Sorry its been so long!

I think I got myself all blogged-out. I didn't realise I'd not posted for so long!

Well I'm still plodding along with CD. Currently 2lb's short of reaching the 4 stone mark, so pleased with that. It's taken 4 months to get this far but at least I have gone past the half way mark. Not sure what the final goal will be, but I've dropped from a size 22/24 to an 18 which is great and I got some jeans from the Debenhams sale a couple of weeks back that were size 16 and could get in them - just couldn't move or breath!

My mum started CD when she came back from her holidays and she is doing well too. One good thing is that she wasn't as big as me to start so she's been giving me some of her clothes that are too big for her and when I get too big for them, I'm selling them on ebay!

I've added a couple of photo's - the first a shockingly awful one of me taken at a dog show last year - probably the biggest I've been. I hate the photo as I look so bad but in many ways it reminds me that I never want to go back to that size. The other photo was taken at the beginning of June and I can really see the difference!

Hope everyone is doing well with their losses too.

Wendy x

Day 28 on CD

Have been to get weighed today and very pleased to report that I've lost 4lbs, so that makes up for the 1lb gain last week. Very happy now!!

Day 27 on CD

Still sticking with CD but still bored with it! I think I need to try and regain my focus so this week I'm going to make extra effort to catch up with everyone's blogs.

It's strange as I don't really notice any of the loss in myself yet other people have. After we went to collect Molly on Thursday Tracy posted some pics on The Refuge, including some of me (eeeek!!) and loads of people commented on how well I was looking. Its lovely, of course, but apart from tightening my belt an extra 5 notches since I started, I don't feel any different.

Yesterday I took the dogs and went down to south Wiltshire to see my friend Helen. She adopted a gorgeous Black Lab boy from us a few weeks ago and 'officially' I was doing her post adoption check, but it was also a chance to catch up. Helen lives in a tiny little village in a chocolate box cottage with her hubby and 4 dogs, 3 cats and free range chickens and guinea fowl. I'd completely forgotten about the chooks but thankfully Molly wasn't at all interested. Poppy and Helen's Chocolate Lab, Bert, have a bit of a luuurve thing going on so he was very impressed with me arriving with another choccie girl for him to schmooze. All of Helen's dogs are fab and they welcomed my lot straight in and played around in the garden.

When offered, I was very good and declined a cheese scone but just had a coffee. Helen's hubby was cooking bacon to make a sandwich but thankfully I wasn't the slightest bit tempted - mainly because he forgot about it being in the frying pan and was busy planting up the vegetable beds until Helen screamed at him that there was smoke billowing out of the house! I went in to use to loo and the whole cottage was full of thick smoke. Any worries I'd had about the tempting smell of cooking bacon wafting out were replaced with the stink of burnt frying pan. Probably just as well.

We took the dogs off out to a place called Wardour Castle and had a really good walk. All the dogs got on so well and did plenty of running about and some swimming. Helen's elderly and somewhat eccentric Bull Terrier, Cassie, kind of fell in the water and looked rather surprised but fortunately Helen pulled her out before she had the chance to swim or float out too far. Poppy stayed at the cottage with Helen's husband as she wouldn't have managed the walk but Bumpy and Molly had a good run.

I had been organised and taken a tetra pak of chocolate milkshake with me so drank that on the way home. It was a really lovely day as the weather was good, and the company lovely as always.

I will be getting weighed tomorrow and have tried to drink as much water as possible. I really, really want to make up for last week's gain and get to the 3 stone mark before my birthday in a couple of weeks. Must stay with the water/wee/water/wee routine!

Day 23 on CD

Worked Tuesday and Wednesday so didn't get time to blog. Have been drinking loads and loads of water, so keeping focused!

Today has been a very exciting day. I went with a friend to the kennels where some of the homeless Lab Rescue dogs stay while we wait for them to find new homes. I took Poppy along with me to meet a little Lab girl who has been in the kennels for a few months with no home offers. The plan was to see if Poppy was happy with her and if so, I would foster her. I would also like to proudly point out that while Tracy had a bacon bap from the services, I drank my chocolate tetra pak!

