Surprises Travelling to Zurich

Travelling days are always hard, whether you are a Celiac struggling to find food you can eat or someone determined to stick to a healthy diet. I had a flight to Zurich at 11:30am yesterday, which pretty much dominated the day. Just a short hop (2 hours) to Zurich, which means they only provide “snacks” on the flight. And invariably this means no food for Celiac’s or other “special diets”.  Knowing this, I made sure to get a good snack of nuts and dried fruit (OK, and chocolate) at the airport before boarding the plane. However, I was still very annoyed when the “snack” was a sandwich – with no gluten free alternatives despite putting gluten free on my ticket when I booked it. Not only that, but the staff had not even been told!

So, a latish lunch of sushi at the airport before heading to my friends where I was staying. To my surprise, I discovered my friend had taken up the latest fad diet – the 4 hour body diet. Basically, it’s a version of the low carb, paleo diet – No wheat or grain based carbohydrates (bread, pasta, porridge, etc.), no fruit, no dairy, nothing with white sugar, and lots of meat, fish, eggs, beans, lentils and vegetables.  Like most of these diets, it’s not so much what you eat that makes you drop weight so fast, but the fact that most of these foods are MUCH lower in calories than the ones you cut out. Going from 2500 calories a day to 1200 calories a day – of course you’re going to lose weight like crazy!

Which is why I went out and bought my own milk and juice for breakfast and ended up eating a gluten free hot cross bun with a glass of milk a couple of hours after our dinner of grilled chicken and salad. I’m not a dieter, I’m a runner, so I do need the carbohydrates!

The Score:

Calories:	Protein:	Carbs:	Fat:	Alcohol:	Fibre:
2483.35	128.94g	318.38g	76.63g	0	37.64g
	21%	51%	28%
Calories burned through exercise:		Rest Day

What I ate:

Time	Item	Amount
07:00	Vitamins - Centrum Advance A to Zinc, 400iu of Vitamin E, 1000iu Vitamin D3 and 500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 each
	Cold water	200mL
	Mattesson's Turkey rashers	3 rashers
	Sainsbury's Freefrom oats	50g
	with Sultanas	20g
	Sainsbury's Orange, Mango and Passionfruit juice	200mL
07:30	Black Tea	500mL
10:45	Sainsbury's fruit and seed mix	40g
	Brazil nuts	6g
	Galaxy smooth milk chocolate	42g
	Glaceau Vitamin Water, Revive	500mL
12:30	Black Tea	100mL
13:30	Maki and Nigiri sushi	10 pieces
	Edamame	1/2 cup
	Apfel Schorle	500mL
16:45	Fresh Strawberries	105g
	Sponser Protein Snack bar	1 bar
18:30	Grilled chicken breast	about 100g
	with Cattlemen's Classic Barbecue sauce	about 1 tbsp
	Spinach salad	50g
	with tomato	about 100g
	avocado	1/2 of one
	broccoli	2 florets
	strawberries	50g
	truffle olive oil	1 tsp
	and white balsamic vinegar	1 tsp
20:00	Sainsbury's Freefrom Hot cross buns	1 bun
	2% milk	about 200mL

Plus 500 to 1500mL of cold water sipped from a water bottle throughout the day.

Down 2 Dress Sizes!

A much better day all around. I woke up feeling much better and had no trouble getting through my morning routine and getting down to work. I actually had a very productive, if frustrating morning, learning how to do all the accounts for my business in Quick Books. I was so in the zone of just entering receipts and sales that I was surprised to look at a clock and realise it was almost 2pm!

It was another bright, sunny and warm spring day, so in the afternoon I decided the accounts could wait while I got out all my spring and summer clothes I'd put away last October. I always like getting out the new seasons’ clothes from storage; it feels like I’ve just acquired a whole new wardrobe. I try to do a seasonal wardrobe cull, checking if everything still fits and flatters, and getting rid of any clothes I didn’t wear this past winter and can’t see myself wearing again. Which is how I managed to spend 3 hours yesterday afternoon trying on all my clothes and shoes. I know I’ve lost weight since last summer – after all, that was the point of all this exercise and food blogging! – but it was still a shock to see just how big some of my summer clothes have got on me. I have several pieces that are literally unwearable until I get them taken in they are so big, particularly bottoms and dresses. Actually, my husband pointed out that some items I bought on sale last summer would probably be cheaper and easier to simply replace. I’m hoping that means he’s willing to pay for some new summer clothes!

