Summer figure: The apple-type belly
Susanne's problem:
© Veronika Faustmann"Even today, eight years after my son's birth, people ask me if I'm pregnant, my figure is actually pretty normal, only my stomach is too thick, but I still can not discipline myself in everyday life: I eat too much and unhealthy, jogging I like to fail.For some time, I do almost no sports anymore. "
Susanne's goal:
I want to lose at least seven pounds, then I would have a weight of 65 kg I have to tackle the problem radically, aim for a fixed goal, like nine years ago, when I quit smoking. "
This resulted in the investigation:
- BMI: 24 (weight divided by squared size) - body fat percentage: 33 percent - muscle percentage: 31.9 percent - HBU: 0.95 (abdominal circumference to hip circumference)
That says sports physician Dr. Wolfgang Schilling's: "The waist circumference is 95 cm - from 88 cm for women, the risk of getting cardiovascular disease or diabetes, as greatly increased." The HBU shows a belly overweight.
That's what dietitian Claudia Neiss says: "Too many sweet snacks and processed foods, too few vegetables - the other way around would be better."
The fitness strategy:
The excess fat is to be converted into muscle tissue through sport, the core muscles are strengthened. In addition, jog slowly for 30 minutes twice a week (walk for three minutes, walk for two minutes) until 30 minutes of relaxed running are possible. In addition: twice a week the extra strengthening exercises and the body art workout (see article "The most beautiful figure of summer" in ChroniquesDuVasteMonde issue 22, 22 May 2013 to 4 June 2013 at the kiosk, or here for download, free for subscribers ).
The nutritional strategy:
Losing weight with the 6-week "Lipoweg" program (www.lipoweg.de), a homeopathic program with which the expert team of the UKE-Athleticum has made good experiences. For three weeks, only 200 grams of sour fruit per day, 200 grams of vegetables and 200 grams of low-fat fish or lean meat are allowed, in the morning a slice of dry crispbread. Before breakfast, a large glass of water with a tablespoon of fruit vinegar to be drunk, after breakfast, a liter of nettle tea. Three homeopathic injections per week should increase the basal metabolic rate, eliminate the yo-yo effect and support the body in its basic functions. In the subsequent 3-week "maintenance cure", there is only one injection per week and more food - eg. Eggs and vegetables, as much as you like.
Susanne's assessment:
"That in my context the term is overweight, is new to me - they were always only the others." And this Lipoweg program sounds like starvation. "I'm afraid that I'm going to scream at my child because of sheer hunger and me in the At the same time I am very motivated, because I hope: In six weeks, I'm slim again! "
You want to know how Susanne lives? The following pages will tell you how she feels during the program and what results she achieves.
Tip: If you want to do the Lipoweg program with the syringes, you should look at www.lipoweg.de a naturopath near you.
First week, day 1
I am already afraid of starvation, but I am also glad that I will be slim again in six weeks. Some of my friends envy me for my decision, which motivates in addition. Reminder: I start with 71.7 kilos and a waist circumference of 95 cm. I hope to weigh only 65 kilos in six weeks.
So this morning I've got my injection (not that bad, it just goes into belly fat, I want to get rid of it anyway), cooked nettle tea and mixed my vinegar drink: I have to dissolve one tablespoon of fruit vinegar in a large glass of water and drink on an empty stomach , Not a nice start to the day! Somehow the whole thing reminded me of Voodoo: Poke once in the stomach, which is supposed to go away, sting the stinging nettle brew and vinegar and? Plop!?, Is he getting thin? It also had something autoaggressive: injection in the stomach, vinegar on an empty stomach ... I got a little bit sick.
When working in the kitchen, I noticed today that I can access immediately, when I see something delicious standing: With the chocolate of my son, I could withdraw my hand in the last second, with the almond pins, which were still lying about yesterday's baking action, not more : Eating as automatism.
When food is not available indefinitely, it becomes very valuable. At breakfast, I gnawed on my slice of dry crispbread for a long time, not with enjoyment, but wisely, then I licked the crumbs off the plate. And then it's off to work.
On the street I caught myself looking at fashion in the shop windows and thought: The cool part might look good on you soon ... I'm curious how it will be, maybe again so thin and light to be like before.
At 11 o'clock I was very hungry then? but I had that before too. Otherwise, I got a cheese roll in the canteen, today I ate an apple. I tried to get more out of him by cutting him into wafer thin slices and extending it with air.
Every time I looked in the mirror, I was looking for change: Is my double chin already better? Do I look slimmer? Of course it is too early for that, but I can not wait? finally, I am already fasting for a few hours!
During the body art exercises, I sweated as if I was sprinting and got a headache. But on the whole I was surprisingly little hungry today, definitely less than feared. Although I was a bit more impatient and irritable than usual - and sometimes a bit shaky.
