Howay then lass, get it sorted!

[Bristol_lass]

Day 1: 23 Feb 2012

Gonna be thin again soon (haha not really, got no ambition to be 'thin' but I would like to fit back into all my nice clothes again and feel more curvy than podgy)! This diary is going to detail everything I eat and hopefully some measurements and exercise and stuff. Will be good to look back on in a month or so.

Breakfast
Two slices granary toast with peanut butter and marmite
Fresh orange juice

Snack
Small apple
Homemade coleslaw with carrots, cabbage, raisins and vegan mayo

Lunch
Carrot and cabbage soup (can you see a theme - got a lot of carrot and cabbage in my veg box!)

Snack
Small handful fruit and nut mix
Even smaller handful seed mix
Bag of snack a jack mini rice cakes

Dinner
Carrot, cabbage (again!) and squash risotto with parmesan on top and leafy salad with dressing

Wow, that seems like a lot of food but trust me its a lot less than I've been eating recently.

Exercise: walked to and from work - 5miles
I would really like to start going to the gym again and take up some yoga - but I've been pretty ill for the last few months so that might be ambitious. See if I'm still feeling ok in a few weeks time.

Feeling good today: always tend to when I make a decision to start eating well again. The main problem is getting over that roughly two week hump of wanting to eat loads of cake. After that it should be fine.

More tomorrow, Alice

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 2

Day 2: 24 Feb 2012

Interesting day...felt pretty rotten all day but good at the same time. Had to leave work early because blurry vision was stopping me see the computer screen- this has become fairly normal over the last few months and I think is related to the fatigue. On the plus side my doctor finally came up with a diagnosis (whether or not it is 'the' diagnosis, only time will tell). I have very low levels of vitamin D so have started on a course of 'Calcichew' (shudder) tablets which will replace my calcium and vit D for the next month.

Hopefully in a few weeks time I'll have loads of energy and get less infections. Woop!

So...food for the day:

Breakfast
Porridge made with p. oats, water, raisins and ground linseed.

Snack
Medium carrot
Small apple

Lunch
Risotto: Carrot, cabbage and squash with parmesan on top

Snack
Kiddies corn snack (only 65 cals)
3 medjool dates
Tub of dehydrated kale crisps (first time I've tried this, delicious but insanely expensive)

Dinner
Didn't have any as felt so bad went to sleep at 4.30, only just woke up and planning on going back to sleep when I've written this.

Exercise: walked to and from work - 5miles

Although I felt physically rubbish and knackered to day, it felt good to know that I had my diet under control and that finally I might know what is causing my fatigue. Got to go away tomorrow with my bf and am stressing out a bit about how I'm going to cope with my tiredness when following someone else's schedule (we're staying with some friends for a birthday).

Good night

Alice

 

[c.mackenzie]

Hope your fatigue is sorted soon hun. I'm away with the bf too for a break from Bristol but worried about being out of control of my diet. Here's to a good weekend

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 3

Day 3: 25 February 2012

Thanks c.mackenzie. Fingers crossed for both our weekends away: ) How do you find living in Bristol? I totally love it, it's so green with so much going on - and it's also easier to eat a healthy diet than lots of other places I think. Do you often shop down the Glos. Rd or Better Food supermarket?

Going to do my diary now and will finish it tomorrow night.

Breakfast
Porridge: p.oats, water, linseed, raisins

Snack
Apple
Handful fruit and nut mix

Lunch
Carrot and cabbage soup
Salad: rocket, pea shoots, s.dried tomatoes, seeds, oil and vinegar dressing

Snack (planned; not eaten yet)
One hardboiled egg
Medium carrot

Dinner
To be revealed tomorrow

Exercise: walk home from the Downs - 2.5miles

Had a great day so far. Driving lesson this morning followed by a meander around on the Bristol Downs looking at the lichens growing on the trees. I'm sure that sounds odd but I'm an ecologist who specialises in the little stuff; mainly mosses. They're all fascinating! For anyone who lives in Bristol there is a great Down Lichens Trail and you can pick up a leaflet in lots of places or probably download it from the internet from the Avon and Gorge wildlife project.

It's a totally beautiful day outside and would much rather be out walking today than about to sit in a car to London, but hey ho, such is life.

