Well?

How did you do?

I did not do well. I don't know whether it is because I am an all-or-nothing kind of girl but I have struggled to get back on the diet, and cheese and butter have stayed with me this week.

Shredding was a struggle too - I managed time for 2 shreds and quite frankly I am bored! Bored of having to do exercise because my littlest is sleeping, not at exactly the time I choose, bored of listening to the monitor with half an ear while I'm doing it in case he wakes, bored of having to take two showers a day when I Shred...

Ugh. So motivation has been low and the scales have adjusted accordingly. On the upside, I did a lot more general activity this week, so I didn't veg completely!

I'm rolling the challenges forward for another week, so let's see how I do.

Weekly weigh-in:

10st 2.4lbs (twenty p lost!)

November Challenge - Are You In?

Okay, as I said last week, it's time to restart the challenge, as there are only 54 days now till Christmas... I'm thinking of it as a present to myself. How about you?

The challenge:

* Low fat diet using up my supply of Alli

* 4 Shreds a week

* At least half an hour's atypical activity on a non-Shred day

* Weekly weigh-ins and blog-ins



Weekly weight:

10st 2.6lbs (so no large increase since the routine went to hell in a handbasket, which is a mercy!)


Who's in?

A B C....

Or Apologies, "But"s and Challenges...

Where in hecky thump was I? Well, gentle reader, I've been here but not here. You know I've said before how life gets in the way, well it really has the past few weeks. So I'm sorry for disappearing without trace, I just haven't been able to spend enough mental or physical time on the diet, the exercise, or the blog.

My "but"s and excuses? Well I don't have any, but I do have explanations. I and a group of friends have been working ridiculously hard on a charity sale for SANDS, a charity very close to my heart. The sale activity and stress ramped up until last Saturday, when I'm pleased to say everything went off without a hitch and we raised a massive £1,200 for charity! Yahoo! But organising all of that (which for the past 3 months has taken up up to 3 hours of every day, for most of us) meant that the bit of free time I did have couldn't be spent on exercise, so the Shredding had to be held off.

I must say, I was enjoying the shredding, so I'm glad to be able to start picking it up again now I'm back. So onto my Challenges...

Challenge 1: Resume the diet and exercise plan as of November 1

November 1 is the start of a new month, and the start of a new week. What better time to start again? Plus it still gives me time to fit in 30 shreds (at 4 shreds min a week) before Christmas... a present to myself.

Challenge 2: Prioritise better around child nap-times

Shredding when you have a tiny person at home is more difficult than it sounds. Yes, he naps, but he does so erratically, and a 30 min shred actually takes nearer 50 mins when you factor getting ready and showering afterwards. Add to that, the best way I have found of doing everything I need to is to have 2 showers a day on a shredding day, especially if not shredding till the afternoon - which is a bit of a waste of water but much better for my personal environment!

Challenge 3: Pull on the Alli-boots again

I've actually been pretty good diet-wise this whole time, though I've been so tired and stressed that both butter and cheese have been seen in my vicinity recently. I *think* I've put on about half a pound since the last weigh in, which isn't awful, but hopefully it'll come off again soon with a dedicated diet and exercise mindset.

How have you been doing? My Shred-Head friends are quiet lately. My Photo friends have reported missing mojo. Is October just a month of gloom? Tell me...

If you, like me, have found yourself with gravel burns while the wagon you rode in on trundles off merrily into the distance without you, perhaps you'd like to stick out a thumb and hitch a new ride...

Anyway, see you again on Monday, for the new month weigh in and the first day of Shredding Part 2...

Day 5 - Hobnobs and the Plank

So, I reacted to my weight gain in time honoured fashion. I broke out the Hobnobs (it was my husband's fault they were there at all).

Did you know they are 5g fat each? Gah.

Once I had binged, it was time for scourging and self-flagellation. Being plum out of Catholic guilt and knotted rope I opted for the next best thing, Level 2 Shredding.

Do you know, it wasn't awful. Yes, I modified like hell (double jump skipping, anyone?!) but Jillian's new move, the plank is actually doable. I quite enjoyed the plank and jumps (can't remember the name!), though enjoyed is probably the wrong word. Endured maybe...

Rest day tomorrow then back on Weds. I think I'll try level 2 again, but watch this space...


In other news:

Turkey bacon. Just do it.

Not Impressed

So four days of shredding while continuing my low fat diet has left me...

...almost half a pound heavier.

By the way, muscle doesn't weigh more than fat, so let's put that one to bed right now. However muscle is denser, so there's less of it, pound to pound, hence you can look and feel leaner but stay the same weight. I do feel leaner, but ultimately it's the scales who rule, so so far, not impressed.

Onwards. Only another 26 days' shredding to do...


Weekly weigh in:

10st 2.4lb

Rest Day

Well, even the greatest have a day off...

It was unplanned, but by the time we'd got our Sunday family gubbins finished, I really could not be faffed at an evening Shred.

Weigh in tomorrow, then back on the horse!


Try it yourself:

Tesco Light Choices Chicken & Broccoli Pie. Very nice, and perfect for a Sunday dinner if you need an alternative.

Day 4 - Disaster...

It is getting easier. I had been assured by friends that after day 3 things would start to feel easier and actually they have done. I wasn't even sure I would be exercising today as I felt so strained last night, but I was actually fine this morning (God bless memory foam).

I found I was able to follow the whole of level 1 without any adjustment except the second lot of skipping in circuit 1, and a slightly-less-adjusted position in the sit ups.

Today I also found when I was carrying my 2st daughter she felt light as a feather - hopefully this means something is improving somewhere?

The disaster? Well at the end of circuit 1 I heard my husband's key in the front door. Husband and children had been banished from the house this afternoon while I exercised, but just 8 minutes in, my eldest had fallen and cut her hands. Cue abandonment of the DVD while I helped him to calm her and soothe her cuts, before resuming the DVD when she was settled with Daddy and a story upstairs.

Do you like to exercise with others around you? I'm still way too self-conscious, plus my 3yo would be annoyingly distracting...

"Mummy, why are you doing that?"

"Mummy, watch me, I can do a jump [falls over]"

"Mummy, why does your belly jump up and down when you run?"

Sob.

That does mean that if I'm to undertake this DVD 6 times a week (Tuesdays having already been declared impossible) I'm going to need the co-operation of my lovely husband. Thanks darling!


In other news:

Today I exercised in the afternoon, when it fit in best with the family plans. previously I've exercised in the morning. Looking on the net I have found articles that say first thing is best, others that say the afternoon and evening matches your muscular peak. What works for you? Comments welcome below!

Day 3 - Exclusive!

Natalie in Cheating Scandal!

While shredding today I noticed in circuit 2, Natalie stops for two reps of the static lunges with bicep curls, and just curls her biceps...

Disgusting!

(On the good side, that means I wasn't watching Anita all the time!)

Today I only undertook circuits 1 and 2, as my husband, who was assuming sole childcare, had an appointment with my eldest for swimming. I was still hot and glowing though, so much so that my friends remarked on it when I met them later!

I got some lovely compliments - it looks like my diet and now the exercise have helped lift some of the heaviness from my face at least, even though I could not be bothered to wear anything flattering or do my hair yesterday. What a boost!


In other news:

In the evening I stretched and strained whilst filling 40 goody bags full of gifts for the upcoming sale I'm helping to organise. That was very hard work for 2 hours! Thankfully my husband helped, but both of us went to bed with sore backs and necks.

Day 2 - Two Full Bottles and a Changing Mat

Well, I did it again. Go me! I'm now 1/15 through the programme!

I woke up this morning and I was uncomfortable. Mainly in my left shoulder and in my knees (as expected), but surprisingly not anywhere else, which I attribute to my active day yesterday.

By 8 in the morning, I was was shredding again.

Today I compensated more than yesterday - I found I didn't have the same range of movement as yesterday, firstly through knackeredness and secondly through strain in my shoulder and knees.

It was interesting to do the circuits for a second time though, and I was able to reflect on some of the activities.

Most of the arm activities I find pretty easy, but looking at them again they seem to serve a dual purpose, as a rest between more dynamic sections. In one you need to pull and press the weights ahead of you, and upon looking at it again it seems to be more a distraction to an exercise in maintaining a tightened core and demi-squat than anything. The 'boxing' section seems to be a limbering side-event.

Or maybe I'm not doing them right!

As I said, I compensated a little more today, but it still felt like I had worked. I've been less active today, and as a result I have slight burn in my left shoulder and in my front quads (is that the right term?). I need to find a better cooldown, definitely.

I also need new weights. One of my bottles started to leak mid-circuit...


In other news:

I felt like having a quarterpounder with cheese, so I bloody well had one. I did only have a diet coke though... I'm awaiting diet-related treatment effects lol...

Day 1 - Shred

Ugh that was horrible.

