1066 All Stars

Food Diary

Breakfast - 120ml Alove Vera Gel, 2x Garcinia Softgel Tablets, 1x Therm Tablet, water, 300ml Lite Ultra Shake (with skimmed milk)

Lunch - 2x Garcinia Softgel Tablets, 1x Therm Tablet, 300ml Lite Ultra Shake (with skimmed milk)

Dinner - Pasta with chopped tomatoes, herbs and chilli, chicken breats and salad (approx. 600 calories), 2x Garcinia Softgel Tablets

Evening - water

Snacks - Fibre packet with water

Free Foods - 1x plum, 1x apple, handful of blueberries

Drinks - 8 glasses (circa 3l) water

Exercise - 30 minute walk

Thoughts

* Apparently the cleaner at work got wind of my attempts to increase my fluid intake and decided to sabotage my efforts by binning my water bottle overnight. Luckliy I had a spare, foiling the nefarious plans of this unseen evil doer.

* Day 7 and so I am nearing the end of the challenge but with this being a Friday, there is a natural pull to stop and move on. I will resist of course, there are still two days to go but the weekend will throw up new challenges as I give up the routine of work for the disorganised chaos of a House With Twins.

* I have commented on both weight and mentality during these updates but have yet to mention my third goal, skin improvements. I still have visible blemishes but overall I have definitely noticed an improvement to my complexion. My skin feels tighter and drier (in a good way) which leads me to think that with time, patience and sticking to the principles of this plan, the unslightly marks could indeed be managed away.

* Despite yesterday's dinner coming in at under 600 calories, I am experiencing real food guilt today, probably based on the fact that dinner was a pizza. It feels inherently naughty, no matter the calorie count and I was sorely tempted by an emergency weigh in this morning to check the damage done. However the pack makes it clear that your weight will fluctuate throughout the plan and so I will wait for day 9 until the next check up, as instructed.

* Similarly after tonight's dinner I feel anxious that I have miscounted and accidentally over indulged. The anxiety isn't fun but the underlying thought process is interesting; I don't want to over eat, I am actually enjoying being on a more calorie controlled, healthy diet.

* I caught myself today sub-consciously walking round rubbing my stomach, flitting between anxiously checking if my flab count has gone back up and congratulating myself on how much trimmer I feel.

* I noticed one other unexpected side affect today. I used to really enjoy cooking, often consulting receipe books and planning meals in advance. With the onset of mental illness, stress at work and a hectic family life, I left it behind, relying instead on frozen chicken or sauces out of jars.

Today I realised that I was really looking forward to my dinner because I had spent some time thinking about what I was going to have. I then started thinking about digging out my old cookbooks, perhaps even letting the kids join in to choose something they like, or a dessert I could try.

Therapy helped me to reconnect with writing. The Clean 9 may just help me reconnect with cooking.