Author: s.dyer

I’ve not dieted at all this summer – but I’ve not put on any weight either.  Holding steady at 10st on the nose.   I will get back to dieting soon enough, I’m through the travel & party season now, and happy I’ve not gained any weight in the meantime.  Stay tuned for more updates!

Just had a real life experience of phantom weight gain, and back out the other side to tell the tale… so here we go.

On Friday night I weighed in at 10st 10.6.  I weighed myself four times to check the scales weren’t faulty.

I’d spent the week on holiday in Panama eating donuts and pancakes every day for breakfast, then having heavy fried food meals or burgers every evening.   I wasn’t over-eating much, I was just eating junk, and I knew I’d have to pay the price for that.

Weighing in 10lbs heavier than I’d weighed the week previously, I didn’t realise how harsh the ‘price’ would be!  Then, to top it all off, I had pizza on Saturday after my weigh-in, too.

It’s now Tuesday, and I’m back down to 10st.

How did it happen?  I had a good night’s sleep & probably my first proper poop in 7 days.

Can’t recommend it enough!

After finally getting a good night’s sleep on 29th I weighed in at 10 stone (140lbs) on the nose. No pesky points of a pound to deal with, this is the lightest I’ve been since I was in my 20s.  Considering I cheated my way through most of April, I’m very pleased with that.

Yes, it’s been slow, but slow is usually good, it means it won’t just rebound back on.  One stone (14lbs) more, and I’ll be back to my early teenage weight (when I weighed 9st2, and was still considered fat!).  Got holidays ahead, but after that, I’ll be back on the trail!

I’m trying Riverford’s Recipe Boxes for 2 weeks.  In the morning, I’ll have my nut granola with blueberries from Amelia’s plan, and for lunch, I’ll have a quarter portion of what I made the night before. I’ll also freeze quarter portions for easy lunches in the future / ‘leftover day’.

Easter Sunday, I’ll be having an Easter Egg. Jesus wouldn’t like me to miss out, after all…

13th April
Beef, Asparagus & Green Bean Stir Fry

This was great for dinner, but not good as left overs (the beef was fine, obviously the rice was risky – I ended up leaving the rice)

14th April
Roast Squash Salad

Amazing as dinner, amazing as lunch.  I’ll be making this again.

15th April
Spanish Chicken Stew

This was too tomatoey for me, but Mom liked it.  Didn’t attempt it for lunch, used it as a sauce for Mom’s pasta the next day.

16th April
Easter Egg

I used Amelia’s Nutty Choc Pot recipe in quadruple measures, and it was amazing.  Won’t indulge on this too much, but yum!

17th April – 10st0.2
Tandoori Pork Loin

Yay for the weightloss! Psychologically I’ll be celebrating more if I can drop that last .2 to get through the “Under 10 stone” barrier.

 

I lost my mojo right around here.  With the house on the market & packing, I had pretty much 11 cheat days in a row & hardly any sleep.  It’s now 28th April and I’m weighing in at 10st3 – which, really, considering the 11 cheat days in a row isn’t too bad at all.

Have holidays coming up & other things, so not going to attempt any diet for quite a while.  However, I’ll keep you updated with my milestones right here!

 

I’ll be trying to follow Amelia Freer’s new 10 day plan pretty much to the word over the next 10 days.   The plan looks well balanced, and it’s a short-term experiment, so I thought why not?  However the preparation required looked horrendous.  So I’ll set about getting the shopping ordered and figure I’ll take it from there.

There’s a full shopping list in the book but some of these things are perishable & won’t keep for the week!  Therefore I’m breaking it down day by day in advance.

