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Day Two of my no sugar, wheat, dairy and alcohol challenge. Oh – an no carbs after six. ‘Carbs’ in this instance involve anything white or beige – refined sugar, pasta, bread, potatoes, rice – you get the picture.
I’m doing this because I want to lose about 7kg and streamline my cottage cheese thighs, but also because I don’t want to continue feeling like I’ve got a mass hangover every morning, even though I’ve not touched an ounce of booze. Oh, and I also don’t want to die young.
It’s surprised no one more than me that Day Two of this regime has been easy. I thought I’d be scraping the bottom of the fridge for shavings of chocolate by now, but no. I’ve managed to sate my sweet tooth with fruit (though not a lot, and for the moment I’m avoiding grapes and bananas which are particularly high in fructose) and I’ve tried to be a little more active.
The great thing about this regime (taken from Anna Richardson’s book – Body Blitz Diet), is that you CAN have carbs (though never wheat carbs) before 6pm. So I can nibble on rye bread and rice crackers during the day. I can even have rice noodles in my lunch. I can also have coffee and tea (again, I’m not going overboard) and a splash of skim milk with tea and cereal.
These teensy ‘allowances’ have already made a difference in terms of how deeply I can commit. I remember going on the South Beach Diet many years ago and losing 5kg that I’ve never put back on since. It was like they were ‘deleted’ from my body, never to return. The diet was similar to what I’m doing now but these teensy allowances were forbidden, making it really hard to stick with. Frankly, I’d rather lose weight a bit slower and be able to stick with a regime, making it more likely to follow long-term.
As for exercise, our family is incorporating a walk around the [large] block and a shooting a few hoops after dinner and I’m exercising every morning for half an hour and incorporating little bursts of activity through the day.
So, the changes I experienced at the end of Day Two:
Waking refreshed and energized with NO hangover feeling. Amazing!
Enormous improvement in mental clarity through the day.
Flatter stomach (which gradually began to bloat through the day, though not as much as usual).
Incredibly lightened, happier mood that stayed all day long.
More motivation.
More energy.
More desire to exercise.
Less depression.
Less fatigue.
Less anger and frustration.
Greater productivity.
Less desire to eat junk (markedly).
Oh – and I lost half a kilo. Admittedly, this is probably just the weight of all that extra stodge I would have had sitting in my system, but it’s at least a step in the right direction.
The good news is – I am NOT missing ANY of the things I can’t eat right now. In fact, I could no more sip on bubbles or nibble chocolate than I could fly to the moon (this is saying something for me, trust me). I did crave something a teensy bit sweet at about 7.30pm, so I nibbled half a bowl of my own creation – pureed nectarines and pears with a splash of rice milk, frozen into a delicious granita. Absolutely delicious and so good for you.
I wonder what Day Three will bring? Stay tuned…