Day 7, Treat Day!!!

This week treat day hasn't been far from my mind. I have been harping on about it and now that it's here it seems to be a bit of a mixed bag of joy and sadness. Looking back on the week I see that I have consumed a lot of healthy-ish stuff, my veg intake has doubled and the eggs of Fenham have taken a beating. :) Now it's time to have that all important one day of gluttony.
This sounds easier than it actually turned out to be. Breakfast consisted of four slices of Best of Both bread with slightly salted butter and strawberry jam, half a bowl of red Alpen and a couple of cups of coffee. I was in sugar heaven. Until the sugar hit and then it wasn't very pleasant at all. Being almost sugar free for a whole 6 days means that when I had sugar it gave me an incredible buzz, but not in a good way. My heart thumped, my head rang and my hands shook! Not what I was expecting from my starch/sugar/junk food binge. It took ages to get over my morning sugar rush, and as my blood sugars levelled out the time swiftly approached lunch.

With slight dread I had round two of carb overload. The family had been swimming, which usually leaves one with an insane hunger, but I didn't feel hungry. In fact I felt pretty jittery still and in need of a bit of a lie down, but I had been dreaming of this day for DAYS now so I wasn't going to wimp out at the first hurdle. The diet says that you should use treat day to eat until you feel nauseous. On that I was already on my way to winning.
All week I had dreamt of my lunch being an all you can eat Chinese buffet. I had pictured myself at the counter, loading my plate up with little tasty morsels, then having two of every dessert on offer. It wasn't meant to be as Hubby wasn't willing to go down the buffet route. We headed home to some choice continental meats, sheep's cheese, Pringles and tiger bread. Another smallish high ensued.
I can see why people can become addicted to carbs. During tired slumps those sugary buzzes are great to get you through, but I can imagine still going for the buzz even when everything is hunky dory. And a high like that must take quite a toll on your body, making tiredness a certainty and creating a catch 22 situation. So treat day has been a bitter pill.
We went to KG's for a bit this afternoon. I was going to spend this time eating immense amounts of pasta, instead we headed over to the local cafe and had some pudding. Me and the 4 year old embarked on a raspberry and apple crumble. It was a majestic pud and well worth missing pasta-doom for.

For dinner I bought a huge Chinese takeaway meal. I bought it for the variety, not thinking about the size at all. The meal consisted of spare ribs in plum sauce, char sui in pineapple and ginger sauce with fried rice, house special chow mein and prawn crackers. When I got home I was pretty daunted by the idea of powering through this alone, so I was pretty happy when the rest of the family stepped up to the plate and helped out.
Now that the day is almost over I'm seeing it out with a cup of decaf tea and a huge pile of sweet mince pies and Marks and Spencer Belgian collection biscuits. I'm kind of glad that treat day is there for something to look forward to in a sea of steak and beans, but I'm also really happy that it only lasts 24 hours and I can go back to my clean eating and daydreaming about biscuits for another week.
Ha, so busy talking about the food from today I almost forgot to tell about how my body is doing. I have to say I haven't weighed myself yet, or taken measurements of my hips/waist/neck, but I do feel good. It shows in the lessened swell of my stomach, my jeans feeling a little loser, the breathlessness dissipating. I promise to get weighed tomorrow, to give some kind of indication as to how lardy I actually am. Promise.

Day 6

One more sleep till treat day! Today has been a busy one so I made sure to start the day on a couple of eggs. They were delicious! This time they were Waitrose eggs but I won't be making a habit of them as they are eggspensive. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Then from there it was off to get the Christmas tree.
The selection process and watching Paul lug the tree home with his gammy knee playing up staunched my appetite. After decorating the behemoth I finally worked up a hunger and a thirst. Paul popped out and got some lovely chicken strips, which I dusted in spices and fried with onions and garlic. When they came out of the pan I tossed some beans in there and made a gravy for them out of the pan caramelisation. I added a bit of chili to the mix and had a wonderful lunch. Paul didn't have beans but had a jacket potato instead. I reckon he missed out. For second lunch I had some of the leftover beans, they were even better the second time. I will definitely be making them again. For supper we had spiced mince with kidney beans. This is the first day that I haven't had any greens. I suppose I can change that by having a bit of spinach, but instead I'm going to have a large portion of fruit tomorrow to make up.
Treat day. Yes, it has been a constant companion this idea of treat day. Hopefully in time I'll get more and more full from all the protein I'm having and I won't be able to eat very much starchy stuff, until then I am going to hammer the carbs!
Today I went to the supermarket to stock up for tomorrow's food-a-thon. I shall update with all the gory details. For now I'm enjoying a couple of glasses of wine. That is another perk of this diet in that you can have red wine each evening, you can actually have most alcohol. The exceptions are white wine and beer, both known to give you a bit of a girth. So a bottle of Beaujolais has been popped and a movie is on. See you tomorrow with an update!

