Sunday 27 February 2011

3rd Going Wild Day (with photos)

Phwoar! What a blow out!

coffee/milk/cinnamon
refilled several times
2 sausages 2 eggs
tomato sauce!!
flat white/sugar/mini
chocolate brownie
the prosecco is mine
the beer is not
(Soho, London)
very fancy chocolate
la maison du chocolat 
disappointing filet fish
fries (I shared them)
Sailor Jerry's
Ginger Beer
And another one

An assortment of crisps
and Sour Cream Dip
They look pretty on a plate
(I shared them too)
A banana smoothie
(with a dash of Disaronno
for good measure!)
plus cinnamon
Sushi for dinner
Oysters were soaked in
all sorts of tasty sweet Japanese
sauces
plus helped myself to 
pizza that the others
were eating
And a party pack
small size CherryRipe
And a slug of Disaronno
without the milk and
banana
And another Cherry
Ripe - because the
party pack ones are
so small

And all this added a total of 1.2kg to my frame in the past 24 hours.
Next week I'm introducing some damage control!!!

End Week 3 - Photos and Summary

Well here we are 3 weeks in.  I think you can see the biggest difference with these two photos:

Day 0
Day 20

Actually - side by side like that I think even I can see that I'm shrinking!! YAY!!

Here's the progress since day 0 - Have to be pretty happy with the following data:

day 0
 end wk 3  difference 
weight (kg) 
 64.3 
 60.8
3.5 loss
weight (lb)
141.5
133.8
7.7 loss
inches
141.25 
137
4.25 loss
body fat % 
29.9
26.8
3.1 point loss
fat in my body 
19.23 kg
16.29 kg
3 kg loss


That's all very good .... but after yesterday's GOING WILD DAY .... I have thrown some more back on.

Goals for this week:

  • stick to eating plan (no problem  - this is the easiest bit atm)
  • lots of water in
  • find out about the non-kettle bell exercises to introduce (squats and wall presses etc).  I wasn't going to introduce these until I had a plateau week - but I feel the need to do something new, the food alone is now such a part of my routine that I don't even really need to think about it
  • Next GWD - Introduce Damage Control - cinnamon, grapefruit juice and all that.....
But now for the interesting bit .... about to post all of yesterday's blowout!

Friday 25 February 2011

End of Week 3 - almost

Wow - this has been a bumper week so far - and still one more day to go to push the scales that little bit further.

Lost some every day this week; I didn't anticipate that and thought there'd be at least a couple of days of 100 or 200g up.  I must remember this week next time the scales start in the other direction - this surely isn't representative!

1.9 kg (4.2 lb) in 6 days ..... 3.5kg (7.7lb) since starting nearly 3 weeks ago.  That seems steady.

On reflection - I've cut down the size of the meals; without feeling hungry.  I was fooled by Tim's cautions along the lines of "biggest mistake is not making portion sizes big enough" {will get exact quotes later} etc etc - and I was determined not to be hungry - as it turned out, I was stuffed! So now just winding it back a bit.  And I'm cutting out late night beans etc if my dinner is close to bedtime.  If I eat early I'll keep them there to see me through to morning; but often my schedule means that I eat, and then am in bed within about 30 mins. So on those days, just protein and veg.

Can't wait for Going Wild Day tomorrow! Must remember to regulate better - don't starve myself whilst seeking the "perfect treat".  And I've been craving "healthy sugars"; Fresh sweet mango and passionfruit is calling me.  Fried Rice and Sweet and Sour Chicken doesn't have the same appeal..... what's happening to me????

On another note for the dirty fecker monitoring my bowel movements (you know who you are) .... Actimel seems to be having no discernible positive  effect ... will be introducing something like flaxseed instead as well.  Any other suggestions?

Wednesday 23 February 2011

Relief! and a new All Time Low

Phew! Thank god for friends in high places ... in this case a nurse rushing to my rescue with a pre-surgical strength colon cleanser.  In true Tim Ferris style I documented my experiment, but for the purpose of good taste I won't publish it here - but I do know in a quite intricate degree of detail how my intestine responds to such a workout.  (by the time I started the treatment I was 62.2kg - 2.5 hours later I was 61.0 - but possibly a bit dehydrated to boot)

Go Colon Cleanse.

So I don't know if my body is likely to retaliate now and suck in and retain all the water I drink today ... guess I can only wait and see and in the meantime stick to the meal plans 100%.  I also need to make sure I introduce something that will prevent the same happening again.  My trial this week is to have an actimel drink before bed each night - Let's see if that screws with progress.

