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!
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Friday, 26 July 2013
Monday, 15 July 2013
Another Loss!
Down another kilo! So that's 15 lost now, or 33 pounds. Very happy with myself. My measurements haven't changed at all though in the last while - maybe I'm losing it from my toes or something...
Had a lovely weekend - we spent it all in the garden, with the dogs, in the sun. We didn't go out which was a relief. Didn't want to waste calories on drink.
I had Weetabix for breakfast yesterday, with fat-free milk - 237 calories.
For lunch I had wholegrain noodles, with 15g of pesto and 30g of grated low-fat cheddar.
Then we went to Kinsale to the Arts Festival, to watch "Raj in the Rain" - a film about the Anglo-Irish. It was a bit odd but good. Such a pity, all these old houses falling to ruin because the families can't afford to keep them up. Those days are gone - for good or for bad, but the houses really suffer. Our family house is one of these - a big Georgian house that back in the day had land and a farm making money for it. Now it's in the middle of dozens of housing estates and it's dilapidated to say the least - roof leaking, floorboards breaking, no heating... It's lovely in the summer, but in the winter... You can see your breath in the morning when you wake up, and the window panes freeze on the inside. My dad always moaned about the length of my showers when I was living there, but it was the only way of getting warm! Having said that, John moans about the length of my showers now and we live in a modern house so...
When we got back from Kinsale we had an early dinner - fish in breadcrumbs, mashed potatoes and peas. I also had 50g of crisps and a slice of fruit flan for dessert. So that was 910 calories, and about 1883 calories for the day.
I went to my dad's for lunch - had mushroom soup, four multigrain crackers with white stilton with apricots cheese and four strawberries. With milk in coffee my day's at 503 calories.
I normally eat in the evening on fast days, to not be hungry going to bed, so we'll see how this pans out now, having eaten earlier.
Off to France tomorrow - think I may treat myself to breakfast on the plane. And I've decided to say screw the skinny French cousins - it's hot - I'm going to go swimming.
Had a lovely weekend - we spent it all in the garden, with the dogs, in the sun. We didn't go out which was a relief. Didn't want to waste calories on drink.
I had Weetabix for breakfast yesterday, with fat-free milk - 237 calories.
For lunch I had wholegrain noodles, with 15g of pesto and 30g of grated low-fat cheddar.
Then we went to Kinsale to the Arts Festival, to watch "Raj in the Rain" - a film about the Anglo-Irish. It was a bit odd but good. Such a pity, all these old houses falling to ruin because the families can't afford to keep them up. Those days are gone - for good or for bad, but the houses really suffer. Our family house is one of these - a big Georgian house that back in the day had land and a farm making money for it. Now it's in the middle of dozens of housing estates and it's dilapidated to say the least - roof leaking, floorboards breaking, no heating... It's lovely in the summer, but in the winter... You can see your breath in the morning when you wake up, and the window panes freeze on the inside. My dad always moaned about the length of my showers when I was living there, but it was the only way of getting warm! Having said that, John moans about the length of my showers now and we live in a modern house so...
When we got back from Kinsale we had an early dinner - fish in breadcrumbs, mashed potatoes and peas. I also had 50g of crisps and a slice of fruit flan for dessert. So that was 910 calories, and about 1883 calories for the day.
I went to my dad's for lunch - had mushroom soup, four multigrain crackers with white stilton with apricots cheese and four strawberries. With milk in coffee my day's at 503 calories.
I normally eat in the evening on fast days, to not be hungry going to bed, so we'll see how this pans out now, having eaten earlier.
Off to France tomorrow - think I may treat myself to breakfast on the plane. And I've decided to say screw the skinny French cousins - it's hot - I'm going to go swimming.
Thursday, 20 June 2013
The Perils of Pigging
My diet has been a bit all over the place recently.
Some friends of the family came to dinner on Tuesday night - we had sushi, a lot of wine, and salad. It came to 1641 calories. Not too bad really. But I may have miscalculated the wine as I wasn't exactly measuring my glasses.
Yesterday was the funeral. Although it was supposed to be a fast day, I felt sick and weak before going to the church so I had a bit of bread with some camembert cheese.
We then had people back to the house for the lunch and I didn't eat much but I did have about 5 mini slices of quiche. However, once we were on our own again last night, we all threw ourselves on the leftovers and devoured everything. I ate a LOT of bread and cheese, pate, and I even had Nutella! So much for the fast.
