From here to inskinnity! My mission to lose 13.5 stone!

[lyricallylittle]

I think you are right to chill out and go with it. SW is better than most in that it specifies a minimum fibre intake (HexB) and calcium intake (HexA) - both of which inhibit fat absorption but also provide vital nutrients. The 1/3 superfree rule also helps with balancing blood sugar levels and fat absorption as the fibre in fruit and veg lines the intestines to prevent you absorbing too much of the bad stuff, which is why smoothies aren't free! I got hung up on the calorie element earlier in the year and it ended up throwing me off plan a bit and I just stopped going to group. Needless to say the weight crept on and I've only ended up going back!

Things like WW take your BMR into account I believe by allocating you your pro-points according to BMR but when a chicken breast is the same number of points as a Big Mac then I know what I'd be going for, and it isn't the healthy option! Worst case scenario, if your weightloss did completely stall because you weren't eating enough calories, SW has an absolute last resort plan where your allowance is tailored to you but everything must be weighed and measured. I don't think you'll come anywhere near needing that though as you're sensible and doing really really well!

As you say, bigger picture!

 

[Tetris]

Wait wait wait!

While discussing BMR with G last night I realized something I’d/we’d forgotten- BMR is how the number of calories you need to eat to stay the same weight! It is how many calories your body BURNS to breathe, digest, move, etc when spending all day in bed… So we NEED to eat less than our BMR in order to burn fat!! Whatever calories we are not eating of our BMR is what our body is instead taking from our stored fat- i.e. if we are eating 1000 calories less than our BMR a day, we will burn 7000 calories a week (if staying in bed) which is 2lbs of fat!!
I realized when I said my BMR is 1300- it isn’t! That’s just what I calculated on MFP as being how much I need to put into my body to BURN 2lbs of fat a week!!! My BMR (calories I burn when in bed in a day) is 1750! So if I aim to reduce that by 500 cal a day, I’ll burn 1lb a week. On top of that- if I am throwing in some ‘fast’ days and getting some general movement in from daily life, it should bump the 1lb off a week up to 2lbs or more (and does!)

So yeah- BMR isn’t how many calories we need to EAT to survive a day- just how many calories we USE- whether it is burning already stored fat or burning what we are eating. As we get slimmer our BMR reduces as it costs less energy to run a smaller body, meaning if we stick to a 1300 cal diet, eventually we would lose weight until that is our BMR and what is needed to run our bodies and we’d stay at a stable weight running that calorie intake, or reduce it to get smaller.

It is proven that humans can live their whole lives healthily on diets as low as 700 calories, maybe less (there is even a guy doing an experiment to see if it expands his life span, has dedicated his life to only eating 700 cal a day to see if he’ll live longer!) but yeah, in terms of metabolism it is definitely most effective to be having some higher calorie days (though not too many!) and some lower calorie days. So you know now that when you go to Prague- if you’re eating 2100 cal (or whatever your BMR was) a day, you will have an STS when you get home. though hopefully the extra movement of sight seeing would balance that out!

So yeah- we should mix up high and low cal days to keep our metabolism on it's toes, but if you eat what your BMR suggest, that is a sure fire way of staying the same weight. BMR is there to work out how much we should lessen our calories by for weight loss, or gain our calories by for weight gain!

Sorry for the bold above- noticed a few people here getting a bit wary of things we had been looking at incorrectly so just wanted to highlight bits to make sure people see 'em!
x

 

[Cheese Thief]

Soph - AHH! Thanks a lot for posting that, it makes a LOT more sense now! I'd gotten it into my head BMR was what we needed to EAT to survive, rather than what we USE! I thought your BMR was crazy low at 1300 compared to mine at 2150 too, but now it's 1750 it makes sense due to the weight difference. Like you say if we ate our BMR every day we'd just stay the same unless we did loads of exercise. At least I feel a clearer about the whole thing now. Before I was thinking I was gonna make myself ill or something eating so far under my BMR, hence all the stressing!