Day 5

Today I went to a wholesale green grocer just along the road for my house. I was amazed at the amount of eggs that were changing hands and for what price! Two trays of three dozen eggs, that's (counting on fingers) 72, for £3.70! I'm not sure what grade those eggs were but that is cheap. So I have found my fount of eggs to sustain the family through these protein rich times. I haven't been down there to see if they have free range/organic ones yet as the logistics of getting 72 eggs home whilst pushing a buggy or carrying a baby in a sling are a bit difficult.
Day five has been a bit smoother. It's like I still miss the carbs that I used to get through my daily slump, just that it isn't as important to me to stand at the snack cupboard and lust for hours. Just a jealous flash every now and then when the children are eating their breakfast. I think this lessening of cravings is due to the fact I'm full and pretty much sated off the veg, beans and meat I'm eating.
Breakfast today consisted of three egg whites, one yolk scrambled with a touch of soya sauce. I find the soya sauce keeps the scramble moist in the microwave. I had to head into the city for a spot f festive shopping so I was ravenous when I got home. I got really involved in cooking the families favourite soup, broccoli and rocket, that I waited even longer than usual for my lunch. In the end I had last nights left over curry sauce with chicken fillets. It was delicious! For second lunch I had chick peas and chorizo, which is becoming me run to meal during this diet, then for dinner I had poached egg and spinach. Drinks where three cups of coffee, two cups of classic Yogi tea (sugarless) and three glasses of water. I have to say that the addition of caffeine to this diet is a marvel. I am allowed as many sugar free drinks as I can manage, except for diet soda. You have to keep that to two a day because the sweeteners can stimulate weight gain. Coffee is much needed for a busy mum. Any parent of small children will tell you that sleep is at a premium and tiredness is abundant, so the daily boost of coffee can be a saviour. I have to admit that taking the coffee sugarless has been a step too far, I don't think I'd ever be able to do it, but since I have cut down my sugaring by half and I don't take milk or cream then I think that evens out a bit. We'll have to see if it evens out on my waistline.

Day 4

 Snow hell yesterday has left me tired and hungry today. I couldn't get up early enough so flapped out of the house without breakfast. A big mistake if you're carb deprived and you live in Fenham because everywhere you look there are tasty Asian sweet and pastry shops. My weakness at this time in the morning is for chicken rolls from Medina stores and gulab jammin from Fazals sweet shop. But thankfully there is a cafe at the school and I get myself some watery scrambled eggs.
The eggs do the job and I manage to get to a baby group. On the way back I'm inspired to get some king prawns and steak, make some 'surf and turf' for lunch, but on the back my food scheming led me to spicy prawns and black eyed peas for lunch, steak and egg for second lunch and a beef curry, made in the slow cooker, for dinner.
Did I say that Hubby is kind of following this diet too, but because he goes to the gym for an hour each day he hasn't cut out the white carbs all together, he just isn't having as many. He has happily eaten all that I have put in front of him, and even said that because of this diet he has tried foods that would normally be off limits, like chicken (he has a skittish disdain for chicken) and sweet potato mash.
Tomorrow is a new day and I am no longer just thinking of what to have on treat day (although the list is already pretty long and heavily carby) but what tasty low carb food can I have tomorrow?

Day 3

Starting to settle into this now, although there have been a few times I've found one of the kids biscuits almost making it into my mouth. But other than that I've settled into a bit of a routine. I had an egg for breakfast, chickpeas and chorizo for lunch, pork chop and mashed sweet potato for 2nd lunch and onion and garlic egg with hot sauce for dinner. To drink I've had three cups of coffee and a load of water. I still haven't ventured down the sugar free fizzy drinks route yet but it's good to know what i can have with my vodka on Saturday!
What is strange is the lack of dessert. I have noticed that I'm used to ending a meal on a sweet note. The sweet potato mash seemed to help with that and I felt a lot more satisfied. I have found a way to make the eggs a bit less off putting. the mistake I was making was just having scrambled eggs in large number a few times a day, now I have a scrambled egg for breakfast and a fritatta like egg patty with added veg and soy sauce. I whip this to within an inch of it's life so it's almost like a pancake. Helpful if you hit an eggy wall.
I feel like I have a lot more energy now that I'm a few days in, Monday and Tuesday I noticed a decline in my energy levels at 10:30 and 13:30, so much so that I had to have a 10 minute Nana nap on both days. Today I pushed through that slump quite easily and felt fresh on the school run.

Day 2

I can't stop thinking of treat day! If this is what the second day is like then what will I be like by the end of the week? Hubby also pointed out that in three days we will have gone through 24 eggs! That is a lot of eggs. Usually we would have that many in a month but with hubby and I are both having eggs at at least two meals each day. I can feel the effects on my body and I'm not sure that's in a good way. I wake up dizzy from dehydration and have a feeling of being stuffed most of the day. I guess that's all the protein I'm eating. Today I have eaten, 1 egg for breakfast, canellini beans and chickpeas with spinach and rocket for lunch, chicken and roasted veg for 2nd lunch, egg frittata (three eggs) with spinach and rocket and left over lunch beans for dinner, add to that my three cups of coffee. I am finding everything tasty but the smell off the eggs this evening made me feel a bit cockily. I might have to find a different way of getting my afternoon protein and save the egg for breakfast.
The hardest part of this so far has been feeding the kids. I have two daughters, one is 4 and one is 11 months. They eat a lot of high carb stuff such as cereal, bread and pasta. So far I have accidentally eaten a baby rice cake, the end of a Cadbury's finger and a couple of gnocchi. Each of those morsels tasted AMAZING! Ha.
So far treat day is going to have me hospitalised. My treat day list now includes,
Toast with jam
Crisps
Biscuits (Hubby brought home the most delicious looking M&S Belgian chocolate biscuits today. Groan.)
Cereal (Porridge, Alpen)
Pasta
Cakes (red velvet cupcakes, cinnabuns, all of the cakes)
Chinese meal.

