Quiet on here isn't it! - (or Sean's RTM Journey)

[Sean(JSF)]

Saturday

Day started with communal breakfast with other guests around the large antique dining room table. Individually prepared fresh fruit salad to start (in rose-water, very delicate and refreshing), with glass of orange juice (my first fruit juice in 6 months) followed by (ready for it) - home made sausage (beef & very meaty), one rasher of lean bacon, mushroom, grilled tomato and scrambled egg. Not huge portion fortunately & I had already discussed with my wife that I would eat it if I felt like it. Very enjoyable and I resisted toast etc, but if anything was likely to set off bad habits that was it!

Morning spent looking around the Royal Yacht Britannia, then back into the City to put on our Rugby shirts and a quick lunch at Cafe Rouge (chicken & blue cheese (I know but there wasn't much cheese honestly) salad and a large glass of Red Wine), then the long walk out to Murrayfield Stadium. Near stadium stopped for liquid refreshment (large Red wine) then on to the Game.

Great afternoon and unfortunately my team lost but a good match with plenty of passion so not unduly unhappy. Walked all the way back to the City and stopped for a drink in a local Pub. Now you can't have a full weekend of Rugby without any beer, so I ordered a pint of bitter!. I don't know if it was the strange brew, or whatever but I didn't enjoy it and left some in the bottom of the glass when we left. I'm happy enough to have tried as that's a personal milestone overcome.

That evening we were booked into a French Bistro at 9.15pm (it was 8.00pm by the time we'd walked back to the City), but the table wasn't ready and we didn't actually sit down until 9.45.

Glass of Pastis (on the house), then:

Starter - Gaspaccio of Beef with pickled beet-root
Main - Turbot and mussels in fish stock (I removed all the potato cubes and left on the side)
Shared bottle of Rose Wine.

Sorely tempted by a desert and especially the cheese platter which was calling my name, but resisted. Went back to the room tired but happy.

A day of 100% 'normal' eating and drinking without over doing it (I think), and really pleased to be socialising in the real World.

 

[Sean(JSF)]

SUNDAY

And so to Sunday.

Breakfast as per yesterday (no excuses, really enjoyed the food and the social aspect of mixing with the other guests)

Went out of the City to the Coast for a walk, but we were both tired having spent hours on our feet over the previous 2 days, so we cut the walk short and caught the bus back into the City. We then went back out to Ocean Terminal to check on times for films at the Cinema. We had an hour to kill so went for a quick lunch.

I had Chicken Salad with Rose wine, and a pint of Soda Water; and home made broccoli and stilton soup (didn't touch the French Stick), and declined numerous offers of extra "Chips with that Sir".

Spent the afternoon watching 'Angels and Demons' [which disappointed me but I've only recently finished reading the book], then back to the City on the bus. Short walk and then back to room before dinner.

We booked a table at a local restaurant and sat down early at 7.30:

Glass of Champagne
Starter - 3 Scallops
Main - Roast Red Snapper with sweet & sour green salad (stunning flavours and textures) Washed down with shared bottle of Spanish Rose
Desert - I skipped but had coffee & armagnac

My wife wanted a coffee after desert so I joined her (and had another Armagnac - well I am on holiday and have been pretty good). Then back to hotel to rest our aching legs.

 

[Sean(JSF)]

MONDAY

Our last day in Edinburgh, once again the breakfast (which wasn't filling or stodgy) then more walking into town and up and down the Royal Mile. We had a tour booked of the "Real Mary King's Close" which is the underground 16th & 17th Century streets and was really enjoyable, and then back to the room to collect cases etc.

Lunch in Town of Salad with pine nuts and Creme Fraiche dressing - which unfortunately came covered with 2 huge slabs of blue cheese, which I hadn't spotted on the menu. I removed the cheese and ate the salad and opine nuts which was a little bland and only a small portion (I think it would have been OK with the cheese so it's' my own fault), glass of water to drink.

Headed out to the airport to kill a few hours before flight home and around 4.00pm felt really hungry, so had a cup of coffee and an Apple. Still hungry so had LL peanut bar and that did the trick.

