Donkey's journey to deal with disordered eating and lose 6 stone!

[timmieatimbo]

Hey there Donkey how are you doing today? Did your dad's operation go ok?

 

[donkeysaurusrex]

Hey there Donkey how are you doing today? Did your dad's operation go ok?

Hiya Yes all went fine thanks, he's doing well now. I'm good too, been shopping today for even more clothes. Braved Primark and came out with a pair of fox pattern tights, raccoon pattern tights, a coca cola jumper, a bunny jumper and a grey cardi - the only thing I actually needed, but Primark has that effect on me, I'll part with my money for the most ridiculous things. Fortunately the number of people and the mess keeps me out for most of the year, going at Christmas is a guaranteed migraine in fact, so it's not too bad! Picked up my order from DP, got a really nice warm coat from the tall section at last and some dresses, then headed to New Look and picked up another cardi and shoes. I have definitely gone down a size! Hurrah! NSV! WI tomorrow so I'll see how I've done - not put much effort into plan this week.
How are you? I see another loss on that ticker!

 

[timmieatimbo]

Yaaaay good work on dropping a size! It's really nice to go shopping and feel you look good isn't it? Well I went to the lakes over the weekend and had 2 days off plan so I wonder whether my losses would've been better this week but definitely not going to complain!

Just saw Ed Sheeran and he was AMAZING! Are you a fan?

 

[donkeysaurusrex]

Yaaaay good work on dropping a size! It's really nice to go shopping and feel you look good isn't it? Well I went to the lakes over the weekend and had 2 days off plan so I wonder whether my losses would've been better this week but definitely not going to complain!

Just saw Ed Sheeran and he was AMAZING! Are you a fan?

Well I wouldn't say I look good lol, I'm still 2 sizes bigger than I'd start to be happy with, but it's definitely nice to know that it's going in the right direction and find that things actually fit when you get home to try them on!
Ah I had friends at Ed Sheeran tonight! I'm not a particular fan, I don't really have specific artists or groups I especially listen to but he's not bad Glad you had a good time, and it sounds like you did pretty well with 2 days off plan resulting in a loss!

 

[donkeysaurusrex]

Grrr, I went to an early WI and I've gained 1/2 a pound. It shouldn't have been a gain this week but friggin totm made an unexpected appearance today and I am so bloated. Never mind, I absolutely knew I'd gained before I stepped on the scales just from how awful I felt but I felt pretty good a couple of days ago. So I'm not too bothered but I am aware that it's now been very very iffy for the past 6 weeks in terms of losses and gains, so I need to sort it out this week. Might try to plan some meals but I need to go shopping, plus I'm starting work Thursday so I'm not sure how I'll do during the days yet. I'll work it out.

 

[timmieatimbo]

Packed lunches will be your best friend for work! Have you got the slimming world little book of lunches? There's some good inspiration there.

Ahh TOTM is so inconvenient sometimes but it means you'll have a brilliant compensatory loss next week. It's ok Donkey, ignore the numbers and think of the new clothes you've been able to buy which you look fab in!

Just had to go out for a meal again and it's made me very ill. It's weird because food never tends to make me feel unwell. Everyone had chocolate brownie and ice cream for dessert but I had steamed kale and green beans. Not ideal! Had to pass up a mcdonalds after the concert last night as well while everyone was munching on burgers and chips.The things we do eh?

 

[Poppet12]

Ah damn totm :-( but yay for new clothes and a new dress size sometimes we change regardless of the number on the scale. Hang in there til next week and as timmi says you might get an extra good loss ;-) x

 

[timmieatimbo]

Hey there donkey. Are you alright?

 

[donkeysaurusrex]

Hey guys

Been absent this week, I know. I started my new job in the week and been battling really severe migraines so I've been pretty wiped. They wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't concentrating so hard in front of screens all day at work, it's just that extra effort you have to put in when you start somewhere new. I've also been off plan, I need to get into a routine really so I'm giving it a go this week now I know how breaks work and what is available re food. There is a canteen at work, hot meals and cold sandwich meal deals as well as vending machines and a kitchen. There's a huge Tesco across the road which is handy. Had my online shopping delivered last night, lots of free food - I intend to get the slow cooker going and bulk cook for the evenings. I was going to make a sandwich to take in each day except Asda didn't have my gluten free bread in stock and instead sent me one loaf of normal bread and one pack of gf rolls which were out of date yesterday. Also cracked eggs and - get this - Dog food instead of cat food! What kind of substitute is that?! Sigh. I dread to think what goes through the pickers' minds when they're collecting people's shopping lol.

