Chelsea's last stone off by Christmas mission!!

[Chelsea Lou]

Morning everyone,

Another gorgeous day here, so wish I could just turn off the computer and tell work that I'm done for the day and go and sit out in the sunshine. Like the words of the George Harrison song.....Little darlin' its been a long, cold, lonely winter.... Here comes the sun and I say it's alright :character00238:

Food choices were good again yesterday. So far today I've had some 0% yogurt with sugar free jelly for breakfast (?) lol.

Snack was a very large pear. It prompted the totally unoriginal comment of "That's a nice large pear you have there" Ho ho, bleedin' ho

Haven't decided on lunch yet. I didn't get anything prepared at home to bring in with me, so will have a look and see what I can find that won't cause me any damage.

Hope you are all well xx

 

[MinnieMel]

lol -- It took me a minute "large pear" i.e. "large pair". Never had anyone make that comment to me. *sigh*

MM

 

[herewego]

Hi Chels - It's a gorgeous day, isn't it!!!

I have been having nightmares at work for the past few days so barely seen light of day but can see a corner of blue sky from my window at the moment. Am leaving shortly to work from home this afternoon so will at least get some sun whilst running to the tube station!

You are doing really well - we all seem to have got into the groove (boy you've got to prove - your love for meeeeee yeah) recently which is great! I have the odd blip but considering the week I've had I'm amazed that I haven't drowned in a heap of chocolate wrappers.

Have a great day!

 

[Chelsea Lou]

Hi Chels - It's a gorgeous day, isn't it!!!

I have been having nightmares at work for the past few days so barely seen light of day but can see a corner of blue sky from my window at the moment. Am leaving shortly to work from home this afternoon so will at least get some sun whilst running to the tube station!

You are doing really well - we all seem to have got into the groove (boy you've got to prove - your love for meeeeee yeah) recently which is great! I have the odd blip but considering the week I've had I'm amazed that I haven't drowned in a heap of chocolate wrappers.

Have a great day!

We are being very tuneful today aren't we. Must be the sunshine. Actually, I was croaking along to a song whilst driving to get some lunch just now. Had the window open and was struggling to hit a high note, sort of a screeching sound...realised the window was open and promptly shut up. Told myself (out loud) to STOP trying to sing

lol -- It took me a minute "large pear" i.e. "large pair". Never had anyone make that comment to me. *sigh*
Trust me honey, having a large pair is a pain in the derriere!!!!! I'd like a nice couple of cup cakes, not whole victoria sponges
MM

 

[Pommette]

Trust me honey, having a large pair is a pain in the derriere!!!!! I'd like a nice couple of cup cakes, not whole victoria sponges

Chels - you do make me laugh at times! Never though of boobs as victoria sponges before. Mine aren't quite in that category!

 

[Pommette]

Hi Chels - It's a gorgeous day, isn't it!!!

Well, just thought I'd make you all jealous! Today (saturday) has been FANTASTIC. All the weather websites were forecasting hot weather, but Mr Sun really came out with his hat on.
At 2pm today it was 34c - and it's only April 9th! That's unheard of even here in Spain. Had to put my swimsuit on to keep cool. Dread to think what might happen in July & August!
Hope you all had a good day in the UK too

 

[*Shanny*]

Good morning Chels.. another fabby hot day ahead..! your on a roll with this change nice to see.

speak soon i hope xx

 

[MinnieMel]

Hi Chels --

I hope you are having a good weekend.

MM

 

[Chelsea Lou]

Red, Green or EE? Which is the best way forward?

Hi everyone,

I seem to be gaining weight on EE and one of my fellow minis friends pointed out that even though I am eating free food, I am consuming roughly 1600 calories per day and therefore would probably gain weight.

I am so confused thinking that I am filling up on free food, which doesn't seem to affect other people and yet is affecting me. Do you think that it is the carbs from things like the bananas that would make me gain? Does anyone else have a problem with EE, with minimal losses or even a gain? Would it be advisable to go onto the Red plan? I just feel like giving up to be honest. £65 for the online membership and ££s on food.

