New Year... New Start - onwards and downwards.

[RainbowRose]

Get out and about for a lovely long walk, take Aaron's dog!

Hand in hand with the man you love... and enjoy some love and laughter in the sun

Enjoy your day, whatever you decide on! x

 

[Caz]

We went for a nice walk here...



Hugo wanted to sit in the front!









Was lovely. We're now back and watching the Lion King in Sky. Hugo is loving it!

 

[Squeezyweezy]

Looks absolutely beautiful Caz. Hugo looked like he was having a great time.

Enjoy the lion king. Ziggy absolutely loved it last night.

 

[trisha]

Where did you go for your walk Caz? looks lovely.

 

[LifesDesire]

Wow caz, that place looks beautiful =) so jealous

 

[Caz]

Place called Dovestones Reservoir, not sure exactly where it is but it's near Holmfirth. It was nice, quite warm though a little chilly when the sun went in.

Really enjoyed watching the Lion King, not watched it in ages! Forgot how emotional it is lol When Mufasa dies *cries* Has made me really look forward to seeing it a the theatre.

Such a lovely weekend. Hasn't been anything special but just been really nice you know? Aaron's been quite soppy and said some lovely things, probably part of why lol Can't believe it's back to school Monday Don't want to go home tomorrow

 

[RainbowRose]

Looks like a beautiful place for a nice walk Caz Loving Hugo relaxing after using up so much energy!

I don't want wee cherub to go back to school on Monday either..and he has been off for 3 weeks!

Aww well done and brownie points to Aaron, us ladies love to hear some romantic talk now and again

 

[LifesDesire]

Don't worry about Monday yet, sounds like you're having a wonderful time so keep enjoying it until the last minute =D x

 

[Caz]

Morning ladies. Yes Rose, major brownie points to Aaron!

Struggled a lot this morning, waking up at 5.30am just felt wrong! Snoozed so many times lol Thankfully it's an inset day today so I can get there for 9 rather than 8, I did think about setting my alarm for an hour later but thought I'd be better off just snoozing my alarm instead, try and get me ready for it tomorrow. I think tonight will end up being a very early night!

Aaron and I had the weekend off plan this weekend, which we planned to do. We didn't go mad like we have before, no big bags of crisps, chocolate etc. and generally eating far too much just because we can. I've still seen a big gain on the scales this morning though because even though things like fruit, potatoes etc. aren't bad, they're carbs and so just not Slim and Save friendly. Though I don't do Slim and Save anymore, it's the same packs but I don't order from them, I now use Diet Shack and SML, which are the same packs but cheaper. So I have a decision to make. I know that I could continue with weekends off and lose on average about 3lb every 2 weeks. I've got 42lbs to lose and 18 weeks before holiday now. If I carry on as I am now, I'll be around 14st 8lb for holiday, that's still quite far from where I want to be. Or I scrap this and I use the packs to keep my days low calorie (around 1200) and try to exercise again and use MFP. I'd probably lose an average of 2lb a week, getting me to around 13st 11lb for holiday. That still is 11lb away from where I want to be though, I think the only way that I'm going to get there is to do this diet and do it 100%, weekends and everything. I know that I want to feel happy and comfortable on holiday so I need to lose as much as I can so really, carrying on and staying on track completely is the best way to do that but if that's not going to happen maybe I need to stop flogging a dead pony and do something else that will work, even if it wouldn't work as well.

Got some thinking to do!

 

[night-owl]

You probably don't want to hear this but for what it's worth, 'planning' a weekend off plan means a little bit more than just making a decision in advance that you are going to go off plan. Your brain knows it, but your body doesn't. Planning a weekend off plan means preparing your body the week before so the influx of carbs don't come as a sudden shock and then the water gain. This means gradually introducing fruit and potatoes during the week -- a bit like a refeed. Admittedly, this doesn't really work if you are 'planning' to take every weekend off, or even 2/3 weekends a month, so if you don't want to keep going 1 step forward, 2 steps back, as you have realised, you need a bit of a rethink on what diet to do to get something you can live with, and stop yo-yoing.

Good luck with whatever you decide and sorry if this wasn't what you wanted to hear!

 

[Squeezyweezy]

Ok, here's my two pennies worth.