Today I undertook the DVD for the first time, and it did hurt. I sweated so much I and to go and stand in the rain afterwards. I'm still alive though, so able (just) to type this blog entry...

What can I tell you about the DVD? Well, although it bills itself as a 20-minute-ish workout it actually takes just over 27 mins including warm up and cool down.

Starting with the warmup (jumping jacks are exhausting enough) it runs through three circuits, each of:

* 3 minutes strength
* 2 minutes cardio
* 1 minute abs

The DVD has three levels (I'm on the first, of course), and there are two fairly muscular ladies behind Jillian Michaels, Anita who does the 'easier' movements (snort) and Natalie who does the full booty-in-your face versions. Guess which one I'm following?

The first circuit I found the worst - I don't know whether that was because I was cold to it, or because it is purposely frontloaded to get through the worst earliest, but the cardio (jumping jacks and skipping) exhausted me.

For strength items you need weights. I found that I had car-booted mine in the summer, so instead I filled two old baby bottles to the brim with water. Instead of a gym mat I used my baby changing mat. I am the epitome of a mummy trying to lose her baby weight!

I found the arms items easiest - basically lifts and stretches. I'm guessing though as my youngest weighs just over a stone and my eldest almost twice that I'm used to lugging weights about.

Surprisingly, my stress areas during the workout were my knees. I must compensate for them a lot because by focussing on them it showed me how weak they are.

My hefty muscular thighs lived up to the job of course, though overall I was quite shaky after the circuits finished.

So how did I do? Did I manage to follow everything? Pretty much. Sometimes I couldn't even do Anita's version - the press-ups were a prime example of this - not because of strain on my arms, but on my knees - so I had to modify those further.

The cooldown I thought was poor. To cooldown you need to be able to assume a sitting position my legs simply won't tolerate (straight out in a V in front of you) as I have very tight calf muscles form years of wearing heels. Instead I modified the leg position to a diamond shape and completed the other stretches that way. I am incredibly inflexible though... (all my friends will be nodding in agreement at that statement).

So overall, it wasn't awful. It was hard, not least because my youngest kept tossing and turning in his nap, meaning I'd have to rush to settle him.

For the rest of the day I concentrated on staying loose if possible, mindful of the poor cooldown. So I moved about as much as I could, and as the day was sunny, broke my eldest out of baby-jail for a walk round the park. Bliss. I could do this again...


In other news:

I may be bored of chicken. Hmm. This could present a massive problem for my diet. Other low-calorie sandwich options please!

Day 0 - Shredfail

Nooo... already?!



Poor planning on my part; trying to start an exercise regime on the day you have both children running around is a bad idea. Learn from me...



I did however do a little exercise in the form of slinging my eldest for half an hour round the local farm... am I forgiven?



In other news:

I substituted one of my meals for a Snickers bar... yum... bu yikes at 16g fat!

Challenge Two - Let's Shred

Like the new look? (the blog, not the woman over there >)

Okay, Challenge 1 complete, time for the next stage. So as well as maintaining my diet and finishing off my Alli supply, I'm going to introduce exercise.

Which exercise have I chosen? Well, it's a fitness DVD called the 30-day Shred. Popular among my friends, I've decided to try it for these reasons:

* Quick fix - do you know nothing about me?! The promise of results in 30 days sounds fabulous. The DVD does promise 'up to' 20lbs loss but then it also advises a diet plan, plus I'm guessing that's not a guarantee for those of us at the lower end of the fat scale. Still, it promises results of one kind or another, let's try it.

* Support - my friends are at various stages of trying it, so the support is there (I have also had lots of prewarning about pain...)

* Weather - it's rainy out. Let's stay in instead!

* Time - it's a 20min workout, once a day. Surely I can fit that in?

Well, today was all about the preparation. The DVD plopped onto my mat (thanks postie) and I settled down with my 5m old boy to watch it (admittedly, he wasn't as motivated but then he only weighs 14lb. Goodness me, I want to lose his bodyweight and more... gulp).

I think it's important to watch at least the first bits of a fitness DVD before you attempt it, so you understand the context of the whole thing, and also so you have the right equipment.

For this DVD I will need:

* Trainers and leggings

* A mat for floor work

* Some weights or tins of beans/similar

* Gaffer tape for the children

From watching it, it looks doable. There is an 'easier' version of most moves, demonstrated pretty well. I guess the only way to know is to try, so I will start tomorrow.

Wish me luck!


Weigh-in:

A reminder, 10st 2lbs


In other news:

Not a bad food day, though I celebrated with B&J FroYo and a few chocolate fingers... oops.


Try it yourself:

The 30-day Shred. I found it cheapest at Play.com, £5.99 including delivery.


Who's in?

Day 43 - Challenge One Complete

Well, an un-customary (is that a word?) morning post for me, to close this chapter of the blog. The weigh in is below and I'm glad to say my feared gain didn't materialise, even if I did basically maintain the loss so far.

As you'll recall I undertook the Alli 6-week challenge, so thought it would be good to summarise the 6 weeks.

Total loss: 7.2lbs

Foods I enjoyed: Extra Light Philadelphia, Shapers Caramel Chocolate Bars, venison sausages
Foods I missed: butter and cheese, though not as much as I'd thought originally
Side effects: some bowel issues when off-diet, headaches at the beginning

Would I recommend the challenge?

I would (obviously Alli is a medicine and therefore can and should only be used under supervision). Taking the tablets has forced me to do exactly what I knew I needed - to re-evaluate the food going into my mouth for quality as well as quantity. If Alli does as it is claimed and increase the loss you manage yourself by 50%, that means I've lost about 2.5lbs due to it, of my total loss, and that's helpful. The psychological breakthrough after years of yo-yo dieting of lasting so long on a diet and passing a magic half-stone marker should not be underestimated.

It hasn't been plain sailing, as you'll know from the blog - mainly down to boredom at times, and adjusting my mental attitude to being placed in situations where no low-fat food was available. But it wasn't a difficult diet - I find exclusion diets suit me better than having to judge what moderation means. Having a big 'no' in my head works well for me. For others that may be unhelpful. For some, the initial cost of the course of tablets is prohibitive, but for those who need it, Orlistat can be prescribed, so pop along to your GP.

But it's not rocket science; reduce the amount of calories you eat (and fats are the largest 'empty' calories you'll find) and you'll give yourself the chance to lose. I don't have any medical conditions which get in the way of this, thankfully, and I am aware that others do, and the equation isn't as simple for them, but for most of us who are otherwise fit and healthy, it's a simple maxim.

How about fat? Well if you want to read more about fat, and how it can affect your body there's an ABC-level guide here.

Recommended daily allowances are useful: Adults should consume no more than 70g of fat (of which no more than 20g saturated). Remember the McDonalds test? Did you know that that's just 4 slices of a Meat Feast deep pan pizza? And remember that if you're eating butter and cheese, they are pretty much gram for gram fat. Not the good stuff, either (Of course if you don't care at all, there is a recipe here for you to try).

What about the role of exercise? As you'll know from my blog I'm not a big exerciser. So the weight loss I have achieved has been pretty much through diet alone. Apart from my 5k amble, I think most of the other exercise was normal incidental movement I would have undertaken anyway.

So what now for me?

Well, I'm going to continue to take Alli for a bit longer, certainly while I have tablets left. After that my BMI will (hopefully) be too low to continue the course, but I should have built a good foundation of loss then. After all, I still have at least a stone to go.

I'm going to try something different though - I'm going to try an exercise programme for the next month, and see what effect that has in conjunction with my new diet. I'm waiting for the DVD to pop through the post (that might give some of you a clue), but now the focus of my blog will be the loss through exercise as well as diet.

Thank you anyway for joining me on my Alli journey over the last 6 weeks. I hope you have enjoyed reading it, and maybe you've found some of the linked info useful too... stick around! The blog will continue, but it will look a bit different from tomorrow... watch this space!

I'm off now to fill out my online questionnaire and maybe win myself a holiday!


Weekly weigh-in:

10st 2.0lbs

(By the way, definitely weigh yourself in the morning! I weighed myself last night to compare and contrast and the difference was over 1.5lbs with this morning, and the only difference was a wee...)

Day 40-42 - Yawn...

I'm coming to the end of the 6-week challenge, and final weigh in is tomorrow. I'm sorry to miss a blog at the final hurdle but my eldest's sleep is broken temporarily and as a consequence, mine is also. Sue me.

This weekend has been a little more active, but the food intake has been less predictable.

In has slipped a chip butty, a roast dinner, some bits of pizza, some profiteroles. I guess when I weigh in tomorrow I will see what effect this far more 'relaxed' week has had on my weight, and what conclusions to draw - is this a diet I think I can continue? What have I learned? What will I keep doing, and what will I stop doing?

Tune in tomorrow to find out. I'm expecting a gain, but who knows...


What I ate today:

Mini Shredded Wheat and Milk

1/4 margherita pizza, it less of garlic bread. A strawberry (yum!)