Any advice would be really welcome. Thanks x

 

[LittleSausage]

No! Don't give up!
Is your signature correct for SW? If so, those losses are good! Everyone has weeks where they sts/gain for no good reason.
It could be that you're not eating enough. Honestly, 1600 calories is low. This is unlike CD and other VLCDs, and it could be that you've gone from having very low calories to slightly more, and your body's reacting. This is a healthy eating plan, not a diet and, as such, may take you longer to get in to having come straight from a VLCD. x

 

[herewego]

You already know what I think, but I'm going to say it again

Please keep going for a few weeks before you chuck it in. It's not like you have loads of weight to lose - you're on the home run and so can afford to take it nice and slow. You've been on a really strict diet for a long time now and it will take your body some getting used to all this healthy food and yes you may find that your water balance is going up now that you are having more carbs - that's not a bad thing. OK so it's not a good thing for the scales initially but your body doesn't care about a number on a piece of equipment. Your body will be busy replenishing its cells with all the nutrients and energy of fresh food and that's great!

Red days might be a good way for you to get faith back into free foods but I've managed to have good losses on the green plan, yet I'd say I'm pretty carb sensitive. Thing is if you eat a constant supply of carbs your water levels will remain stable - it's not like you gradually bloat out until you're a water balloon (yes I've probably had too much sun today ). You will lose weight but it might take you a week or two for your body to get back into neutral after a VLCD so bear with it OK...

As for the whole BMR thing and you having eaten 1600 cals - they were all guestimates. If you ate until you were satisfied but not stuffed then you didn't overeat (as long as it was free foods). Period!

Your BMR was worked out to be something like 1340 - that's how much you burn just laying still doing nothing other than breathing! All that flirting with Crush in the office will surely burn quite a few calories as well as generally walking around doing stuff. So I think you should easily be able to eat 1600 ish calories and still lose weight. Having said that, the beauty of SW is that you don't have to worry about it. We know that not all calories are alike - some food will keep you full for longer and this is what SW is all about so keep enjoying free foods, focus on super-free and enjoy the fact that you're not that far from goal.

Hope you don't mind me being a bit blunt - but you are doing so well and I'd hate for you to give up before you've given it a fair shot. It's what I did from January until mid March and it got me precisely nowhere! Right I'm off

 

[Katycakes]

I needed to hear this too... have tried to rep you Alli but it won't let me. Really good advice, thank you. Chels, you know what I think but can sense your anxiety... sending a hug.

xxx

 

[Chelsea Lou]

No! Don't give up!
Is your signature correct for SW? If so, those losses are good! Everyone has weeks where they sts/gain for no good reason.
It could be that you're not eating enough. Honestly, 1600 calories is low. This is unlike CD and other VLCDs, and it could be that you've gone from having very low calories to slightly more, and your body's reacting. This is a healthy eating plan, not a diet and, as such, may take you longer to get in to having come straight from a VLCD. x

Hi Little Sausage, my losses were all whilst doing CD. I gained 2lbs the first SW week and now another lb
I know I had a few glasses of wine on Friday night but had been having less syns during the week so not sure what to think really. My head is all over the place now :cry:

 

[Pommette]

Chels - I'm with LS and Alli. Please don't give up. If you've gone straight from CD to SW then it will take your body a while to get used to eating a balanced diet again.

When I did SW 5 years ago EE didn't exist, so when I came back to SW I tried it for 2 weeks and lost a quarter and half a pound respectively.

EE didn't work for me. Perhaps because I was over-doing the carbs, but I'm not quite sure why! Maybe it isn't working for you either so have a go at red/green.

I'm back on red/green. By doing 1 day red (eating lots of meat/fish and very little carbs) and the next day green (so I can satisfy my carb craving) I'm losing about a pound a week - without feeling too deprived of anything.

