Birthday wishes

Today is my brother’s birthday. Happy birthday D2! Fun fact - not only do my brother and my husband share the same first name, but I have exactly the same first AND middle name combo as my husband’s sister. Oh, and D’s mother and my maternal grandmother shared not only a first name but a birthday. I like these sorts of coincidences, they allow me to sort of believe in the notion of a cosmic pattern. Of course, it could just be that Irish Catholic families tend to be slightly predictable in their name choices.

But anyway, happy birthday brother! I hope that you have a wonderful day. I’m trying to think of another fun fact that is rather more sibling centric but failing (it is still quite early and this bus is making a horrendous droning sound that is really quite distracting). All I can offer is that my brother has many admirable attributes and is a far more sensible and balanced person than his sister so it’s probably for the best that he produced the grandchildren ;-).

It’s yet possible that I may be exhibiting some personal growth since I managed to drag myself along to my WW meeting last night despite the fact I suspected bad news. My digestion is absolutely all over the place at the moment which is making my eating habits slightly (very) erratic. I’m due to see a consultant at the end of November, so that’s good news. Although the scales were slightly (1.5lbs) up this week, I’m still hopeful of getting another stone off by Christmas; D and I have already agreed that November needs to be a quiet and calm month once we get back from Venice, so that will help a lot.

Right, my stop is coming up so I will bid you adieu for now but I will be back at some point to post the saag paneer pizza recipe because it is entirely necessary that you all have that in your lives this year.

Weight loss diary: September 2018

It’s been a while since we had an update so let’s get straight to it:

Weeks 1-4: -8.5lbs
Week 5: -2lbs
Week 6: -1lb
Week 7: -1.5lbs
Weeks 8-10: +2.5lbs
Week 11: -3.5lbs

Total: -15lbs

Not bad at all. Even with a three week blip I’m still averaging at just under 1.5lbs a week. Excellent. It’s not the fastest, sexiest tale of weight loss ever but it is a very sensible, sustainable one.

There will be many more blips but I need to make sure that I arrest them before they turn into three weekers. That’s too long to be off plan and (I always say this but it always bears repeating) I feel SO much better when I’m in the zone. It is hard work to plan and track but the benefits are myriad: better digestion, better sleep, better mental health...it makes you wonder what kind of moron wouldn’t make the effort...

The wages of sin

Well, the scores are in and after shamefully missing not one but two weigh ins, and consuming more points over this last weekend than a good Weight Watcher does in a year I have gained...

2.5 lbs.

So that’s not bad at all. And every glorious mouthful was worth it. I will NEVER be the kind of person who attempts to point while on holiday.

Back to it now and I’m hoping that a good week can get that back off again. There are another thirteen weigh ins before Christmas - I could easily be a stone down by then with a bit of focus. Onwards and downwards!

Friday miscellany

I'm due to do a monthly weigh in catch up this week but I've been avoiding it just like I *cough* avoided my weigh in on Wednesday evening.  Yes, I bunked off and yes, it was because I knew that I was likely to post a gain.  This is WW 101 - whatever happens you go to your weigh in.

At least I've kept myself vaguely accountable by reacquainting myself with my bathroom scales after a few days of avoiding eye contact.  So I know where I am.  And, as of this morning after a couple of good, solid days of tracking that is at a new low, so I have already reversed any damage.

However, lessons to be learned, as ever.  I did the classic thing - I let a bad day turn into a bad week.  We went out for a lovely meal on the Thursday night (review to follow shortly) and I never managed to get back on the wagon.  As always there are plenty of excuses masquerading as justifications but the bottom line was that I wanted to cheat.  There will be many more cheats and many more gains, but, in future, I will try and ensure that Thursday, the first day of the WW week, is on track in order to set myself up with the best possible start. 

**

Tempting me back to the straight and narrow by making it too delicious to refuse, D made bangers and mash with a WW friendly twist this week. He took an entire head of garlic and slow roasted it for around an hour and a half until the cloves were soft and creamy. Simmered two drained tins of cannellini beans in a little vegetable stock until warm and soft and then blitzed them along with the garlic, a swig of lemon juice and plenty of seasoning. Voila, zero point mash.

