A man on the lighter life weightloss programme

Right ho, things have been very difficult recently. My wife got depression and we came very close to splitting up a few times as her behaviour became erratic and abusive. I went through all sorts of things before I finally realised that she had depression. It was triggered by all the stress of my Dad and Sister leaving and what it did to me. All appears on the mend now with some counselling and lots of tears and effort.

Things on the weight front did go a bit haywire as I was drinking as a coping mechanism. I also had to give up my sports (squash and rugby) as I needed to care for the house and chores on my own. Needless to say that tack a holiday on (part of the healing process!) I have gained 8lb and my 32” jeans have got a bit tight.

Rather than buy some bigger ones I today visited lighterlife and for the sum of £132 I procured 56 packs. I have decided to have 2 for breakfast and a bar for lunch and to try and up the exercise a bit. I should slim down for Christmas at which point I will be enjoying myself again. I already have 5 various office dinners on including 3 days in Dublin for a “management meeting”.

14s 4lb, watch this space!

Couple of other bits to note: Family Christmas at ours, 16 to feed including sister back from USA. May get back in contact with my Dad next summer but far too early at this point considering that I nearly lost my marriage.

I thought that an update was probably appropriate seeing as its been so long. I was released into the wild about 3 weeks ago. I finished the programme and got signed off. I put a little weight back on but still am in a 32” Jeans. Rugby training has been great and I have been doing a lot of squash as well so some of the weight is muscle. I have also been walking the dog and eating relatively healthily. My big problem is drinking my calories as there have been lots of friends waiting for me to finish this thing so that we can go out, appeasing them all has been difficult. Some bad habits have slipped back into my life but some of my new good habits are also sticking.

Positives outcomes from the entire experience

1. I drink 2 litres of water a day
2. I walk between 2 and 4 miles a day
3. I am fit again
4. I eat a lot less generally and what I do eat is largely healthy
5. I avoid bread and other trigger foods
6. I look better, a lot of people say that it has taken 10 years off me

Negative outcomes from the entire experience

1. I am completely obsessed with food
2. I feel guilty when I indulge
3. I know that I will have to do this diet again as my weight is not stable
4. I have a significantly shorter temper than I had before
5. I feel much more stressed, but that might be black coffee!

Would I recommend this to someone like me? Definitely, its quick, simple to follow, you learn a lot. It takes perseverance but then again what is the alternative.

As for the Dad situation we had a little correspondence but he now has the message that I need a break for a while so has backed off. He did phone my best mate and asked him to keep an eye on me which I thought was a little strange, its not like my Dad was keeping an eye on me from Oz. Its been very draining and is still triggering cycles of depression. On the up side I now have three chickens who are very entertaining and allow me to pounce around the garden pretending that I am a farmer.

Best of luck to anyone in any stage of LL, stick to it.

A quick note to say that things are OK.

Food wise I have hosted 3 dinner parties in the last 4 days and my weight is stable at 13s 4lb. Been doing some extra walking to keep it in control but I have not exactly shown much self control as far as booze goes. Food wise we have generally offered lean mean in various forms steak, herb encrusted chicken, shish kebab, tandoori pheasant (liberated from some local hedgerows!), etc, various home grown salads (green, tomato, low fat coleslaw, beetroot, carrot and raisin), and spuds and bread which I avoided (largely).

Desserts are a different matter and I have indulged mainly in cheese and biccies which I am not allowed. But also a lovely big pavlova, the strawberries are excellent in Somerset at this time of year.

As far as Dad is concerned I am a lot better and much more in control of myself. As time goes by I am less consumed and I am more sure that it was the right thing to do for myself and family. My sister and I were put second when he fancied working in the middle east, second when he moved to Hong Kong for a decade, second when he accidentally started a new family and concentrated on them for the last 19 years, excluded from his will and finally second when he decided to move to Australia for the rest of his life. After so much coming second I expected him to put some effort in with my children and he is not going to do it, enough is enough, 31 years is far too long to be in this situation. My regret is that as a child I believed in what he was saying when he was slagging off my step dad when we did manage to see him, the result was not letting my step dad close who incidentally who was paying the lions share of my existence. Therefore I spent my childhood pining for someone who put me second and not letting someone who put me first come close. Coming to terms with this has knocked me sideways.

However, this issue is now largely sorted. Off this weekend to see my blind Gran and Uncle in Essex that Dad so conveniently for himself left me as the only relative of in the country. Will take my toolbox and do whatever odd jobs I can to maintain their house. Petrol will make it £120 round trip and about 10 hours of driving. Gran was the most important relative in my life for a long time but now she is in her nineties she is going a little down hill and when I spoke to her the other day she didn’t really know who I was, she can never remember my wifes name either.