There aren't many diets out there that allow you a bottle of wine equivalent per day and you still lose weight. Here's a list of what I normally eat and drink and when. It may be a bit too detailed and/or boring so feel free to skip to the end for weight loss results...
- Monday lunch: 3 fish fingers, 80 g wholegrain rice, 100 g frozen peas
- Tuesday: no food or alcohol (36 hour black coffee/green tea fast)
- Wednesday: lunch at Baravin (fish & chips or poached eggs on toast or veggie antipasti)
- Thursday lunch: 2 egg omelette with mushrooms, tomatoes and onions; side of beans and sauerkraut.
- Friday: Baravin again. See Wednesday.
- Saturday lunch: 200 g cauliflower and broccoli; side of beans and sauerkraut.
- Sunday pm after walk: same as Thursday.
So, no breakfast? Correct, no breakfast. No evening meal? Same again, no evening meal. But I do eat a lot of snacks, starting at 11am and finishing at 8pm, max one per hour. I usually drink wine or port with the savoury snacks.
Savoury snacks options:
- 2 x 5 g slices of salami with vegan cheese
- dry roasted nuts (30 g)
- crisps (25 g)
- fried egg with salsa (but not on omelette or poached egg days)
- one cracker with hummus
- 1/2 a slice of toast with marmite
Non-savoury snacks:
- dark chocolate (a few squares)
- black forest fruit (50 g) sprinkled with oats and mixed seeds
Alcohol per week
- 2 bottles of port (used to be 3 - I've cut down!)
- 2 bottles of Montepulciano D'Abruzzo
- 2 bottles of Pinot Grigio
That's a lot of alcohol! 67 units to be precise, or almost 5x the NHS guideline of 14 units per week. It's also 690 calories per day or approx 30% of my daily calorie consumption. Thankfully, my recent blood tests show that all liver/kidney/alcohol markers are fine.
Food I'm not buying any more:
- dairy: cheese, milk, butter, yogurt
- supermarket hummus
- supermarket salsa
- frozen veggie fingers
- frozen cauliflower cheese bakes
- free range eggs (now buying organic)
- honey roasted peanuts
Now making at home:
- salsa: garlic, onions, tomatoes and jalapeños
- hummus: garlic, chick peas, olive oil, vinegar
Vegan products:
- Vitalite dairy-free spread
- Applewood vegan smokey cheese
Supplements:
- one-a-day multi-vitamins and minerals
- 1000 mg flaxseed oil (Omega 3 ALA)
- 1000 mg fish oil (Omega 3 EPA and DHA)
Am I a vegan? No. Am I a vegetarian? I am not. I do however try and remember to give thanks to the animals involved/killed when eating animal derived products (a Native American custom, apparently).
Weight loss:
- a bit of a plateau these last 2 weeks, helped by Devon cream teas?
- 11.0 lbs (5.0 kg) in 14 weeks
- 0.79 lb (0.36 kg) per week
- waist measurement (one inch above navel) down from 39.0 inches to 34.25 inches