Depending on how loose you want your texture, you could add a few splashes of water or stock. Or, if you’re feeling decadent you could whack in a knob of butter and/or a swig of olive oil. A brilliant mid week alternative to mashed potato if you’re trying to keep your points down. Although I would never advocate replacing them (spuds) altogether.

**

I'm sure that I had something else to say and now I have completely forgotten what that was.  Anyway.  Hope everyone else out there in Blogland is well, and happy, and looking forward to the weekend.  D and I intend to climb Roseberry Topping on Sunday although he informs me that this is a walk rather than a climb to which I say - pshaw and, also, how many points do I earn if I cough up a lung?

This week’s weigh in...that’s more like it!

Tonight the Mean Girl scales were kind and informed me that I had lost 4lbs. Hurrah! With my gain last week (boo!) that gives a net result of 3lbs across 2 weeks which will do very nicely. It’s not the rapidest loss in the world, but I’d be more than happy to accept a slow, steady dwindle. A pound a week between now and the end of the year would be nearly a stone and a half which would be amazing.

Two weeks in and I have to say I am really enjoying the Flex plan and the food that I’m eating. I haven’t felt this positive and, well, healthy in ever such a long time. Long may it continue.

Normal, whingeing service will no doubt be resumed soon but in the meantime, vive Le Flex!

Oxymoronic

I did actually give the Smart Points programme a whirl when it first came out a few years ago.  Back then it was slightly different in that daily and weekly point allowances were a bit higher but fewer foods were zero points (just fruit and veg as opposed to the fruit, veg, chicken, fish, eggs, pulses etc. of the current iteration).

 

I was against it from the start.  I lost weight very well on the Pro Points programme (this was the version of WW prior to Smart Points). In fact, when I was going to meetings in 2014, I lost a stone in my first four weeks of Pro Points, which is pretty impressive.  So I already had a natural resistance to the change. 

 

And I do stand by what I thought then which is – Smart Points is more restrictive than Pro Points and it does feel more like a “diet” if you try to eat in exactly the same way.  I remember that when I was doing Pro Points, I found it pretty easy to eat sensibly and still have a piece of chocolate after dinner or a mid-afternoon biscuit.  A daily treat.

 

But I think my mentality is slightly different now because my focus, my absolute priority at the moment is my health rather than weight loss (although no, I'm still not quite over my disappointing result - I'm only human!)  My poor old body has been rather through the wringer and I want to treat it well, to nourish it.  Coming at Smart Points from that angle has made me realise that the very phrase “daily treat” is a total oxymoron.  The dictionary definition of a treat is: an event or item that is out of the ordinary and gives great pleasure.  Out of the ordinary!  Which probably doesn’t – or shouldn’t – mean daily.

 

Realising this has made me far more receptive to Smart Points.  When I look back over my first week, I can see that the quality of my meals improved markedly, particularly with regards to vegetable and protein content, and snacks mainly consisted of fresh fruit.  There was a bag of salted popcorn on Friday evening (deliberately chosen and enjoyed) and that was it.  Other than the chocolate truffle I had to end my meal on Saturday evening, I don’t think that I had any sweet stuff (again, apart from fruit).

 

First week fervour obviously helps make this easier but I think that bearing this in mind will really help me get along better with the Smart Points programme.  It will be interesting to see whether or not the scales come round. 

A post weigh-in post

Well, I am surely glad that I did write my pre weigh-in post before I went to the meeting. Because the scales were not kind. In fact, they were positively bitchy, informing me that I had managed to gain a pound over the course of the last week.

I’m no stranger to gains – they’re a fact of life, and I try to be sanguine about them but, oh! This stung quite a lot. Such that I could actually feel my eyes get hot and prickly when I stepped off, even while I was cheerfully telling the leader that I wouldn’t let this put me off and would give it another good go this week. Then I went to the meeting shop and spent £7 on over-processed WW own products that are full of the type of sugar replacements that people with delicate tummies should probably avoid.

But while waiting for the meeting to start, I actually sat and read my own post and it did make me feel a lot better. So what if the scales are taking a while to catch up? I know, in my heart of hearts, that I did my very best this week, that I made good decisions, and that I took proper care of myself. Hopefully, good results will follow (said with gritted teeth).

