Five months later - The End

Today was a hugely momentous day – as I had my very last LPG/endermologie appointment and weigh in at Alizonne

I booked it especially as we just got back from a 2-week holiday in the US (large portions!) and it’s just after Christmas, so in a way this was meant as a bit of a test to myself to see how well I’ve coped

First – the holiday. Generally I found it easier than I thought I would, largely because as I can’t have gluten or dairy it does cut out pretty much all the bad temptations out there. Although I did watch what I ate, I did have some treats and did sometimes have 2 courses, so definitely didn’t feel deprived at all. Unfortunately during the holiday my husband got sick and ended up in hospital for 5 days, cue eating from a hospital cafeteria again – although I will say at least the choices weren’t just hot sandwiches, so I was able to keep to a balanced diet

Second – Christmas. Again, with a bit of foresight and planning I managed to navigate this. I make a dairy free chocolate mousse which everyone loves, and which I did have some of. I stayed away from snacking outside the 2-4 hour windows, but aside from that it was fairly easy

So, although my home scale has me slightly lower, I weigh myself first thing in the morning at home, whereas my Alizonne appointment was this evening:

Current weight - 67kg (200g loss since last weigh in) - 42.9kg lost to date
Weight in stone - 10st 7lb (1lb loss since last weigh in) - 6st 11lbs lost to date, or 94.6lbs

So, at the end of this momentous journey, what have I learnt?

Well, I’ve learnt that I’m much stronger than I thought I was. I’ve always been determined, but usually became despondent if I didn’t see results – but I guess the beauty of Alizonne is that you do see results, and fast. What I mean by strong though is how I was able to stick with it during what has without a doubt been the hardest year of my life emotionally: from my parents’ accident to the challenges at work and from starting a new job to my husband’s illness. I don’t know whether it was easier given this was frequently the only thing I felt I had any control over when everything else was falling apart, maybe it was

I’ve finally figured out that not every diet works for everyone, and the reason Alizonne worked for me is because it matched my personality and who I am – this is I think the trick that so many people are missing and something I intend to do something about

I’ve learnt that there are a few essential Alizonne fundamentals that are good practice to follow for the rest of my life:

• Eat every 2-4 hours

• Eat 3 meals and 2 snacks a day

• Drink 2 litres of water every day

• Understand calories – the book they give you at the end is an invaluable source of helping you get a grip on what is a good vs bad calorie

• Know your medgem and mentally keep tabs on how you track through the day – without being obsessive

And my own three little additions:

• Weigh yourself regularly – it helps you keep a check on things so you can nip problems in the bud, and when you see things are under control it is a fantastic morale boost and helps keep you motivated

• Listen to your body – it will tell you whether it’s happy or not

• Look at old photos of yourself regularly – it will remind you what you used to look like and each time you do make a promise to yourself “NEVER AGAIN”

I’ll be dipping in and out of the blog now, as I think it has served its purpose – but I do hope if you’ve found this it provides you with some help on your own journey. Good luck!

The BMI mystery solved

So, I've been trying to get to the bottom of the whole BMI thing - specifically why I am now below my target weight by some way, but still regarded as overweight. When I moved onto Phase 8 the doctor at Alizonne said this was frequently because people who have been overweight in the past end up with a slightly higher BMI, but I wanted to find out what weight I would need to get to to be considered normal.

I tried the NHS BMI calculator, which is frankly useless as it only tells you what your current BMI is, not what weight you need to be based on your height to be normal.

Luckily I found a really good calculator on the Diabetes UK website, and the results are:

- Current weight: 68kg (10st 9lbs)
- Current BMI: 26.6
- Normal range: 20-25
- Required weight to be within normal range: 63.9kg for a BMI of 25

Mystery solved!

They also have a great BMR calculator, which puts my medgem at 1,429 - so not a million miles away from what Alizonne calculated.

Definitely recommend their tools ;)

Medgem update

I had my medgem reading done again at Alizonne this morning, and the great news is that it's 1,330 - which is MILES better than the 1,180 reading I got straight after finishing Phase 7. It's also much closer to the 1,410 I started out at, and the 1,500 the doctor had estimated.

Generally happy with that and I think I can live with it, although I plan to have it checked periodically if I start getting any problems

Shock!

I popped into Alizonne this morning to get my medgem reading - and it showed up as 1,180!!!

Considering the doctor estimated this at 1,600 but told me to stick to 1,500 and I started out at 1,410 I'm absolutely gobsmacked! Luckily I've been sticking to the routine I set when I finished, which probably explains why I've been able to maintain the weight.

I still don't trust it, especially as it was a different machine they used, so have booked in to have another reading on 25th Aug after I'm back from seeing my folks, and will then speak to the doctor on 26th Aug just to clarify it is correct.

Jeez, talk about a shock to the system ......

Measurements - two weeks (ish) later

I thought it might be useful to continue getting my measurements taken every few weeks just to track how things are going. My home scale says I am 70.6kg, so below the 72kg Alizonne had when I finished, which feels good. Allowing for the difference of around 0.3kg between my home scale and theirs, that would put me at around 70.9kg (11st 2lbs)

Current measurements are:

Bust - 86cm (1cm loss since finishing - 22cm lost in total - 3cm below target)

Waist - 80cm (0cm loss since finishing - 24cm loss in total - 8cm off target)

Hips - 93cm (2cm loss since finishing - 38cm loss in total - 2cm below target)

What is clear is where my problem area lies - my waist!! No further loss on my arms or thighs.

Luckily Alizonne have now replaced their medgem machine, so I’m popping in on Tuesday morning to get my reading done, which will be good to have the “official” metabolic rate

Generally feeling ok and managing to keep on top of things, fingers crossed for the trip to my folks - we leave on Thursday .....

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 ;)