A new kind of hard

I managed a 4lb loss this week following the 5:2 plan. That’s a pretty satisfying result for any first week back, but doubly so when you consider that over the course of the five non fast days I enjoyed a pretty pleasant programme of eating, including several slices of the triple layered red velvet cake that D made me for my birthday.

I think a respectful pause is warranted here - this cake is a true thing of beauty.

Returning to the point though: I must admit, when I am forced to think about it, I realise that I still struggle with what constitutes “normal” eating is on the non-fast days. Yes, I know that in earlier posts I boasted that I had normal eating down but…perhaps overly conscious that I wanted a good result, I found myself doing quite a lot of second guessing and, I suspect, under eating some days. Finding balance will clearly continue to be a work in progress.

It’s a new kind of hard. On Weight Watchers, I knew that if it was pointed then I could eat it. Sometimes, I would find myself polishing off a plate of food or eating a piece of chocolate just because it had been tracked – that’s not right. But, equally, last week I ended up quite light headed on a couple of occasions and that’s not quite right either.

My aim is modest – if I can manage a pound a week loss then I will be perfectly satisfied, so that should mean a fairly wide leeway on non-fast days, especially on weeks (like last week) where there are no meals out planned. I’m going to try to be a bit less controlling over the coming seven days and see what impact that has on the scales.

Oh, and I had a real learning experience yesterday, which was a fast day. Some people are able to save their full 500 calorie allowance for a single meal in the evening. Turns out that I am not one of them. I got through a full day of work on black coffee, sugar free squash and two satsumas and, by the time I got home, was feeling very poorly indeed. I managed to make and eat a bowl of soup but D subsequently packed me off to bed at quarter to eight telling me that I looked "dreadful". Lesson learned - trying to function on empty just doesn't suit my system.