Hard to feel depressed when you realise you’ve gone down 2 dress sizes and have a bunch of “new” clothes you can’t wait to wear again!

The Score:

Calories:	Protein:	Carbs:	Fat:	Alcohol:	Fibre:
2024.93	104.74g	277.11g	57.89g	0	28.97g
	20%	55%	26%
Calories burned through exercise:		Rest Day

What I ate:

Time	Item	Amount
07:30	Vitamins - Centrum Advance A to Zinc, 400iu of Vitamin E, 1000iu Vitamin D3 and 500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 each
	Cold water	200mL
	Mattesson's Turkey rashers	3 rashers
	Mesa Sunrise cereal	60g
	Alpro Soy milk	120mL
	Sainsbury's pressed apple and cherry juice	200mL
08:15	Black Tea	500mL
10:30	Brazil nuts	6g
	Cashews	14g
	Plums	105g
	Irish Yoghurts Diet Fruits of the Forest	125g
	Raspberry and Echinacea tea	250mL
11:15	Green Tea	250mL
14:00	Pork Loin	61g
	Merchant Gourmet tinned puy lentils	105g
	Microwaved broccoli	100g
	Microwaved cauliflower	147g
	Sainsbury's Bramley apple sauce	30g
14:30	Lemon Tea Nuun electrolyte tablet in water	750mL
18:00	Muller rice pudding smooth toffee	190g
19:30	Turkey and Butternut Squash Risotto	333g
	Raw Tomato	85g
	Caffeine free Black tea with milk and sugar	500mL
20:00	Galaxy milk chocolate	63g
22:30	500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 pill

Plus 500 to 1500mL of cold water sipped from a water bottle throughout the day.

Comfort Eating and Comfort Shoes

I had a really crappy day yesterday. Clearly hormone induced, since there was very little wrong with my life and it was even a bright, sunny day, the hottest yet. I woke up feeling blah and lifeless, so after staring at my computer for half an hour and getting nowhere I decided to go run errands and do some shopping. I had clear goals and a list of things to do and get – go to the bank, get a new watch battery, buy toothpaste . . . Instead I found myself in the shoe store trying on just about every pair of summery high heels they had. An hour late I came out with two new pairs of impulse buy shoes, one of which is so high and fashionable and unlike me my husband was in shock! Actually part of reason I stayed so long and bought so much is that for the past year I have been confined to flats while my feet recovered from surgery. And I never was one for seriously high heels as I had jobs where I had to walk and stand all day and most shoes hurt my feet. So to find high heels that were comfortable to wear for the first time in my life! It’s a miracle I only bought two pairs.

Of course I had impulse buy regret as soon as I got home, and was once again feeling moody and unsatisfied. So I turned to chocolate for comfort, which as I mentioned yesterday, we now have an abundance of in the house. Over the course of the day I managed to eat over 1000 calories in chocolate! No wonder I had so few calories from protein and my diet was so high in fat. The lack of vegetables and healthier food probably didn’t help my mood either, creating a nasty cycle.

So no work done, no exercise, poor diet and all my spending money for the month gone on shoes. Whatever else happens, today has just got to be a better day!

                                                                                                                                                                                                 

The Score:

Calories:	Protein:	Carbs:	Fat:	Alcohol:	Fibre:
2610.60	90.15g	364.34g	88.14g	0	22.88g
	14%	56%	30%
Calories burned through exercise:		Rest Day

What I ate:

Time	Item	Amount
07:45	Vitamins - Centrum Advance A to Zinc, 400iu of Vitamin E, 1000iu Vitamin D3 and 500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 each
	Cold water	200mL
	Mattesson's Turkey rashers	3 rashers
	Gluten Free fruit muesli	70g
	Alpro Soy milk	120mL
	Sainsbury's pressed apple and cherry juice	200mL
08:30	Black Tea	500mL
09:30	Raspberry and Echinacea tea	250mL
11:00	Eat Natural bar with almonds, apricots and yoghurt	50g
13:30	Heinz Beanz, reduced sugar and salt	185g
	Skim milk	200mL
	Waitrose Love Life free from fruit scones	1 scone
	with Flora Light	2g
	St Dalfour Blackcurrant jam	16g
	Plums	105g
	Dairy Milk Caramel Egg	1 egg
16:15	Irish Yoghurts Diet Strawberry	125g
	Butterkist microwave butter popcorn	25g
	Dairy Milk Caramel Egg	1 egg
19:00	Blackcurrant and ginseng tea	250mL
20:15	Turkey and Butternut Squash Risotto	333g
21:00	Dairy Milk chocolate egg	50g
21:30	Dairy Milk chocolate egg	50g
23:00	Ellactiva Chocolate Calcium Chew	1 chew
	500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 pill

Plus 500 to 1500mL of cold water sipped from a water bottle throughout the day.

Why Love Leads to Weight Gain

I was feeling a bit stiff from my Body Balance class yesterday morning, but I felt oddly better. I had a really productive morning at work, feeling quite up and focussed. Yesterday afternoon I decided a nap was a better use of my rest week time than another workout, and it did leave me feeling refreshed and well able for my 5pm meeting. I also had a pretty good diet day, right up until my husband came home with yet more Easter chocolates! Even though I was full from my dinner last night, I couldn’t resist having some chocolate when my husband was sat next to me on the sofa digging into his.

There is something about the prevalence of chocolates around Easter. I like to think I am pretty savvy to the effect of advertising on my life, but apparently I am not immune to the temptation of cheap Easter chocolates piled high around the entrance to every shop. Though to be fair, it’s my husband and not I who has been buying them. I have asked him not to, but his argument is that he would feel bad buying for himself and not for me, and that I would probably end up nicking half of his anyways. And to be fair he is trying to be sweet, bringing me a surprise treat, so I feel bad refusing it.

The problem is that I have not self control when it comes to chocolates, even when I’ve just eaten a good meal. If I could have a few pieces, or the equivalent of just one normal sized, 200 calorie bar, it would be fine. One of those giant Easter eggs would last for at least a week and I would get a daily treat that didn’t blow everything out of proportion. But once I start, I just can’t seem to stop, and if I know it’s in the house, I just have to have it.

There is still plenty of chocolate in the house so it looks like this is not going to be the week where I get my calories back under 2000!

The Score:

Calories:	Protein:	Carbs:	Fat:	Alcohol:	Fibre:
2368.45	126.61g	290.49g	79.00g	0	34.34g
	21%	49%	30%
Calories burned through exercise:		Rest Day

What I ate:

Time	Item	Amount
07:45	Vitamins - Centrum Advance A to Zinc, 400iu of Vitamin E, 1000iu Vitamin D3 and 500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 each
	Cold water	200mL
	Mattesson's Turkey rashers	3 rashers
	Nature's Path Gluten Free O's	60g
	Alpro Soy milk	120mL
	Sainsbury's pressed apple and cherry juice	200mL
08:30	Black Tea	500mL
09:30	Raspberry and Echinacea tea	250mL
10:45	Sainsbury's fruit and seed mix	40g
	Brazil nuts	6g
	Plums	105g
11:30	Green Tea	250mL
13:15	Princes tuna chunks in water	63g
	with Hellman's Light mayonnaise	12g
	and Branston gherkin relish	10g
	on Genius brown bread toast	2 slices
	Tomato	85g
	Skim milk	200mL
	Sainsbury's Be Good to Yourself chocolate mousse	62.5g
15:30	Green Tea	250mL
	500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 pill
16:30	Sponser Protein Snack bar	1 bar
18:45	Strawberry lemonade Nuun electrolyte tablet in water	500mL
19:30	Cook Moroccan Spiced lamb Tagine	280g
	Merchant Gourmet Red and White Quinoa	100g
	Galaxy milk chocolate	63g
22:00	Ellactiva Chocolate Calcium Chew	1 chew
	500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 pill

Plus 500 to 1500mL of cold water sipped from a water bottle throughout the day.