Lifestyle Update

Well it's been a few weeks now since I did the crazy juice thing and I have to say it's still working for me.  So far I have lost around 8 kilos - slowly but surely, which is probably better than dropping weight really quickly.  The good thing is that I actually feel a lot better than I used to.

So here's the current routine, which hopefully strikes a balance between normal and nutty.

• Breakfast - fibre rich, usually home made muesli.
• During the morning - hopefully nothing at all, but possible a piece of fruit.  I have found that I can usually make it through to lunch without too much trouble.
• Lunch - I only eat what I bring to work  - usually soup or salad (not usually any bread - I have rice crackers instead) and some extra fruit (just a small amount).  I try and consume the whole lot in one go so I feel fuller.  I have found this to work pretty well and over time I have found that I actually need to eat less to feel full.
• Afternoon - This is where the juice comes in.  I bring one 750ml bottle with me each day which I have at around 3-3.30pm.  This is basically a mixture of mostly vegetables and could contain any of the following - kale, lettuce, cucumber, avocado, cabbage, celery, carrot and usually some pear and banana so it doesn't taste rubbish.  This drink is a like a big vege vitamin pill and easily keeps me going until dinner time.
• Dinner - whatever normal stuff we have.  The only real change here is that I have reduced the meat intake / vege ratio so the veggies dramatically outweigh the meat portion.  The overall portion size is also smaller.  I'm basically eating less dinner and try to stop eating when I feel full (strange concept).
• Evening - cup of tea and basically nothing else.

My philosophy is a simple one.  Form better habits.  I have has so many bad eating habits for so long if I don't fix them I'm going to pay dearly at some stage.  So I'm eating less overall and what I'm eating is better for me.  It's working.

Don;t get me wrong - I still have the odd treat when it's presented.  But a very small amount, no seconds and if I do then I treat it like a "food debt" that I need to work off be eating a smaller lunch, dinner, etc.

Also I'm drinking more water, this seems to help.

What I'm not consuming or consuming less of:

• Sandwiches and bread (less)
• Sugar (much less, virtually gone)
• Alcohol (gone)
• MSG / Sulphates - these things just make me feel crap
• Dairy products - can't tolerate these anyway

Cutting out sugar is the biggest change - almost impossible to do but makes the biggest difference.  If I have anything with sugar (or stuff that makes sugar, like Fructose, honey) then I count that as food debt, because the fruit I'm consuming each day is sweet anyway.

My goal is to lose another 10 kilos.  To do this I'm going to need to exercise more, so more walking!   I'm now getting up half an hour earlier each day to make "juice prep" time- I think I'm going to need to add another half hour dedicated to exercising to supplement the regular lunchtime jaunts.

Onward!