Day Fifty Three

I’ve been missing in action for the last few days due to a migraine which left me pretty much bed-ridden. I wasn’t really eating during this time, although I did have a couple of protein shakes to keep me going. This means that I also haven’t been to the gym either, but I’ll be up and at it first thing tomorrow morning.

Yesterday I felt a little better, which was good as I was due at Alice Cooper’s Halloween Night of Fear which I really couldn’t have done in the midst of a migraine. I still didn’t have much to eat though during the day, once again sticking to protein shakes (my full size stash of raspberry ripple has arrived – yes I know I wasn’t going to order but I was weak), and even after a few extra strong mints my carb total for the day only just made double figures.

Today has been a bitty day due to having to make do with what is left in my kitchen (it’s pay day tomorrow and I will be shopping for a new stock of food after the gym). I had some smoked mackerel fillets for a late breakfast, with a chocolate mint protein shake for lunch/mid afternoon snack and pork stroganoff with a large salad for dinner.   

I was feeling the need for something a little more carby having seen a lot of posts and photos on Facebook about roast dinners (roast spuds and Yorkshire pudding *nom nom*) and so I decided to have a go at one of Bee’s recipes for some cheesy garlic bread. It seemed okay to begin with, but the ‘bread’ (made with ground almonds) fell apart when I tried to get it off the cake tin base, even though I had greased it. I completed the recipe which involved sandwiching garlic butter and cheese between the two layers of the almond bread and then re-baking until the cheese melts and had a little with my dinner, but although it fills the carb craving, it wasn’t really to my taste and has left me feeling a little bloated (although not as much as eating spuds etc. would have done). However, as these recipes go it is fairly low in carbs and I shall freeze the other portions to have with meals when a desire for something a little carby hits. A dessert of the pumpkin tart filling rounds out my food for the day.

I've no idea whether I'm going to have lost weight this week. I don't feel as if I have, but carb-wise it's been a pretty low week so all things being equal there should be a loss.

Today’s exercise:  Nothing but cooking - my feet are killing me after last night

Carb's Eaten: 28.2G

Exercising to: Ghostly films for Halloween

Weight Loss = 1 stone

Inch Loss = 12.5 inches

Mood: Lethargic

Day Forty Eight

Yep, I know, I’m late again. I didn’t get a chance to post last night after the gym.

I had my power plate workout with Siobhan, which was a real challenge this week after she discovered I wasn’t aching like crazy last week. I also had time to do a little warm up and cool down session before heading for the pool where I swam sixty lengths. I’ve discovered that when you don’t have to stop every thirty seconds to adjust the headphones I Am Kloot make just as good swimming music as everything else which is good news as I do love listening to them.

Today’s food was gluten free sausages and buttered eggs, with (finally) the leek, ham and blue cheese pie for lunch. And after the mega workout I had a lovely kebab. Even with the huge carb count of the leek pie I had managed to stay within my limit for the day...until I met my friend for a cup of tea – the milk put me just over the limit.

Today’s exercise:  Bike = 10 mins; Stretching = 10 mins; Power plate = 25 mins; Cross Trainer = 5 mins;  Bike = 5 mins; Stretching = 10 mins;  Swimming = 60 lengths

Carb's Eaten: 30.9G

Exercising to: Various swim tracks

Weight Loss = 1 stone

Inch Loss = 12.5 inches

Mood: Knackered

Day Forty Seven

I was up nice and early for the gym this morning but unfortunately my gym clothes that I’d washed yesterday weren’t quite dry and I had to wait until they had been through the tumble dryer. I thought this might ruin my chances of a decent workout, but as it’s the school holidays none of the girls from the college were there and all the machines were free.

The seated arm bike is still broken, which is a pain as I’m having huge problems with the standing version, mainly because I’m too short to reach the buttons on the screen and keep the thing turning at the same time. Having had to restart four times, I gave up in frustration.

