I did it!

Go my waist down to what it measured for the wedding in July!!! :D

Just in time for Mockmas! LOTS of drinking and eating bad, bad (but tasty) carbs! I will go back onto my normal Low Carb on Tuesday when I am back to work and try and be good until actual Christmas when I'm sure more eating and drinking will occur before the New Year :)

Christmas Turkey

My mum has actually brought 2 turkeys that each feed 20 people so I bet there will plenty of turkey sandwiches after Mockmas and Christmas to be devoured!! :D

Turkey sandwich :D

I bet there will be lots of snowballs consumed too! Me and my sister-in-law had LOADS last Christmas so I hope my Mum has stocked up on Advocaat!

Snowball

I will try to keep my food diary on  http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/StephRP80 up to date over Mockmas so you can all be jealous of the yummy food!! ;)

I am more excited about giving my niece her Christmas presents as it is her first English Christmas experience, even though its Mockmas and not actual Christmas as she lives in Switzerland with her Dad (my brother) and Mum (my sister-in-law) and they are spending actual Christmas at their home in Switzerland this year so coming over to England for early celebrations with the English family :) I will put a link to my blog detailing the Mockmas presents when I have uploaded a post. I don't want to do one before Mockmas as the presents are a SURPRISE. I know at 8 months old my niece won't understand a lot of what is happening but her parents will hopefully like her presents from me :)

1cm To Go!

I was feeling good, even after the carbfest at Chiquito on Wednesday (But my calorie count was under) so I decided to measure myself. This is the difference in my measurements compared to when I was at my smallest before my brother's wedding:

Thigh = 0 change
Hips = -1cm
Waist = +1cm
Chest = 0 change
Arm = +1cm
Neck = 0 change

So I am possibly just slightly heavier than I was at my smallest :D If I manage to get these measurements down a bit more then I MIGHT start to weigh myself again lol ;)

1 cm really isn't that much to lose now, as I was losing 1cm a week when I first started on Low Carb but it slowed down near the end of the diet! I don't mind if I stay at this size for Mockmas and get back down to this size for Christmas, so long as I don't put on a couple of inches again! I did lose it in 3 weeks though, so not too bad I'd say, especially as I haven't done any exercise!! haha! :D

I might treat myself to a kebab tonight! (Low Carb treat!) - Its been a while :)

Chiquitos for lunch!!

I have been feeling pretty good since going back onto Low Carb! Where I am not eating all the bad carbs that bloat you up I actually feel slimmer, which is a nice feeling for any dieter! :)

It was a work colleague's birthday yesterday so we are off to Chiquito (Mexican restaurant) for lunch today. I really don't fancy a basic salad as I eat salad all week! So They do a meal deal offer, 2 courses for £7.99 which is what we normally go for. I am going to avoid bread and go for the nacho starter and they do something called Baja bowls that you can have 'naked' (meaning no tortilla wraps) for those watching their carbs! I have never seen anything that mentions people watching their carbs in a restaurant before, so I got a bit excited :D

The Baja bowl still comes with a small portion of rice but having it without the tortilla should cut out over 20g of carbs! Don't worry, my dinner this evening will most likely be salad, again! lol

I am still tracking my food here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/StephRP80 

Not sure I will be able to be very precise with the carb count today but I will try!

OMG! That was soooo filling and the nachos were huge!!! The small amount of rice was actually quite big so super bloated now!! Might just have some cheese for dinner instead of salad! :[]

Special K vs Low Carb diet

Well, the Special K diet was the complete opposite of the Low Carb diet that I have been following all year! With Special K the diet was full of carbs and all about eating cereal and a low calorie evening meal leaving me feeling bloated from all the carbs! It obviously works in its own way as part of a calorie controlled diet but I felt like there was far too much sugar in this diet as my body is used to hardly any carbs or sugar! I will now have to do the 2 week induction part of the Low Carb diet as I expect my body will be craving sugars again!

