Omega's journey

[Omega]

Well this is the start of my diary.

I introduced myself in the newcomers section.

Briefly - my name is Margaret - I am a 48 year old married lady living in England.

I am a PCOS lady and therefore find it particularly easy to gain weight and particularly difficult to lose weight.

At the start of this year I was 21 stones (i.e. 294 pounds). I am 5ft 3 inches tall. I have a small frame.

I have been really good with my diet and exercise and am in the middle of my most successful diet ever (veteran of many many failed attempts).

I just hope that I can stay motivated and get there this time.

My husband (we have been married over 20 years) is overweight too - and I do worry about him. He is about 25 and a half stones (i.e. 357 pounds) and 5ft 8 inches tall. He is 45 years old and I am very aware that his father was overweight and died as he turned 47 of a heart attack.

I can only write my diary entry for Friday - because it is Saturday morning and I don't know what is going to happen today yet.

========================

Friday 28/09/07

Exercise:

The weather started dull but thankfully not raining. I set out on my morning long walk about 7.30 a.m. I had my storm jacket in my backpack but did not need it. I prefer to walk in a thick cardigan. I did my basic 6.3 miles.

The road that I live on is a crescent from a straight road. I class this D shaped route as going round the block. It is about 0.6 to 0.7 miles long.

Later on it was raining - but I still went round the block 4 times.

When my husband came home he said that he would walk round the block if I went with him. I was delighted and we went round the block in the rain.

I have a little exercise routine which I sometimes do to music. I did this too. There was a bit of dancing and 40 sit-ups, some high steps and kicks. It sounds silly and is of my own invention but at the start I had got so that I had such poor balance I would sit down to put on trousers. My balance has certainly been improving this year.

I wear my pedometer for the entire day from when I get dressed in the morning until bedtime. Some pedometers ignore steps at the start - but mine counts everything. My readings were:

Steps 33,779
Distance 12.52 miles

The distance is a simple multiple of detected steps by a sample step length. Since some steps around the house are not as long as others out walking this is a very rough guide.

Weight:

I weigh myself at the end of my morning long walk wearing daytime clothes - but no shoes.
14st 5.0lbs (i.e. 201 pounds)
This is down 0.4 pounds on the previous day.
I certainly don't get that kind of drop every day to put it into context my previous week and a half of weighings are
17/09/07 14st6.2
18/09/07 14st6.4
19/09/07 14st6.8
20/09/07 14st6.8
21/09/07 14st8.0
22/09/07 14st7.2
23/09/07 14st7.4
24/09/07 14st7.2
25/09/07 14st7.2
26/09/07 14st6.8
27/09/07 14st5.4

Food / Drink:

1 very large banana
1 Finger-pinch of sultanas (certainly not a handful)
5 grapes
3 weetabix, 1 heaped teaspoon of sweetener (a level teaspoon is apparently 1.9 calories) and the (large) bowl topped up with skimmed milk.
Cooked ham 120g - apparently 150 calories
1 glass (200ml) grapefruit juice
1 glass (200ml) orange juice
1 whole rainbow trout (medium sized) cooked in foil with small knob olive spread and 1/4 lemon sliced in cavity) 4 small new potatoes (served with small knob olive spread), 130g sweetcorn
2 litres of cold water
some diet cola
3 wine gums
1 Fox's glacier fruit boiled sweet

Supplements:

1 multivitamin
1 omega 3
1 starflower oil


Other things I do:

I have been watching quite a few plastic surgery TV shows recently as I wonder what my loose skin situation will be if I get anywhere near goal.

Although there have been some on tummy tucks and body lifts - there have been others on face lifts.

This has led me to wonder whether I will get wrinkled if the layer of fat under my skin goes. I dont want to lose the weight and have a heap of other problems if I can help it. I am a coward at heart and really dont want to be in pain if I can prevent it by taking action.

I know that I am inclined to neglect my appearance. This contributed to me getting to be 21 stones in the first place.

For the record the other bits that I do are

Put light moisturiser on face and neck and vaseline on my lips and use handcream in the morning - all before going out on my long walk.

