Three month review

I've tracked my weight and measurements on the first of the quarter, on and off, since the nineties. Some years I skipped it altogether, others I managed every six months instead of every three, but on my computer there's a file tracking my dimensions for the past decade and a half. At the top of a series of tables is a summary: my highest and lowest weights and measurements.
The lowest weight is from 1991, when I did the now-defunct NutriSystem program - they supplied a week's worth of (predominantly synthetic or canned) food and conducted weekly weigh-ins. Having a history of an eating disorder was a warning flag that meant they needed to consult a physician before signing someone up, but that slowed down the sale not at all. It should have - I lost maybe 8 kilos in about seven weeks, but relapsed into the bulimic behaviour that characterised parts of my adolescence. My initial weight gain (some 30k in the time between leaving high school and dropping out of uni) is at least partly attributable to stopping the purging but keeping the binging. Fortunately I decided I'd rather be fat and relatively healthy than thin and regurgitating.
My heaviest weight was three months ago today.
I'd already decided to start Lite'n'Easy, the latest in a long line of short-lived life changing resolutions; seeing 118.2 on the scales did help a bit with the impetus. Having food automatically delivered every week has been a big part in sticking to it - I've fluctuated with my compliance on the exercise front, but stuck to the calories very well.
And it's paid off - though I'm sure my progress would be faster if I walked more consistently, and had more days beginning with a workout instead of half an hour (that inevitably stretches) online or with a book, the weigh is still coming off. That, of course, encourages me to continue. In thirteen weeks I've lost a shade under a kilo a week, or 12.2k to date, which is no bad thing. I'm trying to focus on that, and the smaller vital statistics, rather than the very long road ahead, not always successfully.
There are many things I've so far enjoyed about Lite'n'Easy - the food is varied, filling, tasty, nutritious and convenient. the two most useful aspects from a weight-loss perspective, though, are that everything's portion controlled (a serving of corn chips is a lot smaller than my usual consumption!), and the delegation of decision making. The only time I make any decisions about eating is when I place an order, and even then the choices are limited - though I have a wide selection of dinners to pick from, when it comes to lunches I can pick either the popular (default) meal or the optional (usually less interesting) alternative. That's it.
As I'll explain tomorrow, I've reconsidered my original plan because of that aspect. Instead of a three month lifestyle change kicked off with three months of Lite'n'Easy, followed by the Real Age weight loss program, prioritising my long-term health, I'm sticking with what's working for now. I need to put back the exercise, too, and that's coming. But for now, looking back, I'm going to focus on the fact that I've been sensible, that I've lost a hair over 10% of my starting weight in three months, that I'm eating two servings of fruit and at least five of vegetables every day, and that I'm stronger and have more stamina than I've had in a long time. - Alex

Week 13 - day 7 (day 90)

Though there's be a long gap between entries, I haven't (entirely) fallen off the lifestyle-change wagon. I think I've pretty much got the eating part down pat, but the exercise aspect is proving considerably easier to stop and vastly harder to restart, with the unhappy result that I've barely done anything more energetic than an amble in the past month or so. And I know this is a recurring theme, but I'm three months in and don't seem to be doing any better. On the other hand, and I think focusing on how well I'm doing as well as where I need to improve is helpfully, I'm around 8k down; though I'd rather be averaging over a kilo a week instead of just over half that, the goal is that I'm losing, consistently, at an achievable pace, and I'm track with those objectives. - Alex

Sally Symonds: 50 steps to lose 50kg and keep it off

From the back of the book-

In 2002, Sally Symonds was a professional success but a personal failure. Weighing in at 106.5kg and wearing size 24, Sally devised her own easy but highly effective way to lose weight that saw her drop a staggering 45kg in 33 weeks. Unlike many others, Sally not only kept the weight off, she lost even more.
This book follows the step-by-step approach she adopted to transform herself from a food-loving, exercise-loathing workaholic to the happy, healthy and (mostly!) wholesome person she is today.
Refreshingly honest, Sally’s mixture of creative yet practical strategies show you fun and worry-free ways to efficient and effective weight loss.
This book is what everyone needs to follow in Sally’s footsteps.

I’ve been feeling a little unmotivated of late (somewhat of an understatement there), so when I saw this book in my local library I borrowed it hoping to find inspiration. After all, it’s subtitled The inspirational story of how one woman halved her weight and doubled her life.
Unlike many weight loss stories this one isn’t pimping any particular program. In fact, one of the things that attracted me to the book was the author’s statement that, to paraphrase, she hadn’t included a lot of food and exercise information because most serial dieters already know that stuff. I also shared her frustration at the lack of stories from people who are confident and successful in other aspects of their lives but simply couldn’t lose weight. In short I thought I’d finally found a story I could relate to.
That is until page two where she admits to having a 250g chocolate block a day habit. And there she lost me. If anyone goes from eating that much chocolate a day to none at all of course they’ll lose weight, even if they do nothing else at all. That is not to say that she didn’t overhaul her entire lifestyle, because according to her book she did.
Still this wasn’t going to be the book I had hoped for. You know, one for those of us that have a mostly healthy diet and exercise regularly and still struggle to lose or maintain weight.
Much of what she says we’ve all heard before (and on a personal note I’ve done in the past or currently do). So unless you’re taking your first steps there’s nothing new here.
I can’t say that I didn’t get anything from this book but it was more of a refresher course than anything else. Like so many mothers I don’t have the luxury of being able to put myself first but it seems, from this and other stories, that the only way to succeed with weight loss is to make it your top priority.
It’s an attitude (and attendant behaviour) I have to consider very seriously before I apply it.-Lynn

Week 9, day 6 (day 62)

Dinner tonight was my first run at quite tasty sausages and gravy, with peas, corn, cauliflower and mashed potatoes with gravy - the flavour and texture were pleasant, and I've ordered another meal for next week. The rest of the food today was fine, though I had only part of the Mediterranean-style snack pasta.I retired for the evening with a mug of hot milk with cinnamon and vanilla, which was comforting and helped me get off to sleep.

