The whys and wherefores

I really didn't think I would go back to doing a VCLD (very low calorie diet).  Partly because I didn't think I COULD go back to doing a VCLD and partly because I hoped that I would at some stage be able to control my weight through "normal" eating.  However, the last 8 months have been tough.  The second half of last year saw Mum's accident and sudden death; work going crazy (a colleague resigned the week Mum died and wasn't replaced for several months leaving us drowning); and my foot pain and operation and the first 2 months of 2016 have also been rough as I've had a non-stop cough and cold.

The weight I dropped so slowly at the beginning of 2015 went back on and then since I've been trying to start again, another half stone joined it.  I could do a few days but didn't seem to be able to keep it going or get any proper exercise bedded in.  I felt in danger after 9 years of just throwing in the towel and piling on the last 2 and half stone to my pre-LL high weight.  I hope this would not have happened but who knows.

My energy has been low; I struggle to get on with chores (to be fair there is nothing new in that as I can take procrastination to new heights) and walking is pretty much all the exercise I've done for months (I don't count one very brief jog and a few mini home workouts).  Something had to change.

So, getting that text from LL just when I was beginning to recover from the eternal cough of doom was fortuitous.  Even so, I thought about it for several days before jumping in.

At this early stage I'm very glad that I did.  I have experienced that fantastic surge of energy and positivity which I remember so clearly from 2007.  I'm powering through work and home chores and the house is looking pretty tidy and under control for a change.  It's weird - you're existing on 600 calories per day and you feel as though you have loads of energy, way more than when you're eating 2000 plus calories.

The foodpacks have definitely improved since 2007, still tiny and not marvellous or anything but not as powdery and chemical-y as I remember.  There is a wider selection too.  (Although strangely the soups seem to have gone downhill.)  The shakes are much the same but the bars are much nicer, more substantial, more like proper cereal bars than those weird chewy things we used to crave.  The main positive though is the meal packs - spag bol, shepherd pie, risotto and 3 cheese pasta.  They are TINY and somewhat sloppy but they do contain actual food and are surprisingly tasty with some salt, pepper and Hendo's.

So far so good.  I'm managing to stay on the straight and narrow and am hopeful of a proper BIG drop come Tuesday night.  (I snuck onto the scales this morning after only 2 full days on the plan and have already dropped 5 lbs!)

So, that's where I am at the mo - starving but positive and full of beans!!  Richard is being a star with the shopping and cooking and just generally being considerate so hopefully the weeks will fly by. Oh, and, in the interests of full disclosure, I should admit that we're off to Dublin for Easter and I have already planned to go off plan for the long weekend.  I'm not wasting a holiday eating packs.  I think it'll be a useful break as long as I make sure to get straight back on it!!