Bio-oil 5 minute massage my abdomen late morning and night-time.

Body lotion thighs, breasts and upper arms once a day.

Night time thick moisturiser at bedtime.

I recognise that many of the ladies on this list probably have always done these things - but I havent and I certainly have to try and remind myself to do them.

 

[Omega]

EDIT
I think that this will be useful so I am pasting it here so that I can find it.

I suffer from PCOS but still reached my weight loss goal last year. Here are my "Top 10 Tips" to help you in 2008.

Health club memberships will be at an all-time high. The promotional flyer I got from the local gym in the mail today went straight into the trash. I am vowing never to pay another year of “fat tax,” those fifty-plus dollars a month many of us agree to pay for a one-year membership that most will probably use for a few weeks. Of course, I believe in exercise as part of any weight-loss program, but it doesn’t require a gym or any expensive torture contraptions.

I’m sure sign-ups on ediets.com will soar. I’ve tried most of the more popular diets they offer: Atkins, Slim-Fast Optima, etc. -- the results never went beyond losing five or so pounds. Atkins is just so hard! And I consider a Slim-Fast shake desert, not a meal! But after years of trial and error and much reading on the subject, I have at last found a healthy, balanced diet that doesn’t require any special shakes or the banishing of carbs.

I also tried numerous supplements. Hoodia, which I took religiously for four weeks, had absolutely no impact on curbing my appetite, along with a few others containing stimulants that made me feel like I was having a heart attack. But don’t get me wrong; I do feel that the RIGHT supplements can have a dramatic impact on weight loss.

I believe the underlying cause of PCOS is insulin resistance. And I believe this because as soon as I started to treat my insulin resistance. I saw a dramatic improvement in my skin and in my hair: less acne, more hair. And I also reached my weight loss goal of losing 45 pounds over the course of last year. I am 5’9” and now weigh a healthy 150 pounds.

Because of insulin resistance, many women with PCOS have a much harder time losing weight. Here is why: Insulin is the hormone responsible for allowing glucose, or blood sugar, to be absorbed by the cells of the body, where it is converted to energy. If you are insulin resistant, your cells react sluggishly to insulin. When you eat a meal -- whether it's steak, fish or vegetables -- the body breaks it down into glucose, a usable energy form. When you are insulin resistant, extra glucose remains in the blood stream, until it is finally sent to the liver and converted to excess body fat.

These are my Top 10 Tips to Weight Loss with PCOS.

1. Gradually cut down on refined carbohydrates (white bread, white rice, white pasta and most sweets) and replace them with healthy sources of carbohydrates (whole grain bread, brown rice and whole wheat pasta). Refined carbs have been processed so that most of the fiber and nutrients are stripped away. This causes the body to quickly convert them into glucose. Whole grains still contain the fiber that will allow your body to digest the food more slowly, keeping you blood sugar levels from spiking and help to correct insulin resistance. I found that I was able to lose weight by eating roughly 70 grams of healthy carbohydrates per day.

2. Avoid all hydrogenated fats. Look at labels. If the product contains ingredients like hydrogenated vegetable oil, don’t buy it. Look for products that are free of hydrogenated oils and trans fat.

3. Moderate your intake of saturated fats. Saturated fat can mostly be found in animal products like: bacon, red meat and cheese.

4. Incorporate healthy fats into your diet: instead of cooking with vegetable oil use olive oil. Add nuts and avocados into your salad. They are excellent sources of Omega-3, the heart-healthy fat.

5. Have lean protein at every meal. This will help to control glucose spikes. Servings should be 3-4 oz, about the size of a deck of cards. Try turkey, poultry, veggie burgers, and lean cuts of pork and beef.

6. Avoid starchy vegetables like carrots, beets, corn and potatoes. They naturally contain higher amounts of sugar that can cause glucose levels to rise. Opt for vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus and zucchini, which are low in sugar and high in fiber.

