Time for a change

I've never been a skinny minnie, to put it mildly.  I'm not all that unfit - I can swim a 5k, and do a 3 1/2 hour Zumbathon without actually keeling over, but the only thing I can run is a bath, and while I can swim, me in a swimming costume is not a pretty sight.  So it's time for a change.

I've dieted in the past, who hasn't?  Sometimes I've lost weight, but eventually I fall off the wagon, usually with a fairly hard bump, and it all goes back where it came from.  I've been a member of a gym, but I get bored after a fairly short time, when I realise I can't read on a treadmill, and I don't like looking at myself in the mirrors.  (I don't mind Zumba, I can't see myself in the community centre's breezeblock walls, and everyone is so NICE it doesn't matter that I wobble even when I shouldn't).

So, time for a change of approach.  I've always had a slightly wobbly relationship with food. It's been my comfort, and it's been my downfall.  I craved pepperoni pizza while I was pregnant with Squeaky, and the cravings still haven't gone, despite the fact she's 5!

I was offered the chance to join in a trial with Thinking Slimmer, who are the people behind the Slimpod.  They've given me (and a group of other amazing bloggers) the chance to try out the Slimpod for ourselves, in return for sharing with them how we are getting on.  You know me though, I can't keep that to myself, I'm going to tell you as well.

Truth be told, I have kept it to myself for a little while, I wasn't sure whether you'd really want to know.  But I've been listening to the lovely Trevor, a cognitive hypnotherapist, before I go to sleep (and often while I'm asleep) for the last few weeks, and I'm honestly noticing a difference.  I'm not snacking so much, I'm choosing different foods, healthier foods, and I'm making better choices.  It's slightly strange being part of a group, but being remote from them, kind of the opposite to slimming clubs.  But for me it works.  I've come to the conclusion that you can't change for anyone other than yourself, and that includes competing with others.  I'll never be you, you'll never be me, it's a waste of good energy to try.  But I can be the best me, and I'm using my slimpod to help me be the best me I can.

Want to join me?  Well, don't go away, there's something exciting coming very soon!

Alli Diet Aid, 1 month on.

If you've been paying attention, you'll have noticed at the start of the month, that I posted about Alli diet aid tablets, that I had received to review.  Well, I've kept on taking them, and here's the second stage of my review.

If you remember, after a fortnight, I'd managed to lose 5 pounds, by a combination of willpower, exercise and Alli tablets for that extra boost.  However, the last few weeks haven't been quite so successful.  Real life has got in the way on a few occasions, and I've found myself choosing to skip the tablets in favour of being able to eat what I choose without suffering the consequences.  And that has affected how effective the tablets are.

They're not a magic wand.  Sadly that doesn't exist yet.  If you carry on eating rubbish and take Alli, at best they won't work, at worst, they won't work & you'll spend most of your time sitting in the bathroom.  If you skip tablets for a meal, or a day, to indulge yourself, they simply aren't as effective for the next few days.  This means that over the last couple of weeks I haven't lost any more weight, I'm stuck at the 5 pounds I lost in the first couple.  I've got no-one to blame but myself, and now I've got to get back to eating better, avoiding the pizzas, and treating myself better.  I think I'll stick with them for a little while longer, because they do work when you use them right, and I could do with the boost to get me back on track.

The instruction booklet in the Alli pack says to take a daily multivitamin, in order to ensure you're getting all the appropriate nutrients, seeing as some of your food isn't being absorbed.  This is a habit I'd got out of after I stopped breastfeeding Squeaky, so it's been a good thing to get me back to taking vitamins regularly.

Alli is an over-the-counter medication, and can only be bought from a pharmacy.  You can find it in most high street pharmacies, and certain registered online pharmacies.  The pharmacist may ask you questions to ensure that it is suitable for you.  Alli is only suitable for adults with a BMI of 28 or above.

Disclosure: I was provided with Alli tablets free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not told what to write and all opinions are my own. Links are provided for convenience, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive reward for their use.

