Top tips to getting started!

When you start the Cambridge diet sole source it can be so daunting at the beginning. The thought of not eating anything, not anything at all for twelve weeks is mind blowing. My advice to you is to take it one week at a time and that is the advice my Consultant gave me. It is much more manageable to think in terms of a week at a time and before you know it you have done two weeks then three etc and the first stone has gone. You can stop at any point or you can step up a level if it is too much for you so you do have control.

With not eating anything it is vital to drink plenty of water. I drink 2 litres at least a day and prefer sparkling mineral water because it has some taste to it and goodness knows you need that when you reach Ketosis. I drink Herbal tea also and especially peppermint or liquorice flavours because they have quite a strong taste. Never have fruit tea because they will kick you out of Ketosis. Cambridge Diet sells water flavourings which you can buy but I have not tried these and can’t say what they are like. I know I am not really supposed to do this but I do actually have the tiniest amount of semi-skimmed milk in my Earl Grey tea each morning because I so much enjoy the first cup of tea of the day. All it means is that it might slow down my weight loss but I accept that and I also appreciate that this is a journey with no time limits and no pressure on me. If I don’t drink enough I have a raging thirst and feel ill until I can replenish my fluid level so always carry water with you.

Not the best of subjects but I have to talk about bowels here. I am a Nurse so I can talk about this very comfortably. If we don’t have any bulk or fibre going through our digestive tract then not much is going to come out the other end. The bowel needs fibre or bulk to stimulate it to work so on the CD sole source constipation is a bit of a problem at times. I have read on some forums that some people became faecally impacted on CD sole source and being a Nurse I know what that means. Don’t wait for constipation to become a problem, be proactive in preventing it in the first place. Cambridge diet sells a fibre powder that you can mix with water but I haven’t tried that myself. I opted to have natural remedies and drink liquorice teas and take a herbal Laxative daily from the local health food shop. My Consultant recommended buying suppositories which I have got but not needed to use but if you feel very uncomfortable I would recommend you try one to prevent straining and haemorrhoids. Prevention of constipation is another big reason to make sure you drink enough so don’t skimp on the hydration ever.

For the first couple of weeks your Consultant will recommend you have CD sole source shakes/soups only. After that you can incorporate other products like chewy/crunchy bars and a thickener to make up mousse from the shakes but on sole source you don’t start eating food at all until you step up a level. I chose not to have the bars because I actually think I would eat them all at once. I know it sounds terrible but if I had seven bars ie one for each day I think I would eat them all in one go if I got too hungry so I remove the temptation for now. However the choice is yours. I haven’t tried the mousse powder because I am quite happy having the shakes/soups but it does give another texture and the feeling that you are eating something if you need it.

Headaches are a problem at times especially when you first start the sole source. This is because of a combination of reasons ie sudden withdrawal of sugars etc and drop in blood sugars or dehydration. You can help that by planning ahead and reducing your sugar and carb intake before you start CD sole source and ensure you drink enough right from the start. Headaches that occur after Ketosis are usually because I haven’t drunk enough water so if I rehydrate myself I feel a lot better. It is OK to take Paracetamol to alleviate headaches according to the directions on the packet so don’t suffer in silence.

Hunger and a rumbling (or in my case a rather roaring, ravenous) tummy is a big problem for me at times. My Consultant told me I shouldn’t feel hungry when in Ketosis but when I checked on the urine Ketone dip-stick I was most definitely in Ketosis in week two. When I stuck to the CD sole source rigidly this hunger did wear off but it took probably 4 weeks before it did completely. I had a chaotic and stressful week around the fifth or sixth week and started to eat rubbish again so I am just getting back on track to achieve Ketosis and so repeating the process again. There are no remedies for hunger apart from strategies to stay focussed on what you are aiming for and to drink water to fill you up. I say to myself when I find it really tough “when you feel like quitting, remember why you started in the first place” so writing down why you are wanting to lose weight is a good idea maybe. I also keep busy and started to write a lot more. I guess I am breaking the routines in my life-style whereby I may have eaten junk eg when watching mundane TV in the evenings, feeling bored and I reaching for the crisps etc. Now I hardly have the TV on but occupy myself in other ways. I haven’t done this yet but starting to incorporate exercise into your life will help change old patterns and reprogram you ready for when you start to eat again. If you go back to your old life style and habits after losing weight you will just put all the weight back on unless you change it. So use this time to re-think how you want your life to be.

I hope those tips help you. I will write more as I think of them and as I develop strategies along the way.

Chaos paid a visit to me!

Well it’s been a few weeks since I wrote for this Blog. The reason being that life has been quite busy but also because I have not done so well sticking to the CD Sole Source plan. This, I feel has led me to reflect today on why I have not done so well but also to realise that this is a journey and will take some time to travel. After all it took years to pile on this heavy weight and burden and so it is going to take more than just a few weeks to shed that load. One you get your head around this concept it does put things into more perspective and it becomes more manageable

Last week I fell by the wayside a little and started to eat again whilst on sole source. My Triggers for eating apart from just wanting to eat because I am a living being and designed to eat, are quite complex but I am beginning to understand them a little better.

So what were those Triggers and what did I learn last week?

