Time to stop thinking that my diet is not THAT bad...!

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Day 5 was the same situation as it was the day before. It was my best friend's birthday yesterday, and we don't have the time to see each other a lot these days so wanted to make the most of it! I've finally seen where she lives. Very pretty place. Lots of hills and countryside to explore. I will be making sure I can borrow my family's dog to on more visits once I finish University. I didn't see her until the evening, so no chance to on walks just yet. It was just drinks and a takeaway at her flat.

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Diet wise was very meh.

Breakfast - yoghurt, banana, a small piece of Easter egg chocolate (283 calories, 49g carbs)
My boyfriend brought it up to me while I was still in bed, bless him. We both try to be healthy, but we are in a slight disagreement on what counts as a healthy breakfast. He sees fruit and yoghurt as being super healthy, whereas I just see it as being full of sugar and carbs. I see eggs and bacon as being full of protein, whereas he just sees it as being full of fat.

Lunch - the leftover ratatouille and potato (approx 300 calories, 20g carbs)

Dinner - 2 slices of chicken pizza without cheese (approx 500 calories, 50g carbs)
I'm not a fan of cheese, but I don't mind it on pizza since it's full of other flavours and it is awkward if I'm the only one eating it. However, one of the other people who was at the party was lactose intolerant, so I jumped at the chance of having no cheese!

Drinks
1 cup of tea, 2 orange squashes (10 calories, 2g carbs)
2 rums and Diet Coke (120 calories, 0g carbs)
2 cans of Fosters (345 calories, 35g carbs)
Think it's fair to say that I fell down on drinking beer. I think I needed to be more realistic on how much I was likely to be drinking, since I didn't bring much rum. 5 hours is a LONG time to only have 2 drinks when you're at a party. Oh well. Onwards and upwards!

Total - approx 1,558 - 1,778 calories (throwing in the 200 calorie contingency for estimates), and 156g carbs.

Overall, I did better on the calorie front, but I think yesterday was worse nutritionally. I didn't have a lot of protein and I didn't drink very much water. I'd give myself 3.5 out of 10 again.
 
Day 6 went better. Hooray! I had no alcohol today, which unsurprisingly made the difference. I also did a bit of exercise, but I wouldn't really class it as a 'session'. I went on a sponsored dog walk called 'Pooch Parade'. My family have a dog, so I brought him along. The turnout was more than they expected. So many dogs! Pretty much everyone there were groups of friends or couples, so it didn't feel too kiddy either. The Google maps app reckons I walked 5 miles, but I really don't it could be that match since I didn't feel tired at all at the end. I reckon it must have been more like 3 miles. Still, it got me moving about and meant I could see my friends. Killed two birds with one stone as I had to do uni work in the afternoon.

Food diary was the following:

Breakfast
A 2-egg omelette containing onion, pepper, mushroom and half a chorizo burger (316 calories, 17g carbs)

Lunch
Half a chorizo burger and a slice of bread (211 calories, 16g carbs)

Dinner
A full chorizo burger, a bean burger, onion, pepper, mushroom, 70g bread and a stole a couple of fries off my boyfriend's plate (781 calories, 82g carbs)

Snacks
A piece of Easter egg chocolate (50 calories, 5g carbs)
A small slice of birthday cake (took it home having not eaten it last night) (214 calories, 34g carbs)

Drinks
4 cups of tea and 3 pints of squash (40 calories, 5g carbs)

Total: 1,602 calories, 159g carbs

The main thing I struggled with today was hunger. I had it a bit before during the week, but when I was working it didn't really matter because I had work to take my mind off it. It's not the same when you're working at home! Stupidly snacked on birthday cake, which filled me for a bit but then I was just as hungry for dinner. I need to make sure I'm going for sensible options when snacking so I don't have blood sugar crashes.

Overall, although the statistics are similar to yesterday, I think today was a lot more substantial so I'm unlikely to wake up tomorrow morning STARVING like I did today. I'd give myself 6 out of 10 for the diet, and would round it up to 6.5 for the walk.
 
