Scrumbles' diary...life after losing a third of me...

[Scrumbles]

Phew! Managed to get my walk in before the rain comes, and I have to say I suffered quite a bit less. I mean, I was still a sweaty mess when I got home (ugh), but my breathing was a lot more controlled and nobody along the way was casting anxious glances at me as if I was about to keel over, lol. If I feel the same tomorrow I might try for two miles on Monday (yikes!).

@ Katie, moving is good, isn't it? It takes a lot to convince me of that when I've been big for a long time, and I can never bring myself to start an exercise programme until I'm at a weight that isn't desperately uncomfortable to drag around (under 14 stone usually), but once I get going the benefits accrue pretty quickly. Just this half hour walk every day is making me feel so much more lively and ready to do other things.

@moonlights, I think I'm determined because I want to know what I'm still capable of. My guess is "not very much" in the great scheme of things, but only two weeks ago I would probably have taken the car to go and post a letter even though the nearest post box is less than 10 minutes walk away (!) and today I walked past a post box twice as far away, so I know there's improvement to be had if I put my mind to it.

I think giving myself fitness goals is going to help keep me motivated for the dieting side too. Weight loss goals are all well and good, but they're not easy to hit since my body has its own agenda for shedding the fat. Barring injury, a fitness goal is entirely within my power to achieve, so I can feel like I'm getting somewhere even if the weight refuses to shift. It's all in the mind!



Yesterday's food came to 1500-ish cals and 25g carbs and included the Atkins meat loaf, which was yummy (the recipe is here for those that don't know it ATKINS MEATLOAF - Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes ) Today will be pretty much the same, followed by pig-out day tomorrow, yum!

Have a good one, folks!

 

[Kat1e]

Feel free to come and join me and the other girls on the exercise part of the board. We set a monthly challenge in time and each do whatever suits us to try to hit target. I find it really motivating and makes sure there aren't too many - cant be bothered days anything moving counts - couldnt add my mental exercises this week though!

 

[coffeelover]

Great the walk is making you feel more lively, Scrumbles. I really need to start something again.

 

[ladyfelsham]

So pleased to bits for you hun - you are so motivated, you'll soon be running 20 miles!

 

[Scrumbles]

Feel free to come and join me and the other girls on the exercise part of the board. We set a monthly challenge in time and each do whatever suits us to try to hit target. I find it really motivating and makes sure there aren't too many - cant be bothered days anything moving counts - couldnt add my mental exercises this week though!

Hi Katie, thanks for the heads up - I didn't even realise there was an exercise part of the forum . I've thought about it, but time challenges don't really work for me - I prefer distances when all I'm doing is walking. I can join in as and when I start doing some different activities, though - I'm all too aware of those can't-be-bothered days, so any motivation will come in handy!


Okay, so I'm changing my plan again .

Spent all of yesterday thinking about this JUDDD thing and it's just too tempting not to give it a whirl. I know I tolerate fasting pretty well, so I'm very curious to know how these alternating high/low calorie days would suit me. It's also a good time for me to try it out because OH goes away for a week shortly, so whilst I'm getting used to the plan I won't have to be making big meals for him on days I pretty much can't eat.

So here goes. According to the calculator on the JUDDD site my Induction Up Days will be 2100 cals and my Down Days will be 470 cals. I know that I do not deal well with complete freedom, so I'm going to treat my UD not unlike my recent diet break: no wheat/corn, and no sugar or junk carbs like cake, biscuits or crisps. Oh, and no alcohol either - I'm fine without it. I'll be aiming for about 50 net carbs on an UD and <30 net carbs on a DD, so I'll still be low-carbing.

I've started this very day with a UD to set me up for tomorrow. Chances are I might not take in my full quota of calories but I'll give it my best shot...

Exercise has gone well this weekend. I've done my 2x1.5 miles of walking plus 3 hours of gardening over at my Mum's place yesterday - I'm now hurting in places I didn't even know existed from all that bending and stretching

Hope everyone's had a great weekend!

