Diet Day 003

Diet Day 003

I had a long lie in today, but where that would usually be accompanied by some toast or a pastry on my bedside table, today I am not even having a drink. Calories spent from my 1,600 budget during my lie in, zero.

I weighed myself as soon as I got up, to see I was still 85.5 kilos in weight, which is fine. I am fully expecting that to go down. After Xmas I am surrounded by temptation, some Kinder chocolate here, a bag of M and Ms there. One posh little chocolate that was the last in the box particularly called to me but I reminded myself it had 60 calories lurking within it, like a virus, and I found the strength to resist. Knowing how many calories are lurking within things is a really powerful source of the willpower necessary to resist shoving them in your mouth and smiling at how great they taste.

---

If you are constantly losing the mental battle to steer clear of junk food, then the Mindset Diet may be for you. This book is packed with insights and tips to help you manage your weight and stay away from patterns of eating that promote weight gain. This is a back to basics approach, where you count your calories every day, but the latest insights into the psychology of appetite are combined to give you the best possible chance of losing weight.

---

Breakfast came with a trip to a local cafe at 5:00pm. I'm on holiday, I'm a night owl, and I’m not going to apologize for that. It was a cappuccino - 60 calories - and a vegan toast – with a calorie total that is much more difficult to decide. It comes between two huge slabs of bread (doorsteps my Grandma used to call bread cut like that) and the veg is fried lightly in oil. My guess at the calories would be 300. So that is 360 calories 'spent' on breakfast, leaving 1,240 for the rest of the day.

The tricky part came after the sandwich. At that particular cafe I am used to ordering a frolla to eat as a desert. A frolla is a big shortbread biscuit with a pool of jam (or jelly) in the middle, like a huge jammy dodger. It has to have 250 calories in it. With a massive calorie hit like that hidden within, I had absolutely no problem breaking my habit and not ordering one. After that I went shopping.

In the supermarket came the next potential problem. I usually buy a pack of Mon Cheri, mostly because they are vegan, buy luckily they were sold out, so my willpower didn't face another test today.

When I got home, I had two small biscuits, 123 calories and a coffee at 60 calories, making 183 calories, leaving 1,157 calories to get me through to bedtime, and the great resetting of the calorie countdown.

Then I went to a friend's house to play cards, and had a small snack. I had a slice of cake for 300 calories, leaving 857 calories.

My only big meal of the day came quite late at night. I had wine (100), mozzarella (200), toast (240), biscuits (123), more biscuits (123 again), and a slice of toast for 90 calories, meaning I busted through my calorie budget by a tiny 33 calorie overshoot. I have to say, I was really very happy with my dieting again today.

I also found an interesting diet resource, an article from that day's Guardian showing precisely what not to do when it comes to losing weight.

To end, just a reminder that the best way to support this blog is to buy one of my books. Simply go over to Amazon, or Kobo and get one.