Not had much time to fill in my diet blog but have now managed to fill in what I've been consuming over the past week and a bit.
Still enjoying the food. Not got bored yet! Now I've got an idea what I like, I've decided to start shrinking the portions a little. (Not a lot - just a little - more shrinking in time!)
Had some some protein only days. These (as quite obvious) had minimal carbohydrates. Felt really full and satisfied on these days. Unfortunately, the following two days I felt really tired. Actually I was totally knackered! It shows you, that you do need some carbs although I do believe we eat too many! Next time I will only do one protein only days at a time.
Have been enjoying the porridge for breakfast. It's a proper porridge oats mix. Not one of these microwave in 60 seconds jobbies! With its low GI rating it slowly releases its energy making you fell fuller for longer.
Saturday 31 August - Day 12
Breakfast - Sardines on wholemeal Toast
Lunch - Tuna, mixed beans, tomato and w/grain rice
Dinner - Chicken breast with a chilli, onion & tomato sauce.
(bit too much chilli! wowcher! )
Sunday 1 September - Day 13
Breakfast - Porridge 1/2 water 1/2 milk
Lunch - Ryvitas and philly, pickles, cockles
Dinner - Roast beef with broccoli cauliflower peas pots
As I've previously stated I will still be having my traditional sunday lunch. To be honest, there's not much that's fatty. Even using gravy granules doesn't have too much fat in - I was surprised to find this out.
Monday 2 September - Day 14
Breakfast - Porridge
Lunch - Veg and bean chillipot
Dinner - Salmon with low fat cheese sauce & wholegrain rice
The salmon was fantastic and served on a bed of wholegrain rice with a covering of a low fat cheese sauce. Including some broccoli and cauliflower florets.
Tuesday 3 September - Day 15 - Protein day #1
Breakfast - Sardines & pilchards with tomatoes
Lunch - Chicken breast + v lean minced beef formed into a burger with cayenne,
paprika, garlic + chilli
Dinner - Burger!! made with lean minced beef and topped with philly light.
used Chinese leaf instead of bread bun
Burgers! Yep. Made right there's very little fat in a burger. I got my lean (very lean) minced beef from my local village butchers. Mixwd the mince with plenty of spices and a garlic purée (to stick together) and then using the inside of a pastry/cake cutter I shaped them using a good bit of force to hold the mixture together. Instead of using bread buns I bought some chinese leaf and folded two leafs in half and used one each for the top and bottom "buns". Gave a very satisfying CRUNCH!
Wednesday 4 September - Day 16 - Protein day #2
Breakfast - Pilchards & toms (no bread)
Lunch - Chicken breast and basic salad
Dinner - Lean minced beef meatballs in a tomato and garlic sauce
Well, the two protein days went great,. Felt full on not a lot of food.
Thursday 5 September - Day 17 - (Bean day!)
Breakfast - Porridge
Lunch - Veg and bean chillipot
Dinner - Mixed beans, tuna in a tomato, shallot, onion and garlic sauce
The garlic and shallots in the dinner dish really does seem to bring out the flavour of the tuna! Love it.
Friday 6 September - Day 18
Breakfast - Porridge
Lunch - Fruit crunch ryvitas with sweet chilli philly, pickled chillies,
onions and beetroot
Dinner - Garlic chicken breasts with jacket pots
Saturday 7 September - Day 19
Breakfast - Porridge
Lunch - Mixed beans, tuna in a tomato and garlic sauce
Dinner -Beef bolognese with wholegrain rice
Sunday 8 September - Day 20
Breakfast - Mackerel on w/meal toast
Lunch - Venison burgers on Chinese leaf bed with shallots and a dollop
of low-fat sweet chilli philly
Dinner - Traditional Sunday roast (Chicken)
Venison burgers
Shopping day today (Thursday). I'd love to eat more fish (white fish) but frankly it doesn't fill me up. Therefore most of my evening meals consists of chicken! Went to one of those butcher outlets today and bought 4kgs of Chicken breast fillets for £20. Packed into freezer bags and froze over half of it. The smaller half.... see these two days.
