Day 3

Don't worry, I'm not going to give a running commentary on which packs I eat each day(!), but I thought I'd give a wee update, as I'm sure some of you are wondering how I'm getting on on the programme.

On Day One I was ravenously hungry by about 10 am! And then very very hungry around 6 pm - I had to go to the doctor's so I couldn't get home from work to eat until around 6.30 pm. I felt pretty wiped out too at that time on that day.

On Day Two the hunger was a bit less but I felt rubbish again later in the afternoon.

Today, Day Three, the hunger is still there (I'm hungry now!) but quite a bit less and again I began to feel worse towards the end of the afternoon - but much less so than yesterday.

The feeling worse towards the end of the afternoon isn't necessarily caused by the lack of food and could easily be just an ME symptom - with me it's always hard to tell!

I guess I just have the right mindset about this at the moment, because I don't find it difficult to be around food and have even prepared lunch more than once at work. However I was very jealous of my workmates when the Isle of Skye Bakery van came round this afternoon with a huge selection of really gorgeous and unusual breads and cakes! As compensation, I bought a brie and spinach loaf for my daughter! I just keep telling myself it'll be worth it. And it will.

I've liked all the packs I've tried so far. Some have smelled pretty awful while still in powder form but have tasted surprisingly ok. I know they're not real food so I don't expect them to taste that good, perhaps that's why I've liked them all. My poor friend can't abide any of the soups at all and is only eating shakes at the moment. The shakes are very nice though! Another friend warned about the tomato soup, but I'm afraid I quite liked it! I guess I'm blessed that I don't hate anything - I even liked the banana shake!

Another unexpected change is that I've been getting much colder than usual, especially in the evenings. I once went on a diet that eliminated the main allergens and it was really noticeable then that I felt cooler. It doesn't take much to get me hot with all this weight to insulate me, so the idea of being cooler is a welcome change.

It has to be said that I've had an exceptionally busy week, my head is full of all sorts (LL, work, the library, Gaelic) and I have a long quiet weekend ahead of me. I already have the weekend munchies and am keeping it at bay with black Earl Grey and the thought of my hot chocolate shake later this evening!

So far, so good, for sure. It's not been a struggle, just a test in perseverence! (Is that a contradiction in terms? I don't think so...) And this is only Day Three. I'm looking forward to being fully in ketosis so that my hunger is more suppressed.

Oh and tomorrow we're allowed to start eating the bars too (only one a day). I'm looking forward to those!

One last thing - PLEASE SPONSOR ME!

Week 1 of Lighter Life

My friend and I went along to our first Lighter Life session yesterday. We'd a chatty car journey and I even drove too far! There are 6 other women in our group, two others around my age and all the rest in their 30s. All seemed really nice and it'll be fun getting to know them, I'm sure.

We all got weighed and measured and now I have to convert my weight from kilos - 142.3. Yikes, it converts to 22 stone 5 lbs!! Fully clothed, of course, and after eating all day. I usually weigh myself first thing in the morning! Oh well - here we go, here we go, here we go...!

Mary, our counsellor, used a little bit of CBT to help us realise how our thoughts can affect our feelings and, if we consciously change the thoughts, we can consequently change our feelings and behaviour. It was a powerful example: after demonstrating how I could resist her trying to push down my outstretched arm, she had me stand with eyes closed and say 10 times, "I am a weak and vulnerable person". Difficult to say over and over... I didn't want to be saying that about myself. When she then tried to push my outstretched arm again, I was amazed that I couldn't push against her til my arm had dropped almost to my side! To combat that, I then stood and said, "I am a strong and confident person," and my arm fully resisted again. Tricks? Perhaps, but I guess it illustrated her point.

The best bit was being given a whole carrier of different food pack items: 3 vanilla shakes, 3 strawberry shakes, 3 chocolate shakes, 3 banana shakes, 2 mushroom soups, 3 vegetable soups, 2 chicken soups, 3 tomato soups, 2 Tai chilli soups, 1 lemon bar, 1 toffee flavour bar, 1 crispy cranberry and raspberry bar, 1 crispy peanut bar. And a shaker to shake each of them in!

We are to have 4 packs per day - no less. And to drink to thirst, gradually over the course of the day. We can have any kind of water - plain, mineral or soda - black coffee and black leaf tea, any other kind of leaf tea (green, peppermint, etc) but no fruit or flower teas, special LL Water Flavours, LL Savoury Drinks, tabasco sauce, pepper, a little salt, tablet sweeteners - and nuffink else. (Actually I've checked and it's also ok to use peppermint Rennies!)

There are a few more varieties of bar available, I think. We don't get to eat them until the 4th day - Saturday! Something to look forward to.

