Day 10 – ‘Small and regular’ is my mantra

Yesterday I provided a general eating plan as prescribed by my dietician.

When you have a “skeleton” in your head of how and when small regular meals should be consumed, it is way easier to measure your daily intake. I still can not sing enough praises t the MyNetDiary iPhone app - it really keeps me on track. I just wish the app was available in KILOJOULES as I have to use another app, the GlobeConvert app, to do my conversions from kilojoules to calories. But it still is not a lot of effort to punch in my consumed calories!

We had a luncheon at work today and I was really good. A lot of salad and half a portion of vegetable lasgane. I ate half a portion because I know these dish is probably (most def) not prepared the low gi way as I have been doing lately. The low gi-cookbooks rock! I know I have said it before, but I realised that all the old recipes, passed on from my mom or Kook en Geniet were not conceived with weight loss or health in mind!

These are from  the MyNetDiary homepage:

1. Cutting calories is what matters. You will lose weight with any diet, as long as you reduce calories.¹
2. Participating in group sessions resulted in bigger weight loss, and most importantly – in keeping it off, regaining five times less weight after one year than typical dieters.¹
3. People who kept a daily food diary lost more than twice as much weight as those who did not record their food.2

   1. The New England Journal of Medicine, February 26, 2009, Vol. 360 No. 9. Pages 859-873.
   2. The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, August 2008. Pages 118-126.

There you go. And that is exactly what I am doing.

Day 9 – My dietician says…

I am still going strong!

I am really into this now – I don’t feel cheated or get a whole lot of cravings, and the fact that I am doing this the good way is also a motivation.

For inspiration, I am going to add to this FloG (food blog) my dietician’s prescriptions regarding what I may eat per day:

Breakfast
1 portion fruit
1 portion protein
1 portion starch

Mid-morning snack
1 portion fruit

Lunch
1 portion protein
2 portions starch
2 portions vegetables
1 portion fruit

Mid-afternoon snack
1 portion fruit

Dinner
2 portions protein
1 portion starch
2 portions vegeatbles

Late-night snack
1 portion fruit

Extras
2 portions fat
1 portion milk

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MyNetDiary DATA: Tuesday  18 January

I went over with 30 cals today. Woohoo!

Total Calories Allowed per day: 955

Breakfast: 102 cals
1/2 cup All Brab flakes
1/2 fat free milk
Green tea (jasmine)

Lunch: 273 cals
Corn and bean dish (low gi)

Dinner: 484 cals
Low gi bolognaise
Salad (lettuce, nectarine, tomato)

Snacks: 126 cals
Granola bar (25g)
White seedless grapes

Days 5, 6, 7 & 8 – I’ve been good this weekend

WEIGHT LOSS: 2.5kg since las week Monday!

I have not updated the blog since Thursday but I have kept a record of all that I have eaten.

It is quite a few days’ worth of menus, so I will keep it concise.  I am just very proud of myself – weekends are a real test as it is a time when you can really graze and snack on a lot of junk. And I have been good! Had a few extra calories here and there but I still made low gi/low-fat recipes throughout the weekend and I am very proud of that.

Here goes:

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MyNetDiary DATA: Monday 17 January

I went over with 149 cals today.

Total Calories Allowed per day: 955

Breakfast: 137 cals
125 ml All-Bran
125ml fat-free milk
Coffee brewed from grounds prepared with tap water (cup)
Fat free milk (tablespoon)
Brown sugar (teaspoon)

Lunch: 372 cals
Butternut-rocket-pecannut-mozarella lasagne (low gi/low-fat recipe)

Dinner: 390 cals
Corn and beans dish (low gi)
Mushroom soup (low gi)

Snacks: 277 cals
apple (golden delicious)
1/2 slice linseed and soy bread
teaspoon peanutbutter
1/2 teaspoon smooth apricot jam

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MyNetDiary DATA: Sunday 16 January

I went over with 207 cals today. Still not worried about it as
a) I am very proud of my new eating habits and
b) I walk the dogs everyday and it is not as if I am a vegetable sitting on the couch all day long.