As anticipated I had gained one pound when I weighed myself this morning, but considering the last few days that’s not really too much of a surprise. I just have to keep plugging away, knowing that sometimes I am going to go over my daily limit and not beat myself up about it, but at the same time, not completely derail myself for days or weeks on end.

I made a quick trip to Asda on the way home, which stocked me up with enough fresh vegetables to get me through to payday.

Breakfast was ham, cream cheese and avocado roll ups before settling down to some work. For lunch I had a ham, cheese and mushroom omelette (I’ve just realised this seems a bit samey) and for dinner, my new favourite as it’s so easy to cook, pork stroganoff with buttered vegetables. I’m a bit confused because I bought some asparagus at the shops, but can’t find it anywhere. No idea where that went.

Having tasted the pumpkin tart again this evening, I decided I really don’t like the base and so I scraped the topping off and put it into little dishes which I’ve frozen. No idea if it’s supposed to freeze, but I guess we’ll find out.

I’m a bit disappointed with another of the recipes from The Low Carb Gourmet book actually. I made the basil pesto to the exact recipe and froze it, as recommended, in an ice cube tray (although there wasn’t really enough for a full tray), but on checking today it seems the ingredients have separated rather than stayed mixed up. Not sure if this will make any difference when I use it, I’m hoping not, but as this separation wasn’t mentioned in the recipe I’m a little disappointed by it.

Off now to get ready for work tomorrow. As always lots to get sorted before I go to bed.     

Today’s exercise:  Bike = 10 mins; Stretching = 10 mins; Treadmill/weights = 10 mins; Cross Trainer = 10 mins;  Standing Arm Bike = 4 mins; Bike = 10 mins; Arc Trainer = 7 mins; Bike = 5 mins; Stretching = 10 mins;  Swimming = 20 lengths

Carb's Eaten: 29.3G

Exercising to: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J K Rowling read by Stephen Fry (UK Edition)/ Various swim tracks

Weight Loss = 1 stone

Inch Loss = 12.5 inches

Mood: Tired

Day Forty Six

I am having trouble being anything other than lethargic today so I haven’t done much. I did spend some time making pesto before the basil became unusable and sorted out the remaining pumpkin, but apart from that I haven’t really done anything at all apart from catch up with friends on the computer.

For breakfast I had some prosciutto and a couple of Babybel cheddars, followed a little later by a chocolate orange protein shake (which I liked least out of all the flavours I got). For lunch I had a ham and parmesan cheese omelette and for dinner I had lamb loin steaks with buttered cabbage, asparagus and mangetout and some cheesy leeks. I followed this with a piece of the pumpkin tart I spent all that time making yesterday.

I have to say that although I love the pumpkin filling, I wasn’t at all keen on the base. I’d much rather just have the filling as a type of mousse on its own. Admittedly, it didn’t have the gallons of whipped cream on the top as specified in the recipe, but I don’t think the cream would have improved the flavour of the base. If I make it again, and with the amount of pumpkin puree I have, I could easily, I’ll probably make a pumpkin flavoured cheesecake instead, using a recipe from Bee’s IPD cookbook, as I think that would work quite well.

I have measured myself today and have lost a few more inches from my major wobbly bits, bringing my total inch loss (over my whole body) to 12 ½ inches. I’m guessing that I’m not going to have lost weight this week due to the alcohol and the sweet stuff, but at least there’s been inch loss, which hopefully will sustain me.

Today’s exercise:  Not a thing

Carb's Eaten: 26.1G

Exercising to: Lemony Snicket - A Series of Unfortunate Events - Book 2: The Reptile Room 

Weight Loss = 1 stone 1 pound

Inch Loss = 12.5 inches

Mood: Hugely Lethargic

Day Forty Five

Late again due to an evening out with the girls, watching a band that one of my friends plays in. I ended the day a little over my carb maximum due to a few glasses of wine, but it actually came in lower than I was expecting, so all’s good.