The info we had was that she was originally a breeding bitch and then passed on to a couple who ended up keeping her in the garden. So, for the last couple of years, she had been living out in the garden but because she barked a lot, they gave her up to us.

I'm hoping we can overcome the barking with a bit more routine in her life and of course the company of Poppy and Bumpy when I'm not here. I'll start off leaving her for short periods to try and get her used to being left and see how we go. So far she is being very sweet and loves everyone and everything. We've been to the vets to get her registered and as she was a bit pongy from being in kennels, she has had a bath. After her exciting day, she's worn out now and fast asleep in Bumpy's bed (he's on Poppy's bed).

So, here she is. Please meet Molly

Day 20 on CD

Not a great start to the week. Went and got weighed today (instead of Tuesday as I'm going to be at work) and I've put on a pound. I know its not the end of the world and I've still lost over 2.4 stone, but its a bit of a blow. But, rather than feel cross with myself I'm just going to keep on going and up the water intake. I was working nights last week and I know I always drink less water during the night, so all being well next week will be a good loss and make up for this blip.

Sorry for my grumpiness last week. I'm feeling a bit better now and trying to focus back on the positives rather than the negative thoughts that are normally buried away. I'm sure I will be happier once the weight has gone but I suppose at the moment, what with other things going on, the negative side of me comes out more. Maybe being a Gemini I've got a bit of a split personality.

In non-diet news my parents are now in Barbados. I left work early on Saturday morning and took them up to Manchester airport. Got them there safely and in plenty of time, only to get a phone call from my mum when I was driving home to say they had been offloaded from their plane as one of the engines had caught fire!! Once I was home I checked some online flight info sites and phoned my uncle in Barbados to let him know they would be delayed. Eventually they left Manchester at about 5.30pm. According to the email I had from my uncle earlier, they are enjoying themselves, no doubt helped by the fab weather and what seems to be a drinking tour of the island.

I did have a nice surprise though - while we stopped for coffee on the way to the airport my dad gave me an envelope and said it was an early birthday present (birthday is next month). It was a document from the DVLA confirming that he had purchased a number plate for me - K9 WVP!! Appropriate for me, with the dogs and my initials. It's a very lovely thing as he know's I've wanted it for ages. He wanted me to have it early so I could have the plates on my car in time for my birthday. Unfortunately, silly Dad hadn't signed the form so I can't change them yet. Never mind.

After I'd dropped my parents off on Saturday I popped in to see a friend who I've not seen for a while and she noticed the difference in me, which was nice. Had a coffee and a good chat before I made my way home.

Poppy has been to the vets today to have more fluid drained. She's been going off her food and being rather flumpy but after having 5 litres drained, she seems much happier. She has just eaten some dinner so hopefully will be perkier now she's not carrying the fluid around.

As always, thank you for the lovely comments. I know I am useless at leaving comments for everyone else, but I do read.

Good luck to Sarah Angelica Maybe who is starting CD today. I'm going to have a good week this week and drink plenty of water and look forward to a good loss next time.

Day 17 on CD

Been a bit rubbish at updating this week. Weigh in on Tuesday was fine, lost anothe 3lbs so current total is 347lbs which is good in 2 months.

Had been on nights, then a day off then back in on nights for overtime. Leaving early tomorrow though to drive my parents to the airport.

Still feeling bleurgh. Trying not to be and give an outward show of someone who's happy but feeling down. Don't know why really. Having niggling feelings that although I know the weight is coming off and I know its showing, what if it doesn't make me happier? Maybe I've put too much importance on it and stupid thoughts that if I can sort the weight out I'll end up being happy.

Thank you for the lovely comments. I've not read them properly as I got a bit snivelly and I'm at work so will read again properly from home.

Day 13 on CD

Fed up today. Fed up with the diet, fed up with feeling cold all the time. Working nights this week and I seem to struggle more since being on the foodpacks. I know I've always found the early hours is when I feel really cold, but its worse since I've not had real food. I'm fed up with moaning about being fed up!!

