Day 20: at the gym with my home made PT

 

My oldest son is PT at SATS in Stockholm. Today he showed me how to exercise in Luleå. 

"I can't manage this" I shouted at the machine.

Elisha calm and always with an answer gazed at me:

"But you are doing it mom!".

He reminded me not to focusing on the negative.

I would never have handled three weeks on this diet with an attitude like that.

My sons are all three great inspiration in different fields.

Karate-kid:

It was a nice session. First biking out door for an hour and weight lifting. Nice to see what pedagogic and patient instructed Elisha is.

 I'm happy!

Can't tell you any weight loss today. I was not home until dinner time.

Must step on the scale in the morning before starting to drink 3.5 liters.

I'm  now adding some veggies and cheese to my soups.

It's making me full and prepares me slowly for next step.

Still have 6.5 days left on soups and shakes.

Day 19: temptation: cake in paradise

 This is my birthday child of the weekend, Joshua, happy for one of his gifts.
24 years ago he was newborn:

 

I have been on my low calorie diet with soups and shakes for almost three weeks.

I have had great result, 10 kilos so far, 20 kilos since January.

I say "no thanks every day.

No, Joshua, I don't want your birthday cake!

I stick with my chocolate diet pudding.

And as I don't use a plate the best place for the cake is in front of me...

And when my oldest son, order a XXXL pizza, they taste better in Luleå than Stockholm, I sit by the table with my LCD-SHAKE. 

 

And of course I fry 'bolonga- style' hamburgers, parisare, a northern specialty not easy 

found in the capital of Sweden for him...

In one way it's easier for me to avoid it than to make the decision 'how much will I eat ?".

Or should I have it at all?

I am starting to get fed up from my great variety of shakes and soups.

Mentally I was prepared to finish after 21 days, when I discovered my supply will last for at least another week.

On the other hand I have great success with my weight loss, it's not a big deal to stick with the diet, just boring. The result will give me and my worried family more long term happiness than the ability to eat food again already.

No weight loss since yesterday. No I didn't cheat with cake or pizza. I was on the scale this morning with wet hair!  :-)

Day 18: 37 years later. Still mad at Per Gessle...

The name of Per Gessle, to the left of me, for readers around the world, famous from Roxette, for Swedes  at my age, the singer of  Gyllene Tider.

I started at the age of 13, a music fanzine together with a friend in 1980, the same year Gyllene Tider toured Sweden after their breakthrough.
 When they arrived in Luleå, Monica and I tried to get an interview. Per Gessle and Anders Herrlin was just making fun of us when we asked our questions. It ended up with me spitting on the floor in front of them and leaving furious.
 This anger has never left me. They didn't respect us for being young journalist girls.
I never enjoyed his shallow, commercial pop music ever since.

 Today Per Gessle has a gig 50 km away, in Piteå. I would not go there even if I got paid.

Luckily the drummer of Gyllene Tider, Micke Andersson, was kind to answer our questions that summer of 1980 so we got our report to the fanzine Beat. Some how we also got the autographs of the band on my jeans jacket I guess before the interview...

 On the other side the autographs of Noice, also very famous at that time. Nice guys.
 At the top you can read Thomas Ledin, a very humble man. Still popular in Sweden.

When I first made an interview with Carlos Santana I feared my idol would be different in person than his music. I was wrong. He gave me the only interview in Sweden even though I was only a teenager. I brought my 15 record to be signed so I guess he understood I adored his music.

To meet famous people, poor people, everyday people in more than 40 countries have made me understand that a home less Vietnam veteran at Venice Beach could be more interesting than for instant a world famous musician like Per Gessle.
With his Roxette college Marie Fredriksson, I made an interview in Kalix also in the eighties. She was great.

Weight loss since yesterday:  1,1 kilo! Exactly 10 kilos all together since day 1!

Day 17: yesterday was false alarm. Keep losing weight!

A walk in the park with my mother today after the relief  watching the scale going in the right direction again!
Yesterday I had gained one kilo. I don't know why. Maybe because of the heatwave in Luleå?
 I almost forgot to write the blog post today. I ended up in a very interesting telephone conversation. Through out the years my friend and I have spend many hours talking on the phone. This was a new record, 4 hours, worth every minute! I believe that every conversation of this depth contributes to my personal development.

Weight loss since yesterday: the gained kilo and another 0,3 kilo.

Day 16: backlash?

 Me and Johan, to the left in the picture, have been working awful lot the past ten days. Now we are off until Tuesday. He was kind to drive me to the summer paradise with some chairs for the upcoming birthday bash.

