My Best Week yet.

OK so did my weigh in today as I know I will not have time tomorrow morning.

So as you know my last weigh in was a gain, I mentioned that I was back where I started, what I had failed to mention was that I had gained what I lost plus an extra Kilo, I was so ashamed that I even told my fiance I was back where I started not that I was a whole 1.1 kg heavier. I was so disappointed, but hey life goes on, I made a mistake and I moved on, boy oh boy did I move on, My weight on Monday was a WHOPPING 149.7... I weighed myself every day this week except for Thursday, So here are my results and I am so pleased and its given me the much needed motivation.

Monday 149.7
Tuesday 149.3
Wednesday 148.4
Friday 147.7
Sat: 147.5
Sun: 147.4
Total Weight Loss: 2.3

I am so chuffed with myself. I have been eating the most amazing meals. I did have a cheat meal last night, but it was very small.

Today's food was amazing, breakfast I had a Kassler chop with scrambled eggs, lunch was an Avo seasoned with Salt & Pepper drizzled with lemon Juice and to top it off was a dollop of the woolies full cream smooth creamed cottage cheese, man that was yummy and not forgetting the crispy pork rasher.

Have not had supper yet but I will be making a nice thick fatty pork chop with salad, yes pork twice in one day, pork (especially the fat) is sooo yummy. if seasoned and cooked properly, I normally season it and grill in the oven, I will cute the fat off to crisp while we eat and then take out the crackling after supper, my fiance is not Banting with me (still working on him) so he does not eat the fat, normally we would throw it away when I was on the traditional diet. But now I'm allowed it yippeeeee, so I make sure I give him the biggest chop and then I get to enjoy the extra crackling.

Been making the most delicious foods and still losing weight, below is a lovely recipe I got from my sister, not sure if this is her own concoction or if she got it from elsewhere but I made enough and had it for breakfast every day

Creamy Bacon & Mushrooms

2 Punnets of Mushrooms
1 Pack bacon bits
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
250 ml Cream
Butter for frying
Salt & Pepper to taste

Fry bacon & mushrooms in butter till mushroom juices have dried up
pour cream and add thyme and Rosemary let it simmer until the cream has reduced and made a slightly thick sauce, add salt and pepper to taste. This dish is very yummy, I made it for the week and had it inside a 2 egg omelette with lots of cheese....

Weight Loss is more about what you EAT than what you DO

Over the weekend there was a bit of hype on the Facebook page that I belong to (Banting for healthy living) with regards to exercise and weight loss.  Needless to say some of the comments flying back and forth were not only insulting but some were downright hurtful, one woman commented along the lines of she does not belong in the group because all she sees  is fat couch potatoes, and people who are morbidly obese people who are in a sad state. Comments like these infuriate me… then this woman has the nerve to say she can see all this by looking at their profile pictures I mean what a bunch of crap REALLY, since when does looking at a person’s profile picture on Facebook of all places qualify you as a doctor who is able to diagnose.

Some people are so ignorant it baffles me honestly, saying that you fat because you eat too much and don’t exercise, there are so many reasons why someone could be overweight, in my case, I never knew what the problem was, and I believed what those people were saying it was because I was eating too much and not exercising and I accepted it, but then I started exercising and eating healthy, to the point where I was in the gym more than a lot of thin people and I worked harder than most of them too and yet I wasn’t seeing proper results. I went for so many blood tests only to find out I am insulin resistant which is why it’s so hard for me to lose weight. Which is why I get so angry when you get people who are just plain stupid when it comes to these things they have this holier than thou attitude and sometimes carry on as if they were the expert in the field healthy eating and exercise. When, in fact they are not.

These are those people who have a few kilos to lose those who have been brainwashed into believing what the media portrays etc. Yes exercise is good, but weight loss is more about what you eat than what you do... When will these people get it through their heads?

So my weight loss has been slow, but it’s because I just need to find the formula that works for me, some people eat a lot of dairy and still lose some don’t eat dairy etc… I just need to find my right fit, I know this diet works and I will not change it, no matter how many times I fall and need to get back up again. I am ashamed to admit that I am back where I started, but it’s my own fault.  It’s because for the past few days I was not eating properly I had more carbs this past weekend than I have in a very long time, I don’t need to read a lot of boring research and case studies to know that a person with insulin resistance should NOT eat carbs, I am my own case study. Every time I do this to myself I gain the weight. So this is it now NO MORE CARBS.

I am also not a person that can just wing it, I can only wing it for so long then the wheels start falling off, I need a structured meal plan/menu whatever you call it, so today that’s what I am going to do. I am going to plan my week.

