h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Kelli

I just found your reply! That's what happens when you subscribe to lots of conversations I guess, it knocks other far more interesting and important things off your front page.

Boo about your holiday being knocked back I suppose it means you are still in work though - although it sounds like you don't want to be there. How is the job hunting going? As for where you can go for sunshine in November....hmmm? What can you afford? What sort of holiday do you like? I would have to recommend Las Vegas if you can afford it, I love the place and hope to go back there next year.

Yes, I am really looking forward to my holiday - only 12 days to go! (and only 20 days left in my countdown!) I just hope the weather stays nice.

I was surprised to see that you are using slimfast soups. Would you recommend them then? I have been put off them by people saying that you lose weight too quickly and are not really changing your eating habits enough. Or were they just being cynical?

I haven't checked out that gym yet 'cos I have been so busy working on an interactive CD job that seems to be taking forever (I am spending 17 hours a day on it because they have set such a ridiclous deadline). I still have the Diet Coke lids though. I say lids because I got another one about 3 days ago, so that means Bryan can come with me and also join for 50% less! So we are still on track.

Must go now and design a navigation bar...

Take care and think full

Debs

This week has been a total disaster for my diet! I am tempted not to even weigh myself on monday - I don't want to know the damage! I have never been more in need of as I've been pretty miserable, and ill at the same time so it is a bad combination - only got myself to the gym once. I think I will count this as a week of holiday and start fresh again next week.

Fingers crossed for the weather for your holiday, still don't know what to do for mine. If I work the extra month here I will have earned enough for a pretty nice holiday but in November I suppose it will have to be southern hemisphere or somewhere tropical without the storms. Not sure I fancy Las Vegas - I am not really turned on by american culture and that sounds like a fairly extreme case!

As far as the slimfast thing goes, I am not doing the slimfast plan by any stretch of the imagination, I agree that you lose weight too fast on it and there is a point where you 'stop' and the danger is that you go back to your old bad habits.

I do usually have one of their soups for lunch though. There are a few reasons for this but the main one is that I am not very good about making my own sandwiches to take to work, and I would rather just avoid the temptation in the staff canteen - they don't give you any nutrition information there and there are no low fat options. My office is well out of town (just on the M4 actually) so there is no opportunity to go somewhere else to buy lunch. I do actually like the soups (the shakes are evil though) so it is no great trauma to have one each day, plus they are quite balanced in terms of the nutritional contents so not bad really. Like everything else they are just another tool to get me through!

Anyway, better get back to w*rk. I want to leave early today so I had better get a move on.


k

Hey there!

Just nosin' to find out how it's going. I have just 5 days left until my holiday (and 13 until my d-day) and I am starting to worry about all those things I need to do before we go away. Charlie (my black cat) needs to go to the vet tomorrow because he is overwashing and creating bald patches in his fur. We think it might be a flea allergy even though they have the Frontline drops every month. Jake has to go and have his boosters too so all in all the whole trip is going to cost alot of money - just what I need before I go away . Still, I love them to bits and want them to be well so the money is not that important.

While I am away I am not going to think about what I will be starting when I get back. I am going to enjoy myself and not panic about it.

I emptied out the freezer a couple of days ago so that there wouldn't be anything tempting in there when I got back. The fridge looks like the ones in those adverts for eggs - in fact I think that's just about all we've got in there at the moment. We are buying food on a daily basis so that there is nothing to throw out before we go.

I really want to get my hair done as well but I don't know when I'm going to find the time. Perhaps Monday.

Blah, blah, blah...look at me waffling on How is the job hunting going? Have you decided on a holiday destination yet?

keep up the good work and take care

Debs (not a haggis!)

So how was the holiday then

Are you ready and raring to go? Was it yesterday that you got going?

The jobhunting is going reasonably well, got a couple of very promising irons in the fire so hopefully will be on the move soon...

My diet has been a bit crap the past couple of weeks, but not putting anything on so I just have to re-motivate myself agian. Will get there in the end!

In the meantime, I'll make do with virtual


k

*cough cough*

Just bumping this back up again...

How are you doing?

I am still job hunting (although have some really good leads) and the diet seems to have got stuck. Hopefully it'll get moving again soon though, am starting to get a bit frustrated

Hope you are well,
k

I'm sooooo Kelli! I didn't even see your posting from 3 weeks ago.