Pack size - 100g
Ingredients - Yogurt (skimmed milk, skimmed milk concentrate, yogurt cultures), Water, Skimmed milk, Dextrose, Stabiliser (pectin), Sweeteners (aspartame, acesulfame K), L.casei Danone culture (Lactobacillus casei DN 114001), Vitamin B6, Flavouring, Vitamin D,
Contains a source of phenylalanine.  Contains: Milk.
Nutritional Value (per 100ml serving size) - Energy: 121kJ/28kcal; Protein 2.8g; Carbs 3.3g(all from sugars); Fat 0.1g; Fibre 0; Sodium 0.04g (equivalent as salt = 0.1g); Vit B6 0.21mg; Vit D 0.75μg

I've picked the low fat, unflavoured one - and I quite like the taste (but not chuffed that there's sweeteners and dextrose)..... now just watching for results.  Now work you little Lactobacilli - work dammit!

Tuesday 22 February 2011

Bodily Function Spoiler Alert

Crumbs ... I'm blocked up!

Food is going in, nothing is coming out. I'm now walking around with constant nausea and can't really eat anything without feeling properly sick.  I'm really craving a slice of toast and butter and a nice sweet cup of milky tea.  But I'm trying to stick with it.
Yesterday I managed a small egg and bean omlette for breakfast, a few nuts for lunch, and there was no way I could eat anything solid in the evening - so I had a bowl of tomato soup .... I know that's probably way off plan, but food is just piling up inside me.
Somehow I've still lost 200g in 24 hours - but I fear it may be dehydration kicking in.
I've downed a couple of unblockers - but no result yet - I'm taking today off work to trawl the pharmacy shelves for industrial strength "movers" and a joyous afternoon perched on the porcelain.

Gross.

I am hoping for a dramatic downward shift on the scales once I get rid of all of this though!

Sunday 20 February 2011

Going Wild Day Fallout (with pics)

Oh dear!! Yesterday cost me 1.1kg - my biggest gain yet and erases all the progress from the last week.  BUT, I'm not being disheartened by that... Mainly due to feeling that I'm really going to bounce back off with an even bigger loss this week.

Did GWD make me happy? Hell no - I was a grumpy arse bitch most of the day - and surprised I didn't cop a slapping at one point.  I wanted to slap myself! Nothing was good enough.  I was looking at calorie laden food and getting upset that I was going to "waste" my intake on it.  Foods I used to delight in have lost their appeal.  That meant that I had a really long break between breakfast and my next main meal, and then condensed most of the day's intake between 3.30pm and 11pm - almost starving myself for the bulk of the middle of the day, and then properly pigged out just before bed. (oink). I'm sure that can't be good.

No wonder I piled on a fair bit in that 24 hour period.  1.1kg to be precise (I know I'm repeating myself).  I have to regulate better next Going Wild Day.  It's meant to be fun!

Here's what it looked like:
coffee + cinnamon sludge
(refilled several times)
3 eggs and a sausage
loads of tomato sauce
(how I miss you)
2nd sausage cooked, 
but put in fridge to 
snack on later.  
I didn't though - 
forgot ... 
so I guess that is going 
in the bin now!
flat white + sugar
and a piece of banana cake
half of fruli
glass of wine
+ 6 of those oysters
I ate all the bread
crisps and a Sailor Jerry
on ice (double)
and another Sailor Jerry
for good measure
pasty and a steak bake
(halved with mate)
home made margarita
with lots of lime
(I see a pattern developing)
Chinese takeout + beer
fried rice/kung po chicken/
crispy beef
And I had 2nds
of the Chinese. 
And then picked
leftovers from the tubs.
But I only had the
one glass of beer.
(showing restraint yes?)


And today I am hosting my first Sunday Lunch on the slow carbs.  None of my friends know I'm doing this.  Whilst I'm happy for cyberland to see my tubby little muffin top in all it's ghastly glory - I do want to keep that image sheltered from people I have to sit across the table from.  I keep it well hidden under the clothes.  So I am not telling them about this blog, and I'm not telling them they are getting slow-carb food for lunch.  I will add potatoes for them but won't eat them myself - that should keep them fooled.

Saturday 19 February 2011

What is 6 inches?

The total amount of inches I've lost in two weeks since starting this 4HBody plan!

That's made up of 4 inches from the Tim Ferris standard TI count; plus 2 inches from my own addition of "chest" into the equation.  Although because I've lost 2.5 inches from "girth at arm pits" and 2 from boobs and 2 inches from ribcage; maybe I could say I've lost 10.5 inches ... but maybe that's a description too far!!

