Weight Loss

Well miracles do happen. I've lost 10kg since the beginning of March. This is after years of trying diets and eating plans, even counterweight prescribed by my lifestyle advisor at the gp surgery. None of these worked for more than a few weeks.

So what did I do?

I did what I do best and struck out alone, reasearched food as molecular structures, how the body processes them and came up with the best diet plan for me. It's very basic, at times tedious, but it works for me.

I started with a week of detox. This was to get my body used to expelling waste that it likes to hang onto. It was tough with a feeling of weakness and headaches mid week, but this settled. This may be more severe if you have had a sugar rich diet. It takes a year for your body to adjust to a reduced sugar diet. I did this about 5 years ago.

Then I moved onto the Grapefruit diet. This is 1/2 grapefruit with each meal, although I do a whole grapefruit with the morning and evening meal. The first meal of the day is protien only, the other 2 are protien and vegetables. Snacks are vegetables. You can eat as much as you like of anything, and vegetables with high water content have precedence over carb laden winter root veg. You can also use small amounts of fats to cook with.

Raw veg and plain cooked protien are prefered over sauce laden dishes, which does take a bit of getting used to. The other thing you must do, is drink a lot of water. Tea asnd coffee are no nos but you can have herbal/fruit teas.

You do this for 12 days which gives you a weekend off every fortnight where you can eat what ever you want. I am careful to balance this with tiny portions, because the first weerkend off, I just ate and ate and put on 3 of the 5 kilos I had lost. You are expected to loose 1-2 kilos a week.

This diet works because you are getting the essential minirals and vitamins in their raw state, without alteration by cooking. The body finds it easier to absorb them. Grapefruit has enzymes that aid digestion, which means that your body processes food quicker, toxins are not being held onto which refuces the amount of water your body holds onto too. The body doesn't need extra water for flushing out the toxins. It teaches your body to use your fat stores for energy.

Over time, I've settled down to a nice routine, and actually eat a lot less than I did when I started out.

The weight loss is surprising and very welcome. Although I do now have more back pain. This is because my centre of gravity has changed. Even the slightest change from the norm is detected by my body and it's response it's to say I don't like it, and get into the pain cycle again.

The other reason is that I am loosing my internal corset. The layer of fat did a good job of holding things together, filling in the gaps. Now my loose SIJ joints are less supported internally. I have a weird sensation that my legs don't feel like they belong to me.

I do have a bit more to loose, so I'm expecting these symptoms to increase. I am doing more pilates, getting specific massage to certain muscle groups to counteract it.

If anyone wants to try the grapefruit diet, check with your gp first, it may not be compatible with some meds. Also the carbs and dairy food groups are excluded.

[Bananas5]

Wow Zana that is brilliant. Loved your description of losing your internal corset!

If it works for you that is what matters.

I am about to try the 500 diet. 2 days, non consecutive, of 500 calories and then 5 of nprmal. Approx 1200 for women and 1400 for men. You lose about 1lb per week.

Slowly slowly and on this diet you only have to fast for one day at a time. No buckets of cabbage soup day in week out!

Pay x

[Hidden in reply to Bananas5]

Hi Pat, my mother does that one and she's loosing weight after finally accepting she has a weight problem. she has been ignoring the issue for about 20 years! It suits her life style.

We have to find something that looses the weight and provides a way to maintain it for ever more.

I use an app called NOOM and I think it's available accross all platforms. I use it to log my data - I don't use their diet plan. It gives me quite good data to work with - weight, calorie intake. It works out your calorie intake with the amount of exercise you can do. And all I can say is, that my weight loss follows the green line of prediction. You can use it to follow your own diet plan. I find it very reasuring that I am loosing weight, because 1 - 2 kg is not a lot over a week.

[Calceolaria]

Well done Zanna! Its a great feeling and one where we actually feel in control of something. I find Slimming World Extra Easy the best ever and have slowly lost a stone. Recipes are fantastic and apart from no snacking, its relatively easy, although I have to have my medicinal red wine pm!

[nedd]

Well done Zanna.

I think it takes huge amounts of focus and determination to change ones diet.

It's so easy to slip especially if your are feeling below par.

Thumbs up for the Grapefruit.

[Calceolaria in reply to nedd]

Bear in mind what Zanna says about grapefruit interacting with many medications.

[Hidden]

thanks everyone. I've no idea if I'll reach my target, but I'll be happy getting somewhere close. When I make my mind up to do something, I am focused - might take me a few years to make my mind up though All that weightloss and it's not quite a dress size yet - I'm 6ft, and hide extra weight very well.

Everyone else on a weightloss plan, keep at it, take a break if you have to.

[Hidden]

The best website I have found is My Fitness Pal because then I can see exactly what I am eating and what happens to my weight when I eat more or less of it - but it's not an approach for anyone who's really busy as it does take time to record everything - BUT if it suits you it will definitely help with weight loss and long term healthy eating. I find it really amazing to see how things I thought were good for a diet are actually high calorie and the other way around. It makes me smile to find I can eat so much of the right things!

[Hidden]

I lost 2 stone all i did was change my diet its about will power diets dont work cause after you have lost the weight you go back too old habbits again thinking ive lost the weight its easy too slip back into eating rubblish

[deejames]

May I suggest that this is a good time to start Pilate's. It sounds as if you really need to strengthen your core muscles . very important for helping your back cope. My chiropractor tells me frequently that my good core ( Pilate's for several years) muscles are helping me a lot.

Get a teacher though preferably one who will do a one to one assessment first before you join a class. After a while, when you know what you are doing there are some excellent DVDs to be had.

[Hidden]

I used to go to pilates run by a private physio who worked on my back. Unfortunately at one session I had a very bad reaction and my body locked up. Took 8 weeks of physio and severe pain killers to sort it. She was and still is unwilling to have me in a class because of this despite me saying I would take full responsibility for any further rwactions. So, if she is unwilling who knows my history, I doubt anyone else will take me on. I do some simple exercises myself and also some adapted yoga, but it's not the same as a pilates class.