Finally I can see a difference…comparing the 315 lb photo to the 267 lb photo I’ve become a little smaller… I can see it!!! Such a long way to go but this is really encouraging!!
Things I MUST sort out- bras that fit! Hoist those puppies back up where they should be……
Gawd how I hate putting these up but I guess now I’m down to 267 lbs (or 19 st 7 lbs) unclothed on my home scales I guess I’d better add another one to the ones above to HOPEFULLY see a difference… (I have some truly awful photos I’ll share one day when I feel comfortable enough to do so!!)
I’ll fully update my “Weight Loss Photos Page” on Sunday too
C xxxx
60 days ago my employer started a heath and fitness initiative at work called the 60 day fitness challenge. We had to commit to making a change for 60 days (such as a particular form of exercise or/and a healthy eating plan etc), stick to it, record all our foods, water intake, exercise and thoughts in a booklet and also take our measurements and weight before and after….
I committed to walking for 40 minutes each day (6 days a week) and decided to follow a vegan diet. (this has worked really well in finding out how vegans must have coped during WWII with the already limited rations and how they would have adapted recipes)
Instead of my meat, cheese and milk rations I’ve had lentils, split peas, nuts and almond milk (vegans during WWII would have probably used nuts to make a nut milk. Almond milk has been used since the middle ages as it keeps much better without refrigeration) and instead of butter/margarine I’ve used Earth Balance (an organic soy based vegan margarine)
Above all I’ve pretty well cut all junk/processed food out of my life, I don’t buy alcohol (so rarely drink it) as my budget doesn’t allow it (although I’ll drink all the alcohol I am offered at a friends house!), have eaten huge amounts of fresh vegetables and lots of fruit and generous portions of complex carbs such as sweet and regular potatoes, organic oatmeal etc.
I know this seems like a lot of deprivation, it is, BUT I know myself the person I am and keeping away from trigger foods is the only way I cope with my food addiction… over time I hope to moderate this behaviour but for now austerity works for me PLUS the fact that this is providing me with a wonderful insight into the real adaptation people had to make with rationing during WWII
I’ve also averaged around 2000 cals per day but NEVER deprived myself of food…. trust me I eat platefuls!
So the final low down….
60 days ago I weighed in at 299 lbs (home scales unclothed)
This morning I weighed in 267 lbs
TOTAL LOSS in 60 days = 32 lbs
I’m happy, it’s a great start and now the hard work begins….!
Stephany Aulenback has written a very enjoyable and interesting article in THE AWL about rationing in Britain during WWII and the 1940s Experiment is featured!
But that is only a small part.. she has found many interesting facts and references other articles and memoirs… you HAVE to read it. Fascinating stuff!
Diane Duane, for example, explains how C.S. Lewis’s experiences under rationing may have influenced his writing about food in the Narnia books…
Below is a snippet of the article and a link straight to it…..
There is a website, called The 1940s Experiment, whose proprietor, Carolyn Ekin, who was born and raised in the UK but now lives in Canada, is attempting to lose a hundred pounds by following a wartime rations diet, specifically made up of the foods eaten by the British public during World War II. For every pound she loses, Carolyn will recreate one authentic wartime recipe and post about it. She has already posted recipes for Mock Goose (made with lentils), Potato and Carrot Pancakes(“delicious”) and an Eggless Fruit Cake (“looks curiously like meat loaf”), among many others. Carolyn has attempted—and succeeded at—this type of diet before; in 2006, she lost 57 pounds following the diet. This time, about six weeks in, she’s lost around 25 pounds.
Click here for the rest of the article!
http://www.theawl.com/2011/11/mock-goose-and-other-dishes-of-the-war-rations-diet
This morning my youngest daughter Em & I took our beagle (Pickle) for a long, long walk.
The air was cold, there was a little ice on the ground and the sun was shining. I walked the 1/4 mile down our private lane briskly, smiling and realized when I got to the bottom my back hadn’t hurt once and I was not out of breath in any shape or form. We continued along the main road. Pickle was really excited, after-all his ‘Mummy’ had NEVER taken him for a walk on the lead this far in his entire life!
I saw a sign in the distance… “I wonder what that says Em?” so we walked even further.. It was an advertising sign for cottage builders but next to it was a track down to the waters edge (we have a huge lake at the end of our lane- it’s beautiful!) which seemed to be a public launch ramp so you could take your canoe or dinghy on a trailer and put it in the water. I’ve lived here several years and never knew it existed simply because I’ve never been able to walk that far.
We headed back home and every joyous step of freedom made my smile a little wider as I took in the autumnal foliage colours (mostly lying on the ground now), the smell of the pine forest (which surrounds me) and the sound of the deer crunching through the fallen twigs. I stopped to let Pickle drink from the ice cold stream water… I swear there was a big smile on his face.
