A Holiday in France Without Lighter Life

I am in France for a short weekend break. This weekend is in complete contrast to the last time we came here. The last visit was very difficult because I was still on abstinence.

You cannot imagine how hard it is to sit in a street cafe in Cognac and just have a lighter life bar and plain water. The waiter was completely confused by it all and our beginners french only seemed to make him more confused.

This time I am simply maintaining my weight loss so I will go to the same restaurant tomorrow and enjoy the meal. There is nothing quite like real french food.

I am eating hardly any food packs now as I do not need to. Sometimes I will have a soup for convenience at lunch time but other than that I just eat normal food.

In the new year I may try to lose one more stone but I am very happy with my weight now and can live like this no problem.

Where have I been?

A number of regular readers have written to check that everything is OK. I am well and still keeping my weight off. I am on a special lighter life program at the moment to take me into the new year. The weight loss is slower but it will help me to regulate my eating for the rest of my life.

I have a Lighter life shake for breakfast, a lighter life soup for lunch, A low carbohydrate meal for evening dinner with an apple or other fruit. I finish the day with a lighter life bar.

I can keep this up for ever in the week as my work is very busy and I do not have time to think about food. The weekends are still a struggle and I sometimes cheat. This is not really very clever but I am working on how to get through the weekend without messing up the good work I am doing in the week.

Keep asking questions. I like the feedback

Event of the year - New weighing machine purchased

This must be the saddest post ever. Our old weighing had seen better days and we have sent it to weighing machine heaven. Mind you it had seen a lot of frontline action.
Can you imagine the excitement of buying a new weighing machine and then fighting over who is going to weigh themselves first?

Well it wasn't as bad as that but it is reasuring to know that they measure accurately.
Seriously though - I had decided to not weigh myself at all and just go with the program. I know that the lighter life diet works so I am not concerned about losing weight. I know it will happen if I stick to the diet.

My lighter life counsellor suggested it might help me to weigh once during the week just to keep me motivated and on program. So I weighed this morning and was 15 stones 3 pounds. very pleasing.

At least I am not weighing 3 times a day like I was in January. That was a bit mad. Now if the scales are right I have lost one and a half stones in three and a half weeks. Pretty good I reckon.

3 more lbs lost this week

Not very much weight loss this week and I am not sure why. Still I am taking up golf again so maybe the exercise will help for next week. I am trying out some of the lighter life soup flavours and they taste a while lot better than they did last time. The vegetable one has a new recipes and is now very tasty. It used to taste and fell like polyfilla.

I have got to the point where any whiff of food is testing me. A colleague at work decided to have chips for lunch and the smell was lovely. Not very helpful for me though.

4 lbs more lost this week

I am now at 15 stones 10 lbs - a loss of 15 lbs for the two weeks. I feel like the weight is falling of me and all my clothes fit perfectly again.

Six weeks to go before I review what I will do. If as I expect I will have lost 2 more stone I may do an extra 2 weeks as I would like to get to 13 stones before the end of the year.

I tried the new recipe vegetable soup today and it is a big improvement on the old won. Makes a nice change from the sweet milk shake type food packs

Will anyone notice if I cheat on my lighter life diet?

I have been near food all week for various reasons and the temptation to cheat on my lighter life diet has been almost overwhelming. I have also had to collect my home grown potatoes from my garden and not eat any of them. Now that is difficult. I am hoping there will still be some when I return to normal eating in 6 - 8 weeks.

The thing is I keep saying to myself that no one will notice. That is true - I am so thin compared to when I started in January that a bad week is something I could easily get away with.

But I know that the way the lighter life diet works using ketosis. This is completely messed up with even the slightest cheating. If I really do want to finish my life of dieting once and for all then I have to be good.

Cold Feet on the lighter Life Diet

I know have gone into ketosis because my feet are cold even though this is the middle of summer. My hands will follow in a few days time I am sure. This is the one big negative for me on the diet. Speaking to the other guys it is quite common so I just have to live with it.

Looking forward to my next weigh in on monday. Speak to you soon

Great weight loss on my first week back

I had my first weigh in today and I had lost 11 lbs. So from 16 stones 11 lbs to 16 stones in one week. I do not know any other diet like lighter life that would give me that level of weight loss and encouragement.

I feel completely positive and confident about getting down to my goal weight. I think my goal weight is 13 stones and I expect it to take about 12 weeks including a 4 week fast track to maintenance program.

The lighter life cousellor feels just as confident as I do because I am so focussed on sticking to the plan. So 7 more weeks of abstinence and then 4 weeks of route to management. At least thats the plan.

One difficulty on the horizon is that I am running an alpha course at my church and part of that is having a meal every week. So I will have to sit out the meal and explain to everyone what I am doing. I do not want to appear rude.

I am now allowed food bars as well as food packs so I am looking forward to something solid to eat this evening for supper. Crunchy nut flavour I think.

2 days in after return to lighter life diet

I had a huge work day yesterday 7.00 - 11.15 and the temptation to order a burger at paddington station late last night was almost too much. I didn't. I got a bottle of water for the train and moped.
Other than that my return to the lighter life diet has gone a lot smoother than anticipated.

I haven't had quite as many withdrawal symptoms as the first time. This is probably because I was eating quite healthily anyway so didn't have lots of 21st century toxins to get rid of.

I can feel my body redadjusting to losing weight. I will not weigh myself at home as I am trying to not get too obsessed about weighing myself.

I have only had sweet food packs so far. I haven't bought any soups as I can't face them as yet.

The only other issue is do I tell people I am back on the wagon again. No one has noticed any increase in weight so I will keep quiet abd just enjoy all the compiments and adulation from my family and friends.
One of the guys in my group has started on lighter life because his wife knows me through work and recommended him to do it. I do not know whether I should let on that I am responsible in part for him being on a diet.

Bad news at my lighter life weigh in

This was very unexpected.

I went back to lighter life tonight for the next phase of weight loss and discovered that I had put nearly 2 stones back on. I was a bit stunned but the scales cannot lie. I have not weighed for months so it was aa bit of a killer. But I have to be honest about where I am.
So its back to the food packs for at least 8 weeks for me.

My weight as of tonight is 16 stones 10 lbs.

The group of guys is completely different now and it will tke some getting used to them. And them to me. One interesting thing was listening to all the excuses I was using last year coming out of other peoples mouths. What is encouraging is that I now know that they are simply excuses and not straight thinking. This means that my thinking about food has improved quite a bit since last year.

Food packs taste a bit better after a break but for how long. Today I had 2 caramel, vanilla and a chocolate one with a bit of instant coffee.

I will write more now I am back on abstinence as I need this to keep me focussed

A Complete Change of Direction - Hope it Works

As many of you will know I stopped short of my ideal weight when I did the lighter life diet earlier on this year. The reason I stopped was because I was finding it very difficult adjusting to being a lot thinner. This is both physically and mentally. So I have taken a break since May.

My plan was to do lighter life all over again next january and february to finish the job. I do not need to lose so much now. I already lost 5 stones. But there is a problem. Next february I am spending a week in Stuttgart for a trade show so I do not really want to be dieting with all that weiss beer and german noodles (Schwabien/schwabisch noodles I think they are called).

So the only other 2 options are to wait until march 2009 or do it now.

I have decided to go back on my lighter life diet now for 8 weeks and then go onto route to maintainance which should see my BMI down to below 25 and my weight within the normal range for my height and age.

I am just waiting for my lighter life counsellor to give me the OK and then I'm back on the potions (Sorry - Lighter Life Food Packs). I have been told that lighter life is much harder the second time but I do not know if I will find this true for me. I do not find the packs particlularly tasty but they do keep you going for the day provided you take them at regular intervals.

