Day 10 of Cambridge and looking for buddies!

Morning ladies :)

After the discussions yesterday I'm jumping up a few steps, I've made my decision!

Yesterday I had 2 shakes and then a cheese sandwich for dinner (and some mini eggs!) and today I'm going for the same - 2 shakes and a 500 cal ish meal. I really don't want to get into weighing and measuring so I'm going to do this and see what my weight does and how my clothes feel. I have another reason too, I've suddenly got a lot of social events coming up and I don't want to be in the position of having stomach problems again. I'm planning on doing this for a few weeks and then go straight to 3 small meals a day. If I put weight on I'll just need to adjust. I'm also planning on starting running but this will be next week now as I'm busy every night until next Tuesday.

Wish me luck! Hope you all have a great day xx
 
Claire, that sounds great. I think in the grand scheme of things, it's finding something that works for you. I would LOVE a cheese sandwich!

You sound like you're in a better, more focussed place to since deciding on your path - something I need to do before I undo all my hard work!

I too am going to start running at the weekend I think. I've downloaded couch25k this morning and am looking forward to getting started - I just need something to start motivating me, and I think starting a new month with a target like that will be good for me...

xx
 
Hi Flic,

You know I feel so much better and positive since I decided, I was just going through this cycle of being on it, off it, on again and it was driving me crazy as I couldn't seem to stick to it properly. The health implications of being on a diet like this long term were also bothering me and, as I've said before, I've already had stomach problems, looks like a bit of hair loss now, headaches, fatigue, mood swings...I don't feel healthy at the minute and I don't like that. The shakes also contain a lot of aspartame which has always bothered me but I just thought I'd be okay just doing it short term.

After a couple of weeks of 2 shakes a day I'm just going to eat small meals and go from there. I have to let go of the 'Cambridge reins' at some point and it may as well be sooner than later! If I stick on it I'll end up going on a fast and binge cycle like I have been recently and that cannot be good for you!

I'll keep going on here but I have 35 ish shakes left and then I'm done, so a little over 2 weeks.

xx
 
Please don't leave us after your 35 shakes Clare!!

You seem so well resolved and it does seem like the best option for you. I'm still going to stick with the plan and move up the steps as that was always my intention, but I think once moving to step 4/5 - it will more be a case of getting into a regular habit.

xx
 
Hi Guys,

Just wanted to let you know I did something similar to you Clare. I got to goal and went into this cycle of losing the same amount and putting it back on for months in my maintenance (I originally lost all my weight in Jan-March 2014). After Christmas I decided to do one week back on SS to get rid of the Christmas binge and then went straight onto 1000 - 1200 calories a day eating healthy and also running (I'm training for 4 half marathons). The first week I gained 3lb after initially losing the 12lb on SS and then I lost 1lb the next week and now seems to have settled down to 2lb a week. I have lowered my target so have a bit more to lose. I now have no shakes or products and just eat healthy, it's actually a revelation for me and I never really crave naughty food like I did when I was on Cambridge. I can go out for lunch and feel quite normal again, I just choose better now. I do a long run on a Sunday where I burn around 1600 calories so allow myself a treat after this but this is my only treat.

Hope you don't mind me posting, just wanted to post to say maintenance can be done without the steps. I've maintained now for 10 months with gains here and there which I have always corrected before they got out of control. I never went above step 2. You just need to be prepared for the initial water gain and then slower losses.

Good luck xx
 
Hi Liz,

Thank you so much for posting, it's great to hear from someone who has been there and done that. How have you found it? I've been finding that I'm that hungry that I'm eating all the wrong foods which isn't really like me. I had an Indian takeaway on Friday night for goodness sake, first time in literally years! I'm hoping that returning to eating the right foods will keep me maintaining my weight, or just losing that last few lbs but as long as I maintain my current weight I'll be happy.

Thanks again xx
 
ps - did you avoid carbs at first or just go straight to 1000-1200 cals?
 
I've found it fine to be honest. You just have to be in the right mind set. It's really helped with me bingeing as I craved so much when on cambridge. Now if I want something I just add it in to my calories. I generally eat the following:

Porridge with skimmed milk -breakfast
Apple- mid morning snack
Low cal Soup and a few cracker breads or protein salad and then pineapple, clementine- lunch
Banana (afternoon snack pre run)
Dinners try and keep low carb, last night I had 3 x heck sausages (high meat content) 2 x eggs, mushrooms and tomato. Sometimes I'll have another piece of fruit if I need it.

I don't low carb as such I just eat lower gi carbs and no refined sugar as such.

I track on my fitness pal. It tells me I should have more calories because of the running I do, i never have these.

