HELP ME PLEASE! NOTHING is happening, feeling desperately upset and disappointed

[AbFab]

Hi all,

Am really hoping someone here can relate or has been through the same thing and can give me some encouragement!

I am now in my 4[SUP]th[/SUP] week of SW doing EE and it’s like my body has gone into shut-down.

Before the plan, I got to this weight from enjoying the good life. Lots of cheese, wine and home-cooked but massive portions of food.

Just to give you an idea, yesterday was like this:

TUESDAY
Breakfast: Two Ryvita with Low-Low, a banana and an apple and a small tub of pineapple
Lunch: Vegetable soup made with carrots, onion, garlic, celery, potato and Swiss biullon with two Ryvita and 15g of chorizo crutons
Snack: Mugshot
Dinner: Stir-fry with chicken, pak choi, peppers, courgettes, shallots, mushrooms and soy sauce
Syns: 3.5

MONDAY
Breakfast: Small Co-Op roll (60g) with 2 slices of grilled bacon (all fat removed) with apple and melon
Lunch: Tin tuna with extra low mayo with lettuce, onion and 2 Ryvita
Snack: strawberries and raspberries with fat-free vanilla Activia
Dinner: Cod baked in chilli/lemongrass/lime/corander and garlic marinade with noodles and pak choi
Syns: 15 (from Ryvita and WW Chocolate Brownie and low-cal mayo)

SUNDAY
Breakfast: Beans, grilled tomato, 3 rashers fat free bacon and egg with banana and
Lunch: Raspberries and strawberries with fat free activia
Dinner: SW syn-free potato wedges with SW burger and 60g Co-Op wholemeal roll with tomato, lettuce, onion, cucumber
Syns: 16.5 (naughty) extra bread, cheese, ketchup and a mini chocolate Freddo

The above are three typical days. I also power-walked 20kms over five days. I also drink at least eight glasses of water a day. For the first time since being on plan I did allow myself a Flexi-Syn evening on Saturday as was going out for an Indian meal. Even including that I had 41.5 Syns for the entire day which was quite a controlled blow-out.

I am also not going to the toilet properly at all. I am bloated. I have terrible wind. It's like my body has gone into shock. I have WI this evening and I weighed in on my own scales this morning naked and after a sleep and I am 15st13lbs. I was 15st8lbs yesterday. So I am PUTTING on weight.

My progress is as follows:
Week 1: Lost 2.5lbs
Week 2: cancelled due to snow
Week 3: 0.5lbs loss
Week 4: Weigh-in this evening and I will be lucky to STS

I am depressed, upset and frustrated and not seeing ANY results. I’m so committed to this but I need something, just some little reasonable loss of a pound or two to feel that it’s worthwhile. And it’s not like I’m secretly going off and eating cake and knocking back the sauvignon blanc. I’ve honestly never been so good in my life.

Can someone please help/advise or offer me encouragement. Has zero progress happened for anyone else at the start and now they have wonderful stories of encouragement to give me some tiny shred of hope?

Sorry for rant, I am just desperately disappointed!
:cry:

 

[lemonblondie]

I'm in the same boat somewhat, I am yo yoing and haven't lost anything over the last 5 weeks even though I'm following the green plan 100% (figured out a little mistake as when asking for syns people were giving them to me as EE and not green). I don't really have a lot of meat with green (you're allowed about 80-100g of meat as a hexb) but I noticed that the first week was New Years and I had left over chicken so I used that as my hexb for a few days and lost 3.5lbs. Since then I haven't had meat like that other then the little bit of chorizo I've added to pizza or couscous.

I am going to try upping my meat to see if I can get some weight off, if that doesn't work I'm going to try EE days to see if that works. I'm not a big meat eater so won't be doing red.

It looks as if you are doing EE to me (I'm hopeless at figuring out the difference), why not try doing only red for a few days or only green? Everyone has the plan that works better for them and that's just the way their body works. If you find you are no better on red, but do better on green then you know what to stick with.

Original food combining is based on protein and veg or cabs and veg, when you add carbs and protein together theey digest at different rates and cause things like bloating tiredness, issues with the toilet etc. You're body just might not like having the larger combination of carbs and protein.

Don't worry I totally understand, I'm at the point where it's like I might as well eat a huge piece of cake cause what difference does it make the eating plan hasn't worked?

Hope you figure it out, but you might want to try those things like I said and go from there. I'm hoping that sooner or later I figure it out and then it's plain sailing from then on. You're not alone though!

