It’s all about the FRITTATA

A weighty issue...

A weighty issue..r

In a recent Blog post about a weight-loss competition among a group of girlfriends, I mentioned that I’d write at a later date some of the diet tips I used to lose those five kilos. Finally here, it is!

Before I go any further, let me point out that:

  1. I am NOT a dietician, so please consult a medical professional before taking any of my advice
  2. I am aware and sensitive to the issues of those with eating disorders and am by no means encouraging unhealthy or extreme weight loss, but am also aware that for those who ARE overweight, any help and encouragement can be beneficial.

 

Great, now the disclaimers are out of the way, let’s head into the kitchen!

Alinta at work

Alinta at work

Oh, just one more thing… I should point out that a lot of the credit for this recipe and the constant and positive support behind my on-going pursuit for better health and a better body are due to my personal trainer – the wonderful ALINTA WILLET. Anyone looking for a personal trainer should sign up with her immediately! (details below)

Here’s the three tips Alinta has given me that have made the biggest difference to the way I eat and drink:

  1. Start the day with a glass of warm water and juice from half a lemon. Wait at least fifteen minutes before eating or drinking anything else.
  2. Eat a protein-based breakfast and leave the carbs till AFTER training. (Yes, you must do a weights workout!) This is where the magical FRITTATA comes in.
  3. Ditch white wine and drink red instead. I know those who know me well will be shocked to hear I have pretty much given up my much-loved Chardonnay for a glass of Shiraz (or two) at the end of the day and it’s made a massive difference.

Now let’s talk FRITTATA.

Due to the fact that I work in breakfast radio, (tune in to SmoothFM 91.5 from 6am till 9am every day to hear MIKE PERSO and myself on the More Music Breakfast Show) I was a little disheartened when Alinta told me I should stick to a protein breakfast in the mornings. How could I cook up a bacon and eggs feast between news and traffic reports?

That’s when Alinta’s face lit up and she told me she had the perfect solution.

FRITTATA.

Yep, this is a magical concept that will change your life!

With this recipe, you can cook up a HUGE casserole dish worth of FRITTATA and divide it in to ten portions. That means – working Monday to Friday – you have TEN breakfasts prepared from just ONE cook up! You place each portion in a plastic container – eat four fresh and freeze the rest. It’s brilliant. Just a minute and a half in the microwave and it’s ready to go. It’s so filling, you won’t feel hungry for hours. And it’s a healthy start to the day.

There are several versions I make – one with chicken – and one just with veggies but I think I’ll start with the lamb recipe.

INGREDIENTS

2 x 500g packs lamb mince
1 large onion
Spices: Cayenne pepper, Chinese Five Spice and Sumac (Sambel Olek is optional – if you like chilli)
Salt and pepper
1 punnet Perino tomatoes
1/2 punnet sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 dozen eggs
Dash of milk
Grated Parmesan cheese

METHOD

  1. Start by chopping up an onion and frying it in a pan with coconut oil till clear.

    Use coconut oil to fry one large onion

    Use coconut oil to fry one large onion

  2. Remove onion and place in a large casserole dish, along with a punnet of Perino tomatoes sliced in half. (uncooked) Sprinkle on salt and pepper.

    Tomato and onion

    Tomato and onion

  3. Fry up the lamb mince in two batches, adding the three spices – SUMAC, Cayenne Pepper and Chinese Five Spice as who stir. Add around 2 or 3 teaspoons of SUMAC, two dashes of Cayenne Pepper and two dashes of Chinese Five Spice for each batch. I also love to add a teaspoon of Sambel Olek (chilli paste) for extra spice.
    Frying the mince

    Frying the mince

    4. When the mince is browned, add it to the casserole dish on top of the onion and tomato.

    Putting the mince in the dish

    Putting the mince in the dish

    5. For extra substance and flavour – but this part is optional – fry up half a punnet of sliced mushrooms and add this on top, then pat the meat and veggies down into a firm base.

