Maybe it's not the best idea to start a diet the week of Easter?
So I decided I'd try this crazy strict diet for the first three days of eating healthier - kinda like a cleanse - and then just be more sensible with food from there. I adjusted it a little though. Cos it's crazy strict. I don't know how anyone could actually follow this without collapsing from low blood sugars. Cos I almost did on the first day before I adjusted it.*
So I had fruit, yoghurt and nuts for breakfast, a bland chicken stew (chicken with veges) for lunch (made from chicken breast for low fat hence the bland) and the eggs and salad as suggested for dinner. I ended up having hummus and grainy crackers as a snack - and fruit or carrots if still hungry. The morning lemon cleanser was easy as I already do that - but I decided to halve the green tea night time quotient as my bladder was unlikely to let me get any sleep if I had a litre of tea between 6pm and bedtime.
That was totally doable (and non-collapsable).
Then after that first three days I just had normal meals - but cut gluten and red meat and continued with healthy snacks and that awesome breakfast (with the addition of a little muesli) and not snacking after dinner. And it wasn't that hard. I loved the breakfast. The lunch was bland, but filling and healthy and whilst dinner sounds simple I honestly really enjoyed it. And whilst it would get boring if I had to have it every day, I could totally rock it twice a week no problems.
And then BANG. It was Easter Weekend. And working bee at the bach. And our anniversary. And two children's Easter egg hunts. And Abby's birthday - all in the space of one long weekend.
So I kinda fell off the wagon.
One thing I can say is that I didn't go too crazy. I did eat chocolate and snack foods and eating after dinner. But I also did lots of walking and lugging and laying mulch at the working bee. So I figured it (almost) balanced out. And at Abby's birthday party whilst I did snack and eat things with gluten again, I wasn't crazy. Like, I didn't eat an entire bag of crackers or chips (or even half a bag) which I probably would have previously.
So I can't really complain about only losing 500 grams. I'm pretty sure I usually gain weight over Easter, so honestly, I'm pretty happy.
The best part of this diet so far is the massive increase in fruits and vegetables. That can't be a bad thing. I've also cut my coffee consumption down from daily to weekends and just occasionally during the week. And my energy levels are fine - I needed coffee less than I thought I did**! And starting the day ticking off two out of five servings of fruit or veges just feels really good - both physically and psychologically.
The worst part of this diet is the cost. Truly - it ain't cheap. Just looking at breakfast my daily cost has gone from about $1.00 (coffee and toast) to about $2.30. And whilst dinner is probably cheaper, lunch is also dearer. It's mostly the nuts, the proteins and the yoghurt - natural nuts are damned expensive! Fruit, not so much - but the cost in time of ensuring there is fresh fruit and salad veges available for me each day is definitely an adjustment.
But hopefully, it'll just become a habit.
Because I like my new breakfast. And I'm really enjoying rediscovering salad. I've always liked salad, but I've always been lazy at making salad. Because opening a bag of mescalin or baby spinach is just not enough - I want something tasty. In doing this diet thing, I've realised I can actually whip up a really tasty green salad in under 5 minutes - and it's totally worth it. Because filling up on salad means I eat less high calorie low nutrition food. And that's what I need to do at the moment.
And fingers crossed I do it a bit better this week. With no Easter maybe I can drop another two butters...
* Not a problem for me cos I don't need to lose 10 pounds in one week anyway. Actually, no-one does. Well, maybe people on The Biggest Loser, but not regular people. Cos that's quite extreme weight loss. So not really very sustainable. And probably not very healthy.
** Probably what I actually needed was just better nutrition...
So I only lost 1 butter this week. Oh well, only 9 to go!
So I decided I'd try this crazy strict diet for the first three days of eating healthier - kinda like a cleanse - and then just be more sensible with food from there. I adjusted it a little though. Cos it's crazy strict. I don't know how anyone could actually follow this without collapsing from low blood sugars. Cos I almost did on the first day before I adjusted it.*
So I had fruit, yoghurt and nuts for breakfast, a bland chicken stew (chicken with veges) for lunch (made from chicken breast for low fat hence the bland) and the eggs and salad as suggested for dinner. I ended up having hummus and grainy crackers as a snack - and fruit or carrots if still hungry. The morning lemon cleanser was easy as I already do that - but I decided to halve the green tea night time quotient as my bladder was unlikely to let me get any sleep if I had a litre of tea between 6pm and bedtime.
That was totally doable (and non-collapsable).
Then after that first three days I just had normal meals - but cut gluten and red meat and continued with healthy snacks and that awesome breakfast (with the addition of a little muesli) and not snacking after dinner. And it wasn't that hard. I loved the breakfast. The lunch was bland, but filling and healthy and whilst dinner sounds simple I honestly really enjoyed it. And whilst it would get boring if I had to have it every day, I could totally rock it twice a week no problems.
And then BANG. It was Easter Weekend. And working bee at the bach. And our anniversary. And two children's Easter egg hunts. And Abby's birthday - all in the space of one long weekend.
So I kinda fell off the wagon.
One thing I can say is that I didn't go too crazy. I did eat chocolate and snack foods and eating after dinner. But I also did lots of walking and lugging and laying mulch at the working bee. So I figured it (almost) balanced out. And at Abby's birthday party whilst I did snack and eat things with gluten again, I wasn't crazy. Like, I didn't eat an entire bag of crackers or chips (or even half a bag) which I probably would have previously.
So I can't really complain about only losing 500 grams. I'm pretty sure I usually gain weight over Easter, so honestly, I'm pretty happy.
The best part of this diet so far is the massive increase in fruits and vegetables. That can't be a bad thing. I've also cut my coffee consumption down from daily to weekends and just occasionally during the week. And my energy levels are fine - I needed coffee less than I thought I did**! And starting the day ticking off two out of five servings of fruit or veges just feels really good - both physically and psychologically.
The worst part of this diet is the cost. Truly - it ain't cheap. Just looking at breakfast my daily cost has gone from about $1.00 (coffee and toast) to about $2.30. And whilst dinner is probably cheaper, lunch is also dearer. It's mostly the nuts, the proteins and the yoghurt - natural nuts are damned expensive! Fruit, not so much - but the cost in time of ensuring there is fresh fruit and salad veges available for me each day is definitely an adjustment.
But hopefully, it'll just become a habit.
Because I like my new breakfast. And I'm really enjoying rediscovering salad. I've always liked salad, but I've always been lazy at making salad. Because opening a bag of mescalin or baby spinach is just not enough - I want something tasty. In doing this diet thing, I've realised I can actually whip up a really tasty green salad in under 5 minutes - and it's totally worth it. Because filling up on salad means I eat less high calorie low nutrition food. And that's what I need to do at the moment.And fingers crossed I do it a bit better this week. With no Easter maybe I can drop another two butters...
* Not a problem for me cos I don't need to lose 10 pounds in one week anyway. Actually, no-one does. Well, maybe people on The Biggest Loser, but not regular people. Cos that's quite extreme weight loss. So not really very sustainable. And probably not very healthy.
** Probably what I actually needed was just better nutrition...
No comments:
Post a Comment