Day 5: 1+ hour of exercise, 3599 calories (ouch! see below), 341g of carbs (the thought makes me cringe!), 4 pints of water and 4 cups of green/herbal tea. I’ve also started to take 1 capsule of cod liver oil and a multivitamin.
I had the munchies yesterday and was dying for chox, drinks, pasta and anything brimming with carbs. First I though it was some kind of physical backlash – my body reclaiming what it had lost this week. But then I realised I was ovulating and that always makes me crave carbs and soppy films. I decided to fall for the temptation, but to try to make better choices even at a time like this. Instead of coke I had one glass of sarsaparilla mixed with sparkling water, I chose nachos instead of crisps and a handful of skittles instead of chocolate.
This is the point where I used to fail all the insane diets (WeightWatchers included) I’ve put myself through in my younger years. I’d string myself up to follow some slavish regime, and then a day like this came along and I’d be lost. The sense of failure looming over my head I’d lose heart and give up. On Atkins I finally learned to think of my diet not primarily as a weight loss regime, but as a long term health investment. And using fitday.com I could see my average daily/weekly/monthly intake which would make room for the odd day off track.
Today I don’t feel too bad about having been on a dipper yesterday. Sure, the figures look bad (3599 calories and 341g of carbs), but it’s actually not quite as bad as it seems. In fact, a day off track can even be beneficial. First of all, the body quickly gets used to whatever intake you decide on. If you eat 2000 kcals a day your metabolism will adjust and slow down a little. But if every now and then you have a day where you eat a lot more or less, you force the metabolism to work harder. Secondly, if you love chocholate and can’t imagine life without it any diet that won’t let you eat chocolate is bound to fail. It’s better to allow yourself the occasional treat than to risk complete failure.
When John woke me up at 9.30, I had a monstrous headache again. It felt like a hangover, but I never had anything to drink last night. Normally, this would be a good reason to stay in bed but my coach wouldn’t have any of that so I resigned and made my way to the jogging track. As I was working up a good sweat it struck me that I had a similar headache last Monday. And last Sunday I was on a picnic where we consumed enormous amounts of carbs! I wonder if it is the sugar that does this to me? I might have to put that thought to a test…
Right, one more day to go before I’ve completed my first full week on this programme. Who wants to join me? Need more exercise? Need to lose weight? Need to lose loads of weight? Need more energy? Get in touch and let’s do it together!
1 Comment
August 28, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Nice blog! Keep up the good work.