I've been having a little trouble sleeping lately, though I'm not sure why - I don't feel particularly stressed, and I've been doing regular exercise, but I'm tossing, turning, and waking up unrefreshed. I know insufficient sleep increases my likelihood of eating extras, and reduces my inclination to get up and exercise, but somehow this knowledge does nothing to dismiss my (hopefully temporary) flirtation with insomnia. - Alex

Week 9, day 5 (day 61)

Dinner tonight was sweet and sour chicken with not-fried rice - it was quite pleasant, and I think I'll have it every few weeks from now on. I wasn't great on the exercise front, in part because I haven't been prioritising sleep; I had an abbreviated walk instead, and only took a couple of flights to work. - Alex

Week 9, day 4 (day 60)

Tonight I tried the seafood pasta dinner for the first time - it combines fettuccine with salmon and asparagus. Though I like all these ingredients, it was a little disappointing, mostly because the asparagus was (after the initial cooking and then microwave reheating) a little un-crisp. It was fine, just not something I think I'll be ordering every week.
I ended the evening with a low calorie but comforting mug of hot milk with honey, cinnamon, and vanilla essence.
I had a very good exercise day, too - I did the Michelle Bridges Tight, toned and terrific DVD that I see I haven't reviewed yet, and managed to complete it. I walked for half an hour, including the Killer Hill, and then took the seven flights of stairs to work. I just need to keep this up and I'll be golden! - Alex

Week 9 - day 2 (day 58)

Once again I didn't sleep well, but at least my scant four hours were in the morning, so I should be awake but not exactly crisp overnight.
I had the chicken schnitzel for dinner, around 3AM - this was my first sampling of this dish, and I quite enjoyed it. The tomato concasée was flavourful but not dominant, and the chicken was really tender.
Breakfast was vanilla crunch cereal with low-fat milk and an apple. It was also supposed to be two slices of grain and oat bread with margarine and Vegemite but, though I decided to follow the program to the letter, I think transfats are bad. Instead I had one of the slices with my post-stroll fettuccine bolognaise, reserving the extra sachet of cheese and later toasting that, with a little basil, on the second piece of bread. The other snacks were a slightly dry citrus sultana biscuit washed down with milk (to bring me up to the daily quota) and a chocolate muesli bar.
Lunch was new, Greek meatballs with Roma tomato and fetta salad. The meatballs I've had before - they're juicy and full of flavour, and though there were only two that was plenty. The salad was predominantly legumes, a combination of chick peas and lentils (which I've chosen to count in the vegie tally below). It was filling and quite pleasant, and certainly a change from the frozen bowls of rice, pasta etc.
I did the CardioWalk workout, which wasn't as exhausting as yesterday's killer circuit but which I had a little trouble keeping up with. I think this was partly because my muscles are a little fatigued, and partly because it was really humid today - warm, with a near-constant drizzle interspersed with outright rain.
I went for a walk in the rain, and voted in the state election. There was no queue, so I only stopped moving long enough to number the boxes. I popped in to the supermarket on my way home, and bought truss tomatoes (once I smelled them I couldn't face the bland ones provided, and will take them in to work instead) and basil.
I also bought a dozen Cadbury 40-60g chocolate bars, which were on sale at less than half price. I'll mail a couple to my sister overseas, where they don't have Snack; the rest I'll keep for when I modify my diet. In the past I've bought bigger blocks because they're cheaper per gram than the smaller varieties, but over the course of a day or two I'd nibble away the whole thing. This way I'll have recourse to a small treat every now and then, without eating an entire days' calories.
I intended walking the Horror Hill and the twenty 'cool down' (or 'try not to look I-spent-a-day-at-Kooyong-and-forgot-my-sun-screen scarlet') walk from there to work. I was also going to take the stairs. But I took a nap, and bed was too lovely to leave after only 80 minutes, and it was raining. So no extra walk, hill or stairs, today. - Alex

Fruit: apple, kiwi, sultanas, citrus peel
Vegetables: green beans, carrots, celery, chick peas, corn, cucumber, lentils, onion, sweet potato, tomato, tomato puree
Energy: 1713 calories
Fibre: 38.5g
Exercise:40 minutes CardioWalk DVD, 2 x 30 minutes walking on flat surface, 5 minutes walking uphill, 5 minutes of stair climbing, 20 minutes of hand weights

Week 9 - day 1 (day 57)

So it's day one, which hasn't gone off quite like I planned, because I've been awake since 4AM, which isn't really compatible with safe working overnight, and I rang in sick. Which doesn't fit in with the picture I had.
That aside, however, the first day of my week of eating and exercising optimally has gone well. The first days' food is usually pretty good, and this week was no exception - Bircher muesli and a multigrain muffin with margarine and Vegemite for breakfast, a salad topped with Thai-inspired beef strips and an apple for lunch, snacks of cheese and crackers, peach fruit cup, light fruit cake, and an Asian rice bowl (rice, chicken and vegetables).
More usefully, I tried the third of Australian Biggest Loser trainers Shannan Ponton and Michelle Bridges' work out DVDs, Calorie Killer Circuit. There's a more detailed review here, written after my second experience doing it.
Today was my first time working out to this intensive combination of circuit and pyramid (or ladder) training. It was also a fairly warm day, and between the two I was a fiery red of face, huffing, and damp everywhere I didn't have beads of sweat actively rolling south. I also kept up, though I couldn't quite manage every pushup or sit up.
It might only have been 50 minutes but, combined with three ten minute walks I got over the hourly minimum exercise requirement and felt quite chuffed for the rest of the day.
I noticed that the calorie count for today was higher than 1,800; given that the dinners aren't identical in energy content, with the current options ranging from 317 (steak with creamy mushroom sauce) to 481 (chicken with satay sauce), and the need to offer options, I imagine it evens out to an average of 1,800 per day over the week. And since reading Winning by Losing earlier this year, I think that's probably a good thing. This is the first time I've thought about it, though, so tracking calories this week will be an interesting exercise. - Alex