Total Calories Allowed per day: 955

Breakfast: 224 cals
125 ml All-Bran
125ml fat-free milk
Apple (golden delicious)
Coffee brewed from grounds prepared with tap water (cup)
Fat free milk (tablespoon)
Brown sugar (teaspoon)

Lunch: 372 cals
Butternut-rocket-pecannut-mozarella lasagne (low gi/low-fat recipe)
Lettuce

Dinner: 390 cals
Cream of mushroom soup (low-fat/low gi recipe)
Vegetarian schnitzel

Snacks: 277 cals
Granola bar (25g)
Glass red wine
1/2 slice of soy and linseed low gi bread

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MyNetDiary DATA: Saturday 15 January

I went over with 239 cals today.

Total Calories Allowed per day: 955

Breakfast: 224 cals
1 Boiled egg
1/2 slice of soy and linseed low gi bread
Fried pineapple ring
Fried brown mushrooms
1 slice of low-fat back bacon
Coffee brewed from grounds prepared with tap water (cup)
Fat free milk (tablespoon)
Brown sugar (teaspoon)

Lunch: 202 cals
Salad (Nectarine, rocket, lettuce, low fat feta crumbs)
50g Smoked chicken breast
Nola Lite Mayo (tablespoon)

Dinner: 428 cals
Hake in a Mornay Sauce (low fat low gi recipe)
Roast veg (butternut, carrots,  baby marrow)
Gem squash

Snacks: 339 cals
Roses lime cordial
Soda water
8 slices of biltong
Glass red wine

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MyNetDiary DATA: Friday 14 January

I went over with 244 cals today. I blame the Rice Krispies treat and the Granola bar.

Total Calories Allowed per day: 955

Breakfast: 132 cals
1 packet Bokomo Instant Oats (peaches & cream flavour, made with boiling water)
Green Jasmine tea

Lunch: 167 cals
Tuna and pineapple quiche(leftovers)

Dinner: 400 cals
Nice & Easy Frozen Light Lasagne (I was too lazy to cook!)

Snacks: 500 cals
2 Pineapple rings
Low fat feta crumbs
Ricke Krispies Treat
Mini-pancake with chicken and spinach filling
Granola bar

Day 4 – Low-fat quiche rules!

I love my low-gi and low-fat cookbooks.

Thanks to dieticians Gabi Steenkamp and Liesbet Delport, I have two cookbooks (there are four in the series) that are really helpful in cooking the low-fat way. Their books Eating for Sustained Energy 1-4 contain lovely recipes with clear indications of kilojoules, fat, portion sizes and alternatives.

Last night I made the crustless quiche recipe – so little ingredients, and so many quiche! By using only a cup of butterbeans, some milk, 4 eggs and spices combined with tinned tuna, pineapple and asparagus, you can make 2 lovely quiches. Personally, I love the asparagus quiche, but the combination of tuna and pineapple is really lekker too.

But what I love most about these quiches, are the calories. A portion of the asparagus quiche is a mere 567kJ while the tuna and pineapple quiche is a very low 702 kJ per portion. It contains no flour, butter or other decadent ingredients except for a little cheese. Yummy!

Since I started calorie counting, I am really thinking different about food. I have my dietician’s recommendations at hand, but to actaully calculate the calories, makes it more scientific and obviously more difficult to cheat.

When I was in firts year, I worked at a reggae bar called Cool Runnings. On their menu was a feta and pineapple toasted sandwich. I loved how the salt and bitter from the feta and the sweet and sour from the pineapple combined all four of  the taste groups. Lovely. So last night, while I was making the quiches, I took one pineapple ring, placed a few crumbs of low fat feta on top and microwaved it for a quick snack. I really loved it. And not too many calories too!

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MyNetDiary DATA: Thursday 13 January

I went over with 139 cals today.

Total Calories Allowed per day: 955

Breakfast: 138 cals
Bokomo instant oats
Green Jasmine Tea
Brown sugar (teaspoon)

Lunch: 293 cals
1 slice low gi seed bread
Smoot peanut butter (1 teaspoon)
Apricot jam (1 teaspoon)
Asparagus quiche

Dinner: 295 cals
3 garlic snails
1 slice brown bread

Snacks: 339 cals
Green Jasmine Tea
4 shots vodka
2 tomato cocktails (Bloody Mary’s – how did you guess?)

Day 3 – Take those vitamins, kids!