Today is a fast day so, but we've to go for dinner at a friend's house tonight. I'm going to not drink though and whatever she serves, I'll try to avoid the carbohydrates.
Tomorrow I return to Ireland. As I said before, I'll be travelling alone which always leads to me eating but I'm going much earlier than I thought so I'll resist and eat normally once I get home.
It's funny but I've noticed now that every day where I've eaten a lot in the last week - Sunday and yesterday - has been followed by a day of feeling sick and hungry the next day.
I mean, as I type now, my stomach is rumbling and I feel like I'm starving. Even though I've had lots of water. When I do a fast day, I normally extend it to lunchtime of the next day, so I am able to go quite a while without food now and feel fine. However, I wonder if eating heavily is the reason I feel so hungry now. My insides working overtime to get rid of the food. If there's any truth in that, it just shows how over-eating every day becomes a vicious cycle. I'd devour some bread now if I could - whereas normally I really don't feel a need for anything.
It's also slightly worrying me how I slipped so easily back into eating rubbish yesterday. For the last three weeks I've been careful on feast days but yesterday... I had about four slices of bread with pate alone. That's not counting the other three slices with cheese or the roll I had with Nutella...
I'm not going to beat myself up over it though. It was exceptional circumstances and I'll get back into the swing of things tomorrow. Going out for a friend's 30th on Saturday - I'll have to consume any alcohol before midnight. Or do I count a day as ending when I go to bed? Because that could easily be halfway through Sunday...
Some friends of the family came to dinner on Tuesday night - we had sushi, a lot of wine, and salad. It came to 1641 calories. Not too bad really. But I may have miscalculated the wine as I wasn't exactly measuring my glasses.
Yesterday was the funeral. Although it was supposed to be a fast day, I felt sick and weak before going to the church so I had a bit of bread with some camembert cheese.
We then had people back to the house for the lunch and I didn't eat much but I did have about 5 mini slices of quiche. However, once we were on our own again last night, we all threw ourselves on the leftovers and devoured everything. I ate a LOT of bread and cheese, pate, and I even had Nutella! So much for the fast.
Today is a fast day so, but we've to go for dinner at a friend's house tonight. I'm going to not drink though and whatever she serves, I'll try to avoid the carbohydrates.
Tomorrow I return to Ireland. As I said before, I'll be travelling alone which always leads to me eating but I'm going much earlier than I thought so I'll resist and eat normally once I get home.
It's funny but I've noticed now that every day where I've eaten a lot in the last week - Sunday and yesterday - has been followed by a day of feeling sick and hungry the next day.
I mean, as I type now, my stomach is rumbling and I feel like I'm starving. Even though I've had lots of water. When I do a fast day, I normally extend it to lunchtime of the next day, so I am able to go quite a while without food now and feel fine. However, I wonder if eating heavily is the reason I feel so hungry now. My insides working overtime to get rid of the food. If there's any truth in that, it just shows how over-eating every day becomes a vicious cycle. I'd devour some bread now if I could - whereas normally I really don't feel a need for anything.
It's also slightly worrying me how I slipped so easily back into eating rubbish yesterday. For the last three weeks I've been careful on feast days but yesterday... I had about four slices of bread with pate alone. That's not counting the other three slices with cheese or the roll I had with Nutella...
I'm not going to beat myself up over it though. It was exceptional circumstances and I'll get back into the swing of things tomorrow. Going out for a friend's 30th on Saturday - I'll have to consume any alcohol before midnight. Or do I count a day as ending when I go to bed? Because that could easily be halfway through Sunday...
Tuesday, 18 June 2013
I Should Live in a Hot Climate
Catch-up of the last couple of days.
On Sunday, I fasted till half six or so, when the Americans arrived, and then ate, like I had planned. It was nice, I had nibbles, dinner and a bit of dessert but no cheese. I enjoyed it but I must say, I felt SO sick and full driving home. Actually felt unwell. So, pigging out has lost a bit of its appeal.
