Day Twenty Two

I managed to get a fairly decent night’s sleep even though it was so warm last night (and I even made it to bed before midnight, although it did take a while to get sleep), so I was up and at the gym for 6.15am. It was even busier today than earlier in the week, but getting there before the students meant that I did manage to get onto all the equipment today.

As I’m back at work next week I’ll be at the gym in the evening on Tuesday and Wednesday and so I’ll be restarting my Power Plate workouts (I can’t be doing with all that buzzing and vibration first thing in the morning - ooh-er missus!) and I’ll also be getting my current work out assessed and changed, with hopefully some new machines and maybe some proper weight training added (rather than the random stuff I've been doing on a sporadic basis). I am therefore trying to push myself as much as possible with my current workout – both in terms of time spent on each of the machines, but also the resistance and speed. I’ve definitely improved my fitness even if it still isn’t showing either in weight loss or inches.

It’s day two of the Psyllium tablets and I’m not sure they’re doing anything but filling me up; although maybe it takes a while to see a difference. I’m still having a problem with timings, but hoping that too will get easier as the time goes on.

Breakfast today was ham, avocado and Philadelphia (yes I went and bought some) roll ups. I was very hungry this morning, which may be due to the low amount of carbs consumed over the last two days so I ended up having double the amount of breakfast, although I don’t think this is a bad thing as it means that I’m actually going to be nicely above the minimum 20 grams of carbs today. Of course this meant I wasn’t hungry by lunchtime, especially after the second dose of psyllium, but I made myself have a protein shake to keep those carbs up. Dinner, once the last dose of psyllium has been ingested, will be pan fried salmon in a dill and lemon cream sauce with a mixed salad.    

     

Today’s exercise:  Bike = 10 mins; Stretching = 10 mins; Armbike = 10 mins; Treadmill = 10 mins; Standing Armbike = 5 mins; Arc Trainer = 10 mins; Bike = 10 mins; Swimming = 30 lengths

Carb's Eaten: 28.2G

Exercising to: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling read by StephenFry (UK Edition)

Weight Loss = 10lbs

Inch Loss = 0

Mood: Hot and bothered

Day Twenty One

I have to say that getting up this morning was a real battle considering I didn’t get to sleep until at least 2am. But although it was tough, I did manage to get to the gym by 7am.

The gym has been very busy recently as a group of students on a dance course down the road are coming in every morning before their classes start and they take up a lot of the machines that I usually use. This meant a slightly reduced work out on the machines today, although being so tired it was probably a good thing. A visit to Comet afterwards gave me my new snazzy blender (reduced by £30 so another bargain).

I was starving this morning so had a cooked breakfast – oak smoked back bacon, mushrooms, tomato and peppered scrambled egg – which I thoroughly enjoyed. I also began taking the psyllium husks today (it was agonising having to wait at least thirty minutes for my breakfast after taking the tablets when I was so hungry).

After a lunchtime nap, I had the usual prosciutto/ham/cheese combo, all I fancied after the second dose of psyllium.

I have just taken the third dose and have to admit that I’m still not feeling hungry. But today’s carbs are already miniscule so I need to bulk them a bit (although I’m still not going to make anywhere near 20 grams again). Dinner this evening will be lamb steaks with a mixed salad with some blue cheese salad dressing.

I am feeling achy and uncomfortable this evening. My feet and knees are sore and I seem to have pulled a muscle in my right shoulder/neck. I feel like a real crock!

     

Today’s exercise:  Bike = 10 mins; Stretching = 10 mins; Treadmill = 10 mins; Armbike = 10 mins; Arc Trainer = 7 mins; Standing Armbike = 5 mins; Swimming = 40 lengths

Carb's Eaten: 15.4G

Exercising to: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling read by StephenFry (UK Edition)

Weight Loss = 10lbs

Inch Loss = 0

Mood: Achy and old

Day Twenty

Sorry, I’m late with a posting again – once more due to going to a concert.

The day began a little later than normal due to a lack of sleep, but as I had the day off anyway it wasn’t too much of a problem. Got to the gym for 8am and spent a couple of hours doing the usual work out.