Ta ta for now

Alice

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 4

Don't know what happened to my post yesterday. In case it doesn't show up I'll repost my food diary for yesterday.

Day 3: 25 Feb 2012

Breakfast
Porridge: p.oats, water, linseed, dried figs

Snack
Small apple
Handful fruit and nut mix

Lunch
Carrot and cabbage soup
Salad: rocket, pea shoots, s.dried tomatoes, seeds, oil and vinegar dressing

Snack
Hard boiled egg
Medium carrot
Snack a Jacks

Dinner
Nacho style corn crisps with guacamole
Glass wine
Glass cider

Exercise: walk home from Downs - 2.5miles

Day 4: 26 Feb 2012

Breakfast
1.5 croissants with margarine
Orange juice
2 large mugs of tea with milk and sugar

Lunch
Doritos
Pickled gherkins and onions
Small banana and strawberries

Snack
1 marmite biscuit

Dinner
Green bean salad
Yoghurt and berry drink
Handful of french fries
Small portion of cheese

Exercise: none!!

Really mixed weekend. Got very little sleep last night which made me very irritable and moody with bf which wasn't great. Hated not having control of my diet - although I don't think I've eaten too much it's not been a very healthy day, definitely not the kind of food I would choose.

Went to a really interesting Roman villa in Kent today. But going there meant we spent most of the day in car - no scope to do any exercise at all.

Love the fact that it's starting to get light and sunny again - always makes me feel happy at this time of year

Goodnight x

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 5

Day 5: 27 Feb 2012

Breakfast
Porridge: p.oats, water, dried figs, ground almonds

Snack
One hard boiled egg
Medium carrot

Lunch
Lentil, rice and roast aubergine salad (from M&S)

Snack
Apple
Handful fruit and nut mix

Dinner
Salad: rocket, pea shoots, seeds, s.dried tomatoes, oil and vinegar dressing
Baked potato wedges (2 potatoes) with ketchup and vegan mayo

Exercise: walked to and from work - 5miles
short walk at lunch - 1 mile
short weights session at gym

Worked out today that to lose 1 pound per week without actually cutting calories (which I find impossible to sustain and makes me soo miserable) would need to walk 50 miles or 7 miles each day. That's a lot of walking - I only normally do half that! Will either have to lose weight slower or try and go to the gym more. Problem is that I'm normally too tired to do more than walk to work, work, work home then go to bed. And since I'm trying to maintain a relationship with my bf and he hates exercise, going for long walks at the weekend is out

Tired, miserable.

Sleep will help, goodnight

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 6

Day 6: 28 Feb 2012

Breakfast
Low fat yoghurt with mango and dried figs

Snack
Trek bar (raw oat, fruit and nut bar)

Lunch
Smoked salmon, cream cheese and salad sandwich on granary

Dinner
Blueberry and ginger smoothie
Macaroni cheese with ham, garlic bread and salad (from restaurant)

Couldn't resist going out to eat tonight: have college straight after work. I had taken in some soup to eat but really couldn't face it.

Relationship with bf pretty rocky. It's really difficult being tired all the time, makes me moody and irritable and then when I decide to try and be nice and friendly I'm surprised (but really shouldn't be) that he's not all over me in a loving way. It's not bad exactly but just really cold and unaffectionate. We barely spend any real time together (time at work really doesn't count as quality time) as I'm too tired to do anything except at weekends and we've both been stressed with job applications. Trying not to worry about it but I don't know how we're going to make it better - just feel abit like we've lost all the love : (

On positive note feeling calmly happy; trying not to get stressed about stuff - what will be will be.

Got to get up at 5 tomorrow to go to Birmingham; so bed now.

Alice

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 7

Day 7: 29 Feb 2012

Breakfast
Low fat plain yoghurt with dried figs and mango
Two boiled eggs

Snack
Small croissant (oops!)

