Chilly

Its a bit Brrrrrrrrrrr in blighty right now. Especially when you are in the caravan. this is our little cosy abode for another week. Once you are in and the world is shut out its actually quite pleasant, if a bit random to be sleeping on the front garden. HA!

Its a cute little pop up trailer in actual fact. It completely folds flat to just above the height of a bicycle, and you can tow it easily with a small car. It has a wardrobe, cooker, fridge, cupboards, lights and plug sockets and underfloor heating too. We bought it from a guy about 2 years ago for just £500!

Garage work is progressing nicely as you can see. The window is in and the plaster board has gone it. right now they are bricking up the front ready to clad the front wall. Its gonna be fabulous. Its already as warm as toast!

The caravan is just to the right in this picture so we have to sneak out at night and jump in, and then in the morning quickly hop it back cross the grass inside again before anyone sees us in our PJ's!

This is where I live! Our bedroom is the front right, Charlotte's bedroom is front left. DS's was and obviously will be in the conversion and Sue is in the back bedroom. When you go into the house you go into a porch, the stairs are behind a door in front of you, and the front room is the full length of the house. The kitchen is on the left hand side of the back of the house and through the kitchen you go to the Utility room and from there into the office, which was part of the garage originally too.

Here is a plan:

I know its not particularly interesting to anyone else, but I like to have a record. My blog is a great diary tool and I have used it lots of times to look back and find out when, what and how I did something or other.

So, back to topic... The scales seem quite positive, but obviously weigh in will be Monday. I just hope I can keep a grip until then. I am really really wanting chocolate big time and treats and things like that. I will have to have things like prawns and olives with extra garlic to try and keep me away from chocolates. Right now I REALLY want one of those big purple versions of the chocolates that you get in Quality Street. Its the BIG purple one with caramel and a hazelnut inside. Oh MAN I really want one. Thankfully I have no idea how to get my hands on one, so I am safe... for now! I love the way they tickle your throat. I must have a craving for caramel as well as chocolate because last night in tesco I succumbed to a rolo yoghurt (more of a desert than a yoghurt, but anyway) and also a piece of millionaires slice. Both have a layer of chocolate and then caramel. Must be a strange phase I am going through. I counted both on My Daily Plate so that I didn't go over the top, but this week I have been scraping the top of my allowance every single day. That's not going to be great for weightloss. Mind you, 1800 cals a day should help me lose 2 pounds a week, so as long as I stick to 1800 and NO MORE, then I will hopefully do what it says on the tin.

TTFN

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

So slimmingworld revealed the news that this week I lose 2 pounds.

I am really pleased that I have lost 2 pounds, but like I said before, I would be lying if I said i was completely happy because of yesterday saying I had lost 4. Yeah. That would have been much nicer. I was feeling really ticked off all morning, and when I got home I found out why I put on 2 pounds over night... and was ready to KILL.

Dreaded flaming curse again!

I seem to have it all the time! I just get over one bitchfest and spot covered face picking session when it seems like it was only 2 days ago I finished the last one -but yet it really was 28 days ago. Time whizzes by.

If you have periods for approximately 35 years of your life... then you have 13 a year which doesn't actually seem very many... but when you add it all up you will have had 455 of these sods. Now I think that 455 weeks out of my life is more than a bit skanky and bad. That's near as damn it 10 YEARS feeling like death for no good bloody reason.

considering we have a debilitating condition that will disable us for 10 years (ok tongue in cheek a bit), I reckon someone needs to make a charity for research into funding for Period sufferers and get some tablets to cure our moodiness and stroppiness and outright horribleness. I don't want to be an evil witch every 3 weeks that's for sure and I could sure do without any extra pain in my lower back right now thank you very much.

But no, its a fact of life and part of being a woman so instead of getting anything worth a shit from a doctor to cure PMT or PMS for good, we should learn to embrace it. PFFFTTT!

Roll on menopause. Menostop in fact! A bloody pause is no good to anyone (pardon the pun!).