In other news, someone emailed me a few weeks ago to say that this blog had been listed as one of the Top 5 UK Weight Watchers Blogs and Websites in 2018. I’m not sure how many UK Weight Watchers Blogs there are (probably 5), and I’m not quite sure that this has actually been a Weight Watchers blog for a while but hey! We take our victories where we can. And the thumbnail of Minx they have used is one of my favourites so it’s worth a click just to admire her.

A pre weigh-in post

So, first week nearly over and in a few hours it will be time to hop up on the scales.  Whether they are the Scales of Doom or the Scales of Joy remains to be seen. 

I wanted to make sure that this post was written and up before the weigh in, so that I can look back on it regardless of the result.  Because, whatever the scores on the doors, this has been a successful week.

As I hoped, operating within a structure has been really good for me.  I have been eating properly for the first time in a while and my fruit and veg consumption has rocketed as I embrace zero point snacks.  This has had a knock on effect on my mental health – I feel much calmer and more in control.  And physically, my stomach has been OK.  Not perfect, but OK. 

I have had a lovely weekend with friends and managed to enjoy myself without going ridiculously overboard, without adopting a “Screw it, I can’t point so I’m going to eat and drink everything in sight,” attitude and, hugely, without having a drink.  I am a girl who loves her alcoholic beverages: to get through an entire sociable weekend watching other people tuck into large glasses of Pimms while sticking to water is a pretty big deal.  But I made the decision that it wasn’t worth the points and it wasn’t worth the potentially catastrophic effects on my beleaguered digestive system and I stuck to it.

So whatever the scales have to throw at me today (and I’m genuinely in the dark) I’m going to try and remember that, by any other measure, this has been a GOOD WEEK.

Summer in the city - a weekend round-up

I didn’t want to go down to London last weekend, I’ll be totally honest. I was nervous about being away from home – from D, from the cat, from familiar surroundings - and, bluntly, from my bathroom. I also did not want to have to spend a weekend guestimating points just a few days in to my newest and shiniest WW attempt.

I had more or less made up my mind not to go but D wasn’t having any of it. I don’t envy him much of the time; living with someone who is very anxious must be exhausting. You constantly have to be strong for them, to push them to overcome their entirely irrational fears. So I was effectively frogmarched on to the bus on Saturday morning – but, in the end, all was well and I had a lovely time and have come back with that new sense of confidence which comes from venturing outside the comfort zone. Thank you, D.

Of course, the fact remains that I have two days where my tracker may be way, way off. Well, actually, I think that I am fine for Sunday since we ate in and I was able to find all food items in the catalogue. I winced a bit that the innocent looking honey and seed rolls that we had for lunch turned out to be 9 Smart Points, but heigh-ho, that’s what weeklies are for.

Saturday night required a lot more guesswork, but whether I’m under or over, the meal itself was worth it. We went to a restaurant called Ember Yard in Fitzrovia and it was LOVELY - especially gratifying given that I suggested it. It’s a menu of small plates with a Spanish and Italian slant – some of the dishes are recognisable from the typical tapas repertoire, others not so much. Highlights included (surprisingly) chargrilled flatbread with thyme and smoked butter (so good we immediately ordered another) and a lovely special of sea bass with ajo blanco.

Seabass!

Bread!

I tried a little bit of everything, but stuck to water rather than indulging in wine or cocktails and then, in lieu of a dessert (tough going – the churros looked amazing) I ordered a double espresso and a single dark chocolate and Pedro Ximenez truffle (which item I thought was a really clever addition to the dessert menu). A divine full stop to the meal.

Truffle!

Also – if you’ll forgive me ditching the food talk for a minute – we went to the open air theatre in Regent’s Park, to see a production of “As You Like It” which was brilliant! Such a funny, sweet, silly rendering of the play, which I hitherto hadn’t considered one my favourite of Shakespeare’s comedies. The musical settings were a little bit cheesy but the cast carried them off with aplomb and the whole thing was an absolute joy. I’ve never seen a bad production there – and it’s a lovely venue if the weather holds out. If you’re London based and find yourself at a loose end, get thee hence.

After returning in such a good mood, I am not exactly sure what misguided impulse compelled me to jump on the bathroom scales yesterday morning. I haven’t weighed myself on them for a while, so I have no idea how my weight today relates to my official WI last Wednesday. If I was expecting to see a large drop after a whole four days of counting, I was doomed to disappointment. Not for nothing does lovely Peridot call them the Scales of Doom, because I immediately felt sulky and annoyed and resentful. The answer is clear – official weigh ins ONLY from now on and a focus on progress rather than perfection.