Fruit: apple, dried apricots, stewed peaches, sultanas
Vegetables: broccoli, capsicum (green and red), carrots, champignons, corn, coriander, ginger, green beans, potato wedges
Energy: 1,975 calories
Fibre: 33g
Exercise: 50 minutes circuit/pyramid training DVD, 3 x 10 minutes moderate intensity walking (flat surface)

Day 56/weigh in

I knew it had been a while since my last update, but didn't realise it had been just under a month. So it's been 8 weeks, and I've lost 7.7kilos from my starting weight, which is a reasonable kilos per week average (though a little disappointing for those of us accustomed to Biggest Loser numbers). It doesn't help that I've been exercising only sporadically, and being a little more liberal in my diet than I ought.
I added the breakfasts a couple of weeks ago, to give them a try, which means I now get two eskies delivered a week! There are a few variations on a theme, including a weekly eggs and bacon treat (which I've passed on, suspecting the eggs aren't free range) and a ham, cheese & tomato sandwich one morning. Generally, though, the breakfasts involve a 30g serving of cereal (which is not a lot, and makes me realise how more generous my routine Weetbix and muesli bowl was), plus a piece or two of multigrain toast, often with Vegemite but no spread, and fruit.
Today marks the beginning of a seven night stretch at work, and I'm throwing myself into the program properly, to see what I can do when I apply myself. The disadvantage of nights is that there's very little time to do much except eat, sleep and work - I leave at 8PM, start work at 9, finish sometimes between 7:30 and 8AM, and arrive home between 8 and 9.
The advantage is that a long stretch can help you stick to a regular and uninterrupted routine. This week, that means only eating the provided Lite'n'Easy food (including, sadly, their anemic tomatoes, which are at least ripening in the fruit bowl instead of loitering palely in the fridge). It also means drinking a pot of green tea when I go out for breakfast over the weekend with my mother, and having the provided fruit muesli, spreadless Vegemite toast and dried apricots when I get home.
I will also be doing between one and two hours of exercise each day, a combination of DVD workouts (bellydancing, cardiowalk, Biggest Loser and circuit programs) and walking. There's a monster hill on the way to work that's 500 steps (I'm a compulsive counter, especially when walking); I take a hundred steps a minute, and that's rough five minute climb that I'm sure counts as interval training, as indicated by my 50 breaths per minute toward the end! I cool down a little on the remaining walk in, for a total of around half an hour of walking, and ramp it up again by climbing stairs to my floor - all 168 of them. Instead of only doing this every now and again, this week I'll do the walk every night, with a potential caveat for heavy rain.
I'm also going to prioritise sleep over reading and TV, and make a more concerted effort to drink more water - a glass an hour at work, plus one on rising, one on arriving at work, one on getting home, and one just before sleeping, will total 3.5L.
Finally, I realise I haven't mentioned anywhere that I suspected I was anemic, and the week I began Lite'n'Easy I started taking an iron supplement, plus 1g of vitamin C (to aid iron absorption) every day with breakfast - I feel so much more energetic and am markedly less breathless on exertion, which I think has far more to do with this than to a sudden increase in aerobic fitness. It does certainly make me feel happier about exercising, and healthier in general, though perhaps I should have had a proper check up first. And now, on to the week of focus! - Alex

Calorie Killer Circuit - Shannan Ponton & Michelle Bridges (2008)

Cover blurb:

Get ready for a whole new dimension with the efficient and effective The Biggest Loser Calorie Killer Circuit DVD.
Australia's much loved trainers, Shannan Ponton and Michelle Bridges, guide you through a seriously fun calorie-burning workout that's sure to get you moving and into shape! Specially designed with fat burning and strength conditioning in mind, you'll push your body to the limit - it's perfect if you're really serious about getting into your best shape ever and really driving your weight loss into turbo mode!

Review: Australian Biggest Loser trainers Shannan Ponton and Michelle Bridges lead a 50 minute program that focuses on quick changes and circuit work. After a four minute warm up is a ten by one minute circuit section - each exercise is demonstrated in advance,

The third in the Australian Biggest Loser series, Calorie Killer reminded me a little of Michelle's circuit training DVD; the focus is on reps within a set time period, in this c

What I liked: I'm discovering circuit training suits me - knowing that I've only got to do x number of reps or continue the exercise for x amount of time makes it easier for me to commit to it and work hard, instead of holding back because I don't know how much reserve I need to keep.

There's a nice emphasis on technique, particularly with the standing leg work, and the trainers mention several times that it's important to keep going and lower the intensity if necessary, rather than just stopping.

One of the participants consistently performs low-impact versions throughout the program, and this is frequently pointed out - I didn't buy that it was because she had a sore ankle, though, and don't know why they'd bother pretending this was the case rather than stating they'd included a lower impact alternative for beginners or viewers with mobility issues.

What could have been improved: there's very little notice of what's coming up next, particularly once the program moved out of the circuit section.

Overall: I quite enjoyed the workout, and think I'll be better at it after a few repetitions, once I'm familiar with the program. - Alex

Day 29/weigh in

I haven't been as adherent to the program in the last week, so I'm not hugely surprised, though I am disappointed, to have gained 0.4k. My total loss to date is 4.8k in four weeks, which is okay and realistic at this point. I'm going to weigh in again on Monday, as it's the 1st on the month, and hopefully I'll at least be back to last week's weight, particularly as I've started to exercise.
Today was the first night back at work for the week, whcih is always a little difficult to coordinate on the eating front. I had dinner (steak with mushrooms) before going to bed at around 5AM; I initially woke at 11AM, which is entirely too early, so I read for a bit and went back to sleep, waking again just before 5PM. I did the belly dancing DVD I reviewed yesterday - this time I was a little less fluid and coordinated with some movements but better in others - and after a shower had a very delicious Thai chicken salad with crunchy noodles.
Just before leaving for work, and still rather replete from the salad, I had my usual breakfast of weetbix and muesli with milk, topped with stewed fruit. When I got to work I had a mediterranian vegetable pasta with meatballs, followed by what was supposed to be forest fruit yoghurt but was sadly vanilla, which wans't too bad accompanied by Black Forest pears. And then I rolled out of the tearoom to start work!
My goals for the week ahead are:
1. drink more water, soemthing I still forget to do
2. incorporate exercise every day
3. no litle extras, even if eating out

