Day 20 - One More Sleep!

Very excited, only 1 more sleep till 1st proper CDC weigh in hurrah! Felt brill just typing that title - day 20 woo hoo made it this far!

this week we have got a little bored of the soups (Kel has got very bored!) so we had 2 tablespoons of greens with it the other night - it was a nice change but can't say it was very exciting. I have also made the oriental chilli soup into crisps and chocolate shake into cookies as per the minimins.com forum which Anisah recommended. They went down a treat as did the chocolate tetra ice-cream. Instead of getting the usual 7 shakes and 14 soups think i will get 14 shakes - 7 of which will be chocolate ones!

I keep watching cookery programs! its a bit bizarre because you'd think when you don't eat food that Nigella is the last person you'd want to see but I cant help it! its like a guilty pleasure! We love chatting about what food we are going to eat when we are at goal and its all lovely interesting and healthy food - we definitely wont be going back to the chips with everything lifestyle. Its really exciting - well it is for us Cambridge diet obsessed sado's lol

I am still losing a pound a day according to our scales and Kels pattern is still sts for a few days then lose loads. We can really tell from our clothes now so after we have been weighed tomorrow we are going shopping for some new trousers. When kel sneezes in her work trousers she has a tendency to moon the customers!

that's all folks - will post tomorrows weigh in as soon as I can - probably Monday. Oh and I'll let you know how tomorrows posh christening goes - or rather how lovely the buffet looked and amazingly we didn't have a morsel - PMA or what?!

day 17

Its all going well for both of us although we get quite hungry at night we are coping and drinking our water to get us through it. Just had yummy fruits of the forest shake for breakfast. Weighed myself this morning and its the first time I've stayed the same but considering its TOTM I'm really happy because i would have normally gained a couple of pounds. Also not had any of the related symptoms - no nasty PMT so neither kel nor mini munch are cowering in a corner! Love the Cambridge diet!!

week 2 BMI

Just redone my BMI and its down from 53.5 to 51.24 which means not to far off my 1st goal of 50. Cant wait till Sunday coz it'll be week 3 weigh in but the first proper weigh in since we started because our CDC is back of her hols. Very excited and its keeping me motivated! May have lost more on her scales because ours are rubbish and I didn't start using them till either day 2 or 3.
exciting stuff lol

end of week 2 weigh in

well according to our scales this weeks weight loss is

Kel 5lbs
Munch 8lbs

which means Cambridge diet total weight loss so far

Kel 19lbs
Munch 18lbs

day 14 - exhausting trip to the seaside

What an amazing day we had! We've decided that after much debate we will get married in 2010 - seems long enough away to be able to save and be at a happy weight - there is no way I'm getting married fat! Since we are a non traditional family we wanted to do something a bit different and anyway we aren't allowed to get married in a church - (I'm not going to get started on how I feel about that) Last year we checked out Chester Zoo as a wedding venue and it was amazing for the ceremony and the reception but just way out of our budget unless something drastic happens like the lotto or Mum meeting a millionaire. Since Kel's favourite place in the world is Anglesey we went on a day trip checking out all the locations licensed for civil partnership on the island.

Plas Newydd came out on top by a mile. Its only available for the ceremony which means finding somewhere else for the reception but its gorgeous and was Kels late Mum's favourite spot on the island. We went everywhere and except for Treysgawen Hall everywhere else is just a normal hotel/restaurant which could be anywhere really.

As we were walking out of the last hotel a car pulled up to us and beeped - it was our closest friend M who lives in London and 2 other really good mates LB and N - incredible! No-one even knew we were on Anglesey - it was just a total extremely happy co-incidence! They we're going to N's house which happened to be right next door the hotel we were standing outside of to eat a chippy takeaway. By this point we'd been on our day out for about 10 hours with just a breakfast shake in Plas Newydd car park so we bravely sat and 'enjoyed' our second shake while they polished off fish chips and peas lol I've got to say I was mightily impressed with myself for not having any problem at all.

On the way home though we both started to have a headache and feel a bit queasy. We had only had 2 shakes and about 2 litres of water all day. We stopped off at a services along the way coz Kel was bushed - hardly surprising since she'd been driving all the way there, all round Anglesey and all the way back home! We had a black coffee each and looked through the food menu imaging what kind of food we will eat when were out of 'rehab'! It wasn't as torturous as it sounds - I really enjoyed it actually!

