Week 2

My favorite breakfast!

The past week has proved so much easier to deal with as my body adjusted to new ingredients and my head got around throwing out all the old rules and regulations and learning a whole bunch of new ones.

Lets just get a few things out the way first - I have no idea what my percentage of Fat, Protein or Carbs intake per day is, do not weigh portions and at this stage could not care less about the rest of the alphabet soup either. I do not count calories and do not know what my blood sugar count or ketosis number is - would not know if I am within required range on not! I am simply following some intelligent and practical guidelines as suggested by the authors of REAL MEAL REVOLUTION and the kind folk on BANTING FOR WEIGHT LOSS Facebook Group, which include the following:

• Protein the size of your palm
• Unlimited ingredients from the GREEN list
• Use with caution ingredients from the ORANGE List
• Avoid use of ingredients from the RED list
• Eat only when hungry - DO NOT SKIP BREAKFAST
• Stop eating when full
• Drink lots and lots and lots of water!

In other words, I am using what works for me and keeping it really simple without letting the change in lifestyle eating dominate my life. Look, I suffer from 7 different kinds of OCD and telling me to only weigh myself after the first 6 weeks of Banting is just not going to happen!! Religiously every morning I am on the scale and note the results (...... which are goooood :) !) Knowing I have to give up sugar, bread, pasta and potatoes is one thing - not having instant notification that my sacrifice is producing the required result is entirely a different story! 

Having said that, I do understand the logic behind this advice and will reduce my "weigh-in" from daily to weekly from now on. I am aware that the weight loss is going to slow down pretty soon, and being prepared means I don't have to drive myself crazy on a daily basis.

A good example of this happened on Friday:

BANTING DAY 12: Finally slowing down to a panic after a week from hell. Up here in the Highveld it is "fire season" and that has been my activity for the past three days and I am exhausted!
Down side - approved breakfast every day (hey I love bacon and eggs so no sweat there) but have no desire for lunch and have cheese, avo and boiled egg for supper. Which is like snacking in my world as have no energy to cook or be creative. Yesterday, a kindly soul brought us a cool drink in the midst of fighting an absolute B**ch of a fire that would just not die! I glugged half a tin mug first because I really needed it and then remembered to ask what it was ..... apple liquifruit!!
Humpff, I thought, will have my "binge" day two days early, how much damage could I be doing??? Answer: Picked up 400g from yesterday morning!!!

So sent myself into a total tizz for nothing, as it all sorted itself out in the end, but a good enough lesson to ensure my OCD is reined in:) On the topic of "Binge" - I love the concept of planning a day to break all the rules, but I obviously need to adjust my thinking about it *chuckle*. Last Sunday I munched a whole bunch of droewors while watching F1 and had strawberries and cream for dinner. I only later discovered that there was sugar and meal and in the wors and went into a mild panic as after a week of carefully obeying all the rules, this was a disaster until I remembered the planned "Binge" and instantly decided that I had done just that and it was forgiven. I have since discovered that "3 Beers and a pizza" is quite acceptable! Just another way it would be possible to take things a step too far :)


Beyond this small non- issue (as it turned out), my body is changing. My favourite jeans have allowed me to at least sit in a chair without cutting off my circulation (squats not permitted as yet); with my belly button receding towards my spine it is now a race between my boobs and my hair as to which is going to read my middle first :(  My left knee is still complaining so have not been on the elliptical exerciser for a few days but will hopefully get there soon! On Tuesday had the mother of all cravings for a Cheeseburger and Chips. Quelled that almost instantly with spinach and bacon fried in butter!


I have also discovered that I enjoy experimenting with food (something I would have sworn blindly that I am not into) :

EXPERIMENT: Cold icy days like this calls for a thick stew/soup so considering all my old standby goodies are not on the green list am trying this:
Fried garlic and onions and about 300g diced beef in butter. Added baby cabbage, courgettes, salt, pepper, Italian herbs and a cup of water Stirred all together and then put a layer of cauliflower, broccoli and mushrooms on top, put the lid on and going to let it simmer till the broccoli and cauliflower are soft. I just know I am going to add cream and top it off with grated cheese.
RESULT: Firstly needed more salt (Did not add cheese after all), very strong vegetable taste which is great but needed something to "perk" it up, will try tomato next time. Also, less water to "steam" the cabbage and courgettes, because it made the cream too thin. Tummy full!
LEFTOVERS: Put everything in the blender, added 750ml of water and a packet of Cream of Mushroom Soup (not permitted so put into "binge" bank), simmered and absolutely YUMMY!

