wetsuit

Signed up for a course on the Scandinavian diet yesterday. Here is the link.

http://www.scandinaviandiet.co.uk/

One of the first tasks was to visualize an outfit to be wearing when your weight has normalized. The outfit I visualized was a wetsuit. If you are obese you would never dream of trying to push all the rolls and bulges into a wetsuit. There is no where to hide. Every bump and saggy bit is on show.

I have had a dream of doing an open water scuba course but would never dream of doing it weighing what I do now or what I used to weigh 4 months ago.

But maybe by the time of my birthday next Feb I will be down to a standard size and can see if I would like to scuba dive. DH has said we can go to Mauritius so will look for a hotel that has a diving training course attached!

Maybe having a bit too much cream these days. It is nice to have a treat but as I have the cream I want to use it up! Only having it once with the main meal and then put some in coffee after supper but it is a good glug rather than a measured spoonful!

Scale up

Hi,

Scale is up 400gms this morning but I know my fat is not up by that much. Did a town trip, 8 hours round trip yesterday, that always pushes the scale up higher than when I have my normal routine at home.

So know that the diet is working, it has to work, it cannot fail so will get back into my home routine and see the scale drop back to my before town weight soon.

This is the only diet for me

I have tried so many things to lose weight. Gone to slimming clubs and paid good money! Bought bottles and bottles of tablets and capsules to try and get my appetite under control. Some of them helped a bit and I lost some weight at the clubs but as soon as I stopped dieting the weight all came back and brought friends.

This seemed to be something I just could not do. To lose weight so that it stayed off. My extended family would never know when they saw me on trips overseas whether I would be 10st or 15 stone.

I believed all the bad press about fat and oils. Far too many calories, if you are dieting remove all the fat, dry fry your food in a non stick pan. Never knowingly eat fat. I did what I was told and what I was taught. I am a Home Economics teacher so know all about calories!

It did not work. At 60 I was obese, fatigued and fed up! Then I read escape the diet trap by Dr Briffa. Fortunately I never gave up buying and reading dieting books. I had a dream that one day I would find a diet that worked for me, that solved my obesity problem for good and let me eat the food I enjoyed.

This is it and it contains a lot of fat. Good fats. My body just loves running on fat. I dont feel my age at all now. I am busy and productive the whole day. I dont get the afternoon slumps and binging. I enjoy all my meals. I can forget about food for hours at a time. I am finally becoming slim and am going to stay that way all the rest of my life.

A high carbohydrate, low calorie low fat diet was completely and utterly wrong for me. I should have been told 40 years ago that there are alternatives for people like me. I look around and know I am not alone with my problems. There are millions of us all struggling with misinformation.

Put fat back in its rightful place in your diet and your body will thank you in every way.

Fat metabolism

My body is now running mainly on fat. Fat from my body, 34lbs so far, and fat that I eat. I am no longer fat phobic and no longer 'dry fry' my foods or grill and throw the fat away.

My rings are loose, my watch has moved up my arm as my wrists are thinner than they have ever been.

I just dont get hungry until just before a meal and I dont binge any more.

I am enjoying cooking again. I like making nice cream sauces to go with my food. I add herbs and spices to my stews. I used to worry about doing the cooking as on a low fat low calorie diet I would be eating and picking all the time I cooked the food. Now I can wait and sit down to a nice satisfying plateful of good nourishing food and know that I am still going to lose weight. Lost just over 4lbs this month. Not a massive weight loss but if I can do the same for the next 6 months I will have lost another 2 dress sizes.

One thing I did find is that I was using a chilli and garlic spice mix and it stalled my weight loss for about 5 days until I went back to a small shake of cayenne spice instead. Some of these spice mixes have chemicals in that can stall weight loss. I love my ratatouille with some oil and hot spice on it.

Scandinavian Diet

I found 2 kindle books on Amazon yesterday about this very low carb diet. There is no doubt for me that this is the way I have to eat if I am going to finally say goodbye and good riddance to obesity.

I am looking at seeing how to become a licensed coach for the Scandinavian diet. I would like to help others get their insulin under control and finally feel good about themselves.

Once you get over the first couple of weeks on eating this way it becomes so much easier. You dont cut calories so you hardly ever feel hungry. You can eat rich fatty foods so your blood sugar level stays stable. You dont eat carbs so your brain stays clear and energetic all day.

