My campaign to rid myself of the need to have Diet Coke is going extremely well, in fact better than expected! I'm now down to 1 can of CFDC per day, with my other drinking requirements being taken care of with Asda Chosen By You Fruit Juices (0PP), Milk (enhance this morning by adding a Nectarine and some Strawberries) and the occasional beer or lager (if I need to use up some ProPoints or it's the weekend).
So far, I've had now withdrawal symptoms from the Aspartame, so I think that most of the symptoms that people suffer when they give up Diet Coke are caused by the withdrawal from Caffiene. Anyway, I shall soon give up Diet Coke completely, although my wife says I can't do that until all of the Caffiene free ones have gone (she bought a few 10-packs the other day!) as she doesn't like it.
It's difficult to say if giving up the Diet Coke is helping or not. I feel as though I'm feeling full sooner when I eat a meal, and I don't think I feel as hungry quite so soon between meals. I don't have that bloated, gassy feeling that comes from drinking to many carbonated drinks, but part of that is probably also due to beeing a little more controlled about how much I eat. I certainly don't feel as though I'm missing anything by not having Diet Coke everytime I'm thirsty. I do feel that, if I'm in a situation where there is not really any alternative, I can have the odd Coke (full fat, no Aspartame) and not really suffer too badly, after all it's only 4ProPoints per can.
Tuesday 26 July 2011
Weigh-in - Week 4
Well to say I was a little worried this week is an understatement. After last weeks STS I was concerned that I woud Stay The Same this week too, or, worse, put on some weight! I really didn't feel as though I had lost anything, even though I felt that I have been doing all the right things - tracking my food intake, walking to gain Activity Points etc.
So, at around 07:45 this moring I vervously stepped on to the scales, closed my eyes and counted to 10 before looking at the reading - 20st 04lbs, a loss of 2lbs since last week! That gives a total loss, since I started 4 weeks ago, of 10lbs. I had hoped for a little more so that I could be on target to reach my 5% goal at next week's wiegh-in, but I guess that's not going to happen (it would require another 5lb loss and I don't think that's likely).
I've made few changes to my diet, apart from counting the points and, therefore, excercising better portion control. I have taken to eating fruit, something I almost never did before. I've been having a pear and a nectarine as part of my breakfast and a banana and an orange with my lunch. I have to say I'd forgotten how much I like pears and nectarines, although they are a bit messy to eat (if you get good ones!).
All in all, I'm very happy with the way this weight loss journey is going at the moment. I don't really expect to have many big losses, and small losses all the way are considered to be better anyway.
So, at around 07:45 this moring I vervously stepped on to the scales, closed my eyes and counted to 10 before looking at the reading - 20st 04lbs, a loss of 2lbs since last week! That gives a total loss, since I started 4 weeks ago, of 10lbs. I had hoped for a little more so that I could be on target to reach my 5% goal at next week's wiegh-in, but I guess that's not going to happen (it would require another 5lb loss and I don't think that's likely).
I've made few changes to my diet, apart from counting the points and, therefore, excercising better portion control. I have taken to eating fruit, something I almost never did before. I've been having a pear and a nectarine as part of my breakfast and a banana and an orange with my lunch. I have to say I'd forgotten how much I like pears and nectarines, although they are a bit messy to eat (if you get good ones!).
All in all, I'm very happy with the way this weight loss journey is going at the moment. I don't really expect to have many big losses, and small losses all the way are considered to be better anyway.
Monday 25 July 2011
The Science of WeightWatchers Points
Or "Why you should eat all of your ProPoints)
(Plagiarised from a post in the 5+ Stone to Lose Messageboard, by "hyperhaggis")
Your body needs a certain amount of fuel just to keep you alive on a daily basis. The larger you are, the more it needs to keep it running, hence the high number of points you have been given. As you lose, the points will drop pretty quickly.