I read somewhere (must have been in the FB Group) that someone always had boiled eggs in the fridge for snacking purposes and I thought this a great idea. Boiled 6 eggs on Sunday and when they cooled down put them in a sealed container in the fridge and used them for salads, snacks or when I was just to darn lazy to cook something!

During the past two weeks I have been asked a number of times if I am aware that I am going to have to do this for the rest of my life. I have on each occasion answered very truthfully that I cannot say for sure. I do not have commitment issues; it is just that my primary goal right now is to lose weight (as much as possible) and once I have done that ensure that I never pick it up again. Being this fat is just not acceptable anymore!

I would hope that once I reach my goal weight I would either have adjusted to this new eating lifestyle entirely or at least learned my lesson and be very careful as to what goes into my body. Charles Lubbe writes:

"Banting (RMR) has never had weight loss as its primary goal. Its primary goal is reducing inflammation caused by the effects of sugar on the body. Its specifically aimed at dying healthy and not having to suffer for years before the inevitable happens. Weight-loss is a happy by product."

Pancakes (Day 20) -
30  Day Low Carb Meal Planner

Sometime in the near future will go and have blood tests and do a proper assessment of what my Alphabet Soup should contain for optimum health and weight loss.

Happily I am enjoying the weight-loss aspect right now and am not looking too far into the future as to the next step. Will cross that bridge when I get to it, and in the meantime am losing weight eating pancakes!! (Made with coconut and almond flour!)


Weight: 133.4kg (-3.3kg)                      Belly Button: 145.5 (-2.5cm)
Total to Date:    (-8.3kg)                                                  (-5.5cm)

Week 1

Having made the decision last Sunday to embark on this new lifestyle, I did not have all the required ingredients in the house and was too impatient to get going! I had ordered THE REAL MEAL REVOLUTION from Kalahari and while waiting for it had downloaded an e-book entitled 30 DAY LOW CARD MEAL PLANNER which would give me at least an idea of a shopping list. Also - it sounded much easier to be given a menu than to think up one myself!

The first shock to my system on Monday morning entailed NOT having coffee. The second shock called for 3 boiled eggs turned into Cayenne Devilled Eggs. I ignored the spicy part and just settled for the eggs. After a wonderful shopping spree of the list of groceries required for week one, lunch of Greek salad was an absolute breeze. 
Being totally convinced I would not survive without bread I baked a simple Banting Bread from a recipe I found on BANTING FOR WEIGHT LOSS - and was very impressed with my baking skills. Did not taste to bad either with lots of butter.
Dinner required Salmon which I did not have and exchanged it for Roast Pork left over from Sunday lunch.

And so the week started off very well. The no coffee thing did rankle a bit but here I need to be honest, it was the 3 tea spoons of sugar in my "bucket" of coffee that I missed the most! I spent a whole lot of time doing research of various opinions and in the process found some very useful information:

1. http://www.dietdoctor.com/how-to-lose-weight#4 tell you exactly how to go about losing weight with all the pitfalls and other obstacles that you might find
2. Reading through all the various discussions on BANTING FOR WEIGHT LOSS also helped prevent me from asking stupid questions that had been asked/answered before and best of all
3. Real, true to life success stories of normal people who had "been there, done that" and looked a million dollars! I don't know about you but I am always wary of the studio "before" and "after" shots which very seldom have any resemblance to one another. Here the photographs were not posed but genuine reports of people who have had success with the LCHF lifestyle - and are more than willing to share their experience with you.

By Wednesday I started doubting the wisdom of diving into the 30 DAY LOW CARB MEAL PLANNER, mainly because there were a few funnies which directly contradicted the advice given on the group. So I posted my concerns on the group and was extremely grateful for the response received. The best advice given was this -

I think you need to take care with these one size fits all plans. Your lifestyle and medical condition needs to be taken into account. When we follow an eating plan not ideally suited to us is when we fall off the wagon, pick up weight or end up feeling miserable and lacking energy. (Bridgette Allan)

I then realized how many people would do exactly the same as I did and not have the benefit of a group to approach for advice.