Well the good news is the holiday was great. Saw and did lots of cool things - including glass blowing and lead crystal cutting at Edinburgh Crystal.

Bad news is that my health took a nosedive while I was away. Nothing too serious - just overdoing things I guess. I came on rather earlier than expected and got alot of pain. It continued after we got back but I was thrown into work I already had booked and couldn't get out of. It was a conference for Woolworths but I did most of the pre-production work from home - so at least I could sit here in my nightie and dressing gown doing the work! It did call a halt to any ideas I had about going to that excersice class though. I confess that I haven't actually begun my diet. I felt so bad and couldn't cope with the idea of it at all. Like the smoking thing - I will do it when I am ready and not before. So much for the countdown eh?

I'm sorry to hear that your efforts have come to a bit of a standstill. Is this that horrible plateau that I have heard about - you can't seem to shift an ounce no matter what you do.

You are still an inspiration to me though - you have to keep going girl!!

Sorry again for missing your post

Take care

Debs

Hey Debs,
I've just noticed that I didn't in fact reply to this, my defective brain thought that I had - food deprivation must be driving me a bit

Sorry you haven't been well, are you feeling better now? Trying to diet when ill is not the best, it was a good idea to put it off. You can always start again when you are fit and well - any time you want to get going just let me know and I'll come and cheer you on!

I was on the dreaded plateau and I STILL am - although I have high hopes for this week. Things have got to change sooner or later so I have just got to keep battling with it and hope for some good results. It is hardest to keep it up now when I don't get the constant motivation on the scales but I'll get there in the end - I just wish that was sooner rather than later!

I have got my mum at it now, she said she was inspired by my effort and has started going swimming twice a week and watching what she eats. She says she has lost half a stone we are going to do a health spa weekend to reward ourselves - except she doesn't know about it yet because Dad and I have bought it for her for her birthday. I have told her we are going christmas shopping . I this sort of thing, can't wait to see her face as we pull into the drive and she realises where we are!

Anyway, I should get on with some work...



k

BTW are you going tot he winter party? I am tempted, but we shall have to see if I chicken out at the last minute

Still stuck on my plateau, although it is a bit deceptive. Two weeks after I got to 54 lb lost (14st 9) I bounced back up to 14st 13 for no readily apparent reason - and that is where I got stuck. This week I am 14st 10 so things are moving again - and in the right direction - so hopefully by next week I will get to change my username again 55lb lost sounds like a nice round number! Still hoping for 14st by christmas, but it doesn't seem as likely as it did once...

Anyway,

Hi Kelli and Debs. I hope you don't mind be "gatecrashing" this forum, but it sounds like I have a lot in common with both of you. I too am engaged in a life or death struggle to find my original collarbone, and started posting my progress on h2g2 to "keep me honest". I've been at it now for about 12 weeks, and while I have already lost 11.3kg (I don't know what that is in pounds, I think around 23?) and passed two self-imposed milestones, my motivation has been wavering this past one and a half weeks.

Case in point - I gorged myself last night on ice cream and twisties (not together) to fill a hole. I have no idea what that hole was, suffice to say that kind of eating behaviour got me into the trouble I'm trying to rectify now.

As I said before, apologies if I have stuck my big nose into something you'd like to keep private, but I'm searching for h2g2 buddies at the moment that will pick me up when I've fallen down and bat me around a bit. Most of all, help inspiring me to reach my goals!

Hi, feel free to gatecrash all you like - losing weight sucks so the more support the better!

Well done for getting going with your diet, I think 11 kg is around 24 lb, or 1 stone 10 lbs. That is fantastic progress in 12 weeks Now it really does get tough - if you look at my chart at A877872 you can see I too hit a wall around the 12 week mark.

Fighting off binge temptation is the hardest thing in the world! Why do I do such self-destructive things? It is like a guilty sort of pleasure while I do it but afterwards I'm just left with guilt. The thing is that EVERYONE falls off the wagon at some point during a diet, the thing to do is recognise that and get back on again. Just because you ate doesn't mean your diet is over, it was just a temporary bout of insanity .