I have been like a zombie all day and when I finally manage to nap I woke up after 30 minutes by a nightmare: I held my bird and let her smell on a flower. She transformed into a fawn and died in my arms. Please give me a dream interpretation!

Another nightmare occurred when I stepped up on my scale! Even though I know it was much later as usually and after drinking, and tomorrow it might look different, it was making me kind of irritated. I'm still on my diet!

Weight gain since yesterday: 1,0 kilo

Day 15: weight loss result in the ButterflyBattle

The ButterflyBattle against overweight goes on. So far 15 days of diet in July and I can't believe it, 8.5 kilos of weight loss. That makes 19,1 kilo since the first of January.
I got myself 14 boxes of Modifast low calories shakes, soups, pudding and the information it would last for 21 days, as I was a lousy student in mathematics in school,  I never reflected over the amount of bags. With one week left I discover it would last another two weeks!
Well I'm armed in this battle Sweden vs Russia. I don't know how Natasha in Petrozavodsk is doing, but I got my self some warrior to help out!

Day 14: my carrot to exercise

There is one thing than can make me exercise: the summer house by the lake.
When the sun is shining, like yesterday, I jump on the bike and ride the 10 kilometers (one way).

I don't know who has been eating on this. I have not! I stick to the diet.

Weight loss since yesterday: 0.3

Day 13: mentally at peace of mind from the food beast

Four years ago me and a friend got to know a German guy from Schwartzwald. He returns every July to Sweden to walk in the Mountain.  In the winter he send me postcards and letters. I used to live in Berlin and have few opportunities to talk German. Yesterday we were having a three hours conversation. I feel like I'm another person while speaking one of the language I know. It's not just words,  it's a way of being. Of course we were talking about my favourite German food: leberkäse, curry wurst, schrippen mit thewurst...
I also got very philosophic explaining what a relief it is for me not to have to care about food for three weeks. No shopping, no cooking and no eating. I'm overweight due to the wrong choices, lack of limiting my intake and the bad habits of use food as comfort.
During the last two weeks my obsession planning what to eat, when, how much, has been resting.  It's a great chance to reflect over the for other people easy calculation, how calories impacts on your weight. It gives me time to break bad habits.
I lost more than 10 kilos in January and have more or less kept the weight since then.
Last two weeks I have been taking a great step down. Tomorrow you will get to know the total!

Weight loss since yesterday: 0,5

Day 12: no coffee at the coffee house...

My niece Freja is practising to drink coffee. She's 9. I'm 50 and still haven't got used to it.
Never will...One of my lcd - shakes has the taste. I drink it fast...It's too bitter.
Freja's caramel/coffee drink with lots of syrup and whipped cream seems to equal the amount of calories I have in one day. Freja has her own blog and is very impressed by the amount of people visiting the ButterflyBattle blog. I gave her an advice, use a good picture.

Freja and her cousin is hanging out on the coffee house. Not as social as my two meeting with friends today. We were talking for hours!

Weight loss since yesterday: 0.2 kilo

Day 11: to be patient is number one for weight loss

 

I work a lot this weekend and have very little time to write this blog or to reflect over my weight loss. I just do it!

More than 30 years ago I learned how to type.

I wonder how the youth of today would do without a delete-button...

Letter that tangled together both mechanically and on the paper, color band stuck and just the effort to press on the key for success...

My weight loss at the moment is slow, 0.1 kilo since yesterday , even though I have been walking quite a lot. But even this little loss would make 0.7 a week so it's actually great!

Day10: my journey to a better life

I love to travel and have been to more than 40 countries. In some of them I staid for years. Yesterday I took a trip to friends in a village only 30 km away. It's a long time since I last could gossip with one of my closest friends so this made me real happy but also thoughtful. We all have our life journey.  Our daily struggle, our goals.
A famous Swedish boxer stated 'a goal without a plan is only a dream'.
I have many dreams at the moment but few plans. I need to write them down and make plans for the future. The goal with the ButterflyBattle is a easier life in many aspects.
I have in 10 days lost as much as the allowed weight of a hand luggage when flying.

Weight loss since yesterday.: 0,3

Day 9: in a weight loss war with myself

At the moment it seems like I'm the winner against my over weight. The scale is showing less everyday and I'm dieting using low calorie diet shakes, soups, pudding, porridge and pasta. I feel no temptation when I'm around food. Over all I am great on 800-900 calories a day.

