Starting over… after a Trivia triumph.

Every day brings with it a fresh start and for me, today is about clearing out old stories from the Blog (delete, Kaput, good-bye!!) and re-starting the FIT FIX Diet Plan. Yep, it’s back to a JUICE FAST day for me.

My juice selection for Day One

My juice selection for Day One

I’m well aware it’s not particularly interesting reading material to keep banging on about this diet, but I do know it’s the only way to make myself stick to the straight and narrow. So I’m just going to keep plugging away and this time, try to keep the updates regular, confess to all my sins and add in any new recipes or diet tips as they come to hand.

It’s also fair reason to add in a few funny life stories for amusement.

Take last night for instance. Of course I couldn’t have an AFD when taking part in a Trivia night with friends at the local pub! And after a few chardys, it seemed only fair to buy a shared dessert plate for the table to keep our brain cells active. So the diet went out the window.

Trivia team mates

Trivia team mates

But I think the sugar did the trick. While we didn’t win, we were only a few points away from victory. There were some stellar moments from the group – such as recognising the theme music from TV show Water Rats and knowing the name of the U.S. military decoration given to those wounded in battle. (It’s a Purple Heart)

I didn’t know many answers, but had one fine brain flash when we were asked what was the only anagram in the English language for the word ‘exclaims’. And I got it in a second!! Shall I give you a minute to think about it?

 

A high point of the night...

A high point of the night…

Climaxes.

Yep, when it comes to those, I seem to be quite knowledgeable! A proud moment indeed.

 

 

The Fit Fix Diet Plan – an overview, plus more sinning…

I’ve had a bit of feedback that getting this FIT FIX Diet Plan in dribs and drabs is a bit messy and you’d like to see it laid out in its entirety to get a clearer picture about what’s going on. Again, I reiterate that this is a diet I’ve devised for myself as an experiment and you really should check with someone who knows more about these things than me (like a doctor) before embarking on this program.

Here are the basic rules:

FIT FIX DIET RULES:

Sugar-free lollies ARE allowed!

Sugar-free lollies ARE allowed!

1. Things you can’t eat: potato, rice, bread and products with more than 5% sugar content. (the sugar rule doesn’t apply to wine or the one day you are allowed chocolate!)

2. You must write down everything you eat and count calories. (sounds boring but I have an easy solution for this!)

3. You must exercise every day for a minimum of between 45 minutes and an hour. I am going to aim for spin classes four days a week, plus two lots of abdominal classes and two sessions of body toning or weights workouts. If you don’t go to a gym, you can ride a bike, run and do toning exercises at home.

4. You must weigh yourself every day.

5. You must have three alcohol-free days a week. I calculate my week starting on a Sunday.

6. You can have one day off the regime per week where you eat what you like and ditch the calorie counting.

THINGS YOU’LL NEED:

My Net Diary I-Phone App

My Net Diary I-Phone App

1. Scales to weigh yourself.

2. Scales to weigh the food you eat.

3. An I-phone or device that can use the My Net Diary App. This is my secret weapon in the fight against flab. It means you can easily put in all your measurements and target weight and it will calculate how much you should safely eat per day in order to lose weight. Add in everything you eat to keep your calories quota in check!

 

 

WEEK ONE – FOOD PLAN

SUNDAY-TUESDAY – Start with a 3-day juice fast to put you in the right frame of mind for your new weight-loss mission. For more tips about juice fasting, see blogs dated from November 19th. ( http://jenniferhansen.com.au/?p=4566 )

WEDNESDAY 

Celery snack

Celery snack

Breakfast – The Muesli (50 grams) with skim milk, (100ml),  Greek yogurt (50g) and frozen berries (25g).
Snack – 2 celery sticks
Lunch – can of Sirena basil tuna, lettuce and spring onion
Snack – Tamara sugar-free yoghurt with berries (small tub)
Dinner – Bolognaise sauce – NO PASTA, plus two glasses of red wine

 

