Diet Update: Day 8

After a full week of dieting, it was time to weigh myself this morning. Full of trepidation, I stepped onto the scales. I hardly wanted to look down, so sure that I probably hadn't even lost the two pounds I was aiming for. But I took a little peek and was surprised to see that I have actually lost seven pounds! A whole half of a stone!

I'm a little stunned, though I'm not sure why. I have been eating well and exercising every day. I am still sticking to a goal of two pounds per week as I don't expect this kind of loss every week. So my hope is that, next week, I will weigh, at most, 10st 5lbs. Of course, it would be nice to lose a little more than that...

Diet Desperation

It's Day 6 of my diet and I must confess that I think I've gone a little far with it. On Thursday evening, I had a really nasty headache. According to the Tony Ferguson guide, this is to be expected due to the massive change in diet. So I took a painkiller and tried to ignore it.

Yesterday, I cooked sausages, cabbage and broccoli for dinner. As the kitchen began to heat up, the headache returned but I also felt almost nauseous and a quite light headed. The Other Half suggested I have an apple just to boost my energy until dinner was ready. I resisted at first, unwilling to take on any extra calories. But after a few minutes, it became almost impossible to concentrate and so I relented and ate an apple while cooking dinner.

As I was washing up after dinner, it struck me that what had happened was not normal and not healthy. It reminded me of a ridiculous diet during my teens, where I basically starved myself and lost far too much weight. I almost fainted a few times but no matter how much my friends told me that I needed more food, I wouldn't eat more than a piece of fruit or maybe a slice of toast. It became an obsession.

I must not let that happen again. I have realised that my self esteem has actually dropped to about where it was back then. I must keep reminding myself that I want to be healthy and a healthy weight, not just skinny. I need energy to look after my Little Monster, to look after the house and to look after myself. It's all too easy to become fixated on weight loss. I'm glad I had this realisation at this point. After finishing the washing up last night, I had a low fat packet of crisps and didn't even feel guilty afterwards. The diet isn't over but I'm going to calm things down a bit. My health is not really suffering from my weight but it will suffer badly if I don't eat enough.

So on with the diet...but in a healthy manner!

A day indoors

The bad weather that is affecting much of the UK has made it too difficult to leave the house today. The wind is very strong here, I have never seen a tree as large as the one outside my window bending to the extent that it is. I am slightly concerned that it might come down, although I don't think it would fall towards our building. 

So today will be spent indoors. The Little Monster doesn't seem to mind. She's currently watching her Sing and Sign DVD and loudly joining in with the songs. I am still pondering what to do with the day. At first, I considered clearing out the kitchen drawers but that would mean bags of rubbish left about the house until the Other Half arrives home after work. I considered craft activities but we did painting yesterday and the Little Monster was not very enthusiastic. In fact, it ended in a huge tantrum, leaving me rather unwilling to try again so soon. 

Usually I would think this to be the perfect weather for baking but, since I'm on a diet, that's not a very good idea either. I'm rather tempted to have a bit of a lazy day. Nothing actually needs to be done and it would give me an opportunity to work on my writing. I could get out the Little Monster's tent for her to play with. That should keep her happy for at least an hour or two. This sounds like a good plan, at least for this morning. 

It is now day five of my diet and it is still going well. I have stuck to all the rules, despite feeling a little unwell last night with a nasty headache. There was a great temptation to have something salty and savoury and fattening but I resisted and had an apple instead. I made a delicious vegetable omelette for dinner with aubergine, cabbage, tomato and garlic. I took inspiration from a recipe on the Tony Ferguson website but changed some of the ingredients as the Other Half finds the smell of cooking onion and pepper nauseating. I will save cooking the proper version for a lunchtime next week so that the smell has time to dissipate before he arrives home. This morning we were running a little low on bread so I had low fat cereal with skimmed milk for breakfast, rather than my usual plain wholegrain toast topped with tomatoes. I have not decided what to have for breakfast yet. I think perhaps some stir fried vegetables. There is enough bread left for the Little Monster to have cheese and tomato on toast. 

Diet Update: Day 4

This morning I felt quite well motivated. I had my tomato on wholemeal toast for breakfast and a banana for my mid morning snack. I had been looking forward to finishing the soup I made yesterday but it neither looked nor smelt very nice so had to be disposed of. Now my only option is salad and I really don't fancy it. In a while, hunger may change my mind. For now, I look forward to a couple of apples for my mid afternoon snack and a lovely vegetable omelette for dinner later.

I'm going to do my workout this afternoon. Hopefully completing it will bring back the motivation of this morning. I really hope some progress has been made when I weigh myself next Monday. I am hoping for at least a two pound loss but anything would be good and a bit extra would be great.

Diet Update - Day 3

Three days into my diet and I'm doing reasonably well. On Monday night, the Other Half wanted pizza for dinner. I did not have the willpower to argue. But, rather than my usual thick based, meaty choice, I chose a thin crust with chicken breast and loads of vegetables. So while it wasn't the healthiest dinner, at least I made it as healthy as possible!

I've been sticking to tomatoes on dry wholemeal toast for breakfast and salad for lunch. It's boring and doesn't really fill me up but while I'm munching through all the greenery, I try to keep in mind that it's going to help me shed some weight. I skipped my workout on Monday and Tuesday just because I did not have the time but I was on my feet for a lot of the day so I must have burnt a few calories. I have just done my workout this morning. My Little Monster shouted "You did it Mummy! Well done" when I was finished. It's nice to have my own personal little cheerleader!

I've also been sticking to mid morning and mid afternoon fruit snacks. Last night's dinner was Shepard's Pie made with a tiny amount of potato on top, bulked out with low fat soft cheese rather than milk and butter, and loads of vegetables inside. It tasted lovely and we'll be having it again at the weekend. We might even try a vegetarian substitute for the beef. 

I weighed myself on Monday and was a little shocked. I thought I weighed about ten and a half stone, which isn't exactly good anyway. No, I actually weigh eleven stone. That's an extra half a stone to lose! With the aim of losing two pounds per week, I should reach my goal weight of nine stone in fourteen weeks. Hopefully if I keep working out as well, I should be a bit less wobbly too.