The weeklies are part of your allowance and not extra. They have merely been presaved for you so you dont have to cut back on your daily points to enjoy meals out treats etc.
The end result when you add all your points up, assuming that one point equals approx 40 calories, is a calorie deficit for your body, having used them all!!
Eat them. It will make sure you get off on an even keel, give you steady, healthy weight loss, and allow you to live and enjoy life whilst still losing weight.
If you find it hard to eat them all, then think again. Try using higher pointed helathier foods such as oily fish, full fat yogs and cheese, and whole milk. even a handful of nuts etc can start to use them up. Remember to include yummy treat things too. Dont be depriving yourself of anything you fancy, especially if the points are there for it. You are far more likely to continue to stay on the wagon by using them all than cutting back or not using them at this stage of the game. They will also help you out when you lose a lot of your weight. If you hit a plateau etc theres room for maneouvre if youve used them all from the outset.
(Plagiarised from a post in the 5+ Stone to Lose Messageboard, by "hyperhaggis")
Your body needs a certain amount of fuel just to keep you alive on a daily basis. The larger you are, the more it needs to keep it running, hence the high number of points you have been given. As you lose, the points will drop pretty quickly.
The weeklies are part of your allowance and not extra. They have merely been presaved for you so you dont have to cut back on your daily points to enjoy meals out treats etc.
The end result when you add all your points up, assuming that one point equals approx 40 calories, is a calorie deficit for your body, having used them all!!
Eat them. It will make sure you get off on an even keel, give you steady, healthy weight loss, and allow you to live and enjoy life whilst still losing weight.
If you find it hard to eat them all, then think again. Try using higher pointed helathier foods such as oily fish, full fat yogs and cheese, and whole milk. even a handful of nuts etc can start to use them up. Remember to include yummy treat things too. Dont be depriving yourself of anything you fancy, especially if the points are there for it. You are far more likely to continue to stay on the wagon by using them all than cutting back or not using them at this stage of the game. They will also help you out when you lose a lot of your weight. If you hit a plateau etc theres room for maneouvre if youve used them all from the outset.
Tuesday 19 July 2011
Diet Coke! - Part 3
My campaign to give up Diet Coke is going well, I haven't had any Diet Coke with caffiene in it for nearly 2 weeks now and I have successfully reduced my intake of CFDC to 4 cans per day, by refraining form having any with my evening meal and only drinking water (or beer) during the evening. This week I am further reducing my consumption of it by replacing my lunch time drink with Asda's "Chosen By You" Fruit Juice Drink.
The Asda Fruit Juice Drink, seems to be a pretty good substitute, since it contains no added sugar and is 0 WW ProPoints. I was a little concerned yesterday to discover that it does contain Sucralose and Acesulfame K (Acesulfame Potassium). I looked these both up on Wikipedia and they don't appear to be harmful - although Acesulfame K may be slightly carsinogenic, but no tests have been able to prove that, so far. Of course, there are other websites that claim that both of these artificial sweeteners are unhealthy, but I think that trying to find drinks without artificial sweeteners of any sort is going to be a fruitless task.
The Asda Fruit Juice Drink, seems to be a pretty good substitute, since it contains no added sugar and is 0 WW ProPoints. I was a little concerned yesterday to discover that it does contain Sucralose and Acesulfame K (Acesulfame Potassium). I looked these both up on Wikipedia and they don't appear to be harmful - although Acesulfame K may be slightly carsinogenic, but no tests have been able to prove that, so far. Of course, there are other websites that claim that both of these artificial sweeteners are unhealthy, but I think that trying to find drinks without artificial sweeteners of any sort is going to be a fruitless task.
Weigh-in - Week 3
Well this week is a little dissapointing as I've Stayed The Same (STS). It wasn't alltogether unexpected as I haven't felt as though I've lost anything. I don't think I've done anything wrong - I've used up all of my points on most days, I had 13 Weekly points and 6 Activity points remaining at the end of the week. I did, however enjoy a trip to the local brewery, with free beer, and I had proper fish & chip shop fish & chips - all properly accounted for though.