We finally made it home feeling really exhausted and lightheaded. Its by far the busiest day we have had whilst on the Cambridge diet and its difficult to 'eat' when you need to when you are on the road. It would have been lovely when we stopped off at the services to have been able to have a soup but I don't know how you would do that. Anyway we polished off our soup immediately then stayed up for far too long discussing how the hell you work out who goes up the aisle and in what order when there are 2 brides, only 1 parent each and a son between them!!! mind boggling stuff!

Day 11

Last couple of days have been a struggle for both of us. Think we are in agreement that the cambridge diet is much easier while you're at work and busy even if in kels case there is temptation its much easier to stay strong in front of other people. But at home I definitely feel weaker and we both are quite whingey and moany (sorry Kel!!) Lewis's pizza last night was complete torture - deep pan pepperoni mmmm. So i cut a small disc of pepperoni in half so we could both have a tiny something and we chewed that little morsel to death. It was amazingly delicious! I tasted it much more than would have in the past.
I'm really struggling with quitting smoking. I have started everyday as a fresh day being a non-smoker but everytime I've had a visit from a smoker I've pinched a fag. and last night had a few of kel's. Ok so I've only had a bout 10 in 4 days but still its not quitting is it! And right now i really really want one and its making me VERY GRUMPY. Not a very pleasant or effective saleswoman today! In fact customers beware especially if I can smell smoke on you!
on a positive note according to my scales i have lost a pound a day the last few days so thats good.
Have been reading lots of good cambridge diet blogs which are keeping me motivated. The latest one i have found http://cambridge-diet-08.blogspot.com
the writer has been drinking 5l of water on average a day so think I'll try upping mine and see what happens - i probably have about 3l tops. Its worth a try!

Day 8 Weight loss so far

Its day 8 in the Cambridge diet house and our weight loss according to our scales is

Kel 14lbs
Munch 10lbs

can't wait for our CDC to come back off her holibobs and weigh us properly because both of us are trying not to get too excited because we just dont trust our dodgy scales!

days 6 & 7

Wow this weekend has been really difficult both food and fag wise.

Saturday daytime was easy because both so busy at work.

Saturday night was just terrible Kel was desperate for food and I was really craving cigarettes and it was impossible to do anything to support each other so we argued! Guess I could have predicted it really - it was bound to happen at some point. The lesson learned is that visualisation of yummy food and imagining eating it only works for me - definitely not Kel!!

Sunday day we stayed in bed as long as poss so as not to crave our usual weekly treat of cooked breakfast.

Went to the replacement Cambridge Diet Counsellor (CDC) - ours is on holiday for 2 weeks. Not impressed. Don't get me wrong, she was a lovely lady and it was a lovely setting but not a good experience. While we were there I wasn't really as bothered but the more I've thought about it the more awful i think it was.

After asking us the normal how have you got on questions she then asked what would we be doing for the second week! Hardly motivating us to do SS is it! Felt like saying 'well I think I'll be mostly having quarter pounders with cheese'. Then when we said we'd be doing Sole Source for at least 4 weeks then maybe Add A Meal on week 5 then back to SS etc she seemed genuinely surprised and went on about how not many people manage it! Honest to God what a let down.

Things went from bad to worse really when we couldn't find out how much we'd lost this week because (a) the scales weren't the same as our usual CDC's and (b) they weren't good enough to weigh my weight. You can just imagine how good I'm feeling about that right now - writing it is making me cringe.
To top it all off she advised us that if we really really struggle we could have a bowl of vegetables with the veg soup on top (not so bad) but then she took some crackerbread out of her cupboard and said you can try these they're only 19 calories and lovely with low fat phili!!!!!! OMG !!

To my mind she can't understand how this diet works - I said to her that that surely would bring us out of ketosis and she said 'oh yes' like that was ok! My basic understanding of why this diet works and the main reason I have been able to abstain is that ketosis burns fat and has the side effect of stopping the worst of the hunger pains and that if you eat carbs or too many of any calorie then you will come out of ketosis - start storing water, putting on weight and be incredibly hungry!

I can understand a CDC advising you that if you are losing the will to live (lol) then go ahead and eat veg or lean protein rather than fall of the wagon. But to advise us to have crackerbread - nasty cardboard crap thats all carbs - its just wrong surely. God we've got to go back next week to get our provisions. Mind you she has got an adorable dog for me to play with!

The rest of the afternoon was rubbish for me coz I was bored being on my own - lew in Anglesey and kel at work. I used to love having the house to myself. It was a really rare treat that i would long for and savour. Not so anymore. I was really lonely, bored and de-motivated. Thinking about that makes me feel weird. I have been so independent as a single Mum for all these years and now whats going on? lol co-dependency? argh lmao I think I'm loving it really!! very strange!