A bit of me is very excited because in a few weeks I will be of normal weight for the 1st time in my adult life. Amazing really.

There is one mystery left to be solved. I haven't weighed myself since june so I do not know what I weigh. I will find out at the first session - hopefully tomorrow. I know I have put a little bit on. It will come right off anyway so its not a problem.

To save you looking back in the blog these are my stats for the first part of my diet

Start weight January 2008 - 19stones 11 lbs
Finish weight May 2008 - 14 stones 11 lbs

New Target weight - 13 stones

I will post more often now for a while as it helps me keep focussed knowing there are a whole load of people following my progress

Wish me luck

Are you allowed to drink alcohol on the lighter life diet?

Another of many questions I have been asked on my lighter life diet is can I drink alcohol.
Well the simple answer is no - not even a little bit - In fact don't even think about it!!!
The whole point about doing the lighter life diet properly in the first stage is to ABSTAIN from normal food and drink.

I must admit that there were some dieters in my group who did not stay the course because they could not get their head around this. They would come to the meeting and say how they had been tempted to eat this or drink that.

The whole point about lighter life is that you commit to doing things differently for a time for the long term benefits. So alcohol is off. I can hear some readers asking "Does this mean that you didn't have any alcohol while you were on the diet?" Well yes, of course. No alcohol for 5 months.
For me this is no great hardship as I am not a huge drinker anyway. For some of the guys this was a major issue. Some of them had a beer problem, others a wine problem and of course the hard core whisky and brandy drinkers hated the restriction.

When you drink alcohol you lose some of your willpower and you will cheat on your diet so it is not worth risking an evening of drinking to stop your weight loss.

After about week 5 on the route to management you are allowed some drinks but you get the feeling that the diet is better for you if you abstain totally. Now I am back to my new form of normal eating I do have the odd glass of red wine or a german Weiss beer and it does not make me put on weight.

The lighter life diet only really works if you "get it". And the "it" is follow the rules of abstinence. Just do what the diet says. The weight will fall off you. You will be thin.

Until january 2008 I had lived life as a fat person. I was clinically obese according to my doctor. Now on the 4th August in the same year I am living life as a THIN person. That is worth the abstinence for me. So what If I couldn't have a drink for 5 months. so what. Look at the positive benefits now. Its a no brainer.

Lots of positive comments for my lighter life blog

I have over the last few weeks received some very encouraging emails from readers of my lighter life blog. Did you know that a whole pile of men are losing weight on lighter life. I am so pleased that I am maintaining so well having finished my diet.

I think there is one very good reason why men are successful on this type of diet.

The rules are easy to follow.

The hardest bit is coming back onto normal food. This is so so difficult for men because the love their food and there is no way they can go back to their old ways. My food now is almost unrecognisable from my old way of eating.

I am even publishing my new maintainance diet on the internet as people have asked what I am eating now. When it is completely ready I will post the link here.

As well as good comments on this site many doubters are eating their words now as I have maintained for 3 months. They almost want me to fail to show they were right. Well maybe not quite that bad but they are struggling to come out and say "well done"

I have now set in my mind that I will go back on abstinence for 8 weeks early next year to finish my weight loss and get down to a BMI of about 22. I almost can't wait. Just imagine a fat old geezer finally beating this obesity for life. I notice other fat people all the time now which I never did before. My wife keeps telling me off for commenting on all the fat people.

So if you are reading this and you are still fat just do what I did. Do the lighter life diet and break the spell food has over you. This is not easy. IT is the hardest thing I have ever done but I have not only won the battle for my own health. I am close to winning the war for my health. That os definitely worth fighting for.

Back from careful eating on my holiday - Diet? What Diet?

If you go on holiday you expect to let things go a little bit and overeat. It would be a crime not to.
This has been my thinking for 30 years but this year my thinking has changed.

My 10 day holiday has been completely controlled as regards eating. I have chosen to eat healthily some days and gone mad on other days. The difference this year is the feeling of being in control and having choice.

My lighter life diet has given me that control and I love it. I am not weighing myself at the moment so I do not know if I have put on any weight - I suspect 1 or 2 pounds. It doesn't matter because I will now be very careful for a week or 2 and the weight will just come back off.

I had an email today from a chap wanting to know some details about the route to management on lighter life. This is the hardest part of the lighter life diet because you have to re-learn how to eat normally. This is the one area where the company who market the diet fall short. The information is minimal and confusing. My lighter life counsellor is brilliant but the materials do not cover the 12 weeks route to management phase very well.

All the information is there but for people new to controlling their eating it is hard to understand. I have vast experience of cooking and menu preparation but I could not devise a day's meal plan very easily from the info given. The authors of the program do know their stuff but they assume that we know what they are talking about. After 5 or 6 weeks I ignored the route to managment guidelines as I couldn't make sense of them.

As I have maintained my weight loss I think I got the idea but some more complete information from the lighter life company wouldn't go amiss.

Strawberries are allowed on lighter life- I'm not sure about the cream

I have been thoroughly enjoying fresh strawberries all week. My fruit and veg intake is much bigger then before my lighter life diet. I have to admit that it all seems a long time ago. How quickly we move on.

So how am I doing. I haven't weighed myself for over a month which is driving my wife mad but I am quite happy with it. I know I am not piling on the pounds because all my new clothes still fit perfectly.

I am being very careful with what I eat and am still following the GI diet in the main. I hardly touch Bread and butter. No biscuits or crisps. The only problem tempting food for me is nuts. In particular macadamia nuts and peanuts. I have to eat the whole packet. It is like a rule. So I try and not get near them.

Now I no longer have any food packs I am having juices in the morning with the occasional bran flakes when I can't be bothered to make the juice. My favourite recipe is as follows.

2 carrots, 2 apples, 1 inch of fresh ginger root, 3 large slices of pineapple, 3 handfulls of spinach.
This concoction looks and sounds dreadful but tastes stunning and really sets me up for the day.

If I continue to lose weight I will not return to my lighter life diet as I will not need to. If however I stay as I am I think I will do another 8 weeks early next year to get down to normal for my height. I am not too concerned about it as I am enjoying being so much thinner now.

It feels like a new life with food

I have 3 lighter life food packs left which I will have when it suits me. I am maintaining my weight loss with the occasional up and down on the scales. I do not weigh myself very often now as I am not worried about putting weight on. I know that if I do put a lot of weight on - say 1/2 a stone I can simply do a week or 2 on the food packs to correct it. Better then this I can just watch what I eat for a month and the excess weight will be gone.

Being in control in this way is great. We were in an italian restaurant for dinner today and I ordered some grilled chicken on a salad. I had 3 spoonfulls of my wife's dessert and it was easy. I did not overeat and so I know I will not have put on any weight. This being in control is quite addictive but it is better than my previous food addiction.

In 30 days time I am going on a family holiday. I have 3 new swimming costumes (Size Medium instead of XXLarge). A holiday is usually an excuse for overeating but not for me now. I will enjoy all the eating out and special meals with the family but I will also enjoy preparing for the eating out by being controlled at other times of my break. I can do whatever I want and I choose to control my eating and make this a pleasurable part of my holiday. This is, I know, the musings of an ex addict but these are feelings and experiences very new to me. I am enjoying them hugely.

Posts are going to be weekly from now on but do comment on this site and I will respond back.