Started the day with ham, cream cheese and avocado roll ups while I flicked through my new cookery book, which isn’t quite as exciting as I’d hoped as it has no pictures. The recipes seem okay, but I do like a picture to inspire me. I shall go through it in greater detail when I get a bit more time.

Most of the day was spent cooking – making the pumpkin tart to be specific. It is a hugely time consuming endeavour, although it smells, looks and tastes yummy (I haven’t actually eaten any of it yet, just tasted as I cooked). I don’t think I whisked the egg whites for quite long enough so it’s taking a lot longer to set than mentioned in the book, but I can wait.

I have loads of pumpkin left over which I’m not quite sure what to do with. I’m thinking about making a soup with some of it and freezing the rest for later use.

Lunch was the usual picky prosciutto and cheese as I was too busy with the tart to cook anything and because I was having an early dinner due to going out. Dinner was pork stroganoff with buttered green vegetables.

Today’s exercise:  Nothing much apart from moving around while cooking

Carb's Eaten: 33.4G

Exercising to: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events - Book 1: The Bad Beginning

Weight Loss = 1 stone 1 pound

Inch Loss = 7.5 inches

Mood: Motivated

Day Forty Four

Although I was still feeling a little achy, I dragged myself out of bed this morning to make sure I got to the gym before the college girls. At 6.30am I started my workout, and managed to do most of it without being held up by lack of equipment, but the hand bike (which is my chance to sit down without pedalling for a few minutes so is almost a rest) is broken and I had to use the standing Arm bike instead which always gives me a backache. My foot was still hurting (I still have no idea what I did to it) and half way through my second bike session I could feel my knee playing up too, so I cut short the workout and did a longer swim session instead as this puts less stress on my joints.

I have come to the conclusion that my ears are just too small for the Splashgear’s headphones as I just can’t get them to stay on over my ears. I have had more success with keeping the buds in my ear canal though. After another frustrating swim yesterday (it’s very off-putting keep having to stop to put the headphones back over my ears and the buds back into them at the end of every lap) I decided to have a look at E-Bay to see if I could get some different waterproof headphones. There were others which I may consider if I can’t get this ear thing sorted, but one of the pairs I looked at explained that the buds stay in the ear better due to being extra long. When I examined the accessories that came with my MP3 player I found some extra long buds (strange that they weren’t fitted automatically). Having put these on instead, there was a massive improvement – apart from the small ear thing.  

Breakfast was the same as yesterday, bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes mainly because I wanted to use up the bacon, having forgotten last week. Lunch was the usual mix of Babybel cheddars and prosciutto and some wafer thin ham. I had intended to have leek, ham and blue cheese pie for dinner which is a recipe from the IPD Cookbook that I made many times when I was following this way of eating before, but when I did my now imperative ingredient count on Fitday I discovered that this dish contains a whopping 24 grams of carbs per portion – and that was using small leeks instead of the large ones specified. Even making it four portions rather than the three stated still brings the carb count in at 18 grams per portion which is even higher than the moussaka.

To be fair none of the recipes in this book have been given an official carb count so at least it isn’t intentionally misrepresenting the carb amount like the other book, but I really can’t see how this dish can be easily fitted into a diet where 30 grams of carbs is the maximum limit, unless you’re sticking to the whey protein shakes or something for the other meals. Certainly there was no way I could have the pie (and the buttered Savoy cabbage that goes with it) after the cooked breakfast and so instead I had a sirloin steak in a creamy mushroom sauce with a large mixed salad and creamy salad dressing and have frozen the cooked pie in portions for later use on a day when I’ve carefully worked out the carbs.

I have also been cooking pumpkin in readiness for making a pumpkin tart - which amazingly not only has the same amount of carbs in my calculation as it says in the book (although some of the other figures are way out), but also contains over 7 grams of carbs less per portion than the leek, ham and blue cheese pie!

With all this cooking I was still quite hungry after dinner and so had a whey protein shake (velvety vanilla – which was okay but a bit boring for my taste) which has successfully filled me up.

