Day 4: carbs and carbs and carbs

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4h sleep, 24000 steps.

I’d done ok at keeping off the sugar until there was a bit of a disaster in the late afternoon. All plans were scuppered and I was emotional eating. I ate 3 full bowls of cereal. I felt uncomfortably full, but I kept going. I wasn’t hungry and I knew it. I couldn’t stop myself.

I seem to be alternating good days with bad days at the moment. By that measure tomorrow should be a good day. Let’s hope so.

Day 3: A lot of green, a little better (or as day 3 will henceforth be known: ACCIDENTAL SPINACH DAY)

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Well… today was a bit better. I’ve successfully kept off the sugar. No biccies for me!

I had a green smoothie for breakfast and (believe it or not from the picture) the remnants of the same green smoothie in the evening. Does spinach go darker green as it ages? I had a sandwich and (spinach!) soup for lunch and a chicken salad for tea.

My fruit/veg count today is: spinach, mango, strawberry, apple, grapes and lettuce

(Basically) no sleep and only 14000 steps.

But I’m inspired to keep on. Smoothies seem like a good way to pack in plenty of veg. People seem to suggest that it’s better to eat the fruit and veg whole. That’s ok, but I haven’t ever done it and I won’t ever do it – not without a stepping stone. Hopefully this is that stone.

 

 

Day 1: cautiously optimistic

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Breakfast: tropical morning smoothie

Lunch: pomegranate chia smoothie

Snack: celery, red pepper and hummus

Drinks: green tea, black tea, black coffee, water

Steps: 17000

Sleep: 6h

Fruit and veg list: mango, pineapple, banana, strawberry, raspberry, pomegranate, red pepper, celery

I think it’s important to point out that the quantities in the cups shown were not the quantities consumed – the recipes (which served 1) filled each glass 3 times. I also added a lot of water to my smoothies because I wanted to drink (rather than spoon) them.

I substituted my evening smoothie for a snack because, well, a girl’s got to chew! It’s been an unusual day timings-wise, but that’s often the case.

Many times today I didn’t want a sweet smoothie but persevered. I was glad I did as they weren’t too sweet and filled me up.

While I’m planning to keep my diet as close to this plan as possible, I’m not going to turn down invitations to see friends or family to stick to it. I have to live! So tomorrow is likely to be two smoothies and a meal. I think as long as I am honest and keep to the general principles, that should be enough to achieve the outcomes I’m hoping for.

Today was also my baseline weigh in and measure day. I’m going to repeat these every three weeks and will share my progress.

 

 

Ready, set, go!

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Today I’ve planned out my meals and done some meal prepping. I like being able to grab a freezer bag and blend it for quick access to healthier food. Otherwise I’d be straight into the biscuits, as they require no prep whatsoever.

I’ve found some online recipes and decided to follow Harley Pasternak’s body reset for the first 5 days. Partly because of ease of finding this, partly because I’d gladly swap bodies with most of his clients, and partly because the green smoothie recipe book I ordered is yet to arrive, and I’m keen to make a start.

The basic principles of this seem to be a white smoothie for breakfast, a red smoothie for lunch and a green smoothie in the evening. There are two crunchy snacks during the day too.

I’m going to weigh and measure myself before and after, although weight loss isn’t the main reason I’m doing this. I want to gain some routine and regularity, and so I’ll also be doing 15000 steps a day, having at least 1h per day unplugged, aiming for 7 hours sleep a night and drinking at least 2 litres of water per day. I’m not going to skip any meals or snacks and I’ll record everything here.