Today's tallies -
Exercise: belly dancing DVD
Fruit rhubarb, raspberries, pears
Vegetables: mesclun salad mix, cucmber, raw carrot, cooked carrot, cherry tomatoes, semi-dried tomatoes, cooked tomatoes, onions, red onions, capsicum, zucchini, eggplant, red onion, garlic, green beans, potato wedges, mushrooms (in sauce)

Amira’s Bellydance 101 (2008)

From the blurb:

Radiate your feminine beauty and discover fitness and fun through bellydance!
Discover the joy, energy, and passion of a dance that’s uniquely yours with this beginner’s DVD. Whatever your age, size, shape or experience! Amira’s Bellydance 101 unveils the mesmerizing beauty and art of Middle Eastern dance and empowers you to Celebrate Your Womanhood!…
Learn to love and move your body with grace and confidence. Nurture yourself with safe & gentle warm-ups and stretches. Practice 60 minutes of step-by-step instructions with Amira.

Review: I saw this DVD on a display at the library, and borrowed it on a whim more than anything else. I didn’t read the back blurb at the time, and probably would have been put off by the emphasis on female sensuality that is evident from the cited copy, and which continues on the disc – the first couple of minutes consist of a sequence of still photos of various women in belly dancing outfits, with a voice over by Amira extolling the history, culture and female energy of the dance form. This style continues throughout the DVD – a voiceover describing the routines, over a woman (possibly Amira) demonstrating them in an Arabian styled space.
The key to belly dancing is isolated movement, so that an accomplished dancer can both move one part of her body while the rest of her body is motionless, or move different parts in unrelated patterns. This is exemplified in the image that immediately springs to my mind when I think of belly dancing – hips undulating in a figure eight contrasting with still torso and shoulders.
The DVD opens with stretches, and from then on is therefore divided into anatomical categories – torso, arms, hips. Each section begins with a reminder about neutral body posture (shoulders back and down, pelvis tilted under and forward, knees soft) and breaks down a movement into component parts. The first movement Amira discusses and demonstrates, for example, is to undulate your head from side to side along a single plane, without moving your shoulders or neck; she makes it look effortless and mesmerising, After attempting it several times, I was relieved when she then offered another element to assist practicing; I suspect, however, that I won’t be mastering the technique soon.
After breaking down the move it’s sped up and repeated, before another segment is broken down. Throughout the narration is reassuring about viewers going at their pace, reiterating that many of the moves appear simple but take practice and discipline to master. I particularly liked the instruction to respect and honour the limitations of our bodies, an affirming contrast to most exercise instructors’ exhortations to dominate our bodies. At one point, when I felt my upper arms and shoulders fatiguing, she remarked that sore shoulders at this point indicated that the posture was being performed correctly, which was reassuring.<
After entirely too long without doing any real exercise, and spending far too much time watching TV online in bed, my back and hips have become very stiff and quite painful. The less I do the worse it is, but despite knowing that, I’ve been finding it difficult to get up and moving unless I have to be somewhere (like work).
Within a couple of minutes of starting the warm up stretches I could feel the tension easing and the pain dissipating, and though very much a novice I was pleased and surprised by how many motions I feel comfortable with already. Others, particularly the coordination of simultaneous snake arms and reverse body rolls, are going to take a lot more practice before I feel any degree of confidence.
Unlike every other dance DVD I’ve tried, Amira’s Bellydance 101 felt natural and achievable, as though I was working with my body instead of against it. Though there were moves I could only attempt, and though I know I have a very long way to go, I felt inspired and invigorated, rather than frustrated and disheartened. I have no doubt that advanced practitioners work up a sweat and exert themselves; this wasn’t anything like a workout, but that isn’t the aim. Instead it’s about reconnecting with your body, feeling better after you’re finished than you did when you began, and mastering the building blocks of an ancient art form. I thoroughly enjoyed the DVD, and intend doing it again several times in the next week or so, with an eye to buying it or something similar. - Alex

Day 27

Lunch today was a pasta bake with broccoli and chicken that was pleasant, followed (the way I structured my meal, anyway) by a raspberry and apple crumble. It was a fairly fruit-heavy day all up, with a raw apple too, a fruit bun, and an apricot muesli bar. I also had my first experience of a “crunchy noodle snack” – a foil pack of a blend of crunchy noodles, say nuts and some kind of crispy wafery thing that was satisfying.
I was going to go out again for dinner tonight, but it was fortunately rescheduled. I say ‘fortunately’ because I’ve somehow ended up with far more dinners than I expected, given that I’ve only had three nights where I ate a non-Lite’n’Easy meal. I went for the sausages and mash option instead, and was pleasantly surprised – the three sausages weren’t massive but they were juicy and full of flavour, tasting as though there was far more meat than filler. The gravy was rich and not as sweet as I’ve found some of the sauces so far, and the vegetables were moist yet crisp.
Tomorrow marks my fourth week of Lite’n’Easy, and so far I’m still enjoying it. Though there are some dishes that recur across the weeks, there’s enough variety and taste to keep it all interesting. Even with that I think I’m eating more widely than I had been on my own, as well as re-educating myself about appropriate portion sizes. There’s a nice balance between sweet and savoury selections, and between meals and snacks, and though I’d like a little more salad, I understand why the fresh vegetable dishes only appear on the first three days of each week; it also makes those days something to look forward to. Now I just need to get up and moving. - Alex