Anyway, enough of chipe about something that ain't ever gonna change in the foreseeable future of the universe.

I have lost the 2 pounds that I had picked up, lost, picked up again bla bla over the last few weeks, so I am still sitting at 28 pounds lost. Grrrrr. But, because of said curse, I should find that if I sit tight and keep to what I am doing, next week should be big time great!

Today so far I have had a couple of yoghurts, some chicken noodle soup, 2 crackerbread and 2 popadums. I had my meals delivered today from Wiltshire Farm Foods, so that will be a great help. I am having my first one this evening and its 300 cals. So tonight that means that I can have some chocolate (-this is what I mean... the scientists could get their heads together and get us a patch or something to stop this bollocks! I am pretty sure it would be easy if they actually tried).

So, band is great.

Want a couple of pics of the new garage conversion done properly this time?
Back in February's posts you can see the effort hubby put in and what it looked like and how proud we were. Well it took them 2 hours to destroy EVERYTHING in that room. They had completely gutted it back to normal by 12pm when I got home from slimming. Marvelous. Anyway, its gonna be great when its done. Here you are:

This is the view from my front room... Hard to imagine Warrens whole entire decorated bedroom was here this morning.


and a horror shot from inside. They put up a couple of the old bits of chipboard we used to cover the hole where the new window will go...


and the outside shot as it was left today. This will have the window in on Wednesday, and be completely clad with uPvc ship lap fascia.

How does my body smite me?

Starting to get annoyed with my stupid body. How is it I can weigh 17 stone (238) fully clothed, in the evening the other day whilst loaded with food and drink... then weigh the next morning at 16st 11 (235) and think "yeah baby... tomorrow is going to be S K I L L!" and eat only 1200 calories of non stodgy food all day - which was the lowest calorie day of the entire week - and then I hope on this morning and its 16 stone 13 (237) a measly 1 pound difference between 6pm food loaded and 9am empty?

Does it wait and silently titter to itself and take great delight on Mondays?

I have worked really hard this week and I know in the long run its good, but for fuck's sake.

Also did loads of extra exercise yesterday as we had to move DS room out of his room and into the front room for the builders to start work. Didn't break a sweat but it was 4 solid hours of moving, clearing and rearranging.

This body of mine will seemingly always have the last laugh.

I will probably put on weight when I am dead so the coffin they fit me with at the beginning of the week is too ruddy tight on the day of my interment and they have to just fling me in the hole!

Official weigh in later... slimmingworld isn't until 10am. They go electronic at my place this week and I expect it will take the dozy fen folk a while to work out how to turn it on and stuff and then we will have to be there for about 6 hours. They are a bit odd the people in my slimmingworld class... I think I have mentioned it before, but there is practically a tangible barrier between our village and the village where we go for slimming. Its one road that separates us and about 8 miles. The air must change... a bit like James Herbert's - The Fog. There is a fen folk fog that turns everyone a bit nuts anywhere north east of where we live and they end up talking with a real yokle accent - any one with this accent over our way we just know came from that way. I have never known an area like it. We obviously have an accent to them too, but what I mean is this sudden stop of any accent. If you live in Newcastle you will have a particular accent but it sort of merges and gradually changes into a more Yorkshire accent as you come down the country, and if you travel east it gradually changes into a Wales accent, and that changes into a Liverpool accent and that changes into a Manchester accent and that changes gradually into a Brum accent and on and on and you can wander around the country like this gradually slipping accents and there is no perceptible cut off point until you come to Fenland. There is a sharp and distinct point from Fenland to all other counties around it. Its like a little island of accent. They are also a bit odd in lots of other ways too...

Anyway, this is frigging pointless talk, so I is gunna stop now.

just listen to this to get an idea of what I mean
http://www.archive.org/details/Suitcase_401

hmmm interesant

I couldn't resist...

