The last stone mission......ROLL UP!!!!

[Maintainer]

Actually the green light flashing this morning did make me smile, so I guess I have to take the highs with the lows! Orange is for stable and I've only seen that once (and I think that was when I got back on to see whether the first time was right!!). I have two memories and it has a recognition function and the second memory is me holding my cat (so that I can check on her weight, as she's a a bit of a porker!) but I've realised the flaw with this recognition idea as I'd not know who had lost or gained weight, me or her! ho ho!

I honestly and truly do not recognise my "before" self. I only checked my hair and makeup, rarely really "looked" at my body and wore tent like creations from Evans. It's unfortunate that the current smock fashions, which would hide a multitude of sins right now, are so abhorrent to me as they remind me of "before"! Also all loose skirts and dresses are banished. I like close fitting things. Hence problem now that I'm heavier!

In turn, I didn't recognise the new me and to some extent still don't. I see myself as a prize heifer still, because I'm a stone heavier than when I liked myself best at my lowest weight, yet with a BMI of 25.6 I'm not *that* bad. My eyes took a while to catch up with my brain, but I'm getting there...

I somehow can't get away from what those Unit dieters are actually eating. Sooo different to what you and I eat!

Smoking is becoming more difficult here now, with lots of places imposing the No Smoking Law which came into effect here earlier than in the UK funnily enough (Feb 1) but which gave bars, cafes, hotels and restaurants an extra year to comply. The main result I've noticed, as a new avid anti-smoker, is that so many people are smoking outdoors (cough splutter when you exit a non smoker area with everyone huddled up by the exits lighting up!!).

Allan Carr has trained me to be repelled by the smell of smoke, I think, which is a good defense mechanism! I'm starving! Thankfully lunchtime is here! Bon appetit!

 

[clairejen]

I'm chuckling at the thought of putting the cat on a diet if you gain a pound or two!

I like fitted clothes too for smart wear, my casual things are mostly jeans t-shirts and fleeces. It may be because my bust and hips are the same size so anything which doesn't go in at the waist makes me look rather plump. As you say, this is a disadvantage when you put weight on. I have tried on some more things in the wardrobe this morning and most of my blouses are now wearable again.

Isn't it odd how our version of ourselves belies what we see. It took me quite a while to realise I had got actually overweight and not just a few pounds more than I should be. Now I still see the fat bits, especially those which won't go - like my thighs. And one is at least half an inch bigger than the other, that's taking asymmetry too far.

Have you ever looked at US diet sites? If you want to see people eating total rubbish they are the place to go. I have never visited there and don't know if I could, the thought of the food just horrifies me. I'm sure they have some lovely things too and I am being unfairly judgemental. The unit dieters do probably run them a close second at times.

I've noticed the preponderance of smokers in the street too, it is most unpleasant. Another objectionable thing is how the smokers take the outside tables at pubs, so anyone with children who has no choice but to sit there has to put up with their smoke. I haven't come across Allan Carr, is it some self hypnotism method?

 

[Maintainer]

My Misha is so greedy, probably due to spending the first four months of her life in the streets with her Mum. I had hoped that by now, eight months since I adopted her, she'd realise that food was something she'd have regularly but no, she throws herself at food so has to be rationed. Very hard all round. She's 4.5 kilos for 13 months old, so ok now, but developing a belly... (and I'd know!).

It's true that a lot of Americans really do eat badly and really do get awfully big (thinking of that documentary I watched "Half Ton Clinic" or something where the people couldn't get out of bed even). Ironically I work for Americans here and the women are so thin. UK size 8 maximum for the majority and none over a 10.

Allan Carr died end of last year of lung cancer but wrote a book detailing how he quit smoking 25 years previously. He used to smoke an incredible 100 per day! Incredible really how he found the time. He advocates going cold turkey, which is why I did. I quit at the end of reading his book, very slowly, as he recommends, and haven't looked back... except for this darned weight!

Stop smoking guru Allen Carr dies of lung cancer | the Daily Mail

 

[clairejen]

Oh dear, I got a bit carried away tonight and ate a lot more than I should have done. Never mind, it will even out eventually but the scales will probably punish me tomorrow. Might mean a few more days on the diet though, and when I was so close too.

100 cigarettes a day is more than one every 10 minutes of the waking day, how can anyone do that? He certainly profited from it, although I like the assumption in that article that it was the passive smoking from his clients that saw him off and not the 36,500 a year he smoked himself! The system obviously works though, you have done brilliantly.