Day 26

Yesterday wasn’t particularly interesting, just too filled with life for an entry.
Lunch was quite exciting today – a hamburger with beetroot relish and a sliced tomato (the provided version substituted with a truss tomato from IGA) that was significantly smaller than anything you’d buy from a shop but bursting with flavour.
My snack was a vegetable frittata, more filling than exciting but not bad, and the oft-recurring fruit and nut mix; my additional snack was a fruit muffin with jam. I was also supposed to have some dried apricots, but the snack pack didn’t make it into the delivery this week – so far I think there have been one or two items missing every week, which is irritating but not enough to have me leave the program.
Unfortunately I more than made up for it by continuing yesterday's chocaholia, dipping into the dark chocolate several times while reading in bed - this encompasses three of my least good habits: mindless snacking, eating when reading, and staying in bed instead of getting up as soon as I wake.
The non-program eating was compounded by a family dinner. One of my cousins moved to Melbourne a couple of years ago – it was her elder daughter’s ninth birthday, and her father’s seventieth a few days early. We ate at a contemporary Australian restaurant in one of Melbourne’s more expensive suburbs, and though many items on the menu sounded tempting, I chose an entrée of that most present of vegetarian options, a caramelised onion tart with goat’s cheese, on this occasion accented with “a bacon crisp” (or, to you and me, a small and crispy strip of bacon). The dish was smaller than I expected, which is no bad thing, and was de-constructed, which was interesting – the tart was more like a disk of crisp pastry topped by caramelised onions and green salad, with a round slice of goat’s cheese alongside, accompanied by a pot of Béarnaise sauce in a tiny jug. I’m not a fan of goat’s cheese, which I tend to find overpowering on its own, but this was delicious. The tart was complex and buttery, its richness cut by the salad; I passed on the sauce altogether, but did have a couple of (fortunately slightly overcooked) French fires. I also had just under half of the chocolate birthday cake, and all of the very decadent vanilla ice cream.
And I had something of a workout, taking the two younger children outside, where they jumped off benches to be caught, swing in the air, twirled around, turned upside down and hunted for, and lifted into the air. It was fun all round, but I had to take a couple of breaks. It will be interesting to see how I do next time, when they’ll be heavier but I will hopefully be stronger. – Alex

Day 24

The food for today was predominantly comprised of dishes I’ve had before, and predominantly frozen given that it’s the fourth day of the week, but very filling – roast chicken linguine, shepherds pie, a baked vegetable patty with sweet chilli sauce, the always-tasty ricotta spinach cake, a slice of walnut and date cake, and a fruit cup.
Tucked into everything are vegetables – the sultana tea cake coming up in a couple of days has sweet potato as its primary ingredient – which may explain a) how so much food can be included for the calorie count and b) why it’s mostly so filling. I’m thinking that next week I might list all the vegetables I encounter each day, just for my own curiosity. Or that may just be sleep deprivation talking.
I intended to leave for home soon after the end of my shift, but instead puttered about for an hour, then spoke with a colleague for another hour; I was still in her office when another colleague popped by inviting her to join him for tea, and I managed to spend another two hours in the tea room before finally wending my way home. By that stage, of course, I wasn’t interested in walking and so another exercise opportunity was avoided thanks to procrastination.
Worse, sleep deprivation impairs my decision making ability and lowers my resistance, which means I hoed into the big container of dark chocolate callettes I have for baking. I'm not sure how much I had, but sucpect if was somewhere between 100g and 200g; even though darl chocolate's high in antioxidants it is better in moderation, and not at all on my plan. - Alex

Day 23

Today’s selections were quite delicious, and I’m really coming to look forward to the more inspiring first half of the week. I had a wrap spread with a generous serving of cucumber raita, filled with salad and three small but filling and tasty Greek meatballs. There was also a muffin made with whole kernels of corn, and a baked potato bolognaise accompanied by a small roll. I also had my first, and hopefully last, encounter with Lite’n’Easy’s vanilla yoghurt.
Until now the yoghurts have been flavoured (passionfruit and forest berry have been the former varieties), surprisingly rich, and very edible. The vanilla? Not so much – it smelled unpleasant when I opened the lid, and the taste did nothing to appeal. As I decant my meals before going to work, I had the opportunity to substitute my own reduced fat vanilla yoghurt, topping it with a little of my perennial favourite, stewed rhubarb and raspberries.
As is usually the case on Sundays, I caught up with my mother for breakfast, and had a rather abstemious pair of poached eggs on unbuttered muffins, accompanied by a far from miserly serving of bacon. Yummy but not, I suspect, falling within my calorie restriction. - Alex

Day 22/weigh in

I've had a smaller loss, this week, of 800g, bringing my total weight loss to 5.2k in three weeks. It's a little disappointing this early and with so far to go, as I was hoping to maintain the previous rate for a few more weeks, but I haven't started to exercise yet, so I suppose it's to be expected. And I am still heading in the right direction.
My dieting friend is a day ahead of Lite'n'Easy's menu thanks to delivery areas, so I'd already had a heads up about today's lunch of warm salad with dim sims dressed with Canton sauce - half a dozen delicious little mouth-sized morsels that are now sadly another four weeks away. The rest of the day's meals were fine but not as exciting - pumpkin soup with a multigrain roll, pears in a faintly orange syrup, the first unpleasant yoghurt I've had thus far (vanilla, that tasted a little not quite right, even after I added some stewed berries), and the scrummy date and banana muffin I ravenously devoured in yesterday's waning.
For dinner I had chicken enchiladas, which had a little too much heat for my wussy super-taster tongue but were certainly filling and a bit of a change from the more usual meat and steamed veg.
Although I've been fairly diligent about not eating anything outside the provided meals (except for breakfast), there are two areas I really need to work on in the next couple of weeks - drinking enough water (particuarly at work, partly because it's busy and partly because I've fallen out of the habit) and exercise (still entirely too sedentary). I am feeling better and less breathless, but I think that's the result of three weeks of iron supplements, taken in conjuntion with vitamin C (which increases absorption). The brand I've chosen is particularly good because it's not constipating and it doesn't turn stools black. I've not lost enough weight and, more importantly, not done enough exercise to change my cardiorespiratory function, so I think my diagnosis of anemia was sound. Which now means there's one fewer excuse for avoiding the workout - my current excuse, however, is that I have to go to sleep. - Alex

