Please Sponsor Me....

Hi everyone
just a quick one to ask all my "readers" to dig deep and sponsor me for my half marathon on 2 March 2008.
After achieving such a mammoth weight loss I decided to throw myself into my chosen exercise "running" well who would believe it almost a year to the day since I started CD here I am trim and healthy and running 4 mornings a week!!!
Please dig deep
click on the link at the top right or visit
www.justgiving.com/alanparsons

many thanks in advance

Slimmer of the year Dec 2007 "Runner up" photos

22 November 2007 12 Weeks of maintenance

Hi everyone, just dropping by to give you all a little update. I had my meeting last night with Chris the Cambridge Diet PR man concerning the forthcoming slimmer of the year awards and conference.
He spent nearly an hour going over our story (me and my wife) and asking questions about why we done the diet, how we felt etc etc. It was a very relaxed informal affair and has me now even closer to the edge of my seat. My wife and I have entered the award as a couple, we dieted together, shared everything so we entered jointly for slimmer of the year. well to lose 21 stone+ between us is no mean feat, we were there for each other and still are so thought it only right we enter as "one" Chris was blown away by our before and after pictures and seemed to like the story of our journey.
We have been told that 60 people have been shortlisted, this will then be taken down to 10 finalists on conference day and the winner gets taken to the Far East for a makeover and photo shoot next April..... ooooh I am so excited I so hope we do well

It has been 3 weeks since I saw my CDC and I have had a couple of large "naughty" meals but have been keeping up my running / marathon training. Well I got on her scales only to see that they were showing a loss of 2lb taking me down to 12 stone 5lb which is good, I had not had my dinner either so all in all that would probably have balanced back up to my steady 12.5 stone which I am happy to sit at.
As I said I continue to run, I am following a training plan and this varies distance and pace for example on Sunday coming I will be doing a 7 mile run at a speed of 10 Min's per mile but today (yes I have been out this morning at 5am!!) I done a warm up jog of 1 mile then 3 miles at 9 Min's per mile then a 1 mile warm down jog. that gave me a total of 5 miles today which blows out the cobwebs ready for another day at work.

Must dash now, The slimmer of the year final is being held on 1 December so not long to wait, I will keep you all posted
feel free to email me thebigdiet@hotmail.co.uk
best wishes Alan

Week 41, 9 weeks of maintenance completed

Another good week all round for me, apart from one crazy thing I have done today......
I have entered myself into the Reading Half Marathon on 2 March 2008!!!
I have been running for a few weeks now and love the feeling I get from doing it.
I was always the "fat kid" and never dreamt of running, my teachers would rib me and I had no interest in any kind of exercise.
Well being brought up in Reading I thought it poignant to return to do the half marathon that as a kid I would always watch and cheer the competitors. I will return "home" for the weekend where I still have family and attempt the 13 mile route. I am currently doing about 5.5 miles in just under 1 hour three mornings a week and have a training plan to follow to get me up to fitness to complete the half marathon!!
Still enjoying my food, that is my wise choices of food that I am having now. I am eating loads of fruit and veg and making really healthy choices. I do not have a weigh in this week but can see no reason for any increase. I do however have two slightly indulgent meals ahead, one when we have the neighbours around followed the following lunchtime by mother in laws birthday meal. Both of theses meals will involve eating some "unhealthy" choices but I will be right back on track straight after.
So I have placed a new ticker on this blog counting down until my "marathon" and nearer the time I will setup a "just giving" website for sponsorship and I will be after all you readers of this blog to dig deep for a good cause (yet to be chosen)
See you all soon
Alan

Week 40, 8th week of maintenance completed

Just been for my weigh in for the first time in 2 weeks and have shown a loss of 2lb, taking me back down to my target of 12 and half stone!! I am really pleased at this and equally pleased that I am managing to "maintain" take a look at my graph at the top of the page. Its doing exactly what I wanted it to do holding me fairly steady around my target. I know that the time of day when I weigh myself makes a huge difference, even now I can fluctuate as much as 9lb over a single day depending on things like what I have eaten and drunk, how long ago and when I last had a motion!!
So all in all I am happy with the level of food I am eating, If I calorie count it equates to about 1900 - 2000 calories or somewhere around 26 - 27 weight watchers points. I am using a CD bar for my lunch as a nutritional supplement really because I do not have time for preparing and eating a huge bowl of salad, and besides I just love CD Cranberry bars!!