    Patting the mince and vegies into shape

    Patting the mince and vegies into shape

    6. Beat up a dozen large eggs in a big mixing bowl. (sometimes you need 14, depending on the size of the eggs) Add a dash of milk to pump up the volume, then pour over the meat and veggie base in the casserole dish. Sprinkle a light dusting of Parmesan cheese on top – unless you are being more diet-conscious – in which case, ditch the cheese!

    Pour the eggs and milk mixture over the mince then add a sprinkling of Parmesan

    Pour the eggs and milk mixture over the mince then add a sprinkling of Parmesan

    7. Bake in an oven at 180 C for roughly 40 minutes – checking after 30 minutes to see how it’s going. When it’s golden on top, remove from the oven and let cool for five minutes.

    The finished result!

    The finished result!

    8. Slice into ten portions by cutting one row horizontally and four lines vertically. Then place each piece in an individual plastic container for storage.

    Individual dishes

    Individual dishes

    And voila! That’s ten brekkies cooked in just one hit! Unless you have to share with the family…

    Breakfast for ten sittings

    Breakfast for ten sittings

    It really is the best way to start the day! The Thai chicken version is pretty tasty too.

    Oh, and don’t forget, if you want to sign up with the lady who has million more wonderful tips on food and exercise, here’s Alinta’s details. Happy eating and let me know how the frittata works for you if you give this recipe a go!

    Alinta's business card

    Alinta’s business card

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Weighty Challenge – our own BIGGEST LOSER competition

A weighty issue...

A weighty issue…

So the Christmas holiday period of over-indulgence has long come to an end and most of us are looking at the results on our waistlines…

One girlfriend, Julie, decided to take drastic action and has come up with a brilliant idea that involves getting a group of friends together to stage our own ‘BIGGEST LOSER’ competition.

Here’s how it works:

1. It costs $200 to enter the competition
2. Weekly weigh-in is every week at 10am Sunday – 2nd weigh-in was today
3. The challenge goes for 8 weeks and the winner is the one who loses the most percentage weight i.e. if you weigh in at 100 kilos and you end up 90 kilos then you have lost 10% body weight.
4. We will have a 6-week makeover day where we pamper ourselves using the money from saving on food and alcohol.
5. With 8 entrants, we have $1600 in the kitty and the winnings will go as follows:
Winner – $1000
Runner up- $300
The last $300 will go towards French champagne and an end of competition break-up party.

Alinta at work

Alinta at work

After weigh-in today, I’ve lost a kilo in the last week but am coming in at third last on the bottom of a list of eight. Wanting some extra help, I’ve turned to my wonderful personal trainer, Alinta Willet, for some more tips – especially about what to EAT.

Alinta says it’s always best to start he day with a glass of half a squeezed lemon in hot water to:

  1. Kick-start the metabolism
  2. Help flush out toxins
  3. Help curb the appetite

About half an hour later, Alinta advises sticking to a protein-based breakfast and staying away from any carbs till late afternoon after a work-out, but she DOES allow some carbs for dinner. This is a bit of a reverse-theory from what I’ve usually worked with but after trying this for some time last year, it did seem to work and now I just have to get back on the program.

Here’s a small section from my chat with Alinta:

JEN: So why it is important to eat a high protein breakfast?

ALINTA: Starting your day with a protein rich breakfast will keep you fuller for longer. It will elevate the neurotransmitters – dopamine and acetylcholine  – which will increase brain function throughout the day and motivate you to train. High GI carb breakfasts produce an initial spike in blood sugar levels followed by a rapid decline, leading to hunger and carb cravings.

JEN: Is that good for everyone?

ALINTA: It depends on the individual and what you’re hoping to achieve. But if you’re wanting to lose weight, then this will be more effective.

JEN: I love this lemon-water idea you put me on to. Tell me more about that.

ALINTA: Yes, it’s great. You start the day with half a lemon in warm water, which helps you rehydrate after being asleep for so long which helps with the cells in your body and for brain function. It also helps with metabolism and alkalises your body to help clear out the toxins.

Training with Alinta

Training with Alinta

JEN: How many times should I be working out?

ALINTA: Ideally four to five sessions a week is good.

JEN: Long workouts or are short hard and fast ones better?