I've done something stupid. On the way to pick Lew up I went into a shop and bought 10 fags. Its not as though i was with smokers and caved or was particularly stressed - i just don't understand why for once i couldn't talk myself out of it. I knew exactly what I was doing - i didn't need to be in the shop for anything.
I don't want to tell Kel because i want to show her its easy!! lmao and I can't tell Mum because she's just given up as well and don't want to encourage her fall off the wagon. Just spoken to her on the phone - lied, so now feel doubly shitty.

Kel came home off the late shift and immediately confessed to having had a small piece of chicken!!! So i confessed my sin and we had a bit of a laugh, cry, cuddle moment!

Now that I'm writing this I'm thinking that possibly the experience at the CDC effected our ability to abstain. But don't want to make excuses its no-ones fault but our own. The only thing we can do now is climb back on the horse! Tomorrows another day.

Day 5 - by Munch

Yeeehaaa this is what the forums and blogs are all talking about and they are dead right ketosis is fantastic! Finally feel amazing and not hungry cant believe I haven't eaten a single morsel of food for 5 whole days. its incredibly uplifting being so proud of yourself! Really really proud of Kel too coz never known her to be so motivated and positive thinking and she has decided to see a stop smoking clinic on Tuesday hurrah!

Tonight I've had so much energy - bloomin heck! Don't feel like me at all! I've driven up to Manchester to drop Lew off with Chris coz they going to Anglesey this weekend (we are very jealous of course although our stuff hasn't quite dried from last weekends hilarious camping catastrophe!)
Drove back the long way with Scott Mills floor fillers blaring dancing away having a great time then when finally got home ran in and got DVD and went straight to blockbusters then Tesco to get more loo roll (coz we never stop weeing) and when i got home again must have been about 8pm- I mowed the lawn! Honestly - me mowing the lawn bet the neighbours had a laugh! then went on a tidying spree and finally did that huge pile of ironing! wow love love love this diet.

Only slightly negative thing- on the cambridge diet the choice seems to be either drink the recommended amount of water and spend every 10 mins on the loo or don't and spend ages on the loo unsuccessfully trying to poo!!! Either way on this diet you get to see your bathroom far too often.

Day 4 - by Kel

Woke up feeling great and stayed that way all day. Its tough at work what with the sausage butties and lovely stuff on the delivery but I coped ok. Had chocolate shake for lunch - its to die for! mmmm think it'll be 21 choc shakes from the CDC!

major achievement tonight - I'm cooking Lew's tea! I felt like I was neglecting him making him do his own micro meals so making him oven chicken and chips. And I'm really ok with it which i think is incredible! Bloody starving tho coz i can smell it!

todays craving - Bacon Baps with brown sauce.

Day 4 - by Munch

I feel rubbish and kel feels great - no fair! The cambridge diet feels really difficult today. It's not that I'm particularly hungry or anything just feel a bit down and listless. Might be coz i was expecting this Ketosis euphoria I've been reading about and I don't feel like that at all. tested wee and i am in ketosis so nothing to worry about. cant even be bothered to blog :(

Effects of not smoking

today is my 4th day not smoking. Feel really pleased with myself and have found it really easy - I havent been around anyone smoking yet tho - kel has been going outside. Starting to get the bad physical effects now - coughing up the crap on my lungs. but i know its only temporary because i've given up for long long periods before so i know that the good bit is round the corner - no more breathlessness, no more heavy leg feeling and tons more energy. Just got to get thru the phlegm stage!

Day 3 - by Kel

Really struggled today and omg might as well have spent the day on the loo. Its ridiculous going for a wee every 10 mins! Todays craving - Cheese pizza

Mini Munch is so funny

Kel is off work so Lew at home watching tv. He has some good taste from me - Heroes but has been corrupted by Kel - big Brother. Kel has just rung to say he has decided that Hiro and Kat should date! lmao

lew's dialogue :

Hiro "Flying Man"
Kat "hiwarious!"

Munch Goals

This is what I am going to achieve by stopping smoking and doing the Cambridge diet. I was feeling a bit demotivated so thought it might help to have a clear list of my goals and stages of weight loss.

The reason I will continue to be a non-smoker and Cambridge dieter is:

• To have enough energy, to be able to breathe well enough and to have a small enough body to be able to do anything I want and enjoy life as much as possible.
• To learn - to ride a horse, a martial art, yoga.
• To be in control of food rather than it control me.
• To understand my addictions and have strength to overcome them
• to take Kel and Lew to Alton Towers and us all be able to go on what we want.
• To go swimming with Lew more often.
• To inspire/motivate/empower Kel to quit smoking and so reduce the risk of Lew starting to smoke.
• To be able to buy cheap clothes because can buy them in any shop
• To never start smoking ever again.