First week, day 4
I bought way too many vegetables. The fridge is still full and the salmon in the freezer already expired. The orange (320 g heavy) frowns, I should only eat a good half of it ...
But I'm surprised how little food I can get. Apparently, I have eaten ten times more than necessary in recent years. I am surprisingly little hungry, but I miss the pleasure: sauces! Red wine! Crisps! Pies! And the vinegar in the morning I find the spit, the tea too. I try to spice up my mineral water with lemon and liquid sweetener, but unfortunately that does not taste either.
Then there are moments when I could stuff five cheesebreads in my face at the same time. And am amazed that hunger goes away again without me eating anything. Above all, I had expected much more sweet hunger, with a veritable sugar deprivation. But it is probably like this: If you do not whip up your blood sugar level, you do not have to fight with cravings. I have the impression: those who eat less, get less hungry.
When I'm allowed to eat something, I often do not have a big appetite because everything delicious is forbidden. In the canteen I eat peas pure, they taste dry and sad. The canteen vegetables are swirled in oil, as I found out to make it taste better. Actually, I'm not allowed to eat it at all, but I do not feel like cooking and going to work with Tupperware.
Eating animal daily is almost disgusting, especially because it is so pure, without sauce, without fat. Unfortunately, I'm not in the mood to prepare something delicious with just a few ingredients. In the past I only ate meat only when someone else prepared it for me, e.g. in the restaurant. I call our nutritionist to ask if I can replace the meat with vegetables. Yes, but only now and then, she says, and only if I replace it with protein-containing legumes, such as lentils or kidney beans. Otherwise, too many muscles would be lost when losing weight. And she promises to send me the Lipoweg cookbook.
During the workout, I curse all the chocolate that I have lost in the last few years. Does the fat go away hard again!
Tonight a few friends of mine will meet. What for? Of course, for dinner. That's what you do at my age. I prefer not to come. Sure, food has a strong social component. But does that also mean that you are lonely when you eat little and do not drink alcohol?
Second week, day 1
After exactly one week, I weigh 68.8 kilograms, so I have already nearly 3 kilos down. And my waist circumference has shrunk to 92 cm. Dying pays off.
However, I have a masochist weekend behind me. In the morning I deeply envied my son for his Nutella sandwiches, later we were invited for brunch and birthday. I sat at a table with pizza and chocolate cake, with great cheese, spreads, crispy rolls, mozzarella, fruit salad with pineapple, banana and grapes (all forbidden). I gnawed on my brought apple and the others envied, because they could eat what they wanted. After all, a friend said, I would look narrower in the face. I also imagine that my clothes already a little bit schlabbern.
My son also benefits from my weight loss program. He eats more vegetables and fruits, simply because there is more. In the evening I often make a salad of peppers, tomatoes, corn, cucumbers and whatever else is there and he eats a lot of it. In the past, there were often only sandwiches and raw food in the evening.
Otherwise, I feel first-hand what I always knew: that we should be seduced to eat at every turn. Here it smells of croissants, there to pizza. And there is a sign in front of the baker: "Without cake, cake, wake, life has no purpose." I have the feeling slowly too. When shopping, I almost begin to drool, especially when queuing at the cash register, where chips and sweets are placed so that you constantly have to look it up. But I am glad that I am no longer manipulated by industry? at least not right now.
But I experience the value of pleasure - I really miss it.
Second week, day 4
Wednesday night I noticed that my upper arms look better? the cellulite is almost gone. And this morning, a distant colleague calls after me at the publisher's entrance: "You can already see it!" I feel even thinner and try on the break quickly a denim dress in size 38 - and I do not look like a pressed sausage. But how do I bring the joy of my character in line with the longing for sweetened milk froth and warm marzipan croissants? I hope that my body in his cravings changes a bit in the next few weeks, as it did when smoking cessation.
I know, three kilos are a lot, but I'm losing weight too slowly. I feel sineer and bony and my waist feels tighter, that sure comes from the workout. But I am disappointed that my stomach is still so thick. Finally, I am starving for a week and a half. Yesterday, my son knocked on my stomach and said: "Your stomach is still wobbly." Unfair, right? Where you eat chocolate and I do not!
Overall, I am extremely focused on my body: Am I already thinner? How do I look? How do I feel? This constant occupation with the body is nothing for me in the long run. I never had a scale, I always ate what I enjoyed. Well, where that leads, I know now, but I'm looking forward to direct my thoughts and energies back to other things someday.
I've got the Lipoweg cookbook by now and that saves me. My food tastes much better now: I roast beef with vegetables, eat smoked trout fillets with horseradish, meatballs, salad with tuna, chicken drumsticks out of the oven. Cooking healthy and low in calories can actually be easy and delicious. The cookbook can be ordered under management@lipoweg.de for 17,50 Euro (for ChroniquesDuVasteMonde readers free postage).