Chicken roast dinner - stuffing balls, pigs in blankets, broccoli, cabbage, sprouts, carrots, peas (I eschewed the potatoes) followed by profiteroles.


Exercise of the day:

The past two nights actually, over which I have totalled about 3 hours of rapid return with my eldest. She gets up, I take her back to bed. She gets up, I take her back to bed. She gets up...

Surprisingly wearing on the back and legs, not to mention the nerves...


Product of the day:

Blogger! Without which I wouldn't be here writing this, and you wouldn't be here reading it!

Day 39 - Fat or Calories?

In this diet I have been counting fat. Most of my previous diets have been calorie-counting ones. I know Weightwatchers and Slimming World have a kind of amalgamated approach. Does it really matter which you count, fat grams or calories?


Take today's meals. Here is the summary of what I have eaten today:

* Based on a 1100 calorie target for the day I am way over, at 1700 calories

* Based on a 45g fat target for the day I am well below, at 30g


So based on this it appears I'm eating lower in fat, but overall my intake is too high. Perhaps I have eaten too many sugary things, for example my hot cross bun and the beans. I spent about 150 calories just on my bun snack and almost 300 just on bread. Having a scrape of butter obviously cost me 100 cals and 12g fat (and wasn't necessary for the beans on toast if I'm honest). My cereal portion was a bit big too, costing 350 cals, though only 2g fat.


How could I have improved things? Well obviously missing out the butter, the sausage, the bun, eating reduced salt and sugar beans (yuck, tried before but never again), reducing the size of my cereal.

* Based on my calorie target I would still have been beyond by almost 100cal at 1190cal, but obviously lower than I was.

* My fat intake would be even tinier, at 12.2g


I do know that I would have been hungrier, and for me, less likely to stick to it if hungry. I also know that I prefer to focus on the fat because counting calories in such fine detail would probably send me loopy, as it has in previous diets.



Obviously I already choose diet options for drinks etc where they are available, but overall I think a fat-based approach has really been quite successful for me so far. After all a world where a banana costs you the same amount of calories as a Kitkat despite the whopping 5g fat difference feels like a world where calories really aren't king.



Nevertheless, it has been really interesting looking at things another way today. I have been relaxing a bit this week but it gave me a bit of a kick to see exactly how empty that butter addition at lunch was, so I will cut that back out.


Which approach do you prefer?



What I ate today:

Shreddies with semi-skimmed milk

TLC hot cross bun

Beans on 2 x toast (one toast scraped with butter)

A cocktail sausage (please, somebody eat them!)

A TLC Spicy Pasta ready meal which was bland at best

A slice of bread and butter (mmmmm, this WAS good!)

A single Bounty Celebration



Exercise of the day:

None!


Product of the day:

How has it taken me this long to find the amazing weightlossresources.co.uk site? You can get a 24-hour free trial (properly free) or full membership, which allows you to keep your food diary and analyse your intake - it's what I used to compile the stats today. It really does look a fantastic site and I may well join it properly...

Day 38 - Diet-related treatment effects

We last spoke about these on Day 1, and as I'm in the last week of my Alli challenge I thought I really should mention them again. If you're eating, or if you ever plan to see me in real life, you'd probably better skip on.

You may remember that one of my main reasons for choosing the Alli diet was to hold my eating habits to ransom with the promise or threat of unwanted bowel activity. As the website says, "alli works in a unique way by preventing some of your body’s enzymes from digesting about a quarter of the fat you eat. As undigested fat can’t be absorbed, it passes naturally out of the body in your stools. "

The side-effects, of 'diet-related treatment effects', of continuing to eat high-fat foods while taking Alli include:

* wind (flatulence), with or without oily spotting;

* sudden bowel motions;

* fatty or oily stools;

* loose stools

In addition, as you need some fat to process vitamins you are advised to take a multi-vitamin each day while on the programme (I haven't remembered once, oops).

So, physically, how have I been? Obviously I've achieved some weight loss, which is fantastic. I had quite a few headaches at first, which may or may not be related to the diet. I also found myself needing to wee a lot; I haven't seen this in any of the leaflets and I don't think my liquid intake increased, but I certainly noticed that.

My skin and nails have been fine. I've had quite a flaky scalp, which may also be accounted by the colder days and central heating, but otherwise everything has proceeded as normal.

I've had no stomach pain, and for the first 4 weeks I had no 'treatment effects' either. My diet was within limits, and so I never had a problem. At first I was quite terrified though, every time I felt windy I ran to the loo just in case!

As you know, I broke the diet while on holiday last week. While doing that I conducted two experiments:

1) to see what happened if I ate a fatty meal e.g. pizza, while taking Alli.

You are advised NOT to take the Alli tablet if eating a high-fat meal, to reduce the likelihood of treatment effects; however I think this is entirely the point of Alli - if I'm eating fat, it needs flushing out with the little blue capsule, so I kept taking it. In theory I should experience treatment effects.

2) to see what happens if you eat fatty foods when not taking Alli, having taken it previiously.

Alli is described as working on one meal at a time, so in theory it should only work on the meal it was taken during, not on subsequent meals, whatever their fattiness.

How did I get on? Well, I experienced side effects. They weren't troubling in a 'sharting' way, but it was disconcerting the first time I looked in the bowl. The oily fat does pass through you. Bizarrely it looks like chilli oil, or carrot oil, no matter what you eat, which may be like those chunks of carrot ever present in a vomit episode, even when you don't eat carrot... anyhoo.

As I was still fairly moderate in the fat I was eating, even with the diet broken, that was the extent of the issue.

I did find however that the Alli appeared to have an action beyond the meal it was taken to treat. In fact up to 24 hours after the last Alli tablet was taken treatment effects were still experienced.

This, to me, is all good news. I WANTED to be held to ransom. I didn't want to be able to dip in and out. My resolve stiffened.

I will say as an addendum that following Treat Tuesday yesterday, an oil-fest of Chinese takeaway and pizza, more extreme treatment effects were felt today. I really did have to rush for the loo at one point, although there was no pain or cramping. It makes sense after all, that eating a lot more fat would exacerbate the treatment effects. I can totally understand how people who don't stick to the diet could experience leakage and other nasties. You have been warned.

Now we have that over and done with, we can begin the final push...

What I ate today:

Shreddies with milk

Tuna and EL Philly sandwich with cucumber

TLC Hot Cross Bun

Chicken fillet and salad pittas with a couple of lattice fries on the side

Exercise of the day:

Some light housework. Looking at the sweet and sour staining on the blinds (see yesterday) reminds me too much of treatment effects so they will have to go.

Product of the day:

Do you know, I haven't got one today? Sorry!

Day 37 - Treat Tuesday

Or should that be cheat Tuesday?

After my weigh-in yesterday I felt like having a bit of a blowout, but I didn't as eldest child demanded pasta for tea.

Today was my day of looking after both children solo, but instead I enlisted the help of PILs to look after my youngest and took my girl out shopping, lunching and hair-cutting. What did she request for lunch? Pizza. Eep.

Actually it wasn't 'eep' as I knew how bad fatwise the food was, and actually I was restrained. We both had the buffet option, and she had lots of pasta with her pizza. I had just three slices of pizza - when normally I'd have had a medium to myself, or the equivalent 6 slices. How virtuous!

Unfortunately upon my return I decided to invite the PILs to stay to a chinese takeaway, which obviously blew my restraint out of the water fat-wise: chicken fried rice, chicken balls, shredded chilli beef, prawn crackers, chow mein, spare ribs... mmm. Yummy, but not ideal.

I've already reviewed chain restaurants for their fat-accessibility, but how about takeaways? Well obviously portions are so muh harder to compare. Even our local chippy does a feast or famine thing with its portions visit by visit - sometimes we have enough to feed the street, sometimes we're all looking longingly at the last chip... you probably find the same.

Dimly remembering reading something about 'the healthiest takeaway' once, I searched and found this:

Happy reading!


What I ate today:

Weetabix and milk

TLC hot cross bun

Pizza Hut pizza (3 slices vegetarian)

Chinese blowout


Exercise of the day:

Shopping, of course! Oh, and washing the vertical blinds after FIL got bright orange sauce up them in freak accident. No, it will not come out. Just think what it does to your insides...


Product of the day:

Kids eat free at Pizza Hut! Okay, so you still need to buy their drink, but it saves a few pennies, even if it costs pounds (geddit?)

Day 36 - Half a Stone!

Well there isn't really any other headline for today, I am so utterly chuffed! 7lbs lost in 5 weeks, even though I ate every type of junk imaginable last week.

So how was my diet today? How did I react? I was pretty good, but working to the theory that perhaps I was eating too little before, a couple of sneaky fat additions made their way in today. Let's see what the scales do next week for the final weigh in of the challenge...


