How to Lose 25 Kilos ( My Diet Diary)

This hub is a follow on of my previous hub HELP!! I need to lose 25 KIlos. And will track my progress. I spent a couple of days shopping for some "diet friendly" foods, as there are some very "unfriendly" foods in my store cupboard! When dieting I like to start the day with cereal and fruit, so off to the shops for a selection of both. I chose some bran based cereal, porridge oats, and Wheetabix biscuits as it is Winter and I think I need to start the day with something hot. skimmed milk, was my next buy (I will throw out the full-fat) Apples and oranges are a must and I will include 1 of each of these every morning. Now for a selection of seasonal fruit, there are grapes, pears and plums as well as some imported Pineapples and Kiwi fruit, so I bought enough to last me all week. (Supermarket shopping can be a big temptation for me, especially as I have to pass the bakery section and those cakes seem to call to me!) Needless to say I try to limit my visits to the Supermarket.

I like jacket potatoes, so I bought a bag of even-sized baking potatoes, and a pack of root veggies for stew. Some vegetables can soon lose their freshness so I bought a selection of frozen ones a bag of Chinese stir-fry veg, a bag of broccoli florets, french green beans. Then over to the salad counter for an iceburg lettuce (they keep very well) a cucumber, tomatoes and a red and green pepper, an aubergine and a courgette. Next I bought my fish, salmon, monk fish, pollack fillets and frozen cooked prawns. I found two good bargains in the butchery dept., the chicken breast fillets and extra lean minced beef, so with the money I saved on these, I bought a 150gram piece of fillet steak as a special treat for Saturday night! Next I found a bag of Basmati Rice and a small pack of pasta shapes, and that is enough as my basket has now been up-graded to a shopping trolley!.

So now we all know the awful truth - 85 kilos and only 5 feet 2 inches. I have set my target at 60 kilos, but it is still probably too much for my height. OK, I know what I will eat each day for breakfast, I will have 40 grams of cereal and a piece of fruit. My milk allowance will be 250 ml (or half a pint) each day. This will be enough as I usually take my coffee black. Mid morning I will eat another piece of fruit, and lunch will be home made vegetable soup most days (I rather like Leek and Potato) I have a good collection of soup recipes cut out from various slimming magazines. I will also allow myself a bread roll . As an alternative I like a pasta salad made with canned tuna in brine (drained) and a handful of frozen mixed veggies (thawed) and a spoonful of low calorie dressing.One of my favourite lunches is mushroom risotto, made with mushrooms, onions, leeks and risotto rice. I just add a veggie stock cube and water and cook for around 20 minutes I make enough for 2 lunches and store one in the fridge for later in the week. In fact it is a good idea if you are short of time, and have enough willpower not to eat the lot! I do like a jacket potato with an ounce of cheese (note one ounce not three!!) Dinner is the meal that is the most enjoyable for me, I will try to eat a fish based meal twice a week, and I will make a couple of portions of bolognaise sauce for my pasta, and some chilli beef for with my rice, using the low fat recipes I found in the slimming magazines. Chicken casserole is another favourite as is chicken curry. I love a glass or two of wine on Saturday night, so I will allow for this in my total calorie count of 1250 calories per day or as I prefer 8750 calories per week. This may need adjusting down later, but for now I think it will be OK.

Well I have stuck to the diet faithfully for this my first week and I have lost 2 kilos -- YES!!!! (This may have been helped by the visit to the dentist on Monday when I had a tooth extracted)

I will report again next week, meanwhile I am thinking myself thin !

Well the past two weeks have been more difficult than I anticipated. The first setback was having to eat soft food for another week, even so I lost just half a kilo. The second week we were snowed in for 5 days, so it was fortunate that I had bought plenty of the diet-friendly foods. Even so it's easy to get bored when you can't go out, so by the end of last week once again I only lost half a kilo. I must keep reminding myself that I am not in a race. The best breakfast I had last week was a toasted wholemeal muffin, topped with a scrambled egg (no butter) and a slice of smoked salmon to top it off. The best lunch I had was stir fried prawns and Chinese mixed vegg. served with noodles. (cooked in 1 teaspoon oil in a non-stick Wok. My best dinner was cottage pie, made from dry-fried minced beef and carrots,onions,celery cooked with a stock cube then place in a pie dish and topped off with a mixture of cooked mashed swede and parsnips.My best dessert was frozen raspberries put into a food processor with chilled plain yoghurt and sugar substitute, and blended for a few seconds. Very nice.

That's all for now. I'll be back in a month.Meanwhile I am learning to love myself again.

I'm back just 3 kilos lighter. 79 kilos now. Not so good you may say, but with the weather being cold and wet and very windy here in Northern France, I've not been out for a walk for ages. Still I have managed to complete and publish 2 hubs that I have been researching for a while now,European Festivals 2010 February to July, and, Oradour-sur-Glane the martyred village.and I am working on my next one all about Oysters, including some of my favourite recipes too.

I have found a recipe for spicy porridge that I have now tried several times, it makes a nice change from the normal sort. To make 2 portions take 2 oz (50gms) porridge oats, a pinch of salt, 5 fl.oz Skimmed milk, 15 fl oz water, half a teaspoon Cinnamon, and 1 oz Sultanas. Put all the ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 mins on a very low heat, then put a lid on the pan and let it stand for another minute off the heat. I then mix in some sweetener as I have a sweet tooth!

Yesterday I made a vegetarian Moroccan Couscous dish for lunch. To serve 2 you need 5oz dry instant couscous, 3 oz finely chopped red onions, 5 oz chopped dried Apricots, 1 red pepper (de-seeded and roughly chopped), 7 oz canned chick peas, 1 level teaspoon cinnamon, half a level teaspoon of ground ginger, half a level teaspoon turmeric, half a level teaspoon coriander powder, salt and pepper. This is quite spicy, so use less spice if necessary.

Put the couscous in a bowl and just cover with boiling water, cover bowl with cling film and leave to one side while you make the spicy fruit and veg. In a saucepan put all the other ingredients and bring to a boil, then simmer for about 5 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Next add the prepared couscous to the spicy mix and mix them both together. Serve garnished with some fresh coriander.

One month on sad to say only 1 kg lost. I must be getting careless with portion control, and a growing fondness for an extra glass of wine (or 2) So the plan is to start counting calories again, and try this Green Tea I hear so much encouraging news about. Hopefully next month will see a greater loss.

Another month has passed and the green tea seems to help as I have recorded a 2kg loss this month. I'm trying to eat one meal a day that is carbohydrate free, and 3 meals that are protein free, as I have heard that it can help to speed up weight loss. I will try it for a month and then record my findings.

Due to a misunderstanding with my internet provider , I have been off-line for 2 months, but during that time I have been sticking to my diet and being a lot more active due to gardening in my veg plot. Glad to report another 7 kg lost and to date I have lost 13 kilos. just 12 to go now.

The last 12 kilos were the most difficult to shed. As you get older you not only become less active but your body doesn't need as many calories to function. Exercise can become difficult especially if like me you suffer from Arthritis, so although I continue my pattern of healthy eating, it has taken longer to achieve my target weight of 60 kilos. So don't give up, it will be worth it in the end. Now, how to maintain my target weight? I am gradually increasing my daily allowance, an extra slice of bread or a small bread roll for the first week, then if my weight has stayed the same I will add an extra ounce of rice or pasta to my dinner, and so on until I reach the stage where I am eating more but my weight is remaining constant at 60 kilos.

I hope you have found some encouragement in this hub.