21 and Struggling

taplady

pinkarsenalprincess wrote: »

Agreed taplady and it is a very useful tool for many to learn how to change their habits for life. Those who put on weight afterwards while do so regardless of whatever 'diet' they chose as they naively think that once the weight is gone they can go back to old eating habits.

exactly:T I watched my friend suffering while doing the LL diet - she gave up as it wasn't sustainable and is now bigger than ever nearly a year after starting it. If she's stuck with SW and lost a couple of pounds a week she'd be at her target by now - healthily.

KatieWelshie

Hi all,

Thanks again for all the messages of enouragement. I am taking into account everything you have said, but I am going to stick to the Cambridge diet to lose the full 5stone, then I will go on to WW or SW just to eat healthy and keep the weight off. I have a holiday in June to Egypt, which I really shoulnt have booked, but working all these hours, doing the work of 3 people for minimum wage is taking its toll. I totally understand that it will take that little bit longer to clear my debt.

I have spoken to my employer and my wage has now gone up to the £5.93. Phew :j so hopefully that little extra will make a huge difference.

I have also sent out 3 CVs today, as well as the 5 yesterday for Christmas Temping and also Saturday & Evening jobs

Thank you everyone for all your support! So glad I decided to join this forum and do something about my debt, especially to have you guys to keep me sane!

Silaqui

Fab news about the payrise!

Make sure you do a new SOA with the new wage plugged in to see how much of a difference it will make!

xx

Sharon87

KatieWelshie wrote: »

Hi all,

Thanks again for all the messages of enouragement. I am taking into account everything you have said, but I am going to stick to the Cambridge diet to lose the full 5stone, then I will go on to WW or SW just to eat healthy and keep the weight off. I have a holiday in June to Egypt, which I really shoulnt have booked, but working all these hours, doing the work of 3 people for minimum wage is taking its toll. I totally understand that it will take that little bit longer to clear my debt.

I have spoken to my employer and my wage has now gone up to the £5.93. Phew :j so hopefully that little extra will make a huge difference.

I have also sent out 3 CVs today, as well as the 5 yesterday for Christmas Temping and also Saturday & Evening jobs

Thank you everyone for all your support! So glad I decided to join this forum and do something about my debt, especially to have you guys to keep me sane!

I worked at the Cambridge Factory in my holiday between uni years. It's really rubbish stuff and I wouldn't trust anything from it! I really think the powder shakes are just so unhealthy, there's tonnes of crap that goes into it. This is not a healthy diet.

How overweight are you if you don't mind me asking? Are you 1,2,3 stone or more overweight? If you're BMI is more than 30 I'd say this shouldn't be for you. If you're less than 2 stone overweight then maybe it's an option.

I'm also working on a TV show about overweight people trying to lose weight and all of them tried these diets in the past and they just put the weight straight back on after they finished it, and that's why they're now morbidly obese.

Listen to advice given on here, and maybe go see your doctor. Cambridge diet is a 'quick fix' that will not work long time. If you want to save yourself money and lose weight, don't do this diet, eat proper food, it can be cheap. Think about what everyone is saying and talk to your family about it too. Good luck

Congrats on getting your pay up.

sp1987

KatieWelshie wrote: »

I have taken everything you have told me into account about the diet, but whilst on Slimming World I was spending the £20 a month on membership and at least £90 a month on food so as my temptation is the portions of food, I wasn't losing as much as I could. I know I'm not helping myself with debt, but It is a MUST.

As for my mobile contract, I CANNOT change the tariff for another 12 months.

I am trying for other jobs to up my income, no luck as yet.

You will get fatter on/immediately after this ridiculous diet. The shakes will make you feel sick and hungry after a while. I absolutely promise this. Then you will eat all the cakes/biscuits you can eat and then you'll be even worse off. Especially in your comfy office job which provides you with the comfortable environment to aquaint yourself fully with cake during breaks.

I hate fruit and veg, but when needs must and if I am too big for my natural size I eat miserable old fruit and veg to fill myself up and avoid cake. I need to be full or I see cake. :rotfl:

If you are not very fat, you drinking shakes won't help you tone up what is there and if you are huge then you will need to move a lot more to shift what's already there. I'm guessing you are somewhere in the middle and so regardless will need to move more. In order to move more you will need more energy which you won't get from drinking watery, cold lumpy mud. Plus, if you lose weight too quickly you risk getting horrendous flabby skin and stretch marks which won't go however many shakes you drink.