What I ate today:

Frosties with milk

Slice of toast with butter

Pitta bread with ham, EL Philly, cucumber and a smear of hummus

Shapers snack bar

2 mini cocktail sausages (HOW hard is it to resist a cold sausage in the fridge?)

My wine-rich bolognaise sauce made, I think, in week 3 to a low fat recipe and shared with my eldest.


Weekly weigh-in:

10st 2.2lb


Exercise of the day:

Nothing, except tidying the house


Product of the day:

All the products being donated by generous sponsors to the sale I'm helping to organise...

Day 35 - Frankie says...

Well today I relaxed things a bit. A friend came over and we had some nice nibbles for snacks, and I just kept things in moderation. It felt good, though it felt less good when I realised that each of the mini muffins I scarfed was 5g of fat... each of them!

It's the end of the fifth week. Here goes for tomorrow's weigh-in...



What I ate today:

Frosties and milk

Hot chicken baguette with two Aunt Bessie's stuffing balls

Cereal bar thingy I got free in my Adidas 5k bag

2 mini muffins

Some ready salted crisps

More chicken baguette for dinner


Exercise of the day:

None. Blessed none. It is the day of rest...


Product of the day:

Aunt Bessie's Stuffing Balls - so easy to heat in the microwave and add to a plain chicken sandwich... yum!

Day 24-33 - Holiday!

Where have I been? Well, gentle reader, there have been two reasons for my extended absence.

One, up till just over a week ago was continued loss of diet mojo.

Quite honestly I was boring myself, and feeling the slog so badly. In terms of the diet changes, they were routine and I was quite comfortable with them, but the bloody constant self-examination and dietary self-consciousness was wearing. When you look in the mirror and cannot identify the imperceptible changes it's hard to feel like it's all worth it. I was however branching out into looking generally more closely at labels, and choosing more foods we could eat as a family (see products, later).

The second was a holiday in the New Forest, where we struggled to receive 5 channels on the telly, let alone Beebies (sob) or a mobile signal... so surfing was restricted to a minimum and there was no chance to post anyway.

Dietwise, it took me a good four or 5 days to properly break diet, although when I did I enjoyed my whole holiday so much more. We self-catered, so from the off I had my staples of EL Philly, Slimfast and 'good' snacks. I was pretty good the first couple of days, but then the ice creams and pizzas snuck in, and quite frankly I felt awful - I was so entrenched in the diet that all I felt while I ate was guilt, and not in a productive, motivational way either, just sadness, guilt and self-loathing. I wanted to give myself a break, to enjoy the food, but I found it so hard.

I found it much easier to break the diet when we ate out. Because I wasn't making the food I had less responsibility for its fat content, which I guess is why eating out is such a diet downfall for some. For me, I found it utterly liberating. In our last couple of days I surrendered to good food, and ate chocolate cake, ice cream, pizza, fish and chips and a huge roast dinner. Happiness was back, even though I still disliked the face in the mirror. There is only one pic of me from the holiday, and not just because I wield the camera; it's a design of mine.

I arrived home, exhausted and visibly porkier. I stepped on the scales this morning, and I had today's headline all ready in my head... but then... what's this?

Enjoy the light reading: A Theory, as we head into the final week of the Alli 6-week challenge.


Interim Weigh-in:

Fri 17 Sept - 10st 3.8lbs
Sat 25 Sept - 10st 3.0lbs


What I ate today:

I won't include the diet for the last week as your keyboard will jam with drool.

I have been back on track today though...

Weetabix and milk

Tuna, tomato and EL Philly rolls, and a Shapers bar

A Sainsbury's pasta meal, indifferent and blandly tasteless


Exercise of the day:

We didn't do all the exercise we planned; no cycling trips or forest walking, but we did get lots of fresh air.


Product of the day:

Before the holiday I discovered Bisto Ready Toad in the Hole. At about 16g of fat per portion (4 skinny sausages) and just a pound this was lovely and crispy, and perfect to share with my eldest. We usually eat Aunt Bessie's version, but that has a massive 25g of fat in it! I know which one we'll buy going forward.

Another discovery was tuna, particularly tuna in spring water. Virtually fat free, so versatile, and yummy mixed in EL Philly in sandwiches. Get fishy!

Day 23 - Onwards

Yesterday was not a good day. I really struggled and the temptation to utterly jack it all in was strong. Part of what kept me going was the thought of you all, so please do keep following me, and tell your friends and enemies, and shame me into continuing!

So today has been a long one. At home with both children, both exasperating in their own unique and lovable (are my teeth gritted? No...) ways. I stayed strong, gentle reader, and I think I did okay. I'm hungry now, at a quarter to midnight, and that's a good sign I guess.

I did some surfing today while pinned by the smallest one.

I found a 'foods you mustn't eat' list and a 'foods you must' list. How do I score?

DO NOT

• Pork scratchings - that's okay, I don't even know where I would get them if I wanted them
• Fried desserts - I definitely haven't been eating these
• Cheesy chips - I wish!
• Fizzy drinks - I have so few pleasures - surely a diet coke isn't so bad? Who needs teeth anyway?
• Alcopops - that would imply I had a social life
• Liquid Meals - leave my Slim-fast alone!
• Processed/Mystery meats - Spam is off the menu
• Chicken nuggets - I leave these to my eldest anyway
• Doughnuts - (Homer drool)
• Canned soups - interesting about salt. I shall keep an eye out, as I do like soup when it gets colder

DO

• Grapefruit - erm, fruit intolerance issues...
• Cinnamon - can I eat cinammon buns then please?
• Chili Peppers - Nandos. Sorted
• Fennel Tea - Yuk?
• Salad - booorrrring...
• Green Tea - if I mix it with the Fennel will it taste better?)
• Celery - no. Just no.
• Lentils - I shall give these a whirl...
• Dark Chocolate - isn't chocolate! I know British chocolate is closer to cheese than Swiss stuff, but I like it!
• Quinoa - the mind boggles. I shall add it to the 'to try' list...

How about you? How do you do?


What I ate today:

Shreddies and milk for breakfast. I may not have mentioned it, but we always have semi-skimmed. I could go down to skimmed but as a family it makes more sense to stay with the semi.

Baguette spread with EL Philly, ham and tomatoes. Shapers chipsticks. Shapers snack bar.

Tesco Finest Chicken/Chorizo thingummy with mixed vegetables


Exercise of the day:

30 minutes washing windows, boxing, swatting ghosts and boogieing with the Eye-Toy (told you I had a plan)...


Product of the day:

Playstation 2 and Eye-Toy. An oldie but a goodie, you might consider this a precursor to the Wii-type platforms out now. Basically it's a camera, connected to a PS2, that 'reads' your movements onto the telly screen and uses those movements to make things happen on screen. So washing windows is a screen of suds, and as you move your arms and body the suds are washed off, and points are scored.

We had to dig ours out of the loft, and I still can't find my Kinetic disc (basically a fitness programme for it), but it was fun to battle my husband, burn some calories, and do something other than slob in the evening.

I have also found my old Davina DVD... hmm... watch this space!

Day 22 - Slim-Slow

20p. Twenty pence. 0.2lbs lost.

For goodness sake, I can lose that by sneezing!

Loss is a loss blah blah garble garble, but to hit this at week 3 is disheartening. It knocks my average weekly loss right down. It makes me wonder what the point is of never having cheese or butter again. It makes me consider liposuction, or more cheaply, just breaking every reflective surface in the house, and buying kaftans. If I wait for long enough, those will be in, won't they?

What do you do to self-motivate? Are you a picture-on-the-fridge person? Are you a treat-yourself person?

It's not terribly uplifting, but I guess I have to consider:

• I've been doing this for 3 weeks. This is my longest diet since 2007.


• A habit is formed after 21 repetitions (something that stuck in my head from God only knows where or when). I'm in the groove now baby!


• I'm halfway through the 6 week Alli challenge


• I DO want to lose weight. That hasn't changed


• Even at my crappest I haven't really fallen off the wagon, more like failed to keep my arms and legs inside the moving vehicle

I can do this.

I can do this.

I CAN DO THIS!

(can't I?)

Weekly weigh-in:

10st 4.2lbs

What I ate today:

Weetabix, followed by half a leftover ham, cheese and butter sandwich in defiance at the scales

Beans on Toast

Shapers snack bar

Slimfast Chocolate shake

Exercise of the day:

None. Not a sausage... but I have a plan...

Product of the day:

Slimfast Rich Chocolate Bottled Shake. A meal replacement in a bottle. I don't mind Slimfast shakes... so long as they are chocolate flavoured. I also can't be faffed messing around with powder (I make up formula for my child all day, in a sleepless haze I might easily mix up the boxes...). This, therefore is the solution, and you know what, I don't mind this.

For a start it is stupidly easy. Pull cap off, drink. If you're feeling posh, decant into a glass first. maybe add an umbrella and straw.