7. Buy whole foods. This means if it comes in a box, it’s probably not good for you. Prepackaged food is full of preservatives, chemicals and sodium which can actually make PCOS symptoms worse.

8. Start an exercise program you can stick with. I began with walking 10 minutes a day, 3 days per week. Now I have worked my way up to jogging for 30 minutes, 5 days per week. Find an activity you enjoy whether it’s walking, rollerblading, hiking or swimming, and gradually increase your workout session lengths and the number of days per week you do them.

9. Begin taking supplements. (Insulite Labs PCOS System offers the best combination of supplements for women with PCOS that I've found.)

10. Take it slow! Losing more than half a pound per week is too fast and you will probably just gain it back.

Margaret—polycystic ovarian syndrome is caused by an imbalance of a woman’s hormones. It may bring on various symptoms like weight gain, acne, excessive hair growth, irregular periods, infertility or high glucose. A balanced heart healthy diet would be best to follow with an emphasis on evenly distributing carbohydrates at meals and snacks. If high glucose is a problem, medication and a special diet may be necessary. Your physician and registered dietitian can work with you to tailor the best plan for you.

Omega—gout can be a very painful type of arthritis caused by a buildup of uric acid around the joints. Diets high in purines and proteins are suspected to increase the risk for gout, and therefore should be avoided. According to the American Medical Association, purine-containing foods include: alcoholic beverages like beer, anchovies, sardines in oil, fish roes, herring, organ meat (liver, kidneys, sweetbreads), legumes (dried beans, peas), meat extracts found in consommé and gravies, mushrooms, spinach, asparagus and cauliflower.

Good luck in your treatment.

have any of you tried vaniqa to help with the excess hair?? it really is a godsend!!

I have tried vaniqa but it gave me terrible spots and with the fat and hair I just couldnt mentally cope with anymore

its a cream that helps with the hair growth, you doctor has to prescribe it once youve removed your excess hair you rub the cream on teh area and it slows down the groth of it really is a saviour for me!! before i was using hair removing cream every day now i only need to do it once a week!!

heres a link to a website with an explanation:
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100005125.html

The Use of Metformin in the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
http://www.endocrineonline.org/pdf box/pcos+met.pdf

I have just enjoyed reading an old thread page so much I am linking to it here.
http://weight-loss.fitness.com/thre...Ready-for-Summer-Challenge-Chat-Thread/page13
it was my posting the day that I got to goal in 2009
I want to get back there asap...


EDIT
Saturday diary entry moved to just before Sunday - to make space for reference info

 

[Caterina]

I love how positive you are! And man 12 miles is quite a lot! I am happy for you and I wish you some great times walking. Maybe eventually you will need to implement with some other aerobic exercise... are you thinking about that? Or do you just want to walk longer stretches?
I will definitely come and see your progress often!
Cat

 

[Omega]

Thanks Cat for visiting my diary. It is lovely to get your comment.

It is funny that you should say that about aerobics. Tomorrow (i.e. Monday because I am in the middle of Sunday now) I am going to a keep fit class (my third session). They do some aerobics there and I really enjoyed that on the last couple of weeks. I am looking forward to all the other sessions between now and Christmas. I certainly plan on signing up for more of those classes next term too.

I now walk such distances that I have (from a zero start in February) turned into a bit of a local eccentric. People introduce themselves to me and ask me about my walking. This is quite new because to be honest we have tended to be fairly reclusive. I also meet other regular walkers. I am now getting a lot of really positive comments from people. It is so funny when people ask me if I am training for a marathon or something.

Anyway - two of the people that I have met have mentioned a water aerobic class that the local leisure centre runs - and I am toying with finding out more about that too.

The funny thing about the walking is that I would never guess how far I am going now if it were not for the pedometer. I knew how long the long walk was because we measured it in the car - but all the rest seems to blur together. The fact that we have measured it elsewhere is good because quite frankly I would sometimes question whether I could have walked that distance. It is a bit of a check on whether I can believe the pedometer. I can now do the long walk without sitting down once - but I had to build it all up. Back in February I had done enough after once round the block, and was really proud of the amount of exercise I had done then too.