Animals which have known hard times never seem to get over that fear of starvation. They are often incurable thieves and bin emptiers too.

 

[Maintainer]

I can't quite figure out the 100 cigs a day either. In the preface to his book, he does say that he slept little, often staying up half the night smoking... as to whether the method works, well it certainly did for me but I think I was in the right mindset anyway (which, like dieting is oh so important). Plenty on the "quit smoking forum" I joined at the time didn't succeed with his method (although so many "disobeyed" him and wore a patch or used other forms of NRT).

Aaah Misha does love to stick her head into a rubbish bag, bin, trough, anything we prepare to throw out... she will always be a scavenger alas.

Try not to beat yourself up about whatever you ate yesterday. "So close" can often be the problem but I think this weather has a lot to answer for. My week closes on a 0.6lb loss from last Friday so given the incredible amount of chocolate I consumed in 1/2 hour Sunday evening, I am pretty satisfied with that. TOTM too.

Off to the house tonight for what will seem like a short weekend I'm sure after the long five day one we had last time. I think Monday is a Holiday for you? I'll be here! Have a good weekend!

 

[clairejen]

You know I'd completely forgotten about the bank holiday! Not that I will be doing anything exciting, DH has gone sailing for the weekend yet again, he left last night and will be back some time Monday. I'm in the middle of making some experimental jewellery with beach glass so that should keep me occupied for a while.

I'd be happy with 0.6lb this week too since last week was such a good loss. I didn't eat massively but had a couple of choccie biscuits (I knew I shouldn't have bought them but they jumped into my basket - honest) and quite a large pasta meal which I felt very full from. Anyway, all done now, scales up a pound and a quarter and a DD ahead. I'm hoping that gain will be gone tomorrow, giving me a small loss on the week.

I take it your DH doesn't smoke? It must be almost impossible to quit if others are smoking in the household. As you say it is so important to get your head in the right place for any of these things.

I took a look at the intuitive eating forum last night, but find it hard to understand. In principle it's fine, you eat what you fancy when you are hungry then stop when you are no longer hungry. What I can't work out is how you get the thing you want - the chance you will have it available is pretty small when you consider how many options there are.

I hope you get the good weather you've been promised for the weekend, it is supposed to improve here too - and about time. I've even had the heating on briefly the last couple of evenings because it has been so cold.

 

[Maintainer]

I'm lighting the fire as soon as we arrive at the house tonight. We laid it before we left, so a Swan Vesta should do the trick nicely! I see no sign of a heatwave yet, and have just added a cardigan as was feeling chilly!

I am very interested in the Intuitive Eating method but I think I'd have to adapt things slightly (as Karion says she did). Eating when you're hungry only is all very well, as you say IF you've got the food in, but when you work you're obviously stuck in the 1pm lunch hour etc else you've got to hold out until 7pm.

When at target (now, that sounded positive!), I'd like to be able to eat more intuitively instinctively. A lot of Karion's comments (like that there's no need to eat ALL the biscuits - they'll still be there tomorrow) make so much sense to me when I'm feeling strong. Perhaps Karion should make us a tape... we could listen to her voice instead of Paul McKenna's! KARION? Are you there??!

My OH has never smoked which was good in a way because "never smokers" tend to be more tolerant towards smokers than "converted ex-smokers"! He of course couldn't understand what the big deal was and, even now, when I proudly announce how many months it is since I smoked, he can't understand why I still care!

FYI - I stopped smoking 204 days ago (6M 3W 2D 15h 4m ago) and have saved £1,045.64 by not smoking 5,729 cigs. Last EVER cig: 31/01/2007 21:30. I stopped cold turkey. I have lengthened my life by 2W 5D 21h 25m

You say something above about having eaten two biscuits (that's NOTHING) but something interesting also to me is that you had a pasta dinner which made you feel "very full". It's true that "very full" isn't a feeling we particularly appreciate any longer and, while the pasta dish probably wasn't out of line on an UD in the slightest, it could have been the FULL feeling that made you feel you'd overdone things massively... possible?

I ate white carbs most days this past seven, now that I think of it. That's progress!

 

[clairejen]

Intuitive eating sounds interesting but I'm not sure how it would go in practice. Some aspects are good - like not feeling you must eat till it's finished even if you no longer feel hungry (which is what I did with the pasta). And relishing your food rather than eating while you read, mess about on the pc or whatever. Perhaps I can adopt just those bits I can cope with, choice of foods depends too much on what I have in the fridge.