Yesterday I was visiting the defence museum of Boden. As my grandmother was born in the military hospital  1908, it was educating learning to know about the time when her father came to Boden to work in the Swedish Army. He moved from Småland to the very north.
He died when grandma was a child.

Weight loss since yesterday: 0.4 kilo

Day 8: Spice it up!

The summer this year is chilly and rainy. 

My diet soup fits perfect.

Today I spiced it up with extra chili, green pepper and some cheese with reindeer meat. 

I was slightly hungry before but this mixture helped out great.

 

 It's getting a bit boring to diet.

The fast weight loss keeps me motivated.

I also, against all odds, have a lot of energy.

Weight loss since yesterday: 0.1 kilo

Day 7: Kerry and Carrie, I carry on!

This blog has readers all over the world. In the stats I can see from where. Every time Australia pops up it could be Kerry or Carrie. Or of course other people!
Saturday I got a picture from Kerry:

 She told me she was going to start the 'Aussie version' of my diet!
I'm so excited! How are you doing Kerry?
Kerry and I share room and later apartment at Venice Beach, Los Angeles, 1991.
We haven't met since then, but  I'm happy we can stay in touch.

Carrie was born in Sweden by an Australian mother. She returned to her roots for over a decade and fell in love with Nathan. Tomorrow it's three years since I attended  their wedding in breathtaking Bellonäs, Arjeplog.
Sunday we had dinner together.

At the front you can see my meal in the black shaker...
If you want to get result with the diet, you have to stick to the plan even with this in front of you:

Don't stay away from social activities were food is included.
Meeting good friends make dieting easier!

Weight loss since yesterday: 0.2 kilo makes 6.8 kilo in a week!

Day 6: surprise from down under!

7

Finally I got to see her!

My very dear friend Carrie.

Three years since last time at the wedding of her and Nathan in Bellonäs, Arjeplog.

They live in Australia.

I'm off for work.

You will here more about the Aussies tomorrow.

Weight loss since yesterday: 0.2 kilo.

 

Day 5: rest, recreation and great weight loss!

Red from a day in the sun and from the golden colors of the sunset.
If you want to lose weight, don't forget to rest! Of course you need to exercise to burn calories, but peace of mind is a key. When I'm stressed out I make bad decisions.
Eating can calm me down. Here in the summer paradise by the lake I can relax.
The summer in Luleå, Sweden, has so far been bad. Few days over 20 C. I still have not been swimming out door. I took a long walk in the forest last night. It's fabulous to be alone knowing the chances someone else is walking my path are small.

                                                  But there are traces of visitors.

The King of the forest,  the moose, I have met a few through the years biking to the lake.

When I was a child I used to play in the huge sand pit. I imagined  it was a desert.
It's fantastic to see how the trees has been growing back covering the giant wound of nature. It has become a valley.

Weight loss since yesterday: 0.8 kilos! Bike riding 20 km and the long walk had effect.

Day 4: dinner party with a starving chef!

Friday night and sons with friend are ready to 'pig-out'. I pretended I was working in a restaurant...Not my food. Long time ago I was actually  cooking in a place with the incredible  name 'Svensson'. It was located in Westberlin in the 80ies. I was preparing the Smörgåsbord, Swedish buffé. And the Christmas table full of traditional dishes. At the end the owner showed me how to cook a la carte. I worked hard, long hours for a low salary. One day I was fed up, put the knife down and left.
I have had a lot of use of the skills from Restaurant Svensson since then.
In my own Svensson/Turner kitchen with three sons hungry as wolfs, I used to fry in two pans at the same time to have space for all  the food they consumed. I am happy at least two of them love the dish I learned how to cook in Berlin,  Janssons frestelse, the temptation of Jansson.
I love cooking and I also love eating. Tonight I sat with a green soup the boys said looked like slime...I stay busy at home and am happy the diet are working so well in many ways.

Weight loss since yesterday :0.4 kilo (almost another pound)

Day 3: too good to be true!

Not often we turn on the light in the summer here in the land of the midnight sun...
July should bring us lovely bright nights in Luleå, close to the Arctic circle.

This summer is like no one before...
In the morning I was tanning.
At night it was raining...

The third day went by without hunger, headache or dizziness!
I just felt great! The sun was at last shining in Luleå and I spent time in my garden and a few hours of house cores indoor.
Is there going to be a back lash? This is too good  to be true!
I was looking  through the blog posts from January. On the fourth and fifth day I was really hungry. Will this happen this time as well? Back then I was on vlcd - diet,  less than 600 calories a day, this time is between 800-900. Still very little so the weight loss is guaranteed if I stick to the plan.