THURSDAY 

Keeping it simple - ham and cheese on Vita-Wheats

Keeping it simple – ham and cheese on Vita-Wheats

Breakfast – Uncle Toby’s Quick Oats sachet with 125ml skim milk and 1/2 a cup of frozen    raspberries
Snack – 2 celery sticks
Lunch – 4 Vita-Wheat 9-grain biscuits with 2 light cheese slices and ham
Snack – Earl Grey tea with 30ml skim milk and an apple
Dinner – Left-over Bolognaise sauce

 

FRIDAY

Basil chilli tuna salad

Basil chilli tuna salad

Breakfast – Oat Bran pancakes
Snack – hard-boiled egg
Lunch – Tuna salad with can of Sirena chilli-basil tuna, chopped lettuce and 2 spring onions
Snack – Cup of tea with skim milk and Tamara sugar-free yoghurt with berries (small tub)
Dinner – Grilled chicken fillet and broccoli

SATURDAY – Day off. Eat what you like!

 

WEEK TWO – FOOD PLAN

SUNDAY

Scrambled eggs and ham

Scrambled eggs and ham

Breakfast – 1 cup scrambled eggs and 2 rashes of bacon (or ham)
Snack – celery or carrot
Lunch – Sirena chilli and basil tuna, lettuce and spring onion salad
Snack – Tamara berry yoghurt (small tub)
Dinner – Grilled marinated Steak and broccoli

MONDAY – Juice Fast Day

TUESDAY 

An easy and tasty snack

An easy and tasty snack

Breakfast – The Muesli (50g), low-fat Greek yogurt, skim milk and frozen raspberries
Snack – 2 Cruskits with onion/chive Philadelphia cream cheese
Lunch – Cold beef, lettuce and tomato salad
Snack –  Body LoCarb Bites (chocolate protein balls – still under the %5 sugar rule)
Dinner – Stir-fry garlic prawns and veggies

 

 

WEDNESDAY 

Breakfast – Berry smoothie (using Swisse Slim Shake protein powder), Greek yoghurt, frozen berries and skim milk
Snack – 2 sticks celery
Lunch – Ham, spring onion and tomato omelette
Snack – Tamara sugar-free berry yoghurt (small tub)
Dinner – Mongolian lamb stir-fry

THURSDAY (LOW-CAL intake day)

Avocado tomato Cruskits

Avocado tomato Cruskits

Breakfast – Oat Bran pancakes
Snack – Herbal tea,
Lunch – Mashed avocado (50g) spread over 2 Light Cruskits topped with four cherry tomatoes
Snack – 1 apple
Dinner – I chicken pattie with papaya salad

 

FRIDAY

Breakfast – Uncle Toby’s instant oats with berries
Snack – Hard-boiled egg
Lunch – Chicken tikka pieces (about 125g + 166 calories) I buy it pre-made from the supermarket and heat it up in the microwave. Simple.
Snack – Tamara sugar-free mixed berries yoghurt (small tub)
Dinner – left over chicken patties and papaya salad (recipe listed in Wednesday’s blog)

SATURDAY – DAY OFF. Eat what you like!

WEEK THREE – FOOD PLAN

MONDAY – Juice Fast Day, (juices from Pressed Juices)

TUESDAY

BSC Lo Carb Bites

BSC Lo Carb Bites

Breakfast – The Muesli, yoghurt and frozen berries
Snack – Hard-boiled egg
Lunch – 4 Vita-Wheat 9-grain biscuits with 2 light cheese slices and ham
Snack –  Body LoCarb Bites (chocolate protein balls – still under the %5 sugar rule)
Dinner – Pesto salmon grilled with broccoli

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast – Berry smoothie (ingredients as per above)
Snack – 2 celery sticks
Lunch – Sirena tuna, lettuce and spring onion salad
Snack – 2 Cruskits spread with onion/chive Philadelphia cream cheese
Dinner – Cold beef salad

THURSDAY

Salmon portions

Salmon portions

Breakfast – Oat Bran pancakes
Snack – Yoghurt
Lunch – Peppered Salmon portion (pre-packed from supermarket – 217 per piece) and 1 carrot
Snack – 1 apple
Dinner – Grilled fillet Tandoori chicken with broccoli

 

 

 

FRIDAY

Breakfast –  Uncle Toby’s instant oats with berries
Snack – 2 celery sticks
Lunch – Mashed avocado (50g) spread over 2 Light Cruskits topped with four cherry tomatoes
Snack – Yoghurt
Dinner – Grilled flake and salad

SATURDAY – DAY OFF. Eat what you like!