Head - meet sand

I'm avoiding the scales for a few weeks.  Possibly because I've not been feeling 100% lately (I remain in terrible thrall to a delicate digestion and it is becoming rather wearing), the fact that the scales have remained stubbornly static is making me disproportionately annoyed and upset.  So I am giving myself permission to back off for a while.

In times like these, my mind turns to alternative methods of dieting which would get me to where I want to be a little quicker than this circuitous journey on 5:2.  I starting Googling the Keto Diet* the other day (high fat, low carb), flicked back through our Dukkan book and wondered whether I could combine 5:2 with 16:8 (which would mean on non-fast days only eating within an 8 hour window).  But I think, actually that I just need to give my head a wobble, to stick to what I'm doing, to up the exercise and to concentrate on the fact that I've found something that works (albeit slowly) and has improved my relationship with food a hundredfold.

*Anyway, if I started on an eating plan that allowed me to eat unlimited cheese I would literally end up TURNING INTO CHEESE. 

Two steps forward, one and a half steps back

I ended the month of January slightly lighter than I started, which I take to be a good thing. 

The cheese-topped, chips-on-the-side nature of our holiday in Scotland, not to mention the fact that we only managed one fast day during the week before we went (because we got into holiday mode slightly too early) means that I would have been entirely unsurprised to see a net gain on the month.  What I have noticed about my 5:2 losses, though, is that for all that they are slow (so slow!) they seem to stick far better than when I was losing weight more quickly with WW.  A fall from the wagon may occasion a gain, but not a particularly dramatic one.  Not like the memorable occasion, many years ago when I gained five pounds one week and then lost seven the next.  I wonder if I was blogging at that point?  I can't see a post called "Flying in the Face of Science" but I definitely felt as if I was. 

I know the blog is quieter than it used to be.  Actually, blogging in general seems to be quieter than it used to be.  And a lot of the blogs that are out there are very big and shiny and full of beautiful photographs as opposed to back in 2010 when people just got behind the keyboard and typed away on their unglamorous but entirely functional BlogSpot platforms.  It's a shame, because I think the sense of community has disappeared a little bit, and I think a lot of the people who still are blogging are doing it less to reach out and more with a view to becoming the next Big Thing.

But, to my original point.  The blog is quieter than it used to be partly because I don't really feel like I am on a diet any more.  5:2 has fitted in to my life relatively seamlessly.  There's only so many times that I can write about how fast days are tough and I feel very hungry but it's worth the freedom that it wins me on the other, non-fast, days. 

Still, I also started writing this as a place to record recipes and to record experiences, and I've not intention of giving that up because a Book Deal may yet be forthcoming!  Well, not really, but because I love being able to look back and remember stuff I've eaten and places I've been. And, you never know, someday I might reach my elusive Goal Weight and I can't think of a better, more proper place to record that achievement than this little corner here. 

So, as ever mes amies, onwards and downwards.

2017 - the year in review

And so, Christmas has been and gone and with it the final hurrah of 2017.  I spent most of the year’s dying days snuggled up at home doing little more than watching crap on Netflix and eating chocolate biscuits.  I weighed myself this morning; up 5lbs from the beginning of December which I am quite peaceful about considering that we abandoned 5:2 and any pretence of moderation right at the start of the month.  I am hoping to get most, if not all, of it shifted by the end of January.  Today sees me on my first fast day since…well, weeks ago, and there are even rumours that the Treadmill in the Garage will be grinding back to life very shortly.  As ever, I will keep you apprised.

Before we venture forth into 2018, as always, it is worth having a quick look back.  Firstly, weight loss and health matters – I committed to 5:2 at the start of the year on the basis that:

a) I still need to lose weight

b) Weight Watchers did not agree with me anymore – the constant counting and measuring and weighing and planning was, ultimately, not doing my mental health any good and

c)  Any other formal “diet plan” would likely be just as bad. 

5:2 seemed like the answer to the problem, in that it would require fierce commitment for 2 days of the week, but the rest of the time I could pootle along as I pleased. 