Still sailing along nicely on my lighter life

I went to my last weigh in and counselling group on monday. Knowing I am not going anymore is yet another readjustment to my new lighter life.
More and more people are reacting very positively to my new look which is great. I still haven't tried out certain no no foods and may not for quite a while. I am sticking to salads and low fat meals. I still have some lighter life food packs but they will run out in a few days.
The big decision is what to have for breakfast instead of a food pack.
I will probably have home made juices most mornings and standard breakfast cereals the rest of the time. The juices I make have a good mixture of fresh vegetables and fruit and taste lovely. My favourite sounds and looks dreadful but tastes great. The ingredients are

Spinach
Carrot
Apple
Pineapple
Celery
Root ginger

I run them through my juicer and close my eyes. I really doesn't look good but the flavour is wonderful. It almost feels like drinking pure vitamins and is a great set up for the day.

lighter life counselling comes to an end - for now

On monday I will have my last lighter life counselling session. I should have one more but I am working and will not be able to go. So I will have one more weigh in and buy the last 2 weeks worth of lighter life bars.

I have maintained my weight loss completely on this diet and know I have cracked it this time. If by any twist of fate or food I put on more than a few pounds I will rush back in a flash. But I do not think that will happen.

What I will be doing next January is going back for 1 months to lose 1 more stone - should I need to. Regular readers will know that my body has taken a lot of readjusting to being thin and I stoppped short of my full weight loss target to recover. I am still delighted with losing 5 stones.
I am now on the GI diet which is how it will be for life. I have never felt healthier or enjoyed my food so much as now.

This blog will be updated regularly as I know it has helped me keep focus and will continue to do so. I will write how things go on the weigh in on monday

Staying in a hotel will be easy this time on maintainence

This evening I am staying in a hotel in Stratford before seeing a customer tomorrow morning. This will be the first time on my diet that I can just sit down at the table in a Hotel and know I will be able to find a whole load of food I can eat.

When I was in France over easter I was still on the abstinence and ate nothing for six days. All the french food was driving me wild with temptation. Tonight is a pay off night for all my discipline as I can just not eat too much all day and enjoy a well ordered meal.

There is a pool and a gym at the hotel as well - very luxurious - I can work some of it off in the morning and have a light eating day on thursday. As I have said before, I am getting used to controlling food rather than food controlling me and the feeling of power is huge. I can coolly and calmly choose to eat the right things and happily decide not to eat rubbish like burgers and chips. I do not even miss them.

I am enjoying the food options that the lighter life allows me. There are very few foods that are off limits now and I can control my consumption of these as a matter of course.

This is the life...

Another great reaction to my weight loss diet

I met with a customer on thursday who hadn't seen me this year. She was very shocked at my weight loss. She could hardly concentrate on the work at hand to talk business.
As I am now getting used to being thin and most people know what has happened this was a good reminder for me for the success I have had on the lighter life diet.

The lady's husband needs to lose more weight than me so I expect he had a tough night on thursday.

I had a few roast potatoes yesterday for the first time and didn't put on any weight. I haven't actually found any trigger foods yet that put weight on me. I think for me I was simply over eating across the board. Large portions and plenty of them. The new eating culture of eating good foods and watching the portion sizes is finally getting into my head and I am sure I can stick to my weight loss.

The next step for me is to up my exercise levels as I am not fit physically and need to improve this over the next 6 months to complete the job.

Lighter life food packs - what are they like?

After finding out that all I ate for 15 weeks were food packs people want to know what is in them and what are they like.

I have no idea what is in them - lots of chemicals probably. The do include all the essential nutrients you need to keep your body going. They are almost zero carbohydrate content. This is one of the main roles of the food packs - to help your body go into ketosis because of the lack of carbs. I think there are also ingredients that keep you feeling full but I could be wrong here.

The flavours are just flavours. I'm sure there are no strawberries in the strawberry shake. When I started the lighter life diet I tried out all the flavours. The soups were quickly reduced to one favourite flavour, Thai Chilli. The shakes were much better and I enjoy them all. My favourites are vanilla, caramel and chocolate. I often make them into a cold mocha chillo shake by adding some instant coffee.

The food bars are the source of great discussion in our diet group as we all like different ones for different reasons. My favourite is the nutty bar but I also like the toffee and the cranberry bars.

I'm not sure you could ever say you like the food packs. They are what they are - a tool to help you lose weight. I have noticed that real food tastes much better now having been deprived for so long. Even salad leaves and radishes acheive a gourmet rating at the moment. They taste terrific. My wife has pointed out the I eat very slowly now - this is a good thing. I used to eat food in a big rush but now I tend to enjoy the flavours and textures much more.

I have only 3 weeks to go now and then no more food packs for me. I may use them to supplement my diet when I need to for the odd week but other than that I'm all for real food now.

New email newsletter from lighter life

The people at lighter life certainly try hard to keep you well informed. Yesterday I received the first email newsletter for people on the route to management.

This has a whole series of articles and helpful info on staying on the route to mangement.
The summary of contents is as follows.

· healthy, calorie-counted seasonal recipes for spring
· inspiring Management success stories
· effective stress-management strategies
· top healthy choices for pub meals
· activity tips to boost your fitness and wellbeing
· details of our new Foodpack-based modules to help you keep your weight in balance
… and much more!

I do not know of any other diet group that keep on the the end ofthe weight loss road in the way that lighter life do. It is very helpful to me and I am sure others.

The link is here click on the link below

Lighter life newsletter

Only 4 weeks to go on the route to management

One of the Lighter life CD's had a great phrase which I am going to use. "experienced weight holder" I only have 4 weeks to go to become one of these elite weight loss people.

I am hoping to become an experienced weight holder over the next few years. I am also hoping that my weight will continue to creep down a further stone as I eat healthily over the next year.

I think that I will still eat one or two lighter life food packs as it does make the business of menu planning and shopping much less hassle. It will also remind me of what I have acheived this year and keep me focussed.

I am about to put up a weight loss chart by the fridge at home and at work for the same reason.
This will all ensure that I become an experienced weight holder.

I was reminded that statistics say I have added 9 years to my life. I might as well make the most of them and stay slim.

My diet team needs some recognition

I have been on this diet for nearly 5 months and I haven't really aknowledged the team of people who have been with me through all this and encouraged me along the way.

I hasten to add that only I have actually done the diet but I have a great backing team.

My wife who Celebrates with me in july on oue 30th wedding anniversary.

My 2 best friends who have prayed for me for years to lose weight. They have never condemned my lack of previous success but are great supporters now.

My doctor who signed me off to allow me on the diet. He still doesn't know what has happened.

My lighter life counsellor, She is just brilliant.

My 2 other friends who happen to be doctors and have also nodded sagely along the way and been surprised by my new found tenacity.

My 2 excellent children who have been knocked out by all this - they have never known me be thin.

My parents who can barely hide their pride.

So you see this has not been a one man show. I have been on this journey very publicly and with a large team of supporters. If you have tried to secretly diet why don't you try the other route and go public with your diet and celebrate your step by tep diet success with a team of your own. It takes more courage but also means that you stay on course for longer.

Route to management week 8 - Staples triggers

I think I am on week 8 of the route to management. I must look it up. Anyway this week is the week to try out starchy staple foods. So on the list this week are.

Rice
Potato
Cassava - No idea what that is
Cous Cous
Pasta
Noodles

Having dutifully tried all these out to see if they trigger something guess what - nothing happened. I do not really understand what these foods are supposed to trigger. Am I going to turn into the hulk or maybe run around in a corbohydrate frenzy. I must find out in case I am missing the point.

I have listened to the audio CD's from lighter life but maybe I haven't paid close enough attention.
Week 9 there are a whole load of new trigger foods to add including breakfast cereals, grains and flour.
Then week 10 is the big one for me - Cheese. If anything is going to trigger me of it will be cheese. The portion sizes are so small that it won't trigger of anything.

Week 11 trigger is Bread which mixed with the cheese of week 10 should create a cheese on toast trigger. Actually I am enjoying enjoying food if that makes any sense.

Week 12 triggers are chocolate, crisps and other snacky items. I have never been a big quick snack person so this will not touch me at all. Some of the other guys in my diet group are not looking forward to trying to control these foods. They have big issues with them and know that if they buy some chocolate it must be eaten promptly and completely.