I know you have a goal to get to for your holiday, but maybe we just need to look at the bigger picture for a few minutes. You have lost loads of weight. You have done so incredibly well and worked so incredibly hard. From now until your holiday you Will continue to lose weight, and by the time it comes round you Will be so much simmer. All this is amazing, and will mean you will look so much better in a swimming costume.
Your head is in exactly the right place for shifting the pounds. Something i really admire, mainly because mine is not. I guess my point is that you are going to be simmer than you have ever been for this holiday regardless. I think if you push yourself too hard to reach your holiday goal, it may backfire and the pressure could result in your head wanting to self sabotage. Im not saying that Will definitely happen, but you are doing great as you are.

I know it's frustrating to have a goal in sight but not hit it. I get how annoying and disappointing it is, but you are going to look and feel fabulous no matter what. Whether you stick strictly to the vlcd, mix it up a bit on mfp or have the odd weekend off, you Will still continue to lose weight for your holiday.

I guess what Im attempting to say is that you are fabulous and you have done fabulous things to get to where you are. You should be able to sit by that pool feeling happy with what you have achieved and confident. Xxx

 

[RainbowRose]

Hi Caz

I struggled with the alarm clock this morning, so I know what you mean!

There is almost a stone of a difference between your expected losses before your holiday, so if I were you, I would think how important it is to you, your health and your happiness to be light... or lighter before you jet off

If the idea of being in the 13's range excites you more, then I would go for the whole on track, all week idea...if you find yourself struggling being so strict, then introduce your weekend off plan now and again, not every weekend..and then, you will be somewhere between the two expected weight losses?

Good luck hun, I hope you reach the right decision and it doesn't play havoc with your mind too much...*i'm talking from experience"*

Enjoy your day x

 

[slim_and_happy]

Morning ladies. Yes Rose, major brownie points to Aaron!

Struggled a lot this morning, waking up at 5.30am just felt wrong! Snoozed so many times lol Thankfully it's an inset day today so I can get there for 9 rather than 8, I did think about setting my alarm for an hour later but thought I'd be better off just snoozing my alarm instead, try and get me ready for it tomorrow. I think tonight will end up being a very early night!

Aaron and I had the weekend off plan this weekend, which we planned to do. We didn't go mad like we have before, no big bags of crisps, chocolate etc. and generally eating far too much just because we can. I've still seen a big gain on the scales this morning though because even though things like fruit, potatoes etc. aren't bad, they're carbs and so just not Slim and Save friendly. Though I don't do Slim and Save anymore, it's the same packs but I don't order from them, I now use Diet Shack and SML, which are the same packs but cheaper. So I have a decision to make. I know that I could continue with weekends off and lose on average about 3lb every 2 weeks. I've got 42lbs to lose and 18 weeks before holiday now. If I carry on as I am now, I'll be around 14st 8lb for holiday, that's still quite far from where I want to be. Or I scrap this and I use the packs to keep my days low calorie (around 1200) and try to exercise again and use MFP. I'd probably lose an average of 2lb a week, getting me to around 13st 11lb for holiday. That still is 11lb away from where I want to be though, I think the only way that I'm going to get there is to do this diet and do it 100%, weekends and everything. I know that I want to feel happy and comfortable on holiday so I need to lose as much as I can so really, carrying on and staying on track completely is the best way to do that but if that's not going to happen maybe I need to stop flogging a dead pony and do something else that will work, even if it wouldn't work as well.

Got some thinking to do!

It seems like your brain is playing games with you my dear This is according to CBT what a classic crooked thinking looks like. Is having weekends off plan for the next 18 weeks that important? If yes then why? What are you missing out? I know you want to enjoy your time with Aaron as you don't get to see each other often but does it really have to evolve around food? You can still have a great time together while you stick to the plan. You know this diet work wonders. You will lose those 42lbs in no time but take it from me, when you start experimenting with adding days off or foods that are not allowed, it becomes so much more difficult. Physically you'll probably be able to do it but it'll play absolute havoc with our mind. It's soooo easy to start relaxing the rules even further, making more excuses and the next thing you know you're back to square one. I know, I've been there more than once.
I'm not saying you can't do it or that your plan won't work but it definitely will make your journey a lot lot harder.
My advice for what it's worth would be to stay on plan for as long as you can while keeping an eye on the prize. Just think how amazing you'd feel and look when you would have lost all that weight and work that bikini on the beach!