I'm updating the tables and photos on the other pages now ... then about to let loose on Going Wild Day.  What a blast!

Friday 18 February 2011

A week of Ups and Downs ... but hopefully ending on a Down

I've not enjoyed my weigh-ins this week.  It seemed that I was going to be starting my 2nd Going Wild Day, only just about square with where I was last week.  It's such a demoralising feeling when you know that you've stuck to the meal plan; curbed your enthusiasm at the pub (nursed a single glass of red all night... so not the old me!); drunk water like a fish; gone through tins of organic lentils ... all for what seemed like nothing.

But then I had a break through weigh in today.  Down 800g on yesterday - that's nearly 1kg! It's really lifted my day and now has me looking forward to photo-day and measurements tomorrow - and I'll enjoy my Going Wild Day.  A lot.

The only change I'm making to GWD, is that I'm starting with poached eggs and smoked salmon - going to pimp the protein for breakfast, and then find myself a nice full fat latte.

My goal remains to keep losing weight with the meal plan only; then once I have a plateau week, introduce either PAGG or the exercises.  One variable at a time.  I thought that time had come already, but maybe I will give it one more week.

Wednesday 16 February 2011

Finally the Going Wild Day Weight has shifted (nearly)

At last! As it seems from other people's results,  it has also taken me until the Wednesday morning following a Saturday splurge for the weight to go back down.

So there's still 100g to go to get back there - but I allow a minor variation such as that.

Today's weight: 62.4kg : 137.3lb

Goals for today: keep water intake high (3L), don't be tempted to go out for drinks after work.

Tuesday 15 February 2011

Valentines Day and the Residual Sugar in Champagne

I really tried to be good.... and actually think I did a not too bad job.  The only times I went slightly off piste were:
1. when I was taken out for lunch.  First time having a restaurant meal while on SCD.  Ventured to Gourmet Burger Kitchen ... they serve the burger with extra salad instead of the bun, and the burger itself is really thick and juicy.  So I had it with bacon and avocado, hold the mayo, hold the bun.  It comes with a really tasty coleslaw with a vinaigrette instead of mayo ... but it's really sweet so I bet it is steeped in sugar.  I skipped the chips.  They do have beans - but they're in a thick barbecue sauce which I assumed to be sugar-loaded, so I skipped them too.
2. A glass of champagne with dinner.

I know that Tim says that a glass or two of red wine doesn't do him any harm, and it doesn't seem to do me any harm either ... but I didn't think too badly of a glass of champagne substitute last night - afterall it doesn't taste sweet.

Wrong! Weigh in this morning shows I'm up again, just nudged over my post-going-wild-day ... so starting day 3 post-GWD I haven't lost any of it.

So I blame sugary vinaigrette dressing and champagne - even in small quantities.  Couldn't find the residual sugar level for the wine I had specifically (Jacobs Creek Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir) but found levels for other similar South Australian sparklings - and it's about 18g/L ... waaaaaaay more than the 1.4 recommended in the book.

Whilst I was looking ... Here's what the websites said about my wine .... Mid straw green colour with a fine gas bead and persistent mousse. Bouquet gives traditional yeasty characters as the refreshing lemon citrus and toasted cashew nut aromas of Chardonnay are in harmony with the red currant characters of Pinot Noir. Palate comes alive and clean through elegant fruit flavours, enhanced by creamy yeast nuances, providing depth and flavour. Generous citrus fruit flavours are enhanced with creamy nutty yeast characters achieving richness and fine structure. The wine finishes soft, crisp and clean.


Ha! I missed the toasted cashew nuts ... and the persistent mousse.

Sunday 13 February 2011

end of week one (WITH PHOTOS)

I took these photos yesterday at the time I've decided will be "weekly weigh in" ... ie just before my Going Wild session starts.

The scales say I've lost 2kg (4.4lbs)
The tape measure says I've lost a quarter of an inch
The body comp scales say my fat percentage is going down.



    



Where have the 2kg gone from?
Answer: boobs ... the storm begins..... 2 inches from the under arm girth, the "across the nipple" girth and the under boob.... gone. (that's 2 inches per measurement ... one could say that's 6 inches...)

Why don't the Tim Ferris Total Inches measurements suggest that a chest measurement goes in the mix???

My First GOING WILD day

What a fantastic day yesterday was! I ate, drank and was merry all day.  All day that is apart from the 14 minutes after I took my bikini photos and measured myself... 15 minutes after that I had a revelation... but that's for a later post.  The rest of the day was perfect, so relaxed ... not stressing about food at all, no feelings of guilt, in fact all of those replaced with the feeling that I was doing something positive for my body.  Bloody marvellous!