As expected there hasn’t been any change in my weight this week. Obviously this is a little disappointing but I’m trying to stay focussed and not be negative about it.

Having thought about it further I realise I was never going to lose weight last week considering the meals I’d eaten. Last time I followed this way of eating my freezer was in full working order and the higher carb meals like the chilli bake and butternut squash soup were made and frozen and I only had them once or twice a week at most. However, having run my freezer down to almost nothing before I went on holiday, I’ve not had the money to fill it up again and therefore when I made these recipes I had to eat them all in the same week, rather than spread it over a few weeks. The obvious thing to do would be to not make these higher carb dishes until I get my freezer going again but I need to have variety or I’ll end up getting bored. Hopefully with pay day coming up I’ll be able to get the freezer restocked and normal food service will resume. This also means that I’ll have a day of cooking where I make loads of stuff and freeze it, thus negating my almost daily battle with trying to get the urge to cook.

After the gym I nipped to Asda to get a few bits to last me until pay day. Unfortunately, I forgot to get some Philadelphia cheese which has become a bit of a mainstay of my breakfasts recently. I did, of course, remember to get some prosciutto.

I was also looking for a new blender for making my protein shakes as my smoothie maker has developed an annoying leak and the pouring spout handle has broken. Asda only had their own cheap label one which has had nothing but bad reviews, so I came away almost empty-handed – almost, because I did buy a new Brita water jug. I have been drinking a lot of sparkling water because I’m fed up of the taste of tap water and can’t quite bring myself to buy bottles of still water as it seems a waste. The water jug seemed like a good idea as it’ll filter my tap water – and it was reduced by £15, so was a bargain too.

It was when I got home and prepared my breakfast that I realised I’d forgotten the Philadelphia. So instead of the roll ups I’d intended I had a picky meal of cheese, prosciutto and some smoked salmon.

Not hungry (as usual) by the time I needed to eat before going out for the evening, I instead had a protein shake, knowing that it would at least keep me going for a few hours. But by the time I returned home at 1am I was starving, so made myself a quick cheese and mushroom omelette before heading off for another very late night.

So today’s carbs, even with the obligatory extra strong mints at the concert, are shamefully low. But at the moment I think I’d rather be under than over.

     

Today’s exercise:  Bike = 8 mins; Stretching = 10 mins; Treadmill = 10 mins; Armbike = 10 mins; Arc Trainer = 7 mins; Standing Armbike = 5 mins; Bike = 5 mins; Swimming = 20 lengths

Carb's Eaten: 15.6G

Exercising to: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling read by StephenFry (UK Edition)

Weight Loss = 10lbs

Inch Loss = 0

Mood: Trying to stay motivated

Day Nineteen

The gym clothes I’d washed yesterday hadn’t dried by this morning so despite getting up at 5am I didn’t actually get to the gym until 6.30am as I had to wait for the drier. As today is a work day I reduced my work out slightly so I would still finish and be home before 9am.

Breakfast was a protein shake with another litre of water and my vitamins – I’ve decided to start the psyllium after tomorrow’s weigh-in in case they have a negative effect (although I’m really not expecting to lose any weight this week after the mints and glass of wine which would have knocked me out of ketosis).

I’ve had a nagging headache all day, so took a couple of paracetamol before settling down for some work. By lunchtime I was feeling really rough so I had a quick snack of wafer thin ham and a couple of Babybel then went for a sleep.

Refreshed, although still somewhat headachy, I went back to work, stopping briefly at about 3pm for some chilli bake (served alone as I couldn’t be bothered to do anything to go with it). Dinner this evening was another chicken and smoked bacon salad with a little mayo.

Now I need to go sort out a menu for the next week so I can go shopping tomorrow morning after the gym as I’m almost out of food. And then I think it’s time to dig out the tape measure again.

Today’s exercise:  Bike = 10 mins; Armbike = 10 mins; Stretching = 10 mins; Treadmill = 5 mins; Standing Armbike = 5 mins; Arc Trainer = 6 mins; Bike = 4 mins; Swimming = 20 lengths

Carb's Eaten: 26.6G

Exercising to: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling read by StephenFry (UK Edition)

Weight Loss = 10lbs

Inch Loss = 0

Mood: Motivated

Day Eighteen

I slept until almost midday today after a very late night last night. Breakfast (or should it be brunch or lunch?), therefore, was some prosciutto and cheese and a litre of water along with my daily vitamins, which I’ve just realised I’ve never mentioned before.

