Hey folks,
This is just a quick introduction to those of you who may have stumbled upon my own little slice of the internet and are wondering what's going on. Well, as millions of minions before me, I have decided to create a blog to chart my progress during my new diet. It's a diet I devised myself and basically revolves around limiting oneself to 1000 calories a day (with an internal desire to actually try and limit the meals to under/around 600 calories a day, if I'm entirely honest!). The gimmick is though, that the diet involves the mandatory consumption of a bar of chocolate at least once a day, but not to be included within one's calorie allowance. It's called the 'Eat Chocolate Every Day And Still Lose Weight Diet' and it was something I dreamed up whilst trying to decide which of the many varied diets out there to choose from, which wouldn't restrict me beyond the point of it being humanely possible.
I've done low-carb before which works really well for me, but I'm on a bit of a limited income at the moment and following Atkins requires a lot more investment in fresh meat and veg and quality ingredients for the diet to be palatable and possible. The best thing about low-carb is the way that it curbs your appetite and naturally makes you decrease the amount of food you're eating. I've done low-calorie too and whilst the hunger pangs are a bit annoying, there is actually something quite satisfying about hearing and feeling the physical manifestations of my control and willpower. I had a look at some of the structured, product based, VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diets) that are out there like Celebrity Slim etc, but I wasn't too keen on the idea of having my every meal, morsel and mouthful dictated to me like some kind of child. I know that in order for something to work, there has to be a little bit of flexibility for me to maneuver about and a degree of indulgence allowed every day, so the whole 24 hours doesn't feel like an uber-restrictive, grim ordeal.
Hence, the 'Eat Chocolate Every Day And Still Lose Weight Diet'. The majority of my calorie allowance each day is to be made up from a selection of Cup-A-Soups, Ryvitas, Tuna Fish, Cottage Cheese, Philadelphia Light, Chicken Breasts, Salad, Apples, Yoghurt, Pickled Baby Beetroot, Marmite, Rice Cakes, Muller Rice, Chewing Gum and Coke Zero or Pepsi Max here and there. Ideally, the meal combos will come in at around 600 calories, which will then give me plenty of wiggle room for a small bar of Dairy Milk (240 calories) and cup of coffee with skimmed milk and one sugar (51 calories) at the end of the day. I've been doing it for about a week now and it's really easy, knowing that I have a really nice treat to look forward to and everything still comes in at under 1000 calories which is perfect.
I've sort of been testing the water here and there with it over the past couple of weeks; seeing how far I could push myself with not eating (turns out I can go days if I want to!) how far I could go on 200 or 300 calories (harder than not eating at all, but still totally doable) and how much better I feel after a bar of chocolate (uh, amazing?). So I was not exactly being entirely mindful and following a particular plan, but I did get a sense of how this would go. Technically I've been on it for three days if you go by the entries on my food diary app, but I've lost about two and a half kilos in ten days, so it's not going too badly. The only other thing I haven't mentioned is that, should I ever succumb to something completely off plan, high-calorie and just plain wrong, it has to be purged. And by purge we're talking fingers down the back of the throat to make you puke your guts up. I have no intention of becoming a full-time bulimic - part of the necessity for the chocolate in this diet was to avoid bingeing/purging - but it's good to know that every now and then, when I've been a naughty girl I can just hit the rewind button, chuck it all up and pretend like it never happened!
I know it's not the 'right' way to necessarily do things, but hey, it's my body and I can do what I want with it really. It was me who ate all that crap that got me to the weight I'm at now and it'll be me who gets me back down to a reasonable size, through whatever means I deem acceptable. I don't expect that most of you will agree with my little 'get out of jail free card' (purging) and if that's the case well you can quite easily wander off and find a good little girl's blog, where she counts all her Weight Watchers ProPoints like she should and sighs every other week when she gains or maintains and has it read out to the rest of the group. Not for me the patronising, money-spinning, idiot-magnet slimming clubs which seem to have the exact opposite effect of what they're supposed to do. I'm too fucking smart to sit there for half an hour whilst some middle aged halfwit tries to lecture me on nutrition, when I could probably teach the class (assuming they were bright enough to grasp the biochemistry). And I'm not paying money to have said patronising harridan announce my weight to the rest of the room like it's my only defining feature. No thanks. I'd rather follow a simple plan I've crafted myself, enjoy the chocolate every night and know I have the option to purge on the odd occasion when I decided to binge on something bad like a Chinese. You won't catch me trying to rationalise my one pound weight gain to any instructor because I decided to eat pizza with the guys on Saturday. Screw that.
So yeah, for now that's just a brief introduction to my diet. I haven't really included any other information about who I am, my stats or anything yet, but I'll add those over the next couple of days as I get the chance to get the blog looking the way I want it. I really hope I haven't bored you too much with my rambling today and if you like what you read, be sure to come back and check in with me again.
Until then
Adieu
