VLCD Sequel: Electric Boogaloo

[FullFathom]

Have you never picked up a bottle of juice or a snack to read the nutritional information, only to be confronted by a load of first-person blurb like: "I'm yummy and natural, keep me in the fridge!" "Only gooey lovely things are in me!" "Buy me and put me in your tummy today!" "I was picked and stored while still field fresh!" - that kind of thing?

Do you know what I do if some consumable product I have picked up confronts me with crap like that? I smash the non-sentient presumptious abomination into a million pieces and jump on its lovely, gooey, natural remains.*

* Actually i just refuse to buy anything produced by huge money-grabbing corporations that think it's somehow 'cute' and acceptable to have its thing talk to me like a child, but then charge me a very adult £4.60 for 275ml of juice. Or whatever.

Grrrrrr, stoppit stoppit stoppit stoppit.

 

[Ceedee]

A friend of mine works at an ad company and she says that all the creatives essentially get locked in a room with a bunch of booze and some magic dust until they come up with something good. Maybe the creatives for the vlcd jobs got confused by exactly what kind of magic dust was on offer when they took this job and have therefore decided not to bother too much.

 

[YellowWatermelon]

My fajita recommendations - tapped out on my iPhone as I'm still on hols...

For a single, bready fajita, add enough water to just get it into a paste and spread it on baking paper in the oven, flipping over when it gets dry.

For more food and less chew, add extra water to a thick crepe consistency and fry with frylite in a pan- longer than the one minute per side. These will be weaker and pancakier but you'll get two whole fajitas out of it.

 

[castingnasturtiums]

You are a hero Watermelon - typing out fajita tips while on your holiday. Thank you! I really appreciate it.

 

[castingnasturtiums]

I have some adventures in fajitas to relate but ... mainly I'm in that stage of a VLCD where I'm bored. I mean, not bored in a bad way--I'm not in danger of stopping or cheating--but food has become sort of irrelevant to me. it's a refuelling action rather than an experience, and for the last few days I've been quite impatient and disengaged with the whole business of eating.

Basically I've had 3 bars a day for the last ... two or three days? Simply because they are minimal effort, taste adequate and allow my teeth to grind down on something. I had some hungry days at the start of the week (which had nothing to do with a bar-only diet, just seemed to be pretty random) but I've been otherwise fine.

Just ... fine ... and bored.

 

[#GymBunny]

I hear you on that. I feel in a slump the last few days which I think is also connected to me contemplating a serious decision but the diet isn’t helping. Had a team night out and felt deprived so unlike you, getter no fidgety with my thoughts. I won’t cheat either but I’ve certainly had thoughts of losing the last stone (after I’ve lost this one) through 5:2 or some sort of combo. I prefer not to be thinking of those things in the middle of this because I know it means I’m getting impatient and that makes it a harder struggle. I also created a spreadsheet today and shouldn’t have done because I’ve written out a timeline that is longer than my brain would like to accept.

Aaggghhhh, sorry for the negativity. It’s not really like me. I think I have a lot in my mind.

Anyway, I thought that part of my slump might be the lack of weighing as I’m usually on and off the scales like a kangaroo. After much deliberation, I decided to weigh myself tonight. I don’t like weighing at night because I’ll be heavier due to the day’s consumption and also because the answer could have a negative impact. I’m pleased to say that I registered at 10st 13lbs which means I’m probably lower than that first thing. If I’m 10st 11lbs in Monday’s weigh in I will be ecstatic. If I’m not, I won’t be anymore than today, and that is fine too

 

[FullFathom]

The mental part is definitely as much a factor as any sort of hunger. I was and am a mood swing horror.

 

[castingnasturtiums]

So sorry you're feeling slumpy, Bunny. I think it's always harder when you're closer to goal. And also you're a much healthier weight than me in general so you don't have the strong motivation of ... well ... kind of being on the brink of all sorts of horrendous medical problems if you don't shift weight as a matter of urgency. "I might die" (I mean, not immediately but being obese is super super bad) is tremendously motivating in the way "I might be a bit slimmer" probably isn't.