Well, it has worked in the sense that I am 2 stone down over the course of the year.  It’s not what you would call an amazing result, but it is a result nonetheless, and given the number of weeks where we’ve sacked off one or both fasts for reasons both spurious and genuine, I am pleased.  I have genuinely eaten well on non-fast days – aiming for moderation rather than restriction has really helped me develop a peaceful relationship with the food that I eat for the first time in my adult life. 

And talking of eating, D and I have agreed that some of our favourite ever meals were consumed in 2017.  We were lucky enough to visit several amazing restaurants and to pick a favourite is very, very difficult. 

The stand-out, in the end, is The Raby Hunt, which we visited at the beginning of November.  It has two Michelin stars and it is not London based – the conjuction of these two facts do tend to imply quality – but we have learned that Michelin stars do not always make for the best eating or for the best dining experiences (in our opinion.  Clearly not in the opinion of the mysterious Michelin inspectors who I fondly imagine cruising the country’s dining scene in pinstripe suits).  Raby Hunt, which I wrote about here, is just absolutely fabulous.  And the dish of razor clam and celeriac and almonds is probably, probably the best thing that I ate all year.

Razor clam and celeriac at The Raby Hunt

But there are honourable mentions to be made too: the thought of the lamb at Lake Road Kitchen in Ambleside still makes my mouth water all these months later.  And we had a last minute contender in the form of scallop with fermented celeriac at TheBlack Swan at Oldstead just the other week.  It’s rather odd – I didn’t even think that I liked celeriac that much, but in expert hands, it turns out that it is rather sublime.  I probably need to cook with it a bit more.  We also absolutely adored 64 Degrees in Brighton – another superlative lamb dish, this one served with gochujang.

Lamb at Lake Road Kitchen

Dessert of the year probably, again, goes to one of the offerings at The Raby Hunt, but I can’t help but remember with very great fondness the fabulous miso caramel ice cream that we ate at Skosh in York.

Miso caramel ice cream at Skosh

Our own home cooking has, naturally, encountered new influences and ideas throughout the year (gochujang and sushi rice are now both permanent fixtures in our storecupboard), but I honestly think that one of the nicest things that I made was this summery broad bean dip.  I am already looking forward to broad bean season rolling around again so that I can make this dip by the pint.

Broad bean dip at home

We managed to make a bit more use of our extensive recipe book library, but want to ramp this up for 2018 and are aiming to cook a new dish at least once a week.  What with that and plans to visit (among other places) Joro in Sheffield and Where The Light Gets In in Stockport, I think 2018 will shape up to be pretty damn fine itself.

MPM: 13th November 2017 (and more musings on intermittent fasting)

For the first time in a while, we managed to complete two full fast days last week and, as a result, the scales have started to veer downwards again which is good news.  Monday is sort of the "official" weigh day which means that my "official" result is 1.2 lbs off - however, my lowest recorded weight of the week was 0.6 lbs below that.

None of these figures are stellar.  I doubt that anyone is going to be particularly inspired by a two-stone-in-a-year loss.  But I'm happy with it.  Yes, I remember saying at the outset that I would be happy with a pound a week average and I've managed half that.  But the important point is that it is steady, sustained weight loss.  There have been loads of weeks where we've only fasted once or we've not bothered at all and on non-fast days, I've been eating normally - no food is forbidden, nothing is off limits.  Because of this, I've noticed my habits improve; for example, I tend to eat quite small portions, I never feel the urge to clear my plate if I've had enough and I don't eat anything for the sake of it.  These are all healthy habits.  I feel like I've come a long way - even if the scales haven't.

Now, on to meal planning.  We had a lovely week last week, culminating in an excellent rabbit pie with a proper, suet pastry crust.  Absolute bliss with mashed potatoes, braised red cabbage and honey roasted carrots.  I'm looking forward to some leftovers this week!

Monday:  Fast day - soup

Tuesday: Spaghetti Bolognese (sauce from the freezer.  As ever, we live in hope of one day seeing it empty).

Wednesday:  Fast day (probably) - soup.  D won't be able to fast today as he is going on a team lunch out.  He said that he is still quite happy to have soup for tea, which gives me the opportunity to stick to a fast if I want to do so. 

Thursday:  D out - leftover rabbit pie for me.

Friday:  As with last week, we're going to do a mystery fish type exercise, depending on what looks good in the market.  The hake that D bought last week was served with delicious butter beans which I cooked with chilli and rosemary, which acted as perfect ballast (every time I eat beans I remind myself to have them more often).