So there you have it! Three weeks of a food plan completely mapped out for you. I haven’t specified weights for all the food servings, as you can be flexible – as long as you weigh your food and record the details in your I-Phone My Net Diary App and keep under your daily calorie limit, you’ll be fine.

Most days listed have a food requirement UNDER the calorie limit, which allows you to add in snacks or larger meals, depending on how hungry you are. And you can drink wine – as long as (again!) you stick to your calorie quota.

Sampling Shane Warne's new '99 Not Out' exclusive beer!

Sampling Shane Warne’s new ’99 Not Out’ exclusive beer!

 

There will be days when you sin. I do – often…

Take last night for instance. After a fabulous party at Club 23 at Crown, where I very much enjoyed not only trying a new beer cricket legend Shane Warne helped create himself, aptly titled 99 NOT OUT,  (very nice, it is too!) but I also had a couple of wines…

Now, the biggest problem with alcohol is how much it sabotages your will-power. Hence why we NEED at least THREE alcohol-free days a week.

 

Evidence...

Evidence…

I thought I’d been reasonably well-behaved with my food intake yesterday. Even at the party, where there was a wonderful array of delicious finger-food, I was restrained – only having ONE item – a small peking duck pancake. But then I woke up this morning and found THIS on the kitchen sink along with the dirty dishes, yet to be tidied up…

Yep, I’d demolished what was left of the cookies and cream ice-cream. ALL GONE.

As I always say, you just have to pick yourself up and start all over again… At least my weight has stayed down below the 70kg mark – now on 68.2kg. So I do think the FIT FIX Diet Plan works. Especially if you actually stick to the rules… Let’s see if I can get to my goal weight of 64kg. I’ll keep plodding along and document how this goes just to keep me accountable. I know it’s hardly riveting stuff, but it’s working for me, so selfishly, I’ll stick to blogging about it too. I’ll add new recipes, confess my sins and answer any questions you might have. Stay tuned!

 

 

 

A piggy day brings surprising results…

I didn’t post an update for the FIT FIX Diet Plan yesterday, as if was my scheduled ‘day off’ from counting calories and having any food restrictions. So I was pleasantly shocked this morning when I stepped on the scales and saw that despite a day of unhealthy indulgences, I’d still lost weight!

Ronnie's cake

Ronnie’s cake

It’s surprising given how much I ate. The day started off with thick cafe-style raisin toast with lashings of butter and a cup of tea.

Then for morning tea, I went all out. For days, I’ve been yearning for a slice of a heavenly cake my daughter baked, so yesterday was the day to tuck in – and I did it in style with two big scoops of cookies and cream ice-cream on top.

For lunch, the kids wanted cheesymite scrolls from Baker’s Delight, so naturally, I had one too.

Two large pieces of dark chocolate for afternoon tea, followed by a night out at a Japanese restaurant with bucket loads of wine followed, so it only seemed logical that I’d face the music on the scales this morning.

But no. Joy, oh joy, the number dropped to 68.4kg. This time last week I was 71.4kg. I can only imagine it’s the result of the cumulative effect of being ‘good’ all week and exercising pretty hard with daily spin classes. (And that wine is very good for you.) Today, I’m back on the program and sticking to my guns. See Friday’s post for today’s food list if you are wanting to follow suit.

The pineapple, mint zest juice is my favourite!

The pineapple, mint zest juice is my favourite!

 

Tomorrow, I’m back on a one-day JUICE FAST and looking forward to it. And very grateful there’s a store like PRESSED JUICES to do all the hard prep work for me. Will keep you posted on the rest of the week’s dietary plan tomorrow.