I now have my appointment set for seeing the Cambridge PR man at my CDC's on the evening of Wednesday 21 November... Still very excited!!
I am not seeing my CDC again before that date and feel very comfortable with that, I know I am in control of my eating, for once in my life I control my eating not food controlling me!!
I will pop back periodically with any exciting news.
I will definitely update this blog after my appointment with the PR man in the run up to the December 1st finals!! I hope you are all rooting for me, I could do with winning an exotic holiday or some other nice prize!!

Best wishes to all of you on your CD journeys... stick with it, its worth it!!
Alan

Week 39, 7th week of maintenance completed

Well its been 7 weeks now on maintenance and I am loving it, I am not having food cravings and I am really enjoying loads of fresh veg and salad with controlled amounts of carbs and protein. I do still enjoy a sugar free jelly each evening as well!!

I have not been for a weigh in this week as I am now seeing my CDC once a fortnight so I do not have a weight update to post as I prefer to rely on my CDC's scales for an accurate comparative reading. A pound out at this stage could make all the difference!!

I have however had some fantastic news today.... My wife and I have been shortlisted for the slimmer of the year final!! I received a call from my CDC congratulating me and arranging a meeting for us to attend with the CD PR man!!

I am soooo excited this diet has really made my year and to now be shortlisted has had me doing cartwheels!!

I will be back next week (Thursday evening) with an official weigh in update, fingers crossed for a neutral weight gain / loss. I am still walking my dog for an hour each morning, this is now also followed every other morning with a 2 mile jog!! yes I have started jogging at some unearthly hour of the morning (5am) Me jogging??? was never heard of when I was 25 and a half stone!!

see you all soon
Alan

Week 38, end of 6 weeks of maintenance

Well that's another week over, it has flown by and seemed very hectic
Tonight has been busy, my wife is now working again and I am on dinner duty as soon as I get in the door, served up at 6.15pm and then straight off for a 7pm weigh in (I did feel bloated).
This week I showed a weight gain on my CDC's scales of 3lb heavier than my scales showed last week. however this is still 1lb lighter than 2 weeks ago when I last visited her. We must not forget my indulgent trip to Venice!! and any repercussions from over-eating.
I have decide I will not get on my own scales now for the next fortnight when I go back for my next weigh in. So I will not post my next weight update until 2 weeks time.
Tomorrow is the closing date for entries to be received for slimmer of the year they presumably then start the mammoth job of sorting them to some sort of criteria. i am not sure if it is done on most weight lost, % of body weight lost or just a good story. I wait with baited breath!!

I Will pop back soon but at the latest 2 weeks time with my next official weigh in result.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions
best wishes everyone
Alan thebigdiet@hotmail.com

9 hours in Venice

Just thought I would update you on my whistle stop tour of Venice last Friday.
Last week it was my wife's birthday and the weekend was our wedding anniversary so I planned a surprise trip to Venice for the day for her.
We set off from home at 0400 and flew out of stanstead at 0630 we had a fabulous 9 hours in Venice, the weather was gorgeous, 22 degrees C, bright blue sky it was fabulous.

We had decided that we would have a day of "indulgence" we did not want to travel all that way to only eat lettuce. We made a conscious decision that we would not go mad but would eat what we fancied and get right back on track the following day.