ALINTA: I think for women keeping the workouts under 45 minutes is good because after that amount of time, your cortosol elves start to rise and your testosterone drops which puts you under more stress. More cortisol in your system helps the body to store fat, which isn’t good. Stress is one of the reasons why we can end up storing fat around the stomach.

Now that’s good news! Too much time in the gym can actually be counter-productive? Excellent!

(P.S. Coming up in one of the next blogs, I’ll share Alinta’s famous Lamb Frittata recipe that I now cook for breakfast – it’s delicious.)

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.

 

 

I lied, I sinned… but I blame my Mother.

Little Ox at 452 New Street, Brighton

Little Ox at 452 New Street, Brighton

Yes, sorry Mum, but it really is ALL your fault. If it hadn’t been your birthday, I wouldn’t have taken you and Ken (my step-father) out to lunch to one of my fave cafes, Little Ox. And if I hadn’t taken you out to lunch, I wouldn’t have smashed my FIT FIX Diet Plan to pieces. I hope you accept all the blame. Even though it’s your birthday.

To be honest, I suppose I should thank you, rather than blame you. Having stuck to the diet plan for nearly 12 days, I was bound to break it sometime and what better excuse to break a diet than needing to celebrate your birthday.

 

So yes, dear readers, I lied yesterday when I listed a simple serve of supermarket chicken tikka on the food plan. I knew damn well I was going out to lunch. Still, those of you who are putting this diet to the test need to know what I WOULD have been eating, IF I’d stuck to my word… Which I completely and whole-heartedly DID NOT.

It’s a bit hard when everything on the menu at Little Ox is so mouth-wateringly tempting. My number one choice is usually from the All Day Breakfast section – grilled corn fritters with ham, mashed avocado, salsa and a poached egg on top – just scrumptious. But with my diet in mind, I thought I’d go for the grilled chicken and quinoa salad instead. With part owner and chef Simon Winfield at the helm in the kitchen, I knew it would be delicious.

Little Ox part-owner and chef Chris Winfield

Little Ox part owner and chef Chris Winfield

Grilled chicken and quinoa salad

Grilled chicken and quinoa salad

 

And it was. I truly meant to photograph the plate up close with all its artistic swirls of aioli for you to see, but once it arrived on the table, I was so keen to see how it tasted, I’d eaten almost half of it before I remembered I was supposed to be taking pictures.

Sorry.

Again.

 

Then it was time for coffee and dessert. Mum and Ken sensibly declined the offer of a sweet treat but how can you have a birthday celebration without cake? So I went ahead and ordered a selection of wicked indulgences anyway… It’s much better to have a small taste to LOTS of things than just ONE dessert – right?

Sinfully tempting dessert selection

Sinfully tempting dessert selection

And don’t forget the cream on the side! Double clotted preferably… Starting from the back, that included a mini peach Melba, a caramel brownie and a melt-in-your mouth slice of passionfruit cheesecake. I was in heaven…

So yes, as you can see, I really DID smash up the diet plan. I can feel my jeans getting tighter as I type. Damn, and I WAS doing so well. But heck, it was worth it. It was my Mum’s birthday after all.

Ken and Mum

Ken and Mum

And though Mum really didn’t want her photo taken, I insisted. Judging by the lovely smiles, I think they enjoyed lunch too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!! LOVE YOU. XXXXX

 

 

 

A really, really quick Fit Fix Diet Update

This is a quickie update because life, work, and social commitments are gathering pace… making it harder to stick to the straight and narrow when it comes to the FIT FIX Diet Plan, let alone blog about it.

Fruit Drops and Butter Candy Drops

Fruit Drops and Butter Candy Drops

I talked about ‘cheating without cheating’ on the food plan yesterday, eating those yummy Double D lollies, but last night I did genuinely cheat. Being under the calorie count for the day and after having a whopping THREE alcohol free days straight, I thought I could relax with a glass or two of chardy at the end of the night while watching TV. But of course, once the alcohol takes effect, the will-power plummets… 

Cashews and pistachios

Cashews and pistachios

I was STILL hungry. Now, I didn’t break any of the so-called ‘rules’ here, but I did go overboard with a massive NUT BINGE. Pistachios and cashews. I didn’t weigh them, just hoed right on in – handful upon handful… God knows how many calories that would have added up to – hate to think.