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

Carb's Eaten: 25.3G

Exercising to: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J K Rowling read by Stephen Fry (UK Edition)/ Wizard Rock

Weight Loss = 1 stone 1 pound

Inch Loss = 7.5 inches

Mood: Tired and fed up

Day Forty Three

I was a little late getting up this morning which meant I didn’t get to the gym until just gone 7am. Unfortunately this really mucked up my workout as the college girls were on some of my equipment, and other machines weren’t working. I did eventually manage to get most of the workout completed, but it took longer than normal and I didn’t have my usual mojo, partially because of the equipment and partially because I forgot to take my headphones and couldn’t listen to my book whilst training. I did try to use the waterproof ones, but I couldn’t get them to stay in (as ever) and the lead was a bit too short to reach my arm as they’re designed to clip to goggles or a swimming costume. Also my foot was still playing up, which didn’t help.

I was hungry still this morning so had bacon and scrambled eggs with mushrooms and tomatoes for breakfast. By lunchtime I had a backache to go with my hurting feet and a headache and wasn’t too hungry so I just had some prosciutto before heading for a nap. However, I think I left it a bit late to cook dinner, as I was starving again and although I had a lovely meal of tarragon chicken in a lemon cream sauce with buttered cabbage, mangetout and asparagus with some courgette bake added to bring my carbs into the green zone, I still felt the need for a little something afterwards, so I had some chocolate cream with, later, a couple of pieces of cheese as a late night snack.

I’ve noticed that since the weather has got colder my desire for a salad has been seriously decreased which means I shall need to buy a whole load more vegetables when I go shopping next as I’ve not really bothered with them much so far. I may also look into making things like stews which will be nice and filling and warming too.

I ordered another cook book today, 500 Low Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender to give myself yet more options for meals. It has some good reviews and I’m hoping it’ll have some different stuff for me to make. I see she also has a low carb slow cooker book too, so if her recipes are okay I might get that as well and finally make some use of my virgin slow cooker that’s been hanging around my cupboard for forever.

Today’s exercise:  Bike = 10 mins; Stretching = 10 mins; Treadmill/weights = 10 mins; Cross Trainer = 10 mins;  Bike = 10 mins; Arc Trainer = 5 mins; Bike = 6 mins; Stretching = 10 mins; Swimming = 20 lengths

Carb's Eaten: 29G

Exercising to: Dodgy gym music and some cracking wizard rock in the pool

Weight Loss = 1 stone 1 pound

Inch Loss = 7.5 inches

Mood: Achy

Day Forty Two

Ooops, I've just realised that I didn't post this last night, I'd left it in draft form. So another late post I'm afraid.

Tiredness last night meant that today’s food was not at all well thought out and because of this my carb count for the day is over the 30 gram maximum. I’m just hoping that yesterday’s low count evens it out and it doesn’t affect my weight loss.

Breakfast was ham, Philadelphia cheese and avocado roll ups, but as I was so late I didn’t have a chance to make them last night and instead just grabbed the ingredients and took them into work with me. Lunch was moussaka, and because I was tired and had forgotten just how high carb that dish was, I put some of the (also high carb) courgette bake with it. By the time I’d added some mangetout and asparagus (which I put in a microwave steamer bag with some butter) to the meal I was already just over my daily limit. It did taste lovely, but it was a huge amount of carbs for one meal. Unfortunately, today is a hungry day so I need to eat more food. I’ve had some prosciutto and a couple of bits of cheese and some wafer thin ham (all of which are fine carb-wise) but I’m still hungry so I’m going to have protein shake – milk chocolate tonight (which was okay but not very chocolatey) and this is going to put me further over.

I'm not going to beat myself up about it though as I obviously need the food, and tomorrow I'll be back to my usual lower carb meals. Anyway, I'm not at the maximum for the two days, so hopefully it won't make a difference.