Some days I really feel like a human jumping bean. I have been saying that to my husband all afternoon. I have not had as much energy as this since I was young - in my twenties anyway - and I am 48. As for distance - I am up to 10.63 miles already and it is 5 p.m. - but I think that I will take it easy for the rest of the day. Something about Sunday being the day of rest!

Best wishes
Margaret

 

[hickgurltx]

Yer off to a wonderful start! *Congrat's!*

I started a ~Pedometer Buddies~ thread in Club Challenges section..

Feel free to join us!

Keep up the great work!

 

[Omega]

Hi hickgurltx

Thanks for getting in touch and the words of encouragement.

I shall certainly check out the ~Pedometer Buddies~ thread. It sounds really interesting.

I really wouldnt be without my pedometer. It encourages me to walk a little bit further. When you are pretty sure that your fitness level would not let you run or do anything too strenuous - walking that bit further is a brilliant way to challenge yourself to improve.

Best wishes
Margaret

 

[hickgurltx]

Yer welcome...

Yer right about the walkin', especially when yer tryin' to get in the groove of exercise again..

I have to go up a few hills to reach the park I love to walk at..{just beautiful with a huge pond, ducks, trees, etc..} It sits on a huge hill..My goal is to be able to go up & down the hill as many times as I can each walk without passing out! LOL Plus makin' laps around the pond as well.

 

[Caterina]

Hey,
thank you for your comment it meant a lot to me.
I think water aerobics sounds great! You should check it out. I did some of them during my recovery time and I found them very fun. It is like aerobics only minus the sweat! I do not particularly like sweating too much so swimming is really great. Also if you feel comfy in a bathing suit swimming is a great exercise that will make your whole body stronger, maybe you should look into that! I like it even though it gets dull sometims, because it sort of is the same thing again and again. That is why I like classes so much, because everyone will be slightly different.

Well anyway, I had never really heard of a pedometer before but it sounds like a great thing!
Love, Cat

 

[Omega]

Hi Cat

I will ponder over the swimming / water aerobics thing a little longer. I am a little wary of the foreign territory of a swimming pool wearing just a swimming costume but I quite fancy the idea. I will post in the diary if I get the courage to wear as little in public in England.

Best wishes
Margaret

 

[Omega]

Saturday 29/09/07

Although it had rained quite a bit earlier – the weather was fine (although chilly) by the time I went out walking. I was thankful as I do not really enjoy walking in the rain - it is so much nicer in decent weather.

My weight reduction made me feel really positive, and I keep feeling my sides – unable to believe how thin (silly for someone as big as I still am) that I feel. I kept having this feeling all day – and in the end got out the tape-measure. My waist was over an inch less than last Saturday.
I know that sometimes I go back up by a pound or even two – but I still enjoy every new low as it is reached. It is nearly twenty years since my weight was as low as this.

I have committed myself fully to this weight loss project. I am not working and devoting all my effort into becoming the person that I would like to be. I just hope that I continue.

This summer I have lived in shorts or some tracksuit bottoms which I match with a size 30 or 32 T shirt from my recent wardrobe. It is baggy and masks my tummy and bum which are still very big. My legs are however dramatically slimmer than before (although big by normal people’s standards). All the weight came off my left leg first. It looked so funny – there were inches difference in the circumference – so I asked my doctor about it. You would have believed that I had been out hopping each day instead of walking. She said not to worry. Eventually the right leg just about caught up.

General Data:

Morning walk = 6.3 miles.
Round the block = 4 times (on one my husband came too)
Extra exercises = none
Weight = 14st 4.6lbs (i.e. 200.6 pounds)
Steps = 35516
Distance = 13.17 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
Continued my creaming regime – but forgot one of the bio-oil massages

Food / Drink:

1 banana
3 weetabix, 1 heaped teaspoon of sweetener (a level teaspoon is apparently 1.9 calories) and the (large) bowl topped up with skimmed milk.
Cooked ham 120g - 150 calories
1 glass (200ml) grapefruit juice
1 glass (200ml) orange juice
Cooked ham 120g – 150 calories, half a cucumber, 41 small cherry tomatoes (grown in our garden)
2 litres of cold water
some diet cola


Sunday 30/09/07

Better weather than Saturday – I enjoyed my long walk. Bumped into two people for a chat – and it was a really nice way to spend much of the morning.