Got home around 7.45 pm and was too tired to cook etc so had a LL soup then early to bed.

And that was Edinburgh and the European Cup Final weekend. Average calorie intake ~ 2,800 per day so not too bad in the Grand scheme of things, especially when every day has included 2-3 hours of walking which significantly reduces the Net Calories. I'm taking the week as a whole and will be interested to see what happens at weigh-in tonight as overall I think I should have STS, which would delight me. In any case a 2-3lb gain would be OK as well as that would only be Glycogen.

I'll let you know tomorrow. Hope all the food & drink talk hasn't been too explicit :0 LOL

 

[daisydoll]

hi sean
souds like you had a great time, and made some good choices food wise.
i saw angels and demons on sat, quite enjoyed it as it was over 4 years ago that i read the book and i had forgotton bits of it. Films are never as good as the book so so i guess if you had recently read it that would make it worse.

it was great seeing the location tho as i have been to rome a couple of times and i love it there.

look forward to hearing how you get on at weigh in

daisy x

 

[Foxtrot]

Sound like you've really balanced thing there, I should be very pleased with yourself.

So, how much time have you spent in France?

 

[Sean(JSF)]

Cheers Daisy & FT. I'm happy with choices and could quite happily live my life along those lines, but I do think that there will be occasions when bread slips into the diet as it can be difficult when 'out' and looking for something quick to eat otherwise.

FT - I LOVE FRANCE, we have a house in Provence which is where my love for Pastis comes from. Don't spend any where near as long there as I should though, but now the Children are almost grown-up we're already planning more trips

 

[Minerva]

My wife wanted a coffee after desert so I joined her (and had another Armagnac - well I am on holiday and have been pretty good). Then back to hotel to rest our aching legs.

Crooked Thinking! You are never "good" or "bad" because you make your own decision to do something. If you label yourself as good or bad that means some other force had influence!

Either way, that's the only bit that made me giggle a little - partly because I'm very much working of this good/bad mentality at the moment myself. After all - there is no such thing as a 'bad' person or 'bad' food.. it's only us who labels it that way. If we label it - it then in essence becomes 'forbidden' and later - it may cause problems - the 'rebellious' child will want the 'forbidden' fruit and it will become an essence of desire. ... Hence; after you finish RTM do have a look at this aspect and don't deny yourself anything - just remember to have the "bad" foods (lol ) in moderation.

I think I'll copy paste that to my blog

Either way, Sean, very thrilling weekend there! I'm very impressed with your restraint you are doing SO WELL! Not so much by 'abstaining' but by being aware that it was your decision not to break your resolve. This last push of RTM we are learning self-control and complete decision making. The last couple of weeks will be difficult - I don't think anyone actually does the last two properly to be honest!

 

[Foxtrot]

Ahh thought as much. You order like my OH, he had property in Arcachon.

 

[Sean(JSF)]

Hi Min, I know, I know

I'm working on everything being allowed and genuinely believe that I'm getting there (more successfully that I anticipated), finally the Paul McKenna thinking starts to make sense, but it's Gillian's book that's been the real clincher for me.

It's interesting that I wrote that phrase though isn't it?

Week 7 tonight (looks the same as week 6 but with peas (whoopy do~!) so next week's 'trigger' week will be a very interesting one. Looking at the RTM books I can't really see much point TBH but I'll defer judgement until I collect the week 8-12 books tonight.

TTFN

 

[Sean(JSF)]

OK, so collected the weeks 8-12 RTM books and looks like an interesting time ahead. I think I'll stick on plan for a little longer and see how it goes.

So to update on Food log.

Tuesday was back at home and with no shopping done, choices were limited initially so LL Porridge for breakfast and LL soup for lunch. Shopping in the afternoon so dinner was home-made vegetable Chili (thought we'd try veggie option for a change) with green salad. Made with fresh chilies, cumin (Canollini beans - hooray for beans) etc and tasty, but I didn't find especially filling - but I put this down to withdrawal from the weekend rather than 'real' hunger. Late evening snack of fresh strawberries & low fat yogurt.