That, combined with a lack of exercise, meant the scales plateaued today – hardly a surprise…

The next three days will be challenging too, with lots of social events booked in, so I’m hoping all my good work won’t fall in a heap. The most important thing is to make a PLAN – try to stick to it, and if you fail, start all over again!

Having said that, here’s the plan for tomorrow. And I don’t need to detail Saturday’s as that’s my day off – yay!

FRIDAY 

Chicken Tikka pieces

Chicken Tikka pieces

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 – small tub Tamara mixed berries yoghurt

Dinner – left over chicken patties and papaya salad (recipe listed in Wednesday’s blog)

RECIPE – Papaya Salad

I green papaya
I bag coleslaw from the supermarket
1/2 cup roasted cashews, crushed
3 spring onions
1 red chilli
handful fresh coriander
1/2 cup fresh basil

DRESSING

1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon Sambel Oelek
1/2 tablespoon honey

Grate the papaya and mix into the coleslaw. Mix the dressing ingredients together and pour over. Enjoy!

 

 

Cheating without cheating…

It felt like I was cheating on the FIT FIX Diet Plan big time last night, eating a decent share of lollies, but in fact, I didn’t break any rules whatsoever. You see THESE arrived on my doorstep the other day – a box of sugar-free Double D treats.

A sweet selection...

A sweet selection…

My Net Diary App weight loss chart

My Net Diary App weight loss chart

It wasn’t on the diet plan, but I was under my calories quota for the day and joy, oh joy, the scales still went downwards this morning. In fact, I have to say I’m pretty up-myself about the success SO FAR on my self-devised FIT FIX Diet Plan.

Just take a look at the My Net Diary weight loss chart on the right and you can see for yourself, there’s a steady downward trend happening. Now I just have to keep going until I reach the goal weight of 64kg. I’m sure the fact that I’m making myself accountable to this Blog is part of the success too, so I’m going to keep blogging until I get there!

Choc O Jelly Rounds

Choc O Jelly Rounds

 

I’m always on the hunt for low-cal sweetie options too, so the gift from Double D arrived with perfect timing. Just when I was getting bored with my regular stash of diet-friendly treats, they’ve brought out a new selection of lollies to choose from.

Being obsessed with chocolate, I instantly gravitated to the Choc O Jelly Rounds…

 

 

 

Ronnie with the mint Double D lollies

Ronnie with the mint Double D lollies

But daughter Veronica snatched up the Mint Chews before I had any say in the matter and they proved a big hit with her.

There’s also Fruit Drops, Butter Candy Drops and Aussie Gummy Bears – all made using the natural sweetener, Stevia.

Double D is an Australian owned company too and lists all the lollies as being 99% fat free, gluten free, cholesterol free, low GI and dental friendly. Guess that ticks all the boxes!

 

Let’s take a look at the food plan for tomorrow. Remember, Thursday is meant to be a low calorie day, so drink lots of water and herbal tea! The total calorie count for tomorrow is only 473 calories – which is close to the proposed amount in the 2/5 diet.

THURSDAY

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 carrot

Dinner – I chicken pattie and papaya salad

RECIPES

Oat Bran Pancakes (based on a Dukan Diet recipe)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoons oat bran
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla Fruche
1 tablespoon Hermestas sweetener
1 egg

Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl and cook in a pan as you would small pancakes or pikelets. In the Dukan Diet book, fromage frais is used instead of Fruche, but it’s almost impossible to find in Australian supermarkets. Hence, this is the ONE instance where I allow a product that contains more than 5% sugar, because there just isn’t anything else out there that works. But I am open to suggestions if you have any!