Think I'm going to skip WI this Tuesday. Not because I think I may have gained (although I probably have) but Tuesday I'm starting the normal days, working until 5.30pm and I'm unlikely to get home until 7 at the earliest. WI is at 7.30 but I'm going to be exhausted, especially if my head isn't cooperating better by then. Hopefully once I'm more in the routine of things and less exhausted all the time I can get back into it. I'm going up and down after that time off sw and maybe I just need to put it aside for the moment - not go off plan but not worry about getting to the classes. I also need to work out how to approach eating through the day if I'm weighing late - I could last until 5.30 easily on very little so as not to skew my results but I'm not going to be able to reduce the amount of water I drink for that long. Anyway, skipping this week's class gets rid of those concerns for now!

Got to go out now to collect some shrimp for my fish tank and pick up some bread I can actually eat from Sainsburys! Will probably pick up some lunch bits too, I will have to get this lunch book you speak of Timmi!

 

[Poppet12]

Hi donkey, thought you'd been quiet! I can imagine it taking a while to settle into a routine but you have been doing well and will get back on plan when you know what you're doing!
Slow cooker is fab for long days at work if you are organised too. Nothing better than coming home to a hot tea ready! I'd like to start experimenting a bit more with mine- tend to stick to the same meals in it... X

 

[timmieatimbo]

Sounds like you've been a very busy lady! Are you enjoying your new job though?

I think it's really positive that you're focusing on getting into a routine and looking for ways to stay on plan. Missing WI isn't the end of the world because you're working your hardest at the moment on it anyway. You seem so determined right now that it doesn't matter what the scales say - you're still gonna get right on it. Good work donkey!

Lol that substitute is ridiculous. We had our sainsburys shop delivered today and thankfully our cat got cat food but they could've substituted it for dog food and it wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference because she really doesn't eat the wet stuff anymore. I'm a bit worried about her lack of eating at the moment actually

I sense a gain for me tomorrow. I've been unwell this week but also been on weird shifts and had a couple of meals out. I may also skip WI this week actually...

 

[donkeysaurusrex]

Hi donkey, thought you'd been quiet! I can imagine it taking a while to settle into a routine but you have been doing well and will get back on plan when you know what you're doing!
Slow cooker is fab for long days at work if you are organised too. Nothing better than coming home to a hot tea ready! I'd like to start experimenting a bit more with mine- tend to stick to the same meals in it... X

Haha yes, I'm in front of a screen all day so the idea of getting back in front of one at home to write isn't super appealing atm, but I'm still checking in here to stay on course! You're right, the slow cooker is the way forward! Last night I chopped up a sweet potato and onions and put them in a tupperware box with diced beef, a tin of kidney beans and some casserole mixed veg so this morning I just threw it all in the slow cooker and added chopped tomatoes, lea and perrins, a veg oxo cube and a handful of pasta (bit of an experiment). Came home ready to eat and it was right there, all free and superfree ready! It had been on low for about 11 hours by the time I ate it and worked out really well. The pasta had turned into a mulchy goo but was solid enough to almost feel and taste a bit like cauliflower cheese?! I really enjoyed it anyway. Will probably do bolognese either tomorrow or the day after, depending on how much I get through.

What meals do you do in it? We had a discussion in group the other week about chucking a whole chicken in, breast down, and just leaving it to cook on low all day. Apparently it works out really well.

Sounds like you've been a very busy lady! Are you enjoying your new job though?

I think it's really positive that you're focusing on getting into a routine and looking for ways to stay on plan. Missing WI isn't the end of the world because you're working your hardest at the moment on it anyway. You seem so determined right now that it doesn't matter what the scales say - you're still gonna get right on it. Good work donkey!

Lol that substitute is ridiculous. We had our sainsburys shop delivered today and thankfully our cat got cat food but they could've substituted it for dog food and it wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference because she really doesn't eat the wet stuff anymore. I'm a bit worried about her lack of eating at the moment actually

I sense a gain for me tomorrow. I've been unwell this week but also been on weird shifts and had a couple of meals out. I may also skip WI this week actually...