Big drop in calories back down to ~900 for the day, and happy to feel fully in control after the weekend.

Unfortunately overnight my stomach rebelled from the weekend and (I think especially) the Chilli and I was 'up' all night.

So Wednesday I kept plain in the day whilst my digestion got back to normal:

Breakfast - LL Porridge
Lunch - LL Soup
Dinner - stir-fry chicken with stir-fry veg. Added ~50g of Butternut Squash to increase Carb content and also added ~20g Pine Nuts to increase Calories/fat. Sauce was Soy & a splash of sweet Chilli dipping sauce and fully enjoyed. In fact I had BIG portion and finished the whole lot as I was seriously 'empty' following the previous night/day.
Desert - fresh strawberries & low fat yogurt
Late - fresh Kiwi fruit
Total 975 KCal (despite larger portion and added ingredients). Again happy but this will not help me to stabilise weight.

I'm still happy to be losing a little weight, even this far into RTM as the full food choices are not yet available. Week 7 starts today and looking at the weeks 8-12 books I think week 8 weight losses should stop.

So weigh-in, and I though last week wasn't right as LLC has new 'super improved' scales. Stood on an LOST another 4lb, bringing total weight loss in 5 months to exactly 8 stone!!!

Also brings my BMI to 25 which as you know is 'normal' (whatever that means) and I never intended to get to that benchmark - my original aim was 28. But I'm not unhappy, and can still see a little extra weight that could go.

So all good. A great weekend, lots of new foods and drinks, all kept under control and no huge stresses as a result - mind you I did feel like having a glass of wine last night as there is an open bottle and I had lost even more weight, but I decided that I didn't need it, and Wednesday is not a time I want to drink on a regular basis. SO all good, happy and positive. Looking forward to week 8 though

 

[futureyummymummy]

Sean I'm loving following this you are doing sooo well and you're such an inspiration, when this babies out I'm totally back to finish the job!!

Emma xXx

 

[daisydoll]

thats a great loss sean - just shows even after the 'normal' weekend you are in control

daisy x

 

[Minerva]

Really great going after such a lovely weekend Sean! You are recognising signs of a little deserved and most importantly *planned* over-indulgence and are naturally compensating for it - which is what most "normal" people do. (What is normal? ... I always have to ask? lol)

Once the foodpacks start to run out - have you thought about what will replace the "safe" packs? I always viewed them as a sort of placebo for food... For example; what will be for breakfast and lunch?
Also probably by week 8 your calorie inake should be a little higher than 900 calories per day. For a man it should be in the region of 1200-1500 by now: so you have a bit of leeway to play around with! have fun with it, of course stay within your comfort zone - it is important not to venture too far.

Also brings my BMI to 25 which as you know is 'normal' (whatever that means) and I never intended to get to that benchmark - my original aim was 28. But I'm not unhappy, and can still see a little extra weight that could go.

I'm glad you mentioned this as well. Are you not happy with being BMI 25? (As opposed to your target 28?) Or are you not happy because mentally - somewhere - you want to keep pushing to go beyond your means?

I find that we all have our natural set-point, I was happiest at BMI 24 (10st) rather than at what I am now (but like you - I keep pushing...). I know that I have a nice margin that I am "safely" inside just in case something goes wonky. Not that anything SHOULD go wonky since I am the only person in control and responsible for what I do. But it's comforting to know that there is a safety net - and perhaps you can always treat your 3 BMI points as just that... Increase your calories a little not to lose too much and go from there.

:hug99:

 

[Sean(JSF)]

I'm glad you mentioned this as well. Are you not happy with being BMI 25? (As opposed to your target 28?) Or are you not happy because mentally - somewhere - you want to keep pushing to go beyond your means?

I find that we all have our natural set-point, I was happiest at BMI 24 (10st) rather than at what I am now (but like you - I keep pushing...). I know that I have a nice margin that I am "safely" inside just in case something goes wonky. Not that anything SHOULD go wonky since I am the only person in control and responsible for what I do. But it's comforting to know that there is a safety net - and perhaps you can always treat your 3 BMI points as just that... Increase your calories a little not to lose too much and go from there.