Even walking back home, the gradient against me, I still could have walked further.
Call me over emotional but that walk filled my being with gladness for what I have, how beautiful my surroundings are and how the most satisfying of pleasures are the ones that we take for granted everyday. I did indeed shed a few tears as the warm sun rays kissed my face.
If I had not lost the 25 lbs I have done this past couple of months today would never have happened.
C xxxxx
Me, Tanya, Barbara, Kim and Jana!
Today at work was “Ugly Christmas Sweater Day”….. there were truly some hideous reminders of Christmas past. I bought my Christmas top from my local secondhand store (as did pretty much everyone else)…
Unfortunately, being the BIG girl means that most of christmas clothing would never have fitted me even if I’d stretched it secretly in the bathroom, with all my strength. In the end I picked a sweatshirt that looked kind of cute- not too hideous at all. A trip to the dollar store ensured that it was festooned with tackiness and 20 pompoms, a garland of tinsel, some bows with bells and a penguin christmas stocking later it looked a little more hideous.
There have been some truly awful Christmas sweaters today…. but these have caused much mirth and laughter is the best form of medicine and it has been a really fun day at work.
I still find it difficult to look at myself in photos. I just see a fat girl who wants to be a less fatter girl. I am noticing a difference but my journey will continue to be long and treacherous! 
The kitchen at lunch time was treacherous… mulled apple cider, caramel popcorn, meatballs, christmas cookies and cakes all on the main table, available for anyone to enjoy. Instead I made a huge healthy lunch and stuffed myself with that. I know by just having a mouthful of forbidden food would send me in a downward spiral….. that’s the problem with food addiction!
It’s been a great day so far!
Merry Ugly Christmas Sweater Day!
C xxxxxx
PS Want to see the rest of the Ugly Christmas Sweaters? You can see the album on this Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/southshorenow/171604385422
Comrade Leonard Harmes- A British gentleman who remembers some of his WWII experiences. Despite his bravado please take note at 4 minutes in how he relives how frightened he felt on that night 70 years ago… Please click through to watch as well as a series of WWII veteran interviews
So I’ve been up since 5 am listening to the storm outside and my mind has been wandering..
I’ve been imagining how awful it must have been for young soldiers (British, German, American, Canadian etc) having to fight and their families at home living through uncertainty and hardship especially those who were under attack.
Here I am lying in bed, nice and warm, safe. How can one comprehend what it really was like to hear air raid sirens, bombs, gunfire, cries and screams and never know if you would live to see the end of the day you thankfully woke up to that morning…
We must never forget these things because they must never happen again…
And here was a message I woke up to this morning on Facebook. I thought it was a wonderful idea…
FACEBOOK 1940sExperiment
SAUL: Im planning Ration book Saturday this weekend to commemorate Armistice day with my 6 year old daughter. No TV, no sweets, just radio and breakfast,lunch and maybe dinner made from what we would have had from the ration book and the garden. It should hopefully show her how lucky she and how people had to make do. We will do all sorts of things connected with WW1 and 2 to give her an appreciation of how things were. I hope it is a valuable experiment and life lesson for her.
1940sExperiment I think that is WONDERFUL! May I suggest that part of the experience could be listening to some of the sounds like Air raid sirens and bombing raids (scroll down page) http://www.1940.co.uk/history/sound/sound.htm or listen to some sounds of the 1940s on http://www.1940sukradio.co.uk/ Please come back and tell us how it went xxx
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
PS : I lost another 2 lb this week… thats 24 lb in 48 days! (I posted it on my other blog yesterday but forgot this one!)
I’m listening to my body and today I’m being extra generous
Dinner: I’m not sure yet but I’m thinking! I have my cook book with me!
The 1940s Experiment is a personal journey and social experiment living for one year on a wartime ration book diet to conquer obesity. 100 wartime recipes will be recreated with photos as well as experiences of living on a 1940s WW2 ration diet… 1 authentic wartime recipe will be re-created for every 1 lb lost.
My highest ever weight was 345 lbs… I started the 1940s Experiment at 315 lbs and today I am 277 lbs. I’ve had a few stops and started along the way but now I’m committed to seeing this through…
My goal is to shift 100 lb in one year using a 1940s ration diet as my foundation….. at the moment I am also vegan.
My belief is that by drastically diminishing the amount of dairy and animal protein as well as processed foods in my diet, and by significantly increasing the amounts of fruit and vegetables and wholefoods as well as walking, I can lose a significant amount of weight as well as improve my health and well being.
I restarted my 1940s Experiment goal again on September 23, 2011 and weighed in at 299 lbs (home scales) … my goal is to have lost 100 lbs by September 23, 2012.
This is my journey to lose 100 lbs…