Aww thanks Timmi Yeah the people at work are seriously the nicest bunch ever, we're all around the same age and I get on well with them so far. I'm not doing my role just yet because of email addresses and the usual paperwork issues that need to be dealt with to get access to systems, but what I am doing right now is going ok. Loads of information and systems and lots of learning- it's a varied role so things change a lot. But I think I should be ok, just need to stop second guessing myself and start forcing myself to calm down instead of beating myself up when I don't catch on as quickly as I like. An unfortunate effect of my migraines and all the meds is that I have definitely slowed down when it comes to learning these things and I find it nigh impossible to follow printed instructions in list format , things jump around and I lose my place every 2 seconds without realising, so it's taking time to learn stuff. Just need some time
Poor Pip! Is she still drinking water? They can be so finnicky it's difficult to know what to do :/
How are you feeling now? Better I hope Like you say, missing WI isn't really a big deal so long as we're seeing the bigger picture and keep on our journeys.

 

[donkeysaurusrex]

Ok so since I started my job I have been doing well with food! I only started last week and the first few days when I didn't know how things worked I didn't do so well - first day I didn't eat at all until I got home, but I was doing short days so it wasn't a huge deal. Realised from the dizziness at the end of the day I'd need to eat at lunch so bought a sandwich meal deal (crisps, coke - super healthy fare lol) which got me through. Since then though I've been taking lunch in with me. Sandwich with chicken and pickle - I'm not synning the bread even though the gluten free stuff isn't a healthy extra, I'm just going to class it as a hexb anyway as it doesn't seem to make too much difference to my weight. A babybel light in a feeble attempt at a calcium intake (even though the fact it doesn't bother my lactose intolerance suggests to me it's not much like real cheese at all lol) which is part of a hexa. A pack of french fries which are either 4.5 or 5 syns I think, plus grapes, cherry tomatoes and celery sticks.

I don't really want to be taking in pasta or 'meals' to eat cold or reheat and the weather isn't encouraging me to eat salads - I'd rather eat easy lunch foods like sandwiches and that lunch seems to get me through the day nicely (plus heavier foods make me fall asleep after lunch). I'm hungry by the time I get in and then I just have to open the slow cooker for instant on plan food! Hopefully the routine will help with my issues around not eating proper meals and grazing at odd times instead. It will be interesting to see how WI goes next Tuesday. Obviously I missed it this week but I intend to go next week, which will be the first 7.30pm WI I do. I guess I'll just have lunch and then not eat until after WI, so 2pm to 7.30. Not worried about the food but need to be careful with my drinking as I want to avoid migraines but also avoid huge water gains on the scales.

 

[timmieatimbo]

Hey there donkey! I'm glad work is going well so far and you're doing really well with planning your food while working.

I'm currently eating a slimming world borscht soup at 6:45am. Nights are ridiculous because I sleep 9:30-5:30 then wake up and have a dinner at dinner time then take soup to work with me (10:30pm-8:30am) which I always aim to eat at around 3am but it never happens and I end up eating a very savoury soup at breakfast time! Nights are lame .

Pip is just silly. She is indeed drinking water though. How's your little beaut?

 

[Poppet12]

What meals do you do in it? We had a discussion in group the other week about chucking a whole chicken in, breast down, and just leaving it to cook on low all day. Apparently it works out really well.

Your slow cooker surprise sounds nice! Pasta can go a bit mushy but if you're not bothered about that then happy days
What a good ide, putting it all prepared in a tupperware tub ready to throw in in the morning- must remember that one!
My favourites in the slow cooker are:
Curry (i just throw in whatever veg i have to hand- usually onions, peppers, mushrooms and garlic) with some curry powder and whatever meat- lamb being a fav, and a tin of tomatoes)
Spag bol ( i gather a lot of people brown of mince and onions first but to me that taes away the beauty of the slow cooker! I put onion, celery and carrot in to the food processor and blitz, then into the pot with mince, oxo cubes, lea and perrins and chopped tomatoes.
Stew- any veg and braising steak with beef oxo, pearl barley and tomato puree. Never gonna be bad!
Chilli- as above for spag bol except add a tin of kidneybeans and a heaped tsp of ground cumin and coriander, and a dash of smoked paprika
Pasta sauce! A tin of chopped tomatoes and whatever veg you usually put in your pasta sauce- mine are often tomato based with med veg- red onions, peppers and the like. I usually cook my pasta fresh but if you included plenty of liquid theres no reason you couldnt cook it in there too.

I have heard of the whole roast chicken- my slow cooker wouldnt fit a chicken in though! Some people place the chicken on a couple of balls of rolled up foil ad put a little water in the bottom so it doesn't burn. I can't imagine a dry heat being good too cook a chicken- a) your slow cooker might 'burn dry' and b) surely it would dry the meat out? I'd use water with a couple of garlic cloves and lemon slices in so it almost steams if it were me...
Glad to hear work is going well- the sandwich meal deals are so convenient but im glad you've started to take your own- more cost effective apart from anything! I wouldn't worry too much about the bread either- lots of people 'tweak' hexb's sucessfully...
Hope the migraines are at bay!Wow super long post, sorry about that! x

 

[donkeysaurusrex]

Hey there donkey! I'm glad work is going well so far and you're doing really well with planning your food while working.