:hug99:

Thanks Min. I'm happy being a 25 (still can't believe it's me though), and really quite fancy losing another 6-7lb to get to a 24 (and under 12 stone), but I don't NEED to, if you know what I mean?

My only struggle is with deciding at what point I want to stop losing weight. Now this is really alien to me as I've spent 20+ years trying to START losing weight, so it's no wonder I find this a challenge mentally.

Post packs I'm a;ready settled on what I'll eat - and have already bought organic ingredients for home-made muesli & porridge even though I'm a few weeks away from going it alone. Lunches will be salad/taboleh etc, plenty of variety but (mostly) avoiding sandwiches etc unless there's no options (when away for example).

I do think I'm going to 'force' myself to reintroduce more carbs though as I'm just not missing them - in fact I'm enjoying food now MUCH MORE than I did pre LL, I don't think I really paid it enough attention before, and we have decided to shop in local markets & small shops much more than ever before and use supermarkets for staples and in emergencies. We'll see if we manage that.

Anyway, thanks as always to all for your kind comments and encouragement.

 

[Sean(JSF)]

Thursday, week 7

A 'boring' day in many respects food wise.

LL Porridge and mixed frozen berries, then LL Soup for lunch - still haven't bought anything else so a good excuse to use up some of the excess packs. As it was such a beautifully sunny day, on way back from my lunch time walk I bought a punet of raspberries and ate those as desert/snack mid afternoon. Made a really nice change and very enjoyable.

Last nigh my wife went out to eat with a friend, so I cooked meatballs & pasta for daughter then fended for myself food wise. Now I know this is irrational, but I was sorely tempted to have a glass of "something" but that was just because I was on my own, and again whilst I can I decided I would not really enjoy it and didn't 'need' it. So I poured a glass of fizzy water and got on with my own meal.

Dinner was 200g of King Prawn, stir-fried in garlic with red cabbage, aubergine and a little butternut squash. Added tin tomato, soy & a dash of sweet chilli and ~ 80g of chick peas to add fat content. Served with ~150g cauliflower 'rice' and really enjoyed. A good mixture of textures as well as flavour.

Supper/Snack I had made the LL low fat Humous, and roasted aubergine strips to make them 'crispy' (well only partially successful) and had these together. The aubergine is a winner, but humous had too much garlic in it, so only had about 1/4 of it. Rest is in the fridge & will be good added to Salad over the weekend to pick up the flavours.

Overall ~ 980 KCal, so still lower than I should be having.

Around 9.00 my wife came back from a meal out and suggested a walk (I think she needed to burn off some chips (lol) ) so we went out for another 40 minutes. Overall ~200 Kcal burned in exercise so net intake ~ 800 KCal for the day.

I do want to increase and today have planned meals for the next week. Really looking forward to some of the menus as well. Also going to walk to next village pub tonight where I plan on having a couple of glasses of wine before the walk back - Sunny Friday Night, it would be rude not to....

I picked up the 6 RTM CDs on Wednesday and put the first one in the car today. It's geared towards starting RTM but sounds pretty good. I often listen to motivational/training materials in the car so I'm actually really pleased to have these. I did find myself disagreeing with the scenario of the 'crisps' though, but that's probably because I'm still full of evangelical 'zeal' so early on in RTM.

Catch up later.

 

[Mel P]

I've read this from beginning to end and found it really interesting and inspirational.

I'm still about 8 weeks off RTM and only just completing foundation. I'm quite apprehensive about RTM so it's good to read about your experiences

Thanks Sean.

 

[Sean(JSF)]

Absolute pleasure Mel, you'll be ready for RTM when you get there and it's not actually as daunting as it seems in the first week or so.

I'm really glad that others are enjoying the blog, and even picking up a few recipe ideas (lol), I started it to 'force' myself to be conscious about the food I consume in RTM but in the process if others are enjoying reading then that's an added bonus

 

[Sean(JSF)]

Friday week 7

Very busy day at work today and still not been 'shopping' since break away so standard start to the day

LL Porridge with frozen berries for breakfast and LL soup for lunch.