And here is the evidence of my joy .....


9.45am
maple & pecan plait
glass of bubbles
12ish
pre-lunch margherita 
(fresh lime)
12.30ish
and a 2nd one
(more lime)
lunch 2pm-ish
small white wine
2pm - shared bar snacks 
sweet potato wedges
salt & pepper calamari
2pm
same food
(wider angle)
Others not photographed:
* quarter chicken breast
  (pre-breakfast)
* half a packet of doritos
* lots of water
4pm-ish
flat white with sugar
brownie & a custard tart
6.30pm
ginger ale on ice
(small mixer size can)
Others not photographed:
* about 10 assorted
   fancy nuts
* slice of pizza (from
   mate's dinner)
passionfruit softdrink 
(and a mango one too!)
Pad Thai with
King Prawns


I weighed myself Saturday morning pre-blitz ... and then 24 hours later ... and what do you think this may have added to my weight?

A grand total of 400g (less than 1 pound)


I Going Wild Day


Friday 11 February 2011

Analgesia and the Four Hour Body?

I haven't lost any more weight in the last 24 hours, in fact I put 200g back on.  Since Sunday when I started I have had a super-steady loss of 1 pound per day.  So now is the time to really carefully pull apart yesterday and see what was different.

I had a stonking headache until about 3pm.  In the time between waking up and mid-afternoon I consumed:
  • 6 x 200mg ibuprofen (or was it 8?)
  • 2 x 300mg aspirin
  • 2 x Codipar 15mg codeine phosphate 500mg paracetamol
    So this for me immediately raised a hypothesis that the little cocktail of drugs running around my blood stream was doing something that stopped, slowed down or reversed my fat burning.  A one headache sample size is not enough for an experiment, but will take note if/when I get another one to see if I see similar results.  

    But it's not enough to blame the headache in itself I think.... so the other things that were different about yesterday.
    • I probably drank less water.  I don't recall guzzling down my usual 2-3 glasses before work.  I think my tummy was a bit too queazy to take a sloshing belly full of fluid, so I'd just sipped my way through a little.
    • I introduced some nuts as a snack (so far this week I've only had the main meals, no snacks at all).  I bought a lovely bag of gourmet nuts - cost a whack at 5 quid - mainly brazils, cashews and pecans. I grabbed a couple of handfuls throughout the day, but was aware of not just blindly dominoing through the 400g bag.  So I've just weighed it to see how much ended up in inside me - I ate 60g (2 and a bit oz).  Is that too much? I can't remember what Tim Ferris says about nuts apart from he has just 5 or 6 brazils I think.  This was definitely more. Homework: check "how bad are nuts?"
    • At the same time I bought some pure cashew nut paste.  Dunked a spoon in and (tried to) lick it off ... *gag* ... it's really not nice.  Flavour was OK, but texture was like polyfilla (and I know about Polyfilla, I'm a DIY queen).  At least there's little chance of this turning into crack for me... (are women really that feeble?). 
    Tasks: 1. check the book for info on drugs and nuts 2. drink more water today.


    Thursday 10 February 2011

    Headache!

    Oh lordy, I've woken up with the headache from hell!

    4 ibuprofen and 2 aspirin later I'm squinting at the screen, slumped at the table.

    Cranking headache, yet still hungry, and a little bit nauseous .... weighed in again ... another pound gone overnight (woohoo) and a mini-breakfast of egg/lentils/spinach/salsa/cottage cheese .... now I'm going back to bed.

    Wednesday 9 February 2011

    bah

    tonight has been a real struggle.  I just want to eat! The day time was fine, but since I got home round 7pm, I've been cruising the house looking for something to get me teeth into.  And I do really like the taste of my spinach/lentil/steak dinners, but I was craving ... for no particular reason.... at least none I could work out.

    And it doesn't make sense because I lost another pound overnight - that's 3 in 3 days.... Jeopardising that is just stupid.

    So I ate the skin off the chicken thighs I was cooking for tomorrow's lunch.  And now I'm feeling a bit ill.

    It turns out to have been a great idea to clear all of the non slow-carb foods out my kitchen.  There's nothing in the house to tempt me .... I'm sure I'd have buckled otherwise.

    Hope I'm back on form tomorrow.... will go to bed early .

    Tuesday 8 February 2011

    Day 2

    So far, so good.

    The weight yesterday wasn't an aberration, I'd lost more this morning. Happy days!

    Saw a gorgeous looking chocolate sauce pudding in waitrose whilst in there to pick up more eggs (I'm flying thru them).... Pud's definitely on my list for Saturday. Resisted urge to buy it today (even tho it was on special) I just can't be having temptation in the house.