Taste-wise it's fine. I am not a fan of most chocolate-flavoured things as they taste like gravy granules and sugar usually, but this is smooth and rich-tasting. Good job really because the vanilla one smells like baby vomit, the banana one looks putrid, and I either can't/won't drink the rest as I don't drink coffee or eat fruit.

I find these pretty filling too. If you want to see how much thickener is in it, leave some to dry out on your kitchen side overnight then try and scrub the stuff off. It's like glue, which is not a welcome thought for the insides, but I shall la la la and ignore that.

It's still a whopping (in my opinion) 5g of fat, but it does what it's supposed to, which is take away the need for inspiration, creativity or effort from the delusioned dieter.

Worth having in the store-cupboard for unforeseen eventualities.

Day 19-21 - Blogfail...

I'm so unmotivated. Not the blog, the diet. I just don't feel lighter. My clothes feel a bit better but ultimately I don't feel like the scales are my friend at the moment, and I've so much other (more interesting) stuff going on at the moment. So apologies, dear follower, for another composite post to close week 3.

High points? Well, getting off my bum this week and responding to a challenge from a fellow fat fighter was good. But then so was the chip butty on Saturday night (no butter, but still...)

Low points? Just feeling meh and not knowing how to snap out of it. Ideas please?

What I ate today:

Well across all the days I stuck well to the usual fare of cereal, EL Philly variation for lunch, something not very exciting for dinner, B&J frozen yoghurt for dessert. Punctuated by the aforementioned chip butty, it's been okay, though now the B&J has run out I am not going to replace it. I even packed a picnic lunch for an enjoyable tramp around the woods on Sunday, rather than casting myself at the feet of purveyors of snack and fried foods...


Exercise of the day:

No great inroads there. The trek through the woods was about 4h long though, does that count?

Why can't I burn calories every time my eldest whinges? I'd be a waif, a mere slip of a thing!



Product of the day:

As I was basically repeating the same foodstuffs as before there really isn't one of these this time.


So blogfail. Sob... Weigh in tomorrow...

Day 18 - Sausagefail

Back in the saddle again...

You may remember my adventure in venison in week one; the half venison sausages enjoyed by my husband and eldest while I looked on with my TLC banger.

Well, I found some actual venison sausages in the Tesco's finest range and, shock of shocks, they have less fat in them than my TLC pork tube... so it had to be done, didn't it?

Roll on this evening... venison sausages all round, mashed potato and beans to accompany. Tuck in everyone!

Oh 'deer'.

These 100% venison specials were rejected by 2/3 of the diners chez nous - my daughter didn't like the skin's texture, and my husband didn't like the whole thing really. Sausagefail.

Me? Well I quite liked them. they were obviously 100% meat, no fillers, cereals or any other crap in them. The smell was slightly reminiscent of a doner kebab, which, let's face it, is not necessarily a bad thing. The texture I found fine, more like a black pudding or a Spanish sausage than Walls' finest, though admittedly the skin was chewier than I am used to.

An expensive experiment, but such a shame. My family has been pretty supportive so far with my experiments, driven by a desire to see that they eat more healthily too, but I don't think I can justify buying these again, even though they are so low in fat. Sigh. Onwards...


What I ate today:

Shreddies and milk


TLC ham and cheese 'veneer' sandwich (by which I mean there was a veneer of pink, and a veneer of yellow, and the packaging said ham and cheese, though the flavour said... nothing), and three waitrose butternut squash pastries


I snacked on a virtuous Weightwatchers chocolate brownie (a bit dry. One for the custard treatment).


Dinner was venison sausages, mash and beans. never mind.


Exercise of the day:

A 45-minute walk challenge to the shops, carrying my big lump of a baby in a sling.


Product of the day:

Waitrose Delicatezze Spicy Butternut Squash Pastries These are yummy! As snacks go, they are not bad fat-wise, and the spiciness makes the flavour full and satisfying. Excellent hot or cold.

Day 17 - Meh

I want food. Real food. Bored now.





What I ate today:

Two TLC hot cross buns

A bite of sausage roll

A baguette with EL Philly and chicken, with a ball of Aunt Bessie's stuffing

Two slices of toast with a 'fried' egg

Ben & Jerry's Phish food frozen yoghurt


Exercise of the day:

Meh.


Product of the day:

Meh.

Day 16 - Mouthfeel

Why does fat taste good? Why do we like the bad stuff, oozing with butter, dripping with cream, layered with cheese... (drool) - and why does the low fat stuff taste so... meh...?

Studies have proposed that it's an issue of production and recipe creation; that manufacturers are forgetting that the experience of food is multi-sensory so when they produce a low-fat version something is 'missing' to the senses. Others propose that ther may be an evolutionary bias towards preferring fat-laden foods, for energy and survival purposes.

Mouthfeel is the experience of food when we eat it. How do our tastebuds, our teeth, our tongues interact with the morsels we eat? The experience of letting gorgeous chocolate melt in your mouth; the crisp freshness of a dry white after a hard day; the indulgence in oily pasta with cheese and garlic bread. I conducted a mouthfeel experiment with my daughter today; to compare and contrast the mouthfeel of two similar products with very different fat content:

My eldest had Bacon flavour Batchelor's Super Noodles. I had the low fat Chilli Chicken flavour.

The appearance was similar; my noodles slightly lighter in appearance both before and after cooking. Her noodles were more gelatinous, sticking together when they started to cool, whereas mine didn't. The price was the same. The difference? Taste-wise mine tasted like minced cardboard, dry in texture and almost flavourless. Hers tasted 'yummy', apparently. The difference in fat? For half a pack, my 0.8g trounced her 11.8g (how much?!). So fatwise, it was worth it. Flavour-wise? I don't think so. the mouth feel wasn't there for me. I didn't enjoy it.

Admittedly noodles aren't the creamiest of foodstuffs, but the difference was still fairly marked for us. Looks like noodles (or taste) is off the menu for the duration of the challenge then...

Scientists are working on the problem, in experiments altering the ratio of oil and water in food while retaining the creamy feel and texture of the food and reducing the fat content by half. Watch this space...



What I ate today:

Shreddies with milk

A bagel with EL Philly and ham (I visited an understanding friend!). I did have a bite of my daughter's sausage roll, and also a Butternut Squash pastry from Waitrose.

I had a Shapers snack mid-afternoon.

Dinner was the aforementioned low fat supernoodles and prawns

Feeling thoroughly unsatisfied I cracked open the Ben & Jerry's again

Exercise of the day:

I don't think I did one!

Product of the day:

The Supernoodles. Bah.

Day 15 - 60p

Or 0.6 of a pound. Is that all? Is that all the loss I have to show for yet another week of restraint, cheese-forbearance and a 5k walk?!

Bah.

It is so SO tempting to jack it in. In previous diets I have done just that, and commiserated my 'loss' with a big fat cheese sandwich.

I think: What more can I do? What did I do wrong? Was the first weigh-in wrong?

Well, if I think back honestly, I stuck to the diet pretty well. I can't think of anything I ate that I really shouldn't, though I know I was less strict than the first week I was still within guidelines.

I did miss about a third of my pills, which won't have helped.

I didn't exercise very much, so that could definitely be improved. Though not today, as Velcro-Boy has been restricting my movements.

Maybe this is normal? I guess I have to see what happens in week 3 to see if I can keep going down at least. So I have till next Monday to have a full body wax, cut my nails and my hair, and generally shave off those ounces...

Still, I'm only 2 weeks into 6 weeks. If I can't give this 6 weeks of my life, there's no hope for me.


Weekly weigh-in:

10st 4.4lbs


What I ate today:

'Fried' egg on white bread

Boots snack bar

Chicken salad and EL Philly wrap

TLC hot cross bun

TLC cheese and broccoli pasta with some extra chicken

Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Frozen Yoghurt


Exercise of the day:

Hoovering


Product of the day:

Fry Light Spray Oil. I was a little dubious about these 'oils' but they do at least allow me to fry without spoons of gloopy oil. The sunflower is fine for everyday. I'm less convinced by the butter one, but time will tell.

Day 14 - Exercise!

Yes, you never thought I would, did you?

So far my Exercise of the Day section has been a bit... lacking. Shopping, and child-wrangling mostly. You'd think with the amount of shopping I do I'd be a millionairess and able to pay for lipo, but no. Shopping can involve a loaf of bread and a pint of milk, but it is a trip Outside, and any new mum will tell you that's good enough, sometimes.

Pushing a buggy isn't the most exercise I'll ever do, especially as I have a beautifully light version. I drive pretty much everywhere too.

I haven't always been this sedentary. At school I wasn't great at sport but I tried. I even represented my school twice - once at shot put (awful) and once in the 200m sprint (came last, but a personal best). I walked to and from school - primary, secondary, and university. I even did step classes at one point.

I guess there came a point where driving to work became more appropriate than walking and public transport. And of course before I fell pregnant the first time (5 years ago) was probably the last time I rode my bike.

