Another Newbie !!!

Barnesy90

SD - 30/04/12
SW - 16st 2lbs
GW - 13st 7lbs

Hi everyone,

I've tried doing VLCD's in the past and succesfully lost just over 4 stone back in 2005 which I managed to keep off until approx 18 months ago, which is when I developed a problem with my achillies tendon and things just started to go downhill from there really.

So about a month ago I thought "right" time to take action before things get totally out of control and I started doing a VLCD again. I've not been feeling too well over the past week or so and over the weekend hubby had to call an ambulance in the middle of the night because I was suffering terrible stomach pains and feeling sick etc. The hospital arranged for me to have an ultrasound and they've now told me that I have an inflamed Gall Bladder + Gallstones which has probably been caused by the VLCD and there's a big possibility that I will need to have my GB removed but they would like me to lose 1-2 stone before they do it.

I'm absolutely useless at traditional calorie counting diets, I never now what to cook or totally lack motivation in doing it so I definitely need help in getting on the right track.

The food diary on here will probably be really handy but if any of you would be willing to share your weekly meal plans with me, I would be ever so grateful. My food target is 1200 cals a day which seems quite a lot to me at the moment and I'm not sure I will manage to reach it because I've got to keep to a very low fat diet so that my GB doesn't flare up.

All help / advice will be greatly received.

Thanks

rhythmicveggie

Hello!
I'm very sorry to hear about your difficulty with your gallbladder; I hope everything goes well in the future.
MFP's food and exercise database is incredibly extensive. I'd say about 95%+ of the food I've bought or consumed has been in there; the things that I couldn't find were easily added. Some simple meals are already added, for example, a plain two egg omelette. Meals that you make from scratch can be saved for use again, and many restaurant foods are included in the database as well. I think this is one of the greatest reasons that I've stuck to logging food for as long as I have.

The other enormous factor is the community. Everyone is so helpful and supportive, and it's easy to stay motivated when you're working on your goal with other people. The forums also cover pretty much any question you might have.

I've heard a lot of people say that they eat 5-6 small meals a day. It helps to prevent hunger during the day, and is supposed to keep your metabolism steady (though if I'm not mistaken, the latter hasn't been proven). What I tend to do is have a decent breakfast of eggs or yoghurt bowl w/ fruit or cereal, then a mid-size lunch (since for me there isn't a lot of time between breakfast and lunch). I'll have a snack of fruit/peanut butter on bread around 2pm, right before I go for my workout, and a glass of milk when I come back, which is supposed to be at around 3pm. I'll eat dinner sometime around 6-7pm, and one snack before bed (usually to fulfil my cravings; I often eat frozen yoghurt which isn't terrible at all, calorie wise). By the end of the day, I've met my calorie goal, and if I've had some of the "good fats" like olive oil or peanut oil, I usually meet my fat goal. I believe I have my diary set to public or friends or something, so definitely go ahead and look if you'd like...but I can't promise I'm a good role model all of the time, haha...

I'll send you a friend request. Please feel free to add me
Good luck!