I have never smoked either, so it is hard to appreciate the hold of the addiction. My DH gave up 9 years ago, without telling me he was going to and without discussing it thereafter. Several years down the line I said something about him having found it easy and he jumped down my throat, saying he had had horrendous problems concentrating for a year afterwards. I had no idea, just thought he was grouchy. You've done so well to keep to your decision, and it must get easier as time passes.

The full feeling I had last night put me in a slight quandary, it is something I have tried to avoid and I did feel I had overdone things, but this morning I have not felt hungry and the DD has been easy so far. So maybe it was right, because I didn't want anything else last night and nibbling can be so disastrous. But I can't persuade myself that the feeling was good, so maybe I should have stopped with some left on my plate.

Have a great weekend.

 

[KD]

What I can't work out is how you get the thing you want - the chance you will have it available is pretty small when you consider how many options there are.

I think the idea is that you buy everything It wouldn't have worked for me.

1) Haven't got the money to buy everything
2) Have got the space to store it all
3) The kids would probably eat that very thing that I wanted, about 10 minutes before I get the urge
4) It's not practical to eat what I want, when I want.
5) I would probably get a gallstone attack, or even put on enough weight in the initial stages to bring on a heart attack
6) even worse than a heart attack...I could put on weight!!!!

Which is why I had to 'tweak' it

Perhaps Karion should make us a tape... we could listen to her voice instead of Paul McKenna's! KARION? Are you there??!

Are you shouting a me Joanne. I heard my name through the pc speakers

Think I'll pass on the tape idea, though I could probably send the members to sleep even quicker than PMcK.

 

[clairejen]

I think the idea is that you buy everything It wouldn't have worked for me.

Absolutely, and I hate having to chuck things out which haven't been eaten, my frugal upbringing showing there. I will try to implement some of the priciples in my post diet phase, something I am musing on more and more as it is so close now.

 

[clairejen]

Or maybe not quite so close. Had a bad day yesterday and am now back at 9st10.25lbs. Although Sunday is usually an UD I am changing so that I can have an UD on Wednesday as I have to go to a funeral and will be expected to eat.

With the lovely weather this weekend I have managed to get my doors painted at last, now I have to do all the surrounds but at least I can do that and leave the doors closed, it's a nightmare not being able to go anywhere while you wait for paint to dry.

 

[clairejen]

Scales down a bit but not enough, now 9st9.5lbs. When I weighed for my weekly weight on Saturday morning I was a quarter of a pound lighter, but these fluctuations are just typical. My loss for the week was 0.5lbs, at that rate my diet will last another 5 weeks. I soooo hope not.

How was your weekend Joanne? Sunshine and more mirabelles I hope. My mother is trying to force feed us plums as her tree is smothered with them. Not a fruit I am keen on fresh but I love them cooked, especially with wine and spices.

My dh should get back about lunchtime so we'll have a lazy afternoon and evening. I'm not feeling very eager to be active, still aching from washing down the woodwork in preparation for painting.

 

[Maintainer]

Morning Claire, and I hope you had a good weekend (despite whatever blip you seemed to have... was that Saturday? Sunday? Anything to do with your husband being away do you think?)

I managed to shout louder than my chatterbox (who kept grumbling away at me all weekend) and despite finding a stray kilo added on my hips Sunday morning, I kept fighting hard until ceding for one Magnum snack size. Given how bad I could have been after a bad weigh in, this was good. Scales back to Friday's weight this morning so I'll accept that as I did eat well this weekend, lots of fruit snacks, big bowl of cereal each morning (and I mean BIG).

We were busy picking plums (quetsches this weekend, not sure how to say that in English; those dark oblong plums with firm flesh. Delicious! I have enough to sink a ship so they'll replace my grapefruit at breakfast time, and other fruit snacks while they last.

Re IE - like both of you (hello Karion!), buying a load of food and throwing it away just doesn't work for me.

Hope the scales were kinder this morning Claire

 

[clairejen]

Hi Joanne, you did well over the weekend, having the scales with you must have worked. I think David being away may have contributed in a way, in that I tend to eat things I like but he doesn't when he isn't around. And Saturday I had a real UD with no checks, it was just what I felt like doing then. I'm OK with fluctuations though and feel things are probably going in the right direction.