I could of course inject some activity into my life through attending a class; after my holiday this month I'll be hoping to start beginner's swimming lessons (yikes), which, if it goes well, will be wonderful.

I think the key though is to inject activity into my daily life, so I don't even notice it, much like this diet I'm doing. As soon as the youngest has more of a routine I think I shall do just that. Yes, it's an excuse of sorts, but it's there. Even now, the only reason I'm typing this is because he's asleep; unfortunately he's asleep on my lap so I can't do more at the moment. All suggestions gratefully appreciated...

I've mentioned the buggy walk before - I forgot this morning. I shall try and remember for next week.

I did exercise yesterday though; I walked the Adidas 5k! I think it took me just over an hour, but to be honest I wasn't really paying attention, just having a good natter and raising some money for charity. Actually, it was almost my perfect exercise...


What I ate today:

Bowl of mini shredded wheat and milk

In an abortive attempt to find Pizza Express, I ended up eating a burger from a stall (no cheese though), some Shapers crisps and a low-fat fair trade bar.

For dinner I served home-made low-fat bolognaise pasta bake (no cheese for me), and a TLC garlic slice. Mindful of the impending weigh-in and the unkown fat content of my lunch, I did not have any dessert.


Exercise of the day:

The Adidas 5k women's challenge fun run, in aid of SANDs. There's still time to sponsor me - I promise I finished!


Product of the day:

Tesco Light Choices Garlic Bread Slices. The acceptable face of garlic bread, it's okay, though overcooking it renders it the texture of crispbread.

Day 13 - Say Cheese...

This isn't a consumer review site. This is mine, all mine (bwa ha ha ha - evil laugh), but over the last almost 2 weeks I've been trying to find that holy grail, an alternative to cheese in my diet. I love cheese. It goes with everything, and it's the ultimate multi-purplse food. Have it on toast, on potatoes, grilled on vegetables, lovingly packed into plump pieces of beef or chicken, melted, sliced, grated (tastes different - why?)...

So I've tried a few. Plus, as I said before, I've given up butter too, and have been substituting soft cheese for it to ensure I don't eat dry bread all the time.

I thought you might be interested in the results of my own comparison of selected products in my fridge, so here they are:

Cathedral City Mature Cheddar
87 p/100g
1.7 g Fat/5g
Look how small 5g is! My favourite everyday cheese, I would normally have 8+ times this in a sandwich, plus butter. I guess that’s why I’m here… After almost 2 weeks without, this tasted so STRONG on my tongue, stronger than I had remembered. I don’t actually miss this as much as I thought…


Tesco Extra Light Soft Cheese
37 p/100g
0.2 g Fat/5g
The cheapest of the cheeses on test, I was recommended to try this on the advice of a fellow fat fighter, as it has less fat than Philly. Well, it certainly does, but it also has a more crumbly acidic texture, with liquid settling on top. Good if on a budget, otherwise go Philly I say.


Philadelphia Extra Light Soft Cheese
68 p/100g
0.2 g Fat/5g
Actually, 0.23g fat in the sample, slightly higher than the Tesco version. It is creamier in texture though, and more subtly flavoured. My new everyday cheese.


Laughing Cow Extra Light
67 p/100g
0.1 g Fat/5g
In days of yore I always preferred Laughing Cow triangles to Dairylea, so I thought I would give it a whirl, especially given the fat stat. It is yellower than the others, almost pasty in texture, and very definitely processed in taste. A disappointment.


Anchor Butter
56 p/100g
4.0 g Fat/5g
Heaven. Sigh. But HOW much fat?!

Which will you choose?

What I ate today:

2 slices of toast with EL Philly

My Nandos special chicken fillet in pitta. I tried the fat-free frozen yoghurt but it was banan flavoured and bland. Apparently some do chocolate flavour? Yum...

The above cheese platter, and a TLC hot cross bun

Exercise of the day:

A walk round the shops! Surprise, surprise...

Product of the day:

Probably the cheeses I mentioned above. I'm still a little gobsmacked by the fat results to think of another!

Days 11 and 12 - Two for one?

Sometimes life gets in the way of... your life really! It certainly has got in the way of my diets before now...

"I know I'm on a diet, but it's Fred's birthday..."

"I've had a crappy day at work and a takeaway will cheer me up..."

"I'm so tired I put the chocolate in my mouth before I realised..."

"I'm too busy/old/bored/ to diet..."


Ding ding! I think I just hit the limit on the Excuse-o-Meter...

Maybe before now I hadn't found the right diet?

I've been busy with life, ill and shouty children, that race I'm running (sponsored me yet?!), the sale I'm helping to organise, and my new desire to learn knitting and crochet simultaneously (learning simultaneously, I don't have an extra arm or anything), and while I dropped a day's blog (oops, did you miss me?!) and the camera has a film of dust on it, I didn't drop the diet.

I did climb on the scales this morning though, just because that nagging thought about being slacker kept tapping me on the shoulder... Possibly an ounce or two difference from Monday's weigh-in, which spurs me onto the path of diet righteousness for the rest of the week.

So here we go, let's see what I remember:


What I ate yesterday/today:

Mini shredded wheat and milk/Banana

Chicken and tomato rolls and a Shapers snack bar/Chicken and tomato rolls, 1/2 pack Shapers crisps and a Tesco LC hot cross bun

Fish fingers, chip and beans/Tesco LC Chicken Curry and two Tesco LC naan breads

1/6 tub Ben & Jerry's Fudge Brownie Frozen Yoghurt


Exercise of the day(s):

Nothing to write home about. Shopping. I have enquired about swimming lessons though!


Product of the day(s):

Calpol. And Calprofen. I could have waxed lyrical about weighing 100g of chips, the surprising amount of fat in fish fingers, how sloppy the curry was, or how I'm not yet bored with the chicken sandwiches... but these two big guys have been saving my day today. Hooray for medication...

Day 10 - My friend Ben

Not a lot to report today. I do keep forgetting to take my Alli tablets at the moment, which is unhelpful really. I didn't pay all that money for them to sit in the cupboard, after all.

Anyway. I received today the 3rd Alli challenge email sent to me by Boots. I have no idea where the other 2 have gone to, this is the first one I've received. Glad I'm not depending upon the support, eh? The pearl of wisdom today: Get More Active.

You'll have seen from my posts that activity is not one of my strong points. My opportunities to go for a quick run are limited by a small child and the sleeplessness that follows. I've always preferred exercise which is incidental to my life, too. But both of those are excuses. I do need to up my activity, both in pursuance of this challenge and also for a healthier life long-term.

I've spotted a buggy-walk group near my home which runs on Mondays, so if I can organise myself adequately I might go and play New Girl at that next week. There's also some fab parkland around here, so I really don't have much excuse not to do something a few times a week. I also need to see if I can organise some swimming lessons at some point... now I just need a few extra hours in the day to fit in all the organising I need to do to make that happen! I shall just have to find the time.

Incidentally, I had already booked myself a place in the Adidas 5k women's challenge fun run this Sunday coming, in aid of SANDs. Feel free to lob me a few pounds for a great cause - I will be aiming to amble amiably around Hyde Park, not run, but it's the taking part...

What exercise do you do? Inspire me!

What I ate today:

2 slices of toast spread with EL Philly

A 1/4 Milkybar I found in the changing bag

A large (oops) ham and tomato baguette, spread with EL Laughing Cow spread

A Tesco Light Choices pasta bake, plus 2 slices of TLC garlic bread

1/6 tub of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Frozen Yoghurt

Exercise of the Day:

Restraining the be-jabbed one, and rocking him to soothe him for the rest of the day.

Product of the Day:

Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Frozen Yoghurt. This stuff is fabulously low in fat and it's actually good. You know how some 'chocolate flavour' products taste like manky old generic hot chocolate mixed with dust? Well this is obviously not creamy like ice-cream, but it is yummy. The brownie pieces are big (albeit they have a slight coffee/mocha tang) and all in all it's a good way to spend your calories. Especially if you steal your child's bowl and spoon and make it all look bigger... 1/5 of a tub is just over 2g fat - bargain!

Day 9 - McWillpower

This might actually be the most difficult week.

Normally, the pattern of any diet that has actually made it this far is that I lose some weight, slack off a bit, and find by week 2 I've gone back to the start. I am definitely finding myself to be less disciplined since yesterday's weigh-in, but I've given myself a shake and hopefully can keep on the right path.

Today was fab though, nice and busy, and topped off with a fabulous trip to the local stately home park with friends to run the children like dogs. On the way home though, still salivating after they discussed going home via the chip shop (yes, you know who you are!), and a bit weary to face cooking, I offered to buy the eldest a Happy Meal.

What would this mean for our heroine? Would she go for a large quarter-pounder with cheese, large fries and a banana milkshake - 1495 kcal, 62g fat? Or would she eat the 'allowed' single hamburger - 250kcal, 8g fat (and no, there was no third option of beans on toast, not really...)?