THAI CHICKEN PATTIES

Lemon Grass paste

Lemon Grass paste

500g minced chicken
1 tablespoon minced lemongrass
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
2 teaspoons crushed ginger
1/2 can water chestnuts, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
Olive oil spray

Mix all ingredients together. Roll into large golf-ball size rounds, then squash into a pattie shape with the back of a spatula. Spray with olive oil then bake in a moderate oven for about 25 minutes, or until brown. These are also great the next day cold when you’re allowed more!

 

 

The FIT FIX Diet Plan for Week Two

Champers darling?

Champers darling?

When I look back at how I survived the first week of the FIT FIX Diet Plan, the one thing that stands out is that for the first time in AGES, I had FOUR alcohol-free days in one week. I’m sure that’s a huge part of why I dropped weight quickly in week one. And while that’s been great, I fully expect the weight loss to be a lot slower this week.

I’m having a JUICE FAST day today, which in effect gives me another day off from calorie counting. And cooking! Well, I’ll whip up a pasta dinner for the family, but it is a relief not to have to think about food for myself all day. Just crack open a bottle of juice, down the hatch and we’re done!

Monday's cooking sorted

Monday’s cooking sorted

Another reason I expect the weight loss to slow this week is that I won’t be able to exercise quite as much as I’d like. Various work and family responsibilities will take priority, so I’ll try my best but there aren’t quite the same gaps in the diary for gym time that I had last week… Even this morning, the scales tipped upwards a fraction after a heavier meal last night with steak, mushroom, onion and broccoli.

But I am looking forward to getting stuck into those juices again. Even though I enjoyed my piggy lash-out on Saturday, sugary food didn’t taste quite so fabulous after a week of being a health-food junkie. And I didn’t feel that great after eating all that sweet stuff, plus it took much longer to get out of bed yesterday morning as a result. Or maybe that was the wine?

SNACK TIP

An easy and tasty snack

An easy and tasty snack

 

Yesterday I stuck to the food plan listed in Friday’s Blog – Keeping It Simple – but substituted one snack item after going to the supermarket and finding this! You may have discovered it already, but it’s new to me. Philadelphia Chive and Onion cream cheese – mmmm… Spread it on a couple of Cruskits (both items meeting the less than 5% sugar rule) and it’s a great simple, tasty snack.

 

 

Now let’s have a look at the first few days for this week’s food plan:

MONDAY – Juice Day, (juices from Pressed Juices)

TUESDAY

Breakfast – The Muesli, yoghurt and frozen berries

Snack – hard-boiled egg

Lunch – Cold beef, lettuce and tomato salad

Snack – Tamara strawberry yoghurt

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 – celery

Lunch – Ham, spring onion and tomato omelette

Snack – Body LoCarb Bites (chocolate protein balls – still under the %5 sugar rule)

Dinner – Mongolian lamb stir-fry

Normally, I would vary the stir-fry options, rather than have a stir-fry two nights running, but for various logistical reasons, Thursday’s dinner will need to be cooked in advance, so that’s the way it’s panned out.

My favourite -  chocolate almond mylk

My favourite – chocolate almond mylk

 

Plus my daughter was nagging me for prawns so I caved and slotted that dish in for Tuesday. And stir-frys really are a great low-fat, tasty food option. More about the recipes later. Right now I don’t have to think about cooking with my favourite chocolate almond ‘milk’ waiting for me in the fridge for tonight’s main course. Yum.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

FIT FIX Diet Plan update – Keeping it simple

A helpful mantra during life's busier moments...

A helpful mantra during life’s busier moments…

Life’s so busy I barely have time to write this FIT FIX Diet Plan update, which just reinforces to me how important it is to keep the food simple. This probably won’t work for those of you who want to go the ‘all natural, all organic’ route, but for me, it’s trying to balance the hectic with the healthy.

So yes, I do buy some processed foods and commercial brands as well as organic juices and fresh vegetables. It’s all a matter of combining the two, to provide the healthiest, fastest eating options.

Some of you may also find this a bit too basic and repetitive, but the less time you spend thinking about food the better.

DAY FOUR – reviewing Thursday

The outline of yesterday’s eating plan was detailed in the last blog, so let’s take a look at what happened after that report.

