This morning I am down to 230 lbs ( 16 stone 4 lbs). I remember this weight. Last time I weighed this little was when Emily was born and that was 15 years ago, yesterday!!!
I did pretty good yesterday considering. A couple of handfuls of plain potato chips was the extent of my naughtiness while Em and her friends devoured pizzas, quiche, birthday cake and ice-cream and other goodies.
Having only lost 2 lbs this week I’m now behind track to get to my goal. I’m going to increase my exercise to 5 hours per week and increase the amount of raw fresh food in my diet (I currently eat 50% raw) and use less sugar (Use very little anyway- never my full ration these days as I just find it too much)
Back to “couch to 5K” today at lunch! I NEED those endorphins!!
HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS WEEK? Please leave a message below- I LOVE reading about how other people are doing with becoming healthier and happier! It’s rather addictive don’t you think?
GOAL by October 1st, 2012: Live for one year using wartime food rations- 100 wartime recipes re-created- lose 100 lbs of fat
To date: 69 lb lost- 77 wartime recipes re-created
My weight loss seems to have stalled 🙁 I am stuck at between 300 and 305 pounds), I have gone vegetarian again and I am hoping that will help kick start the weight moving again.
I really feel for you 🙁 I know EXACTLY what you mean- those times where nothing shifts or goes up and down a little seem to last forever… I guess everyone is different but what I find helps gets things going again is a mini detox for just a few days. I say detox in a very loose sense…. but cut out ALL white sugar, bread, flour and processed foods like breakfast cereals, pre-packaged meals etc etc. Keep your sodium real low and eat lots of green veg like broccolli, asparagus, raw spinach, salads (a simple lemon juice, vinegar, herb and garlic dressing). If you can’t give up meat or dairy for a few days cut them right back.. just drink water or green tea (or tea without milk)
It may just give you a little kick start
Hang on in there. I hope it begins to come off again xxxxxxxxxxx C
At the moment my typical days food is this :-
b – 1 cup porridge oats, 10g sultanas, 3/4 milk
l – 2 boiled eggs
d – mushroom stir fry with egg noodles or Quorn chilli and rice
pint of water to start the day and then 1,800 ml of chamomile tea during the day.
Anything I can do to change this (oh and I can’t exercise due to injury/disability *sob*)
Just as a suggestion why don’t you simply just change the rice or the noodles for lots of steamed vegetables like broccolli, leafy greens, asparagus and/or raw salads/spinach for a few days and see if that kick starts you again?
It doesn’t sound like you are eating much at all. You are getting some good slow release complex carbs from the porridge oats so dumping the rice and noodles for a few days won’t hurt and veggies like asparagus and broccoli tend to be slightly diuretic and quite cleansing (thats what I am understanding anyway)
I really hope it starts coming off for you again xxxxxx
Hmm the mushroom stir fry also had broccoli and capsicum in it – just mushrooms were the main ingredient! The Quorn chilli tonight will also have mushroom and capsicum to pad it out (and Mark likes his rice and noodles and he does the cooking *grin*)
Carolyn, if you really want to know I am down 53lbs in total so far. I am fitting into smaller clothes, which means I really need to do some shopping! I have lost most of my weight in my butt and legs so now I am wearing a 16 in a pair of jeans!!!! The tummy is taking longer to lose but I haven’t started to exercise yet. I am just doing 45 carbs per meal and that seems to be working fine for me. I have even reduced the amount of medication I am taking!!!. I can’t go vegetarian because of my diabetes but I am eating so much better that at times you wouldn’t know it!
Cathy I think what you have done is amazing and this must not only be doing you a lot of good physically and psychologically but also must be impacting the diabetes itself- I’m gonna watch this space!!! xxxxxx
I just wanted to let you know that I have found your blog the most real and inspiring of all the “weight-loss” blogs I’ve read. From 260, I’m down about 25 pounds since June (and hovering) on walking and greatly increased rabbit food. I also cut out the nasty “white” foods (for the most part). I, too, am looking at decreasing my meds if next month’s blood tests come back as low as my last ones. So, yay us! And thank you! —- I can only manage a 3.2 on the treadmill right now. How are you not running at 4? 🙂
Thank you Carolyn- that’s very kind. I think you hit the nail on the proverbial head!! Walking and greatly increasing “rabbit” food and cutting out nasty whites!! When you think about our modern diet, we don’t exercise, we don’t eat enough fresh veg and we eat a LOT of refined and processed foods……making these three basic changes HAS to improve our health!!!