What would you do? What would Tommy Zoom do?

What I ate today:

Bowl of mini shredded wheat, milk, and a slice of toast with extra light Philly

A ham and tomato sandwich, with extra light Philly instead of butter. 2/3 of a packet of Shapers crisps.

A solitary hamburger. Bloody hell, wouldn't you if you knew the cals and fat in the meal?!

(because I was starving by 9pm, and up for the night shift) Half a EL Philly/Ham sandwich.

Exercise of the day:

Carrying the eldest in a sling when her feet hurt.

Product of the day:

Free Business Cards from Vistaprint. All you pay is postage, and they will be fab for guerrilla marketing the sale I'm helping to organise.

Day 8 - Drum roll, please...

Ah, Bank Holiday Monday... an extra day of rest. I had some lovely 1-1 time with my eldest and my youngest, and the winds have receded somewhat. We played games, sang songs, I filed my nails...

Okay, okay, you don't really care do you? You want to hear the magic words? Well you'll have to wait. Patience, along with cheese-forbearance, is a virtue my child.

Woke up at 6, pottered around, went to the scales. Oh goodness, the trepidation. Would my 7 (count 'em) followers be laughing with or at me? Did it matter that I hadn't been to the loo yet? Should I bother taking my PJs off? Breathing in? Breathing out?

Apparently there is a 'correct' way to weigh oneself. I have one of those Weight-watchers-approved Tanita Body Fat schmancy scales. I have, however, learned long ago to hop 'lightly' off the scale before it zings my body with whatever electric shock it needs to calculate exactly how far into the Too Damn Fat side of things I fall. Hop on, hop off. Hop on, hop off. Hop on... best of three.

So that's what I did today. No animals or small children were scared in the measuring of this weigh-in...


Weekly weight:

10st 5.0lbs


What I ate today:

Mini Shredded Wheat and milk, followed by a slice of toast spread with low-fact cheese

Shapers chewy snack bar

Chicken and tomato sandwich, Shaper crisps, Mullerlite yoghurt

Crab and Asparagus risotto

The last of the Tesco Light Choices hot cross buns


Exercise of the day:

None.


Product of the day:

M&S Count on Us Orkney Crab and Asparagus Risotto. Mmm... sounds 'haute', elegant and delicious?

Do NOT be fooled please! Oh, for a start it looks nothing like the ivory creamy plateful on the packaging. It's very pink. And it has bits in it (to be fair, it is a shellfish dish). And it's sloppy, and smelly, giving it both the appearance and odour of cat sick (I should know).

In the interests of research and my 7 followers (tell your friends, dammit!), I took one for the team, held my nose and ate it. It was okay. It tasted like fish paste crossed with ambrosia rice pudding, with parmesan on top. It is not something I would ever buy again, and I am pretty easygoing with food. Ah well, lesson learned. That's 8g of fat I won't see again...


Did you notice by the way? It's working! Extra pressure now into week 2...

Day 7 - Shop In the Field

Today we were all up early, so we went to a local car boot sale, or 'shop in the field' as my eldest knows it.

Lots of tramping about in (very) fresh air, and we bought a few bargains. All good, except the continual waft of bacon sandwiches from (it felt like) every corner. I succumbed. Are you surprised? I said I had no willpower back on Day 1. Only a couple of mouthfuls, but boy it was good. I defy anyone to go past one of those vans without wanting some.

Anyhoo, otherwise a relaxing day, lunch with the papers, etc. etc. The papers have their fashion supplements on Sunday, and my mind strayed to thinking about all the hoo-ha one hears of regularly, with regards to celebrities, fashion models, self-esteem, weight and dieting.

I'm almost 35. Surely I'm not influenced by them? I KNOW they are unattainably thin, products of genes I don't have and/or airbrushing I don't have access to. Pshaw!

But then I came across this report, of a study which found that any woman, whatever she looks like, experiences a negative impact on their self-image when they view images of models. Skinny girls too. Interesting...

What's the answer? I don't know, it's a million-dollar question. For now I'll just make sure I don't watch telly, or read a magazine before I get dressed in the morning!

What do you think?


What I ate today:

Sugar puffs (another trial size) and milk

A Shapers chewy snack bar (plus those mouthfuls of bacon sandwich)

Grilled chicken and tomato sandwich, bread spread with Tesco extra low fat cheese, a packet of Shapers crisps and a Mullerlite yoghurt

Tesco Light Choice sausages, mash and beans. Yum!


Exercise of the day:

Trekking around two fields of car boot sale


Product of the day:

Not something I ate myself, but at the farmer's market this weekend my husband bought some venison and pork sausages from The Wild Meat Company. I cooked these in a separate pan to my sausages, as I expected the pan to run with fat while cooking - but nothing came out of these plump sausages, not a drop of excess fat! Now I know venison is a low-fat meat, but apparently on further research it has less than half the fat of pork. So now I can introduce a healthier (if pricier!) sausage to my husband and daughter's plates. Good news!

Day 6 - Treading Lightly

I'm treading lightly today.

It all seems to be going okay, but I don't trust it. Now I have got through the first few days when it could have all just gone out of the window, I've got Monday looming... the day after tomorrow... what if I haven't actually lost any weight? I'm going to look and feel bloody stupid, and it's going to be almost unimaginably hard to motivate myself to keep going... ugh.

La la la not happening!

So, anyway, we went to Barleylands today. We're season ticket holders and I love that it's a farm park that's still got the farm bit going on. The last Saturday of the month means a Farmer's Market - a covered barn with local produce shown, and a LOT of it was in handy sample sizes on cocktail sticks. Danger! Danger! Whoop! Whoop!

Okay, I succumbed. The Merguez sausages from Giggly Pig were gorgeous. My eldest tried pretty much every lump of cheese and cracker and chutney combo in the place, as well as the bread pudding and blueberries. In total I had a few bits of sausage, a smidge of cheese straw and a couple of bits of bread. Not tooooo bad?

Lunch was a bit dull. Given that nothing had labels, nor could I pre-research food, I had a choice of a ham salad baguette (no spread, I checked) or a jacket potato. I appear to be one of the only people in the world who doesn't enjoy jackets so baguette it was. Dull but functional, not as appealing as the sausage, chips and beans my husband and daughter shared.

Having walked around the farm and shops, we returned home for an afternoon net-bashing (me) in preparation for a fundraising sale I'm helping to organise.

Brain sufficiently distracted, we're almost at Day 7...

What did I eat today?

Light Choices Hot Cross Bun (actually that was last night - I was starving)

Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and milk (found a sample pack in the cupboard)

Nibbles as listed

Ham salad baguette (and a stolen chip, I cannot lie)

Pizza and salad for dinner... yes, pizza! See below. And a Mullerlite

Exercise of the day:

Walking around the farm, carrying my eldest child in a sling, all 25lb of her.

Product of the day:

M&S Count on Us Ham and Mushroom Pizza. A teeny tiny amount of calories and fat, but let's be honest, not the largest pizza either. Still, it meant I could have pizza just the same as my husband and eldest child, and for me part of the diet means hiding from my daughter any obvious food differences she might question.

The base was nice at the crust, floury and with a home-baked texture. The mushrooms were a bit flaccid and damp, but the ham was in good chunks. Overall, the centre of the pizza was a little soggy, but it was a fair excuse for a pizza, overall. Worth trying again.

Day 5 - Eating Out

Mmm... I love eating out. As a family, we probably do it once a week, popping out for lunch somewhere other than home, introducing S to a few new foods, as well as eating out etiquette... we don't go anywhere Michelin-starred or particularly 'haute' (it has been 3 years now since I last went to the Ivy, sob), generally chain eateries attached to attractions or shopping centres, and generally during the daylight hours. But with two children under 4 that'll do for now.

I love the whole experience - being seated at a table I haven't had to clear laundry off; someone asking my opinion on what I want to eat and drink; (increasingly) not having to eat something just because my eldest will eat some; not slaving to have my food rejected, even by the cats; not having to wash up...

... and of course the darker side of eating out - people-watching and deciding what they do when they're not in the restaurant, muttering complaints about service, other guests, or the food (my husband and I make a hobby of seething quietly at the world), checking the bill and daring it to be wrong... it's all fun.

So the thought of not eating out while on this diet never crossed my mind. However I found that in order to keep on the right side of the 'treatment effects' I felt more comfortable picking a menu that included some things I could be sure of eating below my fat allowance, and for this I needed information.

The internet was my friend, and I searched the websites of various high-street chain restaurants to find out if they published their nutritional info, so I could make a choice and plan before I set off.

If we start with the basics, McDonald's do. I could have 4 nuggets, or a normal burger from them. No fries or anything else, and I don't particularly like the look of their salads anyway. But it's good to know that if the salivary glands call, I can eat there.

KFC do. I could have a single drumstick, or breast of chicken, but not a thigh. This information could come in useful one day.

