7th January 2014
Ouch my leg muscles are stiff after the walk last night, need to make sure I loosen them up through the day before tonight's walk. Lovely feeling to wake up without the after effects of alcohol although as I said yesterday it was a lot harder to fall asleep. The whites of the eyes are definitely clearer. I took a sneaky peek on the scales and was pleased with what I saw but I will only post actual results on the Monday of each week so it does not become too much of a bore. Whilst I have decided to follow the www.dukandiet.co.uk program in reality I knew where my main problem already lies - alcohol & exercise!
I actually ate a relatively healthy diet with lots of chicken and vegetables but when I got back home after a hard day's work I always opened a bottle of wine - in fact I delude myself it was a 1.5 litre bottle of wine that cost €3 from my local Lidl supermarket in Bonn! I sat down at my kitchen table had 2 or 3 large glasses of wine along with a couple of bowls of peanut wotsits (low-fat variety!). Then I would prepare my evening meal and eventually eat between 20.30 & 21.00 continuing to drink the wine...sometimes I would leave a bit in the bottle, sometimes I would finish it! On extra 'special' nights I would also enjoy a 'few' shots of Amaretto. The alcohol alone equated to over 1000 calories before I had eaten anything!
The beauty of the diet is you can eat as much of your allowed foods as you want so theoretically you should never feel hungry. This first week is a pure protein week though so you can eat as much chicken/fish/seafood as you want with up to 500g of low/no-fat dairy products during the day. You definitely need to be more prepared in terms of buying the appropriate food (need to take my specs to the supermarket now to read the fine print) and prepare your lunch before leaving for work.
I have got a mild headache in the afternoon but this is a known side effect as your body is starting to get energy from your body fat rather than through carbs and this releases ketones...another effect is that ketones can lead to halitosis (bad breath) so make sure you have sugar free gum available.
Apart from the pure protein in this first phase (attack) you are allowed oat bran which aids digestion...yuck you may think. Actually 1 1/2 tablespoons of oats in heated skimmed milk with artificial sweetner = porridge and let me tell you that this is heaven after eaten meat & fish for the rest of the day.
Got into my running gear after getting home from work and added my fluorescent jacket & running headlight - I guess I looked like a miner!
Well once I got onto the street I discovered that it was raining cats & dogs, I managed to do 1 Km before being absolutely drenched so admitted defeat & went home. I did some light weights & step-ups.
Food during the day
Breakfast
2 hard-boiled eggs and 4 slices of ham (2% fat). Eggs are an allowable product but if you intend to have more than 4 a week then you should remove the yolk as they have a high fat content. Also if you have high cholesterol then they should be avoided.
Lunch
Low fat cottage cheese with prawns & low fat yoghurt
Mid afternoon
4 slices of low fat turkey
Pre-run
My porridge as described above (yum yum)
Evening meal
2 salmon fillets cooked in a little skimmed milk and flavoured with lemon & pepper
Exercise tip of the day
B.A.T. Butt, Abdomen & Triceps...If you have an office job like me then it can be quite difficult to do physical activity during the day so this is a little exercise you can do at your desk. Butt/Bottom - whilst seated clench your bottom muscles and hold for 6 seconds & repeat 12 times. Abdomen - whilst seated and not moving your trunk clench your abdominal muscles and hold for 6 seconds & repeat 12 times. Triceps - whilst seated place your palms open on your chair armrest and push down until your body starts to lift, repeat 12 times.
Ouch my leg muscles are stiff after the walk last night, need to make sure I loosen them up through the day before tonight's walk. Lovely feeling to wake up without the after effects of alcohol although as I said yesterday it was a lot harder to fall asleep. The whites of the eyes are definitely clearer. I took a sneaky peek on the scales and was pleased with what I saw but I will only post actual results on the Monday of each week so it does not become too much of a bore. Whilst I have decided to follow the www.dukandiet.co.uk program in reality I knew where my main problem already lies - alcohol & exercise!
I actually ate a relatively healthy diet with lots of chicken and vegetables but when I got back home after a hard day's work I always opened a bottle of wine - in fact I delude myself it was a 1.5 litre bottle of wine that cost €3 from my local Lidl supermarket in Bonn! I sat down at my kitchen table had 2 or 3 large glasses of wine along with a couple of bowls of peanut wotsits (low-fat variety!). Then I would prepare my evening meal and eventually eat between 20.30 & 21.00 continuing to drink the wine...sometimes I would leave a bit in the bottle, sometimes I would finish it! On extra 'special' nights I would also enjoy a 'few' shots of Amaretto. The alcohol alone equated to over 1000 calories before I had eaten anything!
The beauty of the diet is you can eat as much of your allowed foods as you want so theoretically you should never feel hungry. This first week is a pure protein week though so you can eat as much chicken/fish/seafood as you want with up to 500g of low/no-fat dairy products during the day. You definitely need to be more prepared in terms of buying the appropriate food (need to take my specs to the supermarket now to read the fine print) and prepare your lunch before leaving for work.
I have got a mild headache in the afternoon but this is a known side effect as your body is starting to get energy from your body fat rather than through carbs and this releases ketones...another effect is that ketones can lead to halitosis (bad breath) so make sure you have sugar free gum available.
Apart from the pure protein in this first phase (attack) you are allowed oat bran which aids digestion...yuck you may think. Actually 1 1/2 tablespoons of oats in heated skimmed milk with artificial sweetner = porridge and let me tell you that this is heaven after eaten meat & fish for the rest of the day.
Got into my running gear after getting home from work and added my fluorescent jacket & running headlight - I guess I looked like a miner!
Well once I got onto the street I discovered that it was raining cats & dogs, I managed to do 1 Km before being absolutely drenched so admitted defeat & went home. I did some light weights & step-ups.
Food during the day
Breakfast
2 hard-boiled eggs and 4 slices of ham (2% fat). Eggs are an allowable product but if you intend to have more than 4 a week then you should remove the yolk as they have a high fat content. Also if you have high cholesterol then they should be avoided.
Lunch
Low fat cottage cheese with prawns & low fat yoghurt
Mid afternoon
4 slices of low fat turkey
Pre-run
My porridge as described above (yum yum)
Evening meal
2 salmon fillets cooked in a little skimmed milk and flavoured with lemon & pepper
Exercise tip of the day
B.A.T. Butt, Abdomen & Triceps...If you have an office job like me then it can be quite difficult to do physical activity during the day so this is a little exercise you can do at your desk. Butt/Bottom - whilst seated clench your bottom muscles and hold for 6 seconds & repeat 12 times. Abdomen - whilst seated and not moving your trunk clench your abdominal muscles and hold for 6 seconds & repeat 12 times. Triceps - whilst seated place your palms open on your chair armrest and push down until your body starts to lift, repeat 12 times.
