Woo-hoo!

[kerravonsen]

I saw the doctor this morning, and my "stay away from Seven-Eleven diet" worked! I lost two kilos! Yippee!!!

I can do this. I can actually do this!

Yahoo!

Comments

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

What's a "stay away from Seven-Eleven diet"?

[kerravonsen]

Well, I call it that because my chief pitfall is the Seven-Eleven on the ground floor of our building, and me buying fattening snacks there like chips and cakes.

I'm actually planning on writing it up, but it's based on the principles of:

1. Don't resist temptation, avoid it.
   
2. Replace tempting things with good things that you like.
   

Based on all sorts of things, including suggestions from mistraltoes and watervole.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ah. Willpower. Wish I had some. The trouble is, I really need to avoid carbs, not because of any cult diets, but due to a deficiency in my metabolism. The place I'm working at has a staff canteen with--unusually--excellent cooks, so it's hard to resist what would be a good healthy meal for most people. And mostly I don't. :-(

[kerravonsen]

Willpower. Wish I had some.

No, no, it isn't about willpower! Thinking it was about willpower was what got me from 100 kilos to 126 kilos, because I was trapped in a failure -> guilt -> despair cycle. Thinking you can lose weight by depending on willpower is total crap; crap which, unfortunately, the whole world is tossing at us, especially people who've never had a weight problem.

If your body has uncontrollable cravings because of a stuffed up metabolism (or stuffed up blood chemistry, or stuffed up hormones etc) then it isn't about your will, it's about an unbalanced body. As Mistral said to me, it's like telling an alchoholic to have half a light beer three times a day for the rest of their life -- it's doomed to failure.

If you try to tackle it head on.

What is required is a Cunning Plan, so that your stupid body's cravings can be overcome without having to tackle the problem head-on. So one has to maximize the chances of enforcing one's will on this wayward, craving-prone body, and minimize the chances of impulse bad eating. Logically, it's harder to eat things that aren't in front of you. That's what I mean by "don't resist temptation, avoid it" -- avoid the situations in which one is surrounded by tempting things, and the temptation will be reduced.

That's just step 1.

In your case... is there any way you can avoid the staff canteen?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yes, if I take my own lunch. That means being organised enough to make it the night before, or getting up even earlier than I have to already just to get a park. And after a week of tuna and salad, I'm sick of it. :-( Making sandwiches is much easier but not good for me. and sometimes the meals in the cafeteria are just what I can eat. One day this week I had the chicken part of chicken curry, but usually I'd have to pick out the protein and end up with less than half what I paid for.

As Mistral implied, an alcoholic can decide not to drink; I can't decide not to eat. Unfortunately.

Off to bed now, exhausted from coughing. :-(

[kerravonsen]

Yes, if I take my own lunch. That means being organised enough to make it the night before...

Oh, I hear you there. That's a "too hard" thing for me too. And I'd get sick of tuna and salad day after day too, even though it's actually quite nice to eat (I like tuna).

but usually I'd have to pick out the protein and end up with less than half what I paid for

Is there any way you could talk to the canteen people and say "Look, I have a medical problem which requires this" and ask them if you could just buy the chicken without the rice or whatever? Not a case of asking them to cook you something special, just dish you out stuff selectively. Have the roast without the vegies, have the chinese dish without the rice, have the pasta-sauce without the pasta, and so on. Do you think that would help?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It might, and that's what I did the time they had the rice and the curry separate. Usually however everything's together: stew, stir-fry, a tuna roll-up (I ate less than half of the bread part), tuna pasta, lasagna--that sort of thing. I shall just have to make extra the night before and take it to work. :-(

BTW how's your fighter-pilot sleeping mask going?

[kerravonsen]

BTW how's your fighter-pilot sleeping mask going?
Much better since I got the humidifier. Now most nights I sleep through, though last night was not so good.

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

Yay! :)

[kerravonsen]

You helped me crack this, you know.

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

Moi? Er... I just hope it continues to go well, then.

[kerravonsen]

Well, you finally got me to believe what you'd been saying all along: that it was probably something wrong with my body, not something wrong with my willpower. That was the key to me even being able to think of this Cunning Plan in the first place, and break the failure -> guilt -> despair cycle.