I came downstairs 5 minutes ago (18:00) and the new spanky scales were doing that noise that angels make in heaven; that continuous harmonious "ahhhhh" that accompanies wonder, awe or insight dawning.

Yeah, ok, it was in my head but they were calling me man!

So, picture the scene: DS and his friend H are in the living room base camp made from the dog blanket, dog basket, my dining room chairs and his duvet cover (!) shrieking with delight at being on the high seas and making a pirate video... The two dogs are their able ship mates - not particularly willing - and there seems to be the scattered remains of chewed up cork stopper out of the 2p jar (which is huge and we use as a door stop) everywhere I tread. There is a spilt glass of root beer (onto that little delight later!) with the wii fit board lying perilously close to its Armageddon (jumping dogs and rootbeer explosion in this case), the sofas don't seem to have cushions, and everything has gone to heck in a hand basket.

I am about to lose my mind when I hear the "AHHHHHHhhhhhhh" of the scale angel.

Its 6pm. I am fully clothed. Fully loaded with the days food so far, and also drinks etc. I am also holding the phone. A quick double check that the coast is clear and I hop on baby!

17 stone exactly (238lbs)

WOWOWOWOWOWOW

This is most timely news, and most fantabulous. Seeing as this was my weight last Monday morning at slimmingworld... I must therefore have lost lard! So, sans food/drinks on Monday morning will be a very interesting little result to broadcast on my return.

YES!

Oh yeah, and if you live in the UK and HATE not being able to get root beer (other than poncy sugar laden swank bottles from random herbal shops that cost a couple of quid - each!) then head down to Sainsbury's for a bottle of Carter's semi diet root beer. I say 'semi-diet' because it still has sugar in it, but its quite low and you can drink a lot without it amounting to a crisis. Its only 67p - yes, that's right - SIXTY-SEVEN PENCE for 2 LITRES!! Now that's what I call a result - hence I am not crazy mad at the sheer waste of rootbeer on the floor in my front room from the extroverted and rather highly charged pirates.

Oh, and I have tiles throughout. Clever huh? *cheeky wink*

Wot?

Surely this cannot be right.

This is where I need a COPY AND PASTE tool on this stupid blog thingy!

So now I have to keep minimising, reading the other page, and then maximising and typing it in here. GRRRR. (And no one tell me there is a new version of windows now either as I KNOW that you can have 2 screens open simultaneously side by side. I know. I don't have windows 7. double GRRrrrr)

There is the bloke who claims the following:

Weightloss counselor and physician Dr. Micheal Dansinger says "One could drop as much as 20 pounds in a week following a very ambitious eating and exercise plan, devoting more than 7 hours per week to vigorous exercise."

I am pretty sure that's not possible unless you weigh 400lbs to start with and starve yourself and flog your body to death at the same time.

Sounds hardcore.

anyway, things are going ok with the band right now. I am loving having the daily plate thing on board again. I can waste hours of my life on the computer. Oh, i do! Ha!

So far today I have had a few olives throughout the morning and for lunch I made scrambled egg (again!!) with 1 egg and sloppy, and half a can of baked beans in tomato sauce. It was nice. I think egg on its own just doesn't get chewed well enough before you have to swallow... its not the right consistency in the first place is it. So a little bit of egg, then a few beans and things went great.

I am enjoying the shakes still, but trying to get into some kind of pattern where I don't necessarily have to have a shake for lunch as well as breakfast. Will be nicer in the lifestyle type of thing, and also on the wallet!

I have managed to have a solid lunch, go slowly and chew to death every lunch this week since Wednesday and had no major problems. Long may it continue.

I have changed my eating around a bit... had a few too many glasses of wine this week as we have a box in the cupboard that holds several litres and its just too easy and tempting. Its all gone now, so no more. I am just not going to buy any. DH is not going to have any more beer either as its such empty calories, and I really want to keep on track.

Looking forward to seeing what Monday brings - weight wise but also building wise.

Builders start Monday! YAYAYAY!!!!

