Re:Divorce Diet

I'm losing about a stone a month. I might east at work I might not. I know that I have nothing in the fridge as I type this. Some days I just don't really care what happens to me. Some days I do and I eat something. I sit down for my job so will naturally put weight on but it does not seem to bother me. I am hoping to lose a lot more..

When I first found out about stbx's affair i stopped eating properly. I took up running and aerobics and deliberately set out to lose more weight. The stress accelerated the loss!

I lost 5 stone altogether and was the fittest I had been for years.....the exercise really helped keep my head together and I used to take multivitamins to make sure I wouldn't be ill.

Exercise really does work to alleviate the feelings - I used to sit down in front of the telly and eat junk, but decided that the only way to stop eating was to be doing something so started an aerobics dvd.

Unfortunately I have to say it's difficult to keep it off!

It is important to look after yourself because noone else will. So if you eat too much then try and substitute other healthier foods or if you're not eating at all take some vitamins or drink something healthy!

We don't deserve for this to ruin our health as well.

I have always been naturally quite skinny but recently weighed myself (after friends commented) and was shocked to find that I am 8.5 stone. At 5'10" this makes me quite underweight. I was shocked because I have been eating well, but the extra excercise from walking to and from work (ex used to drop me off) and walking the dogs (ex used to mostly do this too) has obviously burned up more than I was putting in. I also believe that stress/nervous energy burns up a lot of calories.

I have added a Complan drink each day, and stopped rushing around. I have got a dog walker two days a week, and take the bus to work instead of walking.

I am hoping that putting a bit of weight back on might stop me looking so tired.. Nothing looks worse than skinny & haggard! My sympathies go out to anyone else on the 'divorce diet' who can't afford to lose any more weight - go on, eat some cake!

Weight gain:

It's all about the carbs. Eat more bread, rice and pasta to put on weight. Alcohol contains carbs too so have a drink once in a while!

If you are apt to eat a lot of protein, this will do nothing to help put weight on as protein is quite filling but also aids weight loss. Less fish/meat, more carbs.

Weight loss:

Do the opposite of the above. Avoid carbs whenever possible although it is acceptable to kick start the ­meta­bolism by having a bagel for breakfast with whatever you want on it. Porridge is a good breakfast too although time is a factor and it lies very heavily. Avoid adding sugar!

For lunch you should eat cereal bars and fresh fruit. Cheap cereal bars contain carbs and saturated fats. The Jordans cranberry, blueberry, apple/sultana 6 pack are a good mix. Have one mid morning, and another with a couple of apples at lunch time.

The evening meal is tricky as it depends on your cooking skills and desire to lose weight without crash dieting which is unsustainable. It also depends on your ability to eat the same thing more than once during the week. Steamed salmon is a favourite of mine - I have a steamer but favour flopping a couple of salmon steaks in a ­meta­l sieve resting in a pan with a little simmering water in the bottom. A little salt and sesame oil on the salmon and it takes 7 minutes to steam with the lid resting on top.

Whilst steaming stir fry a third of a bag of bean sprouts, 3 fresh chopped tomatoes, a couple of spring onions and some chopped ginger. Add a sauce made from oyster auce, light soy sauce, rice wine (or dry sherry), chilli sauce if you like and some chopped garlic if you can be bothered. Chuck that in with the rest of the stuff and cook for 5 minutes until the fish is done.

A quick fix if you are not fussy is a tub of cottage cheese mixed with a can of tuna which you have forked up into a bowl. Add a big blob of barbeque sauce to make it palatable and eat around 7pm. You won't want anything else after that.

If you like dessert, buy plain greek yoghurt and pour honey on the top then mix it in. Note that yoghurt has different fat content - some have 10%, others 2% but the ones you are looking for have less than 1%. Supermarket own brand tend to be quite thin but taste fine are are about 69p for half a litre rather than £3.50 for the thicker 'proper' stuff.

If you don't fancy that, take advantage of the 2 for £3 pineapples and slice them up for a couple of nights dessert.

Tips:

(1) It is possible to eat a whole pineapple in one sitting but not adviseable.

(2) 3 sweet apples (like the 'Jazz' variety) at lunch time is fine, 4 is acceptable it, 5 is pushing it and 6 would make a horse gippy (I speak from experience).

Charles

Like my avatar I'm literally less than half the person I once was. My big downfalls were cheese, bread and fruit. There's nothing wrong with eating lots of fruit instead of something else, the problem was eating lots of fruit as well as everything else! I now aim to take a small glass of orange juice in the morning and just one piece of fruit during the day (+6 portions of veg)

Loosing half a stone in a week or fortnight is alright when there are only a few pounds to lose but it is unsustainable when there is a lot to lose. Also being heavy means exercise is harder work so more calories are required. As weight decreases you need less calories and more exercise.

I actually ate very well whilst loosing weight and had cereal + OJ in the mornings, a substantial lunch and evening meal as well as a snack. A George Foreman grill, low fat meats such as venison, wild boar and buffalo as alternatives to fish and chicken or batch cooking meals twice a week to freeze in individual portions are handy.

Potatoes, parsnips, fennel, butternut squash and sweet potatoes can be roasted on a non stick tray with a couple of sprays of oil, mustard and herbs. Mustard can also be used instead of butter or spread in sandwiches and toasties.

Half a portion of low fat cheese, fruit or instead of biscuits or cake Scotch pancakes with a dribble of maple syrup or raisin bread which are low fat and substantial make good snacks. As a treat grilled/BBQ peaches or nectarines topped with quark (instead of mascarpone!), a pecan and dribble of maple syrup makes a very good dessert.