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

[Scrumbles]

If you're worried about the UDs, why not just make them Atkins - bacon and eggs, meatloaf, all the favs?

I do, but I'm still lucky to get much more than 120g of protein on a UD which doesn't compensate for only getting about 30-40g of protein on a DD. My daily average protein consumption has gone down from 100-110g to 70-80g which may explain why I'm just not feeling as good even on UD's

Anyway, I suspect I won't be doing JUDDD for the long term, so I've decided not to let it worry me!

 

[moonlights]

All I could suggest would be using meal replacements. Some of my old dietimeal meal replacements had 15-18g protein in for a 100cal or so packet. I have a medical requirement to get enough protein in daily so I used them when not dieting, too, although on Atkins I don't need to.

 

[Scrumbles]

All I could suggest would be using meal replacements. Some of my old dietimeal meal replacements had 15-18g protein in for a 100cal or so packet. I have a medical requirement to get enough protein in daily so I used them when not dieting, too, although on Atkins I don't need to.

Yeah, I've thought about using something like that - OH uses whey protein shakes, and I've considered those - but I really wanted to do this with real food if possible. I've never in my life eaten as little processed food and as much proper, nutrition-dense food as I have this past 7 months on Atkins, and to do anything other than that would feel like a backwards step at this point.

I think there's a strong chance I'm abandoning the experiment at the end of the two weeks anyway. It's true that I haven't chosen the best of times to try it - totm arrived this morning, so I've definitely been affected by that these past few days - but I really don't think it's for me. Doing an occasional fast is fine and I can even enjoy it, but knowing that I'm going hungry every other flipping day stresses me out, and, as I've been reminded on another thread today, stress releases cortisol which slows weight loss, so it could well be that this regime works against me as much as it works for me

I will get to the end of the two weeks and see how I feel, then if I decide I want to give it another week, I'll up my DD's to 647 and see if I get on any better for those extra 150 cals. If I don't, it'll be game over.

Oh, WI this morning after yesterday's bingefest was 186.6lbs - up only 0.2 of a pound. But then now it's totm, anything can happen really - I'm all over the place with gains and losses at that time anyway!

Off to make another vat of soup, hopefully better than the watercress on Sunday which was like dishwater...blech.

 

[Alpaca]

Bet you have lost more once totm goes Scrummie!! Xx

 

[ladyfelsham]

I completely agree with your way of thinking about eating non processed stuff, Scrumbles, so maybe see how WI goes and then go back to Atkins induction?

Everything is worth a go, but you soon know if it works for you or not, lovely xxxx

 

[Scrumbles]

I completely agree with your way of thinking about eating non processed stuff, Scrumbles, so maybe see how WI goes and then go back to Atkins induction?

Everything is worth a go, but you soon know if it works for you or not, lovely xxxx

Aye, it's been worth a shot - if you don't try, you'll never know! - but with the way I've been feeling and the less-than-special results, I don't believe it's for me. Still, there's another 5 days of Induction left, so maybe the miracle turnaround is on its way...

I'm down half a pound this morning after yesterday's DD, and though I wouldn't normally change my ticker for that, I'm making an exception because it's a new milestone: 4 stone lost!! Just another 4lbs and I'll be into the 12's, where I haven't been since goodness only knows when - can't wait!

Haven't had breakfast yet - it's an UP day morning, so of course, I'm not hungry - so I'd better go off and make something...have a good day, peeps!

 

[moonlights]

4 stone! Fantastic achievement scrumbles - you'll be in the 12s in no time.

 

[Kat1e]

Well done on the milestone - keep it up

 

[Alpaca]

Brilliant milestone Scrummie... You must be so pleased! Xxxx

 

[Scrumbles]

Thanks guys! I am very pleased .

I've only lost this much once before in my life, when I was in my mid-twenties. It took me less time then (6 months rather than 8), but I was considerably younger and I did it in a frankly crazy way - 1000 calories per day every single day for half a year. I lost the weight, but boy was I a wreck at the end of it; anaemic, vitamin-deficient, weak as water...and of course, it didn't stay off. Never would I do that again.

Still have a long way to go, though. I set my initial target as 12 stone because 5 stone was as much as I could contemplate losing without wanting to break down and cry, but I know I won't be happy with that. I think I looked my best at 10st 4lbs (that was my weight when I was at Uni) so I'll probably aim for that.

Weighed in this morning and I was very slightly down at 185.8lbs, but yesterday was a really messed-up UD. I finally cracked and ate something I absolutely shouldn't have (wheat, sugar...what was I thinking?) then spent most of the rest of the day feeling icky and ended up under-eating by about 400 calories. So I haven't exactly set myself up properly for a DD of tea and soup...pffffft.

But DD it is, so I best get on with it...have a good one, folks!

 

[ladyfelsham]

I'm DDing today too, always feel - I dunno - 'cleaner' after one

FAB news on the 4 stone milestone - that is brilliant!