I started the day with a healthy banana and cereal bar washed down with a skinny cappuccino in the departure lounge
later in the morning I had an apple, the we went for lunch, one of the main things we wanted to do, we had researched a lovely restaurant online, one that locals use (my wife's mum is Italian so we wanted some nice food not that prepared for tourists!)
Since pasta and its various sauces is something we cook at home regularly I decided to go for something different. I chose seafood risotto followed by Chateaubriand. Both of these food were gorgeous the meat course came out with lightly battered courgettes and aubergine and I loved every bite.
I declined the desert menu choosing instead to go for a cheese course, a lovely board of high fat Italian cheeses, a lovely mix of hard and soft cheeses made a delightful end to the meal. I never drank alcohol, I had decided to drink nice pellagrino water instead
We stopped at various coffee bars for a nice espresso (I am a bit of a "nice" coffee lover) there is something about the atmosphere whether its stood at a coffee bar ( similar to standing at the bar of a pub) or sat by a canal watching the world go by with the sun shining, either way the culture was lovely.
later in the afternoon we had some lovely Italian Gelatto (ice cream) as only the Italians can make it!! 15 flavours to choose from how could I possibly decide on what to choose for my 4 small scoops... divine!!
In the evening I had a ham salad roll from a deli near to Rialto bridge followed by the most luxurious piece of soft nutty nougat from a lovely choclatier shop.

Once we had landed we headed home after an hours delay at passport control.We were both feeling peckish (by this time it was 0130hours) we committed the ultimate sin and went to the kebab shop, yes it was just as good as I remembered... I love a nice Doner
On Saturday we got straight back onto our healthy eating regime and have not wavered since. I am just hoping that the day does not have too much of an adverse affect on the scales this Thursday

Week 37, end of 5th week of maintenance

Hi everyone,
Well it looks like things are starting to plateau out a bit. I have been on my own scales tonight at the same time as my normal weigh in and have shown a 4lb weight loss, taking me back down to just under my target weight. I had once again just had my dinner so it should be a fairly good comparison to my CDC's scales.

I have had a good week weight wise making the most of 3 meals per day with plenty of veg and a few bits of fruit each day. I am now going to switch to following a weight watchers plan basing my points allowance on 27 which should in theory allow me to lose some weight. As I have said before I don't want to lose any weight but I will slowly increase the points to achieve a balance. The 1500 plan on Cambridge fits in very nicely with weight watchers and as I have said before I need something to carry on with as a lifelong programme. (I am not going to meetings but just plan on using it as a measuring guideline at home and documenting everything I eat)
I still feel like I need a control mechanism in place now my journey on CD is over. I need to have boundaries to avoid going back to old habits..... one thing is for sure I do not want to put the weight back on... EVER!!

I have loved doing the CD plan and fully wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who really wants to lose their weight. I hope that my blog lives on as an inspiration to others who may be considering starting CD.
I will still be back posting a weekly update for the time being just to let you know that I am "settled" on a lifelong journey of skinniness.
I hope to be shortlisted for slimmer of the year and look forward to meeting many others at the ceremony if I am successfully shortlisted.

Incidentally my wife lost 5lb this week. It seems like it took both of us a couple of weeks to balance after completing sole source.
Today is my wife's birthday and the weekend is our wedding anniversary so as a surprise I arranged a day trip to Venice for my wife. Yes just one day in Venice!! we fly out of Stansted at 0630 and back again at about 10pm giving us loads of time for a nice lunch and a bit of sightseeing, all for not much more than it would cost us to go to London on the train for the day!!

Yes we are going on a plane... a first in a long time, previously would not have been possible / comfortable prior to losing the weight... Thank you CD you have made my year. here's to a lovely trip, its due to be sunshine and 22 degrees

So I am off now to get an early night as we need to hit the road very early tomorrow morning

