sheepish hello

hello!

Ok so I have neglected this blog for a couple of months now... initially from a sense of euphoria that I didn't have to lose quite as much as I thought- cue my 360 health assessment at Nuffield health who said I only need to lose about 22kgs-  but then subsequently because I have been injured as a result of over training, I have had to take over a month's rest. I developed tendonitis over the top of my foot and it's been a very long and slow recovery...so, inevitably between the lack of exercise and the lack of focus and motivation my weight has steadily been creeping up. Back to where I started. Again.

But as many of you tell me, this is a journey, not just a means to an end and in the spirit of that philosophy I have decided to pick my self up and get back on that pony now that my foot has started to mend.

Quite by chance I stumbled upon the fast diet or 5:2 diet.... 5 days feast 2 days famine. I'm going to give it a try. I've not been bought by the science but there seems to be quite a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest that there may be more to the theory that we aren't designed for grazing 16 hours a day, every day of our lives. A few people I know have mentioned that they have lost significant amounts of weight on this diet, and you certainly can tell that they are a lot smaller. The thing is I didn't think that they needed to lose weight to begin with so clearly the diet works by finding that "hidden fat" and eviscerating it!

The basic concept of the diet is that you fast by limiting your calorie intake to no more than 600 calories for men, 500 for women on your fast days and you can chose to either eat them all in one go or divide them over 2 meals. I've opted for the latter. Today is my first day of fasting and all things considered it's been alright so far. I had 145g smoked salmon for breakfast and have only drunk herbal teas, water and a coke zero all day. Later this evening I had a small supper and will now fast until breakfast tomorrow. And that's it, until day two - Wednesday- and then no more until next week. Let's see how this goes.

My intake today:
145 g smoked salmon: 170 calories
150g pork tenderloin: 204 calories
1 medium onion: 45 calories
80g broccoli : 30 calories
100g Cauliflower: 25calories
7 g butter: 50 calories
200ml stock: 20 calories

Total calories: 544

Riso nero and salmon Wednesday

Before launching into my next recipe, and lest I forget that this blog is about keeping me motivated on my weightwatchers diet plan, I think it only fair that I give an update on what's been happening on the DIEt..

Yep DIEt... I hate the word, I realised, because amongst other thing, it contains the word die... an apt description of people's reaction to the plan by week 3! I know that of the diets WeightWatchers is the most sensible and the one most likely to succeed in the long run. Its results may not be immediately apparent but it slowly retrains your attitude towards food. It doesn't mean that its easy though.

As I mentioned a couple of posts back, I have lost weight, I'm now down to 131.5kg but it has not shifted from there for a few days now. Admittedly I've had some corkers! yesterday was our team lunch, the snow has prevented our shopping from being delivered (yes 2 inches of snow has brought the mighty Ocado to its knees) and our car was ice bound so we've been living on supplies. Some of which were not exactly the healthiest choices I could have made- i.e. peanut butter on toast with jam. To top it all off I woke up with a cold today and it's settled in my chest so now I'm feeling sorry for myself, I didn't go swimming (although I made it to pilates) and I'm unlikely to run tomorrow. Woe is me!

So to cheer everyone up here's what I cooked for our main meal tonight... It is healthy with only 2 table spoons of olive oil.

The Salmon:
1 teaspoons of manuka honey
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
2 (260g) pieces salmon fillet, skin removed

Mix together the honey, lemon juice and mustard. Heat a non-stick griddle  pan until hot but not smoking and cook salmon 3 minutes on each side, or until it is just cooked through.  Add sauce mixture to the pan and simmer until it glazes. Remove from the pan and serve with Italian black rice and mushrooms and mange tout.

The Riso Nero e funghi (black rice and mushrooms):
120g of Italian riso venere (black rice). Note this is not wild rice, this is rice, but it is black on the outside.
350g closed cup mushrooms
2 Portobello mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
1 medium red onion
1 celery stalk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cube porcini mushroom stock
parsley and chili to taste

To cook the black rice, simply add to abundant boiling water with a pinch of salt. This is not risotto rice so it must be cooked independently of the mushrooms and added at the end of the cooking.  The rice has to boil for about 35-40 minutes, until it is cooked through but it must not become soft and mushy. Once cooked drain the excess water and leave to rest. Chop the onion and celery and sauté in a pan  with the oil, chili and garlic until caramelised. In the meantime steam the chopped mushrooms in the microwave and preserve the juice. Add the mushrooms to the onions and celery, let them complete the cooking. add the juice from the steamer, the stock cube, the rice and the parsley. Let the rice absorb the remaining juice and leave it to rest while you cook the salmon.

Day 8: first week down successfully

So today is day 8. I weighed myself today... 132.6 kg or 291.7lbs I lost just under  a kilo and half  or 2.8 lbs.

However, crucially, my muscle mass has gone up from 34.2% to 34.4%  while my fat ratio has gone down from 31.4% to 31.2%. Small numbers, maybe... but given that I'm not starving myself. I am sticking to Weight Watchers, which is not designed to get you to drop  drastic numbers in a short space of time, I think I'm doing ok.

Importantly I've stuck to my exercise goals, having exercised at least 4 times last week, 5 if you count Wednesday as a double whammy of Pilates and swimming.

