunch: 2 Ryvita with cottage cheese with chives (I prefer the one with pineapple)

Dinner: Chicken in Maggi papers (garlic flavour) with broccoli, cauliflower, baby potatoes boiled in their skins, a little gravy

Evening snack: Small glass of white wine and a slice of banana scan bran cake

Syns: Maggi 1.5
Wine 6
Gravy 1.5
SB cake 1

Total syns today = 10

HexA - milk in tea
HexB - 2 ryvita

I spent too much time playing games on my computer today but every 15 minutes or so I had to run outside to rescue the washing from the strong winds so hopefully that burned off enough calories and counts as body magic. Made a few trips upstairs to carry the christmas decorations up to the attic. I always love putting christmas stuff away, even more than the getting it out.

Tomorrow is my last day at Mum's so I must pack my things and be ready for an early start on Sunday morning. No wine tomorrow night, I prefer to be fully alert for my 200 mile trip home. Feeling sad about leaving and must continue to make good SW meals for myself when I am back there. I live alone so there will be nobody but my dog to keep an eye on me!

I am not relishing the thought of going back to my home town SW group as I have been so spoiled with the lovely consultant at the group I have been attending here for the last 4 weeks. My normal group is rather sombre and serious. This group has been such fun and that is due to the way it is run and the consultant is so supportive with texts and emails to spur us on between meetings. Ho hum, once I return here for good at the end of the summer I will be looking forward to getting back to this group permanently.

Sunday.

Brunch: 1/4 of a banana scan bran cake chopped into a Muller Light

Snack: Grapes

Dinner: 2x Sainsburys BGTY Low Fat Sausages, mushy peas, low fat oven chips, a little gravy

HexA - Milk in tea
HexB - scan bran x 1 in cake

Syns: Sausages 8
Chips. 3
Gravy 1
SB cake 2
Total syns = 14

A busy day again. Last day at Mums so I've been making sure everything possible is up to date. Clean sheets on her bed, laundry and ironing done, cleaning, freezer stocked with precooked (homemade) food ready to just microwave.

I felt hungry all day today but was short of fruit to snack on so had to just grin and bear it. The scan bran cake is very filling, so that helped for a while. By dinnertime tonight I was starving. Late afternoon visitors meant that we ate later than usual and by the time I was dishing up our food my stomach was complaining loudly. Feeling ok now though at bedtime. Hunger pangs all subsided and I am ready for sleep.

I'm very sad to be leaving tomorrow to go home and back to work after four weeks with Mum, but thrilled at the knowledge that I will be returning for good in about August. I have my work cut out for me until then. Must save as much money as I can to keep me going until I can start generating some income here. Also want to sell as much of my stuff as possible. Don't need two of everything like microwaves, tv's etc. I'm going to try to keep as active as possible too. Must use the stairs up to my 2nd floor flat rather than the lift, and must walk wherever I can, including to my SW group on Wednesday nights even though its dark and cold at this time of year.

Hi - I can understand why you're sad leaving your Mum but I'm sure she enjoyed your company and help - hang on to the thought that you'll be there permanently before too long.


I've noticed 2 other things we have in common :-

1. our starting weight - I went down to 10st 13 in 18 months then following a special hol 2 months ago I've now gone back up to 12st 11 - silly me didn't go straight back to class after the hol when I'd only put 7lbs on!

2. I had a consultant I wasn't comfortable with in my first SW class - I felt she was patronising - especially so when people didn't lose weight in any partic week! So I moved to another class and really glad I did - and I wasn't surprised to see that a few from the other class had 'defected' too! I'll feel no shame in going back to class with a massive gain - I know Grace will welcome me back with open arms! Is there another class you could join I wonder?

I hope you have a safe journey home and can keep up your fantastic progress - as you say it's our year and you're going into 2014 much lighter!

Hi - hope you're ok and the journey went well - hope too you can continue with your fantastic progress to date - take care

Hello upndown, thank you for your message. I am back home now and my daughters, who transported some of my stuff, have just left. Very sad and empty feeling. I am so worried about leaving Mum to fend for herself.

A weird day foodwise.