Week 36 end of 4 weeks of maintenance

So another week draws to a close. This week I have shown a 2lb weight gain!! I do feel a little bloated (and very disappointed with myself) I had just 30 mins before my weigh in had my dinner.
This week has been a nice week I attended a family wedding at the weekend where I ate a 3 course nouveau cuisine meal which by its nature consisted of fairly small potion sizes. Yes I did eat the desert it was lovely!! I had a brandy basket with summer fruits and cinnamon ice cream scrumptious!! it was however only the size of a cup cake and one small scoop of ice cream. This obviously would not have broken the bank calorie wise and I have not fallen off the wagon or anything, I just enjoyed that one meal. I also did not touch a drop of drink, I had a glass of champagne poured for me for the toasts, I lifted the glass to my lips but not one drop passed into my mouth!!
My wife has also shown a 2lb weight gain this week having also eaten the same as me
.
I am still going to step up the maintenance scale this week and plan on a mixture of the 1200 / 1500 plan which incidentally I have point scored on weight watchers (my choice of lifelong maintenance) and it does not end up more than about 14 points per day which is well below the 27 I would be allowed if I attended a meeting with the intention of losing weight at my current weight.
I just need my weight to peak and I hope then start decreasing, it must surely start soon, I am not cheating and don't even crave "naughties" but it must start to decline soon!! if not I'll have to hit the sole source wagon again!!!!
I am not seeing my CD counsellor next week but have an appointment for the following week so we will See how things go with 2 more weeks under my belt. She has forbid me to get on my own scales for the next fortnight as I am becoming a bit obsessed with my weight!! however the good news is my 32" trousers still fit very comfortably so I am happy really :-)

Week 35 end of 3rd maintenance week

13 stone 8lb at my weigh in tonight which is the same as last week
This week has been a good one on the 1000 plan which includes 3 meals a day and 2 CD products. I have had another week of maintaining a constant weight which I am most pleased with, especially as this week was the first introduction of carbohydrates.
I do not have any desire to lose any more weight but do wish to maintain and certainly not start increasing my now slender 32" waist.
If I stay within a healthy BMI and the same clothes then I will be very chuffed!!
I have been eating more vegetables / salad than "officially" allowed on the plan but that is as far as I have deviated from it.

I will be having another week this week on the 1000 plan before stepping up again to the next level!!
I am really surprised at how much I am enjoying eating some breakfast. I have never been a breakfast person however having started having 2 shredded wheat each day with a splash of skimmed milk it really sets me up for the day ahead. albeit I cant eat it until about 0930 at work (cant face eating before that time!!)

Our slimmer of the year application has been submitted to CD headquarters (I have lost 13 stone and my wife has lost 8 stone) and we await with our fingers crossed.

Hope everyone is well, I keep up with all the forum posts and blogs, best wishes to everyone who is still on their journey, Its so worth it!!! do it!!!

Fat Nation

Just found the article below and thought it was fitting to post it on my blog!

I am having a good week so far, enjoying eating some limited amounts of carbs, and having a salad at lunchtime is just divine. I have also been having some shredded wheat for my breakfast, I take this to work and eat it about 0930 as I can't do breakfast too early. Upto now I have only usually had breakfast at the weekend however it is really quite nice to have something in the morning that keep you feeling pleasantly full until "salad time"
I am off to a wedding at the weekend where I do not intend to have any alcohol however I do intend eating the wedding breakfast.
I will pop back tomorrow with an update after my official weigh in.


News article

Scotland is the second fattest nation

An alarming new study has revealed that Scotland is the second fattest nation in the developed world, behind America.
More than a quarter of the Scottish population is obese, at 25.5 per cent, compared to 32.2 per cent in America, and just 8.3 per cent in Norway. England comes fourth in the table at 22.5 per cent.
Scottish children are suffering an alarmingly high rate of obesity, according to the figures released by the Scottish Public Health Observatory. And women are also particularly at risk, since they are most likely to develop serious health problems from being obese.

