Week 1 - Day 2.

I had an icredibly lazy start to the day due to deciding there was something on the television that I wanted to watch at 03:00.

Breakfast was the strawberry shake which is the nicest I've tasted so far.

I made it to the gym and immediately disregarded the suggestion that, for the first couple of days on Lighterlife, I should take it easily.

I immediately went for a 3km run on the treadmill burning 300 calories.

I then decided to burn another 250 calories off through rowing.

As the total calorie intake on Lighterlife is 500 per day, that puts me on a -50 calories just for that little bit of excercise.

I thought I'd test my resolve and went to meet my brother and a friend in the local pub. I managed to avoid alcohol and only drank 5 pints of water. I could smell the lager that was being drank and the food that other people were ordering. I stuck to my guns and settled on water.

I've tried my friends suggestion of having he chocolate shake as a hot drink. My tip is to blend it as you would the other shakes and then microwave it to heat as that avoids getting lumps.

The vegetable soup is ok, I just added pepper to taste and slightly too much tobasco, but it was still edible.

Later I will try the Chicken soup, probably only with pepper to start, and then maybe only a small splash of tobasco if neeeded.

Water intake has so far passed 3.5 litres and there will be more with the soup and throughout the rest of the evening.

So far, I have no side effects to report, although I suspect I may ache a little tomorrow after the gym excersion. However, that won't stop me, I'm planning on going on a bike ride tomorrow.

Day 1 - Thoughts

As Day 1 comes to an end, I thought I'd share some thoughts.

I have not suffered any temptation to eat normal food or drink any of the forbidden liquids.

I've had two soups and two shakes today. I decided to try the ones I didn't think I'd enjoy that much.

The mushroom soup is ok, but I do suggest that it should be flavoured with your choice of Tobasco or pepper.

The Thai Chilli soup was better than I expected it to be, but again, I added loads of Tobasco sauce and a hint of pepper.

I tried both the Vanilla and Caramel shakes. The Vanilla was a bit plain, so I mixed in a spoonful of instant coffee to give it some more flavour. The caramel shake isn't as bland, but again, I decided to mix in some coffee. The booklet that I was given suggest mixing the vanilla and chocolate shakes, so I may give that a go over the next couple of days to see what I think of that.

Water intake has been higher than I expected it to be. Part of it due to me trying to wash away the hangover I woke with this morning and secondly, I've found that the water kills of the thought of wanting to eat when bored. So far I've drank over 6 litres.

The only side-effects I've felt today is the increase in the amount of trips I need to make to the bathroom in order to empty my bladder, but I'm sure I can cope with that!

Day 1 - Just starting out.

Well, here goes nothing.

I've just been to collect my foodpacks, posed for two photos, and had my hip, waist and chest measurements taken.

I'm currently clocking in at:

Week 1 Day 1. 29/6/08
Weight: 82.7 kg
BMI 28.9
Chest: 102 cm
Waist: 103 cm
Hips: 104 cm

What's in the pack?
As it's my first week, I've got a selection of different packs to try, and Ruth, the counsellor has told me that if there are any flavours I don't like, I can swap them for flavours that I do.

So what flavours have I got?
Shakes:
Strawberry x 2
Caramel x 3
Vanilla x 3
Chocolate x 3
Banana x 2
Raspberry x 3

Soups:
Thai Chilli x 3
Vegetable x 3
Chicken x 3
Mushroom x 3

Also included with the foodpacks was a log book and a guide for the first week.

I have a pop-in arranged or Wednesday when the counsellor, Ruth, will check to see if I have gone into Ketosis (fat burn), and then I get to visit again on Saturday morning at 09:45 for the first weekly counselling session.

Right, well here goes...

Here goes nothing.

My story & background info.

I mainly intend to use this blog as a tool to record my progress over the initial 8 weeks of using the Lighterlife weight loss and maintenance programme.

I have chosen to follow this after reading about the results of Snazy on his own blog and his updates on Scoobynet.

My target is to drop 20kg to reach 63.1kg which will leave me with a healthy BMI score.

So far I have found a Lighterlife councillor in my city, watched a DVD which provides more information, and asked a few questions. I have also been to my doctor to complete a medical questionnaire to make sure I'm healthy enough to commence. That was pretty easy as the answers to everything was No. My pulse and blood pressure were both measured too. Now I just need to wait for my commencement date.

Why am I doing this? I've decided to apply for a job, which has a fitness test as part of the application progress. The medical involved also calls for a BMI score below 30, of which I currently am on 29.1. Additionally, I want to lose some weight as a confidence booster.

I'll update this blog to reflect how my progress is going, how I'm feeling, any difficulties or struggles etc. I'm sure eight weeks of abstinence from food and alcohol, will give me plenty to record, especially the abstinence from booze! I've already wondered if I need to lock myself in the house to avoid temptation of a sneaky pint, or if I'll be able to still go out with my mates on our regular nights out and stick to water?

What is Lighterlife?
LighterLife is a fast, safe and effective way to lose weight. It is a unique weight-loss and weight-management programme designed specifically for people who have three stone or more to lose.

More info here: http://www.lighterlife.com/