Thursday 29 August - Day 10
Breakfast - 2 x W/meal toast (unbuttered of course) with chopped tomatoes
& poached egg
Lunch - Fruit (mixed grapes and strawberries) covered in a pot of cherry Müller
Light yoghurt
Dinner - Chicken breast with j/pots, cauliflower, broccoli, peas and low-fat onion
sauce (not too much)
** NOTE ** Felt really full after this dinner. Excellent.
Friday 30 August - Day 11
Breakfast - Sardines on a bed of little gem lettuce leaves with tomatoes in
balsamic vinegar.
Lunch - Ryvitas with Philly light (Sweet Chilli flavour)
Dinner - Chicken Curry (Dopiaza) with wholemeal rice
Curry? Curry I hear you say? Yes. A chicken dopiaza. Dopiaza doesn't have any dodgy cream as this one is a tomato and onion based curry. So ideal for my diet. Here's a great simple dopiaza recipe >> LINK << By the way, it was fantastic.
Bathroom scales - god they're evil. I shall only look at the once a week.
Just a quicky today...
Day 9 - Wednesday 28 August
Breakfast - Sardines on a bed of little gem lettuce and tomatoes in balsamic vinegar
Lunch - Mixed bean salad with tuna & mussels
Dinner - Grilled chicken with a Mexican tomato, rice & beans
No bread today, not even wholemeal. I'm aiming for no more than 4 times a week max. The tomatoes were drenched in a balsamic vinegar and with the sardines and crispy lettuce made an lovely fresh breakfast.
The mixed bean salad (5 sorts of beans I think) with tuna and mussels really did fill a whole and satisfied me considerably. I love beans,
The Mexican tomato, rice and beans (yes beans again) that accompanied my grilled chicken is very similar to this recipe from www.food.com but I used wholegrain rice and red kidney beans. Tasted better than I thought it would. In fact, it was beautiful.
Right then....
Off to plan the next few days food.
Well, that's a week done (Monday) and it's going OK. I won't kid you, I have been hungry many times but usually had a drink of tea to take the urge away. Tuesday - my scales have come. Oh god, why did I have to bother? How heavy am I? Lots. Actually LOTS! Don't ask - please.
Monday 26 August
Breakfast - Fruit
Lunch - Ryvitas (fruit crunch) with sweet chilli Light Philadelphia and pickled onions.
Dinner Beef Stifado (Στιφάδο)
Not too hungry this morning but kept the old metabolism going by having some fruit. Those fruit crunch ryvitas really are nice. Quite filling too, get some!
Beef Stif-what? It's a great Greek dish of beef stew in tomatoes and shallots. Cooked slowly for about 3-4 hours, the beef just falls apart. Amazing. My favourite Greek dish.
Tuesday 27 August
Breakfast - Sardines on wholemeal toast with little gem lettuce
Lunch - Baxters Bean & Veg Chillibowl
Dinner - Chicken Souvlaki
So this is the second time I've had one of those Baxters Chillibowls. Think I paid about 90p-ish from a local foodstore. With only 0.9% fat that means less than 4g of fat in the meal. Had a little mit of mixed leaf salad with it. Lovely. http://www.baxters.com/product/vegetable-bean-chilli
Chicken Souvlaki - Translated Chicken Skewers - i.e. Chicken kebabs with peppers, onions and mushrooms. The kids wanted chips with theirs. Great! I had mine with a wholemeal rice spiced with chopped jalapeños and peas.
Here's to the next week!
So that's four days done and I'm feeling great. Seriously. I think the lack of white bread and pasta in my diet is making me feel less stodgy. I should have done this a long time ago.
Day 5 - Saturday 24 August
Breakfast - Fruit
Lunch - Chicken & w/grain rice salad with tomatoes and pickled chillies & cauliflower
Dinner - Salmon, peas, jacket pots & parsley sauce (not too much sauce)
Again, pickled veg making an appearance. This adds sweetness without the need for sugary substances.
I know the parsley sauce isn't the healthiest option but I am also cooking for the rest of the family too. When I'm having jacket potatoes in these meals I am of course abstaining from adding the likes of butter on them. Just salt and a generous helping of freshly ground black pepper.