Stupid thing is, I don't actually want real food, I just miss it more when I am on nights. Maybe its because I know I have to stay awake whereas if I was at home I could just go to bed and get over any hunger, or phsycological hunger (Chris, I think you are right with that theory). I made up a strawberry foodpack when I got into work and worked out it was 15 hours since the last pack, yet I didn't feel hungry in between. I'll have another pack later and then that will be my 3 for the day, which is fine and do-able. I did find that on LL having 4 was hard work when it felt like there wasn't enough time to eat them all.

I suppose it is just boredom really. After the initial excitement of starting the diet, having the weight come off quickly now it just feels like I am plodding on with it and no real end in sight. I know I am doing well and hopefully when I get weighed tomorrow I will have gone past the 2.5 stone mark; clothes are looser and some of the things I am wearing now are smaller sizes, so again its a positive thing. I'm just so flipping bored of it all.

Maybe since changing to CD I don't have the focus of the 100 days like I did on LL. I was counting down the days until the first 100 was up but with CD I don't have that goal. If I was still on Foundation, the end of my 100 days would have been 30th June, which is just over 7 weeks away. I'd like to think that I could set myself a goal of having lost 4 stone by then, but thats another 22 lbs and an average of just over 3lb per week, so maybe not achievable.

Day 11 on CD

I think Chris was right, it must be the hormones!! I've felt really hungry, despite having my 3 foodpacks a day and litres of water. Thinking about it though, TOTM did used to be a time when I would stuff myself full of rubbish food, just because it made me feel better. Its weird, as its the carby, starchy things I would crave although I don't crave them specifically now, just wish I didnt feel hungry all the time.

Despite me having started this whole thing back in March, for the last few days I've felt almost as rough as I did at the beginning. I am cold, constant tummy rumbling and feeling empty and feeling tired. I've got some other non-CD related things going on which probably isn't helping, plus of course Poppy's health problems seem to be a day to day thing, maybe its just all affecting more than I realised.

Day 10 on CD

Grumpy today. Not just slightly narky, but majorly TOTM, bad tempered grumpy. Have felt starving hungry all day and had bad tummy. Made sure I shared my misery with anyone willing (or unwilling) to listen.

Working again tomorrow so will hopefully be in a better mood and will then catch up with everyone else in Blogland.

Day 9 on CD

Worked Tuesday night so finished yesterday morning but as I am on day shifts today, ended up not doing anything interesting yesterday as I had to go to bed early to try and catch up on some sleep.

Left the blender at home today and brought in tetra packs of chocolate milkshake and a caramel foodbar. Much nicer than the LL one. Will have a shake when I get home but feeling a bit peckish now. Have drunk loads of water, so thats good.

Work trousers weren't particularly loose, but the waistband is gaping!! I have some strange proportion thing going on as my waist is much smaller than the rest of me. The CDC said that your waist should be half your height, so as my height is 65 inches, my waist should be 32.5. Its 38 now so thats not so bad, just would be nice to feel like the losses are elsewhere!

Day 7 on CD

I have no idea where the last few days have gone, so if anyone know's, please tell me!

Can't believe its been a whole week on CD already!!! Had my weigh in this morning and have lost another 4lbs, so the total is now 34, which I am really pleased with. Stupidly I thought that if I kept up with 4lbs a week then by my birthday (in six weeks) I could have lost 4 stone. Never mind, any loss is still a loss and I shouldn't try and expect the same each week.

Today is a good day, not only because of the loss but mainly because it is Poppy's 3rd Gotcha Day. (A gotcha day is the day you celebrate when you don't know your pet's birthday). Officially, its also her 10th birthday but thats a guess rather than definite! She has been much brighter the last few days, mostly I suspect due to me cooking 3 course meals each day for her, but this morning she was most perky. After I came back from CD meeting we went for a little stroll - only to the green at the end of my road, but it was a little achievement for Pops never the less. This pic was taken while she stopped for a rest.

I'm pleased to report that my mum has been in touch with a CDC near her and she will be visiting tomorrow. Luckily she has found a CDC who does home visits. As she is on prescribed medication she will need to see the doctor so I suggested rather than wait until they come back from holiday to get things started now so she can start when she gets back. I'm ever so pleased as I know that like me, she would make out she was happy as she was, but really she wasn't.