Day 18

Oh dear, not a good day at all! I knew going in to work that a group of people were ordering pizza, and planned to say that I forgot and had brought my own food, the latter part of which was certainly true. But, even though my Lite'n'Easy food was both filling and tasty (I deliberately picked a very filling day, skipping ahead to the day 6 menu or hamburger with caramelised onion chutney and a tomato on a soy and linseed roll, chicken chow mein, and popcorn), I still had two slices of pizza with the girls.
That would have been less than ideal but fine, had I not lingered for a while after work and, sitting in the tea room reading, idly polished off another three slices, washed down with about 100ml of Coke, and followed that with three sweets (two pieces of caramel fudge and a piece of coconut ice I didn't even enjoy). This last part is particularly annoying, as I still had a chocoalte muesli bar and two little spicy fruit biscuits left over, along with an orange.
I think I combined mindless eating with a little sleep-deprived grazing (which is why poor sleep is associated with increased caloric consumption) and the hung-for-a-sheep-as-for-a-lamb approach. I'm also mourning the apparent death of my Tivo, but suspect I'm grasping at straws now!
In any event, instead of being thrown into a morass of dietary despair and giving up on the whole thing altogether I'm still commited to my journey and see this as a regretable but forgivable meander. In the normal course of things I'd skip dinner in lieu, but as it's my first day off work and I plan to stay up all day (I have a vast backlog of book reviews to catch up on, two overdue tax returns and a threatening amount of work to do for uni) I think that way will lie devouring of timtams. Hmm, maybe a small nap is in order. Or an early night, now I haven't got Tivo to watch. And I was so lookign forward to the premiere of "Sherlock." - Alex

Day 17

Quite a yummy dat! I had three small Thai chicken cakes with a small but ample mound of Asian slaw dressed with sweet chilli and sesame, an interesting beef and polenta bake that tasted better than it smelled, passionfruit yoghurt, a muesli cookie, and very exciting apple and custard (marred only by the unfortunate piercing of the bag in storage, causing the loss of a portion of the custard).
I went out for breakfast in my weekly maternal catch up ritual, and ordered my new standard of poached eggs on unbuttered muffins with steamed spinach. The latter's a little oversalted, and I'm thinking I may skip it next week, but it was pleasant. I popped in to the supermarket after breakfast, buying the Aldi equivalent of Weetbix and low-fat yoghurt, then wholemeal muffins (on sale!), sensitive toothpaste for my newly sad teeth, and some low-fat muesli from Coles - this is noteworthy only because I didn't even feel tempted by the donuts in the bakery section or the chocolates at the ends of the aisles.
Unfortunately I stayed in the car chatting instead of going home to bed, with the sad resulting bedtime of 1PM, undermining my resolution to get at least seven hours of sleep a day. I'm also not managing to sleep through the afternoon as well as usual, having woken almost every day this week to pee, usually quite large amounts. I suspect (and hope) this will settled down as I become more consistent with water intake and as my body realises it doesn't have to hold on to the fluid for as long.
Because I'd already had breakfast I had dinner when I awoke, choosing the roast lamb with vegetables - it wasn't bad, but I'd have preferred a thicker but less abundant gravy. I've noticed that many of the dishes are sweeter than I'd make myself which, given I've got quit the sweet tooth, is a bit of a call. All in all, though, a good day. - Alex

Day 16

Today has been fairly uneventful - I had tasty SzechwanHokkein noodles (a little heat but nothing distressing), a cup of tomato soup with a soy and linseed roll, poached two fruits, yoghurt with berries, and a slightly dry but perfectly acceptable apple and cranberry muffin. When I got home from work I had spinach and ricotta tortellini (filling, with a pleasant cheese sauce and a heap of sweet corn) then went to bed. Woot! Oh, and I was given a box of Lindor balls, of which I ate only one (and it was the dark, good for you variety) before surrendering it to the masses. Not tempted at all. - Alex

Day 15/weigh in 2

I suspected that today would be a little tricky, if only from the standpoint of getting all the food in. It’s my first shift back on nights, which means switching from day mode. Usually I stay up until around 3AM, with maybe a snack before going to bed, sleep til around midday, have breakfast when I get up, and something to eat before I leave for work. Now I have a set amount of food to eat in each 24-hour period, I think my usual pattern will change to dinner before I go to bed, breakfast on rising, something to eat mid-afternoon, and the snacks when I get to work. This will be followed by the lunch portion overnight (around 3AM), and then dinner when I get home, which is a little more than I’m used to but will work out fine.
This afternoon, however, I had a seminar to go to, which meant dinner before going to bed, breakfast on rising (around 1PM), part one of my lunch/snacks when I got to uni and the rest when I got to work. Yes, I know – fascinating. Well, the seminar (or, strictly speaking, PhD oration) certainly was, but that’s somewhat beside the point.
Day 1 of week D is certainly delicious, and very filling - I had the snack of cheesy chicken spaghetti when I got to uni, some when I got to work (a piece of delicately seasoned roast chicken sliced over a salad and wrapped in a mayonnaise-spread wrap; and a baked vegetable patty with sweet chilli sauce) when I got to work, and dessert (stewed peaches; and a reprise of week B's apple and sultana pancake!) just before midnight.
But before all of that I weighed in - though a little disappointing after my illicit post-diarrhoea weigh in the day before (dehydration may not result in an accurate picture of progress, but it does make for a gratifying one), I've lost a further 2.1K, bringing my loss thus far to 4.4k in two weeks.
I suspect that I'm not going to manage any significant exercise over the weekend, particularly as I didn't fit it in on this least rushed on days, but beginning Monday it's back on, so I can both maintain the loss and so I can build up my fitness as I de-escalate the weight. I can't see myself ever being close to the 60k or so that is recommended by BMI calculators for my height (BMI = 22), but 75k or so (BMI = 28) sounds reasonable and achievable. And my current BMI? Is north of 40, just to give you an idea of where I'm coming from.
For the record, I think BMI is a simplistic and flawed measure of health, that doesn't take frame, ethnicity or gender into account. more importantly, the divisions between categories are purely arbitrary - there are no differences between the health outcomes of a person who's BMI is 24.9 and one whose BMI is 25.1, but one is 'healthy' and the other is 'overweight.' In many cases outcomes are better for people wtih a BMI between 30 and 34 or so. for more criticism of BMI see this article, this response to another article, this article about what's wrong with the western campaign to lose weight instead of to gain fitness, and go here to read about how changing the definitions of BMI categories massively increased the number of 'overweight' Americans overnight; for a more visual representation of the arbitrary nature of BMI check out Kate Harding's BMI Project. Despite all that, my BMI isn't an inaccurate reflection of my size. - Alex