Day 6 - Sunday 25 August
Breakfast - 2 x w/meal toast with chopped tomatoes & poached egg
Lunch - Mixed bean salad & tuna
Dinner - Roast Chicken dinner (plenty of broccoli & cauliflower) again - not too much gravy.
Chopped tomatoes on wholegrain toast have always been a favourite for breakfast so I decided to have this instead of a traditional Sunday "Bacon" breakfast.
Mixed bean salads really are filling, especially when accompanied with tuna and planned for tonight is a roast chicken traditional Sunday lunch. Of course I shall be refraining from adding too much gravy.
Overall, not a bad first 6 days. Just wish these bathroom scales would arrive.
First two days passed rather tastily. So what did the next few days taste like? Well, as I've previously said somewhere in these ramblings that I'm trying to eat a normal(ish) evening meal. I figured if I skimp too much I will be tempted to snack on something a lot less healthier.
Day 3 - Thursday 22 August
Breakfast - 2x w/meal toast & sardines
Lunch - Bean & veg chilli with salad
Dinner - Mussels in a thin white wine and garlic sauce with peas and baby new potatoes
For breakfast I enjoyed some sardines on un-buttered wholemeal toast. Rather filling breakfast. The bean and veg chilli was something I picked up at a local food store. Made by Baxters, it is 99.1% fat free. So this went down a treat with a little mixed leaf & tomatoes salad.
Evening dinner was a little later than planned as my cars battery died on me. It's only two years old but I have only recently come back from vacation so it has been standing still for several weeks and I was sitting in the car for an hour with the radio on rather loud. Oops.
Day 4 - Friday 23 August
Breakfast - 2x w/meal toast & sardines
Lunch - Ryvitas with Philadelphia light and a selection of pickled veg & chillies
Dinner - Chicken breast seasoned with chilli served with a low fat onion sauce & w/grain rice
Yes, cheese. OK not REAL cheese but it was satisfactory. I had 4 Ryvitas of the Fruit Crunch variety. No these were surprisingly filling. How I love pickled onion, cauliflower and chillies. Good job really!
Chicken in the evening but this time with a low fat onion sauce - made with skimmed milk. Served with wholegrain rice this was really tasty. I shall have to make more of this onion sauce.
Onto the next couple of days.....
Obviously too much, or too much of the wrong stuff.
Over the next umpteen months I shall be writing down here what I've been eating while on my diet. I shall be concentrating primarily on the meals as I'm trying not to snack. Snacking is something I don't do too much of anyway. Any snacks I've had through the days noted will be displayed at the end of each post.
So Tuesday 20 August was the dreaded day 1. What did I eat?
Day 1 - Tuesday 20 August
Breakfast - 1 x toast - lightly buttered - yeah I know!
Lunch - Ham & chicken mixed salad
Dinner - Chicken in tomato, onions & chilli with jacket potato
So the first day passed, the only hiccup was the breakfast as I got up late - no excuses eh!
I have come to the conclusion that even after the first day that either chicken, tomatoes, onions or chilli will be the main source of ingredients in my evening meals. Which coincidentally are my favourite foods (apart from cheese.... aarrgghh cheese)
Day 2 - Wednesday 21 August
Breakfast - Fruit
Lunch - Tuna, tomatoes and cucumber salad with pickled chillies
Dinner - Beef bolognese with jacket potato
So the beef bolognese... bloody lovely. Basically what I'd make for a spaghetti bolognese but replaced the mince beef with cubed beef with any fat trimmed off.
1½lb of trimmed lean beef - cubed
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1 large onion - chopped
1 good helping of chopped Italian herbs
Worcestershire sauce
Several cloves of garlic - chopped
Tomato purée - to thicken.
Serves 4
Literally wiped the pan with a little sunflower oil - removed any excess and gently fried the beef with some of the garlic to brown slightly. Added the onions and gently softened them for a few minutes. Made a sauce with the chopped tomatoes, herbs, purée, Worcestershire sauce and remaining garlic. Added to the beef in the pan and brought to the boil. Transferred to an oven proof pot and placed in the oven at a low heat (approx 130-140°C) for about 3½ hours. The beef will just break up gently with a fork when eating it. Fantastic.
Served with jacket potatoes instead of nasty glutinous pasta. The whole family preferred it to traditional spaghetti bolognese. A very lean and satisfying meal.