Chocolate is not for sharing. The other problem I have never had is the "eat the whole packet of biscuits" syndrome. I could never imagine doing that but apparently it is a common experience

My first day since 6th January with no food packs

Today being a saturday was a chance for me to try a day without the support of any lighter life food packs or bars. There are so many permitted foods at this stage of route to management that this was very easy to arrange.
I will go back to one or 2 food packs for the reat of my time on the diet but I wanted to give it a go.

So here is what I had

B: 2 weetabix with skimmed milk
L: Out for dinner at a favourite restaurant. Chicken pieces with salad and sweet potato and spinach lasagne. Very Healthy with hardly any pasta in it.
D: Quinoa, courgette and mushroom stir fry - snack size portion
S: Apple and mandarin

I could get used to this normal food all day.
It is dawning on me that it a few weeks this whole lighter life diet will have finished and I will not need any of the food packs. I also will not be going to the weigh ins and counselling sessions. This has become a way of life for me this year so that will take some adjusting to.

Then all I have to do is keep thin and healthy. This blog is now a major strategy towards my weight maintenance so keep reading

My general health is much better having lost all the weight

I was considering all that has happened this year and realising that my general health has improved enormously as a result of my lighter life diet.

My joints - in particular my knees - are no longer complaining and my breathing is much better. I had a persistent bronchial cough last year that has gone completely. The most improvement is in my digestive system where I no longer feel bloated and lardy. This is obvious for anyone who has lost a lot of weight but its good to note that I do feel this much better.

It will be interesting to see if the cold and flu bugs get me this year or whether I will be able to resist them better.

We are going to a favourite restuarant tomorrow and I am already planning what I will order. Potatoes, rice and pasta are the triggers this week so I will try one of them out. Can't wait.

Why have you succeeded on this diet and not the others?

A friend asked me this question about my diet success on lighter life.
My immediate reaction was "I don't know" but on thinking about it there are a few differences between the lighter life diet and all the others.

1. Lighter life has a weekly weigh in session and that is your proper record of weight loss. So there is no cheating on the balances. You know that there is an independent record being kept of your progress. Knowing this keeps me focussed as I do not want to see the weight go up when I go on mondays.

2. With the weigh ins are the counselling sessions with the lighter life counsellor. I'm sure all of my group hated the thought of even going to these sessions but once we get there ou can't shut us up.

3. There is a bit of a competitive element in the group that makes you stay on the diet because you don't want to be the smuck who lapsed this week. So knowing the other guys want to know how you are doing you do not cheat.

4. The food packs do actually keep you going if you do not cheat because of the business of going into ketosis. So although you are hardly eating anything your body in ketosis doen't give out the hunger pangs like normal.

5. Because success is fast and constant you feel like you are on a new rollercoaster ride that you are trying for the first time. I lost 11 lbs in week one which completely surprised and shocked me.

6. People took time to notice my weight loss but the positive comments really give me encouragement to stick with it.

7. The final thing that has helped me is the buying of new clothes and throwing out the old ones. I no longer buys sack like clothing. I can buy off the shelf and instead of XXlarge I buy medium size.

Because of all this I am very confident of staying slim and not putting the weight back on.

Good news on this weeks weigh in

This weeks session with the lighter life counsellor gave me a surprise as I weighed in at 14 stones 11 which means I have maintained my weight loss now for 7 weeks.

Most of the meeting was about not going for instant rewards but delaying for the long term benefits. Well I am beginning to reap some of those long term rewards having stuck so well to this diet.

I won't apologise for being a bit smug because I earn't it and I deserve it.
The people who said I would put it straight back on were wrong. I feel completely confident that I will lose the weight and even lose a little bit more.

I am much happier with the stage of the diet I am on right now. I will probably not do abstinence for any long period of time again - just the odd days here and there as it suits me to maintain my weight.

Its great being in control of all this

Why extreme diets won't work

The times newspaper carried an article on saturday explaining why extreme diets do not work.
The author - Amada Ursell discussed the whole business of yo-yo dieting and how we always want to look good for our summer holidays. But ultimately the article concludes that you should eat a low calorie, low fat diet.

Now I agree with that except (you knew that was coming) not all of us have the tenacity required to diet for a long period of time to lose the amount of weight we need to lose.
The lighter life diet enabled me to hit my excess weight in one mad and I agree extreme period of time. Now I can take the long term view and work on what is a Low GI type diet.

My food this weekend has been great and I have eaten well and healthily. I even think I have lost pound or two. I can take the long term view now having sorted the main weight issues out.

The article actually mentions the lighter life diet and the cambridge diet in quite a good light saying "they are better because they give you rapid weight loss results while leaving you feeling pretty healthy,..."

There is a times health club which you can join online and track your diet progress.

Food diary today.
B: Caramel Shake
L: Chicken and quinoa stir fry
D: Egg and cottage cheese with salad
S: Nutty bar

Been unwell on this diet so back to real food

I have not been well in the last week with dizziness and faintness. I have on a couple o occasions had to sit down in my tracks rather than fall over.
I'm not quite sure what is causing this but to be on the safe side I have gone back on to my route to maintainance.
So my daily regime is a shake for breakfast. A light salad type snack for lunch. A meal for dinner including a small amount of protein with lots of low gi vegetables. A bar for supper.
I can live on this very well so I will probably stay on this for the rest of the year to lose the last bit of weight that I need to lose.
I have a lot of work on in my real job - this blogging is just for fun - and I think that very heavy work schedules and abstinence do not go well together.
The route to management takes 12 weeks normally but I plan to stay at week 7 for a long time with occasional treats when I am on holiday. The calorie intake for this phase is still below 1000 per day so losing the extra weight should not be a problem.

The sun is shining and the diet gets easier

Where I live in the UK today is sunny and warm. This has had a good effect on my lighter life diet for some reason. I am not so interested in food and more interested in chilling out and not doing very much at all.

The only slight problem is that my toes are freezing cold even in this heat. Because the lighter life diet is so extreme blood circulation reduces and so my extremities do not stay as warm as normal. (I think I got that right).

Anyway, once I come off the diet My toes and fingers will not be cold all the time.

So today is no longer a battlefield for my mind on this diet. I never realised how things would go up and down on a day by day basis.

I'm glad I didn't do the spa of weight loss for life

I've just watched the spa of weight loss for life. I would much rather do the lighter life diet.
I thought this diet was radical but this program took it to another level.
The Spa of weight loss for life follows 5 people on a five day detox challenge.

For once the programs participants were normal people and were not just there for their 15 minutes of fame. While I am writing this there is a second episode coming in so this will be short as I want to watch it.

The programme deals with the whole person and all aspects of the causes of weight. The treatments were varied to the candidates. Very intersting but I'm glad to have finished most of my lighter life diet without having to go through this programme

This lighter life diet is becoming a battlefield

I have spent all day thinking about how I should cheat on my diet. Should I even cheat at all. I have not had too busy a day which has led to me thinking about cheating on my diet. I don't really want to cheat on my diet but the craving for food has got me.

It's now 17.30 and I have got the evening to get through. All I can hear apart from the food calling to me is my lighter life counsellor talking about overcoming crooked thinking.

I hope the new way of making the shakes will help as I need some sort of change. I am now thinking of not doing abstinence for the month of may but just 2 weeks.

The reason for this huge mind battlefield is that I do not want to put any of the weight back on. This is a bit obvious but the statistics for maintaining weght loss are not pretty. I do not want to be on the wrong end of those statistics.

I will write here the result of my evening of temptation.
See you tomorrow.