[kerravonsen]

BTW, I also asked my doctor a few things about what I might possibly have. He said he'd already checked my thyroid, and it was normal, but there was one thing he'd suggested checking a long time ago, and at the time I'd said no, because he'd said that it wouldn't make any difference to what I had to do (lose weight) and I hadn't felt like having a blood test. What was the thing? Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. Its symptoms include irregular periods, infertility, obesity, acne, and hirsuitness, due to an imbalance of hormones. Well, I have the last three, and I'd never really taken much notice of whether my periods were regular or not, and of course I've had no reason to wonder about my (in)fertility!
Well, I took the blood test today, and I shall find out the results when I see him again in six weeks time.

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

Yes, I remember wondering last year if you were a candidate for PCOS, but I don't think I asked you about it. I didn't know they had a blood test for it now.

It's worth noting that the treatment for weightloss with PCOS is (last time I checked) the same as the treatment for weightloss with just insulin resistance: Metformin or other insulin-reducing drugs and a blood-sugar-levelling, reduced-carb diet. Though in this country it can be difficult to get treatment for PCOS unless you're trying to get pregnant, as it's been considered primarily an infertility problem. In fact, much of the infomation I've learned about the insulin-reducing protocols has come from a friend of mine being treated for PCOS-related infertility.

[kerravonsen]

but I don't think I asked you about it
No, you didn't mention it.

I didn't know they had a blood test for it now.

Well, maybe it's an initial screening, to narrow down the likelihood.

It's worth noting that the treatment for weightloss with PCOS is (last time I checked) the same as the treatment for weightloss with just insulin resistance: Metformin or other insulin-reducing drugs and a blood-sugar-levelling, reduced-carb diet.

Yeah, when my doctor first raised it, he indicated that if it was found that I had it, my treatment wouldn't be any different -- that was one reason why I initially didn't bother to find out whether I had it. But the psychological benefit of being able to say to people "look, I have this disease, this is what it's called, it means my hormones/blood chemistry is all out of whack, not that I'm weak-willed" -- well, I think it would make a difference to my mental well-being anyway.

Though in this country it can be difficult to get treatment for PCOS unless you're trying to get pregnant, as it's been considered primarily an infertility problem.

Yes, that was the impression I got from the net research I did yesterday. Guess I'm just blessed that fertility is a non-issue for me. But I also got the impression that there were also some treatments that might help with the hirsuitness, which would be a relief. A couple of days ago I tried wax strips on my upper lip -- ouch! I'm never going to do that again...

I'm also very fortunate that my Mum used to practice in that area (women's hormones etc) (though apparently PCOS wasn't known about back then when she was doing it) so I have someone I can talk to about it besides my doctor.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Well done, you definitely can do it, and this proves it

[kerravonsen]

Thanks. 8-)

[reveilles.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! Yay! :)

I found a very useful help: keep healthy snacks around the house and always pack them in your bag/purse when you leave the house. DON'T leave the house without a healthy snack in there. That way, you don't get caught out, hungry and stuck with the processed junk on the street.

And regular exercise. That gives me more energy. I thought exercising was going to make me more tired, but surprisingly, I feel like I can do more, not less! :)

[kerravonsen]

DON'T leave the house without a healthy snack in there.

Good point. Though that hasn't been so much a problem, because there aren't any vending machines at the bus stop like there are at train stations -- my big temptation is the Seven-Eleven when I get to work.

And regular exercise.

My problem with regular exersize at the moment is that I still have a bung heel. Though my doctor said this time I could ease into it, starting off with five minutes a day, and increasing a minute every few days, and backing off if it got too painful. My new nikes should help there.

You're a star!

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Well done! Big hug!

Take a peek at page 7 of the current (11 September) issue of New Scientist for a nifty idea on how to lose weight without dieting or exercise or drugs. I'd copy it, but the article isn't up on their web site yet.

Re: You're a star!

[kerravonsen]

Take a peek at page 7 of the current (11 September) issue of New Scientist for a nifty idea on how to lose weight without dieting or exercise or drugs. I'd copy it, but the article isn't up on their web site yet.

Since, unlike you, I don't have a subscription to it, it will probably be a toss-up as to whether I manage to grab a copy before it gets up on their website anyway. Thanks for the pointer though.

[daiseechain.livejournal.com]

Congrats! Yes, you can do it!

[kerravonsen]

Thanks!