I have to force myself to jog each time, but then it's nice to walk through the blooming park. The exercises make me sweat, but I make them brave on all days when I do not jog.
Third week, day 1
67.6 kilos - that means I lost only 1.2 pounds last week. I had hoped that this week will tumble again 3 kilos. After all, my waist circumference is now 90 cm, which is 5 cm less than at the beginning of the program.
I had a weekend visit, that was tough. We went to the cinema twice (no popcorn, no chocolate, no coke, no nachos, no ice cream). We were in the cafe (no cake!), We were eating (no wine! No side dishes! No dessert!). It was hard to be confronted with the delicious food of others - salad with toasted bread and wine is simply much tastier than salad.
Sociability without alcohol works much better than expected. I can talk and enjoy myself as well as I am drunk. I was afraid that going out without alcohol would not be that much fun, but it works.
And I'm still developing into a tea-love. I never really liked tea? These brownish, tattered tea bags that are pulled out of cups and then stand around on saucers cold and shriveled. But now I keep hunger and cravings at bay by drinking fruit tea with sweetener and eating chewing gum. I also like the fresh vegetables in the evening, I hope I will keep that later.
Meanwhile, I see progress as well: I no longer be shocked when I happen to reflect somewhere, as in recent years. And the summer jacket, which has never happened, is now closing. But there are also disadvantages: My sit humps hurt quickly on hard benches, I am not well padded anymore. And I'm freezing faster than before.
And as nice as that is with all the vegetables, there are still two things to add in the evening that I have to do: prepare sports and food (plus washing up). So every day I have an hour more work, or less free time. This is exhausting, instead of 20 clock I am now mostly finished at 21 clock with everything.
Third week, day 4
On Tuesday the first time was a 66 instead of a 67 before the comma and today already a 65! So I lost 5.8 kilos in 2.5 weeks. I feel light and more and more people tell me how good I look.
I also got used to everything: the little food, the vinegar, the tea. My stomach is still there, but it is smaller. My clothes are looser and I almost feel like extending the weight loss phase, continue to drink stinging nettle and never touch cake again.
Especially shopping is fun again (although I'm not sure if that's a win or not ;-). Anyway, I hardly trust my eyes in the locker room? The clothes are really good, because I have a waist again! On the other hand: Such a stroll through the city symbolizes the dilemma in which I am a middle-aged apple-belly-type: If I want to be slim, I must not touch anything of the culinary temptations that are kept under my nose while shopping: fragrant baked goods, Ice cream, juices, coffee with milk ... I oscillate violently between joy in the locker room and frustration on the street.
Fourth week, day 1
Today I am totally torn. I am hovering between the greed for sweets and the desire to continue to lose weight. Actually, week 4 starts with the maintenance phase, where I am allowed to eat more and more and at the same time take care to keep my weight. I am not satisfied yet, at the moment I weigh 65.9 kilos and my weight has been stagnant for days. I lost 5.8 kilos in 3 weeks, my belly circumference has reduced by 9 cm. I want more!
I discuss with the dietitian that I have another week of weight loss and then start the stabilization phase. Fortunately, she tells me that you can celebrate in the maintenance phase sometimes, if you then again take weight loss days until the weight fits. And that you can also eat an ice cream or a piece of cake, if you make up for it. That sounds good, and the one week until then I can do it ...
Fourth week, day 4
This week, for the first time, I treated myself to an egg, a cappuccino and low-fat yoghurt, after all, I could have already started the maintenance phase ... and yet today I have reached my goal: 65 kilos! I still have a bacon roll on my stomach, but much smaller than before. It's true, you take off everywhere, and not only on the stomach - I'll probably keep it, unless I lose another 3 kilos. But overall, I've become much thinner, even on legs and hips.
The week was full of lure. A colleague celebrated with everything I love: strawberry cake, chocolate kisses, sparkling wine, chips, flips, pretzel sticks, everything stood nicely draped on tables. I would have liked to stuff everything at once. Another colleague celebrated her birthday with fresh bread loaves, cheese, sausage, red wine and cheesecake. As long as I'm not faced with treats, giving up is not a big problem, but if someone puts something good under my nose, I'm already in a bad mood.
But I realized that most of what I eat I eat out of appetite, not hunger. I'm starving surprisingly little, but I still lack the enjoyment.
Fifth week, day 1
64.3 kilos, waist circumference 84. I lost 7.4 kilos in 4 weeks and lost 11 inches on my stomach! Today the maintenance phase starts, I can eat more again, e.g. Vegetables and meat / fish as much as I want and yogurt and eggs. Most of all, I'm looking forward to the cheese in the morning.
