Shakes.

Much excitement to be had today. I weighed myself. I've been feeling pretty good all week, after taking a few days to adjust to the new diet. And the scales told me I've lost 1.5 kg since Saturday.

WOW!!!

Yay fucking me!

So, a quick rundown on the diet.

I'm doing celebrity slim. I didn't like the meal plan. So I tweaked it. Mostly because people lose weight on that diet without exercising, and I wasn't giving up my exercise. Did I say 'tweak'? I means to say 'I ripped it apart and made a new one'.

So the recommended diet is

• one shake for breakfast
• a low carb, low fat snack
• one shake for lunch
• a low carb, low fat snack
• a 'balanced' dinner (read: chicken/other lean meat and vege)
• a low carb, low fat snack.

But no fruit (small apples, small oranges, half a mango, half a cup of berries, pears and peaches, max 3 servings of each per week), no carbs (cereal bread, rice, pasta), max 6 eggs a week.

Now, I can do snacks. I love snacks. That type of eating plan is what I live for. But I can't do the no fruit and no cereal thing. Especially since I went out and bought a stack of fruit that was on the 'naughty list', and 2 boxes of breakfast cereal. Plus I figured that since I was exercising I needed the extras, I could have them, so long as I was careful.

So what I tend to do is

• bowl of cereal for breakfast, with carb blocker and vitamins
• museli and yoghurt, or strawberries and yoghurt
• salad, chicken and veg, or sammich.
• apple on the walk from work to the train station
• fruit when I get home (a WHOLE mango or some melon). I need the boost for...
  
• GYM
• shake for dinner
• maybe some crackers with low fat tzatziki, or reduced fat avo dip for a snack.

I keep a meal and exercise diary too. It has an easy column to measure how much exercise you've had, how much water you've drunk, and you're fruit/vege intake per day. I drink about 2 litres of water a day. Very easy considering how much I sweat at the gym. And if I go to the gym late I skip the fruit when I get home, and have 'dinner' beforehand.

I should also point out that I have cut back on what I eat too. I used to have a snack as museli/yoghurt and fruit, and a big bowl of fruit salad when I got home from work. But I've dropped that.

The first few days on this diet gave me the most awful headache. And it absolutely fails if you're prone to boredom eating, so this weekend will be quite the test for me. But so far, I'd have to say this one is working quite well. I feel great. I really do.

Hmmm - that's a problem.

Had a PT session for this morning... upshot is that my trainer, M wants me to get checked out by the doctor coz she is worried about the whole getting dizzy thing. Apparently, it turns out that I'm not as unfit as I think I am and so that means that there might be something else going on.

So I just made an appointment for Saturday.

I'll let you know what happens.

Later.

This might be useful...

I found this on the "Better Homes and Gardens" pages of Channel 7's Yahoo website and thought it was worth passing on:

If you’ve tried to lose weight, but haven’t succeeded, it may be because your metabolism has slowed down. So, to finally lose those extra kilos, and to keep them off, follow these tips to give your metabolism a boost. And while exercise makes a big difference to your weight loss, you can also burn kilojoules while you rest by watching what and when you eat.

Don’t skip breakfast. The morning meal jump-starts your metabolism and helps prevent bingeing later in the day. A cup of coffee doesn’t count – the added sugar causes a mid-morning slump, making you more likely to overeat later. Morning foods that include complex carbohydrates like whole grains (oatmeal), along with a little protein and low-fat yoghurt and milk, will maintain energy levels and keep your hunger in check.

Eat more often. Get in the habit of eating every 3-4 hours, or at least four times a day. Eating frequently helps stabilise your blood sugar levels, so they don’t plummet and make you want to overeat. Regular meals also help keep your body’s metabolic rate from falling. When you go a long time without nourishment, your body compensates by slowing down to conserve energy, and this can hurt weight-loss efforts.

Opt for protein at every meal. Protein helps reduce your appetite, takes more energy to digest, and also makes you feel full longer than eating carbohydrates alone. And recent studies suggest that eating more protein can help you lose weight – even without reducing the number of kilojoules. Try these easy choices: turkey on whole-wheat bread; hommus and pita; vegetables and chilli; fruit with a handful of nuts; or nutrition bars that contain at least 12 grams of protein.