I got up at 4 yesterday morning to go to the airport. I felt strangely hungover, as if I had been drinking all night. It was a fasting day and I think it was my hardest one to date. I really wanted to eat at the airport and I ALWAYS want to eat on the plane. But, I resisted and didn't eat until dinner time, when I just had lettuce, tuna, cucumber and a bit of béarnaise sauce. I also had a fifth of a chicken breast with some spinach in an attempt to up my iron a bit. Including semi-skimmed milk in various cups of coffee, I had about 530 calories. It's tougher to measure in France because the My Fitness Pal app won't pick up most of the French barcodes when I scan them and a lot of the measurements are given in cup sizes, which we don't do here.
Today is a feast day but it's so warm and heavy that I'm still eating lightly. It's 27 degrees Celcius and very thundery and heavy. We had a massive thunderstorm yesterday but it hasn't cleared the air and more are forecast for today and tomorrow. So I had a cup of coffee for my breakfast, more tuna, lettuce and cucumber for my lunch, and a bit of spinach with a mushroom and fromage frais salad. But then as a treat I had a small chunk of brie. For dinner I'm going to have MORE tuna and lettuce with cucumber and green beans but I'm also going to have something nice. Maybe some chocolate or some more cheese. I'll see how I feel.
The funeral is tomorrow, which is supposed to be a fast day. I'll try my best but there will be a lunch back at the house for close friends which might be hard to resist. However, it being France, and summer, a lunch is consisting of a buffet of salads and fruit. The hardest thing to resist will be the mandatory cheese plate but I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to do without. I can always tell myself that I just have to wait till Thursday.
Must say that I'm looking forward to all this being over. My grandfather died leaving no life insurance or savings so the funeral costs are becoming a huge strain on my mother who is having to spend money she doesn't have and that she owes elsewhere. I don't have any spare money either, what with paying rent and having to buy the ticket to get here so I can't help, which is frustrating.
So if anyone reads this and is feeling religious - a little prayer wouldn't go astray.
On Sunday, I fasted till half six or so, when the Americans arrived, and then ate, like I had planned. It was nice, I had nibbles, dinner and a bit of dessert but no cheese. I enjoyed it but I must say, I felt SO sick and full driving home. Actually felt unwell. So, pigging out has lost a bit of its appeal.
I got up at 4 yesterday morning to go to the airport. I felt strangely hungover, as if I had been drinking all night. It was a fasting day and I think it was my hardest one to date. I really wanted to eat at the airport and I ALWAYS want to eat on the plane. But, I resisted and didn't eat until dinner time, when I just had lettuce, tuna, cucumber and a bit of béarnaise sauce. I also had a fifth of a chicken breast with some spinach in an attempt to up my iron a bit. Including semi-skimmed milk in various cups of coffee, I had about 530 calories. It's tougher to measure in France because the My Fitness Pal app won't pick up most of the French barcodes when I scan them and a lot of the measurements are given in cup sizes, which we don't do here.
Today is a feast day but it's so warm and heavy that I'm still eating lightly. It's 27 degrees Celcius and very thundery and heavy. We had a massive thunderstorm yesterday but it hasn't cleared the air and more are forecast for today and tomorrow. So I had a cup of coffee for my breakfast, more tuna, lettuce and cucumber for my lunch, and a bit of spinach with a mushroom and fromage frais salad. But then as a treat I had a small chunk of brie. For dinner I'm going to have MORE tuna and lettuce with cucumber and green beans but I'm also going to have something nice. Maybe some chocolate or some more cheese. I'll see how I feel.
The funeral is tomorrow, which is supposed to be a fast day. I'll try my best but there will be a lunch back at the house for close friends which might be hard to resist. However, it being France, and summer, a lunch is consisting of a buffet of salads and fruit. The hardest thing to resist will be the mandatory cheese plate but I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to do without. I can always tell myself that I just have to wait till Thursday.
Must say that I'm looking forward to all this being over. My grandfather died leaving no life insurance or savings so the funeral costs are becoming a huge strain on my mother who is having to spend money she doesn't have and that she owes elsewhere. I don't have any spare money either, what with paying rent and having to buy the ticket to get here so I can't help, which is frustrating.
So if anyone reads this and is feeling religious - a little prayer wouldn't go astray.
Friday, 14 June 2013
Upheaval
So yesterday was a feast day again. To try to up my calories a bit on feast days, and to feel like I was treating myself, I had some breakfast - two Weetabix and 200mls of fat-free milk. 216 calories only!
