…and calorie counting gave me a headache! 
In fact, all calorie counting made me do was buy ready meals and pre-packaged food as I couldn’t be bothered to count every calorie in every morsel I was consuming.
It wasn’t a crazy diet though. The energy in versus energy out equation is still the key to losing weight from the ‘science’ perspective…this hasn’t changed in a long while. What has changed though is the ever growing range of methods trying to achieve this balance – from the stupid to the crazy. I read an article this morning from the British Dietetic Association regarding the Top 5 Dangerous Diets – I will summarise from the Daily Mail piece for you, so you don’t have to risk reading it!
The worst offender is the ‘Breatharian Diet’ – this is a real ‘WTF?’ crazy-assed plan…people who follow this diet claim they do not need to eat or drink as they are sustained by air and sunlight alone.
In at number two was the ‘Biotyping Diet’ – a plan which involves carefully selecting foods in an attempt to change the body’s hormone balance.
Middle of the pack was the ‘Gluten Free Diet’ – which involves cutting gluten out of the diet, meaning followers don’t eat wheat, barley or oats.
Then there is a rather strange and dangerous sounding ‘Alcorexia Diet’ – followers of this diet eat very little so they have ‘spare’ calories which they can consume in the form of alcohol. I always wondered how my old boss stayed so slim whilst she reeked of red wine! 
And lastly but not leastly is the ‘Dukan Diet’ – a high protein, low carbohydrate diet which is said to promote rapid weight loss…and is followed by a number of friends of mine who always talk about craving carbs!
So let’s look at these in a little more detail – I am not one to gloss over the detail…
The Breatharian Diet – I don’t have much to say about this one really. Apparently, followers of this plan claim they do not need to eat or drink because they are sustained by air and sunlight alone. The British Dietetic Association says people should not attempt this diet under any circumstances as there is no evidence to suggest people can survive off oxygen and sunlight – no shit Sherlock?! I had to chuckle as I imagined the face of the highly qualified dietitian who had to pen a response to this frankly fecking dangerous plan. Sounds yummy, and so nutritious too – pass me a massive plate of air and sunlight! The stuff is obviously nourishing for the soul – and helps produce vitamin D – but other than that, I think you might need a little something else to tide you over until dinner is served.
The Biotyping Diet – this plan relates to six different hormone types and fat accumulation in different parts of the body and involves trying to reduce body fat through controlling hormone balance. Followers only eat certain foods in an attempt to manage their hormones to reduce fat in certain areas. The British Dietetic Association says the diet relies heavily on supplements and ‘pseudo-science’. Weight loss is likely, but only due to the restriction of foods which are needed for a healthy and balanced diet. Cutting out foods leads to a loss of nutrients in the majority of cases…not what you want to sustain a healthy weight and lifestyle.
The Gluten Free Diet – the only people that need to remain gluten free are those with coeliac disease! This plan involves cutting out gluten – a protein found in wheat, barley and oats. The British Dietetic Association says it is important for people with coeliac disease to follow this diet – as I have said – and that it will lead to weight loss in other people but that this is because they consume fewer calories. There is no credible evidence to suggest that eating less gluten leads to weight loss – the diet causes people to lose weight because they cut out the cakes and biscuits that contain gluten…so just stop eating fecking cakes and biscuits!
The Alcorexia, or Drunkorexia, Diet – a supposed favourite of many top models! The basic premise is that during the week you eat very few calories and ‘bank’ them in order to binge drink at the weekends. For example, a person might eat very few calories during the week so as to ‘bank’ about 1,500 calories a day. This would mean they had 10,500 ‘saved’ calories which can be made up of drink at the weekends. The British Dietetic Association says following a very low calorie diet alone is ‘madness’ as it will mean your body does not get the vitamins and minerals it needs to function. I have to add that binging on 10,500 calories worth of alcohol is pretty shite for your liver and your body to deal with…let alone the safety aspects of being blindingly drunk. I cannot imagine the type of damage this sort of lifestyle would have on your body. A body deprived of food during the week and then plied with alcohol…a real recipe for disaster. It’s no wonder that airbrushing it so fecking common in the modelling industry if this really is a favoured way of eating and drinking!
Finally, there is the Dukan Diet – this is a complicated high protein, low carbohydrate diet that promotes rapid weight loss. The British Dietetic Association says the diet can lead to lack of energy, constipation and bad breath. This diet topped the polls in 2010, 2011 and 2012 in terms of being an all-round baddie. I know a number of people who follow it. All of whom seem to try so bloody hard but really struggle to sustain this method of eating. I am really not a fan of weight loss plans that encourage the removal, or severe limitation, of food groups.