Once again I must apologise for my useless attempts to keep up with everyone's blogs. What with Poppy and work and other stuff going on, I'm a bit all over the place, but I hope you are all doing well out there in Blog Land.

Day 52 (3 on CD)

I think I got a bit muddled somewhere with my day numbering as when I posted yesterday, it was actually the early hours of this morning, so this is technically day 52. I think.

Anyway, I am very pleased to have tried the tetra carton of Chocolate Velvet - it's good! Very smooth and chocolatey, so I will definitely be getting lots more on Tuesday.

Tim has told me off for nibbling cheese, so I'd like to add that it was just a couple of tiny, weeny, miniscule pieces. And I won't do it again. I have told him that out of everybody who know's I am doing this, he is the one who nags me the most. Bless him, I know its done with the best intention. I shall just have to do less out loud thinking and then he won't have to nag me.

Last night shift this week and then not back in until next Thursday. On Monday I am taking my mum shopping as she wants to get some bits for her holiday to Barbados in 2 weeks time. She is very excited and has said that once she is home again, she's going to contact her local CDC and see if she will do home visits, so fingers crossed. I think seeing how well I have done has motivated her, plus of course the difference in cost between LL and CD. She likes a broader range of flavours than me so should be fine on the foodpacks, and as I suggested, can still sit at the table with Dad when he eats and have soup.

In a strange way I am looking forward to work next week as it will be a fortnight since I wore my new work trousers, so I'm hoping they are a little looser. Small things keep me going!

Day 50 (Day 2 on CD)

If I was still on LL, this would be half way through Foundation, but its not! CD is ok so far. Surprisingly, I actually quite like the Toffee & Walnut drink. Still drinking my water but as I'm working nights, have slowed down a little or I will be up all day needing to wee.

Tonight I am working with Katrina, which is great as she did very well on LL so its nice to be a diet bore for the night. Its also encouraging to see that she has hardly put any weight on since going back to normal food. I'm having one of those nights where I find myself thinking of food a lot, but I must keep on resisting.

It is hard, especially when I'm cooking all sorts of things for Poppy, but apart from the odd nibble of cheese, I have been sticking to the foodpacks. Something that did perk me up was comparing my progress from my original LL book and the CD joining sheet. Apparently, my waist is 7 inches less than it was at the start!!! I am actually dead chuffed with that, as I know I feel like I've lost, and of course the scales tell me its over 2 stone, but inches is something new.

Had some good Poppy news earlier. I stopped at the vets on the way to work to collect more tablets and get the results from Wednesday's blood tests. Much to my surprise, and the vets too, the bloods were all relatively normal, which for a dog as poorly as Pops, is very good news. Her urea (sp) level was up which is most likely due to her being dehydrated, so the tablets are being changed around slightly to try and find the right balance. As the vet said, we need Pops to get rid of the fluid, but not to the point where she becomes dehydrated again. Potassium levels were ok, as were electrolytes, so I'm quite relieved that the results were better than expected.

I have been slack again at keeping up with everyone's blogs, but did sneak a peak at Lesley's yesterday and wanted to say congratulations at getting to the end of Foundation with such a fantastic loss so far.

Random pics, just because.......

Saturday afternoon, coffee in SW London

Mindy's boys, Toby and Beenz cooling off at the weekend

Poppy, showing off her bandage after this morning's visit to the vets

Day 49 (day 1 on CD)

Haven't had time to update until now.

Had a great weekend with Mindy and yes, I did eat, but it was mostly all good, healthy food. Mindy's new house is great and it was brilliant to finally see it.

Yesterday I went and saw the CDC for the first time and she was lovely. I was weighed, and considering I'd not been on the scales since the week before last at the LL session, the scales said I was 2lbs less, so that was good. I'm now in the 15's (although in the top bit!).

I have my foodpacks for the coming week and there was much more choice of flavours. Apparently CD make the foodpacks for LL, so there are some similarities - the CD Butterscotch tastes just like the LL caramel, which is a shame, as I wasn't that keen on it. Not to worry, I have plenty more to choose from and also the tetra packs.

