Another 3lbs lost!

Yippee! That's now 7.5 stone I've lost. And I'm less than 15 stone!! Woop woop!!
I have lapsed a few times, not least sharing a box of Quality Street with daughter Laurie on Saturday!!! =:-o Strong cheddar is still my downfall strangely!
It's so great to be losing weight again... I'm enjoying the Cambridge Diet (in parts!). Some of the soups are a bit iffy but it's fine on the whole. I'm really enjoying my evening poppadums again (in spite of the fact that cooking the packs isn't recommended - I take a multi-vitamin!) and the bars are all scrummy. Even my grandson likes the Chocolate and Mint shake, though he turned his nose up at the Chocolate Orange! I'm also allowed milk so can enjoy tea and coffee without going outside the food plan.
I met a friend of Laurie's tonight who's known me for the past 20 years - and it's quite amazing to realise that she has never known me at this size. I've worked out it must be around 1985 when I was last this size. I was 29 then... That's quite a thought...

I forgot....!

to report in last Wednesday that I'd lost 4 lbs! So my weight was 15 stone 1 lb. I'm very pleased. I cheated like mad that first week but have had more success this week. Not 100% success =:-o but most days... It's tough! I'm really looking forward to being 14 stone something - it's over 25 years since I was last that weight.

Start weight

For the record, my start weight (first thing in the morning, without clothes) is 15 stone 5 lbs. It's going to get complicated again trying to compare it to the LL weigh-in, taken in the middle of the afternoon, so let's just say that's what I am. It means that's a full 7 stone weight loss since I started, as that was 22 stone 5 lbs, so I don't need to alter the counter or anyfink. (There's really a couple of pounds difference due to the time of day I was weighed but, as weight can fluctuate by a couple of pounds given how much water you drink or not, I'm staying with that!)

Target still stands at 11 stone / 154 lbs.

Cambridge Diet

My Cambridge Diet packs have arrived! Here's a photo of them:

There's little colour-coding with these packs, the colours are only to differentiate soups from shakes, so I'll have to have my specs on before I choose what I want!
My order consists of shakes - Banana, Butterscotch, Chocolate, Chocolate Mint, Fruits of the Forest, Strawberry, Toffee and Walnut, Vanilla, Chocolate Orange and Cappuccino; soups - Broccoli and Cheese, Chicken and Mushroom, Oriental Chilli, Spicy Tomato, Vegetable, Mushroom and Leek and Potato; bars - Caramel, Toffee, Chocolate, Chocolate Orange, Cranberry and Peanut. At least one of every flavour, to give them all a try. I'm assured that they taste better than LL but the proof of the pudding, and all that!
I've also ordered tubs of Mix a Mousse, Summer Berry Drink Flavouring and something called Fibre 89, which I think is self-explanatory!
Tonight has been my last night of "normal" eating and, in the interests of honesty and faithful recording of the travails of losing weight(!), I will publicly confess to having a Last Supper. A fish supper in fact! And chocolate cake. I bought more goodies but didn't have the room to eat them!! That's good news - it means my appetite, in spite of sort-of-normal eating for the last wee while, is a lot less than it used to be. In fact, reading that list of flavours above makes me feel sick right now, as I am just too full...
So, tomorrow sees me embark on shakes and soups again. No bars for the 1st week and no drink flavouring for 2 weeks. I have to say I am really looking forward to being free from the temptation of food again. It's just a bit too much of a minefield for me, especially at the moment with my ME being quite bad again.
I'm sure some of you think I'm nuts to be doing this when I'm not doing too well, energy-wise, but I fully expect to feel better within a week or so. Low carbing suits me and I'm looking forward to that lighter lean feeling that LL gave me. I just need to get through the first couple of days and into ketosis so that my appetite is suppressed. I really am looking forward to it.
I'm also really looking forward to not being so hot! Increased carb intake and the water retention caused by it has had the effect of me feeling hot again. I know the weather's a bit better at the moment, and I know I'm menopausal, but I keep breaking out in a sweat. Am so looking forward to not feeling like that any more!
I'll be weighing myself in the morning so I have a baseline. I know there'll be a few pounds difference from the last report but I know it's not much (it was only 2 lbs more this morning!).
Onwards and upwards. Here's hoping I manage being back on packs again!

Big changes coming up...

Blimey, it's ages since I posted here. Sorry if some of you are trying to keep up-to-date with me and I've not been around. I've been waiting for blood test results before my doctor would agree to me...
MOVING ON TO THE CAMBRIDGE DIET!!!
I've realised (as I said before) that the increased carb content of Diet Chef is not helping me keep to it and I've been struggling greatly for the past few weeks = cheating like mad, to be honest! While I really have enjoyed the DC meals - some of them are really delicious - I've decided I'd rather lose that further 4 stone and struggle with my weight at 11 stone rather than 15. I know that a VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) works for me, not least because of being in ketosis and your appetite being suppressed. The hunger I feel at the moment really does have a more insistent, compelling quality than the hunger on LL.
My doctor has agreed (with reservations) for me to go on the Cambridge Diet, which is basically LL without all the group counselling. From my point of view, it's a lot cheaper - only £47.50 per week - and I don't have to go through to the Inverness area every week, which instantly saves me £20. I will have to pay for postage of the packs but I think I can cover that, especially if I can order the packs every fortnight (when my benefit arrives).
It'll be up to me to monitor it and make sure it's not making me any more fatigued than I am now, with this recent downturn / increase in ME symptoms. If it is, then I will have to come off it, and possibly stop dieting altogether...
In the meantime, I stupidly forgot to take the forms with me when I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, so am having to wait for the doctor to sign them, possibly until Monday, before I can start on the Cambridge Diet. I'm excited about it, looking forward to losing weight more easily than I am now. Once I'm down to my target, then I can struggle with working out what's the best thing for me to be eating long term (which I think I know is low carb...)
My weight is roughly what it was on the last post, perhaps with a pound or two more, due to how I've been eating. But I'm not too bothered about it at the moment as it'll quickly come off with CD. :-)
So - watch this space!