I'm beginning to dislike some of the lighter life food packs

I have been on these lighter life food packs since January 6th and now some of them are not tasting so good. I have never really enjoyed the soup packs but I have been having the Thai Chilli one for months. Today I really struggled to eat this flavour.
So I will give myself a break from the soups for a couple of weeks and see if I fancy them later.

I have however found that by adding a somall amount of instant coffee to some of the sweet shakes it gives me a new range of very nice tasting shakes. The ones that work well for me are Vanilla, Chocolate and Caramel. I also have been adding 6 ice cubes to make the shake more substantial and last longer.

The taste is like one of the coffee chillos they sell at B&B's (In the UK)

Lets hope I do not go off the sweet flavour lighter life shakes as well. I would have to stop then.

We had people round for dinner today but I had to watch the Chelsea v Newcastle game on TV to distract me from all the lovely food. Still not long now

Foods to eat to lose weight - after lighter life

While I was on the route to management I was desperate to know what foods to eat to lose weight after lighter life.

There is a bit of secrecy here as you have to hunt around for the information in forums and blogs to find out. I think it would be better for all the information on foods you can eat to be out there.

So the basic strategy for foods to eat after your lighter life diet is

Start with small portions of protein
Add raw green veg
Add more veg
Add more protein options and cooked Veg
Add root veg and beans and legumes.

Beyond this are all the no no foods which are introduced in the second part of route to management.

Alcohol, Bread, Rice, Pizza, Cheese, Chocolate and so on.

Although there is no name put to the food regime you move on to it is basically a low GI diet.

The problem I had on the rout to management is sticking to the gradual introduction of food and not jumping ahead a few weeks to foods that I had missed while on abstinence. I now have only a few weeks left as I am losing weight fast then I will have to face real food again. Actually I love real food but I cannot stop eating food which is what got me into this mess in the first place.

At least I do have a clear idea of what foods to eat to lose weight after I finish and the foods that I will be eating for the rest of my life.

A reward for me for doing so well on lighter life

Today is a big day.

I went and bought myself a new synthesiser keyboard - a Roland Fantom to be precise.

It is fantastic to have a new musical instrument to play around with. It records and multitracks and even takes vocals direct. - Heres come a new album eh. I had in mind to buy myself one of these if I was able to lose the weight so I have.

So this evening I spent 4 hours learning the ins and outs of my new roland fantom.
Nothing to do with lighter life really but in another way it is. Who would have thought at the beginning of this year I would have lost 5 stones with only 1 more to lose. Unbelievable!

I can't wait to spend the rest of the weekend enjoying my reward

Musically yours
Ken

Swimming and gym today - What an angel

I am going for my first swim this year.

The first since I lost all the weight. I hope I will float!
My costume is far too big for me but I will cope until I get a new one.

I still do not know how much exercise I am supposed to so while on abstinence. I keep meaning to clarify this with my Lighter life counsellor. I will take it easy and see how it goes.

Just the whole fun of being there thin is brilliant.

I am enjoying being back on abstinence but I only have a bit more to lose then I have to face the world of real food for the rest of my life. Ho Hum.

Saw an old work colleague who was stunned by my diet success

It is very encouraging when you meet someone you haven't seen for a few years and they barely recognise you.

I met an old work colleague who could not believe my diet success on lighter life.

He knows I have been dieting for years without success so that impressed him even more.

The lighter life diet seems to be getting a bit better known now as when I say I am on the lighter life diet I getting a knowing nod of approval and questions about how do you stick to the diet. Regular readers will know that abstinence is the easy part for me. I have problems with eating real food as I can't seem to stop eating in.

Best day for a week now I am back on abstinence

I have had a terrific day today with my 3 food packs and one bar. I can do this - easy.
All I had to concentrate on was my work. I didn't have to worry about food and what I was going to eat.

This little run in with food has shown up a real problem for me which I am going to try and resolve with my lighter life counsellor. I am obviously not in control of real food when I have all the options before me.

My wife says that after one more month that should be enough weight lost and she is right. So that's my timescale for getting my head straight wiht food. 52 years of unlearning in 1 months - not so easy.

I hope I have made the right decision

I have decided to go back on the 1st phase of lighter life for 4 weeks. I think this is right for me as I am having real problems keeping things going on route to management.

Having talked it over tonight with my lighter life counsellor we agreed that my mind is not keeping up with my body. Denying myself food and controlling portion sizes are skills that I do not have and need more time to learn.

Having been morbidly obese for 30 years My mind cannot adjust to being just a bit overweight. I was fully intending to do 4 weeks of abstinence in august so all I have really done is bring that forward to now.

So from tomorrow morning I am back on phase one. I am very sure I can do that because I have proved that already for 12 weeks.

I really do hope this is the right decision.

When I started this lighter life diet on January 6th I thought it was only going to be for 8 weeks. Now I know that this is a long term project and will probably take the whole year to complete. I will try and get into all the materials that lighter life provide to try and train my mind to accept boundaries with food. I have never done this in 52 years so it will be very hard.

To depressed to write food diary.
From tomorrow it will be
B: Shake
L: Thai chilli Soup
D:Shake
S:Nutty Bar

No point me recording this but at least I know I will stick to it without temptation.

Found a Great Diet Blog / Forum site for lighter life

I was toodling around in google search and found a diet blog called minimins which is an internet community of people who are trying to lose weight.

I have joined up and started posting already. I had immediate responses to my posts.Everyone seems very helpful and full of empathy and understanding.

I wish I had found it sooner but I have found it now - So another resource to help me in My struggle to lose weight is added.

Food Diary Today is a prediction as I am only half way through
B: Raspberry Shake
L: Banana, Apple, yoghurt
D: Chicken and salad
S: Nutty Bar - Glass of Cognac ( Very important week 5 addition)

Having real problems keeping focus on my diet

I have really struggled today to keep focus on my lighter life diet today.

In Plain English that means that I cheated with some peanuts and 2 cheese rolls.

The Route to management is so much harder than the first phase of lighter life.
Then the rules were easy to understand and follow. Now I feel like a kid in disneyland wanting to see everything in the next 5 minutes.
No food diary today
Too depressing

Weigh in was dissappointing but not unexpected

I had an increase of 2 lbs on my weigh in today. Considering my binge this week I feel I got what I deserve.
All I have got to do is stick to my diet this week and it will come back off.
Yes that's all I have got to do.
I went to the gym and had a sauna tonight which always cheers me up.
I am hoping to do 3 a week from now on now I am allowed to do the gym.
My heart rate is very healthy - normal in fact and my recovery readings are normal which is great.
This lighter life diet takes some getting used to but that's a good thing. Better than getting used to the idea of dying young of a heart attack or stroke.

Food today
B: Vanilla Shake
L: Caramel Shake - No time to cook
D: Chicken salad wrap - at the sports centre after sauna
S: nutty and toffee bar - 2 bars because this was better than binging

Techniques for weight loss management on lighter life

I've been thinking about what techniques for weight loss management I am using. What am I actually doing to keep me managing my weight loss.
The main technique is that as a result of following the lighter life diet program I no longer spend every waking minute thinking about food.
When I do think about food I am much more circumspect than before. I think rationally about whether I am really hungry and what I can eat that is sensible.
So what I am not doing is dashing out to the nearest fast food place and tucking in.
It is also very important to have a good stock of permitted foods in the fridge. When I feel I must have a snack I tuck into fruit or raw vegetables. So far so good as I have pretty much maintained my weight loss.
The other technique is to think before eating. Checking that the food is allowed before deciding to eat it. This is all very obvious to non dieters but not to me - until now

A long long sunday on this diet

Just occasionally in a year nothing happens on a sunday. Today was one of those days. All I could think about was sticking to my lighter life diet. I thought about it so much that my mind wandered onto what would happen if I didn't stick to it.
These mental conversations are interminable. But i did stick to it.
Weigh in tomorrow which will keep me motivated
B: Fresh Fruit
L: Rump steak with baked parsnips and cauliflower, Strawberries
D: Grapes, banana apple and pear
S: Slim fast bar (run out of lighter life ones - honest)

A bit of a crash on my lighter life diet

I have put on 2 lbs due to my own stupidity and cheating. I thought I would just try out a few banned foods ahead of time. After all how bad could a bit of snacking be for me.
This is the snack listed out for you

• 2 fried eggs,
• a plate of oven chips
• 4 slices of bread with butter and marmalade
• 1 lighter life snack bar - see it wasn't all bad!
• 2 slim fast snack bars
• 2 glasses of cotes de rhone red wine

They all tasted delicious. But of course I have now put on weight.
I justified my binge eating by saying to myself that as I haven't cheated to date it would be ok
Hopefully I have got this crooked thinking out of my system and can concentrate on my route to management again.