Cant wait. Means 2 weeks sleeping in a caravan, but hey!

The daily plate slash livestrong blaat

This is a post all about The daily Plate, now known as Livestrong.
I Had a few interesting emails from people, so thought I would write down what I know, or what is given to me by livestrong and therefore know!

according to their charts a person who is about 238lbs (moi!) and wants to lose 2 pounds a week (or more please) can eat the following:

1833 cals
they should get this from and NOT EXCEED the following MAX daily allowances (100%)
60g of fat
274g carbohydrates
45g protein

If you look on the previous post next to each item it has a percentage. This shows that I at X% of my daily allowance in that nutritional group.

If I eat within the above proportions, I will achieve weightloss.

As I lose weight, the calorie allowance gets lower, and the nutritional allowances will change, but will still be roughly 15%fat, 12%protein and 74% carbs. There are also other important elements in the diet like fibre, and Livestrong does chart these too, but I couldn't be bothered to go to all that effort.

As you eat through the day, you chart each food. You type into your plate the food you ate - for instance today I had some pate. I type in "Tesco Liver and bacon pate" and there it is. I click and add it to my plate and type in how many portions of it I have eaten.

It can be a little pesky, because you might have measured in grams, but the person who listed the item might have listed it as oz without a conversion, or they could have listed a portion as 100g, and you only had 20g. Both of these is easily remedied. A simple gram to oz conversion sorts the first, and with the second is a little harder.

When you add a food to your plate, it automatically puts *1* portion on your plate. If 1 portion was 100g, and you only had 20g, then you had 0.2 of a portion. So that's what you do. You change the 1, to a 0.2 and then it will log it perfectly for you.

"What if I make a lasagna?" I hear you cry... well that's cool too. You either log each individual item in the meal and how much you had of each (1 onion in dish, 4 people served, so I had 0.25 of a portion bla bla) or you 'Make a Meal'. If its something you often make, then the best thing is to create a new meal by adding all the ingredients in the programme, and then saving it.

If you add this to your plate it will also add the WHOLE thing as a portion, so again here you must be careful. If the dish serves 4, then when you add it to your plate you must change the portion to 0.25 if it served 10 people, then you change it to 0.1 of a portion.

If you honestly cannot be bothered, then just manually add the calories.

I wish I could cut and paste to blogger because it would be so much easier. Its a real fag not being able to do that. What I might try is a screen shot and show you what I see, but it will be so small I am not sure how it will turn out.

Basically Livestrong (or the daily plate as it used to be called) is a great tool for helping me keep track. I can see when I eat too much fat, see when I nail my protein target and also if I am drinking enough water. Its also great as it charts your weight on a graph and also give you access to loads of (sometimes obscure) daily exercises that it calculates how much you have burned off. It takes into account your weight and calculates that for example doing the following :

Sailing on ice (?) or water (competitive) for 1 hr would burn 540 cals

Reclining - talking, writing or reading burns 108 cals per hour

Sanding floors with a power sander burns 486 per hour

Sex (vigorous) burns a measly 171 per hour. (per hour? HA!)

I think I will plump for reclining and chatting - less like hard work! So its a useful tool to have when you might think you have blown your days allowance, you can add these activities to your daily plate and get a Net calorie count. I always set my activity level to naff all so that I can track things when I do them. So if I take the dog for a half hour walk, I can track it because I set my level to sedentary (lying of bed eating chocolates mode!) and don't feel like I might be cheating or counting something twice if you know what I mean.

I would recommend it as after all it is FREE, and if you do upgrade, its only £25 a year which is nothing. Upgrading unlocks some useful features and allows you to look back over time and stuff which I think is useful, but its perfectly workable free to be fair.

Nutrition | LIVESTRONG.COM

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: Everything you ate on October 28th, 2009

Calories 1528 Calories from Fat 318
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 35.89g 55%
Saturated Fat 10.66g 53%
Sodium 825.5mg 34%
Potassium 0.23mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 122.8g 41%
Dietary Fiber 5.8g 23%
Sugars 59.9g
Protein 103.77g 208%"

Feeling fab fab fab

Oh what a difference 24 hours makes.