I wrote a post the other day about weight loss scams…these diets should have been in there I think. If it sounds too good be true, or so weird that it seems untrue, then it probably is. Time and time again we are advised that a healthy and balanced diet with 30 minutes of activity a day is the way to go, yet we ignore this advice and seek a magic wand Cinderella style fix. So if you are thinking about your ‘New Year, New You’ campaign then please go with your gut feeling…you know that a steady weight loss is better than a quick and unsustainable fix!
Right then – the usuals. It is so cold in my house that I can hardly type! My boiler seems to have packed up at some point in the night. It was working when we went to sleep! I couldn’t get to sleep last night, then my other half was snoring in tandem with the dog…so sleep eluded me for ages. I then needed four wees in the night – one of the perils of being a diabetic and drinking lots of water. When the alarm went off, I stayed in bed for an extra hour! I was not at all in the mood for facing the day, but I got up and got going and made it to the gym where I burnt off just over 825 calories. I had a nice chat with the chap in there about progress and he spurred me on – encouraging me despite my slowed weight losses. After this we quickly checked the horses and I headed home to prepare lunch and dinner. Then I had to head off and babysit – I got dinner duties and bedtime duties, which are always fun! Dinner was cottage pie, which they love…but tonight, they hated it and refused to eat it. This was until I gave them two options – eat it, or go to bed without dinner. After tears and snot and a tantrum after I refused to make an alternative, dinner was eaten – it took an hour, but we got there in the end. Then at bedtime I kept getting a little visitor who could hear ‘weird noises’…when I wouldn’t let her past the stairgate into the lounge, she decided that bed was a more appealing option than standing at the bottom of the stairs. Harsh auntie – but they still love me if the cuddles and snuggles before bed were any indication! After a catch up with my Mum and sister, I headed home for dinner and a couple of episodes of Breaking Bad…I can see how dark this show is getting and I love it!
Breakfast: Banana porridge (5 syns).
Lunch: Cheesy scrambled eggs on toast (2 x HEA and 2 x HEB).
Dinner: Steak and kidney stew (7 syns).
Snack: Nakd bar (7.5 syns).
A lovely food day today. My usual brekkie of porridge set me up for the gym nicely. Lunch was lush – eggs scrambled with my HEAs of cheese. I toasted my wholemeal rolls, put a load of spinach on top of these, added some chopped red onion, then the eggs and finished with some cherry tomatoes. Dinner was a stew that I stuck in the oven whilst out babysitting – steak and kidney, with red onion, celery, spinach, garlic, tomatoes, butternut squash, carrots, mushrooms, black pepper and some gravy stock. The syns were from the gravy – I love thick gravy so spend my syns on that when I have it.
Exercise: 30 minutes on the elliptical machine and 45 minutes of weights.
I thought that I would share a rather gurning picture of my other half…dangling off a weights machine.
He is trying to lift the amount of weight that I have lost so far – 110kgs – and failed. I also failed, and could only move half of the amount a couple of inches…how on earth I ever managed to carry it around with me, I will never know! Here is a picture of the stack to give some perspective…crazy really!
Thank you for reading,
Weight Loss Bitch xxx
WeightLossBitch
On a health and fitness driven journey to lose over 32st / 448lbs / 203kgs – yes, it is a considerable amount – I am committed to losing my excess weight without the aid of weight loss surgery, diet pills, or quick fixes…as there aren’t any! Changing my eating habits and building up my fitness levels, along with addressing the ‘head issues’ will be crucial in order for me to achieve my goal. Living in England as a 31 year old super morbidly obese woman can be challenging to say the least. I have been shouted at in the street and verbally abused far too many times to mention; hence the name ‘Weight Loss Bitch’…the day I am just called a ‘bitch’ instead of a ‘fat bitch’ will be the day that I know I have cracked my weight loss! With many reasons to lose this weight I am documenting my journey for a number of reasons. Firstly, I would like to keep a record of the ups and downs, the highs and lows, and the challenges I face with such an enormous task to tackle. Secondly, I would also like to inspire and encourage other people who are in a similar situation and to show them that significant amounts of weight can be lost naturally…with a bit of motivation, hard work, dedication and will power. Thirdly, all of the blogging, Facebook-ing, Tweet-ing, Pinterest-ing and YouTube-ing keeps me occupied and keeps my fingers out of the fridge!
Join with Google
Join with Facebook