Story of a girl of 19 in UK where they had to take the walls of her house down to get her out as she weighs 840lbs. She is now in hospital. Until the Drs and obesity 'experts' take a long hard look at the different effects of insulin they are never going to solve the obesity problem.

LCHF

Well it looks as though this is what I am doing.

http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2012/05/20/7533/swedes-lob-dynamite-into-a-controversy-high-f

Link there to a diabetes article about how this is a better diet for diabetics.

I believe is also a better diet for the obese. I have been losing weight without difficulty for the first time in my life.

Hope to be no longer obese in the next couple of weeks.

Half way

Just changed my ticker weight this morning and realised I am half way to 11st or 70kg. This has not been mind blowingly difficult. In fact it has been the easiest diet I have ever done as it has controlled the craving and binging from day one.

So that is 15kg down in 4 months. Even if it takes me 8 months to lose the next 15kg I am not worried as I dont feel this is a diet where I am ever going to lose control around food again.

One of the books said when you can walk past the sweet and chocolate racks at the supermarket without a pang of desire to buy and eat something then you are cured. I can do that now. I can buy chocolate for my DH and put it in the fridge and it can stay there open for a week or more but it has no hold over me. I dont want it. That is the cure.

Fat Feet

Over the weekend I had to adjust the straps on my slip on shoes. My feet were sliding too far forward in my shoes. I had fat feet!

I know the fat is going it is just going from places I never thought were fat! Total since the beginning of this month is 1.5kg which is about 3.3lbs. Not a mind blowing weight loss but at least it is downwards and not upwards and I do feel that my food intake control is at 100% whereas before it was about 80% in the mornings and down to 10% in the afternoons and evenings when on a low calorie diet.

My trousers that I could not get into 3 months ago and now feeling looser particularly around the legs. maybe it is the walking I am now doing. About 40min each afternoon and I even jogged for 100 paces yesterday. I counted them!

Major goal at present is to get below the obesity BMI. 29.9 here I come.

At Last

Finally seen some movement downwards on the scale. 500gms less than yesterday which is a lot for me but then no weight loss for the past 6 days.

I did say I would not change my ticker until I had seen the same figure 2 days running but I could not resist!

Funny thing was that the fancy scale showed a lower weight but a higher fat percentage. Am over the 40% again. So does that mean this weight loss was mainly water? Its very confusing.

The important thing for me is the scale is moving down and not up and I am still feeling satisfied with my meals and not craving or binging. Have cut down a bit on my supper portion but still not feeling starved before I go to bed.

Very keen to get under that 30 BMI and finally no longer be obese.

same weight

Weight is still the same as it was a week ago and I have been walking every day. On previous diets this would be the point that I would think blow it and give up. But not this time. I am eating well and enjoying the fat I have added back into my food. My eating disorder is cured. I no longer have any urge to binge in the afternoons or evenings.
What I did decide to try yesterday was to put my tuna cheese tomato melt supper into a smaller bowl and measure out less of it. I still enjoyed it and did not feel any hunger pangs later before I went to bed. So will try that for the next week and see if I make any progress.
This was never going to be a crash diet. I am eating too well for that but I was hoping to see even a half pound loss in a week. Maybe next week I will lose a pound!

To be un obese

That is my present goal. To get under that 30 BMI. I could maybe increase my height by half an inch or so! That would be one way to do it.

Worked out that I think the 29.9 BMI will be at about the same weight as when I drop below the 13 stone or 182lb or 83kg. At my present weight loss rate that is going to take about 6 weeks. I could get there faster by decreasing my food intake but then run the risk of craving and binging in the afternoons. So am going to carry on eating the way I am doing now.

I am thinking of getting some of those arm shakerators at the fitness shop in town to see if I can firm up my underarms. Maybe a lost cause but I can but try.

I find it quite interesting to see where the fat is going from this time round. I am no longer going low calorie anti fat dieting. This is a controlled insulin diet and definitely the fat is being mobilised from different places and being moved about! I find this quite strange. My fingers and backs of my hands were quite thin a few months ago and now they have got a new layer of fat on them. Makes the back of my hands look younger rather than thin and boney!

My body has its own agenda. It will do this in it's own time and it's own way.