 

[coffeelover]

Afternoon Scrumbles, Susie started today too. Hope you like it. Week 3 starts for me tomorrow and the DD can be a bit rough at times, but very manageable for me and I'm loving it.

 

[Scrumbles]

Afternoon Scrumbles, Susie started today too. Hope you like it. Week 3 starts for me tomorrow and the DD can be a bit rough at times, but very manageable for me and I'm loving it.

Yeah...see what you've done? This is all your fault, and if I have a rubbish time I'm blaming you! (kidding )

Seriously, I just found it too fascinating to resist. And if I don't get on with it I know I can go straight back to what I was doing before, so no harm done - that's the main reason I'm sticking to low-carb and not introducing anything too Atkins-unfriendly because I'm very settled with what I'm eating these days and wouldn't want to resurrect any bad habits.

Forgot to mention I'll be weighing in every day - should be...um...interesting to say the least!

 

[coffeelover]

Eeeek on the WI everyday, a lot do but I'm too scared lol.

I will watch with great interest.

 

[Scrumbles]

Right, weighed in this morning after yesterday's UD and I'm a pound and a half up at 189.4lbs (I won't be changing my ticker until I've done at least a week of this, for obvious reasons).

Now for starvation day...yikes. Funny thing is, I'm usually not at all hungry after my creamy coffee first thing and can go for hours without thinking of eating, but today, presumably because I know I'm eating hardly anything, I'm already peckish . My strategy will be to hold out as long as I possibly can before I have my mackerel salad and hard boiled egg snack because I fear if I start eating, I'm not going to be able to stop .

I'm having a dilemma about my walk. I don't really want to lose a day towards my target, but I'm not sure it's a great idea to make myself even hungrier on my first DD! Might make more sense to skip it and go out twice tomorrow when I can fuel myself properly.

Anyway, have a good day, people!

 

[moonlights]

What's your up day calorie quota, scrumbles? I put my details into the calculator out of curiosity - my up days should be 1600ish if I was doing it. Which is odd because I've been eating nearly 1600 every day for the last two weeks and lost 5lbs. And mfp says if I ate 1700cals a day I'd still lose 1/2lb a week. Confused me slightly.

 

[Scrumbles]

Hi moonlights, my UD's are 2155 cals which FitDay calculates as roughly maintenance for me. That's on the basis of light activity (1-3 days exercise a week) which I hope to increase on days I'll actually have some food in me! My DD's are supposedly 431, but I suspect I'm going to overshoot that ever so slightly to begin with. I'll definitely keep it under 500 though, which seems to be the critical number.

My average daily intake over the fortnight of Induction will be just under 1300 cals which is about 300 less per day than I've been eating lately. I was a bit unhappy when I worked that out because I didn't want to be eating much less than my current level, but I guess I have to play by the rules to give it a fair chance. I can increase my DD to 647 cals once Induction is over, which will give me a daily average of 1400, and I'd feel happier with that.

Actually, now I look at those deficits, I'm not sure how I can fail to lose weight in the next couple of weeks: my Induction deficit is a whopping 800 cals per day on average, and I'm pretty sure that would cause me to lose whether I was on a feast/famine regime or not!

Not really sure what I'm going to prove here, to be honest

 

[ladyfelsham]

All too much for my pea sized brain today - but it sounds like you have a plan

Re the exercise - what about doing some steps around the house? I think you're right, you do need to be fuelled up for a good walk outdoors, and it always makes me more hungry, so maybe not a good idea if you're feeling peckish?

All the best for today, whatever you decide

 

[Scrumbles]

I'm a numbers nut...don't mind me!

I've decided just to go about my normal activities for today and see how I get on. If I feel sprightly after what will pass for dinner this evening, I might think about a walk, but we'll see.

I've realised one good thing about this is that every second day I won't be having to cook 3 flipping meals a day - less cooking and washing-up = happy Scrumbles, lol.

All the best for your Down Day too!