I'm currently eating a slimming world borscht soup at 6:45am. Nights are ridiculous because I sleep 9:30-5:30 then wake up and have a dinner at dinner time then take soup to work with me (10:30pm-8:30am) which I always aim to eat at around 3am but it never happens and I end up eating a very savoury soup at breakfast time! Nights are lame .

Pip is just silly. She is indeed drinking water though. How's your little beaut?

Nights do sound like they mess you up slightly lol. How's it going?
How is Pip? Eating yet? Sweetpea is fine, I trimmed her claws earlier and she made so much noise and fuss that I was half expecting someone to call the rspca on me lol.

 

[donkeysaurusrex]

What meals do you do in it? We had a discussion in group the other week about chucking a whole chicken in, breast down, and just leaving it to cook on low all day. Apparently it works out really well.

Your slow cooker surprise sounds nice! Pasta can go a bit mushy but if you're not bothered about that then happy days
What a good ide, putting it all prepared in a tupperware tub ready to throw in in the morning- must remember that one!
My favourites in the slow cooker are:
Curry (i just throw in whatever veg i have to hand- usually onions, peppers, mushrooms and garlic) with some curry powder and whatever meat- lamb being a fav, and a tin of tomatoes)
Spag bol ( i gather a lot of people brown of mince and onions first but to me that taes away the beauty of the slow cooker! I put onion, celery and carrot in to the food processor and blitz, then into the pot with mince, oxo cubes, lea and perrins and chopped tomatoes.
Stew- any veg and braising steak with beef oxo, pearl barley and tomato puree. Never gonna be bad!
Chilli- as above for spag bol except add a tin of kidneybeans and a heaped tsp of ground cumin and coriander, and a dash of smoked paprika
Pasta sauce! A tin of chopped tomatoes and whatever veg you usually put in your pasta sauce- mine are often tomato based with med veg- red onions, peppers and the like. I usually cook my pasta fresh but if you included plenty of liquid theres no reason you couldnt cook it in there too.

I have heard of the whole roast chicken- my slow cooker wouldnt fit a chicken in though! Some people place the chicken on a couple of balls of rolled up foil ad put a little water in the bottom so it doesn't burn. I can't imagine a dry heat being good too cook a chicken- a) your slow cooker might 'burn dry' and b) surely it would dry the meat out? I'd use water with a couple of garlic cloves and lemon slices in so it almost steams if it were me...
Glad to hear work is going well- the sandwich meal deals are so convenient but im glad you've started to take your own- more cost effective apart from anything! I wouldn't worry too much about the bread either- lots of people 'tweak' hexb's sucessfully...
Hope the migraines are at bay!Wow super long post, sorry about that! x

Yeah pasta should really be added at the end of the slow cooking but it was pretty nice all the same. Going to try some of those meals in it over time, it's really good to come in and have food ready. Might try the chicken at some point but I wondered the same about it drying out. The slow cooker tends to bring any water out of food anyway.
Migraines are behaving thanks, I wear tinted glasses at work to cope with the lights and screens and it seems to be working for now. Bit on the exhausted side, the shock of working 9-5.30 5 days a week after a full year of not working while I was at uni has taken effect but it's all good

 

[donkeysaurusrex]

First full week at work done, it's all going well. Done really well with food too, taking lunches and having slow cooker meals ready when I get in. Last night I deviated a bit and ate mini sliders and profiteroles, but quite enjoyed it so that's ok - sucks when you go off plan and you don't enjoy it, seems wasted then! Yesterday I wore a dress that was definitely too tight last time I tried it, so I'm pretty pleased with that even though I don't know what the scales are saying right now.

Trying to tidy the place up a bit, now that I only have the weekends to get things done I'm more productive! Difficult to get washing dry with this weather though and I try to avoid using the drier, so I'm just going to buy more bedding and clothes to get around it lol.

 

[Poppet12]

Well done on your on plan week donkey glad you're enjoying the work- I can imagine it being a shock to the system going to work 5 days a week, I'd be exhausted!
Good on you with the slow cooker meals too, I will aim to use mine next week x

 

[timmieatimbo]

Excellent work donkey! Keep me updated on your slow cooker use as I could do with some inspiration - I've never used mine!

What are you up to this weekend?