I went for a pub meal on Saturday after having a cheese omelette for breakfast and a toasted teacake for an early lunch (tut tut I know! lol) The pub meal was chilli con carne with rice and tortilla chips, obviously there were a lot of carbs in that meal but it was quite a low calorie (under 600 kcal). Then on Sunday I was feeling pretty rough from all the alcohol I consumed that I threw up my lunch so I won't count that in my daily intake! lol Then I had 2 chicken drumsticks and 2 chicken thighs with broccoli. Total carbs 10g!!

Back to my normal routine of yoghurt for breakfast and mini babybel and mini pepperami for snacks, prawn mayo salad for lunch and the chicken I had last night was from a quite big pack of chicken drumsticks and thighs for £3! - BARGAIN! So I will probably have chicken and salad this evening, keeping my carb intake to under 20g.

Carb intake for Sunday. So much less than on the Special K diet! :)

I won't be blogging my food every day, I might just do a round up every few days or once a week to let you know if I lose any more inches. I was told on Saturday night by Smithy, one of my friends that I was getting skinny again and not to go silly and lose any more weight! LOL! I guess the couple of inches (well, just under) I lost does show then? I reassured him that I didn't want to be skinny and I still wasn't as small as I was when I was a bridesmaid for my brother but I have 2 Christmases this year so I wanted to make sure I lost weight before putting more weight on! :)

My food diary can be viewed here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/StephRP80
I can't change my daily carb allowance so ignore how many it says for my goal and just look at the amount I have had! :) If I lose the few more cm so that I am the same as I was at my smallest in July, I might start weighing myself again. With my fitness pal I can get a badge or ticker for my blog :)

The Special K Diet

Special K diet - lose a dress size in 2 weeks

Please read this post from the bottom up (I've had a request to re-jig it!) 

Day Fourteen (Friday)
Final Day of Special K diet!!!!

Breakfast: Special K Honey Clusters cereal (234 kcal per 45g)

Snack: red berry cereal bar (88 kcal)

Lunch: Slim Fast Summer Berry 3-2-1 Meal Bar (210 kcal)

Snack: red berry cereal bar (88 kcal)

OK, I have just measured myself as I will probably be too busy tomorrow. I have lost 1 and 3/4 inches from my waist, 1 & 1/4 inches from my hips and an inch from my chest. This means that I am only a cm or 2 bigger than I was at my smallest in July!!!!!!!!! :D Back on Low Carb for a couple of weeks should sort that out ;)


Dinner: Chicken and Mushroom pasta bake(814 kcal (approx)

That's 1346 calories out of 1440 for today.

Day Thirteen (Thursday)
That means that tomorrow, day fourteen will be my last day of the 2 week diet :D My trousers still feel looser than they did 2 weeks ago. I will do a post when I have finished on my Special K experience.

Breakfast: Special K Honey Clusters cereal (234 kcal per 45g)

Think I will have chicken and pasta tonight as I will be going back on Low Carb so won't have pasta again for a while!

Snack: red berry cereal bar (88 kcal)

Lunch: Slim Fast Summer Berry 3-2-1 Meal Bar (210 kcal)
I only have 2 summer berry bars left so I thought I would save them for tomorrow and skip my afternoon snack today! I'm going to be Hank Marvin!

Dinner: Chicken and Mushroom pasta bake(814 kcal (approx)
There was WAY too much food here, I have another portion this size in my fridge but I might have to throw some away!

Chicken and mushroom pasta bake

That's 1346 calories out of 1440 for today.

Day Twelve (Wednesday)

Breakfast: Special K Honey Clusters cereal (234 kcal per 45g)
I'm running out of cereals now, I just have the plain and the clusters cereals left! - diet is nearly over!! :D

Snack: Special K Chocolate and Raspberry cereal bar (89 kcal)

Lunch: Slim Fast Summer Berry 3-2-1 Meal Bar (210 kcal)

Snack: Special K Mini Breaks, Mellow Caramel (99 kcal)

Dinner: Chicken with mushrooms and broccoli in pesto. (300 kcal)

Chicken with mushrooms and broccoli in pesto

That's 933 calories out of 1440 for today.