Took the first tablet that the doctor prescribed me yesterday evening and I feel bosh! She gave me Detrusitol XL. What a name. The active ingredient in the wonder drug is tolterodine tartrate. I have never ever heard of that before in my life, and it is a serious mouthful, but worth it.

These little blue wonder pills were given to make my bladder less "twitchy" - Mrs Doc said. She was right. I ain't been "twitchy" all day, and no pain or anything. They are prescribed for people who either can't control their bladder or pee many many times a day to help relieve the sensitive bladder. They make the bladder less sensitive. Well, they are the business and I love them.

I am now wondering if there is any point in getting my pee pee opening violated after all? I guess there is because it could be something grim I guess.

Well talking of all things grim, I also have got to have a smear test tomorrow. Yay. Can't wait. been putting it off for about 25 years, so should go. ewwwww. Hate it. Its not the actual 'doing' of the test, its the fact someone is having a gander up your chuff. With a lamp on it. Why does that metal thing have to be cold too??? Is that really necessary? I am sure they could pop it on the radiator for a bit beforehand. *shudders*

Anyway, don't want to think about that until I'm on the couch.

Today was great. We met up with our old mates we met on a French holiday when DS was only 3 or 4. It was a really good laugh. Even though we haven't seen each other now for about 4 years it really didn't feel like it. We chatted away, and I am hoarse from laughing and shrieking with them. We shall call them A (dad),B (mum), M (daur 1) and S (daur 2).

A had a RNY bypass 7 months ago and had lost 7 and a half stone. He looks amazing. He had type 2 diabetes, had a BMI of over 50 and now has lost so much weight his diabetes has gone already! It was really cool to know someone in real life who has had weightloss surgery... but not just know them, really know them personally and know their battle with weight for a long time too. He had his done on the NHS and has followup care for 5 years. That's amazing. He goes to his village doctors surgery for his 3 monthly B12 injections and back to the hospital for check ups. Its just unreal. It makes me feel really annoyed at the lack of aftercare Bunk mate and I had after our surgery, and how far we have to travel all the time, but to be honest, more than anything else he inspired me.

We both have this tool, and yes he has lost loads so far, but we both seem to suffer the same problems. Eat too fast and it comes back again. Chew all our food to death. Eat small portions. Don't drink with meals. Sip drinks etc.

What I noticed is that he can eat more than I can - which I really wasn't expecting, and that includes eggs, toast, bread rolls, pasta etc (but not spaghetti!) all of which I have given up on! But when you weigh it up he has malabsorbtion to compensate the extra food intake. I just have lack of volume. So both ways I think will deliver the same nutrients. Take for example today's food whilst they were with us:

Him:
Snack: 2 slices of toast and butter
lunch: Chicken livers on salad (starter)
2 cups of coffee
2 J2O juice drinks

Me:
snack: protein shake
lunch: Chicken livers on salad (starter)
4 cups of coffee
2 glasses wine

This works out to be exactly the same amount of calories... but he has malabsorbtion to help further.

take DH's food whilst they were here:
DH:
snack: 2 fried eggs on fried bread and 3 rashers bacon
dinner: 1/2 pound Burger in bun and chips
8 jaffa cakes
3 cups of tea and 3 pints of beer.

When I weigh it up, we are both going to get to our goal, and DH is going to die of a heart attack the way he is going! No, I jest - he doesn't have a lot of this stuff usually. Wednesday is definitely a treat day for him and usually involves fried eggs of some variety for brekkie. We don't usually go out for lunch though, so the rest is a bit random.

I left some of my chicken livers on the plate, whereas A ate all his. But where he has quantity control & malabsorbtion to help him, I just have quantity control. These are good tools. We just need to use then correctly. This must be why they say after 5 years we should have the same result, but RNY just happens quicker in the first year or so. Very interesting, and makes me feel SO much better about the band funnily enough. I am not looking at the RNY with covetousness so much now. Thats a really great thing for me.