What about the goals I set?

"So what's the plan...
1. Start up with weightwatchers: check!
2. Run at least 20-25km a week... tomorrow I start with my first 5.
3. Go back to swimming weekly
4. Do at least 2 sessions of weight training a week ( Tuesdays and Thursdays)
5. Update this blog"
1. Check.
2. not so well here.. I did 9km so under half of what I wanted to achieve but in my defence my ankle was playing up. Tonight, I ran 4km so am slowly working back up to 5km runs.
3. Check
4. Hmm I skipped Thursday but I did Tuesday so half a check.
5. Check- not quite everyday, I do have a life, but frequently enough!

Today's dishes....




ProPoints™ Tracker entries

Monday, January 14, 2013

Breakfast
40  g Oats, Porridge	4
1  portion(s) Blueberries	0
125  ml British 1% Fat Milk	1
Subtotal	5
Lunch
1  medium Apple	0
Bobotie	15
Subtotal	15
Dinner
200  g Beef, Fillet Steak, Lean, Grilled	9
1  small Swede	0
1 1/2 whole Beetroot	0
8  individual Tomatoes, Cherry	0
2  medium Satsumas	0
1  teaspoons Oil, Olive	1
5  g Olive Oil Spread	1
75  ml Wine, Red	2
Subtotal	13
Any Time
1  medium Banana	0
Subtotal	0
Food ProPoints values total used	33
Food ProPoints values remaining	26
Activity
No entries for activity.
Activity ProPoints values earned	0
Check off these important items daily:
Liquids          Milk & Dairy     Fruit & Vegetables          Healthy Oil

Notes

 

© 2013 Weight Watchers International, Inc. © 2013 WeightWatchers.com, Inc. All rights reserved. WEIGHT WATCHERS and ProPoints® are the registered trade marks of Weight Watchers International, Inc. and are used under licence by Weight Watchers UK Limited and WeightWatchers.co.uk Limited.

   

Day 4: An exploration in the art of breathing

Who would have thought that way in which you inhale and exhale determines the successfulness of an activity. Today I did 2 separate classes, both of which hung on the precipice of success or failure solely on account of the way you perform this often overlooked everyday action: "breath in and breath out"!

I decided to try out Pilates. First time... I felt like a sack of potatoes rolling about the floor trying to remember to breath out when performing a movement... made all the more embarrassing because my old boss from a different team was at that class too! Mercifully we get along and have maintained a good rapport. Still the indignity of doing a Pilates class with my big belly preventing full motion opposite Martin, a marathon runner,  will take some time to get over. Ho-Hum!

Then this evening I went swimming... I used to swim at school and while we used to compete against other schools and I remember being a strong swimmer, we weren't really taught technique. So for the last 3 months I have been attending weekly classes at Crystal Palace pools. Talk about unlearning and relearning. I'm still focusing on breathing techniques and rotation! maybe this time next year I'll get to swim a whole length!

On a different note, I know I should put pictures up of how I look now, to act as a visual reminder of size. I promise to get something up soon along with measurements!

As far as the diet is concerned.. still sticking to it rigorously and actually today wasn't too bad. I have a sneaky suspicion that a lot of satisfaction factor really does depend on what you have for breakfast. Today I had toast with peanut butter (4 level teaspoons) and jam... I didn't think about food until lunchtime! One thing is for sure, the key to success is moderation and not denial! the diary then.....






ProPoints™ Tracker entries

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Breakfast
2  slice(s) Finest Rustic Multigrain Loaf	6
4  teaspoons Organic Crunchy Peanut Butter	10
2  teaspoons Jam	3
1  medium Banana	0
50  ml British 1% Fat Milk	1
Subtotal	20
Lunch
1  tablespoons Oil, Olive	4
1  large Tomato	0
1  portion(s) Salad Vegetables with a ProPoints value of Zero	0
1  medium Spring Onions	0
1  medium Apple	0
6  serving(s) Florentin Organic Tamruc Falafel Bio	7
1  slice(s) Ham, Premium	1
Subtotal	12
Dinner
1  fillet(s) Fish, Salmon, Grilled	6
2  tablespoons Oil, Olive	8
1  serving(s) Italian Black Rice	7
4  medium Shallots	0
3  portion(s) Mushrooms	0
Subtotal	21
Any Time
1  medium Banana	0
20  g Roasted Garlic Flatbread	2
150  ml British 1% Fat Milk	2
1  portion(s) Beverages Cappuccino - Grande - Skimmed Milk	2
Subtotal	6
Food ProPoints values total used	59
Food ProPoints values remaining	0
Activity
60 min Swimming - low intensity	6
60 min Pilates	8
Activity ProPoints values earned	14
Check off these important items daily:
Liquids          Milk & Dairy     Fruit & Vegetables          Healthy Oil

Notes

 

© 2013 Weight Watchers International, Inc. © 2013 WeightWatchers.com, Inc. All rights reserved. WEIGHT WATCHERS and ProPoints® are the registered trade marks of Weight Watchers International, Inc. and are used under licence by Weight Watchers UK Limited and WeightWatchers.co.uk Limited.