I have to say, I am feeling pretty good. Pretty good. Pret-ty pret-ty pret-ty good.

Today is the third day of my “diet”. I don’t want to call it a diet, as this experiment is actually me eating less and trying to incorporate this new eating plan into my lifestyle. I have done it before.

Two years ago I went to a dietician and I lost 7kgs pretty easy (in about 6 weeks). It is not a diet. It is a limitation of calories and sticking by it. Also, the eating plan is based on low gi foods that keep your insulin and blood sugar levels consistent.

One thing that my dietician advised me to do, is to take the following supplements in conjunction with my new eating plan, as I will get less nutrients than I usually do:

• Multi-vitamin
  (I am taking the Vital Multitime Gold)
• Calcium
  (I am taking Caltrate with Vitamin D)
• Magnesium
  (I forgot to buy – need to stock up – but it is usually Slow-Mag)

Please note that after a range of tests, the dietician “prescribed” these over-the-counter-medicines. Each case is unique, and you might be in need of other nutrients as well. Please check with a doctor or physician. You can’t go wrong with calcium though, as we rarely consume enough diary per day to get our recommended daily allowance. And even the Multitime Gold vitamin do not contain enough calcium on its own. Clocking in at 48 mg per capsule, you still need 1200 – 1500mg per day (adult females) to get your day’s worth of the good stuff.

In conclusion, take your meds, kids! as I assure you that it will aid in general and overall health as well as aid in losing those muffin tops!

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MyNetDiary DATA

I went over with 123 cals today, as I was snacking rice cakes and provitas in front of the TV. Naughty! But I am not goig to beat myself up about it – it could have been a slice of pizza or chocolate cake. hehe.

Total Calories Allowed per day: 955

Breakfast: 167 cals
1 packet Bokomo Instant Oats (peaches & cream flavour, made with boiling water)
Instant coffee
Full cream milk (tablespoon) – full cream at the office – note to self, drink tea when this happens
Brown sugar (teaspoon)

Lunch: 199 cals
Lentil and mushroom stew(leftovers)

Dinner: 508 cals
Glass of red wine (whopping 122 cals!)
Tuna and pineapple quiche
Asparagus quiche
Salad (Nectarine, mushrooms, rocket, spinach, low fat feta crumbs)
Nola Lite Mayo (tablespoon)

Snacks: 204 cals
Apple (golden delicious)
Seedless green grapes (about 9 grapes)
Pineaplle ring
Low fat feta crumbs
Rice cake and bovril
2 Provitas

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NOTES:

I see clearly that my evening meals are way bigger than my lunches and breakfasts. Need to  balance it out more. Snacking went a bit overboard. Don’t fret!

Day 2 – n’Unique pas!

I said I was not unique.

I was listening to Jenny Crwys-Williams on Radio 702 yesterday and she spoke about 10 January being a rather popular date for people to start diets and detoxing each year. So I am even more inspired not to let this experiment fail and for it to be only a passing fad. Also, now I know I am not alone! Makes it a bit easier…

Jenny asked her listeners to call in and tell her what their ‘last supper’ was. Sounds so deathrowesque! I realised I did not really have a least meal but a last weekend feast. On Saturday, my sister-in-law had a wonderful birthday party and she made a delectable oxtail, served with crispy roast potatoes, beet root salad and curry beans. I made a firm favourite gem squash recipe, borrowed from my friend Liezel (with a few alterations from my side):

GEM SQUASH & SWEET CORN DISH

Ingredients:
Gem squash, halved, deseeded and steamed
Fried onions
Sweet corn
Cream
Grated cheddar cheese

Method:
Scoop out the flesh from the steamed gem squash, mix with the rest of the ingredients and fill the scooped-out skins of the gem squash with the sweet corn mix. Top with grated cheese and cayenne pepper and grill until nice and brown. (I add chopped peppers, ham and other herbs for variation)

For desert, we had an Italian sweet bread called Panettone. It is very similar to what I know as raisin bread. Dip it in champagne and you’ve got a very interesting after-supper delight.

Alas, that is not where the weekend feasting ended. I made my very own French Toasted Sandwiches, which are very basic but very bloody good. (If I have to say so myself). You basically make a basic sandwich (cheese, tomato, etc) and dip both sides in an egg and milk mix. Fry it on both sides. Voila! French toast with melted cheese and goodies inside. A bit of mustard goes well with it too!

