101 ways to lose a few pounds before Christmas

[StripyPixieSocks]

Don't ever go on a diet... I see a dietician every Friday and she told me the word should be banned because the instant you go on a diet you are setting yourself up to fail.

Instead you should eat sensible meals, cut out snacks and make sure you get some exercise

(She says wisely but struggling with it herself)

[JulieSherris]

Buy a wreck of a house with 2.5 acres of garden that YOU want to use for growing... but the previous owner spent 9 years trying to establish a small forest.......

Start by waking at 6 each morning, bed at midninght, waking at 3am for loo trip & to check on the range.....
Cut at least 5 trees a week from the 'forest'... rake leaves from the trees, chop logs, split logs, carry endless buckets of peat turf & firewood across the gardens to the house.... paint the bathroom, wash off said paint, scrape old gloss off, treat the walls & start again.... and that's just the tip of the iceberg!

And if you're not able to do any of this, come spend a week with me - I'll show you how!!!

[LBR]

Wait till the New Year, and get 361 days to reach your goal.

Eat one bit less than your appetite. (From that adage: Eat for your hunger, not for your appetite.)

[Millymollymandy]

Catch the lurgy on Xmas Eve - you're guaranteed to lose weight over Christmas.

[JulieSherris]

Well, I did well over xmas - lost 5 pounds during the 2 - 3 weeks.
I am now at my target goal of 10st & comfy in a size 14, but am still losing, so from here on in, it's all good.
(For those that don't know, I had a gastric bypass)

So, here's to size 12 or even a 10 for the summer - Wahay!!
The only down side to all of this is the speed at which you grow out of clothes - but my answer to this has been to stitch in elastic to my waistbands & just slob about the house in saggy baggy clothes, only buying 1 new outfit in my current size for when I have to go into town. Hubby got a voucher for Dunnes for 100 euros from work, so he gave it to me to spend on clothes & now I have 3 new size 14 outfits, plus I have new knicks - and have cleared my drawers of all my old size 22 sloggi's I'm also down to a 36C bra - from a 44G! I also bought a pair of tights yesterday... size medium! It's been about 13 years since I was a medium.

Yep, I'm definitely a different shape - but we only have 2 small mirrors in the house, so it's easy to forget.

I also have 2 new pairs of garden trousers, thanks to the hubby, well, thanks to his company who provide him with Snickers workwear...... LOTS of pockets in them & HUGE pockets in the knees for kneepads (also provided).

2009 is gonna be a good year, & after the last 13 years of being fat, I'm looking forward to it

[Annpan]

Wow Julie! well done, must have been a difficult year for you.

[JulieSherris]

Ann, compared with 12 previous years constant dieting, 6 full months on Lighter Life (and permanent ketosis), and all the yoyo-ing etc, this last year has been an absolute walk in the park!
Best thing I ever did & worth every penny.

OK, I still only have quarter portions, and my taste buds have changed somewhat, but that's fine & more importantly, I have energy - bags & bags of it!

I was behind a lady in a shop yesterday, who was buying the WW magazine & had nothing but WW ready meals - I wanted to cry - been there, done that - soul destroying. Then I wanted to hug her & commiserate with her, but I don't think that would have gone down very well

[Millymollymandy]

Julie this is something I've always wondered about these gastric bypass ops. What happens when you reach your target weight? Do you have the gastric band taken off or something? Otherwise how do you stop losing weight when you don't need to anymore?

[JulieSherris]

Julie this is something I've always wondered about these gastric bypass ops. What happens when you reach your target weight? Do you have the gastric band taken off or something? Otherwise how do you stop losing weight when you don't need to anymore?

MMM - I didn't have a band, I had the bypass - as far as I know, you can have the band taken off at any time. If you have the band, you have to keep regualr appointments to have it pumped up or let down, depending on your progress.
Obviously, once you've had it taken away, you're left to your own defences again.

With a bypass, I had the Roux-En-Y procedure. They stitch your stomach closed right at the top of your stomach, leaving you with just the teeniest pouch - this stretches over time, but in the initial stages you can eat 1/2 a yoghurt pot quantity of food.
Then your intestine is re-routed to join the bottom of the pouch & rejoined further along the intestine, meaning that calorie intake from food is severely reduced. My closure was at 85% of the limit because of my age & starting weight. I had the op on a saturday morning & was back on the ferry coming home on monday morning.

