What Karen did to lose 50 kg's

Hi fellow weight loss friends :) I posted this at the very beginning of our weight loss challenge, but since then I have had alot of people ask me what I did to lose 50kg's, so I thought I would post it again for those who have just recently joined us.

To begin with though, I really feel I need to mention that I am in NO WAY a weight loss professional, The diet I chose to follow isn't entirely what the 'professionals' would recommend, so if you decide to follow what I did, you need to be aware of that., and in some cases, even speak with your doctor prior to starting, which is reccomended with any weight loss programme.

I chose to lose the weight the fastest way possible. I was 50 kg's overweight, and I didn't want my weight to take 2 years to come off, I wanted it FAST. So I set myself a calorie limit of around 900 calories a day ( again, be aware that this is less than the weight loss professionals recommend) I bought a calorie counter book, and went from there. Please note, that because I am eating such limited calories, I also take a multivitamin, and a calcium tablet daily.

I have been on just about every diet known to man, and then some, so I took bits and pieces from each, and kind of formulated my own plan... One really good diet I was on once upon a time was 'ultra lite' It was a very low calorie, low carb diet, and I started my weight loss by following along with their plan to a degree. Then as the months went on, I changed things around to suit me.

I have chosen to avoid most carbs, especially pasta, bread, rice, potatoes, and most cereals other than porridge, and light cruskit biscuits.

A typical day for me would go something like this:

Breakfast: 4 cruskit biscuits ( the light, lower fat ones) topped with low fat packaged turkey breast and about 100 grams of flavoured cottage cheese. ( I like the chive and onion one, and the gherkin one isn't too bad either) I would love to say i don't drink coffee, but, umm, I do have 1 cup in the morning, with saccharine, and skim milk. If I'm still hungry, some days I will have a low fat fruit yoghurt too. ( I buy the nestle diet brand)

or:I will sometimes have porridge for breakfast as a change, about 1 cup, cooked, with skim milk. But do prefer the cottage cheese and cruskits, as its a good source of protein. sometimes I will have 2 eggs for a change also. Just remember not to have the toast with them :) but you can have a small amount of trimmed bacon ( fat cut off LOL)


Lunch: about 100 g of a low fat protein source. Chicken breast, turkey, fish, tuna, prawns, egg.....I try to avoid processed deli meat as much as possible ( other than my turkey slices) I have that with a salad of lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion, mushrooms, carrot. (any salad veggies are OK) I dont use salad dressing as most of them are full of fat, but sometimes will have a tiny bit of 97% fat free mayonaise. balsamic vinegar is a good dressing when trying to lose weight, but I dont like it :)

Dinner: again, I would have about 100g serve of protein. steak, fish, etc, with around 100-150 g veggies, or salad. again remembering to avoid the high carb ones such as potato
(pumpkin, peas and corn are also quite high in carbs) I also try to avoid sauces and gravies, as these are high in calories.

Snacks: I try to keep these to a minimum. But if I really want something, or am feeling like my blood glucose is a bit low, I will have a little tub of weight watchers fruit, of a tub of yoghurt. Another favorite is stewed apple, I don't add sugar when cooking it, I use 'sprite' DIET lemonade ( make sure its the diet one) too cook my apple in. It give me the sweetness I sometimes crave, without any of the calories. yum !! and for an extra treat, I will have a little bit of 'nestle' diet yoghurt on the top....

If I am out, I usually take some cruskits and a little tin of tuna with me ( make sure its not in oil) but if Im stuck, and have nothing with me I will have a "Subway" wrap, with one of the 6g of fat or less fillings, with lots of salad. yum !!!

Drink: usually I just drink water. ( I try to have 2.5 ltrs per day) But sometimes, I will have a 'coke zero' as a bit of a treat. Oh, and my coffee in the morning :)

Ok, thats enough info for now... Hopefully I have answered some of your questions. There's nothing magical about this diet, unfortunately, I wish there was. Some days its hard not eating the foods I love. Some days I get so tired of fish and salad :) But, I want to be thin, and healthy, and finally realised, this is the only way I can do that. My heath is more important to me than a chocolate bar, or an icecream :)

I will be back in the next little while to share some of my recipes with you all. Take care my friends,

Karen