Day Eleven (Tuesday)

Breakfast: Special K Strawberry and Chocolate cereal (175 kcal per 30g)

Snack: Special K Chocolate and Raspberry cereal bar (89 kcal)

It feels like my trousers have got a bit looser again so hopefully by Saturday I will have lost at least another inch! :D

Lunch: Slim Fast Summer Berry 3-2-1 Meal Bar (210 kcal)

Slim Fast Summer Berry meal bar

This version of the meal bar is quite sweet and sickly and I have another 3 to eat yet!! :/

Snack: Special K Mini Breaks, Mellow Caramel (99 kcal)

Dinner: Jacket potato with chilli and lettuce (530 kcal) and some mushrooms cooked in butter (14 kcal)

That's 1059 calories out of 1440 for today.




Day Ten (Monday)

Breakfast: Special K cereal (114 kcal per 30g)

Snack: red berry cereal bar (88 kcal)

Lunch: Slim Fast Chocolate Peanut 3-2-1 Meal Bar (210 kcal)

Snack: Special K Mini Breaks, Mellow Caramel (99 kcal)

Dinner: Chicken salad (with stuff left in my fridge. Worked out the calorie count on my fitness pal app) (216kcal) and a wholemeal roll topped with bran (150kcal)

That's 936 calories out of 1440 for today.

Day Nine (Sunday)

Breakfast: Special K Strawberry and Chocolate cereal (175 kcal per 30g)

Snack: red berry cereal bar (88 kcal)

Lunch: Special K clusters cereal (234 kcal per 45g)

Snack: Special K Mini Breaks, Mellow Caramel (99 kcal)

Dinner: Chicken salad (with stuff left in my fridge. Worked out the calorie count on my fitness pal app) (234 kcal) and a wholemeal roll topped with bran (150kcal)

Chicken salad dinner with a wholemeal roll

That's 921 calories out of 1440 for today.

Day Eight (Saturday)

I took some measurements today as it has been a week since I started and I was surprised to see that I have lost an INCH from my waist and hips!!!! :) Maybe this diet does actually work then! BUT I will only do it for the 2 weeks as it feels like I am eating way too much sugar and chocolate, I am getting a few spots come up on my face :(

Breakfast: Special K Strawberry and Chocolate cereal (175 kcal per 30g)

Snack: red berry cereal bar (88 kcal)

Lunch: Special K clusters cereal (234 kcal per 45g)

Snack: Special K Mini Breaks, Mellow Caramel (99 kcal)

Dinner: Jacket potato with chilli and lettuce (530 kcal) with green beans (35 kcal) and a wholemeal roll topped with bran (150kcal)

Check out how many CARBS I am eating compared to my normal Low Carb diet!! :-O I will most certainly be going back on Low Carb after this diet is over! Although I am shopping with my Mum on Saturday then out for a Birthday meal with some friends at a pub, so might start on Low Carb a week today ;)

myfitnesspal screen dump for Saturday!

That's 1252 calories out of 1440 for today.






Day Seven (Friday)

Breakfast: Special K cereal (114 kcal per 30g)

Snack: red berry cereal bar (88 kcal)

Lunch: Grilled Chicken salad (330kcal) and a wholemeal roll topped with bran (150kcal)

Snack: Special K Chocolate and Raspberry cereal bar (89 kcal)

Dinner: Special K cereal (114 kcal per 30g)

That's 946 calories out of 1440 for today.

Day Six (Thursday)

I'm doing some Adobe Flash training in Portsmouth for the next 2 days and I will probably be home quite late so I will have my meal for lunch. I have chosen a salad recipe from the Special K website to take as a packed lunch.

