i cant write much... but this sums it up

Fork in the road

I went to the supermarket yesterday, and it was a real challenge deciding what to put in my trolley. 

I was trying to decide between banning gluten and dairy from my diet or maybe cutting all carbs, and this and that. The truth is, I'm starting to get a little desperate to see the changes I've made show on the scales and on my body. 

All the diet books I've read have messed with my mind a bit as their ideas clash a bit. 

So I decided to try and figure out for myself what works for me, what sort of diet helps me lose weight and keep healthy and nourished (I have vitamin deficiencies).

I bought lots of veggies, lean cuts of meat, lots of natural seasonings (garlic, onions, parsley), I avoided artificial preservatives as much as possible. 

In the end I left the supermarket with ingredients to make a veggie chicken soup (which I will freeze in small portions for when I don't feel like cooking dinner). Lean meat which was already chopped, which I'll use for an oriental-style stir fry, minus the pasta. I got ready chopped and washed veggies for the stirfry. 

Washed and bagged salad (watercress, lettuce, carrots), one roasted chicken which I ate last night for dinner (not the whole chicken! I just had a bit of breast, LOL).

I got lots of lean cuts of beef and chicken, which I seasoned myself when I got home with a natural marinade the onions, garlic, etc etc 

I'm proud because there were no highly processed, salty and preservative laden foods in my cart. 

I didn't get any fruit at the supermarket as they weren't too fresh, I'd rather get them near home at the fresh food market. 

Making that change

My first "big deadline" is arriving. My sister-in-law's wedding. I'll be her maid of honour and will have to wear a pretty long dress and feel good as I'll be in lots of pictures. I wanted to feel better about myself and more confident. I don't care if it's not my goal weight yet (as that is impossible) but ever since I started dieting in January I've been focusing on this "1st goal". 

My goal weight for the 5th of May (day of the wedding) was 82 kg. I'm currently at 90.6 so losing 8 kg by the wedding is pretty much impossible. 

I've been working as hard as I can on my diet and I feel as if I've improved my intake of food by leaps and bounds. In only 3 months I changed menus completely:

My old breakfast:

Potato or Cheese bread (processed)

600 ml of diet coke

Snack: 2-5 sessame cream crackers

Lunch:

Chips

Beef/chicken

Salad w. mayo.

Snack: Medium-sized bar of chocolate (40gr + -) sometimes more

Dinner: Nothing, or Pizza, or Sphihas, White bread w. ham and cheese...

But that's what I ate before I started getting serious about losing weight. 

My current diet:

Breakfast: 2 portions of fruit (on weekends, when I'm at home)

or 

2 slices of gluten free bread (not processed, no preservatives etc.)

a little bit of butter, low fat cream cheese or unsweetened jam

fresh juice (orange, strawberry, lime - depends on the day)

Snack: Fruit or nuts/seeds

Lunch: Mixed veggies, salad, olive oil and balsamic vinager as dressing, 

Snack: Fruit or nuts/seeds

Dinner:  Salad + protein, or wholegrain rice cakes with cottage cheese + some fruit. Sometimes, very seldom now, pizza (not processed). 

So on one hand, I haven't lost any weight since I started calorie counting (all the weight I lost was on the Atkins diet), but writing down what I eat everyday has helped me be more aware about the quality of the food I've been eating (and of course, the calories). 

Now I think: Ok, I can eat 1,360 calories worth of chocolate! Woo hoo! Then look at that, that's like two bars of chocolate. Will that keep me going all day? NO! So I've definetly included more fruit, nuts and healthy oils in my diet and feel as if overall I'm making better choices. Of course, some days I'll change a healthy choice for something I'm craving, but its not happening all the time anymore.