Learning all this nutrition stuff is so bloody complicated! Like Lyrically said though SW is better than plans like WW as it encourages us to have fibre (hexb) and calcium (hexa). After all my unnecessary stressing I'm going to just focus on sticking to the plan each day rather than worrying about it. It works, I feel great, so what's not to like! There are the silly syns v 'free' food bugs with the mullers and mug shots, but as long as you use a common sense approach its definitely a workable diet.

Not going to really count cals and syns in Prague, but as the hotel has free wifi I'm going to get that mini mins app downloaded so I can at least log my intake on here. Like you say hopefully the extra walking will help to cancel out some of the extra calories.

Princess - Too right hun. I'm enjoying the journey loads, I think sometimes I just get a bit sidetracked! I honestly think I'm so determined for this to work and to lose this weight that I look for problems when they don't exist!

Lyrically - Thanks for being so honest about your own experiences. I know for a fact if I did calorie counting at home and didn't go to group that it wouldn't work for me. I've tried the same thing in the past. I need the accountability of group and the buzz of the weekly weigh in to keep me on the straight and narrow. I'm sure SW is stuck with me for life now, even once I reach target!

---

Well my assessment day was actually quite fun. The other candidates all seemed lovely and I'm really rooting for us all to get through to the next stage of the process. The next step involves an additional interview and presentation, should find out in the next few days whether I've got through, but probably if I have made it the second part won't be until I'm back from Prague. That's the week I've got 2 uni interviews too so will be a bit crazy!

Managed to grab a sandwich from Sainsburys on the way to interview, says 14 in total but thankfully it was wm bread so I can deduct some syns for that, and I left a quarter as I was in such a rush, so all in all 75% of 14 - 6 syns = 4.5 syns - not too shabby!

Week 16, Day 3 - Red

Breakfast - Special K chewy delight - hexb
Lunch - Tuna sandwich - hexb + 4.5 syns
Snack - grapes and cheese (hexa)
Tea - Carvery - Gammon, turkey and beef with onion gravy (2.5 syns), beans, peas, yorkshire (4 syns), roasties (4 syns) and carrots - 10.5 syns
Supper - Muller
Total - 15 syns

Lovely food day today, the best bit is that now I've written about my carvery I can head off and eat it!

 

[Gwella]

Theoretically, if we all ate as many calories as our BMR, we WOULD burn fat, because who actually stays in bed all day? So the question is how MANY below the BMR can one burn and not slow down the metabolism too much. And I guess that all depends on our physical build, insulin, and all those crazy hormones...

 

[Tetris]

Glad that has helped clear things up, sorry if before I made you feel a bit tense discussing that stuff!

You are absolutely right- if it is working and you are enjoying it then just let things roll!
I am constantly tweaking things to get more enjoyment out of it while keeping the speed optimal since having to cut pasta etc, but you should just focus on what works rather than getting too fiddly with things just yet- you're doing so well!
X

 

[Cheese Thief]

Soph - Nah not at all, I'd been thinking about it myself TBH as those calorie numbers for the last week seemed super low! I think its great we're all learning so much more about nutrition and questioning things rather than blindly following the plan like it's the absolute truth or something. People on here lose weight in all different ways and like you say tweaking isn't a bad thing, for example I love the 'high' and 'low' days to shake things up so that'll definitely be staying!

Gwella - Yeah it's just a difficult balancing act I guess, I'm just relying on the fact if I go too low with the calories my body will tell me. If it was suffering I'd be feeling weak/dizzy etc and I've got nothing like that going on thankfully. Its like you say the right number of calories varies from person to person, so long as we don't follow the plan blindly and listen to our bodies and how we feel than hopefully with a big of tweaking we can all have a maintainable loss.

--

Anyway, that carvery was GORGEOUS! Not much to add really but meals like that make me realise why I love Slimming World!

Off to 'check in' now for my flights - oooh excitement! xx

 

[Cheese Thief]

Testing the mobile app...

 

[bloodcoveredprincess]

Testing the mobile app...

