In the words of Eric Cartman — "BEEFCAAAAAAAAAAAKE!"

Firstly, I lost weight. It looks like I basically just lost whatever I 'put on' last week, but given that I am doing weight training and have been reading so much about water retention, losing inches rather than pounds etc, I'm really not putting too much stock into this. If I lose, I lose. I just have to know that I am sticking to my calories and exercising enough. I would normally be excited about a loss, but at the moment, it all seems fairly meaningless, so I'm just getting on with it.

My new weigh day is now Saturday, just because I normally end up eating something unhealthy this day, and it means I have a week to repair the damage! On this particular Saturday, we went to Frankie & Benny's for dinner — woo-hoo! The food was all delicious, even though I didn't get to eat their amazing hotdog — BUT I WILL ONE DAY. I was quite in the mood for a cheeseburger, so I had settled on that until my boyfriend ordered the double Philly steak burger… For some reason, I felt that this gave me the green light to order a double cheeseburger — WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I'm supposed to be watching what I eat! Well, I got punished in the end, because I couldn't finish the second patty in the bun and felt terrible for wasting it. Note to self: don't do that again, because you are not a slim man with a super-fast metabolism. Despite this, I had the low-fat pancake for dessert (well, let's try, eh?)— 200cals and really very nice! No pics cos I wolfed it all.

These looked and tasted delicious.

On Sunday, I went a bit mental in a food market in St Albans and spent about £15. And that's only because I stopped myself. I went with my uncle and his son — my poor cousin tried to buy a gourmet bacon roll for £4 and my uncle just told him, "Don't buy that — we've got two rashers of bacon at home"… ehehehehe. Thankfully, he was allowed to buy a scotch egg and a mini quich later. I bought some giant flat mushrooms, a black pudding scotch egg, a huge croissant, ostrich burgers and a coconut bird feeder thing, which I obviously didn't eat, even though it looked quite appetising — a bit like a rustic Bounty. Oh, I also bought some super-spicy pickled onions! They are an absolute godsend on a fast day — really fucking hot (there are Scotch Bonnet chillies in the vinegar and my mouth is watering just thinking about them) but very low in calories. The flat mushrooms were amazing just grilled, but on the second day I added some sundried tomato paste, garlic salt and a few herbs and stuck them in the oven — frigging fabulous!

Last Thursday, I made the mistake of eating my fasting dinner (because I was fucking starving!) before doing my weights session. I will NOT be doing that again in a hurry, dear god, no. I was really fucking thirsty, so I had also drunk quite a lot of water through the evening… It was mainly all fine until I had to lie on my front to do back extensions and suddenly I could feel air and food all swooshing around dangerously close to the top of my throat… I ended up not completing the exercise because I was on the brink of throwing up — nobody wants to be found wearing cheap leggings, an exercise bra and furry boots, drowned in their own vomit under a 5ft dried-up Christmas tree, do they? Lesson learnt. 

Looks gross, but was actually delicious.

This brings me to the problem I have encountered since I upped my exercise routine (I now work out every day except Sunday) — I feel like I am permanently ravenous. And it's been affecting my fast days quite badly, to be honest. Last week was a pile of shite when it came to fasting, but at least I didn't go over my daily calorie allowance. To combat this crazy hunger, I've tried to find a more filling breakfast — step in savoury porridge! Yup, sounds disgusting I know, but it was actually just like risotto. Oats, red onion, mushrooms, parsley, ham and light garlic cream cheese. I don't really like sweet breakfasts, so this was perfect for me, but I imagine some people would really struggle with it. But at least it was filling. I think I will experiment with some other savoury oat recipes next week — makes a change for breakfast! [FFS — whilst I am trying to type this, I keep seeing an email come up titled 'Donut Tasting' — seriously??]

Still very much enjoying the lifting, and sticking with the principle of just lifting more and more each week. My posture feels a hell of a lot better, my arms feel strong (I cannot stop flexing and moving my biceps whilst sitting at my desk — what a geek!) and whilst I probably can’t quite crack walnuts between my thighs, I could definitely smash a few on top of them. So at the moment, that is what I am concentrating on — feeling good and trying to eat well. The theory is that everything else should fall into place… right? RIGHT?