Got home at a decent time to take advantage of the sunny evening and as planned we walked the 2.5 miles to the next village and pub, I had a large glass of red wine (Merlot) and then we walked back. I'm enjoying being able to join in with 'social' activities and having a drink with others - not that soda water was a problem to be honest but it's just not the same.

Got home & wrapped lightly smoked salmon fillet in foil and roast for 20 mins with a sprig of parsley, served with green salad, a little LL humous and low cal salad dressing, made a little home-made salsa with tomato, onion, garlic and fresh mint with splash of lemon juice - and the whole combination was awesome.

Shared a bottle of white Cotes du Rhone (which we brought home last Summer, and has been untouched in our fridge during the LL months - in fact there are a few such delights to start sampling again over the coming months )

Desert was a bowl of fresh strawberries, then later had some green olives with the rest of the wine.

~1,300 KCal intake but with 2 walks in the day (also had normal lunchtime walk) ~ 300 burned off so 1,000 Net for the day. I really must try and increase this over the next week as I don't want to keep losing, or at least must slow losses to 1-2 lb per week.

Saturday week 7

'normal' porridge & berry breakfast, apple for a snack, but for lunch I made up 50g of Quinoa but added orange juice before all the water was absorbed which gave it a really strong orange Zing. served with green salad, a little of the remaining LL humous, a handful; of raisins and 7-8 mini pickled onions and a chopped slice of ham. Very fresh salad and a really interesting mix of flavour and textures - Why did I always make such boring salads in the past???

All day spent in the garden, (picked at grapes throughout the afternoon to keep going) and late afternoon we went for a good walk (even dragged daughter away from her computer to come with us - she wasn't keen though), got home and cooked meatballs (dry-fried) and home made tomato, onion and red pepper sauce. Family had with fresh pasta & parmesan, I added cauliflower 'rice' and black pepper. Again a delight.

Desert, Muller light (strawberry)

Watched Rugby in the evening with a glass of Red wine and finished the evening with a large measure of brandy and LL bar.

I was tempted to have something else to 'eat' but didn't need it so didn't bother. Also today has been the first day in a while when I have actually managed 2 meals + 2 packs + snacks so finally got 100% back on track. Total intake ~1,400 Kcal which is a bit closer to where I should be at this stage of RTM; but with all the exercise I guess I'm back below 1,000 Net Kcal which is not enough.

I'm generally really happy with food choices, and really enjoying eating 'fresh' (looking forward to today's meals as well), and I can't see the point of eating more for the sake of increasing calories alone. However, I guess it's the mix of foods that needs to change and from Wednesday week 8 introduces 'staples' into the mix which I guess will increase calorie intake without necessarily increasing volume etc.

More later

 

[Sean(JSF)]

Sunday week 7

Another gloriously hot sunny day, so it would be rude not to take full advantage. Planned second day working in the garden etc (with a fair wind this should see it in top shape for the Summer), but was a little late starting as needed to sort finances out first.

Eventually got into gardening mode around 11.00 am and weeded etc for about an hour before a trip to buy some new plants. Post lunch washed the car and a little more light gardening then went for a 40 minute walk.

Porridge & fruit for breakfast, Quinoa with fresh orange, raisins and green salad for lunch then the 'large' outdoor Sunday dinner (enjoying the tidy garden).

We started with a glass of Bombay Sapphire & Slimline Tonic and 'nibbles' of dried fruit, nut and seed mix that we'd bought at a local Farm Shop. These were really tasty, and although high calorie much better than other 'normal nibbles' that we might have had - I have to admit to really enjoying the G&T as well, this is another of our Christmas Stock that's been untouched for nearly 6 months

Main course we had lamb steak (rub cumin, cinnamon and coriander into steak before dry-frying on hot griddle) served on rocket topped with beet-root, feta and spring onions with a yoghurt and mint sauce. Outstanding mix of tastes (although lamb wasn't then best of cuts) and "reasonably" healthy.

[OK I know I shouldn't be having cheese on week 7 but we did use low fat feta, and as you'll have noticed I am trying to push myself outside the strict boundaries of RTM].

