Hello!

I’ve been lurking for a few days now and wanted to come out of the closet. Today is day 4 and as of this morning’s weigh in I’d lost 2.4kg, which is astonishing! The thing about fast weight loss is I’m worried it’ll get disheartening when it slows down, so I thought I’d prepare myself by joining in the forum.

I’m 35, and my starting weight was 98.1kg. At 5’3″ that’s very, very bad. I’ve never been slim, always been a carb addict, and over the last couple of years I’ve noticed my appetite becoming greater and greater. I’ve got two children ages 6 and 9 and I work full time including some very long days (12+ hours sometimes without real breaks), and my husband works shifts, so life is chaotic at times. But that’s not an excuse, it just means I need to up my organisational game. I need to get a handle on my eating and this makes so much sense to me.

So far it’s been very manageable, and I even passed up an offering of chocolates at work yesterday. My husband was shocked when I turned down a chocolate egg last night (although he doesn’t know I’m doing this because he was entirely unsupportive when I suggested the book to him, so he is in my bad books!).

Day off today and I’ve enjoyed a delicious 200cal breakfast of a large grilled mushroom topped with pesto, cherry tomatoes and a slice of Gouda all melted and bubbling. I’m enjoying paying attention to myself, and to food.

Thanks to all of you who post – your stories and experiences are inspirational.

Hello Shrinkme81, welcome to the wonderful world of BSD and well done on your results. To say you are on a day off today, you seem to have had a very healthy calories counted breakfast. I’m sure you will find a thread that interests you, just jump in and join any of them.

Ah sorry if I wasn’t clear – it’s a day off work, so I’ve had time to cook something nice rather than just shovel a spoonful of yogurt down my throat and wash it down with a handful of blueberries!

Welcome Shrinkme81 and well done for coming out of the closet.

Hard luck that your O/H is so unsupportive, it will make it more difficult for you, but so pleased you are not using him as an excuse and have jumped in with both feet – and well done on your initial loss. My O/H eats and drinks for England without ever putting on an ounce (still the same weight as when we married over 40 years ago) but, as long as I don’t restrict his diet he is happy and supportive of my attempts at losing weight. No way that I would even think about restricting his food intake because he gets REALLY grumpy when he is hungry – he eats 4 meals a day and snacks virtually non-stop between them – my sons have always said he doesn’t have worms, he has ruddy great snakes!! I seriously think he is the reason I am overweight – when you enjoy food, it’s REALLY difficult to cater for such a hearty appetite and not be tempted oneself. 🙁

I am on day 9 and to date have lost 3.6kg (managed to resist weighing myself today for the very first time 😉 so that was yesterday morning’s end of 1st week weigh in) and you are on track to do likewise.

I think one of the things about this WOE (we seriously need another acronym!! Anyone?) is that it forces us to think and enjoy what we are eating which, I think most of us would agree, we have not been in the habit of doing. All the food is really really tasty, and I do think that is one of the things that makes it easier to stick with, as so many diets are boring and bland. I am a big fan of adding lots of pepper / herbs / chilli / garlic etc (or whatever turns you on) to increase the taste value and then I find I am really conscious of everything that goes into my mouth. Big fan of good balsamic vinegar too, as it makes both salads and veg extra tasty! Eating slowly also helps.

Being so busy, you may even find the BSD way of life easier – when I am really busy, I tend not to think about food until my body actually screams out for it. On the other hand, when I am idle the thought of food can often pop into my head unbidden and there lies disaster…………………

Good luck in your journey, you will find SOOOOO much support here.

Welcome Shrinkme and well done on your results so far 🙂
I’m up to wk 2 day 3 and I must say this week is definitely easier than last week! I work full time but my 4 kids are all adults now and only 2 live at home. I do the majority of the cooking at home, and we’ve all been eating pretty much the same thing, just my family’s portions are bigger and include potatoes/pasta/rice.
Being organised is definitely helpful. I’ve been using my slow cooker to make bolognaise, curry, chilli etc – it’s lovely coming home and most of the cooking is done. I’ve also been making extra and freezing portions so I’ve got a supply on hand to take for lunches or to use when I don’t have time to cook.
I plan each days food the day before and enter it all into My Fitness Pal. I also make my lunch the night before.
I’m not a naturally organised person but it’s definitely making things a bit easier!
Good luck!

That’s really helpful Sue – I should use the slow cooker more but I’ve got out of the habit. I will dust it off I think.

Last night I had a big bowl of veg curry leftover I was planning for dinner, but when I got in my husband had left a bread cod fillet in the oven for me. I had enough calories for that, and a lump of cheese for afters, along with the curry so I really felt full. I think cold turkey on carbs is easier than small portions, and I don’t feel so foggy and lethargic. Love it 🙂

I will also add that even though DH was a complete tosser at the start, when he sees me losing weight his ears will prick up because he’s far too heavy as well. He won’t like being the fat one for a change 😂 so I’m looking forward to that <wicked>

Hey ShrinkMe,

Great that you have decided to make this change for yourself, despite lack of support at home. I’m sure once your weight loss becomes more evident, you OH will take a bit more notice and might even be willing to do the BSD as well. Whilst my OH hasn’t been unsupportive, he’s not been in anyway obstructive. Although others have commented on my weight loss and how well I’m looking, he’s not said much about what I’ve been doing, until this w/e, when he told me he’s proud of my achievement to date. He’s not doing the BSD, but most evenings I don’t serve him carbs, just whatever I am eating in a larger portion. Then later he will have some ice cream or chocolate – or both, while he watched TV. I guess in that respect, he has been tolerant and hasn’t demanded that I cook anything especially for him.

It sounds like you have really got to grips with the BSD way of eating (or how about wonderful lifestyle WL, Theodora?). You are already seeing good results and there’s no reason this won’t continue in the long run, but it will probably slow at some point and you might even experience a stall or plateau, where nothing seems to be happening. Then is the time to get on the forum and shout for support. People on here are great with advise, encouragement and support.

Good luck with your continued success – keep us posted!

I like WL, SunnyB. I hated WOE, so I personally call it my WOL (way of life). Altogether more positive than WOE (who wants a plateful of that?!).

And good luck, ShrinkMe81. My OH wasn’t on board at first, but when he started to see the results, he joined in. He still eats a fair bit more than me, but he’s off the usual suspect carbs and is losing weight. He’s also been very encouraging in recent times, when I’ve been struggling. So you never know. He might come around.

It’s the morning of day 6 and I’ve now lost 3.6kg – half a stone in under a week! I know this will plateau soon but it’s so motivating, really helpful as this is the difficult stage usually, when you have to face the long term nature of the changes you’ve made.

My first NSV is the slow disappearance of the bumps on my upper arms – they’re still visible but so much smoother now. I am so rotund that I’m not really noticing easier waistbands yet but I do feel “lighter”. Food is proving to be ok even with my mad days – Skye with berries and seeds in the morning, homemade soup for lunch, both of which I can grab. I’ve got chicken breasts which I’ve been chucking over salad with some Caesar dressing for quick dinners. It’s not as tough as I’d expected.

Well done on your 3.6 kg shrinkme – is hubby turning green with envy yet. Do this for yourself, where we lead others follow…..

I am so glad I started this. I’ve lost a stone. A STONE!
<dances with joy>

Now for the next one. I’m coming for you!