We were told to expect it to get a bit difficult in the next few days, that we could suffer from headaches, nausea, dizziness, constipation... but that we had to be sure to stay hydrated. I feel slightly nervous about having a blood sugar low and struggling through that, but once ketosis sets in (when your body starts to use your fat reserves), things even out and you lose your appetite. Yes it is extreme. It's not something I'd normally consider doing, but desperate situations lead to desperate measures...

My friend and I had our last supper after the meeting! A fish supper in the car in a Dingwall car park!! Actually I didn't enjoy it that much... And I had a whole load of chocolate once I got home too...

So, to today, Day One:
Breakfast was strawberry shake. Surprisingly pleasant and tasting of cereal along with the strawberry. I was verrrrrry hungry later in the morning, which made me wonder how I'm going to cope.

Lunch was a sachet of chicken soup. Again, fairly tasty. I needed the Rennies afterwards though! And again in the evening after my evening meal of vegetable soup. This smelled horrible in powder form but was actually quite tasty once mixed up. I'm wondering if the soy in the meal packs is what's giving me indigestion... Only time will tell. Fortunately only one Rennie has settled my tummy on both occasions and I will still be suffering from the effects of last night's fish supper...!
I'm looking forward to a hot chocolate (making up the chocolate shake with hot water instead of cold) before bedtime.

So - so far so good! I was desperately hungry before "dinner", but I suspect I was just a bit late with it as I didn't get home til about 6.30 pm. I've been amazed at how often I think of food. "Oh I'm going there, I can just pick up a little something... Oh no I can't!" "There's a piece of bread... oh no I can't eat that." "I'm going home, I can have... Oh no I can't..." Sooo often, all day, at the most surprising times.

I'm delighted to have discovered this evening that I enjoy weak black Earl Grey tea! I am hungry as I write but that's ok... I'll get used to it, I know, and it'll go in a few days. I'm hoping I won't find this first week too difficult. I've got all sorts of other little problems going on and it might all just add up - oops, there I go being negative! Turning it on its head - this week might be a challenge but I'll get through it fine!

The donating and sponsoring has kind of ground to a halt at the moment. Once I've begun to lose some weight - and have some proof it's going to happen - I intend to heat up the campaign!

I HAVE A START DATE!!

4.30 pm, 27 January!!
I'm so excited, and relieved and thankful that I'm going to get going soon! Here's hoping my friend's doctor pulls her finger out but either way I'm definitely starting then. Yippee!!

Update

Unfortunately my friend's doctor is dragging her feet. You must have your doctor's support to take part in the Lighter Life programme and the doctor is waiting to hear from the local dietician... I was hoping we'd be able to start this coming week but it's not looking likely at this rate. All very very frustrating. I will keep you all posted when I know that we are going ahead.
A huge thanks to everyone who's donated and sponsored so far. If you've not yet done so, PLEASE SPONSOR ME!
The projected total is growing but slowly. Thanks!

We have hit...

£560!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

to all 34 of you who donated/pledged and made this possible!

This means that the sponsorship and donations for the specific charities are now open!

Please SPONSOR ME by clicking on the link under each charity and letting me know how much for per stone!

Here we go, here we go, here we go...!

We've hit £500!!!

Just a little bit to go to reach the initial target!
One of my work colleagues is interested in doing Lighter Life along with me, which means we'll be able to share the drive to and from the Black Isle (where the groups are held). She still has to go through the application stage so I'm hoping it won't delay us too much. From conversations with the counsellor, all being well, we should start within a couple of weeks. Watch this space!

Ali loves Al

I've just discovered Weird Al Yankovic and just had to include this here. Hopefully by the end of 2009 I will no longer have the right!

Check out all his other videos on YouTube or his official video site, they're hilarious, especially Amish Paradise and Smells Like Nirvana. The lyrics are really clever.
Other great news is that the donations/pledges total now stands at
£420!

I guess folk are really interested in my funky knitted "somethings"...

...as that post brought in more donations, with the total now standing at
£390!

Rewards!

It's occured to me that everyone is being very altruistic here, so I've decided that each person who donates to the initial sum of £560 to get me started will receive a small original "something" handknitted by me.
And, once the sponsoring is open, each 10th person entered on my database of sponsors will receive a larger "something" handknitted by me.
I promise these things will be funky, fashionable or fun - or maybe all three!
It will take me a while to get them all made, but get them all made I will!
I may not be able to contribute much money to this but I can contribute my time and skills.
Please pass this on so others can donate and join in the fun!

More donations

Over New Year's Day and today another £80 came in. And I didn't stay up-to-date on 31st - that day brought in a total of £210 by the end of the day! So the total now stands at
£290!
Extraordinary. And soo encouraging. Thank you to all of you who've donated or pledged money. Please pass on the info to others who you think might be interested - there's still a bit of a way to go.
I've created a counter on the right hand side of the page so you can tell at a glance how we're doing.