On Sunday afternoon, I made my famous cheese muffins, which I discovered in an old Huisgenoot Wenresepte, compiled by Annette Human. Delicious!

KAAS POFFERTJIES (Cheese Muffins)

Ingredients:
500ml flour
500ml milk
2 eggs
250ml grated cheddar cheese
2ml salt
25ml baking powder
5ml – 10ml cayenne pepper

Method:
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne pepper together. Mix the eggs and milk in another bowl. Add the cheese to the flour. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry. Bake in a muffin pan for about 15 minutes at 180 °C. Makes 24 muffins.

I just realised why my weight is such a probelm – I just love cooking and eating.

But, I have to say that since I have been using MyNetDiary, it is easier to keep track of how much one is consuming and how fast the calories pile up. It really helps to keep a log of what you are eating and how much.

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MyNetDiary DATA

I chose my amount of allowed calories per day to be 955 (as it equals 4000 kJ, which my dietician advised) I went over with 44 cals today, but I am not fretting as I know my 955 is well belwo what MyNetDiary wants me to consume.

Total Calories Allowed per day: 955

Breakfast: 148 cals
1 packet Bokomo Instant Oats (peaches & cream flavour, made with boiling water)
Coffee brewed from grounds prepared with tap water (cup)
Fat free milk (tablespoon)
Brown sugar (teaspoon)

Lunch: 311 cals
Corn and butterbean bake (leftovers – let me know and I will post the recipe)
1/2 Gem squash

Dinner: 453 cals
Mushroom and lentil broth (low gi recipe – high in fibre!)
Salad (Nectarine, rocket, spinach, low fat feta crumbs)
1/2 Gem squash
1/2 cup cooked peas

Snacks: 87 cals
Apple (golden delicious)
Green tea (jasmine)
Brown sugar (teaspoon)
Seedless green grapes (about 9 grapes)

Day 1 – Conception

I am going to keep it short and sweet.

Today is the 10th day of 2011 and I know I am not unique. Post-holiday depression is sinking in, and to top that, I have stopped smoking. Again. NOW, as an experiment, I want to lose weight as well, with the aid of blogging.
Whoop dee doo. O joy.

But this year it is different – for the first time ever I am over 80kgs (and I am only 1.67 metres in my shoes). The BMI stats DOES NOT look good. So I downloaded the MyNetDiary app for iPhone4 to assist me in keeping track of what I should eat, when and how.

Let’s see how this goes. As I said, this is an experiment and I intend to make it work. I want to reach 65kgs by the end of May 2011.

If it works, this website will hopefully inspire others to do it as well.

I will upload my daily food intakes and each week I will enter my (hopefully new and lower) weight. Excercise and physical activity will be added ad lib.

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What really is KAK, is that on my first day back at work, we have a tea-time gathering to congratulate all the holiday birthday people and to welcome everyone back for the year of 2011.

SELF control to major Tom
SELF control to major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
(Ten) SELF control (Nine) to major Tom (Eight)
(Seven, six) Commencing countdown (Five), engines on (Four)
(Three, two) Check ignition (One) and may gods (Blastoff) love be with you
(with apology to David Bowie)

Let’s see how it goes…

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MyNetDiary DATA

I chose my amount of allowed calories per day to be 955 (as it equals 4000 kJ, which my dietician advised)

Total Calories Allowed per day: 955

Breakfast: 148 cals
1 packet Bokomo Instant Oats (peaches & cream flavour, made with boiling water)
Coffee brewed from grounds prepared with tap water (cup)
Fat free milk (tablespoon)
Brown sugar (teaspoon)

Lunch: 278 cals
1 slice low gi seed bread
Smoot peanut butter (1 teaspoon)
Apricot jam (1 teaspoon)
Knorr Mushroom and Herb Lite Soup (cup)

Dinner: 422 cals
Corn and butterbean bake (low gi recipe – delicious!)
Salad (Nectarine, rocket, spinach, low fat feta crumbs)
1/2 Gem squash

Snacks: 107 cals
Small banana
Soda water and lemon squash mix