So for all you bloody ignorant people out instead of telling us we are fat couch potatoes who eat too much and don’t exercise, go and do some research and educate yourself.  Instead of judging us, without knowing what battles we have faced or are. YOU FOOLS.

News News News!!!!!

So it’s been a while since my last post, I actually have forgotten about posting my weight, this week was not so good, I had a 1kg gain, I sort of fell off the bus, but hey I am only human. I must admit I have yet to find a formula that works properly, I tried the bigger breakfast with the BPC (bullet proof coffee), and for a while it worked but the past few days I have been getting hungry.

In the beginning when I started I used to have 3 rashers of bacon fried tomato and cheese or egg then I would pack a lunch… and have a small dinner. I think I am going to go back to that. It’s just that I will start with all these amazing recipes but then my imagination just fades… and I become boring and that’s where the wheels start falling off so to speak. I need some really yummy lunch ideas that are quick and easy to make. Going to make some “quiches” etc that can be frozen with lots of different fillings so that I don’t get bored, I will then just take one out the freezer and pop it in the microwave.

Anyway I will be back on Monday with another post until then…. Happy banting.

OOOOHHHHH wait I have something really exciting to tell you… I sent an email to the editor of the lose it magazine and suggested that they perhaps follow someone who has just started out on their journey and perhaps every 3 months when the magazine comes out that they do a column of some sort with a picture and stats of this person and how they doing… I think that many people can relate to it and this person that will be featured will be on the same journey with all of us at the same time.

Well I got an email back from them saying that they will be launching a website soon and they were thinking of doing an online diary where this person will post at least once a week with weight loss / gain how they feeling etc, they asked if I would be interested in doing it.

Not sure if I am allowed to mention it yet or not but if they choose me I will be super stoked to do it. I think it will be quite an experience, I hope that they allow for people reading to post comments and replies etc, I mean who doesn’t love the odd compliment now and then. I know I certainly do, what would be even more awesome is if they followed a man and a woman on their Journeys… we all know men and women lose differently, I mean take a look at Sam Hearn for instance he started on a higher weight than me and because of his heart failure he is unable to exercise. He has lost over 10kg already and I am on 2kg, although I must admit I could have done better. But I just need to find the right fit for me. I suggested that lose it take a look at Sam Hearn’s blog perhaps if they choose a man to be featured as well they could choose him.

I know everyone that loses weight and reaches goal is an inspiration, but to me because I have so much to lose, the testimonials of those that have lost in excess of 60kg are the truly inspirational ones. That takes serious dedication. That is what I would love to see is someone like Sam reaching is goal and looking at his before and after pictures and being absolutely amazed at the results… what do you guys think of the whole online diary for lose it magazine, I think it’s super cool and I am so excited I really hope that they do not change their mind.

Anyway … let me get back to work lol. 

Slow and Steady wins the race??

Ok so did my weigh in this morning, I am losing however slow it may be, this morning I was down another 0.7kg to in total since starting over I am down 1.6kg. I wish it would go a little faster but losing slowly is way better than not losing at all, so im not going to complain.

Although I think if I was finishing my 2L of water every day it would probably be more than that, I just really REALLY struggle with the water in winter.

I had a cheat meal on Saturday, well half of it was cheat lol… I made a beef curry which was totally banting approved no potatoes etc… but we had it with roti which is not banting but it was good and I had been so good I wasn’t going to worry about that cheat.

Yesterday’s dinner was amazing I had browned 2 lamb shanks in some cononut oil and put it in the slow cooker with some tomato, onions and mushrooms that I had first fried with some curry powder and spices then left it in the slow cooker until about 6pm, it was AMAZING… I love lamb shanks. We had that with cauli rice fried with lots of butter and pepper drenched in the gravy from the lamb shanks.

On Banting we eat like kings it’s amazing… just thinking about the food we made this weekend is making my mouth water. … mmm what shall I cook tonight.

My mom always used to make us spinach and rice the spinach she would fry with onions garlic and spices, she would then put that on a bed of rice always very yummy and sometimes she would add bacon, I think that this time around I am going to do something similar, but with chorizo sausage and cauli rice I think that will taste yum.

Have a good week guys, I am going to make an effort with the water this week and see if that makes a difference.

On the facebook page that I mentioned in one if my previous posts I see so many people with fantastic results one lady dropped 2 dress sizes in 24 days, I hope to drop 2 dress sizes in 3 months so if she can do it in 24 days I am sure I can do it in 3 months, everyone’s body is different and we just need to find what works for us I suppose. My only goal now is the 2 dress sizes before my wedding once I have reached that I will set the next goal. Maybe I can even push for 3 dress sizes who knows. But I have my eyes on the 2 for now if its 3 then great if not then doesn’t matter.

