Diet Day 007

Welcome to the seventh day of my diet, which was 8 January 2020. The day started with a great ego boost as my weight shaded down again, this time to 85 kilos (187.4 lbs for US readers, at least according to Google). The actual numbers don't matter so much, though, the important thing is that they are going in the right direction. It’s good that the numbers don’t matter because I suspect my bathroom scales aren’t the most accurate in the world.

As usual I am imposing a calorie limit on myself of 1,600, which is a number that I know brings weight loss at a noticeable speed, for me. If I lower my intake to 1,800, I do lose weight, but much more slowly. Any calorie budget above that results in weight loss that is glacially slow.

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A Message from the Author


If you are constantly losing the mental battle to steer clear of junk food, then the Mindset Diet may be for you. The 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.

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I started the day with half a banana for 50 calories, leaving 1,550 in my budget, but I was still hungry, so then I had toast (120), with cheese (80), and a mug of milky coffee (60 calories) making, 260 calories. Deducting that from my budget left 1,290 calories.

After the toast and coffee I brushed my teeth to bring closure to that meal and signal to my lizard brain that I would not be eating again for a good few hours. I didn't plan to eat again until I got home from work. I think these self-hypnosis tricks work better and quicker the more often you do them. At one time it would take hours of mental effort to prevent myself from snacking, but now I have years of experiencing in dieting whenever I feel the need. When I’m not dieting, I eat whatever the hell I want. Just days ago, at Christmas, I was snacking hard. I was eating tens of thousands of calories from crisps (chips for US readers) and chocolates (I guess US readers would say candies) every day, but now I have stopped snacking at all. There is a big blue bag of M and Ms (the crispy ones) in the kitchen, just sitting there next to the microwave, and I feel no compulsion to eat them. Just the day before the diet they would have been gone in 60 seconds, but now I know that I simply will never have the calories in my budget for an entire bag of M and Ms, no matter how disciplined I am, so they don’t interest me at all.

I later went to the supermarket and bought some groceries. What I bought is less interesting than what I didn't buy. I didn't buy a snack to have at work (my usual indulgence would be a pizza slice) and I didn't buy any crisps or chocolate to throw in with my shopping to 'round it out', and I didn't even impulse buy something 'nice' to eat at the checkout. My favorite Mon Chri liqueur chocolates were there, in a tempting little five pack, but I didn't touch them. Not buying any of that stuff made my shopping something like half as expensive as it otherwise would have been.

Dieting really is a win, win. Eating whatever the hell you like is fun, don't get me wrong, and that is absolutely my default state, but dieting also has its charms. It isn't all negative. The shopping bags are lighter and easier to carry, and the bill isn’t as high.

Then, as I sat down at my desk, hunger pangs struck. Not particularly harsh ones, but unmistakable, and they sure wiped the smile off my face. It just so happened that beside me on the desk was a packet of butter cookies that somebody had 'thoughtfully' left out for anyone to take. I wasn't even tempted, even with hunger pangs striking. This diet is going really well so far.

It was hours before I ate again. I didn’t do any cooking, I just had a burger bun at 260 calories, some cheese in it, at 100 calories, and a glass of wine at 100 calories. That's nothing fancy, and not a lot of calories at only 460 calories, but it was delicious. Taking that from my remaining budget of 1,290 calories left 830 calories. With so many calories left over, I had more cheese and bread, this time for 560 calories, leaving 270 calories, and a cough sweet, which is 20 calories, leaving 250 calories, and I had nothing nice to eat in the house to 'spend' them on. So I didn’t spend them. I went to bed having beat my calorie budget by 20 calories. Wow. Just wow. I'm very proud of myself.

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.