Today’s exercise:  Just a bit of walking

Carb's Eaten: 34.4G

Exercising to: Listening to my IPod

Weight Loss = 1 stone 1 pound

Inch Loss = 7.5 inches

Mood: 

Day Forty One

Sorry, another late post. By the time I got back from the gym last night, had something to eat and sorted out my washing it was almost time for bed and I was too tired to journal.

Breakfast was gluten free sausages with buttery eggs and lunch was a piece of the pizza quiche with a large mixed salad and creamy salad dressing. I was too tired to get my usual post-workout kebab this week so instead had a protein shake, some prosciutto and some cheese. The shake was cookies and cream, the flavour that had been out of stock and had held up my order, which had turned up in the post and I wasn’t awfully keen on it. It was drinkable, but I doubt I would ever buy any more of it. This meant I didn’t quite make the minimum carb amount for the day, but I wasn’t hungry so didn’t feel the need to have a yoghurt or anything to boost the carbs.

The power plate workout was different again from last week’s session. This week included press ups, squats and curls and twisting while holding a bar plus some weight work. It wasn’t as intense as last time, but I can still feel it, especially in my abs, today. It was a little difficult at points as my foot has started hurting, for no discernable reason which made some of the exercises a little difficult, but I managed to get through it.

I then went for a swim with my Splashgear mp3 player and completed fifty laps of the pool before having a nice relax in the hot tub and the steam room. I am still having a problem with the headphones, but I assume the more I wear them the easier it will get to put them in properly. Good music for swimming is Muse, My Chemical Romance, Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance, Ministry of Magic, The Libertines, and punk songs like Magazine’s Shot by Both Sides and Jim Carroll’s People Who Died – anything with a bit of a beat really. Not so good are the slower songs – as much as I adore I Am Kloot they really aren’t great to swim to, although they’re fine for relaxing in the hot tub to.

Today’s exercise:  Bike = 2 mins; Power Plate = 20 mins; Bike = 5 mins; Swimming = 50 lengths

Carb's Eaten: 19.7G

Exercising to: Siobhan's nagging and power-swim tunes

Weight Loss = 1 stone 1 pound

Inch Loss = 7.5 inches

Mood: Shattered and aching

Day Forty

It’s weigh-in day today and I’m pleased to announce that I’ve lost another three pounds, which now brings my total to one stone and one pound – I’ve broken the stone barrier!

I had my programme check with Siobhan this morning and discovered that she hadn’t set the heart rate limits that were worrying me so much – that was done by Kemsley and apparently don’t match the programme she devised at all. We had a good work out and my heart rate stayed between 109 and 111 for the whole time which is definitely an improvement on my previous rates. To counteract my having to walk so slowly on the treadmill Siobhan added some weights and turned up the speed which really helped.

I finally made it to the supermarket where I stocked up on all sorts of goodies including some yummy pumpkin for a Halloween treat for myself – a low carb pumpkin pie. Back home and I had the toffee fudge protein shake (which was okay, but not one I’d probably bother buying again – raspberry is still my fav) followed a little later by some prosciutto and a couple of bits of cheese. Dinner was pork stroganoff with a large mixed salad and some creamy salad dressing and also a small piece of steak that was spare in the pack that I split after shopping.

Short one tonight as I have to go get my food sorted for tomorrow and pack my bags and I only have a few minutes left before I need to get to bed.

Today’s exercise:  Bike = 10 mins; Stretching = 10 mins; Treadmill = 10 mins; Cross Trainer = 10 mins;  Armbike = 10 mins; Bike = 10 mins; Stretching = 10 mins; Swimming = 20 lengths

Carb's Eaten: 25.7G

Exercising to: Siobhan's Dulcet tones

Weight Loss = 1 stone 1 pound

Inch Loss = 7.5 inches

Mood: Tired

Day Thirty Nine

Having surveyed my fridge I decided I could last one more day without having to go shopping as I’m feeling a bit lethargic (and I hate going shopping on Sundays as its always so damn busy).