As said in an email reply – felt like a human jumping bean all day.

I had a look in a basket of old clothes in the spare bedroom and found a tracksuit last worn in the 1980s. It was a Marks and Spencer size 16-18 bought when my weight was ballooning. Now I know that M & S always used to size things on the big side from when I was thin……. Anyway I had thought that I had sent just about everything smaller than size 20 to charity shops years ago (we have moved house twice this century alone). I got into everything that I had that was size 20 last weekend when I was playing at dressing up in old clothes. Anyway – I thought that I would try it on and see whether I could get it on – to me it felt like putting on children’s clothes.

Anyway – to my surprise it pulled on straight away with no coaxing. I couldn’t believe it.

General Data:

Morning walk = 6.3 miles.
Round the block = 4 times (on two laps my husband came too which really pleased me. He cannot address his weight in exactly the same way as me by distance walking as he has suffered from gout since he was in his twenties and it has damaged his joints in his legs – first his toes then his ankles and knees as he walked awkwardly carrying excess weight through gout attacks)
Extra exercises = none
Weight = 14st 4.2lbs (i.e. 200.2 pounds)
Steps = 31185
Distance = 11.56 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
Continued my creaming regime – but forgot one of the bio-oil massages and forgot my early morning moisturising until I got home from my long walk. I really need to try harder at this creaming.

Food / Drink:

1 banana
3 weetabix, 1 heaped teaspoon of sweetener (a level teaspoon is apparently 1.9 calories) and the (large) bowl topped up with skimmed milk.
1 glass (200ml) grapefruit juice
Approx 1 small roast chicken breast (with some skin), 5 new potatoes boiled, 3 med carrots boiled, 5 big runner beans boiled (from our garden), gravy
2 large handfuls of sultanas
2 litres of cold water
some diet cola
1 fox’s glacier fruit boiled sweet

 

[Lagniappe]

Your progress is amazing. Down 90+ lbs! Congratulations. I have a close friend with PCOS too and I understand that it can really make losing weight so difficult. You should feel very proud of what you've accomplished!

 

[Caterina]

Hey Omega,
it was miserable here in London!! I think it is great that your husband joins you every now and then. The leg problem is a real big one when you are trying to lose weight because very little exercise can be done without hurting your legs even more (except for swimming!! But then being big he might not feel like swimming because of the nakedness!).
My boyfriend is a skinny bean, he weighs only a few pounds more than me and is 6 feet tall... embarrassing! But he also goes to the gym very often, swims 3 times a week and runs on weekends... and not just because he likes it, he does want to take care of himself (unlike me!).

I think it is very impressive that you can fit into old clothes again... only thing I can do is buy new ones ! My smallest pair of trousers, a size 4, don't even fit my lower leg in... how ridiculous is that?? But I see it with a pinch of salt... I cannot see how anyone could be that thin!
Have a great day tomorrow! Also, do you work? Because you do impressive spells of walking, I wonder if a working schedule fits into that!
Love, Cat

 

[Omega]

Hi Lagniappe

Thanks for your positive comment and good luck to your friend with PCOS.

I really cannot believe how well this attempt is going. Everything before has failed so badly since I got PCOS - that is how my weight got up so high.

Tell your friend about the walking thing - it has really worked so well for me. I really wish that I had known about this years ago.

I really cannot say whether it would have worked quite so well for me when I was younger though as it is possible that my hormones are altering because of my age - I am 48 now so the menopause may not be too far away.

PCOS is such a nightmare - and with anything hormonal you can live your life on an emotional knife-edge. I saw a specialist once and he summed it up as "life is not fair for PCOS ladies".