Weight loss from yesterday: 400 g, or for you Americans reading  this, almost a pound!

Day 2: dizzy day

 Yesterday I got dizzy around 2 PM. It lasted for a few hours. It happens the first few days.
I haven't felt much hunger. One advice I can give is to have your first meal as late as possible.  It's better to eat more frequently in the afternoon, at least it's my experience.
I have no cravings and I can handle the food of my son without cheating.
I'm on vacation until Monday and it's perfect to be able to rest and enjoy life but I also have a lot of energy for my to-do-list. It's much easier to do this diet in the summer as in the January as last time. My living space is extended to my garden where I right now can be happy under my roses!  I also can eat/drink outside. And go for a bike ride!

I almost forgot! 1.8 kilo since yesterday! I'm lucky! It's visible in my face!

Day 1: amazing loss of water!

My first shake of this challenge  ( the flavor banana, yummie!) I had at a coffee house of Luleå in company with my good friend Ulrika.
We spend almost three hours analyzing  what matters in life and we both can share things with each others that are embarrassing and our week spots. We are different in many ways but when digging deep, we share a whole lot of issues.
A good start of my three week diet! The result of day 1 at the end of this post.

I get many question how this diet works:

1. You need to be prepared.

This time I bought 21 days use of Modifast through their home page.
Last time I started with Nutrilett, one of the cheapest alternative in Sweden.
A box with 25 shakes for 179-209 SEK. You have five a day.
I am not so happy with the taste or texture. Very sweet. They have no soups, but I found Modifast at my local pharmacy. I spiced them up and it was a great meal in cold January.
This time I loaded up with 21 days use of Modifast through their home page. At store they are 145 each and I got them for 109 or less as I bought a packet.
Modifast you have four of each day, it's only 8 in a box so they are more expensive.
I love the variety. I have 14 product to choose from shakes, soups, pudding, porridge and pasta. It's really a challenge when you have to drink the same shake five times a day for five days and you don't really like it. Now I can compose my own daily menu after how I feel.

2. You also have to be mentally prepared.

Pick a date in advance. Preferable one when you have a day off, a weekend and don't plan too many activities. This will take it's tool.Let it be your priority number one.
It's quite a change to go from all you can eat to 800 calories a day.
You will be hungry, you need to pee a lot the first days (see the amazing result after 24 hours below!), you might feel weak, dizzy, have a headache. The first days are the worst.
 After almost a week you can get enormous cravings, and need strategies to not fall through. Distractions! Go biking, read a book, meet your friends, watch a movie.
Before you start make sure your you get rid of temptations in your fridge and cup board.
You don't want them there when the beast is whispering 'eat' from your shoulder...

3. You need to drink 2.5 liters of calorie free beverage.

Water is the best alternative. I fill up a bottle of a half liter and keep a good count.
If dehydrated you will get headache and dizzy. It's not worth it!

4. You have to say no!

To temptation of course but also to friends and family that want to eat dinner with you, hotel breakfast or BBQ. You will have so many possibilities in the future to eat.
Stay strict during this period even if you have to act impolite.

5. Enjoy the daily progress. Even if it's a little step this will keep you motivated.


In 24 hours I lost 3 kilos. Of course this comes from excessive fluid in my body.
Still nice to get rid of it and a motivation to keep fighting the over weight monster!
I will not count kilos I put on and lost again...
Since January I there for have lost 13,6 kilos!

Here I go again: fighting the weight monster

Almost exactly six month ago I battle my over weight with 30 days of VLCD-DIET.
The result was 12,9 kilos weight loss. I lost a few more kilos the upcoming months.
Summer with student party, friends birthday bash, BBQ and festival in town has been my worst enemy.
 Today the number of lost kilos since 1st of January is reduced to 10, 6...
Trying to analyze the out come I know for sure that I was good at keeping the weight the last months but to lazy, busy, not motivated enough to more weight loss.
The excuses are many, but when I organized my summer wardrobe the other day I was not satisfied with the view in the mirror while trying to figure out what to be worn this year.
I also hate the pain in my knee from biking that partly destroyed my party weekend when I was limping around instead of dancing.
I also have not keep my promise  to my oldest son, one of the most important reasons for me, or been beating the criminologist GW Persson who now hast lost more than 25 kilos in six month!

I'm now raising like the Fenix out of the ashes...
21 days of this time LCD-products, 800 calories a day, a variety of shakes, soups, porridge and even pasta will push the weight monster down.
I am very motivated! Join my journey, please be my support!