Vegetarian: Week Four

Vegetarian: Week Four.

This morning I hit 100 kilos, a couple more weeks of this project and I should be consistently in the double figure range.

Vegetarian is not hard at all really as I have mentioned before. But. And the but is significant.

It's very hard to stay full. As time wears on through weeks three and four I seem to be less satisfied that I am full on the Vegetarian diet. Meat is obviously quite heavy and filling, and when it is not included in the diet I find that I tend to want to snack more during the day and on weekends.

I'm still sticking to the lower carbs, lower snacks and lower sugar variations to my on going diet but for the first time the diet is making me actually feel hungrier (with the exception of the very first week of this project).

Still being aware and not caving into the feeling is usually enough. I do have to watch myself in the weekends as access to more food and easy snacking is much higher than when being distracted by work.

I did note that on the days I got up before 5 a.m. (which oddly I did twice this week) any delay to getting food really strains at lunch time and found myself seriously tired and hungry by 11 - which is when I usually eat. Though this week the schedule I had for some urgent work stuff made my timing all go out of whack.

5 more days of vegetarian. Not sure there will be a takeaway from this diet, while I am still losing weight for now, it's more likely drawn from the other good habits not from vegetarian per se.

Oh and the exercise is probably helping. I have started back on the stationary bike - 42 minutes per day. 42 minutes being the average length of a standard hour of television without ads. I watch one episode of a TV show while biking - keeps me distracted enough and from being bored.

Vegetarian: Week Three

Vegetarian Week Three:

Closing in on 100 Kilos, and then double figures. Currently 101.8. The vegetarian diet not hard in the least, 3 weeks in and other than the occasional reminder that I'm not having meat (ordering fish and chips etc..) it does not feel like I am on a diet at all. 15 more days and does not feel restrictive in the slightest.

Lentil burgers are one of my favourite dishes, followed by Felafel rissoles in Pita Pockets. This diet works as meat is a substantial portion of the meal, but coupled with the dietary habits taken from the previous months (no snacking, low to no added sugar, reduced carbs at night) it adds to a continuing weight reduction.

Not really thinking about this diet at all and am thinking more of what to do next. Options are dairy free, gluten free, 3 meals a day and Vegan. Vegan is likely a no (or not right now) as it's Max's birthday within the next diet range and we're planning on going out and I'd like to eat more than a garden salad if we go to a restaurant.

Vegetarian: Week Two

Vegetarian - Week Two. This seems like the easiest and least impactive of the diets I have trialled so far. It's not hard in the slightest and seems to come with no cravings, no losses or issues attached.

Simply removing meat is not hard at all. I was a vegetarian for a year or two when I was in my late teens, and I don't even think about it.

I have kept up with a reduced sugar, carb and snack regimen - but without removing these things entirely. I don't bother snacking after dinner any more and a cup of tea is about it for me generally. I did have a small salted popcorn when at the movies the other night, but only because it was free with La Premiere. They offered me a free drink as well but I just went water.

I was 102.8 Kilos this morning and was finally able to fit the t-shirt you see above.

I bought this on sale for $99 in Sydney over 10 years ago and it has NEVER fitted me. I bought it thinking that one day it might because I loved the shirt design that much (That's John Coltrane if you don't know) and it was half price at $99 - the most I have ever spent on what is basically a t-shirt.

I have been trying it on once a week for the last 6 weeks or so and this morning when I put it on it felt like it fit properly and I did not feel like a sausage in it.

Aspirational clothing, this is the one I wanted more than anything else.

Vegetarian: Week One

Vegetarian Week One:

Vegetarian is not really that hard, I was a vego for 2 years or so in my late teens. There was not a real driving force behind it other than curiosity and to prove that I could. This transition is going to be the easiest as up and down the road where I work there are Vegetarian, Vegan, Hare Krishna and Indian places to eat.

Whats more fascinating is that I'm kind of in training for a diet a few months from now. Vegetarian this month, No-Dairy next month and then after that the big one - Vegan. I suspect that one will suck majorly and hence I'm kind of in training for it. So I have been a vego for 4 days now and other than wanting to try the Crack Pie from Hard Luck Cafe, I haven't really had to think too hard about it. I eat salads and vegetables more anyway, and when I was eating meat I was not consuming that much of it as I fill up very quickly.