What is the long term plan?

I was planning the future on my walk yesterday.

Decided one thing I would like to do is to help obese people get rid of their excess fat. I am quite good with computers so would buy a projector and set up a slide show to explain how this high fat low carb diet actually works. Then set up meeting and meet maybe once a week or every 2 weeks. No booing or clapping allowed!

The obese get so much flak and blame for their condition and I feel it is totally unfair as you have no control over your hormones and they are just taking dietary advice to eat more carbs and less fat which is completely wrong for their bodies.

I was also planning maintenance for when I finally get rid of all the excess fat. I dont want to go too low as I dont want to go all wrinklie and old. At present I am on 3 meals a day and about 28 gms carbs and 1500 cals and losing about 4 to 5 lbs per month. My eating schedules are 7am, 12.15 and 5. So what I thought I could do is leave the morning as it is as I am not particularly hungry then but add a snack maybe about 4pm and then put my supper back till 7. So the snack would be mainly protein and fat with a small salad. So adding about 300 cals and a couple of carb grams.

If I found I was putting weight back on then I could drop the snack and move my supper forward again. Will play with the schedule once I finally get to a 'normal' weight.

I Can Whistle

I learnt how to whistle when I was about 8. We had a three note whistle to call the dog and I could do it quite well.

I dont know when I lost the knack. I could usually manage a faint breathy sort of whistle but the proper piecing one was beyond me.

Now I have realised why. I have lost far more fat in my cheeks than I usually do on a diet. This high fat way of eating has blocked my insulin response and the fat loss is not occurring in its usual pattern. Usually my face stays round and fat while other parts of me get thinner.

The reduction in my cheek fat has increased my whistling ability. I was out with the dogs yesterday and one went missing. Tried my whistle and it was back to a full strength 3 note loud whistle. Something I have not been able to do for 40 years!

The dog found me!

Half life

Dr Atkins said that the degree of insulin resistance you suffered from is directly related to how much better you feel once you cut out the poison sugar.

Maybe he didn't put it exactly like that but that is my interpretation.

Since I have cut out all the sugar foods and re introduced good fats I feel like a new woman. I have energy in the afternoons and evenings. I start jobs and finish them. I am not constantly watching the clock to see if it is time for a feed. Dare I say it but I even forget about food for hours at a time!

This is the way I should have been living for the past 50 years but because I believed the hype about fats and oils being bad and making us fat I was stuck in a glucose fog for years. I suffered endlessly with different diets all cutting my fat lower and lower and allowing low calorie carb foods which made the problem worse. Like throwing petrol on a fire in the hope of putting it out!

Walking is making me feel much better and brighter and with an added bonus of losing 400gms over the last 24 hrs! Am sure scale will be up again tomorrow but as long as the general trend in downwards I am a winner.

walking

For the past 4 days I have been taking a 40 min walk in the afternoon. On previous diets I have been walking in the afternoon to get out of the house in the hope of preventing a binge. Afternoons have always been the worst times for me when it comes to will power. Sometimes it would just defer the binge to when I got back but sometimes having felt good that I had exercised I would be able to hold my food intake to a low level. This was the case the last time I dieted when I was on a low fat low carb diet.

I never realised that I could lose weight on a higher no of calories as long as I kept my carb gms low. It may not be a fast weight loss but the scale is gradually creeping downwards without me having to deprive myself and feel hungry most afternoons and evenings.

So far I am enjoying the walks and the dogs do too. The weather is nice, no rain and not too hot. At the end of the walk is the hill up to the house. Would be good to do that without taking a breather but at present I stop and admire the view! These walks are not designed to increase my calorie useage but I expect they will do that. What I hope they will achieve is to increase my sensitivity to insulin. My muscle cells have been resistant to insulin which is why the glucose has been stored in my fat cells for so long. If I can increase the mass of my muscles and also get more 'doors' opening on my muscle cells then my hope of staying slim for life is more achievable.

I can already feel an improvement in my thigh and calf muscles just from these last 4 days. What I must not do is obsess about the walking. If I cant go one day it is not the end of the world! Just take one day at a time.

Bracelet

The other day I bought a pretty charm bracelet. I dont do jewellery except for ear rings. I have 3 icecube trays with earrings on my dressing table and try to match the earrings to the outfit. When I was over 200lbs I did not even wear earrings. I tried not to draw attention to myself. Difficult when you are the size of a house!