Its great to see him looking so amazing and I am really pleased he has done it. Its also spurred me on so much, that really I have to look at my weight journey as little bitty steps.

Being really to the point, I have only had proper restriction since my last fill. I am not going to see miracles in 2 months, but I have lost weight. Just gotta keep on plugging!

For dinner this evening I had fish fingers and peas. Fish fingers are probably not the best choice, but I like them and they are protein. So another day's sunshine goes down and I have kept to plan.

trying to think what calories I could have ingested...
shake 200
chicken livers...?
2 glasses red 400
fish fingers...?
peas...?

not too much. cool.

Ok, I thought this was a bit lame to write "not too much" and not really know, so I have now re-opened my account with what was called The Daily Plate but is not called LIVESTRONG and its great.

To lose weight of about 2 pounds per week, I need to eat 1800 calories or less each day. Todays calorie intake was 1528, and my protein was over 100 grams! Cool

funny day

Had a funny day really. My band decided not to allow liquids again after about midday, which was a bit of a pain in the rectum, seeing as I didn't get my breakfast shake down this morning as I forgot to drink it. But, I am still here and a few less calories are hardly going to hurt! Hee Heee.

The builder came around and measured up and checked where I wanted the plugs and stuff like that, its all going to be plastered too which will be great - I didn't know that before, so it will be super dupa!

then I went to the doc again, and said it was excruciating, and to be honest she didn't muck about. she got me on the couch and gave me a quick *grimace* internal exam to check I didn't have a large ovary or any kind of prolapse etc and then basically said we couldn't wait for the scan to come through, and referred me to a Urologist for a urethrascopy (or whatever its called/spelt) Apparently I will be put to sleep and then they shove a camera up my nether regions (trying not to imagine how something relatively large can go through and up inside a pin hole opening as making me feel a little odd).

So that's good news. I think...

Then booked our holiday for the winter in France. On 25th December we leave Blighty via the tunnel and come home on 29th December by ferry. Its cheaper that way! This year we are renting a gite in Brittany. Its about 5 hours from Calais and we are going to try and have a look at the Bayeux Tapestry, see Mont St. Michel and have a gander at the largest castle in Europe.
Yeah, either that or just get drunk and eat cheese and moule frite for 4 days.

Just done a tesco shop for a few bits and am horrified that I spent £120. Not possible as I only wanted juice and cat food. They now how to sell these places!

Gonna watch Neighbours now. I keep persevering with it, but it just isn't that good. I love Home and Away, and just wish Neighbour's was the same. Its all a bit too fake, but its mindless and I don't care too much.

Also bought 5 pairs of shoes and a bottle of expensive perfume which has really brightened things up a bit! 1 pair of suede ballerina's from eBay, 1 pair of big bow tie ballerina's from Hush Puppies, 1 pair of penny loafers in navy and claret & 1 pair of loafers with a bar and chain on the front in Tan leather from DB Shoe's and then today a pair of K Moss penny loafers in black from the US via eBay US.

The perfume is Tocade by Rochas. Its LUSH

Findings

Can't remember if I told you, think I did, that they didn't find any bugs in my sample at the doctor the other day. I am in agony today. I feel like such rubbish that all I want to do is curl up somewhere, but there is no escaping the pain. It just feels awful... ALL the time.

Its just constant. It wears you out and brings you down and I just feel like comforting myself with nice yummy treats.

I booked another appointment at the quacks in about 2 hours time. I am going to show her something I found on the internet.

Interestingly enough, it was about Interstitial Cystitis & Painful Bladder Syndrome (IC/PBS), and got me thinking. I am fed up with doing leg work for doctors, but no one ever looks back through your notes and comes up with an idea. Only WE seemingly know our history and it all kind of clicked into place when I read this item.