Day 14

Unfortunately, something I had yesterday tripped my intermittently sensitive gut and I had a couple of unhappy early morning liquid experiences involving pain, reactionary nausea, involuntary tears (of the liquid rather than ripping variety) and rocking on the loo, but though a little sore the next day am okay. I used my slightly delicate morning state as a reason to eschew a vigorous workout today, but went for a walk in the afternoon after my delivery arrived.

I’m quite excited about the week ahead, which seems quite salad-filled – tomorrow I’ve got a salad and chicken wrap, Saturday’s Hokkien chicken noodles is much more of a cold salad with pasta than the hot dish I pictured, and on Sunday I’ve got Thai fish cakes with Asian slaw. This is also the first week that has multiple days where no specific country or cuisine is mentioned: so far we’ve had Thai, Turkish, Tandoori, Hawaiian, Moroccan, Greek, Hoisin, Thai again, Asian (admittedly a region not a country), Vietnamese, Mediterranean (another region), Greek again, and Asian twice more.

On the downside, there’s an item missing – the multigrain muffin for Monday’s snack (with peanut butter and honey, though I think I’ll substitute jam). I thought about buying a packet of muffins and freezing them, but I’m trying to have fewer additional groceries. At the moment I’ve swapped out the soy and linseed roll from Saturday’s snack, which is meant to accompany a bowl of tomato soup. As Sunday’s a work night, and I’ll be having all the lunch and snacks together, I think I’ll be fine without it.

My rather pedestrian, Aussie breakfast today was that old standby, porridge with a handful of sultanas, topped by a fresh portion of stewed rhubarb and raspberries, sticking to the research from Real Age reporting that less variety results in a smaller intake. The theory seems to be partly based on a response to the cafeteria diet theory (that the more options one has the more one eats, thanks to the experience we’ve all had of being too full for any more of X but still having room for Y), and partly because eating out of rote rather than choosing a meal reduces our appetite. As I wrote on Tuesday (day 12), that’s one of the things I’ve found unexpected but useful with Lite’n’Easy – I have at least as much variety as I had when I was responsible for all my meals, but I don’t need to do any thinking about it apart from the five or ten minutes I spend once a week ordering the food online. Particularly now I’ve started sorting the food on arrival into frozen and refrigerator bags for each day rather than leaving them in the “day 5 – lunch, freezer” way they’re packaged. Stacking them in the freezer in order means I just have to reach in and take the closest one to me; in the fridge I line them up in a shopping bag with day 7 on the left and day 1 on the right.

It’s interesting that I’m going to some lengths to keep my Lite’n’Easy journey private or secret. Even though I live alone, I’ve been tidying up as I go so a casual, unexpected visitor won’t see any traces of Lite’n’Easy in the kitchen and, as I’ve mentioned previously, I repackage my meals before going in to work.

I remember that when I first got glasses, at the age of eight, I linked them with being fat. I’m the eldest daughter of a woman who’s had a lifetime preoccupation with weight, particularly her own, that persists even though she’s almost seventy and currently in the best shape of her life thanks to a combination of regular aerobic exercise, yoga, weight training and forgetting to eat. I know that my eating and being fat is in part a way of rebelling and exercising control, and many’s the time that, though I’ve recognised the connection, I’ve watched myself leave her after a distressing event or argument and eaten food I didn’t want without being able to stop it. For me, part of that is also maintaining a near-universal façade of being happy with my size, and to an extent that’s true – the size I am now fits the mental picture I’ve had of myself for most of my life, and even though I started this current leg of my life journey at my heaviest ever weight, I’ve still been within about 15% of it for the last twenty years. But I also have fantasies about being ‘normal’ weight, not necessarily because I think my life will transform into perfection – I know I’ll still be me – but because I have no idea what it’s like. When I was thin, in my teens, I thought I was fat, and I destroyed pretty much all the photos of myself, so I have only a handful of pictures of what I looked like then. I can’t visualise what I would like at, say, eighty kilos let alone sixty-five.

My siblings are all thin, and I really like the idea of being able to show people pictures of them without the intake of surprise and the almost required remark that they look so different – two of them are also brunettes, with similar facial structures, and as my sisters (though one a blue-eyed blonde and the other a hazel-eyed brunette) have an increasing resemblance as they progress through their thirties, I’m well aware the surprise is because they’re thin. And though I always make a light-hearted joke about it, I’d like to hear something else instead. I’d also like to see my family’s response, and I’m interested to see how our family dynamic would change. Though, as my siblings all live overseas, the dynamic’s already quite different.