I always struggle when cooking, not to sample the ingredients, which again reminds me how important it is to WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN with this diet. Imagine how many more calories you’d consume if you ate half the cake mix when baking but didn’t count it as part of your food plan?

A bit of sampling went on last night while whipping up the Bolognaise sauce, but I made sure to write the bits down, which included a piece of carrot and five Kalamata olives. Not a problem, given I was under my calories quota.

But I did exceed my two glasses of wine… Well, red wine goes into the Bolognaise sauce so I HAD to have a glass while cooking. Which meant another glass during dinner and another later in the evening while watching TV. So I broke a rule, but I still got in under the calories quota and the bathroom scales reading didn’t skyrocket this morning. YAY!

DAY FIVE – FOOD PLAN: Friday

Breakfast – Uncle Toby’s Quick Oats sachet with 125ml skim milk and 1/2 a cup of frozen    raspberries

Keeping it simple - ham and cheese on Vita-Wheats

Keeping it simple – ham and cheese on Vita-Wheats

Snack – 2 celery sticks.

Lunch – 4 Vita-Wheat 9-grain biscuits with 2 cheese slices and ham

Snack – Earl Grey tea with 30ml skim milk

Dinner – Left-over Bolognaise sauce

 

 

SNACK TIP

Celery snack

Celery snack

As I said, it’s all pretty simple fare. And here’s a tip about the celery snack. It sounds pretty boring, but if you buy it in pre-prepared packs in the supermarket, it tastes MUCH fresher and crisper, making it far more enjoyable to eat. Plus it gives good crunch factor, which you need if eating a diet which focuses more on protein. Not much crunch in meat, hard-boiled eggs and yoghurts…

 

A WEIGHTY ISSUE 

Time to own up to how much I weighed before starting the FIT FIX Diet Plan. Hmmm. Let’s put it in perspective and remember I’m 172cm tall (just under 5 foot 8). I’m not trying to make excuses it’s just that you might get a shock… About five years ago, my average weight was around 62 – 64kg.

On Monday morning, I weighed in at 71.4kg.

Then I started the 3-day JUICE CLEANSE.

By Thursday morning, I weighed in at 69.4. Which is to be expected, with such a drastic dietary change, and I know such a dramatic drop will not continue. After a day of eating ‘normal’ food, I went up slightly today.

Friday morning – 69.6kg

But still, that’s a drop of 1.8kg in five days, so it’s a great start. My ultimate goal is to get to 64kg.

PLANNING AHEAD

SATURDAY – Day off. Eat what you like!

Basil chilli tuna salad

Basil chilli tuna salad

SUNDAY Breakfast – 1 cup scrambled eggs and 2 rashes of bacon

Snack – celery or carrot

Lunch – Sirena chilli and basil tuna, lettuce and spring onion salad

Snack – Tamara berry yoghurt (small tub)

Dinner – Steak and broccoli

 

MONDAY – Juice Fast Day

LOOKING AHEAD

I’ve stuck to the diet plan for today and am planning another AFD. Tomorrow is Saturday – my day off! It will be interesting to see how the scales tip after that… I may still pop my food intake into the My Net Diary App, because I’m on a roll, and you may be curious to hear how I piggy I really was. I’m also giving myself permission to eat chocolate but right now, don’t even feel like it. We will see…

 

 

The FIT FIX Diet Plan

So far, I’m pretty happy with my FIT FIX Diet Plan. The three-day JUICE CLEANSE has worked well as a kick-starter and now I’m very much ready to move on to the next phase of this experiment – eating REAL food!

DAY THREE – reviewing Wednesday

Yes, I got weary during the second and third days of the JUICE CLEANSE at certain times, but at others, I felt energised and fabulous. The ‘tired’ part is to be expected, given I wasn’t getting any caffeine. It did help that I reduced my coffee intake drastically over the last month and am now more likely to have an Earl Grey tea than a coffee on most days. At least I was spared a splitting headache, which usually happens with the detoxing process.