 

[night-owl]

Maybe look at it this way -- purely in terms of finances? You shop around to save on packs, just think what you would save if you didn't have to keep getting the weekend gain off?

 

[Caz]

You probably don't want to hear this but for what it's worth, 'planning' a weekend off plan means a little bit more than just making a decision in advance that you are going to go off plan. Your brain knows it, but your body doesn't. Planning a weekend off plan means preparing your body the week before so the influx of carbs don't come as a sudden shock and then the water gain. This means gradually introducing fruit and potatoes during the week -- a bit like a refeed.

Thanks for the reply Frances, really appreciate you taking the time to do it but to be honest, I don't agree. That water gain will happen whether I have the carbs spread over a week or all in one night, it just will slowly go on if the carbs are spread out. Say I do that, I slowly reintroduce carbs and that week I may only lose 1lb, the next week I may also lose 1lb, which would be good all things considered. But then say times when I've had a weekend off, that week I may gain 3lb but the next week I lose 6lb, meaning a 3lb loss over the 2 weeks.

Ok, here's my two pennies worth.

Squeeze your two pennies worth are always worth so much more than that! You're right, I'm 4 stone away from where I started and that's absolutely massive. I'm smaller, fitter and healthier than I've ever been before. Those are all really good things that I need to remember more often. The problem is, like I said to you earlier, though I've come far and am proud of that, it's not enough. I'm at the point now though where 3lbs off is much more noticeable than it was 4 stone ago, even 1 stone ago. So I'm starting to think that maybe if I'm not quite at goal by the time I get to holiday, as long as I'm close that's ok. I just need to do my best and that's the problem, I know at the moment I'm not doing my best with S&S but I'm not sure I can actually do any better!

Hi Caz

Hi Rosie Feeling that early morning alarm clock now! Going to get an early night tonight, think I need it. I think I've made a decision about what's best for me but I'm going to take a few days to think it over and decide. I don't want to go 'Oh this is too hard' and give up in a moment of being fed up but I also don't want to push on with something if it's not working for me. So I'm going to take a couple of days and really think it through and make sure that whatever I decide, I'm doing it for the right reasons.

It seems like your brain is playing games with you my dear

Hi chick Oh it definitely is, my biggest battle is always with my mind. I think I need to get my Beck book back out and go through it properly, I got up to Day 5 so can carry on from there.

Maybe look at it this way -- purely in terms of finances? You shop around to save on packs, just think what you would save if you didn't have to keep getting the weekend gain off?

This is very true and part of why I don't want to keep faffing!

So very, VERY tired tonight, 5.30am didn't agree with me! Got tea in the oven now, going to have that, have a bath then get into bed and watch a film before a very early night! Like around 9pm lol

 

[trisha]

Caz, first of all, you know that most of the weight "gain" is water. Secondly, lots of people have made valid comments and given advice, but you have to do what feels right for you. VLCD are hard, and it takes a lot of determination to stick to them. You could do VLCD for 5 days then eat "normally" on the weekends you see Aaron, but avoid carbs or limit them. But whatever you decide we are here to support your decision.

For me I think I'm going to try and get back to 4 packs during the week, and maybe 3 packs and protein meal, or even 2 packs and a meal if we are out at weekend

 

[Nefertari]

Caz, I already gave you my opinion but will chip in here too. trisha is right - you have to make it work for you. I don't see anything wrong with doing the VLCD on weekdays and then eating sensibly at weekends. And by 'sensibly' I mean low carb, because you don't want to get into that cycle of gaining and losing the same 3lbs or whatever xx

 

[RainbowRose]

Enjoy your early night lovely lady ..I have had my bath and am already in my nightie! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[Caz]

I'm in my PJs too Rose!

That's the thing Nef, carbs are so hard to avoid lol

Just had a baked sweet potato, chicken with garlic, chilli and pepper and a baked cheesy mushroom. Was 600 calories for it all so a perfectly good meal if I'm calorie counting. Going to just eat healthy for a couple of days while I make my decision.

 

[Nefertari]

I'm in my PJs too Rose!

That's the thing Nef, carbs are so hard to avoid lol

Just had a baked sweet potato, chicken with garlic, chilli and pepper and a baked cheesy mushroom. Was 600 calories for it all so a perfectly good meal if I'm calorie counting. Going to just eat healthy for a couple of days while I make my decision.

Oh I know! That sounds delicious though! Xx