Also I totally get the mindset that wants to postpone / throw aside a diet because of other factors. I mean, I don't know what's going on in your life and I don't want to pry but you can always talk to me/us if you think it would help and there are *definitely* more important things out there than a diet. That said, I also think there's a kind of a mental trick we play on each other where we go "this is a stressful thing so probably I should let myself eat whatever I want" but I guess what I'd say to that is: why is eating unhealthily / food in general so intertwined with your own sense of your mental health and stability. You should absolutely take care of yourself while you get through whatever you're going through but ... do you really need to do that with food? I mean, could you take care of yourself with nice walks and long hot baths, and getting a good night's sleep?

As for timelines: I really think you should try to let go of this. I mean, you are super close to a health weight I think and as long as you are losing, not gaining, does it matter *when* you lose it at this stage? I mean, so what if takes you 12 weeks to lose that last stone, 12 week is *nothing* in the general course of your life *and* you will be managing you weight and building healthy eating habits as you go. And, yes, I think losing the last stone is a more socially and psychologically 'normal' is probably a super good idea. There is no way I am living on magic dust until I am 8 stone. I am living on magic dust until I am 10 stone and then trying to lose the final 2 stone through sensible eating and exercise.

Anyway: thoughts are with you Bunny. Hope things are going better.

 

[castingnasturtiums]

Sunday weigh in update: 14st 9.

That's another 3lb. Very very happy with that. I'm trying not to impose any arbitrary timelines on myself but it would be super cool to be 14st by July.

I mean, I would still be obese. But I'd be slightly less obese

 

[Darcy15]

Well done you!

 

[#GymBunny]

Congrats on the 3lbs! A nice chunk gone

I really appreciate your kind words and sharing your thoughts. I’m all good and the phase/decision has passed, at least for now. I know I can remain strong but agree that magic dust needs to go before I get to the last stone or half stone as I don’t want to bounce immediately to maintenance after this. I need a real food adjustment period.

I definitely have the capacity to turn into an emotional eater but I have to say that those feelings were stronger when I was bigger because the feeling of hopelessness was greater, as was the mental mountain I had to climb. Nowadays it’s more just about deciding if an event is worth ditching the diet for knowing I’ll be back on it immediately. None other than the weekend I had have been deemed worthy

I reckon I’ll have a small loss or STS next week. This diet cannot fail so I will have to ride it out and it will sort itself out.

I know I can speak to you guys if I need to but thanks for the reminder on that

 

[castingnasturtiums]

Glad you're feeling better, Bunny!

I am emotional eater to the point ... well ... I have an eating disorder, clearly. But I'm working on it.

 

[YellowWatermelon]

Back to an earlier post of yours, nasturtiums - I'm getting a bit bored too. I had a bit of a fling with the normal shakes (I usually do the low sugar ones only) for the past couple of weeks, but there's only so much excitement that can bring. I wish exante would make some more options - especially along the edible end of things like the (dare I mention them) dahl pots and the sweet and sour noodles. I'm even starting to tire of fajitas and pizzas. It's all just a bit blah.

Apparently they used to have a burger mix, and some people developed a hamburger by cooking up half the pizza dough and half the burger mix and putting them together. Those must have been heady times...

 

[castingnasturtiums]

I wish exante would make some more options - especially along the edible end of things like the (dare I mention them) dahl pots and the sweet and sour noodles.

Compared to CWP, Exante is lavish in its variety - although that damn Beeb document has resulted in them being basically out of everything. Siiiiigh.

I have taken a bit to mixin' and match' across various VLCDs which helps me not get too bored with the savoury meals. In you case you fancy branching out a bit:

ShakethatWeight: the shakes are serviceable (really like the hazelnut), the bars are rubbish, but I they do noodles which are quite decent. Ignore the veg flavour because it tastes like compost but the two curry flavours are decent. The readymeals are decent if expensive (3.99 each) so I save them for a treat when I'm really desperate to eat something a bit more like an actual meal. The chicken ratatouille and the sweet 'n' sour chicken both come in at under 200calories, and the rest are in the region of 230. The nicest I've had is the mexican chicken, followed by the ratatouille, followed by the sweet 'n' sour. These tend to be super salty though. And don't get your hopes up too much on the meal side: they're basically like really thick soup with some chicken lumps. But, y'know,

The New You Plan: I haven't tried their shakes yet, they do a strawberry yoghurt bar which is basically as good as the Exante one but the rest are so so. Mealwise, they do a burger mix which I tried. It was ... not remotely like a burger (it disintegrated in the pan) leaving me with a kind of ... plate of ... something like a mince? To be honest, I scoffed it anyway. It was a bit bland (since it's a plate of something like mince) but it felt enough like meat that I was satisfied. There cottage pie is okay. The vegetable risotto looks and tastes like vomit, the noodles are okay, and the vegetable chilli I legitimately really like. It's lightly spiced and has a texture like chilli with a few honest-to-goodness kidney beans in there. Bliss. Not a savoury but they also do a chocolate caramel crunchy muesli which I have for breakfast with 100ml of unsweetened almond milk at the weekend: genuinely nice and even tastes a bit like cereal (unlike the Exante attempts at same).