I suffered with this horror daily for a few years after becoming sexually active. It went on and on and on an on and I saw the doctor loads of time. Diagnosed with irritable bowel, given different drugs, had numerous tests, but a 17/18 year old has little love of having a male doctor frequently look into her inner parts and more often than not I would just grin and bear it and hope for a miracle. It kind of stopped when I was about 19 and I put it down to being unstressed. I had finished college, settle down and was having a brief harmonious period in my life and also had my first pregnancy. I was pregnant on and off for the next 3 years, losing 6 babies at varying terms, but thankfully culminating in my 1 beautifully bonny baby boy at the tender age of 22.

I had no problems with this horrendous pain in all that time. I forgot about it and never thought it would return. I suffered terribly with postnatal baby blues, and was prescribed antidepressants. My depression seemed to change from just being postnatal, to regular clinical depression and I was on (and for the odd couple of months off) antidepressants until last August 2008.

Looking through my calendar it was about November I started to get cystitis again. I thought it must be the stress of my Dad's operation and put it down to that. But the repeat attacks have got worse and worse until, like now, I can't stand it any more.

In the article I read, it said that IC/PBS patients can alleviate pain with Aspirin and Ibuprofen or Diclofenac (volterol). I can take NONE of these because of the band obviously, and I know that paracetamol and codeine don't really cut it to be quite honest. They also wrote that patients often have relief of symptoms from taking Antidepressants or antihistamines. Patients also often have remission during pregnancy.

Now isn't that funny? All the time I have been free from this hell, I have either been preggers, or on antidepressants! Now I am not taking them, and haven't taken then for a long time, the problem is TERRIBLE.

So I am going to ask her whether it might be a good idea to resume antidepressants and see if it works. I have 28 tablets from my last course already in my draw which are still in date and I will take even if she says no. At least after a month I will know if it helped, or not, and if it did will have much stronger argument for taking them again.

I just kind of know that this is the answer. I know antihistamines don't help me with it as I take them quite often anyway for allergies and I still have the HELL PAIN.

So, off to drink another gallon drum of water, and clean my house in preparation for my friends coming over, a fellow bariatric mate who 6 months ago had RNY Bypass surgery and has already lost *gulp*

8 stone (112lbs)

Wish I had had that surgery... I would be done by now. rats.

Never mind, I have a tool, so I am just going to use it and keep on plugging. I have lamb stew and green beans last night - nice and low in carbs. I gave everyone else potato swirls with theirs, but I resisted! Hee hee

Shake it up

So this was dinner the other night. I was looking for parsnip recipes as I had a couple in the fridge that needed using. Its honey & mustard chicken with parsnip and mashed potato. It was seriously scrumptious.

But this is why I need to shake it up a little. There was no movement on the scales again this week, and I think its because of the combinations of food I am eating.

If I am eating a seriously high protein diet with the shakes, and then eating carbs, I am not going to lose weight. I need to lose the carbs from my meals. So the above dish would have been much better for me with double the amount of chicken stew and no potato.

I spoke to the Slimmingworld consultant today about it, and we agreed that if you are on the red/original plan, you are eating a lot of protein and veggies with very limited or controlled carbs. If you are on the green plan, you are eating mainly carbs, low fat and limited protein.

The yellow plan (xtra easy) is a mixture of both but with the emphasis on vegetables making up 2/3rds of the meal and of course, low in fat.

Well, if I am drinking protein shakes with low carbs & low fat... I think that maybe I should be following the red plan... what do you think?

Well, I am going to give it a go anyway. I am going to try and go RED this week and see if it makes any difference. Food combining is quite a tricky thing, but it does make sense if you think about it. I think I am basically just balancing myself out if I eat lots of protein and lots of carbs.

Also, gonna cut the crappy bits of nibbling out which can't be helping - being seriously realistic, it's not the reason I am not losing weight - but just not helping any. So I am going to record my food again, photo it and log it and see what happens to the scales this week.