Breakfast was the chocolate mint whey protein shake with soya milk which was more minty than chocolatey, but still lovely (yep, was addicted to mint milkshakes too). Yes, I know I said I was only going to have them once or twice a week, but firstly I didn’t really have much choice as available food is pretty low and I would have had to have had the H&B shake instead which doesn’t taste as nice (especially without cream to give it a little oomph and disguise the taste of the soya milk) and secondly, I am trying them all out so I know which one(s) to order full sizes of. Also as they actually have less carbs than the H&B flavours and work out a little cheaper too it makes more sense to stick to having them as it gives me a little sweet treat without expending carbs and doesn’t seem to have pushed me into craving other sweet foods and none of them give me the feeling of nausea that I get with the H&B one. However, if they make me stall then I’ll reconsider, plus I need to use the rest of the H&B anyway so once I’ve tried all the flavours I’ll go back to using that.

I’ve cooked the courgette, sour cream and cheese bake from the Low Carb Gourmet book, which is a bit strange and looks nothing like I was expecting as it’s all blended together, a bit like a baked version of cauliflower mash. I am now wondering whether I could make my own version with layered courgettes and leeks (I used these instead of spring onions as I didn’t have any) covered in a creamy cheesy sauce and baked, which I think I might prefer to this recipe, although I haven’t tasted it yet so it might be delicious. I shall be having this later with a portion of faux shepherd’s pie and some buttered green beans and mangetout. Once again when I worked out the ingredients it came out at almost 4 grams of carbs a portion higher than the book stated (that was using her exact measurements, it was obviously then a little different again using leeks instead of spring onions). I therefore intend to recalculate all the recipes when I get a moment and put the true figures so I don’t get a surprise like last night’s again.  

Lunch was some gluten free sausages (which I rather overcooked as they were a bit crispy) with my last hard boiled egg all coated in a salad dressing that I made with the left over sour cream. This leaves me a little leeway for a few heavy carb extra strong mints this evening at the concert.         

Today’s exercise:  Nothing much to speak of except a little walking to the concert (it's Marc Almond in full chanteuse mode so there's not going to be a lot of dancing!)

Carb's Eaten: 25.3G

Exercising to: The brilliant Birmingham City winning their game and the F1 Grand Prix

Weight Loss = 12lbs

Inch Loss = 7.5

Mood: Lethargic

Day Thirty Eight

I really need to go shopping as my fridge is pretty bare, but I still had enough ingredients to make the moussaka from the Low Carb Gourmet book. Unfortunately, I hadn’t read it through properly and therefore didn’t spot that it takes nearly four hours to make as you have to let it cool down at one stage and then bake for an hour (and then you have to wait at least ten minutes before cutting). For this reason I am not going to be having my dinner until gone 11pm, which isn’t ideal but is unavoidable. To add to this it actually works out as much higher in carbs than I’d anticipated (having put the exact ingredients stated in the book into Fitday the portions actually contain over 3 ½ grams more carbs per portion than the book states) - which shows why you need to calculate the ingredients yourself rather than take what is printed as read. Annoyingly, with the other stuff I’ve eaten today this will take me over my carb allowance for the day. Yet again there is nothing I can do about this as it’s too late to start trying to find something else to eat now. I have to admit it does smell really lovely though!

I didn’t have the Greek yoghurt last night in the end, but I did have it for breakfast as I had nothing else suitable available. Unfortunately this is sufficiently carby to have helped push me over – as were the slice of aubergine that didn’t get used in the moussaka and a small amount (approximately ¼ pint) of butternut squash soup that I also made whilst I was cooking the moussaka (this was the left over from two portions that I froze for later). I still haven’t yet managed to work out the carb content of butternut squash soup, so it’s a guess, but I don’t think I’d be far wrong with what I put down.

I had been intending to make a courgette bake too as I do still have the ingredients for that, but with the moussaka taking so long I ran out time. I may have a go tomorrow if I get a chance, although I really need to go shopping and I am going out in the evening.

