Looks like you beat me to the punch with the Dalek reference too, so in that case it would be me copying you, oh the thief that I am.

Chris, my dear - thank you, you’re lovely, and it is about feeling comfortable again. It’s about learning balance. I’m not enjoying physically being in my body (although that’s starting to pass, and as I’m seeing results I’m feeling better), and that’s no way to live. My extremes are perhaps more extreme than many, as you know, which is what makes me cautious.

Gypped: Hello missy! Glad I could help. It can seem so lonely at times, no? I hate plateaus, and it’s so hard to remember they’re temporary (although I just busted the hell out of a two-weeker, yay me). It’s good your fella’s doing it too, that really helps. Stuart is supportive of my efforts, but steadfastly refuses to come to the gym with me, the big sook.

KATHRYN! Just thought of another reason to hate TCD, triggered by what you said about the weight loss surgery: she lost the weight by walking, but if she’d been doing any sort of weight training, it would have helped with the skin going back into place. She doesn’t mention anything about doing any exercise other than walking, which makes the fact that she’s giving advice to others even dodgier. Grr.

xx

My new ambition with you is to help you develop a healthy relationship to food etc. If you relax about some things, you won’t find it so hard. i hate seeing you unhappy about yourself, you’re way too spunky for that.

More on this in person, over lunch

I liked “French Women Don’t Get Fat.” I suspect you’d hate it a bit, but get over it and read it. It’s a good common sense primer to eating well - seasonal foods, real foods, the value of making foods, the importance of portion control, etc.

“The Zone” is by far the best book I’ve ever read on the subject of prescriptive dieting. There are several Zone books out now and as long as it’s not a Zone cookbook, it will probably have the basic gist of the diet - which is balancing the proportion of carbs, fats and protein in each and every meal. Taken a bit further, it sets out how to find out exactly how much you should eat for your body mass and activity level. When I rowed, I followed it and was the healthiest I’ve ever been. Some of the uber atheletes I’ve know have been religious about it, increasing mass and decreasing subcutaneous (bad) fat to almost nothing. And the diet is very fulfilling.

I’ve never read any of Geneen Roth’s books, a lend would be great.

Also! I noticed that about the Shiny! too, but I think you got in first, so technically I am copying you and should return the dress to the shop. Although I think I called the post that because I had been watching a lot of Firefly around the time I posted, so everything remotely decent was shiny. I am nothing without my quotes from TV.

And, while I’m bitching, I found it really worrying that she had a tummy tuck immediately after losing the weight. Most people say you have to wait 1-2 years because your skin keeps shrinking, but obviously some surgeons are more interested in the money.

Have you read the books by Geneen Roth? They are prolly some of the best out there - more about the emotional/mental side of weight loss than dieting. Although she does go with the ‘eat what you want and forbid nothing’ approach which I’m too scared to try because I’d go bankrupt! I’ve got a couple of them and if you want to borrow them, let me know

Btw, I just noticed your title on your last post was ‘Shiny’ and I used that on one of my posts but I didn’t do it to copy you, honest. How embarassing, is that like turning up to a party in the same dress?