Of course I’m also interested in the health side of things – I want to be fitter and stronger. But that’s really a secondary gain, along with the fact that I know I’ll seek health care more readily when I’m not concerned that my weight will be attributed to the symptoms. I don’t have any chronic health issues, and since I stopped seeing a horrible GP almost twenty years ago it hasn’t even been mentioned by a health practitioner unless I’ve brought it up, but I’ve read horror stories, and being sent off for thyroid function testing (in the absence of any symptoms of hypothyroidism) not once but three times when my presenting issues were wholly unrelated, does have an impact. I’m currently overdue for a Pap smear, breast exam and routine blood work, including the iron studies I think my recent shortness of breath warrants, because since my old GP moved to the other side of town about a decade ago I’ve only gone to multi-practitioner clinics. It’s very exposing, seeing a doctor for the first time, and while I’m happy to do it for a work certificate or to get antibiotics for a persistent chest infection (or, as embarrassingly happened a few months ago, cellulitis), I’m loath to for ongoing care. Which is ridiculous – I certainly know better, and I believe many of the poorer health care outcomes for fat people is because of this very issue. Like many people, though, I can hold two incompatible concepts in my head, which is how I can both champion size acceptance and want to be considerably thinner.

I have told three of my friends about Lite’n’Easy, including Lynn, of course. I like having a couple of people I can discuss how I’m going with, and the husband of one of my friends is thinking about trying it too, so she’s very interested in my reports back.

Which brings me back to today’s menu. So far my microwave has earned that long walk bringing it here entailed, as there were two components that needed reheating. Lunch was a cheese roll with caramelised onion chutney, which I teamed with the vegetable patty that was supposed to be an afternoon snack, adding a few spinach leaves for freshness. The rolls are far smaller than a standard hamburger bun, but as my appetite is being reshaped I found it perfectly adequate and quite tasty. I think I’d have a problem if I was on the 1500 calorie program, but hopefully that will change.

The fruit-filled snacks were an apricot muesli bar, an apple, and the optional (aka 1800 calorie program) “apricot snack pack” that was a handful of dried apricots. The optional element also included a reprise of yesterday’s Asian rice bowl. Dinner was also a reprise, as I had the lasagna last week - the vegetables were fine (carrots, beans and a little cauliflower), and the generous serving of lasagna was delicious. - Alex

Day 13

My plans of embracing exercise have once again fallen flat, but I’m still sticking with the diet part of the program. I used up the last of my non-Lite’n’Easy groceries for a late breakfast of two eggs with a little of last night’s left over tomato, a teaspoon of mustard and a handful each of chopped onions, frozen peas and frozen corn on a multigrain muffin.
Lunch was an Asian rice bowl, which had chicken, veggies and a marinade at the bottom, an apple, some yoghurt with passionfruit, and a spicy fruit biscuit (which for some reason is always in the menu guide as plural but there’s definitely just one of them). My afternoon snack was two corn fritters, which were supposed to be accompanied by a tomato salsa sauce but were instead packaged with (possibly yesterday’s) sweet chilli. I think the salsa would have suited them better, but they were fine anyway.
For dinner I selected a non-traditional beef stroganoff, light (unsurprisingly) on the cream and heavy on the vegetables and tomatoes. The noodles were a little more than al dente, but there was a generous amount of both meat and vegetables, and it was something of a relief to have a break from the steamed vegetables that accompany the majority of the other dinners.
I didn’t have today’s milk allocation at breakfast and, feeling a little cold and needy before bed, instead made a much lighter version of hot chocolate than my usual fare, combining unsweetened cocoa powder with hot water into a paste, adding low fat milk (so much easier in the microwave than on a stovetop, and with no milk-coated pan to wash up), a teaspoon of sugar and a drop of pure vanilla extract. It was significantly less indulgent that my previous version (which involved callets of Belgian milk chocolate melted in full fat milk and topped with a little ice cream) but still hit the spot. - Alex

Day 12

I don’t feel as though I accomplished a lot today, which is a little disappointing – my intentions are always good but then I meander through my day without achieving any of the umpteen things that really need doing. Like ringing the bank to find out why they charged me an unwarranted fee, or doing exercise.

The latter isn’t actually wholly true, because I did go to an evening stretch class, which sounds far more innocuous than the deep breathing, straining reality. I certainly feel a little more limber, but am very disappointed that I couldn’t at all do one of the positions – it involved having kneeling on one leg with your toes on the mat, weight on the foot of the other leg, then rising yourself part way off the floor. I was okay, of not brilliant, when lifting on the right, but couldn’t get off the ground at all on the left side and will have to practice. I ended the class pink and faintly damp, then proceeded to miss my stop tram stop and took over two hours to get home. But at least I’ve got the ball rolling on the exercise front, and it’s a process.

The other thing I did was buy a few truss tomatoes and 100g or so of mesclun salad mix, because I can’t take the anaemic Lite’n’Easy tomatoes another day. I had half of one tomato on my post-stretch return home, with a veggie burger. It was supposed to be on a round roll, rather than the sourdough bun supplied, but that was fine. Oddly, instead of the peach fruit cup, I got a tin of tuna and instead of the sweet chilli sauce I got mayonnaise, and I got one from each of the popular and alternative snacks. I have to say that the truss tomato made a massive difference, and I enjoyed every mouthful.

The additional snack today was a pesto chicken pasta bowl, which was fine, filling and quite warm on a cold Melbourne afternoon. For dinner I tried the roast turkey, which came with pumpkin, roast potatoes, peas and a slightly dull but serviceable sauce. I was quite peckish before bed and, as it was after midnight, had the fruit bun from tomorrow – heated in the microwave in had an attractive, hot cross bun taste and I didn’t miss the butterlessness of it.

I think one of the things I’m finding helpful about doing Lite’n’Easy is that I’m also getting used to not being full, and drinking a glass of water instead of reaching for food when I do feel a little hollow. Once my allocation for the day’s gone, that’s it until tomorrow. I’ve given away responsibility for my food, and there’s something quite liberating about it – except for deciding, once a week, which of the binary options I’ll have for each meal, what I eat is out of my hands. Provided I stick with that mindset, and don’t start adding things (with the exception of salad leaves and decent tomatoes) I think this could be really useful in the long run. This is certainly the longest I’ve gone without chocolate in the better part of two decades, too. – Alex