• Riverford delivery on Thursdays – so I’ll need 10 portions of seasonal fruit for week 1, then 8 for week 2.
• I can order in all the store-cupboard food in week 1.
• I can order in all the nuts & seeds in week 1.
• I can order in all the dried herbs & spices in week 1.
• I don’t need any of the freezer food.
• Additionally in week 1:
  • 3 betroots ✓
  • Fresh dill ✓
  • 1 bulb garlic ✓
  • 3 lemons ✓
  • coconut milk ✓
  • cloves ✓
  • medjool date ✓
  • mango ✓
  • sugar snap peas 200g✓
  • 200g brocoli ✓
  • 7 carrots ✓
  • small green courgette ✓
  • yellow pepper ✓
  • 2 x red pepper ✓
  • salad leaves ✓
  • a chicken 1.4kg ✓
  • onion ✓
  • red onion ✓
  • spring onion✓
  • thyme ✓
  • 2 eggs ✓
  • spinach ✓
  • aubergene ✓
  • 2 x leeks ✓
  • celery ✓
  • chives ✓
  • coconut yoghurt✓
  • little gem lettuce ✓
  • cabbage ✓
  • 4 x limes ✓
  • 2 wild salomn fillets✓
  • cucumber ✓
  • avocado ✓
  • 2 x bananas ✓
  • mint ✓
  • 200ml coconut water✓
  • coriander leaves ✓
  • ginger ✓
  • tomatoes ✓
  • apples ✓
  • berries✓
  • fillet of sea bass ✓
  • orange ✓
  • 125g king prawns ✓
  • rocket ✓
  • basil ✓
  • kale ✓
  • 300g sweet potato ✓
  • radishes ✓
  • parsley ✓

I can look at the shopping list for the remaining three days when I see how all this is working out!

PREP DAY:

Made beetroot hummus and nutty granola – completely forgot to get the mixed seeds.  Also prepared the breakfast for tomorrow.  Went to pilates class, but feeling so big and bloated at the moment, I’ll wait until the morning to weigh in!

DAY 1 – 10st 6lbs 

Tumeric & Mango Spiced Chia Pot

This was nicer than I expected!  Will be adding it into my every day eating from now on.

Rainbow Abundance Bowl + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

Didn’t enjoy the salad much, but the hummus is delicious. Again, will be added in to my regime.

Roast Chicken with Roasted Vegetables and Portion of Seasonal Fruit

Went to pilates class today & feeling pretty healthy and accomplished all round.

DAY 2

Breakfast Frittata + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

As someone who doesn’t usually like eggs, nicer than expected.

Chicken Pate in Lettuce Cups + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

I didn’t enjoy this so much.  Not sure why – think the pate lacked something. I’ll have to experiment with the recipe.

Wild Salmon Parcels with Asian Style Salad + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

This wasn’t great either.  The broccolli had gone a bit stale from the night before (the sugar snap peas were still great though!).  Okay-ish, not something I’d choose to eat.

DAY 3 – 10st 2.8

A word on my weight here. Yeah, I’ve lost a lot!  However, I’ve lost both fat & muscle, I’m now at 31% fat, 29% muscle – it’s the weirdest body composition I’ve had. Pilates is having a noticeable effect on my figure, for the first time in my life, my waist measurement is different to my hips.  Still a long way to go.

Banana Mint & Lime Smoothie

Nicer than expected! But, if I’m having a breakfast I don’t want a liquid breakfast, really.

Salmon Salad in a Jar + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

Not sure how I can be so ‘meh’ about last night’s meal but absolutely love this, when it’s essentially the same damned meal in a jar.  This is something I’ll have regularly in the future.

Aubergine & Chickpea Curry + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

This was a real ball-ache to motivate myself to make, and it took my over an hour for one reason or another, but I really enjoyed it. I had to add some extra coriander to make the curry more to my taste, other than that, great recipe.

DAY 4

Here’s an interesting thing. Something in the diet plan has made my eczema flare up.  It was either day one or day two, I’m wondering if it may be the egg.  It’s the first time I can safely rule out wheat or gluten or sugar as the culprit – maybe it’s something I’m doing differently during all of this, although there isn’t much I’m doing differently (as I have a dishwasher, I’m not doing excessive amounts of washing up or anything).