 

[moonlights]

Yeah, my weekly average for the figures the calculator gave me would have been just over 1000 cals per day which really shocked me - even mfp won't recommend less than 1200 per day. Think I'll definitely just stick to my every day up days while I'm doing well on them

 

[coffeelover]

Think your right there Scrumbles, I find if I eat too early sets my mind thinking about food all day.

Just think how much fun your going to have tomorrow.

 

[ladyfelsham]

Hey Scrumbles how did you get on today?

 

[Scrumbles]

Not great.

I held out until 6 o'clock before I ate any food, then demolished a large ham salad but didn't really feel satisfied. Dragged myself out for my shorter walk (only a mile, but better than nothing), then had a hard boiled egg as an evening snack, but it just made me hungrier somehow. And now I feel wiped out, like I could sleep for a week. I don't get this way on my 24hr fast so I don't understand it really.

Bit early to say that this isn't for me, but there's a already a fairly stark contrast in my sense of wellbeing. After all these months on Atkins I'm not accustomed to feeling hungry and to eating a salad without a nice big dollop of full fat mayo. I feel like...like...I'm on a diet

Oh, and one thing that worries me is that the food I've been thinking about today is NOT the kind of food I've been eating on Atkins. I've been fantasising about all manner of junk carbs that haven't crossed my mind for months. This is not good . I'll give it time - at least the two weeks of Induction - but if it's going to cause me to become obsessed with sugar-laden cr@p, then I'll have to quit.

Jury's out for now. I'll catch up with everyone tomorrow - I'm completely zonked and falling asleep at the keyboard so I'll have to be off. Night all!

 

[coffeelover]

Morning Scrumbles, sorry to hear your first day wasn't great. I had been off Atkins for a week or so before I tried JUDDD and eating everything in site so maybe that's why I was ready for a fast of some kind.

Maybe you could try eating a little late morning on a DD?

Hope today is a good one for you Scrumbles.

 

[Scrumbles]

Yeah, my weekly average for the figures the calculator gave me would have been just over 1000 cals per day which really shocked me - even mfp won't recommend less than 1200 per day. Think I'll definitely just stick to my every day up days while I'm doing well on them

1000 cals per day? That's brutal. No way I'd be doing this if that's what I'd been quoted - 1300 is bad enough! Definitely stick to what you're doing - if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Morning Scrumbles, sorry to hear your first day wasn't great. I had been off Atkins for a week or so before I tried JUDDD and eating everything in site so maybe that's why I was ready for a fast of some kind.

Maybe you could try eating a little late morning on a DD?

Hope today is a good one for you Scrumbles.

That might have something to do with it, Val. I've been 100% on plan, so we were coming from rather different places.

I think I should probably try going down the low calorie soup road and see if I fare better with that. What I don't want to do is end up eating processed food (WW type stuff) because that goes against everything I've strived for this past half year. I found it impossible to plan menus yesterday because I just didn't want to think about food, but I'll get down to it today and get more organised. I want to do this, but I obviously need to plan better.



Weighed in this morning and I was back to posted weight of 188lbs (yay!)

I've started my UD with moonlights' almond bread and Philly, and yummy it is too! Not sure what I'll be having for the rest of the day, but there'll be plenty of it, so I'm happy I'll try for my two mile walk today - kinda have to if I'm going to hit my target for the month now that I can only walk a mile on DD's.

Have a great day, everybody!

 

[ladyfelsham]

I think I should probably try going down the low calorie soup road and see if I fare better with that. What I don't want to do is end up eating processed food (WW type stuff) because that goes against everything I've strived for this past half year

That's exactly how I feel about it hun - if you look on MFP some people use their 500 cals up on stupid stuff like crisps, but I think that just puts you back to square one of bad eating habits. I tell you what, I was really surprised yesterday on how full I felt by then end of the day.

The soup I made was simple and quick - chopped three courgettes into pieces, boiled until soft, stirred in a herb infusion pot (higher in cals but a million times nicer) and then I ate it during the day (sorry about the caps before, the boss came round to my desk and i was hurrying lol).