Day 74 – Cruise PV

Morning weigh in: 94.7kgs

Daily LOSS: 0.2kgs / 0.44lbs
Total loss: 5.2kgs /11.44lbs

Watercheck: 1.5l

Breakfast

• mug of coffee
• oatbran porridge with sweetener

Lunch

• 2 breasts of chicken
• microwave steamed broccoli, asparagus and cherry tomato with a little soft goats cheese mixed in

Dinner

• Fillet steak with steamed vegetables and a red wine reduction.

Exercise

• 40 mins cycling to and from work

OK, so we’re heading back down in the right direction. Phew. The leg’s feeling a little better, so I pushed a bit harder on my cycle to work, and took an alternate route home, just for the fun of it – I felt like exploring. It didn’t take me that much longer, but I found new things, yay! 🙂

I am on a steamed veggies kick today. Steamed vege for lunch, steamed vege for dinner. I can’t be trusted with seasoning a steak (I always make it too salty somehow) but fortunately J cooks the best steak ever. We can’t wait to get a BBQ! EVERYTHING will be bbqed when we get a BBQ. We just need to find the perfect BBQ. Any suggestions? I was thinking about looking for a hybrid gas + charcoal, so that we have the option of both/either if we want – has anyone ever had any experience with a hybrid before?

Day 72 – Cruise PV

Morning weigh in: 95.0kgs

Daily GAIN: 0.6kgs / 1.32lbs
Total loss: 4.9kgs /10.78lbs

Watercheck: 2.3l

Breakfast

• mug of coffee
• oatbran porridge with sweetener

Lunch

• Chicken salad

Dinner

• More chicken salad

Exercise

• 40 mins cycling to and from work – to work with a fierce headwind, and from work with a glorious tailwind.

GRRR! Up again, that makes me irritated. Though I think that Sandi and I have agreed that there’s a temporary glitch in the laws of physics which have made it so that gravity is a bit heavier today – we were both up on our respective scales.

I’m politely ignoring this glitch though. It did, however, force me back on my bike because a) biking is easier than walking on this gimp leg and b) almost £20 round trip for a taxi to and from work is too wasteful to contemplate. Hopefully the added exercise will provide results on the scales in the morning.

Day 69 – Cruise PV

Morning weigh in: 94.9kgs

Daily LOSS: 1kgs / 2.2lbs
Total loss: 5kgs /11lbs

Watercheck: 1.6l

Brunch

• 2x mugs of coffee
• 3 low carb sausages
• scrambled eggs
• 3 grilled tomatoes (fresh from the greenhouse!)
• 2 lean bacon medallions, grilled

Dinner

• grilled chicken breast with Nandos Portugese BBQ marinade

Exercise

• Lots of up and down stairs in my house, building flat-pack furniture.

Not much to report today, save for a “HELL YEAH”!  The loss continues. I am pleased. 🙂 I’m going skating tomorrow, so there’s some good exercise in the bag. Though I fear that, given I’ve not skated in a month, my muscles are going to take a beating, which generally means that they’ll be retaining water tomorrow morning as they heal. Och well. I’ve totally missed skating! 🙂

Oh, one last thing – this was supposed to be a PV day, with the tomatoes at breakfast, but it just kinda didn’t work out that way. Our kitchen still isn’t really sorted out properly yet, though we’ve finally got a pantry in so we can start unpacking all the various cooking ingredients which have thus far remained in boxes scattered throughout the hall outside the kitchen. Once that pantry’s fixed to the wall, the cooking ingredients will be back in easy reach, and cooking might become easier again. Hurray!

I’ve had some requests to post photos of the new place – maybe this needs to be done Dukan-style, with before and after photos? 😉 I’ll see what I can do.

Day 49 – Cruise PV

Morning weigh in: 93.7kgs

Daily LOSS: 0.2kgs /0.44lbs
Total loss: 6.2kgs /13.64lbs

Watercheck: 1.7l – low cal cordial, tea, coffee & diet coke

Breakfast

• mug of tea
• flaxseed & oatbran bread with extra light philly and vegemite

Lunch

• Chicken tomatoey thingie made by my mum, with leftover cabbage

Dinner

• Lamb rogan josh – indian takeaway. No rice. No naan. No poppadoms. And therefore, no post-indian carb-coma, yay!

Exercise

• 3 trips of house moving across town, and all the up and down stairs involved in that
• 15 mins cycling to and from the Indian takeaway to pick up our order

Wow, the loss continues, I’m so glad! I suspect that after the indian this evening, that won’t continue tomorrow, but I tell you what, it was very much needed. It’s been another big day!

We are progressing well with the move. We’re almost at the point where we can start dismantling furniture, and the last room to be properly done is the kitchen. The rest of the rooms have been gutted and look like bomb sites – but bomb sites that will be easily cleaned up once we go through each one with a cardboard box for keepsies and a garbage bag for chucksies.