Saturday:  Home made pizza - we both get to choose a topping.  I'm thinking maybe something with tiny cubes of roasted squash.  Or perhaps a classic goats cheese and caramellised onions.  Or punchy anchovies. 

Sunday:  A Diana Henry recipe from her Telegraph food column: baked sausages, apples and blackerries with mustard and maple syrup.  She suggests serving with mash or jacket potatoes. 

So an excellent week's eating.  Hopefully I will manage to claw my way, alone, through a second fast and record enough of a loss on the scales to finally tip me over the two stone mark for the year.  Wish my luck, and have a fabulous week!

Baby steps

There are few things more annoying than tracking a good weight loss all week (between 2 and 2.8lbs) only for the scales to bounce back up on Official Weigh Day. 

I mean, the point about weighing yourself daily is to get a sense of the overall trend, the general movement and not to get too het up about the number on any given day.  But everyone knows that the results on Official Weigh Day mean the most.  And everyone knows that Official Weigh Day is really Monday, no matter how often you try and convince your psyche that Friday is better.

So, anyway.  My Official Weigh Day result was a 1.2lb loss.  Which isn't bad by any means, but given that this was the highest number to flash up since last Monday it is supremely irritating. 

Still, I take it and I keep going.  The alternatives that I mentioned are weighing almost as heavy as, well, me.

MPM: 24th April 2017

There was no fasting for us last week (we were on holiday. At least, we were off work.  And we certainly don't need much excuse to avoid it).  I haven't checked the scales, but I suspect that a little bit of over indulgence over Easter will have nudged that needle up so we are back to two fast days this week with our nominated Days of Pain and Misery and Soup for Tea being today and Wednesday.

And, predictably, today has been rather horrid thus far.  I think fasting is made worse if you avoid it for a while.  My body has apparently forgotten just what it is like to be deprived of calories and gone into full on whingeing child mode.  I am filling up on fluids and reminding myself that tomorrow I can eat EVERYTHING.  As a psychological trick, it is surprisingly effective.

This is what the meal plan looks like this week:

Monday: soup

Tuesday: moussaka.  A Valentine Warner recipe that we originally intended to put together during the week that we Cooked his Book.  It was bumped but now it is back and I am very much looking forward to it, especially having seen Rick Stein eat moussaka on TV the other day (the Good Food channel are currently showing his Venice to Istanbul series).

Wednesday: soup

Thursday: er, moussaka again.  D is out for a team meal so I shall content myself with leftovers and trashy TV.

Friday: we're off to our beloved York to check out new-kid-on-the-restaurant-block, Skosh.  It had a fabulous write up in the Guardian recently, so we have high hopes.

Saturday: while in York we intend to visit an old haunt of ours, Henshelwood's deli, wherefrom we shall buy cheese, charcuterie and an eff-ton of their superlative chicken liver pate.  This shall all be consumed, carpet picnic style, on Saturday night with homemade bread and a yummy sounding Ottolenghi yoghurt and horseradish potato salad.

Sunday:  D is making pork and juniper sausages - a recipe of his own devising.  We shall probably end up eating these as sandwiches, with vestiges of the carpet picnic on the side.

And that's it from us this week - enjoy whatever it is you happen to be cooking and eating and have a FABULOUS bank holiday weekend!

MPM - and a progress update

I’ve been following the 5:2 plan for 10 weeks now and things are going well. Strictly speaking, I had one week of 4:3 (which was bloody awful) and one week of 7:0 (that was the week that we went to Brighton and entered “holiday mode” a bit too early). In that time, I’ve lost 20.6lbs, which is nearly a stone and a half (yay!) and an average rate of just over 2lbs a week which is double what I was expecting (more yay!)

But if you look at the chart you can see that there was a period when things started to move in the wrong direction – basically, most of February. I had three weeks of gains on the trot – one, after an indulgent weekend away, was expected the other two, not so much. The thing that seems to make the big difference for me is alcohol. If I don’t drink anything, I can eat with relative abandon on non-fast days and lose weight. As soon as I start trying to factor in some wine at the weekends or a sneaky couple of midweek pints, it slows right down. It’s a shame as I adore a tipple, but for now, I am putting my beloved g&ts to one side while I concentrate on shifting some poundage. Drinking is going to have to be an occasional treat rather than a regular occurrence.