Treadmill- my short legs only JUST can cope with walking 4 mph (I can also jog at 4 mph too). Just a few weeks ago when I started the “Couch to 5K” I was walking at 3 mph and jogging at 4 mph. Then I moved it up to 3.5 mph walking and 4.5 mph jogging (this is my most comfortable level) and if I PUSH it I can so 4 mph walking and 5 mph jogging but it is very hard work.
Still only managed 3 minutes jogging in one stretch!! LOL!
Good luck with the blood tests and meds xxxxxxx
Great post. Check out http://www.lose54.com. Helped me out a lot. Might help you too.
Tempewytch, I’ve just been reprimanded (electronically!) again for not eating enough, and you’re definitely eating a lot less than I am! I record my food and exercise on Sparkpeople.com, which helps me to track my nutrition. I hope you’ll excuse my joining in like this – I’m really very interested in food, nutrition, and health, and have done a lot of self-directed study, so I’ve picked up quite a lot of useful information.
If you eat too little, your body goes into starvation mode, and dials your metabolism way down, while turning the fat storage mechanism to its highest level. A woman should never go below 1250 calories a day; your menu looks as if your daily intake doesn’t reach this critical level. This article explains why eating too little stops you losing weight: http://www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_experts.asp?q=58. Another problem could well be too little fat in your diet: http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=60
A study done recently showed that people on very low protein diets tend to lose muscle mass – and muscle burns more calories per pound, just through being alive, than fat. It took 78 grams/protein per day to maintain lean muscle mass. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/04/protein-body-fat-diet-_n_1183516.html?ref=mostpopular. Another showed that sedentary people who ate lower carb diets burned more calories a day than those who ate high-carb. http://www.latimes.com/health/la-sci-calories-20120627,0,3966421.story
There’s a nice basal metabolic rate calculator here: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/. Seeing you’re injured/disabled, multiply this amount by 1.2. The final step is reduce this new amount by 10-20% to get your weight-loss intake. Every time you lose a chunk of weight, say every stone lost, recalculate – because every pound you lose reduces your basal metabolic rate. This way your body retains its sense of security and, while you lose weight slowly, you lose fat rather than muscle and avoid the dreaded plateau phases.
During WWII and the rationed years after it, people ate a lot of carbohdyrates – but they were typically unrefined carbs. For instance, flour was very high extraction, which lowered the glycaemic index of anything baked or cooked with it. People ate tons of veggies instead of the grains that are today’s staple, and they lost weight on this high-complex-carb diet. They were a LOT more active than we are, so they burned off rather than stored the carbs.
One last thing: starchy and sugary foods cause an insulin surge, and results in storage of surplus as fat. When insulin drops again, the enzyme glucagon kicks in and pulls fat out of storage for use as fuel. This is what we live on while we’re sleeping! Keeping insulin surges low, like by eating broccoli instead of rice, means less fat is stored, and glucagon is activated more often and for longer periods. Over time, more fat is burned than stored. A lot of vegan/vegetarian meat substitutes are surprisingly high in carbohydrate; for example, black beans are 75% starch, so this is a point to consider. Some of the Quorn products are 10-11g/carbohydrate and only 2-3g/ protein per serving. My own carb tolerance is fairly low, as I am hypoglycaemic, so I try to top out at 130 g/day. It takes a bit of trial and error to establish one’s personal level.
Best wishes,
Suzanne
What a GREAT and informative response Suzanne!! I’m going to be checking out these links tonight once I get in from work!!! C xxxx
Thank you Suzanne, I went to that site and worked out that at a minimum I should be having 1500 calories, the last few days I have been lucky to get to 1100! (I just never feel hungry *sigh*)
That not-hungry feeling is a bummer! I find that a hearty stew goes down well, without looking like too much food, and if I add a thick slice of my homemade oatmeal bread, buttered, that helps a lot for calories and nutrition. How do you feel about sweet potato instead of noodles or rice?
Urm sweet potato made me barf (sorry!), it is one of the few vegetables (along with fennel) that I just cannot eat.