    Had my lunchbox at work over 3 sittings, 10, 1pm and 4.30 ... Breakfast at 6am, few spoonfuls of tarka dal at 7ish, and about to get a steak on the go now.

    Things that went well:

    • Didn't veer off diet
    • Drunk more than 3L of water
    • Dry lips seem to be resolving


    Things that didn't go so well:

    • Woke up 3 times in the night, not hungry just restless - so looking forward to a deep sleep tonight.
    • Really minor tummy cramps at times, don't last long
    • I'm tired!

    Monday 7 February 2011

    End of Day 1

    So far so good.

    I think I've stick to the meal plan ... pulses at every meal, eggs, chicken and beef throughout the day, and green veg ... washed down with 2 large bottles of water.  One minor slip though, but realised it before I dominoed out of control. Without even realising it, I'd downed half a handful of my colleague's wasabi peas - she'd left an open bag on the desk.  I'm just glad it wasn't peanut m&ms which is a vice of mine.  I figure the peas are pulses, and hopefully somewhere in the book I'll find something positive said about wasabi. I did stop at the half-handful though, rather than half a bag like usual.

    I'd lost 400g over night - I guess that's about a pound already, though I'm putting that totally down to natural variation.  I probably dehydrated over night ... my baselines were taken Sunday night ... but from now on I'll be weighing myself at the same time everyday - 6am-ish before breakfast.  I've decided that Saturday is Going Wild Day, and that I'll weigh, measure and photograph myself before the binge begins.  It'll become my weekly routine.

    Things that went well
    • Ate within the plan
    • Drank loads of water
    • Set goals for the week "eat within the plan until Sunday - drink loads of water".
    Things that didn't go so well
    • My lips are really really dry.  I can't work it out, even before the 4-hour-body, if I had a day where I drank more than 2 litres, my lips started peeling and flaking ... no matter how much lip balm applied. Weird.

    Sunday 6 February 2011

    Vital Statistics (WITH PHOTOS)

    Task 1: Measurements, I've got all these on a spreadsheet, with more detail than I'll show here.

    Total Inches: 141.25
    Height: 162.5 (5'4)
    Weight: 64.3 kg (141.5 lb)
    BMI: 24.35

    Composition:
    Body Fat    29.9%
    Bone Mass   2.1 kg
    Body Water   50.4%
    Muscle Mass    37.2%

    Currently both my BMI and my Body Fat, as far as I can tell with tables of norms, I fall at the high end of normal ... with only a couple of points before I hit officially "overweight".  I've looked at my photos, which I'm about to post, and I can categorically say I'm too fat. I don't like it and very much looking forward to the next weigh in.

    Have taken bust measurements as well ... but will save that for a future post.

    The "before" post

    Today has been filled with preparation, buying chicken and eggs, beans and lentils, and bags and bags of spinach.  The Body Analyser scales are unpacked in the bathroom, but not yet loaded with my details.  I've eaten a little chocolate, I can't have anymore until Saturday.  I've geeked my way through a googledoc spreadsheet to record my progress and thought about some targets but not settled on the goal just yet.

    When I started reading The 4-Hour Body I felt inspired, and I admit a little queasy.  The diet has me chomping at the bit - I can't wait to get stuck into that and watch the pounds fall off.  I've only read the chapters that get me through the diet, the rest of the book awaits.  I'll change my practices as I go and document them here.  But I am a little nervous about the 15 minute orgasm.  I thumbed through those pages and will get to them over the next few weeks but I slammed the book shut when I saw the slightly disturbing anatomical graphicness.  I haven't even read enough to know yet whether I'll be getting to orgasm in 15 minutes, or for 15 minutes. Right now I can't see that any amount of lentils will get me through the latter, and have fingers firmly crossed that I don't have to upload the photos. 

    But I've decided to throw myself in whole hog - and have a go at everything.  Orgasms and Superhuman-ness to boot.

    Storm in a C Cup - I googled a few forums and blogs and noted that the female followers are few in numbers.  I've read that some people say the programme only works for two weeks, and then women will hit a plateau for the next few, before perhaps losing some more at 5 weeks.  But my C Cup storm is this - I quite like my boobs, in fact I like all sorts of boobs, but I'd really like mine to stay just as they are.  4HB, is it designed by man for men? or can women equally reap the benefits?  Will the 4HB turn me in to a flat chested kettle tossing boi? Is it possible to lose fat from my stomach and thighs but not from my mammaries?

    I am about to find out.