I'm Baaackk!!!

Well, I'm back from France. Had a lovely time in the roasting heat - 33 degrees! Swam loads, ate loads... I followed ADF mostly, although at the end of the week I had a two feast days followed by a half feast day - fast until dinner which was a burger and chips and chocolate cake!
Still though, I gained nothing.
Got back on Tuesday, and I've been pretty careful since then - my feast days have been reaching 1800 maximum. However, I still haven't lost anything and it's been 10 days now so I might step it up a bit and have a feast day of 2200 calories or so on Sunday. Or I could start going for walks but...

The squats died a death when I got to France and I haven't bothered starting again. I might... but then I might not. I think I need to look at more before and after pictures to get motivated!

Going back to work in a month - I work in a school so have the summer off. So I'd like to have lost a bit more by then - I've lost 15 kilos so far - if I could have lost another 4 kilos by then, that would be 3 stone, or 41 pounds. Considering I started at the end of May, just when the school holidays began, I would hope to get lots of nice, confidence-boosting comments from people who haven't seen me in 3 months. "Oh my goodness, you're so slim!" would be a nice one to hear... Although unrealistic!

I must say, my confidence really has soared. Even though I'm still very overweight and my BMI is ridiculous, just knowing that I've lost a good bit and that I'm still on the right path is very uplifting. My skinny French cousins were there some of the days when I went to swim and whilst I did wrap a towel around me until the last possible moment, I did actually swim. Before I'd have pretended that I didn't want to and I'd have sat on a deckchair in my clothes, dying of the heat.

I also, for the first time in years, wore tops with no sleeves and didn't put on a cardigan over! I really couldn't have, considering the heat, but it was the first time I wasn't crippled with self-consciousness. I also wore shorts - even with my tree-stump legs. The thing is, I have been thinner than I am now in the past and even then was too self-conscious to wear these things or to swim in front of people - so my confidence is nothing to do with my weight and everything to do with my mental state - feeling capable and guilt-free.

My intolerance to bread has become very extreme on this diet though. As I said before, I am allergic to yeast but in small moderations it didn't cause me any problems. However, on Monday I had a burger, and my arm was all sore and itchy for two days after. It's gone again now and today I bought gluten-free bread. It does have yeast in it but I'm going to see if I manage to get away with that. I shouldn't be able to, because pasta causes nothing, so it does seem to be yeast and not gluten that's the problem but I'm quite desperate to find something I can have if I feel like toast or a sandwich. I don't know of anything that is yeast-free bar wraps but they're not really what I'm looking for. I thought that pitta breads were yeast-free as they're flat but apparently not...

Right - at the end of another feast day and I have that slight sense of disappointment I always have when the last meal of the day is done - with the thought of  a fast day ahead of me tomorrow. I bought huge mushrooms which I'm going to stuff with garlic and cream cheese tomorrow night for dinner so at least I have something tasty to look forward to!