Day 7 went well! No bad hunger pangs and nothing that I would class as being proper empty calories. No exercise, but that is tomorrow's job as I've been working all evening.

Breakfast
1 boiled egg and a banana (193 calories, 24 carbs)

Lunch
Chicken and vegetable broth and a protein bar (471 calories, 34 carbs)
The friend who I mentioned in my OP has told me off before for protein bars as they're not meant to be good for you since it's processed. I do need to start making protein snacks of some kind. At least it wasn't chocolate!

Dinner
Chicken curry, a bit of rice, 1 onion bajhi, and a small piece of naan bread (776 calories, approx 57 carbs)
Was premade microwave stuff, so definitely could have been better nutrition-wise as I had to limit myself to a fraction of the food available so I wouldn't go over calorie-wise.

Drinks - 2 black teas, 4 white teas, 2 orange squashes (40 calories, 5g carbs)

Total - 1,480 calories, 120 carbs

The processed bits to my diet lets it down, but on the whole I am happy today. I would give myself 7.5 out of 10.
 
Overall your last few days sound pretty good to me. Have you tried making your own protein bars(or balls)?A friend of mine makes his own with almond meal, chia seeds, cacao nibs, oats, nut butter.....(I can't remember what else). You could google them. They would be much better than buying them. I think I added a little honey when I made some.
It sounds like you have a nice, well-balanced life :)
That view is stunning!
 
cate said:
Overall your last few days sound pretty good to me. Have you tried making your own protein bars(or balls)?A friend of mine makes his own with almond meal, chia seeds, cacao nibs, oats, nut butter.....(I can't remember what else). You could google them. They would be much better than buying them. I think I added a little honey when I made some.
It sounds like you have a nice, well-balanced life :)
That view is stunning!
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Thank you! Making my own does sound really nice. I think next time we do a big shop I'll be looking into that. We get a new fridge on Friday, so will be happy when I can start planning my meals properly again.

So, in diet news I have finished my first week. My waist is half an inch smaller and I've lost 3 pounds. Very pleased! Recording my food and thinking carefully about what I'm eating is helping immensely. It's so easy to just have another glass of wine or a larger piece of chocolate without stopping to think what effect it would have on a diet.

Day 8 went well!

Breakfast
Natural yoghurt and a banana (183 calories, 27g carbs)
The natural stuff is a lot less sweet/carby than smaller fruit pots. Will need to remember that!

Lunch
Quorn mince with veg, lettuce, and an onion bhaji (459 calories, 37g carbs)
Very filling lunch. So much so I'm planing on having it again tomorrow.

Dinner
Sweet and sour cod with 130g of egg noodles (791 calories, 95g carbs)
There was a lot of sugar in the sauce, which let this meal down. 95g carbs feels like a lot for one meal!

Drinks
1 black tea, 3 white teas, 2 orange squashes (approx 40 calories, 5g carbs)

Total - 1,473 calories, 164g carbs

I did the same gym routine as I did last Tuesday, which was 2 classes - Grit and Body Attack. They felt more difficult than last week. However, that might be because I actually knew what I was doing this time, so I spent less time thinking and more time exercising.

Overall I'm happy with today. My dinner could have been a bit better, but nothing I would class as empty calories. I'm exhausted after exercising. It's only just 10am and I can barely keep my eyes open. Would give myself 7 out of 10 for the diet, and then add in an extra point for the exercise to make it 8 out of 10.
 
Day 9 went well! I've been up quite early because I had some uni work to do before my actual job, so I will sleep soundly tonight. After I had tea, I thought to myself 'oooh still got a bit of a calorie deficit, shall I revel in it or top it up with alcohol or food?' The answer is below...

