Thursday 15 July 2010

The End - Day 197


So, I had my final official Phase 8 Alizonne appointment today....... I have to admit I was feeling a bit apprehensive, how will I cope in the "real" world with no regimented routine and no specific rules on what I can/can't eat?

I turned up at 8.15am only to be told that they had a burglary last night, with someone nicking their medgem machine, so they had to take a manual estimation of my final resting medgem, and I'll have to go back once the machine has been replaced for a final, proper reading. In the meantime they've estimated this at 1,500 - which means I'll need 1,500 calories daily to maintain my current weight - although with exercise I can have an extra 150 calories.

My final stats have ended up as:

Weight - 72kg (2.3kg loss since last weigh in) - 37.9kg lost in total
Weight in stone - 11st 4lb - 6st lost exactly, or 83.6lbs
Body fat - 35%, which is 2% above desired body fat %, so the doctor has recommended I slowly try to shift around 2kg more, which should bring this to the correct level
BMI - 28, which is the upper end of normal, so if I do shift the 2kg mentioned it probably wouldn't be a bad thing

The key thing right now is to stabilise and stop losing - which to be honest feels weird as I can't remember any time in my life where the objective has been to maintain the weight rather than lose - so that's definitely going to be an adjustment.

Alizonne also gave me a huge, thick book containing the calorie count of pretty much every food imaginable, so what I'm going to do now is set up a spreadsheet plotting the different types of foods I generally eat or would like to eat - that way I can have easy access to good vs bad choices to keep me on track.

I've also decided to keep breakfast, morning snack, and lunch pretty much the same, as I'm enjoying those already and they work for me. That should leave afternoon snack and dinner as the opportunities for consuming extra calories.

We are going to see my parents, who are slowly recovering from the accident, in August for 2 weeks, so I need to be in good control of Phase 8 by then.

I will keep posting on progress, updates and general thoughts, as this is where the real journey begins - the rest of my life ......

I hope if anyone finds this blog that it helps you discover the true inner you - have courage, make a commitment to yourself and your health and you too can do it. I wish you well ;)

3 comments:

NatalieJane said...

Hello!

I have been reading your blog, as i am due to start alizonne in a month or two (paying off our wedding first!).

I just wanted to say thanks for sharing - its quite an expensive treatment, and whilst scientifically it makes sense completely with how it works i still wanted to be extra sure that it would work so the money and effot is not wasted. Sometimes i feel like no diet could work for me, i'm at that kind of stage mentally!

I just wanted to know how you feel about your weight and your looks now - i think i read that you've gone from a size 22 to a 12?

Do you feel a lot better for it, would you feel happier in a bikini now for example? Do you have any before or after pics?

I must admit, my dream is to have a good before and after pic, lol.

Also, what happens if you are on the sachet phase and someone invites you for dinner out e.t.c? Do you have to turn it down completely or can you work the calories off at the gym? I'm trying to mentally prepare! lol.

Natalie

x

Big Girl said...

Hi Natalie

Firstly congratulations on the wedding!

I decided to start this blog a while ago, as you can see from some of the first posts, then stopped as the treatment I was on went horribly wrong. When I decided to start doing Alizonne though I felt it was important to keep a journal of my journey to refer back to in future, and remind myself of how good it felt to lose the weight - hopefully providing motivation to keep it off!

Like you, I felt no diet would work for me. I've seen nutritionists, done Weight Watchers, Herbalife and Sure-Slim, all of which worked for a bit until I hit a brick wall and couldn't shift any more weight at all. At one point I even considered surgery as I was that desperate. Alizonne was pretty much the last diet I was ever going to try - and I'm so glad I did.

To say I feel amazing is an understatement - seriously. This is going to sound incredibly vain (and it probably is!), but I can't help looking at myself in the mirror and in shop windows - and still can't believe this is actually me. I've always been larger than average, so when I've got to a size 16 on previous diets that seemed incredibly small to me. When I started Alizonne I decided to set myself a goal to hit Size 12, which is a normal size that I felt would be sustainable long term - which is really important as the last thing I want is to put it back on again! Put it this way, I cleared through some old clothes a few weeks ago and cried when I put on one of the old pairs of jeans and realised just how big I was - never again ....

I'm sure every person's journey is completely different, and how you feel and experience it will be too. What I can say is that you need to be in the right frame of mind to do this - it isn't easy and you will have days when you'd like to be like everyone else - but it is so worth it when you see the results. I wouldn't go as far as wearing a bikini, but that's me - but would happily wear something like a tankini ;)

I definitely recommend while you are on Phase 1 you avoid eating out or at friends', simply because you cannot control what they cook, the quantities and ingredients, and you end up with temptation. If however you can't avoid going to friends' then I recommend you either pre-cook your food and take it with you, or take the ingredients and cook there. Any true friend will understand and be supportive.

I've waffled on a bit, but hopefully this response helps you. I'm more than happy to help in any way I can, so please do feel free to post any questions you have ;)

Take care and do let me know how you get on when you start xx

Daisy said...

Hi there... I came across yoyr blog while looking for info on Alizonne. First of all, a huge CONGRATULATIONS to you on losing all that weight, it is amazing. I have just started week 2 on AZ and lost 3.6kgs in week one so quite pleased. I have about 30kgs to lose before I get to my target weight and 25kgs for the target AZ have set for me :)

So, anyway I wondered how you were getting on now? And do you have to always watch calories or allow yourself a treat now and again?

Also, wondered if you could tell me what your 'breakfast, morning snack, and lunch' were in phase 7 & 8 if you can remember. I am in it for the long haul, 5 - 6 months at the very least so planning ahead. I started at 97.7kgs, 5'5 height - can't imagine what thin looks like on me but I know this time I wil achieve it :)

Thanks for taking the time to blog about your journey, it is very inspiratonal.

Thanks!