Each day I take a huge cocktail of tablets usually just after my breakfast, along with a large glass of water. Not all of these tablets are for nutritional purposes, but most are. As a guide my daily intake of vitamins and minerals is as follows:

1 x A-Z Multivitamin and Minerals; 2 x Vitamin B Complex; 1 x Chromium; 1 x Co-Enzyme Q10; 1 x Vitamin D3; 3 x Glucosamine and Chondroitin; 1 x Milk Thistle; 1 x Omega 3 Fish Oil; 1 x Probiotic; 1 x Rosehip.

I am also considering taking Psyllium husk tablets, which are considered essential in the pink bible, but which I’ve never really bothered with before. However, I’m aware that my fibre intake isn’t huge without the carbs so I could probably do with a little help in that area. Putting me off are the instructions on the Holland & Barrett label which say that I should take two at least 30-60 minutes before a meal. But this isn’t the way I work with food. Very rarely do I think to myself that I’ll eat in 30 minutes or an hour or whatever. Usually I just realise I’m hungry and look at the time to see what would be an appropriate meal (or whether it’s an appropriate time) and go from there. I definitely don’t want to then have to wait another 30 minutes minimum for my food. Also, that seems like an awful lot of fibre tablets. Still, I’ll see how it goes.

Lunch was chicken and smoked streaky bacon with a rocket, avocado, cucumber and radish salad with a little parmesan cheese. I also had with it salad dressing made out of mayonnaise with a little double cream and some olive oil so that I followed the rule of saucing my salad.

Dinner this evening (a little late, but I’m only just feeling hungry) is going to be some of the chilli bake with buttered vegetables – spinach, courgette and asparagus.       

Today’s exercise:  Up and down to the washing machine and a bit of light housework

Carb's Eaten: 26.6G

Exercising to: TV

Weight Loss = 10lbs

Inch Loss = 0

Mood: Unmotivated

Day Seventeen

So Saturday was a strange day, mainly because it was the six month anniversary of my dad dying and my best friend and I were going to London in the afternoon to sprinkle his ashes in the Thames. Although I’d had a pretty late night I’d woken up early and hungry so I had a full cooked breakfast, with smoked back bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes. Unfortunately, this meant that I wasn’t very hungry at lunchtime, when I’d meant to have a big meal as I wasn’t sure how the evening was going to go. Instead I had a protein shake made with a measure of whey protein powder, a dessert spoon of smooth peanut butter, a dessert spoon of cream and 500 ml of unsweetened soya milk.  

After our London trip (which did include a couple of extra strong mints), I popped into the pub to catch up with some other friends and had my first alcoholic drink since my way of eating has changed. I had one glass of dry white wine, which I wasn’t really fussed about and also a large glass of soda water. The evening ended with a shish and doner kebab minus the pitta bread, eaten at my friend’s house with a lot of good conversation.

Today’s exercise:  A bit of walking round various parts of sunny old London

Carb's Eaten: 26.6G

Exercising to: Sing-along music in the car

Weight Loss = 10lbs

Inch Loss = 0

Mood: Sad

Day Sixteen

Once again I’m late in posting. This is because of a busy weekend with little time to spare for journal writing. But hopefully I’ll be back on track – for a few days at least.

Friday morning I was back at the gym. I did a good work out, but wasn’t quite as tough on myself as I could have been because I knew I was going to be doing some heavy lifting later in the day which was going to give me another one without even trying.

Back home to breakfast of ham, Philadelphia cheese and avocado and a cup of rooibos and vanilla tea, before spending the best part of two hours lugging rubbish down the stairs to my car and then to the tip. Once back I rested with a litre of sparkling water and the other lamb burgers in mushrooms that I made on Wednesday, served with a salad.