For the love of Bread and Porridge

OK so am part of a group called Banting for healthy living on facebook, I am blocked at work so can’t post the link but if you search it you should find it.

Anyway there is always some really nice recipe’s that people post, the 2 things I miss the most is bread with a nice thick layer of butter mmmmm…. and porridge(like creamy jungle oats or slap pap). Ooohhh I am starting to make myself hungry here, yes even though I am banting I still get the odd craving) A few days ago I posted a recipe for Zucchini bread, which was really awesome as a “savoury herb bread” but it still doesn’t beat the normal bread that we used to, I love freshly baked white bread and also your seed loaves toasted with butter and Bovril, anyway someone had posted a bread recipe on the FB page and I decided to give it a try man oh man, straight out the oven with a thick layer of yummy butter and Bovril it REALLY filled that spot (or should I say cured the bread craving) even my fiancé who is not banting had 3 slices of the bread it was that good.

So here is the recipe for you… I made it slightly different so ill make the changes I made and post the recipe the way I made it

Ingredients

200g seed mix (flax, sunflower, sesame & pumpkin) I used these as it’s what I had at home

200ml coconut flour

30ml psyllium husks,

250ml Greek yoghurt (full fat)

6 eggs

10ml baking powder

5ml salt

1tsp xylitol

Instructions

Grind seeds until fine

Mix all dry ingredients

Mix together wet ingredients and add to dry and mix well

Pour into greased loaf tin and bake at 180 degrees for 50 minutes

Make it and enjoy, now to find a porridge recipe, there has to be one out there.

Woohooo.

Well its Monday and I promised that I would update my weight, and I am happy to report that I have lost a total of 0.9kg, no great shakes (so the virgin active gym scale says) but hey a loss is a loss and that is all that matters I am headed in the right direction and I am pleased with the result so far.

So this morning’s breakfast has been by far the most satisfying I had fried mushrooms in lots of garlic and butter, with 2 boiled eggs and 3 rashers of bacon. Considering I ate it at 06:30 this morning and the first time that I ate after 06:30 this morning was at 4pm this afternoon and that was just a fat bomb, the thought of eating anything had not even crossed my mind, for the past few weeks I still had the urge to snack so would bring nuts or biltong or something, but today is the first day where I did not feel the need to snack, I think my body is finally adjusting woohoo…

Anyway that’s me for today, on deadline at work so gotta get back to it… 

Movie Night

Hey Guys,

So today is the 9^th day since starting over. I feel great have had no cravings and I think all round it’s been pretty good, have been having bigger breakfasts and very small to no lunch and then dinner, not because I am trying to starve myself, but because I am Just not hungry, I have 1 fat bomb every day and I must admit when you have one of those you just don’t want to eat. I don’t know if I have lost anything as yet I will only know on Monday because that’s the day I chose to weigh in once a week.

So tonight is movie night with my amazing fiancé, we are going to watch transformers honestly not my type of movie but hey any time spent with my man is quality time to me no matter what we doing. So normally I order the usual Coke light with popcorn, but not tonight I have already gone and bought some sliced biltong instead of popcorn and I will get myself a sparkling water instead of Coke light. The amazing thing about this diet is that I will choose biltong over popcorn any day.

Will check in again on Monday to update my weight. 

Is it the Numbers or the Fat

Ay Im tired... I have been feeling really great for the past few days, for breakfast this morning I had another 2 of the egg, bacon, mushroom and feta muffins for breakfast with my bullet proof coffee although I ran out of coconut oil so used only the butter this morning, and for lunch I was not really hungry I had a fat bomb with a chicken drumstick I had brought a drumstick and thigh with just in case I got hungry, as I am writing this it is about 15:50 and I am soooo tired, not sure what from though, am I having too little fat? Is it the fact that I have been staring at a screen full of numbers all day? Who knows? I am really enjoying this way of eating for me the most boring of meals is breakfast although I have been trying to figure out new ideas for breakfast we will see how it goes, last night I made us some fried steak, with the gem squash recipe in the RMR book as well as cauli mash with a roasted pepper sauce, the roasted red pepper sauce was from woollies probably not allowed but I had very little just enough to flavour the cauli mash really. Normally my food would be drenched in gravy or sauce I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed the gem squash, possibly the best way I have ever had it. I am not a fan of blue cheese so I substituted it with feta and boy oh boy it was yum I made enough for dinner this evening.

What I find that really works is to make as much food as you can in advance especially if you work full time. Just makes it so much easier I think.