So food diary today
B: apple, orange and banana (Iforgot I was supposed to have a shake)
L: Bacon and egg on a large salad
D: Aubergine and chilli quinoa stir fry, Strawberries
S: Nutty lighter life snack bar

5 Stone celebration over - now back to the diet

I had a real binge yesterday and had a mini ginger biscuit and 2 digestives with cheese.

OK - not much of a binge but good enough as a reward for myself losing all this weight.

Back to the rules today on my management track. My housegroup tonight were amazed at the further weight loss and said that even the extra 1/2 stone was noticeable. Very encouraging.
The best thing about this route to management part of the diet is the feeling of being in control of food. Food no longer has a hold on me like it used to. I can look at food and smell food and see other people eating banned food and I can simply decide to eat what I want to eat. Simple.
This means that I am sure I will keep the weight off. Very exciting.

I am still in this culture shock of the new body size. It takes a lot of getting used to. But in a good way.

Food Diary for today
B: Raspberry Shake
L: Boiled egg & Cottage Cheese on a salad bed
D: Aubergine and mushroom with quinoa.
S: Nutty Bar

Fantastic weight loss result this week - hit 5 stones

I am cock a hoop with my weigh in today. I have lost a further 6 lbs in the last 2 weeks making a total of 5 stones in 15 weeks.
I'm off to celebrate see you tomorrow

Food diary
B: Raspberry Shake
L: Apple, Tangerine, Celery and dips
D: Quinoa and chilli stir fry - this is becoming a favourite
S: Toffee Bar

Super fast weight loss diet - it must be bad for you

My lighter life diet is a super fast weight loss diet. But A few of my friends have shown concern that losing weight this fast must be bad for me.
I am not a medical expert but my 2 friends who are doctors have been very supportive of me and both feel that the resultant weight loss will far outweight any negative aspect of this quick weight loss diet.
My knees are better than ever and my general stamina and health is the best it has been for 30 years.
I know that 5 stone in 15 weeks is very extreme but this super fst weight loss diet has delivered a new life for me. The rest of my year and life has been transformed by the quick weight loss.
I do not think a long term diet would have done me any good - I have tried sensible weight loss diets before and they take too long for me to persevere with them
Any Comments?

Next session with my lighter life counsellor tomorrow

I missed last weeks lighter life counselling session because of a bad cold. So tomorrow will be the first weigh in for 2 weeks. I expect to have maintained my weight loss and maybe lost another pound.
I am no longer concerned about putting the weight back on as it is not going back on.
All the doubters have been proved wrong for me as I am keeping the weight off.
I am going to return to the gym on monday and introduce exercise for the first time in 15 weeks.
I actually find the gym quite boring but it is convenient and paid for. It will be so nice not having to enter 19 stones 11 lbs into the gym machines. I will thoroughly enjoy entering 15 stones in. I will not feel like I have to hide the numbers as I put them in.
Apparently the calorie count on the machines will not be as high because of this but that is fine.
This new weight is a culture shock for my mind and body but I like the new culture.

Food Diary Sunday
B: Vanilla Shake
L: Boiled Egg, cottage cheese on salad
D: Chicken Breast with cauliflower and brocolli.
S: Nutty Bar

week 4 food plan for lighter life management

Not many food s added this week. Not a problem because there is so much I can eat now that these are just a bonus.

Additional vegetables for week 4
Artichoke
Asparagus
Aubergine
Bean Sprouts
Brussels Sprouts
Greens (Spring Greens)
Kale
Kohlrabi
Leek
Marrow
Mooli
Okra
Onion
Pak-choi
Shallots
Swiss Chard.

The big difference this week is that I can now have cooked vegetables as well as raw.

Week 3 Foods for Lighter life management

For week 3 of lighter life management has bumper list of foods that can now be eaten in this phase of the lighter life diet.

Additional Protein

• Lean Bacon
• Lean Beef
• Eggs
• Game
• Ham
• Kidney
• Lamb
• Liver
• Pork
• Offal
• Quinoa
• Soya Mince
• Tempeh
• Veal
• Venison

Additional Condiments etc.

• Cooking Sauces, Fat Free
• Fruit Juice
• Smoothies

Fruit

• Apple
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Cherries
• Clementine
• Currants
• Damson
• fruit salad
• Grapefruit
• Kiwi
• Kumquat
• Lemon
• Lime
• Lychee
• Mandarin Orange
• Nectarine
• Ornage
• Passion Fruit
• Peach
• Pear
• Plum
• Pomegranite
• Raspberries
• Rhubarb
• Satsuma
• Sharon Fruit
• Strawberries
• Tangerine

• Plus Tomatoes

As you've probably guessed this week is a bit of a life saver with a great range of foods to choose from. I knew lighter life diet would get easier - this week it did!

Food Diary O(Sorry Forgot what I had yesterday)

B: Vanilla Shake

L: Egg and Bacon on salad

D: Quinoa and chilli stir fry

S: Nutty Bar and Glass of Cognac ( Not really allowed!)

My Lighter Life Blog is keeping me on the diet

One of the main reasons for my lighter life blog is to keep me on the diet and it is working. I was with a customer at work and they were offering all sorts of lovely things to eat with my cup of coffee.
I thought about having to record it in my food diary and decided not to cheat. So I am completely smug about that - but a bit of me wanted to tuck in .
This is still a big learning curve.
Food Diary
B: Vanilla Shake
L: Hard Boiled egg on salad
D: Quinoa and Veg Stir Fry
S: Nutty Bar

Lighter Life Week 2 Foods allowed on management

For week 2 of lighter life management I have been enjoying all of week 1 food plus the following additions.

Dairy

• Curd Cheese
• Fromage Frais
• Skimmed Milk
• Yoghurt

Dairy Altenatives

• Rice Milk
• Soya Fromage Frais
• Soya Milk
• Soya Yoghurt

Salad Veg

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Courgette
• Cucumber
• fennel
• Mangetout
• Mushroom
• Pepper Sweet
• Spring Onion

Plus

• Fat Free Dips
• Sugar Free Jelly
• Low Calorie Soft Drinks

I will let you know about week 3 when I have time - lots to type that day.
Today I have been hungry all day and I do not know why.

Food Diary
B: Raspberry Shake
L: Apple, Tangerine, Yoghurt, Sugar Free Jelly
D: Fried Quorn on a bed of salad. Sugar Free Jelly
S: Nutty Bar

My sister sees the effect of my lighter life diet

I met my sister today for the first time since starting my lighter life diet. Her reaction was one of huge surprise and shock.

She was absolutely fascinated with the diet but agreed that there is no way she would have the will power to stick with such a strict diet like lighter life.

I also met a customer at work who was stunned by my new appearance - so all this hard work is finally beginning to get a reaction. I am also noticing that I am control of my eating which is a new experience.