Tuesday we hire a van and a couple of helpers to help out with the big furniture. I think that’s going to be the most stressful part of the move – the van. Vans scare me (or rather, the threat of accidentally scratching a van and someone else’s car scares me) and some of the roads we have to drive down are decidedly narrow. But J will be driving as I’ve not yet sorted out swapping my Aussie driver’s licence for my British one. Heh heh heh… 😉

My folks are heading off tomorrow, which is sad. It’s been fabulous having them here – it’s not been stressful like you might expect having houseguests to stay right in the middle of a house move. I was determined that they weren’t going to lift a finger, that they were our guests, but my mum has ended up cooking for us, my dad has helped pack boxes and cart them downstairs, and both of them have been wonderful for moral support. They’ve moved house 10 times in my lifetime, three times internationally, so they’re pretty old hands at this whole house-moving malarkey. Plus, my mum cooks a mean low-carb feast – and they’re both on board with the low carb thing. In fact, my dad did Atkins a few years ago and basically cured his diabetes. So it’s actually been really easy having them with us. Yay for non-stressful parental visits! 🙂

Day 47 – Cruise PV

Morning weigh in: 94.3kgs

Daily LOSS: 0.5kgs /1.1lbs
Total loss: 5.6kgs /12.32lbs

Watercheck: 0.9l – tea, sugarfree cordial

Brunch

• mug of tea
• flaxseed & oatbran bread with extra light philly and vegemite

Late lunch

• Chicken nuggety bits
• Cumberland sausages
• Carrot and celery sticks with low-fat dip

Exercise

• Nuthin’

We got the keys for the new house today! Busy day! My parents were with us, and we all had a glass of champagne in the back garden, with a chicken & sausage picnic.  Twas lovely.

My folks bought us the most incredible microwave oven as a flat-warming gift – it does convection heat, a grill AND a microwave – like a Tri-Vection oven from 30 Rock. I can’t wait to see what I can cook in that! 😉

And now the work begins. We’re going to try and ferry a few car loads of stuff over to the new house over the weekend and Monday, and we’re hiring a big Luton van on Tuesday for all the big stuff. I’m exhausted just at the thought of it, but very excited!

We also met our new next-door neighbour (and his dog – Link’s gonna love that) and he seemed lovely, so that’s nice. 🙂

Oh, and yay – check out the whoosh on the scales!

Day 43 – Cruise PV

Morning weigh in: 94.8kgs

Daily LOSS: 0.1kgs /0.22lbs
Total loss: 5.1kgs /11.220lbs

Watercheck: 4.0l – tea, coffee and low-cal cordial

Breakfast

• mugs of tea
• flaxseed & oatbran bread with extra light philly and vegemite
• 3x microwaved eggs

Lunch

• 6 gluten free sausages

Dinner

• Chicken salad

Exercise

• 32 mins walking around the Meadows
• 43 squats

I drank SO much liquid today! FOUR litres. I was thirsty. And I know I’ll see some of that staying with me in the morning (and publishing this post the next day – I was right, I was way up on the scales this morning.)

Aside from that, another near-perfect PV day. More packing. A little interview prep. And tidying up for my parents arrival Tuesday night.

Did I mention already that it’s going to be a big week? 😉

Day 41 – Cruise PV

Morning weigh in: 95.4kgs

Daily LOSS: 0.5kgs /1.1lbs
Total loss: 4.5kgs /9.9lbs

Watercheck: 1.8l – tea, low-cal cordial (with a little bacardi)

Brunch

• Mug of tea
• half a flaxseed & oatbran bread portion
• 2 gluten free sausages
• scrambled eggs

Dinner

• Cauliflower “cous cous” with chicken, broccoli and onion
• Fat free fromage frais with sweetener and cocoa

Exercise

• 20 mins walking
• Lots and lots of box packing
• 41 squats

I feel like I’m finally almost back on track to where I was this time last week, before I got the Lurgie. My goal for this week is to solidly break through into the 94s and not bounce back up again. I’d really like to see the 93s before this time next week.

Today was an incredibly productive day – J and I managed to sort out a whole lot of house packing. I had another almost perfect day – aside from the bacardi in my low-cal cordial, that I drank with dinner and Doctor Who.

A couple of friends came round for Doctor Who, and they brought cheese & crackers, crisps, and some naughty toffee rice crispy slice. I felt so virtuous, I just had my fromage frais and did my best to ignore it. Moonday’s Philosophy was again incredibly useful – I really don’t regret not having eaten any of the Bad Things. Thanks again Moonday! 🙂

Also, J and I agreed that the “cauliflower rice” recipe that I’ve tried a few times now, more closely resembles cous cous than rice – aside from the fact that it needs to be cooked for a LOT longer than cous cous. It’s definitely a winner – just don’t add too much soy sauce or it’ll end up being far too salty. Also, have this with a pint of liquid and you’ll be full for a loooong time – I read somewhere that cauliflower absorbs water like nobody’s business, and it sure felt that way at dinner.