Breakfast
Boiled egg and avocado (192 calories, 8g carbs)

Lunch
Quorn mince, soy sauce, chilli with lettuce and a banana (405 calories, 51 carbs)

Dinner
A chicken kiev, a bean burger, an onion ring, and broccoli (601 calories, 47g carbs)

Snack
A slice of birthday cake from Saturday (250 calories, 44g carbs)

Drinks - 4 teas, 4 orange squashes (40 calories, 5g carbs)

Total - 1,488 calories, 155g carbs

I'm happy enough with that, although I am shocked at how many carbs are in a small slice of birthday cake! No exercise as that is tomorrow's job. Would give myself 7 out of 10.
 
Sunflower_ said:
Well done lady!
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Thank you very much!

Day 9 went well. I'm under my calories, no 'empty food', and I worked so hard at the gym my legs might have actually turned into jelly. I have never done a 'bunny hop' before. I think I did nearly 100 of them in Boot Camp. Sadly I did not look like this:

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I looked more like this:

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Admittedly the motivation behind jumping up and down like a bunny is not quite for the most saintly of reasons...One of my friends is staying over at mine and we're off on a night out tomorrow. I'm sort of expecting myself to mess up a bit. We're not the kind of friends who say 'let's go for a couple drinks *a couple drinks later* oh oops silly us accidentally ordered another bottle of wine.' We don't even try to kid each other that it's just going to be 'a couple'. Ah well. I think if I stay to diet mixers and spirits then I can't go too far wrong. It'll still technically be a school night for me because I have uni at 9am on Saturday, so I won't be getting in TOO late. Will hopefully dance off some of the calories wherever it is we end up going...

Anyway, I should stop reflecting on failing a day of my diet before the day has even started! Food diary time:

Breakfast
1 apple and a boiled egg (165 calories, 21g carbs)

Lunch
Chicken and vegetable broth, and a protein cookie (539 calories, 40g carbs)

Dinner
Prawn stir fry with noodles (515 calories, 66g carbs)

Drinks
4 teas, 2 orange squashes, and a litre of water (40 calories, 4g carbs)

Total - 1,259 calories, 131g carbs

Admittedly certain things like the broth and protein cookie were processed, but overall I am happy with my diet. Would give myself an 8 out of 10, and I definitely worked hard at the gym so would throw in an extra point. Overall, 9 out of 10 :)
 
cate said:
9 out of 10? Well done! Have fun with your friend & dance the calories away :D
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Thank you! I certainly did have fun.

So, as expected, yesterday was HORRENDOUS. I completely forgot about the fact that the friend I went out with has a taste for jagerbombs. I had 3 of them. I drank beer. I smoked. I had 4 hours' sleep. I am at uni on my lunch break and it is taking SO much mental stamina to keep going.

Oh, and I'm off for a meal tonight for a friend's birthday as soon as I finish uni! Haven't got time for a full food diary but will update tomorrow. I think I need to, as seeing it in black and white might actually change my habits. Until then, more alcohol and Italian food!
 
Sooooo....the last 3 days have been pretty poor. I haven't looked after myself at all. I'm still very dehydrated and I barely slept on Friday and Saturday night. I still managed to go to uni both days and made a reasonable contribution in my workshops, but it was hard going! I won't be at all surprised if it's reversed all the good work I did leading up to this weekend.

Day 10.

Breakfast
100g natural yoghurt, a banana, and a boiled egg. (261 calories, 41.4g carbs)

Lunch
A falafel salad (258 calories, 30g carbs)

Dinner
A chicken Kiev with potato wedges and roasted veg (791 calories, 69.5g carbs)

Drinks
3 cups of tea, 3 orange squashes (30 calories, approx 3g carbs)
2 rums and Diet Coke (100 calories, nil carbs)
2 vodkas and Diet Coke (100 calories, nil carbs)
3 cans of beer (540 calories, 39 carbs)
3 jagerbombs (485 calories, 75g carbs)

I also smoked about 5 cigarettes. Ugh!! I had very little sleep. We got in at about half 2 and then talked for an hour after that. I haven't seen her in ages, so we still had a lot to talk about. The only thing I can credit myself for was the fact that my boyfriend had a takeaway and left us some of it to eat when we got in, but luckily neither of us felt like it!