I know that I can take or leave any food that comes my way. I do not have to eat it. I do not have to finish a meal if I am full. I can simply refuse food or eat it - I decide. This is a complete revelation that I'm sure is common sense to thin people but brand new to me.

I previously felt compelled to eat any food available and eat it all. Now I don't have to.

Food Diary
B: Raspberry Shake
L: Thai chilli soup - last one!
D: Curry flavoured quorn with brocolli and cauliflower
S: Nutty bar

A bad cold has stopped me in my lighter life tracks

I have a bad head cold and this is making my resolve disappear by the hour. In the past I always ate a lot when I was ill but I do not have that option this time around - but I am still thinking about it. My lighter life counsellor would call that crooked thinking.

That is all very well to know what it is but stopping this crooked thinking moving to make me eat is very difficult. So far so good but I can't speak for tomorrow.

Started Week 3 route to management a day early so that I could eat some Quinoa (A big Favourite) with mixed Veg.

B: Chocolate Shake
L: Thai Chilli Soup
D: Quinoa with mixed veg and a bit of cajun spice
S: Nutty Bar

Route to management week 1 foods allowed

I was asked yesterday what foods am I now allowed to eat so I thought that it would be good to list each week what new delights I am allowed on my lighter life route to management.

So Week 1 route to management food list:-

Protein

• Chicken - skinless
• Cottage Cheese - plain low fat
• Egg whites - hard boiled
• Fish - any type
• Quorn
• Shellfish
• Tofu plain
• Turkey - skinless

Raw Salad

• Cabbage
• Celery
• Chicory
• Cress
• Endive
• Lettuce
• Salad Leaves
• Spinach
• Watercress

Condiments, dressings , sauces etc

• Chilli Sauce
• Herbal and fruit teas
• Lemon Juice
• Lime Juice
• Skimmed milk
• Mustard
• Salad Dressing - fat free
• Salt & Pepper
• Soy sauce
• Spices - dried or fresh
• Tabasco Sauce
• Vinegar
• Worcester Sauce

I found that these food were more than adequate after 12 weeks of abstinence on lighter life.

Every meal time is fantastic because I have lost nearly 5 stones and can now learn to enjoy real food at my new weight.

Lighter life at a restaurant - a good meal out

We found a restaurant that meant we could eat out on the lighter life diet. Tandori chicken on a bed of green salad leaves.
It was nice to be out and about after 13 weeks not going out for a meal. Made me feel almost human.
My son in law has just completed his second week on the lighter life diet and has lost 20 lbs. He is finding as hard as I did but is sticking with it for now.
The only problem I have at the moment is a bit of a cold which I haven't had for a long time. Because of this I have starting eating fruit 2 days before the route to management instructions say. I think I need the vitamins.
B: Caramel Shake
L: Roast Chicken pieces on a giant salad. 1 Apple, 1 Tangerine, 1 low fat yoghurt
D: Thai chicken Soup
S: Nutty Bar

nothing in a restaurant to eat!

I went on a business lunch today and there was nothing I could eat on the menu that fitted in with the lighter life diet. So I had a side salad and diet coke. A bit frustrating as I was looking forward to a meal out for the first time this year.
Food Dairy
B: Caramel Shake
L: Side salad and diet coke
D: Quorn on a salad bed with chilli sauce. Sugar free Jelly
S: Nutty Bar

I'm Still Effectively on a VLCD

I realised by adding up my daily calories that I am really still on a VLCD ( very low calorie diet ).
My morning shake - lunchtime soup and evening bar add up to about 450 calories. My Teatime meal adds at most 300 calories so my daily total at the moment is 750 calries.
The weight should still be falling off me but it isn't. But that is not a problem as I am on my goal weight now.
I know that once week 3 comes then the fruit and other things will build up my calorie count to well over 1000 per day which I can maintain indefinitely. If I lose a bit more over the next 6 months that will be fine. I'm in no hurry having lost so much weight already on the lighter life diet.
Food diary today
B: Vanilla Shake
L: Thai Chilli soup and low sugar jelly
D: Quorn on a bed of salad and low fat jelly
E: Nutty Bar

Tried coffee with skimmed milk today - very nice - like being reunited with a forgotten friend

Weigh in result after 1 week on management

Well only a pound lost this week but that is not a problem to me. It is so great to have lots of new foods to eat that as long as I stay the same I will be delighted.
Food diary
B: Vanilla Shake
L: Tofu with salad - I will never eat tofu again in my life!
D: Thai chilli soup
S: Fruit Yoghurt, nutty bar and Cola zero with ice

Route to management is superb for me

I have found the route to management on my lighter life diet much easier than I thought.

The 1 meal a day I am allowed has really helped me keep on the straight and narrow. The meals are a bit repetative but not as bad as the lighter life food packs which can be quite boring.
Having real food has really made a difference to me.

The other good thing is that I think I have lost another 2 lbs this week which is an unexpected bonus. 4 stones 9 lbs in total so far.

At church this morning a whole load of people noticed my weight loss and wanted to know all about it which was great for me. I still need all the encouragement I can get.

A few people wondered how I am going to maintain the weight loss to which I say "no Idea". I have never done this before. I think I will be able to stick with the whole route to management phase but who knows.

I am just beginning to get some energy back now and the dizziness symptoms have gone.

Food Diary for Saturday
B: Caramel Shake
L: Thai Chilli soup
D: Quorn fillets in chilli sauce on a bed of green salad
S: Nutty bar

Sunday
B: Chocolate Shake
L: Chicken in basil and chilli sauce on green salad
D: Thai Chilli Soup
S: Nutty bar

I could get used to this eating

I am hooked on food again but am sticking rigidly to my lighter life route to management.
My scales say I have lost a lb as well which is a bonus. Food diary for last 2 days was the same as wednesday. Tomorrow I am going to have something different. My mum has given me some freah salmon which is great except I don't eat fish - but I might just this once. Many people are at last commenting on my weight loss. I was beginning to think no one was interested.

Just had my second real meal - that's better

I just had chicken with cottage cheese on some salad leaves. This is much better as I have missed food dreadfully. I am concerned that I will put weight on but that is unlikely to happen as I am still on very low calorie intake even with a meal - about 800 per day.
I can sense my inner workings beginning to respond to the meals which is nice. I have been told that my metabolism will wake up and I will have more energy so that will be good.
Food diary
B: Vanilla Shake with added coffee granules
L: Thai chilli Soup
D: Chicken and cottage cheese with some salad leaves
S: Nutty bar

First day of route to management on lighter life

Well
The final weigh in on abstinence came out at an extra 6lbs loss
For the 12weeks that is a total of 4 stones 7 lbs. Which I am delighted about.
I have today started what is called "route to management" by the lighter life diet people.
My BMI is still a bit high at 29 but I know I can tackle this later on once I have consolidated the weight at this level.
So today I have my first real food since January 6th. A piece of chicken breast with some low fat cottage cheese. It might sound basic but it was delicious. The thing also was the sensation of eating food again. You cannot imagine how good real food tastes and feels after 12 weeks abstinence.
So food diary day one
B: vanilla shake
L: Thai Chilli Shake
T: Chicken Breast with low fat cottage cheese
S: Nutty Bar

Route to management here I come

I have decided that I will start the route to management phase of my lighter life diet after my next weigh in tomorrow.
I have lost over 4 stones so far in 12 weeks and am still a bit short of the ideal weight for my height but I need to consolidate the weight loss I have acheived so far.
So I am now looking forward to a real meal once a day for the next 3 weeks.
I do not know if I will still lose weight on this route to management stage but I hope I do lose a bit more.
I plan to keep a bit of a food diary here of what I eat.
I think I would have found this helpful myself but there seems to be a bit of secrecy about what you can eat on route to management. I do not know why.
So final weigh in of the abstinence stage of my lighter life tomorrow. I will post as soon as I get home from the meeting.