Lunch
Vegetable stir fry with rice
Fruit salad

Dinner
Portion of cheese
Orange juice
Pasta salad with roasted tomatoes (from M&S)

Exercise: walk to and from station - 4.5 miles, plus walk to bfs - 2.5miles, total = 7 miles

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 8

Day 8: 01 March 2012

Breakfast
Bowl of cornflakes, handful muesli with semi-skimmed milk

Lunch
Ham, cheese and salad sandwich on granary

Snack
Dried figs, mango and low fat plain yoghurt

Dinner
Carrot, celariac, leek, cabbage, cauliflower and s.dried tomato risotto with parmesan

Exercise: walked to and from work - 5 miles, plus walk at lunchtime - 3miles, total = 8 miles
weights and 20mins cardio at gym

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 9

Day 9: 02 March 2012

I decided yesterday that as part of my weight-loss journey I have to walk 700miles. This should equate to a 14 pound loss so long as I'm eating less than 2000 calories per day. So I've printed out a chart with 700 boxes in it and I'm colouring it in each day.

Rules: one hour cardio exercise class at gym = 5miles, running miles also count

Although this will take as long as it takes I'm hoping I'll be able to walk that far in 3-4months.

Breakfast
Porridge: p.oats, water, ground almonds, raisins

Snack
Carrot
Orange, pineapple and ginger juice (really yummy from wholefood place in Clifton)

Lunch
Jalapeno crisps (bought these for bf but he wasn't hungry so I ate them )
Risotto; leftovers from yesterday without parmesan

Snack
110ml tub of Booja Booja vegan ice cream - made from cashew nuts
Handful dehydrated kale chips

Dinner
Roast veg and tomato sauce with wholewheat pasta with parmesan

Exercise: walk to and from work - 5miles
walk at lunchtime - 2.5miles
total = 7.5miles

Walked up to the Suspension Bridge this lunchtime. It's so beautiful up there although it doesn't make me feel better about coming back to work for the afternoon. Measured some stuff on my map this morning and found out that walking around the floating harbour is 3 miles while I had previously thought it was 2, wahoo!

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 10

Day 10: 03 March 2012

Not a good day - damn bf feeding me rubbish!

Breakfast
Porridge; p.oats, water, ground almonds, raisins

Lunch
Leftover risotto
Salad; green leaves, seeds, oil and vinegar mix

Snack
Dehydrated kale chips

Dinner - this is where it gets mega calorific
Half an omelette: base made with 3 eggs and lots of butter; filling of roast butternut squash, onion, red pepper, s.dried tomatoes, mushrooms fried in butter, pancetta fried in butter and **** loads of cheese
Served with same salad as lunch and three potato wedges

After-dinner
Couple of glasses of wine
Several (maybe 10?) mint cream chocolates

Exercise: got my driving instructor to finish at Frenchay and then walked home through Snuff Mills and across Purdown - 4miles

Aye, it's a good job that me and the bf don't cook together that often - we have such different ideas about what is healthy. Omelette and salad would have been great but all the cheese, butter and pancetta....I think not! The wine was my own fault and led on to the chocolates.

Anyway, apart from the food, feeling good. Such a glorious sunny day can't help feeling happy. Should have been prepping for job interview for next week but couldn't quite bring myself to do it.

Ach well..

 

[c.mackenzie]

My bf doesn't know healthy either. I'm not sure he knew what a calorie was until I started counting them! Haha. Nice walk! It is sunny is Bristol now but I got soaked walking to work!!

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 11

Day 11: 04 March 2012

Breakfast
Bowl of cornflakes, handful muesli, semi-skimmed milk

Lunch
Leftover omelette with salad, seeds and oil and vinegar mix

Dinner
2 x wholegrain wraps filled with; stir fried vegetables (carrot, onion, chilli pepper, mange tout, cauliflower) and beans in salsa sauce, cheddar cheese, salad leaves, creme fraiche.
Orange juice

Exercise: walk out to the Sea Walls (the Downs) and back - 5miles

Aaaaah.....interview stress!!!

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 12

Day 12: 05 March 2012

Breakfast
Porridge: p.oats, water, ground almonds, raisins

Snack
Apple

Lunch
Wrap with same filling as last night minus the cheese
Carrot
Baby tomatoes

Snack
Fruit and nut mix

Dinner
Nachos: corn chips, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, jalapeno peppers
Orange juice

Exercise: walk to and from work - 5miles
walk round harbour at lunch time - 3miles (really not sure about that, it didn't seem it - perhaps I'll remeasure on map)
total = 8miles

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 13

Day 13: 06 March 2012

Seem to be losing my motivation already and its been less than two weeks....uh, oh!