I was off to a gig in the evening so didn’t bother with dinner, just some snacky stuff – cheese and prosciutto etc. The addition of a few extra strong mints at the gig (a staple requirement for a rock and roll evening) and a spoonful of peanut butter as a late night snack brought my daily total to a middling, and very acceptable figure for the day.     

Today’s exercise:  Bike = 11 mins; Stretching = 10 mins; Arm Bike = 5 mins; Arc Trainer = 7 mins; Standing Arm Bike = 5 mins; Treadmill = 5 mins; Bike = 7 mins; Swimming = 20 lengths

Carb's Eaten: 26.9G

Exercising to: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling read by Stephen Fry (UK Edition)

Weight Loss = 10lbs

Inch Loss = 0

Mood: Motivated 

Day Fifteen

Today I had a bit of a lie in and gave the gym a miss. I was up really late last night following the tragic and unfair execution of Troy Davis in Georgia and really wasn’t in the mood to be up at 6am and exercising. Instead I had a leisurely breakfast of baked ham, Philadelphia and avocado roll ups with my now usual mug of tea before settling down to do some work.

For lunch I once again broke with tradition and actually ate a meal – the last of that rather lovely butternut squash soup with yet more bacon (almost crispy, but not quite).  Dinner tonight was Bee’s chilli bake with salad, which I was more than ready for.

Once again I am having a hungry evening and am not sure if yet again it is because of having three proper meals rather than just picking at lunch time. Also today, it could be because I haven’t drunk enough water. Although I have drunk a couple of litres today, usually I drink a litre at the gym and that extra amount is hard to make up when I’m not exercising. I ended up having some crème fraiche with cinnamon sugar (I need to go shopping and so available snacks are a bit low at this time of the week).  

So I have ended today well over the 30 gram limit, as both the soup and the chilli bake are high (in relative terms) in carbs. I’m not too worried though as it’s the first time I’ve really gone over the limit and having had a few days of being really under the limit it hopefully evens out. Also another session in the gym tomorrow morning should hopefully burn off the extra carbs, even though I am still trying to stay within the fat burning zone.  

Today’s exercise:  Nothing but fighting with my computer (up and down turning the power on and off again and again and...

Carb's Eaten: 53G

Exercising to: Very quiet day as I was needing to concentrate on the spreadsheet I was working on

Weight Loss = 10lbs

Inch Loss = 0

Mood: Motivated

Day Fourteen

Once again I’m late with posting, mainly because my computer is playing up big time and I haven’t got time at the moment to back everything up and reload all my software so it’s BSODing every fifteen minutes or so, which is incredibly frustrating.

Another day of leave for me during which I had intended to take all my rubbish to the tip and go shopping among other things, but rain stopped play (I do not like to get wet), so instead I ended up working. However, still managed to get up early enough to get to the gym for 6.15am where I had another good work out.

Breakfast was the rest of the sausages I didn’t eat yesterday with that lovely peppery, buttery, eggy mixture and a large mug of rooibos vanilla tea. I actually managed to have a proper lunch for a change, with the butternut squash soup topped with grated parmesan cheese and cut strips of streaky bacon (the recipe says it should be crumbled but I have discovered I am not very good at cooking bacon until it’s crumbly. The first attempt was so burnt it had to be thrown away and I managed to burn myself, the second, not cooked quite enough to crumble and so I had to cut it up instead).

For dinner I tried something new - a burger from Henry Harris’ gourmet high protein low carb regime book which I bought last time I low carbed, but never got round to actually using. His version uses veal, but that isn’t easily available in my area (at least not in my local Asda) so he suggests you could use lamb mince instead. The recipe uses egg yolks, which leaves me with a couple of whites that I don’t know what to do with – they are currently residing in my fridge awaiting inspiration to strike. The burgers were served in portabello mushrooms and topped with melted cheese (I used Alex James’ cheddar and mozzarella blankets, although it was a little mild for my taste – his cheeses are very low in carbs and taste absolutely wonderful). This was served with a mixed green salad and some coleslaw.

Interestingly, having three meals today seemed to spark my hunger as I found myself needing a snack later in the evening (this hasn’t really happened so far). And so I found myself having a late night snack of the last of my prosciutto.