On to this week’s meal plan and, continuing our plan in March to cook our books, the basis of this comes from Valentine Warner’s “The Good Table”. I have yet to identify any particular theme to this book, unless that theme is “delicious things that I want to eat”. We’ll be fasting on Monday and Wednesday, and D is out on Friday for a team lunch, so four evenings to plan:

Monday: Soup

Tuesday: Mussels on toast

Wednesday: Soup

Thursday: Valentine Warner’s Dad’s prawn curry

Saturday: Moussaka

Sunday: Slow cooked beef cheeks with baby turnips

YUM. That’s the third week in the row where I think we’ve had some absolute treasures to look forward to – and, this may be the fasting speaking, but I can’t wait to get stuck in to that little lot.

Disappointment (nearly) all round

Disappointment 1

We should probably have known better than to go out for dinner on Valentine’s Day. It’s asking for trouble. Our main plan was to watch a film about a pregnant serial killer* and take part in a Q&A session with the very talented writer / director / star** so we thought to make an evening of it and have something to eat first. The thing is, Valentine’s Day is a bit like New Year’s Eve or the week before Christmas; the kitchen is never likely to be displayed at its best. Still, when I first went to Oranaise (years ago now) I really enjoyed it and the menu has had me humming with anticipatory pleasure all week, so the fact that it was all a bit meh was a blow.

We shared a mezze platter to start – which was fine if generally a tad underseasoned. Main courses, though, were verging on the not fine. D had the Royal Couscous – he fished out the chunks of chicken, lamb and kofte (because he likes meat) but left most of the rest finding it not so much bad as profoundly uninspiring. I ordered vegetable brochettes which the menu claimed came with halloumi and baba ganoush. Neither appeared on the plate. The vegetables themselves were nice, (if a tad oily) but when you’re expecting halloumi and baba ganoush, the lack thereof is hard to take. I should have said something, but assumed I’d ordered the wrong dish until I checked the menu afterwards and saw that this was not so.

Romantic lighting...but where is the halloumi?

I hate to write negatively about places, and I am conscious that in choosing to go out on this particular evening I was positivly asking for mediocrity but, equally, no halloumi? That’s almost unforgivable.

Disappointment 2

The scales are showing a definite slowdown this week. Since the beginning of January, I have weighed daily and the direction of numerical travel has been almost exclusively downwards. This week, the drops are smaller and the bounce backs…less small.

Yes, I have been happy to blether that slow and steady wins the race, that I am fine with the idea of the rate of loss declining…and yet it still bloody stings. I’m a baby, I know. But it’s my blog so I’m allowed to stamp my feet and blow raspberries for a little bit. I think that the best thing to do is not to daily weigh for the rest of the week, which should avoid me getting even more petulant (that way madness and potential binges lie) and then reassess the position after the Official Result on Monday.

Not a Disappointment

*”Prevenge” which was very funny and very dark. If you have a stomach for gore and a sense of humour that tends towards the black, then I would thoroughly recommend it. **Alice Lowe, who you may know if you are a fan of “Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace” (AWESOME) or the film “Sightseers” (also vg) was a charming and engaging speaker and clearly, given the difference between her character and off-screen persona, a very talented actress.

Enjoyment at the film almost, almost made up for the lack of halloumi. 

Notes on 4:3 and a Wet Weekend

You now that I've said that 5:2 is hard but doable? Well, 4:3 starts to tip over into too hard and not doable. We fasted on Monday, Wednesday and Friday last week and Friday felt like a slog from start to finish - especially when work was over for the day and we celebrated the start of the weekend with yet another bowl of soup.  Meh.

And perhaps as a result of that, or perhaps because constant virtue can be rather dull, Saturday and Sunday ended up being a bit off piste, specifically with regards a glass or ten of the good stuff.  I've been eschewing my usual beloved tipples over January but suddenly, all caution was hurled to the wind.  The result was plain to see this morning - despite all the fasting, I gained 0.6lbs.

It's not the end of the world and is unsurprising, perhaps, after a spate of good results.  It's frustrating certainly - especially since I don't feel as if I overate, but the scales don't lie and, after all, gram for gram alcohol contains almost as many calories as fat.  Lesson learned (although I don't doubt that the very same lesson will have to be learned again at some point in the not too distant future.)