Day 39 – Cruise PV

Morning weigh in: 95.6kgs

Total loss: 4.3kgs /9.46lbs

Watercheck: 1.5l – low cal cordial. Not including the glass of red with dinner. How very non-Dukan of me…

Breakfast

• Mug of tea
• Oatbran & Flaxseed bread with extra light philly and vegemite

Lunch

• 2 burger patties
• 4 low-carb cumberland sausages

Afternoon snack

• *sigh* 3 Oreo biscuits. Dammit.

Dinner

• Chicken salad

Exercise

• 20 mins cycling to and from work
• 39 squats (all in one go!)

OK, so I didn’t manage my walk today. And I ate some processed sugar, in the form of some oreo cookies. I’m not proud of myself for that. Take heed, friends. The moment you allow processed sugar back into your life, your body tells you it’s just fine to have more, no matter what your brain tells you. Employ Moonday’s Philosophy liberally. Tomorrow I shall be doing the same. 🙂

But I did have a very productive evening. We get the keys to our new house in just 8 sleeps – SO EXCITING! So this evening was spent boxing up random stuff. J managed to procure some boxes on his way home from work yesterday from our local wholefoods store (who seem more willing than other businesses to donate boxes, especially if you use the magic word – “recycle”). So we packed boxes. We also protected boxes from the cat, who has a penchant for gnawing on the edges of the flaps. It wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that he tends to chew them to the point where they’re corrugated beyond usefulness – they tend to fall apart once he’s done with them.

I’m feeling positive about the future, job-wise. There are a few options on the horizon that are looking really exciting, so keep your fingers crossed for me over the next week or two. 🙂

For those lovely Dukaners who’ve got blogs on the go – I’m sorry I’ve not stopped by to comment recently, but I’ve been reading! You all seem to be doing so well, and I shall follow your excellent examples, and eschew the processed sugar in favour of Ketosis.

Day 31 – Cruise PV

Morning weigh in: 95.4kgs

Daily GAIN: 0.2kgs /0.44lbs
Total loss: 4.5kgs /9.9lbs

Watercheck: 0.9l – tea, coffee and low-cal cordial – nowhere near enough water today

Breakfast

• Mug of tea
• Cheese & ham omelette

Lunch

• Chicken salad

Afternoon snack

• fromage frais with cocoa and sweetener
• 2 carrot cake muffins
• The cheese and ham fillings of a few sandwiches at a work event

Dinner

• Chicken salad

Exercise

• 20 mins cycling to and from work
• 31 squats

Not enough water today. Up on the scales. No walk. Not a great day really.

However, my lady-times are fast approaching, so I think it’s about time to ignore the scales for a week or so. I’ll still do my weigh-in for scientific purposes, but I won’t be upset by what I report.

I had a work event this evening which went until after dark, so I didn’t get my walk in. I’m going to have to get over that when the winter properly comes – I mustn’t stop the walking like I did last winter. But at least the difference will be that I’ll be cycling 4 times further every day once we move house – that should help balance things out a bit.

I need to make one more comment today, about what we shall all henceforth know as Moonday’s Philosophy. In one of her comments on this blog, she was talking about self control. She said that she never regrets not having eaten something bad, after having resisted it. She never looks back and says “gee, I really should have eaten that cookie/icecream/crisps/pizza.” But by the same token, she finds (as we all do!) that we look back with regret on the things that we DID eat that we maybe shouldn’t have.

So when faced with the choice of eating the cookie or not eating the cookie, she asks, “will I regret not eating this cookie?” – not “will I regret eating this cookie?” This is super-powerful – instead of dwelling on the negative of having future-regret for present action, she dwells on the positive effect of present action. It’s also more powerful than “will I feel good about myself for having resisted?” because that kinda implies a lost opportunity. I find lost opportunities to binge eat really frustrating, if I’m honest. At least, I do at the time. But after the fact, I don’t regret having not binged, if that makes sense.

Thank you Moonday! Your philosophy made resisting the incredible looking brownies at this evening’s work event that much easier. 🙂

Day 29 – Cruise PV

Morning weigh in: 95.6kgs

Daily GAIN: 0.2kgs /0.44lbs
Total loss: 4.3kgs /9.46lbs

Watercheck:  2.1l – tea, coffee, low cal cordial & water

Breakfast

• Mug of tea
• 3 microwaved eggs
• Oatbran porridge with cinnamon

Lunch

• Chicken salad

Afternoon snack

• 3x Carrot cake muffins (I may have overshot my oatbran allowance for the day)

Dinner

• Chicken salad again!!

Exercise

• 20 min cycle to and from work
• 30 min walk around the Meadows
• 29 squats
• 10 lunges each leg

A Very Good Day. Well, aside from the muffins and their excess oatbran index. Not to worry – aside from that I was a veritable angel all day.

I’ve been working on my CV all evening, so no time for nattering on the blog, I’m afraid. Up on the scales, but no biggie – I’m always up on a Monday, due to the early-ness of the weigh-in compared to the day before. I’m still down a kilo from where I was this time last week, so you’ll hear no complains from me.

Off to bed with me now… 🙂