Continued....
Oh dear lord, where do I start. Well after looking
at myself in the mirror (and picking myself up off
the floor) I suppose by not bloody eating.
Yes, I'm in my forties and getting rather fat.
Not, plump. Not chubby. Definitely not jolly.
Fat
F A T
I cannot lie to myself any more. I'm large - very. I shall not embarrass myself or the world by revealing my weight, but suffice to say, if I was the correct weight for my height, I'd be too tall for this living room!
Actually, I can't reveal my weight because we don't have any scales. We do have some on order but they are yet to arrive. I'm still not sure if this is a good thing or not. I have measured myself in four areas. My neck, my chest, my belly and my so-called waist. These sahall be recorded and monitored regularly.
Glands
People do go on and say "It's my glands." Well, I shall say it... "It's my gland". Not not my rectum sphincter being smaller than my mouth, but my thyroid gland. You see, many years ago I suffered with an extreme over-active thyroid gland. On a good day my heart rate at rest was 120-130 bpm. That people, is fast. My metabolism, to say the least, was buggered. I could digest food (digesting is pushing it a bit) in 30 minutes. Terrible gut pains, always hungry, always thirsty, always hot and hardly ever slept - maybe 2 hours a night.
Well, 17 years ago I was meant to have a partial thyroidectomy. I did, but the bit they left behind was damaged so it shut off and did not work. Nothing. Not a bean. I had it checked for months but still.... nothing. So, I don't have a thyroid any more. Therefore, I can take one look at a pie and put on 2 pounds! I do take levothyroxine (225 ug per day) but even when eating normally I seem to gain weight so it's come to this!
Onto the diet thing.
So how am I going to do this? To be honest, probably a lot of trial and error, but if I don't try I won't know. Everyone has there own great plans to diet. Some diets work better on certain people than others. So, I've got my plan.
This one is lower fat and lower sugar diet. Also, I am reducing the amount of carbohydrates I eat. Yeah I know sugar = carbs but I don't mean it that way.
So what have I cut out?
Chocolate and biscuits/cookies is easy as I don't hardly eat those. Crisps (or potato chips for our American friends) are out too. Gone are sugar loaded fizzy drinks - god I loved an ice cold Coke) and beer - aarrgghh... beer. Here's the killer..... cheese. Proper cheese, you know, gold old fashioned extra mature cheddar cheese.
What else?
Well I have cut out white bread completely. I now have wholemeal only, but this is restricted to no more than 2 thin slices 3 or 4 times a week. Pasta is definitely off. I am trying to avoid white rice. If I do eat it, it will be of the long grain variety, but I shall try to be eating only wholegrain rice. I know potatoes contain carbs but they're less than the other items mentioned.
Meats
I shall still be eating all my meats but they shall be heavily trimmed off excess fat. Meat is a great source of protein and that's one of my aims, More protein, less fat, less sugar, less carbs.
Of course, you can't lose weight effectively just by cutting down on the above. You need to exercise too. Recently, some of my joints have become less effective than before and can become painful so I shall be taking care with this exercise lark! But I have ordered a bike roller so I can use my bike in all weathers. More on this in a later blog.
Less sugar.
Quite a difficult one as I love sweet drinks. But it has to end. I have replaced Coke, not with Coke Zero (or light) but with Pepsi Max. To be told the truth, if it's chilled it's not bad, not great, but not bad - honest. Now I did try to remove all my sugar from my mugs of tea by using this wonder sweetener - Stevia. Go look it up. But nope, it leaves a nasty after taste on my palate. So, from two sugars in my tea to one. I shall be working on reducing that further at a later date.
What am I eating?
Well, I plan to add to this blog my daily menu to record what I'm eating as I have have a terrible memory. Also, because of by some miracle of science I actually do loose weight then it may be of help to others who think they can't do it.
The menu will follow.... for now sleep time. Chow..... oh god no, wrong one..that's meant to be ciao.
Well well well....
Looks like I (almost) abandoned this blog. To be honest, I've not had much to say end even less time to write about it but I do feel an update coming up... a big one..
Hold tight world. (Although I doubt anyone is listening).
