Imitt -

[Lily]

I haven't actually sat down to work out the finances that is tonights plan, worst comes to worse i'll move up to the 1000 plan and the supplement with slim and save (which are vile) but i'm not giving up, its working and quickly.
Its my tax thing, I had a rebate a few months ago and now they've decided that actually it was an error and I have to pay it all back and then some, .
I have saved a bit of money since starting cambridge because I used to buy 2 maybe 3 (sometimes more) takeaways a day and every 1lb i lose I'm putting £1 away. I have some things I can trim down like lovefilm and magazine subscriptions and hubbs said he'll help and in a few months a loan is up so i'll have an extra £50 a month so its a temporary thing,

Eek. Check and double check that they're right to call it an error (let's face it, HMRC were wrong to start with apparently, so why would they be right now??) And if it is right, ask for time to pay. So sorry this has happened to you - that's really rubbish.

I don't know where you live, but if you live close-ish to an HMRC Enquiry Centre it would be well worth making an appointment to discuss what's happened with an adviser. You need to understand what's gone wrong here. If nothing seems to get you anywhere, write a letter of complaint to HMRC (they have to take those seriously). Make sure to actually use the word 'complain' or 'complaint' if you do!

Hope you get this sorted. x

 

[GretaGrip]

Oh dear. Poor you. Request time to pay and instalments and I'm sure they'll be agreeable.

CD generally works out cheaper for most people. I am a waitrose shopper and would buy one of their cakes every damn day at a fiver a pop. Add that to other bits and pieces - like cashew nuts, nice deli cheese and kettle chips etc - and I was spending a lot more than 40 odd quid a week on myself alone.

 

[GretaGrip]

No need to go up to the 1000 plan just yet surely ?

Remember not to self sabotage yourself with excuses. If that makes sense? Stick with it and you'll get there

 

[RWroe]

Imitt, I have been reading your diary and have found it so inspiring, don't let anything get in your way! Like you we used to order probably 2 takeaways a week, plus wine, plus eating out, plus picking bits up here and there so CD is definitely cheaper!

I have been on SS+ since the beginning and have lost 22lbs in 3 weeks so your losses can be just as good.

Stick with it and good luck! X

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[Principessa N]

Morning all,
RWroe you've done really well, are you struggling at all?

Money wise i've sorted it so I can keep going with the 3 shakes a day but I now am at force feeding stage and hoping to god it doesn't make me sick whilst sat at my desk, that would be embarrassing. My cdc is convinced its because I only ever have mint choc but I don't think I like any of the others, I just need to get to christmas - this is my goal - must make it to christmas.

 

[Kira]

I wonder if it's worth you having a back up plan and what others think of that approach? On one hand having a back up plan may simply increase the chances of you caving from SS/SS+ but on the other it may aid you in not re-gaining what you have lost? In other words, if you feel it so unbearable that you feel you would eat a whole pizza why not have a list of foods like chicken, cottage cheese, eggs etc that are permitted on 810? Just my thoughts as I am conscious that when Christmas arrives and if you have no plan in place you may be tempted to eat like you did before and this of course would result in weight gain. See what the others think. In the meantime stick with it and you'll soon have your next weigh in which I think will be a good one. x

 

[Principessa N]

I am still going but I haven't had my second shake yet just because I can't face it, I'll try with other flavours and see how i get on, I'm not sure how much of it is real and how much is in my head, if you no what I mean? Because most of me wants to keep doing it but It is a serious battle of wills all the time now. I had a 810 meal yesterday and if anything I wanted to eat more. I want my mojo back when I found this diet easy or at least bareable. On a positive note I am still doing it where as before the moment it got hard I threw in the towel but I don't want to do that this time, I want to be successful, christmas is worrying me though, don't no what to do over that.

 

[Kira]

I think the way to tackle shakes you don't like is like medicine. Take it because it contains the nutrition you need and that may help you consume it without throwing it up? In respect of having food on 810 yes it can make you want more or feel deprived and certainly I am finding that on re-feed as I am no longer in ketosis but it is making your brain accept that "hunger" and/or "craving" feeling but not giving into those urges. This takes practice and is something you would need to practice even if you woke up a size 10 tomorrow weighing 9st stone. I can't stress enough that the battle is with adjusting your mental approach to "food" itself and to hunger the feelings of deprivation, comfort food can give you and social circumstances which involves food. It is retraining our brains that leads to success not only in weight loss but maintaining. I know it is not easy, it is very very difficult and painful even. However, (I think GG has said this before) being overweight, depressed, unhealthy etc is just as hard and she said "choose your hard". Try and focus only on your success in NOT caving into what your head is telling you to act upon, urges of hunger, binge etc.

 

[GretaGrip]

Well said kira as always


Very good advice

I tried SS plus in my second week and it led to a binge for me. A 4 or 5 day rampage of carbs. I couldn't combine the products with food- it triggered more hunger in me although I appreciate this isn't true with everyone

 

[Lily]

There's bound to be something you'll like. Have you tried vanilla with a spoonful of coffee (I prefer that cold, but others like it hot). Or vanilla with a dash of sunshine orange flavouring (tastes a bit like cheesecake). What about the bars - do you like those? And have you experimented with mix-a-mousse?