Everything I know about WeightWatchers tells me that I should expect to have some weeks where I stay the same (and some where I put on a little), but I was hoping not to experience one so early in the campaign. Oh well, I've just got to pick myself up, dust myself down and carry on - STS is as good as a loss, so they say.
Everything I know about WeightWatchers tells me that I should expect to have some weeks where I stay the same (and some where I put on a little), but I was hoping not to experience one so early in the campaign. Oh well, I've just got to pick myself up, dust myself down and carry on - STS is as good as a loss, so they say.
Tuesday 12 July 2011
Weigh-in - Week 2
So, this is it - my second weigh-in! If I've lost a bit more weight this week, then I think it's fair to say that this WeightWatchers plan is working!
As per last week, I went for a walk at around 06:00 this morning, adding a potentially useful 4 Activity points (potentially useful because I'm going to the member's night at my local brewery this evening - FREE BEER!), before having my bath and then the dreaded moment of the weigh-in.
20st 6lbs - a loss of 3lbs from last week!
Not a huge weight loss, but moving in the right direction! Besides, everyone says that it should be only 1 - 2 lbs a week, although I think, in the early stages at least, people tend to average more than that. Anyway in 2 weeks I've now lost 8lbs, which is remarkable given that I've hardly changed my lifestyle at all at this stage.
The downside is that I've crossed a threshold that means that my daily points allowance has gone down from 56 to 55. This shouldn't make too much difference, as I've struggled most days to reach 56 points - it's only by forcing myself to have a beer and some peanuts at the end of the day that I've managed it. I did, however, succeed in using up all but 7 of my weekly points allowance this weekend - mostly because I was enjoying the beer that I got from the Brewery, to the tune of 3-4 pints on Friday, Saturday & Sunday! I guess that if I hadn't had the beer, I might have lost a bit more weight, but the point of this plan is that you shouldn't deprive yourself of the things that you enjoy and I don't intend to!
Anyway, on to week 3 and I'm well on my way towards that first 5% target. The plan is working!
As per last week, I went for a walk at around 06:00 this morning, adding a potentially useful 4 Activity points (potentially useful because I'm going to the member's night at my local brewery this evening - FREE BEER!), before having my bath and then the dreaded moment of the weigh-in.
20st 6lbs - a loss of 3lbs from last week!
Not a huge weight loss, but moving in the right direction! Besides, everyone says that it should be only 1 - 2 lbs a week, although I think, in the early stages at least, people tend to average more than that. Anyway in 2 weeks I've now lost 8lbs, which is remarkable given that I've hardly changed my lifestyle at all at this stage.
The downside is that I've crossed a threshold that means that my daily points allowance has gone down from 56 to 55. This shouldn't make too much difference, as I've struggled most days to reach 56 points - it's only by forcing myself to have a beer and some peanuts at the end of the day that I've managed it. I did, however, succeed in using up all but 7 of my weekly points allowance this weekend - mostly because I was enjoying the beer that I got from the Brewery, to the tune of 3-4 pints on Friday, Saturday & Sunday! I guess that if I hadn't had the beer, I might have lost a bit more weight, but the point of this plan is that you shouldn't deprive yourself of the things that you enjoy and I don't intend to!
Anyway, on to week 3 and I'm well on my way towards that first 5% target. The plan is working!
Monday 11 July 2011
Diet Coke! - Part 2
Well my switch to Caffiene free diet coke has gone well, I had my last can of Diet Coke with caffiene in it when I got up last Thursday, so that's 3 full days without caffiene! And no headaches!