If you like a wine (as I do !!!!) then save your syns for this. Try having a spritzer instead of 100% wine. I have 90ml dry white wine in a tall glass filled to the top with with fizzy water or 0 cal lemonade. This is just 3 syns so even if you have 2 or 3 you've still got some syns left for other things. Not exactly "pure" SW but it's working for me. Not that I'm an alcoholic of course!!! LOL but I do enjoy a tipple in the evenings!

The other thing that has really helped me is giving up bread almost entirely. I found it was really making me bloat and retain water and hence weight. I do have some occasionally (lots of garlic bread yesterday when we had a BBQ with friends) but my body can cope with that,

There will be a route through the SW jungle that is right for you - and 2 weeks isn't long enough to find it. SO PLEASE PLEASE give it a few more weeks.

I'm not going to be around much over the next 2 weeks - I'm coming back to the UK but not near enough to physically come and give you a hug, but consider this a virtual one.
:grouphugg:

 

[Katycakes]

Great advice Pomette, helpful for me too, I think you are right about the bread...

xxx

 

[*Shanny*]

Hey Chels i agree with the above post.. defo don't give up hunnie.. i was just in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil and for my CD soup.!

my mum's in the garden.. doing a big sort out, of stuff and she shouts me.. "shan when did u ever do SW? " she found my folder of sw booklets glad to see the EE booklet looking at me.

so glad i have the books to read now.. for when i swop over.!

the diet works hun..

hope your ok today? x

 

[Bess]

Great advice Pomette, helpful for me too, I think you are right about the bread...

xxx

I think so too. Such good advice from Alli and Bev.. xxx

 

[gl12282]

Hi Chels (? Lorrayne ?),

I totally agree with other posters. You need to give this a little chance to work. Some people also have a slow start, particularly coming from VLCD. I don't know whether you've ever read Jules diary but she is one who had a slow start but has got there in the end. I don't think she did anything wrong, it just took a little while to get going. Don't think of this as a 'diet', think of it as a new way of eating. So then you aren't denying yourself just moderating what you eat.

By all means have a go on the other plans. I love EE because it's 'normal' eating to me but because I don't have a 'stop button' I weigh my carbs so that I don't cook (and then eat) too many. But if I wanted more, I would have more. It is also the plan most likely to keep me 'on plan' therefore works for me. But we are all different so have a go. Please keep posting your food diaries - I haven't had a look back on them (because I hadn't realised that you were struggling until the last few posts) but I will watch for now. We will find a way round things (and maybe they will right themselves anyway as you settle into SW) for you and make it work. It is a big deal coming from a VLCD so please try and stick with it.

Big hugs. We'll get you there eventually

Gail x

 

[Chelsea Lou]

Floored by a migraine!!!!

Hi everyone,

I woke yesterday morning to a monster migraine and spent all day yesterday feeling sooooooo ill. My head felt like a lead weight and it affected my face, it was so numb I was worried I suffered a stroke or something. Very frightening. Most of the day I was snoozing, couldn't go anywhere near a computer and after two hours sleep last night, woke up at 01:00 and that was it, no chance of falling back to sleep, so here I am at 02:40 grrrrrrrrrrr.

Thank you all so much for your good advice and support. I will stick with it.........have to as I don't like the alternative :cry: I will have a good crack at red days and really cut back on the carbs.

Having panicked, got confused and demoralised I did, despite feeling like cr*p, jump on the scales first thing yesterday and I'd gone down a lb so back down to 150lbs. I won't adjust my ticker though as I want to be confident that it was a true reading.

Off now to try and catch up on all your diaries. Thanks again everyone.........you are all brill xxxx

 

[LittleSausage]

Oh, I hope you feel better today, Chels. I also suffer from migraines and know how debilitating they are.

So glad you've decided to stick with SW! Red days could give you a good kick start. But it's all a case of sticking to the plan and limiting your syns. It's so easy to go over, and get a rubbish result - I know all about that after my weekend in Sheffield! Also, yesterday I found out that Uncle Ben's Express wholegrain rice is 3.5 syns per packet!! Very annoying, as I had just bought 3 of them and they are so convenient, but I won't be having them unless it's absolutely necessary.

Keep at it! xx