Women are 13 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, four times more likely to suffer high blood pressure, three times more likely to develop cancer of the colon and 30 per cent more likely to suffer a stroke.
Obese men are five times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes and about twice as likely to develop osteoarthritis.
Heavily overweight people are 18 per cent more likely to need hospital treatment than those of normal weight in Scotland, with obesity costing the NHS £171 million in 2001 (the most recent year for which the figures are available). And in 2003, 500,000 cases of high blood pressure, 50,000 cases of coronary heart disease and 900 of cases of cancer, mostly of the colon, were caused by obesity in Scotland.
The Scottish Executive has launched plans to try and tackle the problem of childhood obesity by removing sweets and fizzy drinks from schools, serving less deep-fried food and more oily fish. It believes that by targeting children, it can make a difference for the future.

Percentage of obese members of the population around the world
United States: 32.2
Scotland: 25.5
Mexico: 24.2
England: 22.5
Canada: 22.4
Greece: 21.9

Week 34, end of 2 weeks of maintenance

Well this week has seen a very slight improvement.
I have this week dropped just one pound!! however one pound down is a pound in the right direction!! I have this week had my second week of maintenance following the 790 plan + a few extra vegetables with my one meal each day.
I am pleased though that my weight seems to have stabilised albeit I had a little jump in weight last week I am assured by my CDC that it is inevitable that my glycogen has started to refill and "not to panic!!" It is then with some relief that I have this week dropped a pound. I was very worried last week that this was the start of a problematic time with my weight going to be going back on week after week and getting out of control. I have remained positive a focused whilst thoroughly enjoying my food along with my 3 CD shakes / bar each day.
Tomorrow I step up to the 1000 plan whereby I drop a CD shake but gain a salad for lunch and a small breakfast.The evening meal is very similar to the last fortnight but with the addition of a small amount of carbs (Rice / Pasta or potato) I am very excited about this next phase of returning to normality and hope for a neutral effect on my weight. I will be happy if I do not drop down to 12 stone exactly, I only picked 12 stone to allow for a window of fluctuation. If my weight stays in the "healthy" band ie below 12 stone 11 lb then I will be chuffed. I also do not want to gain any size in my clothes. I am now quite happy wearing my 32" trousers and do not want to grow!! Therefore I will be happy to stay at this point as I move through the maintenance steps.
I will return next week with an update on how things have progressed after a week with 3 meals and carbs!! oooooh some lovely real food!!
I love the new chocolate orange flavour shake, I make this in to a mousse and have it for my desert / supper..... off now to eat tonight's!!!

Week 33 a Minor Blip!!!

Hi All,

Well this was my first week of eating, and very strange it has felt!!

you will see from my charts that I have in fact shown a 5lb weight gain this week which sounds horrendous I know. Well I am an eternal optimist and am putting it down to one major factor.... I had just had my meal, yes just 30 mins before weigh in I ate 275g of Quorn with vegetables and a CD bar for desert. ( I had to do it, straight after weigh in I had to attend a school governors meeting)
I have started off this week by going straight onto the 790 plan and intend to follow this for 2 weeks minimum, now I know there has been lots of debate on the forums about being BMI 25 + 1 stone and you should be on a minimum of the 1000 plan and the CD book says one thing yet Cambridge now say something different, well I have decided to plump for starting with 790 to allow my body to balance then move on up the steps for a week or 2 minimum on each (as per the yellow book)
The 790 plan seems like so much food after months without anything!! I have however managed it all without any problem and my 3 CD products each day too. I have been having a few more veg than the 3 tablespoons mentioned in the book, so whilst not cheating I have bent the rules a little (had the correct veg just a few more). Some may say well it serves you right then to show a weight increase!! Well I know that at the moment my weight still fluctuates by as much as 7lb during the course of the day, which is a tremendous amount and on top of this my body must be grasping hold of this food for dear life after fasting for so long!!
I am happy still as I am within the healthy BMI category and that is what I based my target of 12 stone upon, 12 stone plus a 10lb "window" Now I only need a good poo and that will drop a few pound!! If I get on the scales first thing tomorrow I can guarantee they will say 12 stone 3lb as this has been par for the last few days. It will be better to look next Thursday at a like for like comparison when I go for my weigh in again after eating my evening meal, rather than trying to compare this week with last when I had not consumed a morsel!! I intend to stick on 790 for a bit longer if the trend does not move downwards, I am however consuming far less calories than my body needs to function so it inevitably has to start balancing once the glycogen store refills and weight starts coming off again.
Do I sound like I am trying to convince myself??? I think I am just putting a brave face on in light of a shit result of a weeks weigh in!! It is disappointing to see a gain I know but I will keep my chin up. I have not been eating any "naughties" just a bit more veg than that specified and only the one meal a day as per the book!!