Hold off on snacking. Many of us grab a snack for quick energy when we’re feeling tired. But don’t confuse fatigue with true hunger. Instead, go for a brisk walk. This will raise your heart rate and give you an energy boost. Follow it up with a big glass of water. If you’re still feeling hungry, opt for a healthy protein-and-carbs snack.

Consume enough for your body’s needs. Eating too little slows your body’s metabolism in the same way that eating infrequently does. If you want to lose weight, don’t slash your kilojoules intake too drastically. Instead, cut out the extras like soft drinks, cakes and sweets. Processed foods can be high in fat and kilojoules, but low in nutritional value, which means excess kilos will be stored as fat.

I know I'm going to be trying to follow the obvious stuff... like cutting back on the sweets and so forth (she says, stuffing another piece of chocolate in her mouth.)

But I'm determined. Things will change. I will do better, eat better, feel better and so on...

Trying somthing new

I'm trying meal replacement shakes. For one meal per day. The plan prescribes 2 per day, no carbs, and works without exercise. I think that's bullshit because I'm at the gym pretty much daily. I choose to tweak the system, and have the shake for lunch, or for dinner after the gym when I don't feel like cooking.

I had a shake for munch today. And was freaking hungry, so I followed it up with a snack of 4 crackers and a tin of low fat tuna. And a large banana.

We'll see how it goes.

Quick Ramble

So I haven't posted in a few weeks. My bad! I've been pretty stable the past two weeks, and have dropped a (tiny) bit this last week. But I feel good. Last week I kind of went 'fuckkit' and had a few relaxed diet days. And DAYAM they were good. I had chocolate. A whole Summer Roll to myself, and a pack of Choc Oranges! And sushi (rice = carbs), and salmon (oily fish). Things I would normally have as a treat. I just ate because I could. And I needed a protein hit, so I also had bacon (lean, obviously) and eggs for dinner after the gym one night.

And I only went to the gym four times this week too. Monday's workout was short but intense! It was great. Wednesday I did half a session of cardio and then a body balance class. Thursday was PT. And it left Monday for dead. So I didn't spend as much time working out as I normally would. I must have done about 40% workout time. But it worked. Somehow. And even though I ate crap, I still managed to drop weight.

The highlight of my week - catching a view of my thigh in the mirror as I walked past (obviously nekkid) and going back for a second look. Its beginning to look toned! Its still big, just not as jiggly as it was.

Goal Reached!

Ok. So in my first post I said there were a few things I wanted. Well, among them was to fit into my old jeans. Appropriately. Well, I'm wearing them now!

I'm going to work extra hard this week and I'm aiming to be at 90 kg by this time next week.

I think I'll be living on soup and salads.

Kangaroo and Veg Broth.

1x pack French onion soup
1x pack chicken noodle soup
500g marinated Kangaroo meat (or beef strips if Roo not available)
1x large onion (2x small)
3x sticks celery (with leaves)
1x capsicum
2x carrots
1x tin baby corn
1x broccoli stalk

Bring 2L of water to boil. Add both packets of soup, Reduce heat to simmer. Dice meat finely and add to water. Add drained corn and coarsely chopped onion, celery, capsicum, broccoli stalk and peeled carrots. Finely chop celery leaves and add to pot as well. Fresh parsley and oregano can also be finely chopped and added for extra flavor.

Simmer until meat is cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tip: Kangaroo meat is notoriously tough, and very flavorsome. Cooking it in soup tenderizes it, and it gives an amazing flavor to the broth.

Low Fat Creamy Pumpkin Soup

1x large butternut pumpkin
1x pack chicken noodle soup
1x tin low fat coconut milk

Bring approx 2L water to boil and add soup mix. Chop pumpkin into squares. Add to pot. Reduce heat to a slow boil and cover for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Pumpkin will turn to mush as it cooks. When the sop has reached a desired consistency, add coconut milk.

Tip: If desired, double the amount of soup packets and coconut cream. Add a cup of caramelised onion for a sweeter kick.