Just look at how well you have done so far! You are a How much do you think you have to lose in the long term? I think I have about another 20 kilos to go, and the whole thing should take about 18 months - it is a drag but I feel much better for what I have lost so far, don't you? I see from your diary that you have already met Conceited little megapuppy - she has lost over 8 stone (erm 50-odd kilos) and has only 4 lb to go She is really inspirational, and I am jealous as hell that she is about to go out and buy a whole new size twelve wardrobe

I keep thinking that I should set up a new weight losers forum, or try and get the old one reactivated because there are lots of hootooers about the place trying to shift a few pounds, and we all need encouraging from time to time

Anyway, good to hear from you - good luck with the diet!

(I think this looks a bit like a four leaf clover don't you?).

k

Hey thanks - I'll pop over there in a second! I know that I have to ignore my iniquities and get back on the hobby-horse. My hubby was upset I did it, but glad I told him (before I would just try to hide the evidence!) I think honesty towards other people is the best way of staying honest with yourself. It's all too easy to trick yourself you are still on the right track when you day looks like this:

7am cereal, skim milk
10am skim coffee, fruit
1pm whole sandwich with tuna
3pm fruit or rice crackers
6pm stir fry and rice
11pm - 11:15pm ice cream, twisties, chocolate biscuits (eaten so quickly you can deny it just happened!!!)



As to how long I have to go, my ideal weight for my height is 60kg (smack bang in the middle of the WW recommended 52-66kg). This means I have another 30kgs to go - But as my optimistic hubby keeps reminding me, I have come 25% of the way!!! I am setting myself tiny 5kg goals on the way, my next milestone should be 85kg by Christmas (it was 80kg, but I am losing weight a bit slower than I originally thought. But that's okay, I just have to re-adjust my goals to reflect this, and KEEP GOING!)

Yippeeee for optimists of this world - Yaaayyyy that I even married one!

I think it's a great idea to start the forum again - since that died a little, I have been trawling this place for people who can inspire me to greater, erm, "lows".

Oooooeeee! Oh My Gosh!

I have just re-read this entire thread from the beginning and cannot believe it was all so long ago! What a wuss I was... I didn't do a thing aabout it until July 2004 after all that! Jeez!

I just thought it might be quite funny to bring it back to the top of your list for a while - a little nostalgia!

I can't believe that I am now at the stage you were at when I wrote to you that first time. I hit the magic 4 stone lost this week!

I have been going to the gym and swimming and all those other things I was petrified of for over 6 months now (one of my posts mentioned that I managed 3 lengths of the pool...I now do 30!!)

Guess what?...you still inspire me Kelli. Honest. We've never met and have only ever "spoken" on h2g2 but when I watched your A-list programme I was so proud and kept saying "that's my mate Kelli!"

I am keeping track of my progress with a chart in Exel and so far it looks very similar to your chart on your diet page. You only recorded up to 40 weeks on that page and I am now at 34 weeks so I shall be flying solo in 6 weeks time. Did you keep records of your progress after that? I'd love to know what to expect from now on really. It gets harder now doesn't it?

Anyway...you keep going girl. You look great and must be so chuffed with everything you've achieved. I know I am!

Your mate, Debs x

a blast from the past! It may have taken you a while to get started but boy did you achieve a lot once you did! I sound quite sensible in this thread don't I - if a little bit preachy?

I stopped keeping records then, and have only kept them sporadically ever since. I tend to stop writing it down when things go badly for a long period, I find my persistant failure to be a disincentive - then start writing it down when it starts to shift again. Have been very up and down since then though - I've probably lost more than three stone since then but I am only just over one and a half stones less in overall weight.

I *really* have to lose a stone over the next 16 weeks- have ordered my wedding dress and the skirt is a tiny bit too tight around my hips. There is no option but to lose the rest before my first fitting or risk looking dreadful on my big day. It doesn't help that I am having an injury problem at the moment that is preventing me running (which I had got quite enthusiastic about) so need to find something effective but that doesn't hurt. Ideally need to find a convenient swimming pool I guess. Hmmm.

*screws down resolve*

As for the inspiring thing, well, your success is encouraging me to keep going and I couldn't do it without the support I get here. Keep it up lass, and I'll probably need to lean on you (and the other losers) a fair bit over the next 16 weeks - am not feeling optimistic I'll succeed so need all the help I can get

k <- am quite attached to this now, I said I'd change it ages ago but keep finding reasons not to...