How do you cope with....

the absolute boredom of the LL packs? Pleeeassse give me some advice. I am bored rigid with them, the occasional choc shake, all the soups and the Nut bar are honestly all I can manage. The other stuff literally made me heave.

I dont want to cave in to my cravings, but boy is it tough! I am suffering a rumble tum today, 6 weeks in, and am so fed up. I have such a long way to go from here...

If anyone can help I would really appreciate it. (ps I do cook with my packs or I would be a drooling wreck in the corner by now..)

hrm.....you cook packs already eh?

Well.....distraction works, come on here, watch tv, get a hobby that occupies your fingers.........

have you tried putting the water flavouring into your choccie shake? made any nice cheese cake things with your nut crunch bar? thats what I used to do with them. Ramekin dish, little bit of water to mash up half nut crunch bar, then half a vanillla pack thickly made up with orange flavouring in it and
popped on top and frozen. yummy!!


xx

I'm only on day 6 (although its been hard going!) and have only tried making a muffin with the raspberry pack & it was revolting!! I have most of mine hot but have also tried the following! loads of ice with pack and in smoothy maker - chocolate pack with mint tea and that was actually quite yummy! (if that could ever be said about packs lol!) I also like hot mint tea with chololate or vanilla packs - twinings mint tea is great or just plain mint tea with a sweetner for when you want something sweet. Fruits of forest with occasional water is nice for the water. Havenet tried any other recipes yet...so far I havent struggled to much ith the packs but do try to make an event of it rather than boltng it down as its my fuel! Also see it as fuel rather than food and hoping that this will hold me in good stead when I start to eat again. The chilli pack also has some bits in for a chew (which felt quite odd having not eaten for days!)..I think the bottom line is there is oly so much you can do to make the packs interesting or palletable! Have you tried the marigold stock? I love it but only have a max of 2 spoon fuls a day - either in hot water or in a pack (soupy one!) for extra flavor! Hope that helps? Like you am finding it very tough so the best thing I can do is send you a wopping hug!

Try mixing some of your packs together half and half- choc and caramel (+ coffee) is good and apparently makes nice frozen truffles too if you mix thick and and freeze (not tried that yet). Raspberry and choc is a good mix- haven't tried vanilla and raspberry yet, but willing to bet its good with some st clements in. I hated the raspberry when I started, but now whiz them up with ice and a teaspoon of fruits of the forest and that is really yummy. I also read on another thread about toasting the nut bar and dunking it in soup- apparently very nice, but I have not tried it myself.

Keep going!
Kx

Hmmm toasting the nut bar sounds good. Must try that one soon. Have rejected vanilla, caramel and raspberry shakes, but may have to retry them sometime in future. (Just couldnt stomach them at the time!!)

Thanks for your tips!

Just thought Id give you a laugh, I tried freezing a vanilla pack but left it in too long and it was rock solid. I was so hungry and desperate to eat it, so I ate it all icy and hard , my teeth are still hurting,LOL, talk about brain freeze too, but it tasted nice.
So be carefull if you do try making the ice cream just keep an eye on it in the freezer. I dont know if freezing packs affects the vitamins etc. but I was really in need of something to slow me down eating the packs and this seemed like a good way. Oh well better luck next time I am only on day 4 and I already have cooked a choclate muffin (tasted and looked awfull) and froze one so no hope for me is ther. Cant wait to get my hands on the bars just for something to chew!
I tried a few drops of tabasco and some Marigold in with the Thai chilli and it makes it taste great if you are missing your Ruby Murrays.
I am really behind drinking my water to day still got a litre to drink and its 11 pm oh no I think someone will be up to loo alot tonight.
Love Carole

Hi Sez,

If you really are bored with the LL packs, then perhaps think of switching over to CD. There's a really wide range of flavours. You don't get the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy on CD, but I know that I really look forward to being able to choose from such a variety... The bars are amazing too!!

xxxxxxxxxx

Hi Sez - I was on LL a long time as I had a lot to lose - so I know what you mean. It became a mind over matter thing for me. What helped was I didn't think of them as "food" just as medicine to help me get better and be the person I want to be. So its a vitamin/mineral formula to me - nothing more. That way I just get them down my neck. To think of it as a food with variety sends signals of being deprived from real food to the brain. So you have to stay focussed that it is not food. I also find that on some days I actually enjoy the packs, and over the course, my tastes did change and those packs I thought were disgusting were OK. Most of all - STICK WITH IT - it is so worth it.

Big hugs.


joolz x

Sez

I think Joolz is right. Its just stuff that you have to consume to get you to your end goal. I found that some weeks were harder than others. Find what you like and get into a routine. I always started the day with a choc muffin, then a bar for lunch, soup for tea and a choc pack for supper. It is worth haaving a play with the recipies - I also went through a bit of a crisp fad to replace soups. I also used the Cambridge Mix-a-mousse ( can get of ebay) to make mousses because I caouldn't stomach the shakes either. Its not strictly LL but it helped me once in a while and didn't slow my weight loss.

Most people in my group seemed to go through a boredom patch between weeks 5 and 7 but all of us just ended up getting into our own routines - one girl only used to have the chocolate packs - what ever works for you.

Thanks again! Will attempt to change my mind set to accept that its not really food, more a means to an end!

All your ideas are great too! I LOVE this site!

I have to agree with Joolz and Cake, it is all about how you view the packs and how you view what you want to achieve.

I did the 14 weeks plus another month. It IS utterly boring but I focused on the end result i.e. to lose the excess weight and (perhaps even more crucially) to finally get a handle on my eating disorder and overcome it. I spent 30 years on the dieting treadmill without success. My instinct told me that the CBT and TA counselling would be the key to my long-term recovery and success. I decided that I would be willing to put myself through short-term discomfort, boredom, whatever, in order to achieve my goal.

I have come out on the other side and am sitting in the (metaphorical) sunshine, looking back over the boring days doing LL, and very, very happy to have stuck with it throughout the difficult days.

You can too, if you really, really want it!

Take care now.

AJ