Anyway I saw this bracelet a few weeks ago at the shop. Decided last week to try it on and it would not fit round my right wrist. So did not buy it. On the way home decided to get it anyway. Has lots of glass beads and trinkets dangling from it. Then discovered I can fit it on my left wrist. So have been wearing it this week below my watch.

I am making more of an effort with my hair and makeup. Maybe I have finally got a handle on this obesity. I certainly dont see that scale going up again the way it used to on the low calorie diets. It may not be fast but it seems to be consistent.

Have started walking for about 40mins each afternoon this week and feeling better for it. Need to exercise my muscles.

To answer sue. I dont have anything artificial so no fake sweets. Also I might have a glass of champagne for a celebration once in a blue moon but I dont drink. If you are going to drink then vodka and soda would be your best choice.

What I eat now

Hi

Yes I found the Briffa book Escape the Diet trap very helpful.

My daily food intake looks like this.

2 softboiled eggs with about 15gms butter.

Coffee with milk and cinnamon during the morning plus glasses of warm water.

Lunch is usually meat or poultry with the fat. Small amount of gravy plus any green veg I have available. One helping only.

Afternoon tea with milk plus water.

late afternoon supper

half a tin of salmon or tuna in oil. Or a tin of sardines. Ratatouille cooked with olive oil, cream cheese and 25 gms of hard cheese grated on top. Heated in microwave so its like a pizza without the base.

Evening decaf coffee.

If I have to snack which I try not to do. Cold meat, cheese, peanut butter. Try to go for protein and fat at all meals. I did have an apple with cheese yesterday.

This way of eating has stopped my uncontrollable binges in the afternoons and evenings. But I do sometimes nibble but I now do that in front of my family and not in secret.

Changed Metabolism

Is it possible to change your metabolism? I always thought not.

I have had an obese metabolism all my life. I always had cravings for sweet things and carbs in the afternoons. I could put on 50lbs over the course of 6 months after the end of a diet.

I would try all the low calorie diets I could find. I would eat bread and marmalade because they were low calorie without realising that the problem was caused by the sugar and starch in my diet.

Once I got that it became so much easier to work with my body to lose weight rather than fighting it the whole time.

I am no longer frightened of losing control in the afternoons and evenings. I may be going overboard at present and having too much fat and oil but the aim is to find a balance. How much of satisfying foods I can eat and still lose weight, then how much I can eat and maintain that new lower weight.

I dont mind feeling hungry just before a meal. I know I can have nice filling food when I do eat.

I was reading the 21 day womans weekly diet yesterday. Low fat and mainly low carb but each serving of food was under 300 cals. So that is 900 cals for the day! Far too low for a sustainable way of eating.

I am aiming for a 5lb loss each month. If I get it I am happy. If not there is always next month.

To binge or not to binge! Atkins is the answer!

Adding back and taking away

What I have found with this diet that it is as much about adding the fat and oils back into my diet as it is about taking the sugar and starch out.

One without the other does not work. Eating fats and oils with sugar and starch will put on weight. Not eating sugar and starch without adding fat and oil back into meals makes you hungry and craving food.

To stabilize your blood sugar you need to do both together. My intake is still about 200 cals lower than it used to be on a 'normal' diet which would put weight on.

This is not a crash diet. I am learning again how to eat without weightgain. Something I could do as a small child but I lost the knack somewhere along the way.

Veins

For years I have had lumpy veins on my legs. Legacy of a twin pregnancy 30 years ago.

Even when I lost weight a few years back the veins did not reduce that much. In fact they seemed to be more prominent once the surrounding fat had gone.

On this diet with a higher fat level I have noticed that the veins are reducing. Whether it is because of the better blood pressure I dont know. Or maybe because I am finally adding fat into my diet my veins and arteries are more elastic and there is less strain on my whole system.

One thing I would like to do is have them operated on but I know I have to complete the weight loss phase and also know that I will never put the weight back on again. Maybe in 12 months time I could think about it. I think both legs would need doing.

Now that I am so much in control of my eating I can make plans like this. Before I was just waiting and anticipating the day that the diet went out the window. That is just not happening any more. I dont need will power I just needed to up my fat intake.