I have also had quite a bit of cheese today as this is about the only thing left in my fridge and it was Alex James’ Best Ever Cheddar which is absolutely lovely and is very low in carbs even for cheese. However, cheese has very few carbs so doesn’t really count in the great scheme of things. The other thing I had today was one of the new whey protein shakes made with soya milk and a tablespoon of double cream.

You might be surprised to hear that although I ordered all those lovely chocolatey flavours, I haven’t actually tried any of them yet. Last night’s shake was the banana cream (I used to be a banana Nesquick addict) and it was really nice, although not as strong flavoured as the milkshake. Today I tried the Raspberry Ripple, which was so wonderful (and almost exactly like raspberry Crusha – yep, I was an addict for that as well) that I almost immediately jumped on the computer and ordered the full size version. However, I managed to stop myself from ordering as I think I need to wait until I’ve tried them all before I decide which one to buy 5lbs of.

Today’s exercise:  Housework, cooking and farming (on the computer)

Carb's Eaten: 31.6G

Exercising to: Old creature features and NCIS (I love me a bit of Jethro Gibbs!)

Weight Loss = 12lbs

Inch Loss = 7.5

Mood: Hungry!

Day Thirty Seven

I was feeling much better this morning so had no problems getting out of bed to get to the gym for 6.15am. Although still a little tired, I no longer ached and was eager to get back to working out after two days away. The work out started off pretty well, and I am no longer worrying about my higher heart rate (although it does seem to have decreased somewhat as I was averaging between 108-111 most of the time which is better than the 118-122 it was when I first did it).

However, about two thirds of the way through my session, one of the other regulars came to talk to me about how I was doing and started asking me all sorts of advice about diet etc. (like I’m the big diet guru!) She told me that although she’s been working out twice a day in the gym and swimming, she’s not been losing any weight at all. After further discussion I discovered that she is also following a very low calorie diet – and has done for years (the lady is in her sixties) and that most days she doesn’t seem to eat more than about 1,200 calories. I told her she was probably eating too little for the amount of exercise she’s doing and her body is in starvation mode, storing its meagre stores of fat rather than burning them off. She told me that she’d been told the same thing by some health group thing that she does and had been recommended to increase her carbs. I explained that after so many years of being so strictly low calorie she’s going to find it hard, but she could change it gradually by doing things like having normal yoghurts instead of diet ones and having some mayonnaise (even diet) on her salad. Just changing these few things would add a few more calories and she could build up over time. I did agree to lend her a copy of the pink bible so she could see my eating plan as she was interested in that (mainly because I've lost weight with it I think), but I don’t think she’ll be able to get her head round it after decades of skimmed milk and no salad dressings etc. and she’ll be better off just trying to add some carbs and protein into her diet to increase the calories.

Unfortunately, this talk put me off my stride with the work out (and also put my timings quite seriously out) and I found it hard to get back into the rhythm, so eventually I gave up and headed for the swimming pool to test out my new MP3 player.

And I’m pleased to report it’s pretty good. Actually, if I’m honest it’s a brilliant bit of kit with a really nice sound, although I need to see if I can put a playlist on there as I spent ages putting tracks on the player in the order I wanted, but when I came to listen it only played the I Am Kloot tracks (not really a criticism), so I’m guessing without a playlist it plays everything in alphabetical order which isn’t what I want (I generally like to listen to random tracks from across my collection rather than a bunch of tracks by one artist). Also the waterproof headphones are those ones that hook over your ear and my ears seem to be a bit small so I was having trouble keeping the headphones on and in my ear. It wasn’t too bad when I swam breaststroke as that’s quite sedate and I obviously don’t move my head much, but every time I did the crawl they were dislodged by the end of the lap which I found a little annoying and yet again put me off my stride. By the end of the swim I had managed to keep them in my ears and do the crawl as well, so it’s just a case of fiddling around with them until I get them to fit, and it was lovely to be able to drift away and relax in the hot tub afterwards with some soothing music.

