Advice needed!

[Nina41]

Hi Everyone,

I am a bit lost so would love to hear from you.
I reached my true weight. I am very happy about it and NEVER want to be fat again.
However, I dont really believe that is my true weight. I have always felt there was a skinny woman living inside of me and that woman weighs around 3kilos less than I do now. So maybe, (just maybe), dr Dukan was wrong.... after all, that is a computer program, it is not as if that number was given to me after a long consultation and a long chat...
This program, for example, was very wrong when it said it was going to take me 36 days to reach my goal... Even following the diet as well as I possibly could, it has taken me 120 days to do it.
My point is, I know now that I cant really expect things to happen just as Dr Dukan describes.(i wish it would) But that is not what I am here about. (PLEASE lets not argue about my true weight or whether Dr Dukan is right or wrong about this for the time being!)

My problem now is the following: I want to loose another 2kilos but I know It is going to take me at least another 40 days to do it. HOWEVER, I have a trip to Brazil booked on March 22. If I keep crusing, I will be during my consolidation perion when I am abroad. If I go on conso now, I will be on stabilization when I am there.

Dieting and controlling what you eat is already difficult on holidays. Imagine being on holiday, at your mum's house, in a place where you just go once a year and where EVERYTHING happens around food!

Can you see why I am so lost?
I would love to hear from people who has been throught conso and stabilization. What is easier to control when you are abroad? I think conso is the best option at least I will keep an eye on what I eat. I am very scaried of the stabilization period! I am a very strict and serious dieter but going "home" is difficult. For some reason unknown to me, my mother tries very hard to sabotage me. I know she will tell the cook to prepare my favourite meals and i wont have many options. My mum is the kind of person who thinks food=love (the fattier and more sugary, the better).

Please girls, I need to know what you think!

Thank you!

 

[cheryl7]

Hi hun,

Looking at your BMI you're a very healthy weight. I'm wondering if it would be a case of just more gym and toning up to make you happy with your size?

If it were me, I would probably go on conso now (I've heard that some people lose a teeny bit more weight then anyway) and then be on stabilisation for your hols, while at the same time upping the exercise (if you don't already that is!).

Cheryl x

 

[robinhood]

Well done on your weightloss. If it's any consolation, slow off should mean that it stays off easier.

If you want to continue losing weight, why not try consolidating what you've already lost and see what happens - most of us have continued losing (slowly) while on conso. If that doesn't work, you can always go back to cruise, should you feel the need.

Don't be worried about stabilisation - I've been there nearly a year without substantial gains (only when you'd expect - holidays and Christmas) and a week or two on conso sorts them out. Stabilisation is just conso with a few extras - I have the same amount of carbs (give or take a portion a week) as on conso but I have them differently (a spoonful of lentils or whatever rather 3 spoonfuls for a starch meal as per conso) and mainly my extras are fruit and the odd extra portion of cheese. That said, doing conso for a bit longer won't do any harm if you don't want to be on stabilisation for your holiday.

 

[Nina41]

Chery, I do really really need to tone up. I just started to exercise after my operation my I havent done much. My body aches after a stupid bike ride and I've got no stamina. I cant endure a whole zumba class. After 20 min I am already dying. Obviously my muscles are very weak and wobly. I will focus on that.

Robin, I llike your idea (of going to conso and going back to cruise if it doesnt work)

There is another issue... how do you overcome the fear of going to conso? Do you know what I mean? Sometimes I put on weight even folllowing cruise by the book. What if I go on conso and gain? I am RIDICULOUSLY scared! I bought a whole new wardrobe, I feel really good, i dont want to gain again!!

 

[cheryl7]

Hi Nina,

My advice re. exercise would be to take it slowly at first and listen to your body. Do what you can - even if it means a 20-30min walk on the treadmill/outdoors, it's still a starting point. Slowly build it up, (if you're interested in running then try the Couch 2 5k - available free of charge on the NHS website) and at the same time introduce some light resistance training to tone your muscles up. More muscle means higher metabolism!