Breakfast
Porridge: p.oats, water, raisins

Lunch
Wrap filled with ditto yesterday
Crisps

Dinner
Macaroni cheese with ham, salad and garlic bread
Large slice of caramel shortbread

Exercise: to and from work - 5miles

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 26

Day 26: 19 March 2012

Oh dear!! Since I last posted has just been one long binge fest. Most days I've eaten several thousand calories more than I should eating several family packs of chocolate bars in one sitting etc.

Not feeling the self loathing too much as I know it's counterproductive and is most likely to keep me feeling upset and wanting to eat.

Anyway, although it's not over I'm coming out of it.

Breakfast
Porridge: p.oats, water, ground almonds, two dried figs

Snack
M&S crisps (90 cals per pack)
Carrot

Lunch
Leftover risotto: brown risotto rice, carrot, leek, cabbage, chilli peppers, garlic, purple sprouting broccoli, mushrooms, s.dried tomatoes
Cookie
Humungous slice of chocolate fudge cake from canteen

Dinner
Baked potato with butter, several slices of a soft brie-like cheese, stir fried cabbage, onion, chilli pepper and jeruselem artichoke with butter and pepper, served with chilli jam

Exercise: walk to work, walk at lunchtime. Prob totals ~ 3.5miles

Although diet certainly not back to weight-loss size I feel its got back to being healthier in the last couple of days and starting to blog on here again should help me stick to it.

It's hard to know what sets me off on a binge, I guess I'm feeling kind of relaxed and comfortable and I want to curl up in bed with a good book munching on chocolate biscuits. Then once I've done it one day there seems no point in not doing it the next and the next even though I know I feel sick afterwards and can't sleep because my heart is beating so violently. Perhaps I should get back into making popcorn as something I can eat for a long period of time while relaxing but without the calories, fat and sugar of biscuits, cake, chocolate etc.

The thing is that I know perfectly well that I'm happiest and have the most energy and enthusiasm when I'm eating well and exercising, but I tend to forget that and trade it for short-term pleasure.

I guess it will be interesting to look back over this blog in a year or so and see how many of these episodes I have. The funny thing is I gave up all sweet stuff for the whole of 2010 and it didn't phase me; it's having the willpower to get over those first few weeks.

Goodnight, Alice

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 27

Day 27: 20 March 2012

Breakfast
Porridge; p.oats, water, ground almonds, two dried figs

Snack
Apple
Raisins

Lunch
Baked potato with carrot, beetroot and Jerusalem artichoke salad and chilli jam
Crisps
Orange juice

Snack
Half pack of m&ms (a small one)
Large slice of lemon cake from canteen

Dinner
Leftover risotto (see yesterday)

Exercise: walked to work 2.5miles

Although no longer binging, still eating large 'snacks'. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this under control for a week or so and then cut them out.

 

[Bristol_lass]

Day 28

Day 28: 21 March 2012

Breakfast
Porridge: p.oats, water, ground almonds, dried dates

Snack
Two oat cakes with marmite and peanut butter
Dried kale chips
Raisins

Lunch
Small portion carrot soup
Carrot
Potato salad with vegan mayo and seeds

Dinner
McDonalds double cheeseburger, medium fries and BBQ sauce
Caramel shortcake
Crisps

Snack
X2 homemade biscuits

Exercise; walk to and from work - 5miles

 

[Bristol_lass]

14 April 2012

Breakfast
Porridge: 1/4 cup p.oats, 1 tbsp ground almonds, 1/8 cup raisins, 1 cup water

Snack
Nakd bar
2 oat cakes with hummus

Lunch
Butternut squash and carrot soup
1 slice granary toast

Snack
Apple

Dinner
Rice and vegetables: 1/4 cup brown rice, leek, garlic, purple-sprouting broccoli, chard, cashew nuts, soy sauce
Cashew ice cream with grated stem ginger in syrup

Exercise: none

 

[Bristol_lass]

15 April 2012

Breakfast
Porridge: 1/4 cup p.oats, 1 tbsp ground almonds, 1/8 cup raisins, water
Apple

Snack
Fruitus bar

Lunch
Leftover soup
Slice toast

Exercise: none

Snack
Slice toast with peanut butter and marmite

Dinner
Rice with vegetables: 1/4 cup brown rice, leek, chard, purple-sprouting broccoli, cashews, soy sauce