I’ve had to swap day 4 with day 5 because my prawns will be out of date otherwise.  Due to the food pyramid, it involves swapping both the lunch & the dinner, although I’m confident my curry will be okay.

Overnight Oat Crumble with Apple

Not as nice as I thought it’d be…. still okay, but disappointed!

Roasted Vegetable & Chicken Soup + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

This also didn’t taste great reheated (but was delicious when first made). Had I realised earlier that I’d have to swap day 4 and 5 I could have got away with putting it in the fridge instead of the freezer.

Spicy Tomato and Prawn Courgetti + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

This was amazing! One of my favourites so far (although I made Courgetagliatelle as opposed to Courgetti). This will be added to my ongoing meals!

DAY 5

Had a Barre lesson this morning. Going to stick with Pilates in the future, but it was interesting to try out. Today is the day I place my order with Riverford for tomorrow again:

Celery ✓
Lemons ✓
K*le (hi Misha)… not in stock at the moment!
Red Pepper  ✓
Tomatoes  ✓
Radishes (My radishes from Sainsburys went out of date very quickly)
Salad  ✓
Cocoa Powder (not available from Riverford apparently)
Asparagus ✓
Spinach ✓
Kidney beans✓
Small cucumber (current one is good, but may go off by day 10)  ✓
+ Fruit ✓

I don’t remember freezing any Beetroot Houmous. Just going to have to make some more…

The plan is challenging with regards to cooking requirements, however, I’ve enjoyed it – so when I have time, I’ll try the vegan 10 day plan.

Overnight Oat Crumble with Berries

The extra night soaking didn’t do much good. I think in the future I’ll refrain from soaking the oats, I like oats just the way they are.

Leftover Aubergine & Chickpea Curry + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

This tasted so much better cold & left-over!

Grilled Fish with Orange & Avocado Salsa  –> Mackerel & Kale Waldorf salad

And this is where things went wrong… the fish was frozen, but the instructions the day before didn’t tell me to defrost it.  I had a ‘quick take’ version on the Mackerel & Kale Waldorf salad.  I’m having to swap meals around now to work with what I actually have left and what will be going out of date.

DAY 6

Nut Granola with Berries

This nut granola is soooo good. Even better with berries.

Beetroot & Houmous Salad + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

Made a huge batch of the beetroot houmous. Not sure how long it’ll keep though…

Grilled Fish with Orange & Avocado Salsa

This was nicer than I thought, but not something I’d add into regular rotation.

DAY 7

None of these got done today – I didn’t fancy the chicken for lunch, and the fish seemed a bit off, too.  I had the nut granola for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and the chicken and chips from day 8 for dinner.

Herby Green Omlette + Portion of Seasonal

Chopped Chicken Salad

Fish Goujons with Tartare Sauce + Nutty Chocolate Pot – > Chicken & Chips with Chopped Salad + Nutty Banana Nice Cream

I didn’t make myself the Nutty Banana Nice Cream, just didn’t fancy it today.

DAY 8  (DAY ONE OF PERIOD) – 10st2  

Another day that didn’t go according to plan, but I kept it healthy and filled in the food pyramid as outlined in the book.

Pea & Sweet Potato Fritter with a Poached Egg + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

This was lovely! Gave some to my mother too, who enjoyed it.

Smoked Mackerel Pate with Vegetable Crudites & Oatcakes + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

Chicken & Chips with Chopped Salad + Nutty Banana Nice Cream

DAY 9

As I’m neither a fan of cottage pie or pears, again, I skipped this. Had the tuna salad for lunch, though.

Baked Pear Breakfast Bowl

Italian Tuna Salad + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

Made this with fresh tuna, instead of tinned tuna.

Cottage Pie + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

DAY 10 – 10st1.6

“Kitchen confidence” kicked in. I had nut granola for breakfast, made myself a “tuna salad in a jar” from yesterday’s tuna,  and a sweet potato and carrot mash with black cabbage for dinner.