Day 1

I chose today to be the start date out of a misplaced sense of excitement. I got Hubby on board, got all of my stocks in then realised that in three weeks or so it would be Christmas! Arrrgghh. That means I would have to wait a whole five weeks for all the revelry to subside and the diet to take shape. I was worried that the feeling of inspiration would evaporate the more time was left between the discovery of this new diet and the exacting it into my daily life. I confessed this to my husband, who quite nonchalantly said, well do it till Christmas, do your best over the holidays then go for it big style again in the new year. Thank goodness for his reasoning. I would never have come up with that by myself.

Today's starter breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs with chopped up spinach. I have to admit that the absence of toast was noted, and the brioche and teacake my daughters were having registered greater in my conscience than usual, but other than that I felt satisfied. So satisfied that I thought I'd walk the mile and a half into the city to do a spot of Christmas shopping.

A bad move on day one really, as I think I depleted all of my energy stores. I was wiped out by the time I got home, and could have quite happily curled into a ball and snoozed the afternoon away, if only I hadn't been so hungry! For Lunch1 i had borlotti beans with chorizo and spinach, lunch2 was rib steak with beans and steamed veg and dinner was omelet with rocket and spinach, topped with broccoli. Yawn? Not so far. With the clever introduction of spices I have been able to make this days food tasty. A bit of chili flakes here, a dash of nutmeg there and the whole thing taste great. There has been one concern though. This amount of protein can make you constipated. Really constipated. This is a major worry for me. Until this experiment gets into full swing we just won't know the extent of how bad for your movements this diet is.

So today I have had 6 eggs, half a steak, a bag of spinach, half a bag of rocket, a broccoli head and a third of a chorizo ring. Not really a huge amount but I feel full. Actually I feel stuffed. However I have been spending my waking moments day dreaming about what dirty food stuffs I'm going to gorge on on Sunday (treat day). So far toast with jam and sweet mince pies have been put on the menu. I think that gnocchi and linguine may be added there too soon.
I have had hardly anything to drink. Two cups of coffee and two glasses of water. I intend to remedy that and be more on the ball for my liquid intake tomorrow. But right now I'm relaxing with a glass of wine.

The Journey into Fat Busting!

I am not a dieter, I never really have been. I'm a big fan of food and love the whole process, from shopping for ingredients, to cooking them, to eating them with good company, so I was a bit put out to see that at 37 and after my third pregnancy I was piling on the pounds! I started out at a curvy UK 14 and have ballooned up to a large 16! Not only that but I have started to feel the affects on my body. My throat feels constricted, my circulation feels sluggish and my overall health seems to be suffering. I mentioned all this to my health freak husband and he got quite excited."I have a diet for you to try," he enthused, "One of my customers mentioned it to me, I looked into it and it seems legit." With a glowing reference like that from my own Mr Universe how could I not be curious.
So this diet. It's the Four Hour Body, Slow Carb Diet by Timothy Ferriss. Basically it's a restriction diet, in that you can only eat certain food groups. "Oh no! What is forbidden?" was all I could think. All white carbs, bread, pasta, rice. Or their brown counterparts. No starchy carb loading for me when I'm tired anymore. Actually, the diet goes further to say that only a handful of foods should be used for a whole month, combo-ing them up in a different way to keep them fresh, but the same things. Here is the list.

Proteins
*Egg whites with 1–2 whole eggs for flavor (or, if organic, 2–5 whole eggs, including yolks)
*Chicken breast or thigh
*Black beans
*Beef (preferably grass-fed)
Pork
*Fish
Legumes
*Lentils (also called "dal" or "daal")
Pinto beans
Red beans
Soybeans
Vegetables
*Spinach
*Mixed vegetables (including broccoli, cauliflower, or any other cruciferous vegetables)
*Sauerkraut, kimchee (full explanation of these later in "Damage Control")
Asparagus
Peas
Broccoli
Green beans

So instead of loading up on starches you replace them with beans, peas, and more beans. When I read this I did cast a thought to the methane production spike that was going to happen over the next month.

For restricting yourself so much in the pursuit of weight loss you get a perk. On the sixth day you may binge!And when he says binge he means go at that cream cake mountain till you're going to hurl. This sounds both exciting and disgusting to me but the man has some quasi science behind the reasoning. So that you don't go into starvation mode.
Add to this the fact that this diet doesn't require exercise. Since I walk about two and a half miles a day this could be an added fat buster.
Right I'm up for the challenge, so here goes....