day 60!

who'd have thunk it! Us two foodies (that's me being polite - what i mean is fatties) have done a vlcd for 60 days! I'm very proud of us both, yes we have had struggles when our food addict gremlins have shown up and maybe the odd bit of chicken has been eaten when it shouldn't but on the whole we have been bloomin fantastic. Yea us!

I'm getting excited now about add a meal next week. We've worked out the menu and imagined each meal (A LOT!) I feel much better this time round. The run up to the last aam i was in a state of pure panic! I know now though that i will be able to eat what we have planned and not overeat, not pick after the meal has gone and even better i know that once the week is over i will be totally able to stop and continue with another 4 weeks of ss-ing. I guess the fear i had last time was due to my feeling of ss being rehab - total abstinence is safe, ketosis means hunger is a very brief and fleeting thing and the lack of food choices means the lack of food 'issues'. But reintroducing food however limited surely would bring all the negative stuff with it? I was as surprised as anyone that at the end of each meal i felt full, satisfied and elated that i had some control over food. And come the sunday night and time to get ready for ss-ing for another 4 weeks i was fine and had no need to read the lecture I'd written myself the week before anticipating mega tantrums.

I'm starting to miss our little man a bit today - he's in Tunisia with my mum. He's told me to tell everyone he's in North Africa - apparently that's way more impressive! I don't know - any foreign destination sounds good to me, i haven't been abroad for 5 years! Funnily enough thats how long we have had the shop! in fact except for my illness last year I've never had more than 3 consecutive days off work lol
Mum and i had a chat before she went away and she has committed to letting me take a whole week off next year either the may hols or Easter. I am determined that we should get a last minute cheapo holiday abroad. Kel isn't as sold on the idea - she sees every penny spent as a lost opportunity to save for the wedding!

Talking of saving money I still haven't stopped smoking, kel and mum have been non smokers ages now - very naughty Munch. Made an appt with smoking cessation woman at the village chemist (for some bloody stupid reason my doctors don't do it) when i got there she had gone home ill. Tried to rebook it yesterday, took me a day or so to stop fuming, and was told she has now gone on holiday till November - honest to god! that is a well good enough reason to puff away in my opinon! No i am going to stop - spending an £5 a day on cancer sticks is ridiculous. I've got an appt with the doc on Monday anyway (i want to show him i've lost 4 stone so that when i go having lost 14 stone and need a tummy tuck he wont be too surprised lol) so I'm going to ask him if he'll prescribe champix coz its worked on mum and kel. We'll see what he says - i didn't think much of him but I've only seen him once so I'll give it a go.
wow that was a bit of a long post - sorry!

The Dreaded Hospital Visit

I've finally been to the hospital for my check up with the neurologist. Last year I was seriously ill in hospital with Benign Intracranial Hypertension . I was in hospital for 2 weeks and after a lumbar puncture (the most awful experience ever) drained all the excess spinal fluid away I was allowed home. I was put on tablets which would presumably be for life - as they have no idea why BIH starts or stops. I was obviously told to lose weight and stop smoking and I took the advice and felt the episode was a huge warning of what could happen if I carried on overeating.

Unfortunately when I started the Cambridge diet I was told that I couldn't take my tablets anymore because they are a diuretic. I wasn't too worried because for a couple of months I had had no BIH symptoms, just side effects from he tablets and I kept forgetting to take them which had had no ill effect.

So yesterday I went for the first check up with the neurologist and I was petrified! That whole time last year was traumatic and it took me a long time to recover - not just physically but mentally and emotionally. I was convinced he was going to say I was ill and he'd need to admit me or at the very least say I was stupid for coming off the tablets and make me start taking them again and therefore stop Cambridge. But he said I was absolutely fine!!! He was pleased with my weight loss and not bothered about the tablets at all. It such a huge relief - yee hah I'm a happy bunny today!!