Since breakfast was so low, and since John was at work, I decided to go all out and have one of my favourite meals. Pasta, pesto and cheese. As a nod to eating healthily, I had 150 grms of wholegrain noodles instead of pasta - similar taste and lower in calories. I had 24 grms of pesto and TWO servings of low-fat cheddar - 60 grms. It came to - 629 calories only!
So for dinner I made my fish-pie - smoked Coley, prawns, white sauce made with cornflour, butter and vegetable stock, TONS of vegetables, and mashed potato made with fat-free milk and butter. I weighed everything, thinking that it would be nice to know the calories, even though I figured it would be high and I didn't care - it came to 347 calories. It's unbelievable. 1192 calories for the whole day. Way under what I should be at on a normal day - dieting aside. It just shows - some careful substitutions and portion control is a huge part of losing weight.
However, I am still going to carry on with the ADF as I actually enjoy fasting and I want the option to pig out to be there.
I woke up this morning to hear that my grandfather had died in the night. He was 88 and lovely. I got on really well with him - he had a great sense of humour. So that was upsetting.
Since my grandparents are French, we spent the day running around booking flights to Paris and getting things sorted. Which was good - kept me busy and mind off my stomach amongst other things. I just had a bowl of soup with some soda bread for lunch. With milk in coffee, my day came to 505 calories.
The next week will be a bit iffy I'd say. I'm flying out on Monday and returning on Friday. I would imagine that there'll be a lot of sitting around and eating with various relations. On Monday, I fly out with my sister but on Friday I'm returning to Ireland alone. Travelling alone is one of my worst times for pigging out. However, it will be a feast day so maybe I'll let loose. I'll see. (To the consternation of John who just read that over my shoulder… :) )
Anyway, to make things a little better, I had lost another kilo this morning. At last. I was a bit discouraged yesterday, because I hadn't lost any weight in a good few days. However, thinking about it, I only started dieting at all two weeks ago yesterday. So I've lost nine kilos in 15 days.
Pretty happy overall!
I must say though, I'm dreading going to France. Apart from the obvious upset of the situation at hand, all my cousins will be there - and they're all so tanned and slim and petite. And then there's me - towering over everyone, pasty white, and waddly. Life is so unfair!
Since breakfast was so low, and since John was at work, I decided to go all out and have one of my favourite meals. Pasta, pesto and cheese. As a nod to eating healthily, I had 150 grms of wholegrain noodles instead of pasta - similar taste and lower in calories. I had 24 grms of pesto and TWO servings of low-fat cheddar - 60 grms. It came to - 629 calories only!
So for dinner I made my fish-pie - smoked Coley, prawns, white sauce made with cornflour, butter and vegetable stock, TONS of vegetables, and mashed potato made with fat-free milk and butter. I weighed everything, thinking that it would be nice to know the calories, even though I figured it would be high and I didn't care - it came to 347 calories. It's unbelievable. 1192 calories for the whole day. Way under what I should be at on a normal day - dieting aside. It just shows - some careful substitutions and portion control is a huge part of losing weight.
However, I am still going to carry on with the ADF as I actually enjoy fasting and I want the option to pig out to be there.
I woke up this morning to hear that my grandfather had died in the night. He was 88 and lovely. I got on really well with him - he had a great sense of humour. So that was upsetting.
Since my grandparents are French, we spent the day running around booking flights to Paris and getting things sorted. Which was good - kept me busy and mind off my stomach amongst other things. I just had a bowl of soup with some soda bread for lunch. With milk in coffee, my day came to 505 calories.
The next week will be a bit iffy I'd say. I'm flying out on Monday and returning on Friday. I would imagine that there'll be a lot of sitting around and eating with various relations. On Monday, I fly out with my sister but on Friday I'm returning to Ireland alone. Travelling alone is one of my worst times for pigging out. However, it will be a feast day so maybe I'll let loose. I'll see. (To the consternation of John who just read that over my shoulder… :) )
Anyway, to make things a little better, I had lost another kilo this morning. At last. I was a bit discouraged yesterday, because I hadn't lost any weight in a good few days. However, thinking about it, I only started dieting at all two weeks ago yesterday. So I've lost nine kilos in 15 days.
Pretty happy overall!
I must say though, I'm dreading going to France. Apart from the obvious upset of the situation at hand, all my cousins will be there - and they're all so tanned and slim and petite. And then there's me - towering over everyone, pasty white, and waddly. Life is so unfair!
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