They say that the only real thing to help PCOS is losing weight - but you put on weight easier than normal people and find it harder to lose weight. I find that I put on weight with some foods much more excessively than the calories would ever indicate. I have not seen anything scientific about it but I know that if I weigh myself every day I can see it happening on days that I have been saintly.

There are a lot of health risks associated with PCOS - dramatically more likely to develop a whole heap of things:

A woman with PCOS is 7 times more likely to develop diabetes than a woman of the same age and lifestyle who is not a sufferer; 7.4 more times at risk of a heart attack and 4 times more likely to suffer from high blood.

Much worse for me than the joys of morbid obesity - I found infertility to be the hardest to handle.

The excessive body hair is certainly a drag. Tell your friend to get lasered while she is young. A lot of people do not know that laser does not work on grey or white hairs. I had electrolysis for nearly 20 years, get lasered now and still have an ongoing problem.

Best wishes
Margaret

 

[Omega]

Hi Cat

The weather here was miserable too. I got drenched.

Every time my husband comes out walking with me it is like a present to me. I know that he finds it a bit of a struggle - but I do worry about him.

I have all my eggs in one basket - him. We have no children (infertility is a consequence of PCOS), and I have no brothers or sisters. My parents are 90 and 85 - and I know that they will not live forever. In addition - we have been moderately reclusive - so do not have millions of friends. The majority of my friends happen to live in Greece incidentally - there is a village community there where we have always felt very comfortable.

The bottom line though is that if anything were to happen to my husband - I would be very much alone.

In the past I dealt with this with the mindset that neither of us would probably have a particularly long life. The positive side to this concept is that I would not be left for too many years without him.

I had been reasonably successful in my career - so I stopped working aged 44. My husband had been made redundant then - and he did a two year college course that interested him. In addition we spent two whole summers in Greece. It was our way of locking in the relaxing adventures that many people aspire towards doing in retirement - we had little confidence of making it into our sixties when most people do these things.

My husband never learnt to swim and does not feel comfortable in the water. If he had ever been going to swim - he would have done so in Greece on the secluded secret beaches frequented by the locals in the heatwaves.

This answers your question as to how I manage to fit all my walking in. I do not go out to work. I do not currently plan on working - but it is something that I may go back to if I want to - or if the financial situation warrants it.

I am really wishing that I had not sent heaps of clothes to the charity shop. I keep remembering other outfits that I used to have. In the meantime I keep wearing clothes from a whole assortment of sizes that I have found from yesteryear. I do not want to buy more clothes as I certainly want to lose more weight.

Dont get me wrong - weightwise I am a million times better than I was - but I have a small frame and felt most comfortable with my weight pre-PCOS when I was between 8 stones and 8 and a half stones. I would dearly like to be in that range again if I could ever manage it - although whether my body could ever successfully shrink to that is another matter. It is a target that I can refine if I ever get near it without going off the rails.

Your size 4 clothing does sound to be very small - now that your plans have changed I think that you will be aspiring towards a healthier weight now than in your ballet-professional youth. I suppose it is a bit like fashion models - just because they are all that size it doesnt mean that it is a healthy size to be.

As for your boyfriend - he sounds very supportive. That is a million times more important than his shape could ever be. Remember I have always said - there is many a good looking nothing out there - a girl needs someone substantial in the character department.

Take care
Love
Margaret

 

[Omega]

Monday 01/10/07

Really poor weather – set out later than normal because I have a keep fit class which includes aerobics and exercises and I wanted to incorporate it into my walk.
A dull start turned into rain by 10 o clock and by 1pm when I was on the way home I was doing my impression of a drowned rat in a storm jacket.

I know that the bad weather is going to be a major test for me. I hope that I can keep walking. I am sure that all will be lost if I stop.