Alli Diet Aid Review - 2 weeks in

I'm heavier than my doctors would like. That's the polite way to put it.  I'm like most women, I guess, on a constant search for a.weight loss that works for me.  Well, about 4 years ago, I bought some Alli diet aid tablets, but then fell pregnant with Squeaky about a week later so never got to try them out.  So when I was given the chance to try them again recently, I went for it. I've just reached my pre-pregnancy weight, but not.from the direction you'd expect, so something's got to be done before I get mistaken for Nelly the Elephant.

When I first heard about this opportunity, Daddy reminded me what happened last time & said he hoped it wasn't an omen. And when I told the girls at work, half wanted to know where their samples were & the other half took great delight in telling me horror stories of digestive disturbances caused by combining Alli with Gregg's sausage rolls!

Alli, if you didn't know, is a diet aid tablet.  Designed to be combined with exercise and dieting, the tablets reduce the absorption of fat in your diet, meaning you can lose around 50% more than just by dieting alone.  I'm giving it a month's trial to see how it works.  You take 3 tablets a day, one with each meal, and eat a sensible, low calorie & low fat diet, and the tablets can help you lose weight faster.

The Alli kit

I had a look on the Alli website before I started, and was impressed to find a recipe section, promoting healthy eating, rather than just reliance on the tablets.  I think that's a big part of the Alli programme, educating yourself to eat better, and make better food choices, which to me is missing from some other diet plans where your choices are very restricted.  You don't have to change your diet, but if you're taking the Alli tablets, trust me, you will want to!

The online programme has a load of support & information, and there's even a community message board to share questions, support & success stories.  I think this is quite a nice touch, as it is always daunting starting out on something new, especially on your own.  That said, the forum does seem quite quiet, and I'm sure that there are similar & more active forums elsewhere if you look.

There's a section in the information booklet that comes with the tablets about side effects, and "common" side effects, especially during the early days of taking the tablets include wind, sudden bowel motions and abdominal pain.  As far as I can tell this is because the fat in your diet is being blocked from being absorbed, and instead is passing through you like, well, a dose of salts.  I'll be honest here (those of a nervous disposition should look away now), I've had the cramps & wind, but fortunately, nothing worse.  If you limit the amount of fat you take in, there's less to have to come out, and so you avoid the side effects.  The programme advises that if you limit the fat intake in a meal to no more than 4g, then you shouldn't have the side effects, so it's a learning curve.

I have had to make choices a couple of times.  I went to visit a friend last week, and had my Alli tablets in the little blue shuttle, but we decided to order in a take-away pizza.   Now, I'm not daft, so I didn't take a tablet before that meal, or for the rest of the day. While I could have done with limiting the calories, the side effects would have been too much, and I firmly believe a diet is more likely to be successful if you allow yourself the occasional treat.  And there was a point over the weekend where I had quite uncomfortable cramps, and did say to myself that if they didn't go away, I would quit the tablets.  Luckily, they went, and so I've carried on.

I'm not going to tell you my starting weight, or my finishing weight, come to that. There are some things that are too personal to share.  But after almost 2 weeks, I've lost 5 pounds, and my stomach has pretty much settled down to behaving normally.  I'm going to stick with the Alli tablets, and let you know how I get on.  Let's see if I can lose some more!

Alli is an over-the-counter medication, and can only be bought from a pharmacy.  You can find it in most high street pharmacies, and certain registered online pharmacies.  The pharmacist may ask you questions to ensure that it is suitable for you.  Alli is only suitable for adults with a BMI of 28 or above.

Disclosure: I was provided with Alli tablets free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not told what to write and all opinions are my own. Links are provided for convenience, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive reward for their use.

My Jenny Craig Blog Question

It's a constant battle in my wardrobe, between the clothes I would love to wear, but don't quite fit, and the clothes that fit, but I just don't *want* to wear.  Sad but true.