Meal planning this week - well, one or other of us is out for three of the seven nights (yes, we are dining out on Valentine's Day) and then obviously there will be yet more soup.  That just leaves next weekend to plan:

Saturday:  Coq au vin* with mashed potato and roasted kalettes

Sunday:  Merguez sausages with a warm salad of giant couscous and roasted red pepper

*Because if you're cooking with wine it doesn't count.  Obviously.

Week of pain

The blog has become rather diet centric in recent posts.  I suppose that is just a reflection of what happens when one starts a new regime and it, briefly, seems utterly fascinating.  Give it a few more weeks and the novelty will have worn off.

Anyway, a very pleasing result this week.  I had already decided to quit with the weekly updates lest they become an utter yawnfest - but this was worthy of comment:

Weeks 1-4 loss / (gain): 10.6lbs
Week 5 loss / (gain): 4.8lbs
Total: 15.4lbs

I'm not quite sure what happened to create such a big loss.  I'm (sadly) far too experienced in this game to think that weight loss always occurs on a nice, straight line basis but even I was surprised.  However, this week, the scales are not showing any large movements - a plateau, if you will. 

The week of pain in the title refers to the fact that, a little while ago, D and I decided that it might be a good idea to throw a 4:3 week into the mix every month or so.  As it says on the tin, this consists of three fast days rather than the usual two.  It will be interesting to see if this busts the plateau or whether this week is just destined to be a bit of a slowdown.  It will also be interesting to see if I get through fast day number 3 (scheduled for tomorrow) without weeping.  The last two have been difficult - not because I've felt hungry particularly, more that I've been COLD and craving melted cheese.

Still, as I said in my last post, I feel cautiously optimistic that I have found a long term way of eating / dieting that seems to allow weight loss alongside a "normal" existence.  And that, for me, is the golden ticket that helps me to live with the temporary discomfort.  I wonder if I will be quite sanguine when (likely not if) the weight loss slows down and the victories are harder won?

In answer to Lesley's question, D, who has much less ballast than me has lost 7lbs in the past five weeks.  This is an excellent result and suggests that 5:2 can also work for people who aren't particularly overweight.  He tends to take a less moderate approach than I on non fast days and yet still has recorded consistent losses.  To take things to the next level though, and ensure long term consistency, both of us need to up the ante with regards to exercise - Lesley, do you think if I keep saying it that eventually I will do it??

A month of 5:2

We have come to the end of January and thus a whole calendar month’s worth of intermittent fasting.

I’ve completed four full weeks – three doing 5:2 and one cheeky (and accidental) 4:3. So what are the final results?

Weeks 1-3 loss / (gain): 8.6lbs
Week 4 loss / (gain): 2lbs
Total: 10.6lbs

My intention was always to give this a fair shot and then assess whether or not it was worth carrying on. Based on those results, I am more than happy to keep going. I also I feel as if I’m in more of a position now to give a balanced opinion of 5:2. And here it is.

One - fasting is HARD. Some days it is quite hard and others it is very hard and there doesn’t appear to be any particular rhyme or reason as to why this is so. There may be some sort of biological (hormonal?) explanation, but certainly, I’ve not yet been able to identify a particular pattern as to why some days I bumble along slightly peckish but OK and others I want to chew my own hand off within a couple of hours of waking.

Two – if you, like me, have been on one diet or another for most of your adult life, being told to just eat “normally” five days a week is also hard. I feel like I’m having to learn that from scratch. Because it is January and because I’m all fired up to Bust some Lard, I’ve been erring on the side of caution which has clearly yielded results. Further down the line, I’m very conscious that the halo might start to slip and need to watch out for that.

Three – for all the caveats at points one and two, I would definitely recommend this to someone who was looking to breakout of the perpetual diet / binge cycle. Because, psychologically, it is just such a huge RELIEF to know that I don’t have to say no to everything and be in a state of constant, slightly unhappy denial. Last weekend, I saw friends. We had a meal out – there was pudding, there was a LOT of wine. The next day, there was an Indian takeaway. And yet I still did enough to record a 2lb loss because I practiced a bit of moderation and I completed my two fast days. That has all the hallmarks of a lifestyle that I can maintain forever.

Onwards and downwards!