Hello.
I am looking for a buddy to team up with to shed the last 5 kgs that I am struggling to shift. I need to be held accountable. I have tried a few times to start this diet (did well the first time. ..2.4kg down in 5 days and put it back on)but i sabotage myself with comfort eating when the joys of life throw hurdles in my way. Example. I will eat 3-4 choc bars per day sometimes in secret. And i don’t keep it in the house believe it or not! Would love to go shopping for a new wardrobe but refuse to buy things at my current size for fear i will just stay this size. Struggle to do exercise as am the sole parent to two young kids while husband works away a fortnight at a time so i know food is my problem. It’s comfort. Excuses. Excuses. Anyway if there is another mum out there and you would like to do this together please say hello.

Hi Caro-I’m new to this site & have just seen your message. How are you getting on? I’m about to start this new way of eating (not a diet, not a diet) and feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all. I’m a mum of one and I need to lose weight before I’ll be happy to try for baby number 2 (don’t want to be classed as high risk because of my weight). I’ve read the book & got some recipe ideas but I’m a little confused whether you’re supposed to go by total carbs or sugars in carbs. Like you, I could quite easily munch down several chocolate bars a day but now is the time for me to take control and get healthy! We can do this 🙂

Just remember you are carb addicted and that’s what leads you to the chocolate! Once you can change your body to stop needing the sugar you will crack it – read all the threads here where people tame that monster with just one square of dark chocolate!

Count TOTAL carbs – but if you can give up sugar all to the good. I gave up sugar in tea and coffee when I realised how many calories/carbs I was wasting when I could have been eating other things!! I can’t say it was so easy but I am very proud I did it.

Eat good food
Plan ahead and count the cals and carbs (if you can keep under 50g of carbs per day that really helps)
Drink loads – eat a bit more salt as you will be peeing it out
You may have “carb flu” as you kick them out and change your body but stick to it
And good luck!

It really really is worth it. Use these forums for help advice inspiration. Search box for previous comments.

Good luck to you both! New life coming! 🙂

Thank you! That has helped to make it a bit clearer for me and I appreciate all the tips. I definitely agree with planning out meals-so much easier to avoid temptation if you know what you are having everyday. At home I’ll be fine but really got to get organised for my working days so I am not tempted by sandwiches on the run! And trying to avoid sugar will be tough but necessary. It’s funny as I’ll try to minimise how much sugar my son has but I struggle when it comes to me. I’m determined to do this though 😀

Welcome Liz,
Week 1 was good. Dropped 2.4kg. Week 2 only 400g lost. Had my period with awful fluid retention. Day 4 of week 3 and I haven’t been very successful I fear. Haven’t got on the scales this week. Need to learn to deal with stress without reaching for food. The other thing I struggle with is not finishing the kids meals. And constantly clock watching to see when I can eat again. I sound desperate I know. If you can exercise, just walking even, I think that is great for distraction not just for exercise itself.
Some tips from others that have worked for me,..
1) know what you are eating each day
2) drink lots of water
3) distraction distraction
4) if you have a bad day food wise don’t catastrophise. You can start again tomorrow.
5) the cliche “one day at a time” is so relevant in the first few weeks. Don’t look at the 8 weeks but rather shorter term goals.
I post on “I need to be accountable” also.
Igo – kicking the sugar monster is a big challenge for me. It is a work in progress. I wish I had your willpower.
Caro

Hi Caro, good thinking.

Just to check you are also measuring and looking at your shape with target clothes, aren’t you? Because weight often stays still whilst measurements change, and that can keep you going when everything seems to be at a standstill.

I don’t know why this is – because visceral fat round the waist must actually weigh something, surely – but I had several periods where my jeans were perceptibly getting looser whilst my weight stubbornly stayed the same.

re the Sugar Monster – I had never managed to get off the sugar before, but then I looked at how many calories my 2 teaspoons in, say, 6 cups of tea or coffee per day were. (I like 3 cups of coffee in the morning, say a cup of tea at lunchtime or tea time, cup of tea after supper and perhaps another before bed)

30 calories and 8 carbs each time I had a cup (let alone the milk, leave that out for the moment) so 6 cups per day was 180 calories and 48 carbs!!!! Aaaaaaaaaargh. So for a week of 7 days of this was 42 cups @ 30 calories and 8 carbs each = 1260 calories and 336 carbs in total. A whole day’s worth of calories and the carbs????? aaaaaaaaargh.

So each time I had a drink I remembered these sums. It did make it easier, although I kept ‘noticing’ I wasn’t having sugar for 6-8 weeks. However, I really enjoy coffee now, can actually taste it!

You could do it, too, if you think of these numbers……. 😉

It’s incredible to be consuming that amount of sugar and carbs in something that actually doesn’t fill you up and is more a habit! I only drink tea (with 1 sugar) so I’m going to try and avoid it as much as possible whilst reducing the amount of sugar when I do cave in to it! You’re right Caro-it’ll be a work in progress for me too. I also struggle with not finishing off my son’s meals or ‘tasting’ it as I cook. I’ve realised I do it without even realising I’m doing it until afterwards! Not had the best day but will finish off with a feta and avocado salad to try and redeem some of the bad points! I bet you’ve lost more weight than you feel Caro-sometimes I feel bloated and full around my time of the month but actually it’s not weight gain.

Hi Caro-how are you getting on? I hope it’s getting easier and you’re noticing the results now. I’ve had a couple of bad days but woken up today with the determination just to do this properly. I’ve realised I’ve been coasting for the past week not really counting calories and carbs so it’s been pretty pointless! I’m back on My Fitness Pal and have made myself a list of all the recommended food with their calories and carbs to put up on my kitchen cupboard as an guide. Just got to do this now properly, once and for all! 😀