Have you ever run before? Xx


Total loss - 3 stone 12lb :)
 
Hey Liz,

That's so great to hear and gives me hope that moving forward it can be done. I think i'm just scared to give up the CWP comfort blanket quite yet as I've tried low carbing and things in the past and I can't seem to get it right.

I am looking forward to moving to step 3 next week, mostly because it seems much more "normal" and adding in proper breakfast and lunches slowly will help me i'm sure. I'm a huge cheese and carb fiend so I just need to keep this in check!

LOVE MFP - such a great tool for logging and i'm starting to understand calories much more (I used to just bury my head about them!)

xx
 
Hi Flic,

I just got to the point where I thought right no more faffing. Just be healthy - simple :) I think it helps that I'm so into my running as have signed up for loads of runs plus I have the wedding to keep me focused :)

xx
 
Hi Ladies,

Well so far so...okay! Was good during the week but had more calories than I should at the weekend but I think his is going to be the pattern now. I'm thinking under 1000 calories 5 days a week and a few more at the weekends should balance me out I hope. Was 9st 8 this morning so I'm happy with that.

Liz - you've done so amazingly well and I'm so happy to see that someone can maintain their weight after CWP. I've run sporadically before but I don't enjoy it but I'm willing to give it a go, I defo need to find some form of exercise to do that fits in around my life and that seems to be the best and easiest option. Planning first run on Wednesday night, OH is out tonight and tomorrow night and someone has to be in the house for the little ones! When is your wedding?

Jen - hi chick how you doing? So-so so far as above but I need to make this work for me so onwards and upwards!

Flic - I can defo emphasise with the 'comfort blanket' of CWP. I'm finding it very difficult to eat during the day and would much rather have my 2 shakes but I know I can't stay on them forever! OH brought me jam on toast in bed yesterday morning and I literally couldn't bring myself to eat it. I ate about half and gave the rest to the baby who wasn't complaining!!

I'm not really prepared for the eating thing right now, I haven't done a big shop for a while. Trying to empty out stuff from the freezer so it's sausages and gnocchi tonight (random I know!) but I've only had 1 shake today and it's too close to dinner time now to have another one. I'm using MFP myself but not over the weekend which I should as I need to face up to my calorie intake!

Hope you're all well xx
 
Hi lovely,

Seems we are all in a similar place now - i'm very similar in that at weekends I tend to be a bit naughtier - enjoying time off with OH and family, but then back to the grindstone in the week - I had always thought that this would be my plan for maintenance when I get there anyway...I just need to stick with this a bit longer before going completely off piste and doing my own thing.

Gnocchi and sausages does sound interesting! I'm having sausages or chicken (not sure which yet,) sweet potato and asparagus/brocolli. SOOO looking forward to that sweet potato!

I always split my "morning" product and have 1/2 at about 4.30pm - find it suits me better. I just need to keep my water intake up so I don't cheat when i get home - though the thought of a delicious meal I think will keep me on track tonight!

What was your day plan then Clare - did you have step 3 style breakfast/lunch?

xx
 
Morning!

Flic - yeah me too about the weekends but I'm happy with that. I don't want to feel like I'm dieting for the rest of my life so if I can get into a routine, without thinking about it too much, of being very good during the week and a bit less good at the weekends I'm hoping that will keep me at maintenance but we'll see.

Dinner ended up being really nice, OH made a nice sauce to go with it. We don't usually eat such random combinations but I'm trying to get rid of anything tempting from the freezer!

Day plan during week is currently 2 shakes then a small dinner around 500-700 cals which is working for me on the...ooh...3 days I've done it so far! Weekends are another story...I had a big 'moment' last night...

I went on to MFP to face up to my weekend calories, Saturday was bad enough at 2000 cals but Sunday worked out at 4000 cals - the shame :( Now before you think I'm a greedy cow, can I first say that this is NOT a normal day for me! It also didn't seem so bad at the time. OH made me jam on toast which I only ate a bit of, we went out for the day to a National Trust place and went to the café so girls could have lunch and I ended up having a hot chocolate and a scone, then on the way home we decided to stop for Sunday lunch and the restaurant had a 3 course set menu where you paid for the 3 courses regardless of how many courses you had. I had pate, a roast beef dinner (I couldn't finish it, had maybe 2/3) then apple pie and ice cream plus a glass of red wine. I know that was off plan big time but I genuinely didn't realise how much. The scary part is that my weight is logged at 9st 7lbs on MFP (my last official weigh in with CDC) and it said if every day were like today you would be 11st 3lbs in 5 weeks. Now if that isn't a giant kick up the backside I don't know what is?!

As I said that is a one-off day for me but in future I have learned to be a lot more careful even on weekends.