However, doing without is still tedious: when I pass the desserts in the canteen, in the supermarket, at the bakery, in the café with friends. And on the weekends, when my son's buns smell of crispy curves in the bread basket, and my wholegrain crack is like a dry, sad board beside it. As long as abandonment is so difficult, I see black for a lean future.
Sunday was my toughest day so far. I was in the park and everyone around me ate ice cream and I got really bad mood. On Saturday, a friend had brought me fine chocolates from Budapest - for after the diet, haha. They were now at home torturing me. Until I lay down on the bed and began sucking a chocolate very slowly: My tongue groped for the flavors and tried to delay the end as long as possible. It was wonderful, but soon the remaining seven chocolates, still slumbering in the pack, tormented me. Today I took her to work and distributed it to my colleagues. Of course not without putting one in my mouth. Diet is like sex without orgasm - you get something to eat, but you are never quite full and satisfied.
But then I digged out the flared pants I bought in Nice in 2003 and it's closing again! I also notice that I have not had a headache for a long time. I used to take one tablet twice a week.
Fifth week, day 4
In the canteen, I have already eaten a small bowl of lentil soup with bacon (although pork is still prohibited) and at home eggs and walnuts and crispbread in the morning I put a nice piece of old cheese. I keep softening the rules, but as little as possible: I still do not eat side dishes such as rice, pasta or potatoes, and of all only small portions, but I drink a glass of wine from time to time. And I have to say: my first glass of white wine for dinner was great! ;-) And apparently my stomach has shrunk - if I eat a little more, my stomach tightens quite well.
Although I still have a tummy, but overall I look slim. My muscles in my legs and arms feel tight and look that way. I like my reflection and I have to be careful that I do not fall in love with losing weight. And I have to tighten my belt: Yesterday I went to the shoemaker to get some new holes.
My plan seems to be working, I'm going even further, today I weigh only 63.6 kilos - 8 kilos less than at the beginning!
Sixth week, day 1
Yesterday in the barefoot park there was no sensible food. The organic restaurant advertised on the website had too and there was only a stall with fries and sausages and sweets. I almost died of hunger, got in a bad mood and then pulled in a packet of salted peanuts.Today, I still bring only 63 pounds on the scales. As little as in my youth and before the pregnancy eight years ago. Of course, I am not quite that young anymore. There's a skin on the neck that was not there before and the tummy stays with me. That's it.
On Saturday I had a Fressflash. At a barbecue party, I've stuffed one and a half loaves of ciabatta into me and washed everything down with white wine. The bread was on the table in front of me and I cut off just a bit. In the course of the evening I cut and eaten more and more, until everything was gone. I was very bad.
Sixth week, day 4
Ever since I drink wine again, I drink some almost every night. And it tastes better than ever, otherwise I have nothing tasty: no sweets, no chips - apart from the Cola bottles I ate recently on a birthday, and the occasional cappuccini ... I have today again a kilo more on the scales. That's frustrating: As soon as I treat myself again, the weight goes up. And I will not go through life forever with crispbread and apples ...
The result
Yesterday was the day of truth: We were with the experts at the UKE and have let ourselves be measured again. My final result is: I lost 7.8 kilos in six weeks and lost 10 cm belly circumference.
I'm so proud and my charts look great. Six weeks ago I was 3 out of 6 parameters in the red area (weight, BMI and fat mass), now I'm lying in the green everywhere. Although my belly circumference of 85 cm is still a bit high, actually you should have as a woman under 80 cm. A tummy stays with me, well then: Welcome! I'm glad that the bacon fold is gone on the back.
We were all a bit surprised that we lost not only fat, but also muscle mass despite the sport program. But that seems normal. Without sport, we would have lost even more muscle, we were told.
Sport has become a necessity for me over the weeks. In the meantime, I walk like a clockwork through the blooming park and enjoy it. I have not skipped the sport all the time and I hope to stay there for a long time.
I'm very motivated to hold my weight, but I am afraid that someday I will be weak again. Unfortunately, I hardly know anyone who has sustained weight loss. But I will continue to try to eat little and vegetables. I'm really surprised how easy it is to get by without a sweetie, I would not have thought that possible without a real cut. And now I know what to expect when losing weight, I can always repeat it. For example, next spring, if winter bacon should have settled again. And if I feel like losing weight again.
Best of all: The vinegar bottle is empty and I'm sure I will not buy a new one!
The result in detail:
- BMI: 21.4 (previously: 24) - body fat percentage: 25.5 percent (previously 33 percent) - muscle mass: 21.3 kilos (previously: 22.8 kilos) - waist circumference: 85 cm (previously: 95 cm)