 

[Scrumbles]

Thanks, Susie! Now I can't wait to be 5lbs lighter and no longer technically obese - yet another mini-target, lol.

I think I found my "dream" soup for DD's (right at the eleventh hour, no less!)

8g butter, 80g chopped carrots, 75g chopped onions, 190g chopped potato, 10g tomato puree, 1 knorr rich beef stockpot, 1 carton Sainsbury's basics chopped tomatoes and 15 fl oz of boiling water. Sweat the veg in the butter for 10 mins, sling everything else in and let it bubble away for 40 minutes, then partly whizz it with a stick blender and it's done.

Hopeless for low-carb obviously, but the potato gives a satisfying thickness that seems to keep me fuller for longer (thin soups just don't do it for me, I find) and if I blend it just right, there are still some nice chunks of veg kicking around to fool me into thinking I'm eating something solid, lol. The whole lot comes to 374 calories and I can space my portions out to cover the entire day as long as I don't start too early, and have a few calories over for a bit of protein or, as I've taken to having the past couple of DD's, milky tea.

I doubt the nutritional profile of that little lot is anything to write home about, but at this point I'm kinda past caring! Just want to see it through to the end of the two weeks any which way I can....

 

[ladyfelsham]

Sounds brilliant! And I'm sure there's some good nutrients in there

Plus, all the carrots will be good for our eyesight - I think my Provencal tan is going decidedly orange, although not quite to David Dickinson's colouring yet

 

[Scrumbles]

Last day on JUDDD for me. It was a worthwhile experiment - I'm always open to new approaches that seem to have some science behind them - but I would have to be absolutely barking to carry on with it the way I feel, so today's DD WILL be the end. Hallelujah.

At some point I will probably write a very long, detailed and boring post about the many ways in which this manner of eating has scr*wed with my mind, my moods and my body over the past couple of weeks, but not yet. I need a little distance from it before I can do that. You have been warned, though, lol - happy JUDDDers might want to give it a miss

Now all that remains is for me to re-stock my fridge and get my Atkins head back on before I lose it completely and start to undo all the work I've accomplished since last November, because that's where I feel I've been heading in the past few days, I honestly do.

See ya on the other side...

 

[moonlights]

*hugs* scrumbles

 

[ladyfelsham]

Welcome back to low carb hun - you tried something else and it didn't work for you, so well done for re-evaluating

And don't worry, I'm always up for reading other peoples views about what works and doesn't work for them - so post away

 

[Alpaca]

You've done brilliantly to stay the course Scrummie. I'd feel cheated and deprived on the DDs and would be weak, and nauseous cos that's what my head does. Then I'd be so damn gluttonous on the UPs that I'd struggle to move and would feel too damn sick from ramming food down my gullet. lol

Well done though, and welcome back! xx

 

[Scrumbles]

Thanks for the support, guys...means a heck of a lot to me xxx

Well, it's over. Apart from one day when I didn't eat as much as I could have done on an UP day, I stuck to the programme like glue, and my total loss for the 2 weeks was....2lbs. Wooo. It was 3, but I somehow managed to gain a pound after semi-starving myself yesterday...how is that even possible?! Pffffft.

I think it's fair to say that my body rejected this as a way of losing weight. It was having none of it! And far from my down days getting better as time went on, they actually got worse. I can honestly say that I've never been as scarily obsessed with food as I have been this past two weeks. I even found myself crying about it a couple of times this week, and if that ain't pathetic I don't know what is. If I had any sense I should really have quit after a week, but I'm too stubborn for my own good sometimes.

I must just have absolutely the wrong personality type for alternate-day fasting. The theory goes that having total freedom to eat what you want every other day de-stresses the process of dieting, but it had completely the opposite effect on me. If anything, I felt even more pressure to make my up days "right" because I was feeling so horribly deprived of nutrition on down days. I felt I couldn't eat what I wanted, I had to eat what my body needed in order to make up for everything it was missing on DD's, and that's hardly freedom! Even worse, I started actually resenting having to eat the good, Atkins-type food I've been enjoying for so long because it was standing in the way of me filling my face with junk - how messed up is that??

That's the tip of the iceberg - I could go on, but I'll spare you (and myself!) for now. I'm having a kind of transition day today before I go back into Atkins Induction again tomorrow - I have to wean myself off potatoes again - so I don't really know what I'll be eating, but at least I will​ be eating.

Hope everyone's having a good weekend xx

 

[moonlights]

Welcome back to lovely low carbing, Scrummie. I think Juddd sounds interesting but am not sure my personality would be up to it for long stretches either - would just use UDs as an excuse to binge, and that's no good. But all diets work for some people and not for others, that's just how things go. You did a really good job of trying it out long enough to be sure.

 

[coffeelover]

Good luck this week Scrumbles, I always say the right diet for anyone is one you can stick to.