It has been nice though sitting down again as a family and eating a somewhat normal meal. I have had Quorn, chicken, turkey, cottage cheese & Tuna this week (not all at once of course!!) with various different vegetables and even used some bullion mix on my "Sunday lunch" as gravy. I had turkey breast steaks with broccoli and cauliflower and the gravy and I loved it!! Cottage cheese with a salad was not quite as appetising and has since been scrubbed off the menu for this week replaced by a nice hot chicken breast with courgettes!! far tastier.

I have also been doing plenty of dog walking, its getting darker and colder in the mornings now, 5am is now pitch black!! I have been wearing a weight watchers pedometer and easily racked up 2 "activity points" from my morning walk and general daytime mooching about so I must be doing something right!!

I went for my trial light aircraft flight at the weekend, It was fantastic, yes I took the controls for 1/2 hour whilst flying over Colchester even looking down on my own home on what was a glorious day weather wise. It was great to do something that would not have been possible before when I was overweight (16 stone weight limit). I have however given up on the idea of flying lessons as they say to get your pilots licence allow 60 hours of tuition and at £150 per hour, you can do the maths to see that its not a "cheap" hobby!! I did really enjoy my 1/2 hour trial though and am most grateful to my wife for the present.

So here's to another week on 790 and hopefully a better result on the scales next week, I am still very very committed and motivated and know that this week is only a minor blip that will even out... its got to on 790 calories!!!

I'll be back with an update next week, feel free to email me if you have any questions, Best wishes to you all
Alan
email thebigdiet@hotmail.co.uk

Week 32 Last night of Sole Source

Hi Everyone,
well I am down from cloud 9 this week, I haven't come down with any kind of bump or anything like that, its just after such an achievement last week this week seems mundane.

I have however lost another 4lb this week taking me down to 12 stone 4lb and below my target of 12 and a half stone before I start to re-introduce food. So tomorrow is the big day when I step onto the maintenance stages, I intend having cod fillet and courgettes both steamed with some herbs and lemon or vinegar to taste.
I am excited about starting to eat some food but at the same time I feel very apprehensive about gaining weight. I hope I don't gain anything or I will be a bit disappointed. I am aware that as my glycogen refills I may gain some then balance out and hopefully drop a bit as I go through the stages. I intend following the maintenance to the letter for the required amount of time. I have a full 8 week menu written out ready to go for every single day during this next phase of my weight management plan. I will keep you informed on how I get on.

I have a flying lesson this weekend, this was a birthday present from my lovely wife back in May however I did not want to book it whilst I was overweight, I was scared of not fitting behind the controls or being told I was too heavy for the 2 seater plane. I don't think I will be having this problem on Saturday. I am getting really excited about going up and the weather is due to be OK at the last forecast I saw. I hope to take a couple of photos whilst up there however I am supposed to be flying the thing so this may not be the allowed!!

I have been doing plenty of dog walking this week averaging 2 hours per day over 2 walks the first of which I take at 5am before I get ready for my day job.

So I am signing off now on what is my last night on Sole Source, This diet has done a tremendous job for me and I am very excited about my future.
I will be back next Thursday with an update on my first week of maintenance.
Good luck to all newbies and all those continuing on their journey, good luck everyone, stick at it, my results speak wonders for how this diet can work if you are determined!!

Week 31 Triple milestone achieved

Wow Wow Wow......



Just got back from seeing my CDC and I am sooooo happy I have done it!!!!!!

yes I have today hit three milestones all in one go....