 

[sparty]

Don't be upset!! Everyone has a period where they get stuck - you are four weeks in and have lost 3.5lb. That may not seem a big number but its all going in the right direction.

When I first did SW I got stuck at about the same place as you - for 5 weeks! I tried to stick at it and keep my chin up. What got me moving again was changing to red days.

Now I alternate between all plans and seems to be going ok. Maybe try that?!

 

[kingleds]

I'm confused. Over 3 weeks you lost 3lbs, and you haven't weighed in this week so you don't know your loss or otherwise this week. It hardly constitutes no progress at all. It might be slower than you would like, but it is not zero. SW say you should expect to lose between 1&2lbs a week, so you are within their expectations.

I'd recommend you actually wait til after your next weigh in before panicking that it's not working.

 

[AbFab]

I'm confused. Over 3 weeks you lost 3lbs, and you haven't weighed in this week so you don't know your loss or otherwise this week. It hardly constitutes no progress at all. It might be slower than you would like, but it is not zero. SW say you should expect to lose between 1&2lbs a week, so you are within their expectations.

I'd recommend you actually wait til after your next weigh in before panicking that it's not working.

I can understand how it may appear that way but given that I lost 2.5lbs almost a month ago there has been very little progress since (and I'm up significantly on my home scales this morning). I don't expect to have shed a few pounds by WI this evening so hence my upset. If I was cheating or being half-hearted about it then fair enough, I'm just upset because I've thrown myself into EE 100% and was hoping for more I suppose I'm just hoping that someone out there can say it's ok, it happened to me and that there is maybe such a thing as your bosy taking a longer time than most to react to the plan/a new way of eating....

 

[sparty]

It did happen to me!! As I said Before, i tried using red days and that got things moving again nicely. Just try To be patient, and keep going! It will start again - and it does happen to most people. Dont worry hun

 

[AbFab]

It did happen to me!! As I said Before, i tried using red days and that got things moving again nicely. Just try To be patient, and keep going! It will start again - and it does happen to most people. Don't worry hun

Thanks so much for that hon. I will read up on red days. I've just done a big EE weekly shop so I will see what I can use from that. Silly question maybe but I have a booklet that says Green and Original? I am presuming the Red is Original? Many thanks!

 

[Gettingthinnerbytheday]

I would say to wait until your wi tonight - it's a big thing taking just the one reading & it being the same time each week, so try & refrain from getting on those scales till group. You may well get a nice surprise tonight yet could have thought sod this & had a bad day today.

Then if after this week, tour not happy with weight loss, try mix things up. Had a week say of red days (original) & or maybe a week of green. I last week wanted a boost, so aimed for a fish week! I had fish as many times as possible for lunch & dinner & was made up with a 3lbs loss.

Don't feel disheartened, speak to your consultant tonight, it's what she's the for xx

 

[AbFab]

Thank you. So it seems like the Red plan is a good idea! I will try and get talking to out leader this evening, there are 60 people in our group though so it's chaotic to say the least! Are there specific Red rules I can read up on anywhere? Cheers for feedback

 

[dreamslim]

try not to weigh yourself in between - easier said than done, I know.

There is a huge emphasis put on weighing at the same day and same time every week as our bodies are strange creatures. I can change by 2-7lbs in the morning compared to the evening, if I've drunk a lot of water before bed or eaten late at night so I only ever take my weekly weight. Also, how good are your scales? Mine were £6 from home bargains so they are awful and I weigh at a boots every week at the moment (I'm starting from home until I can afford group).

Is it star week? Something else that can affect my weight loss by up to 5lbs? Sometimes as wel I have weeks where I stay the same and then the following week will drop 3-4lbs (2 weeks worth of weight) other weeks I just STS for no apparent reason.

There are so many things that can affect your weight loss that may or may not be phantom. If you really are following the plan 100% it really does work. Please don't be downhearted, go to group tonight, get your official weight and then if it's not what you'd expect speak to your consultant, they can advise you, look at your food diary and see where you're going wrong.

Good luck x

 

[ally_88]

Read the original choice section from the booklet (pg 23) as there is a difference in free foods on the red plan. You also get to have 1 or 2 A healthy extras and 2 B healthy extras a day. Make sure you read it all as I think it limits carbs so the likes of potato and pasta need to be weighed.

 

[AbFab]

try not to weigh yourself in between - easier said than done, I know.