Get yourself an exercise DVD cheaply from ebay or a charity shop and do it in front of the tv. A girl I know used to wobble about in front of the tv and she now pumps around toned in front of the tv. Plus that covers the 'I'm too fat/unfit for the gym' phobias.

Albansanne

Sharon87 wrote: »

Well of course a shake will be cheaper than a sandwich and coffee at a cafe. But wont be cheaper than a sandwich or salad made at home.

OP losing 1-2 pounds a week is good. I'd be happy losing that a week.

I know you're right about this but at the moment it's also about time as well as money and getting the balance right. With the meal replacements I don't have to think about making these extra meals at home.

Its been tough recently separating from my husband and trying to keep things as normal as possible for the kids. I tend to prioritise their meals and getting them ready for school before I go to work. Life has been chaotic and exhausting with work and life stress and this just works for me at my stage right now. If I can lose some weight and get my confidence back hopefully I'll get more organised too!!

ms_london

KatieWelshie wrote: »

Monthly income after tax £729

Rent £80
Mobile £45
Groceries £150

Provident....................2105........£190
Littlewoods....................1555.46...239.......0
Very...........................894.63....9.04......49.9
Direct...............59........10........44.9
Look.......................80........5.........28.9
Vanquis........................230.......10........39.9
Barclaycard....................206.94....5.........29.9
Simply Be......................119.99....10........39.9
Total unsecured debts..........5251.02...478.04....

Hi & welcome to MSE!

I can identify with a lot of what you say, and in hindsight I run up all my debt (£19,000) as a result of low self esteem, buying clothes and 'stuff' to make myself feel better, but still feeling bad about myself anyway, so buying more stuff, and so on.....

You live at home with your parents, but you need to budget as though you have rent to pay and then go from there with working out how much you can afford to repay your creditors each month.

Based on the above figures you have £454 spare each month to throw at your debts, but that doesn't take into account items you haven't budgeted for.

Cancel your Direct Debit's, which will give you a bit of breathing space to think about what you can afford and then call each of your creditors to negotiate a new payment. This will mean you are paying a more manageable figure! Ask them at the same time if they can freeze or reduce interest and see what they say - if you don't ask, you don't get. And DONT agree to a repayment figure if you can't afford it as you'll only end up back at square one.

When you have worked out how much you do have for debt repayments, you need to 'snowball' the figures (https://www.whatsthecost.com) and pay a higher % each month to the debt that has the highest APR, although saying this I would be inclined to get rid of Direct, Look, Simply Be in one fowl swoop and then cancel them.

You might walk to work now, but you need to budget something for travel, even if on the weeks you do walk you throw this £10 or £20 that you have budgeted at your debts, it is there if you need it. Same with needing to budget something for clothes or social money, doesn't have to be a lot, but a small amount, and again, if you don't spend it on what you have earmarked it for it can be used for something else.

I don't agree with the diet either but don't want to bleat on about that, but I do think that exercise is key, you are obviously walking, but this is the real key not only to weight loss, but also feeling better about yourself - you can't beat the feeling after exercise, yes it might suck at the time, but you do reap the rewards, and in turn you'll not want to put rubbish food into your body.

Also, paying off debt is hard enough as it is, let alone depriving yourself of everything - so take baby steps and tackle one thing at a time, otherwise you'll go on a binge, whether that's with food, or a mad shopping spree because you feel down and think that will make you feel better.

My debt started with catalogues too and I bet most people's did - they are evil things and do start you on the road to being in debt.

xx

ms_london

KatieWelshie - where are you??? Come back.... :0)

Albansanne

I really think excercise is good for the body and the mind. I walk a lot and use this time to clear my head, make lists, have a good chat to myself and generally try and sort out any problems. It really works and you're getting healthy at the same time too.

Albansanne

Walked into work this morning and it was freezing! Definitely harder to do outdoor exercise in the winter. More layers tomorrow I think.