I am having a problem calculating the butternut squash soup on Fitday, because it won’t give me a useful measure, but I am aware it’s quite carby and so today’s carbs go just over the maximum limit for Phase One (it’s amazing how many carbs herbs and spices contain!)

   

Today’s exercise:  Bike = 10 mins; Stretching = 10 mins; Arm Bike = 10 mins; Arc Trainer = 7 mins; Standing Arm Bike = 5 mins; Treadmill = 5 mins; Bike = 5 mins; Stretching = 10 mins; Swimming = 30 lengths

Carb's Eaten: 30.6G

Exercising to: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling read by Stephen Fry (UK Edition)

Weight Loss = 10lbs

Inch Loss = 0

Mood: Motivated

Day Thirteen

I had the day off today, but that didn’t stop me from getting up to get to the gym just after 6am. Elated by the news that I’ve lost another 5lbs this week, I had a good work out, a lovely swim and, with no need to worry about getting home for work, a long relax in the steam room and hot tub.

It occurs to me that having lost 10lbs in two weeks it seems like a lot of weight loss at too fast a pace, but I know this isn’t going to continue. Firstly, I need to lose a lot of weight, not just a stone or so, and so to begin with the weight will come off more easily than for those with only a few pounds to lose. Also I’m working on an intensive training programme which is going to aid the process more than if I was just doing the fifteen minute walk that the pink bible recommends. I had set my weight loss target at two stone by Christmas, which I still think may be realistic. Once my body gets used to the exercise and the change in eating, the loss will slow down and this target represents a loss of 2lbs a week. Obviously my target will change as my weight goes down.

So breakfast was gluten free sausages and peppered hard boiled eggs mashed into melted butter. As ever my intention to have a proper lunch was derailed by a lack of hunger and so I had the usual picky cheese/prosciutto combo. I have spent the evening cooking and so I now have some lovely butternut squash soup which I can have for lunch tomorrow. I also made Bee’s Chilli Bake, a great recipe from the IPD Cookbook, which includes a topping made of ground almonds, which is absolutely divine after almost two weeks without any bread etc. I haven’t had a chance to calculate the actual amount of carbs in this dish yet as I’ve been having huge problems with my computer, but it certainly puts me well into the carb zone for once. With this I had the usual avocado and radish salad, and also some homemade coleslaw with finely shredded white cabbage and a teaspoon of crème fraiche.

Today’s exercise:  Bike = 10 mins; Stretching = 10 mins; Treadmill = 10 mins; Arm Bike = 5 mins; Arc Trainer = 7 mins; Standing Arm Bike = 5 mins; Bike = 10 mins; Swimming = 30 lengths

Carb's Eaten: 26G

Exercising to: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling read by Stephen Fry (UK Edition)

Weight Loss = 10lbs

Inch Loss = 0

Mood: Happy 

Day Twelve

Back in the gym this morning. I didn’t quite make it for 6am, but it was close and once I was up and about had considerably more energy than I’ve had for the last few days. This was shown by the fact that I ended up swimming almost three times the amount I usually do.

Today I was determined to have three proper meals so that I ended up in the green carb-wise. Breakfast was bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes with a large mug of rooibos vanilla tea. But that nagging headache I was getting last week had returned by lunchtime so I went for a nap, always the best way of getting rid of it. Lunch therefore was late (and not really wanted) – I think if you’ve read any of my other posts you can probably guess what I had – yep prosciutto with some cheese - more a snack than a proper lunch I’m afraid. Dinner (which I really didn’t want, but needed otherwise my carbs were going to be at 6 grams or something) was a lovely pork stroganoff with an avocado salad. The recipe is an old favourite from one of the members on the Pig2Twig forum and I actually enjoyed it much more than I was expecting to given my lack of appetite. It was a little too greasy though as it’s cooked in olive oil. Next time I’ll cut back on that a bit. However, that still didn’t put me in the green, so I added some chocolate cream as a dessert, which did the trick.

I finally found the tape measure but it appears I haven’t lost any inches at all. I’m trying not to be disheartened about this as I know it will come eventually, but last time I was losing inches almost immediately. Tomorrow is weigh-in day, but I’m not sure how I’ve done. Maybe it’s because I’m full up from dinner, but I’m not feeling thin this week. I’m hoping the extra low carb days haven’t thrown me off track.