Jenny Craig UK are running a competition at the moment, giving bloggers the chance to win £400 towards a new bike (to get fit) and a 28 day Jenny Craig weightloss programme (to get less fat!).  All bloggers have to do is to post their own diet & nutrition question for the Jenny Craig nutritionists to answer, and you're in the draw!  Sounds good to me.  I'd love a new bike, it's been years since I rode, but the Taff Trail (and national cycle route 8) go RIGHT past my front door, so there's no excuse really!

My question for the Jenny Craig team is this:

As I'm often too busy in the morning to sit down & eat a proper breakfast, particularly when I have to drop my daughter at nursery before work, I often just grab something on the go.  It's not usually that healthy (and often cost more than I'd like).  Can you give me some hints for healthy breakfasts on-the-go, that are quick & easy to prepare, and cheaper than buying a danish from the shop?

If you're quick, you can add your entry to the list... but get blogging, it closes today!

Noms

As I've said before, Squeaky isn't the biggest of babies.  It's strange sometimes putting her down next to her peers, she looks a month or two younger than she is, but she's bang on target (or ahead of) in terms of sitting, crawling etc. It takes other people by surprise more than it does me.

Well anyway.  The last few days her appetite's been a bit upside down, with feeling grotty & full of cold.  But I think today, we can officially say we're back to normal.  Whole bowl of baby porridge.  A couple of organic carrot crispy things.  Half a jar of veg & noodle (smelled lush) stage 2 jar.  A whole dairylea triangle.  A decent sized bowl of homemade turkey cassserole thing.  About 3 sticks of cheddar cheese (fed to herself, too!)  AND a pot of apple & blackcurrant fruit goop.  My my, I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's nappies!

Her eating has really picked up in the last few weeks, pretty closely matching the fact she's getting more & more active, I guess.  And though her weight gain is fairly slow & steady, she looks like she's getting bigger, so I'm more interested in what her clothes say than what the scales say.  She's happy & healthy and growing & doing.  Yeah, things are good today.

And tonight she's gone off to sleep properly without an hour of performing & crying, like we've had the rest of the week.  Whether it's that she's feeling better, or whether it's the Baby Einstein Vivaldi cd I picked up in the pound shop this morning, she's asleep, and I can relax at last.

Update of Random Points

Oh, the excitement!  Today, we ate our dinner sitting in the high chair for the first time.  And with our new high chair toy to distract us from the fact that we were eating something new.  Actually, that's a point.  Do you know how FEW high chair toys there are available on the high street?  Yep, there's plenty on Amazon, but that would involve waiting for deliveries, etc, and Squeaky wanted one NOW.  Argos have a choice of one, overpriced and not very nice.  Tescos have none.  Ditto Wilkos, Boots, Matalan and everywhere else I could think of the other day.  Last chance saloon today, Asda.  Hooray!  They had a cute, Fisher Price, reasonably priced one, in fact, the one I found on Amazon only as a Japanese import.  And Squeaky likes it enough to bash it about while having spoonfuls of bolognaise shovelled into her.  No spag, just bol, with added sweet potato & parsnip (yuck, but she seems to like it) mixed in to stop it being All About The Mince.

Yeah, that as well.  Our diet has expanded to include Weetabix, Petits Filous, tuna, chicken, pork, beef, and most things I offer her, unless they involve potatoes.  For some reason potatoes are not for eating.  Le sigh.  She'd better move on from that, or life is going to be complicated.  She was happy to suck on a chip the other week, so what's wrong with my mash, I don't quite know.

And random strangers are annoying me again.  Yes, she's a small child.  She was small when she was born, she continues to be at the smaller end of the scale, but she's fine, I have a letter from the hospital that says just that.  I'm sure your 8 month old, bottle fed nephew IS twice her size, but that might be something to do with being a) older, b) male, and c) bottle fed.  Squeaky is her very own size & shape, she eats plenty, poos plenty, and is none of your business.  Grrr.