I've come across quetsches in Germany but not here, or not by that name anyway. I must go and pick some plums at my mother's, hers are Victorias I think. I'll look into bottling some in brandy as a treat for when I am feeling slim again.

We still have sunshine, with a few clouds, and I have started on the white paintwork - the front door surround mostly done. Annoyingly I have had to patch a bit which had rotted at the bottom so that will have to wait a while. At least it is whitish now it has filler over, yesterday it was blue which looked most bizarre.

 

[Maintainer]

It's true that I do feel more reassured by the scales' presence in the bathroom. At least, with a two week holiday there looming end of next week, I know that I can catch things quickly if I lose the plot.

I think where you are with your weight now, it's perfectly ok to have a bit of what you fancy once in a while, else there's just too much deprivation going on...

Beautiful sunshine for now, although it's not as hot as yesterday alas...

 

[Maintainer]

Morning, and I did enjoy my walk this morning in the sun - a bit chilly but so annoying having to carry jackets home in the heat, so I did without and walked fast!

I woke up early this morning realising that at this weight none of my winter trousers fit me either! And after my two weeks' holiday, even if I stayed stable (which would be a miracle, let's face it), it'll almost be time for winter wardrobe! I guess I'll have to do what I swore I'd NEVER do. Buy a couple of pairs in a larger size. (Remember my sister lent me some UK size 14 summer trousers, and they now hang off me, but 12s still far off as totally different style. Mine are straight close fitting ones, whereas her 14s are a looser baggy style).

I'm feeling pretty positive apart from that 6am crisis moment though, and the scales showed 1/2lb decrease after a very good day yesterday. I'll not update signature daily though, cos I might gain it back today!

How are things?

 

[clairejen]

Hi, looks like things are going well for you. I had a naughty evening, we opened a bottle of wine and I made a plum streusel tart so this morning the scales are up 2lbs. I must concentrate harder and get this finished, whatever it takes, or I will spend the rest of my life dithering around just above where I want to be. I have to go to my aunt's funeral tomorrow, which will be an unknown quantity foodwise. That is why I have swapped my UDs. Fortunately I will be travelling alone so no big emotional fuss in the car (I wasn't close to my aunt so although it is sad it doesn't touch me too greatly).

Walking in the sun is so pleasant, even when there is airchill. I love early mornings, although I usually sleep through them these days! Working from home gets you into bad habits. I remember hating getting up in the dark to go to work, most unnatural.

If you only want larger clothes for a short while but don't fancy wearing cheap supermarket stuff have you thought of ebay? I've bought several items from there, new, at really bargain prices. I had to check this morning to see what I could get into that is suitable for a funeral, and breathed a sigh of relief that my black wardrobe trousers fit nicely again.

 

[Maintainer]

Good idea re Ebay but it's not easy to know what style + size of clothes will fit. In shops, sizes are such a problem and in one shop one size will fit, and in another you'll not get your big toe in the trouser leg even!

I have in the past used ebay to sell clothes on, but have never yet been pleased with the fit of anything I've bought! Perhaps because my size "varies" so much?!

 

[KD]

I do really well with Ebay. Most of my wardrobe is full of other people's 'mistakes'

Having said that, I do get the odd strange item, like my last silk shirt (I adore silk). Sadly the bottom was cut by a two year old with a pair of pinking shears under the description of "unusual rough cut edging" Ummmm.

In the most part though, I've had some great stuff.:clap:

 

[Maintainer]

I guess you have to be a certain shape or size then cos I make more mistakes with Ebay than anything else.

I just found an amusing mistake made last year actually but discovered this afternoon. I upgraded my Nokia phone with the company I have a contract with and was pleased with it so ordered a second one for my OH (who uses PAYG so doesn't get upgrades). Identical phone. Both happy. My one "lost" a key, then another, so we superglued them back on and he now uses that phone, and I took over his (as I'm the texting queen!). Today I needed to send a text in French. I went to Dictionary to change the language and see that the UK Ebay bought version of the phone doesn't have French predictive text on it! ho ho! It took me AGES to type the darned thing out the "old way", and I kept forgetting it wouldn't correct the letter for me!!

One good buy from Ebay, though, is the lemon outfit and hat (see picture in my Gallery) bought for a tenner! OK the skirt is FAR shorter than I realised, and I have terrible knees, but I did feel good that day! (I have no idea how to bring that photo here to show you, I'm afraid!)