And bless you being in a panic about gaining weight - I can totally understand why you're so worried as you've worked so hard to lose it. I think Robin's advice is fab, and with exercise I'm sure you'll be fine

 

[Atropos]

How to get over the fear of conso...

... it is daunting, but you don't have to do it all in one go.

I might be less scary of you try adding in just one of the extra foods at a time.
For example

Week one: just do the 6 days pv / 1 day pp.

Week two: stick to the 6/1 routine, but add in the one piece of fruit a day.

Week three: keep the 6/1 and fruit, and add the tiny bit of cheese and bread.

Week four: same as week three plus your gala dinner - and enjoy it!

 

[soshbfly]

I was totally scared going into Conso (I couldn't bring myself to eat my whole allowance and still did a healthy-ish gala meal). That said, I got over it and after Conso went to Stablisation and eating normally - I have slight fluctuations but looking my weight log its just normal ups and downs. I didn't go to my "true weight" but am starting again now. I think Dukan got it right for me. For example, my mother has never weighed last than 165lbs and that's exactly what he gave me. We'll see I suppose. i'd take Cheryl's advice and start the workout. It will reap SO MANY benefits (toning and metabolism).

 

[Supertonic]

I wouldn't worry about trying to lose more for the moment since although you may not think it, it is v likely you will still lose on conso - I am and it was v slow towards the end of cruise for me. I did about 3 wks longer on cruise as I still hadn't got to my target weight, but now I'm less anyway.

Conso is a bit scary at first because the choices can be so anxiety inducing! It feels quite safe on cruise by comparison. There are so many extra bits to add, and sometimes i dont feel like them. I'm still in 1st stage, and I've only been gradually reintroducing stuff. It is easier to manage though than cruise, because if you end up having something naughty - like Xmas pudding, mince pies etc! - you can correct it by doing a bit less on the extras for the next couple of days. I think I overcorrected at Xmas as I kept losing but as I didn't have access to scales it was hard to see what was going on.

Mums can be like that with food, it's in the job description lol! If you have to eat something to keep her quiet, try and choose the most Dukan friendly and have a v small portion. If none of it is Dukan compatible, develop a preference for something that is - she'll just think you're being fussy and will probably go out of her way to cook it for you. So long as she sees you eating something and being happy
and healthy she should be fine too.

Enjoy your trip - will it be mardi gras when you there?

 

[Nina41]

One of the reasons why I panic so much is my cruise history. My weight sometimes went up even thought i never stopped dieting. I dont understando how we can eat more and still loose weight. What is the logic? Does anyone understand?

My other fear is my "all or nothing" mentality. When atropos recommended I did a week at a time I thought it was a brilliant idea but then I thought "ohh, i cant wait to have cheese AND bread AND fruit for breakfast... I am really scaried I will lose control of the diet.

I am very very scaried at the moment but I think I have a plan.... As I really need to tone up, I will increase the amount of exercise (very litthe at the moment) as I increase the food. I'll give myself a trial month and if it doesnt work I'll go back to cruise.

About my mum... there is a long history behind all this... she truly believes food is love but also, I think she is very jealous. She needs to loose weight but cant diet. She also believes that my diet is unhealthy. It doesnt matter that I dont eat process food, fat, fryied foods, sugar and eat a lot of veggetables. Everytime she talks to me she says "you are too skinny and unhealthy, you dont eat fruit!!!" It drives me insane...

But anyway, thanks for all the help. I have to overcome my fears now because I want to do this diet whole heartedly.

 

[Atropos]

Everytime she talks to me she says "you are too skinny and unhealthy, you dont eat fruit!!!" It drives me insane....

Add fruit as your first consolidation extra - get a great big peach and eat it VERY LOUDLY in front of her, with lots of licking of fingers!

 

[Nina41]

Add fruit as your first consolidation extra - get a great big peach and eat it VERY LOUDLY in front of her, with lots of licking of fingers![/QUOTE


Great idea! It will be very hard to limit to 1 piece of fruit in Brazil.... They are amazing over there!