Total - 2,565 calories, 257g carbs

Definite 1 out of 10. Jagerbombs are so bad. I really didn't need to have them and the beer to have a good night. It would have made a huge difference to the overall stats. Again, ugh!!!

Day 11
Breakfast
A slice of toast with peanut butter (173 calories, 14.4g carbs)

Lunch
A chicken tikka wrap (approx 450 calories, 27g carbs)

Dinner
Spicy fish stew with a small slice of bread (approx 400 calories, 17g carbs)

Pudding
1 small slice of birthday cake (approx 200 calories and 44g carbs)

Drinks
1 tea (approx 10 calories, 1g carbs)
A sugar-free red bull (3 calories, nil carbs) - just in case I hadn't enough red bull in the last 24hrs. Ugh. Purely had it so I wouldn't fall asleep at uni!
A can of diet coke (nil, nil)
1 litre of water (nil)
A small glass of cranberry juice (approx 4 calories, 0.5g carbs)
A pint of beer (208 (17.6 carbs)
3 gins and diet tonic (150 calories, nil carbs)
Half a bottle of red wine (270 calories, 12g carbs)

I slept terribly. My boyfriend and I were staying at a friend's house in a different city. Their house was quite cold and has damp. Sleeping was okay because I had his body heat for a while, but then he decided to get up and start smoking with friends to warm up.

Total - 1,865 calories, 133.5g carbs

So not as bad as Friday, but still pretty horrendous. I would give myself a 2 out of 10.

Day 12
Breakfast
A blueberry smoothie (135 calories, 29g carbs)

Lunch
A pack of sushi (579 calories, 78 carbs)

Dinner
2 larges slices of pizza and a piece of garlic bread. (approx 740 calories, 108 carbs)

Yes, from a takeaway. Not my decision! My boyfriend was wasted for pretty much the whole of Saturday and Sunday. He was still drinking whiskey with friends when I left for uni at 9am. Naturally, when I came back home from uni at 5pm he was in a terrible state. I suggested that I would cook or would at least put a frozen pizza in the oven, but he was too rough to want anything other than crap.

Drinks
1 litre of water (nil)
2 diet cokes (nil)

Total - 1,454, 215 carbs

All of my food was processed and very carby. Would give myself a 3 out of 10.

Uuuugh that was cringey writing that entire post! It would have been so easy to write a little post saying: 'TERRIBLE WEEKEND. WILL START AGAIN MONDAY'. However, I do think I can learn something from it at least by reviewing where the high numbers came from (jagerbombs and beer!) and knowing not to do it again.
 
Very interested reading your food log. As a fellow student I am very money conscious and seeing your diet being something other than pasta, pasta, pasta, pasta, rice, noodles, take out.

It makes me wonder would I could be doing when I'm back at university next year in terms of food. I'm not one for taking packed lunch to university so pre-making lunch is probably a no. I don't really want to starve myself during the day and end up over eating when I get home.

Anyway I think your doing a great job. The alcohol is always a difficult one; especially being a student and having various social circles.
 
lrat said:
Very interested reading your food log. As a fellow student I am very money conscious and seeing your diet being something other than pasta, pasta, pasta, pasta, rice, noodles, take out.

It makes me wonder would I could be doing when I'm back at university next year in terms of food. I'm not one for taking packed lunch to university so pre-making lunch is probably a no. I don't really want to starve myself during the day and end up over eating when I get home.

Anyway I think your doing a great job. The alcohol is always a difficult one; especially being a student and having various social circles.
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I know what you mean - lunch is so hard as a student! I'm quite lucky because I have access to a fridge and a microwave when I'm working. Think it's a definite trial and error when dieting and on a budget.