I wouldn't eat Burger King if it was fat-free, so we'll gloss over that.

Pizza Hut do. Unsurprisingly, there's little I would normally eat that I'm now allowed. The chances of me going into a restaurant and eating only a slice, or maybe two slices of their pizza is so small as to be insignificant. Sigh.

Pizza Express don't yet. They offer calorie info, and their website states they will offer a full nutritional breakdown by the end of the year. So that's out then. Goodbye, cheese and pickle bread. Farewell quattro formaggi with ham and a soft egg...

La Tasca don't seem to, but if they do I couldn't find it...

Nando's do. It's a bit cumbersome, like the McDonald's one, but it's there.

I couldn't find anything from GBK. Shame, as we enjoy going there, it's always relaxed enough for the children too. Plus anywhere where you pay in advance is a good place for us, avoiding the 'you catch his eye' 'no, you' 'flash your boob, that'll get us the bill' epilogue to a meal.

I couldn't find anything in Wagamama's either. Not that my husband will mind, as he is phobic about rice... don't ask.

Ultimately, at some point I will need to re-educate myself, as well as my palate, about choosing combinations of ingredients and cooking methods that will enable me to maintain a (hopefully) lower weight. I'm not expecting to live my life on portion-controlled ready meals or restaurant food. But for now, and certainly during the 6-week challenge, I need this information, and those establishments who either don't publish or make it too damn hard to find? Well, they just lost my business. Big mistake. Huge.

Where did we end up? Nando's. It was fab. My review is below. My eldest played with the chicken table marker to her utter delight. My youngest watched the people go by. For a family lunch, that'll do.

What did I eat today?

No night wakings for me, so a single breakfast of Shreddies and milk.

Another Shapers bar for a snack.

Chicken fillet pitta with a mixed side salad and a 1/4 portion of fries, with diet coke.

A Light Choices hot cross bun.

A piece of toast spread with extra-light Philly.

Exercise of the day:

Shopping

Product of the day:

Chicken Fillet Pitta (see photo above) with mixed side salad. The 'side' salad was pretty large, dinner plate sized in fact. It was basic mixed leaves, cherry tomatoes and slices of pepper if you looked hard enough. Still, by taking the chicken out of the pitta and eating it and the salad with a knife and fork it lasted ages, and the strong taste of the chicken meant I didn't feel like I was eating bland food. I am not sure I actually needed the 1/4 portion of fries, but I ate them anyway.

Day 4 - I fought the cheese...

Wow, I can't quite believe I'm still on the wagon.

I was tempted sorely by the cheese on toast S had for her tea tonight... but I didn't even lick my fingers, honest!

I'm tired. Whether that's the weather, the screechy constipated child, the older child who wet the bed last night, or even the diet, I'm tired. If I ever had a grain of willpower it would have done nothing against today normally, but somehow I didn't dive into the cheese as I would have done before... maybe this is something I can stick to?

Tomorrow will be a test though - beginning a 4 day weekend with the family, including some eating out. Wish me luck...

What did I eat today?

Light Choices Hot Cross Bun (3am)

Shreddies with milk

A 'fried' egg sandwich, bread spread with extra light Philly, and a chocolate Mullerlight

A banana

Another ready meal, this time Tesco Light Choices Mushroom pasta, again with extra chicken.

Exercise of the day:

None. I know this is something I need to work on

Product of the day:

Not a diet-related one this, although if I hadn't discovered it I think the cheese would have been a goner, due to a worm on my main PC... something free from Microsoft, who knew?

Day 3 - The Rainbow of Lard

Still here? Fabulous. Own up though - how many of you are eating right now as you read? If you are, what are you eating?

Still fat, still working on it.

How do I know I'm fat? Well, overweight is the term. My BMI is over 28, and when I look at the purdy charts so commonplace these days I'm firmly in the wrong band for my height (I'm 5ft tall).

Weight's only one factor of course, as anyone will tell you. Ultimately, my clothes fit poorly and I want more confidence. My clothes won't fit better unless I lose weight, so that's what I'm hoping to do.

How much should I weigh? Well, again consulting the illustrated rainbow of lard, somewhere between 7.5 and 8.5 stone. Ouch. that's 2 stone less than I am now, though personally I would probably be happy with 9 stone. I was 9 stone before I married, and before I first fell pregnant. That'll do me.

How about you then? Which colour are you on? There's also a helpful calculator here to make you feel really good about yourself...

I wasn't always overweight. In fact I was underweight till about 10 years ago. I see in my skinny (the link tells me, underweight) daughter my own childhood. Skinny as a rake, with a teeny waist that meant nothing ever quite fit right.

Did I think I was underweight? No, of course not, and when teenage years came crashing upon me I decided I was actually too fat, or at least the wrong shape, being a proper pear. Of course I wasn't. I was bloody gorgeous. But there you go...

What did I eat today?

Slice of bread and extra-light Philly at 5am (those early feeds are killers)

Mini Shredded Wheat and milk

Ham salad wrap, and a Light Choice hot cross bun

A Shapers bar as a snack

A Light Choice ready meal, pasta with peas, broccoli and cheese sauce, with some extra grilled chicken thrown in.

Exercise of the day:

Rocking a screaming 12lber for approximately 2 hours.

Product of the day:

Tesco Light Choices Cheese and Broccoli Pasta. I microwaved this, and it was actually pretty good. I added extra grilled chicken within my allowance, and otherwise I think I would have felt it too bland. In any case, it bought me ten blissful minutes away from the screaming boy-child, and that's worth a pound of anyone's money.

Day 2 - Fruit Loop

Well, I think we can declare day 1 a success. Let's be honest, some of my 'dieting' attempts don't even make it that far. So how was day 2?

Well a day alone with both children is always prone to snacking. A day when they are both testing me to my limits is prone to tears and chocolate. I did stay on the wagon, though to be honest it was wine that called in the early evening (note to self, find out how much fat in wine - none, surely?).

The cupboards are looking a little fuller at the moment, as I've stocked up on low-fat versions of things in readiness, both at Boots and Tesco, my local supermarket. I can't have butter on my bread so I've substituted extra light Philly. I can't fry in lots of oil, so I've bought some of those spray oil cans.

What you probably won't see in this blog are recipes for from-scratch foods. My history with food, as a child of the Seventies/Eighties, embraces convenience. I am a fair cook when I want to be but I just don't have time usually, or the inclination. I know a lot of mothers of two or more who cook wonderful things, and my hat is taken off to them, but I wasn't a big cook before children and I certainly haven't found the time to develop the skill since. Perhaps when my tastebuds are retrained a bit, I'll seek out more ways of cheaply and healthily feeding the family. Till then, I'm not rocking the boat with more than one thing at a time!

That said, we currently have tomato plants growing on the windowsill (they smell, who knew?!) and we definitely eat better since my daughter was weaned onto solid food - after all, we feel it's important to role model healthy food, as well as introduce her to where food comes from, raw ingredients and cooking - so we do what we can.

I'm also restricted by an intolerance to most fruit. I usually call it an allergy, simply because I find that using the word makes others less likely to sneak fruit into meals we might share. It started when I was about 12, when I linked my migraines and general ill-feeling with consumption of juices in particular. It means though that for over 20 years now I haven't had fruit juice, or indeed much fruit at all. I seem to be safe with raw strawberry, and banana, and in the last few years have added grapes (in moderation) to the list. I even tried a pear last year, and an apple - but I'm still wary.

This impacts my life in subtle ways - in a pub if I want a soft drink it's just water and cola to choose from. If I go to a restaurant the only desserts I can eat tend to be chocolate based (not forgetting the lure of the cheese-board). In home life, my husband Gavin eats fruit with our daughter. In diets, there are whole swathes of suggested meal plans that are hard to adapt away from fruit, so I end up just cutting down, or eating bland food, which may be the key to at least some of the diet failures.

Most of the time I don't give my fruit issues a second thought. I'm well trained now to avoid them. That doesn't mean I don't remember with longing the halcyon days of drinking lemon squash or apple juice while poring over my latest library acquisitions on warm Saturday afternoons... mmmm...


Anyway.


What did I eat today?

A bowl of Shreddies and semi skimmed milk

Two Tesco Light Choices wraps spread with pesto cottage cheese, filled with grilled chicken and salad.

My snack was a Shapers bar

Two Light Choices sausages, with mashed potato. Followed by a MullerLite yoghurt.


Exercise of the day:

Tearing my hair out at my threenager and teething baby



Product of the day:

Tesco Lighter Choices Cottage Cheese with Red Pepper & Pesto - I am not usually a proponent of cottage cheese, as it tends to remind me too much of baby vomit, but I thought I would give it a try. It was okay. Still looked a bit like lumpy pink vomit but it worked well in the chicken salad wraps, and while the flavour was subtle, it did distract me from the fact I was eating cottage cheese. Sooooo low in fat it's worth trying again.