I have this week had my "official weigh in" after a 2 week break by my CDC for her holiday, you may recall that I have been keeping a track of my weight on my own scales well today surpassed all expectations



I lost another 5lb taking my weight down to 12 Stone 8 lb.
Why is this a triple milestone, well let me tell you I can hardly type fast enough for my excitement.
1) I am now less than half the weight I was when I started

2) I have now lost exactly 13 stone in exactly 7 months!!!!

3) I am now classed as healthy, with a BMI of 24.5, for the first time ever I have hit the healthy target.

I don't think I have ever been healthy, I was always the fat kid, now look!!!!

I have posted some new photos taken yesterday, They do show me in clothes as they were taken to submit with my slimmer of the year nomination form. I can do some more showing my wrinkly skin belly if people would rather I continued the same theme as all those previous photos.

I am now on cloud 9, Yippee

I will be starting maintenance next week and am so looking forward to a healthy future.

Its been another whirlwind week, back to work after my hols.
Sorry cant write anymore I have to dash off to inform the people who read the forums.....

oh I am so excited...........

Week 30 Weigh in results

Just jumped on my scales for my week 30 weigh in......... 4lb lost this week!!! (I must stress that this week and last weeks reading have been taken on my scales as my CDC is on holiday, my scales are usually +/- 1lb to what my CDC's usually show)

Wow I am now under the 13 stone mark!! just look at my little car in my ticker at the top of the page, its about to fall off the end!! I now have a BMI of 25.2 so very nearly healthy

I cannot believe I have lost 12 stone 9lb in such a short period of time.
This week has been a bit tough at times, I have been on leave from work, though not actually away on a holiday (could not bare going anywhere and not eating a morsel)
It always seems harder to drink the required amount of water when at home, probably because I have been busy doing things, its not always easy to drink the water. Don't get me wrong I have always drunk at least 10 pints each day, however this has sometimes consisted of up to 4 pints in one hour then nothing for several hours (I know this is wrong but I had to be practical! One of the places we have been this week is Legoland, well it started with a 3 hour motorway journey (should have been one and a half if no hold ups!!) How could I keep drinking and peeing whilst on the M25, then once in Legoland we had to queue for rides for anything between 45 min and 1 1/4 hours, again I could hardly reserve a spot in a zig-zag queue whilst I just nipped off to the WC could I !!!! Anyway I am happy to show a 4lb loss this week and hope this is reflected in my "official" weigh in with my CDC next week. I intend starting maintenance when I reach 12 stone 7lb and hope to lose the remaing 7lb on the maintenance steps (fingers crossed).
Back to the subject of Legoland.... well it was fantastic getting on all those rides, rides that previously I would not have fitted (adrenaline junkie here) It was a great feeling. I still really want to spend a couple of days at Alton Towers staying in the water park hotel and riding all the great roller coasters without feeling ashamed to swim at the hotel and being further embarrassed by being moved off a ride because the safety bars will not close!! For anyone who has not experienced this embarrassment it is difficult to tell you how it feels, you just sit on the ride at the head of the queue with 100's of people looking on and one attendant calls over another (already enough to cause people to glare over) when the second attendant arrives they both push, pull, squash and even kneel on the safety bar in an attempt to close it. "Its no good sir you will have to get off, sorry" you then exit the ride with your tail between your legs, by this time the whole of the other riders are looking on with anger as this has delayed the start of their enjoyment. You feel like you want the ground to open up (would need a bloody big cavern) and swallow you up. That experience happened to me twice and was enough to stop me going back to a theme park. .... I cant wait to go back!! maybe even Florida!! I wish....