The fat bombs are amazing too, it looks like chocolate so in a way I think I am eating chocolate and yet I am not. Anyway I am looking forward to the next weigh in on Monday im sure I would have lost something, the only thing im struggling with is my water as I can’t drink water when it is so cold. I have been having herbal tea as a water substitute but one can only drink that much tea lol. This is really an easy “diet” it baffles me that I still felt the need to cheat but im back on that wagon and heading for slimsville. 

Not the result I had hoped for but no surprise there.

Today was the day of my first weigh in, and usually with the result I had this morning I would have been disappointed and upset and gone completely off the rails…. Yes… I had a gain but honestly I am not at all surprised, there are 2 reasons why I gained, the first being that it’s all the previous weeks of CHEATING catching up on me and the second being water retention. No I am not making excuses I know I am to blame for my gain but part of that gain is also water retention, I could barely get my engagement ring on this morning which is why I know I am retaining water, I normally have to check my hand every now and then to make sure my ring is still on my finger because it is normally that loose.

Anyway, this is not a race to see who finishes first, I know this is going to take me a long time and I need to embrace this journey because the minute I start becoming impatient, is when things go wrong and this I know from experience on every other diet I have ever tried.

Next week I am sure I will have a positive result. Needless to say I was hoping that first weigh in would be a loss but if I want this to work I cannot lie and say I lost, what kind of example would that be setting for those of you that have stumbled onto my blog.

So moving along, today I actually feel pretty good, I made bacon and egg muffins, with cheese and mushrooms was very yummy along with my bullet proof coffee, I think I can safely say I have had enough of the good fats to keep me going until later this afternoon/early evening, however I have brought myself a piece of chicken to work should I start feeling a little peckish later today.

My weight as of today is 149.7 so it’s a gain of 1.1kg which I am sure will be off next week with more. 

Things I struggle with

I am sure many of you can agree that the worst part about exercise and Gym is tying your shoe laces. THAT for me is by far the hardest part, because once you get going its actually not that bad, needless to say I am stuck on the tying my shoe laces bit.

Previously I used to go to Gym 4 times a week, sometimes more, but now I just struggle to get going since December I think I have been to gym maybe once or twice a month which is really pointless.  And I know now that I really need to get cracking, honestly although I am not a morning person I prefer to go to gym early in the morning when the doors open because then I get it out of the way and don’t still have to go after work, but it’s just too damn cold now to go in the mornings. So going to start going in the evenings again. People have so many views on what types of exercise overweight people should do some believe only cardio some only strength training, I used to do a combination of both and was doing pretty well if I say so myself. This is why I need to get back into it.

I would love to hear any thoughts on what other people do to get fit and healthy.

On another topic, I struggle with my water like I mean REALLY struggle, and in winter it’s even worse.  Some days I can go a whole day without drinking any water. Which is another nasty habit I need to break because drinking more water will assist in the weight loss as well, and it actually does work I have experienced it myself the weeks where I lost the most was the weeks where I had the most water.

I just can’t stomach cold water in winter even in summer it needs to be room temperature but in winter even room temp is just too cold. If it aint hot I aint drinking it. There must be some nice warmer  options like with lemon or perhaps even a herbal tea of some sort surely… 

Savory Zucchini Bread

Ok so I have been dying for a slice of bread, some time ago I tried the RMR carb free bread recipe but I found to be the worst tasting stuff I had ever made and far too expensive to make for something so bad, so yesterday I used Google to find coconut flour bread recipe's and came across this one, I made it last night and OMG it was awesome and best of all a healthier alternative to normal bread. Give it a try its delicious. I baked it at 175 degrees Celsius. for just over an hour

20 minutes

1 hour

Yield: 12 slices

Ingredients

• 6 pastured eggs
• 1/2 cup melted butter or coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp. Celtic sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
• 3/4 cup coconut flour (Don't pack the coconut flour into the measuring cup. Scoop it with your measuring cup then level off the top with a knife - the "dip and sweep" method)
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme
• 1/2 tsp. organic garlic powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Instructions

1.   Mix the eggs, butter or coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, and zucchini.

2.   In a separate bowl, mix the coconut flour, sea salt, thyme, garlic powder, and baking soda.

3.   Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to combine

4.   Pour into a greased loaf pan that has been lined with parchment paper and sprinkle the top with sea salt.

5.   Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until cooked through.Allow to cool completely before serving.

Notes

You can also make these into Coconut Flour Zucchini Muffins. Pour into a muffin tin lined with paper liners and reduce baking time to about 25 minutes.

Day 1

So I did start yesterday but only weighed myself this morning, so officially today is day 1. So this morning I was not very hungry and had only my bullet proof coffee and a few TBSP of Greek Yogurt. 