Breakfast: Muller Light

Lunch: a green apple and a punnet of fresh raspberries en route.

Dinner: findus chiili con carne with rice ready meal and half a bottle of white wine.

Supper: small dish of fat free strained greek yogurt from the services on the way home

Hmm so syns.... Wine 12, chilli con carne 8. Total 20

My day was spent packing, driving, then spending a little time with my daughters. It was so so hard to say goodbye to my mother. I could hear the emotion in her voice and saw the upset in her eyes. I know she will struggle to cope on her own and I feel so bad about abandoning her. But I need to pay my bills therefore I must get back to work. The good news is that I think my contract on my rental flat expires on 23 June which is 6 weeks earlier than I thought. Six more months and I will move back to Mum's for good.

Not the best day on plan but could have been worse I suppose. I have milk, yogurt and fresh fruit salad for breakfast tomorrow and will write a menu for the week and shop in the morning.

Congrats on your weight loss, I love getting on the scales and seeing some progress. Hope it keeps going well for you x

Thank you pineappleplant, so far so good today and back to my normal group on Wednesday for WI.

Hi LJ22 - yes I feel for you having to say goodbye (or at least au revoir!) to your Mum and daughters in one day - I should think you will have been tired too after the journey and I expect that the emotions were kicking in - also like everyone else - the thought of having to go back to work!! Good news that you're able to move up to your Mum earlier though - hang on that thought hey?

Don't be too hard on yourself about yesterday's eating either - for me and I bet many others here - with the day you had - it'd have been a fish and chip supper, followed by treats from every filling station on the way home followed by some comforting drinkies with a full fat hot chocolate before bed!

I wonder when you weigh in this week? I hope it goes well for you!

I've had an okay day today (Day 5) and decided not to think I'm on a diet but that I'm eating healthily - did I say I've started a blog here but think that might not have been my best idea - I'll see how it goes but looking at other blogs there doesn't seem to be as much interaction as on the subscribed threads - and that's what I find really useful, inspirational and motivating - so I might switch to a thread later on. Take care.

I really appreciate your support, upndown, it helps a lot. Like you, I also look upon this as healthy eating with a side effect of losing weight. Essentially that is what it is. We just have to keep doing what we are doing so that it becomes our normal way of eating without any thought of what we did before, as in eating foods that made us fat.

I tried to look at your blog but the site is being awkward and says I don't have enough posts to have permission to see it. I will try again tomorrow.

My weigh in day is Wednesday evening, so two more days to go. I think there is a difference in the calibration of the scales at my usual group and the group I have been attending recently. I won't be surprised if I appear to have gained this week. I know I have stuck to the plan well enough to lose weight. The scales at the other group showed me as having a 6lb loss the first week I went there. I dont believe I did actually lose that much in one week, I think the scales weighed less. I will be glad to get the true reading of how much I have lost in total since the start.

So, to report on today. I had a fasting blood test this morning and when I got home from there, looking forward to a nice cup of tea, I forgot to take my morning medications. It was only later when I realised, and as I was out at work I couldnt do anything about it. I was feeling the effects because I take painkillers for arthritis in my spine. Walking to work and back was pretty bad, but I try to walk as much as I can to burn off more fat!

Foodwise....

Breakfast: Muller Light, fresh mango, fresh blueberries (that I bought at the services yesterday)

Lunch: 2 ryvitas and cottage cheese.

Dinner: Homemade vegetable chilli (from my freezer), boiled baby new potatoes.

Supper: Muller Light and fresh pineapple

Snacks: 2 bananas, 1 glass wine

HexA: Milk
HexB: Ryvitas

Syns: Wine 8

Hi LJ 22 - good to have your support too - what a textbook day you had - makes mine look a bit feeble! Off to bed now - try to remember to take your tablets 2moro - listen to me talking - I forget mine regularly ha ha - good night and hope have a good day 2moro!

I am such an insomniac. I hate being awake in the early hours. Anyone else have this problem?

Hi LJ Im new to the forum but have tried every diet going too.Are you doing extra easy on slimming world? I chickened out of starting a group lastnight will keep trying at home as have the books from before but will have to join if I don't see results soon

Oh & well done for losing weight before Christmas