LL - my first week....

Oh my god! I'm actually doing this

I started LL on Thursday morning and am still in a bit of shock that I've actually taken this step to getting rid of some of the weight I'm carrying around.

I have a couple of Qs though if you don't mind...

I've been doing ok until today. I went out without eating anything - I didn't realise I'd be out for so long and by the time I realised I was feeling faint and dizzy, it was 4pm. THen, weirdly, in the local shopping centre I saw a LL stand all set up with leaflets and the chocolate raisin crunch bars but noone manning the stand. I took a few bars (just in case - I'd emailed my LLC about some food packs I didn't like and she hadn't got back to me, I was scared of having NO food! She has got back to me this evening - phew!).

About 20 mins later, I felt so awful - stomach cramps, dizziness, hearing going funny - that I opened a bar and had a bite. I ate about an inch of it and felt immediately better. I've not eaten the rest.

This evening I was very cold and decided to have some tea, so made a nice cup of jasmine tea and drank it. It was only afterwards that I wondered whether it would be allowed, and have since found (on this forum) that it's not :cry:

So now I feel awful about not sticking to the plan properly, especially as I've been so good so far. I'm really gutted to have succumbed already, I thought I'd at least last more than just a few days .

My questions are:

1) Will eating that inch of chocolate bar really affect my results? And the tea?

2) If you cheat like I have, do you miss a sachet? I still have another one to have today and can't decide whether to have it or not.

3) Is green tea ok to drink?

Any advice appreciated!

The inch of choc bar shouldn't affect your results no. It's a bar for maintainers once they're at goal and has more calories but few carbs so a taste shouldn't affect you.

DON'T miss any of your packs or your loss will actually be less. They provide all the vits and minerals you need to keep you well and burning fat so you need to have all of them to keep losing weight (trust me, one week I only had two a day for three days and stayed the same at my following weigh in!)

Green tea is fine so long as it's plain and not with any flavourings such as lemon.

If you feel faint, you're more than likey not drining enough water. When I started they told us to have 4 litres a day but I know it's less than that now. I found I was having up to 5/6 litres a day to keep myself feeling well.

I'm not sure about the jasmine tea. Is it a leaf tea? Should be ok if it is. Ask you LLC though...although I'm sure someone on here will let you know!

All the best with the rest of yout LL journey. Remember though, no more nibbling!! (apart from the bars your allowed!)

EDIT: RR beat me to it by seconds! lol

1) Will eating that inch of chocolate bar really affect my results? And the tea?

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probably not, the real reason that lapses can really affect weightloss is that they spur further lapses - 1 biscuit probably wouldn't have a noticeable effecr, but if we could stop at only eating 1 biscuit we wouldn't be here, would we?

2) If you cheat like I have, do you miss a sachet?

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NO.
It's very, VERY important that you have all 4 of your packs every day, regardless of what else happens. Having less packs will NOT make you lose more weight, in fact it will have the opposite effect.

3) Is green tea ok to drink?

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Any tea made straight from leaves is OK, but don'd add anything else to it!

(in regards to the bar)
I ate about an inch of it and felt immediately better.

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That to me says that what you were feeling was completely in your head.
A small bite of something would not 'cure' a real physical feeling of hunger, or dizziness, but it can make you feel mentally better.

Our heads can really play tricks on us to try and get us to eat, after all your body *wants* the best source of calories it can get, so you have to watch out for the mind's tricks. Yes, feeling dizzy can occur but it is not a reason to eat something; if you do feel that way again, drink water. 99% of the times I feel dizzy or hungry I find that actually I have not had a drink for an hour or so and am getting dehydrated.

The bit of bar you had is better than having something 'real', but be aware that that type of bar is for Maintainers only, you are not allowed them in foundation, they have too many cals and carbs in them.



More than anything now, the trick is to get right back on the horse. You can't change what you did, and whatever effect it is going to have has already been done.

All you can do is carry on, and learn from the experience - that's what LL is all about, after all, and no-one said it'd be a smooth journey; we are battling with our own internal demons with this diet, something that is not easy for anyone to do.


Best of luck with it

roundrachel said:

I'm not sure about the jasmine tea. Is it a leaf tea? Should be ok if it is. Ask you LLC though...although I'm sure someone on here will let you know! )

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Jasmine tea is NOT alright... Jasmine, being the opertive word here, is a flower.

Nothing made with flower can be used.

Green tea is fine.

Ok, thanks for the info everyone.

I wasn't told to drink loads, just to drink plain water or tea. I'm drinking a couple of bottles of water a day although it varies. I was drinking from a bottle of water as I was out walking though.

I did feel better after eating the bite of chocolate bar - the muscle cramps faded but I was still feeling weak and dizzy until I got home. ANyway, I'll make sure I don't go so long without eating again.

thanks

It's all just part of your body adjusting to the new way of getting energy. Ketosis is not a 'normal' state for the body to be in and so it stands to reason that until you get used to it, you might feel a bit off now and again.

After some lapsing I'm back on it, day 3 and am sitting here feeling exactly what you descibed, headachey, dizzy, some cramps/weird stomach feelings etc.

Whether we eat or not, it will pass, but only through one of those options will we lose weight at the end of the unpleasent beginnings

From what I've read, you did not cheat at all - not intentionally anyway. You just seemed a little unprepared for LL as a whole. With shakes and bars you do have to plan ahead as to how you will have your foodpacks and when if you're at work all day. Invest in a shaker, or a hand blender for these occasions, and always make sure to take a bar with you in your bag if you anticipate that you will be out and about for quite a while.
This sort of preparation will come in good time, I know that my first few weeks I'd end up not thinking about 'food' and ending up half crawling home because I had no energy at all. It's still early days though, so don't panic!
The bar you had was a maintenance bar - and you should feel good that at least you stuck to the Lighter Life brand name! You couldn't have known that it wasn't one for abstainers.

As for tea: you can have only 'leaf' teas, no flower or fruit ones. So green, nettle, peppermint etc are fine.


So honestly, do not beat yourself up about this, you did the best you could in the situation. But never miss your shakes. Even if something happens, and you lapse one day (it's happened to most people) NEVER miss a shake the next day.. Just start the day as fresh, and don't feel guilty. Things happen, we move on.