Today’s exercise:  Bike = 10 mins; Stretching = 10 minutes; Treadmill = 10 mins; Arm Bike = 5 mins; Arc Trainer = 5 mins; Standing Arm Bike = 5 mins; Swiss Ball and Weights = 5 mins; Swimming = 50 lengths

Carb's Eaten: 22G

Exercising to: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling read by Stephen Fry (UK Edition)

Weight Loss = 5lbs

Inch Loss = 0

Mood: Motivated

Day Eleven

I had another long sleep in today. I’m not sure where my energy has gone, but it’s definitely not around at the moment. This might be due to the extreme lack of carbs in my diet and from generally being at the lower end of the 30 gram limit, although the pink bible tells me that I should be leaping around with boundless enthusiasm and energy.

Today has been mainly spent watching television, washing up, and trying to sort out my poorly computer so little thought has been given to food. Prosciutto (of course – yes I’m addicted to the stuff) and some cheese served for a late breakfast and a few hours later when I finally got round to it a nice cooked brunch of bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes. Dinner was supposed to be the last of the faux shepherd’s pie, but I discovered it had gone mouldy (not really surprising after a week, although it was in a lock and lock box at the back of the fridge, so supposedly immune from the air). This has left me with a slight problem as I really can’t be bothered to start cooking anything now and I’m not very hungry anyway and the only snacky food I have in the house is low carb so for the second day running I’m not going to hit the minimum. In the end I went for smoked salmon, philly and avocado roll ups followed by some chocolate cream - in an effort to raise the carbs a bit - although it still didn't get me into the green zone. I just hope it doesn't throw my weight loss off course too much. Which reminds me that I need to find the tape measure still too.

Today’s exercise: Nothing much

Carb's Eaten: 16.8G

Exercising to: Film day today

Weight Loss = 5lbs

Inch Loss = 0

Mood: Strangely Neutral 

Day Ten

So I bet you thought I’d blow off the gym today didn’t you? Didn’t you? Come on, admit it, you know you did. And so did I briefly. After all, I do tend to be lazy at weekends and getting myself out of the house is always a problem. But I did make it there eventually. Once again I attempted to keep within the fat burning zone, which really is a struggle for me as in my overweight and under-fit state my heart automatically heads for the cardio zone without much provocation. However, I managed to do a good workout in a very quiet gym (people obviously have better things to do on a Saturday) and have a lovely relaxing swim afterwards.

Back home and it was time for breakfast (which was by then lunch as usual) but I wasn’t feeling too hungry so had the ever-easy to grab pack of prosciutto and a couple of Babybel cheddars before I headed for the pub to catch up with some friends that I hadn’t seen for a few weeks. Having just come from the gym and because I’m not supposed to drink anything for two weeks at the minimum, I eschewed any alcohol or any other type of drink for a couple of pints of soda water (I’m a very cheap date at the moment) and a packet of pork scratchings.  

Home again and I should have had a meal, but wasn’t feeling that hungry as it was too early in the day for dinner, so instead had some smoked salmon and Philadelphia cheese before I headed off for my concert, aware that I was probably going to need to eat later. Back from my concert I finally had a chance to eat the steak that I was supposed to have had earlier (I needed to eat it as it was on its use by date), but as I wasn’t that hungry and couldn’t be bothered to sort out a salad etc. at that time of night I just had the meat.

This scrappy approach to food left me severely under-carbed for the day, even with the use of some cream in a sauce on the steak – the final count only raised by the four extra strong mints I’d eaten during the concert (and they were 8 grams!)

Today’s exercise: Arm bike = 5 mins; Bike = 6 mins; Stretching = 10 minutes; Treadmill = 10 mins; Arm Bike = 5 mins; Arc Trainer = 6 mins; Standing Arm Bike = 5 mins; Bike = 5 mins; Swimming = 24 lengths

Carb's Eaten: 14.4G

Exercising to: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling read by Stephen Fry (UK Edition)

Weight Loss = 5lbs

Inch Loss = 0

Mood: Unhappy before the concert, happy afterwards