Firstly, I had a very busy time celebrating Beltane (a Pagan festival) and I was so much more active than usual. I therefore burnt off quite a lot of energy in the process and felt hungry because of it. I had felt so good about being able to walk up the steep lane in the procession I took part in and truly felt I was reaping the rewards of losing weight and feeling fitter. So I was actually on quite a high at that point. But instead it became Trigger number one in a series that would make last week one that I would rather forget. In hindsight I should have made sure I drank more water because it was a very hot day and I could actually have been more dehydrated than hungry. But if I had still felt hungry I could have had an extra CD shake to top up a little on energy, as feeling so hungry was the catalyst for the next trigger point.

So, secondly, I shopped and purchased two tubs of Lurpak spreadable butter that were on offer in the Supermarket and also white “best of both” bread because that is what my son eats. I LOVE white bread toasted with butter dripping from it and I kept thinking about it constantly after buying it and almost obsessed over the wretched stuff. I went away overnight and told my partner that when I got home I would have two rounds of white bread toasted with butter on it to satisfy my craving and then get back to CD sole source again … easy! I had after all been doing so well and subconsciously felt I deserved a reward and I felt sure I could just have that little treat and get back to sole source quite easily. Big mistake and the wise words of my very supportive partner ring in my ears still “It will open the flood gates once you start to eat” he said! And oh boy did it. I didn’t stop at two rounds I just couldn’t or wouldn’t stop eating and that completely ruined my morale and resolve. Actually that is an understatement because I became an “Emo” wreck! Looking back on this I realise that I still don’t know when to stop eating. I feel in control when on the CD sole source but away from that I resort back to old eating habits …and some. I have choices and I choose to be on this journey to feel healthier and fitter. I need to work on this aspect more in readiness for stepping up the plan to eat again and to learn to consciously choose healthier options. If I choose to eat foods that made me pile the weight on in the first place I will have done all this for nothing and learnt nothing along the way. I must learn to appreciate healthier but tasty foods and make preparations for this before I end CD sole source and know when to stop eating. I also need to realise that rewarding myself for doing well with weight loss with processed and unhealthy foods is a huge contradiction to what I am trying to achieve…. Such craziness to think that “fat” foods are a treat!

Thirdly, I returned to work and didn’t pace myself too well. Instead I worked longer hours and became totally stressed out trying to catch up with everything. Big mistake! It is my job, my JOB and I am worth so much more than my job than putting my body through so much stress. In future I will pace myself much more effectively. I know this will be easier said than done but actually I am no good to anyone, including my Employer if I make myself ill through stress. I will pay more attention to diarising appointments and consultations before and after any leave to allow space to work more effectively. I always used to work this way but became entangled in the “being all things to everybody mentality”. I am NOT Super-Human!

Fourthly, I failed to recognise the signs that my body cycle was heading for “that” time of month. Normally and naturally as with many women I start to retain water, feel more emotional, feel hungrier and crave carbs big style. If I had rationalised that in my head and understood that this phase does pass I could have retained the motivation and focus to stay rigidly with CD sole source. I do however, realise that I am affected by the hormonal changes in my body and even with the best will in the world it was going to be agony to remain so rigid during these times. Instead of reacting as I did this time, I will be prepared for next time and acknowledge my body changes and go with them knowing they are transient. I will be thinking of ways to nurture and nourish myself without turning to high fat and loaded carb foods. But also I need to think of what I can eat when I step up on the CD plan at these times that is both nutritional and fulfilling, so my thinking cap is on regarding that one.

Fifth is my response to life experiences. It goes back to previous Blogs about comfort and emotional eating. I started to dwell on and be affected again by past experiences and hurts rather than let them go as this Blog is meant to be all about. I guess in some ways I have only paid lip service to what I wrote about addressing past traumas and letting them go and in doing so allowed them all to come flooding back and compound my grief. Holding on to those trauma’s serves only to hold on to the burden and the weight they have created. I must walk my walk if I am to achieve what I set out to achieve. In future I will write shorter Blogs here rather than let issues and experiences build up and sabotage my goals. Writing will help keep me focussed on what the issues are and make me find ways of resolving them… High fives to that!

Sixth and final trigger was that there was a Lunar Eclipse last week that I felt quite significantly. I am always quite sensitive to Lunar energies and they were particularly powerful this time. I didn’t even realise it was happening until it “happened” to me and I read about it on good ol’ Facebook. I had not bothered to look at my Lunar diary, didn’t even do my New Moon ritual this time. I can’t really say why this is so except that my frame of mind was terribly low for all the reasons above. I have decided that I need to start carrying my Lunar Diary with me again and start working with the cycles rather than suffer the effects of them. It’s no wonder I feel such an emotional wreck when all the basic tools in my toolbox of coping strategies in life have been ignored.

                                                                                                  

I saw Alice, my CD Consultant last week at my weigh-in and I lost 1 and half pounds which considering what had happened the week before was pretty good. I have slowed my journey down but hey…it is not a race and I have plenty of time to get to where I want to. In fact this is a life long journey and what I am doing right now is all the preparation to become healthier and fitter because losing weight is not just “it”. I have stayed on CD Sole Source for now because I am not ready to step up to incorporate food yet into my diet. I need to regroup and look at all the triggers again to last week’s chaos and formulate the strategies I need to cope with them all when they raise their ugly heads again …. And they will… but next time I will be waiting with my water canons to blast them away!

To conclude here on a very positive note I am hugely inspired by someone who is also on the CD plan. He is a fab musician rocking his life and looking absolutely amazing. He has agreed to share his story with me so I can write a Blog to inspire not only me but anyone else struggling to keep on track. Look out for this in the next Month.