Just be aware that the calorie counts on the different VLCDs are different: most STW products come in between 160 and 200, and TNYP is built around you consuming 4 products a day. I generally have 2 exantes and 1 other which means my daily calories come in close to 600 anyway. So mixin' and matchin' does require a little thought but it can still liven things up a bit.

 

[castingnasturtiums]

In small banal successes....

A while ago I accidentally bought some tights that were not XXXtraordinarily Large. And could not get into them.

I forgot to do any laundry at the weekend and the above was the only pair of clean tights I could find. And, lo, I am wearing them right now. I mean, I still had to fight them over my bum -- and it felt a bit like trying to get a walrus into a condom -- but I managed.

And now I am wearing a pair of tights sized for humans. Such triumph.

 

[Darcy15]

In small banal successes....

A while ago I accidentally bought some tights that were not XXXtraordinarily Large. And could not get into them.

I forgot to do any laundry at the weekend and the above was the only pair of clean tights I could find. And, lo, I am wearing them right now. I mean, I still had to fight them over my bum -- and it felt a bit like trying to get a walrus into a condom -- but I managed.

And now I am wearing a pair of tights sized for humans. Such triumph.

 

[#GymBunny]

Yay for the tights NSV! Your description is so on point

Hope you’re having a good week. Missing your posts - fingers crossed you’ll be passing by soon

 

[castingnasturtiums]

Hope you’re having a good week. Missing your posts - fingers crossed you’ll be passing by soon

Awww, thank you Bunny.

I was having a slightly rough diet week so I got super focused. For some reason (I think TOTM related reasons) I was super hungry and also slightly repulsed by any and all diet products I tried to eat. Which was the weirdest contradiction.

BUT: despite being really moody and low-energy, I didn't break the plan, so I'm pretty proud of myself for that. I mean, I wasn't mentally in danger of doing that but I felt crappy.

Sunday weigh in was another 3lb which takes me down to 14st 6lb. YAY.

 

[castingnasturtiums]

Oh, something I did mean to mention in the middle of my Very Grumpy Diet Week was ... I got a haircut.

This probably doesn't sound like a big deal but ... well ... being obese has not done wonders for my self-esteem (to put it mildly), a consequence of which is that I've generally let myself go across the board. And my hair is very straight and very dark and very heavy, with ... of all fecking things .. a grey streak in it (because that is exactly what you need in your mid-30s) and I've just basically let it do whatever. Which was doing me no favours. But I sort of felt my terrible hair was taking attention from my fat moon of a face.

But now my face is a slightly healthier-looking moon, I plucked up courage, and went to the hairdressers. The lady was actually incredibly nice to me, despite the fact it was like Cousin It turning up for a trim. And my hairs is now just above my shoulders, and layered to lighten it, and she moved my parting so the grey streak is sort of right at the front and curls around my face which actually looks borderline cool.

Back when I was a young slim-hipped queer as opposed to a fat, middle-aged one I used to have very short, boyish hair (which I could carry in those days) and I'd really like to get back to that look but it's not a look that works super well when you're overweight. But I have a pact with the hairdresser to do something cool with my hair when I hit my goal weight. And between then and now she's recommended I try a bob.

So, yes, my treat for hitting 12 stone will be the bob. And when I get down to a health weight we'll see about chopping it all back.

 

[Sarette]

Have just read through all the posts and have come to the conclusion that I am a freak... I like S&S shakes, and hate Exante ones... and I don't *do* bars... or the replacement meal things, although they sound interesting! Apart from the egg substitute... that just sounds horrid!!

Anyway, well done on your weight loss so far. Day 7 for me today, first weigh in tomorrow... have managed to stay off the scales all week, so hoping for a nice surprise