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.

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

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.

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

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)

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