Hello!

[Luckyblueninja]

Hi everyone!

Here is a little bit of background. I'm 22 and I managed to put on almost 2 stone in one year. After trying to get on lighterlife (and just missing the required weight to join), I decided to ditch the fad diets and focus on a simple calorie shortage. I've been dieting for about 2 months now with the occasional hiccup and so far have lost 1 stone and 4 pounds so I'm proper chuffed with that, now in the ideal bmi range.

I'm starting my internship next week and am going on holiday in 11 weeks so I'm trying to be strict until then to lose a little more. While I'm now in the routine of running or going gym three times a week and am used to having 1200 calories, I am focusing now on those 1200 calories being home made meals full of fibre and protein rather than ready meals. And as someone who doesn't really like fruit, getting my 5 a day is a real challenge at the moment.

With my healthy eating, I'm also trying to use as many of the eat4cheap recipes as possible. Is anyone else doing this? Any tips?

[elliebath Maintainer]

Well done to have already lost that much, on 1200 cals youve had quite a fast weight loss so far . Dont be tempted to reduce any lower than 1200, make some healthy meals (there are lots of good recipes on the Web, also some by Rosemary Conley ) and even if those last few pounds are slower to shed you could still see 1lb a week loss in time for your holiday. Happy holidays!

[Luckyblueninja in reply to elliebath]

Thank you! Sometimes I am so busy I forget to eat all my calories and this usually results in me putting on more as my body panics. My target is 7 lbs in 11 weeks so I'm happy to go some weeks without losing. I am interested to see what my maintenance calories would be so once I've reached 9 stone I plan to slowly increase until I stop losing.

At the moment I'm looking at the Frugal Queen blog which is great for vegetable heavy meals.

[fenbadger]

I think you're probably doing enough now. Don't lose it too fast or it just goes back on when you relax at the end of it. Well done. Just that balanced healthy diet we all really know about but don't do. I have the same with 5 a day but with veg. I like fruit but with diabetes it's a complication. I cook at home so no salt fat MSG and the rest which helps. And you can feed things in that you may not really notice.

[Luckyblueninja in reply to fenbadger]

Thank you! Yes I've had experience with my mum losing a lot then putting on even more. I am much more sensible with food portions now and couldn't imagine having the huge bowls of pasta I used to have at uni! I've also read some worrying things about the sugar in fruit but I hope by having 1 a day in the morning I don't go overboard.

I enjoy cooking at home now with all the control over what is in it. I love spicy food and experimenting with my spice rack. Everyone often complains I make things too spicy!

[fenbadger in reply to Luckyblueninja]

Hehehe. There are lots of tiny tips that can help What you're doing sounds like a fun way. Spice gives you the flavour without the calories, just beware of gastric problems if you overdo it. I buy strong cheese then use less of it. I never buy those big sharing bags of anything - you end up not sharing. If for instance you must have crisps get them from poundland. I notice the bags contain 19g instead of 25g - hmm, cheeky but helpful. I don't do "W**ghtw*tch*rs" stuuf as it's all highly priced and nutritionally not much different, but if you're doing your own cooking, not needed. I control MY portions by what goes in the pot. We're all different and if you really mean to do it, I think you will. Good luck.