Back from a week in France on Lighter Life diet

Well, I will never do that again. I Stuck completely to the diet and look to have lost a further 6 lbs. But.. A french holiday without food is very trying indeed.
Whenever we go over food is an integral part of the break. So everywhere we went I saw food, thought about food, was tempted by food, etc.
I'm through it now. I cannot wait till the next weigh in on monday to see how things have gone.

A big milestone for me

Well I got weighed and have now lost 4 stones in the 10 weeks.
More importantly my BMI is now below 30. In fact it is 29.7 something. I am no longer obese - just overweight. Fantastic.
So My resolve to stick with the lighter life while on holiday in france is complete. I will not cheat. When I get back it will mean fewer weeks to my goal weight.
I had a look at the lighter life management books this week and it looks really good. I am looking forward to that stage which will be very soon.
More blogging when I get back from france

very low calorie weight loss systems

Lighter life is one of those very low calorie weight loss systems (also called very low calorie diets). The amount of calories I eat each day is about 550. Not very much for a six foot tall guy I know. But the thing is that the diet is working for me so why should I worry.

The thing about very low calorie weight loss systems is that there is a lot of hearsay about the negative impact of the diet. My friends have said

• I will lose muscle
• I will put it all back on at the end
• It will be bad for my long term health
• very low calorie diets are not natural
• and so on

I am doing so well on the diet that I do not want to stop at the moment but there is a nagging in the back of my mind about it all.

Official weigh in tomorrow - hope to have lost 6 lbs this week

Decision made about my lighter life holiday

I have now decided not to relax the lighter life diet I am on while on holiday in France. I think this is the harder choice but means that my ultimate goal of losing the weight will come faster.

My lighter life counsellor reckoned I would lose 2 weeks of weight loss by not follwing for the 6 days I am away.

So onwards and upwards. I think my unofficial weigh in tomorrow (On my own scales) will show 5 or 6 lbs weight loss this week but I can't wait for monday's official weigh in.

Drinking on the lighter life diet

It turns out I have been depriving myself of some drinks that I can have on the lighter life diet. I can have black tea including earl grey. This may not sound too great to you but for me it is a few more new flavours I can introduce.

The lighter life food packs are fine but it can get a bit boring in the flavour department. So new flavours to enjoy.

Someone asked me why I am keeping a blog about my lighter life journey. Well the main reason is to keep me on it! It is one of the network of strategies I am using to keep me on the straight and narrow. The whole business of writing down what is happening to me on this diet seems to help me focus on staying with it.
This week I have swayed from stopping immediately to keeping going to my ideal weight - no question. The act of keeping myself and anyone reading the lighter life blog is helping my resolve as I find the abstinence thing very hard.

The most dissappointing day so far on lighter life

Well
I got weighed tonight and the result is a loss of only 3 lbs. I cannot understand that but the counsellor says you get weeks like that. Well that still does not make up for it.
I have not cheated by an ounce. Hmmm.
So total weight loss in the last 9 weeks. 3 stones 8 lbs.
I will persevere and see what happens next week

People are noticing my weight loss at last

OK at last people are noticing my weight loss. At church this morning 3 people remarked on how well I was looking and were amazed at my weight loss.
At last - i was beginning to think my lighter life diet was in my imagination apart from the fact that I have been hungry for 9 weeks.
9 week weigh in tomorrow - can't wait

Looks like a good week this week

I have been weighing myself daily - a bit of an obsession - and I think I will lose 5-7 lbs this week. You would think that after nearly 9 weeks I would not be so focused on the numbers but I am. I think it is because my weight is back to what it was more than 20 years ago. Another stone and it will be back to 30 years ago.
There is no doubt the lighter life diet works for me although I do find it very hard. I feel sure I will be able to maintain this when I finish but we'll see. I intend to keep blogging when the main lighter life diet is ended so that It keeps me on the straight and narrow

Exercise and my lighter life diet

My Lighter Life counsellor has said that I shouldn't overdo the exercise while I am on the lighter life diet. But this week I have worked 70 hours and my job is physically demanding. So it is like a daily work out, particularly this week. I am hoping that this will give me the benefit of a little extra weight loss this week.
I have had a few dizzy moments which is apparently because my blood pressure has reduced because of the diet - My body is getting used to the new blood pressure level.
I am almost decided now to take a weeks break for easter while I'm on holiday in France. I will have three lighter life food packs and one carefully chosen meal. Of course thinking this and doing it is not the same. I cannot contemplate being in france and missing on the fantastic food. I may just decide day by day.
When I come back from holiday I will be straight back on the lighter life diet until I decide that I hve lost enough weight.
Does anyone else on this diet think like this? Let me know

The Madness of my lighter life diet

I missed yesterday as I forgot my laptop when coming home from work.
Anyway I was reflecting on this diet and realised that in many ways it is madness.
There is no other way I could lose this much weight in 2 months. I haven't eaten food for 2 months. I haven't done exercise for 2 months - Although my work is quite physical anyway.
If you look at it logically I shouldn't be doing this diet as it goes against standard thoughts about how to diet.
And yet my doctor is letting me do it, Me family think it is amazing how the weight is falling off me, and somehow I have got it into my head that this is it - decision made - no cheating - no turning back - just get on with it!
Madness but I love it.
My weight on my own scales this morning was a huge landmark 15stones 13lbs. The first time I have seen a 15 on scales for over 20 years. I am still deciding how long to stay on this diet.

The first big reaction to my lighter life diet

Tonight I met someone who hasn't seen me since I started the lighter life diet on the 6 th January. She was absolutely stunned and speechless which was very funny and enjoyable.
I did not think I had changed that much but obviously I have. That'll keep me going now for another week at least. Will weigh myself tomorrow morning just to check - its a bit of an addiction.

First 8 weeks of lighter life diet completed

I have got weighed tonight and have lost another 5 lbs. So that's 3 stones 5 lb in 8 weeks. I am delighted with that.
I am now on the development phase of the diet which means I stick with the same eating regime until I am happy with my weight. Then I go into lighter life management phase where I can start eating food again. I can't wait but I will.
I cannot imagine losing this amount of weight any other way and I know that I will stick with it. I have made my decision and that's it.
More tomorrow.

Lighter life leaves me with too much spare time

Because I love food - buying, preparing and cooking I have found that I have too much time on my hands. It only takes me a few moments to mix up my soups and shakes so then the hour or so I usually take to make dinner is spare time. So this is an unexpected 'benefit' of the lighter life diet.
Every sunday while I'm dreaming of roast dinners I sort out my garden. It has never been so ready for spring. My seeds are all sown on time and ready to grow.
I can't wait to be eating all veg I am planning to grow at the end of this diet.
I have not eaten regular food now for 55 days and I am feeling it. I still cannot decide how long to stick with it. My lighter life weigh in is tomorrow and I will look for some guidance at the meeting as to what I should shoot for as regards weight loss.
My scales said 16stones 2 lb first thing this morning but that was just an early morning blip. But I know that soon the scales will be saying 15 something and then 14 something. amazing really.

the effect of the lighter life diet on me

After nearly 8 weeks of being on the lighter life diet I have decided to record what is going on with me and the diet.
I will record my weight regularly on here and talk you through how I am coping with the diet.
So today the first of march I think I weigh about 16 stones 7 lbs. My last official weigh in last monday had me at 16 stone 11 lbs.
My scales do not always agree with the posh ones at lighter life so I am never quite sure what it is. My initial weight was 19 stone 11 lbs so I have lost 3 stone up to last monday. I think that is fantastic, brilliant, and very encouraging.

Once I have worked out this blogging system I will include links and suscribe info. Please bookmark me until then and keep reading. I hope to post daily
kenj