I understand, tempewytch! I can’t bear papaya or melon or mangos – even the smell can cause a minor tummyquake, and fish of any kind causes projectile rejection. Do you like potato gnocchi – the eggs and butter add some good calories? I was also thinking about lunch; make the eggs into an omelette, fill it with tasty veggies and a grating of cheese, and eat it with a slice of bread? Last night I made a small potful of tasty veggies, and it’s in the fridge so I can just scoop out a serving when I want to make something quick and savoury. I’m thinking I could make myself an omelette sandwich to take to school; I could make some bread in baguette shapes for the purpose.
ooh gnocchi – I never thought of that! and today I had a cheese, onion, tomato and mushroom 2 egg omelet served with chips/fries (done in canola oil) and peas! Yep pub lunch lol!
Well done, Carolyn!
Have you seen how your cheekbones are showing now?? You’ve made excellent progress!
I do notice that a little now!!! Its a subtle change but nevertheless its there and I’m smiling!!! 🙂
That’s awesome!
I’m in the process of gearing up to begin my own version of this. I’m currently visiting family, but after Sunday, I’ll start both the “diet” and going back to the gym. Really enjoy reading through your blog, and your recipes are definitely going in my box of things to try.
Thanks and keep it up !!!
Woo Hoo!!!! 🙂 I think the basis of my experiment was to show that cutting back on refined and processed foods/sugars, eating really small portions of meat/dairy (in the end I went vegan), eating lots and lots of fresh veggies and becoming more active by walking would significantly improve my health and it has !!! Good luck xxxxxx
I’m a lurker who often reads but doesn’t usually comment, but since you asked, I thought I’d post. I appreciate your dedication a lot. It’s cool that you found such an original way to tackle your health problems. I don’t think ration recipes would be my cup of tea, but I like reading about your progress. It’s easy when we’re younger to take our health for granted or to assume that some day we’ll be healthy. It’s easy to forget just how good you feel after a workout or a really healthy meal. You’re a shining example how people can embrace these things.
Thank you pagalina…. I agree. The ration diet is a rather extreme way to tackle the issues I had but I wanted a project I could also get my teeth into (by re-creating the recipes and hopefully providing a resource for schools and researchers) and I wanted to PROVE that making some very simple changes to my basic eating habits (like they did during the war) would work….
Its been tough with the restriction and if I’m honest I seriously cannot wait to be cooking a bunch of different recipes using different food stuffs BUT I am so pleased this has worked and helped me get to where I am now which is well on the way to reclaiming my health and happiness
Thank you xxxxxxx C
Hi, Carolyn. I’ve been thinking about a war-time rationing diet for a while now, so finding your blog has been brilliant. I need to lose weight, but I think I eat pretty healthily already. I’m wondering if my family already consumes pretty close to the rations of fat/sugar/wheat. (Of course, not all the rations were available to buy in the shops at all times.) It will be interesting to compare a healthy-living 21st century diet with a 1940s diet. I’m pretty sure I don’t eat 8oz of sugar, that’s for sure. I’m already on a wheat, dairy, coffee, tea and alcohol free diet because of having food intolerances.
I suspect the big difference between then and now is the amount of exercise. There was petrol rationing right from the start of the war and so everybody walked everywhere. Maybe the best way to lose weight will be what a friend of mine calls ‘the no car diet’, which she had to start when she had to scrap her car and couldn’t afford a new one!
I’m enjoying exploring all your old posts. Good luck with the next few weeks. You’re an inspiration!
The biggest differences were exercise for sure but also ABSOLUTELY our consumption of processed, pre-packaged, chemically enhanced food like products and drinks. Most of these are high in hidden sugars, sweeteners, msg or ingredients with msg added to them and sodium. A family typically ate very few convenience foods during the war as these were not always available or high in points if rationed.
Also consumption of meat and dairy was a FRACTION of what it is today and a lot more fresh vegetables were consumed.
I’m like you in that I probably only use a third of my sugar ration but I guess when you think about it, sugar would have been stored to use for canning, making jams, etc as most people didn’t have freezers then so canning and bottling would have been common ways of preserving and this can use up quite a bit of sugar.
Although 8 oz seems a lot of sugar I looked on it that because of the lack of processed foods, consumption of foods would have been mostly in their natural state with no added sugars. So the 1940s diet was probably still lower in sugar consumption (I’m going to do more study on this)…
NO CAR DIET! Love it!!!!
I think a healthy living modern diet would probably be healthier than a 1940s diet but as most of us tend to slip over into the dark side, the 1940s ration diet is healthier for sure. 🙂
C xxx
Hi, just wanted to say I have been away in the Lake District for a week and a week at home and I have lost 7 1/2lb. To make a toal of 50 1/2lb! Yaaaaaay for me. You are doing brilliantly. Keep it up xx