My juice selection for Day One

My juice selection for Day One

But three days of juice is DEFINITELY enough. Although I didn’t quite do the FULL three days. As I said yesterday, I planned to eat dinner last night at my Mum’s anyway which I did, and managed to eat only a very small portion of her delicious roast with gravy and said ‘no’ to roast potatoes. AND sweetcorn. AND Yorkshire pudding… I even said NO to Mum’s homemade apple crumble… Heart-breaking but essential if this plan is to succeed.

I also declined the red wine on offer, so I can happily say I’ve kick-started the week with three consecutive AFDs. (That’s alcohol -free days in case you were wondering) I am now very much looking forward to a glass or two tomorrow night. But part of this plan is to also reduce my alcohol intake, so I will be monitoring ‘how much’. (sigh…)

WEEKLY FOOD PLAN

The Fit Fix Diet Plan is designed to be extremely flexible to fit a variety of lifestyles. So many of our plans change so quickly on a daily basis, that we all need something that’s adaptable. Having said that, I also believe planning ahead is essential.

Food shopping the LEAST amount of times possible is a biggie for me too. Life’s too busy to be heading to the supermarket on a daily basis. Twice a week is plenty!

My current favourite

My current favourite

Picking components from various diets and mashing them together also appeals to me, so here’s how this diet will work.

As well as THE RULES I spelt out yesterday, I’m aiming for one juice fast day a week, (MONDAY) and one day with a very low calorie intake. (THURSDAY) This will be in accordance with the 2-5 diet which has a lot of evidence backing it to suggest that by almost fasting two days a week, we can eat what we like on the other five. I tried this, but the ‘eating what you like’ on the other days just meant I pigged out ridiculously. Which is why I’ve decided to create my own plan.

Yes, I’ll still have 2 days which are low calorie, but I’m only allowing ONE day which is a free-for-all. And yes, that’s the day you can have CHOCOLATE and don’t have to count calories. For me, that’s preferably a SATURDAY.

The first week of the FIT FIX Diet Plan differs from the following weeks, because of the 3-day juice cleanse, but as of next Monday, I’ll be aiming to stick to a pretty regular eating schedule. So usually today would be one of the ‘almost fasting days’ but after coming off the three-day JUICE CLEANSE, that’s not happening this week.

As well, I can safely say it’s highly likely social commitments will probably force changes to my plans, but then I can explain how I adapt and hopefully this will help you too.

DAY FOUR – FOOD PLAN: Thursday

Here’s the plan I laid out for today:

The Muesli - 97% sugar free

The Muesli – 97% sugar free

Breakfast: The Muesli (50 grams) with skim milk, (100ml),  Greek yogurt (50g) and frozen berries (25g).

Snack – celery sticks

Lunch – can of Sirena basil tuna, lettuce and spring onion

Snack – Tamara Yoghurt tub with berries

Dinner – Bolognaisse sauce – NO PASTA, plus two glasses of red wine

 

Using the My Net Diary App, the total calorie amount would add up to 1409. This is just under my daily allowance of 1430, so well on target. Especially as I put in a good effort with exercise this morning, doing both a half-hour abdominal class, followed by 45-minutes of a seriously sweaty spin class. According to the My Net Diary App, I burned off 593 calories, which means I still have 614 in the bank. Maybe this means I can have more wine tonight??

THE ALCOHOL ISSUE

Speaking of alcohol, the 3-day JUICE CLEANSE reinforced to me how important it is to have at least three days a week without grog if you want to lose weight. I KNOW once I’ve had a couple of wines, I’m far more likely to grab a handful or two (or 5) of cashews from the cupboard, or to hoe into a cheese and crackers session at 10pm.

Even a couple of glasses will drastically reduce your willpower. Which is why this rule is a MUST.

HOW TODAY REALLY WENT (so far…)

It’s gone to plan except that I decided to substitute my two snacks with a bottle of green juice, left over from the stash I bought for the 3-day cleanse. Which adds up to roughly the same amount so I’m doing fine.

Let’s see what happens tonight after that red wine. I’ll report back tomorrow and also discuss how my weight is going – which is embarrassing but important for you to know as evidence as to whether this FIT FIX Diet Plan really will work. Stay tuned!