Step by Step Goals

• To reduce BMI to 50 (done 25/08/08), 45 (done 28/9/08), 40, 35, 30 then 25 then re-assess target weight goal
• To be under 20 stone, under 15 stone, target weight

Day 3 - by Munch

Last night got up for a wee 3 times - so did Kel but not at the same times and we have now run out of loo roll which is hardly surprising lol!

Woke up famished but managed to stay in bed for as long as poss so didn't have to have 1st shake till got to work at 9.30. Had fruits of the forest which was yummy - much better than i expected, in fact reminded me of the taste of a cherry flavoured corner yoghurt. I've got to say I'm really impressed with all the 'meals' I've had so far the have all tasted lovely.

couldn't wait past 12 for my lunch shake just too hungry - hope it does get easier like other cambridge blogs have said. Have had a bit of headache today but nothing to moan about - actually I'm really surprised because when i read other blogs and did research before starting the diet i expected to have horrendous headaches because I'm prone to them anyway.

Need to get some ketostix and see if I'm in ketosis. That would help in the motivation department.

I have signed up for Mike's motivational emails and have looked at the archive. The article Strategy for success has got me thinking so next post from me will be about my goals and in a positive, way forward, type of thinking.

Day 2 by Kel

OH MY GOD I want food.
I can't stop thinking about it.
It's so hard working with food and not being able to eat it.
For the first time every in the delivery today we got my
fav cheese - port salut - and on offer is some garlic mush pate
OMG can you imagine being left in a room with just them and a french stick?
Coz I can!

And today we had visitors at our store so a buffet was laid on with
my fav foods and it was just pure torture.

I cant believe I've had so much self-control - I've shocked myself!

I'll write more later - if I haven't fainted from hunger!


update- tonight I've weed 8 times in 2 hours!

10 pm -I'm feeling much better now - not completely starving just manageable mild hunger. Munch on the other hand is about to gnaw at my arm - and her tummy is rumbling really loud!! Poor Love! trying to convince her that hunger is a good sign and just to drink more water lol not cheering her up but I know she'll be fine really!

Day 2 - by Munch

Last night was a pain, waking up every couple of hours desperate for a wee. Dreamt I'd eaten food and broken the diet so woke up feeling crushed slowly realised it was a dream - what a knob!

Today had Vanilla shake with coffee - warm like a Latte - was OK.

lunch had toffee walnut shake - yummy. defo having that one again.

Bit personal and gross but had 3 poos today - got progressively looser and greenish black! sorry if that TMI!!

still at work so not had tea - looking forward to it coz I'm ravenous lol
been fine with the smoking - or lack off! feel really strong about it only have the occasional moments where i think I'll go have a fag then remember but i tell myself "you don't smoke - why on earth do you want a cigarette? how weird!" Its working so far lol!

Day 1 - by Munch

Bl**dy hell can't believe I'm doing this diet - its drastic and difficult! I'm really proud I'm committing to it though - 1 day done quite a lot more to go!

Had cappuccino shake warm with coffee for breakfast, butterscotch for lunch and oriental soup for tea. Got to say very impressed with the flavours - all really nice. Prefer the soup to the shakes so far so next week might have soups for lunches.

Didn't feel full after any of the 'meals' hope like other people have said that I will after a couple of days. Drank loads of very very diluted cordial as agreed with CDC which did take the edge off the hunger. In total think i had about 3.5 litres.

Managed okay not smoking - had hunger pangs and cravings for food more than fags. Probably because i know i can give up smoking - I've done brilliantly before - this time need to not start again lol! That's how i'm thinking about it - as of now i am a non-smoker - why would a 34 year old obese woman decide to start smoking? That's what i need to keep asking myself if i feel desperate for a fag. lmao - check out Alan Carr.

Mood wise I was okay most of the day - got a bit nasty later on in the evening because felt drained but cheered up when Kel came home from work.

Day 1 - by Kel

Well, we got weighed last week when saw CDC and then this weekend was meant to be our final blowout - and it was! Pretty much ate all my fav food and felt huge last night so thought we'd better get weighed again or else we wouldn't notice much difference next week. So glad I did - I've put half a sodding stone on! in a week! how crazy is that!

Anyway, So I've done day 1 - and it was ok! Started really positive with my boss being really supportive. Had Cappuccino at 9.30am and it was really thick and filling but by 12 i was bloody starving. But I put off lunch for as long as poss coz i knew with work i wouldn't get to have last 'meal' till 9ish. I managed till 2pm and then kept full with plenty of water - haven't weed so much in all my life.