And thank you! You're absolutely right about the social circle problem. It is difficult to make it look like you're having a really good time if you're drinking a lot less than everyone else (something I'm usually not guilty of!) Good luck on your journey!

So, yesterday (Day 13) was very food orientated! We now have a fridge so we managed to do our bulk cooking. I've counted up all carbs/calories so I should have a really good idea of how much my dinners are now. I casually mentioned to my boyfriend how much sugar was in a couple of his favourite meals, and even he was shocked so we toned it down a bit. Result! Got a couple of pictures of our bulk cooking. We had enough for about 25 meals in total. Excuse the stains on the hob - we had already done a few meals by then!

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Eating wasn't great today. We still had a ridiculous amount of pizza left over. My boyfriend is even taking 4 slices of it for lunch tomorrow.

Breakfast
1 and a half slices of pizza (450 calories, 54g carbs)

Lunch
1 slice of pizza (270 calories, 36g carbs)

Dinner
Spinach, sweetcorn, and onion in thai sauce and a slice of garlic bread (400 calories, 56g carbs)

Drinks
1 tea (10 calories, 1g carbs)
2 pints of orange squash (nil)
1 diet coke (nil)
1 can of beer (176 calories, 16.4g carbs) (because I haven't drank enough this bank holiday...)

Total - 1,306, 163.4g carbs

Vey meh since the majority of my food came from that takeaway. Would give myself a 3 out of 10. I did go on a 2-hour walk and walked about 6.5 miles, so decent exercise. Overall would give myself 4 out of 10.

Did my measurements and I'm down another half an inch on my waist. Woo! I don't find out my weight until I go to the gym tonight. Not holding my breath, but we shall see!
 
Got on the scales - lost another pound! I'm pretty pleased considering how my bank holiday went. I think it goes to show what I'm going at the gym seems to be working. Prior to this, a bad weekend would have ruined my motivation. I'm struggling to always fit in uni work, so I would start thinking that it was pointless cutting out my studying time to spend more than an hour exercising if I'm going to eat/drink badly on the weekends.

Day 14 went well. I did Grit and Body Attack at the gym today. I found it easier than last week, but I am starting to get my head around how fast-paced both of the classes are. Still plenty of room for improvement!

Food diary was as follows:

Breakfast
1 large banana and 60g yoghurt (187 calories, 39.4g carbs)

Lunch
Thai noodle soup and an apple (273 calories, 33.2g carbs)
Got the soup on offer in the supermarket. Amazing choice! I love the taste of Thai flavours.

Dinner
3 chilli sausages with mashed potato and gravy (784 calories, 51.7g carbs)

Snack
Some easter chocolate - (196 calories, 36g carbs)

Drinks
3 teas, 2 pints of orange squash, 1 litre of water (30 calories, approx 3g carbs)

Total - 1,480 calories, 163.3g carbs

A bit on the carby side, as it didn't really click that 1g of Dairy Milk = 1g carbs. However, it was quite a filling day as I didn't feel hungry once! Would give myself a 6.5 out of 10 for the diet, and would round it up to 7.5 out of 10 when factoring in the exercise.
 
cate said:
You are continuing to do well. Good for you! :)
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Thank you very much :)

Diet has (so far) fairly well today. The main thing I'm struggling with is getting anxious about my uni work. I made plans ages ago to see my Gran on Sunday (which is at least 6 hrs out of a day because of where she lives). A few days ago my boyfriend told me he wanted his parents to come up on Saturday because they haven't seen our new-but-not-quite-bought house and he also wanted to them out for his mum's birthday.

It has only just dawned on me that leaves me NO time to do uni work. I'm now debating with myself on how I'm going to sort out this exercise malarkey without compromising on uni work. I have considered going before work, but it does make it a LONG day if I'm then working until 10pm. I've tried it at the beginning of this year when I lost some weight, but I started feeling burnt out quite quuickly.

Ah well. I'm sure I'll figure it out. I might have to use this diary as a mini work diary so stuff like this doesn't sneak up on me.
 
