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. ( https://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!

 

 

 

Getting Piggy Days…

There’s always going to be times when you hit a few speed bumps when trying to stick to a new diet regime and in my case, the last few days have been more like a major road block.

A movie marathon essential

A movie marathon essential

Yes, I could have been strong but faced with an all-night movie marathon session on Friday of Nightmare on Elm Street films back-to-back, I knew I wouldn’t survive without chocolate. And lots of it. And jelly beans. So Friday’s FIT FIX Diet Plan went out of the window.

That led into Saturday, which is generally a DAY OFF from the regime. Now, given I’d pigged out the night before, I should have been good, but no, I stuck to the plan of having a day off and kept the piggy on a mission theme going strong.

 

Cafe style raisin toast

Cafe style raisin toast

That meant two pieces of raisin toast with lashings of butter for breakfast, the rest of the chocolate block from the night before for morning tea, leftover Mongolian lamb for lunch and a night out at Riva restaurant in St Kilda for dinner, with lychee cocktails AND wine. I also practically demolished an entire Asian plate of duck spring rolls and fried calamari. And then there was a shared dessert platter. Except I did most of the eating.

Then Fletch’s brother was visiting from Perth last night so of course we HAD to go out to dinner and again, I got stuck into dessert. And wine.

Weight chart

Weight chart

And that explains why I haven’t been blogging about the amazing FIT FIX Diet Plan for the last few days. It HAD been working a treat. After starting out at 71.4kg, I had dropped to 66.7kg and was mighty pleased with myself. And therein lies another problem with dieting. Success breeds contempt and yes, I let myself sit on my laurels, and boy, did they get squashed.

Check out the latest chart results after today’s scales reading. Yep, that little black line has skyrocketed! Today I’m back up to 68.8. It’s a bit depressing, but I’m going to pick myself up, dust off the sugar crumbs and get back to work.

Pressed Juices

Pressed Juices

At least I went back to Pressed Juices yesterday to stock up on supplies for today’s JUICE FAST. My body is looking forward to it.

I’ve also had feedback that you’d like to have the FIT FIX Diet Plan listed in a weekly format, so you can plan ahead yourselves. So that’s going to be my next blog. Let’s hope it helps us ALL stick to the straight and narrow…

 

 

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!