Ready to go!

I'm Joanne, I'm 30 years old and live in Sheffield with my husband. I'm currently 17 stone 10 pounds (ish) and have struggled with my weight since I was a kid. I've tried most diets and failed miserably, and now my twenties have come and gone, I feel like I've missed out on a lot of experiences because of my weight. My husband and I are wanting to start a family and I know my weight is going to cause lots of problems. I've also got Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome to make matters worse.


'For the past year I've been trying to eat low carb. It works quite well with the PCOS and I feel so much better when I cut out processed foods especially bread and sugar. My weight has gone up and down between my current weight and 15 stone 4 pounds over the past year because although I'm really positive about low-carb dieting, I have zero willpower. I've monitored my food/weight/cycle a lot this year and I think I've learned some really helpful stuff about the way my mind and body works so I'm a bit gutted I haven't been able to keep focused on it.


I've decided to keep a blog about the diet I'm about to start tomorrow, partly because I think it will be interesting to chart my progress, and partly as a distraction technique so I don't fall off the wagon. I'm going to be doing LighterLife Total; 100 days of abstinence from regular food replaced with 4 foodpacks a day plus lots and lots of water.


I've been so stressed out with food and my weight recently that I feel like I need something as drastic as this. To be honest, I really feel like I just need a break from it all- a break from thinking about what to eat next or what not to eat next. One of the promises that the LighterLife programme makes is time away from all that to assess what is really going on behind the food stressing. Not to mention the promise of huge amounts of weight melting away quickly. LighterLife give an average of 3 stones lost during this period but a lot of the bigger women have managed 5 stone. After the 100 days are up you can either continue until you've lost all the weight you need to or enter the Management phase where you learn how to eat food again without putting all the weight back on.


On Monday I went to see my local counsellor. S seemed nice, answered my questions and sent me away with 4 free foodpacks to try (pasta carbonara, chocolate milkshake, porridge and spaghetti bolognese) and an invitation to join a group on Thursdays. Unfortunately I work shifts over a 7 day rota so my working hours are all over the place. I definitely have the next few Thursdays off so that's OK and I've requested more so hopefully work won't interfere too much as I think the counselling sessions are going to be really important for support. So I'm starting the plan tomorrow and will attend the group in the evening.


I've bought some things which I'm hoping will help. I can't stand lumpy milkshakes or soups so I've got a proper blender for the milkshakes and a hand blender to do the soups. I've also got ice cube trays to make ice for the milkshakes. I forgot to pick up a box of straws but we might possibly have some lurking in the back of the kitchen cupboard so I will check that out. I bought 8x750ml bottles of Evian water, which was not cheap. I do really struggle to drink water and I can't stand tap water so I've decided to buy the mineral water (though I might switch to a cheaper brand). I'm not sure exactly how much you are suppose to drink- I'll ask when I go to the group tomorrow- but I'm sure it's like 3 or 4 litres a day. That's an awful lot of water.


I'm excited to start the plan, a bit nervous about my not-so-brilliant willpower, and also completely gutted to have been told that milk in tea is not allowed. Tea is my emotional crutch, and surely that's allowed for British people??? You can sort anything out with a cuppa. I'm resigned to having no milk in my tea for the duration which sucks, frankly, and is more upsetting than the expected lack of biscuits for the next 100 days.