Coming in loud and clear x

 

[Cheese Thief]

Haha, Thanks BCP! Awesome that the mobile app works, I'm all good to go now for logging my food in Prague. Hopefully this will help me stay on the straight and narrow!

Aiming for a 'low' green day today - if you saw the size of the carvery I munched last night you'd understand! If I go 'low' today and Sunday I'm sure Prague will provide plenty of 'high' days to keep my metabolism on its toes!

EDIT - originally this was a zero syn day but just wasn't feeling the prospect of cereal and fruit for tea so changed my mind and had stuffed mushrooms, still a yummy green day though!

Week 16, Day 4 - GreenLunch - Jacket potato (hexb) with baked beans and cheese (2 x hexa)
Snack - Muller, curlywurly (5 syns)
Tea - Stuffed mushrooms with cheese and basil (6 syns)
Supper - 2 x kiwi fruit, melon

Total - 11 syns


Having a bit of a lazy one today after all the stress of my coursework and interview this week. Still not heard from Sky whether I've made the next stage. Crossing my fingers!

This weekend should be fairly busy as got to do some Christmas shopping, driving to Derby to find out where the uni is (after hols I've got an interview at 9am so don't want to get lost in rush hour traffic), packing and doing all that last minute holiday prep. Hopefully will find time to go to the cinema and spend some time with Chris before I go away too. It'll be the first time we've been apart for the night in over 2 years, so I'm going to miss him loads. He's been to Prague 6 times before though so it's a good place for me to explore without him.

 

[jma2013]

Hi cheese thief very good day food wise well done all the best on your trip sure it will be amazing enjoy it!

You have now made me want a carvery checking oout what you had night before one local to me is amazing my only big struggle is that they do cheesey garlic potatoes yummmm cant keep away from them and im sure they are deadly syn wise

 

[Cheese Thief]

Ugh... So that's why I don't drink! Made some crappy food choices tonight after i decided to let myself let my hair down a bit. It's made me realise how far I have to go before I can trust myself when drinking - 1 drink turned to 3 and had 7 after dark all gold chocolates.. ugh!

100% back on plan from tomorrow anyway but a bit dissappointed with myself for messing up so close to the hols. Wouldnt have minded if i'd planned it but wish I could have been more in control of things. I honestly think not having a wi next week has made me relax far too much. Looking forward to Prague but also craving routine again with my wi's, I really need them to help me stay on track.

 

[Cheese Thief]

New day, fresh start. No use worrying over spilt milk as they say. Back on track today with a yummy mixed melon breakfast. Now heading off to Derby on the hunt for my uni. We'll be eating out but determined to make good choices. Already planned tea of chicken and roasted med. veg so should be a good day for food optimising.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[emma_88]

You do right, new day forget about yesterday

Have a nice day!

 

[Cheese Thief]

Thanks hun, will do, you too! X

 

[jma2013]

I find it tough when socialising to be honest especially when alcohol is involved it very easy to slip up but if were being honest again it shows how far you have come that your annoyed with yourself for a small slip up in the past after a few beers it would have been kebab and chips etc

I find its ok to have these slip ups remaining in control is the main thing and you have done that by getting straight back on plan and your recent results have been wonderful don't beat yourself up surely you can see the difference and how well things are going for you

Have a safe journey

 

[Gilljo30]

The good thing about having a wee treat is you've managed to put it past you and keep going!! It's so hard to not have a treat no and then! And 7 chocs aren't really that bad it could have been worse and you could've eaten the whole box! Anyway you are doing well you seem to really enjoy what you are eating which is how you will stick to it! looking fab in your new pics too xx

 

[Cheese Thief]

JMA - Yep, you're right. Before I'd have been straight on the phone to Dominoes for a stuffed crust or something. So I guess although I slipped up it was loads better than I used to do! Even 'skinny' people over-indulge after alcohol so I'm not too worried about it, I'm just glad I don't drink that much!