Egg Salad on Toast + Portion of Seasonal Fruit

Leftover Cottage Pie with Steamed Greens

Stuffed Peppers with Chilli + Baked Orange & Almond Pear

SUMMARY

This has been my most successful diet phase, without a doubt. Who knew that eating properly could help you lose weight? 4.4lbs in 10 days – which makes it 12lbs down since my heaviest weight after Xmas. However, I spent way too much time in the kitchen.

I missed out on these recipes, which I will try at some point:

Breakfast:

• Egg Salad on Toast
• Herby Green Omlette
• Baked Pear Breakfast Bowl (I’ll substitute apples)

Lunch:

• Smoked Mackerel Pate with Vegetable Crudites & Oatcakes (I’ll make this tomorrow)

Dinner:

•  Fish Goujons with Tartare Sauce + Nutty Chocolate Pot
• Stuffed Peppers with Chilli + Baked Orange & Almond Pear
• Cottage Pie

I’m moving straight on to another one of my experiments on Thursday, keeping these principles in mind: “The Riverford Plan”. Let’s see how that one goes. I’ll also be returning to the recipes I skipped when I have the right products in stock – I’ve yet to try any of the deserts!

This phase will be a combination of exercising combined with alternate day fasting.  What I’ve noticed since I’ve started to exercise is that some days I’ll put on a couple of pounds, but my actual body fat percentage will drop.  This will  be a focused two weeks where I exercise a little every day, depending on my energy (which given the ADF will vary).

12th March – 10st4.8 – FOOD DAY

Breakfast: PBJ on toast
Exercise: Pilates Open Class (60 minutes)

Pilates isn’t about burning calories, it’s more about building core strength.  As someone with limited flexibility, it’s a little less intense than yoga, whilst still challenging. I usually go for absolute beginners sessions, so was a little nervy going to an ‘open session’, but happened to be awake at the right time to try it.

14th March – 10st7.3 – FAST DAY (DAY 1 OF PERIOD)

What the actual heck…?  This is the heaviest I’ve weighed in since the end of January! Luckily the scales are showing 33% muscle vs 30.1% fat and I know I’ve lost inches (I squeezed into a size 14 today! Squeezed – very tightly – but still in). Otherwise, very demotivational.  I was moving some very heavy stuff yesterday and on my feet all day, which may have helped towards the muscle. Let’s hope it’s the water weight thing as well….

As it’s day one of my period, the only thing I’ve eaten this fast day (for my 500 calorie allowance) is chocolate.  4 bars of it. I may not quite be grasping the ‘healthy eating’ guides today…

I’m old fashioned in that – I will not exercise in public when I have my period.  Therefore my planned pilates class tomorrow is being replaced by my very first “Pilates at Home” session. Let’s see how that works out!

15th March – 10st3.8 – FOOD DAY

“Miracle chocolate only diet helps you lose 4lbs overnight!”… well, in fact, 3.5lbs overnight – which I’d put on the previous day.  Goes to show just how much our weight varies naturally though, I would imagine particularly for women around the time of the month.

Eating normally today, so I expect whatever weight I hit tomorrow would be my ‘actual weight’ with all the hormones, etc, taken out. We’ll see.

28th March – 10st 5.6 – DISASTER

I couldn’t stick to this in the end.  With the pressure of selling the house plus wanting to eat down the freezer meant I was off plan for most of these 14 days.  I didn’t really keep up with the exercise either, as I couldn’t make classes and there isn’t enough floor space here.

No point throwing my hands up in despair, though – on to the next battle.

 

 

I’ve gone for a straightforward diet approach for the first three phases.  It’s a contradiction of sorts, but I had to lose some weight to feel fit enough to exercise.

I’m trying out pilates, TRX and yoga – not so much about weight loss as flexibility and toning.  I’ve never had any flexibility at all, so it’s more of a challenge.  I’ve also been doing the 7-minute workouts via my Amazon Echo.

The next phase of my diet will be a one week blast between 22nd February and 1st March to get fit for my trip to Oslo.  Will, of course, update on my progress here!