Now the next phase is to cut out the caffiene free diet coke too as the Aspartame sweetener is really bad for you and is blamed for all sorts of health problems. I plan to do this in a gentle, gradual way as the withdrawal symptoms can be quite bad (headaches, irritability, depression etc). I'm going to start by reducing my intake of CFDC (as it will henceforth be known) by one can each week for the next 6 weeks, starting with the one I have with my evening meal. I'm also going to start looking for healthy alternatives that will not cause me too many problems with my weight watchers plan, i.e. they've got to have low ProPoints values. I don't want to be drinking water all the time!
Now the next phase is to cut out the caffiene free diet coke too as the Aspartame sweetener is really bad for you and is blamed for all sorts of health problems. I plan to do this in a gentle, gradual way as the withdrawal symptoms can be quite bad (headaches, irritability, depression etc). I'm going to start by reducing my intake of CFDC (as it will henceforth be known) by one can each week for the next 6 weeks, starting with the one I have with my evening meal. I'm also going to start looking for healthy alternatives that will not cause me too many problems with my weight watchers plan, i.e. they've got to have low ProPoints values. I don't want to be drinking water all the time!
Tuesday 5 July 2011
Weigh In - Week 1
So this morning was the dreaded first weigh-in! Would I actually have lost any weight at all? It seemed unlikely, given that I managed to use almost all my daily points every day (sometimes by adding a can of lager and a bag of crisps for supper, like I did yesterday) and I used a fair number of my weekly points on Saturday and Sunday to have a nice curry and some excellent Rebellion Beer and dinner with my parents on Sunday plus more Rebellion in the evening! Having said that, I did start to accumulate some Activity points by going for a walk on Saturday and Sunday morning.
This morning I got up at arount 05:00 as usual and read the papers on the internet for a while before going for a walk at about 06:00. Half an hour or so later I returned having earned 4 points for averaging 18.03 minutes per mile! I guess I would get fewer points if I weighed less. After my bath I set the bathroom scales in their alloted "weigh-in" spot on the bathroom floor and, with some trepidation, I stood on them. For a moment I was quite dissapointed to see that I'd lost just 0.1 stone, then my brain kicked into gear and I realised that the scales actually said 20st 9lbs which is a loss of 5lb!
Now I've read other blogs (eg. http://theshrinkingman.co.uk) and the weight watcher's men's board, so losing 5lbs in the first week should come as no surprise to me, but it does! I've done nothing remotely resembling anything I've ever done on any other attempt to lose weight, I've not given up anything I really like, I've not started doing any really hard excercise, all I've done is count up the points for everything I eat and drink and a couple of brisk(ish) walks. In fact on some days I've had to eat or drink when I wouldn't normally do so to make sure I used my points. On Saturday & Sunday, when I knew I was going to have fairly large meals and drink a bit of beer, I substituted my normal breakfast or lunch for fruit!
So far, this just seems too easy! I will just have to see how the second week goes!
This morning I got up at arount 05:00 as usual and read the papers on the internet for a while before going for a walk at about 06:00. Half an hour or so later I returned having earned 4 points for averaging 18.03 minutes per mile! I guess I would get fewer points if I weighed less. After my bath I set the bathroom scales in their alloted "weigh-in" spot on the bathroom floor and, with some trepidation, I stood on them. For a moment I was quite dissapointed to see that I'd lost just 0.1 stone, then my brain kicked into gear and I realised that the scales actually said 20st 9lbs which is a loss of 5lb!
Now I've read other blogs (eg. http://theshrinkingman.co.uk) and the weight watcher's men's board, so losing 5lbs in the first week should come as no surprise to me, but it does! I've done nothing remotely resembling anything I've ever done on any other attempt to lose weight, I've not given up anything I really like, I've not started doing any really hard excercise, all I've done is count up the points for everything I eat and drink and a couple of brisk(ish) walks. In fact on some days I've had to eat or drink when I wouldn't normally do so to make sure I used my points. On Saturday & Sunday, when I knew I was going to have fairly large meals and drink a bit of beer, I substituted my normal breakfast or lunch for fruit!
So far, this just seems too easy! I will just have to see how the second week goes!
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