301k in debt and morbidly obese - things aren't great!

cazmanian_minx

Hi Mr Bloater - long time lurker on your thread

Can I seriously, seriously recommend giving The Harcombe Diet a try? She's done a short version especially for men and the Kindle edition is currently £3.59 so it's not bank-breaking.

Her theory is that we all suffer from one or more of three conditions which cause sugar and carb cravings: overgrowth of the yeast candida albicans, hypoglycemia (can't spell it!) and food intolerances. The first five days is a low-carb diet designed to give the candida a good kicking and if you suffer from candida overgrowth then you'll find it tough - the first time I tried it, I felt sick and had splitting headaches for three days, but by day five I was feeling better than I'd done in years and had lost half a stone. After that it's just three easy rules to follow (don't mix fats and carbs on the same plate, don't eat processed food, don't eat foods you're intolerant to) and it's pretty easy to fit round family meals - for example, I have a big bowl of oats with cinnamon and a chopped apple and some hot water for breakfast, a huge salad with home made olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing, a load of torn up ham, half a ball of mozzarella and a handful of green olives on it for lunch and then whatever meaty thing Mr Minx decides to cook for supper, just without the potatoes/pasta/rice.

I've gone from nearly a size 16 to a size 8-10, I'm eating like a horse and best of all I don't binge on sugar and carbs any more - I can have the occasional bit of chocolate or a few crisps and leave it there instead of hoovering up the whole lot in a kind of mindless frenzy. And it seems to work even better for blokes, a male friend of my mother in law's saw the results I was getting and decided to give it a go. He's lost four stone and kept it off for over a year now.

Sorry to sound so evangelical, but I've spent 20 years trying to diet by calorie counting and I've always ended up miserable, hungry and ultimately surrounded by chocolate wrappers weighing more than I did when I started. This is the first thing I've ever found which actually works well for me over a long period of time.

Polly_Wolly_Doodle

I'll be googling that cazmanian!
Can i say a HUGE thank you to Verbatium, i've now been doing the Newcastle Diet since Saturday and Bloater it's fab, i've lost a lb a day. And maybe that would be a good one for you too, get a huge loss under your belt (??) and then steady maintenance on low carb, beats worrying too much about the debt.

As others have said one thing at a time and weight looks like your greatest problem (i speak as one who knows:o).

There are some great threads on diabetes uk, as Verbatium said if you google Newcastle Diet you'll see what they are achieving, average of 33lb weight loss in the 8 weeks, and they are starting at an average of 16st. Obviously it's more about getting blood sugar down but the weight loss is a wonderful side effect. Slimfast is 3 for 2 at Sainsburys and boy can you save a fortune when you don't buy food:rotfl:

Igamogam

Hmmm diets..................... I have posted before that you cant beat ELMM - eat less move more but I do undertsand why people look at 'scientific diets' especially if will power is an issue and/or you need to follow a script. Memory Girl's blog Mortgage free in 3 has something interesting about diet - may be worth a look

MrBloater

I have total respect for those who can modify their intake to the extents required by the various diets but it just isn't gonna cut the mustard with the Bloater family so I think I'm going to have to stay in the ELMM camp. Have managed both EL (struggled through on 1300 calories so far) and MM (dumbells in the shed and pressups). Also managed to sneak a bit of MSEing in by getting 25% knocked off my monthly phone plan.

Jo4

Did you go to see the doctor yet?

custardy

forget the scales
get the tape measure out

smarties84

Hi, i've read your diary in full over the last few months and just want to say - the way you write is awesome, you've had me laughing even on darker days so thank you. Don't give up, your doing grand and i'm pleased your updating again x

MrBloater

After the calorie-reduced struggle of yesterday I was expecting to wake up fully toned with a 32" waist. However this appears not to have happened. And I know that you shouldn't weigh yourself every day but my god I needed some justification for my virtual starvation. Half a blooming kg. Hoop-de-doo. Little boy Bloater now calling me so best get on with the day.

JayJay14

MrBloater wrote: »

After the calorie-reduced struggle of yesterday I was expecting to wake up fully toned with a 32" waist. However this appears not to have happened. And I know that you shouldn't weigh yourself every day but my god I needed some justification for my virtual starvation. Half a blooming kg. Hoop-de-doo. Little boy Bloater now calling me so best get on with the day.

Two blocks of lard - worth going to the shop for a visual if you have none in the fridge.

gallygirl

Come on Mr B, be realistic, you're not going to lose even 1/2kg every day, but keep it up and exercise and you'll have a body like Tom Daley in no time .

Thought of you when I cleared my shed out on Sunday, didn't take long as it's only a 6 x 4. Nothing to ebay, but evicted a mouse :eek:.