Lunch I have some chicken strips with brussel sprouts, cheese and Cherry tomatoes. 

So I did gain as I had suspected but in my defense ... no wait... no more excuses. I cheated and that's all there is to it. I gained and it is my fault. Yes a lot has happened in the past few weeks but the fact remains is that I did not follow through and stay committed to this new "Banting" Lifestyle. So here goes again. 

My "new" starting weight is 148.6

I will post as often as I can but my weight I will post once a week I think I will do it every Monday. 

Wish me luck ... Lets DO this. 

I came across a blog yesterday which is what motivated me to start my own blog go and have a look its quite interesting to read and I figured if the author had the guts to post his journey online then I can do mine too. Its also nice to know that there is someone else with a similar amount to lose, I mean I have to lose a WHOLE person in body weight. So this is going to be a long Journey and to be able to follow someone on the same path will help. 

But what will help most of all is the support of my fiance he really has been amazing and I love him more than I ever thought possible. Every day gets better and better, and the day I become his wife will be the best day of my life. 

Starting Over

OK! So a few months ago a friend of mine had asked me if I had ever heard of the Tim Noakes Diet, I told her I had not and she began to explain it to me, after a minute into her explanation I had automatically tuned her out, not because I did not care about what she had to say, more because I did not believe what she was telling me, and I can sum up everything she told me in one statement:

EATING MORE FAT AND LESS CARBS WILL MAKE YOU LOSE WEIGHT.

 

Now I am sure you can understand why I tuned her out, I am sure that most people can agree with me that a statement like that goes against EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING that we have been taught about eating healthy and losing weight.

My friend had then sent me a copy of the book on email and told me just to read it before I decided to ignore what she was saying, I told her I would and then forgot about it, I had forgotten that I even had it.

About a week or 2 later my sister had called me and said she bought herself a new book and felt she had to tell me about it and that it was called: The Real Meal Revolution, by Tim Noakes among others. The name Tim Noakes did ring a bell but I could not place the name, until my sister had started explaining it to me, even then I was skeptical but had decided to read the book, I finished the book from start to finish in 2 days and was hooked. At the time I was on Weigh-Less, which had worked previously but for some reason this time around it just wasn't working I would lose 2 kilos then gain 2.1 or lose 1 and gain 0.5 and so it went all the time. I tried every Diet under the sun and NOTHING worked. I eventually went for blood tests scans etc spent 1000’s only to find out I was IR (Insulin Resistant) which had explained a lot.

I then decided to try this way and did not weigh myself for 2 weeks. When I eventually did weigh myself I had lost 3.4kg eating bacon and eggs for breakfast, fried steak etc. I could not believe it. However I was not committed enough to stick to it, so I told myself a little cheat here and there won’t hurt, I think I still had that mindset that I would not manage on this diet and it would not work for me because it’s too difficult to keep to it, and even though this THE easiest way of eating I have experienced I still cheated and then gained and lost like I did on every other diet.

I did research on this diet and came across articles and success stories etc and was really motivated but that still didn't work. I still cheated.

So now I have decided to start this blog and keep a record of some sort to track myself and also to see where I am going wrong.

So as of TODAY I am going to start over, I am going to set aside the past 2 months of “partial Banting” and as of today my new journey begins. This is it this is the last chance I have to make it work. I am getting married on the 14^th of December 2014 and am going to do the best I can to look my best for what will be one of the MOST important days of my life, and not just for me but for my Fiancé who no matter what has been such an amazing pillar of strength and has supported me and made me feel special and beautiful even though I myself do not feel that way. The most important thing is that I am doing this for me, but the second most important reason is for him (My Fiancé) because he deserves my best effort at this. I do not currently know what I weigh, but when I met my fiancé I weighed 156kg, in the time that I knew him I had lost 18kg and gone down to 138kg but then went off the rails again went back up to 152kg the last time I weighed was about a month ago and I was at 147kg. What I weigh today I have no idea but most likely I have gained again I don’t know, I would not be surprised if I did. So I will be back here tomorrow with my starting weight.  As ashamed as my weight makes me, I will post it here because this time I have a goal and that’s my wedding day. I want to look the best I possibly can on my wedding day.

To Shaun (my fiancé) I love you, you have been such an inspiration to me and supported me through every new eating plan / diet I have tried in the last 2 years, EVERY FAILED ATTEMPT and yet you never made me feel bad about it. Today as I write this I feel like the most beautiful woman in the world because that is how you make me feel. So yes this journey is for me but it is also for you, because you have given me your best and you deserve the same in return… MY BEST.