27.2.15

How my Diet is going.

I'm approximately 5'7" tall, and at Christmas I weighed 11st (154lb)

I decided to take part in Dry January which was the only reason I weighed myself. I never normally bother, but I wondered if the lack of alcohol would lead to weight loss.

I added a Diet app to my mobile devices and PC and went for the 'calorie counting' option.
fat secret diet app screen shot with weight graph
Fat Secret Diet App

I am not here to body shame anyone, nor to tell you how to diet if you choose to. I'm just sharing my experience so far, since January the 1st.

During January, mainly due to the sudden loss of empty calories in all that wine and beer I was no longer consuming, I lost a pound a week.

At the start of February, with some joy I was back to beer and cava, but as I had discovered that both non alcoholic lager and non alcoholic red wine were actually quite nice, I decided to stick to having alcohol at weekends only, and of course to include it in my daily calorie allowance.
Non alcoholic Red Wine

For slow weight loss my app suggested I stick to 1700 calories a day. That felt OK to me and so that's what I've been sticking to. For me using the app to record things helps me to stop and think...do I need to eat? Am I hungry? Is this the best option?

Seeing what is in each meal has made me make different choices and discover some great new foods that have helped me stay on course on my diet. I'm still losing about a pound a week, I hope to get to 10st..but I wonder if I could get down to 9st 7lb which I think would feel right for me.

So, things I have discovered.

  • non alcoholic wine and beer - lots less calories, satisfies the urge for a drink, tastes nice
  • savoury popcorn, delicious, low calorie, great for snacking on and takes a while to eat thus keeping you busy too.
  • Quorn, much lower calorie than meat. Excellent sausages fried up in a tiny bit of oil with onions and tomatoes. Really filling for next to no calories.
  • Water, drinking lots of water has helped keep hunger at bay, it's good for you to stay hydrated too. 
  • Planning meals - not every meal, I'm not that organised! But planning a salad for tea when you know there is a high calorie lunch in the offing, or having a light lunch when there might be (real) wine at dinner.
  • Cottage cheese. I love cottage cheese, the low fat versions with pineapple are delicious and filling. Tasty snack or addition to a green salad.
  • Balsamic vinegar, hardly any calories compared to thick salad dressings but really full of flavour, excellent drizzled over crisp green lettuce.
  • Sushi, I found a brand of sushi with only 200 calories a pack. really nice low cal lunch!
  • Low fat Greek yoghurt, really filling, low calorie and even the addition of a spoonful of honey doesn't take it too far into the 'treat' zone. Also nice with fruit or on a hot Quorn chilli.
    Quorn 'chicken style' fillets with spicy tomato sauce and rice
    Quorn 'chicken style' fillets with spicy tomato sauce and rice
The diet is going well, I'm still on track, even though I took the week o f half term off completely - didn't record food or exercise and had more than usual of both! I still lost a pound. Partly as I still find it easier not to snack too much.

I plan a snack at 10.30 am with a cup of coffee (I have breakfast at 7am) so I'm really eating every 4 hours or so, with a longer gap in the afternoon (where I might just have a coffee). Looking at my diet history I start the day with fairly high carbs, about 300 calories, then have about 150 calories as a snack, 400 calories for lunch and the rest as a blow out dinner (I'm often under the 1700calories I'm allowed)

So am I always full? No. Does it need will power? Yes. Is it difficult?...well I'm not finding it difficult so far. I haven't had to cut out anything, just change the portion size or plan other meals around it , sometimes finding a better, lower calorie thing to replace part of a meal. I'm finding I eat more vegetables, especially salad and leafy stuff...at this rate I'll start to tell you how great kale is! (don't panic, I'm not going to start adding cauliflower to everything and pretending to be a caveman)

You can follow what I'm up to on the app at fat secret if you are interested. Are you dieting? How's it going?

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