I am sure Mrs H3 will be disappointed to hear that I didn’t wear the goggles and swimming cap which came with the player and are absolutely neon pink.

Back home to breakfast of smoked salmon, cream cheese and avocado roll ups with a cup of rooibos and vanilla tea, followed a little later by some prosciutto and a couple of pieces of cheese. Lunch was a late meal at the pub after I finished work – my usual Wexford steak and salad (I remembered to not have the onion rings this week) with which I had one glass of Pinot Grigio and several large glasses of soda water.

My protein shakes arrived this afternoon and so I am now the owner of two each of the trial samples of the following flavours: raspberry ripple; velvet vanilla; banana cream; toffee fudge; chocolate mint; milk chocolate and chocolate orange. I am intending to give the banana one a try shortly whilst I prepare my dinner which will be pork and mushrooms in a creamy mustard sauce with salad (I need to go shopping as I’ve run out of vegetables and just about everything else). If I am still feeling peckish after all that I shall have one of my Greek yoghurts as this will still put me within the carb limit for the day. I think this is how this way of eating is supposed to work – lots of lovely food, although my carb percentage ratio is still far too low so I shall have to do work on doing something about that as it only makes up about 4% of my total and it should be about 10%.

I think I am obviously making up for not wanting or having much to eat yesterday!

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

Carb's Eaten: 22.8G (I didn't have the yoghurt in the end)

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

Weight Loss = 12lbs

Inch Loss = 7.5

Mood: Alert

Day Thirty Six

Apologies for being late yet again, but yesterday was a very strange day and I just didn’t have the time or the inclination to post.

Even though I had an early night on Wednesday I just couldn’t manage to drag myself out of bed this morning. Although the alarm did go off at 5.20am and then every ten minutes after that for about another hour or so, I really was feeling absolutely dead and didn’t finally get out of bed until almost 9.30am.  When I did finally emerge I still wasn’t feeling quite right, not ill exactly but completely fatigued with a headache to top it off. In fact it was the worst I’ve felt since I started this way of eating and exercising.

Maybe if I say that I only managed to have 14.6 grams of carbs today, and that included a glass of wine and some nibbles (including a chocolate) from a jewellery party I went to at my friend’s house in the evening, you’ll get an idea of just how bad I was feeling. Although I did manage to get my day’s work done, as soon as it was finished I went straight back to bed for a few more hours sleep, knowing that I needed to go out last night. And whilst I did make it to the party, I was by no means the life and soul.

So food yesterday comprised of gluten free sausages and creamy, buttery egg for breakfast, followed by lunch of prosciutto and a couple of pieces of cheese. Still not hungry and not feeling at all right I made myself a sweet protein shake with cocoa and splenda in hopes that it would give me a boost. At the party I had some cocktail sausages, some salted peanuts and, as I said before a chocolate seashell and a glass of Merlot.

My Splashgear MP3 player arrived this morning and so I spent a while adding songs to it whilst charging it up so I can use it tomorrow. I was also expecting to receive the whey protein powder that I ordered yesterday as I had paid for next day delivery, but when I looked at my order on the site it appeared that it hadn’t even been sent.

A phone call to customer services at MyProtein.com put me through to a lovely man called Adam, who was very apologetic about the order not going and set off to find out why. It turned out that one of the flavours I’d ordered wasn’t in stock and so they’d held my order up whilst waiting for it to come in. To be honest I was a bit peeved that they hadn’t bothered to notify me that there was a problem, but eventually it was agreed that they would send the powder they had and follow up with the missing ones once they came back into stock. I’m hoping this means that they’ll arrive tomorrow now.  

Today’s exercise:  Finding it hard to even move!

Carb's Eaten: 14.6g

Exercising to: Silence needed and gratefully accepted

Weight Loss = 12lbs

Inch Loss = 7.5 inches

Mood: Fatigued