One positive aspect was that two women that I didn’t know shouted over the road to me. After some less than positive experiences over the years I would normally tune out calls from strangers – without even looking at them. I have got used to strangers speaking to me because this has happened quite a few times recently – but strangers shouting across the road was a new experience again. This reclusive person is certainly having some new experiences. Anyway – they wanted to know what my secret was. I think that they were both a little larger than I am now – but certainly a whole lot less than I was in February. I can have difficulty judging these things though as I find it hard to believe that my shape is changing after so many years of refusing to change in a way that anyone would notice. I have great difficulty visualising my current size (strange as I seem to look in mirrors more than for a long time – trying on clothes, creaming myself etc). I told them about the walking and they said that they had seen me walking and wanted to know what else I was doing. They had seen my shape change and wanted to know how. They said that not only do I look thinner but years younger. It was such a nice experience.

The keep fit class was really enjoyable. This was the third class of term. I initially tried to sign up for a class for the over 40s but they didn’t run it because they didn’t get enough people. I asked what similar was being run there (within walking distance from home) and they said that there was a class for the over 50s. Well I am 48 so I thought – why not, I am nearer 50 than 40 anyway. Now I am really glad that I signed up for it. I asked the teacher whether she is teaching any other similar classes. She said not. She was apparently also supposed to have been teaching the over 40s class anyway and apparently they hardly ever get enough people.

General Data:

Morning walk = 6.3 miles.
Round the block = 4 times (on one lap my husband came too)
Extra exercises = a keep fit class
Weight = 14st 4.2lbs (i.e. 200.2 pounds)
Steps = 32064
Distance = 11.89 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
Continued my creaming regime – but forgot one of the bio-oil massages and forgot my night-time moisturiser. I am useless at this regime and must try harder.


Food / Drink:

1 banana
3 weetabix, 1 heaped teaspoon of sweetener (a level teaspoon is apparently 1.9 calories) and the (large) bowl topped up with skimmed milk.
1 glass (200ml) grapefruit juice
1 glass (200ml) orange juice
Cooked ham 120g – 150 calories, half a cucumber, 4 tomatoes (grown in our garden and freshly picked tonight)
very nearly 2 litres of cold water
a few mouthfuls of diet cola (no glasses though as I did not get through my water)
1 fingerpinch of coco-pops as I was putting some out for my husband – I couldn’t resist.

 

[hickgurltx]

Hi ya sweetie!

Yer goin' full speed ahead, keep up the great work!

Have a goal reachin' day.

 

[Omega]

Thanks for looking in hickgurltx

I appreciate your encouragement.

So far the day is going pretty well. Proper diary entry to follow at the end of the day.

Best wishes
Margaret

 

[Miss Ladybug]

HI Margaret!! I finished reading your diary and find your whole experience very interesting. Did you know you really are an interesting lady? I'm a very outgoing person myself, so when I read about people who are reclusive it grabs my attention. I'm amazed with your determination to walk every day and monitor your steps, that is something special, I've always wanted to do that myself, but I have yet to buy a pedometer. Your food sounds so good!! and I'm still trying to figure out what Fox's Boiled Fruit is?? I love fruit so I'm wondering if that's something we have here in the US. I love that you put your measurements in stones, I've heard that before but never really knew what the equivalent is to our own here. I have the same view of myself as you do when you look in the mirror, you don't see the changes and I'm the same way, I know I have shrunk, but when I view myself I see the same old Kim from years back, it's really strange how that happens. Well, I wish you the best of luck on your path to weight loss and better living. I have no doubt with your determination and lifestyle you will get to the your destination of weight loss in no time! Congratulations on your already 90 lb loss, that's just fantastic. Take Care and have a wonderful day today!
Kim

 

[Omega]

Hi Kim

Thanks for your kind words.

Fox's glacier fruits are a fruit flavoured sweet which I allow myself as a treet.

I am wary of the whole calorie thing as I have failed on too many diets over the years that have revolved around counting calories. In the past I have set myself a target for so many a day or week and eventually have exceeded the target and felt so bad about myself that everything finishes and I put on everything that I have lost and more besides. Twenty years of experience tells me that this approach may work for everyone else on the planet - but is unlikely to work for me. I go out of my way to not add up how many calories I have on any given day - but try to eat sensibly and in a reasonably balanced way.