Nevertheless, the meal plans were fun and easy so keeping a wary eye on ingredients which might be listed but are on the ORANGE and RED lists (RMR), I continued with the meal plan, substituting ingredients when necessary. On Wednesday I tried coffee with cream but NO SUGAR and did not run for the hills *lol* and during the day developed a headache from hell, but was prepared for it so just drank lots of water and kept a low profile.


On Thursday morning I felt like death warmed up. I could not face eating anything, felt light headed and most confused. Posted my question on the Group as to whether this was normal and while I waited for a response had some Banting bread toast with cream cheese. One of the Group members responded to my post by querying what I had for supper and then suggested I have LOTS of greens the rest of the day. With firm instructions to NEVER skip breakfast if I seriously wanted to lose weight. Thanks Charles Lubbe!

I kinda lost the plot a little - I started giggling and really could not stop - here I was trying to lose weight and was making bacon bits fried in butter with spinach topped with cream!!! It absolutely boggled my mind on how indoctrinated we had become over time as to what was considered healthy and what was not!

It would take a bit of getting used to but I am pretty darn sure I could do this and keep it up. I would almost sell my soul for a plate of "slap chips" or baked potato but discovered today that "cauli-mash" tastes pretty good!

There is something called BULLET PROOF COFFEE that I have not yet been brave enough to try, but perhaps next week .......

For now, I am absolutely ecstatic about my first week's loss:

Weight: 136.7kg  (-3.30kg)   Belly Button : 148cm (-2.5cm)

The search .....

So here are the basics:

• I am 58 years old, living on a farm outside Pretoria with the love of my life (who eats like a sparrow and does not have an ounce of spare flesh on him)
• I create mosaics and websites for a living which entails either sitting behind a computer or my workbench - neither of which expend much physical energy
• Am an equal opportunity eater - I  LOVE food and eat with every opportunity - whether happy or sad - when depressed it gets really, really bad, then gobble is more the norm (OK so I do have some issues)
• I bought lots of classic loose-fitting clothes years ago so am pretty comfortable with my wardrobe
• I have never been anything but a "big girl" and was reasonably comfortable with that situation although the nagging thought in the back of my head started become more of a siren that something needed to be done ... at some stage!
• This photograph taken of me in December last year showed me that I

  

  Cher: 21 Dec 2013

  was seriously exceeding the "big girl" tag and something needed to be done with my weight at 137.3!
• I tried Herbex, TenaZ and even Garcinia Cambogia while "eating healthy" - not a whole lot of success with any of them. The more I tried to eat the right stuff the more the cravings for sugar and pasta dominated my life.
• Stopped smoking in March which did nothing to slow down the increase in my already considerable girth (waist 151.5cm) ....
• At the end of July 2014, I weighed 141.7kg and my last pair of jeans which I kinda still fit into, finally forbid me to try and sit down while wearing them and I knew that I had to seriously do something........
• I even bought an exercise machine (Trojan 260) and spent half an hour with the salesperson trying to establish if the maximum weight allowed was actually 130kg (even if the box said 120kg) but decided to risk it anyway.

So the search on how to lose weight began. Thank goodness for the internet because it does make life a whole lot easier - and a whole lot more complicated!!! 

I found an eating plan called "Beyond Diet" which is low carb, gluten free eating which seemed reasonable and also targeted a lifestyle change more than a diet which suited me. However, after subscribing to their website, meal plans and related services I became highly annoyed with the amount of emails that seemed more concerned with selling more of their products than anything else. I have unsubscribed to their emails and now have a rather expensive set of recipe books:)

The see-saw continued for two more weeks until Sunday 17th August when I started doing some research on "Banting" - the more I read (both sides of the fence) the more something resonated with me that perhaps I should give this a try - what did I have to lose? Only 50kg!

Cher:  31 July 2014

Okay, so there are some serious stumbling blocks - I have to give up SUGAR, BREAD, PASTA and AROMAT!!! You don't understand, these are my basics for survival! 

Have downloaded a 30-day Meal Plan to test drive the process while I await the arrival of the Real Meal Revolution from Kalahari. I joined a great group on Facebook: "Banting for Weight Loss" administered by bright, intelligent and helpful people and populated by a great group who are all fighting the same battle! From this group I found a recipe for Banting Bread which I made and I was presently surprised at the taste and ate some with real butter too - so life cannot be all bad?



So my Banting journey  begins - full of optimism and hope!

This blog will be updated on Sundays and provide you with weekly progress reports.