I was still 9st 7lbs this morning so it's not all bad! Still wouldn't mind seeing 9st 5lbs by next week though!

Hope you have a fab day xx
 
clare i get where your coming from, 4000 cals sounds like a real mountain but looking at what you ve eaten it really doesn t seem like a mega binge just a good day out. i want to have a few days like that and control the rest. its no wonder so many of us have weight problems. i hate to think how many calories i have comsumed on a maga binge day. ace on the weight front nothing that won t be sorted very quickly. i went out for breakfast a couple of weeks ago and when choosing was trying to make a reasonable choice. so opted for eggs benadict i mean how much could a little dribble of hollandaise sauce be?. when i got home and tried to find out the cals i could of been as much as 1000, well gutted. so i guess we have to chalk it all up to experience and keep trying to make more informed choices. i recon there are a few more 4000cal day s in my future just want them to be heavily regulated and not multiple
jx
 
Hi Jen,

Gosh I wouldn't have guessed that either on the eggs. And yet I had a McDonalds last week and that only worked out about 700 cals, which with my 2 shakes was within my self-imposed calorie limit of 1000 a day. I would far rather eat healthily though and I do need to cut back on carbs from my previous diet.

Yeah I'm sure I'll have days like that too but I want them to be special occasions and not just a random Sunday lunch out. I'm taking OH to a nice place for his birthday in March and have paid already for a 3 course dinner included in an over night stay in a nice hotel. I'm happy breaking any diets for that as it's not like it's going to happen every day but Sunday was lunch at a local restaurant. It really didn't feel like a lot of food, even the 3 course dinner, as we were taking our time with it so it wasn't like I ate all that in half an hour.

Before CWP I would eat out a lot - probably twice a week with OH and kiddies and then once or twice a week with different friends and I really need to keep an eye on this going forwards. I'm out at Pizza Express on Friday - it's too cold for a salad but I know they do a 500 cal ish pizza which I'll go for (I hope my willpower sticks when I get there!) and then out with a friend the following Thursday to an Italian restaurant...might just be religious about MFP until I get a better idea of calories in meals. My diet of choice has always been slimming world which has no limits on many foods which is my mind-set now I fear.

Take care my friend, good luck for this week xx
 
Clare, I am totally with you! It's only when you start properly logging that you see those calories add up - it's shocking really! It's such a useful tool and like you, I'm hoping I eventually get the hang of working out calorie content without the app...

I too did slimming world before, and subsequently, always feel that the veg portion is a bit stingy, but I am trying to be really strict with the carb portion...

There are so many similarities with you (shame that I'm not a similar weight too!) and eating out etc. When I was away last week, I really struggled with consecutive nights out as they are difficult to manage. Planning I find is completely key, and also not thinking you have to try everything on the menu and require desserts - my biggest downfall!

Enjoy your nights out with friends - i'm sure you'll be fine.

xx
 
Hi Flic,

Yup definitely, I can see why I put so much weight on. The salads can be just as bad - there's more fat in one of the Hard Rock Café salads than there is in their burger and chips. I think we do just need to keep logging and logging but I think I can assume that every meal out is going to be 2000 cals plus?! I think for me it's yes trying to pick better lower calorie options but also cut down on the amount I eat out. It's the way I socialise though! Saying that this cookery course I'm on at the minute (last one this Thursday unfortunately) is great as I get to spend time with my bestie and learn something too so maybe I'll look into more courses - or even persuade a friend to run with me!

I do like the slimming world diet as it's so easy. I'm thinking of a version that I can stick to on a day to day basis but without all the carbs (unfortunately my favourite bit!). I'm loading up my veggies when I'm back eating properly, I want to eat a healthy diet.

Yeah shame we cant go out together and encourage each other! I wouldn't mind but I was never really a dessert person but since I've been on this I suddenly am damn it! Big test this Friday for me - can I stick to one of the low cal pizzas at Pizza Express with the middle cut out and salad instead? I never saw the point in them before as you know when you're eating pizza it's not exactly good for you, like ordering a large big mac meal with diet coke.

Just had a subway for lunch but went for ham salad apparently only 260 cals, don't know how many in the hot chocolate I felt obliged to get though (I'm SUCH an idiot!). I'll be missing dinner tonight though, just having a shake instead.

xx
 
Just ordered Davina McCall and 30 minute body shred exercise DVDs plus some hand weights. Just been chatting to my colleague who lost a load of weight for her wedding last year with slimming world but has maintained for a year now with these DVDs so I've decided to give it a go :)
 
And just signed up for 2 x 5k runs - a Race For Life and a Run or Dye event. Got to run now!!
 
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