Weight, revisited

I nearly forgot this, you know.

Way way back in the mists of time, when Squeaky was just a tiny squeak, the midwife decided that she hadn't gained enough weight. So she sent us off up the hospital *now*. Amazingly in the time between the midwife weighing her, and being weighed in the hospital, she'd gained about 3oz. ::eyes roll:: In other words, the whole fiasco was just because of calibration differences between different sets of scales.

But still. At that visit to the hospital, the doctor said she'd still like to see Squeaky again in "4 - 6 weeks", just to follow it up and monitor her. So we sit and wait for an appointment letter. And wait, and wait. 4 -6 weeks come & go. Injections come & go & my gp chases up the appointment, but still we hear nothing.

I was up the hospital myself a couple of weeks ago, and decided to take matters into my own hands. Strolled up to paediatric outpatients, and said "Errrr, this is Squeaky. She was meant to have an appointment in 4-6 weeks, and that was 14 weeks ago. Wha'happen?" The receptionist had a look on the computer, said "I can't see anything, but you'd have to go to Aberdare, not here, because you're under Dr So-&-So. Here's the phone number for medical records, phone them." Next day (it was late afternoon, ok?), I phone the other hospital. The person I spoke to said "Oh, you had an appointment on X/X/10, but you didn't turn up". Me "Excuse me?? I wasn't told about that appointment." She confirms my address and says that's where the letter would have gone, I repeat that no letter was received. Audible sigh. She then says she'll speak to the clinic, but it'll probably be tomorrow before they can answer anything. 5 minutes later, she phones me back, very apologetic, apparently they had anew computer system, and a load of letters got missed, would we be able to go {last week}. Of course.

Last week, off we went at last. Squeaky was perfectly behaved, charmed everyone as usual. And the upshot is, her weight's fine. She was little, she remains little, but she's perfectly healthy, gaining sufficient weight, and developing just as she should. And is discharged from the hospital.

Even though I knew her weight had sorted itself out, and it was just a little blip, it's a huge weight (ha ha) off my mind. Hooray for little Squeaky!

No-one said it would be easy...

There's a million updates I owe this blog. Is there a genuine issue with blog-guilt or have I invented a new syndrome? Whatev. Here's one.

Squeaky had been a bit slow to gain weight over a few weeks, mostly because she's the sort of child that doesn't tell you she's hungry until she's STARVING, and I'd assumed she was ok. Seems that if I just shove a nipple in her mouth, she realises "oh, yes, food, I could go for some of that", but she doesn't come up with the idea on her own. So we've banned the dummy, apart from bedtime (and as a result, she's not too fussed then either), we've done LOADS of expressing to give her a daily supplementary feed, and generally fed like crazy. As a result, we've had a couple of 9oz/wk gains! RESULT! She's slowed a little this week, but she's got a cold, so hopefully that's all it is.

Expressing is damn hard work, you know. Sterilising, pumping at the bazoongas until you feel like Unigate Dairies. I suddenly feel a lot of sympathy for dairy cattle. Especially when the most reliable time to get a decent quantity of milk is 3a.m. Like I need to lose any more sleep. But it's worth it to see her grow.

Tact & diplomacy

Over a week since our last update, but now Squeakydaddy has gone back to work, so I have more time to do stuff. Yeah, go figure.

Squeaky is 2 and a half months old now. How does that in any way suggest that she's ready to eat chocolate? From someone who has two children and at least half a dozen grandchildren (I've lost count, the one son is a veritable machine). And how do I politely say "Thanks, but no thanks"?

Oh, but I might have the solution. Squeaky is going through another of her "not putting much weight on" phases. We've been here before, so I'm less concerned than the health visitor. She piles it on for a few weeks, then stalls for a couple, then piles it on again. So we've sent a poo sample to the hospital for lactose intolerance tests, and I'm experimenting with soy milk. This could be our chocolate escape route, without offending my crazy family. Wish us luck, it's weigh-in day today.