There is a huge emphasis put on weighing at the same day and same time every week as our bodies are strange creatures. I can change by 2-7lbs in the morning compared to the evening, if I've drunk a lot of water before bed or eaten late at night so I only ever take my weekly weight. Also, how good are your scales? Mine were £6 from home bargains so they are awful and I weigh at a boots every week at the moment (I'm starting from home until I can afford group).

Is it star week? Something else that can affect my weight loss by up to 5lbs? Sometimes as wel I have weeks where I stay the same and then the following week will drop 3-4lbs (2 weeks worth of weight) other weeks I just STS for no apparent reason.

There are so many things that can affect your weight loss that may or may not be phantom. If you really are following the plan 100% it really does work. Please don't be downhearted, go to group tonight, get your official weight and then if it's not what you'd expect speak to your consultant, they can advise you, look at your food diary and see where you're going wrong.

Good luck x

Thanks so much for this. Not due a period for another 8-9 days and my scales is a Weight Watchers one, cost about stg£20 and is consistent with the one in Group. I think it's good advice about maybe laying off my home scales for a while, my husband said that this morning as the daily fluctuations are causing too many highs and lows! Cheers x

 

[AbFab]

Read the original choice section from the booklet (pg 23) as there is a difference in free foods on the red plan. You also get to have 1 or 2 A healthy extras and 2 B healthy extras a day. Make sure you read it all as I think it limits carbs so the likes of potato and pasta need to be weighed.

Thank you! Will have a read of this over lunch x

 

[ally_88]

No problem, I do mostly green as I don't eat a lot of meat and love having extra healthy extras. Good luck for weigh in this evening, hopefully you'l get the chance to speak to your C about it cos she'd be the expert!!

 

[hennyhamster]

I noticed you said that you had problems going to the toilet, perhaps getting something from the doctor may help. I'm having the same problem right now and wonder if that's why I didn't lose as much as I had hoped for last weigh in.

 

[AbFab]

I noticed you said that you had problems going to the toilet, perhaps getting something from the doctor may help. I'm having the same problem right now and wonder if that's why I didn't lose as much as I had hoped for last weigh in.

I thought that too as am feeling quite bound up and congested. Will see how it goes (or not!) over the next few days and may make an appointment. Am finding peppermint tea is helping the wind so if you suffer from that too it is worth a try!

 

[SallyVater]

I agree Jezzi. If I have a flexi day (or sometimes just a blow out!) I will not lose weight that week. I actually gained a pound last time I had a flexisyn weekend.

Some of us are just slow losers I'm afraid. It sucks, but the way I look at it is that I can either throw my hands up and say "This isn't working" and give up (which will result in me being bigger this time next year) or I can keep taking that half pound loss per week, or 3lbs off in a month, and this time next year I'll be at target.

Also, sneaky peeks are the Work Of The Devil.

 

[cavalier girl]

The trick is to keep plodding on and not give up. Our body's are funny old things and everyone is different. When things seem to stop for me I find if I shake things up a bit it works. After doing EE for a while I have now started doing it the old way alternate red and green days, gives loads of variety and its good to have more HE's gives your body something to think about. Whatever you decide to do good luck!

 

[SallyVater]

I do think there's something in the amount of syns you clock up in a week as well. Looking back my best losses were in weeks where I had around the 50 -100 syn mark, anything more and I'm looking at a STS or a gain.

It's only after sticking to the plan and recording everything (like a total geek) that I can see patterns emerging.

/irrelevant.

 

[Nini74]

It seems you may be having too many syns even on your non-flexi days. You said you had 15 one day and 16.5 another day. We're always told to aim for between 5 and 10 syns a day, so maybe try to reduce your syns a bit. I really wouldn't fret about what your home scales are saying - there's no way you've actually gained about 8lb overnight! You should only weigh at the same time every week. I know, i'm the world's worst for taking a sneaky peak at the scales at home! Last night I weighed and it showed no loss, so now i'm totally disheartened about going to group tonight!

I'm a slow loser - very very slow! in fact its taken me since the end of July to lose nearly 1.5stones - but the way i look at it is that if i hadn't persevered, i'd have probably gained more than that over the months and would now be feeling totally disappointed with a huge weight gain! it's certainly worth sticking to. Keep food diaries and hand them in to your consultant every week - i'm sure she'll be able to make a few pointers and give you some advice. Also make sure you stay to group every week - the support there is amazing.

And i hope you're wrong about your weigh in tonight and that you'll come away feeling inspired, confident and happy ! (watch you don't have flexi-days too often though - it will become a habit that's hard to break)!..... xxxxx