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)