Once everything has settled and my pouch has stretched to its final size, the weight loss slows a lot. As it has done now.
The first 6 stone flew off, the next 2 took 3 months - but as I'm not dieting, or counting cals, or doing anything out of the ordinary, I can live with that.
General rule of thumb which signifies the end is 18 mths after the op. I had mine in March, so am 10 mths in at the moment. I'm expecting to end up around 9st, maybe a bit lighter, but I'm only 5ft 1.
Then the body naturally regulates - I'll be taking in enough calories to maintain my new size - if I find I'm too light, I shall have to eat foods which are high in calories & regulate the opposite way, which would be quite a novelty! Certain foods make you 'crash' because of the rush of blood sugar - cereals do it for me & I end up in bed for 4 hours after trying porridge. You soon learn what to avoid & you also learn to eat regular meals too! I keep dry roasted peanuts around just in case, good in an emergency.

The most important thing about it is that I can't jeopardize it..... My head is extremely perverse & when dieting, I could force my body into starvation mode very easily. I then ate very little each day, but still gained weight - I became an expert at doing this, without realising.. but still 'knowing'. I could eat less then 400 cals a day & gain weight - but NOT good for the health.

The op is irreversible, so I'll never be able to eat a 10oz steak again, but the shopping bills are much lower & in Ireland it's perfectly normal to order half portions when eating out, so that works too. Like I said, it was the best money we ever spent - it's just a shame I got to that point in the first place, but then the mind is a funny thing..... well, mine is!

Julie..... Morning!
Progress pics...
http://s157.photobucket.com/albums/t62/ ... ht%20Loss/

[LBR]

These folks have a succinctly written newsletter, with lots of good info in it. In the case that it should appeal to someone, here's one of 'em.

http://www.sensible-alternative.com.au/sensnews34.pdf

[Millymollymandy]

Your photos are quite amazing Julie and you look about 20 years younger too! Where's the January 2009 photos? I suppose if you feel full on a tiny bit of food then you no longer have to suffer the agonies of dieting any more. It all sounds a bit scary to me but if it works and you feel great then that is a good thing!

[Purdy Bear]

Iv been five stone over weight and one stone under so heres my tips:


Make a committed decision to become fit and healthy (have leverage) and know what that means (source Anthony Robbins).

Know that it isn't at all about the food, but why you eat, journal all those stuck emotions. The more confident you feel, the more you have a healthy life style.

Never ever, ever go on a diet, Iv tried everyone in the book and they do not work. Its a life change you need not a food plan.

Know your nutrition - why you eat certain things (ie Brocolli for good lungs, Lettuce relaxes you) - read the book Foods that Harm and Foods that Heal by Readers Digest.

Know how to balance your food intake to your weight. Weigh yourself twice a week, evenly spaced apart, no more then that.

Know what foods are your treats (chocolate, cheese, chrisps, takeaways etc) and limit these to one day a week or even once a month or just special occasions. No food is band, just learn to enjoy them more by having them less. If you want it have it, but in small portions and if you want chips then have them once a week for one meal.

Eat often, have really huge breakfasts, lunch and Dinner with three snacks in between, all healthy food (no fry ups, pastries, crisps, takeawys). Never get to the stage when your starving, you just scoff anything.

Always carry health food (Banana etc) with you and a bottle of water.

Do ten minutes (yep just 10) of exercise each morning, just stretches, sit ups etc. Walk as much as you can and do the housework.

And for those who want to gain weight healthily:

Add a little sugar (aslong as your not diabetic) in jams, icecreams etc. See your Dr and get an Ensure drink daily. Never feel hungry as before.

For Both
Your portion sizes are controlled by your fist size. Each serving needs to be the size of your fist, so say you want mash potatoe then make it the same size as your fist, then meat, then two more veg etc. So you should have one meat (or protein), three veg, and a carb per meal so that is five fist sizes on a plate. If you want to gain weight make it bigger then normal' to loose weight the same size.

To keep your weight balanced just control the treat intake, if you go up cut them out for a bit, if you go down increase them. This can be done for exercise too.
Hope that helps.