Desert I had taken rhubarb from the garden and cooked in water with lemon juice. Mixed 4 x egg whites with splenda to a frothy consistency (didn't quite get soft peaks), added 3 gelatin strips to rhubarb mix then combined with egg whites. Placed in fridge/freezer until set (or as close to as I could manage) and served. My own concoction and I really loved it, as did the kids although my wife was less than complimentary.

Played cards outside for a while with 1/2 bottle of red wine (and I admit to trying 2 of the chocolate/yoghurt coated dry banana snacks my wife was nibbling), and then retired inside.

High cal intake for the day, despite having no snacks, aprox 1,600 calories which is by far the highest I've managed in RTM.
But is about what I should be having at this stage. I reckon that exercise was ~ 300 cal so total Net ~ 1,300 K Cal.

Looking at the day as a whole I'm happy with food choices, although I was tempted to 'snack' in the evening (after wine etc) but I didn't need to so restrained myself. I don't think I drank enough water during the day which didn't help the 'hunger' feelings but overall I think I was pretty restrained. Hot sunny Sundays were major 'pig out' opportunities in previous years so just maybe I am learning to reprogram my behaviour.

And so to Monday and another very busy week including a night away from home (and this week I am going to challenge myself with a meal on my own at hotel again, and a hotel breakfast - that will be another BIG test for me).


TTFN

 

[Sean(JSF)]

Monday week 7

Another busy day at work (in fact a hectic week ahead), started with regular LL porridge and frozen Summer Fruits.

Lunch was ~ 150g Quinoa with raisins, dried fid, green grapes and a tomato chopped into it, oh yeas and a small handful of mixed seeds and nuts. Very tasty but I was so busy I ate without really paying it much attention and rushed out of the office to next meeting. In honesty I didn't need it all and shouldn't have finished the whole portion, but I did. I know this was a throw-back to old habits and is too easy to do. There will be other times when I don't have much time to focus on food but I must make these the exception rather than the 'norm' that they used to be. Overall a very high KCal lunch ~ 450 KCal

Long afternoon (5.5 hrs) in meeting, I had 2 apples during the afternoon as I really felt I needed the energy boost, which was probably true TBH. At least I turned down the cookies on offer, and gave away my mini chocolate bar to another delegate! Still I hadn't figured just how many calories there are in apples ~160 each!! I'm planning on having an apple before I leave for work today but am thinking twice now - NO, JDI it's what you're trying to do increase calorie intake - fool!

Got home around 8.00 p.m. and cooked stir-fry chicken (very large breast) with stir-fry veg, added some butternut squash and fresh chili & garlic with soy sauce & veg bouillon. Finished with sugar fee jelly and tinned peaches with a dollop of low fat yoghurt. Late on I had LL bar (primarily out of habit, but also because I have dozens of them and want to get the stock down before topping up on Wednesday). Now I appreciate that's not a valid reason to eat, but I should still be having 2 meals + 2 packs + snacks and this was what I had yesterday.

in total ~ 1,500 KCal intake, which I figure is exactly where I should be, but is only about the 3-4th time I've managed this much to date. To be honest I have mixed feelings about this as a big part of me is struggling with the concept of NOT losing weight (after 5+ months of rapid losses this is no wonder really), but I MUST FORCE MYSELF TO STOP LOOKING AT WEIGHT LOSS AS A GOOD THING.

Many people are saying I need to stop, especially my wife, and I agree with them. BMI is 25 currently and although I can see probably a good stone or more that could still be lost it isn't healthy to start obsessing about weight losses. WI on Wednesday should be good for me. Today I also plan on upping calorie intake as have opportunity to 'eat out' at lunch and dinner today, then breakfast and lunch tomorrow. I am planning on having healthy choices but deliberately am NOT taking LL packs with me so I have no 'easy low cal' options. If I STS or put on 1-2lb this week I should be happy - NO, I WILL be happy with that, then aim to STS next week and stabilise weight at 12 1/2 Stone. A healthy weight for my height and still 1 1/2 stone lighter than my (revised) goal.

That's sensible, that's healthy. JDI