Well its gone 9pm and I've just had my chilli soup - it was gorgeous.

I've managed a day on a diet without cheating! HURRAH!!

I felt it easy not to cheat - when you're on a 'normal' diet and you are eating its easy to fail by saying you'll be good and have a jacket potato but then smothering it in butter or looking at yoghurts in the shop and seeing the pork pie and somehow that's what you've got - (ooh can you tell I'm hungry)
But CD takes food out of the equation - I'm not tempted by naughty food because I simply don't eat food!

I have had some side effects already - too much weeing! headaches and tiredness. Also I've had more black coffee than normal so feel a bit hyper but tired - weird!

I'm really hungry and its only 10pm but think I'm gonna persuade Munch its bed time!

Back in Blighty!

rundown of Lew's 12Th Birthday Anglesey Camping Holiday

• Thursday night - stopped on way to have a subway meatball marinara because we'd always wanted one and this would be our last chance!! OMG sooo delicious. Arrived Moelfre put tent up - got a bit wet but not too bad. I love camping - love our king size airbed and the fresh air. Love sitting outside the tent on posh plastic chairs and drinking wine.


• Friday - visited Penrhyn castle Kel's fav place - lew and I loved it. Best Bits - the audio tour, the Folly by the pet cemetery, the bog garden and the afternoon cream tea! Later went to benllech beach had doughnuts and watched lew throw himself in and out of the sea - it looked freezing! Had fish and chips at the tent - perfect!
  


• Saturday - OMG what happened to the weather?? It was like camping from hell - mad mad wind blew the tent in on itself and lashed rain everywhere. Tried to stay inside the tent holding up the sides (hilarious) but gave up because getting drenched so sat in car watching all hell break loose on campsite! By mid morning we realised that no way could any of the beds dry off in time even if we could put up with the top of the tent blowing in right down to the floor! Put the tents down in the p*ssing down rain - never been wetter in our lives! We couldn't stop laughing - Kel couldn't see at all - glasses no good in sooo much rain! Our motto (stolen from Run's House) Team work makes the dream work has never been truer - how we don't fall out and argue is amazing lol

Drove off Anglesey hoping weather might be a bit better - we were wrong! Found a B&B in Caenarvon for £30 for a family room for the night. Checked out Dinas Dinlle beach where Kel used to stay when very young and on way back had stunning home made burgers in an expensive pub!

Money becoming scarce!

• Sunday - Lew opened all his pressies - very happy boy! Had amazing cooked breakfast then had lovely time at Caernarfon Castle - lew enjoyed himself once he was persuaded to be a bit independent. I Got very scared being so huge inside very tiny narrow stairwells and terrified coming back down the turrets. Thought about coming back next year when been on the Cambridge diet would be a good idea - would probably notice a big difference in experience. Went back to the Island in the afternoon so Lew could spend more time on the beach - fab day for all of us very chilled. Made our way home around 6 but decided to use the old historic route through the mountains instead of the boring A55 .

• Got home quite late - had very last Chinese meal and last fag before life changes tomorrow! feeling very nervous as well as excited! Bring it on!
  The good life here we come!
  

Happy Campers

Hooray - we're off on our holibobs tonight! 3 days in Moelfre in Anglesey in a tent! Not exactly a luxury hols but hey beggars cant be choosers. The weather is gorgeous today so fingers crossed it stays like this coz don't fancy putting the tent up in the rain - its bad enough we cant leave till 5 since I'm working. Its quite good though really - Kel has had the week off which means she's been at home doing all the organising and packing while my contribution so far is to remind her to pack my phone charger!

I'm taking 3 books with me - the Alan Carr Stop Smoking book , Amanda Hamilton/ Sandy Newbigging Life Changing Weightloss and a cheapy crime novel from Asda.

My intention is to stop smoking and start the Cambridge Diet on Monday when we come back home! Talk about aiming high! So next week i'll have post holiday blues, and nicotine and sugar withdrawal - mmmm i'm going to be such a lovely person - poor poor Kel and Lew!

Excited to Start

So Kel and I have decided we are definitely going to do the Cambridge diet! We have done tons of research and been to see the Cambridge Counsellor and bought the stuff so now we just have to start. We have decided on Monday 11th August 2008 - not for any other reason than we want to start asap but we are away this weekend camping for Lew's birthday. Kel wants to drink wine sitting by the tent watching the sun set over the sea - how romantic! I just want to have my last fill of seaside junk food and the yummy doughnuts in benllech!