I have been out regularly this week walking my pooch, come rain or shine (mostly rain this summer!!) I am really enjoying the exercise.
Today I have been on the second part of my course with free lunch again, aww this time it was huge baguettes with lovely fillings, kettle chips and double chocolate muffins!! I left the others to get on and eat whilst I drank a pint of water in the car park and phoned my wife to see how her day was going. Incidentally she lost 3lb this week according to our scales.
My wife is going to stop sole source at the same time as me, she will not have got as quite as low as she wanted but will have lost just over 8 stone and be wearing size 14 so is quite content to stop. She may stick on the 1000 plan stage when we go through the maintenance steps if that works for her so at least she can join me and the rest of the family for 3 meals a day whilst still losing the odd pound.
We have been doing loads of menu planning this week using the weight watchers points system to score a healthy 4 week rotating menu to use long term after I finish all the maintenance steps reintroducing food.
My wife cant believe that I can sit looking at recipe books for hours and be writing menus, yet not want to eat, it drives her mad just talking about food (she is suffering a bit at the moment with hunger pangs) I really enjoy it,
I want to be as in control of my future as I am now, I am very motivated to keep this weight off and very very focused at my goal. I have even modified a spreadsheet I found to calculate my daily points and chart my food diary using excel so I can keep on track and monitor my future!!

I am feeling so great being a slimmer man, I really want to stay this way... I have loved this journey and feel that I have learnt so much along the way
Best wishes to all fellow dieters either on their journey or just considering embarking on the Cambridge Diet.... Do it this diet is amazing!!!

I hope to appear in the CD magazine one day and have told Kerensa (CD PR lady)that I will happily "pose" for some photos / tell my story,if they would like me too of course!! I am hoping that I can be a real inspiration to many people in the future.
Best Wishes
Alan

Thursday Week 29, What a week!!

Hi everyone,
Its been one of those weeks this week, been a bit busy, My daughter has gone away to the South of France on a school water sports holiday (lucky thing 29 degrees + where she is) My wife has been very hungry this week and has "cheated" slightly however only using Cambridge products. Sometimes she has 4 or 5 of the products as opposed to her normal 3, this has on occasions been 2 bars in one day. This has meant that she has not had a great week and has only shown a neutral week neither losing nor gaining any weight.
I have found myself feeling a little more hungry too, not sure if it is because I am menu planning for the future and thinking about food more. Maybe its just because the end is within my grasp now. I however have not cheated and have shown a 4lb weight loss this week!! This is fine considering that I am so close to my target, I have drunk loads of water and even survived going to a wedding and not eating anything from the wedding breakfast or evening buffet. This was not as hard as I thought it would be. I even sat and admired the food whilst I drank a bucket full of water and ate a cranberry bar. What I did find was that it was the people around me that had the problem, some of these other people felt a little uneasy eating in front of my wife and I, but we were cool with it!! I am so motivated to achieve my target!! Just look at my BMI its now 0.8 away from healthy status and starting to re-introduce food!!
Our weigh in this week has been based on my home scales, weighing at an identical time to my usual weigh-in with my CDC, however she is on holiday for a couple of weeks so we are checking ourselves (my home scales usually match my counsellors within +-1lb). It will be nice when I next see my counsellor to be at my healthy BMI. This means I need to lose another 7lb over the next 2 weeks to get myself down to a BMI of 24.9!!
I have been on a training course today (Day 1 of 17 of a day release Health and Safety course) There was a superb spread of food laid out at lunchtime, Pork pie, scotch egg, sausage rolls, various sandwiches, salad, cakes fruit and fruit juice... all very yummy!! I think people thought I was a bit odd when asked why I was not eating only for me to say "I am on a diet" since now I am thinner than a lot of other people!! Anyway I resisted the buffet, and the cakes and biscuits that appeared at each tea break, My life as a slim man is worth so much more to me!! I have another 16 weeks of those buffets to contend with!!!
Here's to another good week ahead, hopefully not too many more people are going to tell me to stop losing weight, I think I have told most people I know how much further I have to go and how I need to reach my target for my own self praise and I also feel that I need to get to a figure where I really feel I am at a point worth staying at!!
Hope to post soon, however I will be back definitely next Thursday at the latest (I may be busy again this week my puppy can go out and about from this weekend, I foresee lots of nice beach walks coming up!!)