Tuesday 21 September 2010

Diet and Detox

I came home heavy from the holidays and bloated and huge. Too much fish and chips, soda bread and wine. But wow it was fun. Then a week later I went to Italy for three days for a friend's special birthday. Eleven girls and three men and I have never weighed so much. Or eaten so much. So when a special offer for a  detox diet landed in my email box, I paid. The food for four days arrived in a cardboard box. Cinammon and blueberry flaxseed with soya milk and grapefruit for breakfast day 1, followed by mediterranean lentil stew and vegetarian burgers for lunch. It seemed easy. But by day three I had a killer headache (probably from not drinking caffeine) and on day four when there was just soup for dinner, I was cheating. A Godiva chocolate here and another one there. A tiny bit of cheese on an oatcake here and another there. Life is too short to spend it hungry. Although I am now back to the weight I was before the summer. I'd like to loose another 10lbs but it seems like too much hard work and I read a report in the newspaper yesterday which said that scientists have now discovered it's easier to loose weight by diet than exercise, and you'd have to exercise as much as an olympic athlete to really see the benefits. Anyone have any ideas? 

9 comments:

  1. You need to eat stuff that fills you up without giving you too many calories. As you probably wouldn't like green shoots, vegetable soup might be the best bet.

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  2. I have lost a stone in 5 weeks on the GI diet. I am not hungry on it........

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  3. Yes vegetable soup could be good and one stone on the GI diet - that is amazing. Congratulations.

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  4. Any home made soup without thickening agents or potatoes preferably are great to keep the tummy from crying out - just eat it a few times a day for a couple of days to get your started, then eat carefully (chicken and vegs/salads, jacket pots with no butter, etc) with only fruit in between meals for another week - there you are, job done! Svelte!

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  5. Thanks Diney, you make it sound so easy!!!!

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  6. Drinking plenty of water also helps. Have a glass before every meal, and whenever you feel hungry before grabbing a snack.

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  7. Thanks Mummy Zen, yes I never drink enough water!

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  8. A while back I posted on a hypnosis book and CD I rate - it's here: http://iheartnaturalbeauty.blogspot.com/2010/04/you-can-be-thin.html

    Although I didn't become thin overnight, and I'm not thin now, maybe a tiny bit overweight for my height, I did stop the binging that I'd battled with for years. Although I've occasionally eaten a bit too much, I've never had a scary binge since listening to this CD religiously for a month. I listened to it as I went to sleep. About a year on from using the CD, I think my relationship with food is pretty healthy.

    Personally I'm terrified of low fat diets because in the past I got amazing results with them, but I felt really deprived and I put the weight back on. It fueled my obsession too much. I'm too lazy to count calories, and I think if I wanted to be slimmer I would simply eat less of the things I indulge in now, so I obviously don't want it too badly!

    I don't eat gluten and I avoid cow derived dairy. I'm pretty convinced that this allows me to eat more of the other things I like such as feta, avocado, goats yoghurt, dark choc, sweet potatoes etc. I'm less pear-shaped without gluten and have a waist again.

    Sorry, I'm waffling, but I really believe that it's worth us looking at our relationship with food closely as well as finding strategies. If I ate bread (and I can't because it makes me ill), I would eat and eat and eat and eat it...but by not having any, it seems to be easier not to trigger cravings.

    Also - really boring, but lots of water, herbal teas, no caffeine and no alcohol make a big difference...look forward to hearing how you get on. Good luck!

    BTW Diney's advice sounded very sensible, I'm inspired by that. It's just hard to go without the fat taste (such as oil) because the fat is what makes us feel sated...so I'd tend to argue for having the oil/nuts etc one feels one needs but going without processed foods, because they are addictive and I believe they create cellulite too. My pet peeve is people on low fat high sugar and processed factory foods...

    phew, I'm going to be quiet now. x

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  9. Thanks so much Iona, that is really helpful. x

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