Jo - First of all, wow you are doing amazing! Thanks for the kind words, I am genuinely loving the food I'm eating on SW which is making it easy for me to stick to. 90% of the time I really don't feel like I'm on a diet, which is great as I know it's something I need to maintain for life now. Like you say it was only 7 choccys, could have been a lot worse!

--
Had a lovely day today. After a late start went to visit the campus at Derby uni, it's a really nice scenic drive and easy to get to from where I live. Took about an hour each way, so within easy reach of home if I'm lucky enough to get accepted next year. Sheffield Hallam is still my first choice, but Derby is definitely my second!

On the way home stopped at Morrison's cafe for lunch, not many healthy options but had hunters chicken and veggies for 8.5 syns, could have been worse! Picked up our Christmas decorations too so we can get all trimmed up tomorrow. Not sure how wise it is to aim to do my packing for holiday, Christmas decorations and a casserole all in one day but here's to living dangerously!

Week 16, Day 5 - EE
Breakfast - Melon
Lunch - Morrisons cafe - Hunters chicken - 8.5 syns
Snack - Banana
Tea - Feta (hexa) salad with tomatoes, olives (2 syns), onion and low fat balsamic dressing - 2 syns
Supper - Danio yoghurt - 1 syn - slice of toast (hexb) with a little jam -3 syns

Total - 14.5 syns

 

[Cheese Thief]

Well a productive day of packing my case and putting the Christmas tree up! Currently snuggling down to a hot chicken casserole in my pj's - bliss!



Really excited now about Prague! Can't wait to explore, try some new food and take lots of piccys.

Week 16, Day 6 - EE
Brunch - wm toast (hexb) and raspberry jam (4 syns)
Tea - Chicken casserole with carrots, onions, leek, swede, yorkshire pudding (4 syns) and gravy (3 syns)
Supper - mini babybel (hexa), muller, curlywurly (6 syns)

Total - 17 syns

Seem to be in 'munch mode' lately. I honestly feel in a holiday mindset so that'll explain why I've been a bit crappy with the syns etc. Don't worry soon as I'm back I'll be full steam ahead with SW 'till Christmas eve. Not planning on blowing it when I'm away, I just know I won't be able to stay on plan so no point stressing myself out about it. I've got 3 days before WI when I get back so I'll get on the salads and hopefully manage a maintain *fingers crossed*.

Really excited about Prague now, can't wait!

 

[bloodcoveredprincess]

Well a productive day of packing my case and putting the Christmas tree up! Currently snuggling down to a hot chicken casserole in my pj's - bliss!

View attachment 115461

Really excited now about Prague! Can't wait to explore, try some new food and take lots of piccys.

Week 16, Day 6 - EE
Brunch - wm toast (hexb) and raspberry jam (4 syns)
Tea - Chicken casserole with carrots, onions, leek, swede, yorkshire pudding (4 syns) and gravy (3 syns)
Supper - mini babybel (hexa), muller, curlywurly (6 syns)

Total - 17 syns

Seem to be in 'munch mode' lately. I honestly feel in a holiday mindset so that'll explain why I've been a bit crappy with the syns etc. Don't worry soon as I'm back I'll be full steam ahead with SW 'till Christmas eve. Not planning on blowing it when I'm away, I just know I won't be able to stay on plan so no point stressing myself out about it. I've got 3 days before WI when I get back so I'll get on the salads and hopefully manage a maintain *fingers crossed*.

Really excited about Prague now, can't wait!

Love the piccie ..... looks so cosy x

 

[Tetris]

Tree looks lovely!!
Prague is going to be awesome jist tell your friend to slap you on the hand if you reach for the chocolates more than once while drunk. I find that once I have told someone "Dont let me eat this..." I tend to then feel embarassed to do so and thus avoid.
Do have plenty of treats though- you're on hol!!
Hope you have a fantastic time!
From experience I tend to get too tired to phone-type a food diary while away (especially as you want to breifly answer people's comments- takes forever on a phone!) but much quicker to scribble it on a piece of paper to refer to later.
What time are you off? Have a blast!! X