Breakfast: Special K cereal (114 kcal per 30g)

Snack: red berry cereal bar (88 kcal)

Lunch: Grilled Chicken salad (330kcal) and a wholemeal roll topped with bran (150kcal)

Grilled Chicken salad

Snack: Special K Chocolate and Raspberry cereal bar (89 kcal)

Dinner: Special K cereal (114 kcal per 30g)

That's 946 calories out of 1440 for today.

Day Five (Wednesday)

Breakfast: Special K cereal (114 kcal per 30g)

Snack: red berry cereal bar (88 kcal)

Lunch: Slim Fast Chocolate Peanut 3-2-1 Meal Bar (210 kcal)

Snack: Special K Mini Breaks (99 kcal)

Dinner: BBQ chicken and pork veggie skewers with brown rice (650 kcal) and a wholemeal roll topped with bran (150kcal)

Chicken & Pork Skewers with brown rice

That's 1370 calories out of 1440 for today.







Day Four (Tuesday)

Its my monthly curry club today so I guess I will go back to the plain Chicken Tikka main with a plain-ish rice to try and reduce the calorie intake?


Breakfast: Special K cereal (114 kcal per 30g)

Snack: red berry cereal bar (88 kcal)

Lunch: Slim Fast Chocolate Peanut 3-2-1 Meal Bar (210 kcal)

Slim Fast Chocolate Peanut 3-2-1 meal bar

Snack: Special K Mini Breaks (99 kcal)

Dinner: Curry Club! - Poppadom, Chicken Tikka, Pilau rice, salad, 1/2 plain naan.

That's 1203 calories out of 1440 for today.






Day Three (Monday)

Breakfast: Special K cereal (114 kcal per 30g)

Snack: red berry cereal bar (88 kcal)

Packed lunch for work

Lunch: Slim Fast Chocolate Peanut 3-2-1 Meal Bar (210 kcal)

Snack: Special K Mini Breaks (99 kcal)

Dinner: Jacket potato with chilli and lettuce (530 kcal)

Baked Potato and Chilli with lettuce

That's 1100 calories out of 1400 for today.

Day Two (Sunday)

Breakfast: Special K Chocolate and Strawberry cereal (175 kcal per 30g)

Snack: Special K Chocolate and Raspberry cereal bar (89 kcal)

Special K Chocolate & Raspberry

Lunch: Special K cereal (114 kcal per 30g)

Special K Cereal

Snack: Special K mini breaks (99 kcal)

Dinner: BBQ chicken and pork veggie skewers with brown rice (650 kcal)

Chicken & Pork Skewers with brown rice

That's 1066 calories for today.





Day One (Saturday)

Breakfast: Special K Strawberry and Chocolate cereal (175 kcal per 30g)

Strawberry & Chocolate Special K

Snack: Special K Red berry cereal bar (88 kcal)

Lunch: Special K clusters cereal (234 kcal per 45g)

Snack: Special K mini bites (99 kcal)

Mini Breaks

Dinner: Jacket potato with chilli and lettuce (530 kcal)

According to my calorie counting app, I have only had 1067 of my 1440 calories that I am allowed in a day :) wooo!

Jacket potato with chilli and lettuce

Post Introduction - why I am trying the Special K diet

I have put on some weight since the wedding, I don't now how much as I haven't weighed myself but my trousers feel a bit tighter than they used to. I decided to try the Special K diet where you have a bowl of Special K for breakfast and lunch then a main meal for dinner. I did some research on the Internet and found out that you can also have cereal snack bars for morning and afternoon snacks too.

To try and reduce the cost of this 2 week diet, I will stretch the recipes I have chosen from the Special K website over a few days, for example, with the chilli and baked potato recipe I will split the chilli into 4 portions and refrigerate/freeze some so I don't eat chilli for 4 days on the trot :)

I won't weigh myself as I don't want to know how much I have put on but I have measured my waist, hips and chest so I can say how many inches I lost. According to the adverts the Special K diet makes you lose a dress size in 2 weeks! ...time will tell!