I have calmed down a bit since writing that post. I was sat in the hairdresser’s feeling horribly guilty that I wasn’t doing any uni work. I find that guilt always strikes me when I can do the least about it. It’s a different story on a weekend when I need to get out of bed and I’m finding excuses why I should sleep in for an extra hour. I have written myself a to-do list between now and finishing uni, which should stop the deer-in-headlights moments happening so often.

Doing that to-do list has made me realise that I have exactly 7 weeks left of uni. So exited! That also makes it 7 weeks plus 2 days when I go on holiday to Tenerife. If I could lose a stone by then, I would be over the moon. It would be the slimmest I have been in about 3 years.

Anyway, enough fantasising about holidays and finishing uni, back to the nitty-gritty.

Food diary
Breakfast
1 boiled egg and 25g chorizo (197 calories, 1g carbs)

Lunch
Chicken and vegetable broth and a protein bar (461 calories, 34g carbs)

Dinner
Chickpea and sweet potato pie with gravy and vegetables (602, 64.8g carbs)

Snacks
2 chocolate mints (came free with tea at the hairdresser’s!) approx. 40 calories, 4g carbs

Drinks – 4 teas, 2 pints of orange squash (approx. 40 calories, 4g carbs)

Total – 1,340 calories, 107.8g carbs

Some processed food (here’s looking at you, protein bar and chocolate mints), but I wouldn’t class anything as junk. Would give myself about 7 out of 10.

To-do list for the rest of this week:
- Thursday before work – prep for Real Estate work
- Thursday evening – gym & sort out mortgage deed
- Friday before work – more prep for Real Estate work
- Friday evening – make house presentable for the out-laws
- Saturday morning – Commercial Dispute Resolution prep work
- Saturday afternoon/evening – other out-law family time (REST!!!)
- Sunday morning/afternoon – seeing Gran
- Sunday evening - finish prep work/start coursework
 
Hey DA a very very late welcome. I'm not from the UK. Your food looks yummy. Dont worry about the not so good days it take time to do everything perfect. Im still trying as a matter of fact.
No worries :)
 
Rebel lee said:
Hey DA a very very late welcome. I'm not from the UK. Your food looks yummy. Dont worry about the not so good days it take time to do everything perfect. Im still trying as a matter of fact.
No worries :)
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Thank you very much! :) yeah, good advice! I think the longer it's done the more we get used to it.

Yesterday went fairly well. However, I did feel a bit stressed in the morning. I work in litigation, which for the most part I really enjoy. Particularly so when I get to send stroppy letters to other solicitors for not doing their jobs properly :p However, yesterday morning I had a response to some of my letters with equally stroppy replies threatening expensive court applications and enforcement agents, so I had to drop everything and focus my time on those files. By lunchtime I had a banging headache, so I went 'sod it' to the budget and diet slightly and bought exactly what I wanted. It was less in calories than I thought at least!

Breakfast
A boiled egg and chorizo
1 boiled egg and 25g chorizo (197 calories, 1g carbs)

Lunch
Spicy chicken soup with noodles from Wasabi (473 calories, 73g carbs)
(It cost £5.45 and had a lot of carbs, but it WAS SO WORTH IT!!)

Dinner
Smoked haddock in butternut squash and 100g pasta (709 calories, 99.9g carbs)
(Again, quite carby)

Drinks
4 teas, 2 pints of orange squash (40 calories, 4g carbs)

Overall - 1,419 calories, 177.9g carbs

Quite a carby day, but it was all decent food. I would give myself 6.5 for the diet. I also went to the gym and did boot camp and body pump. I find it easier than last week, so I should be getting better at my technique. Would round myself up to 7.5 overall for the exercise.
 
Mm that soup sounds gorgeous. Not high in calories either for lunch! Well done for doing the gym even after a hard day - I tend to think fuck it if I've had a horrible day at work!
 
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