Poppy has been worrying me a lot over the last few days as she had gone off her food at the end of last week and wasn't tempted by much at all. I came to the conclusion that the loss of appetite started once she was on the new diuretics, but the vet thinks it could be a coincidence. So, she went in this morning for bloods to be taken and tests as apparently lack of potassium can affect appetite and cause dehydration & lethargy. I'll get the results tomorrow. For the last couple of days, in an effort to get her to eat, I've been cooking up all sorts of things but the favourite seems to be grilled steak, scrambled egggs and cheese. Not an ideal diet, but at least all high in protein which is what she needs.

I have to admit that on Monday night, seeing her laying shiverring, I really did worry that she had had enough, and even accepted that when we went to the vets on Tuesday he might say we had run out of options, but thankfully yesterday she did perk up after eating the steak. Today she has been much brighter, eating 3 grilled steak fillets, one lot of scrambled eggs, 3 thick bits of cheese and some slices of ham. Seeing her bright eyed and waggy tailed tells me she hasn't had enough just yet and I'll keep doing everything I can.

Day 44 & 45

Didn't update yesterday as not a lot to report! Poppy's new bed is great, although Bumpy has claimed it as his own and hardly moved off it all day. Poppy did get to have a little snooze on it, but then as soon as she moved, Bumpy was straight back on it!

We're off to London today to stay with Mindy which is very exciting as we'll get to see her new house. As planned, I'm going to eat real food this evening, but it will be healthy and I'll have my foodpacks for breakfast and lunch, so hopefully won't make too much difference. My new 1Gb memory card for my camera arrived yesterday so I'll no doubt take loads of photo's over the weekend when we are out and about with the dogs.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Day 43

We've been out and about today. Went to Bristol to see a friend and spent the afternoon chatting and catching up and I was very organised and doubled 2 foodpacks and had that before I went and took another with me to have if I got peckish, which I did.

Not a lot else to report really. Poppy's new bed finally arrived although so far only Bumpy has been on it, and he still is now. Maybe tomorrow she will get to use it.

Day 42

It's strange this evening, as for the last 6 weeks, I've spent my Wednesday evenings at the LL session, but not tonight. I've got enough foodpacks left over to keep going until I switch to CD, so I'm going to carry on using them.

Bought some new trousers for work yesterday, a size smaller as my other ones were falling off me! The new trousers fit more snugly than I'm used to but I'm going to stick with the foodpacks so that when I am on days again in a fortnight, they will fit comfortably.

I've got a week off work now as I'm not back on shift until next Wednesday night, by which time I will be on CD. I'm looking forward to it and seeing what the different flavours are like. I'm so bored of raspberry and chocolate now, I'm hoping I like the CD packs!

Day 40 & 41

Didn't get round to updating yesterday, what with being at work and rushing around when I got home.

Having a bit of a strange day. I was emailing one of the girls from the LL group and told her that I'm going to be leaving. I explained about the cost, the times not always fitting in around work etc and she asked if I was going to go along tomorrow, which I said I would. She said why didn't I use up the foodpacks I have, and add sensible meals where necessary, and just start CD next week and save myself £66. This has really got me thinking. I've not had all 4 packs each day so I have loads left at home, although not enough for a week.

However, I am going to Mindy's this weekend and I had already decided I would eat healthily. Mindy has requested grilled fish or chicken and salad etc, so all very good. I'm going to see the CDC on Tuesday morning, so in theory, only need packs for tomorrow, Thursday and Friday and then breakfast and lunch on the weekend. So, I'm currently deliberating with myself as to whether to go tomorrow or not bother. I don't want to stop altogether, but I'm thinking that if I have enough packs, whats the point in going and paying out another £66 to get another week's worth, when I'm not going to need them? Also, as far as my weight, the scales with the CDC could be way out compared to the LLC, so its not necessarily going to be a true reflection of any loss.

Having said all that, the idea of actually buying food and eating food, if necessary, is really quite scary. For nearly 6 weeks, food has not come into my daily routine so having to make decisions about what to eat feels really odd. Its almost scary!

I'm really all over the place thinking about this so maybe the best thing would be for me to go home, see how many packs I have left and then decide.