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)