Anyway I have just checked the bag of sweets and 6 sweets contain 129 calories. The bag says that they are made by Fox's confectionary. You can suck them and they are fruit flavoured and last quite a long time. I have no idea whether they are available elsewhere.

The reclusive thing was just something that developed. Both my husband and I have been morbidly obese for about twenty years and I think that I got a bit shy in company that I was uncertain of.

Being English of my age - I think of weight in stones and pounds. It is how we learnt weight in school.

The rule is
16 ounces make a pound
14 pounds make a stone
so it follows that half a stone is 7 pounds etc.

The kids these days do kilograms which I know is 2.2 pounds - but I find it really difficult to think in terms of those.

This is the reason why English people probably often come up with targets which are multiples of 7 pounds. I know it must sound funny if people say "I think that I would feel comfortable between 112 and 119 pounds - but this is them saying between 8 and 8 and a half stones - and then translating.

I hope that your day goes well too.

Best wishes
Margaret

 

[Omega]

Tuesday 02/10/07

Although not brilliant weather at least it was dry for the long walk – set out later than normal because I have a yoga class (which starts even later than the Monday class) and I wanted to incorporate it into my walk.

I am not sure how these late starts are going to pan out – I feel better if I am out of the house walking as soon as my husband has left for work. I always feel better once I am en route – I always think “My goodness – I am doing it all again!!!!)

I had another really positive experience in today’s walk. A chap (probably about my age) stopped me and asked about my walking. He had noticed me out walking and wondered what I was doing. He had then noticed that I kept getting thinner. Then his doctor had told him to lose weight (he isn’t as broad as I was or my husband is) and he had joined the local Virgin gym. Someone there had been trying to motivate him and told him about my walking and all the weight that I have lost so far so he had decided to speak next time he saw me. I told him about what I am doing and how to search for the Charlie Walduck story.

The yoga class was ok – but not too brilliant. This was the third class of term. Like the keep fit - I initially tried to sign up for another class which they didn’t run it because they didn’t get enough people. I asked what similar was being run there (within walking distance from home) and there were only the two options that I chose. In all honesty I wish that I hadn’t bothered with it. It isn’t nearly as fun as the keep fit – and I am not sure how much it will help my project. The teacher is not thin and she has been an expert for over 30 years. She said that it will not help lose fat at all but should help with the toning. In addition my back hurt after the first week (which luckily eased after 4 or 5 days) so I didn’t do any back exercises in the second week. Today she insisted that I did the back exercises – saying that my back would never strengthen if I didn’t do them. Now I did quite often get a dodgy back when I was big (what with my weight and the fact that I hurt my back when I fell down the stairs when I was in my twenties) – but the fact is that I had no problems with my back from when I got going with my project until I took her first class. I do not envisage that I will sign up for yoga after Christmas.

At weigh in I got ever so slightly through the 200 pounds barrier. I fully expect it to go back to the other side soon – but it is nice when you cross all these milestones. There are a lot of milestones coming up soon – 14 stones (which is also the loss of a third of my start weight), type 1 obesity etc.

General Data:

Morning walk = 6.3 miles.
Round the block = 4 times (on one lap my husband came too)
Extra exercises = a yoga class
Weight = 14st 3.8lbs (i.e. 199.8 pounds)
Steps = 30570
Distance = 11.33 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
Continued my creaming regime


Food / Drink:

1 banana
3 weetabix, 1 heaped teaspoon of sweetener (a level teaspoon is apparently 1.9 calories) and the (large) bowl topped up with skimmed milk.
40 seedless red grapes
1 glass (200ml) grapefruit juice – 82 calories
1 glass (200ml) orange juice – 92 calories
Cooked ham 120g – 150 calories
Main meal: my portion ingredients - 3 handfulls dry pasta, 33 cals sauce, sprinkle chopped garlic, 1/3 onion, 2/3 courgette, 1/3 red pepper, 1/3 green pepper, cooked in fry light
1 handful of sultanas
2 litres of cold water
some diet cola