 

[Principessa N]

I think now i've been a week or so without food having it again is making me want it so i'm safer having nothing maybe? Maybe keep some stuff in like Kira suggested incase I really can't stand it anymore, I might even see about having an extra shake if I feel like i'm hungry. Hi Lilly, I've tried the bars and they are 50 shades of wrong, think its something about the chocolate on them, was majorly disapointed because i was looking forward to the peanut one. My mix a mousse was a bit disasterous but my cdc gave me some tips so i'm going to give it another go and I don't like coffee What I might try is heating them up to make them more like a drink, think that would work?
I've spent last night looking on ebay at pretty party dresses in a size 18 and i'm bidding on a few that you could never wear unless it was prom or a ball but i'm using them as a target (if i win them)

 

[RWroe]

Hi Imitt, have you tried the lemon yogurt bars that have just come out? Tried one of my consultants this week and it was lush! Also how do you make up your shakes? Originally I did it using a bottle shaker and I liked them but since using the hand blender they are lush! Makes them much creamer and thicker especially if you use the minimum amount of water required. I have found SS+ has been really good for me and its nice to take a salad or meat and veg to work and I then have a soup (blitzed with the hand blender) for my evening meal and sit down with my husband. I still love shopping for food and preparing it all for my husband but having the small amount of food has really made me think about my portion sizes and also the amount I was picking at and not taking notice of what I was eating. I think this is all good stuff for when I go up the steps and need to start to control more of what I eat.

stick with it, you have done so well!!! You'll get to Christmas in no time and I am sure you will then realise you can carry on for as long as you want. Good luck x Rachel

 

[Principessa N]

I've come to confess although its not much of a confession because I don't regret it. After attempting toffee and walnut, banana and vanilla, which were all vile and I was sick (ALOT) I needed food so I had a chinese, not the best choice but I had a chow mein and enjoyed it and this morning I woke up happy and was able to drink my shake gag free. Will see how the rest of the days go but if I have to have some proper food every few weeks so be it, calorie wise I didn't go over 1200 so cambridge wise bad but calorie counting wise good, I might not have a massive lose this week but i'm not worrying about it anymore, i'm going to ask my cdc not to tell me my weight anymore and just find out how much i've lost when I get there, will probably change my mind on that by the time monday comes around.

 

[Kira]

If you enjoyed it that's great. The last thing I would feel like having after throwing up would be Chinese chow mein! However, given I've expressed how I prefer absolute honesty myself to aid me not only in my weight loss, re-fee and continued maintenance I have say that if you really seriously want to lose weight and address any potential health issues I think you need to address the type of "real food" choices you make. It's fine if you don't regret your choice but it is not necessarily going to help you in the long term. I assume it wasn't a home cooked Chinese chow mein and a take away? I think a couple of slices of toast would have done less damage. I hope that you are able to continue CD if that is what you want but of course you will have to go through getting into ketosis all over again.

 

[Principessa N]

No it was a homemade one because my chow mein is like my super quick go to meal and cals wise I no its good, to be honest it wasn't sick more regurgitation (sorry grim) of the shake I think i had drank to much yesterday too By 5.30 I had drank 4 litres over the day and thick shake on that when you're already struggling with them was last straw

 

[Principessa N]

I need some tough love, please get me back on track,

 

[GretaGrip]

Well I could give you some tough love but it won't be pretty?

How tough do you want it? : ) What's happened? Have you fallen off the wagon or still clinging on?

 

[Principessa N]

I'm so far off it I can barely see it and I was good up until someone upset me yesterday and I confort ate for an hour which included greesey stuff and then spent the rest of the night throwing up, so I feel poorly, sore, miserable, like a failure and bloated and yet I still want to faceplant into the cake thats in the office.

 

[GretaGrip]

Have you considered counselling? I am sure there are counsellors who specialise in eating disorders and eating issues and this - with a decent diet - could work well together in helping you battle these demons.

I DO understand the urge to binge - I am a compulsive eater myself and have an awful lot of stress right now so the temptation is always there. So I get it. I battle this urge though because I feel unwell and not myself when I am very overweight.

You MUST try and stop this. At 24 stone you are dangerously close to life long health issues and knocking years off your life. You're a young woman - you can turn this around. No one is saying you have to be 10 stone... at this point you'd be massively improved health wise at 17 or 18 stone. The ONLY person who can stop this is you. You control what goes in your mouth. How hard do you fight the urge? Can you try what helps me? I think about it... I feel that 'panicky' feeling that screams at me to eat eat eat and I go through a thought process to stop myself. You are NOT a slave to your emotions y'know... you can fight them and overcome them.

Maybe CD is not for you? How do you think you'd fare with a calorie controlled diet? Maybe 1600 calories a day - this would see a good loss every week for several stone at least, providing you stuck to it. Split it into 3 meals a day of 500/500/600 calories , lower your carbs and you'd see results.

Mind you, EVERYTHING will get results... but you must try. If I could rock up to your house and sort you out then believe me I would. Every day you eat cake or crap food you worsen your health. You said you meant it this time yes? Stop eating NOW - have a pint of water, have your next shake at lunch time and pull yourself up by the bootstraps. You'll still have a loss this week but only if you stop eating right this minute.

Come on..... it's time to deliver!

 

[BedtimeBear]

What a brilliant post! I could have done with someone saying this to me 10 years ago to put a stop to my yo-yoing.