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Days 4 through 6, questions abound.


So there’s good news and bad news.  The good news is I discovered something in the supermarket called ‘Banting bread’.  It costs twice as much as a normal loaf and it’s half the size but it’s quite palatable.  I don’t know what’s in it, but I suspect cauliflower.  Whatever it is, it really sticks to your teeth.  Anyway so I finally had egg on ‘toast’ for breakfast and it wasn’t totally awful.  It made a nice change from glop (aka oats.)

Also I have to admit I haven’t been hungry once.  Well, I’m not restricting calories and I find I’m eating a lot more fruit which is odd, because I’m not a big fan of sweet fruit (as opposed to tomatoes, peppers and avocado which I love).  Which means I’m getting in more fructose… is this different or better than sucrose?  According to Jamie Oliver yes, because instead of getting in ‘empty’ calories through added sugar, fruit contains added nutrients and roughage; it's sugar with a context if you like.  Jamie Oliver’s on a big sugar-reduction crusade which you can read more about HERE.

Particularly laudable is his stance on sugary drinks which are some of the biggest culprits in our contemporary lifestyle – I’m right behind you there Jamie!  I hate to see small toddlers, especially, walking around with a can of Coke.  My kids have been raised on water and they love it.  We rarely indulge in the fizzy stuff, so on one occasion my kids opened the fridge and seeing a 2 litre of Coke, they asked, “Who visited, mom?”

The bad news is coffee and tea still taste horrible without sugar. And sweetners make me feel unhealthy and have a nasty taste.  Is it really too much to ask for one little spoon of sugar in my coffee when a can of Coke contains about 8?!  Jamie recommends no more than 7 spoons of sugar a day and that would include sugar added to cereals, rusks, crisps (yes!) sweet drinks, sauces and so on.

I’m not really having anymore cravings outside of shops.  Walking down those aisles is hard. And I can’t watch the food channel. But whether that’s a physiological change or just mind over matter, I’m not sure.  Food generally seems to have lost a lot of its allure.  Does that mean that I am bringing food into perspective - as a purely nutritional exercise?  Or am I losing out? because it also seems to have lost a lot of its glamour and enjoyment.  In a word, although I am trying very hard to be creative around meals and snacks, my palate feels somewhat bored.  (I’ve always suspected thin people don’t really enjoy eating.)

It’s all a bit of a mystery so far.  Would long term changes like these really be significant?  Am I going to lose weight or gain?  Would staying within Jamie’s recommended 7 added sugars guidelines be a sufficient change?  Or does one need to be absolutely ruthless about refined carbohydrates like Tim Noakes advocates?  Is this lifestyle sustainable or will it be too dreary to bear?

It’s only 21 days I remind myself, and just 15 to go.

Statistics for Day 4:
Energy level: 2=low (Where 5 = ‘I could jog around the block’ and 1 = ’I’d like to take a nap’)
Weight: still feeling fat.

Statistics for Day 5:
Energy level: 1=very low


Statistics for Day 6:
Energy level: 3=medium

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