The return of carbs to my diet in the afternoon/evening has almost created a zero sum in that the meat has gone so they kind of balance out.


On the too much information side though my weight has now reduced by another kilo, clocking in at 103.2 kilos this morning, down from 104.0 last night. However since losing a bit of weight an reducing my intake considerably and for better foods, my regular toilet schedule has changed. Where it was very regular on a daily basis, the frequency has halved and my body seems to be expelling less. The weight loss pattern now staggers around the expelling of waste as well as a general reduction as my diet has improved markedly. So some days I stay the same and 2 or 3 times a week I make a jump down (or should that be dump?).

No Carbs After Lunch: Week Four

No Carbs After Lunch Week Four.

This diet has become a slightly different diet than when I started it. It's still bound by the no carbs after lunch rule, but it would be more truthful to say that it has become the big lunch small dinner diet.

More often that not the dinner meal (with the exception of being sick) which I have not been skipping but committing to eat every day, has become a regularly small meal. So usually that means a salad or a soup or if I'm hungry sometimes both.

The hard part is avoiding bread which feels so natural with soups. Particularly my go to soup which is Tomato Soup with chili added and grated parmesan (fresh) cheese swirled in.

Even so this diet continues to add (or subtract) from the weight loss figure depending on which way you look at it.

Interesting things to note are that my shows and socks are getting looser, not something I had considered that I put on weight in my feet? However shoes are now looser and some socks I have to replace as they slip off my feet inside my shoes, which is weird. Also as I have a nasty cold at the moment so I feel less and less hungry and have to remind myself to eat more, which is kind of odd too.

However hopefully this cold will be gone by the weekend and I'll be back to normal (as normal as things are right now).

Current Weight 104.8 kgs.

Next diet: Unknown, either zero dairy/vegetarian or 3 regular meals a day zero snacking.

No Carbs After Lunch Week 3

Week 3: Continue to lose weight and clothes are getting looser and in some cases not fitting anymore. Clothes I have not been able to wear for a while are now either fitting or too loose. A shirt I had to wear at my sister in laws wedding in February but I could not because it was too tight, now hangs on me. I have not tried the replacement shirt I bought which was bigger yet.

The lunches I am eating are getting bigger and breakfast is making an appearance again. Dinners are getting smaller and I am eating more salads and light meals without ever skipping meals. Often it means that I have the meat and veg and then carry the carbs as leftovers for lunch the next day. For instance roast beef last night with vegetables, hold the mashed potato and had re-heated with leftover meat and veg. So each meal is consumed twice.

Money wise this is a good thing as I eat a lot less to start with, junk food lasts a lot longer now that I am not really consuming it. Leftovers are often there unless we have people over so I can go a whole week without buying lunch, and more often will only buy lunch when meeting someone.

Evening cravings and habits for food seem to have disappeared all together - the thought no longer occurs to me - not sure when this started but looking back am not thinking about it - or if I am it's momentary and forgotten.

Not sure how much of this diet will carry through, carb reduction maybe? Not sure - but won't need the excess of chips, bread or whatever else fillers comprise my old diet.

Have lost 20 kilos in 11 weeks.

Lowest weight was this morning at 106.6 kgs

No Carbs After Lunch Week Two

Weighed myself this morning and was 107.9 so thats 18 kilos so far, and if you want to see what 18 kilos missing looks like - see above. May 2011 on the left and this morning on the right. I've had to retire a belt, some pants and other items of clothing (no tent jokes please) and while that is the most unflattering pic I could find, it's good not being that big or unhealthy...


No Carbs After Lunch end of Week 2.

Well it's not that hard to remove carbohydrates, per se - it's more a matter of what do you put in it's place. So far the only real challenge is for Max as she thinks about salads and vegetables so I'm not just eating meat during the week. During weekends when I cook it's a bit easier to plan and avoid carbs for after lunch.

Snacking in the evening has not made much of an appearance, though if I do have a snack it will be a fruit based one. Well into my third week now and dinners seem to be getting smaller with my appetite, I start to struggle to finish a large meal and so I just stop and the leftovers go for lunch. I still have carbs with lunch, like chips or rice or whatever - but all the dietary changes I have been making around sugar, timing and carbs are all adding up.